Personally I feel that I have done really well in relation to being here, out of my comfort zone and dealing with all the new information and ways of teaching. However there is one thing that I have quietly struggled with. I tried to get over it, I tried to ignore it, but I just need to have a rant and express how I am feeling.

So……

The things that I have found the most challenging, frustrating, irritating and absolutely hate the most…..are the flies. Hundreds of them! I brought stuff to spray on my body to keep them away, but I feel like that just attracts them more! I HATE, HATE, HATE THEM!!!!!! The worst is when you are outside and move your hand towards your back and then all these flies suddenly start flying around and you realize that they were all sitting on your back. YUCK!  There have been times where I have gone outside and thought ‘Hmm not many flies today, maybe ill be ok’  but then out of nowhere they appear. Whenever I am outside I feel like I am constantly doing the Macarena. Waving my arms around, flicking my pony tail to get rid of them like I am a horse or something. But the absolute worst thing of all is that on Saturday at the BBQ, I INHALED one. I know, gross! Just as it flew past my face I took a breath in. yep. It was in my mouth. A dirty, disgusting fly in my mouth. I was spluttering and spitting everywhere. But then again I am happy that it has only happened once….so far. Blugh sometimes feels like I can still feel it at the back of my throat.

But other than that, I am enjoying myself. I must also say that the dingo that is a pet is starting to like me. She lets me pat her and scratch behind her ears. I do feel sorry for the others I see. One is really skinny and just looks sad, but the teachers say that this one is still dangerous unlike the pet dingo and one other one. The Principal has his pet dog here and she is just gorgeous.  Having these animals around really helps me to not miss my fur babies not as much.

By the way the Pitjantjatjara word for Dingo is ‘Papa’

Sheri.

On Friday the 25^th we went swimming in the Pipalyatjara community pool. Pipalyatjara is about an hour and a half away. Yet again on the drive there I saw some amazing landscapes. I saw two goannas, which not only excited me but the children went crazy. Pointing and saying ‘Tinka, Tinka’, which is Goanna in Pitjantjatjara. One of the mothers who came in our car also pointed out certain areas where you can find particular plants or rock formations. One rock formation which I believe the Anangu find a little bit scary is one just before you reach Pipalyatjara and it looks like a person sitting on the hill watching out over the land. When we saw it, it did look a bit creepy how it was just there between the trees. Will be something cool to point out to friends and family if I end up teaching here.

When we got to the pool, we did all the safety stuff and then we (the preschool) were first up. I was really excited to get in the pool and be involved in the lesson. The instructor let me be his ‘assistant’ and so showed me what to do with the children and explained to me why he did each thing. For example he would hold out his hands and the children would grab them and kick their legs and he gently took them out away from the steps and then brought them back to the wall for them to grab onto and move back to the steps. He would then do this again but take them part of the way to the wall and let them swim the rest. This was to show them that they can always use the wall to get back to safety and help them stay above the water. It may sound weird reading it but when you see it being done, you get it. Obviously the children could all swim a bit, at least doggy paddle and that’s why he let them swim alone for some bits. Just being told this stuff and allowed to participate gave me more confidence in teaching, as it was out of my comfort zone (i.e. being in the water with small children and teaching them survival skills and not ABC 123).

After the lesson the children were allowed to play and swim in a small area by the steps, for safety reason. All the children could touch the bottom and were already pretty good at swimming. The children really came alive in the water, saying “Watch this!” and “look at me!”. They were really confident in what they could do and were also confident in having a go at what they couldn’t, like floating on their back or diving to the bottom. Swimming happens every Friday and all the kids and staff seem to really enjoy it as it is not only a significant learning experience for the children, but it is also like a reward for coming to school and working hard and the teachers get to relax a little bit and cool off.

On Saturday Jess* and myself just relaxed and watched movies. In the evening we went down to the creek (Dried up creek I should say) and had a BBQ with the other teachers. The spot where we were was amazing when the sun was setting. We were surrounded by hills everyway you looked and were then surrounded by trees in the spot we set up the BBQ. As the sun set a pink sky greeted us and was kind to my camera. The way the sun was just poking through the trees and creating shadows, all I had to do was point and click. No Photoshop or edit tools, just natural beauty. It was nice to talk to the other teachers in a more relaxed environment and ask them about their teaching experience and why they came to Murputja. On Sunday we did some planning at home then went over to the school and did some routine cleaning and setting up for the week to come.

I have learnt heaps of new words, but remembering to use them at the right time is tricky, because English is what is natural to me and so I use it without thinking. I am starting to realise how the children feel when they are learning English and how difficult it must be to, I guess, go against your natural instincts. Maybe next week I will use them better and more frequently.

So there you go, week one down. It is bitter sweet I guess. Being able to say I have gotten through one week of being in a completely different environment and actually feeling quite comfortable and confident in it is great, but then thinking that I only have a few days left and will be leaving on Friday is a bit sad. In a way I wish I had more time because the first week was mostly about learning the routine and getting to know the school and building relationships with the children and then the second week will be about using that information and extending those relationships to become a part of the school, but by the time I do that, I will be leaving. I guess that is just the way the cookie crumbles, but maybe at some point I will back. Fingers crossed. XXX

Sheri  :)

P.S.

I am really trying to spell all the names of the communitites correct, so sorry if they are wrong. 

So Tuesday  22^nd was my first full day in the preschool. I got to see the routine and what learning took place and how it is learnt. It is very different to the city in the learning aspect and teaching aspect, but the same basic routine of breakfast free play, group time, fruit, outside play etc etc applies, its just that within that routine the way things like instructions are given and the way the children communicate with the teacher and other children is different. The other big thing is that there are AEWs working in the room. AEWs are Anangu Education Workers, they are mothers of the children who attend the school. They assist in the classrooms by translating instructions from the teacher to the children and do cultural things with the children to maintain their connection to the land and community. In the preschool they do group times in their language that can relate to the preschools current learning. For preschool children, coming to preschool or playgroup can often be the first place they hear and start to use the English language and so having and AEW can help the children adjust to the environment.

The children I have met so far are just amazing. I am starting to remember the children’s names that attend regularly and am starting to figure out who they are, so what kind of personality they have, who they get on well with etc. it is hard trying to communicate at times because of the language barrier, but often their body language can tell me what they are talking about or they may say one key word in English.

They really are amazing! They are so intrigued by things that I know some children may take for granted, and when they see that you are interested too they become even more excited and it is just amazing to see as a teacher.

Living out here has been pretty good so far. Its quiet and the mountains and landscapes are just amazing. I went for a walk tonight with Jess* and got some great photos of the land at sunset. Another exciting thing about being out here are the Dingos, well half-breed Dingos. There are two that regularly come around the school looking for food. One is a pet of one of the teacher and wears a collar and the other I think just hangs around.  One of them followed me to school on Tuesday, I think just to check me out and see where I was going. I think if I were to live here I probably would end up adopting one by accident.

On Wednesday 23^rd, Jess* showed me a lot of admin stuff which was good because you don’t get to see that stuff at uni or on your placements…well I didn’t. So I saw how to enroll students, some planning, transition and Junior primary NIT planning, which I really appreciated seeing.

I have been to a whole school staff meeting (of four teachers, the principal and me) just a teacher meeting and a preschool staff meeting which is done through Polycom-all the preschool teachers login and every comes up on the screen like skype. Again it is really good to see these things.

I am really loving it here. It’s quiet, its beautiful, its different, its just….awesome. I really could see myself living and teaching here, but we will just have to wait and see.

Sheri :)

Ok so on Sunday the 20^th October the big journey to the APY lands Started. AT the airport I met up with another girl who was going to the lands as well. Boarding the plane without my parents or a friend was strange, even though I knew exactly what to do. The flight to Alice Springs was about 2 hours. A few weeks before I had fallen down some stairs and bruised my Coccyx, so sitting in a small chair with a person on either side of me was a bit uncomfortable. Thankfully they had TV’s so I forced myself to watch about an hour of ‘Grand Designs’ and tried to really care about the special windows that were being put in the house. I know right. Then I watched ‘Modern Family’ and that took my mind off the pain for a bit. Flying over South Australia was amazing to see. It looked like a great big patchwork blanket in some places. Different coloured squares and circles-brown, green, yellow. 

We had to wait in Alice Springs for about an hour and its lucky we were inside as temperature was said to be 40 degrees. We felt the heat when we stepped off the plane and walked on the tarmac to the arrivals gate. As we walked inside a wall of cool air hit us… and it felt good.

Flying from Alice Springs to Ayes Rock or Uluru or even Yulura (as that is the place where the rock is) was again amazing to see. The land was dryer and again in some places it looked like a patchwork blanket only with different shades of brown. At one point we were flying over some land that had huge cracks in it. Because everything else was so tiny from up in the sky, like the roads and houses etc, looking at these cracks made it feel like we were only just flying above them because they were so big. We were only in the air for about 20 mins (excluding take off and our descent). They gave out a small snack of crackers, cheese and an apple and I had barely gotten through my apple when they announced we were descending and were coming to get our rubbish. I didn’t see Uluru from the air but I saw it when we landed from a distance. It just looked like a big black mass.

Myself and the other girl met up with Jane* went to the local shops to stock up on food we would need until we got to our communities. Jane* drove us around Uluru and it really was amazing to see up close. It was about 2 hours to Amata, where we stayed over night and had a BBQ with the other teachers. Before leaving Yulura Jane* said that there were two ways to get to Amata. One way was smooth and a bit boring and the other was beautiful to see, but very bumpy- we chose the beautiful way. Now when Jane* said bumpy I didn’t realize just how bumpy it was. The only way I can describe it, is that if you are a female you would need a really supportive bra to travel that way. The other girl who came up is staying there for the two weeks and will come to Murputja at some point to have a look around. On Monday the 21^st, I went to the Amata Anagnu Preschool for the morning to have a look. It looked like a preschool in Adelaide in some ways and in some ways it was different. The children are absolutely beautiful, both in looks and personality. Just the way they look at things and are so inquisitive about things is just wonderful to see and to share in that curiosity with them was great. At about 11:30am Myself and Jane* set off to go to Murputja.

It was about an hours drive to Murptja from Amata and the landscape was again beautiful. Arriving in Murputja was completely different to arriving in Amata. Amata is a community where both white people and the Aboriginal people live, Murputja is where the teachers and police live and then the Aboriginal people live in two communities not far from Murputja. Murptja School is gorgeous. It’s nestled in a little valley and I can not wait to get out and explore the area. The school is small with no more than say 30-40 students, if that, and only around 5 teachers with a one or two other staff….I think. I(t’s only the first day so I am not sure what everyone does around the school yet). This afternoon I got to see the preschool and meet the teacher Jess*. The preschool has had a lot of work done to it and will have more done during the term. Again the children are beautiful and welcoming of this new stranger in their school. They were interested in my jewelry and when they were doing some drawings one little boy kept asking me to look each time he added something to his picture. I felt a bit special.

I think that it is all for now. It is hard to write about stuff when I haven’t really done anything yet. Also I am very tired from traveling, I know that is a weak excuse but I am. Hopefully when I get into the swing of things I will be bale to write some more riveting stuff about what I have done and how I am feeling about it all.

Sheri :)

It’s getting closer. 3 days now.

When people ask me if I am getting excited about going, of course I answer with yes, but I feel like the word ‘excited’ is just not enough to explain how I am feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely excited, but there are so many other emotions fluttering around in my head that I can’t express through one quick comment how I really am feeling.

Excited- I can’t wait to go and start this experience and see where I will be staying and see Australia in a different light. I am excited to meet new people and learn new things and just be there.

Nervous- this will be my first time flying by myself. I keep thinking about what I am meant to do when I get to Alice Springs like finding the right gate to board the next plane. That’s the kind of stuff my Mum would usually know and then the rest of the family would just follow her or if I went with friends I would just let them lead. I don’t know why but just walking through the security section at airports just makes my stomach turn. I always try and watch the face of the person watching the computer screen that displays what is in peopled bag when my bag comes. I know there is nothing dangerous in my bag, but seeing their face as my bag goes through and not seeing any change in their facial expression is a huge reassurance that I am a good citizen.

Sad- I will miss my best friends birthday :( I keep hearing them and my other friends planning their night out and I am a little jealous that I wont get to be there and celebrate with them. I know to some it may be a silly thing to worry about when you have something as big and important as going away to gain valuable work and life experience, but my best friend is just as important to me.

Scared- I have no idea what I am doing!!! Ok well I generally know what I am doing, but I have only recently (like 4 weeks ago) finished my teaching degree and now I am going off to an area which could be classified as ‘The deep end’, only I didn’t jump in, I volunteered. I think its just one of those things that will pass when I get there and can see what is going on, rather than thinking about it and freaking myself out. (Lets hope it’s that way anyway)

Accomplished/Determined- As mentioned I only just finished uni, but already I have this amazing experience lined up. I am so keen to make the most of this trip and learn as much as I can about working in a preschool and working with Indigenous students and families.

I know there is more going on in my head, but I just cant get it out, but then again, maybe some feelings are meant to be kept private, just for ourselves and that is why we cant always express them. Oh the privllages of being a human!

Sheri :)

Ok lets start at the beginning shall we.

Throughout my four years at uni doing my teaching degree, I had always thought about going country. Even in high school when I thought about doing nursing, I had this idea of living in the country and marrying a nice farmer, living on a nice farm in a nice little house, with nice farm animals and oh how nice and it would be. That idea was still in the back of my head somewhere, except that nursing hand changed to teaching. In my third year I requested to do my placement in the country, to the surprise of my friends. Each to their own, but some of them did say that they could never do it, while others saw my reasoning but couldn’t see themselves going 'bush' and some just did not care. I went to the small town of Quorn in the Flinders Rangers, just before Port Augusta, if you are travelling from Adelaide. It's only 3 hours away, so some might not even classify it as 'real country'. I loved it up there and the school was great. While I would like to possibly teach in Quorn or in another town like it in my career, to start with I really wanted to do something...BIG.

For most of my fourth year going to the UK to teach was on my mind. I looked into it and contacted the right people, spoke with my parents about how it all works, but eventually came to the conclusion that I would not be able to go until the next year, 2014. The school year over there starts in about September, and I wouldn’t finish uni until September 2013 and I would have to get some money behind me, get a visa and all those other official documents, so the idea was put aside. About Mid June 2013 I started applying for a ton of jobs all over the place- country, metropolitan, Suburbs, city, good areas, bad areas, special needs, preschool, primary...you get the idea. None eventuated to anything, but I still had my job at the childcare centre as a back up for the rest of the year and into the next year.

I first found out about the APY Lands opportunity on the Tuesday 22^nd of August 2013 when a friend of mine told me that one of our teachers, Lucy*, had come to her tutorial and told everyone about the opportunity. I had recently show this friend a job advertisement for a relief teacher at her old school and she was able to look into that (Which, as far as I know is turning out positive for her) and so she gave me a heads about the APY opportunity as she knew I was interested in working in the country and as kind of a pay back. Huge thanks to that friend of mine by the way!! By having a heads up before my tutorial, which was two days later, I was able to discuss it with my parents and do some research. When it came to my tutorial and Lucy* did her little speech about the lands and finally asked, "Would anyone be interested?" I was like superman, my hand shot up faster than a speeding bullet. Lucy* gave me a few more details and gave me a DVD to watch about teaching on the lands, immediately after watching it I emailed her asking what the next step was. She replied the next day, delighted to hear I was interested, and asked me to answer 7 questions about myself professionally and personally and what I knew about the lands.

I was about to start my final Professional Experience Placement with uni and I had about 3 weeks to answer the questions and submit them by Friday the 13^th September. I made some notes over the next few weeks, answered them when I had time, sent them off and waited to hear back. I sent my answers in on a Friday and received an email on the Monday asking me to come in for an interview the following Monday, the 23^rd September and meet with Lucy* and Jane* who lives in Ernabella and is kind of like the head of early childhood on the lands.

Excitement charged through me, I rang my mum and I messaged my best friend to tell them the good news. I hadn’t told too many people that I was going to apply, as I did not want to build up my hopes and then be disappointed. I still kept it under wraps until I had my interview, which went really well. Jane* then called me later that same day and asked me to do the placement at Murputja school and of course I said YES. So I did the usual, told my family first, told a few close friends and then of course put it on Facebook. Since then I have been emailing the Jane* about flights etc and Jess* who I will be staying with at Murputja and who will be like my mentor.

And so here we are. I am so excited for this to finally happen. I leave Adelaide on the 20th October, fly to Alice Springs and then to fly to Yalura, the home of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and then it’s a long drive to Murputja.

Wow I have written so much for my first blog. Hopefully you found it interesting enough to check in and read some of the others I will write while I am at Murputja and look at some of the photos I’ll put up of my adventure.

Sheri :)

First off, I have never written a blog before, so I don’t know exactly how it's meant to go, but I’m going to give it a go anyway. There will probably be a spelling or grammar mistakes here of there, but hey, we aren’t all perfect. I can’t put every single little detail into the blog because that will just be boring, so if you want to know more contact me on my email address or if you know me personally you can ask me when we see each other next.

Just have a read, if what I have to share is interesting and you like it, GREAT! If not that’s fine. While this is to share with my friends and family it is also for myself so I can keep track of what I do.

* Signifies a Name Change

Sheri :)