January 2012
Monday the 2nd
Since my last post, the holiday season officially began in Brisbane. A giant fake Christmas tree was assembled and strung with lights in the main city square; a large menorah was also installed on the first night of Hanukkah (20 December), and an additional light was turned on for each of the eight nights; people on holidays (i.e. vacation) were busy shopping, preparing for parties, or traveling to the beaches that line the Queensland and New South Wales coasts. Despite all of this, I cannot believe it is January 2012 for two reasons. First, I am living through another summer. As an inhabitant of the Northern Hemisphere for my entire life, cold weather is a necessary component of the holiday season; without the temperature change, I have to constantly remind myself of the actual date. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy having two summers in the same year, but I certainly miss the seasonal changes that are characteristic of Pennsylvania.
A related tangent about the weather is that Queenslanders do not recognize the change of seasons according the equinoxes and solstices like we do at home but, rather, go by the first days in certain months. “Spring” began here in September and “summer” began in December. I also find it odd that Queenslanders distinguish spring from summer and fall from winter because I haven’t experienced any appreciable difference between the “seasons.” As Queensland is located in a subtropical region, there are really only two seasons: dry-cool (approximately March to August) and rainy-hot (approximately September to February). Also, I haven’t noticed much of a difference between summer here and at home besides the longer length of the season here. Although the rainy-hot season is long here, many homes do not have air conditioning. Instead, many are built with long-overhang roof eaves, proper orientation to the sun, and open floor plans with windows at key locations to allow maximal airflow. Queenslander-style houses are also built on stilts so that air can flow across the bottom side of floors. The house in which I am staying does have a few air conditioning units, but we have not used them at all and do not plan to either. Some days are quite warm, but a cool shower and good fan are usually sufficient. Besides, I think my body has actually adjusted to the warm temperatures.
My second reason for having difficulty with the date is that it means nearly half of my scholarship period has elapsed! Keeping busy with work, social events, or volunteering has certainly made time pass faster than I expected. But I know this is good because I definitely would not want to become bored and feel like time was slowly dragging by. I look forward to sharing the results of my upcoming plans and another bonza six months in the Land Down Under!
Last week, I met up with friends from Rotaract for a trivia night at a nearby hotel. We didn’t win, but I contributed several answers related to the USA. Last Saturday, I went over to Philip’s house and roasted a turkey there; I highly recommend following these guidelines for the perfect turkey. Later that day, I went on a long bike ride with a Fortitude Valley Rotarian.
On Christmas Day, I went with Philip to his daughter’s vacation unit in Noosa. I got to meet her family, and we had a delicious lunch with the chilled turkey, prawns, vegetables, cooked pumpkin, fruit, and a traditional pudding. Afterwards, we walked to the beach to go swimming. The beach at Noosa was very busy with surfers, swimmers, and people lazily lounging with family and friends. Monday the 26th was Boxing Day, which is marked by the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and a 5-day cricket match in Melbourne. On Boxing Day, I volunteered with Hunt4Homeless and then went to Janet and Colin’s house for a deck party. Janet’s host family from Jeannette, Pennsylvania (she stayed there for a year on exchange in 1980) is planning to visit Australia for the first time this year!
Dave Gau came to Brisbane again this week and was joined by Amanda (his girl friend) who also attends the University of Pittsburgh. Dave is on summer break from his courses in Armidale, and Amanda is on winter break. We met for dinner on two evenings and then toured some of Brisbane’s night life.
During each day this past week and also on New Year’s Day, I volunteered with Hunt4Homeless by preparing lunches and dinners, serving meals and takeaway plates, chatting with the clients, and cleaning dishes and silverware. Each lunch attracted at least 60 people, since very few shelters are open between Christmas and New Year’s Day. New Year’s Day was the busiest, as we had 102 people come for lunch. Hunt4Homeless uses the kitchen and cafeteria facilities of the 139 Club, and the 139 Club normally has breakfast and lunch from Monday to Friday, while Hunt4Homeless normally serves dinner on Thursday and lunch on Saturday on Sunday. However, Hunt4Homeless provided lunches between Christmas and New Year’s Day because the 139 Club is closed during this time.
Many of the clients are very appreciative for the food we provide and try their best to reciprocate with the few resources they have. For instance, Ernie has a relative with a garden, so he brought in a bag of cucumbers for me and the other volunteers. Another client brought us tomatoes and pyrethrum plants, which are great to plant near insect-susceptible varieties and can also be used to make your own insect repellent. John is a client who helps collect cups or dishes and brings them over to me while I’m cleaning the rest.
For those that don’t have caring family members or a good support network, the eating area becomes a meeting point, and the meal time allows socializing among clients but also among clients and us, the volunteers. If we notice that a client has a particular need, we try our best to help them; this may include handing out donations of food or sleeping bags, making certain phone calls, or alerting staff at the 139 Club who can help remedy a problem. A local doctor was also kind enough to attend some of the lunches this past week so that clients with health needs could receive care or advice.
I took a few pictures of the 139 Club and the kitchen and cafeteria areas where we prepare and serve the meals. Mike is wearing the orange shirt and manages Hunt4Homeless by raising funds, buying food, and organizing volunteers. Over the past week, different volunteers came in each day; some were there for the first time, while others volunteer once a month or at some other regular frequency. You have to trust my word that the seating area is full for most of the meals because I did not want to offend any of the clients by taking a picture of them.
Finally, as you will see in one of the pictures, I am wearing a Rotary shirt. I wore a Rotary shirt each day so that clients could see Rotary in action and recognize the integral role that Rotary plays in servicing their local community. In fact, my host club (Fortitude Valley Rotary) is a major funder of the 139 Club, the day facilities for homeless people and the building containing the cafeteria and kitchen that is used by Hunt4Homeless. I will try to earn a grant from my host club or district to directly support Hunt4Homeless. Several clients ask me about Rotary when they see my shirt, which makes it easy for me to start a conversation about where I’m from and what I’m doing here. Some also instantly recognize the logo and tell me how Rotary has helped them in the past. Wherever the location or whatever the service, the reputation of Rotary among people who are not members is humbling proof that this organization achieves meaningful outcomes and is dedicated its motto, “service above self.” Participating in this volunteering project reminds me of the profound influence of Rotary to help people both at home and halfway around the world.
On New Year’s Eve, I joined a group of people at a friend’s house in Kangaroo Point. We had a fun night and walked over to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs to watch the midnight fireworks over the city. I wish you all the best for 2012!
Sunday the 15th
During the past two weeks, I continued working on the fluorescence experiments that I describe in my 7 December post. I also volunteered at the Thursday night barbecue run by Hunt4Homeless. The weekend of 6 January was busy with indoor rock climbing on Friday and then driving up to the Sunshine Coast on Saturday with a couple of friends. We went to Gardners Falls and King’s Beach in Caloundra for swimming. The ocean water temperature ranged from the mid to upper 70s Fahrenheit, so it was very comfortable. My friends and I then had an enjoyable dinner at Alf and Alva’s home outside on their deck. Originally, I was going to take the train to Alf and Alva’s house, but I lucked out with the offer from my friends. The occasion that weekend was Janet’s brother’s birthday, so I stayed with Alf and Alva on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Early on Sunday morning, I met Roger (the Caloundra Rotarian who took me surfing before) to find a good spot for a surf. We checked out the waves at a couple of beaches and decided on Moffat Beach. The multitude of beaches that face different directions and contain different wave breaks is certainly a luxury for surfers in the Sunshine Coast area. Look at this link for great pictures taken by Roger of the wave break at Moffat Beach and also of the huge waves that were rolling in on 26 December 2011. Roger is a very interesting and talented person and extremely knowledgeable of the local history. As an architect, he aims to preserve post WWII beach homes, consult and direct the renovation of historic buildings, and continue to maintain the Caloundra lighthouses (there is a lot of information on these sites, but they are definitely worth looking around). Roger thoroughly enjoys running his business and is a model for the values and 4-Way Test upheld by Rotary.
Anyway, we were in the water for about 1.5 hours. This was only my second time on a longboard and my first time on decent waves (about 4-6 feet off the water surface). I quickly realized that successfully riding the waves only accounts for about 5% of the total time spent in the water. I spent the rest of the time paddling to the correct location while avoiding the wave breaks (as you can imagine, a breaking wave can easily catch a longboard and send it and you tumbling around); the correct location for me was just beyond the point where the waves were breaking and out of the way of most of the other surfers. Somehow, I still managed to get my cord (the one that attaches the surfboard to your ankle) caught up with that of another person, but we quickly disentangled ourselves. I also spent time working on my balance or, in other words, repeatedly falling off the surfboard after attempting to catch a wave. I quickly learned that my body position relative to the center of the surfboard was critical to paddling into an oncoming wave (from behind) so that I could quickly stand up in almost the right position and then adjust my feet once I caught the wave. Too far back: the wave usually washed over me or caught the board in a weird way and threw me off. Too far forward: I could start riding the wave but, after standing up, the nose of surfboard plunged downward with the rear hurling me upward.
Despite my difficulties, I managed to do a bit of wave carving and rode several waves over the distance covered by the other surfers (about 2/3 of the way into the beach; going all the way would require too much paddling back out and make jumping off the surfboard at the end of the ride dangerous). I also boosted my confidence for next time (hopefully we can snap some action shots), so I’m keen for more surfing with Roger in Caloundra. If you look closely at the picture below, my fair Yankee skin was no match for the grippy waxed surface of the surfboard even though I wore a rashie (rashguard shirt).
On Sunday afternoon, I met up with Janet, her brother, their families, and Janet’s parents to go out for lunch to celebrate her brother’s birthday. We went to a nice restaurant situated nearly on the beach, so the atmosphere was very enjoyable with live music, beachgoers, and waves in the background. Since the weather was great, we went swimming later on after chatting for a while. I talked with Janet’s father for a while and found out more about the Australian voting system; I subsequently updated the second paragraph in my 10 July 2011 post. On Monday morning, I went swimming with Alf (yes, I swam a lot last weekend) and then eventually made my way back to Brisbane for another workweek.
The only other excitement this past week was the first Fortitude Valley Rotary (my host club) meeting for the year. I got to catch up with many of the members, and we heard from an outgoing youth exchange student from Brisbane who is sponsored by the Club will be in Switzerland for 12 months starting next week. My next post will be delayed because I have an upcoming trip to Sydney! I will be visiting Rotarians and other acquaintances along with sites of interest while making sure to take good pictures to share.