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Mr John McAnulty

Consul General of Australia in Vietnam, Vietnam Field Trip 2013

A Blast from the Past

What a surprise it was to visit the Bao Luc Hospital in Lam Dong Prince to witness firsthand the wonderful work being undertaken by the Vietnam Vision Team and to meet up with Max Bunter, a teacher of mine at Wagga Wagga High School during the 1960s. While we did not recognise one another, and this be expected since it is close to 44 years since I left school, once Max introduced himself I immediately remembered having a teacher by the same name. When I mentioned to Max that I had a teacher called Max Bunter in Wagga Wagga he looked straight at me, his jaw dropped, and so did mine, and I said 'it was you'. Once we recovered from the surprise reunion we reminisced about our good times at Wagga Wagga High School. And they were good times indeed, wonderful teachers such as Max, who was also a coach of one of the schools rugby league teams in which I played.  

On my infrequent trips back to Wagga I always drive past the High School and reminisce about the good times that we had, and the occasional bit of trouble one got into. I can vividly remember Max as one of my teachers, and he was a good one, and no doubt he had to counsel me on occasions to knuckle down and do my schoolwork. 

I am now looking forward to the Vietnam Vision Team returning to Vietnam next year and being reacquainted with Max and reminiscing about our time together 44 years ago.