NSLF and Rotary District Conference

September was highlighted by two conferences – the National Student Leadership Forum and the Rotary District 9750 conference.

The forum was held in Canberra, about 2 1/2 hours from Sydney. The idea of the forum was to examine leadership with Jesus as the primary example. Students came to the forum from all over Australia and some from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The group was very diverse not only geographically but there were many religions, cultures and backgrounds represented. The very diverse group was very significant to the effectiveness of discussion that really brought many different views to the table.

We also had the opportunity to hear from the top Australian politicians. The list included the Prime Minister John Howard (above), the Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley, Defense Minister Brendan Nelson, MP’s Bruce Baird and Anthony Byrne. We were very impressed by the speakers, plus, excited that we could actually here from the top 2 politicians in Australia.Cristin and I were small group facilitators at the forum. Here is our group outside of Parliament, with the old Parliament House in the distance. Believe it or not…our group was a force on the volleyball court. That probably had something to do with Cristin. I’m pretty sure every team we beat (3 total) was quite surprised, but no one more surprised than Cristin and I.

Our group was quite fun. We’ve already met with a few of them from around Sydney twice since the forum. We invited them to our house for Mexican food. We figured that was a safe bet, seeing how they were from all over the world…..except Mexico!

I thought this was quite interesting…The Aboriginal Tent Embassy (above) is a controversial semi-permanent assemblage claiming to represent the political rights of Australian Aborigines. It is made of a large group of activists, signs, and tents that reside on the lawn of Old Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital. It is not considered an official embassy by the Australian government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Tent_Embassy).
On the last night, we had a real Aussie Bush Dance. I knew it was authentic when the band members took a break to walk outside to check the Aussie rules football scores. It was held in an old shearing shed. All the songs had dances that the band members taught while they were singing. I think the only one we had ever seen was the Hokie Pokie and it was the Hokie Pokie that I knew

I can’t believe I’m putting this picture on the Internet!

We went to the district conference on last Saturday. It was a good chance for us to talk to Rotarians from across the district, many of them who we met at the first conference. The speakers at this conference were very entertaining. The theme was “Health and You.”

Some of the things we learned from a cardiologist:
· Instant coffee is poison
· A couple of cups of real coffee is good for you
· Soft drinks are poison – it strips your bones of calcium
· It’s ok to eat steak
· It’s ok to eat the yolk
· Burn your pantry….if it’s in a box and has writing on it don’t buy it
· It’s ok to eat non-organic fruit and vegetables, just eat more fruit and vegetables