It's been nearly two years since I began narrowing the scope of my dissertation to its present focus on the Pan Asia Institute, an international academic partnership between Indiana University and Australia National University. And now I'm finally here, and quite ready to continue my research on the partnership by interviewing various administrators and faculty at ANU who are involved in the partnership. I'm very excited to dive in!
Get this: I departed Chicago on Thursday evening, and arrived at my final destination - Sydney, Australia - at 6.25 am on Saturday morning. Even though I was travelling for only 24 hours, I somehow lost an additional day somewhere. So strange how crossing time zones and datelines messes with how we perceive the notions of day and time. And thank God that even though take-off from Chicago was delayed by 3 hours, we still made it to San Fran in time for me to scamper to my next flight, which gratefully was departing just a few gates away.
I'm here in Sydney now, spending 2 days with Mark and Tanya Earngey, before I fly to Canberra on Monday (to begin interviews at ANU on Tuesday). Tanya is a dear friend from our South Africa days who married Mark, an Australian pastor, last year. They will be hosting me at several points during my month here.
Mark and Tanya collected me from the airport this morning - brisk, perhaps low 40s, but the sun was coming up and the sky was blue, and later this afternoon it reached into the 60s - a lovely winter day! First thing was breakfast - or 'breakie' - and a brief driving tour of Sydney. Amazing and beautiful!
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| This is an espresso with hot milk and a tiny bit of froth, known in Australia as a "flat white" (more froth would make it a cappuccino). |
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| My hosts, Mark and Tanya, during breakfast at Well Co. Cafe. We had fantastic coffees and grilled bacon/egg/avo/onion/cheese/tomato mayo wraps. |
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| We stopped by the University of Sydney, above, which is Australia's oldest university. |
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| Nearby to the university is a great neighborhood filled with restaurants and cafes, many of them serving Asian cuisine. Notice the two Thai restaurants right next door to each other in this picture. |
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| More Asian restaurants: Vietnamese, Vegan, and Japanese further back. |
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| Coffee #2 of the morning - anything to help me stay awake until bedtime! - at Campos Coffee. |
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| Campos is a high-quality Aussie coffee shop with several locations - this is the original. |
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| The architecture reminded me both of Cape Town - tin roofs, skinny houses packed together - and also of New Orleans, with wrought iron work and two-story townhomes, such as pictured above. |
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| A famous landmark, the Sydney Opera House. |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. |
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| Here I am, displaying my long-hidden operatic abilities. |
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