WHEN IN ROME (SYDNEY AIRPORT CAFE)

AS I sit sipping a slightly bitter latte, Kathryn and her entourage arrive. Kim, her Sydney flatmate, Mal, her boyfriend and Gin and Mitch who are parents of Kathryn's Kunming flatmate. Ginny and Mitch had worked as language teachers in China for two two-year stints and carried out several other activities of a people of the book nature while there.

(I am sure my mother, on reading the preceding paragraph would remark something to the effect of "There's my latte sipping Sydney boy". To this I would reply,
"My dear mother - surely when you are in Rome..."

Apparently Mitch had worked at John Wycliffe school for a number of years - a school very similar to the one I attended. We discussed the merits of parent-controlled schools and the dangers of academic mediocrity. I came away galvanised to create academic freedom for teachers in order to set high standards for students.