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.