Today was a day to see additional sites in Canberra, Australia's capital
city, and to present a concert at The Australian National Univeristy,
in Canberra.
We left the hotel early not to return
until after 8PM in the evening. For most Americans, kangaroos are the
most exotic animals in Australia. Although kangaroos are certainy very
well-known in the states, very few Americans have seen an actual
kangaroo! We are all quite taken on the tour in Canberra, where one can
drive down the road in a coach bus, look out the window and see
kangaroos just hopping around. See photos taken this morning where our
bus driver allowed us to get out of the bus, walk over to some kangaroos
and take their picture, if they allowed. They are quite accommodating,
knowing that they are best captured on film from the side profile view.
See attached photos from this morning.
Australia's
capital city and DC share many similarities. They were of course both
completely planned cities. Consequently, they both boast notorious
circles, seemingly inconveniently placed around the city. Our first
true site this morning was a visit to Australia's embassy row. Although
many photos were taken of virtually every embassy, please see a few
photos of foreign embassies captured. As true in the US, the Embassies
were a cornucopia of different architecture. The US Embassy was the
oldest and the largest as we have been allies with Australia for quite
some time. I am sure that the shared language is one reason for this
occurrence.
After leaving the area of foreign
Embassies, we visited the former site of Australian Parliament. In
front of this site, tents from Aborigines protesting their land taken
from them were will staked out in front of the former Parliament
building. These tents have been allowed to remain since the 1970's.
You will notice in attached photos the tents, and a building made of
wood representing the indigenous people - Aborigine - self-made Embassy.
We took some photos in front of their Embassy. Especially significant
was a flame, that has not been allowed to go out since original protest.
You will see a photo of the flame, and an aboriginal person tending
the fire.
We then proceeded to the new
Parliament Building which was quite impressive. We took a formal tour
of their Parliament building (like our Capitol building in DC). We
learned much of their government and process. You will notice a green
room in the photos. This room is where their house of representatives
convene. You will notice a pink room in another photo. This is where
their Senate convenes. You AKA's would be proud! These colors represent
colors naturally found in Australia's most prevalent tree - the
Eucalyptus tree - green for the leaves and pink for the buds and flowers
found on these trees. As we rode down the countryside we saw tens of
thousands of these trees on the way to Canberra. Symbolism appears to
be very important to Australia. You will notice several photos of their
coat of arms which contains a kangaroo and an emu. One photo in the
Senate chambers has the kangaroo and emu turned towards the parliament,
looking over the proceedings. One important distinction to me from the
United States are seats set aside for the public to view the
proceedings. At the end of every session, the public may ask questions
about proposed laws. This Q & A session is televised. Australia's
citizens appear to be much more connected with their government. All
Australian citizens must vote. Although some may not like this policy,
this requirement ultimately makes every citizen more involved in the
politics of their land and their representatives more accountable. As I
spoke with US officials from the American Embassy, they said that they
believed the major advantage of this policy is that politicians do not
have to spend any money on getting people to vote, but can concentrate
on policy. As I could share much more about this tour, time constraints
will not allow.
After the tour of the new
Parliament building, which you will notice several photos of interior
and exterior, I then traveled to the Australian Univeristy ahead of the
group to give a Choral Masterclass with a local choir - the Strange
Weather Gospel Choir. I will send a short clip of their performance
later on.
Shortly thereafter, the Morgan
choir joined me in a rehearsal with the choir who would join us in
concert, the Woden Valley Youth Choir and members and staff of the
Australian National University. You will notice that the hall was
spectacular. Wonderful acoustics! Beautiful decor! The hall had 1200
seats. The concert was set to begin at 3PM.
The
concert was well attended, approximately 700 persons in attendance per
the usher. The Woden Valley Youth Choir was exceptionally prepared and
truly complemented our portion of the program. I will again try to send a
clip of their performance. Once again, we brought the Australian
audience to their feet. We were told afterwards that this rarely
occurs. We were also told that the complete concert was probably the
best ever held for the University in their Llewyn Hall.
After
our concert we planned go to Pot Luck Dinner with the Woden Youth
choir, however, the US ambassador to Australia wanted to see us before
dinner. We met him in an Australian Pub. He was quite pleased to see
that we were in Australia. In the pub, the choir sang one piece for
him, which somehow quieted the noisy Pub.
After
the pub, we when to a Presbyterian Church to break bread with the
Australian Youth. We had great conversation and delicious local food.
Again, what a great exchange for our students.
More to come.. . .
Dr. Eric Conway
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