The City and The Shed

by Teressa Jackson

Monday, February 24, 2014 – 5 p.m. Melbourne time

The Group at Flinders Street Station

Today we toured the city. But first, I had to get there! I was such a grown-up and rode the train all by myself. Ok, it’s really not that complicated, but it did make me feel good to have done so successfully.

We met at Flinders Street Station and walked the National Gallery for an overview of the collection there with the immediate past District Governor, who volunteers at the museum. Thanks to some incredible wealth that the area experienced during the gold rush, the gallery was able to acquire many notable works by masters such as Rembrandt.

Our guide primarily showed us around the Melbourne Now exhibition of new and innovative works. These works incorporated video, PowerPoint, interactive elements, and more traditional media. There were also segments of the museum focused on fashion and jewelry design.

After the tour and a quick coffee (these people drink the heck out of coffee, and it’s quite delicious here), we rode the tram (Americans would call it a trolley) on a loop around the city to get the lay of the land. The tourist tram is free and offers an automated commentary on the sights.

We were ready for lunch, and grabbed a bite at a café in Federation Square. From there, we walked along the Yarra River and through park areas, which provided some great views of the city, as well as a high-end shopping area.

After a trip to the Visitor’s Center in keeping with Kelsie’s vocational goals, we found our respective trains and headed “home”. I enjoyed watching the masses of school children that got on the train at several stops. The boys wore shorts, dress shirts, and ties, and were mesmerized by their iPhones. The girls wore dresses, the style of which seemed very old fashioned to me. 

Monday, February 24, 2014 – 10:15 p.m. Melbourne time

Tonight we attended Aidan’s Rotary Club meeting. The presenter was a man from Men’s Shed, a not-for-profit organization, and I was lucky to sit next to him and discuss the concept and my work with him. The type of programming at a Men’s Shed was a new one to me, and this blurb from their website explains it better than I could:

“The modern Men’s Shed is an updated version of the shed in the backyard that has long been a part of Australian culture. Men’s Sheds are springing up all around Australia. If you looked inside one you might see a number of men restoring furniture, perhaps restoring bicycles for a local school, maybe making Mynah bird traps or fixing lawn mowers or making a kids cubby house for Camp Quality to raffle. You might also see a few young men working with the older men learning new skills and maybe also learning something about life from the men they work with. You will see tea-bags, coffee cups and a comfortable area where men can sit and talk. You will probably also see an area where men can learn to cook for themselves or they can learn how to contact their families by computer.

“So what is so special about this new type of Men’s Shed? Most men have learned from our culture that they don’t talk about feelings and emotions. There has been little encouragement for men to take an interest in their own health and well-being. Unlike women, most men are reluctant to talk about their emotions and that means that they usually don’t ask for help. Probably because of this many men are less healthy than women, they drink more, take more risks and they suffer more from isolation, loneliness and depression. Relationship breakdown, retrenchment or early retirement from a job, loss of children following divorce, physical or mental illness are just some of the problems that men find it hard to deal with on their own.”

View more photos from the day and stay up-to-date with all our latest at our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/gse2014.