Port Douglas

Our early morning flight and a bus ride with Steve, our bus driver who pointed out lots of interesting things while taking the crazy corners of the winding road, took us to the quaint little town of Port Douglas!

We spent our first day in Port Douglas exploring the town. We explored an little church on the beach called St. Mary's, and walked up to a lookout from which you can see a lovely view of the town. We meet a nice fellow fishing who suggested we go to sunset point, so we watched the sunset there. It was lovely - a couple was playing guitar and another group was slack lining between the palm trees.

After dinner, we returned to sunset point to watch the stars. They were phenomenal - there was no moon and Port Douglas is a long ways from the big city lights, so the milky way and the constellations (the few that we know) were bright and beautiful.

The next morning, we took a tour out to the great barrier reef! The ride out to the reef was beautiful - Jer and I sat on the front of the boat in the spray. It was almost a two hour trip to the reef, so after a bit, we got chilly and I was rather seasick. The first snorkling location that we stopped at was called beautiful mooring and it was beautiful. The fish and corals were fantastic colours and everything was shallow and easy to see. The tour we took had about 20ish people on board, so we had lots of space to explore the reef. Unfortunately, I got a little scrape from a coral there (don't worry mom! I hydrogen peroxided the cut, applied an antiseptic cream, and I'm keeping it clean). The corals look so soft and squishy, but they feel like shards of glass unfortunately.

After about an hour, the boat continued onto a second and completely different part of the coral. There were huge walls of coral and a tower of coral that protruded up 50m from the ocean floor. It looked like a beautiful castle of coral with a million kinds of brightly coloured fish swimming in and out of the coral walls. We made use of Andrew's gopro, but I don't think the video could possibly capture the feeling of swimming in the middle of a school of giant parrot fish or swimming over a coral table to see a deep drop-off with all kinds of fish popping out from under the ledge. It was amazing.

Next, we enjoyed a delicious lunch while Joanna, a lovely woman who is working on her PhD on sea turtles gave a talk about coral and conservation of the reef. And then we were at our last site of the day called turtle bay. It was or favourite of all the locations where the boat stopped. Giant towers of coral twisted up from the ocean floor making little paths like gorges that we swam through. The larger fish liked to hide in these gorges. Then I noticed a very smooth rock under me... with a head... It was a sea turtle! A few people in our group also spotted a shark, but I must admit, I would have been pretty nervous to see the shark myself. For the trip back, I was thoroughly zonked with gravol and I slept most of the way, sadly missing the fancy cheeses offered by the crew. But when I did get back to the hostel, I made myself lots of delicious crackers and cheese from our grocery run yesterday.

Jeremy and I cleaned up from the day, and walked downtown to the chemist (pharmacy) to buy the antiseptics. On our way back to the hostel, we watched the huge fruit bats (which I think are also called flying foxes)  from palm tree to palm tree as the sun set over the ocean. It was amazing to see in an eerie sort of way. They are actually the size of small foxes - but with bat wings.

Back at the hostel, I chatted with my roommates - who are all teachers!  And now it is time for bed :) goodnight!

Platypi, Koalas, and Cassowary

Yesterday, Akello went into the lab while Jeremy and I traveled out to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We met Perry the platypus and his friend, other platypus. They were exceptionally adorable in their fast paddling as they chased after crayfish.

There were so many koalas! We met mother koalas with their babies on their backs, koalas in kindergarten, and koalas in retirement. They were pretty adorable, but we didn't pay 16$ to hug them for a photo op. Instead we posed with little koalas in the gift shop :)

My favourite animal there was the cassowary. He was so majestic and such a vibrant blue.

After meeting so many animals, we went to dinner to eat them. We didn't have kangaroo though this time - we went for sushi at an amazing restaurant! Then it was an early bed for us as we had to wake up at 3:40am for our flight!

Adventures with Akello... Part Two!

Today we planned a quick hike up mount Coottha, followed by a walk through the botanical gardens, followed by church in the evening. Mount Coottha proved to be a bit taller than expected, especially when we got a little bit lost. Fortunately our lostness was entirely made up for by the fact that we stubbled upon a lovely picnic area where seven sneaky kookaburras sat on a branch in an old gum tree and one stole a sausage from local picnickers. It was sad for the hungry picnickers, but pretty cute too watch the kookaburras. When we realized the time, however, we had to run down the mountain in order to make it to church on time, and skipped the botanical gardens.

Church today was at Hillsong in the valley of Brisbane. It was a smaller Hillsong campus, which we discovered is actually located in a night club (the person doing the announcements humorously commented that pamphlets with information on their small groups was "on tap"). It was a very welcoming bunch, a great pastor, and of course beautiful worship music.

After church, we ate all the food in Brisbane (we had missed lunch since our hike ran late). First to a Turkish pizza place which was quite tasty. Then to Macca's (the Australian version of McDonald's) for Jeremy's second dinner. And lastly to The Three Monkey's for delicious mango cheesecake that Akello and I shared and cookies & cream cheesecake for Jeremy (and for me to sneakily steal). So much deliciousness!

Adventures with Akello

We've had a great few days with my fabulous friend (and expert tour guide) Akello! Jeremy would particularly note Akello's knack for finding delicious places to buy less expensive and delicious food. In addition to eating, however, we have also explored the lovely town of Brisbane. On our tour of the Brisbane city hall, we learned that city was actually settled as a secondary punishment center. Those who committed crimes in England were sent to Sydney... and those who reoffended were sent to Brisbane. But you wouldn't guess the town's history from the people who live there now :)

This morning, we departed Brisbane for the Gold Coast, which is a beautiful city on the ocean. We rented two stand up paddle boards and a kayak, and we paddled our way around a little inlet where we found a jelly fish! I've never seen a living jelly fish before - it looked quite squishy, but I resisted the urge to touch it given its ability to sting. From there, we took the bus to surfer's paradise, a beautiful beach with rolling waves. After a dinner of fish and chips (and ketchup... which we were rather surprised to learn was 2$ extra), we caught the train back to Brisbane and explored Southbank, a lively area where there is currently a food festival! We stopped at an incredibly delicious chocolate cafe before catching the bus home - sleepy and happy.

The Great Ocean Road

It took a while to thaw out from our penguin adventures in St. Kilda. But when the ice melted from our joints, we made it out to the great ocean road! Jeremy picked up a delicious chicken, brie, and cranberry pie while I enjoyed an overpriced coffee and we were on our way.

We saw many incredible views of the rock formations above the ocean around the many crazy turns. A few issues with the rental car were resolved with the help of a fellow Canadian from Manitoba who lent his phone and expertise.

After staying over in Apollo Bay, we drove out to Cape Otway where we almost blew off a lighthouse. The wind kidnapped my camera lens cap (we bought a new one today), but it was worth it for the spectacular views.

On the drive out of Cape Otway, we found the most adorable baby koala in a tree! Jeremy did not hug the koala, though it was hard to hold back. But he did take some pretty great koala selfies. Shortly after, we rounded a corner to see a wallaby looking at us while munching on a bit of grass! We kept driving through Anglesea, where we were told a family of kangaroos was living on a golf course. The family of kangaroos was very friendly and photogenic.

When we got back to Melbourne, we flew to Brisbane where we found the best Australian inhabitant of all - Akello! Today we had a fun day exploring Brisbane and visiting the clock tower of the city hall building. Akello is also an expert on where to find delicious food in Brisbane, so we enjoyed some very tasty sushi and bubble tea before heading back to Akello's place.

Kangaroos, People, and Penguins

We ate a kangaroo! After arriving in Melbourne yesterday, Jeremy and I walked around downtown and found a delicious but surprisingly empty restaurant where we had kangaroo tortillas! Then we met our new friendly Melbourne roommates, and went early to bed.

This morning, we explored the interesting little streets of downtown Melbourne, which are filled with quaint coffee shops and friendly people. I tried my hand at doing a "humans of melbourne" photography starter for meeting interesting people. And it worked!  I met a lot of neat folks and heard some fascinating stories.

We spent this afternoon/evening in st kilda, where we saw a family of penguins! They live in the rocks on the breakwater there. By the time the sun went down, we were pretty chilly, so we caught the tram back to downtown. We'll make an early night of it as we will be picking up a rental car and driving to Apollo Bay along the coast in the morning!

The Opera House and the Mountains

Our first few days in Sydney have been wonderful. We meandered through a lovely park that we assumed was the botanical gardens with fantastic view of the opera house and the harbour bridge, enjoying the variety of birds and trees... And then arrived at the gate of the real botanical gardens! We spent a few hours attempting to distinguish between the call of a bird and that of an Australian kid... Surprisingly similar ;)

Then we grabbed an over priced bite to eat by the wharf and walked around the magnificent Sydney Opera House. At 2:00, we watched a ballet called Patyegarang, based on the true story of an Aboriginal woman who taught a British scientist, Dawes, her language and culture. After the ballet we went to St Mary's to attend Mass. We weren't pro Catholics as we couldn't figure out the words to the songs, but it was a lovely service to watch.

The following morning, we took the ferry over to the Mitchell's where we had parked or rental car and drive out to the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was a hiking loop involving the National Pass trail, Wentworth falls, and a number of look outs. It was a phenomenal hike. Though the signs warned that the walk takes 4-5 hours, we found that it is actually closer to 3. We assumed that they over estimate the hiking times so that people don't get into trouble running out of daylight. It is one of the best hiking trails I have walked - it was carved in 1908 along the side of the mountain with steep rock steps that take you down under waterfalls and up over them. The views of the valley below are phenomenal and the orange rock of the cliffs curves above you. Near the waterfalls, everything was lush with a wide variety of trees. After the hike, we drive up the three sisters lookout. It was beautiful to see as the sun was setting.

Arriving In Sydney

We made it to Sydney! Jeremy wore his Netherlands orange and was quite easily spotable in the airport. I was sneakier having told Jer that I would be wearing light pink, but changing my shirt when I decided that I could no longer stand my own smelliness after 32 hours of flying.

Fortunately, all those flights went well. Jeremy's flight was a bit turbulent which unfortunately made it harder to sleep, but the food he tells me was great. I was worried about my flight for a while - since the last leg of my journey (Beijing to Sydney) was more than 24 hours from my Toronto departure, I couldn't print my last boarding pass. However, without that boarding pass, it appeared to the computer system that I was ending my trip in China, which required a visa that I didn't have. I managed to get it all sorted out at my second stopover in New York, but I admittedly spent the flight to Beijing wondering if I'd be in trouble when I got out of the plane. Fortunately, there was no trouble at all in the Beijing airport - it was well signed and the people we all very helpful to a sleepy anneke.

Arriving in Sydney, we picked up our rental car and got a few groceries. Jeremy was exceptionally patient navigating an often faulty gps and we drove out to the Royal National Park. We knew it was beautiful from pictures, but we still weren't expecting it to be that beautiful! The waves were incredible and the cliffs that overlooked the ocean full of character. We met a fellow fishing in the  surf who told us that he'd show us his fish if we promised not to tell his wife how small it was. There were a few people tossing a rugby ball on the sand and others just watching the surfers who somehow kept their balance on the huge waves that were breaking on the shore.

When it was sadly time to leave the beautiful park behind, we picked up a key at our hostel and parked the car at the Mitchell's place - a very kind and generous family who are friends from the Grettons. Michelle fed us a delicious dinner and dropped us of at the ferry to make our way back to our hostel. Where we meet our friendly roommates.... and slept. At very long last and very well :)

Love what you do

Since September, I've been writing reference letters and talking with our graduating students about the ominous question, "What should I do with my life?" 

There is a lot of advice available to my Grade 12's for answering this question. Perhaps the most popular advice is, in the words of Steve Jobs, "You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers." 

But I see at least two significant problems with this popular "do what you love" advice. 

1. It's confusing. The follow-up question leaves the graduating student no further ahead: "What do I love?" 
2. It is neither true nor respectful to many Canadians.

Of course, if we take a look at the people who advise young people to "do what they love" - inspirational speakers, successful business owners, teachers - this slogan is often true for these people. I'm privileged to find myself in a career that is (at least most days) easy to love. I spend my days with bright young people who inspire me and my evenings planning lessons about exciting concepts. While a few people have negative things to say about teachers, for the most part, mention of my career invokes positive stereotypes like, "You must be very patient" or "You must wear adorable cardigans". I get to work in a career that is quite loveable, and one from which I have the option of telling the next generation that they ought to find a career like mine. 

But we have a problem here. There are a few fortunate Canadians who do what they love. Meanwhile, the majority do what they can. 

The individualistic focus of "do what you love" assumes that our society doesn't need the people who are working in hard-to-love jobs. Instead of respecting their work, it treats them as lesser people, who have settled for their careers. Or worse, it avoids the issue all together and pretends they don't exist. 

But on my drive to school tomorrow, I'll drive on roads that are well salted and sanded. Probably not because years ago, a high school student had an innate passion for salting and sanding roads, but because that person was willing to do a job that provides safety for all of us. When I pick up a coffee on the way, it's possible that the man who took my order was born with a love for selling coffee. But odds are that he's there to make a living and serve his community in a way that he can. 

"Do what you love" does to the ideology of careers what folks like Peter Schiff would like to do to the economy of careers. If you missed the headline, Schiff is the CEO who was recently quoted to say that a person who is "mentally retarded" should be happy working for 2$ an hour because "you're worth what you're worth" in an interview about the potential of raising minimum wage. He later corrected his statement, assuring us that he intended to say that an "intellectually disabled" person should work for 2$ an hour. I don't think anyone felt terribly assured.  

While Schiff's reasoning would widen the economic gap between the rich and poor, intentionally or not, Job's philosophy widens the emotional gap between the rich and the poor. "Do what you love" sounds inspirational. But it's also an excuse to ignore or look down on the people who make our society function. We can claim that the poor aren't like us because they failed to take our most excellent advice and pursue a career that they love. And that isn't the sort of message I want to pass on to my graduating students. 

But not all is lost in the search for a soundbite of advice for my graduating students.  A few sentences after his "find what you love" statement, Jobs says, "The only way to do great work is to love what you do". While Jobs treats these two statements as largely interchangeable in his graduation speech, I think there is an important difference. 

While we can't all do what we love, we can all find something to love in what we do. At its core, a career is simply doing something worthwhile for society. Whether or not that something is admired in our culture, whether or not that something is easy to love - that something is worthwhile. Wherever my graduating students serve in their careers, I hope that they can find ways to love what they do. 

Question

I'm feeling particularly inspired today from a conversation that I've had often in the last month. A caring experienced teacher asks me how I'm doing. I mention that there are definitely little moments that I love, but I'm also pretty exhausted. They offer encouragement, and then they often tell the same story: it seems that most experienced teachers have learned along the way that "you just can't be the super-awesome-always-engaging teacher that you dreamed of being". You have to be realistic about the time you have. "You can't do everything", as the common phrase goes.

The frequency of this conversation got me thinking. Why do we chose this reality for educators?  Of course, in any situation, there will always be "more" and "better", but doesn't it seem a bit silly that we take enthusiastic capable new teachers, who are bursting with new ideas and high goals, and teach them to significantly lower their expectations of themselves?

I was watching the girls basketball team play on Thursday night, and they had clearly honed their skills (they won the game by a long shot, literally). But it wasn't simple case of more training that made them so successful (taking that equation to it's limits, training 24 hours a day would leave the girls to exhausted to play). It was about training well. Something that the girls, with the help of their coaches, have clearly done.

Can we do that with teaching? How do we train well as we're learning to teach instead of just training more? And how do we figure out how to train well, when the treadmill is running at level 20 and we're on it?

I was inspired by this repeat conversation because it suggests that this is a real systemic question that many of us haven't found an answer to yet.  It's also a really important question to me, to almost every teacher I've talked with, and to society who have so much invested in education and therefore in educators.

It occurred to me that I could spend a lot of time trying to figure out this question. Which made me wonder if I should look into education rather than physics education research possibilities for the future. Admittedly, there might be a little bit of a narcissistic pattern here: last year, I was a girl in physics and I researched girls in physics. When I was a physics tutorial TA, I researched physics tutorial TAs. Now I'm a first year teacher, and I'm feeling quite inspired to research first year teachers. The only way to really resolve this pattern is to research narcissistic researchers, but for now, I think I'll go for learning as much as I can as a first year teacher.