Halloween

The tradition of Halloween is still catching on here. Not everyone celebrates it. It's still very new to a lot of people. It seems to catch hold in isolated neighborhoods where neighbors organize homes that will be available for trick-or-treaters to come visit. Generally, it was suggested to us to just visit homes that had halloween decorations out. We tried to adhere to this, but the decorated homes were very few and far between. I'd say 1 in 15-20 homes in our neighborhood had decorations. What I saw exactly ZERO of was Jack-O-Lanterns. None. Unless you count this cute little guy taped to a mailbox made from an orange.

We experimented with other homes and they seems ready and willing for visitors too. So it was a bit hit and miss. One home had quite a lot of decorations. They got so into the decor that when my kids rang the bell, they people opened the door in a hurry and threw out a fake bloody head while holding a bloody knife. For real. My daughter had a friend with her and the friend screamed loud and long. She was afraid to knock on any other doors after that. So...that was fun.

Though not a lot of people celebrate it, the tradition here seems to be in the phase focused on the scary--witches and ghosts and bloody things. The U.S. has moved on to being an opportunity to show some creativity and dress up as a character, like Millie did:

Can you tell who she is?

And Leo did a great job on his costume:

I went to the thrift store for Millie and Leo's costumes. Here a thrift store or secondhand store is called an "Op Shop." They had great things for what we needed for good prices. Mostly the Op Shops have clothing, and a few household items. Not a lot of furniture. For new costumes in the stores, I saw mostly the goblins and ghouls and gory.

This costume got my attention:

And this is just a little TOO real:

I did see a few kids dressed like Superman or Spiderman. I did see a little girl dressed as a unicorn. It was cute. Sorry no picture. But mostly people were ghosts or zombies or something scary.

Our church hosted a Trunk or Treat in the afternoon which was great because it was the majority of the trick or treating we were able to do. They had great participation and people went all out with the decorations. They gave out lots of candy, too! I thought maybe they'd be in the more moderate mode of candy amounts but, as always, these people are very generous. We got plenty of "lollies" (candy).

They had activities inside and went all out on decorations. All the walls had been decorated with halloween backdrops and scenery. A large area of the floor was covered with large spiders made from paper and black balloons. Henry had a blast running through it.

We didn't win any prizes for our Recycled Jack-O-Lanterns made from empty food containers and ghosts made from grocery bags, but the real large carving pumpkins here are $3/kilogram so I opted out on those. I liked these paper covered pumpkins better and they still attracted lots of trick or treaters. The neon paper kind of made them glow anyway.

Because of the season we are in, it's warm and the sun is up later. We couldn't have lit a pumpkin during trick-or-treating hours anyway. Which was a bummer because I thought Henry's reflective stripes on his firefighter costume were so perfect for Halloween because he'd be easily visible in the dark. But it definitely wasn't dark when we went trick or treating!

And Karly was a Greek Goddess. We made sure to fashion her costume in such a way as to not cut the white sheet so I could use it for my older daughter's bed when she joins us in January!

Working with Children card

I was asked to serve in my church in the presidency of the Young Women organization (overseeing girls 12-18) in our stake (which is a group of local congregations). Not at all what I expected but it will be a great chance for me to get to know more people in a larger area here and I'm happy to have a chance to work and do what I can even though it will be quite a short term of service for a position like this.

But in order to be able to accept and act in this capacity, I had to jump through some government hoops. I have had to get a "Working with Children Card." I thought maybe this was a training process to qualify me for properly caring and protecting children. Nope. It's basically a criminal background check to make sure I haven't done anything offensive to children in the past.

So basically, it's a "I'm Not A Criminal Card."

Apparently this is a very important thing. Not having one would cost my church lots of violation fines. So they don't mess around. There was someone recently who had to renew their WWC and in the meantime they have to be officially released from their position while they waited for the card to come. Then they were called to the same position again.

The process to get this card seemed easy enough. I filled out a long list of details online but had to print it out and take it to the Post Office to submit. I needed to take a passport photo and 100 points of I.D., which I'm used to. 100 points usually means a driver's license and passport. Got it.

So I had to load the application on my USB drive and walk to the print shop to print it because we don't have a printer. Then I walked across the street to the Post Office to submit it. Nice long line. When I got to the front they took one look at my photo and rejected it right away. They said my head was too small.

[My brothers will have all kinds of funny jokes to insert here. Ha ha.]

Apparently the requirements for Australian passports are different than U.S. passports. So I left.

New passport photos would cost $17. I looked up the size requirements online. I decided to scan my photo and resize it, print it out according to their specs and save a ton of money.

Again, I don't have a printer or photo paper, so I have to send the image of my bigger head to a photo shop to print it out. While I'm at it I do the same for Allen and Maddie so we can all get this done at once. I'm feeling so smart for saving the money.

This photo is ALSO rejected because my bangs are touching my eyebrow.

For real.

Okay, so dang it, I am sick of this and very reluctantly go pay $17 for a new passport photo. And I don't even need a passport. AND I haven't washed my hair that day. And they tell me I'm not supposed to smile. No problem I'm not in a smiling mood. Got it.

I take the new photo, my application, and my 100 points of I.D. to the post office. Again.

They rejected my driver's license because it's not Australian! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING. So instead they felt like I would be a better applicant if I take a copy of my rental agreement and verify my existence with a credit card than my government issued license. Of course, I don't have my rental agreement on me so I have to leave AGAIN.

I finally got everything together and went a final time to try to lodge my application. They accepted it! After 36 hours I received an email notice that I had passed. So I'm still not a criminal. I ALREADY KNEW THAT! Innocent until proven guilty. Oh wait. Different country.

Then less than a week later I got an actual card that looks like a driver's license in the mail. Whoopee.

In the U.S. we make the criminals register their whereabouts, not make all the rest of the population go through this. AND, if I wasn't serving in a volunteer capacity I'd have to PAY $108 to go through this process. $108 for someone to say, yep, indeed, you have never been convicted of a child related offense. Like seriously, you need a card to prove that you're not in prison.

The elderly are also highly protected here. There is an "Aged Care Facility" just down the street from us. I asked about the possibility of going to visit there on occasion, maybe sing some songs or takes some treats or some form of service to them. Not a chance. We are only allowed in if we have a family member there. So sad!

So I'll be limiting our service to the Young Women of our stake. It will be fun!

Royal Geelong Show

Royal Geelong Show! October 17, 2015

Geelong is a city about 45 minutes south of us, and a "Show" turned out to be the equivalent of a State or County Fair. It was NOT what my kids wanted to go see. Ha ha! But I made them. I've gotten quite used to their eye-rolling, limp-bodied enthusiasm. I go where I want because they don't offer better ideas. 

So.

It had a strong agricultural presentation with livestock, sheep-shearing, a barnyard full of small animals that were super cute, craft booths and food merchants, and a large display of home crafted items that were judged and awarded ribbons. They also had a competition for homegrown vegetables, fruit, and flower arranging. There were several categories dedicated to succulents! 

Basically it was redneck or country boy or "bogan" as they would term it here. 

These chickens were really funny looking but cute!

They had an antique tractor that made Henry's day!

And Monster Trucks!

Excitedly waiting for the Antique Tractor Parade to start. The seagulls were ready for PB&J bits the kids were throwing.

What was really great about this "Show" was that it was still small-scale enough to enjoy. There weren't loads of people crowding everywhere. We could actually see the various items they had on display and got some good places to sit to enjoy the entertainment. They had all the entertainment in a central area so we didn't have to move places to see them. AND each item lasted about 15 minutes, running one right after the other, so we got to see a lot of things in the 2 hours we were there.

They had an aeronatics show by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a Tractor Parade, MotoCross stunts, and Monster Trucks!  They had a fairway with games and carnival rides, but we didn't go there. We weren't interested in staying that long.

Some Motocross Stunts:

Awesome clip of the monster trucks! Don't miss this one.

There was also an art exhibit in a building featuring local artists. I was tempted to buy one of them of a downtown Melbourne cafe scene. It was $400, so I found it within me to resist that temptation. Homemade quilts, jams, art, crochet, photography, and other locally made things were on display in three large buildings. 

I bought a german pretzel because it was only $4 and I was hungry. I shared it with everyone because it wasn't that good! I bought some "mini dutch pancakes" at a food truck because they were the closest thing I could find to Art City Donuts. They cost $8. They were flat like pancakes and they were small like 2". But they came with a dollop of Nutella and a few strawberries and bananas. They were gone in a flash! Art City Donuts is a great deal with 18 mini hot donuts topped with all sorts of delicious flavors! 

It was a fun afternoon. But the kids were not interested in more. "Can we go yet?"

What they get from all my crazy planning -- loaded with cool stories to share with their JEALOUS friends in the U.S.

What I get -- exhausted from my constant efforts to bring them together in spite of their complete disapproval. We can't do the beach EVERY WEEKEND. But we do it a lot more than we did in Utah!

Don't worry, kids. Soon you will be back in the States doing chores all day on Saturday and once again wishing there was SOMETHING TO DO.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it more than the kids!

http://www.royalgeelongshow.com.au

Trolley Driving

TROLLEY=shopping cart

So, this seems like a major change, which can't be unintentional. In the U.S. the shopping carts have two stationary wheels in the back and two pivoting wheels in the front. So when you turn the cart the back stays with you, and the front steers in the direction you want to move. It seems so peaceful and calm now that I think of it. The trolleys here have all four wheels pivoting. When you get to the end of an aisle the cart/trolley tends to keep moving in the straight direction, even when you point it differently. You have to get your body behind the momentum before it runs into the candy bar display in front of the checkouts. It's particularly comical when the cart is heavily loaded. It really takes a good deal of core strength. I usually wonder how an small elderly woman would handle it. But she's probably not pushing a cart full of food for a huge family like I am. We have one smaller sized fridge here, instead of the TWO I had in Utah, so I have to shop more frequently. I am buying smaller amounts so I usually avoid the larger trolleys and use a pull-basket on wheels, similar to a piece of carry-on luggage with wheels. Henry can also pull one so we can work together. Also, lugging all the bags out to the car when you have to back-track through a huge mall is motivation to keep your haul to a minimum.

So I'm going to try to give you a picture of what shopping is like here.

First, everything is in a mall. The anchor stores in the malls are the grocery stores. There is a bigger mall in the next suburb over with two grocery stores, a K-Mart, Target and Big W (similar to Wal-Mart). So if you want to run to the store to get some eggs, you have to park your car, get your kid into a stroller, and walk through the mall (they make sure you have to walk past lots of smaller stores) and then you can enter the store. At first this was very annoying. Especially when you have a toddler with you and every 20 meters in the mall there is another ride-on toy that he just HAS to ride, and there is an indoor playground that he just HAS to visit.

But it generates sales for all those smaller businesses in the mall. It cuts down on their advertising. They don't have to beg you to come see their store, you HAVE to walk right past it. And there is SO MUCH LESS SIGNAGE CLUTTER on the roads because it's all inside the mall. It's also really convenient to get things done all at once without having to get in and out of the car lots of time, which is especially convenient when you have a toddler with you! The other day I walked to the mall because it was henry's nap time and I knew he'd fall asleep in the stroller. I was able to run several small errands in a relatively small walking area while he slept–print shop, passport photo place, post office, grocery shopping, vegetable store, and even the library.

"Walkable Community"
We hear that phrase a lot like it's the ideal place to live and everyone wants to live in one. We talk like we would abandon our cars and go green, carrying reusable shopping bags to buy everything. In reality, we need cars to transport the huge amounts of stuff we are always buying, and we don't make time for the walking. But here things are really "walkable." Not in the sense that everyone walks to their store everyday, but because they put everything you need in one place, so you can go there, park, and walk to everything you need. Saves gas, saves multiple trips, boosts the likelihood of purchases at other stores you are walking past, and best of all, it creates a gathering place for people to connect. There are about 5 different coffee shops at this mall and they are full of people coming to sit and read the paper and meet up with friends. The moms who get coerced to stop at the playground strike up conversations about the common things in their lives and they make friends. And the small business owners are so much more likely to survive with the steady flow of people walking by their shop.

AND the city in general is more accessible to pedestrians than cars. There are places where a street may stop access just before a major road, but there will always be a gate or sidewalk so pedestrians can get through. There are bike paths SEPARATE from the major traffic arteries so the cyclists can really ride in safety, not just at the mercy of the driver actually paying attention and not buzzing them with only inches to spare. THIS kind of place is walkable and bike-able. That other kind of "walkable community" we always idealize in the States is not realistically thought out so we don't really have them.

In Utah, I live about 1 mile from University Mall. They are currently building a new apartment complex and changing their focus from large anchor stores to office buildings. I hope, hope, HOPE a grocery store will make it into the campus soon. Costco is AWESOME and I love having it right there, but it doesn't count when you need a posterboard, some lima beans, and a candy bar. Okay, yeah, who needs lima beans, but I'm trying to make a point here.

There are separate markets for vegetables and fruit and other markets for meat. You can buy both in the grocery stores, but they are usually a bit more expensive. The meat can be almost twice as expensive in the grocery stores. In general, there are many fewer options for items you might have on your list. If you want mustard, there is just one kind. If you want cottage cheese, there is one option (not a good option, I might add). If you want cake mix, or corn chips, or light bulbs, there is just one choice.

But if you want eggs. Oh my, you have about 30 kinds to choose from. I'm so not EGGSaggerating.

The majority of the egg selection is free-range eggs. You have to look hard to find the cheaper, "cage" eggs. They are about half the price of all the others. I think there may be more reason to buy the free-range eggs than just supporting the humane treatment of the chickens because I don't have enough faith that 95% of the population is willing to pay $6/dozen just for that. I think they must taste better. Or maybe the cage eggs I am buying are as bad for you as cigarettes and I just don't know it. I don't want to find out because I just CAN'T find it within me to pay $6-7/dozen for eggs.

I took a lot of video of the kids wandering the grocery store one night but I still haven't gotten my video editing software to work so they remain just short isolated clips. But here are a few fun things I've found at the store. Believe me, there is so much more to share. I try not to be a constant gawker when I'm in public. I don't want them to think I'm laughing at everything. But seriously, have I shown you a picture of the chocolate bars? They are huge and they are good.

The Pillsbury Dough boy can be found in the Indian Cooking section. This is the only place I'm able to find whole wheat flour, which I use a lot. The flour in the regular aisle is called "plain flour" or "self-raising" flour. 

Mango Tango. The vegetable store at the mall I go to most also has some hard to find items like okra, black beans, popcorn, and molasses. The peaches are $15/kg, which is about $7/pound. The apples are $1-2/pound, zucchini is $1.50/pound, spinach $5/pound! There are a lot of other vegetables I don't recognize or have no idea what to do with. I've discovered lebanese cucumbers are the best I've ever had and have planted several plants here. I hope I can bring seeds back. 

This just makes me smile. And reminds me of King Julian for some reason. Which also makes me smile.

This was a very important find! Almost every kids toothpaste I found was mint flavored. Henry is not used to that "spicy" flavor when he brushes so I was worried. We were out of his travel-sized bubble gum flavor. I searched online and the only ones I could find were $30-40 a tube! But at the nearby pharmacy (called a "chemist") Karly found this on the VERY bottom shelf in the back. For only $4. I was thrilled.

Most "bacon" is just what we would call ham slices. The kind of bacon we are used to is...ha ha ha.

These rat traps are huge. They'll break your finger. And they had a HUGE box of them at the hardware store. Which means, there must be a lot of rats around here. I was searching for spider spray at the moment. 

And this. 
Candy here is called "lollies." But suckers are just "sucks." So if Starburst were to make some of those, it would mean: 

Have a nice day. 

School in Australia

School. It's really different.

Glossary:
HERE--Australia
HOME--Utah/U.S.
COLLEGE--what they call the schools here, all grades, K-12
UNI ("you-knee")--University, what some kids may choose to prepare to attend after their schooling.
UNIFORMS--expensive
MATHS--Mathematics, keeping the "s" in place
HOME LEARNING--Homework
BYOD--Bring Your Own Device. Common expectation or compulsory requirement for upper grades to provide their own iPad or laptop computer.
OPINIONS--my own. Based on my perception of what I'm used to in the U.S. and what I see as contrasting here (see "HERE" above). I'm not trying to say one is better than the other, but I am pointing out the unique traits that my fellow Americans may see as interesting differences.


STRUCTURE
School is called "college" and starts at 9:00 and gets out at 3:00. For all grades. Grades K-9 (called "Prep-9") go to the same school. I think this is not Australia-wide, but it is at least where we are. So this means that up through grade 9, they still have snack time, and two recesses per day. Then grades 10-12 go to the Senior College.

At grade 10 students must pick a "pathway" which is pretty much a career path. Students can choose from Arts and Technology, Maths/Science, Science/Science (yeah...?), Business and Commerce, Humanities (which is basically History), Information Technology, Health Sciences, Performing Arts, and Physical Education. Coursework is prescribed for each pathway and you can't really pick and choose from other classes that aren't in your pathway. As someone who believes that education is about training the brain to learn and not just about getting a job, I find it crazy that kids who just barely left primary school are now faced with deciding their career path.

CURRICULUM
All of my kids are doing math work well below where they were when they were in Utah. I'm okay with going back and mastering the material. It will help to solidify the concepts in their mind to review them. But I do hope that they can progress in writing and be prepared for the classes they'll be taking when they return.

There are no foreign language classes. Which is really ironic considering the amazing diversity of cultures here. I mean---AMAZING. At Karly and Millie's school a staff member told me they have 76 different languages spoken by their students.

The curriculum seems very simple and non-demanding. There is a conscience effort from the teachers to not overload the students with lots of homework. I think they can only give one assignment per subject per week. It helps evenly distribute the workload the student has to face each week. I like that they recognize there are other aspects to a child's life than school—which in America consists of getting ready for school, spending all day at school, homework for school, fundraising for school, and sleeping enough to do well in school (Oh, wait, I don't think they really think about the kids having enough time for sleep.). Teachers do not assign lots of nightly assignments that all get graded right away and posted online. In fact, there are no grades to check online at all. Classes work together on the learning and then at the end of the year they test and hopefully you do well enough to advance to the next grade.

I see a lot of benefit to not focusing on the frequent homework assignments to some degree. I have long been annoyed with the system at home with loads of assignments that I or my child need to track online. If a student falls behind the teacher doesn't do much to follow up with the struggling student because it's online for the parents to nag about. If you care enough to check then you'll notice problems yourself and talk with the teacher. But if you don't happen to care, or are going through a rough spell as a growing child, you may just suffer long-term consequences of the oversight. So I like that the focus here in Australia is on the learning process and less on the paperwork.

GRADING
The grading here is different. In the junior high in the U.S., Karly had 8 different classes and 8 different teachers. Each class had regular assignments and homework and all of it was tracked online so that she and I could always see what her current grades were. Here, she has one teacher (class size of only 23), and they generally work on projects and activities together, but each task isn't really graded separately. A lot of the time, the homework isn't graded at all. All their work is just meant to prepare them for the next grade and the assessments at the end of the year. So hopefully they learn enough to progress to the next grade. If you progress, yay. Working ahead or being an exceptional achiever is not a goal or even laudable. Karly was even told she needed to tone it down on a pamphlet she was working on because she was making it look too good. The goal doesn't seem to be "challenge yourself and progress at your own rate", it's more "make sure to stay at the same rate as the rest of the class."

MILLIE:
Because the school year here starts in February, they are half-way through their year. We came in midway, which means Millie is back in 5th grade, which bugs her to pieces. It is a little bit of a concern since she needs to be prepared for 7th grade when we return. I honestly don't know what to do about it because what we've seen so far is that the curriculum is noticeably behind the pace in the U.S. The material in math is stuff she did 2-3 years ago. When we signed her up the administration and teachers assured me they would assess her and put her in groups at her level, but I haven't seen anything like that happening. There was one assignment that Millie was unclear on for a few days so I went in to speak with the teacher to clarify. The teacher said, "Oh, I don't expect Millie to do much of anything since she's new." Great. Will she be learning anything?

Millie reports that the kids are friendly, but they spend a lot of time swearing and talking about "inappropriate things." It probably happens in lots of schools, but Millie just came from Utah, so it's a bigger shock.

Millie is actually pretty negative about school and complains a lot. So what I'm writing here reflects that. I've tried to point out the good and redirect her attitude. It's a work in progress.

KARLY:
As I mentioned, grades P-9 are all in one school, so Karly is back in elementary school. She and Millie walk to school together and it's about 1/4 mile from our house. She thinks it hilarious that she's in 8th grade (again) and gets two recesses a day and they actually have "snack time."

Karly loves to wear makeup and is actually really good at it, but it is not permitted in the uniform policy. She is even required to wear her hair in a ponytail so getting ready in the morning is a snap. She wears a polo shirt and track pants and it's not really attractive but she has a good attitude about it. Now that the weather is warmer she is opting for the school dress which closely resembles the uniform that the maids wear in "The Help."

Karly doesn't complain as much. She also finds the curriculum super easy. There is very little homework. She has a good group of friends, but she finds the 8th grade in general to be quite silly and less-mature.

Swearing here is not viewed quite as offensive as the U.S. People seem to know what swear words are, but using them isn't "bad." People drop all kinds of swear words at church. Even the teachers swear on occasion and Karly finds it interesting and odd, but she recognizes it's just viewed differently here.

Karly's teacher has remarked on multiple occasions what a strong writer she is and how impressed she is that Karly can use punctuation properly. Huh. Okay, she is in 8th grade. I mean 9th grade. But here it's 8th grade.

I'm honestly considering pulling them out of school after this term. But the online schools in Utah won't let them participate because they are supposed to actually reside in Utah at the moment. Karly and Leo actually need credits to stay on track for graduation so I can't just homeschool them. It's a mess. I need to go in and talk with Millie's teacher but I don't know what to ask. They won't put her in a higher grade. They don't have the same concept of education that I do, so I don't see them going out of their way to cater to Millie's current needs. But they are super nice people who show genuine concern for her well-being and happiness at school.

LEO:
Leo is probably in the best situation as far as keeping him in a state of progression. He is in the "senior college" for 10-12 grade. When I first tried to enroll him they said I'd have to wait for a call to get an appointment. After three days I called again and expressed a desire to not wait any longer. I got an appointment for a WEEK later. I thought that was crazy long since class was going on at the moment and he was missing it, but someone else here told me their son had to wait SIX WEEKS. Okay. So education is just not the same priority to them.

When we did enroll, we found out that they have just five classes per day, compared to 8 in Utah. I was really concerned about him being behind in his credit earnings to keep him on track to graduate. We emailed his counselor at Orem High and worked things out. They will basically give him credit for one year of schooling while he's here, but all of his grades will be marked just pass/fail and won't be figured into his total GPA.

The way classes are structured is still very much according to grade level. So since he's a 10th grader (again) they put him in 10th grade classes. Because there is a "10" in the title of his English class, that is a problem for transferring credit back to Utah so I petitioned to let him be in an 11th grade English class. That really took some coercion because they just don't do it like that. 10th graders take 10th grade classes. In Utah, classes are not limited to what grade you are in. You can just take the next level when you are ready, of just if it interests you. And there are MANY more choices for classes.

The class schedule is really interesting. They have 5 subjects, but only three classes per day. Everyday of the week he starts with a different subject. Then the other two classes are mixed up so that somehow it works out that all classes get equal time.

After his first class, which is longer, he has a 30 minutes recess. Then he has another class. Then he has a 30 minutes class called "advisory" which is a class where they just kind of talk about what's going on at the school and stuff they need to be doing. I can't imagine there is something to discuss for 30 minutes every single day, but...whatever.

Then he has almost an hour for lunch.

Then he has another class. Total time is 9:00-3:00. Super short school day and not a lot of time in class. He says there is a lot of down time.

One thing he said is that the kids are really obnoxious toward the teachers. They just say, "no" and refuse to comply sometimes just for the sake of being difficult. He says they are quite immature. But, they have just come from the P-9 school where they had snack time and recess so it's not surprising they have a weird adjustment. But these same kids that just left the primary college are also now being asked to choose their pathway for vocations. It's really odd.

Leo's entire grade is taking a trip to Queensland. It's quite expensive but almost everyone goes. And they do it for 11th grade and 12th grade too. It's mostly a fun trip. Not intended to be educational. Just "bonding." I hope it goes well.

They have just one formal dance per year. It's also divided by grade. For many of the boys, it's the first suit they've owned. The dance was held on a yacht in the docks of Melbourne. It was a really nice setting. Leo reported the spread and variety of luxury foods was amazing. They had everything. And a lot of it.

Leo has some things to say about school life:
"The breaks are pretty excessive, everyone thinks having an hour of free time, like in the US, is way too little. Everyone is so surprised when I tell them that school [in the U.S.] starts at 7:45. Most of them don't even get up before then. Though the schedule of the school day and credits are more relaxed, there are many opportunities to learn. Since there are only 5 classes instead of 8, there is more room to focus on important aspects of the subject, or in other words, more homework. Nobody seems to do the homework until they get to 12th grade, when suddenly everyone gets really serious about school. It doesn't seem to be that big of a deal to anyone if they fail. It's kind of irritating to be one of the only kids really trying to pass. 

"Many of the other students don't even pretend like they want to be there. They talk back to the teacher, constantly. The tests here are called SACs. Lots of the students just start drawing on it and sit around for the rest of the class. They leave all the answers completely blank and hand it back to the teacher. Every time. It's just what's normal. Going to University is an ambitious, somewhat uncommon thing to do. No one thinks they're smart enough to do any of it, so they just throw it out and hope something happens later in life. I do my best at my work, and when I get a good grade back, everyone is surprised, and then surmise that it's because 'your dad is a scientist. Of course you're smart.' Not that I just happened to study and do the work. 

"Now that I've voiced my complaints, I guess I should talk about some things I do like. The students here are very kind and friendly. They're very inclusive. It's easy to make friends with people here. Anyone is willing to talk to you, and will likely keep talking to you if you have a strong international accent. 

"I will say, the saddest thing I've discovered about school here, is that absolutely no one cares about the school sports teams. They have no bleachers, no benches, anything at all in the basketball gym or on the rugby oval. No one cares. They don't have any school spirit. There's not even a mascot. Everyone asks me about school sports. What the jocks are like, if we have bleachers, 'do cheerleaders really exist?' I tell them it's exactly like high school musical, minus the singing and a reduction in cheesyness. 

"I really enjoy the school here, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to come to this school. A lot of my friends are kids who transferred from other schools, because their school was on the ghetto side and our high school didn't have as many gangs or related things. One of my better friends, a kid from Scotland, transferred from one school because he got stabbed twice, and he's a fairly intimidating guy. So basically, we got lucky.

"And that's all I have to say about that."

Yes, when people hear that their dad is a professor working at the University of Melbourne they are quite impressed. That is a high achievement. And they do tend to assume that the good academic performance of my kids is because they are kids of a professor.

He IS a good father and absolutely does contribute to their academic ethics, but I grit my teeth thinking that it was their MOTHER that read to them and taught them young to master learning and to think big. It was their MOTHER that took them to and from school, packed lunches, attended parent/teacher conferences, helped them with science fair, and fulfilled the volunteer hour requirements. It was their MOTHER, who hadn't even graduated from college yet, that helped them with math, coached their knowledge bowl team, edited their grammar, and helped them handle the bullies on the playground. It was their MOTHER who homeschooled that teen boy above for one year because it was what he needed at the moment. And it was their MOTHER who balanced the fine line of consequence for neglected homework with dashing to the school at a moment's notice to deliver forgotten books or lunches.

But that's not the subject of this post. And it's already too long.

I planted a garden!

I planted a garden!

I turned this:

into this:

There were drip lines already in place for the other landscape plants around. (Those are all just tall huge grassy plants that aren't very attractive and basically just fill the space.)

You can't believe how full of clay the soil is! I bought a pitchfork and loosened a large circle for each tomato. I pulled out the worst chunks and mixed the rest with compost. It loosened up pretty well and looked like decent soil. I hope it works! I found a Black Russian tomato and another more standard tomato. And I just had to try a bell pepper (called here by its botanical name, "capsicum"). I also planted a little herb garden of thyme, rosemary, basil, cilantro (coriander), lettuce, and spinach (which is really expensive here!). This small area is in the back of our house on the North side. Here, the north side is where all the sun is. On the west side, just off our patio, there is another area full of weeds (the picture above). I am going to clear that too and plant pumpkin, zucchini, and Lebanese cucumbers. Lebanese cucumbers are very good! The seeds are small, the skin is smooth and delicate, and the fruit is very straight. I hope I can grow them in Utah, too!

There is a wholesale plant nursery called Plantmark that you have to have a membership to shop at. Kind of the "Costco" for plants, except I can buy just one at a time instead of bulk quantities. And the membership is different in that it's not really tied to your name, so someone loaned my their card so I could go. I focused on fun Australian native species and got one of each. Okay, not EACH because that would be a lot of plants, but I chose some I liked and that I thought could work in a planter. I put them all in a couple of planters and I can't wait to see them fill in.

And look! The receipt has all the botanical names on it, *in alphabetical order*! How nerdy. I LOVE it! I'm keeping that receipt.

My favorite is the Leucodendron.

This leucodtendron is in a neighbor's yard. Mine is smaller. But look how each stalk is topped with a "blossom" that looks so much like the leaves. Is it a flower? A colorful leaf variation? Who cares! I love them!

I am so happy to have something growing! I'm really very excited about this. I'm sure you're not surprised.

(UPDATE: Here's how the garden turned out this season.)

Youth Camps

Leo and Karly both had a chance to attend youth camps with their church groups in September. I was excited for them to go to some beautiful nature settings in Australia!

Leo's camp was located at Anglesea on the southern coast of Australia, right at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. I can't even describe how in awe we were of the setting! It was beautiful. Cliffs, and waves, and rocks, and beach and water, water, water! I just couldn't believe he gets the chance to camp there for two days.

Pretty rough, right?

Here's Leo's summary of the camp:

"The camp started out right on the beach with a big game of capture the flag. The whole 'field' was about a quarter mile long right at the waters edge. It was a really warm sunny day, and there was no one else on the entire beach. After the game we walked along the beach for about Eumarella Scout Camp. The whole camp looked like a World War 2 training camp. The whole first day we were very active. From the game on the beach to the hike and then to all the games and activities we did that night. We played lots of ropes course games and some other things and then ended it with a Tough Mudder race. Our group went through the whole course in about 33 minutes, which was a pretty good time. We went back to camp and took our cold showers, and that was the end of day 1. The next day was Sunday, so there weren't any physical activities, but a bunch of church-related ones. We had sacrament meeting with a perfect view of the beach. The next day the whole camp did a service activity on the beach. We cut out invasive plants and replaced them with native ones. The whole camp was a very good experience and I'm very glad I went."

Most of the stories I have from camp were things that happened while we were supposed to be asleep. The first night they assigned us all cabins. It didn't end up mattering because most of the guys from our ward snuck in to our cabin and put their mattresses on the floor. There were lots of shadow boxing tournaments and plenty of rap battles. We had made plans to play poker with all the snacks we brought, but no one remembered to bring cards. The second night was Sunday, so it was a lot more laid back. Most of us went to bed early. There were still lots of shadow boxing fights though. The third night was the most eventful. Earlier in the day we had gone on little hikes and found some abandoned houses. We even found an alter for a dead woman and her child on a cliff. We did have to climb over a wire fence to get there, but we didn't tell the leaders that. That evening we went on a walk down the trail to see how far it was to the beach. We were running for about fifteen minutes before we gave up, because we realized we weren't even halfway yet. That night after lights out we decided to try again, but when we got a ways down the trail, we decided to go find a cool lookout cliff instead. We climbed another fence, this time with a couple barbs, and sat on an amazing cliff watching the moon and the ocean for a couple minutes. We ran back without anyone noticing we were gone. In hindsight, we really wish we brought a flashlight, because we couldn't see a thing. Throughout the camp, there were plenty of pranks, mainly played on us. Our shoes were taken and strewn about, we were nick knocked plenty of times, and we even had someone break in and steal our food. The worst prank by far was one that caused half the cabin to sleep somewhere else. Someone had come in and poured water all over half the bunks. We never found out who. The funniest part of camp for me was answering all the questions the deacons had about America. At times I wasn't sure if I should've played along with the stereotype or tell the truth. Overall the camp was a really good experience and I really enjoyed it."

Karly's camp was the following weekend. She wasn't quite so lucky to camp at the beach, but she had a great time anyway. I think it's a good thing she didn't know it was called "Snake Valley" until she got there. There is no such thing as a harmless snake around here. Notice the nice large gap between the floor and the door of her cabin? They didn't sleep very soundly. There were critters and spiders in their cabin. Fortunately none got too close!

It was really unusual for us for these camps to start on Saturday and go through Monday. It was a church organized camp so I guess that's okay to be camping on Sunday? They held sacrament services for everyone, but I think it was hard to keep a Sabbath day feel for most of them.

Karly reported:

"Luckily for me and my friends, we got the cabin with the 2 inch gap at the bottom of the door, and the 1 inch gaps in the windows. There were cobwebs and dead insects in all the corners, and as a person with self diagnosed arachnophobia, it was an anxious weekend. I didn't actually see any snakes while there luckily, and the food was pretty good. We went canoeing in the lake, and went on some nature walks, and did some fun games and activities, and had a lot of downtime. The downtime was good and bad, because it gave me a lot of time to relax and take a breather, but also a lot of time to think about the creatures lurking. On Sunday we had a sacrament meeting in the clearing at our camp, and it was plenty hot. It was a really cool and spiritual experience, as I have never had a sacrament meeting outside of a church building. After that we had some gospel related activities, and the next morning we were off!"