Jade Down Under

I've been in Bowen since Sunday but have been pretty busy and haven't taken the time to write to you guys!
Anyhow, on Sunday we arrived around 2pm and it was sweltering hot out; there wasn't a slight breeze. Liz and I being cheap decided to walk from the Greyhound station to our place of residence thinking it was a fairly short walk. Keep in mind we both had a backpack with our laptops and books (they weigh a ton!), as well as our suitcases with 3 weeks worth of clothing and shoes. It was a horrendous trip. First off, the roads aren't exactly paved around here. It appears to be paved but when you are dragging a suitcase one quickly realizes that the ground is more gravel than pavement. And yes, there are no sidewalks - well, where we needed to trudge. After an hour of walking and then stopping to shake out our arms and relieve our backs we made it!
The house is pretty good but my bed might as well be a hammock. I have no idea how old this thing is but its been shaped to someones body... not mine. When I get into bed at night my arms get squeezed to my side and it takes effort to roll over. I feel like a hot dog in a bun. Not my idea of comfort. My poor aging knees and lower back!!!

Last night as we were sitting in the living room we had an OWL fly onto the porch and chill out with us for a bit. Of course my stinking camera wasn't charged (my own fault) so I didn't get any pictures. Luckily Liz was more prepared and snapped the cute, feathery thing. I'll post them later.

So as for the rest of my week: I've been teaching grade eight English and they have been delightful. This week I'll only be teaching the grade eights, next week the grade nines get added to my schedule and the third week I'll be teaching a full course load when the grade 10's become my students as well. My SBTE (student based teacher educator - I told you Aussies love their acronyms) has been wonderful and has helped me feel comfortable at school. I forsee no problems!

Although, as we were sitting at the lunch table today one of the HOD's made a comment that she is going to make a complaint about Canadian students being allowed to come to the high school as obviously we are not planning on ever teaching at that school. Although I can see her point I found the comment unnecessary and rather rude as I was sitting 3 people down from her! Does she not realize the amount of money I am paying to be educated in Australia? Perhaps she should base her opinion on the talent that walks through the door, not our nationality. She has only met me once and has never seen me teach. Why don't I deserve the same treatment as native Queenslanders? Luckily I kept my opinion to myself (she is my boss!) and continued with my lunch. Some people will always be ignorant and I can't take on the entire world by myself! I can, however, bitch about them on my blog!