2F Class excursion to Southbank

On Friday morning 29th August 2008, my English language learning class, 2F, went on an excursion along Southbank. Southbank is an area along the Brisbane River

First, all the class met in the classroom. We were 9 students and teacher, Mary. Before we left at 10.00am Mary took a photo and then we walked to the Information Centre. At the information Centre we got some flyers, brochures and magazines.

After that we went to the beach at Southbank. According to our teacher, this beach is artificial and it is the only one in Australia you can find in the middle of the city. At the beach Mary took photos of us with two young men who work there. They are life guards.

Then we walked under the bougainvillea and along the Brisbane River. We saw the City Cat at the South Bank 2 Terminal

At 11.00am we ate morning tea on the banks of the Brisbane River. We had sweet dim sim biscuits that Anna made. We also had some oranges.

Next we went to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). We saw an exhibition called ‘Kicking up Dust’. We watched different Aboriginal groups around Australia and their dancing. On the walls we looked at the photos of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as well.

Lastly we visited another amazing place, “REFUGEE CAMP IN YOUR CITY”. We were warmly welcomed by the staff of ‘Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders’ (MSF) who wore white T-shirts with red inscriptions on the front. They explained to us the activities of their organisation around the world especially in the refugee camps.

The Refugee Camp in Your City was very interesting. We could read signs with questions such as Where will I find food? Where will I find water? Where will I live? Etc. Mary took many photos.

Mary introduced me to one of the staff because I lived in a refugee camp for 12 years before I came to Australia.

Then a young woman explained to us about many problems in the refugee camps such as shortage of drinking water, diseases and the problem of malnutrition. Some students asked her some questions relating to refugees and the activites of MSF. She answered them clearly.

After that we were asked to give our feedback by writing on special pieces of paper in their office. Before we came back to school all of us received a gift of a white cotton bag, some flyers and brochures about refugees and MSF. We left at about 1.00pm.

On the way back our teacher, Mary, took photos of every student for our Queensland Koalas Wiki.

Finally we returned to the classroom and went to lunch at 1.15pm.

In general the excursion was very good. It was also an interesting and memorable day especially for what we observed at the Refugee Camp in Your City.