Possum Galore
A life ‘Down Under’!
Australian Facts
It is the 6th largest country in the world, occupying an entire continent of some 7.6 million square kilometres.It has the world's 3rd largest ocean territory, spanning three oceans and covering around 12 million square kilometres.Vegetation covers nearly 7 million square kilometres or 91 percent of Australia.The largest Greek population in the world beside Athens in Greece can be found in Melbourne Victoria.Most of Australia's exotic flora and fauna cannot be found anywhere else in the world.The Indigenous 'Dream Time' is the foundation for tens of thousands of years of spiritual aboriginal art, traditions, legends, myths, folklore and culture.The only nation-continent of 20 million people in the world.More than 80 percent of Australians live within 100 kilometres of the coast making Australia one of the world's most urbanised coastal dwelling populations.Over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken in Australia including 45 Indigenous languages. The most common non-English spoken languages are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin.The world's highest proportion of migrant settlers in a developed nation with over 25% of Australians born in another country.Today's Australia is very multicultural with Indigenous peoples and migrants from some 200 countries.Australia's first small step to a fully multicultural Australia was the result of immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean after 1945.It contains an amazing ecosystem with unique flora and fauna including pristine rainforest, ancient rock formations and beautiful beaches.Debate continues today on the calls to change the Australian flag because of the prominence of the British Union Jack, which does not reflect contemporary Australian society.It has 16 world heritage listed sites including historic townships, cities and landscapes.While 1988 was named a 'Year of Mourning' for Aboriginals, it was also regarded as a celebration of survival where the Aboriginal community staged a 5 kilometre march for "Freedom, Justice and Hope" in Sydney.It is believe that the Aboriginal game of Mangrook inspired the rules for Australian Football, while invented in Sydney became popular in Victoria.Australia was the second country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1902.The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia at over 34,000 square kilometres is the world's largest cattle station. It is even larger than Belgium.It has the highest rate of gambling in the world with over 80 percent of Australian adults engaging in gambling of some kind and 20 percent of the pokie machines in the world are found in Australia.Australia Day today is a celebration of diversity and tolerance in Australian society, embracing all ethnic backgrounds, racial differences and political viewpoints.Kangaroo meat can be purchased from the supermarket, butcher and available on restaurant menus as a leaner and healthier alternative to beef or lamb with a 1-2 percent fat content.Surprisingly Australia is the most obese country in the world as of 2012 with a 26 percent obesity rate despite being a sport loving nation.The sports capital of the world has 70 percent of its total population participating at least once a week in a particular recreational activity or sport.Approximately 1.35 trillion bottles of wine are produced by Australia.Canberra was selected as the capital because Sydney and Melbourne could not stop arguing which city should be the capital of Australia.Australians refer to English people as Pome, which is actually the acronym for Prisoners of Mother England.Ugg boots or as local call them 'very ugly boots' are an Australian design where a sheepskin has been turned inside out and made into a boot.Melbourne topped 140 rivals to be crowned the world's most liveable city 2 years in a row since 2011.The only place in the world where you can still find the lung fish which is a living fossil from the Triassic period 350 million years ago.Despite having a convict colony history, Australia's homicide rate is 1.2 per 100,000 population compared to the 6.3 per 100,000 in the United States.
Utterly Numb!
Tuesday Night is film night....tonight we saw '12 Years a Slave.' ...utterly harrowing...I am still traumatised and am out of wit...go see it...the once.
The 'Not-So-Positive' Possie!
Now that I am a ‘Possie’ (sounds like pozzy)...which is a cross between a ‘Pommie’ and an ‘Aussie’, ( and thanks to Will’s brother Danny...who first called me a ‘Possie’ when he congratulated me on my new legal resident status)...I feel more able to pass comment upon this very large, dry, upside down island.Lots of things here are fast!..the spiders, the ants, the geckos, the lizards and the snakes are faster than I expected them to be. Something was fast just now when I went under the house...it ran down the wall and behind a cupboard. It was darkish, about 2 inches long but that is all I can tell you about it because...it was too fast. Even Dulcie is fast...“I’ll just sweep these back steps” I said this morning picking up the little hand brush hanging on the back verandah.“No, I’ll do that,” and she was there and the brush was out of my hand in the wink of a dark, 2 inch long thing that hides behind cupboards.Bureaucracy is not so fast...we know that because it took 8 months (and nearly £2000) for someone to open the envelope I sent to the Australian Embassy in London, pull out all the papers (there were quite a lot) and look through them and lift a stamp and bang it down on them saying "..................O.....................................K!"It’s quite hard to get into this country but especially if you are coming by boat from Indonesia. The Prime Minister, 'Mr Rabbit' is determined to send them back or if not back, at least for a long ‘holiday’ on Christmas Island first.....and then back. I am sure he will find if he looked back in his own family history they too came by boat. Yesterday he was in Outback Queensland visiting Farmers who are struggling because of the terrible drought. Of course his visit was marred by rain which poured out of the sky and turned out to be the most rain they had had in those areas for years. I would not have been surprised if he turned around and said to the farmers...’There you go...you don’t need Government help anymore.’...but he didn’t. I don’t think he noticed the rain...he is that thick skinned...he probably thought he was sweating badly.Back to red tape, as I have mentioned before, it is going to take 12 weeks for the Queensland College of Teachers to open the envelope I have just sent them, take out all the documents read the four page form I filled in, look at my police check, and the evidence documents of my qualifications and read the reference from my last Headteacher. Understandable, because there will have to be time planned in for tea breaks, some time for looking out of the window and wondering if it is going to rain, a bit of time to talk about last night’s ‘A Current Affair’, another tea break, lunch, some ‘facebooking’ and perhaps a ‘twitter.’ Meanwhile, I will sit here and wait patiently for it to come through before I can legitimately seek employment.....as a supply teacher.In the meantime, there was another job going at Woolies:“We have an exciting opportunity for an energetic and enthusiastic individual to join our Replenishment team.”Yay! I can do that!..it’s putting things on shelves right? Easy!Hmmm.....not so easy. There is a form to fill in....“What does good customer service look like?” (Reply in 500 characters or less).Surely it is: ‘Friendly and efficient’....yikes but that leaves 480 characters left!!!! Do I need to expand on that?“How would you deal with an angry customer?” (Reply in 500 characters or less).Hit them with a baguette? Duck behind the till and occasionally pop up and pelt them with out of date tomatoes? No surely, ‘remain calm, listen to their problem, help them and if you can’t help them, take them to someone who can help them.’ Loads of characters left...Oh Blimey!“How do you manage your time? How do you keep yourself organised? How do you prioritise?”(Reply in 500 characters or less.)I am losing the will to live now...this is for stacking a shelf right? Ok if I had to replenish the Pepsi Max or the Toilet rolls which would I do first? Pepsi Max of course....things might get messy with no toilet roll but without a ready supply of Pepsi Max there might be blood!Look, I don’t know....I can do the job ok...I can replenish energetically and enthusiastically. I know I can do the job.“Describe a time when you felt uncomfortable about doing something? What was the outcome?”(Reply in characters words or less.)Oh, not this one again....For goodness sake!....How about filling in this bloody form?...and the outcome...I didn’t get the job because I used too few characters!“How would you ensure that someone understood what you were saying?” (Reply in 500 characters or less.)Er....Say loudly.....”DO......YOU.....UNDERSTAND......WHAT......I.....AM.......SAYING?” 472 characters left!“Describe a time when you had conflicting priorities. What did you do?” (Reply is 500 characters or less.)‘Well, it was very hot and I was thirsty but I had to fill in a stupid form with silly questions for a job that only needed you to put things on a shelf...so I decided ‘Sod your job!’ ....and I went and got a drink!....and here’s a few more characters to fill in the rest of your stupid space... Scooby, Shaggy, Minnie, Mickey, Donald Duck, Mr Magoo, Daffy Duck, Pluto, Bluto, Tin Tin, Snowy, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Yogi, Huey, Duwey, Louie, Poohey, Screwy, Youey, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch!!!!’
Another Visitor to Frogknot!
