Currently I am sitting in my room at the house of the family I'm living with. My family is very kind and loving. They are a Christian family. Right now they're talking in the other room, and I can almost make out their conversation, but it's still a bit of a struggle to understand their accent. For the first week, I said "I'm sorry, what?" a lot.
Since I've been here for almost four weeks now, I've started to feel a bit more adjusted. The first two weeks were hard. I felt physically dizzy with everything new going on around me. So much is different. Now that I am a bit adjusted, things are going much better.
It's been tough adjusting to the schedule here, and learning how Australians communicate, specifically non-verbally. It's extremely hard for me to read body language and facial expressions here. Of course it's easy to spot obvious ones, but it can get really hard sometimes in conversations. Also, Australians don't get to know people right away. They are a bit distant. They'll joke and talk, but you can tell their is a certain amount of distrust that one has to overcome.
Everything is going by very quickly. I can't believe I'm already almost halfway over! I have only five weeks left. At first I didn't think much of Melbourne. It was just another city, but during the past two weeks, it's really grown on me.
This next week, I'm switching up classes. I'm going to be teaching year 7 (7th grade), a combination of environmental science and english. They're going to be researching the Canadian wilderness and are reading a novel called "Hatchet." It'll be an exciting and tough switch. Junior high is a different world. The week after that, camps get started.
I'm also reading "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis, "Just do Something" by Kevin DeYoung, "The Love of Wisdom" by Spiegel and Cowan. All are good books so far. I'll probably be posting a book review on DeYoung's book soon.
In conclusion, here is a quote by A Kempis that I have found to be very good:
Since I've been here for almost four weeks now, I've started to feel a bit more adjusted. The first two weeks were hard. I felt physically dizzy with everything new going on around me. So much is different. Now that I am a bit adjusted, things are going much better.
It's been tough adjusting to the schedule here, and learning how Australians communicate, specifically non-verbally. It's extremely hard for me to read body language and facial expressions here. Of course it's easy to spot obvious ones, but it can get really hard sometimes in conversations. Also, Australians don't get to know people right away. They are a bit distant. They'll joke and talk, but you can tell their is a certain amount of distrust that one has to overcome.
Everything is going by very quickly. I can't believe I'm already almost halfway over! I have only five weeks left. At first I didn't think much of Melbourne. It was just another city, but during the past two weeks, it's really grown on me.
This next week, I'm switching up classes. I'm going to be teaching year 7 (7th grade), a combination of environmental science and english. They're going to be researching the Canadian wilderness and are reading a novel called "Hatchet." It'll be an exciting and tough switch. Junior high is a different world. The week after that, camps get started.
I'm also reading "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis, "Just do Something" by Kevin DeYoung, "The Love of Wisdom" by Spiegel and Cowan. All are good books so far. I'll probably be posting a book review on DeYoung's book soon.
In conclusion, here is a quote by A Kempis that I have found to be very good:
"What is the reason why some of the saints were so perfect and contemplative? Because they laboured to mortify themselves wholly to all earthly desires... We seldom overcome any one vice perfectly and are not inflamed with a fervent desire to grow better every day; and therefore remain cold and lukewarm in religion.... If we esteem our progress in religious life to consist only in some exterior observances, our devotion will quickly be at an end. But let us lay the axe to the root, that being freed fomr passions, we may find rest to our souls. If every year we would root out one vice, we should sooner become perfect men." (Ch. XI)
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Thank you for your comment, I'll review it as soon as I can!