Celebrations, celebrations, celebrations!

Wow, it’s been nearly a week.  Life in Darwin is so quick to suck you in.  After the excursion Monday the week was just filled with business.  

Wednesday I finally got to meet Mr. G! Mr. G is a teacher at Amy’s school he is this Italian teacher who is so energetic and fun! What a riot!!  So Amy, Rose and I headed down to this Jazz Pub that his band was playing at.  What fun! It was just like a place you’d see in the U.S.  They had this live band up on stage, people were inside and outside just enjoying the music and then at their break a group of people got up and started teaching and doing swing dancing.  The band was great, the company was entertaining and the adventure making it there was all so fitting.  

Thursday started out as I walked into school and the secretary informed me that the relief teacher that had been scheduled to cover in my classroom that day was being moved into a different classroom because that teacher had called in sick, so would I mind being the relief teacher on my own.  So day 9 and I was the classroom teacher at Wanguri Primary School, in Darwin, Australia to a group of 24 year 3/4 students.  It was so much fun! The day went smoothly, the students were excited that I got to be the teacher all day, and we had some fun activities to do.  Nothing like jumping in :)

Then our uni professor, Lorraine, had also invited us over for dinner and drinks.  It was her son Tim’s birthday.  We had this fantastic lamb (it’s a very popular dish around here) roast with potatoes, veggies, wine and homemade cheesecake for dessert.  It was fun comparing stories and hearing about their lives as well as sharing  a bit about ours.  After that Amy and I headed out to the pub up the road with Tim to celebrate St. Patty’s Day / his birthday.  We hung out there for the evening and met up with some of his mates to celebrate... St. Patty’s Day is a huge deal around here, another excuse to head to the pub :)

Friday I had another excursion planned to take our RCS (Student Leadership) student to this “Anti-Bullying Conference”.  It was really interesting because they really made a big emphasis on helping their classmates not participate in bullying, because even being just a bystander who does nothing is not helping the situation.  Our group of 6 were the youngest ones there, but they held there own.  Volunteering answers, participating in skits and suggesting solutions to problems... I was quite proud.  They provided us with a fantastic morning tea of muffins and oranges as well as a whole spread for lunch of mini sandwiches and fruit trays, along with some “sausage rolls” and “meat-pies” that are some typical lunch foods here.  We ended the day with a nice night in, dinner and a movie.  

Saturday morning Belinda and I hopped on our bikes and rode out to Parap for our fruit shopping at the local market.  It ended up raining on us 90% of the time, which was actually a nice way to combat the heat.  It was such a nice ride and we enjoyed a nice iced coffee before we headed home.  So 3 hours later we had gotten a nice ride in and were already home ready for lunch.  After lunch Amy and I headed down to the TiO Stadium to watch the Footy Grand Finals.  What an interesting sport! The guys who had invited us to go played at 2:30 and so we got to sit there learning the game, and actually being able to cheer individuals on because we knew them! Mr. G helped to explain some of the rules when we had questions, but overall I would have to say that it is a game I could really get into! It’d be interesting to try playing sometime!  Also there were some students games going on so we went and watched some of the little kiddos getting really into the game before we went and finished watching the final quarter of our friends, the Banks Bulldogs, game.  They ended up winning in a close 65 - 60 final scoring game.  We hung around and watched the rest of the next game as well (it was another division) but then wanted to head downtown for dinner before dark.  So Amy and I attempted to catch a bus into town to grab dinner, but lo-and behold the busses weren’t running on the weekends at the bus stop we made it to.  We ended up, after about 30 minutes of headache, just hailing a cab as quick as we could since some shadier individuals were making their way steadily closer to our bus stop.  We grabbed the cab to the pub up the road from our places where we met up with Belinda and Ross who drove us into town and gave us a few suggestions of where to eat.  We ended up at this nice little Italian restaurant where the waiter and cook were so pleasant, and so interested in our visit from America that they gave us our breadsticks on the house since we were so famished we were ready to devour anything!  We then hopped around to a few of the pubs around there area.  My favorite was this place called “The Tap”.  It was real nice little pub with all this outdoor seating, water lagoons, and these drinks called Fish Bowls.  They were these fruit concoctions that had pineapples and melons in it, not to mention they were really sweet lemon-lime lemonade flavorish beverages that came in fun bright colors.  It was definitely a nice night out.  

Sunday is a day of relaxation and work (oxymoron?)  I slept in quite well and then made it out for a quick run (Mr. G thinks I’m a good runner, so now I’ve got to get into running shape before our jog next week! yikes!) and have been getting my Unit completed to start teaching this week.  While here I’ve decided to do a Unit of Study on How to Write a Narrative.  My students have this large competition that they enter pieces of writing into and so Mara and I decided that might be a fun unit for me to work on with the students.  In a little bit here Lorraine and I are going out on another ride around town which should be nice and then it’s back to Monday!

G’day! :)

My trip to the Gaol...

What a great few days!  Sunday actually brought about the bike ride, Lorraine and I rode along the coast up to Nightcliff which ended up being about an hour - hour and fifteen bike ride.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  There were cliffs, waves, sandy beaches (that no one sunbathes on because “it’s too hot”, and “there’s a hole in the ozone”, and “they get enough sun” Ooh and there are jellyfish EVERYWHERE! Anyways the bike ride was a beautiful way to finish off my first week in Darwin (I can’t believe it’s been one week!!).  

Monday I got to school ( a touch late after missing my turn... twice :/) to find that the year 5/6 were going on an “excursion” and a chaperone bailed... so who got volunteered?! I was quite please to say the lease.  So I quick grabbed my lunch and we were off to the “Bureau of Meteorology”, “Fannie Bay Gaol”, and the “Museums and Art Gallery of the NT”.  I got to watch a weather balloon get launched, listen to William tell stories about storm chasing, have Andrew explain all the different tools and methods of collecting the weather data at the Bureau of Meteorology.  Then at the Fannie Bay Gaol (Jail) we learned all about the jail house that housed all the convicts in Darwin, capital punishment, and how Cyclone Tracy changed everything in Darwin.  Which fit perfectly into the Cyclone Tracy exhibit we went to see at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT (Northern Territory).  It showed the devastation, before and after photos, and even sent you into a room that showed the true sounds that people were hearing all around you in a pitch black room (it was haunting).  We then explored the rest of the museum, so my group of 10 5th and 6th graders stopped to see Sweetheart (a replica of the 5.5 meter saltwater crocodile that lived in the Finnis River. After Sweetheart and Cyclone Tracy I convinced my group to look at the Aboriginal Artwork (I know I’m a con-artist taking advantage of these children looking up to me, in order to explore the museum for my personal attraction to it ;)).  They actually thoroughly enjoyed it though! They were calling me over to look at the fishing nets, hand crafted jewelry, tree bark artwork and totem poles.  Despite the sunburn and blistering heat, we all truly enjoyed the excursion.  

Let us see.. some more colloquial phrases..

ugly as... fun as... sweet as... (not just ugly, cool, fun, sweet, awesome)

Mum and mummy (never Mom)

Ranga (nickname for a red head--- short for Orangoutang)

Kris (Kristin) --- Haha, I forgot to mention this but Aussie shorten everyones names.  So Kristin becomes Kris, Belinda becomes Be.. etc etc.  However if you already have a short name .. like Ross .. they tend to extend your name to Rossco, or Tim to Timmy or if you’re last name is Brown to Brownie.  It’s great :)

Enjoying the City

Here is the thing I find most enjoyable about Australia; EVERYONE travels.  Belinda and Ross, my host family, have been to France, Rome, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand... the list goes on.  I was chatting with some gentlemen yesterday and they’re talking about how maybe we take a weekend trip to the Barrier Reef.  Mara, my cooperating teacher (CT), recommended I take a trip over to Kakadu one of these weekends and Amy’s host family suggested that on our week vacation hopping on a plane up to Bali is reasonable.  So I think I will do this, all of this!

The way that the school is set up is that there are four ten week terms.  Term one and term two as well as term three and four are separated by week long breaks and there is a two (?) week break halfway.  So I am just starting week 8 tomorrow and then after week 10 Amy and I are planning on heading up to Bali for 4 days, we found cheap flights and a great deal on a 4 day housing package.  So it looks like Bali here I come!

Besides that I have to say the thing I probably like least is how expensive it is here! Goodness! (which I got teased quite profusely for saying yesterday, apparently only old “Mums” say that, not 20-somethings).  Amy and I headed to downtown Darwin for the day yesterday.  But first I must back up...

Friday after school let out, I came home and went for a nice jog around the neighborhood... I mean what better way to get to know where you’re living! Each day I take a different route.  After I got home Belinda got home from work and suggested we head downtown for a few drinks.  I must say Australian wine is FANTASTIC, and it doesn’t hurt to be drinking it on an outdoor veranda on the coast.  The pictures wont do it justice, but the dock was really cool and there were some amazing boats.  Another thing.. they don’t tip in Australia.  You actually typically get really poor service and the waiters are paid, quite well I might add, so you do not tip.  Which is alright because a typical dinner is around $20 a plate but can be upwards of $40 or $50 for some of the nicer fish or steak plates.  So Belinda and I enjoyed a nice glass of wine before coming back home for dinner and a relaxing night in with more wine and a movie.  

The view of the boats

Australian wine and view :)

This is the rest of the restaurant view

And down the other side of the dock

Saturday we woke up and headed down to the street market.  What a fascinating place! There was an aboriginal band that was playing and chanting for a little while and lining the streets (and when I say lining there was no semblance of an actual line whatsoever) were all these food carts, aboriginal art carts, shoe carts, jewelry stands, and TONS of fresh fruit and vegetable tents.  There was anything and everything.  I of course (stupidly) forgot my camera in my other bag, but they head down every Saturday morning so I will have to take photos next weekend. 

After the market Amy and her host family Rose and Bernie came and picked me up and they kindly dropped us off in downtown Darwin for the day.  We walked around (and did the toursity thing) to buy post cards, cellular phone plans, and of course take in a bit of the local product.  First we stopped at a coffee shop, where I, again, ordered an Iced Coffee.  This time there was ICE CREAM in it!!  

Oh it was quite fantastic, however now I have no clue what I’m going to get when I order Iced Coffee here.  Belinda and Ross reckon that I need to order and “Iced Long Shot” if I want the typical American iced black coffee.  We’ll give that a shot next time and who knows what I’ll end up with! :) 

Amy and I walked around the city, visited a few historical sites (entirely on purpose as you all know my fantastic sense of direction :))

Town Hall Ruins (duh :))

The story behind the ruins

The view from the walkway we had to take to get down to the Wharf

(you can see the Wharf in the distance of the background)

Because of the Crocs they have this wave pool to play in

More views from our walkway

Another view of the wharf and the city below it

Oh and there are pubs everywhere!  We enjoyed a different Australian made beverage at each stop, so that we’d find what we liked.  We also ran into some of the local team AFL players at the first pub we visited.  They were kind enough to entertain us with stories and tips about what to do while in Darwin as well as what to be careful of.  Apparently if you go out to a pub you need to be very mindful of your beverage when around a lot of people because there have been some problems as of late in Australia with drinks getting spiked.  The guys also invited us out to their Grand Finale Championship game next Saturday, so Amy and I figure with how big the sport is here, and how often our students talk about it, we’ll try to make it out to our first (and most likely only, at least for a while) AFL game.  Should be interesting!

As a side note, back to the expensive topic.  While chatting with these guys the one started talking about how the AFL payed for his housing, which is good because the apartment he had in downtown Darwin runs at $800 A WEEK.  It is incredibly! Apparently most places are $500 a week, you can sometimes find cheaper! Well lets just say I shut my mouth quite quickly about how I was wishing my rent would be cheaper in the U.S. when I get home!

Today is now Sunday, it’s been a great day! Went for a jog, had a little swim in the pool here and then Lorraine, my “uni” (university) professor was going to take me on a bike ride to show me around town.  However, it looks like we might have a big storm rolling in.  Oh, and today I tried vegemite and I have to say it isn’t all that bad! The trick is you eat it on toast put a layer of butter on first and then a really REALLY thing layer of vegemite over the top.  It has a yeasty-salty kind of flavor.  I can’t say I want to eat it everyday, but I would say it doesn’t deserve it’s stigma.  

Time to finish up a lesson before tomorrow! G’day mates!

Oh and I promise more pictures soon!!  I can only upload so many at once as it takes a loong time :)

Settling into a new chapter...

So the saying that seems to be throwing me off the most, is probably the most simple.  “How are you going?”  This is the typical greeting for Australians.  Whenever it’s asked though it sounds like “Where are you going?” Sometimes I’ve gotten some interesting looks with my response. However I am getting used to it now!  “Have a think about that now would you!” :)

Also I would be a Maths major, not a Math major.  They call it Maths, which actually makes a lot of sense since you are doing multiple fields within Mathematics, however it just is interesting to hear.  Sometimes “it takes a fair whack of time” to get through our Maths lessons however the students seem to genuinely enjoy Maths, and those that don’t rarely complain.  Our days are split so that we do different subjects 3 or 4 days a week, however Maths and Reading are a constant throughout each typical day.  In our Writing lessons we’re talking about “full stops” (periods) and making sure not to forget them... the same lesson I was attempting to teach my 3rd graders in Grand Rapids right before I left.  

Let’s see a typical day.  I wake up around 5:30 (because I can’t sleep much later! Mind you if it’s 5:30 am in Darwin, it is 2:30 pm in Grand Rapids), get ready (eat breakfast, and pack a lunch) and head off to school around 6:45.  It’s a 15 minute bike ride on my fancy schmancy Dunlop Blackhawk 50 pound Mountain Bike :).  This morning, rode to school in a rain.. but the rain here is fantastic! It is a warm but refreshing rain that is so wonderful! If the rain was like this back home.. I truly wouldn’t mind walking around in it!  Get to school and our day follows as I’ve mentioned.  We stay after school and work on preparing for the next day.  Friday’s the staff all get together and have some drinks and barbeque after school.  I get back to Belinda and Ross’s and take the two little Staffy’s for a run around the area.  We clean up and share a dinner, watch some television and hit the hay.  

Mara is also super involved.  She leads dancings, drama, Student Leadership, as well as being the go-to person for it seems everything! The Students Leadership for this new year (they are in the 7th week of their first quarter right now) is in charge of all the fundraisers.  This quarter focuses on fighting Leukemia, and so we have one of our students who has volunteered to chop off all his hair (shave his head) in school tomorrow but students must bring a “gold coin” (a few dollars) donation to make to the Leukemia Foundation.  Each quarter has a different charity they focus on raising money for, and the Student Leadership group is in charge of arranging and promoting it all.

This weekend I’m heading downtown! Since there are over 100,000 crocodiles (learned this at our “Crocsafe” Assembly this afternoon, there is practically NO swimming in any of the lakes, ocean, rivers, streams... ANYTHING! Therefore in order for the locals to still get their surfing on they have this huge outdoor mock wave pool thing.  I’ll have to fill you in on more after I actually see it in action.  Besides that some of the ladies around here invited me on a bike ride as well, so it should be a great weekend of enjoying the outdoors and exploring the area!

Speaking of exploring, there is this crazy phenomenon that happens around here.  As I mentioned before there are a lot of backpackers, and hostels, around Darwin.  However there is also this concept called “couch surfing”.  My CT here, Mara, hosts these “couch surfers” often times, as of right now there are three gentlemen from Singapore staying with her.  I haven’t gotten the full details, but since her daughter does a bit of backpacking and traveling she somehow gets offered up to these travelers who sleep on her couch for a day, a few days, a week... whatever the case may be.  

Okay a few quick colloquialisms

“I love your fringe” (I love your bangs)

Macca’s (R) Not schmancy, just a little bit fancy. (McDonalds and their slogan)

“Miss, when shall we eat our recess?” (Miss, when is snack?)


:)

Some Australian Slang

Landing in Darwin was fantastic because, due to technical difficulties with our walkway, we walked straight off the plane onto the tarmac.  I was finally truly on Australian soil, and here to stay.  My professor here, Lorraine, picked me up from the airport to take me  the home I’ll be staying in.  Here I met Ross and Belinda, and their two little Staffys.  Their home is built up on stilts and the “basement” which is actually ground level, has been converted into another living area.  This is where I am staying, and have the entire area to myself for the first month of my stay.  After they showed me around their home we went to pick up some groceries.  It was quite interesting trying to pick out foods, you get so used to certain brands of yogurt, cheese, orange juice and cereals that you know you enjoy.  Now I get to try more!  They also insisted on buying me some Australian “Chokkie” to try, and well I’ve never been one to turn down chocolate :)

After our excursion to the grocery store they took me down to the actual shipyard where parts of the movie “Australia” were filmed.  It is also one in the same where Darwin was bombed in 1942 during WWII.  Now it is a hang out.  You have all these Thai and Fish-Fry restaurants alongside alcohol stands.  You walk up to one order and then find a table alongside the dock.  Here you watch dolphins, fish, sharks and alligators show themselves.  Literally every single waterway here is filled with alligators.  If you happen to not see an alligator then it is almost certain you will encounter jellyfish.  

Darwin is also full of “boozers”, pubs.  They are lining the streets in downtown Darwin.  Belinda and Ross gave me a tour of downtown Darwin and showed me all the interesting places to visit.  One of them being The Parliament House, which I will actually get to take my students on an “excursion”, field trip, to next Friday.  Australia is still ruled under the Queen and therefore partakes in parliament.  

It is fantastic to listen in on conversations here.  Today was my second day at school and the first thing one of my students said to me this morning was “Miss, do you like my thongs? They’re rubbers!”  Translated this means “Miss, do you like my flip-flops.  They’re erasers!”  If you’re enjoying something, such as your “biscuits” (cookies) with your “afternoon tea” (snack) you might say “Oh, that is so yum!”  My students use “texters” (highlighters) and most have these fantastic erasable pencils, pens, and texters.  Much better than any that I’ve seen in the United States, as they erase without leaving any residual markings.

The school I am at is quite interesting.  Mara, the teacher I am working with, has a year 3/year 4 split room.  This is the 7th week of school and already this has changed twice.  She begun with 4/5 split, then a 5 room, and now she is with 3/4.  The entire school is open.  There are no doorways between classrooms just dividing walls that don’t divide the rooms completely.  Much like some American schools have removable walls that you could slide partially open.  If you have to be absent, often times there wont be a substitute teacher, instead your students will just get spread out throughout the rest of the rooms and either do work you leave for them, or jump into whatever lesson is being taught.  We start at 8:30 and work until “afternoon tea” (recess).  This is a half hour recess with a snack break starting around 10:30.  We resume and run class until our hour lunch at 12:30ish and then finish the day at 2:30.  They do a lot of cultural learning, have gym class once a week for an hour but also do dance, yoga, and drama once a week for an hour each.  There is music and art as well.  

Today, instead was “Pancake Tuesday” (Fat Tuesday).  So we all had pancakes at home for breakfast, made more pancakes at school as a part of a lesson, and then some students even had more pancakes for lunches!

The weather here is quite interesting as well.  I am coming at the end of the wet season so it is quite humid until it rains.  We usually get a heavy rain first thing in the morning, followed by hot, sunny days and then a evening or night time rain.  The rain is always a welcome relief because it gets rid of some of the humidity.  

Darwin is also home to the largest population of aboriginals, and they are everywhere!  We have many in our schools, but they also choose to have their own schools where they teach more of their history, language and culture.  It is interesting to work with students who are ESL (English as a Second Language) here in Australia as well, a lot of the school practices follow over!

Darwin is also one of the lowest violent crime states in Australia.  There is almost no violent acts (besides the random bar brawl), however because of the large amount of transient backpackers traveling through there are a few home break-ins.  All non-violent, but the backpackers and some of the aboriginal people break in while the homeowner is away to get some spare change or electronics to sell for cash.  

Adjusting to the time change is a bit odd, thankfully the night-flight helped a little but I am always ready for an afternoon nap here around 4 o’clock (1:30 a.m. back home).  So I will apologize for the vast amount of information put on here, I feel like there is so much I am learning and would love to share with you! (For example in Darwin: Pancakes with maple syrup = fantastic... pancakes with lemon juice and sugar = even better)  Hopefully these next few days I will be able to get more organized thoughts down, but for now I’ll leave it at G’day :)

Wine, layovers and Australian hospitality

Well my Australian adventure has started off as ... quite the adventure!  I arrived in Chicago, in typical Kristin fashion, early.  I was able to just sit and enjoy a good book after security confiscated all of my gifts to the family hosting me during my stay in Darwin.  Brush it off an move on, material items after all.  Not to mention my father felt so badly about it they're sending more.  :)

Boarded my flight in Chicago and departed for San Francisco, after a 1 hour 15 minute delay.  After I arrive in San Francisco, during which my 1 hour and 30 minute layover has turned into 15 minutes, I got a fantastic workout in running from one end of the San Francisco Airport to the exact opposite end.  I was "priority rushed" to the front of the security line as my plane was literally waiting on me.  Board the flight sweating bullets and settle in for a wonderful flight full of amazing accents!

First order of business is the salmon, rice and vegetable dinner I was served with two glasses of Australian red wine.  For dessert Key Lime Pie.  For anyone who hasn't traveled internationally, it may be a 16 hour flight, but the food and service were fantastic.  I met some wonderful people on the flight, and though I was seated next to two babies, they slept for almost the entire flight.  I was seated in-between a married couple traveling to Australia for a cruise.. quite enjoyable conversations!

After 16 hours in the air, we look out the window to see Sydney.  The Sydney Harbor, Sydney Opera House, hills, streams, valleys, houses.  It was a beautiful scene from the air.  (I will attach photos to the next blog).  Finally we de-board the plane and I am helped by some very friendly Australians at the customs checkpoint.  They gave me some pointers, offered me a place to stay if ever needed, and pointed me in the direction of my connecting bus to Terminal 2.

Though the cab driver wasn't the epitome of Australian hospitality he did crack a dry joke as I departed the bus juggling my luggage.  And now here I sit.  Waiting for my final flight, as I sit here I thought it would be interesting to tell you some interesting facts about Australia.. the first one is for Brian.

** There are over 2000 different types of snakes in Australia (Mark maybe I really could have used that snake bite kit!)
** Australia is roughly the size of the continental United States
** You don't wear flip-flops, you wear thongs
** (And for Abby) Australia is one of the worlds leading exporters of wool and BEEF :)

More to follow, but for now I'll leave you with a "G'day".

And so the adventure begins...

As I lay here, of course unable to fall asleep, I've started thinking.  Mind you this thinking has come after all the lists have been made (and remade) in my head, the lights have been turned on and off roughly a hundred times to check on .. well really on nothing important, and the alarm has been set, reset and checked twenty-seven times.

So the meat of this message.. I'm not all that nervous.  I'm anxious, anticipating what is coming up next.  However my biggest concern is just the logistics of it all.  Getting to the airport, making my two connecting flights, and finally ending up in Darwin.  I'm not sure what to expect so I'm not sure how to feel nervous about it yet.  This is definitely the most challenging thing I've ever done simply because I don't know how to feel.

I feel like I should be nervous, or worried, or even scared.  Yet I just feel excited, adventurous, and slightly anxious.  I feel like I have been preparing for this experience for so long that I am ready.  Ready to travel, ready to try new things, ready to start a new chapter.