Lost In Translation

Substitute teaching in Australia continues to be a joy. Today I taught at the Junior Campus of a very well established Melbourne Boys School. It's a beautiful, well appointed campus near the bay with a combination of lovely old and new buildings. The staff is always happy and friendly. (The school provides their lunches here. Everyday. Made to order. I'd be happy too.)

Today, I had been assigned a yard duty on one of the ovals.... the field was crawling with year 7 boys with soccer balls and footy balls. After only a few short minutes, I was a bit shocked by how many  tackles  and dog piles on unfortunate students were occurring all over the field. 2 boy dog piles, 3 boy dog piles. When numbers exceeded 8, I'd  step in and diffuse them, but they were never vicious or scary, just boys joking with each other, taking the piss and having a laugh. It was a bit funny. You'd never know what would set them off, just all of a sudden, there'd be piles of bodies on the field.

40 minutes (and no injuries) later, I returned to the staff room before heading off to my next class.

Random Happy Staff Member: "And how's your day going?"(She'd just had her salad box with turkey, beetroot, cabbage slaw and carrots, no dressing.)

Me: (marveling at the animal energy of year 7 boys)"I just had a yard duty out on the oval, and I have never seen so many dog piles in my life!"

Random Happy Staff Member: (shocked)"That's terrible!"

Me: (about to interrupt and mention that no one was actually hurt....) "Oh, but..."

Random Happy Staff Member: (mood shifting somewhat) "...You would think dog owners in THIS neighbourhood would have more respect for school grounds, and pick up after their dogs on the oval!"

Another Happy Staff Member: (joining in) "Where were they? In the middle of the oval?"

I sense meaning has been lost....

Me (more slowly): "Well, all over the field, really."

Random Happy Staff Member: (mood sour now as she makes ready to leave the room) "It's a good thing I didn't volunteer for Footy Club this semester. How many years have we been asking to  put up a sign about this?!"

The Other Happy Staff  Member: (gathers her things to go)"Did the boys step or fall in any of it?"

Me: (small pause) "No. No they didn't."

Random Happy Staff Member: (leaving) "Well, that's something at least. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

In the next class, I ask the boys to clarify Australian vocabulary for me for my future reference....

DOG PILE:a pile of dog poo

That thing that happens when 2 or more people fling themselves on top of another person whilst he is prone on the grass of the oval at lunch break: STACKS ON!


The boys thought it was hilarious!! The cultural divide now established, for the rest of the day, I fielded the usual comments about "Oot and Aboot", Terence and Philip from South Park, the Canadian girl on How I Met Your Mother, bears and moose.

Sticker

I went to Immigration on Monday and got the official PR sticker placed in my passport. After many visits there dealing with stoney-faced, mirthless individuals, it was lovely to have both the man who handed me my number to wait,  as well as the woman who affixed my sticker say to me "Congrats and Welcome" with a smile.

Kangaroos and Emus are cool. 

Next Project

We are already underway with rehearsals for Blue Surge at the  Theatre Husk.

To finish...

Our Last Review.

Celebrating

Catching the train to the city at Footscray station. 

Stalactites is a 24 hour Greek restaurant in the CBD. We enjoyed beers with Saganaki, Dolmathes and yummy Souvlaki.  The ceiling is creepy... more like a lizard skin than an underground grotto.

We ended the night with dessert. 

Jam Donuts: Bailey's and Chambord. 

Hayley is a fan. 

Closing Night

The cast and I with Darren Natale, the Artistic Director of Verve Studios. 

(from left: Victoria, Darren, Kelly, Hayley and me)

When it's all said and done... it was great ride! A beautiful text, a fantastic creative team and three willing actors who learned an entire script, worked to embody three different characters and rotated through these characters throughout the whole season. It was a different show each night!

Our last week of shows were all sold out with the exception of Friday night. The reviews continued to be good, some gave some wonderful attention on our Sound Designer, Chris Wenn and his soundscape. The playwright, Patricia Cornelius came to see the show this last Wednesday and had some lovely things to say about the production.

Me with Rosie, our Stage Manager.

Daz and I 

The girls and I with Mike. 

Mike is Victoria's partner, and in addition to supporting her as she prepared for the production, he distributed flyers and posters to advertise the show. 

The cast with Peta Hanrahan, the magnificent Artistic Director of the Dog Theatre.

The seating bank and some of the performance space as seen from the door. 

It's intimate!

And Finally...

.... on July 14th, I was granted my Permanent Residency in Australia.  YAY! Join me in my joy!

Friday Night

Last night my housemates, Rose and Carley came out to see the play, and since Footscray is the suburb for African restaurants, we went out for Ethiopian after the show. We shared tasty food from a communal plate, sopping up yummy vegetarian and meat stew dishes with injera, a kind of flat bread or pancake.

Frosty

I've been doing a yoga intensive at my Local Yoga Studio this week. It's great, but it means getting up at 5:15 in the morning and walking to the studio to be there for a 2 hour class which starts at 6:00 a.m.
The early rise is a small price to pay for the privilege of spending some time at the beginning of my day fully in my body, and not in my head...

While those of you back in BC are enjoying a heat wave, Melburnians are "suffering" through a cold snap.  As I walked to the studio this morning, I noticed that the street lights highlighted the tell-tale sparkle of frost on the hoods and windshields of cars parked along the streets. Two hours later,  with a warm body and a restful mind, I stepped out of class and into bright sunlight... and sure enough.... frost! They call it "ice" here.

Walking home, I watched a man pause in the middle of a grassy median and step forward very carefully with one foot, placing all his weight on it. Carefully, he stepped back, took out his iPhone and snapped a picture of his frosty footprint. It's probably a good thing that he was wearing headphones because I laughed out loud! Silly Australian! .... but then I  too stepped off the pathway and crunched home across frosty grass.

the neighbour's car covered in "ice"

Reviews

Read this review and another one from  The Age newspaper....
Check it out in my poor quality photo below. You won't find it online.

Opening Weekend

Alternative title:  "Slut Opening".

So yeah, the show is on, the seats are filling up, and it feels alright. Look, if I sound a bit ambivalent, it's because I am. It's all a bit surreal, and made even more surreal by the fact that I didn't take one single photo to document the occasion. Bizarre. Unlike me.

Anyway, it's Monday now, and I have some perspective and renewed energy! I'll take some pics of the show in the coming week, I promise.

This week, there's the following to look forward to: articles expected in the local papers, a radio interview.... and the reviewers are starting to come along as well.

I've started work on the next theatrical project: directing  an American play called Blue Surge by Rebecca Gilman for Winterfall Theatre Company.  Pretty excited about it all, least of all because the rehearsal/performance space is just a 20 minute stroll from my house!

Happy Canada Day!

Big hugs and kisses to all my friends and family celebrating Canada Day! I hope it's sunny and warm and filled with bbq's, beer and fireworks! I'll miss being there with you!