I know I’ve been pretty bad updating this blog the last few weeks but the last weeks have been a bit busy. Since the mid-semester break starts in only two and a half weeks there has been a few assignments due during the last two weeks what caused me a lot of work.
One of them I had to hand in (almost) this Monday.
I also started working at an Indian Restaurant – as I’ve already told you – so I am busy for at least four or five evenings a week.
My school “prac” is doing very well. I’ve already done my teaching stuff (trials) and can now just attend school and enjoy watching the class teacher doing the teaching stuff again. It was a great and fantastic experience to teach in an Australian school and I really enjoyed it a lot! I’ll tell you more about that later one.
So if anyone was wondering why I haven’t blogged, that’s why.
Here are some pics from my university (ACU). It's nice to sit under palms in the sun...
Oh, and even I soon have to face reality. I’ll stick around in Australia for just 4 more months, and while I am still around in Sydney, I already should start to organize some trips for my holidays in November and December. Oh my God, time flies. As mentioned before, I still have no idea what to do or better let’s say: Too many ideas, too many plans, too many things I’d like to do or see but have unfortunately neither enough time nor money…
So, where to start telling you the happenings of the last two and a half weeks?
NAWAZ – Flavour of IndiaAs I’ve told you above I’ve started to work in an Indian Restaurant. My Danish roommate, who sadly moved out last Monday, helped me getting this job because she was working there as well. The restaurant is just two houses further down the road, so it’s quite near and I don’t lose any time with “travelling”. The job is not “best paid” but I get the tips (even if tipping unfortunately is not common in OZ) and free food and drinks.
The chef always does his best to cook something I can eat and it is always more than terrific! I think Indian food is now my new favorite food – except from köttbullar med makroner and salmon with potatoes for sure! The guys in the kitchen are very funny – make Hindi jokes all the time – and are really nice but sometimes it’s a bit annoying because they have some kind of battle who is gonna marry me.
Being a blond girl isn’t always that easy! ;) In the beginning it was a bit hard to get used to everything and the English of my Indian mates is sometimes a bit weird and hard to understand – as well as the Hindi names of the food – but it’s a lot of fun working there and I think I am learning a lot.
Café Svensson
When I am off on Wednesday evenings I usually go to the Swedish coffee (Café Svensson). I even started to “work” there and serving food and drinks but it’s no real work it’s more like a pleasure for me! I enjoy being there, talking Swedish all the time, meeting nice new people, eating Swedish food and of course drinking as much coffee as possible!!!
The Swedish coffee is an institution from the Swedish Church and is every Wednesday evening (it started two weeks ago). It’s a gorgeous thing and I am unbelievable happy that I found it. Going there makes me rally more than happy!!! The Swedes there think that I am “gulligt” (cute) and I think they do like me not only because I’m selling the food and the drinks. ;)
As I said before, it really makes me glad. It’s exactly the thing I was searching for and that was missing to make my life down under complete. I’ve already been reading the Swedish newspaper in the “Customs House” @Circular Quay (definitely one of my most favorite places), I am listening to Swedish music all the time, watching Swedish online television and I am even dreaming in Swedish, so it’s the language that’s always in my head… And now there is this feeling of “home”. Sverige, Sverige älskade vän!
Being in Parramatta when the city gets evacuated because of a man kidnapping a girl and having a bomb isn’t that funny…
On Tuesday I was one day off and decided to do a river journey to Parramatta. It’s the second European settlement in Australia and so there are many historic gems like the oldest surviving building in Australia. The earliest part dates from 1799.
The Cemetery there contains the graves of many of the first settlers and Parramatta Park as well as the city centre is a museum in its own. Unfortunately there was a man committing a crime just after my arrival. He kidnapped a girl and kept her in a law office while pretending having a bomb in his backpack. I was evacuated and felt like in a bad American movie because of all the police, fire brigade, rescue cars and TV broadcast. But even though I had a lot of “fun” and experienced a lot this day (not really what I expected to but maybe a bit more).
Just before sunset I took the RiverCat back to Sydney and as the river behind us fade in darkness the bright lights of Sydney appeared in front of us. Maybe the ferry ride was the best thing that day…
Prac
The school prac is already on his way to its end and that makes me a bit sad. Even if I’ll be glad about more spare time, I really enjoyed the time at school and the work with the kids. They are gorgeous and most of them are really smart. I taught a few lessons in science about “water movement in plants” containing osmoses, transpiration, evaporation, growing of plants and general facts concerning the water cycle. We did a few experiments together, e.g. colouring the leaves of celery with food colour and definitely had a lot of fun.
My pupils did a very good job and I also got a lot of praises from my teacher and my pupils. “You are doing a great job Miss Goller!” Juhuuuuuuuuuuuuu. ;)
School prac also offered me a lot of new experiences and a new way of thinking about many things. The school system here is very different to our German one and I still can’t say if it’s better or not. There are a lot of funny or weird things which still are confusing me and I think there might be some you can’t get used to...
I think I might write an own article about my school prac again after I’ve finished it. Next week I’ll accompany my class to an excursion to the Muogarmarra Nature Reserve. The excursion is to support the work on “National Parks” and to engage the students in the topic. I think it’ll be very interesting and I am already very excited!
Who are these so called “aussies”?Living here in Sydney makes me always think about the “Australian mentality” and the way of living down under.
My sister asked me if it might be possible that I know much more Swedes here in Sydney than Aussies and I just answered “The Aussies don’t really exist! They are either Europeans or Asians…” I think I haven’t met enough “real Aussies” yet to argue in a good way about their habitats but there are many funny things happening in their daily life. For example they are wondering about becoming the fattest nation in the whole wide world but the only cheap food is chunk food and there are always special offers like “grab any 2 for 1” and big serving sizes are always much cheaper than normal sizes. Especially if you want to buy candies or lemonade. Healthy food is really expensive and it’s much easier to grab a fast food meal at one of the one hundred-and-don’t-know-what McDonald’s, KFCs or HungryJacks than cooking your own food. Lemonade and coke is as cheap (or let’s better say as expensive) as water and it’s also not unusual that coke is on a special offer as long as the water stays high in prize. What else is funny down under? There are schedules for the busses but I think the local traffic in Sydney is one of the worst I’ve ever used. You don’t need to take a look on the schedules because the busses might come when they like to come or they even won’t come… That the Australian mentality… No worries! I also tried to figure out how to categorize a real Sydneysider but it’s impossible. Some are more than snobby and posh, some are lazy, others are homeless and a few are really silly. Drugs and alcohol are seen everywhere and you can buy drugs as easy as the daily newspaper. If the Sydneysiders aren’t in one of these categories they might be very friendly and always in a good mood. They give you a smile or even a lift if they think you can’t manage your way by foot and always finish their sentence with a “mate”. It’s usual to shorten as many words as possible and to thank the bus driver. But don’t worry, a “thanks, mate” definitely is enough. ;) And if something gives you a goat it’s just a “oh my goodness” and then is everything "alright, no worries!" again...
Glebe
Being a poor students makes me staying at the Rooftop Hostel in Glebe but it is definitely not the worst place to stay. Even if we have changing roommates all the time – sometimes bad, sometimes good that they change – I am still happy staying there and I think I might stay there until my studies are finished. And of course it’s just a stone throw away from work and that’s pretty gorgeous!
Glebe is one of the westerns suburbs of Sydney but still very close to the CDB. A gentle walk or a short bus trip takes you in a few minutes to the city but you also can stay in a smooth distance to the busy life of the city centre and enjoy the silence on a bank in one of the parks down the road close to the bay with a fantastic look out to the skyline and the ANZAC bridge.
There are a lot of lovely cafés along the road, brilliant houses and lots of other sweet places. If you head down the main road (Glebe Pt Road) you get to Broadway. At the corner there’s the Broadway Shopping Centre and on the other side of Broadway is Vicoria Park. And right in the middle of Victoria Park is a pool where I like to go to swim in the morning time. It’s gorgeous to swim in a pool in the middle of a big city!
Things I love to do during weekends
Most time I spend in the library at Customs House at Circular Quay, but usually I go to the Rocks Markets afterwards and before I have to go to work.
It's gorgeous, the flair and the atmosphere of this old suburb (first suburb of Syndey) fit very well to the market, where you can buy food, arts and crafts. The whole area seems gorgeous and a bit mystic to me and there is this singer and songwriter, playing his guitar each saturday and sunday, who makes this world even more wonderful!!! :)
I also love laying in the Royal Botanic Gardens, in the shade under a Fig Tree, watching the busy people in the streets and enjoying the calm and shady place on my own...
What else can I tell you?I think the main problem is that I have so many experiences here I can’t tell in words…
I will stop writing for today because I'll go swimming now. Afterwards I might meet some Swedes and join them to spend the day @ The Rocks, listening to Mark Wilkinson and drinking a good cup of Coffee! AWESOME!
More information and the german translation coming soon.
Okay mates, have a nice weekend!
Lovely greetings from OZ!!!
Hej meine Lieben!
Ich weiß, ihr musstet echt lange auf ein Blog Update warten. Die letzten Wochen waren ein wenig anstregend und ereignisreich, dazu gab's für die uni und das Praktikum so einiges zu tun.
Für die Uni musste ich am Montag das letzte Assignment einreichen. Ab jetzt stehen dann Präsentationen und Prüfungen an...
In meinem School Prac bin ich fast fertig. Ich hatte die große Freude ein paar mal unterrichten zu dürfen und muss sagen, ich hatte dabei jede Menge Spaß!
Kurz nach meine Geburtstag (ist ja auch schon wieder lange her) habe ich angefangen zu arbeiten und arbeite nun seit fast 4 Wochen in einem Indischen Restaurant in Glebe (ca. 5 Tage die Woche).
Also entschuldigt bitte, dass ich die letzte Zeit äußerst nachlässig gebloggt habe, aber ich war wirklich busy.
Here are some pics from my university (ACU). It's nice to sit under palms in the sun...
Oh, and even I soon have to face reality. I’ll stick around in Australia for just 4 more months, and while I am still around in Sydney, I already should start to organize some trips for my holidays in November and December. Oh my God, time flies. As mentioned before, I still have no idea what to do or better let’s say: Too many ideas, too many plans, too many things I’d like to do or see but have unfortunately neither enough time nor money…
Womit soll ich anfangen, die Ereignisse der letzen zweieinhalb Wochen zu erzählen?
NAWAZ – Flavour of India
Den Job bei "NAWAZ - Flavour of India" hat mir meine ehemalige dänische Mitbewohnerin vermittelt. Das Restaurant ist nur einen Steinwurf von meinem Hostel entfernt und demnach die perfekte Arbeitsstätte. Der Job ist nicht wirklich best paid, aber ich bekomme Essen und Drinken umsonst und der Küchenchef gibt sich die allergrößte Mühe, etwas zu kochen, was ich essen kann... Dazu bekomm ich noch die Tips (Trinkgeld), allerdings ist tipping in Australien nicht wirklich verbreitet, deshalb schwankt das outcome da ziemlich...
Ich glaub, indische Küche ist mein neues Lieblingsessen und der Job ist auch eigentlich recht cool. Natürlich auch anstrengend, vor allem sind die Abende manchmal echt lang, aber die Jungs in der Küche haben mich alle ganz gern und halten schon kräftig um meine Hand an... ;) Nicht gerade einfach, das einzig blonde Mädchen in einem Restaurant voll indischer Männer zu sein. Am Anfang war's ein bisschne hart, mit den ganzen Indischen Gewohnheiten klarzukommen und Hindi-Witze über sich ergehen zu lassen... Aber man gewöhnt sich ja an alles. ;) Ich heiß jetzt im Übrigen auch Savitry... Und ich hör mittlerweile auch noch darauf!
Café Svensson
Wenn ich Mittwochabends frei habe (und das hab ich mit meinem Chef so arrangiert), gehe ich seit 3 Wochen ins "Café Svensson" und "arbeite" dort ein wenig. Das Café Svensson ist von der Schwedischen Kirche aus und hat immer mittwochabends geöffnet. Dort treffen sich dann junge und ältere Schweden aller Art, es gibt schwedisches Essen, natürlich ganz viel Kaffee und ich fühle mich dort sehr sehr wohl! Die Schweden dort haben mich glaube ich ziemlich gern und ich habe schon viele neue Freunde gefunden! Es ist wirklich toll! Ich glaube, es war genau das, was mir noch gefehlt hat... Ich höre schon die ganze Zeit schwedische Musik, lese die schwedische Zeitung im Custom House und träume auch Schwedisch. Schön, dass ich jetzt auch noch einmal die Woche das Gefühl von "zu Hause" habe und dazu noch einen gratis Schwedischkurs. ;) Sverige, Sverige älskade vän!
Being in Parramatta when the city gets evacuated because of a man kidnapping a girl and having a bomb isn’t that funny…
Am Dienstag hatte ich einen Tag lang frei und wollte mir etwas Ruhe vom manchmal doch leicht stressigen Alltag im „always-busy-Sydney“ gönnen… Ich entschied mich für einen Trip mit der Fähre über den Parramatta-River nach Parramatta, der ersten europäischen Siedlung in Australien, die nicht an der Küste Sydneys liegt. Dort stehen noch einige der ersten Häuser aus dem Jahre 1799, sowie die erste Farm Australiens aus einem „Selbstversorgerprojekt“ mit einem ehemaligen Convict. Sowohl der Park als auch das Stadtzentrum sind an sich schon eine Art Museum, nur leider konnte die City nicht wirklich genießen, da ich nach kurzer Zeit evakuiert wurde. Wie in einem schlechten Hollywoodfilm waren dann auf einmal Absperrungen, Police, Feuerwehr und Rettungsdienst, umschwärmt von TV-Übertragungswägen und Helikoptern, die in der Luft kreisten… Was für eine Aufregung.
Mit Ruhe genießen und Entspannen hatte der Tag am Ende also nicht wirklich viel zu tun. Ich habe aber jede Menge gesehen und vor allem erlebt und habe an einem der Cottages eine Einheimische getroffen, mit der ich mich sehr lange und intensiv unterhalten habe…
Mit dem Sonnenuntergang im Rücken ging es dann am Tagesende nach Sydney zurück, und während sich hinter uns die Dunkelheit und wieder ein wenig mehr Stille über Parramatta legte, tauchte vor uns die hellerleuchtete Skyline Sydneys auf… Die Fahrt mit dem RiverCat zurück und die Ankunft in Darling Harbour war der Wahnsinn!!!
more german translation coming soon.
Okay mates, have a nice weekend!
Lovely greetings from OZ!!!
Nichtsdestotrotz: Solange du mit den richtigen Leuten unterwegs bist, hast Du immer und ueberall Spass and so did we!!!
Und vielleicht schaff ich's ja auch mal noch bei gutem Wetter in die Blue Mountains... Who knows... Nobody! 
