So.....
Hi.
Long time no see. I don't really know where to pick up so I'm going to put in some random snippets of things and see if that gets the ball rolling again. Truth is, what I think happened was that I started this blog (just wrote job, whoops) in October, when Uni was finished for the year. I had nice looooong summer holidays to write merrily, and when school started, assignments weren't due for a while and things were pretty easy so I kept writing. Then assignments were due. Like... Massively. I think I had about 6 to do in 2 weeks, which was about the time I really stopped writing here. Winter holidays are nearly over though so I can't promise I'll be writing a lot mor, BUT, in the middle of august, I'm on rounds for 5 weeks straight at one random school (not the one I'd been volunteering at) so I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to say then.
In the meantime though, since this blog was originally meant to be about wedding-y stuff, that all seems so far away that it really really has been put on the back burner. People say: so how's the wedding planning coming?! And it takes me a minute to figure out what they're talking about. But we're toying with ideas, of going overseas, or whatever, but we also don't know where we'll be living by then so even the date is sort of up in the air.
I said to Nic the other day that we need to stop worrying about where we live (as we'd been restricting future living places to our ideal places- Vancouver or BC, Tasmania, Washington state, etc) and worry about getting Nic a good job, in something he wants to do, and wants to progress with. I figure once we have that, we can move in the future, but there's no point moving anywhere just so as he can get another office admin job again that has no career progression. So! Now we're sort of going to be looking everywhere (English speaking anyway).
But anyway, that wasn't even the point of the post, though I realize I have missed writing out my thoughts and getting them straight here... All I really was wanting to say was: I was looking on a Canadian jibs site today just randomly, and stumbled on their 'resume tips for teachers' section. It suggested that in your resume you should include key words, such as 'creative lesson plans', 'curriculum development', 'ESL students' and 'brain-based learning'... I'm sorry, brain based learning??..... I wasn't aware there was another type of learning.
Seriously
How else do people learn if not with their brains, or not at all?
Anyway. Need to head to my little school- it's probably my last day, so I'm saying bye to all the kids :(:(:(:(:(:(
Sorry for any pos in this post, writing it on my iPad means unreliable touch-screen typing.
Showing posts with label future. Show all posts
Showing posts with label future. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
opportunities...
You guys that have been reading for a little while know I am constantly in a dilemma about where we're going to live once I finish school.
You may also recall that we were looking at travelling to Australia's capital over Easter to see if it had potential, but that the trip turned out to be too expensive.
Then we talked about going hiking in the mountains since they're too far to go for a regular weekend (4-5 hours), but not too far compared to going out of state.
Anyhoo, the other day, I did a bit of research on grants they give to graduating teachers willing to work in rural schools- schools most people don't want to go to because they're challenging and far away. Now I'd said I think working in a rural school would be kind of neat- it'd be a great little community, they probably have a veggie garden, you might have more opportunities to do things your own way... you know, it's different.
So I did this research and found out that there is, indeed, a scholarship program for new teachers wanting to go to 'priority schools', whereby you get $7,000 upfront just for going there, plus you get paid from Jan 1st (schools don't start until Feb), plus if you stay for a 2nd year, you get an extra $4,000 bonus. Sweet. I like money.
Somehow it came about that I mentioned to Nic that we should go look at this town up at the foothills of the mountains called Bright. There's a few little towns around there, this one has 2,200 people, so it's not just a pub (do you guys have pubs??) and a postoffice. And I told him about this scholarship...
Then the talk got really serious, in a good way. Like:
"Dude, Bright is really beautiful, and check out these mountains, and you can go hiking and skiing (and you don't have to drive 4 hours) and kayaking and swimming in the creeks and streams and horse riding! And look, I'd get $11,000 extra just for working there... And since Bright and that area is a complete tourist area all year, basically, there'll be cafes and restaurants and shops, which is what we want, but only it'll be a nice community... And there'll be mountains!! And sometimes it snows".
And we had a quick look at real-estate online, just for fun, and there's affordable places there! Still like... $300,000 for a house, but that's 'affordable' for here... Or you can get a block of land, for under $200,000 (can't do that anywhere within an hour of Melbourne any more) and then you could build.
And we could plant fruit trees and get chickens, and maple trees, and elms and oaks and they'd change colour in fall, and I could have a horse because there's heaps of forest up there where horses are allowed...
And suddenly it's exciting...
And we haven't gotten there yet, we'll be there over easter... and we might hate it... But... we're super excited that there's this new possibility.Yay!
I have a kitten sitting on my stomach now purring away so I can't see the screen any more.
Also Nic and I rearranged the whole living room today. Again.
We do this every 2 or 3 months, I swear. We want to change one thing. One little thing. I said: "I wish the bins were somewhere else, hidden" today, and BAM, our living-room/dining area looks completely different now. Thankfully we didn't go to ikea to get something for the change this time. I think we have about as much stuff as anyone could ever want (bad us, I know), but... we love to do this. I'm loving how it is though. It's made our space much brighter, more open, our big bookshelf with all my books and our photos of adventure is now a feature of the room instead of a weird thing. That being said, any friends who come here for dinner once every couple of months must think we're insane. Anyone else do this? Random and frequent massive upheavals of furniture and room design?
Poor Mal mopes around the whole time thinking we're about to up and leave him.
You may also recall that we were looking at travelling to Australia's capital over Easter to see if it had potential, but that the trip turned out to be too expensive.
Then we talked about going hiking in the mountains since they're too far to go for a regular weekend (4-5 hours), but not too far compared to going out of state.
Anyhoo, the other day, I did a bit of research on grants they give to graduating teachers willing to work in rural schools- schools most people don't want to go to because they're challenging and far away. Now I'd said I think working in a rural school would be kind of neat- it'd be a great little community, they probably have a veggie garden, you might have more opportunities to do things your own way... you know, it's different.
So I did this research and found out that there is, indeed, a scholarship program for new teachers wanting to go to 'priority schools', whereby you get $7,000 upfront just for going there, plus you get paid from Jan 1st (schools don't start until Feb), plus if you stay for a 2nd year, you get an extra $4,000 bonus. Sweet. I like money.
Somehow it came about that I mentioned to Nic that we should go look at this town up at the foothills of the mountains called Bright. There's a few little towns around there, this one has 2,200 people, so it's not just a pub (do you guys have pubs??) and a postoffice. And I told him about this scholarship...
Then the talk got really serious, in a good way. Like:
"Dude, Bright is really beautiful, and check out these mountains, and you can go hiking and skiing (and you don't have to drive 4 hours) and kayaking and swimming in the creeks and streams and horse riding! And look, I'd get $11,000 extra just for working there... And since Bright and that area is a complete tourist area all year, basically, there'll be cafes and restaurants and shops, which is what we want, but only it'll be a nice community... And there'll be mountains!! And sometimes it snows".
And we had a quick look at real-estate online, just for fun, and there's affordable places there! Still like... $300,000 for a house, but that's 'affordable' for here... Or you can get a block of land, for under $200,000 (can't do that anywhere within an hour of Melbourne any more) and then you could build.
And we could plant fruit trees and get chickens, and maple trees, and elms and oaks and they'd change colour in fall, and I could have a horse because there's heaps of forest up there where horses are allowed...
And suddenly it's exciting...
And we haven't gotten there yet, we'll be there over easter... and we might hate it... But... we're super excited that there's this new possibility.Yay!
I have a kitten sitting on my stomach now purring away so I can't see the screen any more.
Also Nic and I rearranged the whole living room today. Again.
We do this every 2 or 3 months, I swear. We want to change one thing. One little thing. I said: "I wish the bins were somewhere else, hidden" today, and BAM, our living-room/dining area looks completely different now. Thankfully we didn't go to ikea to get something for the change this time. I think we have about as much stuff as anyone could ever want (bad us, I know), but... we love to do this. I'm loving how it is though. It's made our space much brighter, more open, our big bookshelf with all my books and our photos of adventure is now a feature of the room instead of a weird thing. That being said, any friends who come here for dinner once every couple of months must think we're insane. Anyone else do this? Random and frequent massive upheavals of furniture and room design?
Poor Mal mopes around the whole time thinking we're about to up and leave him.
Monday, March 28, 2011
skip counting.
I decided to skip class this morning.
As Nic so helpfully points out: I'm a Uni student, that's what I'm supposed to do when I don't really want to go.
8am is way too early for maths, anyway, particularly when the teacher reads off powerpoint slides. Occasionally she asks us a maths problem, or shows us an activity we can do in our classroom, but if you get the answer wrong, she's terribly condescending and if you get the answer right before she's 'ready' for you to get it right (ie: be the first person answering a riddle/puzzle/whatever and get it right? She'll accuse you of having read the powerpoint already, or having seen the problem before. Or something stupid. And I mean accuse, as well).
So, I figure, I can read the powerpoints from home, and the other articles she prescribes, and not worry about never answering questions anyway because I don't want her to think I'm stupid (like when she asked if anyone uses their fingers to count, and I said I do, and she asked when, and I said pretty much for anything, even simple addition (which is true. Something like 8 + 7? That'd be on my fingers. Yup. The more I read, the more I think I wasn't taught maths very well. People who look at that and just know what the answer is? Yeah, can't do that. Kids who would look at that and go, I dunno, 7 + 7 + 1? I don't do that. Sucks.), and she looked at me like I was a complete moron)...
Ironically, I'm staying home (with kitten on my lap and dog next to me on the couch) researching progressive education/alternative education schools in Australia, and BC, Canada. Then I'll finish my assignment, then I'll probably start a different one.
So it's not like I've slept in- I still dragged myself out of bed, not having decided at that point that I wasn't going... No, I'm still actually going to be productive. That makes things better, right?
As Nic so helpfully points out: I'm a Uni student, that's what I'm supposed to do when I don't really want to go.
8am is way too early for maths, anyway, particularly when the teacher reads off powerpoint slides. Occasionally she asks us a maths problem, or shows us an activity we can do in our classroom, but if you get the answer wrong, she's terribly condescending and if you get the answer right before she's 'ready' for you to get it right (ie: be the first person answering a riddle/puzzle/whatever and get it right? She'll accuse you of having read the powerpoint already, or having seen the problem before. Or something stupid. And I mean accuse, as well).
So, I figure, I can read the powerpoints from home, and the other articles she prescribes, and not worry about never answering questions anyway because I don't want her to think I'm stupid (like when she asked if anyone uses their fingers to count, and I said I do, and she asked when, and I said pretty much for anything, even simple addition (which is true. Something like 8 + 7? That'd be on my fingers. Yup. The more I read, the more I think I wasn't taught maths very well. People who look at that and just know what the answer is? Yeah, can't do that. Kids who would look at that and go, I dunno, 7 + 7 + 1? I don't do that. Sucks.), and she looked at me like I was a complete moron)...
Ironically, I'm staying home (with kitten on my lap and dog next to me on the couch) researching progressive education/alternative education schools in Australia, and BC, Canada. Then I'll finish my assignment, then I'll probably start a different one.
So it's not like I've slept in- I still dragged myself out of bed, not having decided at that point that I wasn't going... No, I'm still actually going to be productive. That makes things better, right?
Saturday, February 5, 2011
sex sells...
I find it amazing, intriguing, and a little disturbing how women have to 'sell themselves'.
Ok, so I blame myself- I randomly stumbled on a terrible website called 'model mayhem'. I don't know how this happened. I clicked a link or a photo or something and BAM, there I was, Facebook for models and photographers (of which, I am neither, by the way). Now, I love watching America's Next Top Model (the Australian version, not so much) and thinking I know as much as the judges do. I love applying what I think I know to criticizing editorial/commercial photos that I see in magazines ("Oh, her eyes look dead there" or "She should have extended her neck more! She's lost her neck!")... so I have a bit of a fascination with this sort of thing.
As I looked through the little profiles and comments other models leave on each others' pages, one thing became increasingly apparent:
Every woman's photo was of her in a bikini, pouting, and trying to look seductive. As a male model, they could do whatever they want, be it fully clothed, pulling a funny pose, or being half-naked.
And I thought: Well, isn't this sad? That the only way women, here, feel they can get a job, or attention, or whatever it is, is to be as sexy as possible. There's no pictures of girls in cute clothes acting the 'girl next door', or in say, a beautiful gown, or some couture wear doing an editorial-style photo... Anyway, maybe that's just what happens on this type of site, but I just thought it was a bit sad.
In other news, I've been throwing the idea of moving to WA. And that's Washington, not Western Australia (damned acronyms) in the future. There are a heap of really great reasons to look into it, not least of all because we could actually afford a house that wouldn't put us into debt for the next 40 years, and y'know, the mountains and forests and water, and friendly people and cheap food and clothes and stuff...
But there's one big fat problem getting in our way which is, of course, immigration. (Dun dun dun..... cue evil music). So that might ruin that idea. Any move we make would be one with a view to permanency so the idea of going on a working-type-visa and getting booted after 3 or 6 years isn't so appealing. Nic has a sister in law who is American, and his brother has a green-card, but that's about as far as our family potential goes, and I've read the waiting list for that kind of relation is 10+ years, which ain't so hot. There's the lottery as well, but of course with 8 million people applying and 50,000 spots, that also ain't so hot.
So I don't know what to do. Apparently the US needs teachers, and hello, by the end of the year I'll be a teacher with a Masters degree (though there seems to be much more 'education inflation' in the US. In a lot of forums I read, every second person is getting a Doctorate/PhD, I think, which is a little concerning). And as much as I've never been interested in living in America, I think WA has a lot of the stuff we're looking for, while being affordable as well. At least now, with the economy and all... I read somewhere that the median house price in Seattle in 2006 was 400k. Now it's like, 275 or 300k instead. Sooo, in the grand scheme of things, still expensive, but considering you can buy a house 2 hours from Melbourne for maybe 350k if you're lucky, and you literally wouldn't find anything, anywhere, for under 200k.... having glanced at real estate websites and seen (granted, rundown and crappy) houses for $80k gives me a little hope.
Sorry if that paragraph was fragmented, but my brain is all over the place.
Here's some pretty pictures of WA.
Ok, so I blame myself- I randomly stumbled on a terrible website called 'model mayhem'. I don't know how this happened. I clicked a link or a photo or something and BAM, there I was, Facebook for models and photographers (of which, I am neither, by the way). Now, I love watching America's Next Top Model (the Australian version, not so much) and thinking I know as much as the judges do. I love applying what I think I know to criticizing editorial/commercial photos that I see in magazines ("Oh, her eyes look dead there" or "She should have extended her neck more! She's lost her neck!")... so I have a bit of a fascination with this sort of thing.
As I looked through the little profiles and comments other models leave on each others' pages, one thing became increasingly apparent:
Every woman's photo was of her in a bikini, pouting, and trying to look seductive. As a male model, they could do whatever they want, be it fully clothed, pulling a funny pose, or being half-naked.
And I thought: Well, isn't this sad? That the only way women, here, feel they can get a job, or attention, or whatever it is, is to be as sexy as possible. There's no pictures of girls in cute clothes acting the 'girl next door', or in say, a beautiful gown, or some couture wear doing an editorial-style photo... Anyway, maybe that's just what happens on this type of site, but I just thought it was a bit sad.
In other news, I've been throwing the idea of moving to WA. And that's Washington, not Western Australia (damned acronyms) in the future. There are a heap of really great reasons to look into it, not least of all because we could actually afford a house that wouldn't put us into debt for the next 40 years, and y'know, the mountains and forests and water, and friendly people and cheap food and clothes and stuff...
But there's one big fat problem getting in our way which is, of course, immigration. (Dun dun dun..... cue evil music). So that might ruin that idea. Any move we make would be one with a view to permanency so the idea of going on a working-type-visa and getting booted after 3 or 6 years isn't so appealing. Nic has a sister in law who is American, and his brother has a green-card, but that's about as far as our family potential goes, and I've read the waiting list for that kind of relation is 10+ years, which ain't so hot. There's the lottery as well, but of course with 8 million people applying and 50,000 spots, that also ain't so hot.
So I don't know what to do. Apparently the US needs teachers, and hello, by the end of the year I'll be a teacher with a Masters degree (though there seems to be much more 'education inflation' in the US. In a lot of forums I read, every second person is getting a Doctorate/PhD, I think, which is a little concerning). And as much as I've never been interested in living in America, I think WA has a lot of the stuff we're looking for, while being affordable as well. At least now, with the economy and all... I read somewhere that the median house price in Seattle in 2006 was 400k. Now it's like, 275 or 300k instead. Sooo, in the grand scheme of things, still expensive, but considering you can buy a house 2 hours from Melbourne for maybe 350k if you're lucky, and you literally wouldn't find anything, anywhere, for under 200k.... having glanced at real estate websites and seen (granted, rundown and crappy) houses for $80k gives me a little hope.
Sorry if that paragraph was fragmented, but my brain is all over the place.
Here's some pretty pictures of WA.
Oh, hey Rainier, you're looking like a pretty awesome mountain. And BTW, nice forest & lake too.
Why yes, I would like to kayak down your pristine rivers.
What's that? You also have rainforests and awesome hiking!?
And did someone say rugged pacific coastline? Though, I have a feeling we've been here, and I have a feeling it's along the coast of the Straight of Juan de Fuca. I could be wrong, though.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
mid week public holiday.
Happy Australia Day!
Today we have a public holiday to celebrate the arrival of the First Fleet to Botany Bay (Sydney). Some people call it Invasion Day. Go Australia!
Today, many a fellow countryman (or woman. Or person) will fire up the barbie, throw on a snag and listen to the Triple J hottest 100. There will also be beer drinking. And according to a google image search, people may also paint flags on their faces, or possible use flags as beach towels. People will drive around in utes with little Australia flags sticking off the bumper.
This person has their geography a little wrong. I could point out what's wrong, but I think that would defeat the purpose. I'll say this: everything. Except the desert bit. Although, I think they wrote 'dessert', which, I admit, would make Australia fairly epicly awesome.
Apparently these are real questions asked by real people and responded to on a tourism website for Australia.
I'm not sure if I believe it, but I sure hope that's true.
These are only a few from a list I've unashamedly ripped off.
Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad
tracks? ( Sweden )
A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.
Q: Which direction is North in Australia ? ( USA )
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and
we'll send the rest of the directions.
Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its
name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. ( USA )
A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum
trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare
them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.
Anyway, enough of that silliness.
In all seriousness, Australia, for me, has never felt like home. Say that to any Aussie though and they'll drop their jaw and gasp, like this is Eden, and why would anyone want to leave, ever? In fact, my ex almost said this exact thing when I tried to convince him of the awesomeness that is overseas travel, shortly after I bought my ticket to Europe without consulting him (whoops). To which he replied; But why would I need to leave? We have everything here.
And I said: um, what about different cultures, and foods, and languages, and people!
He goes: We have plenty of different cultures! I could travel around Australia and see different cultures!
And I think I actually replied: Um, you could see like, bogans, and maybe some aborigines. Maybe some bogan aborigines. And that's it.
Evidently I went to Europe, came home and broke up with him, so I guess I won that argument.
Anyway, my point being, this place has never been home. I've always wanted more. I never knew what, or why, but I did. And maybe I still don't know, not 100%. Because I love Europe. I love so much about it. And I loved BC- Canada. I loved the mountains, and the people of the west coast. You know, in Melbourne, if you tell someone you don't like Australia and don't want to live here, once they get past the shock & horror of the fact, if you tell them you'd like to go to Canada, that suddenly makes it ok. They say: "Well, Vancouver and Melbourne are very similar".
Vancouver city - we miss you!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
friends, dates and life changing...
Last night I traipsed across this site, meetup.com, which is basically full of a bunch of dodgy 'spiritual' groups, supposedly teaching people how to 'live their best life' (my mum would benefit from joining some of them, no doubt), groups for men wanting to 'attract the most amazing women', and then some little ones for people who like hiking and walking, kayaking, for 20-something women wanting more friends, french speakers, ex-pat Canadians, etc. So I joined a couple. The more I think about it, the less satisfied I am with my group of friends. I have them, and they're awesome, but I don't see any of them regularly (except from the Uni girls, and a few of them are finishing this year so I won't see them in March), and I just don't feel that close. I think about my 'wedding party' or whatever terminology I'll end up using, and feel like I'd be picking bridespeople just because they're people I get along with, and not because I'm hugely close and want to share all my secrets with them over a tub of icecream.
Monday, December 20, 2010
maybe not April after all...
Nic and I have been talking a lot lately about where we're going to live.
I finish Uni in October next year (2011), and obviously hope to secure a job for 2012. We've moved away from the idea of going to Canada straight away, as trying to transfer my qualifications to BC will be difficult/impossible without having some teaching experience. Which leaves us here. We're dissatisfied with Victoria and have spoken about the ACT, and more recently about NSW. Some of the coast of NSW could be really interesting- a mix of small beachside towns or small cities, with mountains and bush not too far away. It depends on the type though, and on the towns. We've been thinking we may need an epic road-trip up the coast and through Canberra at some point in order to help us decide (we also need to go back to Townsville to see my Dad, and want to visit NZ and Tasmania at some point. There's a lot of travelling we need to do!) if and where we might like to spend the next year or two, or three, or whatever.
Which, of course, brings up an interesting and difficult proposition: If we move, say in December 2011, to another state... A wedding in the middle of being planned for April 2012 in Victoria may be problematic. Same thing if we wanted to have it in October or November 2012; if we're living out of Victoria, ok, it's doable, but I bet it's more stressful... that being said, if my Grandparents are around, having a wedding in Vic would be accessable to them... but only if it's within 30 mins of their house... so, that rules out anywhere we'd like to go. Now we're toying with the idea of 2013, particularly since Nic's family and friends are all overseas, and therefore would need to send invites at least a year in advance, so they can buy a ticket here... which means we don't have much time to decide where and when we want to do it, and we're just not in a position to do that yet.
That being said, whenever people ask me when the wedding is going to be and I say: "Not for at least 2 years", nobody seems surprised, or like that's an extrordinarily long time... Now if I say three years, that might be different! But it's ok.
Tell you what though, sometimes I'm seriously tempted by elopement.
I finish Uni in October next year (2011), and obviously hope to secure a job for 2012. We've moved away from the idea of going to Canada straight away, as trying to transfer my qualifications to BC will be difficult/impossible without having some teaching experience. Which leaves us here. We're dissatisfied with Victoria and have spoken about the ACT, and more recently about NSW. Some of the coast of NSW could be really interesting- a mix of small beachside towns or small cities, with mountains and bush not too far away. It depends on the type though, and on the towns. We've been thinking we may need an epic road-trip up the coast and through Canberra at some point in order to help us decide (we also need to go back to Townsville to see my Dad, and want to visit NZ and Tasmania at some point. There's a lot of travelling we need to do!) if and where we might like to spend the next year or two, or three, or whatever.
Which, of course, brings up an interesting and difficult proposition: If we move, say in December 2011, to another state... A wedding in the middle of being planned for April 2012 in Victoria may be problematic. Same thing if we wanted to have it in October or November 2012; if we're living out of Victoria, ok, it's doable, but I bet it's more stressful... that being said, if my Grandparents are around, having a wedding in Vic would be accessable to them... but only if it's within 30 mins of their house... so, that rules out anywhere we'd like to go. Now we're toying with the idea of 2013, particularly since Nic's family and friends are all overseas, and therefore would need to send invites at least a year in advance, so they can buy a ticket here... which means we don't have much time to decide where and when we want to do it, and we're just not in a position to do that yet.
That being said, whenever people ask me when the wedding is going to be and I say: "Not for at least 2 years", nobody seems surprised, or like that's an extrordinarily long time... Now if I say three years, that might be different! But it's ok.
Tell you what though, sometimes I'm seriously tempted by elopement.
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