Another Day, Another Adventure

Every day down here is truly different, and today was no exception.  I started off the day in a year 8 math class when I got a visit from the deputy principal, inviting me to go on an excursion (or field trip) with a class of year 9’s to a local Leonardo da Vinci exhibition.  I hadn’t done too much with the year 9’s before this, so I figured I’d give it a go.  We went to the Adelaide Showgrounds, a really nice exhibition center just outside the main city.  The people there gave us an overview about da Vinci and then showed us around some of his different inventions.  It was pretty cool!  If the trip taught me anything, though, it was how different all the grades are from each other – it’s really noticeable.  The year 9’s are too old to be open and friendly, but too young to be mature and friendly.  I definitely prefer the younger and older grades.  They weren’t at all a bad group, but just not the easiest to talk with.  I’m still working on the best way to relate to some of the boys, and that year 7,8,9 age group seems to be the toughest.  It has been really cool though, when I do get to know the boys a bit better – it’s always nice to get a hello (or a “G’ day”) as I’m walking around the campus.

We got back from the excursion just in time for lunch, which I spent in the Learning Enrichment office.  They have this thing called “Game Group” that they hold every day during lunch, so I jung around for that – only 2 boys came today, but we had some fun playing Jenga and Connect Four.  I won 4 out of the 5 games, which was pretty satisfying – the boys were 13 and 14, so I didn’t feel bad about beating them.  It was really fun though!

I talked with Maria a bit after that about helping out in her religion class after next week; we’re going to work together planning lessons and then teaching the class, so I’m really excited for that.  And then tomorrow I’m going to semi-run a review lesson for a year 10 math class.  Although I wasn’t sure it would be, my time so far has seemed like a great way to get teaching experience.  It’s really getting me thinking about going into teaching after college.  Hopefully I’ll still think that in 4 and a half weeks!

On a side note, my Australia coffee hunt is about to go into full-swing.  I feel like a fool every time I go into a different coffee shop, trying to figure out how and what to order, so I did some research.  Apparently, my problem is pretty common – a lot of Americans have trouble finding suitable coffee Down Under.  Americans prefer drip-style coffee, whereas Aussies like it espresso style.  Everyone online said that drip-coffee is near impossible to find down here, and the three people I’ve talked to here have never heard of it – but I will find it!  I’m going to check out every “Macca’s” I see, and look in every city coffee shop – they’re bound to have it somewhere!  And if not, my search will end just in time to get back to Dunkin’s.