I found a job!! Yeah!!

Yeah! Finally, I got a job.

Well, it's part-time with no benefits, but the pay is great and the teaching is pretty easy. At least compared to having to learn about power plants and teach mostly middle-aged German engineers! LOL

Last Friday I was called in for an interview at Matrix English.



I talked for 1 1/2 hours to the DoS (Director of Studies) who said she was surprised that I hadn't found a job yet because of my background and qualifications. BUT, she didn't have anything for me at the exact minute. That bummed me out, but I also felt better because of her opinions of where I should look for work and when.

Anyway, on Monday I got a call from her saying that a group of new students walked in on Monday. Therefore, she needed to form a new group and bring in a new teacher. So, I will be working 13 hours/week, or maybe more if other teachers are gone. Of course I would like to get benefits, but the pay is really great ($31US/hour!). Oh, and it is downtown, so I really enjoy that.

My students are all from the state of Punjab in northern India. They are here in Australia for a 2 year program that combines English language learning along with a degree course in cookery (I'm not 100% sure exactly what they will study). These guys (yes, they're all men) are very nice and keen to learn/improve their English. I know I'll enjoy teaching them!

Here's a map of the state in relation to the rest of India. It borders on Pakistan and Kashmir, but according to my students, and the many websites I've been looking at, it is a very prosperous state. All of my guys are Sikhs (no, none of them wear a turban, at least in my class) and half of them have Singh as their last names. Yesterday, I taught for another teacher and our of 13 Indians, 11 had Singh as their last name!

Return here for more news. :) I'm trying my best!

Birds birds birds

Hi all,

Now, many of you know that I got a parakeet from some friends for my 16th birthday. And as I was obsessed at that time with all things Australian, I named him Aussie. He was officially an "Australian Pied Harlequin Parakeet", said "I love you", "Give me kiss", "Aussie pretty bird", "Thank you" and a few other things. He was wonderful! And Australian....

I brought Aussie up simply because his native home was here, and I've been enjoying seeing some of the birds most people in the northern hemisphere see in cages or zoos.

When we first got here, we were amazed at the sounds of the birds. It really sounded like we were in the jungle! I still don't know the name of some of the birds I've seen and heard, but I plan to bone up on this subject in the next month or so. But I do know a few of them..

For example, Wolf and I came home from someplace and parked in front of our apartment building. We heard a commotion in one of the trees across the street. Being a bird lover, I just had to check it out. There were at least 10 parrots, actually called lorikeets, in the tree eating. Man, did they make some noise! A couple of days later, I walked to the town center and again, there was another feeding frenzy. Cool, eh?

The smaller picture is pretty much how I saw them really--upside down and just having a blast. But of course, there were leaves and berries on the trees. Apparently, these birds are considered pests because they can destroy fruit crops. Oh well, they're beautiful pests! LOL

Another time I was driving back home from taking Wolf to work. Pulled up to the traffic light to wait for the right-turn arrow and what do I see but 3 cockatoos just fly around and settle on top of a street lamp. That's Australia!



And of course, living right along the ocean (well, Port Phillip Bay, which is a part of, I think, the Indian Ocean (maybe the Pacific, but I think we're officially the Indian), we have a plethora of seagulls (which look the same as back home) and pelicans. Those are fun birds to see flying outside your window! I did see them in Florida 10 years ago, so they didn't shock me when I saw them here. They're huge birds though!

All of these pictures were taken by other people and found on the internet. I'm sure that I'll be able to take my own pics of all of these birds and one point or another.

I hope you enjoyed!

Updating... :)

Hi all!

As we have finally gotten a regular internet connection, I guess I should update this!

What I'm going to do is "predate" some of these posts, so they're more chronological. Give me a couple of days so I can get everything up.

CHECK BACK OFTEN!!! :)