Back in Korea I've been doing my regular teacher-training programs which are always a real pleasure to teach. This time around we have French and German highschool teachers, who are being retrained as English teachers due to low interest in European languages in high schools these days. Students are voting with their feet and believe that English will help in their future lives much more than German or French ever could. Understandably many of the teachers on the program are upset that the language they have put their heart and soul into over the last ten to twenty years is suddenly being taken off the curriculum and it is a situation of either be retrained or retrenched.

Melbourne

I like the European feel of Melbourne in the cafe culture, the attention to creative window displays, numerous galleries, and theaters. There's more of an arty, alternative feel to this city, whereas Sydney seems to be more about beach, sports and the barbie.

The Daimaru group has done a great job of integrating this old tower inside a modern, conical dome, and it has become a landmark of Central station. Sad part is that most tourists are more drawn to the tacky parade of robotic birds that come out of a hanging clock on the other side of the tower.

Arriving back in Melbourne after more than a two year's absence was a shocking experience for me. This place has really gone ahead with lots of interesting new architecture, and an inner-city vibrancy which has seen the number of inner-city residents climb from a mere 100 in the 1980s into tens of thousands today. Lots of the new apartments going up have an experimental quality absent in the prefabricated look of Sydney ones - oh yes, let me keep the rivalry between the tale of two cities alive.

As soon as I got home to Stawell, mum put me to work on a rural property, where she is working as a part-time landscape gardener. Inspired by the environmental artist, Peter Booth, we put together a spiral-shaped structure made off huge slabs of stone - guess who did all the lifting. Mum being her usual indecisive self (something I've inherited by the way) decided the next day that we needed to have more spacing between each stone so I had to redo the entire sculpture. Once it is all surrounded by a native garden it will, we believe, be an impressive sight.

The Grampians near my hometown of Stawell in the state of Victoria are a majestic group of ranges that are still not very frequently visited as they are off the beaten track. Many reports of wild pumas (that originally escaped from a travelling circus and then bred up in the wild) have been made by locals and campers over the years but I have yet to personally come across any on the hiking trails.

A quintessentially Aussie country pub circa 1920s.

"Succulents" as they are know by gardeners are very hardy and thrive well in the drought conditions that have been affecting Australia over the last year. The English cottage garden look is out and low maintenance native and succulent gardens are slowly making an appearance more and more.

Return to Oz

After a one and a half year absence I finally step back onto Australian land once more. It's a thrill to be home again even if it means yoyoing back to Korea again in three weeks time.

The ferry to Manly takes in some amazing views of coastline. I love the overriding presence of nature in Australian capital cities, whether in gardens, parks, tree-lined streets or national parks surrounding the city.

A beautiful bay and unnerving real estate prices. An idyllic place to settle for a chosen few while most Sydneysiders are forced out into the southern and western suburbs. For those of the 'lost generation' like myself affordability will translate as settling in a smaller, less desirable city such as Adelaide or Hobart. That is if I ever manage to settle back in Australia after 12 years on the international circuit...

The Emerald city is just as stunning as ever, but even more so with the booming economy over the last 10 years and the very conspicuous consumption taking place. Somehow though, it also seems to be glitz and glam at the expense of substance.