Saturday was a free day for the students. Many of them went to Circular Quay. This harbor area reminds me of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. There are shops, eateries, street performers, and ferries. The Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House are located there, and the Botanic Gardens are near. Charlie and I were there for a few hours, touring the Opera House and eating a nice dinner. We made our way back to the hotel by way of the Botanic Gardens and were treated to the sight of about a hundred flying foxes (bats), perhaps on their way to food. Meanwhile, most of the students went to an evening rugby game, sporting face paint in support of the local team.
Sunday we rolled our luggage about a mile to the bus station, downhill for a good portion of the way, and boarded a coach to Canberra, the capitol of Australia. Three and a half hours later, we rolled our luggage to the hotel where we were delighted to find a full kitchen with four food preparation sites. We went out in small groups to do shopping – Charlie and I found an Aldi’s. Charlie prepared our spaghetti and tomato sauce next to a group of four doing the same thing. We negotiated a trade of plums for some grated Parmesan cheese. By the time we were eating, two more sets of students had started on their meals. It was so nice to see the collaboration and hear the happy chatter.
Charlie and I spent the evening grading journals and quizzes; we also caught up on e-mail. There’s a nice common area on our floor, and the students gathered there, laughing and talking.
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