This is why I need to update more often.........
August 19 - August 26
Our first week in the new apartment!
Let's see what I remember..... This was our first week in the apartment and the first week we were fully available to teach. I got two and a half days of work. One day I actually went back to the school I was at on the previous Friday, which was my first day. It was an easy day: excursion to swimming and an assembly. I really like that school; the kids are good and the staff is awesome.
On the two days I had off, I was still doing running around, picking up little things we still needed for the apartment. By the time the weekend came, we were pretty tired, and Becca had picked up a cold. We weren't in any shape to go out and do tourist-y stuff, so we stayed in and relaxed. I know we're in a new place and should be out exploring, but it was really nice to have a weekend where we could relax and sit around in our own place after living out of suitcases for two weeks.
August 27 - September 2nd
Weird and bad week!
This week started off weird. I thought I wasn't going to get any work, and then they called asking if I'd be willing to go to an administrative position for the day. You know, answering phones, helping people in the office, etc. To be honest, I never thought I'd be given that kind of work while I was here. But there was no way I was going to turn down work. The office administrator was able to find some work for me in the morning, but I basically spent the afternoon waiting for the phone to ring while perusing Google News. The phone barely rang and I'm not a news reader, so needless to say, I was pretty bored. But hey, it's money in the bank.
The rest of the week sucked. I had two grade 5 classes back-to-back (Wednesday and Thursday) and they were both just bad days. The first class was terrible. There were so many kids that were disruptive, had behavioural issues, were rude, and completely disrespectful of me as a teacher. It took all day - literally 6 hours - to actually get them to settle down and listen to what I had to say, which happened to be after I sent a couple kids to the office because I couldn't handle them. And so, we spent the last 15 minutes of the day having a conversation about respect. I want to be open to work and flexible and rise above, but if I'm offered to go to a Grade 5 class at that school, I will refuse. It was a terrible day and if I didn't have Becca to talk to and hug me when I got home, I would've climbed in bed and cried.
The next day I was in Grade 5 again, at a different school. The class as a whole was better, but there was one student that was rude, disrespectful, and didn't listen any instruction I gave. When I tried to speak with him about it, he literally turned his back on me and walked away, and continued to walk as I called him back. I was so upset I went to talk to the principal, who was out for the day. But I was able to talk to another teacher, and I ended up crying. I was so embarrassed. But they helped me out a lot and took the student out of the class for the next couple hours. When he came back for the last hour of class, he still tried to fight me on some instruction, but it was better. Still, overall it wasn't the best day. When I got home, Becca had bought me a hot chocolate and a cupcake to make me feel better. I have the best friend ever.
On Friday night, we finally met up with Mel, a girl that we went to school in North Bay with. It was nice to see a familiar face and catch up. Saturday and Sunday were chores days. We spent Saturday down at the Laundrette. It is so expensive here! For a wash it's $4, and for a dry it's $1 for 8 minutes (which is nothing, so it really costs like $5-$6 a dry). Thank goodness the dryers are huge. Sunday was groceries, and a crafting day. After all, it was Father's Day on the 2nd.....
September 3 - September 8
I can teach gym!
I started the week as a gym teacher and ended it as a special education teacher. That's me, flexible and multi-talented! I actually had two days of gym teaching. It was fun! The first day I worked with another teacher most of the day. We played T-Ball with the little ones, and then I did Golf with the Grade 5s and Rounders with the 3s (which is like T-Ball except you have a bowler who lobs the ball and the runner hits the ball with a one handed cricket-like bat). It was nice to work with the other teacher so I was able to learn the routines and some of the warm-up games they're familiar with. The second day was just me, and I also did some time release teaching. It was a big school, but really nice, too. I liked it.
And then came the two days of no work. We mailed some things, did some shopping for essentials (extra sheets and the like), and bought some crafting things. On our second day off, we decided to finally check out the Queen Victoria Market. It's a really huge, permanent flea market downtown. They have everything: bread, meat, fruits and veggies, dairy, deli meat, retail, restaurants, etc. It was nice to walk around, buy some fresh fruits and veggies, look at some of the shops. We'll definitely be going back again.
Friday we were working at a special needs school. Becca had worked there before, but it was my first time. I was in a junior class, that had 8 students aged from 7-10. They had a variety of developmental issues such as cerebral palsy, autism, Down's syndrome, and others I've never heard of. It was an experience, that's for sure. I didn't do any teaching that day. It was a Friday and the teacher had said to just have an easy day: iPads and movies. So that's what we did.
Saturday we spent the day at home, since it was yucky and rainy and cold all day. But we got out last night! We were invited to a party by another ANZUK teacher. We met a LOT of Canadian teachers there. It makes sense: you meet at school, you talk, you exchange numbers, and everyone shows up to the same party. Okay, well not ALL, but a lot. We did see a few girls that we had worked with before, but also met a lot of new people. And although it's not our usual scene, we did have a good time.
As for today, who knows what it brings? I want to go to Brighton Beach. It's supposed to be alright weather-wise today. Hopefully going up to 18 degrees! Woo! Spring is here!
In other news: SARAH IS COMING THIS WEEK!!! She's flying in on Wednesday and staying until Sunday. The highlight of the visit (hopefully) will be on Saturday when we go down to Phillip Island! We'll be renting a car and driving down. Oh yes, driving. I'm so darn excited. Other activities may include: Federation Square, Melbourne Zoo, and maybe a museum or two. If we're not working on Wednesday, we'll be picking Sarah up at the airport as well. Should be an exciting week with a lot to report! And probably some pictures, too.
Showing posts with label apartment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apartment. Show all posts
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Transition Time!
Today is a cold, cloudy, rainy day in Melbourne and I'm so happy! Let me catch you up on what's happened the last few days.
Wednesday was disappointing, when Becca and I were both up and ready for work and never got a call. We were at a loss for how to spend our day. We'd done our furniture shopping the day before, we didn't get our keys until the next day, and we didn't want to buy too much stuff because we'd still have to lug it over to the apartment the next day. So we discovered the train and tram routes to the apartment, where they'd get us, how often they came, etc. We walked around a lot downtown, went to the bank, window shopped, and so on. Basically, nothing consequential happened on Wednesday.
Thursday, we didn't get calls again, but this time we also didn't call ANZUK to tell them we were available. It was going to be such a full and busy day, that it was best for us not to be working. We were on our way by 8:30, heading to the rental agency to get the keys so we'd be at the apartment by the time the Ikea delivery came. Well, we were almost at the train stop near the agency when we realized we'd forgotten all the paperwork we needed in order to get the keys. Oopsies. So Becca went ahead to the apartment to wait for the delivery guys, while I ran back to the hostel for the paperwork and then back to the agency. I was hoping to make it to the apartment in time, but I was about 20 minutes later than the delivery, so they left it in the loading dock with Becca. All that meant was that we had to test our super-awesome muscles and lug everything to our apartment. Luckily, our front door is about 10 steps from the elevator. We got it all here, including 2 metal sofa-bed frames and a fridge! Talk about superwomen!
That's when the fun began: building time. I love building Ikea stuff! It makes me feel so competent and it's great seeing your furniture and thinking "Yeah, I built that!" We put together a couple things, then decided it was time to start the procession of luggage from the hostel to the apartment. Thankfully it's just one 10 minute tram ride (almost) from door-to-door. We did three trips before hunkering down for more building. We didn't have electricity or gas hooked up, yet, so we wanted to get as much building done while we still had daylight. We managed to finish everything, except Becca's bed because we needed a screwdriver for that. Then we had one last trip from the hostel with luggage. By the time we got to the apartment, it was dark, so we had to use the light from our phones to see. Our last trip was back to the hostel, after picking up supper, for our final stay there.
On Friday morning, I wasn't too hopeful that we'd get work. Two days of nothing had put me a bit down. But we called in, said we were available, and within five minutes, I got a call saying there was work for me! HECK YEAH! I had to go pretty far, so I packed up all my stuff and left Becca to check us out of the hostel. I was freaking out the whole way there, sprint walking and being so nervous and unsure of myself. By the time I got off the train, I got turned around and started walking the wrong way! So I ended up getting there a bit late, but the VP didn't seem to mind. He said these things happen and was really laid back about it. Thank goodness! So the morning was a bit of a whirlwind because I didn't have much prep time, but it worked out alright.
I had such a wonderful day. I don't think I've ever felt as confident teaching as I did yesterday. It was so different knowing that I was in charge, that I was the one responsible for the kids, that I didn't have anyone looking over my shoulder (like an AT). And the kids were FABULOUS. I've never had such a well-behaved class before. I hope my expectations aren't too high now. I just have so many stories about yesterday. Bottom line, though, is that I had an amazing day and I'm so excited to teach again!
At the end of the day, it was fantastic to come home to, well, home. Not a hotel or a hostel or a temporary living area. A place that is ours, that furniture we built and a place to cook our meals. It was a great feeling. We took the tram back into town for more shopping (Becca had already picked up a few things during the day), and grab dinner. And then it was back to the apartment for more unpacking. It's crazy how much garbage there is when you move. And the night ended, of course, with our first stay in our new apartment, in our new beds.
Hello, new life!
Wednesday was disappointing, when Becca and I were both up and ready for work and never got a call. We were at a loss for how to spend our day. We'd done our furniture shopping the day before, we didn't get our keys until the next day, and we didn't want to buy too much stuff because we'd still have to lug it over to the apartment the next day. So we discovered the train and tram routes to the apartment, where they'd get us, how often they came, etc. We walked around a lot downtown, went to the bank, window shopped, and so on. Basically, nothing consequential happened on Wednesday.
Thursday, we didn't get calls again, but this time we also didn't call ANZUK to tell them we were available. It was going to be such a full and busy day, that it was best for us not to be working. We were on our way by 8:30, heading to the rental agency to get the keys so we'd be at the apartment by the time the Ikea delivery came. Well, we were almost at the train stop near the agency when we realized we'd forgotten all the paperwork we needed in order to get the keys. Oopsies. So Becca went ahead to the apartment to wait for the delivery guys, while I ran back to the hostel for the paperwork and then back to the agency. I was hoping to make it to the apartment in time, but I was about 20 minutes later than the delivery, so they left it in the loading dock with Becca. All that meant was that we had to test our super-awesome muscles and lug everything to our apartment. Luckily, our front door is about 10 steps from the elevator. We got it all here, including 2 metal sofa-bed frames and a fridge! Talk about superwomen!
That's when the fun began: building time. I love building Ikea stuff! It makes me feel so competent and it's great seeing your furniture and thinking "Yeah, I built that!" We put together a couple things, then decided it was time to start the procession of luggage from the hostel to the apartment. Thankfully it's just one 10 minute tram ride (almost) from door-to-door. We did three trips before hunkering down for more building. We didn't have electricity or gas hooked up, yet, so we wanted to get as much building done while we still had daylight. We managed to finish everything, except Becca's bed because we needed a screwdriver for that. Then we had one last trip from the hostel with luggage. By the time we got to the apartment, it was dark, so we had to use the light from our phones to see. Our last trip was back to the hostel, after picking up supper, for our final stay there.
On Friday morning, I wasn't too hopeful that we'd get work. Two days of nothing had put me a bit down. But we called in, said we were available, and within five minutes, I got a call saying there was work for me! HECK YEAH! I had to go pretty far, so I packed up all my stuff and left Becca to check us out of the hostel. I was freaking out the whole way there, sprint walking and being so nervous and unsure of myself. By the time I got off the train, I got turned around and started walking the wrong way! So I ended up getting there a bit late, but the VP didn't seem to mind. He said these things happen and was really laid back about it. Thank goodness! So the morning was a bit of a whirlwind because I didn't have much prep time, but it worked out alright.
I had such a wonderful day. I don't think I've ever felt as confident teaching as I did yesterday. It was so different knowing that I was in charge, that I was the one responsible for the kids, that I didn't have anyone looking over my shoulder (like an AT). And the kids were FABULOUS. I've never had such a well-behaved class before. I hope my expectations aren't too high now. I just have so many stories about yesterday. Bottom line, though, is that I had an amazing day and I'm so excited to teach again!
At the end of the day, it was fantastic to come home to, well, home. Not a hotel or a hostel or a temporary living area. A place that is ours, that furniture we built and a place to cook our meals. It was a great feeling. We took the tram back into town for more shopping (Becca had already picked up a few things during the day), and grab dinner. And then it was back to the apartment for more unpacking. It's crazy how much garbage there is when you move. And the night ended, of course, with our first stay in our new apartment, in our new beds.
Hello, new life!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Momma, I'm a Big Girl Now!
I feel like I start each blog post with a long exhalation of breath. Not that I have to steel myself to write the post, but it's as if I'm just relieved to make it to another. And I have to prepare myself to relay everything that's happened. It's crazy that so much can happen in two days......
Yesterday (Monday), we both woke up feeling kind of alone and terrified. No more parents to take care of us, no more car to drive around in. Just us, the public transit, the bags we've packed, and a hostel.
But things turned around pretty quickly. Before we even had the chance to check out of the hotel, I got a call from a rental agency, the one we'd applied to the night before, asking for more information from us and saying our application checked out. All they had to do was call the landlord and call us back to set everything up to sign the lease. Yes, that's right people, WE HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE! By late afternoon, we were at the rental agency, handing over first month's rent, and signing our lives away. But, oh man, were we ever ecstatic!
We have a place to live!
It's the place we wanted!
We negotiated a great rent rate!
We move in on Thursday!!
After smiling so much our faces hurt and doing a lot of laughing and squealing, we came back to the hostel and just fell on the bed. It'd been a long day of discovering the public transportation, walking around the city, and being really excited. We watched a movie, did some internet surfing in the common area, then went back up to the room to watch another movie before bed. We were tucked in with the lights out before 10pm!
I didn't think today could be any more expensive or exhausting. Boy, was I wrong! We took a trip to Ikea, to check out the furniture we saw online. We ended up spending almost 4 hours there! And spending a lot of money, too. But considering what we bought, we actually made do quite well
We ran into a complication at the home delivery counter. After buying everything, we were informed that Ikea only does next day delivery. We don't have the place until Thursday...... Whoops. Thankfully, the man at the refunds counter (because that was our only option) was able to work it out for us and set it up for our things to be delivered on Thursday. Only problem with that is that we can only get the keys at 9am, and the earliest that the delivery truck will be there is 9am. So hopefully the delivery doesn't come until later in the day, so that whoever gets the keys has time to get to the apartment before them. Sucky part also, is that one of us will have to take the day off to do all of this, as well. Boo.
While we were out, I was also on the phone several times with the people who have to connect our water, gas and electricity. We have that more-or-less worked out, so we'll have those things by the time we move in, which is good.
When we got back to the hostel, we started rifling through paperwork for internet, phone, rent deposit procedures, and so on. It's exhausting getting a new place. Bec and I both fell on the bed (once again), feeling overwhelmed with everything. I even found myself wishing I was back in school. Life was easier back then......
But, no. We're big girls now. We have a place to live. We have furniture to put in it.
And we have big girl jobs. Which start tomorrow. Yikes!
Yesterday (Monday), we both woke up feeling kind of alone and terrified. No more parents to take care of us, no more car to drive around in. Just us, the public transit, the bags we've packed, and a hostel.
But things turned around pretty quickly. Before we even had the chance to check out of the hotel, I got a call from a rental agency, the one we'd applied to the night before, asking for more information from us and saying our application checked out. All they had to do was call the landlord and call us back to set everything up to sign the lease. Yes, that's right people, WE HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE! By late afternoon, we were at the rental agency, handing over first month's rent, and signing our lives away. But, oh man, were we ever ecstatic!
We have a place to live!
It's the place we wanted!
We negotiated a great rent rate!
We move in on Thursday!!
After smiling so much our faces hurt and doing a lot of laughing and squealing, we came back to the hostel and just fell on the bed. It'd been a long day of discovering the public transportation, walking around the city, and being really excited. We watched a movie, did some internet surfing in the common area, then went back up to the room to watch another movie before bed. We were tucked in with the lights out before 10pm!
I didn't think today could be any more expensive or exhausting. Boy, was I wrong! We took a trip to Ikea, to check out the furniture we saw online. We ended up spending almost 4 hours there! And spending a lot of money, too. But considering what we bought, we actually made do quite well
We ran into a complication at the home delivery counter. After buying everything, we were informed that Ikea only does next day delivery. We don't have the place until Thursday...... Whoops. Thankfully, the man at the refunds counter (because that was our only option) was able to work it out for us and set it up for our things to be delivered on Thursday. Only problem with that is that we can only get the keys at 9am, and the earliest that the delivery truck will be there is 9am. So hopefully the delivery doesn't come until later in the day, so that whoever gets the keys has time to get to the apartment before them. Sucky part also, is that one of us will have to take the day off to do all of this, as well. Boo.
While we were out, I was also on the phone several times with the people who have to connect our water, gas and electricity. We have that more-or-less worked out, so we'll have those things by the time we move in, which is good.
When we got back to the hostel, we started rifling through paperwork for internet, phone, rent deposit procedures, and so on. It's exhausting getting a new place. Bec and I both fell on the bed (once again), feeling overwhelmed with everything. I even found myself wishing I was back in school. Life was easier back then......
But, no. We're big girls now. We have a place to live. We have furniture to put in it.
And we have big girl jobs. Which start tomorrow. Yikes!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Apartment Searching and Phillip Island
Phew! Yesterday was a busy, busy day.
Here in Australia, if you want to rent an apartment you have to go inspect the apartment with the agent first, and then fill out your application and submit it to the rental agency. Well, Saturdays are big days to have open inspections. We had planned in advance to visit 8 apartments, and timed out the day so we could get to them all. We ended up seeing over 10 apartments, because some agents were showing various apartments within the building, and other agencies we hadn’t known of beforehand were there. We literally traveled around and looked at apartments from 9 am until 1pm. Once we’d seen everything, we had to figure out which ones we liked best (from checking our notes and rating them on a scale of 5), and narrow it down. Which was hard.
After we’d finished our apartment adventures, we headed on down to Phillip Island. If you don’t know about Phillip Island, I have a few words for you: koalas and fairy penguins. Oh yes. KOALAS AND PENGUINS. If we’d had a full day, we could’ve also seen the seals. Next time!
We stopped first at the Koala Conservation. We got to walk on boardwalks in the trees to get closer to the koalas! They tend to stay really high up in the eucalyptus trees, so getting even a dozen feet off the ground got us closer. And they were fluffy! Hard to believe that they’re actually vicious animals, but I’d rather not test the theory. There’s actually rangers that hang around in case the koalas get too close to people, so that they can protect the people from koalas! We also saw a lot of wallabies on the ground, just eating the greenery. They were really cute, too. They basically look like small kangaroos.
We had to head over to the Penguin Parade fairly early. The penguins don’t usually show up until around 6pm this time of year, but we got there before 5 because it’s such a big attraction. Even as early as we were, there were still people who were there, choosing their seats. We were sitting and waiting from at least 5pm. And it was COLD. After sitting there for so long, with the wind, and the ocean spray, we were all chilled to the bone.
But when the penguins finally came around 6:15, it was all so worth it. There wasn’t much beach for them to waddle along, since the tide was high, but we still saw well enough. They just swam up on the surface of the water, to the rocky edge, and then hopped their way to the grass! The ranger said their burrows can be as far as 1km from the water! That's why they tell you to check under your car for penguins before leaving. But I don’t think we realized they would be as cute as they were. I know I didn’t think they could be as small as they were! Becca and I couldn’t stop laughing! I think we were just so awed and excited that it just came out as laughter. It was so much fun!
By the time we got back to the car, we were all people-sicles, and crazy tired. But, oh my goodness, was it ever worth it. The penguins were amazing. I highly recommend anyone going to Australia to go see some fairy penguins, whether on Phillip Island or elsewhere. It’s an amazing experience. I know we’ll be going again. Hopefully we’ll be more prepared for the weather next time, but I think next time we’ll be going in the summer!
Here in Australia, if you want to rent an apartment you have to go inspect the apartment with the agent first, and then fill out your application and submit it to the rental agency. Well, Saturdays are big days to have open inspections. We had planned in advance to visit 8 apartments, and timed out the day so we could get to them all. We ended up seeing over 10 apartments, because some agents were showing various apartments within the building, and other agencies we hadn’t known of beforehand were there. We literally traveled around and looked at apartments from 9 am until 1pm. Once we’d seen everything, we had to figure out which ones we liked best (from checking our notes and rating them on a scale of 5), and narrow it down. Which was hard.
After we’d finished our apartment adventures, we headed on down to Phillip Island. If you don’t know about Phillip Island, I have a few words for you: koalas and fairy penguins. Oh yes. KOALAS AND PENGUINS. If we’d had a full day, we could’ve also seen the seals. Next time!
We stopped first at the Koala Conservation. We got to walk on boardwalks in the trees to get closer to the koalas! They tend to stay really high up in the eucalyptus trees, so getting even a dozen feet off the ground got us closer. And they were fluffy! Hard to believe that they’re actually vicious animals, but I’d rather not test the theory. There’s actually rangers that hang around in case the koalas get too close to people, so that they can protect the people from koalas! We also saw a lot of wallabies on the ground, just eating the greenery. They were really cute, too. They basically look like small kangaroos.
We had to head over to the Penguin Parade fairly early. The penguins don’t usually show up until around 6pm this time of year, but we got there before 5 because it’s such a big attraction. Even as early as we were, there were still people who were there, choosing their seats. We were sitting and waiting from at least 5pm. And it was COLD. After sitting there for so long, with the wind, and the ocean spray, we were all chilled to the bone.
By the time we got back to the car, we were all people-sicles, and crazy tired. But, oh my goodness, was it ever worth it. The penguins were amazing. I highly recommend anyone going to Australia to go see some fairy penguins, whether on Phillip Island or elsewhere. It’s an amazing experience. I know we’ll be going again. Hopefully we’ll be more prepared for the weather next time, but I think next time we’ll be going in the summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)