I'm not fond of using the verb "to conference", but it well describes what I've been doing since noon on Monday. The Opening Ceremony was truly breath-taking, with an appearance by "His Excellency" the Governor of the state of Victoria, and a magnificent performance by the Scotch College Symphony Orchestra -- 85 strong and all high school boys! That was followed up by a choral group from 12 different Melbourne boys' schools who sang an original piece composed and arranged by one of the Scotch College teachers to celebrate the 16 different countries represented at the conference. Wow -- I kept trying to imagine whether/how Gilman could pull off something like this. Well, we couldn't, actually.
We listened to one of the keynote talks by one Rufus Black, a brilliant, young researcher and philosopher/theologian from these parts who addresed the topic of "teaching creativity" which is tied to the conference theme. Peter and I went out to dinner afterward, close to our hotel, and turned in pretty early last night. I've developed quite a strong Australian accent during my time here which will be hard to shake once I get back to the States. Good on yeh, mate.
I've taken to getting up at about 5:30 a.m. and making my way to the river to run and watch the sun come up on the city. And now that the conference is in full swing, we get a few meals a day at the conference site. Today's Continental breakfast, though, was pretty spare, so tomorrow, we might catch brekkies at one of the diners in this neighbourhood. Today's schedule was very full, and the quality of the presentations was hot and cold. One of the two keynote speakers was excellent, and I took away a few ideas from the hour-long workshops I attended. We also watched a live, interactive feed from a boys' school in Hong Kong where a group of boys from around the world have gathered to participate in an eleaborate community service project in mainland China. Cool stuff, and a harbinger of more to come as the Coalition makes use of technological innovations to bring people together in innovative ways. Next year's conference is in Richmond, and I am playing a role in a similar project -- more on that later.
Tonight (Tuesday) we are off to the official conference dinner at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (pronounced "Melbin Creekit Grines"), considered to be sacred territory around these parts. This stadium is part of a large complex of Arenas, including the site of the Australian Open. I'm running out of clean clothes, so I might try to do some laundry later on. Finally, I leave you with my favourite overheard vernacular today: "So, when are you Rogahs heading back over to Tazzie?"
Cheahs.
We have had nothing but sun and wind here in Elkins: sailing, swimming, etc. I had much the same reaction to Maeve's Genius Olympiad in Oswego that you mentioned below. How could we do something like this? The Genius Olympiad is the vision of one person who is building a coalition with the help of the University and the town. I wonder if the conference you're attending has a similar single driving force? UNC Wilmot
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