Tina travels solo

DL student Tina on the road

Besides exploring beautiful scenery, meeting new friends, tasting different cooking styles and practising English, there was something else I learnt from travelling alone, that was to be appreciative and be brave.

I always travelled with someone else. Although I came to Australia by myself, I very soon found other Taiwanese travel mates. I couldn't imagine what travelling alone would be like or if I would be able to handle any problems on my own. I thought I always needed the company of other people.

Luckily, after all the money in my pocket ran out, I got a full-time job as a nanny in Alice Springs. So I moved out of the backpacker hostel into a motel which my employer paid for. I got paid well and lived in a nice double room with a big swimming pool in front of my door. My friends were envious of my life. But they didn't know I couldn't share my room and I didn't have any colleagues at work. The only activity was to join drinking parties after work. But none of the people I met could go bush walking with me the next day because their hangovers kept them in bed. I got so bored and felt lonely.

One of my friends left his car behind for me. I got the car fixed then started my own national park trips. The first trip to West MacDonnel Ranges National Park took fifteen minutes. I was too scared to drive myself into the unfamiliar inland desert so I returned to town after passing the national park sign. A week later I tried again and also every Sunday after that. The cliffs change colour all the time, the river that flows through the gorges is a billion years old and the desert animals are so different. They brought me peace and became my best company. This beautiful park taught me to appreciate nature and the resources we have.

The time I spent in Alice Springs helped me feel independent. I proved to myself that I could look after myself and I was ready for new challenges. It was one of the most memorable travel experiences.

Thanks Tina for sharing your wonderful travel experience with us. We admire your adventurous spirit.  Why not write a message for Tina!

• What is the difference between being lonely and being alone?
• How comfortable are you with your own company? Are there benefits to being by yourself?
• Would you travel alone like Tina?  Why / why not?
• What places in Australia have blown you away? What places would you like to visit?

From distance teachers to distance runners

Silvia, Maree, Meredith
on a coastal walk 

Every year Navitas sponsors teams from its employees to enter a fitness challenge called the Global Corporate Challenge.  The aim is to motivate staff to get fitter.  Teaching in DL is a sedentary activity, which means it requires a lot of sitting down, so the challenge to be active was very welcome.  This year two teams from DL participated in the challenge. Each team had 7 enthusiastic teachers who took up the challenge to complete 10,000 steps a day for a 100 days.  They chose team names that represented what they do in DL:

The Skypettes - Silvia (Captain), Meredith, Karen, Carol, Erika, Maree, Nadia
Distance Runners - Linda (Captain), George, Julian, Johanna, Hena, Christine, Victoria

Karen, Maree, Nadia
finishing the 11 km
Sutherland to Surf race

Congratulations to both teams who tried very hard and completed the challenge finishing 3rd and 5th in their Navitas division in Australia.  The Skypettes completed 5,957 km and Distance Runners 5,695 km collectively while getting fitter in the process and having fun walking together. We asked the captains about their experience.

Silvia said "It was a very motivating experience specially doing it with a team. We bonded together as we organised a few walking events on weekends. As the captain of my team I started to become more competitive towards the end, regularly checking the leaderboard online and encouraging my team to stay in the top 10 which we succeeded in doing. Well done team!"  Silvia led by example.  Her PB reached a soaring 36,000 steps in one day!

According to Linda, participating in the challenge helped her change habits. She said "My job requires me to sit for most of the day so it's important I make an effort to move.  I now walk whenever I can instead of driving to places.  Walking is a great exercise, you can do it by yourself or with a group and it's free."  Linda is proud of her team who participated enthusiastically and enjoyed the benefits of the exercise.

Well done to both teams and to staff members who 'unofficially' joined in and increased their steps.

• How do you keep active? What was the greatest fitness challenge you've ever taken up?
• What stops people from being more active?
• How can you change habits and build healthy routines in your week?
• 22nd September is World Car Free Day which encourages people to give up cars for a day. Is that an easy challenge?  Why/why not?  Share your comments below ...

Geeta gains local experience

Geeta, Level 3

My name is Geeta.  I worked in India as an Electronics Engineer for 10 months. When I moved to Australia, I tried to find a job in the same field but was unsuccessful, so I decided to change my career to accounting.

I have found that studying alone is not enough to gain employment particularly in a new country.  I needed to find a way to get local work experience and local references so I decided to look for volunteer work specifically in the areas I wanted to learn and develop.

I applied to non-profit organisations because they tend to have more opportunities for volunteering. After sending my resume and cover letter I followed up with a call and where possible to arrange an interview.

One day I received a phone call and was offered a volunteer position.  I was very pleased to finally get the opportunity to develop my office skills and make valuable use of my time.  My colleagues speak fluent English which is helpful for my accent.  Every day I am learning something new.  I do archiving of files and maintain clients' details on the database.  I have  recently asked them for other work to further develop my skills which they have now provided.

Even though I work one day a week I still fulfill my commitment coming to the office regularly and on time.  It is difficult to manage volunteer work, study and family responsibilities but I persevere and enjoy the success.  I'm lucky that my husband supports me and looks after our child while I go to work and my DL teacher, Barbara, checked my resume and cover letter and helped me prepare for the interview.  Distance Learning really helped me achieve my goal.

Congratulations Geeta on the progress you made and we wish you well with your career.

• How important is it to have local experience and why?
• What barriers are there for skilled migrants to get their first job in Australia?
• Do you think skilled migrants should aim to work in their original field of study/experience?

DL teachers 'get carried away' with learning!

Your DL teachers just love learning outside the square. In their spare time they get carried away being creative and have certainly found their wings. We hope you are enjoying your Adult Learners' Week lessons and are being carried away too by learning something new. This week we've interviewed three DL teachers to find how they learn outside the square.

Christine

What's something new you've learnt recently? 
Actually I've learnt to make personalised greeting cards.
Nice and why did you want to learn card making? 
I wanted to make special cards to match the personalities and interests of my friends and family. Now I make cards for car enthusiasts, garden lovers, fashion followers, the sports crazy ...
So why do you enjoy learning? 
Learning new things enables me to share with others. I enjoy the delight on the faces of people when they open their special card.
Barbara

What have you been learning recently? 
Well I've been learning how to arrange miniature succulent gardens. I arrange small plants in pots, with a castle or a house to make it look like real life.  I was fascinated how big gardens of the world can be recreated on a smaller scale in a pot.
Wow that's interesting! How are you learning this? 
I Google ideas on the Internet and then use my imagination to make my own creations.
Why do you love to learn new things? 
It occupies my mind and extends my knowledge and creativity. When we learn and create something new it adds a different dimension, an expression of self, thoughts and imagination.

Julian

Have you learnt anything new lately? 
I'm learning how to read music again. My son is learning how to play the clarinet so to help him out I'm learning to read music too.
So when you don't know something what can you do? 
I go to YouTube and search for a video. There are so many enthusiastic people who make videos. I'm so grateful for their knowledge.
Can you give us a tip on how to learn?
It's good to practise with someone. Also I use 'mnemonics' which are phrases to remember things, eg to learn the order of the treble clef notes 'EGBDF' I say the phrase "Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit!"
Great, and finally How to do feel when you've learnt a new skill?
It feels good to achieve something new. It's a quest for knowledge!

We'd love to know what you have learnt recently. Just go to the Events tab above and follow the suggestions in Activity 4.  Write a paragraph and take a photo about your experience, then email it to your teacher by 30th September. We will share the best entries on the Blog.