And so, the adventure begins...

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Last night, I made the decision to spend the majority of this month's pay on an online Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course. When I was still in Year 11, before I moved to Mildura, I dreamed about doing a TEFL course and going overseas to teach English in Asia or Latin America as a kind of gap year after Year 12. Then I moved to Mildrua and my dreams shrank until all I wanted to do was finish Year 12 (Mildura will do that to your dreams, shrink them down until getting up each day is an effort). After Year 12 I tried my hand at a few different courses, got a bad taste in my mouth from the unforgiving job market, and once again found myself sitting at home, unemployed and with nothing to do. Then, last night, I found my way back to TEFL, but, this time, my dreams are of a much more affordable scale. I will do my 40hr accredited TEFL course (which was on special when I brought it! YAY!) and will then approach the migrant centers in town, asking if they would be interested in letting me do some volunteer work leading to employment. If they say yes to the volunteer work but not to the employment, I will volunteer, but I will try and find work teaching English somewhere else in town. If I can make enough money, this course may be my ticket out of Mildura!

So, I thought I would share my TEFL journey with you all. The course needs to be completed within three months, and there are 13 modules to complete. At the end of each module there is a quiz to see how well you have remembered the information, and you must get at least 80% to pass, and move onto the next module. I have already done module one, which looked at Intrinsic and Extrinsic student motivators, the importance of a Needs Analysis, Learner Types, Senses, and Styles, what makes a good teacher, and eight different Teaching Methods. It took me about two hours to do the module, and take notes in the exercise book I have assigned for this course. I work in blocks of two hours, at least three blocks of two hours a day, with one half hour break in the morning, and a lunch break in the afternoon, exactly as if I was back at school.

Age groups and levels of language proficiency

So far, the course has been quite engaging, and I really enjoyed the first module, and am looking forward to doing the second. In fact, I'm off to do it now.

Catch ya!

~ Australian Kiwi

Kaliah's Story

This is the heartbreaking story of a little girl who didn't make it through. Share this around, show your support, and make sure that this wonderful little person did not die in vain. Read Kaliah's Story.

~ Australian Kiwi

Retail Therapy in Rundle Mall

The above shots are me showing off my new clothes that I brought after spending an afternoon in Rundle Mall, Adelaide. My family is currently on holiday in Adelaide, and my mum, my sister and I did the first bit of our shopping this afternoon. I found the skirt in Copycat Fashion from $45, which was only $5 more expensive than skirts of a similar style in Supre, and the Supre skirts weren't as nice and flowing. I also got the wide black belt with the gold cross clasp from Copycat Fashion, and that was $28. After Copycat Fashion I went off to Supre with mum and my sister, and brought the black singlet top for $10, and the blue over top for $25. So, to put both outfits together cost only $109, which is pretty reasonable considering how good both of them look. 

Tomorrow I am going back into the mall to buy some jewelry and maybe a body product or two from Lush, as well as checking out the Oxfam Shop, which I always do when I come to Adelaide. I am also going to meet up with a friend in the mall tomorrow, and we will probably do lunch and a spot of shopping. I haven't seen her for ages and I am so looking forward to catching up with her. We met on a YMJT social justice conference and she is the only person from that group that I have managed to stay in contact with since the conference ended late in 2010.

Well, I'd better go now, my grandparents are coming around soon, so I have to get ready to see them.

~ Australian Kiwi 

Lyrics from Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift (feat. The Civil Wars)

Tears on my Keyboard

Currently, I am sitting at my computer working on the first draft of a novel, writing a section where the wife of a warrior succumbs to childbed fever after the death of their newborn son. To tell you the truth, it is heavy going, I've got tears running down my cheeks as I write the scene of their final parting. I have lived and breathed these characters for so long that I feel like they are part of me, and killing off this woman feels like killing off a part of me. I can feel her husband's pain as he holds her hand and tries to calm her while she calls out in her fever, and I can feel as his soul is ripped to pieces when she slips away. Maybe I'm getting too deep into my writing, but maybe not, if I live and breathe these characters than perhaps they will feel more real to my readers. Well, I'd better get back to writing, there'll be a few more tears before the end.

~ Australian Kiwi

Getting Crafty with Junior Guides!

Ladybug Pot Plant Decoration (from DLTK)

For those of you who are unaware, I recently became a Girl Guide leader with the Sunraysia Junior Guides. I got an email from my district leader today, asking me to sort out an activity to do with the girls on Tuesday when we meet again. As it is Valentine's Day next Tuesday, I wanted to do something with a Valentine's Day theme, and I found a craft site called DLTK, which had a whole heap of printable crafts for kids and, in the Valentine's Day section, I found templates for heart shaped animals. After falling in love with the heart shaped ladybug, I printed one out and made it myself to show the girls on Tuesday, and then my mum suggested that I tape a straw to the back of it, and so make it into a pot plant decoration. I am super-excited to help the girls make their own ladybugs on Tuesday, but I'm always looking forward to seeing the Junior Guides.

~ Australian Kiwi

Accepted

So, finally, after months of impatiently waiting, a letter arrived for me today from TAFE, telling me that I had been accepted into the Diploma of Early Children's Services and Education, commencing on the 13th of March 2012. I was over the moon!

But now I simply must continue waiting until the 13th of March. My orientation day is on the 7th of March, so that will be good, and hopefully I can get my books early so that I can start reading them and preparing for my course. I got a book list and a timetable with my acceptance letter, but the timetable is all in code, so I don't know what my units are yet, but I will find out when I go to orientation. It looks like my longest day this year is going to be Wednesday, which is 9:00am - 4:00pm, Thursday will be the next longest, running from about 9:30am - 4:00pm, Monday and Tuesday both will be running from 9:00am - 3:00pm and Friday will be a half day from 9:00am - 12:00pm.

I'm excited!

~ Australian Kiwi