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"Velvet Green", Jethro Tull
I find that I am at my most candid when I simply begin writing, without a particular plan or quite often even a purpose to direct the words on the page. It's the most natural kind of writing. It's driven by impulse which is perhaps why it's so honest. After some weeks of absence from this forum I was at last seized by the desire to write. And so I have purpose at least, but where I go from here even I don't know.
Today, I looked out of the window on a sunny morning with the assumption that it meant a warm day was to follow. After lunch I stepped outside only to find that I was much mistaken. It was cool. Not only that, I was surprised to find a familiar smell on the air. It was the unmistakable aroma of autumn. Having experienced a frigid winter, scorching summer, and now the earliest onset of fall in the course of just two months I was comforted by the fact that a Canadian autumn has the very same smell as an Australian one. From here onward the weather will begin to change and I for one look forward to it as I'm sure no true Australian could. They love their warmth and are very attached to it, so much so that they groan at a day when the temperature drops below twenty. I suppose it really is a question of familiarity. For me, it means I'll be bringing my jacket into service soon enough!
I feel that I've already given a good grounding of the ins and outs of my program at school. It's reflective, challenging, and moves at a quick pace. There is little else to relate aside from my startling realization that I enjoy lesson planning a lot more than I expected to. It might have something to do with the confidence that I have in my ability to plan now, after doing it a few times now for several of my classes. Outside of the classroom the university feels very different now that I'm on the other side of an undergraduate degree looking around at the fresh faces of teenage boys and girls just arrived from high school. They look younger, or perhaps I feel older. I sit in the shade of a leafy tree during my breaks, drinking tea and reading a book while students walk to and fro, and I no longer feel like one of them. Stranger still is my realization that I'm very glad I'm not eighteen anymore.
You could say that I have a kind of routine now which is interrupted by the odd shopping trip or social visit with a friend. I read a lot, I talk to friends from home, I talk to friends here (about teaching, mostly), I cook, I jog, I take walks, I watch football, I explore. I'm learning more every day about the place I am, about the people surrounding me. Did you know Cate Blanchett grew up in Ivanhoe? Or that Melbourne hosted the Olympics in the year my parents were born? Now you do.
At the moment I'm staring at the calendar on my desktop which is telling me I have two weeks vacation from classes. I hope to fill that time with some exploration. The bigger trips (like Sydney) will wait, for now. I'll settle for seeing the sights where I am and, hopefully, getting my work done before the end of April creeps up on me and throws me to the lions of my first practicum in May. I hope to have fashioned a chair and a whip by then!
I've enjoyed reading your comments or responses to my little entries. I read every one as they are a welcome treat from life back home in the world.
Cheers,
Ian
- comments
Aunt Nancy Dear Ian, It seems strange that you are now anticipating autumn while we are looking forward to spring and summer. We just got back from Vancouver and Nelson, where we spent some quality time with Laura and Robin, and we had a very good time, even though the weather in Ontario was nicer than the weather we experienced in BC. I'd never been to the west coast before and I liked it very much. I've posted all of my photos on Facebook. I'm glad that you are enjoying your studies at the college and I'm sure that you'll do well when your practicum begins. Just remember: you will always know more than your students do. They will probably also be fascinated by your accent and the fact that you are from Canada and, if they are anything like the kids here, will ask you many personal questions! Take care and have fun during your two weeks off.
Aunt Julie HAPPY EASTER IAN! I'm a day late but better late than never. Hope to talk to you today. Another intersting read Ian and being not well informed about Australia other than the obvious I enjoy learning about life there. I know you enjoy the cooler weather but thank god its warmer here and we are just hopefully entering into what is supposed to be a warm summer! So how low does the temperature get where you are? I may be wrong but there trees don't lose their leaves do they? Take care and talk to you soon.Have fun teaching!
leslie Completely off topic and random request- please try a didgeridoo for me and let me know how that goes... also, seen any big bugs yet? That would send me packing in a heartbeat! Happy holidays!
Ian I've seen big spiders, and moths the size of my hand but nothing else yet. They're out there somewhere though...