Crocodiles, Windscreens, and Powerpoint

From the very early age of 8 years old, sitting in front of the TV watching The Crocodile Hunter, I had dreamed of exploring Australia like my hero Steve Irwin.  This past summer I had the once in a life time opportunity to travel to Townsville Australia and live out this dream that had been in the back of my mind for so many years.

One of the most interesting experiences happened on the out of LAX when, at 2 A.M. I was informed that the windscreen of the plane had a crack and we would be returning to Los Angeles.  I didn't get to worked up over this, partially because it was 2 A.M., and partially because I didn't know what a windscreen was.  I just assumed that it was some fancy part of airplane.  It wasn't until 11 days later, during my 2nd to last day in Australia, that I figured out what they were talking about.  Sitting in the Van, listing to Slim Dusty, when I believe our driver said we needed to stop for petrol and to clean off his windscreen.  Like a literal light-bulb turning on in my head it suddenly dawned on me what a windscreen was.

I think the English language is one of the things that surprised me the most about Australia.  Growing up I was always taught that the United States, England, and Australia spoke English, sure I could communicate with everyone in Australia, but many of the phrases in the local dialect left me scratching my head.  No I don't want a Brekkie? How am I going? Whats happening to someones bits?  It was incredible to see the English language used this way, it is almost poetic how people in Australia speak.

One conservation-related topic that I think really hit home for me while in Australia was how much the people at the Aquarium care about the Great Barrier Reef.  The passion and knowledge that they had and were willing to share was incredible. For me, growing up in Utah about as far away from marine life as anyone can be, trying to learn the names of the fish was incredibly challenging. To know that everyone at the aquarium could identify every fish, coral, and invert that I could find, shows how dedicated they are to education.  It makes me feel much better about humanity knowing that there are people like that all over the world dedicating their life to protecting the Earth.  It makes me feel like I am less alone everyday as I try to teach students about global warming, ocean pollution, and habitat degradation.  Knowing that there are passionate people out there gives me the energy to do something about it right here, right now.

Until next time(year?),

Trevor

P.S. I finally did get to see that croc!