Today I learned that the Sydney Opera House is a metaphor for my job.

After watching the Australian Ballet the night before, Professor Ann Christiano and I walked from our Kings Cross hotel along the water and through a park (I don't think I could ever tire of that walk!) back to the Opera House for a tour that started at 9 a.m.

This wasn't a behind-the-scenes tour. Instead, we saw the performance venues, a viewing area of the harbor and a room dedicated to the architect, Jorn Utzon. But I learned two things during the tour that struck me.

First, the Opera House is a work in progress. Although it opened in 1973, the facility continues to refine the aesthetics and improve the acoustics. A new underground loading dock is being built and managers hope to find the cash to rebuild the venue where we saw ballet to allow for better staging.

So the Opera House is always trying to get better. Likewise, I should attempt continuous improvement. I should never be satisfied with what I've accomplished and should strive to improve my teaching and research.

Second, when the architect, Mr. Utzon, submitted his design, it was little more than a sketch. As one of the videos we saw on the tour said, no one knew how the design could be erected -- or even if it could be done. The foundation was poured before anyone could figure out how to build the signature roof. 

The lesson for me is that I should pursue the ideal and not limit my vision to what's known to be practical. A great idea is worth pursuing even if we don't know yet how to make it all happen.

After the Opera House tour, we went to the Art Museum to take the Aboriginal art tour. The second time around, I learned several new things about the beauty of the art as both abstract paintings and sacred narratives. One of the art pieces carries a design distinctive to one family after the tribal community determined it merited exclusivity. The sense of shared community and common dependence is a marked contrast to the rugged individualism cherished in American culture.

We ended the day at the Australian Maritime Museum, where we boarded a replica of the ship, the Endeavor, that brought Captain James Cook to Australia in 1770. We also went through a Cold War-era submarine (with commentary from a former sailor on the vessel) and a naval ship before touring the inside of the museum. Of particular note was the evolution of swimming from recreation to obsession. The Aussies perform better per capita than any other country in the Olympics, and swimming has long been one of its best venues. 

See pictures for more.

On Thursday, May 16, I experienced natural beauty in two distinct ways.

First, as the picture page shows, I explored the botanical gardens in a leisurely stroll and sensed nature. The gardens are a collection of displays ranging from succulents to tropical plants to endangered ones. The gardens even offered a natural history display to note the arrival of the First Fleet and the havoc white settlers caused on the Aboriginal people. This was really a garden for the mind.

Second, I saw my first ballet, thanks to Professor Ann Christiano, herself a former ballet dancer. She suggested seeing the ballet at the Sydney Opera House to watch a ballet she had always wanted to see, the Four Temperaments, and to experience a performance in the famous building.

I was struck by the mix of athleticism and grace in ballet. The art form is one that puts the dancer in the open floor with little more than an orchestra, a stage and a costume. It is, in a sense, the barest form of human expression: no voice, only movement. At one point in one ballet, the orchestra stopped playing and the two dancers were all alone for about three minutes. The experience was far more captivating than I could have predicted.

Best of all, we learned about the ballet through our students. Several saw it last night and others did so tonight. I'm so impressed by students who seize the moment and engage the local culture. They make all the hard work that goes into study abroad worth every moment.

On Wednesday, May 15, we celebrated the arrival of public relations Professor Ann Christiano (she delayed her start so she could attend her eldest daughter's first communion) by strolling along what has to be one of the most beautiful city walkways anywhere.

A train and a bus brought us to the Tasman Sea (or what we think of as the Pacific Ocean) at Sydney's eastern shore and Bondi (pronounced "bond-eye") Beach. From there a path climbs the cliff and hugs the water for about 2 miles to Bronte Beach.

The walk offers terrific views from the ocean cliffs before dipping into coves with natural beaches. This is autumn in Sydney, so not all that many people are using the beaches. My guess is that when we head north toward the equator in our final week to Cairns and its near-tropical conditions, we'll see more people in the ocean.

The scenery engages the senses. The underlying rock is largely sandstone, which wind and water erode into intriguing formations and coves that captivate the eye. The sea breeze tickles the nose. And the surf and crashing waves offer a dreamy delight for the ear.

Such a treat!

See the pictures for more.

On Tuesday, May 14, we moved our classroom into the countryside and toured a farm that produces one of Australia's most famous exports: Merino wool.

The Tobruk Sheep Station is a working sheep ranch that gets about half of its business from tourists. We had a sheep ranch breakfast of damper bread and tea and a barbecue lunch. In between, we tossed a boomerang, cracked a stockman's whip, saw how well-trained dogs herd sheep and watched one get shorn.

Geoff Mason, the head stockman, explained that shearing Merino sheep is an art form, especially when the clippers get near the sheep's neck and the experienced farm hand has to negotiate by feel. The compliant sheep didn't seem to mind the experience.

Australian farmers have adjusted their wool production to match global demand. The highest-quality wool has dropped in demand while second-tier wool is more sought-after than ever -- and sheep produce more of it. Also, global demand for mutton has made the sheep more valuable after its wool-producing days are over. A skilled sheep shearer can make $3,000 a week, which is pretty good money in any country. Times are good for Australian sheep farmers.

On our way back to Sydney we detoured to Manly and its wonderful beach. The setting sun provided a sparkling coda to a day of discovery.

See pictures for more.

On Monday, May 13, we had a boat cruise of the Sydney Harbor that afforded a different perspective on the city and its landmarks. Sydney absolutely shines from the water.

I stuck around downtown after the boat cruise to tour Darling Harbor and wait for nightfall to capture the city lights shimmering on the water. If Sydney shines by day, it glows even brighter by night.

Earlier in the day, after classes and before the boat tour, I visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales. (New South Wales is the state where Sydney is located). I lucked onto a daily tour of Aboriginal art that no one else wanted to take, so I got a free private tour. It was priceless, as the guide explained so much more about Aboriginal culture and paintings than I could ever have discerned on my own.

The guide explained how the art tells stories: how animals and the earth were created, of families migrating to survive drought (much of Australia is desert) and of women gathering to discuss oral traditions. The art also showed the subtle colors and gradations in dry creek beds and desert sands that reflect the Aborigines' deep connection to the land. I found it all fascinating.

See pictures for more students and the harbor by day and night.

I began Sunday, May 11, with my first jog since coming here. I ran from the hotel to the botanical gardens, where I ran into a Mother's Day road race. The hundreds of runners were using the only path, so I joined in for a few kilometers before finding a side path to finish my run.

After breakfast, I went to church at a neighborhood Anglican church a few blocks from our hotel. The service was closer to American Episcopalian than to English Anglican but still familiar. The church provides meaningful service to the marginalized in the neighborhood. Ir must rely on a relatively small cadre of dedicated volunteers, for only about 40 people were in church.

The neighborhood around our hotel is varied. It has lots of small, ethic restaurants that serve permanent residents, tourists like us and backpackers. It also serves as a, well, umm, entertainment district whose venues have salacious-sounding names and noisy patrons who don't quiet down until dawn. It's all quite safe yet challenging. This church has its hands full.

In the afternoon, I went back to the harbor and walked across the Harbor Bridge. The view was terrific -- when I wasn't too scared to appreciate it. I'm afraid of heights and have to work up my courage to get to the railing to get a picture. If discretion is the better part of valor, I'd better not push my luck and join the adventurous Dr. Treise when she leads a group to climb the very top of the bridge later during our stay.

As the daylight faded, I walked another mile or so to a locale spotted during our Sydney orientation tour on Thursday for more sunset pictures. See the day's pictures for more.

On Saturday, May 11, I accompanied Dr. Mike Weigold and Dr. Debbie Treise to a market they had visited the last time they were in Australia, the Paddington Markets. This classy market is much like Gainesville's twice-a-year downtown arts and crafts market, only here it is held weekly.

In the afternoon, Dr. Treise and I went to the Australia Museum. I'm a bit of a museum nerd (OK, make that a lot of a museum nerd), and this natural history museum had much to offer. Of particular interest to both of us were the permanent exhibits on the Aboriginal people and Surviving Australia.

Aboriginals had been in Australia for at least 40,000 years when the British arrived in 1787 and declared them persona non grata. I was prepared to learn about the atrocious treatment afforded the Aborigines back in the day. What I wasn't prepared for learning how some mistreatment continues to this day.

I'm not pointing fingers here; we Americans have much blood on our hands when it comes to treating all of God's children as equal. But I guess I had hoped that racial discrimination was mostly an American problem.

I learned about an Australian version of our 1961 Freedom Rides to call attention to racial inequality in the south. In Australia, the rides were held in 1965 and proved to be a mirror image. The rides exposed ingrained segregation as white toughs responded violently to the bus rides.

The Surviving Australia exhibit was also interesting. Australia is famous for its panoply of deadly creatures, and you can learn about all of them at the Australia Museum (and that these notorious deadly critter attacks are quite rare). Especially intriguing were displays of fascinating extinct creatures such as the Tasmanian tiger and the usual wildlife, such as a surface water bug that hangs upside down, or into the water.

But what was really cool about the day is that I ran into our students at both the Paddington Markets and the Australia Museum. It's great to see Gators engaged in learning about local culture.

More in pictures.

On Friday, May 10, we had our first official class meeting. But it wasn't our first class.

What makes study abroad experiences run by Dr. Mike Weigold different from classes held on campus is that our locale is our classroom and learning about local culture is our objective. So our first class was really on Thursday, when we had a guided tour of Sydney with local experts.

We split our group of about 70 in two, with each half on a bus. On each bus was an expert in Sydney culture and history who explained the city and helped us better understand Australia.

Thus, we saw where Russell Crowe and Kate Blanchett have residences -- and learned that the typical Australian spends half (gulp!) of his or her income on housing while moving much less often than Americans do. We learned that sports is an even bigger part of Australian culture than it is in America -- and that sports gambling addiction is a significant problem here. And we learned that a gentleman never asks what team you root for because "root" has less savory connotations.

In the evening, most of us experienced one of those Australian sporting traditions: rugby. Dr. Andy Selepak had arranged for his sports media class to see a rugby match, and in the process secured tickets for all who wanted to attend.

We cheered for the home team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, which took on the visiting Cowboys from North Queensland. The Rabbitohs plays in the enormous Olympic stadium. 

The stadium television screen showed that Russell Crowe was in the house. I guess that's OK. After all, he owns the team.

I had never seen rugby before, so I was lucky to sit by our kindly AIFS representative, Laura Masters, an English rugby fan who could explain much of what I was seeing. Other students engaged the fans around them to learn something about the game and its rule.

And that's the beauty of study abroad: students getting exposed to a piece of local culture they might never experience otherwise and engaging with local residents in the process. The classroom here is pretty big. 

Today we had a guided bus tour of Sydney. We stopped at a few sights along the way, but mostly the trip was to orient us to the city so we could know what else we wanted to see. One of the places I most enjoyed seeing today was the Olympic park, the site of the 2000 games. Unlike many former Olympic locales, Sydney has continued to use many of the venues and new housing has arisen around the primary grounds, according to our knowledgable guide, James. See the photo page for more.

After about a day and a half of travel, we arrived about 6 a.m. Sydney time on Wednesday, May 8. Our only plan for the day was to explore on our own, so I went into the city core to see its sights, including the Opera House. Its white-sail look is actually 1 million tiles. I also went to the Sydney Tower observation deck and rode the monorail, which will close at the end of June due to inadequate use. See the pictures page for more.