Date: Fri 26-Dec-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: MICHEL

Quick Words:

schools-AFS-Thyra-Wilson

Full Text:

Remembering Australian Friends A World Away

BY MICHELE HOGAN

Thyra Wilson of Newtown High School was one of 32 students from across the

country selected by the American Field Service (AFS) to spend eight weeks of

her summer vacation in Australia.

She petted kangaroos, saw the Great Barrier Reef, and trekked through thick

undergrowth at Camp Knox in Australia. Her most poignant memories, however,

are of the people she met in the small inland mining town of Emerald in

Queensland, where she was student teaching.

She described the children's rough-and-tumble character and their general lack

of social graces with such warmth and longing that it was clear how much she

liked them.

She portrayed the people of Emerald as genuine people, "laid back" and

friendly.

Thyra said that the children would "try to touch the American, reach for my

arm. They used to pull my hair, just to see what I would do, like adolescent

boys, teasingly."

Thyra said, "They kept wanting me to say things, like `Mars Bars,' because of

my American accent. They don't pronounce their `R's."

Thyra found that misconceptions abounded. One fifth grader asked Thyra, "Do

teacher's in America teach behind bullet-proof doors? Do they wear

bullet-proof vests?"

She said, "That was Luke. He was tough. I'll never forget him. And I just got

a letter from him!"

Thyra said she was so surprised by the kids' views of America, which must have

been based entirely on the movies, that she made a personal commitment to

dispelling myths about America among the students in the town.

"They think all Americans are rich, they all have guns, and they don't eat

right," she said.

The kids in Emerald blame America for the Kentucky Fried Chicken and

McDonald's restaurants that recently opened in the small inland town.

Although Thyra thrived on dispelling the students' myths about Americans, she

"got upset at them, the fifth graders, when they showed prejudice against the

aboriginal people. They would crack jokes about `abo's'," and Thyra said she

had no tolerance for this.

When concerns came up, however, Thyra always had her Australian family to

confide in. Thyra said there were three girls in her family, and "I made

four!"

She quickly became such close friends with all three girls that she spent

almost all of her spare time with them and their friends, and started calling

their mother "Mom."

Her first reaction to setting foot on American soil on her return was a

longing to see her Australian family again.

Thyra is planning a return visit to Australia one day, and, in the meantime,

she is trying to find a job for her "sister" Vicki in the Newtown area so she

can come to America on a visa. Thyra misses Vicki and wants her to see what

America is really like.

The AFS program is worldwide. Interested parents and students may contact

Linda Van Tassel at the Newtown High School for further information.

Thyra estimated the cost of the trip to be about $3,000, she said, "that is if

you don't include all the phone calls to Australia!"