a memory just jolted me...
2 teachers from my high school days
one taught Latin and the other French
I adored both subjects
and both teachers
French seemed almost like 'second nature' to me at the time
(I have since learned that I have a strong French connection in my DNA)
Latin was more a love of all things ancient world
I craved to learn more...be it language, history or culture
but I digress
2 teachers
both were passionate about their subject
and both were keen on engaging us 'ignorant?' Western Sydney students
in some of the finer experiences of life
and so it was
2 teachers escorted 5/6 of us
by train to
a Greek play at the University of Sydney's
Stephen Roberts Theatre
(demolished 2005?)
I remember being fascinated by the masks used by the characters
but more clearly
I remember the rather large, thready tear in the velvet curtain
tucked to the side of the stage
and couldn't help being slightly amused by the squeak of stage floorboards
often at inappropriate moments
The same 2 teachers took us to the newly opened Macquarie University...
There we saw Son et Lumière...
I still remember how the artistic effects seemed to dig deep inside me...
Afterwards, I felt as if I carried them away with me...
But these 2 teachers went further...
Such experiences were usually rounded off with tea at their home...
One teacher had the tiniest apartment...
We sat on bare floorboards eating spaghetti bolognese...
We always ate spaghetti bolognese there
(She couldn't really cook)
The other teacher lived in a rambling old house
suffering renovation blues...
Again, the floorboards were the place to enjoy a meal...
She could cook it seemed
But often, we did not really know what we were eating...
We smiled anyway
Just glad to be there
O, and her music offering always was classical music...
She asked me what I would like to hear...
I looked at her collection absolutely terrified...
I chose 'Handel's Water Music'
just because the title sounded appealing...
Aaah those days...
Such outings would not be allowed today
No excursion forms involved...
Just nodding parent consent
I am so grateful to have such a precious memory
that decides to pop up now and again
to say hello...
NOTE
The biography of Sir Stephen Roberts represents intriguing reading.
He began academic life in Melbourne and ended up reinventing the University of Sydney.
He extended the elite university and
He took great pride in celebrating the graduation of Charles Perkins, the first Aborigine to complete a degree at the university, and he worked enthusiastically to support the training of Pacific Islanders and Papua New Guineans in the university's medical faculty.
Read more
HERE
