Term 2 has begun and I can't believe what a night and day difference it is from Term 1. It isn't 46 degrees C (114F). The kids know me. I know all their names. So much more of the Aussie slang makes sense. I have figured out the pace that I can move in my lessons for both my A and B stream classes. I know where everything is, and I don't always have to be reminded of meetings. I don't have anxiety when I walk to work. I can redirect students that I don't know when I see them making poor choices at recess. I am starting to feel like a real teacher again. It feels really good.
My teaching load is the same this Term, though I am going to be teaching different units. My Year 7s are starting a term unit called 'Change' and will be learning a lot about the Himalayan Mts, sherpas, and climate change. My Year 8s will be finishing up their Shakespeare unit and will dive into the Polynesia unit (I have a lot to learn for this one.) My Year 9s are studying World War I (with an Australian focus) and World War II. My Year 10s will be exploring the problems of population growth, refugees, and human rights (woo hoo! That's going to be fun!) I'm looking forward to this term's load! It has started to get colder now that it is Autumn. The mornings are brisk during my walk to work, and then it warms up throughout the day. Many of my students complain about how cold it is in the morning. This country has so many extremes! Today our school held the Cross Country Carnival, which was a lot like the swimming carnival except kids ran instead of swam. It was held at the school, and the staff did a great job setting it up, selecting music, and grilling! I had supervisory duty which consisted of sitting on the grass amongst all the students making sure they were making good choices. It was a good day. Olin and Alta also had a good day today - actually a great day! They had their Cross Country carnival as well, but theirs was held down at the horse race track. They had to run the entire length of the race track which was 2km. Tom went and volunteered as a parent and filled me in on all the details. He said that the students ran in heats based on age and gender. Alta was in U9 girls, Olin was in U10boys. Tom said that there were between 40 and 50 students in each heat. And the results?...... (proud mamma moment) Alta came in 5th and Olin came in 2nd!!! They both are so proud and will be representing Gosford Primary at 'Zones' which is another level where they race against other kids from other schools. I'm not sure when that will be, but we are both really happy our kids enjoy being active. On another note, Tom and I have both agreed that we are really thankful we got the kids into the Gosford City Football Club. There are so many ways of "seeing" a country, and we weren't 100% sure that we should commit to spending weekends at soccer. We have no doubt now that it is the best way to really experience a country - to become a part of it. We love the soccer teams that our kids are on. I especially enjoy coaching again, which is something I was starting to dread in Seward. I'm the assistant coach for Olin's team and I coach with a great guy named Ben. We have a rocking team of fun spunky U10 boys and girls. Participating in GCFC soccer, both at practice and games, have become things I look forward to in my week. This week the club worked with the Central Coast Mariners players to put on a gala where the professional players coached our kids and then did a fan club signature session. Olin and Alta both got hats and jerseys signed by the players. They were both so energized by the whole evening. Soundbites: 1. I sprained my ankle in Tasmania so will be heading to a doc next week to make sure there isn't any serious damage - I can still walk just fine, it is just swollen and I want to get it checked so that when I'm out in the bush walking I know my ankle is sound. 2. Tom and I are both going to experience Australian dentists next week too. 3. I saw a red bellied black snake (deadly) on my walk home from school yesterday. It was more scared of me than any snake I've ever been around. 4. There is new graffiti under the bridge on my route to and from school. It is a dancing skeleton with the words "Everyone dies" next to it. I wish they'd just have left it with the dancing skeleton. 5. Olin went to his first Goal Keeper Camp session last night. One coach worked with Olin and 12 year old girl and taught them all about how to dive for the ball. 6. Alta starts art class Monday. 7. My mom and my mom's friend Cindy sent me a box full of clothes for school. How they got 18 shirts in that little box is beyond me! I have new school clothes!!!! 8. The tread on the bottom of parts of my shoes is just about worn completely out from all this walking on cement. I can't afford a new pair of shoes every term though. These have GOT to make it 9 more weeks so that I can replace them for the last two terms. 9. The school year in Alaska is almost over and my exchange partner is going to start shutting down my classroom and getting ready for her summer adventures. I'm excited for her and her family! 10. I had an Aussie teacher approach me about how I go with my Year 10 Mindil class. "What do you do with them that works?" She wanted to know. I was flattered at she had asked, and it felt good to give her some ideas but to also let her know I was still trying to figure it out. I told her that my techniques of getting them up and moving their bodies worked because we were learning about coastal management. She looked at me and then shook her head and said, "Ya, but I"m teaching them human reproduction next week." We both had a good laugh imagining how a lesson on that topic would go if she had them up and moving their bodies! Walk to Work Tally Term 2 - 24 Miles
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And so we have returned from another amazing corner of the world - Tasmania! Tom and I have always wanted to visit the little island just south of mainland Australia. We booked a seven day road trip for the last part of the holidays and returned Sunday evening just in time for me to return to work on Monday. We rented a car and took off to the east coast of the island straight off. We stayed in holiday park cabins the entire time which was great because we had showers and kitchens to make our travels a little more comfortable.
Our first adventure was to Wineglass Bay (which Tom and I both agreed could be the name of a bay in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie). Alta had wanted to go as soon as she had seen the picture of it at the Launceston Airport. We hiked up to the lookout, and then the kids and I ran/hiked down to the beach. It had beautiful white sands and a little wallaby that visited us while we put our shoes on to head back up the trail. The next day we traveled up the coast a bit to the Bay of Fires. This is a part of the coast that has an orange lichen that grows on the rocks. We played on the white sand beaches and the kids and Tom went swimming. Along our way up to the north coast of the island we stopped at Sea Horse World, taking an amazing tour where we learned all about sea horses! We then made our way to Cradle Mountain where we got to do some real hiking (ahhhh!) in the mountains. We did a hike that was less populated than the one around Dove Lake and managed to see wombats! Tom and the kids took the shuttle bus back to the car from the trailhead and I walked the 6km back. It was so nice to be out in the wilderness alone and just before sunset! On our way back to Launceston to catch our flight we took the kids to their first cave where we had a great tour and learned all about stalactites and stalagmites. Here are some soundbites from the trip: 1. We listened to the entire Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince audio book while driving through Tasmania. 2. If I was a ghost, I'd live in Launceston. That town just has the feel of a town that's meant to be haunted. 3. While many cars in mainland Australia are white, we noticed that Tasmania car color tends to be royal blue! 4. Tasmania is the capital of roadkill! It is everywhere! 5. Seahorses can change colors, but they can't turn blue or green. 6. Tasmania rocks seafood -fresh oysters and muscles. Yum! 7. Penguins can be seen on land an hour before sunrise, and an hour after sunset. We'll bring our headlamps the next time we go scouting for penguins. 8. Tasmania has leeches too. 9. Stop by the Iron House brewery and distillery when you go to Tasmania. Alta broke the mirror top of a table there and so far they haven't sent us a bill! I'll buy their beer and wine again if I just don't have to pay for that table! 10. There are only about 400,000 people that live in Tasmania, but on any given day there are 1 million people on the island (because of all the tourists.) 11. We added some new animals to our list of animals that we have seen here including the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo, wombat, Forster's Kangaroo, Copperhead snake, and pandemelon. 12. After a week listening to Harry Potter, Tom and I found ourselves walking down the lighted streets of Launceston with a 9 year old 'wizard' and a seven year old 'witch' yelling "stupify" and "expelliarmus." It has begun! We are half-way through our two week holiday and it is exactly what we needed. It began last Saturday with soccer games for the kids. It was so fun to sit and watch Alta play! She ran her little heart out. Olin played well too. He played goal keeper for the first half and got scored on once, and then played the field the second half and scored one goal - so I guess he evened it up for his team.
We spent our Sunday hanging out with our Polish friends. They took us mushrooming to a pine forest about 3 hours from here. It was exactly what I needed to relax. We were joined by 3 other Polish couples that we hadn't met before and their children. We wandered the forests for hours looking for 'pine mushrooms' and filled our buckets. We also found lots of dead kangaroos (road kill), huge termite mounds (forgot to take pictures), and more wombat dens than I could count. After we had picked our fill we made a small campfire and ate yummy polish food while the kids played in the mud! Monday we headed off on our camping road trip to Byron Bay. It took about two days to drive to Byron Bay so we camped on the way up and on the way back. We stayed at Holiday Parks - and man those are nice!!! They have showers, kitchens, laundries, playgrounds, water parks, and big air cushion jumping things! On our last night camping the Holiday Park even showed an outside evening movie that we could watch from our campsite! Byron Bay itself was pretty cool. I told Tom that I think it must be a qualification that you have to be young and beautiful to live in Byron Bay. The scene was like mixing Humboldt with Santa Cruz. So many people were barefoot. The beach was scattered with lazy loungers (some women were topless) and tattooed, long haired men running to the waves with their boards. The waves were the kind of surfer waves you see in movies. The town itself was packed with people. There were street musicians, shops where you could buy tie-die or Indian themed clothing. It was a little town, but definitely popular. While we were there, Tom, the kids, and I took surfing lessons. We didn't go all the way out to the big waves but learned on the white crashed part of the wave. The kids and I both got to standing on our boards by the time the lesson was over but Tom struggled with being able to bend his knees to the angle needed to get up. He had a smile on his face the whole time, though! We all loved it! We are heading to Tasmania tomorrow after a day of relaxing here at home. We'll be there until next Sunday. Looking forward to another adventure! Check out some of the pictures of our first Holiday week below! "It has to hurt if it's to heal." - Never Ending Story The term is nearly over. Tomorrow is the last day. Friday. I did it. I've been looking back a lot lately, at moments and memories from the last 10 weeks. There has been so much growth that my family and I have had since school started. Tom has become an expert as a stay-at-home dad. Good lunches are packed every morning. Homework is done ever afternoon. Laundry hangs on the line nearly every day. Wonderful dinners are prepared. The kids and I are spoiled! Alta and Olin also have adjusted so well to all the changes with starting new schools. Their uniforms are worn everyday without hesitation. They are used to them now (and they are so dang cute in them too.) They've adjusted to the increase in after school homework compared to what they get in Seward. Sometimes it is a couple hours of work that they have to do after school. And they have managed to sort through the changing social world of Gosford Primary School. And then there is my growth.... It is incredible to me how much growth can happen during such a short amount of time. I know I have a whole hell-of-a-lot more to learn, but I'm so incredibly thankful and relieved when I look back at my experiences. Being on exchange is a lot like physical therapy. See, you go into physical therapy because something is wrong. Something happened suddenly, or maybe an ailment gradually crept up on you, but either way, something was wrong. Something was wrong with my teaching career in Seward. I was bored. I'd been teaching the same subjects for 10 years and had approached them from every angel possible. I had analyzed my teaching upside down and backwards. I wasn't growing anymore. I needed something new. I needed a challenge - to feel inspired again. When you first start going to physical therapy you know it is good for you, but it is incredibly uncomfortable (and sometimes painful!) The physical therapist stretches you. They massage you. They push your body so that you can recover and be whole again. Through the process, something other than healing happens, though. You also learn about yourself. You might learn that you have an odd gait, and that is what caused the ailment to begin with. Maybe the physical therapist will discover that you have mild arthritis and will recommend supplements to keep down the degeneration. Maybe they'll let you know that you really should just run on trails rather than on roads as your body doesn't respond well to road running. Regardless of what it is, you come out of it knowing yourself better. You return to your old life "fixed" but also more aware of yourself - including both your strengths and weaknesses. I needed Narara Valley High School. Narara is my physical therapy. In the last 10 weeks Narara has stretched me in ways that I have not experienced in many, many years. Did it hurt? Hell yes. Was it uncomfortable? More than anyone can imagine. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Without a doubt! Do I want more? You bet! (But I will take that two week holiday first!) This week I started some of my Term 2 units with my classes (Year 8 and 9). Based on my reflection blog a couple weeks ago I decided that I'm happiest and most comfortable connecting history with student's lives and so that I was going to do my best to structure my lessons the way I used to. This week I introduced Shakespearean language through analysis of Cockney Rhyming and Australian Slang. It was some of the best fun I've had with my Year 8s. Today with my Year 9s, I introduced militarism (as one of the causes of WWI) and used North Korea's goals of nuclear proliferation and Trump's defense budget increases and quotes of US military supremacy as examples of militarism. The kids loved it. It was by far my best class with my Year 9s all year. Hands down the best. In Seward I taught like this. But I needed to come here, try something new, and be uncomfortable to be able to come full circle with my style. I know this approach works for me not because I've only ever used this approach with one set of kids in one little town, but because I gave it up, tried new approaches and learned from the experience. I now can reintroduce this approach to my classroom knowing why it works for me and my students, not just that it does. I'm writing with some increased confidence here, but I'm well aware that I'm still in the early stages of physical therapy. There will be some good days and some not so good days, but one thing I know is that growth is guaranteed. Walk to Work tally: 302miles + 6miles for tomorrow = 308 Miles, 496 km (Term 1 Total)
I'm sitting here listening to Tom talk to his mom on the phone and he just summed up how things are going here. "We're going great! We had a hell-of-a day yesterday. Probably one of the best days that we've had in Australia!" That nails it. It was a wonderful day. Olin and Alta both had soccer games in locations about 45 minutes apart. Tom dropped Olin and me off at Umina and then drove Alta up to her game. The head coach couldn't make it until 2nd half, so I coached the team. It was so fun. Olin played in goal for the first 25 minutes, but the ball never got down to him to show his stuff. We scored 1 in the first half. I took Olin out of goal for second half and threw him on the field as a right midfielder. At first he looked a little lost as it was his first ever real soccer game. Then... all of a sudden something clicked. He was on fire. He moved that ball all around the field, and by the end of the game had scored two. We won 3-0! Alta also had a great game. From what I heard from Tom and Alta they won 3-2 and Alta played good soccer. She was focused, ran hard, and cheered when her team scored. Both kids came home happy.
On another note, we have become good friends with a Polish family that lives across the street. They have a little 6 year old son who plays with our kids. Last weekend they invited us to their son's birthday party at Umina beach where we met some of their other Polish friends. It was so much fun to be hanging out in Australia with Polish parents calling to their kids in Polish, and to swap stories of Poland and Germany. After the soccer games yesterday we joined them again at a different beach - Wamberal - for some epic sea fishing. Tom and Luke hit a sweet spot and just kept bringing them in. They caught a bucket-full of fish (including a salmon!), while the kids played on the beach, and Olla and I drank wine in the sand. Later in the evening we joined them at their house for a bbq and the kids swam for a bit in their pool. It truly was one of our best days here. No stress, sunshine, good stories and laughter. Today is our 3 month anniversary of arrival in Australia. So much has changed and we've all learned so much. One more week and Term 1 will be over. For holiday, we are going to head on a camping trip to Byron Bay where we are all taking surfing lessons (thanks Grace!). The second week of the holiday will involve an adventure to Tasmania. |
AuthorThe Liljemark's enjoy exploring the world. This blog chronicles our adventures. Archives
December 2017
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