With no City Council meeting today, it’s not surprising some members might take a quick trip. But all the way down to Oita, Japan?
That’s where Laura Morrison is heading today, leading a delegation to Austin’s sister city.
This isn’t the first official trip to Oita, Austin’s sister city for approximately two decades; Morrison notes one occurred well over a decade ago, during the Kirk Watson era. For this trip, she’s quick to add that “Oita, the city, is offering the trip and paying all my expenses.”
One trait the sister cities share is a love of music. Morrison says “they have a music festival going on, and I have a proclamation from Lee proclaiming both Oita and Austin the live music capitals of the world!” She says she’ll take in some music, meet with their council and staff, and do some sightseeing – once she makes it over the jet lag.
“It’s a 24 hour flight. They wanted to take us out to dinner when we got there at night,” she says of the Oita delegation, “but it turns out they just wanted to take us out to diner because they were afraid we would be hungry. I think we’ll be sleepy.”
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This article appears in October 1 • 2010.