One summer a long time ago..

.. I followed Dianne home to Wangaratta, and because I am one half of Min and Sam; she came along, and because it was summer, my sister was visiting; she too came along. Di took us hiking to the 'baked bean' (see above) and then swimming in rock pools.

It was only one weekend and so long ago, it is almost forgotten but these little adventures add up to our Australian experience. Many of the students nowadays fail to take advantage of this opportunity to soak up the local culture and friendship - simply because air-fares are cheap, they come home for summer (and mid semester); because there is a large Asian population, they keep to themselves; because they have to be wealthier to study overseas nowadays, they don't know need to known local culture or people. It is a badge of participation for them - been there, got the degree.

And for that they miss out on meeting families with stories to tell and meals to share, they miss out on driving around country towns in Dianne's dad's 'ute' - and greeted by other people driving in 'utes' - usually a raised index finger from the hand on top of the steering wheel, they miss out on the picnic lunch on top of Mt Buffalo of Salada sandwiches made from a stub of salami from Dianne's backpack and peppers from her mom's garden; they miss out meeting brothers who just had their wisdom tooth pulled out and had to eat mushed up mac-and-cheese for dinner (or tea as they sometimes call it in the country), they miss out hearing about next summer's plans to re-locate the barn, and they they miss out on meeting the dog named Kettle. (?)

And most importantly, they miss out on having a rich tapestry of stories to tell from old black and white photos a generation later..

The barn in Dianne's Farm in Wang