by Teressa Jackson
Monday, February 24, 2014 – 5 p.m. Melbourne time
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| 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.
View more photos from the day and stay up-to-date with all our latest at our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/gse2014.
