Month 2 review

Somehow, it’s been two months in Australia! Many more new things this month, but as I was writing this, I was listening to The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green and he shared a quote that I think summarizes September well: 

Don’t just do something, stand there.

The book is a series of essays on a human-centred planet, and I have found it to have a number of chapters that simply resonated with me. I’m only about halfway through it now, but the chapters titled Sunsets and Auld Lang Syne are favourites. Something about being able to just be has made this month memorable. By giving my attention to the little characteristics of my experiences, like the trickling of the water fountain behind me when I write this, I am being a conscious consumer of my lived experience. Each day has had novelty to it, though that’s a given with the nature of being a casual relief teacher, but I am making an active effort to experience as much as I can! With that, here’s month 2:

A few new words:

• jetty is the word for pier
• arvo means afternoon
• beef mince refers to ground beef
• capsicums are what they call bell peppers
• ambo means ambulance

As far as new foods go, I got to try a meat pie and vanilla slice! The meat pie had beef mince and a gravy in a personal-sized pastry. Tasty, but I think tourtière has my vote. The vanilla slice was different! The best way for me to describe it is a bottom layer of a pastry that resembles Matzah, a 3 cm layer of vanilla custard (though it wasn’t too sweet), another layer of pastry, and a sweet almond flavoured frosting. It’s a little messy to eat, but I can see why the Aussies love it!

September was filled with my visiting of new places:

• Truganina Explosives Reserve: I got a tour of the area that used to house explosives in the early 20th century while Melbourne was developed. Eventually it closed because population centres became too close, so the area was allowed to go back to nature. Now it is a wildlife haven, with many costal birds to be seen.
• St Kilda: I took a Sunday trip down to the famous suburb, and saw what all the hype was about. It was busy, that’s for sure! I am glad my suburb is a little more relaxed. It was a good call to preview it though, as later that week I attended a concert at the Palais Theatre, and knowing my way around eased my anxiety when I was on a schedule.
• Newport Lakes: This little gem is a 15 minutes away! It’s a gorgeous park area with walking trails and educational signage. Big fan!
• Williamstown Botanic Gardens: A gorgeous place to walk around and not too far from home! I can’t wait to see what the plants look like as spring progresses.
• The Top End: My school holidays trip! It was a phenomenal time, and I’ve got an ongoing series of posts about it. You can read about how I packed about day one already.
• Williamstown Beach: After getting back from my trip, I spent some much needed time relaxing and being still. I love having a beach so close to where I live! 
• Book Launch for Buying Happiness: I’d never attended a book launch before, but decided to give it a go. I know I’m on a working holiday but that doesn’t mean I can completely ignore my finances. I’m a couple chapters in and loving it! 
• Doctor visit – uh oh! During my trip I developed a couple sores on my face, and immediately my mind went to the worst case scenario: I have a flesh eating bacterial infection. The day I got back to Melbourne, I went to see a GP, and found out that I was going to be alright, it was impetigo, which is effectively a staph infection. There’s a chapter on staphylococcus aureus in The Anthropocene Reviewed too, what are the odds? Antibiotics are ongoing, but after two days it was much better. Am I ever glad to live in the age of modern medicine! And, since I am in Australia for employment, Manitoba is extending my health coverage, so I just need to submit my bills to them. 

Only one new school this month, and it was a primary school. I taught year 5/6 this time (combined split classes) and it was great, I hope I get to go back again! 

Finally, a notable observation: when the stair treads have nosings to increase visibility, they are often raised so there is a tactile difference when you are near the edge of the tread. I don’t recall seeing them often (at all?) in Canada, but it seems that the majority of stairs have them here.

And that was September! See you soon,

– Kate