water wings please

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Wow. I can't believe it is March already & the last time I wrote an entry was at the beginning of Feb!

I can tell I have been avoiding checking my email, writing emails & putting any sort of update on here.
I think things will get better as I get more settled. I am still waiting to move into my flat and stop living out of my suitcase. Only 11 more days to go! woo!!
Currently I am staying at a small hostel that calls itself "HolidayCamp" ??? Your guess is as good as mine!

As an exercise in learning how to use an online discussion forum for one course we had to post 2 truths & 1 lie about ourselves for the class to read & debate.
Here was one of mine: "I live in a room with 5 girls." (TRUTH)!
The responses were quite amusing!
- i think that living in a room with 5 girls is a bit hard to believe/comprehend!
- How could 5 girls co-exist in the same room? Not a chance!
- The five girls is the lie, that would be a big room.
- and one bathroom?
- You poor thing if you are bunking in with five girls, if you are I hope you have air conditioning.

Much else has happened since a month ago - We were thrown into the classroom last week on Thursday morning sans life-jackets or even water wings. The week before we had been given a photocopy of a chapter in the students' textbook and were told simply: "You have 4 weeks. Teach it." My partner and I were given a small group of year 9's in a public school and the unit of "Light." We had a couple of days to sort out a "plan" but in my head I was still going "what the hell!?!" The morning came quickly & I wasn't freaked out or anything until my partner showed up a half hour late with all of our equipment. I had been prepared to have a go on my own without any resources. I "reckon" the biggest challenge for the next 3 sessions is not the subject matter or planning or how to present it to the students but simply the dynamics between me & my partner. At first I felt relieved that we were working in pairs but after having delved into the planning & subject matter together I am thinking that the partnership work is going to be the challenge. Our approaches & teaching styles are on different sides of the board.

Other updates:
Nature: I haven't run into any scary creatures yet but maybe I should save my words. There was a mini-tarantula with long long legs on the wall outside Laura's flat. We promptly slammed the door. I have been running in wild-ish parkland where a sign warns of snakes...

Shopping Accessories: I bought a spiffy granny trolley for shopping at the market. 24 years old going on 60. To borrow words from my pal, "my fruit & veggies should be so lucky!" hahaha

Language: I attend my "choots" regularly (tuts -- tutorials).

Peeve: You're hard-pressed to find a regular 'ol iced coffee here. You know? Simply the kind of coffee that you want to pick-you-up but it's too damn hot out? Well swap that into Australian terms and you get "ice-creamed coffee." Think: coffee and milk with a chunk of ice-cream plopped in the middle. Translation: more of a dessert, less of a cold coffee drink - fine if you feel like a little indulgence but less-so if you simply want to cool down & perk up!

Weather: It was piping hot here for a few days, especially shortly after my arrival. It has however cooled down since. It is quite amusing when we refuse to go to the beach when it's only 25 degrees, or a forecast of 21 elicits "that's freezing!" (To stop pins going into little Leah voodoo dolls - there are no real beaches around here! I don't just run off to the beach every afternoon! And at least you're all warm & cozy with your families & friends)!

Acronyms: They sure like them here! SGS UMOSS UMPA SAC VELS VCAA LOTE TAFE I could go on and on and on. What the hell do they all mean!?!?! arg!

Buses: Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't. I hop on the bus to get to uni instead of walking for 30 min. I came home the other night on the bus & much enjoyed the ride. The bus driver was younger and had Madonna blaring over the speakers. It made me smile. hahaha

Bones: I've been to the chiropractor here who's assesssed my running shoes (good, corrective) and adjusted a few of my bones... like my elbow! :-P I don't think the collarbone & shoulder blade are going to stay loosey goosey unless I quickly move on from my hostel mattress.

Movies: There is a neat movie theatre here that has a slanted floor & room filled with enormous bean-bags as chairs. Seats are assigned on two or three-seater bean bags. Just hope you like your neighbour next to you! :-P

Words: It's good fun trying to pick up how to pronounce those ultra Australian place names like Geelong & Toorak & Elgin (soft g). Even more fun when an Aussie say's he's been to Canada. He's been to 'N-EYE ay GAra' (Niagara). 😊

Adventures: I'm off to explore the area around Melbourne for the next few weekends on day trips organized through UMPA (uni melb postgrad assoc -- i THINK)! hahaha - Great Ocean Road, Philip Island, koalas, tree-top walks on platforms, the Grampians parkland & aboriginal art and seeing itsy bitsy penguins toddle up the beach at dusk (now I will have seen them in 2 unlikely places! Africa & Australia)!

Alright! Off I go upstairs to my holidaycamp bed. nite nite.

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