What better place than the Art Gallery?

One perk of this program is that we get to study Australian Art with a great lecturer who knows the local galleries by heart.  Last night we visited the AGNSW (Art Gallery of New South Wales) with Lorraine, having rescheduled from our usual Friday morning slot (which means we have a three-day break to symbolize the midpoint of our quarter here).  Since Wednesdays are  late-opening days, with live jazz in one of the foyers, I thanked my lucky stars for having a collaborator as able and deft at Lorraine.

L in front of "On the wallaby trail"

I had the students meet an hour early to write and reflect on what they were expecting to see (and not see) based on Lorraine's lecture the previous week, and of course not everyone could manage to show up, despite having known about the schedule tweak for two weeks and despite my "Come ta Jayzus" peroration about timely attendance the previous class.  I should note that the person who had catalyzed the peroration was actually on time for only the fifth time in 12 class meetings... 

That said, the ducklings did a great job not only keeping up but actually paying attention and asking good questions.  We blazed through some of L's favorite places in the museum, and did plenty of connecting between what we had studied the week before and what we were seeing now.  Likewise, there were good connections to make with the biodiversity / climate readings we had been doing, and I was pleasantly surprised at some of the comments from people. 

This slightly spooky sculpture is part of an installation that used to be in someone's house / mansion, which engendered a certain amount of hilarity.  "Don't misbehave, or I'll send you to . . . the clown room."  OK, it seemed funny to me at the time, which goes to show how stressed out I have been with the QA drama. 

Here's hoping that little contretemps is finished and the rest of the trip goes swimmingly well.  A, A and I are are off to our long-weekend junket to Cairns and a brief taste of the Great Barrier Reef now--in fact this is being sent from the departure lounge, as I benefit from a flight delay and the free Internet connectivity...

And as a parting shot, here's some of the surprising local fauna spotted in our "boutique apartment," showing just how egalitarian a society Oz really is:

Just a quick 'un

Teacher, the blogger program just ate my post.  Well it wasn't much, but I sure hate seeing "an error occurred" and then a big fat nada where my post used to be.  But given the events of the last week, I shouldn't be surprised.  When I have more time, I'll chronicle some of the tastier tidbits of the wonderful Study Abroad Smorgasbord of Psychodrama that I've been living, along with its domestic bass line over which everything is rolling.

Vic Johnson finds "Vickie Johnson" on the Volunteer Poles

But the field trip to the Blue Mountains last Saturday--with stops at the Olympic Park and at the surprisingly OK Featherdale Wild Animal Park--was rated "Best.Fieldtrip.Ever" by some usually hard-to-please students....

 

 

 

Not quite her comfort zone, ya think?

Yep, pretty kayoot.

 

You could try on snakes, which I decided not to do.

And here's the fam at the Blue Mtns "tunnel view" equivalent

Why does Alex look unhappy?

Because he just started moving backward up something very steep...

OK there ARE frustrations

...such as when I attempted to "top up" my Ozzie mobile this afternoon after a successful day of teaching over in North Sydney.  So the thing is, you have a 30 day account with a certain number of dollars but you have to recharge.  They say you can do it online.  Easy-peasy.  And mine doesn't expire til tomorrow.  I know this because I've been getting text message from SysAlert to that effect for the last week.

4:00 I'm on the terrace, comfy with computer and USB modem and credit card info and strong decaf  and a way-delayed lunch sandwich, having shared the 230 toward Mosman Wharf with at least four separate gaggles of oh-so-cutely-uniformed school students mosh-pitting amongst the other riders
4:03 Logged in to Vodaphone's recharge interface
4:06 Successfully entered all the numbers and my name and pressed "continue"
4:07 Get an error message "There seems to be a problem, call 1555 for assistance"
4:14 After some serious chirpy robo-voicemail ("I'm not following. I'll transfer you") I get said-such human being, in Bangalore.
4:15 I learn that the Vodaphone billing system ONLY WORKS WITH AUSSIE CREDIT CARDS
4:16 I gently and courteously inform Bangalore person that this might possibly be something that could be put in writing ON THE [EXPLETIVE DELETED] WEBPAGE!
4:20 I decide to try the PPoD (Pink Phone of Doom) itself and use the handset method, expecting the worst
4:21 The PPoD, being a Motorola acquired three years ago, is Much Too Antiquated to have its numbers actually recognized by Vodaphone, once a phone number has been dialed (as in, "press 1" I press 1. "press 1" I press 1.  etc.  Dozens of 1s are appearing on my screen but I am typing into a void)
4:25 I decide to walk up the street to pay a visit to smooth old Sam the Vodaphone man, away up near Spit Junction.
4:28 I leave for SJ, admonishing Alex to turn the TV off and do a bit of reading and the last seven problems from his stateside Algebra 'cause he says he has no Ozzie-math homework.  I'm an optimist.
4:38 I arrive only slightly sweaty at the tiny store, proud of having discovered and executed my shortcut without getting killed crossing any of the streets
4:40 I begin getting confused by the array of options outlined by Sam, both for my phone and for recharging the now-working-fine USB modem
4:44 Sam sells me the $30 voucher, for the phone and another USB starter kit, minus the modem dongle, for $29, which gives me an extra GB of data for less money because this is a special, though this means I will have to swap out the SIM card and reinitialize.  He offers to do it next time I pop round with my computer.  My heart sinks as I remember the gyrations it took to register / activate / change temporary password etc.  And at the moment I do know the new password and can ascertain how much or how little data I have used
 4:48 Sam offers to do the voucher thing right there.  But then we both remember the PPoD and its keypad impotence.  He assures me I can do it online
4:54 I spend a few minutes jawing with Sam about the American economy and its prospects.  He remembers to ask about Alex.  Smart businessman.  He tells me Amelie has been in that morning to recharge her card, after only two weeks, because there isn't a lot of data on that original plan and she is iPhoning it now, not using a crank-the-handle PPoD stone-age relic.  She's changed her plan, he hopes.
5:00 I depart, wondering do I stop at the IGA market to buy hot dogs for Alex or offload the chore onto Amelie.  I opt for stopping, figuring this may curry favor with the boy, and besides, Amelie isn't answering her phone as I walk.
5:10 I successfully drop $20 on staggeringly few items in my basket
5:16 Arrive home after my fast walk down Raglan Street.  I peek in the window from the sidewalk and am stunned not to see the TV on
5:18 I congratulate Alex on having a bash at the problems.  A quick glance reveals only four of the 7 have signs reversed or arithmetic errors
5:23 I log in to vodaphone's site
5:25 I log in again, thinking there must be some mistake.  No, I'm right.  You can't  use a voucher online, you have to use the phone's keypad.
5:28 I attempt one more time with PPoD (as I said, I'm an optimist)
5:29 I begin a 4 minute process of learning I cannot enter the voucher numbers orally/
5:34 Alex pulls off his headphones and stops watching Top Gearand asks me if I am OK.  What a sweetie. 
5:35 Incredibly, Alex sets down headphones, gets up, gets his phone, pops the back, removes the battery, pops his SIM, puts in my SIM, re-places his battery and closes it up.  And gives me a lesson in his bizarro LG keypad.
5:40 After only two attempts resulting in start-overs (too much delay in finding the microscopic # key after double-checking the 12-digit voucher number) I am successful in using keypad method to recharge.  Hosannas.
5:55 all phones back together with their proper SIMs.

No worries, mate.  Yeah right.