It's no secret around the office that I'm in love with Australia and all things Australian. So when Katie, the Public Affairs intern came by an invite to a gallery opening at the Australian Embassy, she was kind enough to think of me.
That is how, on a Thursday night at about 6:30 i found myself officially back on Australian soil, albeit several thousand miles away from the mainland. However, it was about as Australian as you could get, complete with flags, Australian musicians and booze (Crownies, for those of you who care).
The event was to celebrate the opening of "Leisureland," an aptly named photography exhibit of Australians at leisure. A good topic, as I struggle to think of a time in Australia where there was not a whole lot of leisure. The laid back culture is some thing that I really miss after 6 weeks here in Washington. A city where work takes up a disproportionate amount of time and schmoozing at parties is often mistaken for "leisure."
The photos were good, but didn't quite capture the theme. There was, of course, a token picture of the ACT(where I lived) which was some kangaroos grazing in a field. It didn't help to dispel Canberra's image as a boring place, but I assure you that that watching kangaroos is not the only entertainment there!! There were a disproportionally large number of pictures of Star City casino in Sydney (complete with a cave-themed bar and obviously, uber tacky) and the Wagga Wagga country fair. Surprisingly, very few pictures of beaches, an obvious oversight.
Anyways, aside from being in Australia, this was the second best thing. A thoroughly enjoyable evening listening to jazz and sampling Australian wine (seveal times, as there was an open bar). There will be more stories from "Australia" as we met the intern and she invited us to the Embassy's happy hour in a couple of weeks. Awesome!!!!
Good times all around.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment