My first day in Australia. It was a nice day, somewhat low-key. Here are some of my first views of Brisbane as I walked across the Brisbane River.
I had breakfast with Mary and Bob. Then I picked up some groceries and watched an Aboriginal Dance performance in the Queens Street Mall. It was very interesting. Very different from the Maori. There were some children in the group. I was so fascinated and charmed by the youngest boy he was maybe 8 years old, but I would have guessed 6 or 7. He just danced with no self-consciousness whatsoever. It was very endearing. I kept trying to capture him on film. I don’t think it really worked. There was no way to really capture his essence.
I eventually made my way back to my hotel room and read for a few minutes and took a power nap. Then I walked back to the Consortium expecting to meet my accompanist. However, when he scheduled the rehearsal he scheduled it at the other building which is in a different part of the city. One of the hosts took me over there. He is a faculty at the hosting university. I enjoyed chatting with him while we drove. The practice with my accompanist went well.
There was a reception this evening. As part of the reception a boy’s choir sang and one of the selections they sang was an arrangement of “How Can I Keep From Singing.” While I was listening I had this great feeling of love for all those people in that hall. We are all teachers, which means that we all love singing and even more we all have a great love our students. That is the common ground that we meet on. It was cool. It helped me not feel intimidated by them but realize that they are just like me.
So on that positive note, let the conference begin!
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