Expansion in a time of contraction...

Consider this another entry to my list of long running rants along the carpe diem continuum. Another realization about life and living that has managed to wedge its way into my slightly less cramped cranium in the last few days – and it goes something like this.

Time is linear. We move along it or down it knowing (or not) that with every day we get older, hopefully wiser, and inevitably closer to some sort of end. That is undeniable in life and it is becoming increasingly undeniable in our year away. At last, unofficial count, we have a mere six weeks of time before we bundle our bags and bodies onto a few planes and head for home. Seems incredible. But like a sudden brush with mortality, the calendar is starting to remind me that our time down under is becoming short and that we need to keep working at living here, rounding out the experience every day.

But that’s becoming increasingly hard. There are travel arrangements to be made, a house to clean, boxes to buy and then pack and a multitude of things related to life back home that are beginning to come into focus. And the list continues to grow. Meanwhile, back in Melbourne, I still have some things to learn at school, the boys have homework to do and friends to play with, we have places to visit, restaurants to try, life to live and even new friends to make….Yes, new friends to make.

Recently, after meeting a really nice dad who was willing to let Colin practice with his basketball team, I remarked to Linton that it was “Too bad we hadn’t met him earlier”. Not to say that we have not met tons of really nice people, but that here was someone who, with more time on our docket, I could see wanting to get to know better. And what I guess my point is, to this whole blog, is that we should still try and get to know him and any other people who we see at the café or bump into on the tram, whether we have a day, a week, or a year left in our journey.

But, as I have already said, it’s hard. Time is indeed linear and it drifts away from us or, conversely, pulls us along at a speed that people and relationships cannot always keep up with. Building connections with people, seems to me to be a “rounder” process where we build layers and add experiences like the rings of a tree, eventually connecting us together as people in “bubbles of familiarity”. As time moves along, immutable and unstoppable, our round relationships come willingly, follow eventually, or remain rooted where they are and ultimately left behind. Unfortunately, we sometimes weigh friendship and its value against whether or not we “have the time” or our "bubbles" are in sync.

So while we begin to worry about whether we need to bring home both Aussie animal sticker books or the Wall E bed sheets, we also need to recognize that there still might be a friendship, face, or potential "bubble" in the coffee line tomorrow for whom we simply must find the time.

April 14-22 Family in Melbourne

No sooner had our plane touched down in Melbourne than we were “full on” into the next half of Pat and Bill’s tour down under. For the second half of their stay, we would be adding more family to the mix. Sheila, Andrew and the kids were in town for a holiday having come down from Hong Kong via Coolangatta & Byron Bay and thus, we were eager to spend the next week showing the whole gang the town we had come to call home.

Once again Linton had drafted and re-drafted a clock-work itinerary that saw trips to the museum and Imax, Eureka Tower, Aquarium, zoo, etc. The four kids got along famously and we loved to watch them laughing and playing together. Their endless hide and seek game in the museum park was a highlight.

We broke bread together many times in many different places and hosted a few brunches and lunches chez Macpherson as well. La Porchetta, our cheap and cheerful neighbourhood trattoria, entertained everyone’s pizza and red wine craving after the museum. On another night, Alex and Simon Davies, who knew Sheila and Andrew from their own days in Hong Kong, joined us down in the Docklands for all the meat we could eat at the Bluefire Grill.

Linton and I actually hit the bars of Melbourne with Sheila and Andrew for the first time since we’ve been here and I am sorry that it hadn’t happened sooner. The Melbourne Supper Club – where we were accosted by that drunken Kiwi, the Spice Room – where we might never have got in on a busy night, and the Carlton Club – where the red velvet wallpaper and life-sized stuffed animals were the main attraction – all got our money… but not that much as we stayed for one and were home by midnight!

On another night the adults hit the Melbourne Comedy Festival to laugh along with comedian Mark Watson – whose observations about how boring Adelaide is and the noises old men make was his best stuff. Earlier that day we were all at the footy watching our beloved Hawthorn get creamed by Port Adelaide. Another fun time at the “G” though we are starting to think we are bad luck for the Hawks! After the game, the entire Davies clan joined us for some wicked wheel – gluten free crust and all – back at our place. The Pavlova (pictured) was a highlight! The visiting, chaos and constant food and drink were fabulously fun and made the week fly by too fast.

After waving goodbye to the Cunninghams, the pace didn’t let up as we bundled into a cab and headed for Cirque de Soleil’s Dralion playing in the Docklands. Something about seeing that famous yellow and blue tent flying the Canadian and Quebec flags struck a very patriotic tone in my heart. Pat and Bill toured the Great Ocean Road on the next day – a “must” when you’re in this part of the world - and we spent the last day of their visit with a sumptuous lunch at The Press Club, a Yarra River cruise and a wander through the laneways and shopping arcades.

And then, incredibly, it was over. With a few tears and hearty hugs we bid farewell to Nannie and Grandpa as they made their way to Sydney and the final stage of their tour. Their 25 day odyssey had come to an end and it seemed like only yesterday that Lint had started to plan for it. This time the hearts were not quite so heavy though, knowing we would be reunited in a mere three months’ time.

At times, this entire year has bordered on the surreal because of the familiar feel of life in Melbourne. Apart from the obvious absence of family and friends, there isn’t a lot here (save the heat and deadly animals) that separates it from life back home and we have found, at certain times, its “normalness” pushes us to want it to be more different. When family has arrived, that sense is enhanced in both directions – the city is new and different again because we see it through new eyes but the experience becomes “more normal” because we have our family around us. Selfishly and perhaps somewhat insecurely, we were hoping this week might help to validate this life choice by sharing a small piece of it with family. And though we set out to “show off” the city and to celebrate the success of our year; in doing so, the week also became a wonderful reminder of the role family plays in shaping who we are and the way we view the world.

Catching up with the Kids

The past few weeks have seen a number of kids' activities go by without having received a dutiful blogging from yours truly. Therefore, this entry is all about catching up with the kids.

The Great Lee Street Fete

Every year the kids' school holds a fall fair fundraiser. It's call the Fete (pronounced fate) and is one heck of a big undertaking. Very early in our tour of duty a parent, who has since become a good friend, asked us to help out with the juice booth. Well, that was not going to be a problem for a couple of intrepid, community-minded keeners like ourselves and so we were officially "on" to help run the Great Lee Street Fete juice stall. One boozy "meeting", one marathon fruit cutting session and one even longer day of serving up fresh juice later and we emerged with complete admiration for the couple who have been running the stall for the past few years. In fact, the whole fete operation was very impressive - from the rides to the food to the behind the scenes volunteers. Kudos must also go out to Lint who pounded the pavement along Lygon street for several weeks in search of donations from recession-weary businesses. That's a tough gig in one's own country, let alone one where you are a temporary resident! Oh yes, the kids had a blast, eating and spending their way to new levels of sugar-induced delerium.

Cross country running

Shortly after the Fete, Colin competed in a cross country running meet for his school where he placed sixth in his age group. That result was good enough to send him off to "districts" which were held last week just up the street at Princes Park. They had to run 2 kms and, considering he had only ever run one race before, we think he did wonderfully finishing a respectable 38th. I don't know if this may lead to more running or not, but it was a learning experience for Colin. I watched from a distance with interest as he dealt with the idea of being beaten by some of his peers and not doing as well as he might have thought. He seemed fine with it, but there was something that seemed to be nagging him...or maybe it was just his dad hanging around asking if he was okay. The photos are from Colin's school meet.

Ceres Field Trip

Linton here - I went with Alex's class and all the Year 1/2s on the tram (yes 70 kids and about 10 adults) north to East Brunswick to CERES (the Centre for Educational and Research in Environmental Strategies) for a full day of learning all about "shelter". This excursion complimented the kids' classroom work on learning about the environment and how humans/animals survive living off the land.

CERES is located on 10 acres on the banks of the Merri Creek and runs on renewable energy, conserves and recycles its water and waste, grows organic food, and teaches diverse audiences about more just and environmentally friendly ways of living. What makes the CERES concept particularly compelling is that sustainability initiatives are located in a participatory social setting which makes it a perfect outdoor classroom.

The kids loved making a variety of different shelters from a variety of cultures - mud huts (African villages) William shelters (Aboriginal Australians) yurts (Central Asia) tipis (Native American) - and looking at animals in their natural environment discussing how they protect themselves from the earth's elements.

Alex really enjoyed the "hands-on" learning experience and running around with his friends. I very much enjoyed it too but was thoroughly exhausted after the day. I cherish this time and the ability to go on class excursions with the boys' school.

Collingwood Children's Farm

Last weekend we took the kids to what surely had to be one of the last must-see sights in Melbourne that we had yet to do - the Collingwood Children's Farm. A larger version of the Riverdale Farm, this oasis of calm and compost in the middle of the city was a very short tram/bas ride away and a nice diversion for a glorious Sunday morning. Filled with the requisite sheep, goats, ducks and stuff it seemed people were there as much for the cafe as for the chance to commune with livestock. In fact, we spent as much time in the line up for food as we did anywhere else...ask Alex! Apparently, the farm is also one of the places in the city where there are often tiger or brown snakes - two of the more nasty varieties in Oz - but thankfully due to the season we needn't worry. Still, I was wary about parking my butt on anything that looked like snake habitat. It wasn't a particularly jaw-dropping experience, but then they can't all be Milford Sound and it was great to be outside with the kids seeing it all through their eyes. And from that, rather more "fresh" vantage point, it was a perfect day.

April 13-14 Dunedin to Christchurch and then "Home"

I've been doing a lot of learning about learning this year, as you can imagine. The neat part about all of the theory I am digesting is that in absence of a real classroom with which to put some of these ideas into practice, I am finding that my/our personal life is a most able substitute. Take, for example the ideas of situated cognition and metacognitive learning. The first idea suggests that we learn best by doing, often in the place for which the skill is relevant. The other idea is a little more abstract but essentially concerns itself with the need for reflection in the learning process. In other words, people/students need to absorb ideas and be allowed an opportunity to think about and work through how those ideas relate to one's prior knowledge, view of the world, etc. in order to acquire new meaning. In so much of what we have done and seen in this year abroad I have learned something by both experiencing it and then reflecting on "what it all means". Our last days in New Zealand were no exception.

About an hour "up the road" from Dunedin you start to drive along the coast. And in this stretch of endless beach is a place called the Moreaki Boulders. Now, I suppose it's not so much a place as a spot, with a cafe and gift shop, where there is something interesting to see. What is indeed interesting to see are these perfectly round, one million year-old boulders scattered on the beach. They are immediately stunning and fascinating at the same time and they draw you in irresistibly like a mouse to cheese. I have forgotten the geological reasons behind their formation and existence on only this one, small spot of beach, but that just lends more to the mystery. We all had fun climbing up, over and around them and imagining the forces at work to create such odd natural shapes. Mere minutes before I might have said that only mountains could inspire such wonder in the natural world, but situated beside these unearthly balls, my cognition for how the world works was forced to change; something it would have staunchly refused to do staring at the same boulders on tv or in National Geographic.

Leaving thoughts of "what it all means" for another day, we turned north again for Christchurch. A few rather mundane hours of driving later, we checked in to our busy but "interesting" hotel (who hands out those stars anyways?) and decided that a Teppanyakki restaurant was a fitting final meal for some road-weary palates. Or maybe it was just Lint's craving for sake. After a fun meal (though no flaming onion tower) and some free parking we headed back to our motel eager for a little shut eye before the big travel day. Unfortunately, an extremely loud fire alarm roused us from our slumber at 3am and our combined reactions, along with a few wicked cases of bedhead, were a combination of delerium, hatred and abject terror. Nothing primes the adrenalin faster than a screaming siren in the middle of some serious REM sleep.

The next morning, our plane wasn't scheduled to depart until 2 pm which left us plenty of time to do one last touristy thing - the Antarctic Centre! Christchurch is home to a full 70% of all flights to the Antarctic and as such, has an enormous and very well equipped interpretation centre adjacent to the airport. We had great fun exploring the exhibits, the highlight of which might have been the Storm Room where they can recreate -20 Celsius conditions with a wind chill much greater than that. Colin did it in shorts! The other laugh was a wild ride in a Haggland(sp?), a tank-like vehicle specially equipped for negotiating crevasses and ice flows. There were plenty of screams by all as we headed up and down the "Hill of Insanity" - or whatever it was called. Soon after all that fun, we boarded our JetStar flight and headed for home, keen to show Nanny and Grampa our Melbourne life.

And so then to the meta-cognitive stuff I was yammering on about at the beginning of this blog. Over the year, I have come to appreciate the fact that it may only be through travel that one can really learn about another place. Textbooks, internet, maps and photos can help, but there is no substitute for breathing in the air and soaking up the sounds, the smells or the feeling of standing in the actual place - be it Milford Sound or the corner of Yonge and Eglinton. And just as that might be true, in terms of really knowing a place, I also feel that it is only upon reflection and by comparing that experience to one's prior knowledge, that we are able to burnish new and better meanings about the world and our relationship to it. In that regard, our trip to New Zealand taught me a lot about my understanding of the world, but it was only a perspective that I could "see", or perhaps fully appreciate, in hindsight, when the wheels of our plane touched down back in Melbourne.