Thursday, April 24, 2008
Winery
Part of the tour was a visit to a winery in the Hunter Valley region. They explained that the rose bushes planted at the end of each row have a practical rather than asthetic purpose. They are the first indicator if they vines are growing any kind of fungus.
Stacey and I.
The Hunter Valley.
Stacey making friends with the duck.
The wine tasting room.
Random Shots
Crocodiles were evidently the big draw of the park... can you spot them in the lake?
And I just had to put this picture up. He's just so cute.
Kangaroo Encounter
I'm in Singapore! Just the airport, really. For some reason, I ended up with about 50 consecutive hours of travel time to get from QLD to Taipei (it would be about an 8 hour flight direct). I will be the first to admit, though, that I prefer relaxed layovers to running for planes! Louise and I had a weekend away in Surfers Paradise, and the flight back was delayed. I took the train back to Waverton at 10:30 at night, and was back on the train to the airport at 6am. I'm glad I had already packed and cleaned my room. The layover in Perth was fine; I spent most of my time watching reunions at the arrivals gate. I slept pretty well on the plane because I had an exit row. Louise would laugh at that, because I've explained to her my love of the exit row. Legroom galore! And I also trust myself to get that door open in the case of an emergency. This flight they actually sought me out (it's like the flight attendant knew of my talents :) I was sitting a couple rows back and they were asking for people to sit there, and I pretty much jumped up saying "Pick me!" Sleeping in the airport is a bit harder. They have plastic chairs with curved seats linked together in fives. Trust me, it's hard to find a comfortable position. Anyway, I need to finish up with my Australia stories! Going back to our day trip, we were able to feed the kangaroos at the Wildlife Park. Stacey was hesitant at first...
But made a cute little friend!
The guy who came bounding over to me was much bigger (alpha male?) He was pretty patient at first...
Then he decided I wasn't feeding him fast enough...
And decided to take matters into his own hands (well, paws & claws!)
The end result? The kangaroo won.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Day Tour
First of all, we lost the free internet at home, so it's going to have to be a quick blog post from the internet cafe for now. Lots of pictures from the day tour and the races to come, though.
Stacey and I went on the hour of the Hunter Valley Region of NSW (New South Wales is a state in Australia). We had been told we were going to a wildlife park, and I was a bit nervous when we pulled into the Australian Reptile Park. I didn't have to worry, the koalas and the kangaroos were the main attraction.
Yep, those koalas are pretty cute. Kangaroos not so much; story to come. As for me, I'm dashing around Sydney today crossing things off my to-do list before a goodbye dinner with my team from work (yesterday was my last day!) I have today and tomorrow to get things done and pack my stuff. Friday is ANZAC day holiday; like Veterans day for our American friends or Remembrance Day for Canada and the UK. Stacey and I have planned to get brunch and watch the parade before I fly off to Queensland with Louise for the weekend and she sets off for England for a vacation. I'm back on Monday night, and I fly out for Taiwan via Perth and Singapore on Tuesday morning. So much to do, so little time!Thursday, April 17, 2008
It's a Twin Thing
I'll try not to rub it in, but there is nothing better than being a twin! Carole and I have really enjoyed living closer together (are China and Australia considered close?) and only being a few hours time difference apart. We chat pretty much every night on MSN, and it's another reminder of how alike we are. We keep typing the same thing, and thinking of similar ideas at the same moment. We really have the same brain! We have the same inability to remember past events, and the power to completely put things out of our head if procrastinating or repressing negative things. But we're really great at memorization, and if you put me back on a street I walked down ten years ago, I'll know exactly which way to turn to get back to that fabulous restaurant or park I had visited. I'd be curious to know what the memory strengths of any readers out there might be? Does everyone else remember things like what they did on their 18th birthday, their first day at university, or anything before the age of 12? At least I have pictures and photos to fall back on.
Anyway, I love reading books about twins, and Carole suggested a great one. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield was an excellent novel. Not my usual taste, but it was the kind of fiction that you get really emotionally involved in (even if they are more traditionally negative emotions). I couldn't stop reading last night, and by the time I finished, I was a bit unsettled (as Carole warned me, "it's quite gothic.") I ended up dreaming about Korean mafia shooting each other in a Toys R Us, but I'm not sure if it's related. Anyway, I have two days off before only three more working days at Flexirent. I have mixed feelings about leaving: thrilled to be done with the phone calls and the feeling of being paid unfairly, but sad that it has been a great experience with wonderful co-workers. Tomorrow I have a day trip with Stacey and Saturday at the races with Louise to make the most of my last week in Sydney!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
I would say it's common knowledge that I'm not much of a sports fanatic. I hate playing team sports, and I find watching them on TV relatively monotonous. I like individual sports, and (ice) hockey, that's about it. But, upon arrival in Australia, I discovered a new sport! AFL stands for Australian Football League and they play Australian rules football. I actually find it kind of similar to hockey in that its fast moving with no delays, and not too many rules to confuse me. I used to watch a lot of AFL when I was working in Western Australia, so I was pretty excited to see it live and in person! Better yet, the game was the Sydney Swans against the West Coast Eagles. Stacey and I had a great time, and were only moderately confused. And the Sydney Swans won!
Here's a clip I took to give you an idea of the game. You can "handball" to another partner or kick the ball. You can run with the ball, and tackling is allowed at some times (I really don't know when, though). The most important part is that when the ball goes through the middle two poles, they get six points, and the outside poles get one point. Anyway, I put the Sydney Swans song on with the clip (warning!) because it made both Stacey and I laugh. Everyone else seemed to think it was a pretty great song, though.Did you notice the Swans' players socks? Red and white striped knee socks: now that's cool.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
We're Going!
First of all, this post has nothing to do with the Beijing Olympics. I haven't decided on my official stance yet (Louise suggested not watching the Olympics as protest, which was a very depressing idea). But, I am happy to announce that Carole and I will be wholeheartedly supporting the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. We decided over a year ago that this would be the perfect opportunity for us to go to the Olympics together. We have loved the Games for as long as I can remember, and I think we've watched as much of every Olympic broadcast as possible since Barcelona 1992. Last night, we booked a hostel for eight nights (the last half of the Olympics), and put down our deposit. Who knows what our lives will be like in February 2010, or which country we'll each be residing in, but we have a goal!
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
A Traumatic Memory
I'm starting to get excited about leaving! Two more weeks at work, and a total of three more weeks in Australia. I've found once you let yourself start counting down days (or months in the case of Taiwan) you allow yourself to start thinking of home. Which is a good thing, because it helps me feel ready to leave.Anyway, my first stop after Australia is Taipei. I'm so excited to see Kathleen B. and Julia again, and to visit students and staff at Fuhsing. But tonight, it brought to mind one of my most traumatic memories. I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was devastating. I wanted to read my blog post to compare my perspective at the time, but no post. I read my sent emails to friends and family: nothing! So, a year and a half late, the true story.
It was Christmas Day 2006. It was a Monday, so my roommates and I had already celebrated Christmas on the 24th because we had to work on the 25th. It's hard to explain the level of stress we were all under in the lead up to Christmas. Fuhsing's tradition is to put on a Broadway quality performance with military precision. Thinking of creative elements and training children to perform such a feat is all the English teachers think about for a month.
Alot of the writing of scripts, the training of children and the pressure fell on the foreign teachers. For example, as a grade two teacher, I had daily responsibilities to prepare the grade two students. The Taiwanese teachers expected me to use my lunch break to train performers, to write the script for the play and to act in the show. But, they didn't take into account that, as a foreign teacher, I taught grade one, two, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten! I had responsibilities for each grade to prepare them for the show, and, as the only teacher involved in both elementary and junior high shows, I had rehearsals every weekend. And, of course, there was the stress of being away from home and family for the holiday. It was just a really rough time.
So, slightly miserable to be working on Christmas day, we arrived for the elementary show in the morning and junior high in the afternoon. Things went well, but I was exhausted. In the afternoon, a roommate said someone had been in our apartment at lunch moving things around (the apartment was supplied by the school, so they had keys). I was worried as I walked into the apartment after school. I opened the door to our living room and immediately started crying. I couldn't stop sobbing at the shock of it.
There was an extra bedroom that had been the dumping ground for every previous teachers' junk when they left Taiwan. The school staff had moved everything out of the spare bedroom and piled it in our living room and through all the halls so you could hardly walk. There was an extra couch in the living room, and it was totally unlivable. The extra room was empty and set up for a new roommate. I had no idea where we could put the "stuff", and I was so stressed by the idea of having another flatmate (there were already five of us sharing one apartment).
When I called (crying) for Julia to ask my supervisor what was going on, she said the Principal had decided a teacher would be staying, and my supervisor didn't know if it was for one night or permanent. No warning, and on Christmas day! I knew it would be a Taiwanese teacher, as it had been during my first year in the apartment. That roommate situation was horrible! We couldn't communicate, and we had totally different living standards. Eventually, her husband and daughter both we staying in the room, and the apartment was disgusting. He would smoke in the living room and I'd come home to a terrible smell in the apartment and found he had used the toilet and didn't flush!!!
Anyway, I did assume the worst, but I was at the end of my emotional rope! Thankfully Julia and Louise came home and talked me down a bit. And in the end, nobody came. At all. The principal put us through all that and the visiting teacher ended up staying in a hotel for one night. Nobody came to move things back, but I moved all the stuff in myself after a day because I was fed up of feeling so out of control.
I have so many other stories like that from Taiwan (don't even get Louise and I started on the whole wanting-to-kick-us-out-of-the-apartment issue). I guess I tried to keep my blog full of happy stories, but I am daily proud of myself for making it through one the hardest jobs (teaching at Fuhsing and living in Taipei) that I hope I will ever have to face!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Flugtag!!!
Stacey and I headed to the 1st Australian Red Bull Flugtag on Sunday. I wonder if I'm the only one who has been dying to see it for years? There is something so inspiring about groups of people conceptualizing, designing and creating a flying machine, and then hurtling themselves off a 6 meter platform to almost certain failure (the equivalent of a belly flop).
There were some great ideas for the "flying machines." It's hard to tell, but this one is shaped like a giant flip flop. There were flying clocks, flying pizza, and a recreation of the Wright brothers' first airplane. The world record is 60 metres, but I think the farthest we saw was about 12. Oh well, it was the first year, hopefully the entrants will improve next year with experience!
We got there pretty early, and Stacey's friend had already staked out a spot on the hill. A very, very steep hill. The top soil was loose, and just trying to walk to our spot was terrifying. Although there were hundreds of people below me to break my fall, I just imagined the mortification of tumbling, Jack-and-Jill-style, down the hill. People just kept coming and coming. It was almost as entertaining watching the security guards try to direct crowds as watching the competition. It turns out they had been expecting about 20,000 people, and 60,000 showed up. And there certainly wasn't room!
And lastly, a couple of short videos I took of the competition: just so that you can really get a sense of it...Thursday, April 3, 2008
Olympic Trials
Last week they held the Australian Olympic Trials for swimming. It was a eight day event, and eight world records were broken (I saw the one for the mens 50m freestyle by Eamon Sullivan!) Pretty exciting stuff, I say. It was on the night of the Fair, and the fair was being held at the Olympic Park, so it was a short walk. It all felt so Olympic: selecting swimmers for Beijing in the pool where the Sydney Olympics were held in 2000!