Apr 22, 2011
One of the problems with getting up at somewhere between 1:30 and 3:30 to write and send out letters down in the lobby as my body adjusts to the 15 hour time change is that I can’t use my usual proof reader. Carol normally checks them for clarity and lets me know when I’m being obnoxious and/or obtuse. That doesn’t mean I’ll change it, but at least she makes me aware of it So the last letter went out I still referred to World Expeditions, as World Encounters. I don’t know why I have such a brain lock, but I apparently do. We’re with World Expeditions, that’s Ex-pe-di-tions
[ed. the name has been corrected in the previous post.]
The Group
The group has come together as one for the first and last time in this lifetime and we are a varied bunch of people who come from more places than seems on the surface. There are 14 of us, larger than originally indicated since another tour was cancelled and three people jumped on board this trip. Technically we are 10 Aussies, 2 Canadians, and Carol and myself. However, that is the simple mathematics of the equations. The youngest is 51 and the oldest is not me, surprisingly, but a man who celebrates his 71 birthday today.
The Aussies:
Alan and “Fabulous” Fran as she introduced herself. He is a retired accountant while she was born in the Czech Republic and raised their three children. I got some points when I asked her if she worked outside the home. She said: “Oh, very good. I can get quite testy when people ask me if I work. I always respond ‘Very hard.’”
Minh and Nellie are Vietnamese who have lived in Australia for thirty years. She works in a Pharmacy and he defers to her for all questions. They each left Vietnam separately after the fall of Saigon in 1975. They both had families associated with the Military and government and had parents who were sent to concentration camps for seven years before being released and allowed to leave the country. They love Australia. Minh is still a mystery to me, but Nellie is typical-Vietnam sweet.
Thor and Michael are a gay couple who have been together for 32 years. Thor is originally from Sweden and Michael from Sri Lanka. They were dancers with the Royal Ballet in London and danced with Dame Margot Fontyn and Rudolf Nureyev. They ended their careers dancing at the Lido and Moulin Rouge in Paris. Think “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” and you’re close.
Megan is a single female traveler and is everything I like about Aussies. She is brash, energetic, and raring to go.
Pamela is also a single traveler who was a high school geography teacher who became a district superintendent. See how you missed the boat, Jerry :-)
John is the baby at 51 who was a communications entrepreneur and media consultant. He went to Japan with a school group and wound up going back and lived there for over 20 years. He now designs walking trails, like the Appalachian trail. He’s someone with whom I think I’ll enjoy talking.
Peter is a free lance photographer and doesn’t interact a lot with the group at this point. He’s busy doing his thing. He’s pleasant enough, just not the usual Aussie-friendly type.
The Canadians are Lise (rhymes with please, she explains) and Saci (prounounced “sassy”). I asked Lise if he was, and she said: “All the time.” She’s right, but in a wonderfully cryptic way. He is Algerian, who came to Ottawa on a scholarship and wound up marrying this young Acadian girl. He’s now a high school math teacher, and I think his classes would be a lot of fun. Lise works but I can’t remember what she does. We talk hockey and typically when I asked Saci how an Arab could take to Ice hockey, he replied. “Simple. It’s just soccer with skates.”
