Saturday, March 15, 2008

Oz 2008: Afternoon Spent Alone in Adelaide

Adelaide is in the middle of a heat wave and yet the beach was full of people at noon. I did not go for a swim because I thought it would be unsafe for me to leave my clothes on the shore. My host Kerry Seebohm assured me that it is quite safe here.

I rode the tram and fell asleep. I woke up before the Rundle Mall station. It just amazes me how different these cities can be from each other.

Adelaide is a city that has 1.1 million people. How can so few people make up a city? Well, I definitely saw most of them in Rundle Mall. The students just got off from school and they were loud in the city center. There were street performers. I was impressed with a young Irish comedian so I gave him my change. Too bad he did not get that much as most of his audience were not yet working.

As I tried to find Kerry, I saw aboriginal people sleeping in the park. It is sad that they live in such awful condition and they are supposed to be the natives of this country. Definitely, the present system is not working for them. They are in one of the richest countries in the world and yet they are unproductive. Something is wrong. I wonder when I will fully grasp this important part of Australian society.

No comments: