Griffith: Day 8 [The First Weekend]

Although some attempt was made on my part to have a good and well earned sleep in on Saturday morning, it was not to be.

I awoke only half an hour later than my usual waking time (7:30), though I did feel just a little less tired. I had an easygoing morning, and from memory spent at least two hours in bed playing my 3DS.

Following my slow morning, I took a little bike ride around to the local Vinnies, and found some lovely things. The first was a winter cap (pretty old school), and the second was an eggplant coloured woollen pullover. I later thought it would be a good idea to wash and dry said pullover by machine, and although it’s only 38% wool, the sleeves are looking a little short now.

Following this, I spent a couple of hours catching up with people by phone, and playing games online/having a video call with my boyfriend. Long distance gaming is a great thing to be able to do with people.

Later on, I popped out to the shops and picked up a bottle of local red wine. My flatmate (and fellow prac student) and I had been invited to a ‘curry night’ by a teacher in the English faculty, and so I thought it would make for a good gift, and be a nice opportunity to try the revered local wine. As it so happens, the wine was excellent, and so was the company. The teacher who put together the evening was doing so to celebrate his daughter’s recent marriage. I’ve been to a fair few Indian restaurants in Sydney, but they don’t come close to the home cooked meal I had on Saturday. It was a really lovely opportunity to get to see all of the teachers from my faculty being themselves, and convinced me even more that these are the kinds of people I really value getting to work and spend time with.

I’ve had a lot of experience in workplaces, and my take-home message has always been that a poorly paid job with amazing people is leagues better than a well paid job with a bad team. I think the staff working in the English faculty have truly hit the jackpot in this regard; teachers make a humble but very comfortable amount, and getting paid to work in a difficult but rewarding environment with great colleagues is about all one can ask.

To finish off, the only photo I really have that sort of encompasses the day is a picture I took of what I wore to the dinner that evening – I’ve got the new jumper from the op-shop on, and the hat I got is on the table beside me. (Excuse my mediocre selfie, and messy room.)

Not surprisingly, my room grew less and less arranged as the week progressed.