May 16, 2007
Good morning from Brisbane.
We’re in the capital of Queensland, a city of over 1 million people that represents the past, present, and maybe future of Australia.
It is the past in that it was one of the capitals of the six states that federated in 1901, to become Australia. It has some old architecture, of the governmental kind that are impressive and massive and reflect well on Britain when it was the ruler of the world. There are even a few older homes etc., that are pretty neat and reflect as much the tropics (covered porches) as the British heritage (Tudor).
It is the present because Australia has become more multicultural. The country had an exclusion policy for a long time, as our host at the hotel noted; her name is Ming (Chinese for first name), and her parents were brought from Taiwan to develop a Chinese program at the University here. She was the only nonwhite in her class. It is quite different today, and much more Asian.
It is also a glimpse of the future because there is a major water shortage in Australia. For a variety of reasons, the country is very sensitive to the environment, but here the lack of rainfall has caused a level 5 alert. People are cautioned to spend no more than 4 minutes in the shower, and there are warnings on the street about washing cars and other needless activities. The ferry we were on stated it does not wash the boat but once a week. There is below 20% capacity in the reservoir, and they are talking about the next level of crisis within a month or two. And it’s national.
What that means for us is sunny days, in the sub tropics (about the 23rd parallel south). After a talk from the Australian Trade group (helps exporters), we took the train to the Gold Coast.
The students went to Surfer’s Paradise (name of the place), and Ruth Ann and I visited a former ISU faculty member who is Australian, and owns a $1 million condominium (only about $830,000 US) overlooking the Pacific.
Today, among other things, I am visiting an old friend who I met over 30 years ago.
Isn’t the world a small place?