July 20, 2015. Sydney, Australia

Hi Mates –

It’s now end of day on Monday (first day of conference is over); I speak tomorrow and again on Wednesday.. and then I’m headed back to the states.

For the foodies — last night’s dinner at Chiswick was quite wonderful; started with a “basil honey martini”… vodka with honey and basil and unsweetened apple juice — quite yummy and didn’t quite realize how strong it was until I was done with it. First, Chiswick is located inside a house in a very upscale “tony” neighborhood called Woollahara.. which means meeting place, but I was told today that the Sydneysiders (as they are called) say it translates to “can’t afford to live there!!” .. anyway, the setting is wonderful set back from the street with large frontage and a big dining room that is mostly glass. I imagine that in the summer it’s great to dine here both in their outside area and when the light streams into the dining room. But it’s winter now, so it was dark outside. Nonetheless you get the sense of the outdoors .. It’s a bustling place; totally packed on a Sunday night with upscale Sydneysiders. Definitely not a tourist destination as it’s too deep into a residential neighborhood.

So, following my martini I had two appetizers which I turned into a meal — the pumpkin arancinis with gremolata which were really good and filling, followed by a really wonderful steak tartare with gaufrette potatoes (homemade chips) and horseradish.. I was a really happy camper.

I took a taxi back since it’s complicated to get to Woollahara by train and requires a lot of walking at night… and as usual I’m totally fascinated with taxi drivers (must be my NY upbringing)… If I had the time I’d do a book interviewing taxi drivers around the world in big cities.. They are a totally unstudied underclass (and as you might expect, I’m totally anti-Uber — but that’s another story — and Uber isn’t here in Sydney .. at least not yet.. so I don’t have to keep explaining why I don’t use Uber like I have to do in the Bay Area)… So this taxi driver was Czech — from Cseky Krumlov– and given that I’ve been to the Czech Republic many times, we engaged in a pretty interesting conversation. He left in 1962 and has never really been back, although his son (30) recently moved to Prague. Turns out that he is Jewish and fled to Israel and lived there for many years before coming to Sydney. He had some interesting stories and perspectives. Earlier yesterday I had a taxi driver from Jordan who was trained as an engineer, but in French, and said that it was too difficult for him to pass the exams in English here in Australia. I don’t think I’ve had a single taxi driver yet who was Australian by birth..

Anyway, the conference started at about 11. The first pre-conference session was weak in my estimation, but I think the goal was to get everyone up to speed on the topic, to do some networking, etc. After lunch there was a welcome by an aborigine and then the keynote was given by a professor form Merrimack college in Massachusetts. He was quite good and will speak again in the morning. Seems like he and his university are doing some interesting things.. that I agree with and many of the same things I will raise in my talk(s) tomorrow and Wednesday. Following the afternoon session, there was a reception. I wound up talking to an interesting woman who is on the faculty at University of Woollongong (?) who filled me in a bit on Australian politics, university issues, role of the Catholic Church (which is growing in importance and holds a lot of power — such that the parochial schools now get a lot of funding from the state for their schools — somewhat overshadowing public fund for public schools; the prime minister (who everyone seems to hate and who is quite conservative); the racist history of Australia; changing neighborhoods and class issues in Sydney; and more… I also had an interesting conversation with a woman who is doing a lot of interesting public health work in rural areas with “first peoples;” — turns out she is a nun and we had a good conversation about her dying breed and how her center at the university is funded.

Walked back to the hotel through some short cut that goes through alleys and hidden stairs that I discovered this morning when I walked to the conference location (Kiribilli Club)..

Not much more to report; I’m headed to dinner to a place nearby called Garfish. Not sure how good it will be, but I had hors d’hoerves at the reception and I’m not that hungry.. but not full enough to miss dinner.

Will report on Garfish tomorrow. I still need to review my talk for tomorrow.. which is still a bit rough. Think I’ll do that in the morning (nothing like waiting until the bitter end to feel the pressure and rev it up!).. By the way, I’m keeping a list of interesting phrases that these people here who speak English (Aussie style) say… Today, my favorite was “being in someone else’s moccasins”.. and be sure to take your “brolly” for the rain (umbrella).

Best —

Fern

PS — For those who asked something about attire at the Sydney Opera House… People going to the chamber music/symphony performance were pretty casual.. but those going into the opera were totally dolled up.. long gowns and the whole bit. Glad I chose the chamber music venue.