My week in Australia

Had a good arrival into sunny Sydney, and got an early
check in at the hotel. Signed up for the 3-day
transit pass, which got me on all busses, ferries,
subways, etc in the region--a great plan! I rode two
different tour loops around Sydney on busses, seeing
Bondi Beach, neat neighborhoods, across the Harbor
Bridge and to the Opera House. I did both daytime and
nighttime cruises on ferries on the harbor, getting as
far as Manly.

The two highlights were walking across the Harbor
Bridge, and attending a concert at the Opera House.
The Bridge walk was about half an hour, with added
time to go up in one of the pylons, read about the
building of the bridge, and enjoy the views from the
top. I've got a few photos on the Australia picture
page.

The Sydney Symphony was playing a Bach violin duet,
and then Bruckner's 4th Symphony. Very nice concert,
good acoustics in the hall, though the temperature was
more than warm and muggy. Sadly, the docents wouldn't
let me take pictures inside, even though it was before
the performance. You'll just have to go and see if
for yourself...

Did the 11 hour train ride to Melbourne, meeting on
the journey a sheep shearer and a young man who had
danced in the closing ceremony for the Sydney
Olympics. The sheep shearer was returning from
testifying in his neighbor's attempted murder trial :)

Arrived after dark in Melbourne to a rainy night and a
train station under construction. After a frustrating
time finding the right trolley, I finally made it to
my hotel. My friend Jake Meadley, a former Wanake
camp staff person, met me there the next day and has
been a terrific host! I also spent an hour with Kerri
Couch Nichols, an other Wanake summer staff person who was in
town for a conference.

Jake has taken me all over Melbourne and the vicinity.
A real thrill was our drive down the great ocean road
yesterday, arriving at the southern coast in time to
see "the twelve apostles" at sunset. I've got a great
picture of them on the Melbourne page.

We attended church this morning at the New Community
Ringwood, which meets in a community center here.
Kind of a "seekers" church, it was an interesting
service. They have a website at www.ncr.org.au .

I fly out tomorrow, back to Sydney, then Seoul and
Tokyo. I'm concerned about the typhoon that is
hitting southern Japan and heading for Korea. I guess
I'll find out if it affects my flights very soon.
Stay tuned!

Jim

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Made it to Sydney!

Got to Sydney yesterday morning, and am having a great
time! Did a 2.5 hour tour around Sydney Harbor,
including spectacular views of the Opera House! I
scored some tickets for the symphony there Wednesday
night, so I'll get to enjoy seeing it and hearing
music in it at the same time!

I later did the Bondi bus tour (all part of a Sydney
transportation pass I bought, including the ferry tour
mentioned), and saw a good bit of the city and the
surrounding shore lines. I'll do another bus tour
today, walk across the harbor bridge, and explore a
bit more of Darling Harbor.

My hotel is great, with wonderful views straight out
on Darling Harbor. Food is pricey at the hotel
(breakfast buffet about $20 US), though, so I'm eating
at diners and the like.

I think I'll be able to post pictures from here
tomorrow, so stay tuned!

JP

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Greetings from Seoul!

Had a few minutes in the Korean Air lounge and thought
I'd check in.

Pretty uneventful flight thus far, outside of the 14+
hour length! Cute little complimentary house slippers
in the seat pocket, combs, toothbrushes, paste &
shaving stuff in the bathroom. Lots of interesting
food on-board--had some "seared" tuna with a salad
that seemed one step away from sushi; seaweed soup
with lunch; and tiny little octopi mixed up in the
seafood pasta--yum!

The Seoul international terminal is large and nice,
made up of mostly duty-free shops plus a few diners.
There is a massage place, which is sorely tempting
right now, but I'll hold out for a better price
elsewhere.

Hope to sleep between here & Sydney--another 10 hours
on the plane, then a 7:40 AM arrival. Then I hope to
be ready for a pretty full day exploring Sydney, in
order to get in the right time zone fast (based on my
typing, I'm not there yet...).

So--I'm alive as of Sunday evening in Seoul. More as
I'm able to check in.

JP

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b4 days and counting

It's been a wild month.

The sad news is the death of my mother Olive, not
unexpected and yet we thought she might just last
forever... So, a quick trip to Kentucky became an
eight day stay.

Just prior to that, I was at a camp across the Puget
Sound from Seattle with a group of young people.
Beautiful location, good people, great coffee.

One of my plans has been to sell my car prior to the
big trip, and that is happening. I was down at the
Department of Motor Vehicles getting the title, and
was sitting across from a man who was pretty agitated.
He was muttering to himself, uttering expletives,
then began walking around and yelling at the staff.
He left, then tried to come back in, but someone hit a
hidden button and locked the doors. He left again,
but came back this time in his pick-up truck, and
drove it through the front doors! Glass flew
everywhere, but the metal door frames held. We were
afraid he was coming in with a gun, but thankfully
left and was soon caught by the police.

When it was over, I realized the clerk had gone to
print my car title when all this happened. This being
my fourth or fifth trip there (and they thought that
guy was mad!), I decided to stick it out. So, with
the place emptied out, broken glass on the floor,
police inside interviewing staff, and my clerk shaking
her head saying "I'm gonna look for another job--I
can't take this anymore", I finally got my title. You can
view a news report at http://www.abc15.com/news/schedule_archives/
and looking for stories from August 12.

I'm often asked if it is safe where I'm going. This
story illustrates that bad stuff can happen anywhere,
when you least expect it. If we hide ourselves at
home, if we fail to interact with and learn about our
friends in other countries, if we fail to be open to
new ideas and different ways of thinking, we are all
at great risk. Risk of intolerance, violence and war.
There are certainly risks inherent with travel, but
they can be managed with good planning and decision
making. The risks of living a life of isolation and
geocentrism are much greater.

JP

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