So it’s officially a week since I’ve been here in Australia, and what a great week I’ve had! From meeting other volunteers during the orientation period, to meeting the volunteers, teachers and students I’ll be spending the next 5 months with at Djarragun College, Gordonvale, Queensland!
The orientation kicked off with us volunteers from the UK being met at the Airport by Jo Walsh (Program Manager for people coming to Australia) and being took to the Space Hotel in Melbourne (don’t read the negative reviews about the hotel)! On the first day we were allowed to get on with whatever we wanted, whether it be catching up on missed sleep, to going to see the sights of Melbourne. Once checked in me and a few other people went for a walk down a long street and managed to see a ‘Flash mob’ type thing, which was definitely interesting haha! We then decided to brave the tram system down to St Kilda beach, without really knowing when to get off, so we just had to guess! The beach was nice, but we didn’t venture really into the sea with it being stinger season here in Aus (Jellyfish season) …. then came out little trip to Luna Park, which is like a fair ground amusement park located just off the beach front. The first day we all realised how expensive Australia is to live, mainly because of the Australian Dollar (AUD) becoming a lot stronger in comparison to the Sterling Pound.
The second day, we had an orientation giving us information about Australia at the Lattitude head office based in Melbourne. It was great learning about different elements of what would be required of us volunteers here in Australia and also about the way of living here. After this we then had our first Australian BBQ, which was of course very nice! Once the bbq was over we were then taken down to the CommonWealth bank to open our Australian bank accounts, it took the maximum of 5 minutes to do! We then ventured into the surrounding area as there’s better shopping places around and was given the opportunity to do some shopping. I spent this time looking around in Vinyl shops and seeing if i could see any ‘The Beatles’ stuff, which ended up in me and Nina (a volunteer from the UK) having a 10-20 minute discussion with a man in his shop about bands haha! Later that evening became the opportunity for dinner and of course a nice well deserve refreshing drink lol! This gave us volunteers some time to chill and get to know each other more, which was great!
Wednesday was our last day of the orientation and this meant an early start of 9am going to Melbourne Zoo! It was a great few hours getting to see the animals there and taking lots of picutres! The best part was seeing a newly born Elephant in the Elephant enclosure and managing to catch a great photo of the Elephant (which was hard work!) … This soon drawn to a close and we were back on the coach and taken to the Eureka Tower (consisting of 88 floors) Australians tallest public building (i think it is), this gave us the opportunity to take some really good views of Melbourne and the sights we could see were fab! Even though i did feel abit uneasy looking down at the ground below haha! After this became another great meal and a chance to relax and have a good time before we all left to our placements on Thursday!
Then came Thursday, with an early wake up, we were on our way to our placements all at various times throughout the morning, for me it was a 7am lift from the hotel to Melbourne Airport! Me, Sarah and Thomas were soon to board our flight to Cairns ready to start our placements 
We touched down in Cairns and were met by 4 other Volunteers who’d already been at our placement for 6 months from Germany and also our mentor Morag! The temperature/ weather was a big shock to the 3 of us, even though we were still in Australia the change from Melbourne to Cairns was huge and it’s been taking some getting used to! With a stop off in ‘Maccas’ (McDonalds), we finally made it to Djarrgun College where we were to stay until June 21st when our placement finishes! On arrival at the school we met a few teachers and got to help out with ‘Club & Culture’ - an extra curricular activity based scheme for the boarding students here, it was great! I helped out with ‘Cultural Identity’ allowing me to get a slight insight into the students cultures, what they eat, where they came from ect!
Friday consisted of us having a group meeting with Morag, asking any questions we had ect and another day at Club & Culture trying to get to know some of the students here! It was quite challenging getting the students to talk to us new volunteers, because we were yet to build any form of rapport with them and with Aborginal and Straight Islander students, it can be challenging to gain their respect and trust, enough for them to want to engage in a conversation with yourself. The behaviour of the children is a lot different to that back in England, however, you shouldn’t be alarmed as many of the students are really well mannered and well behaved, but it can take some getting used to (I’m still getting used to it)!
The weekend came and meant we were to have 2 days off work! We went into Cairns Central (50 minute bus journey) and spent a couple of hours looking around the shopping centre there, before heading down to the ‘Lagoon’ where we relaxed for a further hour or so, with some of us going into the Lagoon for a swim! The atmosphere is so different to that of the UK, everyone is so relaxed, you walk into shops and people actually want to talk to you and are willing to make a conversation! :) We were soon to head back home ready for a bbq night back at the house! The night didn’t turn out as planned, with the BBQ not working after a couple of the others spent about 20-30 minutes cleaning it! So instead me and Soren ended up cooking the burgers in various pots and pans in the kitchen It was a really good night and allowed it to get to know eachother more. Sunday we used as a chill out day, with everyone relaxing and doing their own thing and catching up with people from back home (which is hard with a 10hour time difference between here and the UK!)
Before we knew it, Monday was soon upon us and meant our first real day of work for some and a new term start to others. For me I was put on for Boarding for the evening, which consisted of getting to know the boys in the boarding house and trying to start to build that rapport with them, which I found really hard with it being my first time there, not many of the boys really wanted to engage in a conversation. Don’t be shocked if not many of the students don’t talk to you initially if you choose a placement like here at Djarragun, because over time once they get to know you and see your face around more, they’ll be starting conversations with you!
Tuesday I was put on shift with Sarah, where we spent the day in Year 1 classes, mainly just cutting stuff out and laminating various signs ect. This allowed us time to watch how they teach here at Djarragun, which I can say does seem very very different to any school I’ve been to or heard of before! They have a scheme do DI here, which seems to really be working with the students and we were told is getting outstanding results, because the students actually engage in learning, which is great! As many of the students here, don’t come from privalleged back grounds, nor is education really emphasised in their communities. I’m learning so much about the Aboriginal/Straight Islander culture everyday here and it’s so fascinating, but it also makes you think how lucky many of us are with our lives, the families we have and the way our communities/ societies interact! The Aboriginal Culture is so far from the rest of Australia and it’s true to say that when you ask people what they think of Australia, they think about; the outback, kangaroos, koala bears, beaches, surfing, huge houses and of course, the SUN! Not many people actually know that Aboriginals exist, or if they do, the lives these people live! Many of this children witness abuse in the home, on relatives and also on themselves and in their wider community, are bought up to hunt animals, have little income and food, get involved in criminal acts, are bought up on alcohol and drugs ect! It really hits home, when working with these children and when you learn something about their cultures & communities and you really do find yourself reflecting on your own life and thinking how lucky you truly are! I couldn’t of asked for a better placement than here at Djarragun College, although the students can have challenging behaviour, you understand the reasons behind this and when working here, you know that what your doing as a volunteer can make such a difference to their lives, not only this but what the college here overall does for these students is AMAZING!
Today (Wednesday) I was put on for Admin - meaning helping out with any admin tasks around the college, there wasn’t really any today, so instead I spent the day in the school libary doing various tasks, which was actually really good! It gave me the chance for the last 1-2 hours to help out with a Prep and Year 1 class (the English comparison to Reception). The students were tiny and are fascinated by you, which makes you feel great as a volunteer, because it’s these Years that really want to talk to you ect … I had a couple of students bring a book up to me and asked me to read it to them, so of course I did! The focus on their faces was great, they laughed and really enjoyed themselves, as did I! We then took them to Music and when there me and Soren sat down amongst them, trying to keep them quiet, but found the children to be clingy and climb all over you and grab your hands to hold them, which is really different to that of children within the UK and for many people could take some getting used to, however, you have to realise that these shows their acceptance of you. It was definitely my best day so far here at work, just watching these really young children enjoy themselves ect makes you feel great!
The other volunteers I’m placed with are great! I couldn’t of asked for a better bunch of people to spend the next few months with, we all get on great! We’ve already had a pillow fight, water fight, game of chirades, gave one volunteer a make-over as a clown (with lipstick and flour) and created a mini horror movie all in one night haha! Life in Australia overall is great, it’s so much more relaxed and calm than that of the UK! However, I must add it is quite expensive to live here, so if your going to do a placement here in Australia, definitely make sure you have some money behind you, however, many of the placements over here give you a weekly allowance of $50-$150 Australian Dollars (AUD).
