The *Sigh* Series

As of today I am starting the *Sigh* series. The sigh? The sigh that you realize lets a little more relaxation in by being reintroduced to something oh-so-fabulous about America that makes me glad I'm back!

Today, I am sighing because of Pandora.com. I love Pandora. The idea that I can get a variety of music but still insure that I control the general genre while going through my things for packing makes moving even more exciting!

When life gets you down, know you have Pandora for your musical needs!

My station today : Jason Myles Goss.
What stations have you created?

Take a sigh with me.....

X, Becca
p.s. photo thanks to weheartit.com

A new smell in the neighborhood

Remember in Monster's Inc. when Scully had three choices of atrocious smelling deodorant for Mike to choose from such as Wet Dog? Apparently the movie line was such a hit, now you can have off-putting deodorants too for a low low price!

I'm not talking about the sickly sweet cotton-candy spray us girls passed around in the Jr. High Gym Lockers.

Image thanks to manolith.com

But rather a scary thought: products such as the Burger King Body Spray called The Flame that can make you too smell like fast food burgers for $3.99

What about a Play-Dough spray?

Or as a Yahoo article highlights you can also choose from : beetroot, mildew or earthworm kudos to demeterfragrence.com

Now that I am back stateside, I am curious... Should I continue with the blog or has this blog, like the new spray market, seem unnecessary?

Making Poverty History

I've said it before and I'll say it again : 26,000 children die every single day because of starvation, lack of medical attention or shelter from elements. 26,000 children die every single day due to poverty.

Make Poverty History is a campaign that is notable here in Australia as well as other countries around the world.
The campaign is comprised of volunteers who work to raise awareness of global poverty and achieve change both political and social to help.

In Australia the campaign works along with other NGOs such as World Vision, Oxfam, Caritas, The Oaktree Foundation and Engineers without Borders.

Cross your fingers both for the war against poverty as well as for my roommate Naomi who has applied to be a volunteer. As a volunteer Naomi will be expected to volunteer once a week for six months, be trained in other areas of the organization and then have the opportunity to live abroad, similarly to the Peace Corp, to lend a helping hand.

Anywho, I just wanted to give a shout out to such a lovely organization and if you'd like more information please visit:   http://www.makepovertyhistory.com.au/

Cheers, from an inspired gal
p.s. photo thanks to http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/haiti_three_weeks_later.html

A Valley Girl

Welcome to Swan Valley

A simply gorgeous tourist town with what seems like never ending vineyards, art galleries, coffee shops, beautiful views and lets not forget the Margaret River Chocolate Company!

Last Saturday was a sun filled day rare amongst the rainy cold days we've had lately in WA. The warmth was much appreciated and so was the Swan Valley experience!

And all within the low low cost of free (although I admit I was tempted to bring back a bottle or two of Port) due to the tastings wine, cheese, honey and chocolate. I went into Swan Valley with the sniffles and a car full of good company and came out with a new love for cinnamon honey and Port! Came to find out that the port I had been tasting was born from Shiraz grapes so it wasn't really a surprise how quickly I feel in love (Shiraz is my favorite wine and also happens to be commonly from South Africa or Australia).

Yum.... why hadn't I experienced them before? According to the beekeepers cinnamon honey can help with various ailments (heart diseases, toothache, cholesterol, indigestion, and even hair loss) and I can't see how Port would hurt? You see, for "in vino veritas" ( in wine (there is) truth)!

Cheers from a valley girl
P.s. photography thanks to watoday.com.au and swanvalley.com.au

An International Mind

As my time in Australia quickly comes to an end, I am reflecting on my experiences here and how I am grateful I am for the friends I have made, the things I have learned, and the culture I have come to appreciate. During my stay I have tried to become as acculturated to life in WA as possible which included keeping my mouth shut (okay sometimes I just couldn't help it) about comparisons to America unless asked for my input, taking public transportation, visiting key places, joining the community, and learning the ways of  religion, food, and sports. I stumbled across this quote (can you tell I love quotes?) which nicely summed up my view on traveling:

When we go abroad we should try to respect and act in harmony with the culture, values and customs of the country we are visiting. The world is getting smaller and smaller. These days I think it is important to develop an international mind.. Yes, instead of judging each country from the standards of culture, traditions and lifestyle that we are familiar with, we should be aware of the world teeming diversity and learn to accept and embrace it. Developing an international mind does not mean discarding our cultural identity or traditions. It simply means casting off the tendency to judge things as superior or inferior based on our native standards or values ( The Human Revolution, vol 5 p60) .

Cheers from a girl's reflection

p.s. picture thanks to weheartit.com

Family Dinner

Tonight two house mates and I came together to enjoy a lovely family dinner! On the menu was homemade pumpkin ravioli with a white wine spinach cream on top, corn-on-the-cob fresh from the Freo market, and potatoes. Sound starch filled? It was delicious. There is something to be said for spending time together preparing a meal and then enjoying it.

Reminds me of soup days with my grandma splattered with tomato guts all over the kitchen or the flour-dusted faces of us as kids on cookie exchange day with the family on the holidays.

So is it safe to say cooking brings families together and fills the mind with scented memories destined to bring you back home no matter where you are, no matter how long after? What are your fondest family dishes? Care to share a recipe?

Cute picture says, "I'll give you a secret recipe for making good sweets, use fresh stuff and add a big love"

Cheers, from a gal reminded of home

P.s. cute picture from wehearit.com

Cute.

Thanks to Windows Vista I have a yellow pad of post-it notes on my desktop. Well I think it is time to do some post-it note cleaning so I am taking one cute saying off and giving it to you!


 "Life is one fool thing after another.

Love is two fool things after each other."

Cheers, from a post-it lover

p.s. picture thanks to weheartit.com

What is this Foundation Day you speak of?

Today was Foundation Day. When I asked around very little was known about this so called public holiday. After a little research, Foundation Day originally June 1st and now the first Monday in June, commemorates the foundation of the Swan Valley Colony in 1829. Swan Valley Colony was a British colony that over time developed in Western Australia. Captain James Stirling of the Royal navy decided that a celebration was needed to unite all of the colony's inhabitants including settlers and aboriginals and thus Foundation Day.

What does Foundation Day mean for me? In daily lives it means that public transportation observes the limited holiday schedule, that grocery stores and major shops are closed, primary schools are closed and yet uni is still on.

Cheers, from a gal on holiday
P.s. map thanks to weheartit.com

A List

Back in April my dearest Aunt sent me an email with an entire list dedicated to reasons why I should come back to America. Apparently there was some concern I would stay down under. Now that we are two weeks away from my return I thought it'd be nice to reflect on her list, and maybe even get a giggle out of it!

Picture thanks to Jerbear from our adventures in Chitown

Reasons to come back to America:

Lake Michigan
Real Pizza
The Greek Islands
The Obama Presidency
Abundant Water
Black soil
Massive Diversity in cultures
Real Mexican Food
Spanish soap operas
Truly Diverse Cultural experiences
The darling students of the West Side of Chicago, Elgin, Aurora, Detroit, New York...(I could go on and on...)
Cardinals’ songs
Coyotes
The Grand Canyon
Harmless insects, snakes and spiders
Fireflies in the corn and alfalfa fields at dusk, looking like stars on Earth
The Chicago skyline
Second City
A biker bar (we went to one yesterday — with REALLY GREAT food!!! Smelts, cole slaw, tator tots, the best BLT I have EVER had)
Italian Beef Sandwiches
A Polish Sausage Sandwich near Maxwell Street
The “El”
The Prairie Path
The Fox River, the Rock River, The Des Plaines River
The rock on Mom’s grave
Squirrels
Women’s Liberation
All of us
Brandon — he’s a very nice fellow that one — and likely to be a great partner in adventures around the planet 

Auntie J, no worries you'll be seeing me soon.

Cheers, from a "just visiting" gal

DOTT

DOTT? Duties Other Than Teaching.
Interested?

Well, in Australia or I suppose at least WA, teachers are given time during their salary paid, school day to complete duties other than teaching. Novel idea hey?
Think about how you could reach a work-life balance if every teacher was provided with DOTT for lesson planning, providing students with extra one-on-one support with their work, going to staff meeting, attending PD days, marking student's work, assisting with school activities, and preparing resources.

In WA the breakdown of DOTT is as follows:
secondary teachers are allocated 5 hours and 20 minutes a week, primary teachers 3 hours and 40 minutes, pre-primary teachers 5 hours and 20 minutes. Please note that this may vary from school to school.

Now you may wonder, if a teacher is observing DOTT time who is running the classroom? Well there are relief teachers just for that coming in every week at the same time (so you don't have to fret about how inconsistency would affect the learners)

Well you might be saying sounds great in theory but what does this look like in practice?
In my classroom my mentor teacher observes DOTT every Wednesday or which we playfully call "Wacky Wednesday (to reflect the change in schedule)". She still comes to school to open, welcomes, and manages the classroom however the same relief teacher also comes in to manage the main act. Wednesdays are when the learners are introduced to a new letter and explore many literary concepts. Every classroom will look different of course.

So there we have it, and excuse me Department of Education on the Stateside, I hope you took notes.

Cheers, from a mostly relaxed Pre-Service teacher (for after all it was Wacky Wednesday today)

Wow.

See that mountain over there? 

In Bikram today, after three days of struggling, fighting the temperature, taking breaks as most beginners do, and even taking a day off for rest; today, my body was somewhere over by the mountain and my mind was way over on this side of the fence. My mind let restraint go, kicked to the curbside. 

I want to march my way up to the mountain's peak and make a very loud, exhilarating announcement, (announcement, announcement, announcement!) 

"I GET IT!". 

I get it. 

I get what yoga is about. 

I get that it is more about the mind than the body (granted they say you can burn up too a thousand calories in 90 minutes of Bikram, and your body is always a bit sore). I get that one day you may surrender your mind completely and be on this side of the fence and another day your mind and body might be, at well, civil war. I get that yoga isn't always about the here and now but also about whether you can still do it twenty years from now. I get that once you walk into a Bikram yoga studio all the choices you've made throughout that day are now on pause. In yoga, it's not a choice. Your body knows the transitions, the heat, the positions are not a choice. So tell you mind to take a back seat, stop making choices, let go, but still concentrate, and plunge through the full ninety minutes.

All I can say is it's been a WOW day in yoga.

Alright enough of the yogi blabber, enough of exhileration, I'm all about sleep now.

Cheers, from a girl on the far side of the fence

P.s. photo via weheartit.com