Half Way Point

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

                I ended up doing nothing the rest of the rest of the day Monday which I’m fine with. I knew that school today I was going to start working in a primary class.  The curriculum for this class is much more structured but by the end of the day I was missing my other class.  This class was a lot of fun though.  I have six boys all around the ages from 2-6. Two of the boys are in a wheelchair. Of those two one has time out of his chair and crawls/rolls around, he is also a pincher and hair puller.  The other four boys look like normal looking boys.  None of them are verbal. But goodness do they run around fast.  In the morning session I worked with one of the boys in the wheelchair.  We went into a quiet room where I presented him two options of songs I would sing to him.  He then reached out to one and I would sing that song.  After I was finished singing the song I would present him with two buttons, a yellow one that when he hit it it did nothing and a red button that when he hit it it said more please.  If he hit the yellow button I gave him two new options of songs and if he hit the red one I sang the song again.  His gross and fine motor skills of reaching out to the pictures of the songs aren’t the greatest. It’s not very smooth but he can grab it and hit the buttons.  I don’t think he realized yet what the buttons meant either.  Either way I think it’s good to try and teach alternate ways to help the boy express emotions.

                During middle session as a class we walked around the Bondi area.  I pushed one of the boys in a wheelchair while having another boy holding on to one of the handles next to me.  The boys had to have gotten a workout in because at that moment it was really sunny and so much of Sydney is hills especially Bondi.  I have always enjoyed when I’ve gone out with any of the kids in the playground or for walks. In the afternoon session I worked one on one with three different kids with the ipad.  The kids like it, but they more of just slam their hands down on it hope they touch anything that makes it do something.  So it will be interesting to try and help them use the tips of their fingers or just one or two fingers. I’m not exactly sure if I’m teaching them in a good manner or not but I’m trying.

                Of course as soon as the kids left it started pouring again.  The rain here never lets up.  So I end up getting soaked coming home from work.  When I got home I decided I was already wet so I went for a run.  After my run I spent the rest of the night studying for wine.  Great way to spend the night.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

                Catching transportation in Sydney is not fun at all.  I missed the first bus that went past my stop this morning because it got full before I could get on.  I then have to wait another 10 minutes for the next bus. Once the bus gets to central I get off and take a train to north Sydney which is so much faster than taking the bus the whole way.  My internship focus class was boring this morning.  We talked about the media and newspapers.  I then had wine class right after.  We talked about the areas and zones in Australia that produce wines.  It wasn’t all the exciting either, just 70 slides of information about it all.  After lunch is when the good stuff started.  We started heavy bodied white wines today.  Most of which I loved.  We tried a wooded Chardonnay, unwooded Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon blanc, Semilon/Sauvignon blanc, Fruitwood, and Moscato.  I liked most of them with Chardonnay being my least favorite. 

                Tonight is the State of the Origin.   I’m really excited for it.  The game is in Sydney tonight so the city was insane coming home which is why it took me so long.  The game is in the Olympic Park stadium and at central station I could barely move through the seas of people taking a train out there.  The first State of the Origin game was held in Melbourne.  It is Queensland vs New South Wales, they play three games and for the past seven years Queensland has won.  We lost three weeks ago when they played in Melbourne so I’m really excited to cheer for NSW when they play tonight.  Go Blues. Plus not to mention the NSW team has been staying in my apartment the past week.  Also not only are the Blues staying in my apartment but the singers on the Australian Voice also stay in my apartment.  I walked in with one of the finalist yesterday when I was coming in from my run.  For some reason she didn’t have a key to swipe into the building so I had to let her in.