From Koalas to Marxism

Well, I suppose I should start by explaining the absurd title of this post.  It came from a conversation I had with Reegan's dad, Dave (my Australian grandfather, you could say).  He really enjoys talking, and after chatting for about 30 minutes, I traced the train of our conversation: it began with my koala experience at Cleland and ended with the effects of Marxist thought in China.  I pointed this out to him, and he thought it was great to see how the conversation progressed and how seemingly random things can eventually come together.  I thought about it a little more (mostly because I love the combination of words there) and realized that this is one of the ways to describe my experiences so far at Blackfriars.   I've been moving all over the place and doing a little bit of everything, but in all of that chaos there is some rhyme and reason that will make itself known in the end.  

After a conversation with Brett, Reegan and Dave which ranged from horrific Adelaide crime stories (which they assure me haven't happened for 15 years) to how different swears can be combined in a sentence, I turned in for the night to prepare for my third week at BPS.  I started off the day by meeting Gregori, a 17-year old from France who is studying at Blackfriars.  He'll be attending the Year 10 Male Mentor Day this Friday, and I was asked to be his mentor, since he doesn't have anyone else here to fill that role.  He seems like a great kid, and I'm really excited to get to know him.


Since this week is exam week for years 10, 11, and 12, all of my work for the next few days is with the younger grades.  I had some middle school flashbacks with the year 8's, who were working with microscopes, and then sat in on a fairly boring year 9 class (which I hopefully won't be returning to).  Afterwards, though, I got to go to the year 4 class, which is easily one of my favorites.  I seem to be part teacher and part distraction in that class, which is really fun.  The boys love to ask me questions about America (Justin Bieber is a popular subject), and I get to just "muck around" with them a bit as I help them do their work.  


Later in the day, I made my way over to the year 2 class.  On my way, I ran into Tyson, my first year buddy.  He had some fun sounding out my name, and then after I fixed his tie and showed him how to tuck in his shirt, he asked me if I would come play with him at lunch tomorrow.  He's such a funny little kid!  I wanted to follow him in with the year 1's, but I went on into year 2.  They seem so much older than the first years, but they're still a fun group.  They were drawing endangered animals and explaining to me all about the Tasmanian tiger and the platypus.  I miss those days!


I ended my day in the year 7 class, which I thought might be interesting.  They're definitely a lot different than the year 10's or the year 2's, but good in their own way.  When I started talking to one of the boys, he said "Oh good, you sound American."  I'm not quite sure what he expected, but I'm glad to know I have my "American" accent.  I wandered around the class a bit as they designed their bookmarks for the children's story project they're working on, and talked with a bunch the boys.  The teacher was right: those kids are weird.  They are a really good class though, and it'll be cool to spend some more time in there over the next few weeks and see how everything goes.


After school tomorrow I plan on searching out a coffee shop that says it has the American style coffee I'm looking for, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!