Over the barrel

Our friend, Ron, took us to an Amish family farm owned by Jacob Yoder (not his real name) to purchase an item. Our children had a ride with their children in the horse-drawn buggy. It was from Jacob that we purchased that first bottle of Ohio pure maple syrup from his maple trees, in containers that still grace our kitchen shelves. What a difference it made to hot pancakes after our Aussie artificial substitutes!

One of the most powerful experiences we had was visiting an auction to purchase some basic furniture for our house. Jacob Yoder was late in arriving so he didn't have time to collect a number for bidding. When it came to the item he wanted to purchase and his bid was the highest, the auctioneer asked, "What's your number?" Yoder replied that he did not have a number. "What do you mean, you don't have a number?" asked the auctioneer. Yoder explained that he arrived late and hadn't had time to register yet. The auctioneer turned to the person recording the item, the price, the number of the purchase and said, "Put that down to Jacob Yoder; his name is as good as his word". What a reputation to have in that community!

Those were the days when petrol was affordable. On 24 April 1976, we filled up with petrol in Mission BC, Canada, at 88.9 cents an imperial gallon. In the USA we paid 45.9 cents a USA gallon in Houston TX on 9 May 1976. For the summer of 1976, we toured Canada and mainland USA.

This is a comparison of the U.S. and imperial gallons:

1 U.S. gallon × 1.2 = 1 imperial gallon
Imperial gallon = 4.456 litres
U.S. Gallon = 3.785 litres

The most beautiful experiences we had were in association with the people we met and came to love. They made life in those cities feel like a home away from home. These were mostly church folks who would baby sit our children, invite us to their homes for meals, and engage in conversation for hours (after study, of course).

There were very few bad experiences. One bummer happened while studying at doctoral level in a USA university class. I nicely questioned the data of one issue a professor was presenting. His response was, "Your views are blankety blank" (he swore at me, but later apologised privately). I had not presented my views, but had simply asked a question about data. This was hardly the way to respond to any student. The use of logical fallacies does not facilitate reasonable conversation, whether that's in a university class or in personal conversation.

Where would I be without it?

Experiencing the difference between rugby league, rugby union, soccer, Aussie Rules and American football (and the Super Bowl on TV) and cricket vs. baseball, was a new education. However, it did broaden my appreciation for the diversity in sporting traditions. But we did have tennis in common!

I would not have the same compassion today for those coming to the Lucky Country from cultures that are foreign to our own if it were not for those 7 years of living in foreign countries.

How much more they must struggle when the language is so foreign to their own! Then they have to adapt to our strange cultural meanings of 'she'll be right mate', sheila and 'fair dinkum'.