LunarEclipse

I spent this past week exploring Melbourne, Victoria. I have to say, I absolutely loved it! 

Flagstaff Gardens at corner of La Trobe St and King St

I got to practice my Korean and eat Korean food (맛있는 돌솥 비빔밥을 먹었어요!) with friends.

leaving Korean restaurant (one of many)

I met lots of other researchers in my field (at several universities), participated in a discussion on a topic connected to my research, attended a seminar on the relationship between documentation and description when working with endangered languages, and learned more about the kinds of exciting projects other linguists are working on. Whew! A very fun and engaging few days, to be sure. I welcome any opportunity to nerd out with fellow field linguists.

walking in the city

I saw beautiful artwork, including some stunning work by Kate Oates at the Koorie Heritage Trust Cultural Centre. I felt very fortunate that on my second visit (I had to go back and see her artwork a second time) she was there, too, and I actually got to meet her!

a fountain outside National Gallery Victoria International

The whole time, of course, I was surrounded by Melbourne's fascinating architecture, including this building, Port 1010, which exhibits the Cafe Wall (or Münsterberg) optical illusion. The orange lines are actually parallel, but look like they taper off.

Port 1010

I got to ride on the free tourist shuttle, the city trams, and the ever-exciting, free city circle tram. Years ago, I rode on a matching streetcar, shipped to Seattle from Melbourne, with my dad, brother, and parakeet, "Rainbow".

riding on the tram, which got stuck (on a no-power spot), so the driver hopped out, cracked a joke about how him stealing his siblings' food paid off, and pushed it a few feet to get us going again

I went to the incredibly exciting Queen Victoria Market (a few times), full of yummy fresh mangosteen, okra, massive portobello mushrooms, touristy-doodads, tasty panini, hemp clothing, churros, and everything else you could imagine.

Carlton (suburb), on the way to the QVM market

I also went to the Rose St. artists' market.

houses and gardens, along the walk to Rose St Market

Rose St Market

Naturally, I did a bit of jogxploration (what else does one do in a big, unfamiliar city?).

near my hostel

Yarra River

And, of course, I spent a good bit of time watching leaves fall, like I do.

fallen leaves in Carlton Gardens, near the Melbourne Museum

leaves falling in Carlton Gardens

And, thanks to my friend, Gab, telling me it was happening that night, I watched the total lunar eclipse! Wednesday night slash early Thursday morning I popped outside my hostel in Melbourne to watch the sun, moon, and earth align at just the right time (a night with a full moon).

night sky near La Trobe's Bundoora campus

At first, the moon was gigantic. Full and bright. Slowly the shadow of the earth crept over the moon. There's nothing like watching celestial events to remind us that we are small and our problems are tiny.

full moon

I popped back inside to do some laundry, then ran back out into the crisp night. By then, the moon was glowing red with the indirect light of earth's atmosphere. I watched a while longer. It was almost gone. One more time I ran inside to check on the laundry, then ran back outside. As I burst out the door (I probably didn't need to run - it all happened rather slowly), I saw a man sitting on a bench smoking. I said excitedly, "There's a lunar eclipse!"

He responded (almost caring), "Huh. Are you into astrology, then?"
"Uh... no, not particularly. Are you?"
"Yeah. I used to be," he dramatically continued, "But I have bigger things to worry about." And then he went back to his cigarette.

After the moon disappeared completely, I went back inside. The front desk was open by then, so I told the person working there (in an attempt to explain why I had been running in and out the door at such an odd hour in my pjs) that there was a lunar eclipse. He said, "Really??" and ran outside in a hurry. Suspecting he might be a bit disappointed, I decided to go out there with him to point out where the moon had been, as there was actually nothing to see now that it was invisible. Ah well.

The sun came up shortly after and I went up to the roof to snap some photos of the city (next goal: take a photography class - I could use some instruction, hah).

Melbourne from hostel rooftop (note solar panels for heating the water)

Melbourne from rooftop 2

Melbourne from rooftop 3

For some BBC coverage of the total lunar eclipse, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13787341


And now, I will leave you with a possum.

oak with anti-possum ring

possum (I think?)

Goodbye, Melbourne and your lovely people! Thanks for the adventure.

Newcastle, it is

It is rainy and beautiful. The trees are dancing. I found two seeds in my persimmon this morning (I've never found a persimmon with seeds in it before), so as soon as I figure out where a persimmon tree might like to grow I'm going to go plant them in the soggy-soaky soil. (Why not?)

I have to apologize - I've been speaking of my experiences in Australia, but honestly I can only really speak of my experience of Newcastle. The rest of (vast) Australia remains an adventure-yet-to-be-had to me.

photo from around my neighbourhood suburb

pretty sky in my suburb

However! Tomorrow morning (4am - ugh) I head to Melbourne for the week. I hear it's cold, but pretty happenin'. I'm hoping that the cold there is more like the cold I'm used to, i.e. cold which stays outside and does not enter dwellings. I've decided to stop complaining about the cold in Newcastle, so let me just say this: the buildings here were not built for it!

Since my last post, I've had a birthday (which was lovely), celebrated Easter Monday (observed on Tuesday, naturally), given a presentation at the research higher degree symposium as part of my confirmation requirements (a fun day of interesting presentations from across the school), and been accepted into the MA in Language Documentation and Description at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (I'll be temporarily suspending my PhD here come September and heading to London). There may have been some salsa dancing and trivia nights thrown in there for good measure as well.

Tomorrow (Monday) is another public holiday: the Queen's Birthday. (The Queen's actual birthday is 21 April, so don't be confused.) I am on the lookout for more Americans so we can have a proper 4th of July celebration.

Okay, I have a lot more to do before I leave tomorrow, but there may be a few more short posts (like the one below this) in the works...

Peace!

p.s. I have discovered that my pronunciation of 'herb' usually elicits the following response:
(fits of laughter)
"She drops the haych!" 

Which then leads to several attempted imitations:

"Urb. Urb."
And more laughter. 

Ah well, I do enjoy having an urb garden.

An Observation About Crested Pigeons

Remember the crested pigeons I mentioned earlier? Well, I saw some sleeping on a telephone wire and now I suspect that their crests actually serve a purpose.

When a crested pigeon tucks its head under its wing (as sleeping birds do) its little crest sticks up in front of it. It looks quite a bit like a beak, enough so that (from a distance) the sleeping bird looks like an awake bird! And that just might be a deterrent for stealth predators.

Well done, little birds. Your cute little crests are (possibly) more than just a funky hair-do.

via Joseph Henderer