Thank God for Halloween...

... 'cause October sucked! Sorry there really hasn't been a lot of posts this month but it seems we haven't had a lot of good things to say. Australia has been pretty good. I didn't have to teach at the Jewish school this month, and I've really found my groove as a substitute teacher. We also had a lovely weekend at the beach with some friends. A girl Nikki goes to school with and her partner (they say partner here for everything, whether it is girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife/lesbian lover/etc.). And last night we went to Federation Square for a massive beer tasting. Like 20 microbreweries with all their different brews on tap. Good times! Nikki is now finished with her first semester of the master's program and has officially left me in the dust when it come to her philosophical papers. Reading her papers is like another language for this dude.

Now for the sucky stuff. I missed one of my best friends weddings. Jimison was in my wedding and he asked me to be in his but I couldn't because I was here. It kills me that I let him down like that.

Speaking of friends, Captain Zito and his lovely wife Amber had a beautiful baby girl named Heather Paige. My first God-daughter and I won't see her until Christmas. Judging by the pictures I'm gettting she is a cute little girl!


Nikki contracted "pink eye" recently. Probably from dealing with the public in her new job. Definitely not from the fecal route. Her's is the viral kind... and she washes her hands 80 times a day. Just wanted to make sure y'all know she is a hygienic person.

And finally, we just got word from my brother who was taking care of our cat that she has gone on to cat heaven. This was Nikki and I's first pet so that makes it real tough. Bailey was a great cat. Nikki and I both hated cats before her. Really the only reason we got her was we thought she might be a low maintenance pet. Turns out we got a cat that was more like a dog. First of all, she was certainly a cat with character. Most notably she loved water. Every morning when the shower turned on she would come running and immediately jump in and shower. Just turning on the kitchen sink would get her riled up and she'd have to come jump under the water. What's more, if you left a glass of water laying around... she would come knock it over. Even now here, we are careful of leaving water laying around, just out of habit. Another fun quirk she had was if she decided she wanted to be pet, she would be. Throw her off your lap 8 times and she'd just jump right back on. If you started petting her, and then stopped, she'd bite you just to let you know what she was sitting there for. She certainly was a character! Just knowing she isn't going to be there when we get back reminds us that you can never go home again. My mom did let me talk to my dog Isabelle on the phone tonight so that made me feel a bit better. We just would never have been able to take on this adventure without the help of family and friends.

I guess it isn't all wine and roses on this trip. Regret and second guessing is certainly tossed around in my mind, but at the end of the day,this is something that we both really wanted to do. And these thoughts never make it to a second thought. Sure it isn't easy and after a month like this, it almost doesn't seem worth it but then I remember that time passes and things change whether you like it or not. And at the end of this year, whatever we end up doing we will have these memories, and that will stay with us until we die.

Well, with that said I am really getting sick of these heart to heart blogs. Let's keep things in perspective here. It was Halloween here an they do know what it is but don't really celebrate it. I subbed at Fitzroy High and there was about 5-10 kids with the costumes and I ask them if they were going trick or treating. They said they have tried before but the people either give them old Meusli or 100 year old lollies (candy) or they tell them "We aren't bloody Americans!" and tell them to get lost.

And most importantly, the Bears are in first place in the North and playing Detroit this weekend. The Packers on the other hand are playing the Titans.. which means after this week they'll be all alone at the top! Super Bowl '09 Champs! (you heard it here first)

I'm halfway there...

I submitted my final essay today, so I'm officially halfway through my master's program! Now I need to start thinking of a topic for my master's thesis, so if anybody has any ideas or knows of any new research that might be morally problematic, please let me know!

G'Day Compagni

Holy smokes this work thing is kind of tough! The Jewish school was out for most of October because I just happened to hit the perfect storm of holidays coming together. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simhat Torah were all in October. So, I was able to sub all week long at other schools, this meant I wold have to work a 30 hour week! As soon as I told the agency I was off they locked me into the same place (Fitzroy High School) teaching Italiano. Serena Sue Bonasissa has to be proud!

Although it was tough working a full work week, it was nice to be a regular somewhere. I actually know over half the staff and, get this, they talk to me in the staff room. Not only that but when I walk in to their office they all say "G'day Mark". I also know the kids pretty well. Rather than waiting for them to screw up, I know the dickheads straightaway.

More importantly, I have been able to really teach them things. A little Italian yes... but mostly American culture. For example, most of these students know of the Chicago Bears and that they are the greatest football team to grace the gridron. I have also taught them how to properly say and spell words like mom (they spell mum), aluminum (they spell aluminium), color (they spell colour). On top of that I am teaching that it is the letter "atche" not "hatche" and the letter "zee" not "zed". Lastly, I teach that we agree that G.W. is a a horrible guy, not everyone in America has a gun, we don't all supersize at Mickey D's (I teach them that word too, they all call it Macker's.), and that celebrities are not on every street corner in the USA.

Good times!

The video with this post really has nothing to do with the content of the post but it was a cool vid that showcases Melbourne and could put some of the things we talk about in context.

Way better than the dog at my homework...

How's this for an excuse- sorry my exam is late because I spent the afternoon at the clinic and the ER. Talk about bad timing! When I woke up yesterday morning, I noticed my right eye was a little puffy and bloodshot. I put in some drops, put on my glasses, and went to work hoping it would get better. Well, it didn't. In fact, it got worse. I actually woke up in the middle of the night last night from all of the pressure in my head and this morning my eye was even more puffy and bloodshot. I knew I had to go work since we were already short one and then come home to finish and post my take home exam, which was due today, so I decided I'd wait and go to the doctor tomorrow. However, about halfway through my work shift, my head was filled with so much pressure I knew that I couldn't wait until tomorrow. So I made arrangements to leave work a little early in hopes of making it to the clinic and still getting home in time to finish and post my test. Boy was I wrong! I spent nearly an hour at the clinic just waiting to be seen and then about another half an hour or so with the doctor who decided that it was either a quick onset of glaucoma or an infection. Since he wasn't sure and wanted to play it safe, he wrote me a note to the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital Emergency Room. I spent another couple hours there before learning that it's probably viral conjuctivitis, which is better than glaucoma, but as it's a viral infection there's nothing they can do for it. It's also highly contagious so I got a note to excuse me from work for the rest of the week!

Living the dream...

I always said that it would be nice to quit teaching and work a coffee shop job as it would be so much more relaxing and less work. Well- let me tell you- I was right!

Here's how it all started. A couple days after we got back from our trip, I received a letter from the Victorian Institute of Teaching informing me that my request for teacher certification had been rejected on the grounds that I had not satisfied the supervised teaching requirements (my PLU transcript lists my student teaching as an internship). I can appeal the decision, but to do so I need to gather additional evidence to show that the internship was supervised teaching and then wait until the next committee meeting. Since I finish with school in a couple weeks, but the appeal might take a month and even then isn't guaranteed, I decided to start looking elsewhere. So last Friday I went to a cafe for a working interview, which means they put me to work to see how I do. Clearly I did alright because I worked the entire day!

Although it doesn't pay nearly as well as teaching, the perks are great. I work from 9-3 during the week, weekends off. I get a paid break, which is short, but includes free lunch. If there's extra food at the end of the day, I get to take it home for dinner (so far we've had dinner provided every night). The customers are great, very easy to please, and I enjoy my coworkers. Plus, the best part is when I go home at the end of the day, I don't bring work with me!

Ah... life is good!

Back to Work

Well, now that the holiday within a holiday is over, it is back to work. Being back in the classroom has brought some things into perspective for me.

First of all, not many Aussies have been to the places we've been. They all want to but never take the time or money to do it. We are often the same way. I grew up about 2 hours away from Yellowstone National Park and only went there once. I've seen most of Montana but only through a car window doing 85-90 mph. I never really stop in the towns and check them out. By the time I leave here I will have seen way more of Australia than I have of the U.S. So, Nikki and I have decided we will take a cross-country trip of the USA and really be tourists.

Another thing is to appreciate the kids I am babysitting... er... substitute teaching. Now that I have a better handle on how to manage these hellions, I spend a great deal of time talking to them, and learning about them as they learn about me. As a matter of fact, I was missing the Pledge of Allegiance on Mondays so the other day I taught a class the Pledge and they all stood up in and said it... classic! And I'm making it my personal duty to teach every kid here the beauty of American football and the glory of the Chicago Bears. And I'm learning from them.
Kids do a great job of saying exactly what is on their mind. I've learned so much Aussie slang I could write a book. On top of that, when I go to a "multi-cultural" school that isn't a politically correct way of saying there is a lot of minorities... it actually means multicultural. I have been in a classroom with a Macedonian, Serbian, South African, Nigerian, Vietnamese, Turks, Greeks, Italians, Phillippino, and countless others all in the same class. And these are kids that were born there. How many of you have met a Macedonian? How many know where Macedonia is? (I had to look it up). Talk about cool conversations. I now officially have 30 more countries I have to see before I die!

Most of all, I am learning career is not everything and that all those little details are less important than the experience. Things that really pissed me off, like Fife shutting my email off like I was dead to them, or getting bitched out because I thought 30 kids were too many for 20 computers in a CADD class, or cancelling one of my classes in a program that I worked so hard to build and giving me Low impact fitness are just details. I still don't agree with those things but it isn't the end of the world. At the end of the day, I enjoyed teaching Yoga, I got paid the same wage, and above all some of those things are the catalyst for this change of scenery.

Wow, I am really getting silly in this thing. I hope nobody is actually reading this, but if you are be sure some things never change. I paid $5 for 6 minutes of internet in the outback to check the Bears score, and I watch Sportscenter everyday, and I listen to Bears podcasts, and I still think my dad's filthy emails are funny, still talk to my mumm every week, and I still go down to the wood shop and build things when I can, and I'm probably better at keeping in touch with friends here than I was at home, now if I could just scare up enough dudes for a poker game...

By the way, if you are reading this, send me an email, give me a call (number is still the same), or leave a comment. It's fun to hear who is following it.

Another day in paradise.

Nikki put things pretty well on her description so I'll just add a few meandering thoughts. First of all, the canoe trip was very cool. We paddled down a river and saw crazy birds, a crocodile skeleton, huge fish swimming belowe us, and wallabies all along the way. One of those times when I really appreciate the grand adventure we are having.

The first morning in Darwin we went for a tour to Litchfield National Park. We generally don't like tours because it is way more fun to get lost, dodge Kangaroos in the outback, show up at the airport a day early, get trampled at the Eiffel tower or one of the other strange circumstances we have gotten ourselves into. But this turned out to be one of the coolest days I have ever had. In the morning we went to the jumping crocs cruise, where they actually jump out of the water. These things aren't just occasionally found like Bears in the forest... they infest the waters. A park ranger said your life span if you are to fall into the river with a life jacket is about 5 minutes. When he said that I didn't buy it... after 20 minutes on the cruise... believe me it is true!

After the croc cruise we went swimming, and it was the kind of thing you see in movies. Amazing waterfalls in a calm swimming hole. You could just swim right over to the waterfall and let it fall around you. I climbed the side of the cliff and dove into this crystal clear water. It was amazing!



The picture below was at another swimming hole. This is the one that had the natural hot tub. What is was, was you climb about half way up the falls on the left and there was a hole about 10 feet deep in the middle of the cliff that fit about 5-6 people. Another interesting nugget about these falls were that the Aborigines used to swim here and one side was female and one side was male. They determined this because the falls on the left have a cave that looks like a giant vagina (half way up just to the right of the falls), and the falls on the right had a giant penis. I'm not making this stuff up... click on the picture and you can blatantly see where they might get the idea. I don't get why Nikki failed to mention that interesting tidbit.


The picture below is me licking the ass of an ant. Our tour guide for Litchfield taught us the trick and these green ants were all over. This was a table at a bar in town and here Nikki and I licking ant butts. They really taste pretty good. It is like a shot of real sweet, citric acidy, tangerine. Very good stuff.



You know all the really cool shots on Crocodile Dundee... yeah that is where this picture is taken. It really is cool looking. Just behind the camera is the tour guide that is watching the water, and we couldn't get any closer because it is full of crocs. This was Kakadu national park. I've never seen a place with so much life. We saw, buffalo (like the one Croc Dundee hypnotized in the movie), brumbies (wild horses), tons of crocs, exotic trees and plants, and every strange type of bird you can imagine.




All in all, the trip was an amazing taste of Australia bottom to top. From our big city, multi-cultural city of Melbourne, to the green hills of the McLaren Vale vines, to the desolate outback, and through to a tropical paradise. Now it is back to work to pay off the credit card!

The last leg of our Australian adventure...

I just realized that neither of us have posted about Darwin, so here goes. When we left Alice Springs, we were on the Ghan another 24 hours until we reached Darwin. This time around, however, the seats in front of us were empty, so we turned them around to stretch out on; it was much more comfortable than our trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs. We also had a 4-5 hour layover in Katherine, so we decided to book one of the excursions. Being as cheap as we are, we booked one of the cheapest excursions, which was canoeing on the Katherine River. It ended up being a pretty cool experience; I actually kind of felt like I was canoeing down a small version of the Amazon (not that I know what that's like, but you get the idea).

Anyway, we got into Darwin in time to check into our hotel and grab a bite to eat. The next morning we were picked up bright and early for our day adventure to the Adelaide River for the jumping crocs cruise and then to Litchfield National Park. The jumping crocs cruise was pretty cool. When the guides spotted a croc, they attached a big piece of meat to a pole and used it to lure the croc to the surface. After getting the croc's interest, they would lift the meat and the croc would actually come out of the water to get the meat. It was pretty cool! We saw 3-4 crocs over the course of the hour cruise and then it was off to Litchfield. At Litchfield we saw huge termite mounds; they were pretty amazing. Then we went swimming in waterholes, which was a great relief from the blistering heat. We swam in three different waterholes, each with unique characteristics. The first had a couple of waterfalls and rocks to jump off of, the second was a series of waterholes, and the last had a natural hot tub. We finished off the wonderful day with an ice cold beer (they have a pretty good cider around here) and a platter of kangaroo, crocodile, and emu kebabs.

The next morning we were picked up bright and early once again, this time for Kakadu National Park. Kakadu is a pretty amazing place with a lot of Aboriginal history. The Aboriginees of Kakadu were different from those of Alice Springs, which was evident in the style of their cave paintings. After learning about the Aboriginal culture, we went on a hike to a great lookout, and then took a billabong cruise where we saw lots of birds and even more crocodiles. We got back to Darwin in time to spend about an hour at the Mindil Beach night market.

Monday was our final day in Darwin and we had nothing planned, so we just walked around the town to see what there was to see. Since it was hot and humid (Darwin is in the tropics), we decided to check out the beach, which unfortunately was closed for jellyfish season. Oh well, we found enough to keep us busy until it was time to go to the airport. We flew out on a red-eye flight and arrived in a cold, overcast Melbourne Tuesday morning- back to reality!

PS- To get a good idea of the things that we saw on this Australian adventure, just watch the first half of Crocodile Dundee!

Montana is Urban

Nikki explained the Ghan pretty well. It was a very cool experience. I didn’t have an idea how big of a country Australia is until we were moving here, and even then I didn’t quite grasp the concept of how desolate it is. Once you leave Adelaide, there is nothing. It looks an awful lot like Eastern Montana. Like driving from Baker to Broadus, only flatter.

Once we got into town we picked up our sweet ride… the Britz Camper van! In much like Nikki and Mark style we may have bit off a bit bigger chunk than expected. I had a few misconceptions. Misconception #1 driving in the outback is just fine this is 2008 and it is plenty developed. Misconception #2 Uluru is not that far from Alice Springs. Misconception #3 Uluru is a major worldwide tourist destination… lots of people will be cruising the same road as us at that time. Misconception #4 there really isn’t a lot of Roos out on the road… it’ll be like deer in Montana. Yeah so… we spent the first three months of living in Oz begging to see a Kangaroo and then those three hours begging not to see one. We did see a few, but with my ninja-like reaction time and the peak performance of the Campervan we were just fine.



As for Uluru it was almost spiritual. I can see how the Aborigines feel the way they do. Just coming up on this thing is like nothing you can imagine until you see it. I just can’t put it into words. Nikki and I sat and watched this thing for 3 hours at sunset. And, Kata Tjuta was every bit as cool. On the valley of the winds walk, we walked right into the middle of all these huge rocks. At one point you are completely surrounded by huge stone walls all around and you walk into this valley and everything is calm. You hear every little animal and really feel close to nature. Wow… do I feel like a hippie after writing that! If it helps to solidify my manliness I followed it up with a VB and a few meat pies if that helps. If you haven’t heard of Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) then Google it or find a Discovery show.

The last day in the red centre was going through some very cool gorges. The Resort (RV park) where we stayed sat right back against these big cliffs. They looked a bit like the rims in Billings but a lot closer. Imagine the steep parts without the hills under it. All told we put about 2000 Kilometers on the old Camper van.

In the Outback...

We boarded the Ghan for Alice Springs around noon (midday as the Aussies would say) on Sunday and arrived around two o’clock Monday afternoon. The ride was long and we slept terribly (it’s kind of like sleeping on a plane, except they at least give you a crappy little pillow and blanket on a plane), but the experience was great! We watched the scenery change from green and lush to red and dry and red and dry and red and dry (you get the idea). Although I must say, we were both surprised with how much vegetation there is in the outback. At one point, we also saw a kangaroo hopping along in the background (can you get any more Australian than a kangaroo in the outback?!).

In Alice Springs, we picked up a campervan and drove 5 hours to Ayer’s Rock. We saw more kangaroos along the way, but since we had opted out of the rental insurance, we really weren’t interested in seeing anymore. Let’s just say the last hour of the trip was pretty nerve wrecking and we were relieved to pull into the Ayer’s Rock Campground. We set up the bed in our little campervan, which felt like a piece of heaven compared to the Ghan seats, and hit the sack. The next morning we put away the bed, drank coffee, ate breakfast, and then headed to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). Not knowing much about it before this trip, I didn’t really have any expectations, but let me say that I never thought a rock could be so breathtaking! There really isn’t a way to describe it, and I’m sure the pictures won’t come close to doing it justice. We walked around and listened to some of the Aboriginal stories, then drove to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), which are also absolutely beautiful! In fact, I prefer Uluru from a distance, but Kata Tjuta up close. After spending the entire day walking around and taking pictures of rocks, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the campgrounds.

On Wednesday, we went back to Kata Tjuta for the Walk of the Winds that we passed up the day before. I’m so glad we went back because it was awesome! Then we drove back to Alice Springs and continued along to the West MacDonnell Ranges. We camped at the Glen Helen Resort, which is set right in front of the Glen Helen Gorge (again, absolutely beautiful). Thursday morning we drove back to Alice Springs, stopping at different gorges and watering holes along the way. Unfortunately the gas light came on at the second to last stop, so we decided to pass up the last stop. Although breaking down in the outback would make a great story, and it sounds like something that would happen to Mark and I, we were fortunate enough to coast into Alice Springs on fumes.

(Pictures: Uluru in the distance, Walk of the Winds at Kata Tjuta, and driving off into the sunset towards the West MacDonnell Ranges)

Wine country...

Here are a couple of things that Mark forgot to mention. First, we were standing in line at the airport to check in our bags and I asked Mark to take out his identification so we’d be ready when we got to the front. He began checking all of his pockets and a panicked look came across his face- he doesn’t carry his license and he left his passport in the scanner when making a copy of it. Who goes on vacation and doesn’t bring any id?! Fortunately I had a copy of his passport and the Aussies are much more relaxed when it comes to travel, but it wasn’t exactly the way that I’d hoped to begin this adventure!

Second, Michael and Jane’s house is actually set up on a hill with vineyards on either side, which is absolutely beautiful. Plus, they have a rainwater collection system that supplies all of their water, an easy way to be green, and they raise chickens for eggs and sheep for meat to be more self-sufficient. Finally, Jane is a chef and cooked us a master meal of lamb, sweet potato mash, and veggies. Neither of us thought we liked lamb, until we had Jane’s lamb- now I’m looking forward to getting some spring lamb from the market and seeing what I can do with it.