Uncertain

alarms and headaches

2006-09-13T14:38:00.000+10:00

On the morning of september 11 I awoke with just a little time to spare before my phone alarm went off. I awoke thinking, "oh how nice, a little bit more time to sleep before the day begins". Unfortunately the thought did not turn into reality as the alarm started to sound.
The alarm however was not the one that I had previously set the night before...It started off fairly softly and then grew into a horn of doom that awoke every single occupant of watson hall. This was a sound that I had not heard for a very long time, and upon hearing it knew that it was not long enough.

To think that the situation could not get worse was to underestimate Murphy's Law, for not only was the fire alarm sounding at 7 in the morning but we were also required to assemble at the front of watson where showers of blessing were being sent from above.
The problem now was to see if all the occupants were present and accounted for, while still avoiding the rain.

An answer to this dillema was presented by the leader of the fire team, who told everyone to gather inside watson chapel till the firemen arrived...the chapel would have been a very happy place had it not been for the speaker situated somewhere in the middle of the ceiling that kept reminding us not to panic while at the same time sounding that annoying siren that drove many to insanity...a few of us tried to hide inside the room adjacent to the stage in the chapel...though it was cold, the room did provide refuge from the cursed horn that showed no pity for all the distraught and drowsy individuals.

Finally the fire department arrived and much praise was heard from all of the oppressed who were freed from the torturous grip of the cursed alarm.

Coincidentally, and I certainly hope that it was a coincidence and not some horrible plan made by a master mind, the date was September 11 2006.

Amidst all the chaos which transpired on this day, some good has come from it because we are no longer required in this semester to have a fire drill at 2 in the morning...If it had not been for this fire alarm more violence could have arisen...thus the fire alarm was a blessing in disguise...and believe me...It was a pretty convincing disguise too

A day for a year...well more like a day for 6 weeks +

2006-08-04T20:47:00.000+10:00

It really did seem like only a day had passed when in fact more than six weeks did. I mean it only feels like a few hours have passed since my last post, and then not long after that the semester ended.

Quite a lot has happened since my last post...as tends to happen when one doesn't post as often as one should...oopsies :P

About five weeks before the semester ended I was given the opportunity to work at avondale schools as a substitute physics teacher for 5 weeks...It was an awesome experience and it kept me rather busy, as i was also studying at the time.
I taught year 11 and year 12 students, mostly covering topics in mechanics and astronomy...both subjects which i am passionate about :)

After the teaching experience I had to study for my deferred exams (deffered because the teaching was done during exam week), and then sat them the first two weeks of holidays. There was a brief interlude on the weekend where a few of us enjoyed a LAN party that started on Sat night and ended Sunday morning...it had been a long time since i've done an all nighter playing comp games...aah sooo nice :)
The LAN party was held as a batchelor party for Chris Thiele (I knew that it would be the thing for him...also it was fairly easy to organise :P)

The weeks following, were spent preparing for Chris and Kristin's wedding and also hanging out with american friends that I hadn't seen in a while (Brandon and Becky), and also getting introduced to new friends (Michael and Jen)....they are all great and I miss hanging out with them now that they've returned to the states.
As the days approaching the wedding got shorter the stress levels rose (an inverse relationship) until finally the day came when the bride and the groom were completely calm, while everyone else's stress levels went through the roof (not really, but let not the truth get in the way of a good story...don't really believe that...oh well).

At the reception (which was held in the morning before the wedding) the maid of honour (Melody Tan) and the best man (me) were expected to give a speech. Melody's speech was very poetic and told great things about Kristin, so as the best man i had to say a few "nice" things about Chris (which i had written prior to the day, and also asked advice from Chris' dad on just what to say...he gave me a few suggestions which raised a few eyebrows and produced a few laughs...which is what i was after).

Finally in the afternoon the hour came that everyone had been waiting for, when all of the bride's maids (clad in white with a black cape) started to march into the church closely followed by the bride...they all looked beautiful....the wedding was really special.

After the wedding things started to quiet down and then i was back at college finishing my deffered chemistry labs (thank you Dr Drewer)...also gave me another excuse to fiddle around with dangerous chemicals :P
It didn't take very long before the final week of the holidays...on the thursday of the final week which was yesterday i had to go to Paddy's markets in sydney to pick up a tie for my cousin...when i got off at central i noticed Brandon, Sharona and Kristin who were also getting off the same train (what a coincidence). I went to say hi and they were very surprised to see me (and I them)...Brandon asked me where I was going and found out that it was the same place that he was going to (what an even greater coincidence). Found out that they were just taking Brandon to the airport for his flight back to the states. Said my goodbye's and then ended up spending the rest of the day with Kristin and Chris (Sharona joined us later for tea)...was great to catch up with all of them.

Next week there will be even more catching up to do with people i haven't seen for six weeks as the new semester begins :)

A much awaited post

2006-04-17T20:53:00.000+10:00

Hey all, sorry about the long gap between my posts...i will explain it all in one big post, but for now just to tell you what has been happening in the last little while :)

Let's start with last week. On Sunday last week Eli, Dave, Krystal and I headed off to Sharona's 21st which was held at the SAN. As we got closer to Sydney I recieved a call from Bonnie who was in the other car with Casey and Kelly. Bonnie then said that their car got rear ended by some jerk and Kelly was in hospital as a result. When I first heard this I thought that it was a joke, but then realised that Bonnie was in fact quite serious about it all, so we drove to the hospital to see who Kel was doing...found her laying in bed with everyone crowding around her as she was the center of attention and not Sharona (shame on you Kel...tsk tsk :P ). Most of the day was spent with Kel until we knew that she was alright and being taken care of...hrrm...aherm...sorry just clearing my throat...oh yeah, Dave managed to convince one of the doctors that he was actually a part of the staff (a white gown helps in such matters) and stayed with Kel when she was having her X-ray done.

Following these eventful events, we then decided to have tea and picked up our orders that we placed previously at the Thai restraunt in Turramurra (a great place...they even gave us two complimentary drinks for the party). When we had our orders, we all headed back to Melody Tan's place and had our food...Sharona, Kylie-Anne and I went back to Kel to bring her some food and stayed there till they transferred Kel to Hornsby hospital (she went to a public hospital due to the cost required for the SAN).

After seeing Kel off, we all returned to Melody's place and gave Sharona her presents...hehehe...she could not stop laughing when we unleashed the "battery operated toy with feathers" (Eli's words)...it was actually a parrot that swore and was uncensored...it did however bring a smile on Sharona's face which was great seeing as how the day started.
Following that we also played a wonderful game entitled "Honey if you love me"...a great game to play with people who are not reserved...that is all that I will say about the game ;)

The day ended with us coming back to college at 3 am...a wonderful time was had by all...well almost...but I'm sure that Kel loved all the attention :P

On Tuesday evening Eli, Bonnie and I went to Hornsby to meet Kel and Sharona so that we could all go and see "V for Vandetta"...a great movie...encourage you all to see it :)
Following that we went to Macca's and just chatted...and took photos :)

Friday morning headed off to Jindabyne where the Croatian Adventist gathering was held...more than a hundred people turned up...was good to catch up with some of my other friends...also went to Kosciuszko...did 6.5 km in about 50 mins...was intense...dad and I ran a little way up the mountain cos we didn't want to miss the last chair lift which was at 4pm...took a few photos and then ran down and still made it half an hour before they closed...phew!!!

That about sums up the activites which have happened in the last week...stay tuned for a big blurb that is coming up soon about everything else..oiii

God bless :)

Great weekend

2006-02-01T15:34:00.000+11:00

The previous couple of days have been quite exciting as my family and I took a trip over the long weekend to Noosa at the Sunshine Coast in QLD. Dad had a couple of days off from work so we decided to go up north for a holiday...it just so happened that a few of my good friends also decided to go up there for a camping trip.

We headed up to Noosa on Thursday morning and got there that evening...12 hours of driving is really tiresome :P

The following day parents dropped me off at Elanda point where Glen, Chela, Yvanna, Chloe, Kylie, Pete and Carla were camping...it was a very hot day and we all decided that it was perfect for a dip in the lake. The lake was only a meter or so deep even a couple of hundred metres from the shore, and it was also very very warm...like being in a warm bath...quite nice :)

Unfortunately that afternoon, Pete and Carla had to leave...but it also freed up the tent that Pete was using and so Glen and I slept there instead.

Saturday was a nice day for just relaxing and chatting with friends, and then Saturday night was filled with fun when we played a couple of games that involved doing "dares"...it was an interesting turn of events...can't say anymore...might ruin the game if anyone wanted to play it again ;)

Sunday morning we all woke up to watch the sunrise...a bit cloudy but still very nice, and then when it got warmer enjoyed a nice waterfight...should have filled up more balloons tho :P

Our camping trip ended with us going back to the lake for one last dip...this time the water was not as warm as before, but it was still a nice way to cool off.

That day I thought we would be going back to Bonnells Bay, but parents decided to stay just a bit longer...in the afternoon we went for a swim at Noosa beach...it was raining but the water was still warm...and managed to catch a couple of good waves while at the same time being pumelled by the ones that caught me off guard...lots of fun ;)

Finally on monday started heading back to Bonnells Bay...took us 12 hours and I did a bit of driving as well (only bout two hours tho). When we got back found out that our ADSL modem had arrived while we were gone and is now in storage at Newcastle.
The following day we went to pick it up and now I'm enjoying the bliss that is ADSL....no more dialup or getting off the phone when mum needs it...life is great :)

Oh and one other thing...got offered a job as we were driving back from Noosa...Dr Drewer rang to see if I would be interested in being one of the tutors for their Chemistry bridginc course which commences 20th Feb...will give me something to do till college starts up again ;)

And that sums up my wonderful weekend

Have fun and God bless :)

Hello again and happy new year

2006-01-21T17:33:00.000+11:00

The new year is already upon us and I have not posted in a while so I will try and bring you up to speed with what's been happening.

I will first wish everyone a happy new year and hope that you all had a great Christmas. Most of Christmas and new years was spent with friends and family. For new years a few of us who were in the vicinity of Cooranbong decided to go to Russell Harder's place for a few games and swim in the pool...since it was really hot that day. Friends of mine decided that i needed to go for a dip as well, even though i didn't particularly think that it was necessary...they were kind and did allow me a chance to change before dumping me in the pool...what wonderful friends they are :P
After a nice swim in the pool and a few attempts at trying to do a back flip we went inside and watched circus performers do amazing feats on a show which I have forgotten the name of...i just know that they were really good and was amazed at the tricks they were doing :P

The next bit of excitement came with Science Summer Camp at Avondale...Braden, Janita, Bec and I were the deans, and had the awesome privilege of looking after these great kids...they were truly a wonderful bunch...and also there was more of them this time round...28 students in total. We were mainly responsible for the opening social, recreation time in the afternoons and organising the decorations for the Science Banquet during the final weekend of the Science Summer Camp. For one of the recreation activities we orchestrated a water fight between the deans and the students...that was only for a short time, and soon there after it was every person for themselves...that was a lot of fun...pretty much everyone got wet except a few who were hiding behind cameras...oh well...it was a good day for it as well...nice and hot ;)
During camp we went on an excursion to the reptile park where Braden found a new role model...one guy who was presenting during the reptile show...he was very witty and also managed to frighten some of the kids by the way that he spoke about snakes, alligators, crocs etc....quite a nice guy really.
Following the reptile park we went to the beach at Toowoon Bay where a group of us tried to make a human pyramid in the water...when that didn't succeed we made way to the sand where we finally accomplished our goal...I was one of the bases at the bottom...when everyone fell off I decided to have a nice leisurely lie down in the sand. At this point in time everyone decided that they would see how a buried alive Daniel looks like, so they piled a heap of sand on top of me...eventually stopped when the camp coordinator who was taking pictures at the time said that I looked a bit blue in the face...i did kinda notice that the sand was a bit heavier than expected...quickly got up and then everyone said that my face looked normal again...as normal as can be i suppose :P

We also managed to run into Peter Ansell when we were there....Carla was there as well and she thought that Pete needed to go for a swim, so Braden and the kids did all that was in their power to ensure that Carla's wishes were fulfilled...Pete was kinda glad in the end tho he did not have time to take off his only shirt before going into the drink...and that sums up our day at the beach :)

On Saturday the students were taking over the church service and so everyone was busy practicing the previous night...even though they were all nervous they did a great job :)
In the afternoon it was decided that we should all go canoeing and kayaking in the Dora Creek...the group was divided into two...one went earlier and the other went later in the afternoon...cause we didn't have enough places for a single big group. I was teamed up with a student and on our return trip everything was going great until she decided that tipping us over was a lot easier than she thought, so she did just that and we went swimming in the Dora...yuck!!! Well actually it is not as bad as I would have thought...fairly salty and can sting if it gets in your eye...so now I can say that I've swum in the Dora...yay :P

When we got back from our little trip down Dora Creek it was time to get ready for the Science Banquet...the room next to the Caf was really nicely decorated where each table had a symbol of some faculty of college where the Students did their classes...there was a table with a microscope and test tube rack (with test tubes) representing science, another was decorated with gold covered chocolate coins representing accounting and yet another with sheet music and a recorder, representing the music department. For our centerpiece we made an artistic version of a double helix model :P
The evening went really well and it concluded with us and the students playing capture the flag down near the swing bridge till about 1:30 am.
The next day I slept in and was one of the people who missed breakfast...needed the sleep...as everyone was heading off and the science camp finished, we had a water fight yet again to conclude the science summer camp.

That was about the gist of what's been happening up till now...oh except that we are finally switching to broadband internet...no more dialup for me...yay!!! It will become a reality hopefully within the next week or so...also something was wrong with the telephone line and we were without a phone for a day or so...not happy...In other happier news, NASA finally launched their probe to study Pluto...it is now on its way to mars and will take 9 years to reach Pluto...how exciting...can't wait!!!

There is one more thing which I neglected to mention and that is our plan to go to the Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast this coming week...really excited about that...never really been to the Sunshine coast before :)

And that is the end of my tale...for now!!!

Hope your holidays are great...Have fun and God bless :)

Good to be back!!!!

2005-12-16T19:18:00.000+11:00

Goodness it has been a while since my last post...a whole month!!!!

Well since matron so eloquently reminded me that i had not poasted about her birthday party i shall do just that!!!

Quite a lot of things happened since my last post and i will attempt to describe as many as i can remember.

Firstly Kelly's birthday party which was held at Catho's right before the JAC banquet. We all (about 20 or so) arrived at catho's on saturday night and set up camp (those who actually decided to sleep there for the night). After the setup we played a couple of games led by our dear primary teachers...the games consisted of "stuck in the mud", "what's the time mr wolf" and a variant of "duck duck goose". After a couple of those games others decided that it was perhaps time to go back to college.
Those silly enough to stay the entire night ended up with very little sleep and for some, none at all!!!!thank you wallace :P

The following day we had the pleasure of going to the JAC banquet which was held at Tony Martin's place...it was very nicely decorated with drinks and finger food outside near his house...the actual banquet was held in a tent a little further from his house. It was a great evening full of many laughs.
After we got back from the banquet a few of us decided that it still wasn't time for bed even though we only got a few hours sleep the previous night, so we hung around college hall and then went for a walk to the swing bridge and played "go fish" and "prince and the pauper" or scum as it is otherwise known.

Needless to say that the following day i slept in!!!!

Then came exams!!!! (only had one exam that i was worried about...Chem IB...still haven't got the results back)

The week following the exams was exhaustfully spent playing many card games and watching movies...oh and preparing for grad of course!!!!

The graduation weekend was quite an experience starting with me being late to the valedictory service for all education students and all those with double degrees. Thankfully though i did make it to the second service where i was actually participating. The second service was more important in my mind because that is where all my science friends were marching. They had me leading the marching party and even though we were given instruction not to sit before a particular item had been done, guess what i did....i sat down....but quickly got up hoping that no one noticed.
Following the second service my family and extended family (about 20 in total) came to dine in the caf and caused andre hamilton considerable joy when he saw the receipt that came out in the end (since all of their food was going on my caf card)

After the big lunch went to find people and we watched "Let's Talk" which Shane so graciously obtained for us. Also went to listen to the afternoon concert and then had to go to the presidents reception.

Sunday was the big day that all the fourth year students had been waiting four years for. Thankfully the day was not so hot and there were not as many flies as i feared. It started off with all of us getting dressed up in our regalia and going to the squash courts where we were seperated into our marching groups...it was interesting to see the registrar flying around frustrated that some students did not seem to grasp the concept that this was a formal event and they should thus have collared shirts and not just tee shirts.

Anyways finally we were asked to walk up and recieve our testamur that symbolises four years worth of pain and suffering that each of us went through to realise how much we do not know.

After the graduation ceremony the area in front of the auditorium turned into absolute chaos with everyone trying to find people so they could have photos taken. Once again i was late to a photo shoot for the science students because i was trying to find other ppl....sigh!!!!

After all the madness that comes with graduation we went to Sonja's place for lunch and just relaxed and enjoyed the food...that is, until we were coerced into making a speech.
The day ended with us staying back and watching "Fellowship of the ring"...a day truly well spent with friends and family.

Well that was a bit more that i planned to say...but what can i say...it was a big day!!!

After grad had to move out of watson and on the day that i was beginning to move my stuff the fire alarm went off and unfortunately dad had to wait for a bit before we could go back to our rooms...one thing that was different about this fire alarm was that we actually had smoke this time...the microwave malfunctioned!!!

Since moving out of watson tried to get the internet up and running...had to wait for bout a week before i got connected and even then had some problems because of our jolly phone line...kept getting disconnected a couple of mins into the session!!!

Also went to the carols at the San and stayed with Chris' dad in the mission hostel cause i did not have a ride back to cooranbong. Was good to see Chris and Sharona again. The carols were ok but the fireworks following them were spectacular...they played Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in the background!!!!

And that is the end of my tale...brings u up to date at least :P

If i don't write sooner...hope u all have a very merry christmas and a happy new year

God bless :)

A Big Update

2005-11-06T19:51:00.000+11:00

I think I may have beaten my previous record for not posting, since it has been more than a month that i have not said anything. This is due to numerous things, including many chem assignments, essays and just generally being slack...though i think it may be more of the latter.

Anyways so to fill you in on what has been happening over the last month and a bit...here goes:

Firstly about 20 or so of our group of friends decided to go to North NSW Big Camp, which was held at Stewart's Point about 15 minutes walk to the beach...a beautiful location!!!

On Friday (the first day of mid semester break) we got up nice and early (about 7 ish) and started our exciting adventure at 9am. About 9 of us took the trip in the outdoor troupie...was nice and comfortable (we had one seat spare so it wasn't too crowded)
After several hours of driving and stopping we finally arrived at the camp site, where we were tagged!!!

The reason for the tagging is to keep track of all the campers, so that no one can walk onto the campsite uninvited.

The camp was a real fun time to spend with friends.
For a few days, just tried to get a glimpse of all the topics and speakers, until finally deciding to go to the Connections tent, which was meant to be aimed at an age group 25 yrs and older, though it was close to 40 yrs and over.
The speaker there was talking about the Ten Commandments...was really interesting, and made me think...which was good, as i like to think!!!

For most of the camp we mainly hung around the campsite and just relaxed whilst reading, sleeping, playing cards or even doing homework (that was me...brought my chem textbook and the assignment that was due as soon as we got back from camp!! Actually managed to finish about 3/4 of it, which was good...yay!!!).

All of us took turns in helping around the campsite by cooking, cleaning the dishes and making sure that our tents were somewhat presentable.

As the weather was fairly warm, most of us took this grand opportunity to go to the beach and cool off. There were even those that were really determined, who woke up nice and early just so that they could watch the sunrise...it was beautiful and definately worth it (though when compared to driving about a thousand kilometres over several days just to watch a shadow that lasts for only 30 seconds, this was only a very small thing...but beautiful none the less)

We also met a few new faces, and i saw quite a lot of familiar ones as well...those mostly being my former students whom i taught at the beginning and middle of this year...quite refreshing to hear "hi Mr. Vokurka" when going for a stroll around the campsite.

As the week drew to a close, some of us decided to go to the beach and celebrate the beginning of a new Sabbath by watching the sunrise over the clam waters of the ocean. It was a truly magical moment seeing the clouds slowly turn a shade of pink and then watch the rays of the sun as it rose above the cloud covering over the horizon.

The camp was really fun and I plan on going there again next year.

As the mid-semester break finished, slowly (though not slowly enough) work started to pile up and the second half of the semester was well on the way.
Not long after Big Camp we had yet another reason to celebrate, due to cake day and Andrew Taylor's Birthday (that was lots of fun...got to play the limbo game and hang out with friends...oh and we were fed very well)

After that bit of excitement we had a brief interlude and then more excitement from Toni's birthday party, where we played the balloon passing game, life saver game and many others.

The other bit of exciting news is that our netball team played Braden and Carla's team. The exciting thing is that even though we lost, we did not loose by a large margin, and their team was a very good team...so i think there is cause for celebration, as we came very close, which means that our team is starting to get fairly good.

That pretty much summarises all the main events that occured from Big Camp onwards.

Anyways...must go and finish off my final two essays for the year

Have fun, God bless and no stress!!! :)

yay for exercise!!!

2005-09-23T17:18:00.000+10:00

Well after the flu or cold, or whatever other sickness i had, it was time for some exercise so that my body would be strong and able to fight the other nasties out there etc.

Well for the first bit of exercise, we decided to go for a swim at 7 in the morning while it was still fresh. Even though the pool was heated it still felt very wrong!!!
After a few laps though, we started to warm up and it actually didn't feel all that bad.

Then in the evening at 6:30 pm a momentous event occured...one which will be marked down in history books for years to come...one that will go to the hall of fame (ok maybe i'm overdoing it slightly)..but the point is that our netball team won our second game in a row, and most importantly we are all starting to play as a team!!!
My team-mates are telling me that I need to let out the "inner serbian"...I've tried, and i think that I am getting better at being agressive...though i still have a long way to go.
Anyways the point of that rant and rave was....WE WON WE WON!!!!!

Getting back to exercise though...today i'm not sure what possessed me, but i'm glad it did because i did weight training with Eli and Dave...afterwards it was difficult to even lift a drinking bottle...even now it takes a fair bit of effort to type and hold my hands in the same position....it feels good though, even if one has no strenght left.

After the weights played a little basket ball with Chela, Ebonee, Eli, Andre and Chris...was a good game...lots of energy was depleted...when we had enough of running around in the heat, all of us decided to go swimming...amazingly though, afterwards it felt like all the energy which i previously lost was returned and now i feel revitalised.

It was truly a great day to spend with friends....even though not much work was done...oh well

Anyways that is about the extent of my adventures thus far...and just so that no one forgets...WE WON WE WON!!!!!

Have a great Sabbath and a wonderful weekend :)

God bless and no stress :)

Seven times our score...oiiii

2005-09-09T09:36:00.000+10:00

Last week I joined the netball team and am now a part of the scorpion gang along with Eli, Andre, Sonja, Ebonee, Chris Riley, Russell, Melissa, Bec and Pete. Last week was an interesting game as I was trying to learn the rules and was not really focusing on the game...and it showed!!!

Last night after going for a stroll with Eli, Glen, Chela, Chloe and Pete we played another game of netball and got completely whopped...though i swear the other team were not playing fair...it was a fun game and i think that we did do better last night than the week before...though now i am feeling utterly exhausted...the price we pay for fun and friends :)

Well I have a prac folder due today...even though i have asked for an extension i would like to finish it today...so must go and work on that :)

Have fun, God bless and no stress :)

Three more days...three more chances for torture and mayhem

2005-08-23T20:00:00.000+10:00

Well there are only three more days left before prac ends, which means three more oppertunities to torture and traumatize the lovely children.

Nah...they are not so bad...ofcourse i say this because only few more days remain before I go.

Most of the week this week will be solely dedicated to marking and ensuring that my prac folder is up to date, so that when college begins I can survive.

What else did I get up to???

On the weekend went to visit friends at college (i just cannot stay away)...stayed for some games which involved the "Uga Booga"...seriously heaps of fun..everyone should try it ;)

Ofcourse a games night isn't complete without at least one, or two or three or...well you get the idea... games of "Mafia" followed by a little bit of theatre sports...it was a real fun night shared by wonderful friends :)

After the weekend I got an oppertunity to irradiate my students...hehe...we did a lab involving radioactive sources...was lots of fun

Anyways, that is all for now...will write more later

Have fun, God bless and no stress :)

Last observation

2005-08-10T17:01:00.000+10:00

Today was the last time that I have to worry about getting my lesson observed by a visiting lecturer from college. John Watts came this morning and observed my lesson with the yr 11 class (yeh i know i cheated...gave him my best class). But it didn't stop there, because yet another person came before John to observe my lesson with the year 10 class (thankfully they behaved themselves) and see if I am employable...didn't realise that two people were going to observe my lesson today...was a bit nerve racking, but everything turned out well and it looks like I could be a teacher yet :)

Well now that my little spiel is over, i would like to say that I do miss college and all my dear friends within and those in the san as well...hope you didn't think that I would forget about you ;)...so if you read this post before I come back, I hope that you will all have an enjoyable couple of weeks and make the most of it.

Have fun, God bless and no stress :)

Prac still continues

2005-08-04T19:09:00.000+10:00

Well today was a rather windy day, and i thought my yr 8 class would be in complete chaos...reason being is some say that during windy days kids tend to be more disruptive than usual. It was also the period before lunch, and previously when i had them they were a handfull...today tho was completely different...i could not believe how well behaved they were...they actually listened to my instructions and did work...it was a miracle.

That was just so amazing that i had to share.

Also today all the prac teachers had a brief meeting with head of secondary school and the prac coordinator (since most of the prac teachers will be leaving tmorrow)...they both gave us advice for what to do when we go to other schools and provided us with a survival pack for the future. In the survival pack we had a pack of tissues for when times are grim, eraser (to erase our mistakes), pencil and a couple of other things, including a pracetamol tablet for times when the kids give us a headache...it was a very nice gesture :)

It is now almost the end of holidays for most of the college students and the end to yet another prac session for others, while still there are a select few who keep working for the next 3wks in a hope that they will be able to survive.

Have fun everyone...see you soon :)

Didn't teach yr 8s today...yay!!!!

2005-07-25T19:50:00.000+10:00

Today was great...had year 10s and yr 11s, no yr 8s tho...thought that i was going to have the year 8s as well, but the way that the timetable is structured for my supervisor, he has two sets of year 8 students. I thought that I was going to be teaching the other year 8s which have a class on monday...the downside is that now instead of three periods on wednesday I have four periods worth of classes to teach...AAARGHHHH!!!!

Seriously though, I am enjoying the experience...teaches one patience and endurance :)

Have a great week and God bless :)

Latest News

2005-07-19T20:02:00.000+10:00

The holidays are now over for the education students and second year nursing students...Prac teaching has started and will continue for the next 5 weeks...AARRRGHHH!!!!....no actually it isn't so bad....the students are quite nice so far...at the moment only have year 10 science and year 11 physics.

Also I started reading Linus Torvalds' book entitled "Just for Fun"...Linus Torvalds is the creator of Linux, an open source (free) operating system. The book decribes his early life and how he came to be the creator of linux...it has quite a bit of humor in it...a nice read so far :)

Be assured that as prac progresses my posts will be full of more events.

good luck to all those who are starting prac soon or have already started...and all the best to the nursing students who have started their classes :)

All the best and God bless :)

Yay for holidays :)

2005-07-08T20:08:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since I last posted....I seem to have this habit of not posting regularly and then apologizing profusely for it...I guess it could just be my way of starting a post when I don't actually know what to post about, thus filling in the space.

Well it is now the second week of holidays for most, and college has been fairly deserted...I know because I was actually there trying to prepare my unit for yr 10 science before prac starts. Thankfully I was not alone and had help from Clinton who was preparing the same unit. We decided to work on it together. The unit is about force, and we thought of teaching the unit using history (some work has been done on this, though most of the journals contain work that has been taught to senior students and university students), thus most of the time this past week we spent reading about Newton, von Mayer and Joule. Now of course the whole day was not spent working on the unit, just most of the day. In what remained of the day, I went to Watson Hall and hung around Chris and Russell who were there most of the time as well. We watched movies and Stargate episodes...great for relaxing :)

As a side note, I read an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald the other day, about an astrologist who is planning to sue NASA for $ 300 million. The reason is that when NASA crashed its space probe into the comet just recently, it apparently altered the poor astrologists horoscope.

An amusing article...desperation can have a powerful impact on people, that they would resort to such means of getting money...how do they even calculate how much compensation they will get for something as ridiculous as that?

Sorry to veer off the topic like that.

Anyways, hope you are all enjoying your holidays

God Bless :)

Good Friends and Good Times

2005-06-28T15:59:00.000+10:00

What have i been up to since the last time i posted...well i will try and keep it short.

On Sunday went to Krystal's place where we played games for the entire day. Played quite a few card games and even got a game of settler's going which was fairly slow because the map was not really set up that well according to Russell.

Today we (Russell, Chris and myself) went to visit Sharona, Kelly and Kristin in the SAN...Russ had never been to the SAN before, so the lovely nurses (Sharona and Kelly) took it upon themselves to give him the grand tour of the residence halls and the hospital.
Following the tour, we all chatted and ate junkfood all day which was great...oh and played a few rounds of dutch blitz (great game given the right numbers).
We then decided to watch a movie...Love Actually was chosen since i was the only poor unfortunate soul who had not seen it...thought i wouldn't like it, but it turned out to be a good movie, so thnx to all who convinced me to watch it :)

After the movie we had tea, which the lovely nurses cooked for us (McCaine French Fries)...then said our goodbyes and farewells, because it was already 7:30 and we had a long drive back to Cooranbong.

That sums it up i think...a really great day spent with great friends...what more could anyone ask for :)

God bless u all and have a grand holiday :)

Aren't chaffs great :)

2005-06-20T18:00:00.000+10:00

Well i have witnessed quite a few chaffs whilst in college (and participated in some of them), though i was never a victim of one, that is until Friday night. Sometime after First Church began nameless individuals (and i wish i could put a name to them...though i have my suspicions) invaded my room and mercilessly spread dry leaves all over the place (thankfully they did show a bit of mercy and left my bed alone). My room was not the only one that suffered under the hands of these vandals...Andre Hamilton and Dave Herbert's rooms were also attacked. Dave cleaned up the rubbish that was placed in his room whilst Andre hunted for the lingerie that was strewn accross his room.

Here are photos of the mess and the chaff :P

2005-06-20T01:11:00.001+10:00

caught on camera

2005-06-20T01:11:00.000+10:00

scene of the crime

Light at the end of the tunnel

2005-06-10T04:25:00.000+10:00

No doubt you have all heard the saying "there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is an oncomming train", well the light at the end of this tunnell is not from an oncomming train but rather the exit, as the end is about to be reached tho it does not quite feel that way.
The semester has drawn to a close with the classes finishing yesterday and exams about to begin tuesday next week. It does not feel like the end of semester as I still have a chem tutorial to hand in (my reasoning for handing it in so late is that it is being used for revision) and a few of my students' maths assignments to write and an exam to tweak (for those unaware, i was teaching foundation maths this semester, and it has certainly taught me a few things).
To celebrate the end of classes, SAC cafe was run on wednesday night at upper college hall with a jazz theme. It was a really nice way of relaxing and hanging out with friends whilst enjoying the beautiful jazz music in the background.
There were also other activities including a raffle (I actually won a chocolate from the raffle...very pleased about that as it does not usually happen) and board games that other people brought over.

The other exciting event which transpired not too long ago actually, was Chris Thiele's maths seminar which he and Peter have spent endless hours working on...it went really well and congatulations are in order, so...Well done Chris.

Well that is it for the time being...unfortunately there is light at the end of the tunnel and we are approaching it far too quickly.

All the best with your studies....God Bless!!! no stress :)

Charity Banquet

2005-05-23T17:35:00.000+10:00

This sunday we had the black and white charity banquet hosted by SAM for the Southlakes Women refuge. At the commencement of the night the SAM team invited one of the ladies from the soutlakes women refuge to come and recieve their checque for a grand total of two-thousand dollars, raised from the tickets sold for the banquet.
The banquet was held in the caf, which was decorated very nicely that it almost did not resemble the caf.
The banquet included entertainment from the ACTSII team as well as the acromasters, led by Justin Francis Millet. Accompanying these were college students performing a few musical items, such items included Phil Evans and Mark, Andrew Harris singing "Fly me to the moon" and a jazz band of four.
The food was fantastic ( a full three course meal), and the moctails provided were also amazing.

As a whole, the banquet was fantastic and definately worth going to.

Camping

2005-04-25T04:02:00.000+10:00

On the first day of mid semester break, we (Clinton,Braden, Karla, Sonja, Peter, Glen and myself) decided to go to Katoomba and spend the weekend doing daywalks in the blue mountains.
We left college fairly early in the morning and arrived at Katoomba in the afternoon.
Since most of the time was spent sitting in the car, we decided to walk to the three sisters lookout (which was located not too far from the camp site) and just plan where we were going to walk to.
Our first day walk (on Sabbath) was going to a fire tower that was about 10k from the golden stairs...the path on which we walked had about 20m on each side before reaching the edge of a cliff face (the drop was about 500m)...the scenery was truly magnificent...we also took a little detour through the bush (bush bashing) after reaching the fire tower, in an attempt to find this spot where apparently breath taking views could be seen...we did not find it, but i still think that the views which we witnessed were truly breath taking and it was definately worth the effort. It was a Sabbath truly well spent admiring God's creation.
The next day Braden and Sonja had to go back to Cooranbong for a SONSHIP meeting...most of the others went back with braden that day...Peter and Glen took this oppertunity to return home as they were completely exhausted from the previous walk seeing as how they decided to run most of the way back from the fire tower...Sven Ostring came on the previous night and joined Clinton and myself on the walk from the golden stairs to the three sisters.
The walk was very nice, and a sense of awe was overwhelming each time we looked up the cliff face...it was a humbling experience and also it made us realise just how important we are to God.
We enjoyed many interesting philosophical discussions about everything and wished that there was a geologist present so that they might explain certiain things about the rock structure.
We eventually came to the giant stair case (quite literally...a stair case that led up to the top of the cliff with an incline that was insanely steep...at times it felt like a ladder) and enjoyed the view from the three sisters when we made our way to the top.

The day walks were truly worth the effort and the time spent with friends was a real great way to spend the weekend.

Adventures

2005-03-26T04:48:00.000+11:00

To anyone who has lived in watson hall, a fire alarm sounding at an unearthly hour of the night or morning for that matter is not all that uncommon. Fortunately that has not happened yet, though we did hear the Ella Boyd alarm being accompanied by the great College Hall horn last night (about midnight).
Approximately 15 minutes after the alarm sounded, several boys (who shall remain nameless) started knocking on everyone else's door on top floor trying to gather troops for a water bomb assault on the girls...we all got organised within a matter of minutes (no longer than 10) and when the order was given we rushed out of watson hall and headed for the girls, who were happily waiting outside of Ella...one squad headed for bethel and the other towards the caf...it was great fun...we were in and out in under 5 minutes.

Well that about covers the extent of the excitement last night

Have a very happy Easter and God bless

Finally a new post!

2005-03-08T16:40:00.000+11:00

Sorry that i havent posted in a while...and boy has it been a while.
College started and i decided to pick up an additional subject (chemistry 1A) simply because i haven't done chemistry in highschool and thought that it would be worthwile learning about it incase they get me to teach it. Being a sucker for punishment i also picked up a position as a sessional lecturer teaching foundation maths...as a result my timetable is a much more interesting one than that of a student doing only four subjects.

In regard to the social aspect of college...Saturday night ASFA held a barn-night, where everyone dressed up as a cowboy/girl. Peter Dixon and the Yeehaw Brothers were there supplying the country music and also instructing us on how to line dance.
Line dancing was lots of fun...some styles of dancing took a bit longer to get fully coordinated than others, but that was half the fun...we also played the Hokey Pokey, The Chicken Dance and Shoot the Dog.

The barn-night finished at about 11pm...everyone was soaked in sweat after all that dancing and jumping, so they decided to open the pool...we then played volleyball in the pool till about midnight and then went to the dorms where i was foolish enough to stay up and watch the begining of a footy game where the Northern Hemisphere played against the Southern Hemisphere for the victims of the tsunami crisis...finally went to bed at about 2am and fealt preety dead the following day.

Currently i am on duty at the business labs from 7pm-10pm...which is why i have time to write this post even though i should be studying :)

Have a great night everyone and God bless :)

Year 7 Outdoor Ed

2005-02-18T17:01:00.000+11:00

Well today the year 7 class had their outdoor education day...they lined up after roll call and then headed up to the watagan pines picnic area (the bus ride was pleasant and nothing went wrong...really everything was fine). The whole day was filled with activities that were centered on the theme of teamwork...Mr Gordon and myself were in charge of the rope course...the basic point of the game is to get from one side to the other without touching the ground. The rules were that kids could go in between ropes (as long as they had a rope on either side of them they were safe and could step on the ground) and they could use sticks and stones and anything else that was not part of the ground, to get across...and if they touched the ground they would go back to the start. They conveniently started in a rope loop that was placed around the stump and then proceeded through the rope course...the whole point of the activity was to get the whole team to the other side...they could do this with everyone standing in the rope loop whilst they dragged it to the finish line...unfortunately from the eight teams only one figured this out...it was very frustrating to see kids grasping the concept that they could take the rope with them and still seeing them doing the rope course...one team was sooo close...they had the rope but they didn't think it was possible for all of them to be in the loop (even tho they all started there)...argh so frustrating...with the exception of a couple of groups, most of them worked together as a team...it was so good to see the kids helping each other get across :)

Another Update

2005-02-17T13:57:00.000+11:00

Just a bit of an update on what has been happening.

Well prac has started and so far the kids have been great...i am teaching years 8, 10 (science) and 11 (physics). For the year 10 lesson yesterday they made a motor using the motor kits that were provided. Some of them saw smoke when they connected the wires and unfortunately about half of the motors just did not want to work...in the end they all finished their activity and wrote up their observations in a classical lab report.

Today we had the swimming carnival and it was great to see all the kids participating....the kids cheered and fully supported their team including some of the other kids that were not real good swimmers.

Tomorrow the year seven class is having an orientation day where they go to the wattagans and just enjoy a day full of fun activities. Mr Gordon (my supervisor) and myself will be going early in the morning to set up the rope course for the kids...should be fun....and i get out of teaching for yet another day...ahh isnt this fun :)

Anyways thats about it for now....one other thing....i'm sure most of you if not the whole world know about a very special event which transpired exactly a week ago, so i wont really say much more...just wish to congratulate them both :)

Just for laughs

2005-02-09T10:02:00.000+11:00

I had an interesting conversation with one of the people from westpac bank yesterday. They called and asked to speak with Mr Daniel Vok..Vok..Vokurka....they apolagised for mispronouncing my surname (who could blame them), then they proceeded to inform me that my birthday was coming up (nice of them...dont u think) after which they informed me that i had been a member of their bank for a number of years (so nice to know they care)...at this point i thought the conversation was going rather well....then they told me as casually as they were able, that if i was diagnosed with a terminal illness my family would recieve a large sum of money if i accepted the insurance plan....this was an interesting turn in the conversation....after mentioning my birthday and my loyalty to westpac bank they started talking about my death and how my family could benefit.....i then told them that i am a college student and really am not interested in this at all, to which they replied "ok" and hung up......neways, just thought i would share that with u, since i found it rather amusing how the topic of conversation so "gracefully" transitioned :)

Here is also a little joke....hopefully not too many ppl know about it

Q: What is the expanded form of the acronym DNA?
A: National Dyslexic Association

A While

2005-02-08T12:20:00.000+11:00

Well it has been a while since my last post, so i have decided (under no external influences) that i should probably post something.
Thinking about what to post i have come to the conclusion, that i need to tell you about what has happened since my last post...so here it goes
After the AIP congress finished we decided to go for a tour of the research facilities at ANU. We saw the great big particle accelerator...it was massive...had to go up 5 floors to reach the top of the accelerator (i think)...at the bottom of the accelerator (where the particles travel at about 10% of the speed of light) the whole room gets lethal doses of radiation, and thus is completely surrounded by concrete walls and ceiling. Big magnets are attached to the particle accelerator...they are huge and very powerful.

Following our little weeklong excursion to canberra, we had a very nice picnic (organised by Sonja) on Sabbath and after we all had our fill it was time to loose it during the 4WD trip that Braden took us on in the Wattagans. I dont think anyone really got sick, though we did have our share of adventures when the all powerful pajero got stuck (twice!!) and when we tried to get up a steep hill without 4WD mode....almost made it too...just needed a bit more momentum.

Well that preety much sums up what i have been up to since the last post

Take care everyone, and God bless :)

Update

2005-02-03T09:44:00.000+11:00

The physics congress is great....this morning heard a fabulous presentation by a nobel prize winner (Prof. Chu)...he talked about how physics and chemistry can be used to explain certain biological functions and processes, such as the operation of the inner ear and the production of proteins...very interesting presentation (though i must admit when he started talking about rna he lost me)...in just a couple of minutes we will hear a presentation about Albert Einstein...will write more later, but now i have to get back for the presentation

Physics Congress 2005

2005-02-01T12:39:00.000+11:00

Today was the first day of presentations at the ANU for the 2005 AIP Congress...many interesting talks were presented on quite a lot of topics ranging from the Near Earth Space Physics to Biophysics.
I have never seen so many physicists in one place at once...its great (but then u would expect me to say that)...alas my break time has come to an end (will write more now that i've found an internet cafe)

Get in, Sit down, Be quiet and Hold on

2005-01-30T08:38:00.000+11:00

Went to Hillview Church today and Pastor Raymond Dabson took the sermon…his title was “Get in, Sit down, Be quiet and Hold on”…the sermon was focused on Joseph’s life, starting from the time that he had his dream about being a ruler up until the moment that he became the prime minister of Egypt. Without going into too much detail, the gist of the sermon was that through the trials and temptations that Joseph faced whilst in Egypt, the anger that he felt towards his brothers after betraying him was quenched, and thus he was able to forgive them and provide for them when the famine came. During those difficult times, Joseph was probably wondering where God was…looking back though, Joseph could see God working in his life, molding his character so that he would live up to the plan that God had for him.

It is all good and well for us who know the story of Joseph and can see the end from the beginning, however for Joseph it must have been very difficult to come to terms with what was happening to him and why…so it is with our lives…unfortunately sometimes things just don’t go the way we planned, and it is this time that is the most difficult to go through because we just have so many questions, and may even feel that no one is listening when we ask them…however God is always there though it feels that you are all alone.

This sermon encouraged me and I hope that it does the same to anyone else who has passed or is passing through difficult times.

May God be with all of you and give you peace during this wonderful Sabbath day :)

my very own blog

2005-01-25T17:48:00.000+11:00

Well this is my first functioning blog...as the name of the blog suggests, I am uncertain as what to post, so i will just write something about anything and hope for the best.