The joys of child care

You know you've worked at too many daycares when...

- you know all the Wiggles songs off by heart (and the actions!)

- you know the title of the children's book that the kid sitting next to you on the train is reading

- you're surprised when other jobs don't have nap time after lunch

- you're saying "good girl/boy!" to teenagers

- all your pants have play doh, paint, glue, clay, sand, or all of the above deeply ingrained into the fabric

- you're reminding your friends to say please and thank you

- you can put any child puzzle together in 5 seconds or less with your eyes closed

- your back and knees are numb to pain due to having to squat into childrens chairs, pick up toys and children, sweep floors, pack up sand pits, wipe runny noses, tie up shoes, and clean tables that are all only a foot off the ground

- you have to resist the urge to wipe the nose of the person sniffling next to you

- you no longer refer to animals by their name, but by the sound they make

A trip to Camelot

Well, twice in the span of one week now I've been able to cross something off of my list of things I wanted to do while in Australia.

I got a call last night from my friend Sarah, to ask if I wanted to go see the musical production of Camelot today at the Arts Centre. It turned out I didn't get a shift at work, so it worked out well because I was able to enjoy a free ticket to the theatre.

Sarah's friend is in the chorus, so she got 2 tickets to todays dress rehearsal for friends and family, before they had their first official show tonight. It wasn't the best musical I've seen, but I definitely enjoyed it none the less, and really loved the chance to get to go inside Melbourne's Art Centre, and see such a beautiful theatre.

After the show, we were waiting outside for Sarah's friend to come out, when I saw someone I recognized from TV (actually we saw an Australian comedian earlier, Tim Furgeson, when we were picking up our tickets, who Sarah pointed out to me...but it really didn't mean much to me lol). There's a new comedy show that started this year called "Thank God You're Here." (click here to see more about it.) Pretty much they get four Australian comedians each week to individually walk onto a scene that they know nothing about and do improv for the entire span of time that they're in the room. The title of the show comes from the first line that is said by one of the extras in each scene every time a new set plays out. And...(the lucky guy)...Matt actually gets to go to a filming of the show tomorrow night with a friend who got a few tickets, as it's starting up it's second season.

Anyways...the person I recognized outside the Arts Centre after the musical, was one of the girls who is on the show every week, who was obviously a friend of the lead actress who played Guinevere. So....I got Sarah to stand so that it looked like I was taking a picture of her...and I snapped a picture of the chick I recognized from tv.

The picture in the middle shows Sarah on the right, and then the comedian from Thank God you're here on Sarah's left (with arrows to two different pictures of her from the tv show) and the girl beside her is the lead actress from Camelot (with an arrow to the picture of her shown on the outside of the Arts Centre). Oh..and it turns out, the guy on the very left in the picture with Sarah, is the Australian comedian I saw earlier when we were picking up our tickets..though I wasn't meaning to take a picture of him lol.

So overall...another new experience for me here in Melbourne. Now...just need to see those marching penguins...

Blessings!

A night at the footy

This past weekend I FINALLY got to a game of AFL (Australian Football League). It's nearing the end of the season, with the grand final rapidly approaching, but I finally managed to get out to a game of footy to see what all the fuss is about.

It was definitely an entertaining game, and has the intensity from both the fans in the stands and the players themselves, that we see in hockey over in North America. The game had just literally started, when 4 players were already fighting (caught that bit on film lol). But it is a fast paced game, which makes the time pass quickly and provides for a very interesting sport to watch. It took me about a third of the game to get all the rules down pat, and to try and understand the logic behind a lot of the rules...but once I had it all worked out, I throughly enjoyed myself.

The game was the Essendon Bombers verses the Hawthorn Hawks. I went to the game with Matt (who is an Essendon fan), and Nathan (who is a Hawthorn fan), so that in itself also provided some entertainment. Mostly because Nathan is a typical AFL fan and sported his colours for the game, as well as contributed his thoughts (both positive and negative), verbally as the game played out.

So, I guess if nothing else, the AFL is just another passtime that is a typical characteristic of a true Aussie (including making sure there are lots of good looking blokes with stylish hair on the field)...and a very entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.

Click here to see a few photos from the footy...and click here to see a couple of short videos I took as well. (The first one shows the two teams coming out onto the field. Note the classic theme songs of both teams - as well as Nath singing along to the Hawks song. And on the second one, note the boys fighting at the beginning.)

Blessings!

Lights, Camera, Action!

A couple weeks ago I not only had my first experience at seeing a movie filmed first hand...I also was able to get involved in some of the tech work.

It's only about a 3 minute film, and it was all shot in one night, but none the less....I still enjoyed the experience.

A friend here in Melboure writes and produces short christian films, and wrote this particular one for a christian film festival. He asked Matt to play one of the two characters, so I got to go along to see the movie magic. Once there though, I was able to offer my services and be both the slate and sound operator...oh yes...I was multi-tasking.

Turned out to be a pretty decent film, and to watch it, just click here. If you've seen V for Vendetta, then you'll understand where the idea of the dictator came from. Don't forget to watch the credits at the end for my name! I think it's probably the first time I've ever had my name in film credits...

Blessings!

Classic Music Video

Came across this music video and I thought it was absolutely fantastic...so I thought I'd share it. Best use of a treadmill I've ever seen!

Click here...

Nothing too much is new with me here. Just been working shifts at different day care centres, hanging out at some of the youth and kids events at Reservoir, and enjoying the sunshine that is coming out more and more these days.

Blessings!

I was bit by an Aussie spider, and lived to talk about it...

Since Wednesday, about mid day, I've been having the most bizarre bursts of stabbing pain in my upper right leg, just below my hip area. When it first started, I thought that I had something sharp that had gotten stuck in my pants and was stabbing me every time I pulled up my pants, or they rubbed that area of my leg, and got really frustrated that I couldn't figure it out that whole day while I was at work. That night, I had a shower and changed into my pjs....and to my dismay, I still was getting the sharp bursts of pain. I was awake half the night worried about what was going on with me, mostly because I couldn't think of an explanation as to what the cause of it was.

All day Thursday and Friday the pain continued. It was suggested to me to go to a doctor to check it out, or to talk to a chemist at a pharmacy...but I wasn't even sure what I could tell them as there was no marks on my leg, and I wasn't exactly sure how to describe the pain that I had be experiencing.

Today, however...a mark has shown up. I decided to take another look at my leg, as I've been checking it at least 5 times a day since the random pain started..and sure enough, bite marks. To be more specific...spider bite marks.

Wednesday morning at work (which is a day care that I spent the week at, working with toddlers), it was my turn to serve the kids their morning tea. So we were all sitting at the story corner on the floor, where I fed the kids their fruit. After a few moments, one of the 3 year olds pointed and shouted that he saw a spider. I turned to see that he was right..and that a HUGE spider was dangling just inches from my face. I remained calm as I didn't want to freak out the 10 kids I had sitting in front of me, and slowly started to move away. But before I could get myself into position to get a shoe or another object of destruction...beautiful courageous 2 year old Stefan, gave a huge swat to the spider. And literally...it disappeared. It was just gone. I looked everywhere, with the help of a few of the curious children (I even thought I felt it in my hair a couple times)...but to no avail. It was just gone.

After the kids finished eating, I told the lady who I worked with that a huge spider had shown up, and I described what it looked like to her. She said, "oh don't worry, that's only a daddy long-legs. There's only one spider in Melbourne we have to worry about, and that's not it." I thought that she was ridiculous, as I know what we in Canada call a daddy long-legs, and they're about half the size of the spider I had the privledge of meeting.

But..to conclude this wonderful tale...I have since put all the pieces together and have realized that either by just landing on me and getting a good bite in through my pants, or by *shudder* actually getting into my pants and giving my leg a taste...I was bitten by the spider that came to dine with us at morning tea. I even googled some Australia spider images, and sure enough, I was bitten by a daddy long-legs....just not the kind of daddy long-legs that us Canadians would have pictured in our minds.

Here's a bit of a visual for you...(Di this is for you lol)

And seriously, no exaggeration...this image is pretty much the exact size of the spider I met. You can check out some fun facts by clicking here.

So I guess if nothing else from this lovely experience...I can say I've been bitten by an Australian spider, and survived. Good times.