 
# Brief Encounters with Real Life

# Jon Van Loon

# Copyright 2013 by Jon Van Loon

# Smashwords Edition

# Preface

I have jogged over 75,000 km. This was on foot the bulk of which was jogging to work 20 km every day for over 15 years. The jogging involved the acquisition of no material for this book but was the direct cause of 3 knee replacements. No the "3" is not a misprint but occurred due to 2 replacements being required on my left knee. At the age of 76 I now require at least 1 more knee replacement and you would be correct if you guessed the left knee again. But so what?

Three times around the world sounds like a prodigious distance. This interval travelled by aircraft computes to approximately 120,000 km which is less than ½ the expanse I have jogged totally within the precincts of Toronto. The 120,000 km is the distance that I have travelled in pursuit of the stories contained in this book. But this travel was not mainly related to acquiring the following story material. Instead it was the result of profession related pursuits with the stories being a collateral asset.

#  Introduction

Why Only "Brief" Encounters with Real Life?

Some of us in developed countries have a few brief encounters with real life many have none. Our poor, well that is another story.

Glance back on the truly impressionable episodes that constitute your existence so far on this planet and it is my guess that there are several, probably a few, that stand out quite particularly vividly in your memory. The remainder of your waking hours form a slightly varying roadbed upon which these episodes protrude. Most particularly for most individuals their life's roadbed is also relatively short, not perhaps in age but in distance ventured from a home base. For example most born-in-North America citizens have a relatively small piece of geography in which they have lived their total existence, with the possible exception of relatively short periods abroad. In fact less than 40% of Americans even have a passport. It is my contention that despite exposure to conditions in other countries through abundant media hype, only actually being physically exposed to incidents and even more so, actually living in another country can make a meaningful impression.

Middle and upper class North Americans seem to think that our relatively consumer dominated comfortable life style can go on forever. My experience suggests that we are quite wrong in this contention based for example on our disproportionate consumption of the world's resources and consequently our major and incommensurate contribution to the world's pollution. Although thoroughly attached to the democratic political system I believe the present democratic structures are designed for life as it was in the 19th century and requires urgent change to be applicable to the problems of the present.

My research here in Canada has been dominated by evidence which is strongly in support of the above contention. Additionally it has presented me from time to time with the opportunity of living and working in a variety of jurisdictions on all the Continents except Antarctica. I found that I experienced what I call striking evidence that it was only during these "brief" intervals both here and abroad that I was experiencing examples of what the real world is truly like. Another important point to mention in making such judgements is my propensity for choosing living accommodations that were regional in nature to maximize my exposure to the habits and living styles of the locals wherever I resided abroad.

The point in this debate is that Life in North America which contains less than 10% of the total world population is hardly representative of life in the real world. On the other hand the dynamics of life of the other 90% or so of our fellow earthly sojourners is what constitutes real life.

Perhaps you should be warned before to proceeding further that you are about to read a monograph by a 76 year old writer with only grade nine capability in spelling, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Due to a learning disability my visual and auditory memories are only in the 40th and 60th percentile ranges respectively. Despair not because despite these problems I have earned a PhD in Chemistry and am a Full Professor at the University of Toronto, now retired. During my career I wrote several science books published by major publishers. Presently I am writing eBooks published by Smashwords this being number 7.

The facts here-in have only with great difficulty been extracted from a miasma of memories and notes scratched on odd bits of paper. This memoire is comprised of a sequence of short eventful stories accumulated here in North America and over a lifetime of travel on scientific missions covering 6 Continents. These describe events often of a humorous or compelling nature. The overseas material is grouped within sections bearing a location within the world in which the action transpired. Although several articles contain scientific material the latter is of an elementary nature and expressed simply and hence should not provide an impediment to the reader.

As a point of possible amusement my keyboard technique consists of the one fingered hunt and peck method. Also it should be mentioned that it was quite common for me to spend several seconds discerning the position of a letter before it could be struck. Additionally, a miss hit of a letter in close proximity to the one desired was a common difficulty. I spell phonetically and hence the spelling check program with Microsoft Word 2007 deserves particular praise for discerning errors in spelling since the word typed often bore only a cursory similarity to the correct spelling. Still there were also times when my spelling of a word was so erroneous that even spell check was unable to find the word and identify and correct the spelling. Thausarus.com must also be commended. I found this to be frequently needed mostly utilizing their innovative "Clever Keys" approach.

Having read these credentials the readers might be forgiven if they wondered if I am living in a world neither real nor unreal but somewhere in the nether reaches in between.

Although several of the stories contained herein have appeared in other of my eBooks most of these are in different or more suitable versions to suit their purpose here. This manuscript it must be emphasized is by far the most extensive rendering of my material.

## Brief Real Life Defining Typical Occurrences relating to Canadian Incidents

Yes it is possible to obtain glimpses of the real world in the developed countries. Environmental researches like me have been involved in such issues. Thus a number of stories particularly in this first part of this memoire contain typical examples. Additionally there are stories contained herein that are here simply to provide amusing interludes.

" _Pick a Number any Number" (Jon Van Loon, Chemistry in Canada published May 1973_ A glancing right handed blow rang off my nose. Although I had not been quick enough to totally avoid contact, my colleagues unexpected offering had been forceful enough to draw blood. This incident that occurred in Canada was one of my more memorable brief encounters with real life.

Have you ever viewed with bewilderment the numerical values on the doctor's copy of your blood analysis results? The conversation will perhaps approximate the following: "Mr. Van Loon look your sodium results you will see here fall slightly below the acceptable range and your red cell blood count is low as well". "Otherwise everything seems to be within acceptable levels". The sodium results come from a chemical analysis of your blood whereas the red blood cell count is obtained by counting red blood cells in several areas of the slide. Probably both your doctor and you believe these results as printed on the report to be accurate within acceptable limits. In 2013 this is a pretty reasonable assumption. However even today if a set of blood results is to be a crucial determinant in coming to an important conclusion about your health you must be certain to ask for a second set to be performed, something a perceptive doctor would insist on in any case. The same situation is true with chemical results on important toxic environmental substances and food contaminants.

Now let's go fast backward to 1973 when I published the article "Pick a Number Any Number" which occasioned the smack in the nose and that I nick named "the nose bleed paper" referred to above. Apart from problems resulting with the inferior equipment and methodology available for this task in those days one other serious deficiency existed; standard reference samples and blind references were rare and hence infrequently used. (Standard Reference Samples will be explained below)

Okay but so what? Equipment existed at that time that analysed important samples such as blood, environmental and food materials for chemical substances of interest. Results were obtained and data sheets were generated just as they are today. The deficiency was that there no way to properly judge the accuracy of results for most chemical constituents in these important sample types in the 1970's at the time I published my "nose bleed paper".

Mercury is a serious toxin and is commonly found in fish samples in areas where mercury is released in the aquatic environment. It is critical to know the levels of this element in fish caught for human consumption. Using a large volume of data for the determination of mercury in particularly fish samples from around the world I was able to show that the numerical data varied so greatly on the same samples by different labs and using different procedures that the results were on the whole useless for verifying the safety for consumption of fish. Thus I was able to conclude that up to that date the data being used to judge the amount of mercury in fish was useless. It was after presenting this data at a National Conference that a disgruntled colleague with a vested interest in the subject administered the nose bleed blow in a nearby hallway.

Needles to say this and similar work by others resulted in changes that make chemical analysis of such substances much more accurate and useful today.

Divulging Honest Results Can be Dangerous

An ugly possibility, jail loomed menacingly. As an idealistic young researcher I possessed no fear of publishing the truth, or as it was in this case what I strongly believed to be the correct chemical results. The reality of being challenged by one of industries giants in a court of law was for a scientist at quite a different level of encountering fear.

They were Cool but bright days in early May 1972. A friend and colleague and I were studying the fish population and water quality of a suite of lakes near an industrial city in Central Ontario. Emanations from the cities smelters were sulfurous and metal bearing in nature. Nets had been set at strategic points to allow an estimation of the fish population. The acidity was measured in situ and water samples were taken and stabilized for lab analysis.

The numbers of fish being caught were few and those that were turned out to be elderly indicating that these species, mostly trout, were unable to spawn under the existing conditions. Other scientist could use scales rings and the calcium content of reproductive organs to age the fish. Our host, a trapper and hunter, made the most delicious fish stews from our catches eaten with sour dough bread slathered in butter it was a delight. (The fish had been taken in gill nets and were not in a fit state for release). During all this enjoyment and good science the threat of a possible jail incarceration never entered our minds!

A confidential Government report was compiled using our chemical and fish count results. It was on behalf of the local indigenous people who depended of fishing for a large part of their livelihood. The story becomes hazy at this point. Whether the government sued the large industrial complex for pollution of the large suite of lakes that we found almost bereft of fish and highly contaminated with metals and acid I don't know. All I do know for sure is that soon we were threatened to be sued for publishing erroneous results and hence slandering the company in question. Jail was a small but distinct eventuality we might face.

Ours had been one of the few laboratories in North America using standard reference samples to attempt to verify our results. Thus it was beyond our understanding how the challenging industry could claim their results showed our reported values to be 10 times too high! I was too frightened to attend the trial and any way the lawyers had my co-worker and all our results. It came down to the last day and it was clear the judge could not tell which side was right when suddenly an anonymous person from within the industry supplied a document showing that their results in fact agreed with ours. Immediately the industry settled with the Indigenous people, affected, for the full amount! Sometimes beads of perspiration still break out on my forehead when I think of this quandary. Since then sometimes although I am certain of my veracity I still have vestigial doubts.

Perhaps we had not learned our lesson well enough about tackling big corporations, since a year or so later a few of us from the lab went down to Southwestern Ontario Canada to investigate the contamination of Lake Erie by another prominent Industry. This Industry had a year or so previously been the subject of a notorious TV program called "Air of Death" relating to another pollutant.

In this case we were investigating Phosphorous as (phosphate), the so-called limiting nutrient. This element achieved this name because its low level in most lakes, compared to other nutrients, prevents harmful algal blooms from forming. Thus any plentiful amount in the outflow from industry or other sources causes an undesirable green slimy algal bloom event. (It might be important at this point to indicate the deleterious nature of algal blooms-other than their unsightliness and impediment to recreational use of the water body. Another more serious problem arises when the algae dies and decomposes, a process which utilizes dissolved oxygen and hence results in it's depletion in the water. The loss of dissolved oxygen seriously affects fish populations, particularly the desirable fish that are commercially important and those that are of greatest interest to anglers).

We found astoundingly high levels of phosphate, in the aqueous effluent of this Industry. We reported this to the press, but by the time it appeared the story was general enough that it seemed that the Industry had not stopped emitting the original "air of death" pollutant which had caused such an outcry the year previous and which they had promised to stop. That night I was curled up in a ball on the bed in tears fearing that there would be a phone call from the Industries lawyer. Sure enough the phone rang. I asked Maureen to answer because I couldn't. But instead of a lawyer it was a company representative apologizing for the situation and promising that immediate action was coming! We never found out about whether they did remediate the phosphate situation. This was only one of many sources of phosphate from both the US and Canada into Lake Erie, the shallowest and least voluminous of the Great Lakes. Thus in the 70's and 80's the Lake had a serious problem as far as algae was concerned. Although many of these sources were much diminished or eliminate and Lake Erie went through a lengthy interval of much improved water quality for swimming and fishing, expanded shore line urban density is threatening to return the lake to its untenable state of pollution.

The Flin Flon Caper

I was involved in a project in the area around a Smelter in the Flin Flon area of Manitoba Canada, to study the acid and trace metal content of lakes and assess the damage to fish populations and local vegetation there from. My colleagues and I drove in via Government vehicle to the town one lovely spring day and holed up in a local hotel for the night. As is common in these northern climes, cold had set in overnight and by morning, although dawning sunny, a blanket of snow had fallen overnight, too much to allow travel by truck on the back roads to sample lakes. Being at loose ends we magnanimously decided to introduce ourselves and our mission to the boss down at the Smelter Headquarters. What a mistake! They received us very politely and in the ensuing conversation we divulged our mission and present predicament. The Boss said, "NO problem" he would have the pilot fly us around in the company seaplane and we could sample from the floats. We were astonished at our unexpected good fortune. A phone call brought the pilot, a few whispers between manager and pilot ; my assistant collected the equipment from our truck and we were loaded aboard the craft. Swoosh and we were airborne. Suddenly I realized from the map on my knee that we were over flying the first lake and I tapped the pilot on the shoulder, notifying him to this fact. "Oh" he stated and put the plane into a sudden circling dive, which left my breakfast on the floor of the craft. Next thing I knew we were taxiing to the center of the lake. Clearing the tears of fright from my eyes I watched my assistant out on the float taking a water sample from, the still slowly moving conveyance. He swept himself in giving me a questioning glance. Apparently the pilots instructions were to take us exactly where specified but make things as "exciting" as possible. By lunch time we were happy to reach terra firma and declined an afternoon's repeat. The remaining lakes would have to wait for conventional sampling.

This happened on a new foray in June. By then the weather had turned hot and by the first days end I was so sweaty that I thought a swim would be in order, so from the end of the dock at the motel I dangled a cautionary finger into the water's surface, and felt about 22 degrees C temperature water. It was obviously deep in this area so I took a running dive in; when to by bone chilling shock I hit a thick layer of water just about 5 cm below the surface that must have been near the freezing point. In exiting this lake back onto the dock I may have been only the second being in history to have walked on water. In my imagination I thought I could see a gleam in the smelter Manager's eye as I supposed he might have planned this little surprise as well.

The final episode in my christening in the first job that involved anything north of the Sudbury area in Ontario Canada was the result of the simple idea to return to Toronto quickly to take the samples to the lab in as pristine a condition as quickly as possible (even though they had been preserved by the accepted method). The other members of the team at Flin Flon were either gone or staying and I had the Government truck with samples aboard. Misguidedly I decided to leave at night; at this latitude in June it was light until about 10.30 pm, so I was going in a sort of dusk when I left at that time. My idea was to drive all night to arrive in Winnipeg and leave the samples in a refrigerated condition until the departure of the Toronto flight. I would drop the truck off at the Governmental Depot the next morning.

Merrily along I drove until something flashed in the headlights from the side of the road only meters ahead. Then before I could really react there was a bone rattling thump and the truck was almost instantly still. The windshield was partially caved in and a red liquid seeped onto the dash. I hung there in my seat belt (these had thoughtfully been installed in Government trucks and we were told there was a mandatory rule for their use). I had learned 2 golden edicts in a trial by fire. I was safe and basically unhurt, but the moose was most certainly dead. Apparently travel by night in these areas was fraught with just such a danger. The truck had an immense pipe cage on the front which although damaged had prevented damage to the radiator, engine and head lights. Thankfully the mangled moose lay off the road and I was able to drive away with only a damaged windshield to deal with. I drove slowly and with trepidation, for what seemed like forever until I found a Motel. This made me the strongest possible supporter of seat belts.

Essential Background Defining My Own Life's Crenelated Roadbed-The Bottom Line

This section defines the roadbed from which the stories above protruded as important Canadian brief-encounters-with-real-life and might logically have preceded the above incidents. I thought it more propitious for the reader to digest a few protrusions before envisioning my roadbed. I hope the reader will find these details of interest at least for comparison purposes with her/his own roadbed. Also the details presented here demonstrate that one's own hills and sometimes valleys in life like mine outlined here can be important determinants to a life filled with challenge and unexpected diversity.

I have already by way of warning indicated that I possess a severe leaning disability which itself calls into question my ability to write a literate monograph. I must now also divulge that I am Bipolar (Manic Depressive). But It is important to stress, from the beginning, that I live in the manic state of bipolarity most of the time this being the probable reason why, despite my learning difficulties I accomplish more than might be expected from someone in similar mental/emotional circumstances.

Hamilton, a small, highly industrialized city of 500,000 continuously and perhaps unfairly dominated being only 50km distant; from the great metropolis of Toronto (now the third largest urban region on the Continent.) was the city of my birth.

I a tiny baby, resting in his mother's arms at St. Joseph's Hospital had no indicators to suggest that I would be ravished by red ant's in Brazil, cornered by a notoriously poisonous Eastern Brown Snake in Australia or that I would experience the sorrows of Apartheid in South Africa to name just a few of the worldwide experiences which would intersect my ever twisting roadway. In fact my very religious and sheltered Christian upbringing had all the indicators of resulting in just the opposite.

My immediate family consisted of a mother and father, a younger brother and sister and dotting maternal grandparents (Granddad and Gommy- a pet name) who lived for much of my tenure in Hamilton on the third floor of our house. I was not close with my siblings (though we respected and loved one another) because of vast dissimilarities in interests, attitudes, outlooks on life, learning abilities and a nearly 4 year gap between each of our ages.

Learning disabilities that I mentioned above as a thorn in my side were not diagnosed as such in school systems until the 60's and thus the nature of my learning problems were a verdict waiting to be made long into the future. In contrast to my supportive mother I and most of my few playmates put my tribulations down to stupidity. My views of this being the truth were exacerbated by my brother (not by any means his fault) who had something resembling a photographic memory. One evening while I arduously tried to retain in the permanent precincts of my memory a section of the Chemical Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements, my brother grabbed the page and asked what I was attempting so laboriously to do. Following my answer he looked for a short time at the section and then wrote it from memory without hesitation or error. The surreal aspect of this incident was that being 3 years behind me in school, he knew nothing of chemistry!) He learned and obtained high marks throughout his whole formal education to the Full Professor (PhD) level and I admire him for his fine work at that time and in his teaching and research. In the case of the latter I tried to read one of his recent publications and was unable to follow his good science. My sister is 8 years my junior. She is intelligent, did well in school and had her own set of friends. Both my brother and sister remained close to the Protestant Christian Church and have done and continue to do fine works within the church and in various important charities. It is only yours truly (and perhaps my favorite-granddad) who strayed far from the family anointed fold but tried and is still trying, within my own terms of reference, to contribute to what is "good".

Steam trains were the fact in my preteen years and these I loved with a passion. My fondest early memories were always with my granddad. On Friday evenings, despite a severe heart condition, he used to walk with me riding my tricycle the 4 km from his house to the railway yard to watch the shunting process. He would sit chain smoking on an unconformable railing and stay without complaint until I tired, then he would have to carry both me and my conveyance home. He must have had the family learning problems because around my father he would pick up the newspaper in a show of reading but in private he was very appreciative when I read it's content with him. I never really knew much about his employment situations. He at one time drilled oil wells in SW Ontario and later worked in a print shop. It was my guess that he had little formal education. School officials apparently encouraged children in his day that showed a streak of mental slowness to drop out to fill positions of work on nearby farms. (He was anything but stupid, as even I could detect his quick mind in many endeavors).

My father spent a sabbatical at Columbia University in New York City and we had an apartment at 122 St and Broadway, now a slum. Granddad and Gommy came also. Granddad used to take me to the open cut of the B'Way subway line. During the years Gommy and Granddad lived with us my mother was confined to bed a great deal with what was eventually terminal breast cancer. I remember my mother telling me that the day my granddad paid for my fourth years text books was the proudest one of his life. The idea of helping me in my higher education, when he had none, was overwhelming to us both.

My grandparents bought a TV at an early stage in this technology in Canada and I would spend any free time with granddad as he chain smoked watching sports and sitcoms. He particularly liked wrestling. (These were the days before this activity became so much of a theatrical presentation). I smoked myself after that time, 1.5 packs per day, so it is amazing that I don't yet have lung cancer to add to my medical medley.

Thick, hand cut, slabs of bacon dripping onto our plates and 2 strong tasting eggs from barnyard run chickens, graced our plates every time Gommy cooked breakfast in the third floor kitchen. There was nothing from health experts at that time linking saturated or trans fats with heart disease. Cholesterol was a term we had never encountered. Thus such a breakfast was considered "hearty" and "wholesome" and a necessary start to a healthy day's eating. Bread or toast, slathered in butter was also a necessity. (None of this whole grain nonsense either, just the bleached white flour variety, if you please). Providing bulk to the system was also not considered a necessity either.

My Gommy was a fabulous cook in her own style and her desire to please granddad and me knew no bounds. Her main mantra in life was to give pleasure and good care to others, which in turn was her satisfaction. I can't once remember her thinking of herself. Upon my graduation from Mc Master University she gave me a gold ring with the University crest and the year of graduation 1959. Today the graduation year has worn completely away but the eroded crest remains. She bought the ring from her own little savings. To the day she died I was the apple of her eye.

My mother was my strongest fan club, a role taken over by Maureen when we married. Many a night at the foot of her sick bed I would try to persuade her how dumb I really was, but she was having none of such "nonsense". Yet she felt she had to be the disciplinarian in the nightly absence of my father. She was always afraid I would do something that would disgust my puritanical and hard driving, father. This role I later (after her death) much appreciated, kept us from forming the loving type of relationship I desired. Hugging and kissing was typically not practiced between parents and children in those days. There was, none-the-less, a strong bond between her and me. Her very painful and extended illness should have exuded a greater thoughtfulness from me. For example I regret that I missed recognition of her 25 fifth wedding anniversary with other than a gift. As the eldest sibling I should have at least organized a party!

When I think of my mother she seems shrouded in sadness. My spoken struggles with perceived stupidity and failure enveloped a disproportionate portion of her thinking. A mountain of helplessness blunted her actions to change my demeanor and heretical religious non conformity. Mounting feelings of frustration pervaded our still loving interactions.

Outward disclosures of feelings and emotions expressed freely within modern family interactions were as indicated absent in my childhood. Thus my prolific outbursts and freely spoken outrageous views were unusual and upsetting in the era of my childhood and adolescence. Such emotions were in a normal child to be bound up inside and suppressed.

Mother's own childhood upbringing in an atmosphere of conflict between partners brought on by frustrations and alcohol were covered up deeply. Such were unknown to me until my own behavior though my University years extracted skeletal family fragments which she feared I might have inherited. A great regret has developed in my aged years that I had reacted resentfully thus obviating a fuller disclosure of important family details. A lack of interest and a careless willfulness during a carefree period of youth has left me devoid of any meaningful knowledge of past family generations.

But my greatest enigma was father. On one hand frequent nature walks were provided with enthusiasm and great skill. Additionally he constructed furniture for our home and cottage and arranged galvanized trays for the seedling factory in my basement. On the other side his frequent evening absences participating in Service Clubs, Lodge, The Children's Aid Society or lengthy woodworking sessions alone in the basement and abandonment throughout most of the summer were mystifying. Despite my participation in a variety of sports he never once took time to attend one of my games. Attentive at family meals and faithful to most husbandly tasks, some like doing the family grocery shopping, were actually unusually commendable for the time. His anger at my infrequent requests for assistance with home work was mystifying coming from an educator.

Although It was impossible for me to be close to my father he did inspire in me my lifelong love of nature, something I am extremely grateful for. Much of this was acquired while he put me through my paces in required gardening duty. Other times he took me on a walk in the woods and identified wild flowers that I loved. He hated it if I disturbed him about school work or problems and refused to be of assistance. Perhaps his high level vocation in the school system kept him from wishing to participate in this area within the family

An artificial impression of family relationships was typically portrayed for the progeny particularly when parents were fearful of engendering childhood concern. Although infrequently I noted outward signs of affection the fact that I never heard my parents argue was the key to my view that theirs was a happy marriage. Thus one day during mother's declining stage from her cancer I was shocked to hear her answer to the following comment. "You and Dad seem never to argue and disagree." Mother responded: "Sometimes things aren't as they seem." Upon deliberation it was clear to me that in many marriages the male still held the dominant role and was therefore outwardly unchallenged. Additionally it was clear that during the period of my mother's long final cancer induced decline that my father spent little time in her company.

The cancer, instead of strengthening the family bond in this era in my poor mother's life seemed to distance relationships particularly with my father. I credit my mother's dogged encouragement as the reason for my academic stick-toed-ness despite my feelings of stupidity. Much of her evenings were spent alone in her bed propped up on pillows, pajamas often carelessly draped across her chest. This atypical lack of care for appearance was probably another glaring indication of her lack of hope for her destiny. I fault myself for being so self centered that I provided no encouragement or outward physical display of love that might have lifted her spirits.

Mother spent a number of years in and out of hospital having operations the final result of which was a double mastectomy accomplished however over many stages. Radiation and chemotherapy seemed to be carried out in endless succession. For all these reasons, mentally and physically I appraise an extended period of her latter life as an eternity of dying.

It cannot be overstated however, how important my present family has been to my welfare. Particularly since my marriage to Maureen, the love of my life, my cornerstone and best friend, through the arrival of the extended family with which we were blessed, my life took a right hand turn towards richness impossible to adequately describe. Thus our children Lisa, Melissa and Jon provide me with unique irreplaceable love, enjoyment, augmentation and support. In-laws, Garth, Scott, Laura and briefly Joe make their welcome contributions. My grandchildren Brittany, Stephanie, Alex, Jaime, Jennah, Jordene and Maya provide me portions of love, entertainment and insight. The pride I have in each of these wonderful individuals is boundless. Might I also remember the care, kindness and generosity of Maureen's mother and stepfather?

Probably surprisingly and certainly by today's standards, in my city of longest habitation, Toronto, I knew little of the world. Before attending McMaster University, while still living in my sheltering home in 1955 (age 18), During this period I stuck to the deeply scoured line that Christianity was the only religion of importance in the world. I thought that Christian Missionaries had done nothing but good in their work. Protestantism was in my mind the road to a glorious location called "Heaven". Yet this was more something learned by rote and taken on faith than a strongly held belief.

In my first university year I was required to take a course on religion, given by a tough, no nonsense, middle-aged, ex-army man Chaplin and Professor, whose first words were, "Can someone please prove that there is a God?" It became immediately obvious that Christian concept of "faith" was foreign to him. I can mark this as the most frightful and confusing instance in my life. Peering back 52 years I now can also count this as a very defining event in my life.

Einstein realized this at an earlier age and said it better as follows. _"Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much of the stories in the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic (orgy of) free thinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies: it was a crushing impression..."_

Slowly I began asking myself questions about core issues in life. As time elapsed all concepts of importance in spiritual areas were subjected to inquiry. I became the thorn in the side of the Christian Education Department at the family Church and after my wedding and move to Toronto I soon left the Church. Noting that radicals have existed in most religions and that these must not define the "Whole of that religion", my spirituality can be expressed by the view that The GOD Created the Universe(s), the laws of physics and mathematics and little more can be said, faith playing no further part in my thinking. The direct knowledge I posses on the disastrous condition of the environment and having seen the poverty that defines most (in numbers of people) of the world sickens me. Also possessing the knowledge that Mao alone murdered, knowingly starved to death, or threw into prisons to die in total, 70 million Chinese and also being aware of other serious human related tragedy; I believe the rectifying of these is not God's problem but ours. Again to borrow from Einstein, he declared his belief was _, "not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of men"._ In a broad context humans have been referred to as civilized, in my mind we have yet to act in a manner to really deserve this designation.

Reaching this conclusion in a more direct and vivid way at an earlier time than most, I tried to make an impact mainly through education and research. I must hasten to add that during this time Maureen, my wife and School Director has also devoted her life to education thus by skills and example shaping young minds and providing tools for solving life's problems.

In keeping with the rational contained in this monograph My family life, learning disability bipolarity and spirituality form the important components of my life's crenulated roadbed.

The "Stupid" Student Layer of my Roadbed

Chickens became my best friends at recess at George R, Allen Public School! How could it be chickens? I had lots of classmates but they made fun of my stupidity and that I walked with a dominant toed in shambling. This latter I was able to cure over long time by practice until it became natural to walk properly. The afore mentioned chickens were in a small farm enclosure adjacent to the school. Out the door I flew at recess and over to the farm where I fed the fowl from pocket scraps. I had a group of several friends in my neighborhood. These included one with whom I engaged in electronic and phone tapping projects. With a few others I played football, hockey and baseball in season. I remember vividly how frequently Mrs. J used to run across the park to reprimand our loud and colorful but vulgar swearing. The comfort level among these few was high.

A shambles might be a polite way to describe how the traditional methodology of my education in the Hamilton Primary and secondary schools failed to mess with my learning problems. This had nothing to do with the system itself, which was as fine as existed anywhere in North America. Disorganization through a complete lack of this skill on my part was my hallmark. Poor concentration, typical of the learning disabled prevented a smooth flow of learning. Perhaps worst of all, my reading/retention skills were lacking. If I read a page I had forgotten the content at the beginning of the page when I came to the end. Thus my comprehension of what I read approached zero.

Images of teachers, in threatening stances hovering over my desk as I tried to organize projects, haunt my memory. Frequently I misspelled words and as a result was sent to the blackboard in front of the class to write these items repetitively and of course also managing to misspell the offending term at that location. My "favorite" instructor once threw a blackboard brush at me from the front of the class. He also tore the title page off a submitted project because I had failed to distribute the material in an orderly and neat manner, something that was unattainable for me with my visual memory problems.

Languages were my particular nemesis. The obligatory French courses troubled me particularly. Because of my visual memory travails, I spelled phonetically and this was a particularly serious problem in my French. Also remembering verb declensions provided a hopeless challenge. My parents at my mother's insistence provided private tutoring in this discipline. It is with dread but some fondness I remember these sessions. The dread was for the continued ineptitude I knew I would display in front of the frustrated instructor. But I had to have affection for this elderly misshapen spinster and her 19th century house. The elderly teacher wore a long skirted, woolen suit, thick stockings heavy shoes, and a blouse with a nondescript scarf bunched up at the bodice. Her edifice was entered through stained glass, walnut, double doors from whence one drifted over dingy scatter rugs, through mysterious, musty, almost ghostly rooms to a tiny study nook at one side. Here a small dark, desk and 2 chairs provided the means for taking lessons. In this era no means existed for a private person to obtain pages of copy to work from, necessitating the procurement of a text dissimilar to my course text, to work with. The drill proceeded with an assignment and my completion of the labor thus entailed. Occasionally I found myself dosing off to the twitter of sparrows nesting in the Ivy outside the window. Then while shaking her head in a frustrated fashion she would draw a multitude of red lines through the errors. This was followed by some repetition of the corrected errors on my part, followed by an assignment of some homework. This was usually accomplished in the following week without "trouble".

The 'Stupid" Professor Stratum of my Roadbed

My years of "stupidity" went on defying any rationale for more than half of my life. The fact that I earned a PhD and ran and was on the Committees of Conferences in my research field combined with being a plenary lecturer at several major conferences certainly should have persuaded a reasonable person that he was not stupid. On the contrary I felt I had "tricked" my way to this stage and believed that something would suddenly happen to drag me down in public.

It is important to point out that we were not doing earth shattering or fundamental research. Thus I cannot even claim to have trod in the shadows of any great scientists. One of these most noteworthy, whose name we all recognize, is Einstein. Quoting again from him we see how high such greats aim. In conversing with a female colleague in Berlin, he stated _, "I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details."_ I on the other hand spent my life with research on the "details".

Ah ha I was a Professor with a learning disability. Did this make me proud and confident, that if I could achieve this position I could conquer many others? Just the opposite resided within me. In fact I possessed a good deal of self doubt much of the time. Surprisingly however my attitude of feeling simple minded turned out to be a big help.

It was imperative to accomplish quality research that could pass peer review and hence be publishable in the premier journals in your field. Thus I assessed the situation as I perceived it in my situation. Let's assume that I need the simple but non-the-less elegant approach. Thus I set myself and those in my laboratory the task to develop less complicated, less complex and less expensive tools to do important tasks,

Medical and environmental fields stood out vividly against the back ground of fields where my group could make a contribution. The latter was particularly visible and important and some vital aspects meshed well with the expertise of me and my group. Our expertise was in trace element analysis using mainly a simple but terrible sounding technique, atomic absorption spectroscopy. It is interesting to note that as recently as 1965 when I first had the opportunity to engage in independent research, many environmental problems were poorly defined and little research was occurring in some very important areas. Important innovation in some of these areas however had begun at the University of Toronto.

Universities at least those with high standards were highly compartmentalized in the 1970's with important core disciplines in science being Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. Students typically chose to specialize in one of these as a major after first year. This made it difficult to cross borders. There were some dual discipline majors including offerings such as Geology and Chemistry and Math and Physics. Here the student was required to take the core subjects in each discipline through to fourth year. Because of the difficulty involved few Professors or students made an effort to engage in collaborative cross discipline research. The important environmental problems being highly multi disciplinary in nature were not broached in the 60's. Instead single disciplinary experts chose piecemeal narrow projects to pursue which were impossible to morph into the structure of a major environmental issue. This issue was much like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces.

An Attempt to have Me Fired

Because of my appointment in the Department of Geology my first research was dictated by the Chair to be in the area of rock analysis. But it was not long until I defied my orders and slipped over to work relating to the environment. I had also refused to get involved in Administration reasoning that my limited mental faculties required that I accept as few peripheral tasks as possible. This occasioned no end of adversity and my Chair tried to have me fired. (Until obtaining Tenure a University professor can be fired). The Dean was sympathetic to environmental initiative overtures and happily for me, refused the request. I immediately joined a group at the University attempting to from "The Institute for Environmental Science and Engineering" later "The Institute for Environmental Studies". It was my hope and that of the others at that time that the Institute would embrace a fellowship of experts from the disciplines. Then joining together in working groups we would concentrate on the major multidisciplinary environmental issues such as acid rain and its intertwined components, that presently were hanging fire. Upon its formation I obtained a cross appointment to the Institute thus legitimizing my research. Additionally I had published a few papers at that early time, which was unusual for new faculty. This was the beginning of a career full of controversy!

I professed, above, an attitude of self doubt and thus after every manuscript submission I expected negative reviews. Likewise upon giving a scientific presentation I expected questions that I would not be able to answer. In fact I was always expecting to fall from any pedestal and be totally discredited in the minds of my peers. Despite this I expected high standards from myself and my students.

At the age of about 45 I began to see learning problems similar to mine being identified in one of my children and these were called a learning disability. Upon further research and from the knowledge of my daughter's high intelligence I had myself tested. Wonders of all wonders, I had a bad learning disability! Still it took me years to come to grips with my status. Suffering also from bipolar problems it was lucky I didn't' end up permanently in a mental ward-I had been there confined for short periods. Most of my life was spent either depressed with depression related to learning problems or manic, doing much more than I should properly handle. ( In manic states I bought multi items such as coats,8 cameras electronics-tape players and TVs for every room I had always been one to accept, even seek out, challenges, at and outside the university' beyond what the available time would allow and I always did these without fault. Shedding some of these in the light of my new status was a problem of quite a different stripe. Never show that you are doing a capable job in a position that you might need to relinquish. It seems you can never concoct a reasonable enough motive Somehow I found myself with 3 teaching/research appointments, almost unheard of elsewhere and another chairperson was trying to purloin my services as well. The University knew I had accepted positions with UNESCO and the World Bank and rightly viewed my requests as untenable. I will never regret my decisions to do the above outside consultancies as they were my joy, my way to see the real world and provided me with endless story fodder. Fortunately I had never sought positions in Administration so had never had to waste time dealing with persons whose complaints neared zero in the scale of world problems.

A Surprising Media Frenzy

The media became acutely interested in the environment as early as the late 1960's. Somehow I was co-opted to give 3 minute segments on pollution from Toronto Radio Station CFTR (no longer in existence). When they gave me a test reading of the material I had written, they strongly approved the material but could not stomach my reading. Thus they employed me to write and assigned a professional announcer for the reading.. Strangely after 1.5 years they cut the announcer and after practice, I did both jobs for a total series length of 3 years. The program "Pollution Reports" broadcast 5 nights a week, was researched by me and I am boggled to think I found enough solid material to last the duration.

From this point on I became one of the media "experts". Whenever an outlet, radio TV or print needed a story or a blessing on their renderings, I found a representative in my office or on the phone. More often than not I knew nothing of the subject or they had it so garbled I could do nothing but suggest someone else. Many funny stories will be told about trouble I encountered with results and comments attributed to me in the media. The following is a good example

Here is a strange sounding but important piece of work. Sewage sludge is the yucky product of domestic and commercial waste water and solids churned out of Sewage Treatment Plants. Particularly from urban areas this material is voluminous and hard to stash. Someone in a Government Agency, recognizing the fertilizer potential suggested spraying this slurry on agricultural fields. This was being done One US city dried and bagged the material and sold it as a home fertilizer in hardware stores and garden centers. It came to my mind that urban sewage sludge, consisting partly of materials from industry, might contain toxic metals from metal processing concerns. We analyzed Toronto's sewage sludge and the commercial fertilizer and these did have unacceptable levels of poisonous meats including lead-gasoline, mercury-dental and electric switch manufacture and disposal, chrome, zinc and copper-these three from plating and electrical industry. The poisonous non metals arsenic and selenium were subsequently found Contamination of food products and animal feed was therefore an unacceptable possibility. A popular trade publication called Water and Pollution Control publicized our findings in a feature article with fancy headings, strong statements and a cover picture of yours truly. Because of some wise government intervention we obtained a contract to study the problem in detail. To my knowledge metals containing, urban sewage sludge is no longer used for fertilizer. As a strange side bar to this discovery, it also came to my mind that the sludge might contain gold and silver and it did! Where might you ask could these precious metals derive? Well they come from household jewelry, sterling silver and silver plate both at the manufacturing and household levels. Too bad, however, the amounts both of sludge and these metals did not allow commercial recovery.

Athletics were also a passion despite being quite inept at most. I made some Varsity teams in football and ice hockey but was a bench warmer. Any passable skill I possessed in athletics was perhaps in long distance running and ice hockey coaching. In running I won 1 20 km race and I completed 3 full marathons in less than 4 hours in middle age. Meanwhile I frustrated my family by jogging every weekday to the university a distance of 20 km. This was probably a collateral vestige of my manic propensities.

Practical jokes were also an important diversion during my university years. The one that most strongly sticks in my memory was when (we, his grad. Students) pulled out the Professor's desk from the wall and nailed a large, fresh fish to its back area and then pushed it back tight against the wall. With time, of course the stench became almost unbearable in the office. No one said a word or removed the offending item. After a year or so and we had long forgotten the incident the prank was discovered. Nothing was said, except that one day I found that a pair of expensive new shoes I had removed, before entering the laboratory, to prevent there contamination with small drops of chemicals, had disappeared and had been replaced by an unsightly pair of old damaged shoes about 2 sizes too big! In another more dangerous stunt a number of us tied the Professors secretary into her chair and then rolled it on its casters out into the middle of a busy Toronto street. Fortunately no harm occurred but I perhaps conveniently forget how the event was resolved.

As indicated I was fortunate to marry the beautiful, talented, delightful and ethical Maureen Kern, a marriage that has in our case has lasted 51 years. I must confess that she stuck with me through some extremely trying times, some noted above, mostly of my making. In particular she bore the brunt of child rearing. I had no interest in travel, until Maureen unwittingly convinced me of the desirability of this activity. Little did she suspect that after overcoming my fear of flying I, in my typical manic way and to further my professorial career, would adopt the activity at such a frenzied pace. Although Maureen loves travel as much as or perhaps more than I, too often she was left for extended periods to tend the "nest". Despite her dedication to the family she has managed to travel to many of the more interesting areas of my work.

It Fell Right into My lap

The most crucial problem facing the world today-GLOBAL WARMING-could have been proselytized by us as early as the late 60's early 70's when we were studying lead and mercury in a variety of environmental samples. Lead, a constituent of gasoline exhaust would have been an indicator of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. Mercury is a volatile trace constituent of smoke from burning coal and would have served as an estimate of carbon dioxide from coal consuming electrical power generating plants and other coal burning sources. Mercury is also emitted by incinerators, but we were downwind from a power plant. The levels of lead and mercury were steadily increasing with time and in the case of lead we also had data from London England showing the same trend. Extrapolating all this into a carbon dioxide potential problem would have been the easiest thing in the world. Really perceptive scientists would have done so, it's called lateral thinking, something I lack probably due to my learning disability. At least that is my poor excuse.

In my radio broadcasts I often mentioned the overpopulation problem that the world faced and that we would pollute ourselves off the face of the planet if countries like China began to demand, construct and adopt our technology. Although the US and Canada- by proportion to our population- produce together by far and away the greatest amount of carbon dioxide, one quarter as I write, China and India are beginning to rumble deeply and strongly. Why did I not relate over population more definitely to important pollutants like carbon dioxide?

There seems that even an important failure can have an amusing sidebar. In a London England lead study it was the trouble I had getting soils through Canadian Customs. Since lead is stable under heat required for sterilizing and removing rotted organic matter this was done to all samples before leaving London. None-the-less I was halted when I stated that I had no foodstuffs. The Customs Officer peered suspiciously at my soil vials. I was held up 2 hours while personnel tried to determine if the black contents were edible and although no one said so, more probably whether they were drugs. In those days there were no drug sniffing dogs or rapid tests therefore.

If you compute the age of the planet earth, about 6 billion years, and then for an analogy shrink that down to one day; then humans will consume all the earth's resources in one tenth of a second. What's even worse is the largest users, by far, are North Americans. The real world countries, those in deprivation, rife with illness, lacking technological expertise and suffering from endless ravages of wars have little chance of sitting at our same table. Countries like Russia, China and India seem to be joining us in the rapid rise in resource consumption and hence quickening the eventuality of depletion of critical resource. This then is the real world. What constitutes the mode of living in North America, containing less than 10 % of the world population, is very atypical.

Building Confidence

In the following I must write a smidgen of material on which I base the confidence I have in our resuts. One must also assume we knew how to properly operate the equipment. I was starting to realize that as long as we continued to use Standard Reference Materials together with each batch of samples we ran, with these interspersed randomly in the set and if the results on these agreed with the accepted values of the standards we should be able to feel confident in our sample results.

A note on Standard Reference Samples is essential. First of all what are these? They were being produced by Trusted Groups such as The National Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C, The Environmental Protection Agency also in Washington and The National Research Council in Ottawa, Ontario.

How did the samples become standards? They consisted of stabilized waters, 100 pound amounts of leaves such as Orchard Leaves, Tomato leaves and others which were expertly homogenized, split into many 100's of small bottles and then some of which were sent to trusted laboratories which could analyze them for as many elements as possible by as many analysis techniques as possible. Upon receipt of the results back the supplying Agency processed them statistically and concentration values for the elements were assigned accompanied by a standard deviation (a statistical range within which you can expect the result to fall and still be considered correct). These samples together with a certifying document can be bought by labs like mine as long as they are available. We always carefully stored a stock of standard samples and used them. It might be interesting to note that we became, in time, a lab to whom a few of these Agencies sent samples for the standardization round.

Did you get all that? I have included this so that any experts don't overly criticize our statements of fact.

It is also just as important to obtain representative samples of the materials to be analyzed. Most often this means taking several grab samples whether of liquids or solids and then homogenizing them well. Equally important is to exclude contamination and to keep the samples stable until analysis. In some cases a few constituents have to be determined on site.

A Frigid example of Sampling Error

I had a technician in the Arctic to obtain snow samples for metals determination. The ones I was interested in included lead. We had been accumulating lead data for several years for a variety of urban and rural areas, to log the spread of this toxic element. (Many will recall that lead contaminated paint was the 2007 reason for the recall of some Chinese made toys). In much earlier years lead based paints were in general uses like those the used in paints for window sills, beds and other items that children might chew and acquire lead poisoning. At the time this Arctic work was being done lead was used in solders in tea kettles and of particular interest to us, as tetraethyl lead for octane boosting in gasoline. Upon receipt of the samples at our Toronto laboratory, analysis began. We assumed, of course, that Arctic samples would serve as the background reference being an area in the world area expected to have lowest levels of lead since it resided farthest from sources of this metal. Well, no; these samples were showing levels sometimes equal to those at Toronto roadsides!

What a fright! How could this be? We spent many days searching our procedures and minds for the reason. The only thing left was contamination. Maybe we had sent contaminated bottles, so at great expense I had a few unused flown bottles back. Again no detectable lead was found in the bottles. Then in frustration I enquired how the samples were being taken and much to my disgust I was told that they were done by snowmobile. The technician commented that he would get off this conveyance walk round back to where the sample bottles were kept near where the snowmobile exhaust exited and then take the sample thereby. In other words the samples were continuously being contaminated by lead from the snowmobile exhaust!

Lead, Lead Everywhere, Even in Your Backyard Trees

After completion of their use by other labs for a variety of important uses we came into possession of some Arctic ice cores. These had been carefully bored, in the presence of experts, through the ice where they represented a several hundred years of time. They were then stored below freezing. Using only small amounts from the cores at various levels we were able to trace metal contamination back through time, noting in particular, the sharp fall off of lead before the invention and use of the internal combustion engine. The appreciable contamination of other metals could be followed back toward the Industrial Revolution.

In another trace metal/time study one of my Engineering Student chose for his fourth year thesis to surreptitiously core old Toronto hardwood trees retrieving the cores, intact, back as much as 200 years. Separating these by rings into time segments, he was then able to determine their trace metal content. Again it was possible to see the time at which internal combustion vehicles came on the scene and then watch their accelerated use with time.

These studies were accomplished before a manganese compound replaced lead as an octane booster in gasoline.

BTW what does trace mean? It generally refers to anything at parts per million and below levels. A part per million is 1 divided by 1 million or one millionth of, in this context, a metal or other element.

Why Me?

Finally, to finish this section, what did we do that gave me the opportunity to live here and there and work for short periods on all the continents except Antarctica?

It was becoming imperative in the 70's to be able to determine not only the elements but their compounds as well. This was patricianly true because the compounds of the elements were more toxic than the element itself. Some of these elemental compounds could pass both the blood brain and the placental body barriers. So disciplines such as the environment and medical science were needed to have data on metal compounds.

Up to that time these compounds were done using million dollar equipment only available in the larger laboratories possessing expertly trained staff both of which existed mostly in the wealthier more developed countries. This left "developing countries", and "lesser advanced developed countries" which often had the worst pollution, more rudimentary labs and personnel not familiar with sophisticated techniques, adrift.

As we were doing trace metal compound research, I noticed a 1970's publication by Doug Segar in Miami, the first time the idea had been published in which 2 pieces of relatively cheap commercial equipment were combined which could determine elemental compounds, one element at a time. Hence we published our paper just finished on selenium compounds but done with a homemade $100 device to replace one of Doug's commercial devices. We extended the idea even further and made the unique combination of 2 homemade devices, costing less than $7000 which could do 4 types of elements as their compounds simultaneously on clinical and environmental samples. We called the technique of determining compounds of elements in samples elemental speciation.

It is only fair to emphasize that I had a few spectacular failures related to research initiatives as well. I remember clearly the misadventure surrounding the development of an inexpensive ultrasonic nebulizer (a glorified type of scientific sprayer). Good research money down the drain. Then I wrote a book manuscript on Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry, panned vigorously the reviewers.

Still our other work prevailed and the idea of being able to do speciation analysis work cheaply and easily with our successful elemental analyzer described above and being able to employ personnel having been trained carefully but with less expensive training methods appealed to many countries and their scientific groups. It is for this reason that I began with my world adventures. Many were accompanied with amusing, non scientific, incidents which I shall describe in the remainder of the monograph.

# Worldwide Encounters

My main Academic Appointment was as a Full Professor at the University of Toronto, a full time commitment. From time to time not counting sabbaticals I applied to my Dean for permission to undertake consultancies abroad, particularly in Developing Countries. These were generally approved with the understanding that I would still fulfill me teaching and research commitments in Toronto. These visits, encounters and consultancies were my "Brief Encounters with Life". It was really only at such times that I experience life as it is in the majority of the World. An outline follows briefly describing a typical consultancy from which most the stories in the rest of this book derive.

The University at which I taught was the State University of Campinas (Sao Paulo State) called Unicamp founded in 1966. The section I belonged to and in which I taught and helped setup research was funded by UNESCO the Educational Division of the United Nations. Here the faculty was about 30% foreign, mainly US. The Campus consisted of a string of low rise buildings built in a wood on the out skirts of the city. This gave a pleasant ambience for learning.

In all personal contact severe criticism during a consultancy is a no no. Praise in as liberal quantities as can be justified is important. Indicating the correct avenues of approach for course content and research in kindly but not condescending terms is appreciated. In working in developing nations it is crucial to recognize political and financial differences and constraints. Maximizing what can be done within the existing situation is critical.

Corruption Real World Typical Problem

Sometimes it may be necessary to circumvent or even sometimes if minor give in to obvious problems like bribes, baksheesh, skimming etc. In this regard I ran into the following road block.

I possessed in my own laboratory a very functional but dated piece of equipment which was no longer of use to my work. I recognized its value to modernizing and expediting work here. It seemed that the equipment should be shipped here to Unicamp and I was quite anxious to do this even at my own expense. The request was made to approve the paper work. Somewhere up the line and outside the University (which was pleased with the idea), a snag developed. Someone wanted the equivalent in cash and then would purchase some equipment in Brazil. Firstly I knew such quality equipment did not exist in Brazil and secondly I had been informed that such a sum would be much diminished before, or if it ever came to the proper place. As I was wrestling with the situation an unexpected solution appeared. I complained bitterly in the presence of my host. A representative asked me where the equipment currently stood; I explained that it resided on such and such bench in my lab. He the said, "when do you wish it to arrive" and I replied "the sooner the better". Next week there it stood in the Unicamp lab. It was in full working order which was amazing since it contained delicately adjusted optical components. During the remainder of my stay I was careful to remain within the existing boundaries.

Communication Real World Typical Problem

Lecturing would appear to present a problem since I spoke no Portuguese. In the first instance many student scientists knew English. In fact scientists wishing to succeed in more than just a local venue must be capable in English. If he/she wishes to make a mark with his work worldwide fluency in English is essential. All journals of import and conferences at high levels are in English. Despite this an interpreter was provided. This allowed all students to learn the material. Also he could provide Portuguese references for my material. Lectures were usually 3 hours long so I could cover a terms worth of work in my allotted time. Exams and assignments were mandatory since these were credit courses. Such were set in Portuguese to minimize misunderstanding. Answers were written in Portuguese for the same reason. I managed to learn "some" scientific Portuguese so with much assistance I could mark what was received.

Concern for Safety Real World Typical Problem

The typical consultants stayed in Western style accommodation, most opting for American chain hotels where available. This was not a problem since most agencies that hired consultants paid ample salaries for such living and usually in American dollars. The advantage of the later was that inflation was commonly high in third world countries meaning that a premium was paid on American money exchange both due to inflation as well as the propensity for American money among the local citizens. So the usual consultant staying in American chain hotels got American meals cooked from contaminant free produce of well defined origin eg. Beef was actually beef and not just named thus while actually originating from some other animal. These consultants were then transported to the consultancy destination by designated vehicle. A consultant using his standard system had minimum safety concerns but experienced a minimum of the local dynamics

Then there were those like me who felt a consultancy in a foreign country entailed not only providing our best efforts as consultants but was also an opportunity to experience the life of that jurisdiction. First this meant choosing local type accommodations and in many countries this was the first safety hazard. Usually this began with the building itself. Fire and other regulations were often lax compared to those in America. For example a hotel in an African venue had a wide central stair case from the lobby to the roof. Should a fire start in such a building the central area would act like a chimney and provide a corridor of upward rushing air to help fan the flames. There were no doormen to appraise the entrants and locks on the room doors could easily be released by a credit card. Well you must be getting the picture.

Safety once you left the hotel depended on the country and the location within that domain. Your chances of a physical mishap also depended on how much you were willing to risk walking around the different neighbourhoods on your own following the advice of the locals. Two or three incidents occurred where I was threatened but managed to escape due to my athletic background. In one of these I was attempting to have just a quick peak in a South American Slum, not the brightest idea I think you will agree. As a general rule I found pickpockets a particular nuisance in many locales and thus I took particular care not to be carrying important documents or much money. Shoeshine boys and other ad hoc service providers were often a danger. Police on the other hand varied in their veracity and usefulness from country and often even local within a country.

Care is essential in some areas due to poisonous insects or reptiles. Strangely my biggest troubles in this regard occurred in the large city of Sydney Australia as documented in the Australian section.

## South America

Brazilian Beginning

A Country of Unimaginable Contrast of Living styles, Climate and Environments.

I traveled to Brazil in 1981 on an Educational Mission. The Flight from New York was long and sometimes rough. Passengers for the most part had difficulty sleeping or resting so we were arriving in a fatigued somewhat agitated state. Just before decent the flight attendants managed to serve a small plastic cup of supposedly Brazilian orange juice. I noticed the older lady in the next seat, in a state of severe unease, was spilling hers mostly all over her person. I took her hand and squeezed it softly and then held it until we touched the Tarmac. She tried to express her gratitude but I couldn't understand the language. This was the first in a series of frustrations I encountered during my stay on not being able to respond to a kindness expressed.

To a traveler the first most obvious fact is likely the existence of the extremely rich and the hopelessly poor with a slowly emerging middle class. Currently Brazil has a disparity between the rich and poor second only to South Africa. Most tourists come to Rio and from the luxury beach hotels in Copacabana, the extensive flavelas (slums) are obvious flowing down the hills behind. Both Rio and Sao Paulo have immense densities of abject poor and the attendant crime therewith. Food and proper medical care is scarse so disease is ramped. The worst problem is the violence which is passed down to the children who have no chance of its escape. In Rio alone there about 6000 children armed with knives and guns. Drugs, rape, vandalism, muggings and gang fights are common. Authorities have proposed to build a 10 foot wall around the largest Rio slums Rochina and Vidigal as a means of better control, instead of pumping in needed investment. Lack of a wiliness to use investment to better the conditions in slums was seen by me as a worldwide problem. In fact those of us living in relative wealth and comfort in the developed countries have the same characteristic of ignoring poverty which abounds in sections of our modern cities.

In the 70's Rio was relatively safe on beaches and in the tourist sections of downtown. Now I would not travel to Rio no matter what the Travel Industry expounds.

Geographically Brazil extends from the state of Rocaima in the north to Rio Grande do Sol in the south with Amazonas bisected by the Equator. Temperatures along the Brazilian equator average above 25 degrees C with those in the extreme Brazilian south ranging below zero in winter nights. East to west Brazil extends from the Atlantic Ocean only being separated from the Pacific by the relatively narrow country of Peru. The seasons are inverse to that of the US and Canada, since most of Brazil resides in the Southern Hemisphere. The continental areas of these countries are quite similar, but the Brazilian population at 190 thousand is less.

When Brazil was originally colonized by Europeans it was the Portuguese in the early 1500's. There was, of course, an extensive pre-existing aboriginal population which, as was the case in most European colonized countries, suffered severe population declines due to war and diseases brought by the colonials Brazil declared it's independence in 1822 and became a Republic in 1889. Brazil is classified as a Democracy but it is certainly unlike democracy in Canada and the USA. In this regard Rulers of Country and States and their Deputies appeared to interpret and apply whatever laws that appeared to exist in a manner of their own interpretation. In addition it is hard for the foreign worker, like me, to know who to approach in matters of personal safety and with money subjects relating, for example, to making renovations or equipment additions, in laboratories during my research works.

In 1974 my family took a trip around the world. The first stop was Rio. At this time the beaches and beach hotels were relatively safe except for the odd snatch and grab thief (always leave valuables in the hotel safe), or if you were pretty young girl and minded the odd time having your bottom pinched. The adventures were taxis, whose drivers featured them as budding Grand Prix drivers in training and comings and goings at the airport. In the case of the latter there was no check-in security and finding the correct aircraft once you descended the ramp to the tarmac was an adventure. At this juncture you were faced with 6 or more aircraft any one of which could be yours. I figured that since we were going to Africa it would have to be large and with this reasoning we found the correct one the first time.

The next trip to Rio was much later, the late 1980's. I was indirectly on my way to work in Campinas and the adventures of which I shall expostulate in some detail below. My family was my accompaniment again this time to take a tour of the main points of interest in Brazil. The airport was in direct contrast to the first trip. This time armed soldiers were thickly present. The adventure now turned out to be the taxis ride from the airport. We possessed plenty of luggage and because of small Brazilian cars, I had to place my family in a separate taxis while loading myself and the luggage into another. The taxis drivers had grown more belligerent than before and when I arrived, shaken at the hotel there was the rest of the group with tears of fright in their eyes. My daughters were teens and the beaches were less safe. We remained more closely bunched when away from the hotel room.

Campinas My Brazilian Home

I felt something like a virgin caught in the middle of a jail break, very vulnerable, as I woke suddenly in the middle of the night to the sound of gun fire in the street below my hotel room. I phoned my sponsors trying to hold back a sense of panic only to be told, quite matter-of-factly, that this was only celebration of a football (soccer) victory.

This was my first trip outside of North America and I had been appointed to teach and set up research at the State University of Sao Paulo in Campinas a city of 1 million or more people, about 80 kilometres east of Sao Paolo. I had asked to be accommodated in a Brazilian domicile and not the American hotel I was slated for. In Toronto making such decisions was easy. I wanted, in my ignorance, to experience life of the locals. My hotel actually turned out to be quite acceptable. If you could accept the fact that no one spoke English (Portuguese being the native language). Also to have a hot shower, a pleasure I craved, the water tank on the roof had to have been heated by the sun. Campinas sitting as it did on the Tropic of Capricorn possessed, at normal times, warm water in all taps connected to the domestic water supply. My Room, facing the back, was also somewhat of a surprise. It was sparsely furnished with a bed that slung so low in the middle that I rolled there and my bottom rested on the floor. There was a nondescript bureau, the drawers of which were inoperable, probably because of the tropical humidity. The room was always dark because one small window faced the wall of a business college. A single dirty, dull bulb in a cracked ceiling fixture hardly helped.

Later as a preferred guest-I paid in US currency-I received a bright room facing the street. I was on the 6th floor and a circular staircase lead to the lobby. To say this chimney like internal geometry made the hotel a fire trap was an understatement. But that was Brazil, no safety standards. Despite all this I was living like the richer group in this country.

One of the features of the front room was a resident Kiskadee, a bird of rare vocal talents, unleashed each morning beginning about 5 o'clock, first as gravely rumblings then evolving into something resembling a scream. I was favored by this every morning like clock work. As I look back, the gun shots of my first night paled in voracious amplitude. A radio and TV adorned this room. It seemed whenever I turned on the radio the present hit song "Private Eyes" was blaring. Soccer matches were common on TV and of particular note was the announcer saying score in English but in a way that o-r-e part of the word was drawn out at high pitch until one wondered at his incredible oral duration.

Coming from Canada, I found the Brazilian construction in Campinas frighteningly frail and unsafe looking by comparison. I suppose, being as it was in the tropics, the buildings were not subject to the harsh climate changes. None- the- less it was impossible not to think that structures were almost everywhere built on the cheap. The one grand exception was, of course, churches. I kept wondering about the structural stability of my hotel in bad winds which were a feature of the local climate.

The first morning I dressed soon after the rude Kiskadee awakening only to find my breakfast hosts must be living in a rear facing room as they were nowhere in sight. Perhaps I was not as privileged as I thought with my front room.

The incident did however spurn me into the discovery of a true Brazilian delight. I ambled out the door walked a block or two and stumbled into the fruit market. Even though my hotel rate covered breakfast I learned that the prolific varieties of fruit including 5 types of bananas various types of mango, papaya, red and orange and some unusual types such as custard apples, were better than the soggy papaya at the hotel. So I absconded with a set of hotel cutlery and had the above delights on a paper plate in my room. Many of these fruits not available in Toronto during the years I was in Brazil, happily have now appeared locally.

There was one Brazilian gourmet delight that I did appear regularly in the dining room to enjoy and that was coffee. This ambrosia, black as ink, was served in espresso sized cups each diner usually consuming one or two cups, black with raw cane sugar mixed in. The poor servers soon got fed up refilling my cup a hence left a pot, together with a larger cup at my table. I drank mine black, no condiments, which may explain stomach upset in my recent years.

Dinner was an adventure. I tried a variety of restaurants in my local area which was pretty much in the city center. Campinas not being a tourist area had very few servers who spoke English and the menus were not I this language, even in parenthesis. I couldn't find specialty restaurants. You might think I would learn a few necessary words in Portuguese but my learning disability disavowed that. ( I failed or almost did-French every year in High School ). Failing any ability to communicate with the servers I took to trying to pick out some word(s) on the menu that looked familiar but Portuguese unlike some languages bears very little resemblance to English even in common words. As the poor attendant stood over me pen in hand I made a random stab at an item and the waited in anxious anticipation for what was to appear. I had many disasters, one of which had a pigs snout and other questionable parts in a slurry of beans. This I was to learn later was the National Dish. Surprisingly though, I did have some successes. Unfortunately I could never remember on which were the successful items that my finger graced the menu. Then I lucked out. There it was staring at me from a restaurant window "Canadian Bacon". There were unintelligible descriptors following, but what the hey it's something containing our world famous bacon, lets give it a try. All speculation ended when a pizza appeared with a few fragments of what did appear to be our bacon. It was good too. I began to dine here often. You can get away with this behavior when young. Another food related item was drinking water. It had been part of my approach to travel, never drink the local water! Thus I purchased bottled water at a local grocery store. I consumed great volumes due to the heat of the tropics. Toward the end of my stay I refused a glass of tap water at a colleagues home, saying I had to stick with bottled water. I was startled and somewhat rebuked to find that the local water was some of the purest in the world, being spring fed and also the source of my bottled water. I am scientist who doesn't reading bottle labels.

Brazil was my baptism to the significance of earning and spending US currency in many foreign lands. I can't speak for this situation, as I write in 2007, with the US buck, weak, and for example, on par with the Canadian "Loonie" (dollar). In the 70's, 80's and early 90's, citizens particularly in developing countries paid premiums for US funds. They literally stopped you in the street to ask to exchange. At the hotel in Campinas the rates for payment in US funds became better at least weekly. Representing, as I did, a World Group of distinction I would not participate in, on the street, currency dealings but the hotel situation sure helped my bottom line. At American hotels transactions were in US funds so the Hotel Chains made the killing.

A car cane round each morning, at about 9:00, to transport me to the University. This gave me plenty of time to view the sites on the busy street in front of the hotel. It was one of two main business streets which intersected at right angles about 100 meters from the hotel. Both sides of the street were lines with clothing shops and open air cafes. There were fence like barriers running sidewalk to window tops across the front of each business which clattered open each morning. Of particular interest in this diverse scene was the portly, middle aged, man who set up shop as a numbers racket "depot", always in front of the same Jeans shop practically under the noses of the police.

Policing, if it really existed as we know the profession, was a really fascinating conundrum. On each main corner there often stood 3 levels representing the law, the local, the state and the federal. If something untoward happened there always seemed to be confusion as to whom the responsibility to rectify the problem belonged. After an animated debate, usually well after the offence was complete, one of the officials took off in a car with siren whining, some times in the opposite direction. I had a personal involvement in such an incident. A street child, of whom there were plenty-many posing as shoe shine boys-pick pocketed a gentleman's wallet. The offender ran near me at which point I stuck out my foot and he tripped. Although there was plenty of commotion the police, standing only about 50 meters away, completely disavowed the incident. Commonly I saw citizens carrying rifles, with impunity, in full view along streets! It became my practice to slip a bit of money in my pocket and then leave my wallet and passport in the hotel safe.

Campinas is a comparatively wealthy city, being as it was, highly industrial and surrounded by sugar plantations. Despite this I was amassed at the amount of transparent poverty. One morning near the fruit market I was confronted by a woman, poorly dressed and holding a baby in rags. Out of "kindness" I slipped her two $1 dollar US notes which were the only items left in my pants pocket, a very large sum to the poor as I became suddenly aware as from behind every obstacle appeared women dressed in a like manner with hands extended for money. I was luck to have escaped relatively unscathed.

Parca Carlos Gomes is the most central of major parks in Campinas and was worth a visit day or night. Days brought a parade of interesting citizenry, particularly on weekends. Here it was obvious the vast variety of cultural and ethnic groups and mixes of these that comprise the city. It was also interesting to note the relative paucity of young people, at night the ubiquitous prostitutes trolled for customers. My entertainment consisted of sitting at the top of an amphitheater and watching the stars. I became particularly enamored of the Southern Cross grouping which was mentioned so often in books by mariners, (particularly Sir Francis Chichcester in whom I was particularly fascinated), in the Southern Ocean. One of The Crosse's important stars had weakened, according to Sir Francis, sometime in the 20's- really eons earlier since it takes millions of light year's for the stars light fluctuations to reach our observation. This made the constellation of lesser beauty, but not in my mind. As this was to be my inaugural trip to the Southern Hemisphere, one of many to come, I went out the first cloudless evening in each location to take its greeting.

One memorable evening I returned from after I had uncharacteristically fallen asleep in the amphitheatre and upon entering the hotel was greeted by a person at the desk whom I did not know. Not having any ID., which of course was in the hotel Safe, and speaking a foreign language, I was unceremoniously shown the door. The middle of this city in the middle of the night with no really effective policing was scary as I surveyed possibilities. I decided that my best chance was a bench in front of the hotel. Besides the fact that drunks now and then staggered in and out from the adjacent alley, the night was reasonably bearable. I could not sleep but my siesta in the amphitheatre sufficed.

There was one English language news paper in Campinas. This was published in Brazil and carried manly Brazilian news. I bought this paper at a local newsstand about once a week. Imagine my surprise, in this football (soccer) crazy country, to find an article about Wayne Gretzke, who at that time was at his prime in the NHL On a whim I sent him the story and in reply he kindly sent my son an autographed picture.

Brazil's Real Religion

What dominates a Brazilian? One might guess religion since each town is dominated by an immense cathedral commonly contrasted by encroaching ramshackle homes. But this is far from the case when numbers of followers (zealots) are taken into account. Football, at least among the males and younger females, creates a tremendous following. As is the case in many countries the main cities attract the best players. Thus teams in Rio and Sao Paolo dominate, particularly Flamengo and Corinthians in the former and later respectively. All the main cities in Brazil have relatively large stadiums and teams, not all teams play in the first division.

But is football the lightening rod? After having spent several Saturdays in the pursuit of football I became to realize that the pre match preparation creates much of the spirit and for some constitutes the complete event. This is because for most a 2:00 PM match is preceded starting sometime mid morning with drinks and a meal at a cantina. The drinks are nothing like I had ever experienced. They are called Caipirinha's, a name completely unfamiliar to me. They are constructed variously and served with a twist of lime in a high ball glass. The "various" composition must be high in alcohol, usually cane liqueur and at least have a smidgen of lime juice. The alcohol, masking as cane liqueur in Brazil, is above 100 proof, often way above. Ice may be added if desired Some poor souls never reach lunch, since after a few of these they are ready to be pushed vertically or horizontally out the door. This then makes space for more clientele. Upon attaining the lunch level one is greeted by a black bean slurry swimming with pieces of pork some still recognizable as pig's tails, pig's feet and of course a pig's nose. The basis for the formulation is, however, a beef heart. This dish, first served by the slaves on Brazilian coffee and sugar plantations, is called Feijoada. It seems quite acceptable, even tasty, after the caipirinha's.

But from I have described and the way I have accomplished this, one might assume that the net step, The Game, is anti climactic. Perhaps for some this is the case.

For most, a new part of the delirium was about to begin.

Descending carefully from the Cantina precincts we approach the game bus. Helping each other aboard is a slow process. It is still far from the official gate opening time at the stadium, but past experience tells us that we will be able to enter soon. After a short ride, the bus disgorged us into a milling crowd. The Caipirinha's and black bean swill were beginning to ferment in my stomach, giving me a nauseas feel. Stay down, stay down I will.

Suddenly the gates open and the stands began to fill. Before the official gate opening time the stadium seats were fully occupied. Non-the-less the gates remain open and fans continue to stream in. We were compacted along the rows by the new entrants. Many also climbed, or were pulled, onto to a small roof supported at the corners by single rowed cinder block columns. When the festivities began The occasional stomping of feet throughout the stadium caused a rhythmic vibration in the total structure. Surely we had a disaster just waiting to happen!

One thing I had not counted on, were the flares to be ignited in the crowd. They were set alight when the home team scored or when the fans became angry at officials or opposing players. In the latter case they would often be propelled onto the field. If you were unlucky enough to be sitting next to a flare possessing devotee, a bad burn could be suffered. Another unexpected action was that a row behind would organize a simultaneous push in the backs of those in the row in front causing a cascading effect of preceding rows.

What about supporter protection? There was little or none. A mote about 10 meters wide and deep encircled the field edge. This supposedly protected the players and officials for intruding enthusiasts. In reality a few fans somehow bridged this impediment When the stands erupted in "serious fan violence" a water cannon could be turned on the offending stadium area. In reality since the rules of football allowed for the forfeiture of games and the designation of games to be held in the absence of supporters should fan player or fan official physical interaction occur and these were strictly enforced. This kept such activity occurring, unlikely. On the positive side in enthusiast activity, was the flying of colorful kites, this being particularly common among Flamengo fans visiting from Rio.

Smaller urban area teams like the 2 from Campinas had little chance against the big city teams. Yet these games were extremely popular because local fans had a chance to see many players who would be promoted to the National Team at times of big tournaments.

Birds and Red Ants

On the more aesthetic side, birds and flowers abounded even within Campinas. In the region external to the city there are many relatively virgin areas which are a nature lovers delight.

I first wish to speak of the city. In the parks bide song is prolific and unlike 4 seasonal climate areas, the intensity and variety of song, varies little with the time of year. In most parks the density of tree cover precludes the sighting of the song bird. Even the vociferous Kiskadee in a tree near my hotel room and referred to above, was never actually spotted by me. Of course there was the usual assortment of ubiquitous, world city birds, such as "House Sparrows and Rock Doves (Pigeons)". These and there messes were evident almost everywhere within these precincts But the flowers and even flowering weeds, the latter which would easily pass as ornamental plants in Toronto, abounded. Favored locales were gardens around personal homes, churches and in special areas in parks. I particularly loved growing plants such as Bird of Paradise, bougainvillea and Hibiscus. In the Toronto summers I grew these in their pots out doors. The in mid September these had to be lugged inside to my plant room along with African and Australian native varieties, to struggle with for the next 8.5 months. Whereas in Campinas, I was visually assaulted by my friends rending to stark trunks and stems these beauties, to prevent their domination of more tender varieties, such as, exotic orchids and rare jasmines. I should be so lucky in Toronto!

An Ornithologist, someone had falsely given me this attribute in a letter to my Brazilian hosts. I was certainly interested in bird viewing, but not as an expert. To my horror I I receive a phone call, after a week or so living in Brazil, from a real Ornithologist who had gone to the personal trouble to arrange a bird watching trip in a preserve near the city. I was discomfited but felt I should accept..

Upon the appointed Saturday the expert and his wife picked me up at the Hotel before sunrise. I sat in the back seat of an old style Volkswagen Bug. This popular model had been banned for sale in Canada because of safety issues but was still the vehicle of choice here, even for the police. Beside me resided a large, nondescript burlap bag which seemed to possess a life of its own. On the twisting roads, driven at relatively high speed, the bag persistently was sliding over against me and I kept shoving it back. When we stopped at what I guessed to be the first destination the Ornithologist opened the back door, opposite and hefted the burlap sack from the back seat. I was curious to know what birding equipment this contained when much to my terror a large snake, a boa constrictor as it turned out, slowly emerged straightening up horizontally about three feet then it looked at us with its slotted eyes, before nonchalantly making its way across the road into the brush. I was to receive the explanation that the Ornithologist, a science teacher at the American School in Campinas, wanted to dispose of the reptile, which was now too large for captivity, in this "humane" manner. My mind was instantly full of images of this animal locating food sources at , for example, chicken coops on some poor farmers property. I began to wonder if this act was entirely legal. But in Brazil who knows and more like it that if not who would prosecute even if I were to rat (which, of course I wouldn't).

A few miles further on we stopped at a location with brush on one side and untouched open area on the other. Then out came the viewing scope and books on birds and other nature, including mine on birds of Argentina, being the only English language book of the approximate area I could obtain in Toronto, ($200 and only by special order). After about 2 hours sighting into the open area we had distinguished about 150 varieties of birds, an astonishing number for a Canadian who, even as an enthusiast, would be lucky to see 200 species in a lifetime in Ontario.

I had been given strict instructions not to leave the roadway. Forgetting myself I wandered toward the brush trying to identify a hummingbird, of which there are some 100 species in Central and South America. Suddenly I felt very painful bites ascending my legs. I made a futile dash back to the road, because at this point I could see red ants emerging down my arms, biting fiercely as they progressed. Of course I was madly brushing at them as they went, only worsening the situation. The only recourse was to remove, totally, my clothing on the road, whence my friends helped me to dislodge each ant one at a time. Fortunately this was a non poisonous variety, as discovered quickly in one of our books. Thus ended the expedition and we drove quickly back to obtain ointment, which alleviated the stinging and minimized swelling. My embarrassment was legion as I said farewell at the hotel. My surprise was of the same magnitude when I was again invited, but this time to stroll a country road. Here we saw in addition to the magnificence of Brazilian nature, a small power plant built on a small falls in the 40's by Canadian experts. Apparently Canada had provided a string of these on small Brazilian rivers. I couldn't help but wonder how the workers protected themselves from the multitude of poisonous snakes, let alone ants and other biting species.

Churrasco Farewell

The time arrived when my departure was necessary. I could hardly leave without throwing a party for my wonderful friends and colleagues. There was only one choice, a Brazilian Barbecue. This unique experience is called a Churrasco. What makes this unique is it's antiquity (1530's) and format. The real McCoy is in an outdoor restaurant where a large blazing pit of hot coals is crossed by real swords containing queered roasts, commonly various cuts of beef and pork Upon arrival the scent is overwhelming even before you reach the tables. Of course there are the mandatory Caipirinha's as starters. Soon a line of waiters select swords from over the pit and the come one by one by your table and you choose which steaming delicacies you wish; the waiters then cut slices with lethal looking dagger type knives. One cycle was more than enough for me, but several guests were able to tolerate twice around. As I recollect we also had wine. The total cost for 12 diners which included all the above was $32 using my American money!

An aside to this experience was the typical Brazilian restaurant toilet arrangement. In the Men's there is a stainless wall instead of urinals with a trough below flowing with water. No need to wait in lines to get the job done! Although if you required other than urination, I have no idea how this would be done. Actually this should not be nearly the problem for me as for most. This is because being learning disabled; I have often mistaken a W for an M and walked boldly into the Woman's without meaning to putting the fear of God into any occupants.

Ecological Reality

A few final comments about my educational expedition to this area are essential. In Brazil resides a biosphere of great diversity and like native impatiens has been encroached upon or irreparably damaged, as have sections of the rain forest. What remains must be preserved for future Brazilian generations and to prevent further, human induced, world climate change. We still have in Brazil a country being raped by the few and exceedingly rich, Land and Commerce Barons living in a deliberate manner that excludes betterment of the massive deprived population. This is, of course, being done under the full knowledge and protection of the Political Leaders and their minions. Those like myself, an environmentalist, importing special scientific know-how by working at the Universities such as the UNESCO sponsored UNICAMP in Campinas can only trust that the client/scientists (usually the small but developing middle class) will make the beneficiary of this material, the solution of the unimaginable environmental problems. I was extremely pleased to find that I was dealing, for the most part with academics of high energy, ambition and moral standards. For me life and travel in Brazil were for the most part idyllic. It was evident, however, that a deliberate and concerted effort had been made to exclude and hide sections of widespread poverty, as I found to be common in much of the developing world. Thus in retrospect my deep concern is, what help did I provide to those of the population that were most in need?

Brazilian Beauty

I had the good fortune to travel back to Brazil some time later, this time with my family, Wife- Maureen, Children- Lisa, Melissa and Jon Jr. in toe. We had planned a sight seeing adventure of a few of the major geographic, ecological and political regions of the country. We had chosen Rio, Brasilia, Falls Iguazu and Manaus.

I will not mention Rio again as it was covered on our 2 visits in the section above. This was included above to be able to contrast the city as it had changed drastically between travels intervals. Also we were so unimpressed by the antiseptic, artificial and non Brazilian ambiance of Brasilia that I will exclude comment on our visit there. A location such as Rio Grande du Sol would have been money much better spent.

Manus

Located as it is only about 3 degrees south of the Equator the family would be able to experience an equatorial type climate and ecosystem. This city is also north central as far as its positioning within Brazil is concerned. Being at the confluence of the Rio Negro, a clear dark river flowing to the south east and the main tributary of the muddy Amazonas, to form the core Amazonian River, strange water patterns are formed. The mixing of these contributing sources is not complete near Manaus so large dirty patches of unassimilated Rio Negro flow on well down the major river.

Hotel accommodation at the time of our visit consisted of an expensive resort or something of much lower grade in the city it's self. Our finances dictated the latter; in fact the hotel we booked was only partially finished. Rooms facing the river were available. Behind these was a wide hallway bordered on the side opposite by hording. We booked on the 6th floor, allowing an excellent view of the river and surrounding area. The patchy river and port area were clearly visible. The river was very wide and the opposite shore though visible was not detailed. Ocean going ships could ply the waterway as far as Manaus. A few of these, fishing boats and a few tour boats filled the harbor. From our room it was usually possible to see a patch of rain somewhere in the local area and down pours were common. Of course the humidity was always extreme.

Historically the city was built mainly on the rubber boom which ensued with the process of vulcanization and the rubber tire for the automobile in the 1890's to 1920, after which time synthetic rubber killed this trade. However during the rubber period fortunes were made and the city grew both in size and culture. A world class opera house was constructed which attracted many of the world's greatest stars in many fields. This edifice has been well preserved and is a major tourist attraction, which we as well enjoyed. After the riches, came an era of poverty, which had not entirely disappeared at the time of our visit. We greeted a time when the tourist trade had begun in earnest and the city was a "free port" allowing purchases to be made tax free. Brazil being a nation with a surfeit of semi precious stones meant that bargains in this area abounded.

Of greatest interest to us was a tour of the Rain Forest which because of high water could be arranged by boat. Stories of Piranhas, hundreds of bird species' monkeys Caimans and Anacondas thick through as a man's leg filled our heads. What we mainly saw was many species of trees and only heard the screeches of monkeys. From time to time a few very colorful birds swept down from the dense, canopies which towered above. Suddenly upon rounding a curve between trees the worst happened. There before us popped out a typical North American tourist scene. A dock above which hung colorful bunting blared over the previous natural scenery. At the end of the pier stood a muscular looking chap ensnarled loosely in a constrictor type snake. Upon closer view I realized that the snake was a non native species (boa constrictor) probably overfed for the occasion thus available, as he desired, to sling over any willing visitors. Behind him lay numerous tables strewn with enticing (for some) trinkets and manned by some indigenous people in their typical costumes. This, of course, was the mandatory stop at which the tourists were milked and the tour operators prospered.

The Amazonian Rain Forest is disappearing at an alarming rate. Peoples in the richer countries must bear abundant blame in this regard for a number of reasons. The hardwoods of these areas as in other tropical rain forested areas in the world are in much demand for furniture. The mining industry has found mineral wealth worth exploiting and this is done with little regard for environmental damage in the local area. Probably the most destructive of all is the deforestation for agricultural purposes. Soils in Amazonia are very rich BUT terribly thin. The lack of depth results from the extremely fast decomposition of forest litter and the recombination of nutrients thus released, at a very rapid pace back into living species. Agricultural crops as a rule denude the nutrients into edible material and hence these do not return back to the soil. Rapidly the soils become useless for agriculture and the area is abandoned in favor of a freshly cut section of the rain forest. Human Induced Climate Change is a very serious receptor of the consequences of deforestation. Unless countries, most prominently those comprising G-8, pay compensation to prevent rain forest destruction who can blame the Brazilians for using these approaches as a source of income in an effort to tilt the wealth balance.

There is a bit of irony associated with agriculture in Amazonia. A farmer acquaintance of mine told me the following story. Growing Soya beans was becoming a big trend in Canadian agriculture to satisfy the expanding oil and organic food market. But now the Brazilians are growing this crop in such quantity and at less cost that Canada is being priced out of one of our most important agricultural initiatives. To illustrate the Brazilian scale of farming a crop he said he watched a harvester run on a line of the crop, straight for 4 miles, before having to turn back and harvest another row!

Flying out of Manus can be quite a frightening experience even for the seasoned traveler. A torrential rain drummed down on the day of my flight to Campinas. I was transported to the airport and loaded onto a 747 non-the-less. Presuming that we would wait at the gate for a break in the storm I began to read over some lecture pages. Suddenly I realized that the airplane had begun to taxis. In an instant we were speeding down the runway and of we went in a bump and at , what seemed to be an impossibly steep angle. The lights all extinguished within the cabin and the plane seemed to roll. I felt we had been upside down. Then just as suddenly we burst out of the storm into tranquil flight. I looked down and many of the lecture notes had flown into the adjacent seats. My hands seemed to be welded together around the knuckles. When he appeared. in an angry tone I queried the flight attendant as to why we had taken such a chance. He calmly stated, "Sir if we didn't take off from Manus as we did the majority of days the flight would not go". What a great comfort!

Iguassu Falls National Park

A dream world, a fairy land, it is hard to find words to adequately describe the semi tropical Iguassu Falls region. Try to imagine a network of some 270 separate falls, the actual total depending on the volume of water flow in the river, which in turn depended on the season and the up river drainage. Some of these cascaded over several levels of rock. Each segment of falls was divided by separate islands along the brim. With an altitude of more than 80 meters extending along a 4 km stretch ( much wider than Niagara) the cascades were highlighted by Devils Throat, a large unbroken segment in the center. Then realize that the National Park is in both Brazil and Argentina and is semi tropical. There are several spellings for "Big Water" (translated from the Aboriginal) and these boil down mainly to Iguassu used by Brazilians and Iguazu common in Argentina. With the sighting of Iguassu Falls my wife and I had now had a glimpse of all 3 great falls, albeit Victoria Falls from a commercial jet aircraft at cruising altitude.

The country of Paraguay is only a few kilometers up stream and forms a triple frontier with the above mentioned countries at the confluence of the Iguassu and Parana rivers. Illuminating helicopter and fixed wing aircraft excursions are possible over the regions at a cost much too steep for our budget. Walkways exist around the falls area, both above and below, highlighted by "safe" footbridges over some of the cataracts. The quotation marks around, safe, simply indicate that accidents had occurred during the era of our tenure but there is no recent evidence to suggest that the footbridges are not now secure. The walkways in the valley could be locally treacherous, both rocks and wood, due to wind born spray from an adjacent falls. These were however well worth chancing for the Views and study of the unique ecosystem both avian and botanical compared to that contained in the vast areas above. Additionally the family took a dinghy excursion well above the falls which illustrated the high rate of water flow and allowed the viewing of many exotic water and shore birds indigenous to the area.

Our accommodation was Motel style with rear windows facing toward a small segment of the falls. The sound of spray contacting the rock below was distinctly audible within the room. Of perhaps greater interest was the frequent intrusion into the living area of the shoulder high flightless bird of South America, the Rhea. Sometimes our rooms were even graced by an unidentifiable species of hummingbird. In 25 years of camping in Ontario Canada the presence of wild species within our abodes had never occurred and perhaps this was our good luck as large animals such as Black Bears and Moose, indigenous to the area, would not have been welcome.

Trails leading from our back door into wooded areas were overflowing with nature. In the early mornings after sunrise and the again in the evening before sunset, the atmosphere at various levels was filled with vibrantly colored birds flitting along the paths, in and out of the trees and often above tree level. In this category colorful Toucans, with their seemingly oversized bills, glided at high altitude with only very slowly oscillating wings. Sizes of birds varied from tiny many varieties of hummingbirds to the previously mentioned Toucans. Bird song, sometimes overpowering, filled the ears. Completing the air born kaleidoscope were vividly colored butterflies which often brushed carelessly against a hand or arm. Some of these, as big as dinner plates, were a florescent bright blue. Others were formed or colored in fearsome manners to frighten predators. Night brought out an equally diverse collection of wildlife. Particularly visible were the moths. At this latitude there are an abundance of retiles and insects, many poisonous. Even at night in these environs, nothing dangerous was encountered. Unlike the African tropics, to be covered in a later segment, the wild roaring and screeching sounds were absent during these hours.

Footsteps of the Clipper Ships

No one had told us to expect a full blown south sea hurricane in March! Of course stories are legion of ships encountering horrific storms in the Cape Horn region. Countless losses of ship and cargo have been recorded here in the days of the Clippers before the advent of the Panama Canal. But our hurricane did not materialize anywhere near the Cape.

One of the most famous trips into these southern waters was that of Sir Francis Chichester in a successful solo Circumnavigation of the world made in a relatively small 20 plus meters ketch class sail boat (main and mizzen masts) when he was in his 60's. Constantly deprived of sleep due to bad weather and having suffered mild personal injury, together with the need to operate the ship with a damaged self steering gear made sailing tedious under normal conditions. Storms encountered in these southern waters sometimes produced 20 to 30 meter waves and winds so strong on his bow or stern that even using a tiny spitfire jib to maintain stable forward motion and dragging a sail in the water either fore or aft, as a "sea anchor" he was for many hours in danger of broaching. This is a condition which would flip the boat on its side and present the danger of dismasting and capsize. Even Sir Francis, as courageous as he was, admitted a state of constant fear during these instances.

Our ship, a relatively large and powerful cruise ship with 4 or 5 decks, seemed well suited for stormy weather so it was hard to believe the damage and sea sickness that occurred with us, as will be detailed later, under the same type of conditions that Sir Francis encountered and conquered single handedly in his diminutive craft many decades before.

Maureen, 2 friends and I made a recent tour of coastal regions of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Both Chile and Argentina extend enormous distances from north of the tropic of Capricorn into the "Roaring 40's" with the tip of the Horn region brushing 56 degrees south latitude and into which we traveled at our turning point to make the transition from south to north. The trip can be made from Buenos Aries to Santiago or visa versa depending upon the chosen dates. Either way the ports-of-call are identical on the brochure. The reason for my stating "identical on the brochure" will also become obvious later. Our flight was to landlocked Santiago from whence we traveled by a tour arranged bus to the Chilean coastal port of Valparaiso.

A city of 5 million people in the metropolitan area, Santiago covers more than 330 square km. Most interesting, we found, was the Plaza des Armas, together with the typical Band Shell, which is the heart of the city. This Plaza dates back to the founding of the city in the mid 1500,s. Some of the near by buildings had been badly damaged during the coup resulting in a takeover by the Pinochet led Government in the 70's and by the earth quake of 1985. Restoration had been made in the old style. The great Metropolitan Cathedral dominates but the area includes other imposing structures such as the National Museum of History, the Post Office and the City Hall. A sprinkling of local artists and exhibited art added to the ambience. This tour made it clear that such Squares are typical of Chilean and Argentinean cities.

The bus to Valpariso wound along a short modern highway through countryside that at a casual glance was reminiscent of Southern Ontario. On closer inspection the trees and other plants were unique to our experience as were many of the domesticated animal species. Along with the ubiquitous cattle and horses was a related group of which the llamas were the most common member. Together with these we later saw alpacas, guanacos and vicunas, the later 2 being also camelids. All bore the familiar small heads on extended narrow necks protruding from relatively rotund bodies on 4 long legs. All told the animals varied somewhat in stature but averaged about 1.5 meters high. Color differed amongst the members from white to shades of brown.

In the days preceding the Panama Canal the vessels that were proceeding towards the Horn region took on provisions at Valparaiso. In present times the volume of shipping has been much reduced and the pace of life in this working class city has quieted. Buildings looked ramshackle and the rutted streets ran steeply to the port area. Cruise ships of which there are a few, muster passengers here from the airport at Santiago. Many of these like ours are slated to round Cape Horn. Others, also south bound, investigate the Beagle Channel or tour the Strait of Magellan. Our cruise ship although immense in length, tonnage and power was the smallest in the cruise line that we chose.

It is interesting to note that many a vessel of varying size and magnitude and destined for The Horn has unexpectedly been forced to shelter and/or cruise through the Strait instead of proceeding as intended, for weather related reasons. Many are thus prevented a sighting of Cape Horn. Early Explorers in the Straight report having sighted many fires along the shoreline with aboriginals, totally naked, despite frosty and windy conditions, beckoning them to come ashore.

Most notably Chile is dominated by the Andes Mountains, with only a narrow coastal region along the west to south area. Although stretching 4600 km north to south, Chile at its widest is only 440 km. The Andean Mountains are strung through with imposing volcanic structures. Many glaciers emanate from the steep slopes.

Ports of disembarkation for a cruise ship like ours are relatively few and the itinerary rather standardized. But to the contrary of what this might suggest, we found many delights on the expedition the foremost being spectacular mountains, fiords, glaciers, avian life and cities and historic sites in the more southerly regions. The crown jewel, the rounding of Cape Horn, would have in itself been sufficient justification for myself in choosing this voyage.

A usual rainy dreary Puerto Montt, was upon our arrival, bathed in sunshine. The ship had anchored our from the pier and it was necessary to board bright red " covered tenders", shaped somewhat like bath tubs and which I supposed to be the life boats, although we were not told as much in the safety drill preceding the voyage. From the landing a tour bus and guide, voicing the usual patter and statistics, disgorged us at a beautiful stream leading to the picturesque Petrohue waterfall. Along the short stroll we were treated to the melodious sounds of the rapids and the approaching falls. As a special treat, rising to the east was a conical snow covered mountain (Osorno Volcano) sometimes referred to as the Southern Mt. Fuji. As a seasoned traveler I feel that such comparisons often discourage the viewer from realizing fully the uniqueness of the object but also of the intervening setting. At lunch we were bused through ranch dotted countryside (German farming immigrants had established in this area in the 1800s) to the city of Puerto Vares. Relaxing at a lakeside cafe and dining and sipping Pisco Sours ( a Chilean and Argentinean drink consisting of brandy-from Muscat grapes, lemon juice, egg whites, syrup, and local bitters) if desired, we were treated to another unique view of Osorno Volcano. Back aboard ship we anticipated the next day at sea while gorging ourselves on the famously rich and uniquely prepared, cuisine typical of cruise ships in their dining room(s).

Chilean glaciers, like those elsewhere on this planet are in relatively rapid retreat. This, of course, is due to the disastrous phenomenon of human induced Global Warming. The Amalia Glacier is arguably the most impressive of Chilean glaciers to be viewable from a ship. A long and spectacular fiord dead ends at this location. Fiords in Chile are more striking than most in Alaska but pale when compared to those I viewed on the west coast of Norway. Nonetheless the journey through bright blue, ice flow littered waters was a photographer's delight. For anyone who has been in Glacier Bay in Alaska, the Amalia Glacier is disappointing in both width and height. However the bright blue color, much the same in shade as that in the preceding flows, lends a charm that helps negate any deficiencies in stature.

Located 5 miles from its port is Punta Arenas. This very Spanish inspired settlement is the most southerly city of Continental South America. Several tours of merit are available. We ruled out the penguin tour on the basis that we would see these, flightless, avian species elsewhere. This was to be a fateful decision for me since one of my main goals, as an avid bird lover was to see some South American penguins. Touring the town was unremarkable having seen the typical dominating Roman Catholic Cathedrals and Municipal Buildings bordering the characteristic Square adnosium. Of particular interest and enjoyment was a trip to a ranch. The wind blown shrubbery and stunted trees along the route were to me spectacular. At the ranch a short ride on a small horse was on my agenda, as was a tour of a small private museum containing 1800's farm implements and household fixtures. Then to the home which included a dining room with seating for everyone. Out side we could view a small grouping of sheep and a BBQ pit sporting several searing sheep carcasses. These were butchered within sight and the delectable morsels plated for our eating pleasure.

There was one other tour which we would have loved to have engaged, but the cost of having a flight from this local over the southern tip of Antarctica, which this entailed, was prohibitive.

One of the tour highlights is to stand in the city of Ushuaia under a sign announcing that this is the most southerly city in the world. This was our first contact with the Country of Argentina and across the Strait wind swept, relatively flat Patagonia thrusts boldly to the north. Since Ushuaia is not on the contiguous continent but resides within the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago it does not have usurp Punta Arenas in its own unique classification. It is possible to view much of the area on foot. We kept mainly to the area bordering the ocean having difficulty overcoming the fascination of standing on the earth so close to Antarctica. We did take a tour to the End of The World Train National Park. Here one is greeted by a small scale but, ride able bright red train, which delivers passengers to sights within the park. Most impressive is its mostly low growing intense greenery, coupled with stream with waterfall.

Destination Cape Horn! The weather although having been dull during our tour in these southern latitudes there had been no suggestion of storms. Everything now depended on retaining this state of affairs. Word had transmitted that we would awake around 7.00am local time in the region of the Cape. By my calculation, done in grand fashion in front of our friends Maureen and my room should be on the side of the ship presenting this vision. The big day dawned with calm cloudy weather but with unlimited line of sight. This was the quandary; from our balcony from fore to aft there was nothing but an endless view of sea, not a solid protrusion anywhere. My anticipation took a giant step back. After what seemed an interminable length of time a knock rattled our door and our friends from the cabin on the opposite side announced, smilingly, that perhaps we might like to view The Horn and there it was about 1km distant and in the center of their balcony. From the sea,viewing south to north, the Cape rises precipitously from the ocean, reaching a height at the center of perhaps 400 meters falling more steeply to the left than the right. The width across from a center view is about 800 meters.

Despite the lack of even a breeze waves broke with froth at the base of the rock. As expected, for March, the temperature was cool but not cold as it might have felt in a wind. Imagine ships in the 1800's rounding this promontory in the southern winters, as they might have to do without control of delaying events elsewhere during the trip, in mounting gales accompanied by freezing spray! Average winds being what they are in the 50's there are no trees on the rock but plenty of dark green plant matter which seems to extend, with a most tenacious grip, right to the ocean surface. A notoriously cold west to east sea current flows about the headland coupled with a west wind but the wind is often coupled by ever varying Willivaw wind currents. A few "intrepid adventurers" have tried the voyage east to west often with predictable disastrous results.

A Dutch Explorer in1616 named the Rock, Hoorn, after his town of birth. The Northern tip of Antarctica is 800km from this location.

Leaving the Cape region, finally turning to the north a large island appears. Staaten Island has often become a wrecking location of ships which although successfully negotiating the Horn region are caught in a fog and give the location to slight a berth. On our transect for the Falkland Islands we stayed well off its coastal waters.

Port Stanley is the main port at the Falkland Islands and we landed there. Ones first impression is that the tourist industry must dominate the economy, this is because the area of disembarkation in port Staley is clustered with shops selling island curios and products. Tourism only ranks as number 3. The number 2 ranking is also obvious from the attractive woolen goods in these shops. Not surprisingly fishing is number 1.

East and West Falkland Islands account for the main land mass. There are about 750 mostly small islands in total. Relatively low to first view, there being many bogs, the highest point is actually 700m. Westerly winds constantly blow , usually at high velocity, the humidity is high with winter and summer temperatures averaging 5 and 16 degrees respectively.

Tours are available from Port Stanley, of the local area, one also to see penguins. Again Maureen and I gave this latter a miss thinking to see these birds elsewhere. There plenty of vestiges of the 1982 war between the UK and Argentina, not the least of which are fenced off areas of mine fields containing in total 25,000 mines. Old rotting wooden shipping is prominent and makes excellent camera fodder. A sign post exists covered top to bottom with signage indicating the direction and mileage to major world cities. The bus we rode was diesel powered, the fuel for this and all forms of power generation. coming from imported oil products. My friend asked, what to me was an excellent. Why are there not wind farms here to create power thus taking advantage of the constantly abundant winds? The tour director had no answer.

Back at sea we were looking forward to Puerto Madryn and finally the Penguins.

Surely the at least the Captain knew. What with radar satellites and other ships in the region, but we were never told. Happily we left Port Stanley, snuggled up in bed and soon were asleep. Suddenly we were rudely awakened by a crash of a glass rolling onto the floor and breaking to pieces. Following this was rolling of the ship from side to side. Maureen rushed to the bathroom to retrieve the glass pieces before they were trodden upon. She became aware that most of what had been a glass was not there. Unexpectedly another pitch of the ship and glass flew out across the floor from under the tub, which she again retrieved. From then on until daylight the ship began pitching bow to stern with great groaning sounds. After day break things were progressing into a worse state. We were on the upper deck of cabins and had a balcony. Water was now flowing under the door from the balcony trough the cabin into the hallway. No one knew what to do. We could see mountainous waves coasting by (later we discovered they were 90 feet high!), great precipitous mounds topped by froth. A shattering crash came from below deck, which was windows breaking in the dining room.

We decided to attempt a trip below and in the salon were people being sea sick. Not us, we were hungry and found that the crew had deftly boarded up the shattered windows in the dining room and some passengers were being served food. We joined the small group and happily received what was made available. Breakfast was usually on the upper deck buffet style, but today only water swishing through was on the menu there.

The storm was frightening in as much as the ship groaned throughout. It was hard to imagine how such a large vessel could rock so fiercely with such alarming sound. Gradually towards night the worst abated and the crew started to mop p the mess. We learned that the Captain had skillfully maintained the ships bow into the wind most of the time thus preventing more serious damage to people, the vessel and contents.

An additional price had to be paid. Since the liner had wasted a day battling the storm, with no forward progress being gained there was no opportunity to visit Puerto Madryn. Thus we powered on towards Montevideo Uruguay. I had missed any chance of accomplishing one of my main goals, that of seeing South American Penguins, at least in their natural habitat. So many penguin tours had been offered and I left these opportunities "knowing that they would be seen" and more easily in this local. Alas, trips of this nature are often filled with missed opportunity with their many choices of side tours. Frequently passengers come back from a trip that you chose against with accounts of adventure or sight all too intriguing, but because of ship schedules these are impossible to execute.

Surprisingly few travelers, following self designed South American itineraries, make Montevideo a destination. What with sunny, warm, sandy beaches, delectable food and visual and historic highlights this local is well worth a stop. In early February (mid summer) there is a festival at least the equal of that in New Orleans. Restaurants serve delectable dishes, particularly beef based. The Plaza Independencia is dominated by the Neo-Gothic, 26 story, Placio Salvo. This stands in marked contrast to her glass and steel Supreme Court edifice. The colorful Trash and Treasure market together with the Grand Old Market established in the 1860's are also of interest.

From Montevideo to Santiago along the Rio De le Plata the trip must be navigated slowly and carefully because of the shallow depth of water. A view over the ships stern was of constantly stirred up muddy colored water.

Color is the main impression I have of Santiago. Street stalls and buildings seemed alive with color. The pink edifice with balcony where the notorious Evita (Eva) Peron harangued her subjects, as the First Lady of Argentina dominates the cities main park. At the opposite corner I was ready to snap a photo of street dancers when politely asked in English if I would mind refraining from doing this because the activity was part of an upcoming movie. Although this seemed an odd request I did as requested. Directly across the park was the entrance to a fascinating Cemetery, containing all tombs above ground. Here lying among many elaborate vaults of famous city and political figures was the one containing the remains of Evita Peron.

Everywhere in the city core our lungs were permeated with the horrific fumes generated by industry and traffic. Large stately old gothic style buildings bear the wounds from the corrosion that such atmospheric conditions can cause. What a contrast exists between the obvious wealth of citizenry patronizing the smart shops of the city center and the many down town hawkers and other denizens of poor living in hovels along the route connecting to the airport. We did not view the wealthy suburbs but could easily imagine the superior environment surrounding these.

The highlight of Buenos Aries, at least for us, was attendance at a Tango Club. This dance, so sultry in nature, attributes its origins to Argentina. The performance included the dance done by different troupes of dancers and a songstress whose rendition was in the style of the dance.

## South Africa

African Setting

In the 19th and the 20th century Africa became a cartographers nightmare. It was impossible because of major events such as the breakup of the British Empire, Independences obtained from other countries such as France and wars amongst neighboring States for any Map of the Continent to stay up to remain current for even as much as a few years.

It is important to stress that by no means were the Black Cultures "Savage" as has often been suggested by Whites. On the contrary there is widespread evidence of highly structured society in Southern Africa long before the White intrusion. In my view Missionaries many Christian (including Christian war known as the "Crusades") White and other Supremacist organizations of many stripes and many Governments, in their attempts to establish unsuitable religions, democratic and authoritarian forms of government and other unbefitting structures amongst inadaptable human populations caused serious suffering around the World the likes of which ranked high among Attila The Hun, the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, Chairman Mao In China and White originating diseases. I have observed these effects in a variety of forms In Africa, South America, Korea and in Countries like China where such problems gave way to Communism for eradication.

Shocking Prelude

An immature, adventurous and eager to gain recognition for his research in the field of Analytical Chemistry of Gold and the other Precious Metals, young man excitedly accepted an invitation to speak at a conference in South Africa. Obtaining an invitation was high recognition and meant respect for my work as a notable in the field (even although the recognition was really for the Real pioneer, my late Research Director Professor F.E. Beamish with whom I was the very junior co-author of 2 books on the subject. My own research in the field had been strongly influenced by this Icon and was of note only because I adapted many Precious Metal analysis procedures for use with the new and revolutionary technique of Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (Invented by Sir Alan Walsh of CSIRO Division of Chemical Physics in Australia and another senior colleague by lucky circumstance).

This preamble is by way of a lame excuse for going to South Africa in times of unforgivable horrific treatment of the Blacks and other non whites under a system called Apartheid. These were times when Whites used any dreadful scheme, consisting of but not limited to, disenfranchisement, torture, espionage, massacre, in each category even involving women and children, to repress the rights of the large majority non white population. To illustrate the magnitude of the population discrepancies consider that there were approximatelly15% whites and 85% non white (75% black and 10% colored and Indians combined). On this basis the same proportions can be used to approximate the difference between the very rich and the poor. In fact this differential placed South Africa in 1976, when I traveled to the country, as the worst case of such deprivation in the world!

South African settlement by the Whites (The Dutch East India Company) in 1652 pioneered White settlement of the area and had been as a provisioning post in the Cape Region. My name being Van Loon I have to be conscientious of possible complicity of my ancestors in this endeavor and of what was to follow. This group became the Afrikaners segment of the White population (Africans spoken today is an off shoot of the Dutch Language and is the native language of Dutch, French Refugees and Germans subsequently settling in the expanding area). During the 1700's the British began a large settlement at the Cape and because of their freeing of the slaves and domination the original, mainly Afrikaner farmer population, known collectively as the Boers, made a "great Trek" to the North. During the period from first settlement to the establishment after the "Trek" of the Boer Republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State in 1853 bloody conflicts with Black Tribes were also rife. Rivalry between British and the Boers culminated in the Boer Wars of the 1880's. The British prevailed and the states were incorporated as part of the British Empire. This Country became known as the union of South Africa with the power solidly in White Hands. A Black supremacy organization to become known as the African National Congress (ANC) was formed in 1912. This organization fought for the rights of Blacks in South Africa and was declared Illegal by the White Supremist Government, The National Party "officially elected" by an all white population in 1947 as the only Government of South Africa. The ANC and other Black organizations were forced underground and their anti-apartheid leaders were openly hunted and either shot or captured. The most famous Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island along with hundreds of others. The Reverend Desmond Tutu who won a Nobel Peace crusaded most fearlessly to end minority White rule and was one of those who carried the heaviest load in winning eventual Black freedom. The Government branded such persons as Communists whether this was true or not. Indeed there was a mentality among the White Population in general that a Communist existed under every bed

Most of the prisoners were at their most productive ages and instead of making important contributions to society and family, spent incarceration time in the physically backbreaking and useless job of breaking rocks. Others like Mandela scribbled notes which were smuggled out later to be used as important resources such as books or instructions and encouragement for the ANC activities.

Mozambique, Swaziland and other off site locals were areas where Black Groups such as the ANC trained and armed large groups for war and sabotage. Acts of the latter were becoming common at locations where crucial industry eg. Oil and Electricity existed. Attempts on the lives of top Government and Police Officials were frequently made resulting usually only in the death of the protagonists. Exposure and capture of Black terrorists was done with unimaginative torture and guile. Innocent wives, children and other relatives were snatched and subjected to physical tortured in front of the supposed guilty. Because of this innocent often confessed to crimes of others and were jailed or shot. Blacks who could be bribed sometimes gave away the secret locations and plans of terrorists. Blacks when they were accosted and instructed by White Males always used the word Boss in his response. Some Whites were members of the Black Organizations, often representing sources of income and arms from other Governments. Frequently these individuals were communist. It was not uncommon for meetings of ANC and other underground groups to meet in Communist Countries. Importantly this by no means is to suggest that the ANC was communist. Individuals such as Mandela, although having considered Communism at some time, did not embrace the system.

At the height of Arptheid the government proposed a homeland system in which the country would be divided into White and Black only areas. The Black designated locals were called Homelands and were scattered irregularly and discontinuously throughout the country. Predictably these were districts of sparse vegetation, infertile land for agriculture and mostly devoid of resources. Some of the bigger of these 7 to 10 locals were Boputhatswana, Lebowa, Kwazula, Lethsoto, Transkei and Ciskei.

The state of individuals in the Black Communities at this time is best expressed by the following; which is a personal story and was reported through a project entitled, "They Were There", forming part of a competency demonstration of students in meeting standards for a course semester exam in an English and/or History course.

I was much opposed to the idea and implementation of Apartheid, yet I am embarrassed to say I had no idea of its horrors and real implications. More damningly I did no research into the matter. My sights were totally set on the honor of giving an invited talk on my research. Thus all the forgoing I discovered on the Internet and in Nelson Mandela's wonderful autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom" at a later stage. The term Black Townships was foreign to me although I had a vague memory of the words Soweto and Sharpsville. It was only when we later arrived in Kenya that I realized that riots where young people were being killed in the hundreds, injured in the thousands just for protesting the imposition of the sole use of the Afrikaans language in schools were actually in progress in Soweto as we danced and dined in 1976 with the "beautiful People"-all white of course, at conference social functions. All news of the incidents was not reported in the highly censored "official" English Language press. Additionally the curious rumblings through Johannesburg streets of armed Pill Box truck conveys raised little curiosity. In fact most surprising of all was our peaceful trip and sojourn into the Soweto direction to a Tea House.

In The Weeks Preceding the trip a point blank refusal to a well meaning Breakfasting Invitation on behalf of the South African Trade Consular Head at one of Toronto's best Hotels seemed to me like a suitable protest against Apartheid practices In South Africa. I did give in when his secretary agreed that I could bring David an East Indian Graduate Student but she would come instead of the Head. I made a number of "requests" mainly related to the wildlife, botany Game Parks, environment and Cities of the country that I made binding, eg a supply of books on these subjects. Little did I suspect that all the materials were written from the White Supremist view and were highly censored? The affair itself, turned out to be very pleasant even in her answers to David's sometimes wide ranging questions on politics. I received even more literature than I expected, prior to the event by special courier.

Unexpected Travel Complications

In 1976 Maureen and I decided to travel to Johannesburg via Rio on VARIG Airlines and on to Johannesburg on South African Airways in this way we avoided, unknowingly, the unpleasantry of making a stop in the Cape Verde Islands that I encountered 7 years later on a direct flight From New York to Johannesburg on South African Airways. The Cape Verde refueling stop was necessary because no coastal, mainland, African country except South West Africa (which was administered by South Africa) allowed South African Airways to even over fly their territory. I have already described our Rio experiences so will add nothing here.

Two Items are worth notes here. The first is the landing at the Cape Verde Islands. These relatively small piles of rock and stunted vegetation are inhospitable in their physiography at best. Officially there about 8 islands comprising the Republic of Cape Verde lying about 500 km off the Western Africa . These are divided into a North and South Group. The largest is Sao Tiago containing the Capital, Praia and the International Airport. Cape Verde means in English Green Cape, what a misnomer! The average rainfall is only 2.5 inches per year. The major industry is fishing as one might guess when surveying the harsh landscape. Oh well, who can say they have been in the Cape Verde Islands even if it was within the confines of the airport. Item number 2 was the flight in over the Namibian Desert of South West Africa. The Boeing 747 had descended enough to make out the many surprising details of desert structure, yet was sufficiently high that even the bigger formations were discernable. Some of the novels of Wilber Smith immediately came to mind as one imagined, for example the diamond hunters along the coast scrounging and fighting amongst themselves and with government and company Engineers in the diamond rich alluviums of the river mouths. Some rivers no longer in existence appear only as hypothetical sketches on maps of Geologists. Traveling further inland it is surprising how far the desert extends before intersecting any form of greenery, however sparse. The desert is anything but flat and is filled with unseen but abundant mostly reptile and insect species. Large circumference crescent and circular formations betrayed the presence of dunes even large hills, the former sculpted by the incessant on shore winds, part of the north east Trades. Further inland the desert seemed to have water sculpted features such as gullies and dry lakes. After the desert abundant greenery of what appeared to be, Savanna and Acacia covered land ran in towards the Johannesburg Airport.

Pre-Conference Foibles

At the Airport we were greeted in a special area and remained to meet other flights until a group of about ten was present and then were taken by hosts to posh Hotels in Johannesburg. Unlike in other countries I was unable to stay in local style hotels because none such existed. Most of blacks were being expelled from living within the city and had to travel to work mostly as domestics and miners from the surrounding Black Townships. These in turn owed their growing existence to this very expulsion and migration of poor landless farmers, looking for work in the city. More will be detailed about the Black Townships later. It is important to stress that South Africa Had in the 70's and 80's and may still have the greatest discrepancy in living standard between rich and poor of anywhere in the world.

My Bladder was bursting and by myself on a main street in Johannesburg, where was I to turn? No problem, I was within sight of a public toilet enclosure on the boulevard (long gone in the USA and Canada). Not surprisingly this being 1976 there were 2 doors one marked Coloreds and the other Whites Only. As stated being much opposed to Apartheid. I first thought to use the Coloreds side. On reflection I thought this might offend the Coloreds in some way. So marching into the Whites Only enclosure, imagine my astonishment to bump face to face with a Black. Immediately this gentleman said. "Very sorry boss, please don't tell anyone!" Of course this was the furthest thought in my mind. Having finished my business I found the nearest bench and began to reflect on the wisdom of my presence in this country at this time in history.

An IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) Conference had been called to be in this city and country and I was here as an Invited Speaker in my field of Spectroscopy, together with the other usual Invited Speakers at IUPAC Conferences in Analytical Spectroscopy. Back in Toronto the choice of local, which I had no part in planning, seemed to me to be somewhat strange but since this was a prestigious organization and I was somewhat overwhelmed, I gave perhaps too little thought to my participation. Much worse was yet to transpire in my degradation over participation in conferences in South Africa during Apartheid.

Sheffield England the site of the 1972, 3 rd Annual Conference on Atomic Spectroscopy was the meeting at which I gave my first ever Scientific Paper in public. I should have had a hint that trouble could be a brewing, when we walked in through the door of our designated "Hotel". Chaos reigned supreme. I t was, in addition, a filthy mess. There was no doubt in our (my wife and myself) minds that vermin existed in all rooms including the kitchen. Instead of unpacking I made a phone call to the relevant committee member and voiced n unyielding complaint. Fortunately without delay the gentleman came along promptly and, viewing our plight sympathetically made many apologies and drove us to satisfactory lodgings.

This was a risky practice that my innate naivety had tempted me into. My published papers had received good reviews from colleagues so I had no idea of the trap that waited. My presentation was well delivered and I concluded succinctly. Questions were invited and immediately a man of short stature but obviously quick of mind stated vociferously and with distain. "How could you have been so stupid as to have proposed analyzing the Rare Earth Elements by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy"? He sat down with a flourish and with a smirk waited for me to melt into the floor. I realized his point was excellent in many ways, particularly that his pet approach was much more sensitive than mine and that the Rare Earths were usually present in small amounts in nature. However I managed to keep a smile when I answered immediately that the problems inherent with the complexity of the spectra of emission spectrometry, his technique, made Atomic Absorption a much simpler spectral choice and often the only possibility for those of us lesser lights in spectral interpretation. That abruptly ended the questioning and immediately a Canadian colleague ran up to ask if I knew who the questioner had been, to which I answered in the negative. I was then informed that I had just crossed swords with the toughest egg in the spectroscopic basket and that this vary respected scientist had brought many an even seasoned speaker to tears, a state of stuttering or other such unpleasant condition. I was to engage this scientist on many occasions and we grew to be distant friends.

I mention this story here because it has relevance to this trip to South Africa. Interestingly the story has little to do with the talk that I was invited to give here.

Johannesburg Bastion of White

Considering the Metropolitan area as including Soweto and other Black Townships then the population exceeds 8.5 million. The city itself is about 3.2 million. This gives a stark representation of the inequity of Black vs. White population. Additionally throughout South Africa habitation inequities are represented by an average floor area of 33 square meters for each White compared to 4 for each Black person. Both of the above statistics have been approximated from 2001 figures in the New Internationalist, The new South Africa – The Facts. Johannesburg itself has an area of about 1,700 square kilometres or about 2,000 persons per square kilometre. The city and Black suburbs owe their existence to the discovery of gold and other precious metals, in the 1800's, in a unique "Reef" structure. The local was like a prospecting town near Pretoria and initially depended on this city for permissions to build and was governed there from.

The Portuguese had an initial claim to this part (ZAR) of Africa and there was a danger that they would try to link the territories of Portuguese East Africa and Angola through here. Declaration of the Union of the Union of South Africa in 1910 helped organize this mining area solidly into the sway of South Africa. Johannesburg and its Townships owe there existence to the Mining Industry that formed along the Precious rich Witwatersrand (Rand) reef. This was at the time of discovery a uniquely rich deposit of Gold, Platinum, Palladium and other rarer Precious Metals, from which these valuable metals could be relatively easily recovered. Almost 50% of the Worlds gold reserves are found in South Africa and although declining the annual production is still greater than 10% of the world total.

During Apartheid the conditions in the mines were abysmal at best and I was not allowed to descend to see a mine in operation. Additionally Black miners, who often traveled long distances in order to come and provide monetary support for their families back home were paid a pittance, their main "perk" being "free lodging" in overcrowded bunkhouses. The treatment of miners by foremen was often brutal. Typically miners were allowed 2 weeks annual leave to be back with their loved ones. Fatal accidents were frequent and mine Safety is still (2007) very much an issue.

As might be expected mining profits were immense and much of this money left the country. However a prosperous and healthy White community built a flourishing city (White Johannesburg) with all the usual "European" amenities. The Downtown has tall buildings housing the mining and support businesses. Banking, Africa's largest Stock Ex change, cultural and commercial development also exists. Crime during Apartheid, within the city was minimal consisting mostly of thievery. With the abolishment of this creation poor Blacks from the Townships flooded in and Downtown Johannesburg became one of the most crime ridden areas in the world. Large companies and the Stock Exchange moved to the more peaceful suburbs such as Sandton. Drastic steps are now being invoked to reduce crime with the aid of ex New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. A dry moderate climate blesses the city because of its 1.8 km elevation. Being in the Southern Hemisphere the hottest and coldest months are January and June respectively. Short afternoon rainfalls characterize the summer weather. Trees are very abundant, particularly in the cities north.

The history of the Communications Industry is of interest. During Apartheid heavy censorship characterized the industry. This greatly affected Maureen and I in that we were kept totally ignorant of the riots going on in Soweto during our tenure. It was only when we reached our next destination, Kenya that this state of affairs came to our attention. Apparently our families in North America were well aware of the happenings and were frantic for news of our safety. On air communications were sketchy until the arrival of TV in 1976 after our departure the same year, but of course this medium was subjected to the same intense restrictions. Communications were also divided along White Afrikaans and English speaking communities. During Apartheid illegal Black underground radio broadcasting existed.

On Saturday afternoons a form of entertainment was available called "The Mine Dances". This name was poorly chosen and the event was no doubt exploitive. Yet our group, including me, attended. The music and dance was provided entirely by different black tribes and the beat, pace, and dance steps were unique to each dance (tribal) group. Somehow the agenda was arranged such that the cadence and volume of sound increased throughout the program until at the ending the ground seemed to be literally quaking.

Following this almost demonic experience it seemed that drinks were in order so the whole group retired to an upscale Johannesburg pub. Tables were laid out in a typically staid Victorian manner. Then in comes this boisterous mob of "elite" but motley Scientists and partners crashing down onto the chairs. Patrons and Servers alike assumed a startled and defensive stand. Upon being summoned a server was asked to provide a Document out ling the available libations. George our heavy drinking bur very jovial host announced, probably to everyone's surprise, that no proffered item fit the bill. He then sauntered over to Maureen an asked if she would mind preparing the drink that he had enjoyed so much at our home in Toronto, for all the visitors. Although shocked and surprised she gave an affirmative answer. The drink, Spanish Coffee, required rum, brandy, Kahlua, dark coffee and thick whipped cream, if desired. The rum was the finest as specified by George and South African Brandies, of course, rank with the premiums of the world. The Server dutifully supplied all the specified ingredients and Cognac Snifters to our table including, at Maureen insistence, a supply of long matches. Let the games begin! A crowd had now surrounded the table. I could sense a tremor of apprehension reaching me from the work station. A spoonful of rum a jigger, of Kalhua, a jigger of Cognac and 100 ml of dark coffee, then light the match and ignite the mixture and whoosh a blue almost invisible flame appears to be Quickly doused by a dollop of Whipped Cream. Poor Maureen, the enthusiasm and the accolades from our group and servers alike resulted only in a never ending call for refills, including sampling from the management, but not even one drink for her! A continuum developed that ended only with the sating of the drinkers. The bus was then "loaded" and all except Maureen (asleep from exhaustion) headed for the Hotels singing. This was not the end of this drink because in other climes Spanish Coffee would be heard from again.

Speaking of drinks, cane liquor was a cheap and potent substitute for vodka and could be consumed straight or in mixture with fruit juices. In the case of the latter a drink similar to our old Brazilian friend, the Caipirinha, was produced. So as might be expected in countries where the meteorological conditions are suitable for sugar production some of this commodity ends up fueling an alcoholic concoction.

A most intriguing incident happened in my hotel room one free afternoon. The wives and others had programs planed during this period and thus I retired to our room to vegetate. The room had been made up for the day and I lay on top of the fresh blankets. A knock came to the door and then a key turned in the lock. In walked the maid in tight yellow shorts, bare feet and a loosely slung blouse like top, with hanging brassier strap. Stepping to the side of the bed she said. "Are you sure there is nothing else I can do for you today Sir?" In my typically sincere and naïve Toronto style, I looked hastily around the room and seeing that everything appeared immaculately arranged, I could think of nothing and replied thusly, after which she quietly left. Honestly, it wasn't until many years and hotel rooms later that I grasped the real meaning that had been in this suggestion.

Talk about my naivety, in this same hotel I took my light blue jeans, modern, style suit to the front desk to ask for it to be dry cleaned. When I returned to the room the following evening there was the clean jacket hanging on the rack. No pants were there. Of course I went to the front desk to complain and was told that the pants had been lost in the process. I was distressed because the suite was unique for its day and made quite a conversation piece at dances and informal gatherings. After 2 or 3 days They told me it could not be traced and they would have to pay for the loss. So I gave a reasonable replacement estimate and they paid without bargaining. About 2 days later they asked if I would give them the coat since they had made the required replacement fee. Stupidly I handed it over. Later I realized that I had been taken and that someone either sold the suit for a profit or was dancing in my stylish garb.

It was easy to tire of Johannesburg, its tensions the White elite in the businesses world and even of my group as a whole. Fortunately I was slated on my own to travel to the National Physical Research Laboratories at the CSIR in Pretoria. (This city was also the site of the second Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Conference in the late 80's).

Typical Conference Baloney

Like Most Conferences in those days, the conference was structured as follows: A Welcome and Introduction by the conference Chair was then followed by the Key Note Speaker and then half day sessions broken by lunch, in each one an Invited lecture was followed by a group of related submitted papers. This was the daily pattern for 4.5 or 5 days. Evenings were filled with Social Events. In this case there was a half day "free" for visits to labs and Companies which had an interest in a conference speaker. A Women's Committee had events of local interest for the wives and partners. In an amusing aside Maureen was invited by a Company scion to take a trip in his private airplane to Port Elizabeth on the South Coast. Unfortunately the pilot got too drunk at the airport so the plan was thankfully abandoned.

White South Africa, in the 70's seemed More British than Britain. In fact the social structure reminded one of Victorian England. Dinners had at least 6 courses eg., an appetizer, a salad, a fish dish, a main course, a cheese plate and a sweet. All this began with excellent local vintages including a pre dinner sherry, dinner served with wine and a subsequent Port. How we were able to navigate away from the table and the sometimes to dance was a wonder to behold! Worse to me was the formality involved. I was expected to address men of importance (usually their estimation of themselves) by the prefix Mr. or Dr. (Phd.), while people like me were Professor or Dr./Professor. What nonsense this turned out to be. I got into plenty of hot water by slandering a Mr. so and so by being overheard on several occasions mocking their capabilities, diction or "uppercrust" phraseologies. The South African White Wives often made affected small talk, in our presence, by commenting on the necessity of servants (Black of course) for this or that.

Post Conference Shenanigans

Tough country exits on the High Veldt on the highway east-north-east from Johannesburg on the route to the jewel of South Africa and certainly the greatest game park in Africa in most citizens' minds, Kruger National Park. Brown parched foliage and crack riddled land abounds during this the dry season. Wealthy farmers, the male called Baas, by his workers live well back from the main route in large acacia and eucalypt enshrouded farmsteads bespeaking of much more verdant periods in the year. Even now kitchen gardens thrive watered from wells drilled deep into the aquifer. In start contrast are the black workers hovels clustered together in the Kraal, usually on the poorest land bordering the highway. A bare subsistence living exists in the Kraal.

Delegates to this conference are being treated to a well organized trip to Kruger. Temperatures are moderate and the air is dry before our decent through the remnants of the Drakensberg Mountains in their northern, less spectacular region onto the Low Veldt.

The Drakensburg Mountains, known as the heart of the Zulu Kingdom, to the south of our route contain some of the most spectacular scenery in South Africa. For example herein is most of the cave rock art (now in 2007 being backdated 10's of thousands of years from earlier estimations to 175,000 years old). Threatened flora and fauna are here located. As an example Devils Tooth area has a high ridge where the only examples of Protea Nubigena (protea being the national flower and common in flower arrangements world wide, grows in an abundance of species elsewhere in South Africa). A World Heritage site, the Mlambonja Wilderness Area resides in these Mountains containing the very visible pyramidal Cathedral Peak. Perhaps most famous of Drakensburg locals is the Thukela Falls which cascades a total of 948 meters. Although occurring in 5 vertical steps it is considered the second highest falls in the world. The Mzimkhulu Wilderness area in the south has peaks that are as yet unconquered by climbers which seems strange when it appears obvious that the mountains here are lower than just north. However the valleys are also very deep making a view from the plains deceptive.

Back to our trip from Johannesburg to Kruger through the northern Drakensburgs; one could not characterize the terrain as mountainous or filled with valleys as above. A rugged, rock strewn, arid area presented itself as we descended along a winding road. The flora was dominated by cactus and succulent species. From the bus the large size of these was spectacular to those of us from colder climes. Of course we were probably not aware of the smaller variety of which there were undoubtedly many. Some of, particularly cactus, had giant, stunningly colored, flowers.

My Sheffield protagonist was the Key Note Speaker at this conference and he and I had become closer acquaintances now (one never became a friend unless you were, under his scrutiny a super star). This the day of the film camera and I had an unpretentious single lens reflex camera (all I could afford) with one lens of relatively poor speed and magnification. On the other hand my acquaintance had an obviously expensive camera and a variety of lenses neatly arranged in a large camera bag some of which he had purchased to fit the requirements of this trip. Although a short man he cut an impressive figure always stranding erect on the bus, camera to his eye. His purpose was obviously to use the device like a monocular and to snap pictures as desired. The lens would have had to be "fast" i.e. highly light gathering. Such equipment was exceptionally expensive. Additionally he told me the camera integrated the light to obtain the proper exposure, if true expensive again. I say "if true" because my knowledge of optical capability suggested this would be questionable. In any case he had seen something that he thought I might be interested in seeing with his camera so he kindly pointed to the spot, with no hint of the items identity and I looked through his camera only to see the normal terrain. "Then he asked "can you see it?" and of course I said "yes". Luckily he did not ask me what I saw!

Lunch time had arrived and we alighted about half way down at an African style bistro (low with external walls of local sand/clay mix) having a separate eating area for groups. Male Black Servers dressed immaculately in bright white floated about the tables serving a fixed English/Victorian era menu consisting of several dishes. The Victorian Menu and living styles among the white population will be described in detail in the section on Johannesburg. A swimming pool was available in the back for those wishing a cooling break.

The decent to the lunch café break had taken us from the dry moderate temperatures of the High Veldt to more humid heat which was soon to manifest itself full bloom when the Low Veldt orange groves and banana plantations appeared in the muggy haze. Startlingly white Calla Lilies grew in small clusters in ditches as wild flowers. This served as a reminder that the vast majority of House Flowers and Garden Annuals which we grow in North America originate from Southern Africa and Brazil. Southern Africa in many areas is like an inverted dinner plate with elevated center (the High Veldt) falling to a broad rim (the Low Veldt) an elevation change of about 1.5 km. Kruger Park is in the lower area. It is important to emphasize that there is an extreme difference in the climate and hence biosphere conditions in the 2 veldts.

Entering Kruger National Park is now possible from 9 points along the western boarder, but when we were there the best approach was by the Paul Kruger Gate towards the south.. From thence we traveled to the Lower Sabie Rest Camp further to the south in the eastern area. Hear we were presented with a camp about 0.5 km in circumference surrounded by a low fence. At 2 or 3 points it was possible to exit on footpaths and park staff could be seen entering, often on foot in the morning. I had little desire to venture from the protection of the Park confines, on foot on my own. (Still indelibly stuck in my mind was an early experience in Northern Canada when as an Earth Sciences employee I had wandered into the bush with our camp cook to hunt for deer with a 22 caliber rifle. Upon an un expected encounter with a large Moose, the stupid man shot it in the head which of course only proved to sting him like a bee as the small bullet ricocheted away. The understandably angry animal made a dash towards us at which point we grabbed for a tree and made mad climbs to safe heights!).

The guest living structures In the Kruger Rest Camp were rondovals which are circular in shape. Posted inside the doors were posted notices which stated; In case of an insurrection lie down in a safe place". This seemed rather ironic to me that Park Officials postulated there could be any safe place in an insurrection. The danger of "insurrection" came from the intrusion on the eastern park boarder of armed bands from neighboring Mozambique, a country often in a state of turmoil.

The Park has an interesting history of white occupation. First all the Parks in the area were denuded of wildlife due to the Rinderpest virus. Appearing then is Major, James Stephenson-Hamilton appointed by the government as the 1st Warden of a small area called the Sabi Game Reserve in the southern region of what was to become the Kruger Park. This later came into being with the strong lobbying of the Warden for the addition of the area from the Sabi River to the Olifants River. There were few visitors to the area considering the Low Veldts reputation as the white mans grave due to high incidences of Malaria. Those who came were often poachers entering along the eastern border. The Malarial scourge together with an earlier problem, the tsetse fly, were eliminated With the wildlife population still hanging by a thread Stevenson-Hamilton put together a small police force to control malicious human intruders. This although meeting with limited success brought a degree of safety to the animals. The increase in numbers of antelope and the various species types in this grouping were mainly aided by Hamilton-Stephenson's practice of shooting the predator animals that he encountered during his frequent trips throughout the park. This custom he later stopped when he noted the draw that animals such as lions had for tourists. Stevenson-Hamilton employed a railway that in 1912 was constructed through the park to entice tourists to make rest stops. Today the numbers of annual tourists are placed at more than 1 million.

Here and there a few Wildebeests were seen gathered at a water hole, a Water Buffalo looked lazily from the tall grass, a few Impala bounded characteristically across the road, not one carnivore had been seen or had been confirmed by any of the tourists in cars whom the bus driver queried, not the thousands of animals that we had been regaled about on the bus and in communications from the organizing committee.

To me Kruger during my first visit was a vast emptiness except for birds which seemed to abound in just the opposite way to large animals. In fact the driver grew weary of my many interruptions with bird identification questions during his intense concentration to spot animal life. Few of my traveling companions seemed to care that there are 520 species of birds that have been identified in the Park and that Kruger was one of the top named birding locals in the World. Of the 520 species I did, or supposed I had, identified 62 species in 2 separate trips 7 years apart. The array was so spectacular in bird coloring and/or form or both that I must hold back in my listing here only to those of special note.

Birds occupy a large range of niches in our ecosystems. Just as hyenas are scavengers of dead animal carcasses so The Lappet Faced Vulture seeks the same food source. A variety of avian species are insect eaters. These range from the Oxpeckers and Red Billed Buffalo Weavers, seen riding on living large game as they ply their service, to the relatively small brilliantly colored Beeeaters often seen carrying large insects in their bills as they fly. In this same category are the swift flying colorful acrobatic Rollers. Then we have the species that occupy various height levels in a single area such as the canopy occupying, the red crowned Grey Loerie contrasted with the seemingly out of balance (oversized bill) Southern Ground Hornbill and gigantic flightless Ostrich. Then there are birds which very similar to those in Canada and the US are much more colorful. Standing out among these are Burchell's and other Glossy Starlings which shimmer in a rainbow of darker colors but otherwise in size shape and mannerisms mimic our drab birds of similar name. Perhaps not surprisingly there are the ubiquitous, European introduced, so called House Sparrow (really a Weaver-finch). An oddity amongst a collection of birds of strange appearance are the ugly, menacing and immense Marabou Storks lurking about on bare tree branches.

One would be very remiss not to mention snakes and crocodiles of which there are legion in Africa. Among the snakes one of our group reported sighting a 2.5 meter long deadly black mamba gliding through the grass head held menacingly high. As our bus was parked for window viewing I spotted a sluggish and fat Puff Adder slowly crawl beneath the vehicle thankfully finally emerging on the other side. It was then that I appreciated that we had been forbidden from alighting from our position of safety.

One evening my wife and I and the other scientists and spouses were treated to a barbeque of game which had been culled to prevent over population which could cause excessive grazing damage. I hesitate to mention in detail what was offered in order not to offend in any detail. One amusing incident was a question I put to a bus driver when I asked if what I was pointing to was the Southern Cross Constellation. He stated no, which greatly confused me because I was becoming more confident in its identification. Next morning I felt a tap on my shoulder and when I turned around there was the sheepish driver admitting I had been correct and that he had been drunk!

During my second visit to Kruger, 7 years after the first, the driver found himself literally picking his way through the vast arrays of animals of multi species. At one point a herd of Wildebeest began flowing like a fast moving river from the right side of the bus in a surge that seemed to last steadily for a matter of many minutes finely ending in a few stragglers of what must have been injured or elderly animals. No obviously young animals were seen leading us to believe that they were swept along as a protection in the center of the pack. We were able to see Kudus, Hippopotamus, stately Giraffes, bounding Impalas, Elephants male and female Lions and even a Leopard mauling its prey up in a tree. With few exceptions Antelope type species maintain herds for protection, thus offering up only a few, usually the old, weak and injured, to the predators.

The Rest Camp bordered on the Crocodile River, which as it turned out, was appropriately named. Therein On could view many crocodiles and at a deep area of the river a short distance from the camp resided 4 or five hippos. It was hard to judge the exact number because of their habit of ducking under just before being counted. But it was at night that the river really came to life; the sounds were deafening, particularly roars and continuous splashing. Any tourists managing a sleep near the river must have a high tolerance for the constant cacophony. By morning light one expected to see chunks of mutilated carcasses and ruby colored flowing water, but nothing appeared from the rising mist but the clean shores and clear waters of yesterday. Here and there lazy looking crocodiles bathed in the slanting sun rays including some opportunists with noses dangling hopefully in the edge of the water.

Bidding adieu to the splendors of Kruger I was reminded that the foresight of the founders back when National Parks were a rarity anywhere in the world was indeed noteworthy. Yet one also might cogently argue that had the White Settlers not stolen the land from the Black African Aboriginals no Park would have to have been designated and the relatively unspoiled wilderness would have extended from sea to sea. Environmental alteration and often severe damage would not now be an issue. In stating such euphemistic sounding sentences it is also important to remember that there was much devastating conflict amongst the Aboriginals which often took a high toll in human lives (as of course have wars amongst mainly White populations ). Widespread locals including, but not exclusive to, South American Countries, African Countries and Australia have suffered such problems from White Settlers. Many readers and myself have seen the problem in the US and Canada in our dealings with Aboriginals and Blacks.

The return trip to Johannesburg had one unusual event. Most of the group was tired and snoozing off and on. The journey up the Drakensburgs was again notable for arid succulent filled road sides. The enormous flowers seemed even more spectacular on the way back. Back on the High Veldt, after we had traveled for I hour or so I noted a large expanse of smoke dense beginning to rise on the horizon in the direction of Johannesburg.. It was something you might expect back home from a forest fire or a large area of burning tires. Upon approaching closer the smoke sources individualized into a massive collections of plumes. Unfortunately and probably purposely the highway was too distant from the source to see anything in more detail.

Soweto the Big Smoke

Upon some pointed questions I learned that this district was the Black Township of Soweto (short for South Western Townships). This rapidly growing municipality, slightly south and west of Johannesburg, itself consists of about 60 (30 or so others exist in the area but outside this grouping) individual townships (estimate 2006) some strictly representing different ethnic groupings. Soweto was the name adopted in 1963 for this grouping. Klipspruit was the first Township established in 1904 near a SW municipal sewage farm by the British by moving the Blacks and Indians from the Johannesburg Municipal boundary during a "plague" outbreak. Following the discovery of gold on "The Reef" in 1886 Blacks flooded into the area that became "White" Johannesburg to work in the mines. The mine waste dumps occur throughout the Soweto area and contaminate the ground and surface water with acid runoff.

In 1948 the Afrikaner controlled Parliament started implementing Apartheid principles in earnest and the near total expulsions of Blacks from "White designated" areas in South Africa began in earnest causing Black Townships to grow astronomically, non more so than Soweto

The townships near Johannesburg are growing yearly as landless rural blacks flock into the area. The population of Soweto as a whole is approaching 1 million. To illustrate the deprivation in services only one hospital, built in World War 2, but now admittedly the worlds largest, services this population. The large township of Orlando within Soweto, formed in 1934 is well-known for the spot in which police first opened fire on the 10,000 or so strong group of students during our 1976 visit to South Africa. This, of course, was the event which drew strong world attention and the subsequent rash of sanctions against White South Africa. Thus in the Black struggles to freedom Soweto bears a landmark scar.

An Important comment about my ignorance and lack of sensitivity to the 1976 riots in Soweto abounded, even as I began this memoir is essential here. Compelling research that I undertook both in printed and movie venues has left me shocked that I undertook my projects in this country, especially the second one in the late 80's. The excuse I used that my focus was intensely on my science and that had little to do with politics, no longer holds water. Today, February 11 2008, for example I watched a movie made before the end of Apartheid called, "A Dry White Country". In this excellent portrayal of the 1976 riots I leaned that children as young as 11 years old were held and tortured in jails under appalling conditions for up to 850 days without charges being laid. Statements were made such as "Justice and Law are distant cousins" in the cases of blacks and that a black man willingly "added his body to the growing pile because they (Whites) won't be able to play the game forever)! The scenes of torture graphically displayed and the condition of the mangled dead bodies extended beyond atrocious.

Even within Soweto there is a discrepancy in living standard but its economics were restricted by Apartheid principles. In the early 90's there was about a 6 times better wage earned by persons living in Johannesburg than in the surrounding Townships. Electrical supplies are erratic within Soweto, with most of the poorer population unable to afford this service. The year of our visit, 1976, found only 20% of Soweto homes with electricity, the large hospital, 2 movie theaters, 2 hotels. The poverty and the absence of electricity in most homes meant cooking was done over fire (hence the smoke in the sky I saw from the highway). Soweto's Blacks were permitted to operate small shops but the Township was developed mainly as a "bedroom community". Homes of brick exist in Soweto but large areas of not meant to be permanent makeshift housing still occur. Education, though improving after Apartheid is still sub standard. Health Care is abysmal and the generally poorer state of health I due not only to lack of access to modern facilities but food shortage and disease, particularly HIV/AIDS. In the case of the latter the area has one of the highest incidences anywhere in the world!

Pretoria a Tenuous Power Base

Predating Johannesburg, Pretoria (founded in 1855) is the Administrative capital of South Africa, Cape Town and Bloemfontein being the Legislative and Judicial capitals respectively. If queried most people will call Pretoria THE capital of the country since most of the governmental business is enacted therein. Since independence there has been a low level Government approval to rename Pretoria Tshwane but officially this action has not yet occurred. The population is hovering around the I million mark. Gauteng the province which includes mainly Johannesburg, Pretoria and Soweto has a population close to 8 million. Given the close proximity of these cities/townships it contains one of the largest metropolitan populations in the world. World famous for its Jacaranda tree, a South American Native, (massive purple blooms in spring) lined Avenues, particularly in front of the Union (government buildings).

Gardens and flowering bushes and trees made Pretoria one of the most beautiful capital cities I had seen. Burgundy through vivid pink racemes of Bougainvillea (South American Natives) dangling from the ends of gigantic bushes often graces the whole sides of homes much as drab ivy does in Europe and North America. The familiar Geranium, really a Pelargonium, of our annual gardens and native to South Africa, grow on bushes with stems up to 8 cm in diameter. Proteas, the very showy national flower, grows abundantly in gardens. Cycads, one of the most ancient macro plant species identified in the world, grow with swollen stumpy woody trunks adorned with green foliage emanating from the top look like leafy foot stools and exist in various types. I will be referring to more specifics in this area but relating to parks and hotels, later. It would be impossible to do justice to South African Native Plants and ornamental gardens without creating a book sized chapter.

Avian species abound in the home gardens. I have a very old and folksy, book written, at an unspecified date by Dorothy Norman BA., published by Juta and Co. Cape Town and Johannesburg entitled "A Bird Book For South African Children" It contains names and descriptions of about 20 familiar birds separated by lovable unsophisticated poems by J.Y. Gibson (eg. "The Thirsty, Dusty Birdies"). Bird names are given first in English Then Latin and finally in Afrikaans. Some, such as the Black Crow and the Golden Oriole received English names by their relationship in appearance to European Birds. As in the case of the oriole the Latin name shows that indeed no real relationship exists. This is a common occurrence in English naming of birds worldwide eg. A familiar case to many is that the American Robin is a Thrush and not in the same species as the European Robin. Some of the familiar birds among Ms. Norman's choices with funny/strange or very descriptive names include; Jacky Hangman who impales large insects from thorns to be devoured later; a bide of many calls, often unique to the individual, Mr. Toppie loves fruit laden gardens and warns of snakes by shrieking Quick! Quick! To Calcutta!:; the Noisy Robin Chat with the more common name Piet-Sy-Vrou (his song) feeds on garden insects; the Hoopoe is another bird, rather large in stature that was named after its cal and finally for our purpose here the Honey Guide, who feeds on bees, grubs and honey and is parasitic by nature, leaving its eggs in the Barbet's nest to be hatched and the young to be reared.

"Do not flush the toilet unless absolutely necessary and take a bath in only 2 inches of water because of severe water shortage" read the sign on the back of my room in the Manhattan Hotel in Pretoria. The potential for violation of the toilet missive was great, since I didn't really know "absolutely necessary" was to be interpreted. This was indeed an interesting hotel from a number of perspectives. The hotel backed onto the railroad terminus which was used to bring Black workers to Pretoria each day. I found a position from which I could view the platforms surrounded by a high wall with razor wire topped adornment. As trains drew in, workers flooded from exits onto waiting busses for transport through the city. In sharp contrast the front of the hotel spilled out onto the corner of a beautiful park. The latter was adorned with a deep fringe of gardens, shrubs and trees. To reach the conference location it was necessary to thread ones way along a path into the park and then across the grass to the building entrance. Also indenting into the park from the street was a Dutch Reform Protestant Church. Happening to be there on a Sunday I snuck into the back to observe the service. It was filled with Whites only, of course. The message in Afrikaans in hymns (the tunes and hence words. which were familiar to me from my Christian period), prayers and sermon were I am was told of love and charity to mankind and the usual other typically Christian views as expounded by Christ and in the case of the Savior were meant for ALL mankind regardless of race. It seemed strange that these "Christian" professing church members supported a Government that formed The Special Branch Squad which spied upon, made brutal house searches, arrested, detained often without charges and inflicted torture and death on their brother country persons. (One of the reasons I left the organized Church was this very fact, exhibited in overtly less grotesque manners, at times except on church occasions, amongst some locally-probably myself included-who professed to be Christian by openly indulging in all the sacraments and other rituals of the service and then ignoring these teachings when it became convenient or expeditious. It is very important to point out that there are many fine, daily practicing Christians).

End to apartheid in South Africa was negotiated in Pretoria. This was probably catalyzed largely from vociferous and multitudinous International opposition. Embargos were set in place on many crucial commodities by countries such as the USA, UK, and Canada, many jurisdictions in Europe and elsewhere which hampered greatly the operations of the White Supremist Government. Internal, increasingly devastating sabotage, by banned Black centered groups, like the ANC, on power stations, oil refineries, ports and railroads exacerbated the dilemma. First meetings to investigate whether common grounds could be established for negations on problems related to apartheid were undertaken in secret between the leader of the National Intelligence Service, Dr. Niel Bernard and Nelson Mandela (moved from Robben Island) in Poolsmoor Prison. An agreement on "Talks about Talks" resulted. But it was in 1985 that still secretive, but more official, overtures were undertaken on the matter by the P.W.Botha government. But it was not until 1990 that the ANC and other banned organizations were recognized and Nelson Mandela was freed from 27 years incarceration. A variety of negotiations occurred under the umbrella of a mixture of Whites and Blacks called CODESA (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) which appeared productive until President De Klerk declared a Whites only vote on the results. This referendum, with a nearly 70% majority, upheld the principle of a continuation of reforms and negotiations. Blacks were becoming impatient with the lengthy negotiations and the negotiations were suspended. But the Biapatong massacre in 1992 in this region supposedly precipitated by the De Klerk government but carried out by hostile Zulus gave urgency to the resumptions of negotiations. At this point a truly multiparty negotiation began and despite near outright anarchy resulting from ultra right wing assignations of prominent leaders within the ANC and the South African Communist Party and an extremist fight wing attach on the Kempton Park negotiation Center area an interim constitutional agreement was reached. An all party election was held in 1994 in which the ANC won with 62% of the vote. Nelson Mandela was declared president. In a follow up move the controversial, but very important "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" was formed to deal with politically motivated crimes occurring during apartheid. These latter were surprisingly just considering the corrupt, repressive and unjustly violent actions of White security forces.

Cape Town and Cape Province the Birthplace of Beauty

My 2 South African scientific conferences dominated, journeys were completed in this picturesque area. My mandate was to give a series of talks at the University of Cape Town. Outside of Witts in Johannesburg this is perhaps the second best known University in Africa. As far as many rankings are concerned its Academic status is often considered number 1. At the time of my visit the campus was totally white dominated. Its location on the slopes of Devils Peak is magnificent to say the least. As In Johannesburg at this University my talks were politely and gratefully received. Additionally as before, the posed questions were thought provoking and in some cases beyond my immediate capability to answer.

Cape Town was the initial White settled area in South Africa and is located in the shadow and on the rolling hills below world famous Table Mountain. In my estimation it is the most beautiful city that I have ever experienced in my world wide travels which encompassed the also outstandingly grand city, of San Francisco. In Victoria the Capital of British Columbia in Canada are the famous and beautiful Butchart Gardens. However ever even as a proud Canadian and a great admirer of British gardens including Kew, I must admit that the Kirstenbosch National Gardens in Capetown on the slopes of Table Mountain, are more spectacular. The comparison is somewhat unfair considering the nourishment of the latter by the Mediterranean type climate and the natural biodiversity that occurs in South Africa as a whole. Kew gardens in London may contain a greater group of plant species due to the largesse of 18th century explorers, including the uniquely famous Botanical explorer Charles Darwin. But the Cape Town setting and the impressive display of spectacular native flora in its matchless setting elevates Kirstenbosch to my number 1. In contrast to all this beauty Cape Town has become today, infested with HIV infection and resultant AIDS, tuberculosis and other serious infectious disease. Because of its port and easy rail and air access to the northern cities and townships, it is the center of the illicit drug trade and attendant violence.

Cape Town became the center for countless of the antiapartheid movement. Many of their leaders were incarcerated on Robben Island in the sea just 11km to the south. Also in relation antiapartheid activities in the city Nelson Mandela gave his first self-determination speech on the City Hall steps on the first day of his freedom in 1990.

Cape Province (Capital-Cape Town) as a whole is divided into 3 areas eastern, northern and western The latter includes much of the fruit and vegetable farming and famous wine industry in South Africa. Much of the Western Cape is dominated by towns with quaint Cape Dutch architecture, characterized by thick walled white lime washed homes and farms. Of particular note in our tour of this area were the municipalities of Paarl and Stellenbosch. Around Paarl we viewed vineyards and sampled their bounty in the form of wines and brandies. Paarl is also the center of the tree fruit growing area being particularly suitable for growing peaches, plums and pears. The town is situated in the Berg Valley upon the slopes of which are the vineyards. Stellenbosch, like Paarl is dominated by oaks, (some now National monuments) imported and planted in the early history of White settlement and is also typified by Cape Dutch architecture. I gave a talk at Stellenbosch University, in the Physics Department, which was a noteworthy challenge in my career, since I had only dabbled in this subject for the principles of Atomic Spectrometry.

Surprisingly to many, Cape Point the southern tip of the Cape of Good Hope in Cape Province is not the most southerly tip of Africa. This honor goes to Cape Agulus some kilometers to the east but also in Cape Province. One Sunday we thought to make a journey from our Cape Town Hotel to the Cape of Good Hope National Reserve and as close to the Cape as possible. We had a rented car but alas had neglected to fill the gas tank on Saturday and in true White South African fashion everything, including gas stations, were closed on Sunday and alas we had to turn about after only a relatively short inroad into the area. We could however see in the distance relatively high rocky promontories which we supposed to lead to the desired destination. Much more successful however was a guided tour Maureen and I took in the other direction through the flower embossed eastern coastal road sides and highways and the arid Karoo area.

The Ultimate Prison

A mention of Robben Island, particularly during apartheid, provides the only real method of putting the necessary exclamation mark on any account of being in the South Africa at that time.

Famous mainly as a penal colony this locale deserves special mention because of its role in apartheid in South Africa. It has over all an unsavory reputation. Early on it was used to house prisoners from various Dutch colonies in Asia and Africa. It also has the dubious distinction of at one time housing a leper colony. Its notoriety comes in large part from the maximum security prison constructed here and operated between 1961 and the early 90's to imprison the three thousand or so political prisoners, mainly involved in the anti apartheid movement. Few prisoners ever escaped the island, the most notable being its first detainee who somehow swam the distance to shore (sharks etc.?).

The island was a shipping hazard particularly in the early days when the sail ruled the seas. Light houses have been built and rebuilt over the years and are pretty well unnecessary in these days of radar and GPS. The locale was fortified during the second world war.

Conditions on the island are very arid and most of the 1 km wide island is only a few meters above sea level. Today the location has been named a World Heritage Site.

Here There and "Many-Wheres"

Despite meager finances my first sabbatical included a trip around the World. Our sabbatical destination was Melbourne Australia but we decided to purchase tickets allowing us to travel around the World. Melbourne would be the extended stop to accommodate my work so that part of our World travels was before Melbourne and the remainder after my work had been done.

Always overnight to London, the only way airlines scheduled trips to this destination in the 70's. For a business man, used to this routine, I am sure it was the best approach. (board in Toronto at about 9.00 pm lose 5 hours, but sleep as much as possible then land in London around 8.00am local time ready for a full business day).

The foolishness! A trip starting in late December, a family of five with children aged 3, 6 and 9 had arranged around the world, special deal tickets, with long stopover in Australia, frequently with legs on Pan. Am. This now defunct airlines, flight PA #1, traveled eastward from New York completely around the world, 3 times per week. To add to our problems the London flight was cancelled and we spent our first around-the-world night in an airport hotel, gratis, the kids enjoying swimming in the indoor/outdoor pool as the snow flew. In any case imagine the mess that we were in, after little sleep, when the flight landed in London in the early morning. My half pay allowed for a sabbatical, allowed us very little latitude for choice in hotel accommodations and for meals. The bus from Heathrow put us out at the Green Park Hotel, a very pleasant but ancient lodgings on a Park with the same name.

Roses bloomed in the semi darkness of December in the flower beds of Green Park upon arrival. We slept a few hours and then ambled down to Trafalgar Square where the ubiquitous pigeons, Lord Nelson (statue slathered in bird dung) and Father Christmas held court. A monotonous sequence of late afternoon/early evening cabs, double-decker buses and cars rolled by. The exhaust fumes combined with the other moisture laden pollution, typical of this great city in the winter, taunted our throats and lungs, invoking a hasty retreat to the shelter of the hotel. Our evening meal was taken in the hotel dining room followed by the usual withdrawal to the drawing room for beverages and cakes. Of particular fascination, in the hotel, was the rope operated lift that took us to our room.

This was our shortened exposure (Flight cancellation in Toronto) to London on the around-the-world trip, (destination Australia). Maureen and I and then I only have had many other and longer stays in London. Unfortunately the Hotels that we loved on the Strand are now beyond our reach economically and we have ceased our travel through this city.

It was back to Heathrow and Pam Am to New Delhi. Heathrow had not yet achieved its present humongous magnitude and the level of chaos was minimal. Finding the flight was easy. The trip was, however lengthy, especially troublesome for children. Ours with the exception of Jon Jr. were well behaved. Jon Jr. always stood out as a "pill" comparatively, but in this case it was nothing Maureen and the Stewardess could not handle.

Intersections of Poverty and Beauty

A large, common looking black crow on the tarmac, with an intestine like object hanging in a curve from its beak, was my first sight of exotic India as the plane rolled to a stop in New Delhi. It became a common spectacle to view vultures and other scavengers in most landscapes we were exposed to in this country. Just as common was the open palm. For example our bags had been scattered in a rectangular fashion about the arrivals area with customs people in the center running from traveler to traveler to stamp the passports and release their luggage. I became impatient and then suspicious when I could not make contact with any of these officials to have our formalities completed. On closer observation I noted that the serviced travelers had one of their hands held down flatly on one of their bags. Below this resided a USA currency dollar bill. Once I learned this important scam our paperwork was completed forthwith. Such behavior, common throughout India, I also encountered in other developing countries, in the future, that I chose to visit.

Then in with a crowd we squeezed out the door, like tooth paste, into an even larger throng of city residents pushing and shoving and even coming from underneath on hand mobilized trolleys to achieve our attention in the hopes of providing a service, desired or not, or just to obtain bhiksha (beg for food ) or often money. Grimy children pushed forth by parents and amputees (some, we were told, had self inflicted the injury) were scattered among the multitude. Here and there one could see the almost submerged roof of a vehicle, presumably taxis'. Imagine the impression such a fracas had on a Toronto family, particularly the children. Only by good fortune did we find the person arranged to meet us from our travel company.

The hotel, chosen back in Toronto, had a 3 star rating and we were assured was quite acceptable. This was to be the first time that we released that the star rating system must vary from location to location throughout the world. (In Cuba it was a 4 star Havana hotel without toilet seats). Here In this abode, I was preceded down the hall by a quickly receding rat. A fast glance down a shaft-way indicated the presence of garbage of all descriptions from food waste to solids and oozes of no particular definition. We had little choice, it being here or the street. In the case of the latter there were dozens of citizens squatting on their little territory, leaving sparse room for uninvited guests. Cooking odors dominated by fat and curry wafted from all directions and pretty much dominated the airspace. Urine but not feces odor could also be discerned. Feces were fastidiously removed by the poor of the "Untouchable Cast". For some reason we had 2 rooms, but not adjacent, Maureen and the girls in one and Jon Jr. and I in the other. It was Christmas eve and we had little expectation that there would be many Christians celebrating the season in the hotel. Unfortunately Maureen's room abutted one in which a "gentleman" and undefined guests were partying at unprecedented drunken and vociferous levels and because of this we all jammed into mine spreading ourselves wherever a space allowed.

The food problem dominated our thoughts. This was the first and only occasion that oranges were our staple. These were plump and juicy and quite the best I had tasted anywhere before.

A trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal was on the books for Christmas day 1974. Winter in the Delhi region of India is mild and sunny for the most part and the trip to Agra was in excellent weather. Driving, using hired drivers is in my experience "spotty", not to put too fine a point on the issue. In our case the young man had a desire to reach the destination in as little time as possible without worry for consequences outside the vehicle. In this regard he totaled a dog with only the utterance of a curse, not even bothering to slow. When not holding on for dear life we noted beautiful Bougainvillea bushes growing wild in the ditches and flocks of Ring Neck green Indian Parrots circling above. Some villages were populated by buildings constructed entirely of "thatch". I did manage to persuade our transporter to stop for fruit at a stand in a small village, at which point we were able sate both hunger and thirst with oranges. When I look back I wonder how we missed out on the wonderful, juicy, Indian Mangoes which are, because of modern transport, now available even in Toronto. Of course I probably would not have recognized a mango in 1974, even if it had hit me in the head. The Taj was partially visible from some distance off because of its size and imposing appearance. Upon arrival it was hard not to remove ones gaze from the Splendor of this monument, even more so since this architectural and construction feat was accomplished in the 1600,s. Before approaching this "Crown Palace" (meaning of Taj Mahal) it was necessary to stroll along a path through rose gardens which seemed to try unsuccessfully to rival the our goal. This white marble, jewel encrusted, edifice was built in memory of his favorite wife by a Muslim Emperor employing 20 thousand workers and costing about 30 million Rupees. The jewel constructed inlays represent most often plants and their flowers. A black and white marble checkerboard forms the floors. In order to enter to view the magnificent domed ceiling it was necessary to remove ones shoes. Photographs were extremely poor renditions of the actual structural and decorative components. What an experience for Canadians on a Christmas Day! But strangely as I retreated to the car, I found myself trying to contemplate the position of common Indians of that era and locale going about their daily lives. Surely it was extreme poverty under the heels of a few extremely rich. In many countries this condition still exists today.

Bazaars, the equivalent of our open-air Markets but more particularly, Flea Markets , are often immense in size and sometimes seemingly unsanitary. They are common in any sizable Indian town or city. Here-in one can purchase foods, a variety of household essential and other bic-a-brack of all imaginable descriptions. In some instances bazaars specialize in one or only a few items bazaars, for example the Sadar Bazaar in Delhi which features ironware and other cooking utensils. And the Mina Bazaar jammed with bronze items and needle work. Each bazaar has unique smells and sounds which assail the visitor often from some distance off. We drove around Connaught Circle, the upscale shopping district of Delhi, where-in resided many of the Name Brand stores found in North American and European High End Shopping regions. Today there is the Palika underground market where counterfeit goods can be obtained. The Largest bazaar in Old Dehli is Chandni Chowk; its offerings of countless varieties of goods and wares are accompanied by the strident voices of Hawkers from every direction. This coupled by the incessant crowding was, to us, quite unnerving. During the whole time I had my hand thrust warily in my wallet pocket.

Shahjahanabad became the Capital city in 1640 AD in a move from Agra. This was the 7th Muslim City to be developed in the area. The Red Fort on the eastern side of this Capital City within Delhi, is contained within a wall 30 meters high and 2.5 km long. The red color of Fort and Wall derives from it's construction from red sandstone. Today Delhi is a large metropolis filled with people and loud wailing and accosting voice sounds, together with the cacophony of and vehicles permeate the senses. Side streets are often wall to wall with pedestrians making vehicular traffic difficult and hazardous. Per haps our most interesting excursion in India was a 4 hour car adventure to and stay at My brother's mother and father-in-laws home in NE Upper Pradesh (UP) province. I had hoped after our terrifying ride to Agra the Agency might have sent a different driver, but this was not to transpire. Once outside the city, following written instructions, which he read over extended intervals in complete disregard of the road, we bounced and rebounded from side to side within the car streaking our way to the destination. I have long ago forgotten the name of the town that we visited, but I can still pretend to be in the main room of the cozy home that was our goal. Of particular note three walls were covered floor to ceiling along their full width with hundreds of paper backed books, which had been so thoroughly used, that the backs were badly scratched and some were even peeling up and/or down, away from the gluey bindings. The room was tidily but furnished. The final touch was a mouse whose frequent side to side dashes went seemingly unnoticed by the occupants but certainly not by ourselves. We were fed in grand fashion (the meal was probably a weeks wages), by this kindly Christian family. Dinner entertainment was surprisingly provided by a wild peacock which jumped, in full view, onto the veranda while thoughtfully fanning his tail for our astonished visual consumption. The after dinner events were nothing so wonderful, being highlighted by me holding young son Jon over one of the 2 holes in the outhouse facilities behind the house as he chokingly relinquished his meal.

In the 1070's there was no inexpensive bottled water to drink in countries like India, as there is today. Thus A great thirst had accumulated during the days of our stay. Upon boarding the PAN AM flight that we were taking and which had originated in New York I made an urgent dash to the water cooler, drinking about 8 of those little conical cups full of water. The Stewardess was just passing by and I commented to her on how tasty and satisfying it was to have fill up on good old USA water. My stomach took a sudden lurched when she replied that the water in that tank had been obtained at an airport tap in Delhi.

In the very few days we spent in India we had undertaken a full daily schedule but had only brushed a few of the sites, sensations and sorrows that comprises this fascinating and important country. Here we had had another and more penetrating (than Brazil) view of how the majority of the world's population must subsist.

Thailand My Donnybrook

Unexpectedly Part 1 of our around-the-World trip prior to arriving in Australia was to end here and It was not, as might be expected, because of young Jon's illness.

We all arrived in the pink of health. There were 2 episodes that bear mentioning here. On the first day, after a restful overnight in the hotel in Bangkok we began the sight-seeing.

First, we took the famous floating market tour. These markets are Some distance from the center of Bangkok and we traveled to the location by motor boat. These were the strangest water craft I had ever seen. Long, low and narrow they had motors, which were small car engines mounted on long shafts with a propeller at the far end and the handle for steering protruding from the other end near the motor. The Pilot must have had arm muscles like steel, yet a gentle touch to maneuver so carefully as he needed to do. In open water the craft must have traveled at 40 to 50 Kmph. Upon arrival at the markets we disembarked into several small crafts. A Thai woman guided this boat skillfully through the maize of floating markets and other traffic. In an indifferent type dialog that she had obviously enumerated countless times, she described all the most important occurrences. At one point she nonchalantly bought a bunch of bananas and casually dispensed this into the bottom of the boat without missing a word of dialog. Some time later in the tour she told people to help themselves to a banana. However when she looked down there were only 1 or 2 left, our young Jon had eaten all the others. Upon arrival back we continued the days events with a walk in the crowded streets, our main destination being the temple of Dawn (Wat Arun), a Buddhist Temple of magnificent architecture and construction. It's spire, 70 meters tall, is world famous for the intricate and colorful ancient china (porcelain) and glass fragments embedded in the surface.

The highlight that evening was an authentic Thai meal (this is 1975 so such cuisine was not generally available in Toronto). Of particular note, I chose a seafood soup which was remarkably delicious. The rest of the courses were typically spicy, but not overly so. We retired to our hotel beds soon after, exhausted by the many activities of the day. At about 2.00 AM it began! I darted from my bed to the toilet with a fiery stomach and promptly lost all my meal. I was unable to vacate the bathroom, losing fluids from both ends in an almost continuous manner. A frantic call brought the Thai trained hotel Doctor. At a relatively quiescent point in my proceedings he gave me two 5 mm round, red pills. I almost immediately became light headed and with a silly smile on my face I staggered back to bed. For the next many hours and the next day and night after (the doctor came again with 2 more of these pills in the morning) I had the greatest feeling and sensation of flying about 20 cm above the bed. Mean while, after fending me off Maureen and the kids had to walk to an airline office through a very seedy and apparently scary district of the city, to amend our tickets in order to bypass Singapore, our next destination, so we could travel straight to Melbourne. On the day of our departure I was trying to remain in case the doctor might appear again, with his magical pills.

##  Australia

Professor Becomes the Student

Imagine my surprise and delight when against all odds, in my mind at least, I received an invitation to spend a sabbatical working as a Guest Scientist with Sir Alan Walsh at the CSIRO Division of Chemical Physics in Melbourne Australia. Sir Alan, the Inventor of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, apparently had been interested in the way we were using his technique in a simple way to solve environmental problems. (It might have also helped that the division had also received a request from someone they didn't particularly like for the same position.)

Far from working with the great man I found myself working under the Senior Scientists in his group. I had suddenly morphed back to the position of as a student. This was the most fruitful interval in my life as I learned hands on and through lectures so much that my ignorance and self doubt lower to the point I was actually building a small degree of confidence.

It was January 2, 1975 and the blistering Southern Hemisphere summer heat hit us like the backlash from a wall of fire, as we reached the aircraft door at Melbourne International Airport. (Darwin had been nearly destroyed by Cyclone just days before.) This was the middle of a particularly bad dry though high humidity and temperature spell. As we entered the Terminal our path was nearly blocked by the familiar massive frame of (Sir) Alan Walsh, accompanied by wife Audrey and John and Betty Willis. This group, but most particularly John and Betty Willis, had made most of the excellent local arrangements made unfairly difficult particularly considering our modest financial means. John Willis, in particular, must be singled out for his continuous and unfailing assistance and encouragement during this most scientific and socially fruitful period in our lives.

Ah, this the land of the Marsupials, the Parrots (the greatest diversity of these species in the World) the Snakes (the most number of poisonous species in the world) the Gum trees (Eucalyptus), the Wattles (Acacias quite unique from those in Africa and elsewhere) and so many other unique artifacts of ancient times when the Australasian Land Mass cleaved from Pangaea, drifting with it's Plate southward and in particular the Australian Continent becoming isolated bio-geographically from the rest of the World. Only temporarily, during ice ages, did a land bridge exist with New Guinea to the north and Tasmania to the South. During these times a few of Australia's unique flora and fauna species became resident in New Guinea. Proof, also of an association of the land mass of Australasia with South America is the existence of a few Marsupial species in the latter and the discovery there-in of many fossil Marsupials, some of them of gargantuan proportion.

Continents can also be defined in their later developments by the Inuit peoples (Human Race) arriving at times, depending on world location, from the area of their evolution some 2 or 3 million years ago in Africa to areas such as the Americas only a few 10's of thousands of years ago. The Inuit of Australia, the Aborigines, arrived somewhat earlier than did humans on other continents, perhaps as recently as 100,000 years ago.

The history of the aboriginals in Australia, prior to the relentless European Settlement of all Continents of the world, was rich in a stable, unique, cultural tradition and spirituality. That is not to say that brutality between tribes did not erupt, but such was nothing compared to the destruction wrought by white settlers to the peoples their environment, culture, traditions, and spirituality. Although the North West of the Continent may have been temporarily peopled by the Arabs and touched upon by the Dutch and then further breached on the North East by the latter in the sixteenth hundreds. English Explorers notably James Cook who charted the east coast reported among other things on the excellent harbors in the Botany Bay and Sydney Harbor areas Overcrowding in English jails, in turn, lead to the establishment of British convict colonies in the Sydney and Hobart areas in the eighteen hundreds. Convicts on congested sailing vessels often lead to the death of the majority due to disease and starvation before landfall in Australia. The conviction for as little as stealing a loaf of bread could lead to a sentence of "transportation" which meant the miscreant was sent to Australian penal colonies. Then the destruction of the local indigenous population their habitat and forced cultural change to those remaining, really began.. It is important to point out however, that "conventional settlement" which occurred, in support of the penal colony, frequently caused the greatest spoilage. This spread out over time, as it has done in so many other world localities, to much of the Continent. Many estimates suggest that as much as 90% of the aboriginal population "disappeared", by the early 1900's. In fact the Aboriginal race that had peopled Tasmania was completely obliterated. Introduction of European style and strength alcoholic beverage, in itself, became an everlasting curse on much of what remained of many of the native inhabitants. During my frequent travels in this country it was commonly sad to view aboriginals staggering about the streets of towns and villages. Again it is important to stress that there, were and are, many upstanding members of the aboriginal communities, many who strive to improve the lot of their peoples. Perspective also dictates that it be stressed that in North America and in many other World jurisdictions the Aboriginal populations faired no better and sometimes even worse with the onslaught of the inevitable European migration. The recent Governments have been returning some of the lands so that Aboriginal peoples have a unique jurisdiction over these areas.

Unique Anglo Saxon City

A cold twelve pack of Beer and four Meat Pies constituted the minimum provisions of 2 Footy fans on a Fall Saturday afternoon at any of the 6 Australian Rules football matches. These matches played in separate stadiums of 35,000 to 100,000 seats spread out over the city were like nothing a North American visitor in 1975 had ever experienced. In the first place what city of 3 million in the US or Canada has this much sports capacity at these many locations? Parking could be called somewhat random with rows and driving lanes discontinuous at best. With each stadium ½ to 2/3 full the chaos that reigned with Beer sodden fans trying, first to find their vehicles and then exit from the scrum that resulted was often more brutal than the game itself. This is hard to imagine, knowing what constitutes a game of Footy.

Melbourne consisted of many essences, Industry large and small, Businesses of all types, Arts of plentiful variety, prestigious scientific groups-government and university in origin to name a few that I encountered. Melbourne was a large cosmopolitan city with wonderful attractions commensurate with communities of similar proportions. The uniqueness of Australia gave the city a flavor different from cities of my previous acquaintance. In the winter and early spring the city was bathed in the yellow shades of a myriad of species of Wattle bushes and small trees in flower. The Wattle is the largest Genus of flowering plants (1000 species of the 1400 acacia species worldwide) in Australia. The word Wattle is an Australian designation for the Acacia species found almost on every Continent. The profusion of the yellow flowering variety was a feature uniquely of this domain. The canary yellow species Acacia pycnantha is particularly outstanding and in 1988 was officially designated the Floral Emblem of the country. Together with the Eucalyptus trees, covered at different times of the year with powder puff shaped flowers of many colors- including white red and orange, Melbourne, could rival many tropical cities for visual splendor. The flowers of both Eucalypt and Wattle consist of clustered stamens, not petals. I became so infatuated with these 2 types of plants that I grew a few smaller species in pots in Toronto. The Kangaroo Paw another uniquely Australian plant was also easily adapted to pot culture in Toronto. This plant has flowers shaped like the paw of a kangaroo which comes mainly in greens and shades of red.

Adjustment

Similarities between living in Canada and Australia are surprisingly few. At first it seemed that Australians could be speaking a foreign language. The languages are indeed English based, but differ widely in ascent, vocabulary and structure. In Australia there even is a unmatched section of vocabulary that is known as Strine. Not all of the unfamiliar words are Strine. Some of the unusual language is so assimilatable that through travel and the media is now part of NA vocabulary, (though not in 1975 when we lived there), eg. Barbie (BBQ), Aussie (Australian), OZ (Australia), veggies (vegetables) and G'day (hello). Much came from the English background that persisted from the early years. These, thus, are also common in South Africa and New Zealand, , eg. bathers (bathing suit), Singlet (undershirt), jumper (sweater), ta (thanks), bonnet (car hood), petrol (gasoline), panel beating (dents out of car body) bloke (male other than child), engaged (phone busy) bangers and mash (sausage and mased potatoes) tea (dinner)and chips (French fries). Then we have the genuine Strine, eg. Billy (can to boil water inside), billy bong (pool with drinking water), fair dinkum (something true), footy (Australian rules football), bush (any land outside city or large town), kinder (kindergarten), cuppa (cup of tea), cocky (farmer), cocky (cockatoo), winge (complain), tucker (food), digeridoo (long hollow log used as wind instrument by Aboriginals, blowies (blow flies). dob (tell on someone), bitumen (highway or street), I'm right (I am fine), ankle biter, (crawling small child), grog (hard liquor), and barrack (to cheer).

Driving immediately poses a problem. As at "Home" which refers to England by Aussies, driving is on the left side of the road so the wide turn is a right turn. Also in 1975 there were many round abouts Traffic circles and mostly uncontrolled intersections. The worst case of this was in the Melbourne Suburb of St. Kilda, where 5 streets emptied into one intersection without stop signs or signal lights! The main rule was give-way to the left. After becoming very frustrated as a driver I finally went to the font and asked Alan Walsh what are the rules in driving here, considering the lack of controls. Looking me straight in the eye he said; "There is only one driving rule in Australia, give way to lorries (big trucks)!" At the famous St. Kilda crossroads I was told to close my eyes and proceed quickly. Apparently now there are many more controls at intersections. We had only one accident in Australia while driving and that was when Maureen looked to the wrong side and knocked down the stone wall fronting our property while backing out from the driveway.

Harmful Memories of "Home"

Ouch! Grasping at cloths and body the unyielding the English Blackberry vine leaves its ugly mark in torn cloths and deep red, slow to heal scratches. Such is ones fate when trespassing on almost any unattended land in the Melbourne area. What once were unspoiled strolls amongst Eucalypts, wattles, banksias and many other native plant filled copses and ravines are now fraught with angry grasping vines brought by white human settlers, from the English homeland to supply familiar fruit contained in small kitchen gardens. The blackberry, its natural voracity easily tamed by English winters, leapt easily, year round from Australian gardens to invade any scrap of wilderness land without the natural environmental constraints of its native land. Such stories are all too common worldwide as nineteenth century European immigration proceeded rapidly to all the world's continents. Such practices are now largely prohibited.

Prior to the ban, Immigrants frequently in want of familiar surroundings, carried with them to Australia biological specimens to surround themselves with reminders of home.

Some of the more problematic botanical specimens introduced into the Melbourne area included the above mentioned Black berry at the head of the list. Lantana, a favoured multicoulored garden flower which grows to bush size under favourable conditions is an annual in Europe but in Melbourne it behaves as a perennial reseeding and invading even lesser fertile patches of road sides and sunny waste land in a prolific manner. Some species of salvia fall in the same category. Introduced Willows, both majestic trees and shrubs, easily crowd out and replace more desirable Australian native plants. African acacias upon introduction proved, in some cases, more hardy and invasive than the more attractive native acacias (wattles). Water hyacinth with its purple flower knows no control and soon chokes up a waterway making important natural exposure of the water surface to light and oxygen from the air, impossible.

Animals such as the European rabbit breed several times a year. No predator exists for this pest. Indian mynah birds have proliferated. These congregate around and upon structures, building sloppy nests and compiling messy areas of excrement. As in general throughout the world rock pigeons and house sparrows are pests throughout Melbourne. Rainbow trout and especially carp are undesirable foreign inhabitants of fresh water bodies. Some larger animals, such as the camel and donkey have developed feral groupings that are a menace to the natural fauna in large plots surrounding the city.

European introductions of insects, mollusks and the like have also caused trouble. For example wasps and honey bees are threatening to overcome native populations. Large English snails came into my life unexpectedly one night. One day early in our tenure in this city I brought several pricey flats of annual flowers and left them overnight to be planted next day. When I inspected these in the morning I found nothing but totally denuded flats. Not a single flower remained. The culprits were nowhere in sight. Later I was informed that snails had inflicted the damage.

Another practice that has caused serious damage to native species has been the deliberate introduction by scientists of biological materials in an effort to control plant disease and predators. In these cases the introduced species often caused more harm that the original problem. For example the i red fox introduced to control the rabbits became a threat to natural fauna as well.

Similar problems as those detailed in the above paragraphs pervade much of the remainder of Australia. Man himself with his agricultural and industrial practices is, of course a pest in his own right.

House with Unique "Features"

Cooking using the stove was a particular adventure. Turn on the oven and no matter the temperature setting chosen the heating began at zero and climbed slowly to the maximum value of 475 degrees every time. The trick was to guess when to remove the food dish at the correct time. Two of the stove top elements were perched at rakish, relatively steep angles no matter what adjustment was attempted. These heated well but your pot could crash to the floor at any time.

Without central heating and much insulation the interior temperatures in the winter could be frigid! Mornings saw temperatures of 11 degrees in the bathroom and it was necessary to draw straws to determine the family member who had to shower first thus causing a temperature rise to a balmy 18 degrees for the others. Meanwhile those tying to dress pushed and shoved in front of our only electric heater which unfortunately was small and resided in the living area. The beds had thoughtfully been provided with small electric blankets, which we discovered were this size because they were to be positioned (down under) on the mattress and not on the top of the blankets as in North America.

Rooms consisted of a kitchen built much like a back porch, a main living area for sitting and dining, lounge room complete with open fireplace, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom all on one floor. The garage was detached from the house. Because of the heat in the summer and lack of air-conditioning twenty five cm long by 10 cm screened slots were positioned in the ends of the rooms at ceiling level on the outside walls. There was no basement so the house had a breezeway between the ground and the bottom of the house about 40 cm wide to allow air circulation and hence prevent rotting of the structural floor beams and the sub floor. The front door lead to the living area but was not used when we arrived by car and drove up to the garage. In this case the back entrance was more convenient.

The front yard contained the usual foundation plantings at the base of the house along its perimeter. A nondescript 15 by 10 meter tree stood to the left of the door. Bordering the street sidewalk 500 cm or so back was a cemented stone wall a meter high across the total front of the property. This was broken only by the driveway on the left side of the house. A scrubby lawn covered most of the ground. A 250 cm deep garden was on the inside of the fence and this was filled by a row of rose bushes with about 80 cm thick stems. The soil both here and at the back was almost impenetrable clay.

The backyard had a sidewalk from the driveway along the back of the house to the far side to the back door. A gigantic Rubber Tree dominated the left side with a well fruiting Lemon Tree on the right. Again a patchy lawn covered most of the lawn. Between the sidewalk and the house ran a strip of empty clay soil as impenetrable as that in the front rose garden.

Some of the more amusing aspects of this home have above and here and there elsewhere, been detailed in this treatise. However all told we loved this abode and still find ourselves constantly thinking back and discussing the enjoyment experienced while living therein.

Dietary Acclimatization

The first culinary shock for the children was the absence of inexpensive, large 1.5 Kg bottles of Peanut butter in smooth and crunchy varieties. In Australia this Canadian "staple" was sparsely available and then only in bottles of 250 grams or smaller. It's Australian analog among local children was Vegmite a product made from brewer's yeast. This spread was judged as very unfavourable by our clan.

Supermarkets in 1975 Melbourne were much less common than in Canada. Some were available but shopping was still more commonly accomplished in local areas lined with specialty shops. Vegetable and fruit markets, butcher shops. fishmongers and dry goods emporiums were separate food dispensing entities. Chicken a common, cheap and frequently consumed meat in Canada was expensive and not commonly utilized in Australia. Beef was available at slightly higher cost in Australia. Unlike grain fed beef that we had been familiar with, this product in Australia was free range and tended to be somewhat chewier. On the other hand delicious, tender lamb could be obtained everywhere and when purchased as a butchered side could be obtained for as little as 26 cents a pound. Needless to say on our budget we learned to consume lots of lamb. Local fish and seafood was always a treat.

As will be delineated later Australian fruits and vegetables were abundant, fresh and delicious.

Used Car with an Unexpected Surprise

Living on half pay called for a variety of creative living that placed us in completely new territory. This salary constraint was one of the conditions of a full year's sabbatical taken at the University of Toronto and we were bound by this constraint during our tenure in Australia.

Peter Pyper Motors a well established Melbourne Ford Dealer and had been vetted for square dealing by a knowledgeable friend prior to our attendance at the lot. In short order we discovered a 6 year old family size Ford that seemed to fit our needs. The price was within our allotted figure and the deal was consummated.

Upon taking possession of this vehicle I was pleasantly surprised to note that the gas gauge read full, a perk I had thought would be doubtful in a used car. The family had all come to have an initial drive, a sort of trial run to practice my skills in coping with left hand drive, something I had tried only once on a trip to London in the UK. Being learning disabled in the manner I suffered (poor visual memory and some spatial quirks) can have its rewards and one in my case was that it didn't seem to matter which side of the road I was on after a short distance, it just seemed to be natural. I easily dismissed my previous lifelong predilection for the right.

To my surprise an Ontario driver's license made the acquisition of a local version unnecessary. As a result I had not bothered to read the rules of the road, relying instead on advice from my mentor. Sir Alan Walsh. His only comment was; "there is only one rule, give way to lories (large trucks)". Armed with this sage advice I was ready to hit the road.

Melbourne is blessed with a variety of fascinating biospheres, all of which were worthy visitor attention. A particular draw was Fern Tree Gully, an area replete with large Fern Trees, some up to 3 meters in height, more likely to be expected in the wet climate of New Zealand. This became our first destination to explore.

Along the route the first unsettling experience was in center of the suburb of St Kilda, consisting of a junction of 5 roads spilling into the same intersection like spokes of a wheel i without the benefit of traffic lights on stop signs. Applying Sir Alan's rule we found ourselves careening through this with several near misses involving cars but nothing larger.

The target area resides in a sparsely travelled deep hollow and was at that time bereft of commercial development. We had a unique experience as we drove through the main section of this preserve. About three quarters the way through this impressive scene the car gave some sputters, followed by the engine coming to a complete stop. A car just purchased from the lot with a full tank of gas, what could be wrong? After a short period of looking at each other over this unexpected dilemma, I knew my only remedy was trod to a gas station. Since we had not passed one for several Km's I decided to go in the direction we were headed, which involved a journey up a steep hill. Fortunately this was a wise decision as a Texaco station lurked around the corner at the top. An obliging young man there-in kindly suggested that he would fill a big jerry can with gasoline and drive us back to the scene of the trouble. I insisted that we had plenty of gas since the gauge was still registering full. My helper was no to be dissuaded from taking gas and we returned to the family in his tow truck with the unnecessary cargo. Without any examination of the situation the attendant immediately began discharging gasoline into the tank. I waited frightfully expecting gas to overflow onto his clothing but no, he was able to empty the complete contents into the tank. Then suppressing a smile he turned the key in the ignition and after a few revolutions the car sprung to life! The car had a defective linkage in the gas tank float mechanism that had jammed the needle to the full mark on the gauge. With a load of embarrassment I paid for the gas and for his time and we were on our way. Of course I took the car back to Peter Pyper Motors, applied a few choice comments after which the repair completed for free.

Educational Traditions in Melbourne

Oh well this was the land down-under so it was no surprise to find in the 1970's that the Public schools were actually Private. What we call Public schools were the State schools.

Among the many excellent Public schools, Melbourne Grammar stood head and shoulders above all others-the Eton of Australia. Like most fine schools of this classification, most likely entrance depended not only on grades but also on fathers and/or other relatives having been students in good standing. Additionally financial donations to the alma matter helped determine offspring stature during his tenure. Was Melbourne Grammar like most schools of this ilk, where should the old-boy have provided funding sufficient to renovate or create a new building his son would be untouchable no matter the crime he might commit? Be this as it may, graduates of this educational giant became influential fixtures in the variety of influential professions and in politics.

State schools on the other hand were an enigma. It was into this milieu that our children were to abide. Educational quality in the 1970's had not reached the levels that was general throughout Canada and Ontario in particular. Particularly problematic in our case was the lack of facility for students requiring "Special Education". This was a problem for a family such as ours whose father, myself of course, suffered from a genetically transmitted learning disability. The girls, although much less debilitated than I by this learning scourge, found themselves misunderstood. There difficulties were related to a matter of intelligence level instead of one of a requirement for different learning strategies. The absence of recognition and skilled help in this regard became an incidence of severe frustration. Jon on the other hand having been adopted was free of this difficulty.

Jon was at a preschool age in any case and in Canada would have qualified for daycare. In Melbourne facilities at this level bore the unfamiliar name, to us, of Kinders. One such placing had been located for us by our hosts. This turned out to be an ideal situation for Jon, which was of good fortune for us. Jon being the most challenging of our children found himself looking forward to each day he attended this program.

The gap in our experience with education in Melbourne came at the Secondary School level. The high quality of post secondary education and its broad coverage suggested to me that students graduating from the Secondary level had at that point received an education quite comparable with those in Ontario. My experience with Australian Universities consisted of visits to Monash University, University of Melbourne and Australian National University. Interactions with Faculty and Students indicated to me that these were all World class Universities. Australian National University in Canberra was of particular note. Despite the high quality of Science graduates from Australian Universities it was hot uncommon to find the top jobs in CSIRO to be filled by imports, particularly from Great Britain. In my view this slight was historical in nature. For years the worthy, very talented Australian candidates for senior positions were bypassed often for those of lesser talent (in my view) from abroad. Such travesties were common in North America up until the 1950's and Australia, as was common in other areas of endeavor maintained these traditions about 20 years longer.

Australian Connection

Unique approaches to the solution of important scientific problems are the dominant quest in active research laboratories. In the 1970's pollution problems began to emerge as serious, vociferous, wide ranging, public debates. This forced government funding for worthy environmental projects to suddenly arise as a major priority. Measuring quantitatively, levels of key pollutants in widely varying samples, was a first essential step to the devising remedies.

Heavy metals, particularly, lead and mercury which are neurological poisons, were among the first metals of concern. Children are particularly at risk when exposed to these metals.

Lead compounds added to gasoline as an octane booster, had become widely dispersed in urban environments as an exhaust product through vehicular traffic. The reprocessing of worn out lead acid batteries had resulted in soil contamination around industrial installations used for this purpose, at toxic levels as high as the percent range. Within the Public Health purview, lead leached from solders used widely in electric kettles was being directly consumed in harmful amounts in hot beverages. Children were also being poisoned from chewing on household objects containing lead based paints such as cribs, window ledges and even toys.

Mercury pollution from rain, sewage disposal and incineration of household garbage was resulting in the widespread distribution of this substance in lakes, ground waters and rivers. As a result of food chain magnification the top predator edible fish species were becoming loaded with harmful mercury levels. Government regulations governing the permitted levels of both mercury and lead in a large variety of samples were established. Reliable techniques for the determination of lead and mercury and lead in all these samples were necessary.

Enter our research group with 4 goals:

Make certain that methodology being used by governments and other agencies was producing reliable results.

Develop equipment and methods that when used with appropriate reference materials would give consistently reliable results.

Establish that there was an important requirement to be able to determine the forms of these metals rather than just the total amounts. This is because some of the organic forms were orders of magnitude more toxic than the metal itself.

Develop simple methodology for the determination of the chemical forms of metals.

Atomic absorption Spectrometry, Invented by Sir Alan Walsh of CSIRO Division of Chemical Physics, was used extensively in our laboratory in Toronto. Some of our unusual applications of this technique and their relevance to the above mentioned problems of the times had attracted Sir Alan to invite our participation in his work at CSIRO.

Of particular importance to our goals was our good fortune in acquring Guest Worker, Peter Larkins from CSIRO, Division of Chemical Physics, Clayton Victoria, who joined our group in 1976. The unique contribution to science of this establishment and the head of the Spectroscopy Section, Sir Alan Walsh, has been discussed in detail elsewhere in the book. At the point when Peter arrived we were struggling to solve the problem of developing a capability to determine the chemical forms of toxic heavy metals and had become stuck with equipment that was only capable of tackling the forms of one element at a time. The essential improvement would be to able to handle several elements and there chemical forms simultaneously.

Mass Spectrometry coupled with chromatography was the obvious and presently available approach to solving this difficulty. In the 1970's this meant a financial outlay of a million dollars or more. This meant that only government laboratories in the wealthy countries could engage in this endeavor. The acumen of Peter Larkins ended this conundrum. He came to my lab in Toronto and constructed an Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometer that could, in combination with Chromatography, determine the forms of up to 4 elements simultaneously. The particular importance of this advance was that the equipment cost was less than 1/100th that of the Mass Spectrometry approach. As pointed out earlier this was one of the main reasons for my many worldwide consulting opportunities.

Testing Irritating Machoism

Early closing was an Australian tradition in the pubs from roughly 1915 until 1966 the actual dates depending on the State. Its origins sprung mainly from the actions of the Women's Christian Temperance League under the guise of improving moral standards and ensuring that the men went home to families at an hour appropriate to a solid family life. This law known "fondly" as the "6 o'clock swill", resulted in a psychological drinking approach that persisted into the 1970,s during my Melbourne tenure. Instead of serving its intended ethical purposes; it more often provided an impetus for men to engage in a period between about 5 and 6 of greatly excessive drinking in order to get drunk before the cut off hour.

I was introduced to this philosophy early in 1975 by a few of my colleagues. When work ended at 5pm some of us would speed to the local pub and order pitchers of beer. Beer by the pitcher full, now common in Canada, became to me a new experience at this earlier time. At 6 o'clock although the pub did not now close, my colleagues, in a tradition from the recent past would find themselves compelled to make the decision to leave for home. The problem was that someone always felt the need to order a pitcher(s) to take to the parking lot for a short period of goodbyes; whence on one of the car hoods this object rested until the contents had been shared to completion often close to 7 o'clock. I was in awe of the beer drinking capacity of the average Aussie.

The favourite Australian beer of the 1970's was elevated in alcohol content compared to its North American counterpart by about 40%. It took me a misadventure or so before I adjusted to this anomaly. This discrepancy became the basis of an adventure in humility for many of a visiting American Scientist.

For some reason unclear to me a few scientists strangely mostly Americans in my field were driven to try to establish the superiority of things American while working abroad. When a particularly tedious offender in this regard appeared in our midst it was our habit to entice him to join our after work pub group. Each of the regulars ordered a pitcher of beer prompting our visitor to do likewise, frequently offering to pay for the full round. This volume was finished post haste and another round was suggested. Again we each ordered a pitcher, but took care to warn the guest that being American he would never be able to tolerate another such helping of Aussie Beer. Of course his macho mind set received this caution as a desperate challenge of his superiority. Usually about half way through this second pitcher physiological reality took hold and our protagonist was on a tortuous path to the Men's room. After a delay of a minute or so we stealthily invaded this lair finding this humbled gentleman on his knees, red faced, tightly embracing a grimy toilet.

Just another extracurricular an act promulgated by a group of your typical mature research scientists.

Bees Booze and Bush Fires

Eucalypts consist of more than 700 species of trees and shrubs, native almost solely to Australia, with there being only 9 species native elsewhere which are not found here-in. This fast growing hardwood has been transplanted in dense stands to almost every other subtropical region of the world. The greatest negative consequence of this action resides in their high degree of combustibility which has caused ruinous wide spread bush fires in areas such as Southern California.

Not surprisingly ecological renewal in Australia is based to a significant degree on fire or exposure of seed to other severe physical or chemical processes. Some botanical species possess seeds that will not germinate without being released from their pods through burning, a well-known example being those of the Hakea shrubs. Having come upon a recently badly burned area one fall near Sydney I was startled to view a lush new green leaf protruding from the charred ruminant of a large diameter stump of a tree that had been burned to within 3 meters of the ground. In Aboriginal times small bush fires were common as a result of lightning strikes of as carefully controlled burns. The massive bush fires now common in the Australian summers, frequently threatening homes close to urban areas are often deliberately set by arsonists or result from the careless use of campfires or deposal of cigarette butts.

Eucalyptus ficfolia, the famous red gum found mainly in the lush band rimming south eastern Australia along the south through South Australia and materializing again in South Western Australia, is prized for its abundance of scarlet red flowers. Flower heads of eucalypts have no petals consisting instead of a powder puff like large massing of stamens. Although eucalypt flowers range in colour from the common white through shades mainly of yellow orange pink and red all consist of stamens which are an abundant source of nectar.

Abutting the patio of a posh Melbourne golf club stands a 2.5 meter diameter but relatively low growing ficfolia. Strangely I heard this tree before its visual presence could be noted. Upon approaching our luncheon seats Sir Alan put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. "Listen", he whispered. Even above the chatting sounds of the few diners the buzzing noise was obvious. Reaching our seats a tree encased in a layer of bees became evident. Hers and there through the crust of insects the brilliant red flowers of this Eucalypt became obvious.

European honey bees had been introduced in the 20's by apiarists for the purpose of producing honey. Australian bees, a number of stingless varieties and most solitary by nature, had been unsatisfactory for this commercial venture. Those that graced this remarkable tree were of the imported variety. With such a pleasant humming accompaniment background luncheon music was superfluous.

A sherry aperitif seemed called for to celebrate my recent appearance at CSIRO, especially in light of these delightful surroundings. That sipped and dispensed with we each chose a smoked brown trout entre accompanied by an essential bottle of Pinot Noir. The conversation which began spottily and haltingly as we sought for salient topics, toward the bottom of the bottle became colourful and jokingly provocative being much more easily derived. The decision to have a snifter of Port seemed as natural as requiring water on a sweat filled hike. As this was arriving I noted that the music of bees had disappeared and the shadow from the tree had elongated considerably. A smooth run through a couple of glasses of Port and it somehow appeared that we had fallen into evening unnoticed. After an appropriate period of cessation in libations, we each returned home to a vociferously curious reception.

The habit of such liquid refreshment at lunch time quickly turned into tea breaks both mid morning and afternoon crowded into long fruitful days of research and discussions, with only a quickly demolished sandwich delineating morning from afternoon. But always on Fridays as the afternoon descended toward evening Sir Alan summoned me to his office to put an exclamation point to the week with a single glass of single malt and a chat.

Steak Medium Rare with a Secret Ingredient

Fetid 5 month Summer Weather even in Australian cities of the SE coupled with homes lacking air conditioning dictated a an overriding dependence on the BBQ. The very familiar phrase now parroted widely in North America, "Fire up the Barbie" is an Australian import. Very little of consequence in the food line had not been adapted to cooking on the BBQ. Australian back yard chefs have developed this approach to meal preparation to gourmet status.

It was into this environment that I was unceremoniously dropped. The now dominant propane or natural gas BBQ, in 1975 was virtually nonexistent in Canada. While In Australia these, if they had existed, would most surely have been viewed with an air of contempt. Having been invited to many a dinner at friends homes in Australia it became crucial to begin the reciprocation; trouble was that I had neglected to learn this art as it was there-in practiced. Although our rented accommodated was replete with such an item its use had been avoided through the first few months due to the budgetary dictated consumption of inexpensive poor quality cuts of meat. Hence our first attempt, beginning with the most urgent invitations consisting of persons at the top of our social order, found me confronted with porterhouse steaks of the highest quality requiring the initial use of our BBQ. Sir Alan and Lady Walsh, together with the eminent physicist and second in command John Willis and wife Betty, were these guests.

Libations consisting of the best Australian sherry that could be stretched from our limited finances were served in copious quantities to begin the festivities. Needless to say I was in a state of "controlled" tipsiness as I approached the task. Having thoughtfully located the BBQ and placed this in a position of convenience prior to the party, I now gazed into a cooking implement devoid of fuel or starter fluid. Imagine my delight when I spied a heap of briquettes tumbling from under the house. Although these more massive, firmer feeling items, bore little resemblance to any I had used in Canada, I just presumed them to be another uniquely Australian facsimile. A cursory hunt in the garage located a tin of paint thinner which seemed to this chemist a natural substitute for starter fluid. A generous layer of briquettes drenched in paint thinner was subjected to the carless toss of a lighted match stick. As a result a conflagration of immense proportions erupted within and above the cooking implement and apart from a slight singing of my hair, this was accompanied by flaming drops falling down the sides of the BBQ causing small fires in the grass. This unfortunate but rather sobering occurrence was thankfully out of sight of the party celebration and after what seemed like an eternity the grass had been extinguished and the flaming mass had subsided to a glowing mass of briquettes. Despite a strange unidentifiable odor in the smoke I began the cooking procedure. The relatively intense heat of the coals provided a relatively short period necessary to achieve the required medium rare consistency of the meat.

Maureen had meanwhile had arranged on plates on a beautifully decorated table tasty salads and veggies to complement these precious pieces of beef flesh so lovingly subjected to the BBQ process. The feast began, but it became instantly obvious that something was horribly wrong. As I stood there judiciously pouring glasses of a respectable Shiraz wine I noted a sour looking grimace appear on Sir Alan's face, followed by the careful removal of partially chewed portion of steak from his mouth. Sir Alan's indomitable sense of humour immediately took over resulting in a follow-up gale of laughter. To say Maureen and I were non pulsed at this turn of events was a bit of an understatement. Arising from the table and grabbing me by the arm Sir Alan walked me to the precincts of the BBQ and upon gazing there-in pronounced the briquettes I had used to be those commonly used in the Lounge room fire place. These I was informed are severely contaminated with sulfur and hence totally unacceptable for cooking. Putting 2 and 2 together and using a bit of chemistry I realized my precious meat had been cooked in a emanation containing the acid forming substance sulfur dioxide!

The Clothesline that thought it was a Hose

Automatic washers and dryers were not present in our Melbourne abode. This presented a challenge for a family used to the latest in such equipment in Toronto. A family with wife, children aged 2 still wearing cloth diapers, 5 and 7 and the father who walked 3 miles to work each day, presented a new and unexpected challenge in the cloth washing department.

The washing machine was out in the glassed-in porch resting rakishly on the sloping and spongy floor. The device consisted of a tub, a motorized wringer mounted above the tub and a hose to fill and empty the tub. It sat tight against a sink. The sink was heavy concrete construction, contained 2 compartments and was mounted on the floor. A swivel mounted hot and cold water tap attached to the wall, even when centered barely hung over the sink because the tub leaned well away from the wall at the top due to the slope in the floor. A common occurrence was to have water from the tap splash off the lip of the sink onto the floor when the spout was positioned too far to the right or left.

Cloths were loaded into the tub and hot water run through a hose to apply cover over the load. Care was essential not to run the tap at excessive speed to prevent the hose from squirming from the tub over the top causing a flood on the floor. Large flaked soap powder, unlike anything used in automatic machines, was liberally poured into the water. At the throw of the switch an agitator on the central spindle in the tub began in a back and forth motion. A deep froth of soap bubbles formed over the surface. After 30 minutes or so the soapy water was drained from the tub through a hose stretching out the door into the back yard, leaving persistent soapy foam covering a large area. This was followed by 2 or 3 rinses which entailed a procedure similar to the wash cycle only with clean water.

No obvious cloths line existed in the back yard. However a metal pole rising up about 3 meters out of a cement pad on the patio was clad in a structure that looked like the skeleton of a collapsed umbrella. The umbrella like arms were joined together by looping wires. Projecting from the base of the pole was a pipe with a hose connection. Out of curiosity we attached the hose to this connector and upon opening the hose tap the arms on the pole rose slowly up to create an open umbrella like clothesline.

Spanish Coffee and Other Fiascos

Residing in a strange environment especially in a land so different than Canada in its geography, customs and legal system must lea to unexpected situations, most of them either amusing or embarrassing or both. The reverse seasons can also provide challenges.

Deplaning in January to be greeted by what resembled a wind from blast furnace caught completely off guard in our jet lagged state of somnolence. Visually intense shades of green stretched from horizon to horizon. We seemed to adjust rather happily to this condition. Then one day a month or 2 into our stay while dressing for work and idly listening to the radio a fragment of weather caught my ear. The announcer was stating that a wind was blowing fiercely down from the north from the north. Naturally assuming a bout of cool weather I donned a warm sweater. Upon opening the door I was greeted by a humid 40 degree C wind that would have caused naked person to break out in perspiration. This was a dramatic lesson that in Australia the equator and not the Arctic is the a northerly quadrant.

Another anomaly, this one due to a British heritage, is left hand drive. In my case being the main drier in the family, I became comfortable with driving in this position in the car and with staying on the right hand side of the road while driving. Maureen on the other hand was very uncomfortable with this arrangement. One morning this difficulty took on a rather unique guise. It was very uncommon for me to receive telephone calls at work. Thus when I was summoned to the phone one afternoon to speak with my wife an immediate sense of foreboding wafted in. An incomprehensible stream of words began assaulting my ears. Words such as damage, car, reverse, driveway, dented, fence and destroyed were muddled in such a frenzied disorder that I was completely at a loss as to the nature of Maureen's problem. Not having heard anything such as blood. Injury or children I was somewhat reassured. It was however abundantly clear that in her view a serious disaster had occurred. With a few Soothing comments from me that if no injuries had occurred then mishaps of other types could be fixed, I finally discerned that the car had knocked down our front fence. This problem arose from her unfamiliarity with left had drive exacerbated by the fact that she ws reversing down the driveway. Since this was our rented home and the fence consisted of heavy, cemented stone and the car was dinted and scraped, Maureen was unable to calmly conceive of a solution that would fit our budget. The solution of fixing the fence turned out to be relatively simple since despite the collision it had remained in 2 sections which could be pried up into place on top of a layer of fresh cement. The car however remained in its damaged condition. Surprisingly despite this obvious blemish we recouped nearly our purchase price in a private resale upon our departure.

Daft is the least offensive word to be used for the big whizzes at CSIRO when they decided to terminate the Division of Chemical Physics. At first this came in the form of a challenge only. The thinking was that this division must demonstrate its relevance to Industry to survive. Some bright light in CSIRO's upper reaches, realizing that since CSIRO was an acronym in which the "I" stood for Industry that all divisions no matter how prestigious in world science would have to have a strong relationship to industry. The Division of Chemical Physics was not only a world leader in Theoretical Spectroscopy but had also been the home of the development of novel instrumentation which had been farmed out to Australian Industry for production and sales. This seemed like a no brainer guarantee that this division was indeed a fit into the industrial component of CSIRO. Not so however in the minds of those making decisions. Thus a powerful campaign became essential to assure its survival. That's where I became an important cog in this battle at least in the mind of Chemical Physics' Head. Gaining public support for a cause is always an important step. To this end, as a foreign "expert" I was inserted into all the network TV morning talk shows. Additionally I wrote passionate letters to the CSIRO top brass and politicians concerned in its operations. A variety of other foreign experts followed a similar procedure to myself and as you probably guessed we were unsuccessful. About 8 years later came the demise of one of the world's most scientifically productive groups.

Oh yes what ever happened to the Spanish Coffee tale that I promised? You see we had this prestigious group of scientists and other friends to our home for dinner. This time I managed not to BBQ with sulfurous lounge room briquettes. In fact all was a great success until the coffee course at which time Maureen was to serve her specialty, Spanish Coffee. In case you think that Maureen caused the Spanish Coffee fiasco, she did not. This sad episode was totally of my making. As usual she mixed the coffee with the liqueurs and before topping the final mixture with the whipped cream. At this juncture she was having problems with poor flaming effects, so her expert chemist, me, suggested adding another dash of the liqueur. There was an immediate whoosh of flame as she obediently followed my "expert" suggestion. Apart from singing her eyebrows she dropped the glass in fright, whereupon the flaming stream of fluid began combusting the curtains. Needless to say I came out lacking in her estimation on several fronts. Fortunately the house did not burn down thanks to quick action of guests in dousing the flames, but I lost any good reputation I previously possessed even as an adequate font of domestic chemical knowledge.

Walsh Parties Panache

After completing yeoman's scientific service during WW2, Alan Walsh emigrated to Australia to take a position at The Division of Chemical Physics in Clayton Victoria. He Subsequent met and married Audrey Hutchinson, an Australian National. It behooves me to emphasize, that whatever his task and whatever the weather, Alan dressed with shirt and tie and jumper (sleeveless sweater) slavishly retaining this English tradition.

Brighton is a much favoured suburb of Melbourne, being that it comes complete with beach in Port Phillip Bay. Unlike other almost completely enclosed bays in many other large Cosmopolitan areas worldwide, Port Phillip Bay has been kept mainly free from harmful Municipal discharges. A state-of-the art waste treatment facility a Werilby, 40 Km south of the city and land disposal saw to this even prior to the 1970's. Brighton's pristine beach attracted bathers city wide, but local residents had access to Changing Huts clustered at one end of the beach giving them a measure of privacy from interlopers.

In the good weather, effectively from October through April, parties at the Walsh's Brighton home included a 3 block walk to their changing hut, and a pleasant dip at the beach. This segment of any such function was particularly pleasing for the children. No, that was not really the initial step at a Walsh shindig; number one was a quick glass of sherry in their famous rose garden. Here amidst roses in a multitude of shades and colours, growing on tree girthed stems, we gathered together the strength and the will for the passage to the beach.

Returning from thence the crowd was always shepherded into a bed room where a tiny woman, Mrs. Hutchinson Audrey Walsh's mother, was carefully ensconced in a bed full of covers. All having nodded or given a salutation we departed the scene for the main festivities.

All parties included excellent food, special wines from a remote Monastery NW of Sydney and good Scotch. I would estimate that we attended 10 parties at Walsh's over our tenure in Melbourne, all of them enjoyable. There were festivities celebrating Guest Workers who came and went. Others seemed to have little reason for occurring except to provide a friendly venue for a good time when Alan deemed such to be appropriate. What seemed to make a Walsh party stand out was how the host and hostess seamlessly combined everyone into a grouping that ensured that all guests were included and were guaranteed a fun experience.

One party I particularly remember was for a silly reason. In the 70's we had little news from Canada, except through Radio Canada International, obtainable on the Short Wave band and only when reception was adequate. Otherwise the only Canadian news story carried by an Australian during our time there source was the visit to Ottawa by Princess Dianna. News from the USA was more common but still spotty. Thus I was startled while at the dining room table to suddenly see the Super Bowl come on the TV, which was only visible from the family room due to a geometric quirk in the layout of the Walsh's lounge room.

Our families visit to Ballarat hosted by Alan and Audrey might seem to stretch the Walsh party concept. However this evet serves to illustrate the lengths that thes caring individuals would go to ensure the success of a social event.

Ballarat is the town in Victoria founded at the site of one of the earliest gold rushes in Australia and is a 3 hour drive from Melbourne. Restoration to its state during the gold fever had been done in great authentic detail. Gold panning and stage coach rides were only 2 of the many activities available. Sad to say but for some trivial reason I refused to take our children on the stage coach. Not to worry, Alan jumped into the breach and took them on this wild ride around the course despite his well-known ailing back. Again I nixed the wish to go panning for gold; not to worry Alan and Audrey took up this slack and granted the children's wish. To top off the adventure Audrey had prepared a sandwich lunch accompanied of course by a fine bottle of Alan's wine.

Sullivan Kindness

Demountable hollow cathode lamps as radiation sources in optical spectroscopy might sound strange as a research pursuit, yet work in this area was timely, exciting and a tremendous challenge for a none Physicist such as I. It was my privilege to be assigned as my main research task to the laboratory of Jack Sullivan a noted Physicist of very high intelligence and the world expert in this investigative area. I was in a state of excited fright at this prospect. It is not common for the mainstay of research in a complimentary field during the birth of a crucially important field like Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, to maintain pre-eminence through the entirety of their long career. Competition to be the leading light in research of such complexity, variety and importance is daunting, but despite this factor such was the case with Jack. My lack of knowledge and experience in this research must have been a cumbersome burden, yet Jack found the time and patience in a kindly and understanding way, to bring me along to a level that at least at a pedestrian level I was able to experience a sense of contribution. Such was one of his most notable kindnesses.

My work began very poorly, as I made statements with errors in Physics continuously. Jack felt no reason not to correct these in a very vociferous manner. This can have one of 2 obvious effects. Either I kept my mouth shut most of the time or I accept this criticism and learn important concepts no matter how embarrassing. I chose the latter. Within a few weeks the frequencies of my mistakes was significantly reduced and I had learned important concepts that were to aid me greatly throughout the rest of my career. Jack must have approved because he became my closest colleague and great family friend. It is in this latter capacity I wish to expostulate.

Jack worried from the beginning about our possible shopping problems in the new situation we faced in Melbourne. Thus a weekly ritual on Thursday noon's was a trip to the Dandenong market in this community about 5 Km along a main thoroughfare. Due to Melbourne's mild Mediterranean like weather most typical fruits and vegetables were fresh and available year round. Green peas, a family favourite, became one of my constant weekly purchases. On our initial foray to this food fair I reached to help myself as was common practice in Toronto but this was not tolerated here, Instead the stall owner filled your bag and you had to take what he chose. Of course the varieties of some produce differed from those with which we were familiar in Toronto. Thus in the absence of Macintosh apples we were introduced to a fine substitute of English heritage, the Jonathan. Granny Smith apples were a new variety for us also at this time. New cultivars hardy enough for our weather are now being widely grown in Southern Canada. And so it went, we always had a delightful selection of fresh fruits and vegetables weekly.

The Sullivan family took a serious interest in ensuring our enjoyment during leisure time. This mainly consisted of weekend mini trips to enjoy the pleasures of the local area. Our first foray in this regard was to the hills known as the Dandenongs a short distance west of the town and market. Most of us can recall dreams in which some bizarre rendition of a familiar plant or animal suddenly appears, frequently chasing us until we suddenly awake with a shivering start. While resting on a bench between sightings of Wallabies, Kangaroos, wombats and other typical Australian wildlife in a small zoo, I twisted around to relieve a crick in my neck. Suddenly my eye encountered a strange bright blue apparition. Turning slowly back to better identify this object I was startled to see an indigo bird that eerily resembled the North American House Wren in all aspects except its unusual colouration.

Our most notable Sullivan outing was the extended trip to Wyperfeld National Park. This adventure, deserving of separate treatment was detailed elsewhere under the title, "Big Desert".

Daily trips on weekends, most often to enjoy the glories of beaches tucked into the scenic shorelines of the areas to the south of the city were frequent and greatly enjoyed. Two of these playgrounds were of particular note.

Aries Inlet was distinguished both by its hidden location and the ambiance of angularly sandstone weathered cliffs and soft sand beach tucked serenely therein. The southern shoreline of Australia intersects the notoriously unpredictable Southern Ocean. One could easily suppose that the largest number of shipwrecks per unit of vessels has historically occurred in the Southern Ocean. The reasons are multifold. Being bounded to the south by the immense, frigid and calving glacier riddled, Antarctic Continent results in a continual cold water temperature that maintains an uncomfortable coolness even as far north as the Australian southern shores. Of particular further consequence is the myriad of jumbled, fast flowing currents that exist herein. These coupled with the almost constant high velocity winds increasing drastically in the 59's and 60's latitudes, make small vessel travel in these climes a constant danger even at the best of times. The waters along the shore at Aries Inlet, although on Bass Sfraight across from Tasmania still bear a perpetual coolness that prevents all but the heartiest from enjoying a swim therein. The afore mentioned lofty sandstone cliffs shade much of the area from the rays of the sun that resides towards the north in the Southern hemisphere sky. A small discontinuity in these cliffs allows the Aries beach a flooding of warmth that is uncommon throughout this most picturesque area. Knowledge of this oasis by the sea is scant making picnicking here a most enjoyable experience.

Enclosed waterways bordering major cities are notoriously polluted. This was not the case with Melbourne's wonderful Port Phillip Bay. Our cherished bathing episodes with the Walsh's at Brighton Beach in this Bay have already been mentioned. Unlike the inadequate sewage treatment of the 70's in most of the Worlds cities, Melbourne's Sanitary Engineers pioneered a process, now being copied around the World, that removed noxious waste components prior to the discharge of sewage effluent into the Bay. Thus it transpired that a large, thriving municipal resort area at Sorrento evolved. Here handsome sand beaches were scattered along a shoreline intermixed with fascinating tidal rock pools. Many weekends were spent exploring and swimming in these precincts. During these times Jack, wife Sheila and their children exposed us to all the delights of the natural wonders contained in this unexpectedly rich environment. Now almost 40 years later the spectacle of Jack holding forth under his ubiquitous though severely tattered beach umbrella floods my memory.

Big Desert – Big Fun

A locale named "Big Desert" seems a contradiction when speaking of Australia, a county with a central region comprising 4/5th its total area which is commonly devoid of rainfall for 5 or more years at a time. Big Dessert National Park, together with its abutting and physiographic twin, the somewhat larger Wyperfeld National Park, is quite dissimilar to the massive arid Australian interior.

Although covered for the large part in a layer of sand and sad dunes a surprising richness and diversity of flora and fauna exists there-in. This bespeaks particularly of a consistent appreciable yearly rainfall and mixed in humus material. This latter is constantly replenished by the decay of the dominant mallee scrub vegetation, a low bushy eucalypt. To view this complex mixture one need only happen upon the massive nest of the strangest of all birds in this region, the mallee fowl. These birds, the size of a small chicken, fill and mound up a 2 meter round meter deep depression with vegetation where-upon the female lays several eggs there-in. Incubation is effected by the male; using a heat sensor on his beak and covering and uncovering the eggs to keep them within a degree C of the required temperature.

As an example of fauna richness in the region, two hundred species of birds have been identified here-in and of these 2 of were of particular interest to me. Most particularly was the large number of species of parrots whose brilliant colours and raucous calls were certain to maintain attention throughout the visit. Secondly were the scarlet and red caped of "robins" viewed as blobs of intense red particularly perched along adjoining fence lines. Although commonly named robins they bear no relation to the European or American varieties; being just another testimony to the tendency of early white settlers to provide foreign creatures, similarity no matter how tenuous, with names that reminded them of home.

An investigation of these fascinating areas in the 1970's was best accomplished on foot. After a few hours of slogging through loose, 15 cm deep sand in 30 degree plus temperatures, the urge to pack it in and rehydrate was overwhelming. This brings us to the experience of habitation and drinking in an old outback style hotel.

At that time Hopetoun, Vic. was the nearest community with living accommodation for tourists. The only facility in this regard was a relatively large ornately decorated 2 story wooden structure, the lower area of which was dominated by a men's only pub. The noise level there-in and spilling out onto the street, resulting from a rough overflowing crowd of farm workers and drovers would certainly have drowned out the cries any large flock of screaming parrots that we had encountered in our earlier explorations. Frequently arising above all the din was the phrase "It's my Shout", meaning that an individual wanted to purchase the next round of drinks. A tiny area to one side housed the hotel office and a small restaurant and dining area for use by groups of mixed sex. Rental accommodation was on the second floor and consisted of small, dusty, sparsely furnished rooms accompanied by communal toilets and bath rooms at the end of the hall. Our family crammed into one room, with the children being provided with single sized cots.

The first excitement during our habitation of these facilities occurred when Maureen, unwisely as it turned out, decided to bath 2.5 year old son Jon. The moment his feet contacted the frigid water he squirmed free and ran down the stairs making a beeline into the men's beverage room with Maureen in hot pursuit. The violation by a woman of this men's only sanctuary was greeted by volleys of ribald shouts of displeasure totally ignored by Maureen who continued unabated to the location behind the bar from which she plucked the pint sized escapee.

On to supper time and requiring a pre-dinner libation, the call was for sherry. The owner/ bartender/ waitress was astounded at this request. Seems the patrons of this hotel seldom ask for any drink but beer. After a quick search a bottle of sherry was procured and we were astounded to receive this aperitif in a 500 ml beer glass filled to the ¾ mark. Large Australian free range (tough) T bone steaks were the only menu item and we opined that a red cabernet sauvignon was in order. Again this momentarily stymied our hostess. Every Australian Hotel has a bottle shop (liquor store) often detached from the main building. Upon her suggestion we repaired to this building and were pleased to see a choice of several wines of this type. My colleague Jack, who brought us on this short holiday, was recognized in Melbourne as a wine expert and imagine his surprise and delight when he locate a special vintage he thought had long been unavailable. The price of this treasure he was certain would be impossible for us to afford, likely exceeding $40.00, the last known approximate level when available in the city. Our obliging proprietor looked up the price on her list but could only find the cost for a recent and very common year for this same wine. The value she found discovered was $10.65 per bottle. After some serious cogitation she stated; "I can't very well charge you that price, the bottle in question being many years old". "Would $6.50 be alright"? Without hesitation Jack negotiated the purchase of this bottle and the remaining 20 bottles in the case at this price to bring back to his wine cellar in Melbourne.

Spider Adventures

Venomous species of snakes are particularly famous in Australia but within the large cities spiders grab the spotlight. To a North American, where the worst case scenario is an itchy welt due to a nibbling spider, possible severe illness and even death from this encounter in Australia provides impetuous for taking serious precautions.

The least problematic, yet far from harmless include the Large Huntsman, white tailed, wolf, mouse and black house spiders. This grouping causes symptoms ranging from nausea, painful swelling, vomiting. malaise, infection and headaches. Bites from this group are of greater threat to the elderly and young.

Two spiders that require much more serious precautions are the red back and the funnel webs, particularly the infamous Sydney funnel web. As a relatively brief resident of both Melbourne and Sydney it might be considered unusual that I should have had encounters with these both.

Red back spiders inject a nerve poison through their bites which threatens serious debilitation on anyone, but most problematic for elderly and the young. Part of our rental property in Mount Waverley Melbourne Victoria was a seriously neglected rundown garage constructed of old wood. Here-in a multitude of mostly unused dilapidated yard implements, old crates and a large variety of household gimcracks were packed along the walls and littered the floor. In my constant search for items that might be used to make our living conditions more agreeable I found myself sifting through this varied collection. No suitable gloves could be found for such incursions and hence every foray became an adventure. The nasty red back spider was an inhabitant of this treasure-trove but was very nonaggressive. Also they seemed to prefer the undersides of windowsills and cracks in the walls. I grasped only surfaces of the items of interest after ascertaining that a grip could be found on well exposed positions and thus never had an intimate encounter with the dreaded enemy.

The frightening, very venomous and aggressive relatively large Sydney funnel web was another problem altogether. Bites from this funnel web, until recently were frequently fatal and now must be followed quickly with the newly developed anti-venom. This insect lives in burrows in the ground and can be lurking in this manner in household lawns. Barefoot excursions are therefore not recommended. Another location that must be carefully checked is the space between the top of the garbage pail and its lid. Care is thus essential in removing lids or gripping the pail sides near the top in any manner. After 4 months of residence in Sydney I had found no sign of this beast and laughingly commented to the landlord that this creature must surely be a mythical threat called upon to discourage undesirable tenants. Upon return from work that evening I found my bedroom end table adorned by a very angry and very menacing jet black Sydney funnel web loosely caped in a preserving jar!

Of much lesser consequence but more immediately frightening was an event with a spider in Melbourne. One dark foggy winter night I returned with the family from one of the many collegial parties at which we had been the special foreign guests. Having neglected to leave on the porch light I fumbled to grip the front door knob. With my hand mm from the knob I suddenly jumped back stumbling into the bushes. A particularly large huntsman spider had positioned itself totally enveloping the knob that I had almost carelessly grabbed!

Barossa Valley

Eight hundred km west of Melbourne rises the city of Adelaide. Originally inhabited by the Kaurna Aboriginal tribe it was settled by the British in the 1840's. Adelaide is the 5th largest city in Australia. Beautifully preserved Victorian architecture remains resplendent here in marked contrast to the more modern structures that dominate many of Australia's other major cities. A trip to Adelaide is well justified on its own merit but for many, including ourselves, it is a welcome addition on the way to the world famous wine production region of the Barossa Valley 60 km to the NE.

Settled by German immigrants in the 1860's, these industrious peoples began the creation of a wine industry that is now responsible for the production of roughly half of the wine in Australia. Red wines particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon have historically dominated in this region.

Within the past 20 or so years Australian wines and particularly those from the Barossa have made a hugh inroad into the imported wine sales formerly dominated by the Italian and French brands in North America. Reasonable pricing and high quality have been the main reasons for this trend. Jacobs Creek, Wolf Blass and Penfolds dominate the imported wines from this district which in total boasts more than 50 wineries.

The lure of the trip, an opportunity to investigate another famous jewel in the Australian physiographic crown was the rational for our visit and indeed from this point of view our initiative was well placed. Rolling hills relatively sparsely vegetated lent the area not covered by vineyards suitable tor sheep farming. February the month of our visit and typical of the central growing months is characterized by hot temperatures (highs in 30's and lows in high teens) with less than 25 mm rain and only about 2 days during which more than 1 mm is to be expected. Thus it was not unexpected to see widespread irrigation in the form of elevated sprinklers throughout the fields of grape vines. Cars of the 1970's were seldom blessed by air conditioning thus it was a sweaty experience travelling the roads and highways of the region.

In consequence of travels under these conditions it was tempting to have frequent rests in the tasting rooms of the ubiquitous wineries on the main routes. We of course, succumbed not infrequently to this behavior, with the predictable result. Our resultant state of mind drove us to frequent purchases culminating after several days in a trunk chock-a-block full of assorted wines.

Half way between Melbourne and Adelaide is the city of Mount Gambier. This city the second largest in South Australia is named after an extinct volcano. Of particular note in this area is Blue Lake a "bottomless" artesian beauty residing in a crater one of several constituting the ancient eroded volcano. Tourists like ourselves are drawn to this location by the unusually intense indigo blue colouration of these waters contained in the almost circular geometry of the crater.

Grampian National Park is another delight easily visited on a trip to the Barossa. This Park rises out of the plains as a series of mountain ranges. Apart from the spectacular rock formations covered in large part towards their peaks by low growing intensely green vegetation; we were drawn here by the wildlife. The usual marsupial mix contained one member that we gratefully saw here for the first time in the wild, the koala. These well-known but seldom viewed in natural habitat, animals, inhabit a very specialized habitat containing a unique variety of Eucalypt, the leaves of which being their required diet

A wonderful route between Melbourne and Adelaide if you have plenty of time lies along the Great Ocean Road. Frequent glimpses of the great Southern Ocean culminate in a famous highlight at Port Campbell. Here towering very near the coast suddenly arise 12 great monoliths known collectively as the 12 Apostles. Formerly termed the Sow and Piglets these limestone stacks, eroded remnants of the coastline, are subjected to constant wave and wind attack. This culminated in 2005 with the collapse of a smaller member. Although it is difficult to see all 12 from any one location Maureen and I were transfixed by the grandeur of this unexpected spectacle on our travels back to Melbourne.

Cricket Regardless of Ultimate Precautions

Nothing supersedes the game of Cricket in importance in Australia. This is an absolute when there is a Test Match against England. This matched dubbed The Ashes as the result of a satirical obituary relating to an 19th century England loss claiming cricket had died in England and the ashes shipped to Australia.

Pace Bowling or simply fast bowling had developed in Australia where by a short fast pitch was directed directly at the batsman making it hazardous for him to protect the wicket. Such pitching was almost impossible to hit. Icons such as Australian 1975-76 Captain Greg Chappell led almost invincible sides during this era. Thus a match in which the outcome was a foregone conclusion in Australians favour would seem to the casual follower to have little interest. Such was not the case. My blood thirsty colleagues and friends were keen for slaughter.

Thus it transpired that Maureen chose an unfortunate date for our farewell party a few days prior to our scheduled date to leave Melbourne for Toronto. This affair was meant to be a chatty and intimate event in which Maureen had hoped husbands and wives of friends and colleagues would together celebrate our very socially enjoyable and scientifically successful tenure here-in.

Plans included a steak and lamb BBQ supper including donated dishes of salads, vegetable casseroles and of course the famous Australian delectable desert, Pavlov. Tables containing these fine dishes were packed to overflowing. Despite the diminutive size of our bungalow guests packed in such a manner taking care to leave space for a small dancing area. Maureen had assembled a fine collection of recordings for use in this manner. Of critical importance Jack S. our noted wine expert provided a selection of excellent wine vast in both popular vintages and in quantity.

In discovering the conflict between the cricket match and the party, Maureen made it clear that the fate of our marriage rested on my ensuring that the TV was suitably inactivated so that there would be no chance that an intrepid fan could activate this sporting event and spoil her party. With this in mind I removed 3 electronic tubes (valves in Australian), an action that would completely inactivate any electronic receiver device including the TV. All went well through the cocktail hour and meal. I had of course by then learned the typically Australian approach to perfect BBQing. This involved the use of hardwood chunks allowed to burn until a glowing intensely hot ash remained over which to cook the meat.

The social hours were about to begin when to my horror our "inactivate" TV, under the tutelage of Jack S. began broadcasting the cricket match. This soon attracted a happy throng consisting of most of the male party population. To say that I suffered a severe vociferous abusing from Maureen vastly understated the ensuing fiasco. This only engendered a few chuckles from my obviously less than sympathetic friends.

Even Knowing Jack to be something of an electronics whizz from my period of tutelage in his laboratory I knew even he could not activate a TV with 3 missing essential components. Thus I stuck my head inside the back of the TV only to find the "removed" tubes provokingly present. What Kind of black magic returned these from there hiding place inside a suit case at the back of a hidden cupboard under the tightly packed contents? It remains only to divulge the last of Jacks particular talents that I need to reveal.

This world class Scientist, wine expert and electronics genius also loved children. Many special family days, a variety described elsewhere here-in, resulted in a special relationship between Jack and our son Jon. The closet and suitcase containing the hidden tubes resided in his bedroom. Despite his young age Jon had seen and recorded in his mind me hiding the tubes. Jacks single hope was with Jon and this snitch was able to lead Jack to the hiding place. Voila! The main activity at Maureen's carefully planned party was watching the test cricket. I hesitate to report that she and I have survived many such disasters and are as I write, 2009, 48 years married.

Another Kick at the Can

Another sabbatical pushed me off to Australia. This time the opportunity to give something unique instead of being mainly the benefactor as I was in Melbourne was the challenge. Again It was to CSIRO, but this time in Sydney.

There was however a massive gift received on my end but this time in Toronto. Professor Barry French of the Institute for Aerospace studies developed a revolutionary type of Mass Spectrometry equipment. According to Barry his equipment could produce results 2 orders of magnitude more sensitive that those being obtained in my laboratory. To this assertion I reacted in hostile disbelief. In fact I went so far as rejecting his claim as unproven when refereeing hi s first research paper which coincidentally had been sent to me. My reasoning had in fact been sound because he had not analysed any standard reference samples that could add the proof. Being honest however I have to admit that the thought of a group of Physicists with no training in chemical analysis making such a radical claim had me grasping for straws to come up with this conclusion sound as it was. Can you imagine working for 15 years in state-of-the-art research in your own area of expertise and then have someone, worse that someone is not a Chemist and is is at my own university, make claims that threaten to derail my best research?

Luckily Barry was not put off and formulated a very innovative plan. He phoned me and asked if I would help with his work, co direct his PhD students work and provide the manpower and the standard samples to test his claims. With such a magnanimous gesture who could possibly say no and I determined that the manpower would indeed be me. Of course his claims turned out to be correct. This lead to fruitful collaboration for several years and allowed us to eventually develop a unique detector for Chromatography. This equipment, the prototype for a commercial offering, was transferred to my laboratory.

When this equipment came on the market a unit was purchased by a CSIRO group in Sydney and I was enticed to travel there to supervise its installation and commissioning. What good fortune I was now enjoying due to Barry French's benevolent attitude and actions.

The Bosses "Holiday"

My Sydney sabbatical was slated for a 6 month period from January to June 1981. I arrived in the blistering heat that typified a Sydney midsummer.

CSIRO Division of Fuel Technology was a tiny research team within the Lucas Heights CSIRO Complex, itself residing in the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Center. A large and very publically controversial part of this complex was a Nuclear Reactor used for Physics and Health Research. Fuel Technology bore little relationship to the rest of CSIRO. However with our mass spectrometer there lay the possibility of bridges being built to serve special needs of others at the site.

Mass Spectrometers had been around for years so why might this new installation create a new relevance to the technique? Its uniqueness lay in a novel source for the production of ions which are essential for whirling around in its magnetic fields. Our new source was a plasma, or more correctly an inductively coupled plasma. Plasmas are simply very hot gases containing electrically charged species called ions. The plasma we were using arose from heat generated in a radio frequency generated electric field. Neutral atoms in an argon gas substrate were stripped of their electrons through high energy collisions with one another thus producing ions. The beauty of our device was that it was so hot that compounds were broken up into their constituent atoms leaving a relatively simple ionic "soup". When this mixture entered the Mass Spectrometer and was whirled around in the magnetic field to the detector a very simple mass spectrum was produced in marked contrast to that resulting from conventional ion sources. Although this situation is unique and desirable for many applications the conventional ion sources still have wide application.

Why fly me all the way from Canada and then pay me a salary just to start up a new type of Mass Spectrometer? This unique device was then in its infancy, with only 4 or 5 in existence Worldwide. Commercial equipment for this new approach had just been developed by 2 competing companies and its hardware and software was in the usual state of disarray. Unfortunately Coal Chemistry had purchased the British model, typical procedure in Australia and all my work had been in work with the Canadian device. The Canadians had pioneered this technique at the Institute for Aerospace studies and the first commercial offering was Canadian. Thus I was in the uncomfortable position of facing the as yet very much unproven British equipment. Upon delivering this initial assessment of the sad state of affairs to the head of this laboratory he immediately left on a holiday leaving me and my new cohorts to sort out the mess.

After 4 months of computer crashes, blood, sweat, tears and much overtime (when the instrument was in working condition it became essential to continue the session until the inevitable break down) we determined that with new software the instrument could be made functional. This was promptly delivered and the first useful results were obtained. The laboratory boss then returned from his "holiday" and I happily left for home leaving him with the kudos for all the great results that were forthcoming.

Again it was clear to me that the fun is in the initial struggles with new techniques and not in their subsequent routine uses.

Big Apple of the South

As Victorian as most of Australia including its big cities was in many physical and social aspects, so the great city of Sydney seemed to be in contrast in a more modern sense in the 80's. Sydney was also Australia's largest municipality at that time.

Compositionally the cluster of multitudinous, separately named, communities is very reminiscent of London. Geographically downtown Sydney hugs the southern shore of Port Phillip Bay while the city proper spreads to the north and south from Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park to The Royal National Park respectfully. Proceeding south within the city lies Botany Bay, as large as Port Phillip and the first landing spot of the British in this area. Along the east coast a string of 100 magnificent beaches form this municipal boarder. While to the west communities gradually diminish in density as they flow into the perimeter of the Blue Mountains. Climatically Sydney's weather approximates that of Northern Florida.

In the 70's ethnically the population was still dominated by the British with Greeks and Italians also residing here-in in appreciable numbers. Contrary to popular folklore the British population was not derived largely by descendants of the transported prisoners of the 1800's. The non prisoner related population began as merchants and farmers who soon arrived to support the prison population and this was followed by large waves of British citizens seeking refuge from the oppressive conditions that existed in their homeland in the 80's and early 20th century .

Culturally although dominated by British lifestyle, Sydney began to develop a reputation for a broad range of multicultural activities. In particular the diversity and quality of multicultural restaurants were rivaled only by those in London and New York. This, of course, gave a hint of the wide variation of minority groups of citizenry that was beginning to become established in this great city.

In choosing to relate Sydney to New York as is implied by this story title, I must hasten to state that my rational is very tenuous. It is based on a perception of architectural modernity, diversity and torrid pace found nowhere else at that time in any other large city in this great Southern Continent. Still along these lines Sydney is the only Australian city that achieves a worldwide instant mental visualization in many people's minds for the distinctive Opera House and gigantic Metal Harbour Bridge that dominate its skyline. This could be compared with the instant mental recognition of the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and other Structures that likewise characterize New York.

Sydney boasts a variety of unique characteristics that due to their nature, magnitude and desirability have a uniqueness that is typical of other cities of particular renown. Directly intersecting its northern and southern boarders, 2 sizable National Parks give Sydney an ambience of greenery that certainly compares with or exceeds anything in New York or London. The fact that these Parks are filled with native plants and animals provides a fitting wildness to be expected of natural areas in a country like Australia. Over 75 separate recreational beaches providing year round playgrounds that must be the envy of any great city.

Formerly characterized by a vibrant downtown and comprehensive shopping consisting of small businesses in each constituent suburb, by the late 80's large North American plazas began to appear here and there throughout the city. Present day Sydney now possesses all the shopping characteristics of modern Western style cities.

Cultural and entertainment facilities are numerous in Sydney ranging widely in nature. Flea Markets and Antique shops crowd the ancient "Rocks" area tucked tightly under the southern span of the Iron Bridge. Live theatre thrives in the World Famous Opera House Complex and in several spacious Concert Halls. Outdoor entertainment and shopping proliferated in the still expanding Darling Harbour complex that resides on an inlet soon after one passes under the bridge. The harbour side Botanical Gardens is a noted exposition of many native plant species that occur naturally throughout Australia. Museums and Art galleries as one would expect in great cities are numerous and diverse in nature.

Deadly Shortcuts

It was during my kick of maximum physical fitness, not so much for a laudatory desire to be a top notch jogger/ runner capable of competition, but to keep my weight in line. During adult years overeating had become my downfall and instead of attacking the problem at the source by managing caloric input I turned to jogging/running partaken given any excuse, as the remedy.

East Heathcote a small community in South Sydney, wrapped around a finger of Royal National Park, was my chosen place of residence. This was despite the location of my consultancy being 10 km away at the CSIRO research park in Lucas Heights. Several traditional methods of travel between these communities were available the most logical being private car and special buses. My landlord kept an elderly car in his detached garage, but here it remained with flat tires and in physical disrepair for most of my tenure. The chartered buses, the cost of which was generously subsidized by CSIRO, jokingly bore signage such as "LOST" and "UNRELIABLE". This sounded to me a bit too much like my landlords car but more importantly confined the patrons to strict a schedule, something completely foreign to the proper approach to research. Readers unfamiliar with scientific research must understand that when done correctly such endeavors cannot be stopped and started at the whim of a bus schedule. Some days there are apparent breakthroughs which unless followed to their logical conclusion will suffer a loss of momentum and broken treads of reasoning that can negate the results. Hence effective work of this nature may last from a 2 or 3 hours (dead end) to 18 or more when real progress appears likely.

Back then to the only travel alternatives, in this case 2 in number, foot travel along a narrow back road or along a path through a steep ravine. Both of these were short cuts, the road a savings of about 4km and the ravine much shorter being roughly the distance a bird would fly.

The road although not the main connection between these communities, being a shorter route, was frequently travelled by vehicles of all types. Characterized by its winding narrowness with trees and bushes crowding its verge, foot travel was only possible along the actual road surface. With frequent glances over my shoulder I jogged this route home 2 or 3 times per week. Passage was relatively problem free over most of its length, except for a deceptively long single lane bridge at the bottom of a long hill. A blind curve about 30 meters above the bridge provided an unintended game of "chicken" for any pedestrian. The strategy for the foot traveler was to stop at the bridge entrance and listen carefully for any unseen vehicle, about to round the above menacing corner and then if no sound was detected run like Hell. From time to time an undetected car would round the bend and catching the runner mid bridge, slow and slip past. Large trucks, normally easily detected by their sound, were unable to alter speed to a significant degree on the steep hill approaching the bridge, could result in a fatality. My last choice of this route was stimulated by a shoddy listening attempt before crossing the bridge. One evening at dusk at the midpoint on thebridgeI was horrifyingly aware of the speedy approach of an especially large truck. My only hope seemed to be a dash to beat this behemoth to the end of the bridge, something that I was failing to do. Thus in a panic I threw myself flat on the edge of the deck and following a blast of air, screeching brakes, roaring of horns and blazing lights I found myself well shaken but thankfully alive. The only cost of this encounter was badly skinned knees and elbows, a jammed finger and a determination to avoid this route ever again at all cost.

My last hope to remain independents of a daily work schedule was the path through the ravine. In fact the path was so badly overgrown in places that I needed a guide for the first few traverses. Now on my own I began to enjoy this heavily wooded journey down a long steep hill to the bottom , a crawl over a 1 meter diameter fallen tree trunk and up an equally challenging incline on the other side. It was obvious that in the wet seasons a stream would have also been a challenging impediment in the area of the fallen tree. I began to wonder why this had not been my rout of choice and also why others were not also happily using this route. The answer came suddenly one bright and warm early fall day. Upon pulling myself to the top of the fallen tree trunk I found myself staring down the broad head and slitting eyes of an infamous and extremely venomous Australian Brown Snake, in all its 3 meter glory. It could have been worse had this been the King Brown of much more frightening proportions. Brown snakes are the only Australian variety known to be aggressive even when unprovoked, especially during the mating season. Fortunately this potential culprit must have had other thoughts on its mind and it slipped quietly beneath my perch and was gone. I continued to choose this route for my travels and had the good fortune of no further frightening encounters.

Belf on Tacoma

Beneath a towering eucalypt on Tacoma St. East Heathcote NEW nestles a small 3 bedroom bungalow. Strange noises and offensive smells trespassed day and night into the master's bedroom from a 2 acre horse farm across Boronia Grove on the domains east side. Where-by my landlord Brett and the farm's owners remained in a constant state of heated deliberation. As if to demonstrate in one fell swoop Brett's unrealistic attempts at frugality together with his futile approaches at the solution of many of life's frustrations, I was early on in my tenure at his abode presented with a strange event. Aroused from my bed by the sound of loud offensive mumbling I proceeded to the front lawn from whence I found myself viewing Brett frustrated planting in the ditch in front of the offending farm, a closely spaced row of 10 to 20 cm high eucalypt tree seedlings. Although it was obvious as to his intent in this action I could not prevent myself asking about his actions. He commented wryly that he was unable to pass up his good fortune in finding a conservation organization which was supplying these saplings in large quantities free of charge to anyone having permission to locate such on any needy block of land with this being his golden opportunity for a defensive wall against the farm's irritants. Aside from the fact of locating these in the local Council ditch for which permission would be highly unlikely, I couldn't help forming in my mind the picture of sometime, many years from now of a mass of spindly trunked trees providing some future owner Brett's desired protection.

In the category of obtuse reasoning have you ever questioned the action of the large fraction of householders insisting that entry to a house be gained from the back door even when the front door in most instances is much more convenient? In this regard I was supplied with a single key to the house, that being for the door from the backyard. Of course the mat inside this entrance was line with mud caked boots, but as a scientist-tenant my shoes were always as clean as those of any guest except in the few cases when I arrived home from work after hours having walked along a path in the woods.

Arrangements for my housing had been made months before my arrival in Sydney. The location of East Heathcote was ideal. My workplace at Lucas Heights was in easy reach but was distant enough to provide some guard against weekend overtime. This tiny community jutted in the form of a small rectangle into Royal National Park. The result was that Nature typical of this region of Australia lived or migrated within its precincts. A few examples of the more unusual of these delights follow. A rare species of frog living beneath my window entertained me throughout the night with its dainty bell like voice. Spider webs some of immense proportions, hung profusely in the abundant shrubbery and appeared like beaded wall paper in mornings following an episode of heavy nighttime dew. Light organic soil thick from leaf litter under a grouping of native shrubs became the home of a impressive lime green and yellow slipper orchid. Seed and honey sweetened liquid bird feeders that I erected were the attractant for an impressive array of parrots and honeyeater species among which were included Scarlet Rosellas and Yellow Wattlebirds respectively. Making their raucous appearance faithfully each morning was a pair of Kookaburras. Causing a half hour of annoyance each evening was a flock of a dozen or so Sulfur Crested Cockatoos come to roost in a tall sideyard Norfolk Island pine. The racket from these avian intruders was so great that even with closed windows and the TV at high volume it was impossible to enjoy any programming.

Dressers of the immensity of the one that graced 1/ 2 of my 5 m side bedroom wall floor to ceiling must be rare in a boarding house. The lower 1/3 section of this monstrosity containing lockable drawers, poked 1 meter out from the wall the upper remainder consisting of conventional shelving. My total travelling possessions were contained in a smallish suitcase and appeared miniscule as they were scattered about in 2 of the 6 dresser drawers. Besides a large window gracing the end wall my bedroom consisted of 2 other objects. One of these was a conventional 250 cm diameter waste basket. The piece de resistance was without any doubt what I dubbed my "Belf'. This of course had to be my sleeping accommodation. A conventional issue army cot 300 cm wide by just over 2 meters in length stood 150 cm high from the floor and was shoved up against the end wall by the door. This was graced by a single grey polyester blanket and a foam pillow that was wider than the cot. This I called my "Belf" because although it was my bed it looked more like a low slung shelf. The contrast between my bed accommodations and the monstrosity for my miniscule wardrobe was amusing indeed. Had the dresser drawers been continuous along its length instead of only half this span, I could easily used one as a much more spacious bed.

This 3 bedroom bungalow boarding house already had a tenant/scientist from Scandinavia. His bedroom accoutrements included a Queen Size bed but a much less ostentatious dresser. His sleeping accommodations were much more comfortable than mine but I had my bell croaking frog to sing me to sleep each night and would not have traded this arrangement even if offered.

Niggardliness had dictated an odd arrangement for laundry. The washer was contained in a tiny building attached to the house but with access only from the side yard. The plumbing was installed by the proprietor and had about the same utility as the 15 cm high eucalypt sound barrier in the ditch on the horse farm perimeter. Again the landlord had been presented with a cheap plumbing package deal that he could not pass up. In this case pipes of insufficient diameter were employed and this factor together with multitudinous leaking problems caused frequent shut downs of the automatic washer. To complete a load of wash it was necessary to sit outside the laundry shack and while slipping and sliding in the leaked water flowing out the door, reset the machine many times for each load. Air drying was employed using a 3 m long line. Since Sydney fall weather is characterized by frequent sudden drenching downpours, during this period a vigilant watch is essential to achieve success. Taking advantage of my wonderful dresser I could use the massive drawer space as a clothesline simply by hanging my laundry over the fronts of these units. Fortunately the moisture caused slight delaminating of the flimsy wood of the drawer fronts caused by this practice went unnoticed during my tenure.

Our landlord's parsimonious nature again came to the fore on Sydney's one-day-per-year on which householders were allowed to place all their accumulated junk curb side for collection. Boarders, relations and friends were all lumbered with the duty of travelling the neighbourhoods early on this day carrying a list of his "needs". A small variety of items were discovered and transported back for his approval. Despite a half m jagged hole in the center of its tray my discovery of a large wheelbarrow was a particular success. To render this treasure serviceable our multitalented householder fashioned a plywood patch that remained loose over the hole when in use. Attempts to bolt this to the badly rusted tray only caused the hole to become bigger.

One might suspect that large scale home beer brewing is just another case of our householder's parsimonious tendencies and doubtless this may be part of this story. However in this case I really think he believed that he was able to out brew the commercial competition. So let's give him the benefit of the doubt in this instance. His procedure does deserve some comment. The scale of the operation and the bottling operation are of particular note. Brewing is carried out in 10 to 15 large carboys. These latter bore a suspicious resemblance to those used for the dispensing of reagents in the laboratories of CRISO, where he was also employed in a junior capacity. After the completion of the brewing and the time for bottling arrived the usual suspects appeared. These were the same as his eminent trash pickers. Two kitchen sinks and several 25 l galvanized containers were used to very thoroughly wash and rinse his immense collection of stubbies. These were then lined up row upon row on the newspaper covered living room/ dining room floor. Using funnels, also suspiciously resembling CSIRO issue, helpers filled the bottles row upon row. Finally these were capped without the help of mechanical capping devices. Storage took place in a hole dug into the soil under the kitchen. Needless to say it was important to consume each batch within a few months. This was accomplished in large part on weekends when our landlord and his cohorts (never including his tenants) went "prospecting for gold" in the Blue Mountains. The closest thing to gold retrieved on any of these trips when I was in residence was a large ugly looking yellow lizard that was collected and released in the garden to control some undefined insect problem. Subsequently I worried about the possible demise of my tinkling frog.

On the generous side our householder treated the tenants and his girlfriend to a trip to a Chinese restaurant. On this occasion a very friendly and efficient female server. We had a delightful feast and no expense was spared. When the bill came I was horrified to see that our host intended to leave no tip. I was assured that at that tipping was not practiced. None the less I secretly spirited out of my pocket the usual Canadian tip and left it on the table after the others had left. Incredibly next morning this largesse appeared exactly as proffered on my dresser! Apparently the no tip policy was practiced by most in Australia at that time.

Surprising Passenger on the Sydney System

"Take the Sydney System", was one of the best pieces of advice I received early on during my Sydney sojourn. Unfortunately I had no idea what this Sydney System was. In a city blessed with a surfeit of public transportation of a variety of types including buses, trains, subways and a monorail (A light rail transport line has been added since the early 80's of my stay), the term Sydney System was hard to surmise. My first guess was that this designation related to this entire transport package. Wrong. This unofficial but common term referred to the 10 city subway lines and the integrated 16 suburban train/subway corridors. Sydney Central station a multilevel rabbit warren of lines forms a focus from which subway routes transect north and south many covering the total ride from the city center to the most distant suburb without a change.

Such was the Illawara line which whisked me from Central to Heathcote Station, a 5 minute walk from my residence. To achieve this trip it was necessary to find the correct platform and then consult a light studded board with names of several lines, further confused by the fact that the Illawara line could have any of 3 designations. Thus the light that was lit for Illawara could be for anyone of Sutherland, Royal Provincial Park and Waterfall, with only the Waterfall one travelling to my desired station at Heathcote. Needless to say I frequently rocketed away having made the wrong selection.

Amusingly, despite this comprehensive and rapid transportation system, as in most large cities equipped likewise, the roads remained clogged by "king" car. In my case my work was in Lucas Heights, like Heathcote an outer eastern suburb and to which a short bus ride was the most efficient connection.

Eastern Brown and the Better Way

Two busses, one labeled "Lost" the other "Found", left from in front of the Bottle Shop at the Texaco gas station in central Heathcote. These were chartered by employees of CSIRO as a direct link to the facilities at Lucas Heights. The CSIRO complex consisted of several buildings separated into 2 close but separate areas on the grounds. "Lost" went to my building and despite its name I was deposited at the correct location both going and coming. Tickets were essential and available in strips of 10 from the bus monitor. Collection of these permits occurred by passing them from the back to the front as the bus was on its way. Nobody counted tickets or heads so should you have misplaced a ticket no one was the wiser. Australian scientists were by-and-large an honest bunch and I would wager that everyone paid eventually.

The distance by the narrow road between Lucas Heights and East Heathcote was 6 or 7 Km extending through a steep valley and warranted the cost of bus travel. On the other hand the beauty and diversity of this small section of one of the few Temperate Rain Forests still remaining on the Globe was worth exploring. Thus on the frequent days during which working overtime mandated a missed bus trip home, it was not an unpleasant prospect to face a walk back. During the summer daylight extended through 8:00 pm and cooling evening temperatures were inviting. The already narrow road was tightly jammed by wooded verges making it essential to smear oneself against the greenery whenever traffic was encountered. Thus it was that a 100 m long bridge over the river at the base of a long hill presented a particular challenge. Upon reaching the near end of this safety impediment it was essential to take extreme care. Fifty m above this point the road took a blind bend away from the bridge preventing the sighting of any oncoming traffic. Thus to attempt a bridge crossing it was essential to hope that any approaching vehicles could be auditorally detected. Trucks presented a particular hazard since the width of the bridge hardly exceeded that of a transport truck. Chances of such a vehicle on this road were good since this was by far the shortest route in connecting the 2 communities. Yet large trucks are commonly accompanied by loud noise. Why then one evening did I find myself in a run for my life? Perhaps it was the cacophony of the local parrot population which had just then decided to congregate in large numbers or shear carelessness on my part in being too used to the successful negotiation of this obstacle. Whatever there I was one normal summers night caught near the center of the bridge as a large truck began its crossing. Of course the fact that the driver made little attempt to slow and instead smashed his hand down continuously on the horn was a big help! Grabbing the guardrail near the end of the span I was somehow able to propel myself over onto what turned out to be solid ground on the bank of the river. This same move a few cm earlier would have sent me uncontrollably crashing down the riverbank.

An adventurous colleague had found a seldom travelled, but hard to define, footpath directly across the valley. As a pleasant change returning from work this presented an attractive alternative to the deathtrap on the bridge. After several guided traverses along this route I was finally crossing the valley this way by myself. This was a relatively easy walk with the only serious impediment a giant eucalypt that had fallen lengthwise in the center of the narrow section of the river that had to be traversed. The trick was to haul one's body up to the chin level top of the prostrate trunk. This accomplished it was easy to slide along to a section of the trunk that intersected the far shore and then jump down. All went well with this maneuver until the time I was about to disembark in the usual way only to spy the massive body of a yellowish brown coiled snake in the near proximity! Having heard the horror stories of the aggressive nature of the frightful Brown Snake I froze. Brown snakes come in 2 varieties the common and the King Browns. Having never encountered such an ugly large snake in the wild I immediately assumed it was the King. After a standoff of an hour or so this creature slowly slithered away in the opposite direction. With great trepidation I scrambled down and up the hill to home. Even though my friends assured me that that particular snake was not the King variety I made the decision to take my chances with the trucks on the bridge and never walked through this valley again.

Invisible Rabbits

Lucas Heights a small relatively sleepy Sydney suburb is wedged between a wooded Military Reserve and the large Lucas Heights Research and Technology Center establishment on the south and Heathcote National Park to the north. Thus it was not surprising to find a surfeit of Australian animals and plants within this area. As a keen amateur naturalist living in East Heathcote, itself jutting into Royal National Park and working at CSIRO Division of Fuel Technology part of the Lucas heights Research and Technology Center was like spending an interlude living with nature.

Expansive lawns lightly wooded extended in all directions from the building housing my office and the Mass Spectrometry laboratory that housed the new equipment being commissioned. A lunch period that could be protracted making up in part for lengthy overtime sessions were filled for me with slow jogging all throughout these grounds. During these episodes the luncheon menu consisted of the observance of an abundance of flora and fauna. Included in this engorging visual repast on the avian side were gaudy Eastern and Scarlet Rosellas, pink and grey Galahs, raucous Sulfur Crested Cockatiels, drab Noisy Miners and yellow eyed black Currawongs. The floral dish included abundant and ever flowering Bottle Brush, powder-puff yellow flowering Wattles, Banksias bearing erect yellow and red flower heads, pink and red flowering Calistemons, scarlet Boronias and high above white, red and yellow flowering Eucalyptus trees (Importantly one is aware that many Australian native flowers are composed of dense bunchings of stamens rather than petals resulting in large concentrations of bees). Hence luncheon music in this miasma consists of bird chorusing and the buzzing ob bees.

Few ground based creatures were encountered. Apart from the odd harmless snake, lizard and from time to time a wallaby or other small marsupial one could not depend on this type of animal component. Few mammals are to be expected amongst the Australian fauna. Any that might be encountered would usually have been introduced from Europe or North America by man. Having heard of the terrible plague of rabbits existing in the southern parts of this Continent, I was amazed to have never encountered even one. A remark to this effect brought an amused smile to the face of a colleague. He told me to make a quick inspection on any section of the ground on which I stood thereabouts. In making such an observation I found that almost every cm of ground was covered with the unmistakable round pellets of rabbit dung. Being nocturnal rabbits were themselves invisible during my noon hour romp.

Beyond Sundays at the Beach

Elbowing my way through a crowd of surf board wielding youth carrying my bulging hockey bag, hockey stick and ice skates was no mean feat boarding the train on Sunday morning at Heathcote station. The disparaging looks cast my way were of particular amusement. It was Fall in Sydney yet most days the temperatures still ranged well into the 20's making the beaches an attractive destination.

Ice hockey in Australia seemed an unlikely possibility, field hockey being widespread and the more likely version of hockey in a warm country. Yet surprisingly, this sport has a history back to 1909 when the first game was played in Adelaide. The Australian Ice Hockey Federation exists and is a well organized and run group. Ice Hockey Associations forming local stewardship are in every Australian jurisdiction except the Northern Territory.

In 1988 when they heard a Canadian ice hockey coach wanted to coach an Ice Hockey team in Sydney there was an immediate scramble by the clubs in Sydney to acquire my services. The New South Wales Ice Hockey Association assigned me to Canterbury one of 7 Ice Hockey Clubs in the Sydney region at the time. There were 6 ice hockey rinks in Sydney and a rigorous schedule of Sunday games was played there-in.

After a very short period of time it became embarrassingly apparent to me that I was far from the best coach in Sydney hockey. It hardly seemed reasonable that in isolated Australia there were coaches that had developed such lofty ice hockey acumen. It was not surprising then that I frequently skated together with my players through the opening session of unique skating and hockey drills presided over by the most talented trainer I had ever met in hockey. Not encumbered by the litany of dull cumbersome drills common to hockey in Canada this innovator had developed a program that not only developed the requisite conditioning and skills but was genuinely fun.

I had been assigned to the Canterbury Bantam hockey team. Until my arrival this group had never won a game. The skill levels ranged widely from a Russian goalie that had to be helped up each time he ended up sprawled on the ice to a wizard from Chicago who played at the triple A select level. One might think, as did I, that this talented Chicagoan must have been my best player. However half way through my first game I discovered an Australian with no particular pedigree who could not only skate at the highest level but could score goals at an astounding rate. The opposing team had a glaring weakness manifest in a propensity for clearing the puck out of their own zone up through the center. Thus I placed my phenom in the center along the blue line from where he many times intercepted the puck and scored 8 goals. This together with our prostrate goalie who unwittingly stopped every shot, resulted in a 15-0 final route. Pandemonium reigned supreme as this former luckless bunch celebrated an incredible reversal in fortune. By season's end a second place finish had been achieved together with the same placing in the grand final.

Some of the more amusing occurrences included trying to coach while standing in at least 200cm of water behind the bench. This resulted from deluges of fall rains common to Sydney the runoff from which drained into the arena from backed up sewers. Another consequence of this wet weather was a fog which covered the ice surface floating up to a meter high. Because of this I was frequently unable to see the end of the rink and had to depend on the roar from the crowd to indicate when goals were scored. Probably my most frustrating coaching experience was trying to keep my Aussie goal scorer on the bench in order to ensure that all players received the required equal playing time. Every time I was involved in some distracting event I could almost be certain to look up and find his position on the bench vacated. Fortunately the parents cut me slack on this oversight due to the teams unexpected winning ways.

An Unexpectedly Frightening Truth

To the keen observer the contrast between the startling beauty of Australian flora and the sinister dangers of some of its fauna is difficult to reconcile. No other country can match the numbers of poisonous snake species. Another constant threat in the northern areas of the Continent are the up to 6 m long menacing crocodiles. The antithesis is the Australian native flora. Flowers of these plants consist often in brightly coloured spectacular bundles of stamens which replace the usual petals of conventional flowers. Massed floral displays are evident from the miniscule sundews to 40 m high eucalyptus trees. It is important also to emphasize some of the many faunal beauties of Australia. Nothing could be more impressive than the plethora of colours exhibited by flocks of parrots that occur among Australia's worldwide record number for this species. But among birds the parrots are not the only grouping of great beauty. From the massive numbers of the Honeyeater species to the tiny grouping of Fairy Wrens spectacular colouring abounds.

Even the casual resident like me can be boggled by Australian legend. Former Sydneysiders in Toronto took great care to stress the most frightful threat posed by the Sydney Funnel Web Spider. To hear them talk the often fatal bite from this predator was very likely to cross my path unless restrictive precautions were observed. Clothing that protected the body in totality was said to be essential. Routine chores like putting out the garbage I was told could be disastrous unless thick protective gloves were employed. By the time I arrived I was imagining these horrors springing out at me under almost any circumstance.

For a couple of weeks I was following multitudinous precautions. After a couple of weeks I realized that the indigenous citizenry was much less concerned. Not having seen any evidence of such a spider I began sunning on towels spread on the ground in the backyard. Together with this practice I walked barefooted anywhere on the property. Soon I had dismissed the whole legend as a hoax perpetrated on gullible individuals such as myself. I expressed this sentiment laughingly to my landlord. Two days later on my dresser stood a canning jar at the bottom of which was a motionless 5 cm black spider, labeled Sydney Funnel web! Upon asking for an explanation I was told this ugly insect had been retrieved from the backyard. A tour of this site revealed a 3 cm diameter hole lined with fine webbing. I really didn't wish to think of the number of times I had trod this area in my bare feet. Oh well a miss is as good as a mile or maybe not in this particular case. In Canada where there are no poisonous spiders I thought of the number of individuals who professed a fear of even these local harmless insects.

# China

Manchurian Moxy

Perhaps the flight from Hong Kong to Changchun should have provided a clue to the unexpected experiences that awaited me in the Manchurian Industrial Heartland. Dragon Air provided my transportation. The aircraft was of Russian manufacture. Rows of seats 3 across on each side were separated by a razor thin isle which required sideways navigation for anyone of physical substance. Upon entry to the cabin each traveler was presented with a mysterious small cardboard box which it turned out carried the lunch, a mass of cold strangely tasting noodles accessible only with chopsticks. No air cabin crew presence was provided throughout the duration of the flight. Everything about the aircraft appeared normal as we taxied ready for takeoff. The moment the engines were gunned for takeoff a frightful din erupted in the cabin. This presaged the discovery that the bolts securing the seats were either loose here and there or that the bolt holes had become badly warn. The Chinese specialize in many things most of them admirable, however their penchant for the practice of heavy smoking was not meritorious. Despite a no smoking sign that blazed clearly during takeoff the cabin was bathed in a dense smoke fog before the sign was even switched off. Not to put too fine a point on this flight it could be simply summed up as very tortuous and vexatious.

My request, as always, was to be billeted in a local style abode. I arrived after a short drive from the airport at what most Canadian business persons would assess as about a 2 star hotel. Such was not my estimation. Relating it to a comparably priced Hong Kong dwelling this might be supposed to be the case. Perhaps the most crucial item to the Chinese, the coffee pot, was a primitive unheated baked enamel container into which a maid would nightly throw a hand full of tea leaves followed by a fill of freshly boiled water. The Hong Kong competition was a stainless self heated pot capable of delivering steeped warm beverage right until bedtime.

In a Chinese hotel of this type the guest never could remove the room key from the building. So the feature for me that stood out above all else was the special desk on each floor manned day and night by friendly attendants whose job it was to handle the entrance and exit of the patrons to and from their rooms. Behind each desk on the wall hung all the door keys and upon departing the elevator the arriving guest would walk to the desk, stating their room number. If the clerk spoke English all was well, otherwise it was necessary to write down the number on a pad provide for this purpose. With key in hand the attendant accompanied the guest to his/her room where-upon the door was opened and an inspection of the room was accomplished before the occupant could be left alone in the room. (My room being cluttered always as it was with clothing hanging loosely from floor lamps bedposts and the like must have been a sorry sight for the usually fastidious Chinese). The key was then left in the room. Upon leaving the key must be returned to the custodian and not being used to this system I was often pursued to the elevator to be relieved of my key. Speaking of elevators reminds me to again emphasize the predilection of the Chinese for smoking. It seemed that the most certain approach to ensure being overcome by an on slot of cigarette smoke was to enter a crowded elevator. As soon as the doors closed this action appeared to be a signal for smokers to light up.

To have a foreign expert die while at a hotel or I presume anywhere while in China appeared to be considered the ultimate disaster. I say this because upon enquiring of an attendant for an aspirin for a headache I was immediately escorted back to my room from whence an urgent sounding call in Chinese was made. In what seemed to be only a matter of a few minutes I was inundated by the presence of 4 doctors. One made a thorough examination of my status and then offered me a choice of several styles of treatments. The main were Western or Eastern approaches. Beginning to enjoy this attention and feeling okay except for the simple headache, I thought why not experiment with the Eastern approach. After all when would I have such a unique opportunity in a country which thrives on this methodology? The decision having been made resulted in another thorough examination by the only woman doctor of the group. This having been finalized the room emptied without any action being taken. About ½ hour later this doctor reappeared and handed me 5 bottles containing what seemed to be about 100 approximately mm sized red pills. Upon handing me a large glass of water, she requested me to take the medication. I then uncorked a bottle and removed1 pill and was about to consume this entity when she interrupted me by saying, "no, take the whole bottle full!" The reason for the very large glass of water then became obvious. In case anyone cares I did recover quickly.

Perhaps this piece should be isolated as a story about a typical Chinese Hotel. My first breakfast experience in the hotel dining room may further this notion. There was no menu just a choice of a Chinese or Western style meal. My co-diners were an assortment of western and Chinese individuals. The only unusual occurrence was the presence of a vociferous group of about 20 all sitting together. These "gentlemen" it turned out were Americans having been employed by the local Government to install a complex power grid. As is my fashion I ordered the local style food, despite warnings that this might contain constituents, particularly meat, of an exotic nature. Most non Chinese ordered the Western meal. When this was served to the linemen a hue and cry erupted because a European style mixture of rolls a few meat slices, cheese and coffee was being proffered instead of good old American bacon, sausage, toast and eggs. A heated debate ensued during which shouted "impolite" language on the part of the Americans peppered the exchange. Nothing was solved and these diners were forced to make do with the original menu, meanwhile making the atmosphere most unpleasant for all others.

Grimy, polluted and crowded, Changchun bore all the wounds of heavy industrialized cities everywhere. It was the magnitude of the mess that made this city more typical of such localities in the developing World. Dried up waterways flowing only during rain and runoff and filled with garbage together with industrial stacks spewing multicolored emissions were the rule. No obvious attempts, even minor, had been made at pollution control in any segments of the biosphere. Dominated here and there by remnants of the Russian occupation periods Stalinist, heavy blocky looking grey buildings created an additional eyesore. Strangely however, locations of beauty were thrown up here and there against this dismal back drop. Such was The Peoples Square, 2 or 3 hectares of trees flowers, grass and flagstone squares wedged between a large car factory and a military heavy industry site. This gathering place for thousands of citizens became the back drop, especially on weekends and holidays for such diverse activities as Ti Chi and Communist propaganda sessions. Sandstorms from the Gobi Desert a few 1000 Km to the north were the source of unimaginable intensely coloured sunsets that from time to time bathed Changchun in another welcome blanket of beauty.

Northeast Normal University was my teaching and research responsibility in this city. "Normal" Universities are the source of most teachers in China. I made it my goal to slant work in both areas towards Environmental Chemistry. In this way I could hopefully create programs that would produce graduate teachers armed both with the will and the tools to begin the auspicious task of engendering an environmental consciousness backed by the ability to begin rectification of China's massive problems. Industrial and Governmental participation in this process is of course essential. The most useful approach in this regard is to involve key personnel in these bodies in design and implementation of research and teaching programs at the University.

Interweaving university, governmental and industrial interests in almost any endeavor even in developed jurisdictions provides a complicated challenge as I had learned many times in Canada. Attempting this in a country like China was akin to madness. This Government had become entrenched in the habit of establishing and administering programs and the ground rules required without consultation or interactions with the Principals. Commonly individuals sympathetic to and cooperative with the Government were appointed to the decision making roles within industry and university and thus provided no independent leadership roles therein. Fortunately due to internal environmental disasters and outside pressure at highest levels, the Government had become anxious to explore changes to industrial and municipal environmental practices. To promote a venue for change my approach was to establish Working Groups of Academics of widely ranging disciplines together with Government representation to investigate problems, establish priorities and then plan programs for rectification. Sounds wonderful in theory and does work eventually, but initially just achieving some understanding among individuals in such a diverse group is a major education job in itself. Perhaps even more frustrating was Government arbitrary decision making.

Upon establishing an "Agreement" (always couched in generalities and often unwritten), it was common to celebrate with a banquet. The principals involved would gather in a private hall within a good restaurant and partake of a multicourse feast laid out in profusion on an immense Lazy Susan. This was always finished off with a soup course which being the reverse to North American dining procedure was a challenge to pretend to enjoy. The fish eyes being saved for the guest rule, of course pertained and these delicacies so difficultly consumed seemed to roll around in my stomach for days. Thus when I received a severe rebuff for presently initiating the establishment of the details of the "Agreement", it became obvious that the Government officials were more interested in celebrations than living up to their word. This misfortune of having Governments backing out on time consuming and intensively negotiated precepts was common in countries existing on the extremes of the right and left wings politically. Any person in my position had to accept such behavior with understanding or extricate himself from such endeavours post haste.

Another Day in Paradise

In the late 1980's China, living conditions even in the major cities were Spartan by Western standards. Rule by Communist Government can seem oppressive, arbitrary, inefficient, immutable, intrusive, merciless and intimidating to the foreigner. It could be all of these and more to the Chinese citizens.

Although I never had the privilege of even entering the homes of those in average or below average living condition categories it did not take a genius to surmise such habitation. My only excursion beyond my own relatively rugged living quarters was to visit the home of a famous Chinese artist. His paintings, 3 of which he did especially for me, hung in art galleries and Government buildings. This home consisted of 2 sparsely furnished rooms. The total floor size was probably less than 1/3 of my 300 square meter Toronto abode.

In the first place the bathroom was shared and down the hallway, with 2 teenage daughters in the household a rut must eventually have developed in the hall floor. Of the 2 rooms one was the kitchen and eating area. Here on several occasions the 4 of us lined up in the prearation area and participated in the time honoured activity of making dumplings, a staple of North East Chinese cuisine. The largest room was living quarters, bedroom, study, art studio and sewing room. No TV existed, although available at this time the equipment was of such deficient design that breakdowns were persistent and programming was interspersed with frequent political propaganda. A small "boombox" type unit played cassettes and local radio. As is common in China heating was undependable, despite the fact that this part of China had typically Southern Canadian variably cold winters. To continue work under persistent cold spells in doors all Chinese householders wore gloves in which the tips of the fingers were missing.

What a strange sight, yards, sidewalks, parks, in fact any free areas were chock-a-block covered with vegetables of most types (even Romaine lettuce) drying in the fall sun. Unlike Toronto fresh vegetables were commercially unavailable during the cold months and this was one of the essential annual winter preparations.

Refrigeration was uncommon and hence packed into intolerably busy days, were trips to the market. Supermarkets were uncommon to nonexistent depending on locale. Markets were out of doors and consisted of rows of stalls here and there throughout the city. Water filled tubs of eels and other fish contained produce in a variety of states of living conditions. All types of red meat and poultry were dispensed unrefrigerated during the many hours of operation. The stand was typically constructed of rough hewn wood with an uncovered bamboo log slotted dispensing surface. Blood soaked into exposed surfaces peppered the stand from top to bottom. Carcasses were strung from wire across the roof line. Upon demand the merchant dislodged a carcass from the wire and hacked off the requested cut with few whacks of a wicked looking blood dripping cleaver. In the absence of wrapping materials the customer was handed the mangled dripping mass to be deposited into a customer provided receptacle. In Canada home delivery of milk and bread was common place through the 40's. in China street vendors hawked tofu from large trays held over their heads as they walked. In this case the vendors cut rectangular pieces to order from the large slab.

A this point in history 95% of Chinese humanity had only bicycle transportation. No commercial back packs were available. Thus produce was transported from the maket in mesh bags and the like hung here and there like Christmas tree ornaments from the bike.

Primitive stalls lining busy side streets were lined with stalls. From these structures vendors and trades persons provided goods and services. Shoe and bicycle repair were 2 of the more common offerings. Barbers and herbal medicine practitioners could be found here and there. Book stalls were of particular note. With the heavy handed Government censorship of literature being practiced I was shocked to discover books in English by American authors like Salinger and Hemingway and English writers Virginia Woof and even Dickens.

Related to this was the appearance here and there, particularly associated with Universities, of clusters of large signboards. These were covered by writings in Chinese. My colleagues were quick to explain that these well read posters were political criticisms and calls for greater personal freedoms. Here and there large swaths had been obliterated by black paint likely the work of Government censors. The mere existence of such signage was a surprise considering the proximity of this era to the Cultural Revolution.

One day as I was carried along in the usual fashion by the crush of sidewalk crowds I suddenly found myself swept through a shop door and inside although I had no intention of shopping there-in. Regaining the outside I was swept further along to witness a very unusual event. At a bus stop I witnessed a man fighting with a woman at a bus stop. Without thinking I stepped in between these combatants. The sudden interference by a foreigner caused an immediate cessation of the melay. To put a permanent stop to the problem I grabbed the woman onto a waiting bus and paid both our fares. This did engender a large smile from this woman. I only hoped the bus was travelling in her desired direction.

Although public agitations were rare it was not uncommon to witness what appeared to be a politically motivated minor disturbance. When such an event occurred, often an individual wearing civilian clothing would, out of the blue, produce a red cloth arm band which would be quickly donned. Within minutes this individual would invoke proper order, often removing the offender(s) to a position in the area from which the police could affect an arrest.

Disappearing History

Having had the privilege of close personal relationships with Chinese citizens I could sense a frightening disappearance of an awareness of determining individuals good and bad, world shattering discoveries and crucial trends and events that flowed through the millennia of Chinese History. In contrast important family oriented traditions were still widely celebrated despite suppression attempts by a recent succession of Communist governments.

Mao was particularly anxious and vigorous in his attempts to destroy the Imperialistic past. As an example the numerous and intricately beautiful Gates that enhanced Beijing throughout a large swath of the past were systematically removed during his leadership. On a much grander scale the Cultural Revolution, Initiated by Mao and headed up by the sadistic Madam Mao (she died in jail during my first tenure in China) and the notorious Gang of 4 utilizing their agent the Red Guard, resulted not only in the destruction of the repositories of history such as ancient books, art and important structures, but particularly in the demoralization and dehumanization of scholars and religious leaders. During my tenure in China over a decade after this disastrous period, vestiges of the Cultural Revolution still hid within the psyches of my academic colleagues, resulting in a caution toward attempting leadership within the institutions that I was attempting to introduce.

Dancing about with a papier-mâché clowns head pulled down over my face with the school band playing some unknown-to me-tune, caused the class to erupt into laughter and encouragement. I was invited to observe a Beijing elementary private school grade 5 classroom. Maureen with her own elementary school in Markham had asked if I might bring her back a report. What I saw was undoubtedly a special case of what schools in China really do. Even with this caveat I believe I was observing the trend in education at this level. Each student had a computer loaded with the latest Western software. A close observation of what had been loaded and was kept in the files demonstrated an absence of Chinese history beyond the formation of the Peoples Republic. Such a brief and superficial observation is hardly conclusive of any trend. However in my Consultants position I was able to observe the knowledge bank that students in several jurisdictions brought to University. From this it was possible to assume that what I concluded about the limited history syllabus of students was true.

The ease with which I was able to purchase Chinese historical artifacts was another sign of the slight regard the current (1980) regime held for ancient history. Maureen cherishes dearly an authenticated Bronze Age primitive fish shaped necklace fob found in a Princesses tomb that I was able to obtain. This together with a historical boxed collection of Chinese currency was purchased in the gift shop of a former Buddhist temple. The currency collection dated to the BC period when fabricated bronze and silver and gold likeness of objects to be purchased were used for trade.

It is important to stress that there are many important ancient artifacts that remain revered and carefully preserved in China. Important and well known examples are the Great Wall, Ming Tombs and more recently the massive army of Terracotta Soldiers found in an Emperors tomb near the ancient Capital city of Sian.

Stringencies of Faculty Habitation

On this day in 1989 a loud gurgling and rattling in a small radiator hanging half way up the bathroom became my alarm clock. It was 5:30 am and the only 1 hour period during which hot water would be available for the day had been signaled. Being mid fall in Changchun in China's northwest, the temperatures outside were already below freezing during the night. Thus my dorm rooms at Northwest Normal University fell to 12 C by morning.

Frigid dorm temperatures were not the major issue. Hot water for a morning shower was much more important. While nominally hot water was turned on for 1 hour per day, the heavy usage occasioned by residents depending on this brief service meant that the overtaxed and under designed system was running in the tepid range after only about 40 minutes. Not only did I spring from my bed at first gurgle but I headed straight for the shower. Thereby I was ensured of an invigorating beginning to my day.

Perhaps I sound deprived in this instance of my China tenure, but being among the privileged I actually had a bathroom within my apartment's precincts. Pity the many other occupants of this facility who shared a single bathroom. Other discomforts related to the lack of meaningful heating were easily circumvented through layered clothing practices and at night due to the supplied heavy bedding. In my cases the existence of 2 beds meant that I could combine the bedding to ensure a comfortable sleeping temperature. I particularly treasured a duvet which graced the outer layer. This fluffy item was finished with a silk like blue green outer layer decorated with typical Chinese designs like dragons and other frequently used symbols.

A fuller description of my rooms is order. The 2 beds with a small non-light bearing table in between, filled most of the main room. Upon entry from the hallway it was necessary to squeeze between one of the beds and a large lightless desk to reach the only window. This was graced by floral patterned attractive drapes. A badly stained wall to wall, heavily worn rug adorned the floor. The positioning of the worst staining, which was along the edges abutting the outside wall suggested water leakage along this perimeter. Two lights attached together positioned between the beds provided the only illumination within this room. Although not pertinent to the time of year, there was an air conditioner in the window. This odd looking device must have been of local construction. A truly fascinating tag with handwritten English instructions stated," Running this unit for more than 4 consecutive hours may be a fire hazard".

A large old fashioned bathroom was provided. All the plumbing ran helter-skelter along the outside of the floor to ceiling white tiled walls. Pipes running at rakish angles between fixtures were ensconced with abundant valving, the purpose of which being very obscure at least to this untrained eye. At one end of this room a thick walled blocky bathtub with a flimsy hand held shower had been installed. The thin walled toilet with equally thin rimmed ebony coloured wooden seat had been placed about half a meter out from the wall. Atop the toilet tank cover sat a roll of bright pink toilet paper consisting of razor thin, yet rough surfaced paper sheets. In contact with the toilet stood a typical old fashioned bathroom sink under which reposed a yellow waste basket. Covering the wall above the sink was a large black framed mirror with vanity cupboards attached to each side.

Turning my attention to the other end of the bathroom 3 fixtures and a large cupboard reposed. The large wooden cupboard, including its exposed shelves, was totally empty. I presumed therefore, that this must be in lieu of no clothes closet in the main room. Facing this on the other wall was a laundry sized sink and 2 appliances that were run by gas. The connection of these to the gas meter was amusing but not unusual. The pipe from the right side of the meter ran to the appliance on the left. While the pipe from the left side of the meter crossed over the right pipe and was attached to the right side appliance. I have been careful not to have identified these appliances since their identities were something of a mystery in my mind. Upon careful appraisal the one on the left appeared to be a stove but why such an item would reside in the bathroom could only be answered by the "architect". Because the lids on the right appliance were stuck closed it could not be faithfully discerned. A gas dryer would be a reasonable guess This issue was academic in any case since any attempt to use a gas appliance of such complexity seemed to me risky considering the ominous warning sign on the air conditioner.

A small kitchen consisting of a deep, sagging, wooden counter stuck out from one wall ran the total length of the room and severely restricted the standing space between it and the opposite wall. This was bare except for a gas ring, a large metal teapot and a metal cooking pot with a patched bottom. These few items easily sufficed my cooking needs. In the absence of dishes simple meals could be cooked and eaten in the pot. My only trepidation was the use of the gas fired ring as the source for cooking heat.

Everyday Meals

She approached the nearby Chang'an Ave rubbish bin at a trot. Groveling through the waste there-in, this motherly looking woman garbed in what appeared to be clean, untattered and appropriate for the season clothing, retrieved a grease covered paper box. Deftly out of her coat pocket flashed a pair of chopsticks. Quickly she sat down at the other end of my curb-side bench and in rapid fire fashion began consuming the remaining contents, which I could see was some type of noodle dish. This mysterious scene never repeated in my presence again was certainly an unusual event in the cities that I knew in China. Begging of any type was not evident on China's streets. No matter how menial, everyone appeared to have employment and hence the where-with-all to purchase food. The same seemed to be true of habitation.

Large red tassels hanging in a row across the front of buildings defined them as restaurants. The absence of western type, often garish signage was the rule in the early 1980's. Many of my meals were taken in restaurants with medium priced fare. One of my colleagues in Changchun was very knowledgeable of the cities restaurants . At an early stage of my tenure here, he announced that he would take me to the best dining facility in the city. Realizing that my means were limited and envisioning this destination to be to be upscale both in decor and pricing, I was hesitant. Surprisingly we motored into yhe back neighbourhoods of Changchun. There appeared to be little commerce in the area when unexpectedly a red tasseled building appeared. Upon entry I was presented with a most unlikely scene. First of all the walls were marred floor to ceiling by dried food stains. Today's menu could be gauged closely by the food fragments littering the floor. The cacophony approximated that of a Toronto Subway car at rush hour. Needless to say the place was jammed. Tables that had no coverings were as stained as the walls and worse there appeared to be no space. My friend searched here and there and found 2 chairs which he left in mt tutelage with the command to retain these at no matter the circumstances. There were no servers or Maître-Dee. To place an order it was necessary to locate the "manager", dictate from memory the desired dishes, barter the price, pay and then wait at the kitchen doorway to pick up your tray. Meanwhile my grip on the chairs was being tested by new entrants to the establishment. Having now reappeared with the meal my colleague motioned to me to carry our chairs to a minute location he had physically generated at an already crowded table. By the time we sat down my level of tension had built to about the 2 Valium level . I had already dismissed the comment that this restaurant had the best food in the city. Imagine my delight and relief when after a few bites I indeed had to agree that the food met his lofty promise. Despite this excellent culinary experience, I spent the next few days waiting for Montezuma's revenge, which remarkable never attacked.

Ptomaine Lanes were features that best describe outdoors food vendors common along streets in neighbourhoods not on but just back from the main thoroughfares. Here carts or small stalls were lined up side by side offering everything from salads and cold meat dishes to barbequed snacks served on spits. No provision was made for refrigeration, nor were the meats cooked with any degree of thoroughness. The creamy salads in particular could have been days old as estimated from their often somewhat off coloured appearance. Unlike western practice there was no evidence of licensing.

Cooking within my accommodations was often possible but as described in an earlier section facilities provided for this purpose were meager and dangerous. Foods offered for sale for this purpose had to be obtained daily. Very little protection for foods on the roadside stands from the environment and little or no refrigeration were evident.

Two specialty dishes of many that I particularly wish to mention were snake and fried ice cream, both of which I sampled. In the case of snake there was a restaurant in Canton that served this as the only meat dish. Here the customer could pick this reptile of his choice from a writhing mass that showcased the street-facing window.

As an addendum to eating in local restaurants and the dining rooms in Chinese style hotels I was given the advice by numerous friends; 'whatever you do refrain from asking what meats were being used in concoction style dishes". Apparently it was not uncommon to serve cat, dog and horse meats. This list contains only the more common of the offbeat (to a Westerner) meat ingredients. The mind can only boggle at other possibilities.

Legal and Illegal Tourist Shopping 1980's Style

Once upon a time there were 2 currencies in China, Foreign Exchange Certificates and Chinese Yuan. The former was the legal tender for foreigners and the latter the true currency of the realm. Strangely I never possessed any of the FEC's; strange, because technically it was illegal for non Chinese to use the Chinese Yuan. FEC's could only be used in Friendship Stores and I was never able to locate such a store where I lived. This was not unexpected because there was only one such store in all of Beijing at that time and none in Changchun. Obtaining Yuan was simple. This was accomplished by having a colleague change my money or simply by accommodating a local who was anxious to procure some American currency. In the case of the latter, the Black-market, exchange rates 3 times the going rate were possible. In fact I was able to exchange travelers checks in a local bank into Chinese Yuan on my own by proffering a small bribe. Surprised?

Friendship Stores were established in the mid 1950's and were mainly the purvey of Russians working widely in the country at the time. I cannot describe Friendship stores very extensively not having used these facilities. I was informed however that these were particularly noted for selling Western goods of all descriptions at outrageous prices. Not being desirous while in China of living Western style, I was quite happy to be ignorant of Friendship Store whereabouts.

Thus technically I was in violation of regulations with all my monetary transactions while in China. I say technically because the practice was so widespread that it was the rule rather than the exception. The exchange rate for American dollars into Yuan was so favourable and the denominations of the Yuan generally available so small that even after changing a small amount of American currency my pockets bulged to overflowing with colourful notes. Prices of goods in local Department stores were high enough that it necessitated that I remain in this condition continuously.

The typical Chinese Department store was relatively small, seldom higher than 2 stories and covering an area of ground about 1/4 the size of an older style Wal-Mart. All the goods were housed in the center and were inaccessible in any direct way to patrons. The perimeter of the central core was a continuous rectangular counter behind which resided a bevy of generally very bored looking clerks. The goods were displayed on vertical shelving floor to ceiling and were assessable only by pointing to the item and having it retrieved by a clerk to be placed on the counter for your inspection. For example should I wish a white dress shirt there would likely be only one choice held on the shelves in several columns by size. The sales persons were remarkably adept at guessing the correct size. To emphasize their assurance in this regard they looked me over fingered through several shelves then extracting their choice slammed with emphasis in front of me onto the counter surface. Such an item was folded and contained only by a broad paper band, no cellophane or other dirt protection. Trying the shirt on was out of the question the only recourse in this regard being to remove the band and then hold it up in front of my body. (Perhaps my rejection of the Friendship Store had been premature.) Surprisingly back at home I found the shirt to fit perfectly. Stores of the type I here describe contained dry goods from house wares and clothing to small tools. Outdoor markets supplied meat and vegetables. "Drugstores" sold conventional goods of this type plus booze and packaged goods like crackers cookies and related foods.

Being in Changchun in December I had the opportunity to observe another variation on Department Store operation. The outside temperature was about 3 degrees and when I ventured inside my usual Store I found the place to be totally unheated. Clerks in their usual disinterested attitude were garbed fully in outdoors winter cloths with one exception; their hands were encased in special lower half fingerless gloves.

Here and there were more specialized stores. Hardware type stores sold a variety of the usual items plus sometimes other goods like cameras and camera supplies. Of particular interest to me in these emporiums was the wide selection of the thickly enamel coated dishes and related items. These typical of my Grandparents era, came in an outrageous range of colours. During my tenures in China I managed to acquire a collection of 10 enamel cups from which I had to eliminate 6 to fit the confines of my one piece of meager luggage.

Tiananmen Toddling

Being singlehandedly responsible for the deaths of 200 million citizens would surely ensure that such a fiend would reside forever in infamy but not so if you are the father of Chinese Communism and referred to respectfully as the "Great Helmsman". Instead Mao Zedong's remains are ensconced in a crystal coffin in a flower bedecked Mausoleum in the center of arguably the most famous square in the World. Tiananmen at 900 m by 500 m will hold 1 million people and residing in central Beijing is the largest city square in the World. The Gate of China, a great Qing Gate until the 1950's, formed an impressive entrance to the square. At this time it was demolished under Mao's direction as one of his many attempts to delete from the Chinese landscape reminders of this countries Imperialistic past.

Construction of the square began during the Ming Dynasty. The name, Tiananmen, translated into English means Gate of Heavenly Peace. Tiananmen Square is relatively flat containing here and there undulating flower beds but no trees. A tall "Monument to the People" is the only structure of any height, with Mao's tomb and attached sculptures residing roughly in the center of the square being the only other items of any vertical dimensions there-in. This latter is popularly believed to have been constructed by 700,000 ordinary citizens, when in fact these workers simply formed long lines for the useless purpose of passing construction materials hand by hand to the site. The real construction was accomplished by experts. In 1990 I paused briefly within a long line of people to view the preserved remains of Mao resting within his Mausoleum. Upon emerging from this structure I was surprisingly greeted by a vast crowd of vendors not unlike what one might expect at such a location in North America.

The west side of the square is flanked across a roadway by the massive dull grey Great Hall of the People. The Tiananmen gate stretches across the north of the square, graced by a mammoth portrait of Mao, it provides the entrance to The Forbidden City. When I was there a Kentucky Fried Chicken Outlet could be seen across the street from the southern border.

Immensely broad Chang'an Ave., which translates as Forever Peace Street, runs between the Tiananmen Gate and the square. To allow pedestrian access across this thoroughfare a tunnel exists. Those brave souls who attempted a street level crossing found it necessary to run dogging in and out of massive bicycle traffic. Today such a route is impossible due to automobile congestion. The loud echoing sounds of syncopatic marching getting closer and closer stood my hair on end as I travelled this tunnel on my first trip to Tiananmen Square. Being "L" shaped, the bottom part of the "L" oriented EW as it descends from the square, travelling in this direction 100 m before a right turn which takes the traveler in the tunnel into the NS direction for the under street crossing. I was stumbling along the NS section approaching the right turn with this cacophony of footfalls still in the EW tunnel section. Suddenly into my frightened gaze marched intense expressioned soldiers arranged in military parade like columns. A wave of relief blew by me as the phalanx continued passed me on their way. This was just the first encounter of many that I was to experience in China with organized but indefinable, military maneuvers daily within its cities.

Many events colour the history of the square. Of particular notoriety was the vast scale student riots of 1989 during which military intervention resulted in a massacre of massive proportions. The following year in June on the anniversary of this event I was present. At this time the square was filled with school children flying colourful kites together with a somber military ceremony occurring which centered about a matrix of a dozen or so helmets of their comrades whom had died during the event. A few of us tried to enter the actual square by crossing the street from our vantage point on the other sidewalk on Chang'an Ave. Upon our arrival we were rudely herded into the tunnel and forced to return to our former location.

Other numerous protests sprinkle Tiananmen's history. On a more peaceful and celebratory note Mao proclaimed the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1 1949.

Labouring and Construction

Commendably as stated earlier all citizens requiring employment appeared to have a job. Many of these were menial and unfulfilling as judged by western standards. During the night and early morning gangs of street sweepers polished the streets with handmade twig brooms. Moving ever so slowly from end to end these custodians of the byways worked at an amazingly steady pace. Crews engaging in this profession consisted of both male and female members, with the latter being by far in largest proportion.

Gardening in most instances was totally nonmechanized. Scythes were used for cutting grass In the rough as in ditches and on most lawns. All weeding was done by hand and in the cities there was little evidence of use of herbicides or insecticides. Hand weeding of lawns was often performed by large groups of students. This was one aspect of required public service performed by students attending university.

One strange source of fertilizer comes through an open flap in baby clothing. This requires an explanation. Shortages of what in Canada would be rated as absolutely essential items are common in Communist countries. For example a 4 star Hotel in Havana Cuba in which we reposed for several nights had brand new toilets in the guest rooms but these devices lacked toilet seats, requiring the guest to hang in suspension above the porcelain opening during their use. An illustration of a similar type in China was the absence of an inexpensive supply of diapers. Thus baby clothing was equipped with an open flap over the bum area. In this arrangement when the baby relieved itself the excreta both liquid and solid was dispensed directly onto the ground. In a strange twisting of an even, not to put too fine a point on the issue one might say that babies engaged in the labor of fertilization of the biosphere.

Of particular amazement to me was the use of bamboo scaffolding in the construction of buildings. The use of this approach was not restricted as one might think, strictly for low rise structures. In Canton on the street that fronted the University in which I taught a 50 story office tower was being erected nearby. At the point of my arrival in Canton the building had reached about 35 floors in height. The actual building was almost invisible inside its dense cocoon of bamboo scaffolding. Upon close inspection no metal of any kind had been used in this superstructure. Worse in my estimation was the observation that all fastening of the bamboo members consisted of a material that to me looked like leather strapping. As a point of interest I asked one of my University colleagues; " in a strong wind or worse an earthquake would the bamboo superstructure not be in danger of collapse?" To which he quickly replied; "no but the building might."

As was most often the case in Developing Countries safety was noticeably absent or at least very transient. For example vehicles had no seat belts. One strange 3 wheeled taxis was constructed with the gasoline tank residing directly beneath the passenger in the front seat. Rules of the road if such existed were seldom enforced even by police at busy intersections. Habitations seemed to be lacking fire regulations and precautions. Never did I encounter a fire alarm, hose or fire extinguisher.

Sweep across Costal China

The bureaucracy of travel within China as within many Communistic jurisdictions is difficult for a Westerner to fathom. The conceptually simple task of exchanging one aircraft ticket for a train ticket becomes a labour of several days duration for 3 individuals. Lineups are the curse of almost any endeavor and most Chinese had become hardened to this inevitability. Commonly there appear to be more than sufficient clerks and supervisors available to handle tasks quickly. In practice these individuals move slowly, handle even simple tasks inefficiently. Before attempting to explain the plane to train ticket exchange fiasco my own experience cashing a few travelers checks for this trip would be illuminating.

There were 20 0r 30 employees evident milling about behind the counter of a smallish sized bank that I entered. Only one wicket for dealing with customers was open. I joined a line of about 10 waiting to be served. Twenty minutes later I became the next to be served. In the presence of the lone Teller I duly signed each check as required. This employee received these checks through a tiny slot under the glass barricade separating us. These items were then subjected to an inspection involving rubbing each between thumb and fingers, holding each up to a light bulb to observe their transparency and a detailed visual inspection of each side. Although there appeared to be no discrepancies the complete lot was handed slowly around in no discernable order through about 6 other stations behind the counter. At this point the money representing the value of the checks was counted out. Another detailed inspection of these banknotes ensued, these involving individuals in about 4 different positions within the banks internal labyrinth. At this point I was motioned to a new location in front of the counter, at which point the money was solely and carefully counted into my hands through another slot in a barricade. Total expired time in the bank obtaining the equivalent of about $100US from traveler's checks was about 1 hour.

Regarding the plane to train ticket change, I thankfully remained for the most part out of the loop. It is often said that business travelers travelling abroad see little of the countries involved except at the airport, on the trip to the hotel and from the inside of the hotel where the meetings are held. Although this was hardly true in my approach to travel abroad, maximizing my exposure to the jurisdiction in question was always near the top of my list. Travel arrangements for me were made from the offices of the hosting organization and from time to time upon careful examination I noticed incidences in which opportunity to become better familiarized with a country had been sacrificed. My flight from Canton to Changchun was a blatantly obvious missed opportunity.

A few days prior to my date of departure I horrified my hosts in Canton by asking to have my travel plans changed. I was startled by this extreme reaction and by the cajoling attempt to have me reverse this decision. Remaining firm I requested to be driven to the agency involved in such exchanges. However I was powerless to enact this seemingly straight forward business. The procedure began by surrendering my passport and travel documents to an official I had formerly not met. This woman together with 2 of my entourage proceeded on the mission only to reappear several hours later empty handed. I was informed that late tomorrow my passport and train ticket would be ready for pickup. Instead it was only after 2 more days when my colleagues were able to present me with these documents. At this time I was also informed that $10 US had to be expended for "ancillary" expenses, in other words bribes. Since I had become used to such motivators in the past I quickly made reimbursement for the transaction.

The ensuing 5 day odyssey became a highlight of this consultancy. What did not happen was often as illuminating as the events that occurred. In the former category the lack of heat for extended periods even in the "first class" ( Of course officially no class distinctions were present in China) sleeping coach accommodation became a distraction as we travelled the northern 1/3 of the excursion. No food was provided on the train itself. At meal time it was necessary to purchase meals from vendors on the platform or from cafeterias at the stations were the voyage was briefly suspended for this purpose. My fate was much better that that of native travelers due to my American currency so painfully extracted before my departure. As soon as I made known this largesse I was surrounded by competitive vendors offering the finest of their offerings. On the other hand when evening approached a billy of hot water was set up in the middle of the floor on a gas burner. This was then anointed at the appropriate moment with a handful of loose by a large person of indeterminate gender. No cups being provided I used my Canton purchased ubiquitous enamelware cup typical of my Grandparents era in Canada. The sleeping cars were spacious and had upper and lower bunks on both ends of the room. The toilet facilities were at one end of the sleeping car passage, the toilet consisting of a hole in the floor above which one squatted to soil the speeding track immediately below. A sink with cold running water and an olive tinted translucent mirror completed the fixtures. Our approach to our final destination of Changchun was occasioned by a 4:30 AM wakeup call for the removal of all bedding in time for processing before the 9:00 AM arrival. These conditions in the premier section of may sound a little rustic but a venture into the coaches at the rear of the train gave the impression of luxury personified in my section. Upon an exploratory entrance through the one of the rear car doors I was welcomed by the landing, in a burst of fluttering and scratching claws, of a chicken on the top of my head. This removed deftly by its owner I began to recognize through the gloom row upon crowded row of hard wooden seats jammed with passengers. Possessions of all descriptions covered the floors mostly contained in sacks. Among these were food provisions for the trip. Food supplies were as extensive as was required for the distance being travelled and since this train made frequent stops, some journeys unlike mine were relatively short. Smoking of course was unrestricted and this car not unlike my own was bathed in a smoggy atmosphere. The difference in this car was the complexity of unpleasant odours created by beasts and their excrement, soiled clothing and food of questionable freshness.

Most of the daylight hours I spent marveling at the kaleidoscope of scenery, ever changing as we travelled south to north close to the coast. One constant was the apparent lack of non sea bird species. Coastal bird populations of course suffered severe decline under Mao due to rapid loss of habitat and consumption as food especially during the many periods of enforced starvation. Collectivization resulted in immense land transformations. It was not unusual to see seemingly endless stretches of farmland; this was particularly notable between Beijing and Changchun. Former single family dwellings had given way to small clusters of buildings spread here and there. Traditional market vegetable plantings on large scale wallpapered the ground from horizon to horizon. This lack of individualism was broken here and there by the appearance of small plots of a few diverse varieties of vegetables growing along ditch edges. Not surprisingly these personal plantings were distinguished by lushness absent in the massive farm crops.

My sleeping car partners were a congeal group of men and women. Although the others spoke no English they kept me involved in life within this tiny environment. Foods were shared. One passenger had a guitar and I was invited to hum a tune which although Western he often knew and did his own often unique rendition. At meal stops or at locations of scheduled passenger stops they took me to find less primitive toilet facilities. Of particular note were the casual clothing changes night and morning which were mainly accomplished in the visually unprotected center of the car. These were accomplished with a surprising lack of embarrassment.

This and That

Here-in reside a few observations and happenings that although diverse are interesting in their own right.

In the early 1980's cars were in particularly short supply. In this regard I was embarrassed every morning and evening to be transported the few blocks from residence to the university by a special Government automobile. No matter that I tried to insist that walking this distance would be a savings of the driver's time, the use of scarce petrol and also provide me with much needed exercise; such a practice was apparently de rigueur for scientific experts. The inner lane on major thoroughfares was reserved for motorized vehicles and hence we sailed along unimpeded beside the miles long rows upon row of bicycles carrying Chinas ordinary citizens. A pitiful sight occurred at major intersections when our driver wished to turn left. Here the policeman, commonly standing high above the traffic chaos on a covered platform in a small white box like structure, would bring the mass of bicycles to a stop. He then directed our car across from the curb lane to the center of the road to make the left turn maneuver. Amusingly the actions of police in this regard were often ignored by cyclists making this maneuver anything but straight forward.

How could I travel to Beijing without arranging a trip to the Great Wall? Such an historical defense structure clearly visible from satellites in space certainly demanded my attention. Thus one Sunday (we worked Saturdays in China) I privately engaged my driver to make this visit. The traditional location for a visit from Beijing is Badaling.

Since about the 5th century BC, a series of walls were built here and there for defensive purposes. Traveling along the length of the wall, the nature of the structure varies from primitive rock piles to the massive coherent structure as can be viewed at the Badaling site. Beijing the Ming dynasty capital of the country was successfully defended from Mongol attacks during that era. Of particular interest to me was the challenge of walking from the Badaling entrance to the highest point along the wall. Having struggled and accomplished this I was rewarded with a personal letter in Chinese which authenticated my climb. Although this area has become plagued by vendors and others seeking to benefit from the growing popularity of this historical phenomenon, much remains to enjoy. This includes the beauty of the surrounding countryside which when I arrived was awash in pink blossoming cherry trees.

North of of Beijing in a specially selected 40 square km valley reside the 13 Ming Tombs intended for the interment of Ming Dynasty Emperors. Presently 3 tombs are open to the public but only one, known as Ding Ling, has been excavated and arranged to contain artifacts typical of those found during this process. Most of these artifacts are replicates due to the destruction of the originals during their improper storage during the Cultural Revolution.

Returning from the journey to the Great Wall I was able to include a stop at this location, with a trip down inside the Ding Ling tomb included. Far more impressive to me was the Spirit Way. This 7 km road leading to the tombs is lined with giant carved stone mythical animals meant to be the tomb guardians. Needless to say a large amount of archeology is still essential in this area for the total story to emerge.

Often in the dead of night I would be awakened by the explosion of hundreds of firecrackers outside my window whenever I was living in a Chinese style hotel. Such disturbances would never be permitted in Canada particularly at night. Wedding parties in China could be elaborate affairs and were almost always concluded with the setting off of firecrackers as the couple left the hotel party, perhaps the Chinese analog of confetti.

The future of the worlds Tobacco industry without a doubt lies in the Developing world. In these jurisdictions laws banning smoking in any locale are absent. The wedding party Mentioned above would most certainly have taken place in a choking smoke filled atmosphere. The legal sale of tobacco products occurs in Government stores. But this is only a small part of the business. Illegal western brand tobacco products of all descriptions are sold surreptitiously from a variety of locations. Walking down a Beijing back street I was startled to view a citizen place a quantity of money in a suddenly to appear hole in the wall of an ordinary looking house. The hole closed and then moments later it reopened and a package of cigarettes was deftly swept into a waiting pocket.

An Uncommon Existence in Canton

One of my 3 consultancies was at a technical University in Canton. To that date my labours had been restricted to climates not unlike Toronto. Although I had spent work periods in the tropics of South America and Africa it was somewhat of a shock to encounter the unexpected heat and humidity of a Canton summer. First of all my choice of apparel was almost totally unsatisfactory. There was no alternative to the relatively heavy selection I had unfortunately brought. That is my financing did not allow for the purchase of a more suitable wardrobe. As a reluctant concession to my error I moved to an air-conditioned hotel American style. In defense of this move I cite the abhorrent humidity that necessitated carrying my camera out of the hotel in a Ziploc bag to prevent the inside glass surfaces of the lenses fogging with condensation.

Making up for this discomfort was the tropical grandeur of the flowers which everywhere covered the ground, bushes and even large trees. Tall apartments had balconies streaming with potted flowering ornamentals.

The open markets were festooned in exotic fruits vegetables and sea foods. Tubs of slithering eels, small fishes, prawns and many other such items fresh from the sea were abundantly available. Mangoes still only rarely available in Toronto Supermarkets could be obtained in many varieties and at the peak of sweetness. Bananas of more than 10 varieties melted in my mouth. It became my passion to purchase any of these delights that could be eaten uncooked in my room. As a result my food bill was a fraction of the amount necessary in the more northerly cities.

The consultancy itself, the only reason for my presence was perhaps one of my more useless efforts. Imagine my shock and surprise to discover on the very first day that one of the Universities professors had written an excellent Chinese language book on my very area of expertise! In fact because the math was in the usual script I could, without being able to read a word of the text determine that his book had more advanced theory than I had been able to include in my own book. Needless to say I was on tender hooks giving my lectures fearing that at any moment he might catch me out in an important theoretical error. Fortunately my forte lay in the practical application of this theory and I was able to provide details and an organization to exploit the work for the solution of Environmental and Clinical problems locally.

# Japan

## Japan Introduction

In truth I think I liked Japan least amongst the countries in which I worked.

Claustrophobia pervaded not only the cities, particularly Tokyo, but also the countryside for hundreds of miles. Town upon town, terraced agricultural land resulting in fields upon fields and narrow copses of trees strung out forever along the route of the Bullet Train. Unlike China where physical contact caused crowds of urban pedestrians to move as a swarm the indeterminable hordes in Japanese cities moved in an orderly fashion. However in central Tokyo, unlike Beijing, the sidewalks were narrow, shop fronts continuous, vehicular traffic endless and exhaust fumes vehemently choking. These latter were layered in stagnant clouds trapped on the sides by buildings and above by a blanket of elevated roadways or subway lines. Even on windy days the air at street level in sections of the city such as these the air never moved.

Penetrating odours were horrific In Tokyo, where I spent the majority of my Japanese tenure. Predominant among this stinking miasma was exhaust, ventilating sewers and uncollected garbage.

The formality of Japanese people provided me with a barricade to the casual friendships which in other jurisdictions, even in spite of language differences, provided a much needed break in the non working time silence. Even the knowledge that the root of this formality was a statement of respect failed to assuage my deep rooted sense of loneliness.

One of the joys for me of residing in foreign locals has commonly been the introduction to and the consumption of local cuisine. My distaste for Japanese food removed another of the usual pleasures of my nomadic existence, but this is another story to be unfolded in a separate section below.

Embarrassing Muddle

First impressions sometimes and I admit probably very unfairly, dominate my overall impressions of a Country. The fact that I came to detest all Japanese cuisine and have an unfavourable memory of Japan in general seems strongly interrelated.

The New Otani Hotel and your average Japanese style guest accommodation were totally unrelated. As a Guest Lecturer at the 9th Internationl Conference on Atomic Spectroscopy and the 22nd Colloquium Spectroscopicum Internationale 4-8 September 1981, Tokyo, Japan Maureen and I were ensconced all expenses paid in this elaborate edifice, one of the newest and finest American style hotels in Tokyo-Strike One. Abiding here was akin to remaining in Toronto. Granted upon stepping outside one was presented with alien sights and sounds. Most particularly one was engulfed in typical Japanese landscape gardening almost devoid of flowers and this was Strike Two. In my mind flowering plants in abundance are the only essential ingredient in attractive landscape design. Tragically I went from the typical North American to the Ugly North America in one single step. Unlike my usual procedure of greedily drinking in the ambiance of a new jurisdiction I found myself in violation of my treasured principles of travel.

Strike Three was again very non typical of my travelling behavior. Unfamiliar with Tokyo dining opportunities the decision was made to have our first evening meal in the New Otani main restaurant. This locale was nearly deserted meaning that we were descended upon by a phalanx of servers. This group consisted of young women dressed in typical Japanese costumes. Menus were dispersed and we were left to consider a variety of dishes all carefully described in English. For me only one item had any culinary appeal. This was tempura which was actually of Portuguese origin introduced into Japan during the ancient Shogun period. Consisting of battered sea foods and vegetables to be dipped in sauce it appeared to be the only choice of any real substance.

Soon the servers appeared with chopsticks, North American cutlery and bowels of a steaming dark coloured liquid. Soup being a particular favourite of mine I descended upon this greedily with the very small spoon that was amongst the proffered cutlery. This dish had a strange very spicy taste very unlike any soup I had consumed in other worldwide jurisdictions. Part the way through Maureen alerted me to the knot of servers who looking our way were engaged in what appeared to be a fit of laughter partially hidden behind their hands. Finally one of the group broke away from her colleagues arriving at our table and whispering in my ear the very sagacious observation, sauce not soup!

Perhaps it was a sign of things to come. On my morning jog on the day of the Conference opening sessions, I felt the ground shake momentarily beneath my feet, in a manner that you expect when a monster truck rumbles over a railroad crossing. The problem was it was 3AM and there was no truck and no tracks. This minor tremor I was soon to learn was a common occurrence in this earthquake prone country. Indeed another bombshell was imminent at the Conference Introductory program when we learned that sadly the Conference Chairman had passed away that night.

Scientific Research presentations are the main purpose of a conference of this type. These purport to outline advances that have occurred in the subject area. A Keynote Speaker, a person judges to be the most prestigious in the field provides exciting insights to initiate the Scientific Program. Plenary and Invited lectures are presented by recognized experts and usually are major summaries of the most important advancements together with prognostications for future developments. Used to set the tone for the day or for individual sessions these speakers are followed by presentations of submitted papers that have been approved and accepted by the Conference Committee. Presentations of this type are given in oral or poster format. A variety of impressive halls within the New Otani Hotel was the venue for the conference.

Accompanying persons and mixed Social Programs are also significant components of these conferences. The Conference banquet was memorable to most for its truly Japanese style content. My distaste of Japanese food was this time balanced by Saki served in traditional wooden boxes. An unique event to the Tokyo conference was a 5 Km mixed running race which I was fortunate enough to win. This together with an Invited Lecture were my only conference contributions.

I particularly wish to mention the Invited Lecture by a USA colleague, Jim Winefordner. It seemed to me that I was always at a run to try to keep near the forefront of our science. My reading skills hampered as they were meant I had difficulty remaining abreast of the latest journal material. Jim had a particular facility in presenting material simply and concisely while still conveying the depths of the important material. For me attendance at a Jim Winefordner lecture was a short cut around the necessity of days spent toiling over journals. True to form he dazzled me with his contribution at this conference.

Although not an official conference function all the Plenary and Invited lecturers were invited to the home of Professor Fuswa and his wife. This was a particular honour for the participants. Invitations to Japanese homes are seldom proffered. A Japanese University professor even of the high stature of Professor Fuswa receives only moderate remuneration. Housing in Tokyo being obscenely expensive the apartment to which we came was not surprisingly 5 stories up in a building without an elevator. Tastefully furnished the unit was contained in 3 rooms. Unquestionably the abundant hospitality must have consumed at least a month's salary. How privileged were Maureen and I to have had such a wonderfully magnanimous experience?

Tours for Conference Scientific participants were few but a visit to the Old Tokyo district of Asaskusa was a must. The approach to this attraction is through Nakamise, a shopping complex specializing in Japanese "trinkets". Passing through Maureen and I were overwhelmingly showered with items purchased by one of my Post Doctoral student and his wife who had come to me from Chiba a Tokyo suburb. Sensoij a Buddhist Temple is the main attraction of the district. Although spectacular in layout, traditional decorations and colouration, tourists could be forgiven in judging this as just another temple in a maze that covers this country much as churches seem to dominate the urban landscape of Europe.

Into the Bowels of the Clubs and Brothels

Dodging ball bearing like Pachinko balls rolling down the sidewalk was my fate on a first evening jog in my new location. Due to traffic and tides of humanity, jogging was impossible in most of Tokyo in the daytime. Here night clubs, strip joints and brothels extended this difficulty well into the night.

From the very upscale New Otani Hotel into the heart of this trendy area replete with Clubs and a noted Red Light locale went I. At the termination of the conference phase of my Tokyo sojourn I was moved to a private and conservative residence, the International House of Japan. Strangely this bastion for visiting academics was right in the heart of this notoriously sleazy locale called Roppongi, sometimes referred to as the Poor Man's Ginza, in the district of Minato. Patronized commonly by foreigners since the end of WW 2, Roppongi in the early 1980's, was notable for its high concentration of Japanese English speaking citizenry.

The University of Tokyo Hongo campus, Hongo-sanchome station was reachable in about 40 minutes with only one line change from the main Roppongi Subway station. An easy 8 minute walk from my residence to the subway station entrance each day included passing a fascinating small shop which specialized particularly in fresh, locally grown fruit. Grapefruit sized peaches displayed prominently in the window became my culinary weakness to the extent that I seemed to be sucked from the sidewalk into this shop at each evening passage. Due to long hours spent at the University my nightly stroll to the residence was greeted along Gaien-Higashi Dori by the technicolour grandeur twinkling from base to top of the Tokyo Tower.

Even had I been single clubbing and the lure of Pachinko Parlors, strip clubs and brothels would have been lost on me. This being said it was impossible in the evenings while jogging or walking not to be awash in the external atmosphere of these establishments. To wit, one evening upon awaking at about 3:30am and departing my lodgings as was my habit to have my daily jog the relative quiet of this area at that hour was suddenly shattered by the clatter of high heels in hot pursuit. This and the accompanying giggling caused me to look behind. To my astonishment a small group of Roppongi's finest "ladies" had me in their sights. With that detail I wish to cease this account to let the reader devise the ending. Suffice it to say that business that evening must have been dismal.

Gambling for money is illegal in Tokyo yet the multitudinous existence of Pachinko parlors seemed strange. Resembling a vertically inclined pinball table the pachinko devices are lined up row upon row much like slot machines, giving the parlors the atmosphere of a gambling casino. Always jammed with players seated elbow to elbow, each contestant releases metal balls which one by one fall through the workings most of which descend harmlessly, as expected into the bottom. Infrequently a ball finds its way into a winners slot whence the player is awarded with a trifling prize. If you are from curiosity inclined to follow this winning contestant, you will discover that this seemingly worthless prize can be exchanged for real money at shops that appear unrelated being some distance away from the Pachinko parlor.

Ah but yes there was the Purple Onion. Forgotten even by today's Internet this dominant structure set back on a wide sidewalk at a major intersection, this source of nightly cacophony in 1981 was the mother lode of clubbing activity amongst the young, beautiful people. Many's an evening I stood near its precincts just to view the comings and goings. Here is a mystery worth solving; how could this iconic landmark of the early 80's have disappeared so completely.

Drumming at a volume that even penetrated the walls of my room in the residence bluntly drew attention to a Matsuri (festival) celebrating the rice harvest. An investigation on foot located several sites on small vacant properties in our area that had been elaborately decorated featuring purveyors of food from stalls that that reminded me of those that resided in Canadian midways. Here the similarity ended. Curious I decide to sample the wares. My experiment was a dish that resembled egg-in-the-hole but covered profusely in a milky appearing sauce. To my horror the taste was more medicinal than egg flavoured and a nearby trash barrel was soon soiled by my vomit.

Large horizontally mounted barrel shaped drums toping a structure 2 meters above the ground with forward balanced, muscular drummers pounding out the melody with fat sticks pervade my memory. Yet Internet investigations in 2010 of this event showed drummer groups consisting of a row of drums sitting side by side vertically on the ground played by anemic looking seated musicians. No way could i imagine the drama and cacophony of the early 80's emanating from this sorry arrangement.

Bastion for the International Elite

A $200 (today's dollars) per day room was provided free by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under a Fellowship I received as a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo. The International House of Japan, referred to widely as a residence for the Elite was my unbelievable destination. In my case as far as elite went nothing could have been further from the truth. I still have a great curiosity as to what criteria were applied in my case to land me in this environment. My perception is that as a Member Professor Fuswa, a well defined Elite Scientist, used his exceptional Influence to sneak me through the undoubted not inconsiderable red tape. Our finances in the early 80's had dictated that my travel clothing consisted of one suit, 2 pairs of pants a few shirts, holey socks and underwear and the shoes I was wearing all fitting in one relatively small battered suit case. Thus upon entering these "elite" precincts I required a lot of nerve and concern that no one of importance was in the lobby.

Dating from the Edo period of the early 17th Century this property had been occupied by a Clan of Feudal Lords and was known as the Mansion of Kyogoku. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation the buildings and grounds underwent extensive renovation in 1976. The property was run as a nonprofit organization.

The grounds were particularly beautiful consisting of a broad area of grass extending out from the front patio. This was scattered with rocks, bright red benches and carefully clipped low bushes. A pond modeled from the Heian Period (794 to 1185) was sequestered there-in. The backdrop consisted of low trees and shrubs, many of the trees being flowering Japanese Cherry.

When on the premises i took care not to leave my room except to go and come. Although having the odd breakfast there-in I was careful to do so during early hours when few others were present. Prowling about and jogging was done in the Am hours and off the grounds. The idea for this establishment during my tenure was to engender interaction between the elite scholars in residence. Needless to say I avoided this interaction which I considered to be way out of my league.

Mysterious Proceedings

Hard at work in my office frequent unfamiliar annoying, piercing, beeping episodes below my third floor window were ruining my already tenuous concentration. Not yet mandated in Canada (1981) trucks in Japan were equipped with devices that automatically emitted this warning beeping sequence as soon as the gear lever was engaged in reverse. My office it turned out was directly above a busy loading dock.

Ranked amongst the finest universities in the world, my tenure in the Department of Chemistry as a Visiting Professor was an exciting prospect. Without doubt my intention had been to spend the majority of time in the laboratory. Unlike in Toronto I had no Administrative responsibility, Research Grant proposal preparation/report drudgery and no manuscripts to prepare which in that jurisdiction seemed to consume the vast majority of my working hours. The forced concentration on these duties cast made me wonder whether the obvious success in our research might have little to do with me personally, but was perhaps resulting almost entirely from my skilled and ambitious Graduate Students, Post Doctoral fellows and Guest Scientists. Here I supposed was my opportunity to reassess my laboratory and research skills.

Boldly I entered the laboratory of the famous Professor Fuswa (not his real name). A quick appraisal of this facility confirmed that all the lab ware, chemicals and instrumentation essential for my research was indeed available and in pristine condition. In my work the preparation of chemical solutions was the initial task. I bent eagerly to this task, collecting the needed glassware, weighing assorted chemicals and carefully diluting the dissolved chemicals to prepare the Standard Solutions on which all my ensuing results would depend for their accuracy. Slowly it came to my mind that something was amiss. No one else from Professor Fuswa's mammoth Research Group was currently present in the lab. This seemed strange since I had observed on several occasions much activity here-in. Gazing about I noted a large crowd of his associates observing my perambulations from behind the glass paned entrance door to the laboratory. Then suddenly Professor Fuswa, himself making his way quickly through his assembled workers burst in through the door. Upon reaching my side I observed a man in severe consternation. He then informed me that Professors in Japan never make up their own solutions and that there are a variety of skilled fluently English speaking helpers, presumably those crowding the door, whose job it is to do all preparations and experimentation under my direction. In fact I learned later that Professor Fuswas consternation arose because several in his group had threatened to quit should my work continue thusly.

In my haste to do some research I had failed to inform Professor Fuswa of my intention. This together with a lack of knowledge of how Japanese Research groups are structured entrapped me in this near disaster. In a resulting session in Professor Fuswa's office I discovered that this great man headed an enormous Research assemblage consisting not only of Graduate Students, Post Doctoral Fellows and Visiting Scientists such as myself, but several "lesser" Professors, young colleagues who spent an interval under Professor Fuswa's tutelage. To say the least I had stuck my foot in a tank of hungry Piranas. Worse I was not to have my cherished desire of a direct test of my own research capabilities. Here in Professor Fuswa's laboratory I found myself even less personally involved with the real work than in my own lab in Toronto.

A Bullet to Kyoto

A famous truism for travelling Businessmen and Academics is to say; yes I have been to exotic country X but I might as well have stayed home since all I saw was the inside of my hotel and the scenery from taxies. On a somewhat larger scale this was almost my fate. I found myself confined mainly to the city of Tokyo and although I had traveled widely within its confines I was seeing little outside these boundaries. Maureen on the other hand with the Accompanying persons tours had travelled widely in the district reaching as distant as Mount Fuji.

Fortunately Professor Fuswa and Maureen persuaded me to get my act together and at least make a trip to Kyoto. With instructions in Japanese for a cab driver carefully scripted with directions to a highly recommended Ryokan in Kyoto, the Fuswas left us in the coach of the Bullet Train at Tokyo train station.

My first impression was that Japan west along this railway line was just an endless city. This impression of course arises due to the immensity of the Tokyo metropolitan area. When you finally do break free the countryside transforms into a giant rice paddy replete with villages lined with rows of poplar trees. Perhaps I dosed off from time to time and missed things, but the absence of woodlands and conventional farmer's fields was palpable.

Our arrival in Kyoto was greeted by a blast of heat as from an oven. Kyoto is located in a valley and in the summer seasons can be unbearably hot due to its low elevation and the entrapment of the heated atmosphere by the walls of the valley.

The Nation's Capital until the Imperial Restoration during the Edo period of 1868 Kyoto gave way in this regard to Tokyo. As would be expected for any capital historical venues are rampant in Kyoto. In my usual way , due to perceived work obligations at the University I allowed1 day and 2 nights for our tenure here. Thus we rushed about on a bus tour in the intense heat obtaining a city overview and visiting on foot a total of the enchanting and spectacular lakeside, Golden Pavilion followed by a preserve of Macaque Monkeys. These later fascinating long haired primates are native to subtropical to alpine habitats in mainly 4 regions of Japan. Television nature programs on monkeys often feature this particular species plunging into hot springs to refresh having been covered with snow from their alpine habitat.

There had been time for other adventures but due to the heat we retreated to our lodgings in a typical Japanese Ryokan. These establishments are the traditional Japanese style Inn. Once at the door we were greeted by a pile of discarded shoes, 2 pairs of which we were to discover belonged to a couple from Calgary Canada. Thus stocking footed we were greeted by a female employee dressed in beautiful Japanese style. Doors are of the sliding variety making small rooms there-in seemed larger. Tea taken at low standing tables required the participant to assume some form of crouching position. It was during this ceremony that the World seem to shrink when we met our country cohorts from Calgary. Bedrooms featured futons, now popular even in Canada. Thank goodness this adventure was in my younger years because a crane would now be an essential to manipulate my aging body between crouching standing and bed in a Ryokan.

## Korea

Impatience, torrid pace and very friendly such was the instant impression of life in Seoul South Korea. Plenary and Invited speakers from the Tokyo Conference had all received an invitation, all expenses paid to give presentations at a Specially arranged conference in Seoul. This event was arranged to piggy back on the concentration of scientific talent that had been attracted to this area by the much larger Tokyo gathering.

Everyone flew to Seoul on the same Korean Airlines flight and passed through customs and immigration at lightning speed. That is except Professor Fuswa, who being Japanese was treated to every delaying tactic in the rule book. Why so you might wonder? All his papers were in order just like ours. However the historic antagonism, including war and periods of occupation of Korea by the Japanese still smolder resulting in manufactured time consuming frustrations for Japanese citizens entering this country.

From the tangle of waiting taxis Maureen and I chose one that appeared to have the fewest prangs and seemed "clean". Even before I could hand the driver the card with the hotel address the driver placed his hand firmly on the horn and swung from the curb proceeding through traffic at an alarming rate. From time to time during our journey the cab screeched to a stop to pick up or discharge other passengers. Only then did the driver release the horn. As soon as we continued our careening run to the hotel the blaring began again. Welcome to Seoul!

Our quarters were in an American style Hotel with a forgettable moniker. Located in central Seoul, little remains in my memory of the hotel itself. My favourite thoughts relate to 3 aspects of this area.

The first was how Jon Jr. with his light blond hair mesmerized the average citizen. In the early 80's North American tourists were relatively scarce and a child with blond hair was an enigma, an attraction without equal. Our progress in public was continuously disrupted as the average Korean had an irresistible urge to stop and try to finger this God like oddity.

Secondly I found a potentially ideal jogging arrangement of streets bordered by wide sidewalks and with no major street intersections. This "track" started across the street from the hotel entrance and extended for about 1 km returning to the proximity of the hotel in a roughly square configuration. Again the populace was not familiar with this Western oddity and as a result I found groups of gawkers formed waiting for my reappearance on every lap.

A few blocks from the hotel we happened into an immense emporium. The Shinsaqae Department Store whose sister store in Busan is the largest in the world, was remarkably like similar facilities in Toronto. Our arrival as the doors were opening in the morning was greeted by a surprising event. Suddenly a musical chord was struck over the loud speaker system. At this signal everyone sales persons and shoppers alike stood quietly at attention where-upon the National Anthem was blared throughout the building. Following this business could begin in earnest.

A postdoctoral fellow with whom I worked while acquiring my PhD was a Korean and a resident of Seoul. Very kindly he and his wife met us and took us by taxis to a Korean Buffet. Here we were presented by 2 banks of tables. On the right was a variety of food of familiar colouration whereas the grouping on the left contained the same selection of food with a bright red colouration. My very firm instructions were to choose only from the dishes on the right, the left being laced with hot pepper. Of course I went for that on the left. One would have to admit that there was a certain tang to my meal. Yet I had no difficulty consuming what I had chosen plus a second portion of much. We were sent home in a taxis with the same unsettling treatment by this driver as we received in the airport taxis. In my view this had to be the reason for the stomach fire that ensued inside my person as I woke suddenly around midnight. During the rest of the night and until about noon the next day I remained perched over the toilet in a gut wrenching position vomiting profusely and endlessly. Indeed my stomach was so "unsettled" that mild, dilute, white rice became the only solid sustenance that would remain down for the next day. Maureen meanwhile was being treated to a roast beef feast at the American Armed forces club.

All lectures at the conference transpired in a single day. Following this intensive diet of science the speakers and accompanying persons were bused through the picturesque South Korean countryside to view the site of the Demilitarized Zone. It being fall many fields were covered in a layer of those stomach destructive red peppers drying harmlessly in the sun. In my mind these peppers were much more menacing than anything one could view at the DMZ. Here through lines of fencing and razor wire could be observed only a few strolling soldiers quietly patrolling the North Korean side.

