My teacher, Mel, was gone today so I shadowed a couple other
secondary teachers in our building. (Side note: that’s what it’s called when
you observe. And they also call substitutes “relief teachers”.) I helped in a
year 7 alternative lesson. Every year the different years go on camp and those
students that choose not to go stayed with us. We discussed the great leaders
of the world and what makes a great leader. Next up was year 10 geography with
a relief teacher. It was pretty relaxed so we took some time out and I showed
them my March Madness brackets and explained what it was. They thought it was
so fun! I even let them help me
make one. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. I also shadowed in a
PE/health class that was currently learning about sexuality. The students were
year 10 but were so mature and open about the different types of sexuality and
what it means and we were able to have mature discussions. During lunch, I had the chance to try some pork and cabbage dumplings that one of the year 10 classes had made in cooking. I've never had cabbage before but they were quite good! The end of the day
was year 7 history class on medieval castles. The class was a bit rowdy but eventually
we were able to correctly design our own castle.
Being the sixth day here, we had started to break off into
smaller groups rather than feeling the need to travel as a pack all the time.
So after school one of my roommates, Sivan, and I made our way to the bus stop.
While waiting there, a car pulled up and started talking to her and suddenly
she turns to me and says, “do you want a ride?” You’re probably thinking the
same thing I was: “hell no! this is a random person in a foreign country!”
Turns out it was actually one of our fellow teachers though so we figured it’d
be okay. I had some quick shopping to do so he dropped me at the mall and
suddenly I was on my own in Australia for the first time ever! I have to say I
felt pretty good, especially since I already knew what stores I needed to go to
and where they were. I picked up some souvenirs and groceries then hit up the
bus station. Admittedly I was a little nervous at this next step but I
remembered our golden rule: when you’re out for a roam, bus three will always
take you home. By the time I got
back, everyone else was already down at the pool so I changed and made my way
down.
Let’s note that it was already 5 pm and yet the sun was high and shining
and we were out for a swim. Fun fact: our pool is saltwater! How crazy is that?
The rest of the night was spent relaxing and soaking up all the warm weather I
could.
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| Laying out by the pool |
