2008 Environmental Studies Letters
February 12, 2008
Hi Everyone!
We are doing very well after a full week in Australia. We are getting the hang of looking to the right prior to crossing the street, understanding the money and public transit, and have had a wonderful cross section of learning opportunities - both formal and informal. Throughout this last week we have been impressed by a number of Aussie faculty members talking about the geologic history, flora, fauna, aboriginal culture, and the political/electoral system here. Many have been inspiring - both in the learning outcomes they brought and in their individual humanity.
Where we are staying, Mannix College (a residence) across the street from Monash University (Clayton campus) is very suburban and your typical university environment. Much is very familiar, although many students have had issues coping without immediate access to cell phones and internet. (The cafe...or "gaming room for teens" is about a 2.5 km walk from our rooms) Many students have commented, surprisingly so, about the similarities between US and Aussie cultures. The global reach of US entertainers, TV/Movies and corporations is readily apparent everywhere you go. We attempted to instill in them that they were seeing a developed nation, and now they are just beginning to appreciate how those small differences are truly significant. Perhaps the most interesting is the general "laid back" attitude that pervades the nation. People don't rush about and don't get "riled" about things. They love debating issues/policy and have little time for the personality/lifestyle components that tend to dominate the US political scene. It has also been fascinating to have Aussies ask about SuperTuesday and us answer without having a lot of access to media outlets for information.
We've had a few excursions intermixed with the lectures...Paul took the
group to the largest water treatment facility in Melbourne (11,000
hectares!) and the students discovered that it is also a working farm -
raising sheep and cattle to feed the urban residents. The clarifying
lagoons also serve as habitat to a variety of avian and amphibian
species....some even endangered. If you are interested, check out
Melbourne Water - Western Waste Treatment in Werribee. Our other
excursion involved traveling to the Healsville Wildlife Sanctuary...to get there we passed through part of the Yarra Valley, Victoria's wine
producing region. Needless to say, we are now interested in spending some of our first break in Victoria's wine country...simply beautiful. We were able to see many of the unique animals endemic to Australia at the sanctuary. They have an animal hospital on-site that receives wounded animals from the region and helps care and return those they can.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we travel to Queenscliffe and begin to look at the
marine environment. We are both amazed at the experience we are able to
have and thus far are enjoying opportunities to get to know the students
and those with which we interact.
G'day and Best wishes to you all!
Paul & Ann Marie