$250 a day....maybe I will stay here

Well folks, it was a long day. I got up early enough to walk half way to work this morning and talked to my mom a bit about Mackenzie and making sure we both had everything ready. All looks good and the little one takes off for the beginning of her journey in just over 12 hours! It is so weird to think that she will be spending all day/night flying while I am at work, going out with the roommates, and sleeping. I know it is the same length of time that I traveled for, but it is weird when you are not the one traveling.

Work was pretty chill, we read a book about Australian history this morning and then played Invisible Man spelling. It is kind of like hangman but the opposite. The kids had to spell a word and if they got it right they erased part of their person and the first team to make their person invisible won. The kids did a good job and really didn't get to rowdy. They had a lot of fun laughing when their person lost body parts and thought it was hilarious when there were only heads and necks left and the game was "neck and neck". After lunch we did reading groups and then I talked with Adam about what I am going to do while he is gone during the first three days after the holiday. There will be a casual there, but I will be doing most of the work. Adam and I were talking and I learned that casual teachers make $250 a day! I thought I was lucky to make $77 a day in Prince William County as a sub! Adam also said in his second year teaching he is making a little over $60,000. Which made me a little shocked at first and all day, but honestly I just converted it and its only about $51,000 in American dollars. I guess I will be making about the same. I did however, contemplate coming back here to casual and explore Australia for a while after graduation. I am still working on convincing Tal, Mom, and Mackenzie to come move out here with me. After reading groups, I finished my Captain John Smith activity with the kids. Adam had to go to a meeting with the speech teacher and I pretty much just took over the class and we left the door open between the classrooms. The kids did great and really liked the video and games that we got to play. We had a big clean up after afternoon tea and got the classroom ready to be cleaned over the break.

Tomorrow is planning day for stage 2. I will be spending all morning/afternoon with the other stage 2 teachers planning for next term. Well, I won't be doing much planning, but just listening and observing what goes into planning and what they are getting ready to do next term. We are also all having lunch at one of the really good restaurants down the road during planning. After work everyone is going out to celebrate Mike being done as acting principal and of course after that it is time for Twilight!! i will attempt to give Mackenzie a call throughout the day while she is waiting at the airport and then get ready to go pick her up at the airport on Saturday night. I will make sure to let you all know when the eagle has landed.

P.S. Minimum wage in Australia is $570 a week, which works out to be about $12 an hour (in American dollars) for a 40 hour work week.