Una Semana

until we make the move!

I'm practically mexicana.

The Overcoming of the Jet-lag

Thanks to melatonin, gravol, ear plugs, a super-amazing eye mask and a very acquiescent Jeremy (who, despite having just returned from New Zealand, gave up his bed for me) I've had a rather excellent sleep and am beginning to feel almost human again.

In fact, my body is adjusting so well that I'm terrified to see what's going to happen when I return home.

No worries, I'm a pretty big fan of surprises.

Last night I was introduced to the evening routine of E-53 (Emma, Jeremy, Vince, Mike, Casey, Dan and Stef. Apparently there are two others as well, Denise and Chris, however they have, thus far, proven to be the more elusive members of this particular species and therefore appear to not partake in the evening routine). This ritual has but one name: MasterChef Australia.

It's highly addictive and airs EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Ok, not EVERY night, but six out of seven. It pretty much dominates after 7 pm.

Yesterday (during the day, clearly) we toured around Brisbane and basically just hung out. It's a cute city, similar to many others. It's been nice to see Em again and just relax. I got on a plane immediately after signing off on report cards and therefore haven't had much downtime yet.

It's actually hard to believe that summer break has begun, let alone remember that I'm on holiday on the other side of the world, as far from home as physically possible.

Today we're going for lunch at the restaurant where Jeremy works. It's a pretty amazing place with what sounds to be a ridiculously delicious tasting menu. After that we're heading to a pub to watch the final game of State of Origin, an annual rugby match between Queensland and New South Wales. I've been told to expect ridiculously amazing rugby (although my rugby experience is limited to Ontario high school rugby, so I'm not sure how high my standards are. I suppose I'll find out soon). I'm pretty excited seeing as this appears to be the summer of sports in my world (I watched my first football game in June as well!).

After that we're off Cairns for a few days with Stef, Dan and Vince. I'm also quite looking forward to this as I get to scuba dive for the first time, and at the Great Barrier Reef at that!

That's it for now... More to come! :)

Holy Doodley

Now THAT was one hell of a trip.

Five hours to Vancouver, three in the airport, fifteen to Sydney, two in the airport and one more to Brisbane.

I'm exhausted (I never sleep on planes), dehydrated (the price you pay for only peeing in airports, NEVER on a plane), in serious need of caffeine (see last point) and kind of feel like I'm going to die. 

That being said, I've arrived!

And now I'm going to sleep.

Last-minute Packing

Maynard's Sour candies? Check.

A year's supply of maple syrup? Check.

An iPod full of music? Some academic reading? A Dance with Dragons?

Check. Check. Check.

Off to Australia-- let the awkward hand-holding begin!

Ya, that's pretty awkward.

Authoring

Today was my last day of work. I've been looking forward to this day since we signed our contracts for Mexico in January. I thought that I would be relieved and excited and optimistic; looking toward the future, starting a new chapter, yadda yadda yadda. And I am. I just didn't ever think that it would be as emotional as it proved to be. In my defense, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. I've had to seriously analyze and (re)evaluate my life and career choices in the hopes of making the right decision; balancing needs, wants and (perceived) responsibilities. I knew that I would find it difficult to say goodbye to my seriously amazing students, incredibly supportive staff and overall amazing school community. Essentially it came down to the knowledge and understanding that leaving is what I need to do. Which, unfortunately,  didn't make it any easier. To top it all off, I'm a crier. So clearly I was tearing up regularly throughout the day, when I wasn't beating the living snot out of an inanimate object and contemplating how best to transport the various flora I've acquired over the year. Ultimately, the time came to lock up the classroom that is no longer mine, turn in my key, say my good-byes and close that chapter.  As I drove home that day, for what was to be my last trip home from JFR, I began drafting the next chapter beginning with, logically, what to pack?

Of Birds and Birthdays

This one's yours. 

El Perro Rojo

Once you get past the guns, the gangs and the “sweet, sweet Mexican Black Tar Heroin”, there are a lot of positive aspects about moving to Mexico: the opportunity to wander again, to experience a new culture, meet new people, grow as an individual and an educator, learn a new language, eat Mexican food… the list goes on. I’m pretty excited. All parties concerned are (insofar as I am aware) pretty excited. The only thing that really has me worrying (other than the packing… I’m not particularly adept at squashing my entire life into a suitcase...two?... three?…) is the learning of the new language.

Crazy, right?

I know, I know. I’m into languages. I like to talk. I enjoying knowing stuff, being able to do things. This should be right up my alley. And it is, except…

I really dislike doing things I’m not good at. I’m highly competitive and just want to win. At everything. Because in my head, everything is, on one level or another, a competition.

And I’ve never actually had to learn a language before. Both French and English have always just been there. Sure the grammar may not have been overly accurate, but at least I knew enough to get my point across. Even my brief foray into German proved to be relatively successful (if success can be measured in knowing how to say “potato chips”, “hi my name is Jacquie and I live around the corner” and being able to sing not one, but several, Beatles songs in German...). Furthermore, it wasn’t all that difficult. 

This, clearly, is because none of these languages incorporate a rolled “r” into their phonemes.

(this is where someone inevitably pipes up with the comment that I’m Canadian and have a serious caffeine addiction… “rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroll up the rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrim to win” and all that. Ya. Sure. Whatever. I’m a Starbucks girl.)

I can handle the verb conjugations (love it), the memorizing of new vocabulary (my flash cards are unparalleled) and the fumbling-through-the-languages-already-co-existing-in-my-head-when-I’m-desperately-attempting-to-string-words-together-to-form-a-sentence-that-expresses-something-that-somewhat-reflects-what-I’m-trying-to-get-out (“My prima heiß Emma y ella habite en Australie…”). What I can’t handle is the fact that no one can tell whether or not I’m trying to say “pero” or “perro”.

I can’t decide if the Spanish teacher at my school, Sra-Mme-Ms VH, finds this hilarious (she keeps trying to get me to say things like “el perro rojo”) or painful (deduced from the confused-painful facial expression that surfaces and is quickly masked when I attempt to say things such as “Querétaro”). However she feels, she has assured me that this is a common problem for anglophones-whose-second-language-is-French and that my issues are the same ones experienced by just about all of the Immersion students who try their hand at LWS2D1.

El Perro Rojo

And my Spanish instructor Sra Susy (yup, I went there) is, I’m sure, in the same boat as VH. Every time I have to pronounce anything with a rolled “r” I stop, take a deep breath and… try. After which Sra Susy repeats the word and I… try again. Usually this happens three or four times, after which she pauses awkwardly, contemplates the eager-yet-overly-enthusiastic-and-far-too-competitive blonde sitting before her and says something along the lines of “Good. That’s getting better. We’ll keep trying”.

Needless to say, this doesn’t usually satiate my inner perfectionist. Which makes me not want to attempt to speak Spanish to native Spanish speakers, which means that I’ll never improve and will not be able to take the bus for the entire time I live in Mexico. The obvious solution to this problem would be to find a (relatively?) fluent-yet-not-native-Spanish-speaker with whom I can practice.

So I did.

And THAT is why I’m flying to Australia at the end of June.