As part of our trip I am undertaking a unit at UTas called Bringing the World Back Home.
This blog will detail some of the thoughts and questions which I have to answer to pass that unit. This opportunity to travel so consciously is a wonderful way to add to my Uni studies!
Firstly, we were asked for a 'bucket list' of about 10 hopes for our journey. Mine reads:
My travels will be almost half
and half ship-board and land based. So here are 5 for each:
Antarctic cruise: 1. Overcome
my fear of bouncing around on the Drake Passage, which has the reputation as
some of the roughest waters in the world. 2. Assist with any scientific
experiments being conducted on board. 3. Get along well with a bunch strangers
(12 of us maximum) in the close confines of a small yacht for 24 days. This may
involved developing my powers of tolerance and thought-through speech. 4.
Finally set foot on Antarctic territory and meet some of its wildlife (that has
been on my bucket list since I was 18 yrs old; I am now 'retired'). 5. Get good
photos to record the trip.
Argentina and Chile: 1.
Remember, use and develop my recently-unused (and never fluent or grammatical)
skills in Spanish language, by taking every opportunity to communicate with
others I meet along the way. 2. Learning more about the Argentinian national
drink, yerba mate, and the meaning it has in their culture. 3. Do some walking
in the Paine Range in Chilean Patagonia, and further north in the Andes. 4.
Arrange some homestay accommodation through SERVAS and/or Warm Showers
organisations which both offer hospitality to visitors during their travels (we
are hosts for both in Tasmania) to promote world peace and people-to-people
friendships. 5. Spend time with our daughter who is currently riding her
bicycle from the Caribbean to Tierra del Fuego, and learn more about Latin America
through her experiences along the way.
A thought from our reading for the unit:
“How will you go about finding that thing, the nature of
which is totally unknown to you?”
(“A Field guide to Getting Lost”, Rebecca Solnit, London: Penguin 2006).
On “Being a Flâneur
We had to begin this exercise by looking at: http://elliptic.typepad.com/elliptic_blog/2003/01/the_flneur.html
Then these thoughts came to me:
A simple definition
would be "one who strolls aimlessly through urban spaces."
So says the article
we were given on “Being a Flâneur.
And my first thoughts are: “… …! Here I am, 8 days off
flying to South America; three of those days are tied up over Christmas; I
can’t access the ‘Supplement to the unit outline’ pages for some unknown
reason; the Uni IT desk ‘help’ has not been a help; it is pouring with rain on a Sunday
morning; and I am meant to take my camera for an ‘aimless stroll’ around
town???”
Hmmm. Not a good start to my new unit. I have been excited
about the idea of how travel changes us; how we cope with different cultures
and languages – but my current frame of mind is showing that I DO react to the
stresses of making moves like this. Consider even the ‘foreign land’ of this new unit – my fourth in my Uni studies –
I thought my first 3 units had challenged me and I now had all this IT stuff
under my belt – and here I am, not knowing just what the unit is about, how it
works, nor what I have to do – and unable to find out why or how to solve the
problem.
When I
was shopping in Hobart last week for thermal undies for our Antarctic cruise, a
fellow shopper mentioned he was heading overseas for language immersion in
Denmark – I casually asked if he had taken on the HUM107 unit. “Yes, I had so
much fun seeing Hobart as a tourist”, he replied, “It helped me see it so
differently”. And he shot out of the shop before we had further opportunities
of discussion. Too bad! Being an ‘isolated’ student, studying fully online
subjects, he is one of the few fellow classmates I have met in person! I would
have enjoyed a longer exchange – at the time I was not yet even formally
enrolled in this unit - but at least he has given me a quick glimpse of where
to start despite the IT glitch I have encountered.
I read on: “[…] Benjamin
brought attention to the cognitive value and pleasures associated with urban
strolling. A flâneur, under this interpretation, becomes an active sociologist
or reader of the environment around him or her.”
Hmmm…
If the rain doesn't stop soon I may have to try out my wet weather gear and go
anyway - today is the only chance I have to do my local 'stroll' and photo
shoot. And I guess rain is a side of my local St Helens environment that the
tourists get to see anyway!
I
worked some 15 years ago as an outdoor tour guide (bushwalking and cycling) -
and discovered then that I had spent my prior life being a 'fair weather'
walker - but tourists are often on limited time frames, have to see it all
anyway, and I discovered the pleasures of seeing familiar places in unfamiliar
weather conditions… and the challenges of enthusing my clients for the damp
experience too! In the passing years since then I guess I have sunk back into
the old, comfortable, less challenging habit of 'staying home' in 'bad
weather'.
Thinking
ahead to our up-coming adventure, we are sure to have some 'bad weather' ahead
of us. With 24 days on a 75ft yacht coming up, travelling across the
notoriously rough Drake Passage and along the Antarctic Peninsula, I may well
be challenged way beyond the 'it is fun bushwalking in the rain' scenarios of
the past. So I had better get out there and practice a little…
The rain did finally stop. The sky was still grey and it was about 5pm… but here is what I found:
More often than not, we
spend our time in our cities commuting to and from our work places; too
preoccupied or tired to take note of the visual complexities around us. We
rarely have time to pause and admire small details in the architecture or to
pursue a reverie caused by some stranger’s facial expression. (Flâneur, Fall 2002/The Arcades
Project/Walter Benjamin: downloaded 23 Dec 2013 from http://elliptic.typepad.com/elliptic_blog/2003/01/the_flneur.html)
5pm on an overcast Sunday
afternoon – the only activity on the wharf was a family in a camper van buying fish from our local fishing boat, just back from 3 or
4 days out at sea; another camper van cruises past me, turns, and leaves,
seemingly unimpressed with the lack of activity; a couple with 2 small children
admire boats along the jetty near the fish restaurant – perhaps they are
waiting till the restaurant opens to have dinner? It is a long time since I
have taken the time to stroll from the wharf, along the foreshore, past the
playground; to the other side of the resort hotel; and further, to the river
estuary with its mudflats and feeding waders. I identify the birds from the
near-by sign. The built environment is not so noticeable here. I return to
‘downtown’, and wander through a pedestrian lane between shops. It is access to
cafes and one of our galleries – totally deserted this Sunday afternoon, shops
closed, just a lonesome dog painted on a mural watches me pass by, alone… Where else might tourists visit, I ask
myself. The overnight parking area at the recreations grounds – a small fenced
off area, devoid of interest, dominated by the ‘dump-ezy’ for RV vehicles to empty
toilets and shower tanks; and bags of garbage overflowing from the two rubbish
bins… No-one is camped here tonight – and I am not surprised! These are a few
of the places that lie beyond my regular shopping/post office route into
‘town’.
 |
| Walkway between coffee shops and gallery |
|
|
I love the whimsy of this wall – the grey
paint appears to cover old graffiti… or was it the intended backdrop for a
planned mural that did not progress beyond the appealing small dog painted onto
the lower right corner?
 |
| St Helens is an 'RV-friendly town' |
Not the most glamorous corner of our
town… but essential for all the campers who frequent the many beach-side
campsites along the Bay of Fires coast-line! I must admit it was a surprise to
find a drinking water tap located only a few metres away, along the fence! I don’t usually
have a need to visit this locality!
 |
| Fishing boats at St Helens wharf |
The wharf area is hard to miss, as the
Tasman Highway goes over a bridge beside the wharf. St Helens has a name for
itself as being a fishing port with good local seafood. In fact it is not
always easy to find fresh fish, with only one scale-fish boat now calling St
Helens home – but they will sell to you off the boat if you are there when they
arrive in port. There was a camper van parked next to it and tourists buying
fish as I wandered. The cray
boats (in distance) come only for the season, and sell direct to dealers rather
than to the public.
Some reflections on the journey ahead:
What are you hoping to gain from undertaking study abroad?
The Antarctic cruise will be fulfilling a lifelong dream to see the Great Southern Continent and some of it’s wildlife, the ice, a world in shades of only white and blue (plus some greys)… I am enrolled to do the Introduction to Antarctic Studies unit next semester, and I am hoping my experiences on the 75 foot yacht for 24 days will assist me with understanding some of the issues of life in a cold environment, living in isolation from the world, with a small group of strangers that you just have to get along with – as explorers and expeditioners, past and present, have to do. I also expect us to visit some scientific stations along the Antarctic Peninsula, both historic and currently active. And we have been told that there will be a scientist on board (on a fellowship from the company) doing observations during the cruise.
The second part of our journey will involve travelling independently in Patagonian Argentina and Chile – a opportunity to recall and improve the Spanish we learnt many years ago when travelling in Latin America. I also want to learn more about the local culture, and try to get an understanding of life in the southern end of the continent – so will be taking every opportunity to communicate in Spanish and learn as much as I can.
What differences are you expecting to encounter in your host country? How do you think you will cope or deal with these differences?
The main issue will be one of communication. I feel fairly confident that I can cope with enough language for daily needs, such as food and accommodation and simple discussions with lower socio-economic folk; the difficulty is in talking to highly educated individuals and listening to the local version of the ABC news! So far, we just don’t have either the grammar nor vocabulary to cope in such situations.
There will also be a struggle coming to terms with very different denominations of money and the relative values in AUD$. For example, 10,000 Chilean pesos are roughly the same as AUD$25. So working out the value of a cup of coffee might seem like a staggering amount of money to pay!
How prepared do you feel for your sojourn?
Even though my previous visit to Latin America was over 40 years ago, and I know I will find many, many changes (even new towns and highways that did not exist on our previous visit), knowing what I do, I feel we are as prepared as we can be for travel in Patagonia. As far as the cruise is concerned, I have stocked up on sea-sickness medications and have my pressure wrist bands ready for crossing the Drake Passage; I have lived in Canada, so know how many clothes I will need at minus 15 degrees C in Antarctica; and I have talked to others who have enjoyed a trip on the yacht we are going on, and the need for a telephoto lens to capture pictures of wildlife has been a good excuse to get a new camera…
What do you expect to miss most?
I am very aware that my dear 94 year old mother has been going slowly downhill in health for the past few years… and at her age just over two months is a long time! I will miss her birthday, and it is possible that I might miss being with her and my siblings around the time of her death.
Regardless of Mum’s health, I will definitely miss sitting up in my comfortable bed at home enjoying my first cup of coffee as the summer sunshine streams in the window at me. It is the time of day when I think out what I need to do and prepare mentally for the day ahead. Most of this trip I will be either in a bunk below decks or waking stiff after camping on a thin sleeping mat! The coffee I might be lucky enough to get, but little hope of the comfort and sunshine streaming in!
What impact do you think your time abroad might have eventually on your career or future professional choices?
As a ‘retiree’ I may see this question differently to most of my fellow students. I think the main things that I can bring back are new understandings and new language skills that could be helpful with my volunteer activities. I can see them being useful in my role as a literacy tutor – if I struggle with Spanish grammar, I am better able to assist someone without a good grasp of English grammar. Likewise, I can see language skills being useful in my role as a volunteer host for visitors of SERVAS and Warm Showers organisations – the majority of visitors coming for a home-stay are foreigners speaking English as a second (or more!) language. And the more widely I have travelled, the better I am able to help them see the factors that make Australian language, culture and landscape unique.
And I do expect that life confined to bobbing around on a small boat (with short shore excursions by kayak and rubber duckie) will certainly raise issues for me to deal with in my inner self (although I don’t know just what that will be, yet) – so I trust I can learn more about me and become a ‘better person’; a better, more peace-filled, worry-less, global citizen, I hope!
If anyone wants to follow our yacht, we will have a yacht-tracker on board. To see where we are between 4 and 24th January, go to http://www.ocean-expeditions.com/where-are-the-yachts/ and look at the map for the yacht 'Australis'.
