Brisbane wrap up

 

The last day in Brisbane was as good as the first two, taken up mostly by a tour of the city and environs with Judy Magub, who works with the Peace Fellows from the Rotary side, and an evening party where some of the class five Fellows were welcoming the new class six Fellows and answering their questions.

It was great to sit in on that and get a clearer sense of how things will work there in terms of the academics.

Overall impressions:

– The Peace Fellows are an impressive bunch of people, and I’m deeply honored and humbled to be a part of that group.

– This program is going to be seriously challenging for me academically, and that’s good news. It will be a healthy stretch, I think.

– The local Rotary and university folks are incredibly supportive.

– Brisbane is a city. It’s not going to be like living in Black Mountain, or even Asheville. More like Charlotte.

– There is a delightful cultural diversity here, not only around the university but in the city itself. Both Deanna and I love that, and miss it a bit in Black Mountain, though we love living there.

– It’s seriously hot here. To be clear, that’s great news to me, and even better news to Deanna.

– I talk funny. I’ve got lots of vocabulary to learn for daily communication, and I seem to have a strange accent, too.

– This is going to be an absolute blast!