My classroom - Week 8

Some people were whinging that my classroom didn't look like me yet.  After 8 weeks, I think that I've managed to add some Ally touches to things. Yay for Art!

The Hungry Caterpillar (tissue paper art)

Footprint bees and a poem about bees

Happy Spiders (much like the 2 Huntsmen I found this morning.
One is still hanging out on the roof of my classroom.)

Gary the Snail from Spongebob

Floriade (Exchange Weekend in Canberra)

This weekend a former exchange teacher here in Canberra (she exchanged to Kamloops) hosted a weekend for exchangers. I was semi-host as I provided lodgings for a couple of the exchangees. It was awesome showing people how great Canberra is, especially since so many Australians ask me, "Were you disappointed when you found out you go Canberra?". It was a very busy and exhausting weekend but I thinkI managed to see more of Canberra in two days, than I have in 2 and a half months.

It all started with a drive to the top of Mount Ainslie.  It has the best view of Canberra.  Down below, at the base, is the War Memorial.  As you go straight up the orange median you can see Lake Burley Griffen.  As you continue south, the old Parliament leads right up into the new Parliament. This is my favorite part of Canberra.  In the background, you can see the Australian Alps. Off to the left, and over the hill is out where I live.

After breakfast at Mt. Ainslie, we went to the National Art Gallery, which was fantastic.  We saw a Jackson Pollock and various other famous artists.  Most of our tour was spent learning about Aboriginal Art.  I learned quite a bit, but I'm not going to go into details. Let's just say that I've never really looked at Aboriginal art the right way, and I'm not sure that I can even interpret alot of it now. It also made me want to learn a little bit more about Canadian aboriginal art as I'm starting to think that I haven't been looking at that right either. Some of the contemporary Aboriginal Art was very enlightening as well.  I'm sure that a lot of it could have been created in Canada as well.  One artwork, called Austracism, had lines of text that all started with "I'm not racist but....." and then finished with some things that I've said about our own native groups.

After the gallery, I walked with an American exchange teacher named Susan to the War Memorial.  I gave her a quick and dirty history lesson using American, Australian and Canadian facts I know about many of the battles and wars that are portrayed at the memorial. This is still one of my favorite places to go in Canberra.  I think I'll probably spend many a rainy day here in the year that I will spend here. I still don't think I've seen much of it, or I've missed something.   I also bought books on Australian involvement in WW1 as well as an entire book on Gallipoli. I'm sure I'll have to go back after I read those too. (P.S. Ian, do you want an Australian Army hat?).

 After the memorial, I took Susan on a quick drive to see the new and old Parliaments.  We got our photos taken in front but did not go in.  That is still on my to-do list.  Next rainy day maybe.

 

On Sunday, we had breakfast down by the Carillon at Lake Burley Griffen and then walked our way around the lake to Floriade, the spring festival here in Canberra. Mom, you would have loved this. There are flowers everywhere and they've put them into designs like Watermelons and Farmer's Market Stalls, etc. There are also cool shops down there and I managed to spend too much money on things I didn't need.  The good news is I got some cool Christmas presents for people.

The weekend ended with a trip to the Glassworks factory and the Kingston markets. I'm also going to have to sign up for the Artist off the Street program they have at the glassworks so that I can make a cool glass souveneir to take home with me. I can pretend I'm an artist for a while.





Radelaide

This weekend I made my way to Adelaide.  The adventrue did not start off well as just as I was headed up stairs to pack and go to bed, I got a text saying that my flight in the morning had been cancelled and please call Virgin Airlines.  Good News: I now could sleep until 5:30 a.m. as my flight was later. Bad News: Arriving 1.5 hours later than I planned in Adelaide. My morning went much better and I again found myself flying in over Sydney. Unfortunately I didn't get the awesome views of the the Harbour Bridge and Opera House I got last time, but I did spy the Olympic park and the true size of Sydney Harbour.



 

Yes, this is all Sydney Harbour

Flying over Australian farmland.  Looks like home.

I arrived at 10:30 a.m. Adelaide time. As I was flying from Sydney to Adelaide, I had the thought. "This flight is about the same distance as Calgary is from Toronto.  Would I ever just make a 2 day trip to Toronto? Probably not." Being overseas definitely makes you look at the world differently.  I may have to start making a weekend trip to Toronto or Montreal every once in a while.

Rocky picked me up and we were off and running. We made our way over to the Adelaide Zoo to visit the Pandas. I haven't seen pandas since I was 8 at the Calgary Zoo (also the last time I was at the Calgary Zoo) so I was very excited. They were very active.  Apparently this is normal for mating season. I guess this is why they had them separated at the zoo. They didn't want any children watching Panda Porno.

The zoo in Adelaide is pretty good and there are tonnes of different animals including the normal giraffes, lions, and orangutuans, but there were also Sun Bears (I've never seen), meerkats (Hakuna Matata!) and wombats (will hopefully see in the wild eventually).



Rocky having fun in the Museum Shop

 Next we headed to the Haigh's Chocolate Factory. We took a self-tour and looked through the windows at all the delicious, delicious chocolate.  I also loaded up on chocolate goodies.  We even got to be part of a taste test for a new Strawberry White Chocolate.  I had a hard time making up my mind so I of course had to try both multiple times to make sure I got it right They were both fantastic.

Food was next on the agenda as well as watching the AFL playoffs.  Collingwood beat West Coast, as expected and I stuffed myself on a hamburger and fries.  By the end of the evening, I was so stuffed just the mention of food made me ill. I think it was the chocolate that did me in.



Hanging 10 at Glenelg in the rain.

 Next we were off to the 'resort' of Glenelg.  It was raining, windy and cold, but we did mini-golf and I really took it to poor Rocky, beating him by 2 strokes.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Adelaide as we'd pretty much done everything there was to do except the Gaol which was closed.

We ended the evening by going to the movie "The Change-Up". Very, very funny.  I highly recommend. By this time I was passing out on my feet and it was time to go to the hostel for a good night's sleep.



I don't know what it is about Australia and their wierd animal
statues. Sheeps in Canberra.  Pigs in Adelaide.

 In the morning I was left to my own devices and made my way through the rain to check out the cool architecture and the shops of CBD Adelaide. I even managed to find a tiny market and a Canadian artisan who made jewellary out of the coolest items. It was the Canadian coins that caught my eye first, but I ended up buying a necklace made from an old typewriter key and one made from the inside of a bottlecap. Gotta support the fellow Canadians.
 

The only woman executed at Adelaide Gaol.

Rocky right where he belongs.

Next it was off to the jail. Adelaide was the longest running jail in Australia. It originally opened in 1840 and ran until 1988.  South Australia was the first colony in Australia to be settled by non-convicts.  Apparently they thought that because these people weren't convicts, they were better stock and therefore no prison was planned.  That quickly changed when it became quite apparent that there were thieves and murderers among the 'normal' population as well. The jail is smaller than I thought, but pretty creepy.  There are graves for those inmates who were executed by hanging, the last taking place in 1964. It's also supposed to be haunted which always makes things more fun. Women were even incarcerated and executed here until 1969.  In the beginning, women with children actually brought their children to jail with them. This stopped in the 1880s or something like that. The jail was definitely very fascinating.

Finally, it was time to head home. As I made the final trek to Canberra from Sydney once again, I was treated to wonderful views as the sun set in the distance.

Sydney's coastline

Welcome home to Canberra







 









Spring Has Sprung

The cherry blossoms are in bloom, the weather is getting warmer.  Spring has arrived.

It has again been a very busy and interesting couple of weeks. I've again learned something new about our Aussie friends. Apparently, the seasons begin on the first of the months. i.e. Spring begins on Sept. 1, Winter on Dec. 1, etc. I tried to explain that this was not correct as spring and autumn don't happen until the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and summer and winter don't start until the longest and shortest days of the year, around the 21st of the aforementioned months.  They now think I'm insane and that they are much smarter than us North Americans. They've also been making fun of me all week.  I must have something tatooed on my forehead. I've had comments about Canadians being slow, being the same as Americans, etc. If anyone has some good comebacks let me know.  I can't think that quickly on my feet.

Last week was Father's Day, so we had the dads come in and read with their children.  On the same day, we had Learning Journeys (student-led conferences) so my Friday was pretty much shot.  I also had an incident with a student that led to me gaining a few new bruises. To say that least, I was happy to see Friday in my rearview mirror. The weekend was spent recovering and heading to the Hall Markets on the Sunday morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great day for eating Dutch pancakes and buying random stuff I don't really need. Actually, all I bought was coffee, but I'm sure I could have bought a bunch of stuff if I didn't have to get it back to Canada somehow.

The kids are starting to get my sense of humor and have started repeating my stupid sayings before I do, like "Clear as mud, Miss Bendfeld." They really think that one is funny. They've started to realize that they can laugh at me and the stupid things I do. They are also starting to get when I am serious and that they should get back to work. I wish that I could remember all the cute things they say to share with you, but my memory just isn't that good.

Well, this weekend I am off to Adelaide for a couple of days.  There are sure to be pictures and stories to tell when I return.

Off to "milkshakes"! Gotta love staff bonding.