Morgan in Australia: School, Bridge to Brisbane, Red Dog, A 9 Year Old's Birthday Wish, and Rotary

School
My studies at the University of Queensland have been good so far this semester. I am taking three courses which are Communication Management, Strategic Human Resource Management, and Australian Popular Culture. I took the Australian Popular Culture class to help me gain a better understanding of my host country and its culture. Topics include the Aussie bloke, the Outback, Australian Cinema, Australian Cuisine, Australian Sports, Indigenous Australians, and Music/Sports/Beach cultures.

Bridge to Brisbane
I ran in another 5k this past weekend with my housemate Dave. This event takes place every August in the city of Brisbane and raises funds for charity. There were 31,344 participants running in the 10k and 11,196 in the 5k. I finished the 5k in 548th place with a time of 25:12. I think listening to Eye of the Tiger on repeat definitely helped me.

My housemate and I did not plan on competing against one another but it happened subconsciously. When I finished the race I went to the side and turned around to wait for Dave. Each second that went by was more victory for me. After 30 seconds passed by I started to feel a little pride creep in. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Dave with my water. He had finished nearly three minutes ago (245th place with a time of 22:38). Nice job Dave.

A total of $320,000 dollars was raised.

Dave is from New Zealand. He loves soccer and glaciers.

What I'm reading

I stumbled across this book last week at a book sale and didn't hesitate on taking it home with me. I knew about Red Dog because the book was recently turned into a movie. Check out the trailer below.

The book is a collection of stories about a dog who grew up in Western Australia. He became famous from one city to the next as he roamed the country side, catching rides from place to place. He would usually sit in the middle of the road, wait for the car to stop, and then proceed to jump in the car as the driver got out to tell the dog to move off the road. The story below is my favorite so far and its about Red Dog at a barbeque. His name used to be Tally Ho.

Tally Ho At The Barbeque:

There was a man lifting sausages off his grill with a fork and bending down to put them on a plate that was on a rug beside him. On the plate were some salad and some new potatoes. When there were three sausages on the plate he straightened up to collect a burger from the grill, and when he looked down again, he had to look twice. There were no sausages. He gasped with surprise and shook his head in puzzlement. He scratched his head and looked around. Everyone was minding their own business. 'Me snagger!' he said, 'someone's swiped me snaggers!' He called to the man next to him, "Ere, mate, did you swipe me snaggers? 'Cause if so, I want 'em.' The man turned his head briefly, 'Not me, mate. I got me own. If you want one, you're welcome.' 'I'll be damned,' said the first man, 'they were just there and then they were gone.'

Jack Collins called after Tally Ho, but the dog was licking his lips to get off the last lovely traces of sausage grease, and planning his next foray. He went down on his stomach and laid his head flat on the sand, with his nose pointing in the direction of a nice succulent steak that had just been put on a plate. The man who was about to eat it looked away for a second, and Tally darted in and snatched it, leaving his victim with nothing but a sliced tomato and few scrapings of mustard. Tally bolted the steak and set off in search of a burger that he could smell quite distinctly at the other end of the beach. 'Did you swipe me steak?' the second man accused his neighbor, and 'Who swiped me snaggers?' called the first man, soon to be joined by 'Bloody 'ell, where the devil's me burger?'- (Red Dog, pg. 18-19)
- for more on Red Dog click here

If your a dog lover, I highly recommend this book!

Red Dog even has his own statue

A 9 Year Old's Birthday Wish
A little girl named Rachel had a wish. Instead of presents for a birthday she wanted to do something to help others in need. These are her words:

On June 12th 2011, I'm turning 9. I found out that millions of people don't live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn't have access to clean, safe water so I'm celebrating my birthday like never before. I'm asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Even better, every dollar is "proved" when the projects are complete, and photos and GPS coordinates are posted using Google Earth. My goal is to raise $300 by my birthday, June 12, 2011. Please consider helping me. Thank you so much!!! - Rachel

When Rachel turned 9 she was $80 dollars short of her goal. This left her just a bit disappointed. Then on July 20th, as Rachel and her family were driving home, two trucks collided and created a 13 car pile up. One of the trucks struck Rachel's car. Her family was not injured but Rachel's outcome was different. Her spinal cord was severed and she was put on life support.

Rachel's friends and church members, in a way to show support,began donating money to her project. As word spread, donations soared. Everyone wanted to support this little girls birthday wish.

One night, Rachel's family and friends gathered around her bedside and whispered in her ear (not knowing if she could really hear them or not) that she had exceeded the $47,544 dollars that Justin Bieber's raised on his 17th birthday for the Charity Water organization. (her mom said Rachel probably had a crush on Justin, but was too shy to tell anyone)

Three days after the accident, the doctors realized that she would not regain consciousness. The family made the decision to take Rachel off life support. She died on July 23rd.

Since her death, Rachel's 9th Birthday Wish page for Charity Water as far exceeded her goal. Her original goal again was $300. She has currently raised $1,246,368.

Because of Rachel and her wish, 62,317 people and counting will be served clean drinking water.

Rachel Beckwith

Rotary
I spent the night with my host counselors last weekend to help at a book sale put on by my host club. This was very reminiscent as I participated in this same book sale when I first arrived in Australia. I have become more Australian since then. Not really. But at least I know more.