Australia: Where We Live, and How

Most writers and travelers are thrilled to have an audience. Even Kierkegaard, who imagined his audience as one solitary reader, yearned to be read. Some readers of this blog have asked about my everyday life while traveling. Others have asked for a tone less professorial. This posting responds to both requests; however, the latter request will be honored starting one paragraph AFTER the next.

One of my favorite writers is Henry Thoreau, who boldly thought that his own personal experience of a simple life in the woods might have meaning for others. Both Walden and his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, spill over with everyday details about what Henry did (as well as what he thought). His most interesting writing focuses on choices Thoreau made—month-to-month, day in and day out, minute-by-minute—about the life he led. With Henry Thoreau as my inspiration, I will share more details than you might care to read about where Jan and I have stayed so far, and how we have dealt with life’s necessities.

Read on, dear reader, with indulgence, for I have failed to unravel the mysteries of Japanese and Korean toilet seats; I have learned that the “morning shower” is a culturally conditioned concept, and I have walked through entire apartment rooms devoted primarily to the air-drying of newly washed clothes! Read on, and sense the overwhelming gratitude that a Starbuck’s with free wi-fi can elicit. Watch over my shoulder, for I have pointed at lifelike, 3-D replicas of food to order in a Japanese restaurant! These are the sorts of details that have occupied my attention on this trip, and I fearlessly report them in this blog!

Not counting California and Hawaii, where Jan and I lived in the type of luxury most Americans are accustomed to (except with way better scenery), the “HUG Your Baby International Teaching Tour” is choosing accommodations based on two key principles. First, we choose to be close to the places where Jan (or I) have professional contacts. In Seoul we stayed at a multi-million-dollar (but not yet air-conditioned) high-rise apartment that our host, Dr. Heasook Kim, had recently purchased but had not yet occupied. In Takamatsu, Japan, we lived in one of the six western-style rooms of Kagawa University’s “International House.” (A Starbuck’s, located in the University Hospital, was just a five-minute walk away!)

In Tokyo we stayed in a “semi-double” room in the annex of the Capital Ginza Hotel, just another five-minute walk away from St. Luke’s Hospital and School of Nursing. (The apartment was so small that easygoing, generally drug-free Jim required Xanax to help him settle in!)

In Australia, we first lived in one of the four, small flats that comprise “Friends House,” on the grounds of the Quaker Meeting House in the upscale Toorak neighborhood of Melbourne. In this lovely, rainy city, the odor of Australian “Carpet Fresh” triggered asthmatic reactions for both of us.

Thus, we had to move—and chose a seventeenth-floor, corner apartment (with a fabulous city vista!) and easy access to the loading dock of the giant convention center where Jan was speaking and I was staffing the HUG Your Baby exhibit table.

Now we are in Hobart, fighting the chill, English-style, in a beautiful, brick Victorian house (1908). It’s just a—you guessed it—five-minute walk to the Friends’ School (the largest Quaker school in the world), and an even shorter walk to the wine shop and the grocery store (a Whole Foods ambience on a more compact scale).

Our second principle is to live simply (for persons of our age). We try to fend for ourselves as much as possible.

Changing the drive belt on Jan’s scooter is an example of self-reliance that both Thoreau and our sons would appreciate! (In fact, we tried to "channel" Jon and Dave for this undertaking!) Because the scooter is a necessity, not a convenience, for Jan we confessed to significant anxiety when we first cut the frayed scooter belt. A second trip, to a nearby upholsterer, was needed to repair the scooter's seat, while we waited. (People are universally kind to us when Jan is scooting!)

We have not sought to carry our personal preferences too much with us. (Morning coffee is one exception. Good Internet access is another.) Our focus is on teaching and learning, and recording what we learn and experience. We avail ourselves of public transportation, which is excellent in Japan and Australia. I walk—A LOT—while Jan scoots. My waistline is starting to show the positive effects!

We do sometimes dine out with colleagues, but our rule of thumb is to avoid restaurant meals, for the mot part. We remind ourselves that we’re running a traveler’s marathon—on a budget—with Europe (and its high prices) at the finish line!

We are very happy to find ourselves occupying a spacious apartment in Hobart, enjoying a full kitchen, a warm and sunny sitting room, a spacious bedroom (with a king-sized bed and electric blanket), and a bathroom with plenty of hot water. Plus we have a lovely view of hilly suburbs in the middle distance and mountains beyond. All for $70/day (plus an extra charge for heat, which is why we go around indoors wearing most of the layers we own--some "woolies" bought at a local thrift store). Jan wonders how to do laundry, when we are wearing all the clothes we own!

Hobart is a livable and lively city with beautiful harbor and mountain views. Glorious buildings, from the halcyon days of the British Empire, liberally sprinkle streetscapes. Good food emphasizes local agriculture. Friendly people. No traffic jams. Decent, clean bus service. It's a perfect place to pause and reflect, and to choose what more to share with you, dear reader!