All about Grace :P

Okay so I am back :P

2008-01-31T19:24:00.000+09:30

Okay so I have been horribly slack in regards to this blog.. but seriously it was hectic madness on the tour and then coming back home to get ready to be out bush again..

Some funny stories from my trip though..

They definitely know how to drink in the Rhine Valley..

At a small hotel in some random place I discovered that in Australia we really are amateurs in regards to our drinking.. the following is an exchange that occurred between me and the hotel manager come bar tender..

Me: A southern comfort and coke thanks.

Him: Do you want two shots or three

Me: umm.. one

Him: Why not two.. same price as one..

Me: just one

Him: hmm –commences to pour the shot of southern and pours it into the glass- [pauses]-looks at the glass- [pauses again] – picks up the bottle of southern comfort and free pours it into the glass ..- [pauses yet again] –looks at me- Coke???

Me: yes coke thanks

Him: -pours into the glass about a finger of coke-

Me: umm.. can I have more please

Him: more???!!??

Me: yes please

Him: hmmm –adds another 2cm of coke-

Me: more?

Him:-pours another 2cm-

Me: more?

Him: No!!

Mmm this went on a number of times and I was not alone in this..

We had some muslin chicks who wanted just an orange juice.. and he spent 10min trying to work out which alcohol they wanted in it…. before finally and markedly reluctantly giving them just the juice.

He also met us in the morning with a bottle of some sort of snaps and offering free shots…

Mmm any way

I shall endeavour to write more another day.. as I process.. remember more :)

On the road..

2008-01-09T05:56:00.000+09:30

I'm in Germany now... and the key boards are rather odd.. letters where i don't expect them etc etc

it has been lotsa fun travelling... very busy though and many early mornings -yawns-

mmm very sleepy at the moment.,.,. went to teh beer hall tonight was a great experience :)

saw a sex show in amsterdam OMG! :o !!

lotsa time travelling on the bus... blah!! I really don#t like bus travel... :(

i will try and call pplz when i get a chance and it is an okay time back home too

take care :)

Scotland

2008-01-05T01:20:00.000+09:30

mm snow..

I was in my first snow shower(???) yesterday.. was kinda kewl... very cold as well :P

Snowflakes are much freakier than raindrops as you can watch them fall to the ground and sometimes they do not go the same way as all the other snow flakes but the opp. way.. very odd..

also if you look up at the snow falling it looks like ash.. very similar to after the sugarcane fires... only smaller and colder :)

-thinks- well i have plenty more to type except my fingers are rather cold and I should really be heading off to the airport :P

Be careful when going up steps in Scotland as they have 'trick' steps so that robbers will fall over and make a noise (and hopefully break their neck??)
There are many different notes in Scotland as each bank issues their own... only place in the world where this system actually still exists.. as each bank guarantees the other banks' notes
Part of the crown jewels is a ruddy great stone.. nothing special just a rock..
when in the city.. you will always be able to see a clock and a starbucks...
It is normal and fashionable to wear gumboots..

Take care :P

Another update

2008-01-01T20:19:00.000+09:30

The first day of the new year :)

YAY!! :):)

so I really don't remember much of last night.. not from too much cheap dodgy scottish beer (really they should just stick to whiskey) .. I was sooo tired and jet lagged... and having been up and travelling since 4am in the morning possibly did not help much either...

Again just dot points.. more so that I will remember the story attached to them later...

Sitting through a 12hr flight with a creepy old guy next to you truly sucks (though he took the subtle hint to back off when I told him that I would press charges -shudders- )
Amesterdam is awesome.. could spend hours walking around looking at the buildings and random statues.. and I did as I arrived at 4am and nothing opens untill 9am.. (i had to buy a lonely planet to try n track down my hotel)
-thinks- i am sure there are other things..
everyone in amsterdam eats french fries smothered (and that is an understatement) in random sauces
They have truly awesome pancakes ...mmmm yum!!
No i didn't try any pot or other assorted substances.. Just don't believe in this.. :P

Scotland

Never ask some one for directions as they will just tell you tht you are really close and point you in a random direction :P
Going to Res. was awesome.. catching up with ppl who were there before me and getting to relive the experience through random drinking games :) great :)
mmmm soo tired and hungry so i shall go eat

take care

2007-12-28T22:25:00.000+09:30

Here are just some quick dot points about my trip so far.. as I only have a few minutes before I am auto-logged out..

Taxi drivers in Singapore do not indicate... unless they are turning down a street that is actually 3-4 streets away... if they are changing lanes they just go.. or drive in the middle of two lanes just in case they might need to be in one and not be able to later
There are some awesome food places around
Having people with rifles at airports are normal (army ppl.. but still..)
Sooo many shops!
Sleepy sam's is an awesome place to stay
Changi airport = a small town
..
other stufff... m uch too tired now though and out of time

take care

Grace

A coke can in a plane = 2.5hr delay..

2007-12-27T10:11:00.000+09:30

The adventure has begun, and it was off to a pretty good start :)

Left Cairns.. not too many bumps..

Arrived in Darwin and met many random people who I had worked with at Borroloola who were also traveling to singapore (small world!)

It was a good thing that there was a mob of us at the airport as we had arrived early (at least 3hrs before the flight... since my flight from Cairns arribved at 9pm.. then I could check in my begs at 10pm .. yay :P) and then the plane was delayed by a further 2 or so hours... no rel explaination until we were sitting inside the plane and the pilot was saying sorry for the delay and explained that as they went to take off in Singapore (to get to darwin) a coke can had been sucked into the jet 'thingo' and they had had to fly a new plane to singapore ... hence the delay..

So it is now almost 9am and I have been (m ostly) awake for 24hrs -yawns- so if this does not make alot of sense then you know why :)

more later when I am awake

Darwin Airport

2007-12-15T06:20:00.000+09:30

I am sitting at Darwin Airport remembering all the reasons why being in a dry community is a good thing (for my head and liver at least :P) drinking a coffee (yuck!) and trying to stay awake for my flight into cairns..

I cannot wait to get back home and see everyone! :) I always love flying into cairns and seeing the mountains and the ocean... how green the whole town is.. I definately feel as though I have come home everytime I start the descent into cairns.

Some people up here have been talking about that is how they feel when they return to Arnhem Land.. these are people from the larger cities down south.. I guess they just don't live in as awesome a place as cairns ;) I think it may be just seeing all that nature is a very moving thing... meh! My island home is really nice... green.. but not as green as cairns.. it is not the same.. although I have been noticing that many of the smells are the same and they have been making me home sick!

The smell of water from a hose on a hot day as it hits plastic (pool/tarp/etc) the smell just before it rains when it feels like everything has paused just for a moment as the temperature drops

-sighs-

I guess I shall just have to admit that I think cairns is awesome!!

2007-12-13T21:36:00.000+09:30

Hey people!
Well I shall be back home saturday morning :)

I cannot wait!

well.. i guess it is back to packing :P

Friday Night

2007-12-07T20:58:00.000+09:30

Well not surprisingly I am sitting here not in Ramo :P

yet I did get to watch a movie (yay for austar)

-yawns- soo tired!

Only one week to go!! yay!! :)

Diltjipuy Mirritjin

2007-12-06T20:51:00.000+09:30

I was quietly sitting at the table reading a book and ignoring my headache so that it might get bored and go away when I hear a knock at my door...

It was Judith (one of the yolngu teacher assistants from school) with some diltjipuy mirritjin (bush medicine) for me...

Lately my tummy has been rather sore and as a result I haven't been looking the best/happiest.. so Djumbutju (another yolngu ladies who sometimes works in my class) told Matjawuy that I needed some Mutja tea... so he told judith and judith brought it round for me to drink..

I have tasted it .. it tastes like ... well the smell of pork cooking on a wood fire.. how that makes any sense I have no idea :)

apparently this tea is great for a whole range of medical complaints.. and I have been promised a steady supply of it untill I am feeling better..

well anything is worth a try.. :P

On another note, I may be going over to Ramo (Ramangini.. however it is spelt) tomorrow arvo to see some weaving.. however this is something Judith has promised me.. many many times. so i'm not holding my breath :P although it would be great if I could go :)

that is all for now.

take care,
Grace

2007-12-05T21:17:00.000+09:30

I have austar :)

but i have no time keeping device... the balance has been restored :(

AIRCON!!!!!!

2007-11-30T18:16:00.000+09:30

My aircon is working so my living room is no longer 38+ degrees :) also my classroom aircon is fixed (it was still working.. kind of.. in that my classroom was about 30 degrees - outside was 35+) -enjoys shivering-

However for reasons only known to them the aircon people did not connect the aircon to the switch near the door.. so to turn it off i need to stand on a chair to get ontop of a set of inbuilt shelves to turn it on/off hrmm really good H&S pfft!

What else... no austar yet.. I am beginning to think that I am just jinxed with austar... I am sure it will work one day... one day...

Well it is Home and Away season final soon.. and since I don't have much else to watch .. (See above comment) I have found myself following the show. hehe :P Never really watched it before so I am missing alot of the references -shrugs-

-thinks- the kids in my class are really powering ahead in their writing which is really rewarding to see as most of them were non-writers at the beginning of the year. While most of them are still below where they should be.. I have 4 children who are at benchmark (YAY@@!!@@) so they should make benchmark in year 5 (ironically I probably wont get the kudos from this -sighs- )

The teachers who will have my class next year want my advice about how to split the class (As it has finally been recognised that they should not be all in one class -rolls eyes-). I am torn between actually doing the right thing.. and putting all the kids into one class just to see what one of the teachers does. As I was given all the naughty kids this year as she "wouldn't be able to cope" pfft...

hmm what to do :P

YAY

2007-11-24T22:52:00.000+09:30

mmm YAY !!
that is all!
:)

Election blurb

2007-11-24T13:19:00.000+09:30

3 weeks until I get home :) I cannot wait!

On Monday the mobile voting people came out to Milingimbi so that us remote plebs could have a say about the election, with them came the usual entourage of people to hand out the usual political propaganda to try and sway your opinion at the last moment. It was as I walk toward the now defunct CDEP (community development employment project - similar yet vastly different to work for the dole.. less punitive) building that I encountered the first of this propaganda pushers.

I looked at what she was handing out with an appropriately moderate amount of curiosity when the following exchange ensued.

Pamphlet person: "You a teacher?"
Me: "Yes"
Pamphlet person: "Then you wont want one of these."
(and walked away from me..)

I would like to point out that the party in question was the liberals..

-shrugs- at least they know the demography that they have failed to target/threaten with their scare campaigning..

Enjoy the election tonight. :)
(I shall be trying to avoid watching it... though since my continued failure in getting my austar working.. the satellite dish works now by the way.. but the box needs to be replaced... -grrr- I doubt i will succeed so i might admit defeat and go to Jill's place to watch it as a group 'yay')

Going on a Topdeck tour..

2007-11-17T17:48:00.000+09:30

I have decided to go on a 'top deck' tour..

That way I figure I can get a taste of Europe etc etc... I mean it is not as if this will be my last trip over :P

I'm going on the 'Essential Europe' trip with Topdeck leaving london on the 6th getting back there on the 17th ... since I fly out of London on the 18th that works out really well :)

will be going to 8 or so different countries so I'm going to just sleep on the flights back I think :P

Thats all for now..
Take care
:)

hmm so I really am in woop woop..

2007-11-13T16:31:00.000+09:30

I don't think that it really hits home exactly how isolated and remote it is out here.. until the phone lines are down for almost 3 days.

Meh! :P

Only 4 weeks till I head back to civilization.. I cannot wait!

Growing up in Cairns gives you good instincts about rain..

2007-11-10T17:54:00.000+09:30

:)
My washing was on the line... and would've been dry for possibly a few hours when suddenly I had the overwhelming urge to run down and take it in. Well, not being one to let an impulse go unheeded I had just finished taking it inside when the first huge raindrop splattered the road.. not that the road stayed wet for very long.. it must've evaporated in no time flat!

So I've spent the last 40min sitting on the veranda on my desk out there (no real reason why there is a desk there apart from it not really fitting any where else.. not that this 3 bedroom house is what you'd call small...) reading a book.. mmmm

but now the rain has stopped (from the look of the clouds only momentarily..) and I must get baking as I am to take some scones along to the sing-a-long that Michelle is having at her place :) Should be good fun and lots of laughs

Take care,
Grace

-grumble- -grumble-

2007-11-10T12:08:00.000+09:30

hmm....!

Another Saturday spent sweltering ... -glowers at her defunct aircon- watching boring daytime tv -throws a pillow at the austar box-

Although I must admit I usually watch the business reports on a Saturday and the random documentaries on the ABC and SBS so really I can't complain.. the complaints will start again tomorrow when there seems to be a requirement for the all of the stations to broadcast sport.. and Cricket is back in full swing 'yay' -groanz-

Lauren is now settled over at Elcho Island (aka Galiwinku ... no idea if that is spelt right) and when she called me right at the climax of House on Thursday.. (hrmm) she sounded good for the brief time that I spoke to her (honestly you think she would have picked up that House is the only TV show that I watch with any sort of dedication. Hugh Laurie is awesome, although I like him better in the Black Adder Series...)

Hmm.. I am getting really excited about travelling as I keep reading the blog of Mik, who is currently off on his 3rd or 4th 'trip of a lifetime' traipsing around the globe.. primarily in sth America.

Why the 'Hmm'? I am a bit worried about how I am going to find a warm coat in cairns in the -thinks- 12days before I head o/s. Any suggestions?

I was thinking lifeline or something... as maybe some Mexicans moved to cairns and ditched their coats or ppl who bought coats during winter decided that they were crazy :P hehe

Well I'd better get back to profiling my students and planning for next year as realistically I wont be doing much of that during my holidays... so yet another weekend spent doing school work... -shrugz-

Possibly why I find it so frustrating when people go on about teachers getting so many holidays etc etc... I work most days 12+ hours during the week and at least 6hrs over the weekend... also I do not get a choice when I go on holidays... so it is always 'peak' season when I get my breaks... -takes a deep breath-

So on that cheerful note.. I'll bid you adieu

:)

YAY YAY!!

2007-11-08T18:48:00.000+09:30

YAY for Delia and Grace :P

Last year, I did a fantastic unit of work with another teacher at Borroloola, Delia Farlam about the McArthur River.

We investigated how it is connect with the students’ lives. We did lots of cool stuff, like scooping out bugs from the river, making murals about the dreamtime stories about the river etc, trapping mammals (we had permits) and entering the students experiences into a photostory comp. ( I think we won? I should check on this.. :P)

BUT!! why it is YAY -takes a deep breath- WE WON an award for an outstanding environmental education program :) so Borroloola won $1000 plus a trophy.. I am working out how to get hold of a certificate to go in my CV.

Well that's my yay! for today :P

take care!

I am a 'ENFP' what are you? :P

2007-11-07T20:50:00.000+09:30

This evening I have been feeling a bit introspective..

So I've decided to take a Myers-Briggs personality test.
[http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp]

And while I think that I have changed since high school.. the test disagrees and apparently I am still the same ENFP

To give you a basic run down this means that I am awesome ;) ... well it does say that i am rather optimistic ;P

Rather than take up a lot of space on here, you can follow the link on
[http://www.personalitypage.com/ENFP.html]

I found it really interesting to read up on.. and scarily accurate too!

Any-how, I would be interested in hearing if you decide to do the test, what you are and how accurate you found the analysis of your personality :)

Just leave a comment or e-mail me :P
take care
Grace

You may note that I have not added any extra info about said travels... mainly because I have noooooo idea... really do have to start seriously thinking about it... :P

Wrong Satellite, Travel, Lauren's going :(

2007-11-03T10:56:00.000+09:30

Okay... so it's Saturday...
I am still sitting here not watching Austar ....

Apparently I have locked onto the wrong satellite or some such nonsense... meh! who would have thought...

I am just about over Austar.. -shrugz- just far too much effort really.. Damn I am lazy... :)

I am trying to decide where to go when I am over in Europe... There are far too many places that I would love to visit.. but I am only going to be travelling around 'continental Europe for 14 or so days (as the Scots insist that you stay for 4 days if you visit over new years)

Hence the poll -gestures to the side of the page- you can choose more than one.. or none -sob-

(I would like to point out that I decided not to write a scathing comment here about Americans and how many of them would not even know where most of those places are.... If you are American.. maybe you are an exception.. and I think that it is really great that you are going against the trend of ignorance about global geography that is currently the norm in your country.)

Where was I... yes... travel..

On this topic.. Lauren is heading over to Elcho Island to work.

My mum is working on Elcho Island at the moment so I am very jealous!

Elcho Island is only... hmm... 40ks or there abouts away from here.. but that is through croc and shark infested open seas.. so.. really could be on the moon for all I am able to go there.. which really sucks as I do miss chatting with Mum. I think Lauren would find this hard to believe as I talk to her (mum) on the phone most nights for like 30min+ but meh! I am lucky that my mum is so kewl :) YAY ME! :)

I will miss Lauren though :( and the cooking of cakes etc etc although -looks at her tummy- that might not be such a bad thing ;)

Well I am going to stop writing as I realise it is a bit past 11am and I want to go to the shop.. not that I need anything right now.. but the shop closes at 12noon (and opens again on Monday) .... and it's fairly social down there this time of day :)

Take Care :)

Bilingual Schooling

2007-11-01T21:01:00.000+09:30

Well....
Today I managed to have an argument (heated discussion) with an ESL 'expert' who believes that two way education is pointless... grrr....

Basically she believes that children would learn English better (speak it more fluently) if they only learnt through English from the beginning. When I pointed out that ALL of the research has found that children who learn through their first language (and start learning the dominate language) and eventually switch over and learn through the dominate language become more fluent in the dominate language (than children who learn through submersion in the dominate language) and develop concepts at a deeper level.

Also!! School is not there to just teach language, school is about teaching concepts. We must look at the research that has found that children who go to a bilingual (two-way) school develop deeper concepts in both languages than children who learn the dominate language through submersion.

By allowing children to learn concepts that are age appropriate when they start schooling by providing the instruction in their first language and provide tuition in the dominate language so that the children do not have to pause their conceptual development while they develop competency to discuss/investigate concepts through the dominate language...

Remember children start learning the day that they are born and they start labelling concepts through their first language. By providing links to these concepts their first language label and the second language label, this allows children to utilise their pre-existing knowledge, and not have to develop a whole new concept base

For example we all have an idea of what grass is.. and a whole list of concepts attached to this label (green, grows on the ground, needs to be mowed etc etc) yet if someone asked us Nhakul Mulmul? (What is mulmul?) Most people would be lost. Even if you had learnt (early on in our language development) that Nha is 'what' and Kul is a suffix that in this case means 'for'
With children who learn the dominate language through submersion they may have no idea what the person means by Mulmul..

Hmm perhaphs not the best example of it as you could show a photo... or go outside.. but what about weather? or time? or family connections? or mathematical concepts and ideas? over, under, through etc etc etc

-takes a deep breath-

Okay that's my rant :P if you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me.. as this happens to be my pet subject at the moment.

Any how the long and the short of it is.. I told the lady that she should do some readings on it and she told me in a haughty voice... "I have masters in Applied Linguistics" I reframed from telling here that since she didn't know anything about language aquistion that it is not worth the paper that it is written on..." -laughs-

but i did print off readings and highlight the relevant parts and give them to her for reading. :P

Take Care
Grace

YAY for Austar :)

2007-10-28T18:35:00.000+09:30

YAY!!

Today I have finally gotten off my arse and installed my satellite dish (thanks to Ron!)

When I have sent Austar many millions of $$ I shall have something other than sport to watch over the weekend :)

mmm yep thats really all this post is about :)

To give you a rough idea of my lazyness... In my move here the shipping company lost my sat dish (January) I was paid compo (Feb) I bought a new dish (August) I put it up today (Oct) hehe.. :P

my travel plans thus far :)

2007-10-28T13:02:00.000+09:30

Aim: To sample cuisines worldwide … well Europe and some Asia… mm YUM! :)

14 Dec …Milingimbi - Darwin

15 Dec … Darwin - Cairns

Then I am in Cairns until boxing day, please feel free to drop me a line (e-mail or txt)

I don't really have any plans at the moment apart from enjoying civilization... movies... coffee shops... restaurants... shops... alcomahole... :) So please feel free to invite me if you happen to be doing any of the aforementioned.

26 Dec … Cairns – Darwin (oh the irony of having to go back to Darwin…)

Darwin – Singapore

27 Dec … In Singapore for 2 days …

mmm any suggestions on what to eat?

So far… Singapore noodles.. and an assortment of food from street

venders :P

28 Dec …Leave Singapore

29 Dec …. Arrive in Amsterdam .. Staying there for 2 days

31 Dec … Arrive in London… fly to Edinburgh…

Party…..

No real idea what I am doing for the rest of the time I am over there … I am thinking of getting a eurorail pass…? Not to sure yet?

18 Jan ... Leave Europe …

21Jan ... Back in cairns

Celebrate Bonnies 21st !!! :) :) YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

( I am missing her actual b/day :( … apparently me being in Amsterdam for her birthday is not a good thing... I should point out that I will be back in cairns during her birthday week so I am not completely dead :P)

Back to Darwin at some stage … possibly the 24 th Jan?

Well… that was rather long winded.. but you get the general gist… still lots of details to iron out… any suggestions of places to go/food to try would be great :)

What I've been doing this past year or so

2007-10-27T16:12:00.000+09:30

Well where shall I start?

I am teaching at Milingimbi - this is an island in East Arnhem Land, about 250Kms East of Darwin and only 500m off shore.

The island is actually pretty small, about 2000 yolngu (aboriginal) people live here .. and about 50 or so balanda (white people - non-yolngu). There is a clinic here, a school (obviously), one store with a take-away, a workshop where people buy fuel, an art centre and a few other odds and ends.

I should mention the sandflies as they are pretty aggressive... and most mornings I put my 'perfume' (aka aeroguard) on before i head off to school.. when i forget... mmm 'itchy' is possibly the best way to describe those days :P

What else?

Lauren is up visiting/working up here at the moment. So I am enjoying her cooking.. damn she's good at cooking cakes. Esp. banana bread (not technically a cake i am aware but still baked.. so -shrugz-).. The local store (ALPA) was sent too many boxes or something so we had millions and millions (well.. at least more than 50) bananas mmmmmmmmm yummy.. but there is only so many bananas two girls can eat ;) So Lauren made lotsa yummy banana food .. YUM!

-thinks-

Easter hols
I spent in Darwin bumming around .. partying.. giving my liver something to recover from :)

June/July
i went down to Sydney with mum to have a bit of a look around.. it was freeeezing! (not as cold as New Zealand.. but still enough to warrant gloves and a jacket) Got to see a giraffe and many other kewl animals in the zoo (first time that I’d been to a zoo) and other kewl stuff... if i get around to it I’ll post some of the photos on my face book account ... or learn how to post them here.. hmmm...

Sept/Oct hols
- in Darwin again partying it up.. went to a concert (!!) Silver chair and Powder finger! This was the second time that I've seen Silver chair in concert also the second concert that i have been to (not counting the many punk and scar concerts that i went to with Monica when i was living down in brissy) For those of you whom do not know.. I really do not listen to music very much. Shocking concept i know :P
Was able to catch up with my mum during this hols as she was in Darwin also, she is teaching at Elcho island and loving it [Elcho island is about 40kms away from here.. as the crow flies.. over open ocean].

I did meet someone out here believe it or not! Unfortunately since I live in woop woop and he is a relief store manager it didn't really have a chance... But it's good to know that even living in woop woop I can meet a decent guy every so often ;)

mmm I think that's enough of a rant about what I've been doing by the way ...

IT IS HOT!! 36 degrees.. so I’m going to crawl back to my aircon room.. and shake my fist at the people who haven't authorised the repairs to my aircon in the lounge room!! GRR! :P

Welcome

2007-10-27T13:24:00.000+09:30

Well, I've finally set up my own blog site.

Who would’ve thought? :)

The main purpose of this blog is so that I can share what’s happening with me without clogging up peoples e-mail boxes…

Well… since I don’t think that I have sent a long e-mail or group e-mail since… -thinks- well grade 10 possibly… the main purpose will help me keep in touch with everyone.

I really have no idea how successful this idea of a blog will be, as I tend to forget to do things, like share what I am up to... who knows maybe this will make it easier.

So. Enjoy reading, feel free to comment or not.. Hopefully I do not offend anyone in any of my rambles :)

Take care