Flat Stanley Down Under
magikquilter June 12th, 2008
Introduction and Background
A few posts ago I caused much confusion here on my blog when I wrote that I had an illegal alien visitor. The consternation was even greater at home after I published the post of him with a photograph of him getting friendly with my naked Art Deco Lady figurine! This was purely accidental as Stanley was in such a weakened state when he arrived that she was simply propping him up! I quickly realised that it would seem really inappropriate to some parents and teachers even though the children have seen far more risque things on the Simpsons.
I also took the opportunity to research Stanley and found out that he was a grade school boy …here I was thinking he was an adult …. I had planned all along to do a story of an illegal alien or how he was here incognito! After a few days of pulling my hair out we had the worst rain we have had in years. Of course here in Australia we do not mind the rain and after years of drought we certainly do not wish it away! However it just kept teeming down and as Stanley had arrived here 28/5/08 and had to be home by 12/6/08 the clock was ticking! So we dressed in polar fleece and boots and scarves and wraps and that’s just CJ, and hardily ventured forth to get some photos of nearby landmarks. The Bridge and the Opera House was out as Stanley would simply have blown away, never to be found. So out of this tricky situation the story about illegals and Stanley’s secret mission continued to unfurl. With the photos I had managed to take of him in my everyday life and with the addition of the photos of some historic buildings I strung together a story based around the actual photos.
As I had read that the Stanley project had won awards in the early 2000’s I thought that it would be good to showcase the new technology available to children and adults in various forms today. This involved my favourite photo site and that led to an actual group there where people worldwide can see Stanley’s adventures. After that it made sense to have the story up in blog format because that is how Alyssa and I met through her mother, in November last year. A few months before we met I could barely send an email, had to ask my son every two minutes what to do and ended up having a three month break from blogging as sheer terror set in! Yet here I am choosing to do this project using multi media ie photo sharing and blogging and e-books! I simply cannot believe myself!
I hope Alyssa and her classmates have fun with this…I picture them accessing this via the blog or the photo sharing site on a television linked to a computer somewhere in their school and then later sharing it with their families on their home computers. We truly live in a wonderful time. I would like to thank my son CJ who taught me most of what I know and Alyssa and her mother and her teacher for letting me have the time of my life!
Flat Stanley Down Under
Today a very special visitor arrived. He was a long time in transit and was quite cold and hungry.. After Kathleen wrapped him in one of her handmade quilts and he had finished a bowl of soup he felt much better. He then had a little doze and was wide awake when CJ and David came home that evening.
Before he had his nap he told Kathleen that he was on a mission here in our town and wanted to spend time with us and generally see what children here are like. One of the first things he did was ask Kathleen to send an email to Alyssa to let her know he had arrived safely. Then he posed for a photo of himself saying hello while Kathleen was online blogging that evening.
The next day Stanley met Kathleen, David and CJ’s good friend Bettina and her son Daniel for afternoon tea. Bettina had not heard of his travels before and thought it was a good idea to help literacy. She was surprised he managed to get into the country without a customs inspection though and they had a long talk about what it means in Australia to be an illegal alien. Her two daughters were busy at work so could not meet Stanley today.
Kathleen later told Stanley that Bettina’s parents were migrants from Egypt and her husband’s from Poland. A lot of people left Europe after the war, especially Jewish people who had lost everything in World War Two. Strangely after the war Kathleen said that a lot of refugees were called illegal aliens even though they were allowed in the country.
Stanley was really happy to meet Daniel as he had seen the photo of his Bah Mitzvah quilt and had read about it on Kathleen’s blog when he was researching his visit. He was surprised though that Daniel has a deep voice now and is a young man already! They had fun talking about books and school and literacy and computers.
Stanley could not tell him his mission though as it was critical to keep it quiet in case word got out that he was in the country illegally. He did not want to end up in a detention centre somewhere. They then went to the gaming shop to check out the latest Playstation and Nintendo games. They had a fun together and the time went by very quickly.
Stanley decided to do an experiment he had seen on the Simpsons. Instead of the toilet he decided to climb into the sink to see which way the water went down the plughole….clockwise or anti clockwise…. what do you think?
Kathleen had many discussions about education here and politics and science fiction books and blogging and David filled him in on cricket and Aussie Rules football. CJ discussed games and writing stories and poetry and reading science fiction and bookclubs and education and the Coriolis effect.
He also explained to Stanley that Australia is a highly skilled society and all the private high school students and a lot of the public ones too have their own laptops to take to school every day! Also when Aussies travel from Australia they take their laptops with them so they can stay in touch with family and friends. CJ said that they do not like to be disconnected.
At last, the end of the mission in sight! Stanley hopes the Mayor will allow the Australian Stanley’s to come visit America after he reads the invitation personally delivered by Stanley. It would all be worth it if so. All the hours in the envelope, all the cold hours without food and a warm coat or even a blanket. Thank goodness Kathleen is a quilter and is going to make sure his return envelope is nice and thick and warm and safe!
He would really like the other Stanleys to show how similar the society is where he lives and would love for some of the Australian school children to share in how they live and to see the history of his country. They have had a War of Independence in his country and they have had tall buildings destroyed by people who do not understand the people. Maybe the children could show the parents how alike they all are, inside.
The beautiful building made Stanley feel as if he was living in a different time. He was glad he saw it in darkness because it gleamed and shimmered in the night. This is where all the local government was transacted in the 1800 and 1900’s. The new council chambers is behind the building and CJ said the proudest moment of his life was when his parents became Australian citizens there several years ago.
An interesting thing is that the original Council Chambers is just across the road and Kathleen said that David, CJ and herself lived in the building for five years as Vergers for the Church of England, so they know all about the area and the schools!
Kathleen and Stanley are having a lovely time at her favourite coffee shop. They are sitting in the area where the people who work eat their lunch so as not to attract too much attention. Paul who runs the restaurant has a daughter named Mia and she is about Stanley’s age and unfortunately she is camera shy. Mia also has a quilt that Stanley saw on Kathleen’s blog, he wished she could see the quilt Alyssa’s mother made for him.
She thinks his mission is cool and just wishes that she too could be flattened so that she could go overseas on secret missions. Mia said that she would not go in an envelope though, she said she would go inside a laptop!
“A laptop …that is so cool,” said Stanley.
Mia said she would love to travel that way and then whoever owns the laptop could send an email or do a blog post saying she is safe and also document her journey in real time…like on 24.
Stanley said, “on 24 what”?
Kathleen said that Australian children are maybe a little too sophisticated in what they watch on television and that as a parent she was a bit worried about who the person who owned the laptop was and if they were safe. Mia told them that the school would take care of all that, as they had arranged for Stanley to stay here with Kathleen.
“Point taken,” Kathleen said.
As Kathleen and Stanley stood in the freezing wind he thought about all the the people he had met and the beautiful sandstone building she had seen. Kathleen had told him the people here aren’t so different from the people back home. They are very friendly and love their children and want the world to be a better place. They work hard and like to keep discovering new things in science and technology. They have only been here on this land though for such a short time …just over 200 years.
Stanley thought they must have been very brave, all those people who came here and built this country. The convicts who made the buildings from sandstone from the quarries and the free settlers who chose to make a better life for their families. Even Kathleen’s parents did that in 1962, she said they left everything behind to make a new life here, thousands of miles from anything they knew.
Seeing the statue of Captain James Cook made Stanley feel quite excited. What a great thing it would be, to discover a country. Then all the brave people would come and build a community and then other communities eventually all over the new land.
He was very quiet on the walk back to the flat. Maybe there was somewhere left where he could explore, somewhere that could end up being a place for refugees and settlers and the brave of heart.
“CJ, when is the first manned mission to a planet going to be?” asked Stanley.
Stanley is a little sad that he will not be here for much longer, but he knows he must report back on his mission to Alyssa and the rest of the class and to tell them of his plans for the future.
- Quilting
- Comments(1)
OH Kathleen it’s great. We can’t wait for him to get back home what a great idea you had for his “book” we loved looking at the pictures and I will be printing them out for her to save.
Am so glad she saw the photo e-book this morning. I introduced Stanley at the Post Office they knew he had to get back by the 12th and I did express post as well!! Oh well as long as he is back before she breaks up…although it is going to your home so she will see him there anyway.