Sydney

Our last stop before returning to Iowa for the spring semester was Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, due to some scheduling problems with museum staff, I wasn’t able to conduct my research as planned. However, we did still get to see some of Sydney's impressive sights. We visited the world renowned Sydney Aquarium and ate a terrific seafood dinner on the Wharf. We relaxed on Shelly Beach and enjoyed a seafood/kangaroo pizza on the Manly promenade, and we took the ferry from the quay, past the Opera House, to Taronga Zoo. At Taronga, we just happened to be walking by the monotreme enclosure during feeding time and the zoo keeper actually let me pet an echidna, one of the world's two egg laying mammals (the other being the platypus). After picking up some obligatory last minute souvenirs (a boomerang for me and a didgeridoo for Tressa), we headed to the airport, saying goodbye to the sun, while thinking about the snow and ice waiting for us back in Iowa (along with all those pesky students!).

Adelaide, Australia

After a few days of being trapped in Beijing due to the worst blizzard to hit China in 60 years (costing us a trip to Vietnam), we finally arrived in Adelaide on January 6th. Now, unlike China, which was in the midst of an incredibly harsh and cold winter, Australia, being in the southern hemisphere, was in the middle of their summer. Stepping off the plane was like stepping out of a freezer into an oven. The very next day it hit a mind melting 115 degrees. While in Adelaide I had the opportunity to work with the Roonka collection at the South Australian Museum. The Roonka collection contains some of the few Australian specimens dating to the Pleistocene still available for study, with the Roonka East Bank 2 skull dating to as early as 20,000 years ago. In addition to the Roonka collection, the South Australian Museum also curates some of Australia's most prized archaeological discoveries, including the oldest known boomerang.

Adelaide is located in the Australian state of South Australia, which is a famous wine producing region. Tressa and I took advantage of the opportunity to visit the University of Adelaide's Wine Center, which explains the complexities of wine-making and provides the opportunity to taste some of the world's best wines. Tressa and I each leaped at the chance to enjoy 6 of the best wines we've ever put to our lips.

Adelaide is also located on the southern coast of Australia, which means it has some phenomenal beaches. Tressa and I made it a point to visit Glenelg beach one afternoon after work, making it just in time to enjoy one of the most incredible sunsets either of us had ever experienced.

Beijing, China

We arrived in freezing Beijing on the night of December 27th and made our way to our hotel near the forbidden city. Our hotel, the Sha Tan, was incredibly posh for the money we paid, but unfortunately it was a considerable distance from the metro, which made for some bone-chilling walks each day. On Monday the 28th, I made my way to the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), which holds the majority of China's most treasured fossils. I had previously met Dr. Liu Wu in South Africa while we were both studying in Johannesburg and Cape Town, which made working at IVPP considerably easier. One of the best things about working at IVPP was getting to eat lunch in the cafeteria, which served truly authentic Chinese food. I quickly learned that "lunch break" is a very loose concept in China, which meant that I really only had a few hours each day to get any work done. However, this did give me plenty of opportunity to visit the adjoining Paleozoological Museum, which is the only museum I've ever visted entirely devoted to fossils. While at IVPP had the opportunity to study a number of important fossil specimens such as Luijiang, Maba, and Lantian, as well as casts from Zhoukoudian (original fossils were lost during WWII), Jinniushan and Nanjing. Despite the freezing temperatures we also had the opportunity to visit some incredible sights such as the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and the Great Wall! Making the experience even better was the opportunity to meet up with Lewisville, TX friends the Sloan's and Cooper's who were in Beijing teaching English with "Let's Start Talking."

Tokyo

I arrived at Tokyo's Narita Airport on Monday, December 21st to work at the National Museum of Nature and Science. After the 45 minute ride on the Keisei Skyliner from the airport, I arrived in the Ueno district and my hotel. My very first indication that Tokyo was going to be my kind of town was that everything was clearly built for people my size (5'5)...doors only 6 feet high, doorknobs at waist level, urinals at a convenient elevation...I was made for this place! After dropping of my things in my room (and spending a few minutes marveling at my fully electronic toilet) I made my way down stairs to the hotel's restaurant and ordered up a big plate of maguro (tuna) sashimi! Full and exhausted, I drug myself back to my room where I fell asleep in a bed that, in the words of Goldi Locks, fit "just right." The next morning I braved the Tokyo metro system (it wasn't the mad house I was expecting) and made my way to the museum in the Shinjuku-ku district. At the Museum I met Dr. Reiko Kono, who was immensely helpful in getting me oriented in the collections (mostly labeled in Japanese). While there I worked with crania from the Incipient/Initial Jomon Period (i.e. Terminal Pleistocene) including the ~13,000 year old Shosenzuka Shell-mound specimen.

Wednesday the 23rd turned out to be a national holiday (Emperor's Birthday) which meant I had the opportunity to do some sight-seeing while waiting for Tressa and my sister, Caroline, to arrive for their Christmas breaks. I first visited the National Museum of Nature and Science exhibits in Ueno (the exhibits are in Ueno the collections are in Shinjuku-ku) where they have a great exhibit of the early peopling of Japan. I then visited the enormous Tokyo National Museum complex where they exhibit some of Japan's most important archaeological artifacts and traditional artwork (personal highlights include the collections of Jomon pottery and lithics, Samurai swords and armor, Ainu cultural heritage, and Chinese oracle bones). I met Tressa and Caroline at the train station around 4 pm, and after getting them settled in the hotel, we went out and ate more raw fish. For Christmas, we all got up early to enjoy a sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market before I left for work. Later that day, the Museum's Anthropology Department invited all of us to their end of the year party. We were expecting cake and punch...what we got was a 7 course Thai feast!

Over the weekend we visited countless attractions such as Ueno Park, the Meiji Shrine, and the Imperial Palace. But let's be clear, we're foodies, and our true highlights were the various eating establishments we patronized. We enjoyed sushi at classic conveyor-belt "Kaiten-zushi" restaurants, we experimented with skewered meat at yakitori bars, we ate the best Unagi (freshwater eel) on earth at the famous Unagi Kappo Izuei Honten restaurant (which has been grilling eel over the same fire for more than 260 years!), and we discovered some of Tokyo's lesser known delicacies, such as the most incredible Satsumaimo (sweet potato) desserts. We even managed to curb Tressa's last minute craving for Uni (Sea Urchin) at the airport while waiting for our flight to Beijing, China.

Tel Aviv & Jerusalem

My flight from Addis finally landed in Tel Aviv at 2:30AM (apparently they fly at night for security reasons) on December 9th. After an hour getting through passport control and then getting ripped-off by a cabbie who turned the meter off when I fell asleep in the back seat, I finally got to my hotel around 4 in the morning. Now, I know I should have gotten up and spent my one free day in Tel Aviv sight-seeing, but I just slept instead. The next day (Thursday), I took a cab to Tel Aviv University to study Qafzeh 9, Amud, and Ohallo 2. After work I took a scenic 30 mile cab ride to Jerusalem, where I was scheduled to work at the Rockefeller Museum the following Monday.

My hotel in Jerusalem was located in the Arab neighborhood right next to the Rockefeller and across from Herod's Gate. I spent the entire weekend wandering the winding streets of the Old City. I followed the path Christ carried the cross on the Via Dolorosa, ending at Golgotha and the Church of the Holy Sepluchre. I visited the pools of Bethesda, the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, and King David's Tomb. I said a prayer at the Western Wall, and strolled through the ruins of the Jerusalem Archaeological Park. On Monday, I hauled my gear across centuries old cobblestone sidewalks to the Rockefeller Museum to study the Zuttiyeh and Skhul 4 fossils. My flight left late on Tuesday, so I spent the morning roaming the Temple Mount around the Dome of the Rock (it's closed Friday through Sunday). Around 4 pm, I passed through the bustle of the suq to exit through the Damascus Gate and headed to the airport. It was sad leaving Jerusalem, it was an unbelievable experience.

Ethiopia

My plane touched down in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia about 3 hours late at 11 pm on December, 8th. Fortunately, my driver had waited faithfully for me and drove me to my hotel, where they reopened the kitchen just for me and made me some incredible tibs and injera (the Dimitri Hotel is awesome!). The next morning I took a cab (basically, a guy the hotel paid to drive me around in his 1992 Ford Escort) to The National Museum. After meeting with the museum's director, I was taken to the fossil lab where I got to see the Bodo cranium (quite possibly my favorite fossil of all time) and the omo crania (the oldest known H. sapiens fossils dated to 195,000 years ago). During my lunch hour, I had an opportunity to tour the museum exhibits. Some of the highlights included an exhibit on the recent Herto remains (H. sapiens idultu), the walk through human evolution in Ethiopia, and the "Lucy Room." Ironically, after I traveled all the way to Addis Ababa, Lucy, probably the most famous fossil in the world, was sitting in an exhibit in Houston, Texas.

At 5 pm, my driver picked me back up and drove me through Addis back to my hotel which was a real adventure. At one point the driver veered off the "paved" road into the ditch...I eventually realized that the dirt ditch was now the road. I've lived in 3rd world countries, and seen my share of suffering, but I don't think anything can prepare one for the level of poverty in Addis; it's truly gut-wrenching. Having taking all my measurements on the first day, I spent the entire second day trying to figure out the Ethiopian banking system in order to pay my $20 museum fee, which ended up costing me $35 in taxi fares. I finished the day at Bole International Airport, waiting for my 1 am flight to Tel Aviv, Isreal.

Cape Town

I arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday, November 12th to work at the Iziko South African Museum and the University of Cape Town. Dan Proctor had suggested the Holyrood apartment across the street from the Iziko Museum and the Company Gardens, in the middle of the City Bowl with a great view of Devil's Peak. After studying the Fish Hoek cranium, the Klaises River Mouth fossils, and the Blombos Cave Ochre, I spent a little time touring Cape Town. I went up to Table Mountain to take in the view, and to the Castle of Good Hope, the V&A Waterfront and the Two Oceans Aquarium. During my stay the World Cup Draw was held on Long Street, just behind my apartment building. I enjoyed the festivities from my window and was glad that there were no incidences (apparently there were actually a few bomb threats but nothing happened).