Below are notes from Linn Weeda as he traveled down to Sydney, Australia, scouting out our tour for next year (2009).
Friday, June 21 (Thursday, June 20 in Anchorage) - Entry #4
Today, the weather feels like very early fall in Anchorage - shirtsleeves are ok, but I had to put on my pile jacket on occasion. Very blustery, and pretty dry. This contrasts from when I first got here, when it was muggy and around 70.
I spent most of the day at the Sydney Opera House - I was backstage, on stage, and listened to most of a rehearsal. It is really exciting onstage - the seats extend it seems like forever, and, unlike the PAC, we will have lots and lots of room. The chorus (we will be working with them next year) was quite good - some 200 voices. The hall has 'surround' seating: people can sit both in front of the orchestra and behind the orchestra. It is in these seats that the chorus sings from.
The acoustics were terrific on stage, and the orchestra was awestruck as they came on stage - as they should have been. It is the Young People's Orchestra from Berkley, CA.
Backstage, there is also lots and lots of space: most rooms, including the green room where we would wait to go on stage, have world class views of the Sydney Harbour. They even have a cafe and a pool table there!
I took a long walk in the Royal Botanical Gardens right behind the Opera House. Very meticulously kept gardens (although it is winter here, and not much is in bloom), with much greenery and acres and acres of grass. Aussies love their gardens!
There are many things that are different than America here, but mostly, it is very comfortable: once you get used to the accent, you can understand everyone, the weather is very moderate, there are many stores and amenities that are familiar. But, there are reminders all the time that this is a different country - many of those differences I have written about before.
The money here is in dollars and cents, but of course the money looks different: the paper money has a clear plastic window in it, and comes in denominations of 5, 10, 20, and 50 dollars. Coins are 10, 20, and 50 cents, as well as 1 and 2 dollar coins (the 2 dollar is smaller than the 1 dollar - go figure!)
Right now, $1AU is more or less equal to $1US. Prices here in Sydney are somewhat high - a latte costs about $3.50, a cheap meal costs maybe $10 to $15. Interestingly, there is little tipping here - maybe rounding the bill up to the next denomination. There are no tip jars anywhere I saw.
Sydney is a very cosmopolitan city - as I write this in a hotel lobby, there is a conversation in French, and I have heard many different languages here - most of the European, Korean, Japanese, as well as those from many other Asian cultures. I can see why this is a destination: Sydney is beautiful, with lots of culture, lots of shopping, lots of things to do.
Chris Rock is performing here at a theater downtown. According the paper this morning, the Actress Gina Davis loves it here, and is thinking of buying a house. I thought you would like to know!
I have enjoyed my stay here, checking everything out in preparation for next year. I think this will be a lifetime experience for all of us, and I hope that you look forward to it as much as I do. I will post pictures when I get home.
Mr. Weeda
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Thursday, June 20 (Wednesday, June 19 in Anchorage) - Entry #3
I have been very comfortable in shirtsleeves and even t-shirts. Folks here dress casually - I am staying in an area where a lot of business takes place. The standard dress for men here is black suits and white shirts, but, interestingly, no ties. Of course I see men with ties, but almost everyone wears plain black suits. Women business attire is much like home - lots of black pant suits and dresses. Folks going to restaurants and concerts dress the gamut from dressy to very casual - very much like home.
I mentioned in an earlier blog about walking down the street - how it is different. One thing you see on many street corners is a sign on the curb saying "look this way" with an arrow painted in the direction one should look. These are here because many folks who drive like us (on the right side of the street), look the wrong way when they step off the curb - I remember stories of people being injured by being hit by oncoming traffic. The best bet, of course, is not to jay walk - then you can't go wrong!
Yesterday I took a tour of Sydney Harbour (yes, this is how it is spelled here!), and it was incredibly beautiful. The announcer on the trip was fond of pointing out all of the expensive homes on the waterfronts (the most expensive: $29 million - I didn't think that it was all that great!). As I wrote before, this is one of the greatest harbors in the world.
Sydney and its area have a lot of open space - they seem to pride themselves in all of the parks and green lands. Right now, they are rapidly decommissioning all of the shipping and port facilities (it is moving south to other bays and harbors). The State government (New South Wales) and city just don't know what to do with all of this property. Some of it is being developed into very expensive apartments - Russell Crowe bought one for some $12 million.
There is lots of shopping here - like any great city, you can get most anything. An Apple store just opened here yesterday - supposedly the largest in the world, and on the front it has the largest piece of laminated glass ever made. I walked by it a day before it opened - think of a piece of glass three stories high by about a half of city block. I hope they pay their window washers well!
Television here is pretty basic, although I suspect that folks in their homes can subscribe to cable. Playing on the telly (as it spelled here) at virtually any time are the two sports that are favorites of Aussies: Rugby (think our football without pads or helmets) and Cricket. Cricket looks kind of like our baseball, but if you were to look at for any length of time you will get a headache trying to figure it out. I had a long conversation with a local bloke about the rules - for instance, in traditional cricket matches last up to 5 days! When I get back I will be happy to explain to any of you
what I know of the game, if you dare!
Mr. Weeda
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Wednesday, June 19 (Tuesday, June 18 in Anchorage) - Entry #2
Yesterday I attended a concert of the Sydney Symphony in the Sydney
Opera House. When we play in the hall, you will be amazed at its
sound and stunning beauty. You approach the hall from its rear (there
is no bad view of the hall), climb up a wonderful set of stairs, and
enter a wood encased concert hall with clear and spectacular
acoustics. This is one of the great buildings of the world.
The Sydney Symphony is a very, very fine orchestra - especially their string section. They played Schubert, Mozart and Sibelius (his 7th
Symphony).
The Opera House overlooks the spectacular harbor, and has the best
view of the Sydney Bridge (called by the locals "The Coat Hanger").
This is a beautiful structure (older than the Opera House) that is
HUGE. The bridge is over a mile long. You can climb to the top of
the bridge, but it is expensive, and you better not be afraid of
heights!
I walked around China Town here in Sydney yesterday, and had a
wonderful meal there. Sydney has a huge variety of restaurants - and
I have yet to have a bad meal. Certain things are a little
disconcerting: baked beans for breakfast apparently is very common,
and you can't find any half and half for coffee (they use milk
instead). But, for the most part, you find much of the same food here
as in the States - in fact, Burger King (here is is called 'Happy
Jacks') and other fast food places are all over the place.
I walked through a section of town called "The Rocks" yesterday: this
is where the English convicts that first settled here lived. While
now it is a very ritzy part of town (one tiny studio apartment rents
out for about $8000 a month), it was the slums of Sydney until the
early 20th century. Those early settlers had a rough life, for sure.
Security here in Sydney is not as obvious as it is back home - I
walked into an art museum yesterday, and no one checked my backpack or
questioned me. You see occasional police men, and security at the
airport is pretty tight (you have to go through three lines -passport
check, quarantine check, and baggage check - before you can leave the
airport. I have felt very safe here, but, like any big city, I have to
be smart about where I go and when I am there.
A fun place is Darling Harbour near downtown. Concerts are given
frequently by bands at a band stand, and there is a pretty neat
Maritime museum there. What is particularly fun is the Aquarium: the
shark tank there is beyond awesome! You actually walk through a glass
tunnel while sharks swim over you. The flora and fauna here in
Australia is unique: many plants and animals are familiar (kangaroos,
for instance), the plants are unlike any that one might see elsewhere.
The weather in Australia (and most of the world) is measured in
celsius: right now, it is about 21C outside. Since I've been here,
the weather has been muggy - yesterday it got up to about 69F. I saw
folks walking about in down coats, complaining about the cold<
weather! Of course, the further south you go, the colder it is - on
the news this morning, the South Island of New Zealand is experiencing
frost. Remember, it is winter here.
Yes, the water does drain in the opposite direction from us in the
north! Check it out when you get here!
Mr. Weeda
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Linn Weeda's First Posting in Australia - - Entry #1
Greetings from Sydney! I am writing to you while I am on a trip to scout out the Australian International Music Festival and to look at venues and attractions that might be possible. Sydney is a lovely city of 5 million, set in one of the most beautiful bays in the world. The Sydney Opera House overlooks the harbor and the remarkable bridge that crosses it - known locally as the 'Coat Hanger'. Attached is a picture of me in a park that overlooks the Opera House - this is where we have been invited to play. When I travel, I am always confronted with new ways of thinking and performing even basic tasks - for instance, here in Sydney, walking down the street is interesting. You see, the drivers drive on the 'wrong side' - drivers sit in cars in the place of our passenger seat. That takes some getting used to (I drove in England for about a month, but even so, it is still disconcerting).
How does this translate to walking down the street? Everyone walks in a 'clockwise' pattern, just opposite of us. When crossing streets, most of us look to the right for cars - here they have signs on the
curbs telling us to look the other way. Even the escalators look 'wrong'!
The plane trip is long - while our schedule and lay overs may be different next year, I flew to San Francisco and spent a few hours in the airport, then flew on Qantas for 14 hours to Sydney. All told, I was in transit almost 24 hours (about 19 or 20 hours actually flying). Qantas has terrific service (including the choice of games, maybe 30 movies, and numerous audio channels at each seat), and the seats are pretty comfortable. Jet lag has not been terrible - as I write this at 7:30 in the morning, it is 1:30PM in Anchorage. When we get closer to the trip, we will have suggestions for combating jet lag. I have already heard a couple of groups at the - a wonderful full orchestra from China, and a fine band from New Zealand. The folks that I have met are really warm, and once they find out I am from Alaska, they want to ask about all of the polar bears and the incredible snowfall ("How do you deal with it?". You see, it's winter in Sydney now, but very moderate - almost like summer in Anchorage.
Right off of the plane, we took a tour that include a wonderful beach and a short hike that overlooked the entrance to the harbor (called here "theGap") with it's spectacular cliffs. We went through some of the eastern and southern suburbs, where many movie stars and celebrities live - no, I didn't have a chance to meet Nicole Kidman! Sydney was settled by convicts from England, and Australians are really proud of that heritage - our driver for the tour was a direct descendant of one of those convicts - apparently someone on her Mother's side had stolen a piece of cloth in England, and was put on a ship to Australia. Many of the lovely old buildings here in downtown Sydney were built by convict labor.
I'll write more soon. As they say here: Good Day!
Mr. Weeda
