December 1959 School Magazine

Brisbane Girls~ Grammar S.chool Maqa·zine

December, 1959

De cember, 1959

Brisbane Girl9 1 Grammar School Magazine

The year was not quite at the Spring, but the day was at the morn and it was very little after seven. The hillside was a little too covered with houses to be called dew-pearled, but the roses in the garden next door still hid a few dew drops amongst their petals. Perhaps there was no lark on the wing, neither was there a snail on the thorn, but the sparrows were chirping merrily and the pigeons were making soft coo-ing sounds, and my two white cabbage butterflies were still dancing around the garden. In many respects, our little world's were vastly different, but there was one thing the poet and I both felt-God was in his heaven and all was right with the world. R.M.B. V C. ON FIRST ACQUAINTANCE. Gazing down on an expanse of brown faces as we pulled a longside Port Moresby Wharf, we wondered how we would ever tell them apart. Their curly black hair, their pearly white teeth, and. their glistening brown skins made them all look so very similar. However , we soon learnt that these people are every bit as individual in both looks and character as Europeans; and before long we could recognise in any crowd, not only our own boy, but a lso his friends. Similarly, they took obvious delight in greeting us wherever they saw us with a cheery, "Good-day Sinnabada" (to my mother) or, "Good-day Taubada" (to my father). The New Guinea equivalent, "Arpy-noon missus" or "Master" (regardless of the time of day) amused us immensely . Naturally houseboys vary in ability. On one occasion we discovered Dad's coloured woollen socks simmering gently on top of the sheets in the copper. Even after having found a ·satisfactory boy, a ll is not plain sailing. Language difficulties ! Kemu's face appeared at the kitchen door, "You got marshes, Sinnabada?" My mother was quite bewildered, and after he had made several equally unsuccessful attempts at different pronunciations, he gave a little sigh and commenced labori- ously (he had been to mission school), "M-A-T-C." Subsequently when difficulties arose he would produce little notes, some of which clarified the issue while some confused matters still further. Our neighbours had a nasty experience one evening. A scream from the kitchen brought them running to find that the 31

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SUSAN BAKER, IV.D

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