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.