Month 4 review

November has come and gone in the blink of an eye! It was a less busy month for work, between Melbourne Cup day and my trip to the Whitsundays I was basically working part-time, with only two full weeks of work over the course of the month.

I first read this month’s favourite quote in Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart: The limits of my language mean the limits of my world (Ludwig Wittgenstein). She initially used it to reference that we need language to conceptualize our feelings and emotions to process them, but I think it fits with all the new vocabulary. My challenge is that I’m introducing new language to my world! This month had more new terms and not just differences in word frequency Canada.

New Words

• Tradies are tradespeople, and it doesn’t end there: a chippy is a carpenter and a sparky is an electrician (I’d heard that one before in Canada!)
• I had a student tell me another was wagging when I was doing the roll, meaning they were skipping
• Ranger (rhymes with banger) is a term that refers to gingers because of their likeness to orangutans. I think it’s supposed to be offensive?
• Don’t call it a stroller! It’s a pram. 
• You push around a trolley at the grocery store
• If you have an excess of something, you’ve got heaps

Adventures of the Month

November took me to the Whitsunday Islands (here and here) and Puffing Billy (here).

I started off the month strong with my running, then my trip derailed that because running in the tropical humidity is not my idea of a good time. On one of my runs I went to St. Kilda’s Solar System Trail that brought me back to Port Melbourne. It’s a 1-to-1-billion scale model and is about 6 km from the sun to Pluto. I’m amazed that Pluto was even discovered in 1930, since I needed Google Maps to find it at a billionth the scale! Read more about it here.

I took a day trip out to Geelong, where I visited the National Wool Museum and Giant Sky Wheel. It was about an hour and a half on the train, and the wool museum was amazing! It combined two of my favourite things: textiles and agriculture. From the train I saw the Spirit of Tasmania, the ferry that makes the twelve hour journey south each day. I won’t be taking it though, I was happy to board a 75-minute flight.

I joined Museums Victoria, visited the Melbourne Museum twice, and haven’t even seen half of the exhibits. Since I can come and go as I please, I get to fully absorb all the artefacts and displays of each exhibit. I also get entry to the Immigration Museum and ScienceWorks, so I’m going to be doing all the learning now.

Some other Canadian teachers and I met up for an evening at Grazeland, a “playground for foodies”. It reminded me of The Forks, with nicer tables and heaters set up so you felt less like you were at a food court. They had live entertainment too! There were so many stalls with different cuisines: Mexican, Greek, Italian, Middle Eastern, Indian, South American, and more. There was even a section dedicated to desserts. It’s a permanent setup, so it felt more cohesive than a food truck fair or something along those lines. My grazing included tacos, spinach and feta gözleme, and Biscoff cheesecake on a stick. So tasty!

I tried out my first ever book club! We met at a coffee shop one Monday evening. I’ve been reading heaps of books since I’ve been here, it’s the perfect way to unwind from work, and the book club was a really nice way to connect with other people who also enjoy it. I am planning on attending again in the new year!

V/Line Trains

I got to take V/Line trains to work and Geelong. V/Line is the regional train network that uses diesel locomotives rather than electric ones (Are they electric locomotives? Sorry, I’m not up to date on my train terminology). These train stations are spaced further apart, so the trains can get up to greater speeds and fly by. The seats are comfier, and the ride is smoother. I have to take my metro train 10 minutes to the nearest V/Line interchange, so it’s not hard at all! The fares that I’ve paid have been the same as the metro trains, capped at $10/day but $6/day with a Myki pass.

The V/Line trains also have quiet carriages, where the car is designated for peace and quiet. Let me tell you, the quiet carriage is a haven after a full day of busy classes. It’s even better because I live in an “inner” suburb, it’s very convenient, as I am opposing the general flow of movement during commuting hours, so finding a seat is never an issue. The V/Line trains do tend to come less frequently than the metro ones, but it’s perfectly manageable.

It’s the final weeks of the school year here, and everyone has the countdown on until summer break. I’ve got some exciting things in the works… stay tuned! That’s all for now, see you soon!

– Kate