It has been a number of days since I've posted, so it's about time I sat down and got to it. On Saturday we went to Sydney for a Exchange Teacher's picnic. We were contacted by an older gentleman named Graham who offered us a ride. We originally had planned on taking the train, but jumped at the chance for good conversation and to meet someone new.
The picnic was well organized and well attended. We met a lot of different exchangees. It seems a large number are from Canada (Canada advertises their exchange program really well.) There has been talk of a Central Coast exchangee get-together soon. We look forward to that. The kids and Tom had a good time at the picnic. Tom got to meet a lot of other spouses and share stories and the kids hunted for shells on the beach and learned some of the basics of cricket. Sunday was hot. It got to about 104F. Not checking the weather before we planned our day, we decided to hit the Reptile Park again. This time not only did they have kangaroos out that you could pet, they also had emus! We watched a few of the shows (Tasmanian Devil and Crock), watched a man walk a Komodo Dragon on a leash, and by about 2:00 we were sitting in the shade eating popsicles wondering why we had no energy. It was great to be at the park with so few people there, but not so fun to be there when it was so hot. Tom took me home so that I could lesson plan for the week and took the kids to the beach. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week has basically been me trying to figure out my Year 9 class. I had them once on Monday, twice on Tuesday, and once today. They are tough. I'm hoping they are like my Year 8s. They were tough too, and now I look forward to class with them. Time will tell I guess. Olin and Alta are settling into school. Alta seems to be doing just fine. We aren't sure she's being super challenged, so are trying to supplement with some work at home. Olin is having a bit more rough of a time. Lunch is only 10 minutes long, and then lunch recess is 30 minutes. If you don't eat all your lunch, you can stay back from recess to eat it. But (as you might guess) Olin is NOT going to miss recess. So he doesn't get enough to eat and then is a mess when he gets home. Also, kids here play a game called "handball" during recess. It is kind of like 4 square but played with a racket ball and only your hands. Well apparently Olin isn't very good at it yet (poor kid has only had 2 weeks to learn while all the other kids have been playing for years) and so kids won't let him play (which means he won't get better.) He's also been told that he can't play because he's a girl (for those of you that don't know him, he has long blond hair.) He's having a tough time with it. I'm proud of him, though. He's been tough about it. We decided as a family that he had too many things on his plate: Eating all his lunch, doing his homework, learning to skateboard, learning handball (after school with us - and he's teaching me!), parkour, getting used to a new school and making new friends. After a really long conversation, he decided on his own that he would not do parkour anymore. It was hard for him because he really wanted to learn, but he decided instead that he just wanted to focus on handball and skateboarding. It was good to see him make that decision on his own, and also to verbalize how he was feeling at school. My high points of today were two great quotes. One of my Year 8 students (great girl!) came up to the staff room this morning to let us know that a sheep had gotten loose. I spent the minutes before the first bell watching Aussie boys and the custodian wrestling and then carrying a big dark sheep back to the pen. I was so impressed that they knew how to carry a sheep! I can just imagine my Alaskan boys. They would have had no idea how to carry it. The other quote was from Alta. Here's how her and Olin's conversation went: "Look at that bug!" - Alta "Oh cool it's a centipede." - Olin With total dismissal in her voice "Oh, no, it has way more than a hundred!" - Alta. I love my entomologist. Today I'm thankful...: 1. For little pink and white feathers discarded by galah parrots. 2. That there wasn't a spider on the HUGE web I walked into this morning. 3. For empathetic, supportive and awesome coworkers. Thank you to all of you that helped me by offering advice, tools, and tips that work for you. Thank you to those that offered to take kids that I ejected from my class. 4. That I'm learning and I'm growing. Back in Alaska that growth had slowed way, way down. It feels good to be uncomfortable again. As weird as that sounds. 5. That I didn't go to camp. I needed to meet my Year 9s. 6. For Tom. Every morning he gets the kids to school with uniforms on and lunches packed. He got some PT done with his arm today. He made dinner, AND he vacuumed out the car. Love that man! 7. For sheep. 8. That classroom B3 had a TV!!!!!! With Volume!!!!!! and working Internet!!!!! Yay!!! 9. That I'm on this grand adventure with my family. 10. That my Mom and Dad will be here on Friday.
2 Comments
Sherry Rhoden
2/8/2017 09:04:30
Great to get your update : ). Keep them coming, as you find time, I know you have plenty to do already. I'm glad all of you are enjoying this adventure & learning so much about this area too.
Reply
Naomi
2/8/2017 11:10:41
We are looking forward to the Reptile Park. Quin really wants to see the Tasmanian Devil--they are cute. Can you hold a snake? She wants to do that as well. I didn't know I wanted to see a crocodile, but after seeing your pics, I think it will be cool.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe Liljemark's enjoy exploring the world. This blog chronicles our adventures. Archives
December 2017
Categories |