One more thing...

The whole purpose of this morning's blogs (when I really should have been getting dressed and ready to head to the library for Friday morning Storytelling and Craft) was because I stumbled across this (on silversprite's blog):

The Isle of Berneray e-shop. They sell such delights as a

as well as this (my personal favourite): a keepsake box adorned with a local black face:

and of course, the Berneray calendar. This is the single page version. You can also buy a 12 months calendar (okay, of course they're all 12 months but this one has a picture a month):

With all the drama going on in Kyleakin at the moment, it is refreshing to see a village who have embraced modern technology and are doing what they can to keep their home alive.

REALLY should be at the library by now, so more on Kyleakin at another time.

Other blogs

So...given that I was going to be a librarian in a place early convict settlers described as 'the mouth of hell', I thought a great name for my blog (down there) would be something along the lines of "the librarian at the end of the world" or edge of the world or ... you get the picture.

Google informed me that sadly, there was already a librarian at the end of the world and I would have to try harder. Of course I went for 'the librarian at the OTHER end of the world' but then not getting the job kind of got in the way of that blog.

So, who was this librarian at the end of the world? Imagine my delight to discover they were in Scotland! And the westerly islands to be precise! Given the name (silversprite), and the profession (librarian) I was (terrible generalisation) expecting an elderly man or woman with a twinkle in their eye. I am pretty sure this is not how silversprite would be described in real life.

Photo from silversprite also available in the Berneray 2009 Calendar

Anway: a plug for the blog if you have not already found it from my links to the left. Brilliant photos, interesting anecdotes from Berneray (island he lives on). There's also some IT speak that goes on which usually leaves me feeling hopelessly inept and old but hey, that's how I found out about Second Life before the Australian media...:)


Another brilliant, brilliant blog is Shauny's 'What's New Pussycat'. That one has been in my Favorites (sic) for a few years now. An Australian girl in Scotland - how could google not bring me this delight the day I got my computer and plugged in the ADSL??? And yes, that's pretty much how I found the blog. There's heaps more to Shauny - even the really old stuff (I am embarrassed that she has been blogging for YEARS and YEARS - and that I had not discovered it. I stupidly thought blogging was relatively new and that it had not been around when I was travelling, but NOooooo, I am just ignorant!) The pic is from a recent entry discussing the infamous British Washing Up Tub/Bowl.


Of course, there is Prague blog, which I think I've already mentioned. Found this one when I was looking into Tesol a couple of months ago. I really want to go to Prague now...but baby steps! I think it's called Delayed Gratification - I think it will be good for me to live in Asia for a while. And everybody says it is good to gain experience there. If I also manage to save some money these will both help in Europe where apparently you can't get jobs without experience and they don't provide accommodation and other perks that seem to flow freely in Asian countries.


And Angus keeps me abreast of Scottish politics...the only politics that have ever managed to make me cry, or even to capture my attention for more than 5 minutes. They may not let me vote but they will never take my freedom to pretend I did! (I won btw). He also manages to explain away many of the nagging questions I had after living in the Western Isles for a few months in 2004 (schools, ferries, windfarms...). Photo from recent entry discussing the axing of nearly 100 workers at a local fish processing plant. You can read it here.

There are others, but these are the main ones that have me rushing to my laptop instead of tending to my daughter...

Something good

I have been following Silversprite's blog for most of this year. I think I stumbled across it initially during one of my mad, "I want to be a librarian" periods. I still want to be a librarian but I can't commit to the postgrad study so maybe in a few years...

Ahh, I remember now - I had applied for a job in Strahan, which is a tiny place on the wild west coast of Tasmania. Cold, mountains meeting the sea, olden days buildings...heck, they are still using steam trains! The job was in community education - managing the local library and learning centre (yep, the job I'd dreamed of years ago back in Scotland). And whaddya know it looks just like Scotland. Have you seen how cheap house prices are in Tassie? It was perfect, just perfect! My mum, by chance, even happened to be visiting the village right at the time I was applying and being interviewed.

On that note, what a circus! It took WEEKS (possibly months - I initially applied in December, heard nothing until late January, early Feb and interviewed in February) for them to process the job applications. There were no less than THREE senior staff interviewing for the TEN HOUR PER WEEK post. Yep, 10 hours a week and all that drama. Not only that, but it took them so long to process the applications that I think I phoned twice to check the job had not been given to somebody else already, only to be told the panel had not even met to discuss it. Bearing in mind that when my Mum visitied the place in December (around the time of the job application), there was already a temporary staff member in there who told Mum that they were struggling as they had so few staff. Then interview lady tells me that they were also looking for people for nearby Zeehan and Rosebery (sp?) and would I consider those? I said yes to everything, took the interview (VERY stuffy and formal and except for Portree High School Interview the First the most excrutiating half hour I've ever endured).

So, I didn't get the job. It devastated me for quite a while. Not least because although the bastards advertised in November and applications had to be in by December, all their fluffing around did not produce a result until sometime in MARCH (and by the way, I was NEVER informed, which I thought was a common courtesy for people who reach interview stage). So, for those not in Australia, March is like October in the Northern Hemisphere. Both school and uni have resumed, so it's too late to get a teaching job or start a course. I was facing another long year of supply teaching when I stumbled across the Bremer Tafe Diploma of Community Services Management, completely misunderstood what it was about and spent a lot of money on hot air...but that vitriol will save for another time.

For now, I am talking about Silversprite (and may have been slightly distracted). I may have to start a new post...

A good reason for not getting the job in Strahan...look at the size of that thing!

Working 9 to 5...

Okay, I'm not. I have a toddler and I am studying - I work part-time. Or at least I did, but the organisation I work for have let the program slide into ill repute so only one group booked for this term. I am on the move, anyhow, and recently sent off my CV to a few English language schools on the coast. I have not finished the Cert IV yet (that would be a miracle!) but hoping my existing teaching quals will help out.

I really want to get some experience before I go overseas, plus now that I'm getting into the workbook I'm so keen to get into a classroom and try things out...

Plus I need the money. Starting to freak out as the days count down to January and I am still on the poverty line.

Wrote off to Select Education (aka Teach Anywhere) but they are the strangest teacher recruitment agency in the world. They flood me with mailers and poorly punctuated/spelt/grammartised emails about teaching positions all over the world but will not respond to direct questions. Hopefully they are not like Smart Teachers, who would also bombard me with job lists, then refuse to respond to my applications and subsequent emails wondering if they even got them, and further emails asking if there was a reason I was not being considered...

English teacher for sale!