Once again, Australians have stunned me with generosity. I spent the weekend with 20 newly arrived AFS exchange students, 20 newly returned exchange students and 10 or so hopefuls. The purpose of these quarterly weekend camps is to prepare the kids for their time in a new culture and that means lots of sessions to get them thinking about what they face and how their expectations can change their experience. Discussion time needs to be balanced with physical activity or they’d never sit still long enough to gain any insights. And all that activity means lots of hungry kids.
On the way to the camp, we stopped at The Bakery of Goulburn for dinner. They make a variety of gourmet meat pies and my chicken satay pie hit the spot late on a Friday evening, still an hour from the camp site. We were the last customers in the bakery as staff shut the doors and began the long process of cleaning up. One of the staff came over to make sure we were enjoying our pies.
When we explained where we were going, she gave us an armful of bags and said, ‘please take what you like.’ Each evening, she told us, they give the unsold bread to the homeless. ‘But we’re worried that we’re creating a generation of fat homeless people,’ she said with a smirk. They were delighted to be able to give some of the excess to another cause and the hungry kids of AFS appreciated it.