Shrove Tuesday

Well the interview was today, and what an adventure it was. I got to North Terrace right on 10 O'clock, ready to start. Unfortunately the address for the college I had turned out to be the Free Mason's central lodge. I then wandered up and down North Tce until I eventually found the college right where it was supposed to be: tucked in underneath the Masons. Well… I was only half an hour late.

Fortunately the only section I missed was the testing of grammar skills which didn't matter so much since they had a copy of my honours degree in linguistics. The other candidates didn't seem impressed when they handed the bonus question which they had been straining with for half an hour over to me and I answered it in five seconds. What can I say? I'm good. I got accepted and I only got three disgruntled glares from administrators for being late. One more for the good guys.

I had an interesting experience walking back through the mall on my way out. Uniting Care was having a big pancake stall for Shrove 'pancake' Tuesday. I grabbed one and got into a conversation with the girl who served me.

Garry: Is it Lent already?
Server: I think it starts tomorrow
Garry: So it's actually Shrove Tuesday today?
Server: (taken aback by Garry's religious cultural knowledge) Ah… yep.
Garry: (forgetting to watch his mouth) Bloody Hell! They do sneak up on you, don't they?
Server: (taken aback by Garry) um… here's your pancake sir.

I bought new shoes today.

Far From Home

Well, this is to be the diary of a man stranded far from home. Well actually I'm not stranded, but I won't be getting back to Darwin for at least 18 months yet. Furthermore I plan on getting home via Europe, which is the long way around whichever way you look at it. So it's also a travel diary. They tell me these things are very popular right now. Well I suppose I'm about to find out.

I have an interview scheduled with the South Australian College of English for Tuesday morning. It's the last step in enrolment for a CELTA (Certificate in Enlgish Language Training for Adults) course, which will qualify me for English teaching positions overseas. Once I've got that I'll be able to look for work in Europe. Wish me luck!