LIFE IN ADELAIDE II

IF ONE READ THE LOCAL NEWS, South Australia might seem quite a violent place. Since I have been here, there have been five or so murders, including a particularly vicious slaying of a family of three in a small town at the beginning of the Barossa Valley (where a lot of red wine is grown). It has more convicted serial killers (per million of population) than most places around the world. Just recently, in the early hours of the morning, an as yet identified person or persons set upon the Deputy Premier (second in charge of the governing party) giving him quite a pounding.

This last item has been noted in the press with a certain irony as the present government (Labour Party, somewhat akin to the Democratic Party in the US) has made much of ensuring public safety. After a long run in government at the state level, the Labour Party is reeling from another set of blows in the form of electoral voting going against them. This makes the local ruling party somewhat nervous and some folk are questioning whether such an important person (he is also the State Treasurer) showed good judgment by being out alone in the small hours in a distinctly shady part of town. On another front, both Melbourne and Adelaide, whose Universities depend a great deal on students from India, China, Malaya, and Indonesia, have been considerably dismayed by a sharp and sudden drop in enrollments as news of violence against foreign students late at night has gotten back to their homelands. A case of beating the geese that lay the golden eggs, one might say.

Having grown up here, I do not experience Adelaide as an unsafe place (I keep off the streets late at night, to be sure) unless I happen to be on the road, whether a pedestrian, a cyclist, or driving. Then one must look out for aggressive lane changing and a general disinclination to respect anyone not enclosed within motorized sheet metal. Perhaps the wide streets contribute to this, generating a false sense of safety. Even so, it is not all that bad, compared, say, to Rome on a Saturday night.

Violence of a different sort is coming to Adelaide this weekend, in the form of the Second Test cricket match, played between England and Australia. I mentioned in my email alerting you to my previous post, that cricket is played by very many countries (105, as a matter of fact) and is second only to soccer as a zone for international competition. Once again Wiki comes to the rescue with an excellent explanation of this "game". It is played at several levels but the 'cricket to end all cricket', ultimate cricket, is the International Test series, each match lasting up to five days, when the leading cricket nations play off against each other in a seemingly endless series of matches all around the world. Not a few are former British colonies and have an historic grudge against the "Mother Country" (England), with fervent intent to beat the English teams at cricket. This site will give you all the latest scores and, if you want to get the biased Aussie perspective, go here. Cricket followers experience incredible fervour, perhaps not quite as high as that engendered by World Soccer, marked by international rivalries, sometimes epitomized by riots at test matches.

Watching the First Test (played in Brisbane, Queensland), I was rewarded by, and thrilled to see, an extremely rare event at this level of the game, a "hat trick". This occurs when a bowler succeeds in dismissing three batsmen with three successive balls! What is more, it was the bowler's birthday...quite a birthday present.

Cricket tends to make baseball appear somewhat 'wimpish'. For example, apart from the two batsmen and the wicket keeper, fieldsmen do not use gloves; also, once each turn at bowling, the bowler may bowl right at the batsman, either full on or by bouncing the ball.

One has to pay to see Cricket on special channels in the US (everywhere else, on free-to-air TV) but you can get an idea of the game by going to the video section on the Australian site. English English is dotted with cricket metaphors and references that must seem mysterious to those unfamiliar with the game, such as "that is not cricket", "on a sticky wicket", or "caught on the back foot". If you know a few, why not drop them off as comments to this posting?

LIFE IN ADELAIDE

DESPITE BEING OF SIMILAR SIZE to the 48 contiguous United States, Australia has only six (plus two territories). Another dissimilarity is that each of the principle cities in size in each state is also the capitol.

A LA TERRACE IN ADELAIDE, the capitol city of South Australia, and my home town. My family moved here down from the county to the North, just after the Second World War. Over almost 40 years, here I grew up, was educated and plied my trades (first, Baptist minister and then psychologist). It is also home city for my three children and my younger daughter continues to live here with her husband and two children.

Somewhat surprising for such an out of the way place, Adelaide is counted by The Economist amongst the world's top ten most livable cities. Given that it is the capitol of the driest state in the driest continent, and is about as far away from any part of the rest

of the world, outside Australia, as could be imagined, you might wonder at this. Wiki Encyclopedia has a good description of the city. My other home city is Portland (Oregon) and the two rival each other as livable places. There are some surprising ties between South Australia and Oregon, and between Adelaide and Portland, particularly in the public transport field.

The climate is Mediterranean and mainly mild. Summer weeks can become quite hot for days at a stretch, followed by a refreshing change with winds from the South and spectacular thunderstorms. Not surprisingly, Adelaidians are devoted to many outdoor pursuits, including the famous back yard Bar-B-Q but also many sporting activities, football (Aussie Rules, Soccer, and a sprinkling of Rugby), tennis, and cricket. Part of the answer is the amazing racial (hence diversity of food) mix. There is plenty of opportunity to eat a la terrace, as my lead picture indicates.

Unlike some other Australian states, South Australia has no convict history. It was founded by English settlers seeking political and religious freedom and has become home to successive migrations since the 1950s, from northern Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, and most recently, Africa. So it is possible to eat good food according to many national cuisines.

Then there is the wine. Seventy percent of Aussie wine is grown in South Australia and much of the countryside to the North and South is occupied by vineyards, some quite famous, with plantings going back over 150 years. Limestone soils and plenty of sun make for excellent wine.

The city is laid out on a square mile and surrounded by a band of parklands. Within the square mile, there are five large squares, connected by broad streets. Part of the parkland belt contains expansive botanical gardens and a zoo.

So there you have some of the reasons that make Adelaide so livable: spacious surrounds, pleasant climate, good food and wine, plenty of festivals, great sporting events, a vibrant multiculturalism, and miles of sandy beaches near to hand. And also, when it is cold in the Northern Hemisphere, the weather is most enjoyable.

STILL IN THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE to pass through the eye of the needle? I thought that all I had to do was to reduce my stuff to the contents of a suitcase or so, travel to Australia and look around for a place to settle. If you want to hear more about my dilemma, just send me an email and I will put you on the list of close mates to whom I plan to send more detail of how this is working out. Suffice to say that the passage may well involve shedding some expectations. The project of the ecologically correct cabin continues to develop but the ‘where’ is yet to be determined.

In the meantime, I am enjoying Adelaide and have settled to a routine. For the greater part of the week, I am living with my sister, Cherie, and finding lots of maintenance work to do. Presently, I am attending to corrosion that has attacked metal framing around her house. Over the weekends, I am with my daughter and her family quite near to the city. Sunday morning is quite a highlight as we go to the nearby farmers’ market. It is quite extensive and involves real farmers; depending on how soon you read this posting, there will be one or two pictures of market scenes.

Near to her home is the local Alliance Francaise centre where I have enrolled in a course on Monday evenings. I have a work project at my daughter‘s home; retiling a shower alcove.

ON THE KNEE FRONT, I am continuing with rehabilitation exercises at a local gym and also keeping up a program of exercise call ‘Slow Burn’ (introduced to me by my friend Richard who lives near Hudson in New York). I was so impressed with the results of this program for him that I just had to take it up myself. I am now able to ride Bike Friday easily for up to an hour. My sister lives in an area with rolling hills, some quite steep so I find ’bike riding fitness’ returning with pleasing alacrity. I expect that it take a month or two for them to feel quite normal. One effect of chronic osteoarthritis with knees is that, as cartilage wears away, the legs become noticeably bowed. Now that they are straightened out, occasionally I feel a little knock-kneed. Still learning a normal gait, particularly when in a hurry, I am improving with balance and stride. Nonetheless, it can feel somewhat strange at times.

THE VIEW DOWN UNDER, Unfortunately, Aussies are not doing so well in their beloved game of cricket and have had a long run of defeats in one day matches, most recently being trounced by Sri Lanka. The six day matches against England are about to begin so selection for the Aussie team is a hot topic. The English team have brought along their own top sports psychologist to assist in maintaining their morale which suffered a terrible collapse last series. The battle between England and Australia is for “The Ashes“. At any time, cricket must be hard for Americans to understand but what on earth could The Ashes be? Would you believe these are the remains of the stumps (forming the wicket at each end of the cricket pitch) which were seized long ago by the Aussie team that first won against the English at the famous home of cricket, Lords. These stumps were burned and the ashes placed in an urn. This urn is kept by either the Aussies or the English, depending on which team wins the series.

RECENT VISITS BY AMERICANS: Hilary Clinton has been in town. She has been followed by Tiger Woods who is determined to add another Aussie Golf tournament to his list of successes. His fortunes have been varied since his last victory here a year ago and he hopes for a comeback on several fronts. Our Prime Minister has gone to South Korea to talk up a free trade agreement between the two counties. The G20 group meets there very shortly. Australia attempts a Janus stance vis-à-vis Asia and the US. We like to think or ourselves as part of Asia, despite our British colonial origins, On the other hand, in relation to Hilary Clinton’s visit, we have agreed to have a greater US military presence here, particularly in relation to training US forces for action in central Asia. Some of Australia’ neighbours might have misgivings about this. Australia provides an important strategic listening post via secret radar and intelligence installations. This may be part of the US’s plan to limit the influence of China. However, China is busily buying up Aussie mining and gas companies and may be seeking thereby to limit the influence of the US in Asia. Australian politicians hold the faith that, should we get into serious trouble with our neighbours the US military might will come to our rescue, as with the Second World War in the Pacific. “Might” of course, has several meanings. Ah…international politics!