One of the first things we realized this Interim was how far away from home we actually were. We left Minneapolis on January 2nd On January 4th, we arrived in Sydney, only to discover that we had completely and literally missed a day- January 3rd. Somewhere over the Pacific, it just disappeared.

Prior to leaving, I wasn't even sure of the exact title of the course I would be taking. I knew it had something to do with Aborigines, but exactly what that entailed was a mystery. The visions I had were of kangaroos and koalas, huge waves and plenty of surfers, nightclubs and Aussie accents. Of course we experienced all that, and more, but we came home with far more than we ever imagined.

Family Studies 263: Aboriginal Cultures in Australia was taught by an aboriginal woman. In the short time we shaed with her, she passionately shared with us her pride in her people. We learned what it means to have a heritage and a homeland. We also witnessed, first-hand, what it means to be oppressed. The racism and discrimination prevalent in Australian society weighed heavily on us and will continue to do so as we witness similar discrimination in our own society.

I can safely say that what we experienced in Australia was well worth the travel it took to get there.