Reunited and it feels so good.

Of course in typical Carley-fashion I’ve been coming back to terms with the Aussie life-style in my own way…feet first, but not quite head first (and by “not quite head first” I do mean not quite with my brain). While I have the courtesy to give myself a break for it having been my first few days back in Australia, and I was still “suffering” heavily from jet lag, my friends do not guarantee me that same courtesy. I hopped out of the car a few days ago to let my friend Lachlan’s girlfriend have the front seat. My intentions always start off kind, I’m sure many of you recall my gender-bender story (if you haven’t heard it, long story short I chased a man down who had dropped his leather wallet in the street. Instead of being a greedy, selfish, flat broke college student, I returned it to the WO-man. That’s right, the he was a she. My bad.) Anyway, I hopped out of the car to let Amy sit in the front seat and began ruthlessly CRANKING the front seat forward to let myself into the back. I am very “accustomed” to this motion because my car at home in the states is a two door car. The feeling of hopping out of my side of the car, which in my own country AND brain is the driver’s side, to let somebody in the back seat. This concept seemed both appropriate and legitimate. However, instead of a lever it was an obnoxious turn crank. At the point of vigorously cranking the seat until it was all the way forward I turned to Lachlan and our conversation went a bit like this:

Lachlan: (Says nothing, giving me a look that says “what the hell are you doing you stupid American)
Me: WHAT Lachy? Is there an EASIER way to get into the back seat?
Lachlan: Yes. The Door. (erupts into laughter)

That’s right. It was a four door car. Excellent.

Lachy then proceeded to laugh at me and regurgitate the story to his family and our friends. I cranked the seat back and tried to defend myself as I stated above, but it was useless. The damage had been done.

The week has been filled with these types of occurrences, such as reliving the infamous “toe-mah-toe, poh-tah-toe” conversation. Last year at the dinner table with some friends I asked for the Ketchup, which then led into being told that it’s not ketchup but instead called (sound this out and familiarize yourself with Aussie pronunciation) toe-MAH-toe sauce. So I asked if the saying “tomato/toeMAHtoe, potato/poeTAHtoe” was accurate, and if they actually pronounced potato as “poe-TAHHH-toe”. Again, the table practically fell over in laughter, a reaction I’ve become quite familiar with. Being American in Australia, if nothing else, teaches you to laugh at yourself.

I’ve had to relearn all the Aussie sayings and a host of new sayings and ideas I had never considered. Lachlan’s sister took their cat for a walk yesterday and it blew my mind. I don’t know about all places in the US, but I personally have never heard of harnessing up a cat and walking it down the street like a dog. Alas, here it is quite normal. Until the cat crosses paths with a dog, becomes scared, climbs up the owner as if she were a tree trunk, and scratches the hell out of her. This is exactly what happened to Lachlan’s sister, and possibly why walking your cat is not popular in the US. His sister and I played a game of “what do you call this in America” and it was quite fascinating to rediscover some of the differences I had forgotten about. Some we discussed included: a cell phone in Australia is called a mobile, the trunk of a car is called a boot, gasoline is called petrol, a sweatshirt is called a jumper, sweatpants are called trackies, bathing suits are called togs, swimmers or boardies, parro means drunk, T-I-R-E is spelled T-Y-R-E, and J-A-I-L is spelled G-A-O-L (that is not a joke. You can imagine the first time I tried to sound out the word gaol...it went a bit like "GAY-OLE")

In other news, I had my first meeting at Newcastle High School yesterday “arvo” (arvo is an Australian term for afternoon). It was quite lovely, and I am beyond excited to begin teaching. The man I met with, who I could equate to a vice principal, and I had a wonderful chat. Over lunch he asked me about the process of becoming accepted through my university to do this, and what had inspired me to return to Australia even after I had been told no so many times. After I answered his question, if you know me at all you’ll appreciate his response: “You don’t lose many arguments, do you?” We chatted about the classes that I’ll be teaching and I must say I’m eager to face the challenges ahead of me. The school was quite large, though nowhere near as large as the high school I attended. So much of the high school is accessed from the outdoors, where there are different entrances to each department. It was almost like a campus, but everything was somehow still connected. Living in the North Eastern United States, you might see how a school like this could be problematic in the winter when everything is engulfed with snow and stepping foot outside is a hassle. However, it is winter here and yesterday it was about 68 and sunny. It tends to rain a fair bit during the winter but I seem to have brought a little sunshine with me.

One aspect of the high school that I really loved was they are very mindful of the fact that not every student goes to university, and there are plenty of options at the high school that are both welcomed and encouraged for students who many not feel that university is their best option. However, this trait has only recently just translated into the English department. Originally the school offers two English classes which are mandatory and students are placed in either an advanced class or a standard class. It is not like the high school that I attended, and many high schools in the states for that matter, where multiple English electives are offered that can fulfill an English requirement (for example poetry workshop, creative writing, journalism, etc). The high school at a time did not offer a class that appealed to the students who struggled with a standard English level, so they have recently introduced a film based English class where students analyze texts with movies, and see as literature. This is an idea that fascinates me because I have always been a firm believer that a “text” doesn’t necessarily have to be a book. They use different technologies in the class to create responses, both written and visual. It’s a class that I am very excited to work with. On Monday, I will have my first full day at the high school, however it is a day without the students where the teachers have meetings and set their classrooms back up, and over the next few days I will be receiving more information about the other two English classes I will be working with.

I have a few more days of relaxation before I buckle down with work, so for now I enjoy waking up in the morning before anyone else rises, making a cup of tea, and tinkering around with the guitar that’s always resting on the couch. Between that and catching up with old friends in the evening over dinner, coffee, or drinks, my first six days back in Newcastle have been more than successful. There will be plenty of unknowns that will unfold over the next few months, but things appear to be moving at a steady pace. It can’t possibly stay that way for much longer. This IS of course me we’re speaking about, and my life tends to be interestingly exciting, generally pleasant, but never TOO placid.
~Carley B