"Is Canada a Real Country?"

Hello friends and family in "Canadia": 

This week we started teaching. In Australia, supply work is called CRT (Casual Relief Teaching). We cannot thank Tradewind Australia enough for all of their flexibility and support as we began this process. All of our supply work comes through an app where we can accept shifts, change our availability and update our details. As any teacher knows, no two days in the classroom are the same, so below we've shared with you some of our first experiences and impressions of supply teaching in Australia so far...

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My first morning of teaching was a leap of faith - I woke up early and put a call in to Tradewind. About twenty minutes later they called me back with a shift at Christian Brothers' College, a pretty well off school located in the southern suburb of St. Kilda. Off I went in my Uber, speeding to a new job and arriving ten minutes behind schedule because of the traffic. Armed with my laptop, agenda and barely any teaching resources, I arrived to cover an English teacher's classes for the day. The day began with two classes of Year 12 English, then Year 7 English. The Year 7's taught me that you can easily hide a Youtube video or a video game by swiping the screen on your Macbook, which would serve me both during that class and in future interactions with students. My day ended with a Year 11 English class. The students were lovely, quiet and respectful (for the most part). I'd never taught at an all boys school before so that was very interesting. Since then, the school has requested me back three times, so looking forward to continuing to build positive relationships there. Something interesting in Australia - when you are called for supply work it could be for general coverage (lots of different classes taught by different teachers) or one teacher's courses, but you are still spread around to other classes so you never get a prep period which is different from Canadian schools. 

I've taken the liberty of recording some of the funniest things my students have said to me during my first week of teaching, so please enjoy:

"Is Canada a real country?"
"Are all Canadians scared of the dark?"
"Are you a lumberjack?"
"Are all Canadians addicted to maple syrup?"
"I'm thankful for Canadians because we have Justin Bieber."

"When you eat icecream in Canada, does it melt?"

The first week of teaching here in Australia was full of new experiences but most importantly, with engaging and kind students. They are quick to share their experiences and eager to welcome you to their schools which is lovely. Since my first day I've taught things as far out of my comfort zone as health, math and band but it's been and exciting journey. I can't wait to see what the coming weeks and months of teaching have to teach me. 

- Linnea

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I did my first day of casual relief teaching at Kings Park Primary School. It was an appropriately overwhelming experience, given that I’d only been in the country for less than a week. The trip to school was about forty minutes via Uber and the vice principal met me with a friendly face. I spent the morning in two different grade five classes, in which the students were mostly concerned about socialising with one another and avoiding the eye of a watchful teacher. They had some funny perceptions of Canada. One student asked me if we are “allowed to swear in Canada.” I told him it wasn’t illegal, and then underlined the importance of appropriate language in the classroom. They also all just call teachers "Miss" or "Sir" rather than following up with last names. One thing’s for sure: no matter where you are, kids behave similarly! 

I did fifteen minutes of yard duty during a recess and had just enough time to throw some lunch into my mouth, use the toilet, and run to my next class. The PD (kindergarten) class in the afternoon was hilarious when I asked them to guess where I was from. I got everything from Turkey, to Pakistan… even Australia, despite my lack of an Australian accent. They ALL hugged me and told me I was “pretty” and “beautiful.” I’m glad they were able to see me for who I really am. I was a little stressed about walking this class of little people to the gym without knowing how many kids were in the class, what any of their names were, or anything else about them or the school. Good news though: no-one got lost or died! 

As a school, we spent a lot of the day watching students practice for an upcoming multicultural assembly meant to welcome a group of Japanese visitors. It’s interesting here; unlike in Canada, where we study French as a second language because we’re bilingual, most schools require students to learn Japanese. All the transitional speaking for the performance was in Japanese and the kids weren’t half bad at dancing, either. Respect to those kids - I can hardly even manage English half the time and I’m probably the worst dancer on this side of the world. 

Overall, my first day went well and so has work since then. If I have any advice for those who are about to jump into supply teaching, it’s been flexible and don’t be too hard on yourself! I left the school feeling like I had failed in some way because I had to ask so many questions and struggled to manage some behaviours. Upon reflection, I did everything as well as I could.

At the end of the day, Linnea and I went to a local bar called The Moldy Fig to celebrate our successful first days of work and bond over the stressful and rewarding parts of being a supply teacher. We had fresh corn bread, vegetarian gumbo and loaded fries and exhaled knowing the most difficult part of the teaching journey was over.

Starting on Monday, August 6th, I'll be teaching French for a month at Panleigh & Essendon Grammar Scchool in Keilor East, which I've been told is a really great school. It'll be nice to have some consistency for a bit of time while I continue to navigate the school system and city of Melbourne. I'm interested in seeing how the French here compares to Canadian French and making some longer lasting connections with other teachers and students. 

- Oshaen

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We look forward to learning more about what kids believe is true about Canada!

Oshaen & Linnea

Cheers for now

Vinaka Fiji!

Bula fam! 

Wow - our time in paradise went way too quickly. We were lucky enough to spend four nights on the beautiful Robinson Crusoe Island Resort, a private island off Fiji’s west coast. In Fiji the cost of living is high and income is low, with the average family consisting of three children and extended family members, whose care becomes the responsibility of the sons. Fiji boasts 333 separate islands and is also home to the largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere, which we were able to see during our stay. Staying at the resort was the equivalent of staying at a Canadian cottage but at an island paradise - our clothes were always wet, hot showers were out of the question and we lived in a tiny hut with all of our worldly possessions. The island was also home to our new friend Tyeson the dog who would wait outside our hut in the evenings to say goodnight before bed.

Island days are filled with local coolers, swimming in the ocean, homemade buffets, snorkeling, learning and watching Polynesian dancing and during rainy moments, a game or two of Dutch Blitz (courtesy of Canada). The first thing we learned on the island was that everything operates on “Fiji time” - things move a little slower; “No hurry, no worry.” However, that didn’t stop us from quickly earning a reputation as the Canadians that were perpetually late for activities, all because we missed snorkelling ONCE. This reputation was given to us by our adopted New Zealand family - Nicky, Danny, Marshall and Georgia. Nicky quickly became our surrogate mother who told us about events and kept us on track. Marshall was our little brother who we often made fun of and ordered around, even though he is only a few years younger and Danny became our quiet but lovely dad. He looked out for us behind the scenes, invited us to visit and was always around to crack an appropriately timed dad joke just when we needed it. We are hoping to visit them on their farm in New Zealand soon!

Evenings on the island often included a traditional Polynesian culture show with our favorite Fijan friends donning grass skirts and dancing with fire to the amusement of both the island “houseguests” (folks staying at the resort, 20 at the most) and day trip visitors. One night we had the opportunity to learn a few of their moves and got all dressed up for the occasion. The shows also included a traditional kava (or yaqona) ceremony where we were invited to taste the kava and become members of the Fiji family. Kava is a mildly narcotic drink made from mixing pepper plant powder with water. Not to worry though - the “tourist” kava we tried is extremely watered down. Houseguests were referred to as the “crazy family” and part of being in the family was gathering on the beach every single time a boat arrived with visitors or took people away from the island to sing and wave them off with the staff.

All in all, Fiji far exceeded our expectations and gave us the perfect opportunity to relax before starting our lives in Melbourne. Anybody who has the opportunity needs to explore the breathtaking islands of Fiji, which is home to some of the most hospitable and kind people in the world. Vinaka (thank you) Fiji… for all the sunshine and friends you gave us. And thank you to the staff at the Robinson Crusoe Island Resort, who made our stay comfortable and memorable. 

Much love,

Linnea & Oshaen

P.S. - We arrived safely in melbourne on July 17th and can’t wait to tell you about our first impressions of the city! 

Sad to leave our island paradise... and our new friend Marshall.