A thought for the future...

The video above can be played by clicking on it. A little video of me will appear first to say hello and introduce it. You can rewind, play and pause the vid with the controls at the bottom of the video screen. You can also click on the sign up box so you can join in with the thread. Once you have a FREE account you can record or type a message and if you have a webcam you can even leave a video message!!! It's ace!

Once the video has stopped playing you will hear everyone else's comments. LOF's already made one so you can either wait until the end of the video or click on his picture to see him say hi :)

xx

Selling up

We've been working hard this week to get everything in order and ready for our trip back to ol' blighty. The car has been sold and LOF has been working hard showing a wide range of people around the house. Obviously, we have both finished working now so that we can get the final bits and bobs sorted before we head off on our final Australian adventure and then our eventual return to London Eng - er - land.

Span and LOM have obviously arrived on this side of the hemisphere and it was great to hear a very happy and bouncy Span telling me about the wonders of Hong Kong the other day. They're in Sydney now and are still coming to grips with the ol when do I sleep and eat problem that jet lag causes. Poor things. They'll be cool though and I am sure that Sydney is right up Span's street. She did tell me the other day that after being in Hong Kong her and LOM first thought of the word "QUAINT" when they got there! LMAO I think most Aussies think it's the biggest most sprawling metropolitan place ever! ;) They're right though, they are staying in the older bit and it is lovely and 'quaint' in it's own way :)

We're off to join them in Melbourne this coming Wednesday and then when they coach of down the Ocean rd. we're heading to Tasmania for 2 days to see what's over in Hobart. I have been told by several locals that Tassie is ace and that 2 days isn't going to show us very much at all but I say a quick visit is better than no visit at all and I am looking forward to seeing it. It's supposed to be more untouched. I do hope it has more going on that Kangaroo Island though!! lol

Of course, it was always my plan to make sure that, one way or another, we got to Tassie. It is the home of Cadbury world Australia!!! As a resident of B'ham it is my duty to go and check that out and have a word about the ingredients that they are putting into their cadburys here!!! tut tut tut! :)

We're back to Adelaide on the Monday where we'll meet up with Span and LOF at the end of the Ocean Rd, Adelaide :). We'll stay in the house for two days and then we have to hand the keys over on Wednesday. We leave on Thursday the 6th on route to Bangkok. Please don't be suprised if you receive a christmas present from their! - if at all!! Chirstmas has been far from both of our minds lol. We'll explore Bangkok for a couple of days and then get back on the plane to London; arriving in London in the early hours of the 10th of December.

Not long now folks!

I have mixed feelings about returning:
What if it's not the same in the UK now?
What if I 've changed soo much that I don't like it anymore!!?
What on earth is it going to be like to work in a fulltime position again and will I resent it if I don't get chance to carry on what i've been doing here???
How will we cope with the cold again?
How cool will it be to see the cats, my breath in the air, the snow, my family and friends......!!! ;)

I've finished working in Aus...

So I've now finished my final week at Thebby. The couple of months are over and I left on Friday with champagne and the usual friday night chocolates. It has been great working there and I have really enjoyed working with a lovely bunch of people who have been more than keen to take part in this new initiative I brought with me from Blighty.

The 12 champs have been working really hard and most of them have managed to use the board and the software in several lessons. Some of them have created some pretty impressive stuff and deserve a big pat on the back. I just wish that they would believe in themselves a bit more! They've only had about 10 weeks and they have got more skills than those who have had the board for 2 years!! I guess it has all be crammed in in such a short time that more time is needed to feel comfortable with the new skills that they have acquired. I have no doubt whatsoever however that they will go on to create some fabulous resources and I hope that they will choose to share these with the rest of us on the teachertechnologies Moodle :P

As an aside for Mummy Cow and DF; I have particularly enjoyed the fact that the Principal has a cellar (which contains champagne and a variety of whites and reds) and that he has allowed us to raid it every Friday night for our Whiteboards and Wine sessions! The trick has always been to get me to answer as many questions as possible before I finish the first glass. Obviously, on my last day I had more than one glass and as a result was getting louder and sillier! ;) I was heard to tell them i would email the Immersive team in England to say "oi tart! I want a network install!" Which amused them greatly and made them want to ply me with more alcohol to see what happened next :) IN short... I am sure that what we need to do is have DF get a cellar, which he can stock with the governors permission and we can raid every week at our meetings :) It makes us all far more productive!! ;)

Working with the refugees at the college has been an unforgettable experience and I have learnt so much from them. I can not believe some of the hardships that they have had to face and the next time a student can't come to school because their hamster died I will be reminded of the student who found out her family had been murdered over the weekend and turned up to lessons. I guess the school is a solice and place to find friends and support and I hope that's the way the students at my other place of work see school too.

I was given many generous gifts; Koalas in cuddly, chocolate and keyring form, a cat/pig keyring, a kangaroo fridge magnet and a clock. I'm not sure how I'm going to get that one home but all of these gifts were more than appreciated and I am very grateful for the thought that has gone into them. :) Thank you .. All of you for letting me be a part of your fabulous team :)

I know we said we'd come home but...

VS



Would you???!!!!!! OMG!!!!! How are you even still alive????
:)

It's been a good week.

It's been busy too!

On Thursday i did a seminar at Flinders University and (I am told) 250 people turned up!!! OMG. I like an audience but I'm not used to having that many people listen to me for an hour and a half ;) It was good fun though and I think everyone enjoyed it.

November the 10th also saw the start of the christmas celebrations here in Adelaide. The Xmas Pageant was on on Saturday and is the day that Santa officially comes to Adelaide, he's the last float in the parade! Once we'd got over the problems of translation (I thought an xmas pagent would be a private party involving Miss World type competitions vaguely related to santa until I realised it's just a carnival!) we had a great time and I'm glad we went.


It was the busiest I've ever seen Adelaide. Amusingly, it was the first time in a year it's felt a little like being back in the uk (or B'ham city center) as we had to walk through torrents of people on the high street) I'd forgotten how crowded it can get there (bham)- especially before xmas! We haven't thought about xmas at all. I mean it's 30 degrees and my weekends are spent on the beach... nothing chirstmassy about that at all! I'm a litte sun burnt though ;)

It was strange indeed to see all the usual snowy scenes on a hot spring morning! lol
I am told by the locals that Xmas is far more laid back here. The kids get a few pressies then it's down to the beach for the rest of the day. Apparently they don't spend nearly as much monety or time on it as they have plenty of other things to be doing out in the sunshine! I don't blame them! If it was 30 odd degrees outside I don't think I'd be sat inside watching another re-run of a popular elf movie either!
;)

remember remember the 5th of november

Unless you're in Australia where it's just another day :( Can't even buy fireworks!! Too dangerous what with bushfires and all... Can you call make my name with a sparkler on my behalf please??

:)

The week that was....

So the light is fixed now (The landlord just bought a bigger light to cover the hole in the ceiling and patched up the hole in the roof). We once more have a light to use in the loo and all is well.

This week has also seen the sale of two important items: The motorbike and the Keyboard. If you look at the blog from this time last year you will see a picture of the beloved bug and a sad face announcing its placement on Ebay. Well it's a case of Dejavu now as we do exactly the same thing this end. The motorbike and keyboard are gone. We just have to sell the car and find a new tenant for the house. Its all go, with only 4.5 weeks left in the land down under. The next time I complain about a 7 weeks half term feeling long I give you permission to slap me. It really is no time at all! ;)

This weekend has been pretty eventful though. On Saturday we had to go to the Marion Shopping center to see Natalie Blair and Sam Clark. Two very important people who I am sure you all know the names of??? NO?? You do know them I assure you...
Here they are...That's right Carmella and Ringo :) Thank fully for Matt the food court was just above them so he went to feed his face whilst I took pictures! lol
I didn't cue for an autograph, the line was very, very long! I did feel sorry for them though as they had to sit and sign their name repeatedly over and over for nearly 2 hours! Poor chickens and I bet they were put straight back on a plane to Melbourne afterwards.

We walked past Natalie Blair as she left the Mall. Well at least Matt says we did. I didn't even notice! fun fun fun


We also got invited out last night to a dinner party. Woo hoo! WE LEAVE in 4.5 weeks but we're getting there! lol. Never mind! It was very kind of the host to invite us and we had a really nice time. I was amused to discover the reason why Aussie's don't know LOFs name. To them it sounds like Mutt which apparently (in there culture is a dysfunctional donkey) so they are surprised. It's all to do with the manner in which vowels are pronounced in the English and Australian accents apparently. We need to get LOF to change the middle letter to and E and they should know what he's called lol.

This morning we went out to a Bridal Expo too. A very small one but it was handy. I managed to convince one of the photographic stands to let us video the Photo album style that we're after. it's like a "photobook" and the photos are printed on to glossy car so it looks like a really heavy magazine. It's ace and we like the style very much. I have failed on numerous occasions to explain this to mum so here's a video of what they look like. :)