Day 4: Our visits to the Western Front 🌺

In 2009 I joined my school group on a tour of the Western Front. It would be the first of several visits in the years to come. I could write lots more, but suffice to say these trips left an indelible mark on me. I will Never. Ever. Forget. 

8 April 2009 – Ypres, Belgium

“The ‘real’ Western Front tour began yesterday … when I woke up this morning, the beautiful Cloth hall in the piazza was still there!” 

The day before we had visited multiple sites traveling from Paris and onto the Western Front. We had our own bus with Fausto at the helm. A loveable character who spoke no English. We loved him, though I have no idea how we managed to tour the Western Front over the two weeks. It was a mix of broken second languages, lots of map pointing and patience but we got there!

The Fausto Express

“Fausto, our bus driver is excellent, the best U-turner in the country. I speak to him in a mix of broken Spanish, Italian & French and he speaks back in Spanish!”

The Western Front experiences were many and varied. Each time we visited I saw and felt new things. We met many well know characters along the way, who openly and graciously shared of their experiences. I have always found it difficult to discuss my experiences of the Western Front and the emotions I felt. My journals were my escape, they were the ones with whom I shared, sometimes hurriedly scribbling what happened, many times just relishing in drawing, cutting and pasting. It was the time where I could pour out my day so that I would have room to ‘feel’ tomorrow. In this post I briefly touch on just 3 moments: seeing Cobbers, Otto Dix exhibition, and the Last Post at Menin Gate.

Cobbers

As we all stood solemnly around the sculpture of Cobbers, listening to Ian as he told the story. I was instantly catapulted back to my under-graduate days and into the sculpture studio at MCAE (Melbourne Uni). You see the sculptor, Peter Corlett, was my lecturer for a bit and here I was in front of the original piece, in Fromelles. (There’s a copy that stands as a memorial to Australian soldiers and their sacrifice at the Battle of Fromelles on July 19, 1916 in the Shrine Reserve in Melbourne if you’re interested in seeing it). However, nothing comes close to the feeling that comes over you standing on this land, in front of this sculpture looking over yonder at VC corner where so many of our boys fought and died.

Otto Dix

It had been a full day but nothing prepared me for the images I saw at an exhibition later that day displaying the war etchings by Otto Dix. Harrowing. I could not draw them fast enough so I could leave and close my journal!!!

My hurried sketches of a skull and a rotting corpse

Menin Gate

In Ypres, every night at 8pm the last post ceremony is held under the Menin Gate. It has taken place every night, whatever the weather, since 11 November 1929. The only exception to this was during the four years of the German occupation of Ypres from 20 May 1940 to 6 September 1944. 

My journal, 2011

Lest we forget 🌺

Thanks for reading 🙂

Day 3: The Louvre during the day

24 May 2007 – Revisiting the Louvre on my own

You’ve probably realised that I’m not going to give a tourist’s guide to the places I have chosen to share with you but rather a personal take using snippets of writing and images or photos from my journals. I have added links if you would like to read more about these places, artworks, relics and people. Otherwise sit back and just enjoy the adventure through my eyes, hand and heart. I would love to hear about your own visits to these places. Feel free to add a comment below.

Assyrian Warrior      8th Century BC

“I spent the last full day in Paris in the Louvre. I went on my own, on the metro. I didn’t get lost! I just went there [again] to see what I wanted to see. I went to say g’day to Mona again. … [but] the highlight had to be finding the monumental Assyrian Lions right there in front of me!”

Their scale dwarfs you. I was not to know that years later I would come face to face with sections of the Ishtar Gates, in Berlin and be reminded again of the era I saw here in Paris. It’s an epic feeling I cannot describe to come face to face with works I have only seen and read about in my art books. I have been known to quietly greet the works as if they were a long lost friend.

“I saw the carved figures of Assyrians that are in my book back home. I couldn’t believe it!”

Hello, so great to see you in person!

“I also wondered through the Madonna and child sculptures. There are so many of them! This place is just amazing and I’m glad I got a chance to go back and enjoy it again.”

Anonymous ‘Madonna and Child’ circa 1400-1450

I have a photo gallery full of the wonderful Madonnas I saw that day from every age.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Day 2: Our first visit to the Louvre in Paris

As promised, two posts in one day to make up for yesterday

19th May, 2007 – Our first visit to the Louvre – at night

Me, very excited, outside the Louvre late at night!

“After dinner we were accompanied by friends to the Louvre so we could take advantage of the all night free entry into museums and galleries. Amazing! The line was short and in 10 minutes we were in!! We headed straight for Mona, but not before running into Victory, Leo’s Madonna of the Rocks and a number of others. Mona was beautiful. … My heart was pounding. We spent about 1.5 hours in there, [lots of people] and … we found Venus and Egyptian art, but by 12:15 am we were really tired, so we headed home along with a horde of people on the metro. We got home at about 1 am. What a day!” 

Thanks for reading 🙂

Day 1: Excerpts from my travel diaries

Hiya everyone!

It’s school holidays again in Victoria and, well, we’re still in lockdown. So, I thought I’d take us on a little virtual adventure. Everyday during the break I’ll share with you an image and an extract from one of my many travel diaries. Yes, I know it’s Tuesday, I’ll make it up to you with two posts on one day.

Hope you enjoy and perhaps you might share your own memories of wonderful journeys.

My first visit to Paris

May 18, 2007 – My birthday and my very first visit to Paris

“I cried. I couldn’t help it. As we cruised down the Seine, even though it was pouring rain, there is something about this city that just overtakes everything else we’ve seen and done. Yes! Even the gondola ride in Venice!!. I had the best birthday celebration ever!

We walked to the Eiffel Tower just around the corner from our Rue Amelie apartment which is lovely and spacious, and had a look around then onto a cruise of the Seine with commentary. This was an excellent way to get a quick overview and for 10 Euro, great value!

On our return we had dinner at 9pm at a wonderful cafe called Champs de Mars, just at the end of the boulevard – nice food, everyone enjoyed it. We celebrated with two desserts which mad up my birthday cake, a choc mousse and creme caramel. My husband and 2 daughters sang happy birthday softly and I pretended to blow out the candles (sugar sticks). Just wonderful, a most memorable birthday and it took 43 years to do it! One day I hope to do it again!”

Thanks for reading 🙂

It’s NOT homeschooling! Here’s why …

Image

Finally, I get to revisit my blog! My offshore Foundation students are sitting exams and my 4th-year PSTs are on professional placement. It’s been a l-o-n-g and exhausting 18 months and it doesn’t seem that we’ll be digging ourselves out anytime soon. Once again our students are showing their capabilities to deal with the ups and downs of online, offline, ‘any-line’ teaching and learning. The media continues to report the impact of ‘homeschooling’ on students and parents. To begin, IT’S NOT ‘home-schooling!’ Please stop reporting it as such. Homeschooling is not run by schools, but is the responsibility of parents or caregivers who may or may not be teachers. Students who are homeschooled are registered to be taught at home – hence the term. Currently students who usually attend school are learning ONLINE due to lockdown and other Covid-19 restrictions.

Online learning

 

Online learning is education that takes place over the internet. While at home, parents should be supervising students as they would at anytime when their children are at home. It’s just tougher right now because, well, they are ALWAYS home, and so are you. Your children might just be thinking the same. The online learning that happens during Covid lockdowns is planned, guided and delivered by teachers on various platforms which may include Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. This learning may be synchronous or asynchronous depending on decisions made by individual schools catering to a vast expanse of student capabilities, access and engagement. School leaders, teachers and learning support staff everywhere have been working above and beyond expectations to ensure our students are learning. We love and care deeply for our students and experience similar emotions about being online. We likewise have families and children at school, bad internet, loved ones who work from home, elderly parents or relatives to look after, meals to prepare, places we cannot go. We too are human. We do not make the rules, but like you must follow government directives to ensure our safety and that of others.

I don’t doubt that parents assist their children with learning tasks, but in online learning, teachers set the agenda. That said, I’d like to offer a suggestion for both parents and educators to help with the daily grind of lockdown learning.

  1. Parents, establish a routine where your children ‘get ready’ for online learning in a similar vein as they do to go to school physically, except forget the uniform, but no pjs, that’s just asking for trouble. Get dressed, have breakfast, brush teeth, yadayadayada, roll call, recess – all screens off, lunch – all screens off, after school go for a walk, play, run, skip, jump, anything but screen for 30 mins. I know teens will need to urgently check their social media, like that’s not what they have been doing ALL day (cue eye roll) but just try it, no screens for 30 mins!
  2. During online learning, I find that sometimes changing spaces helps – this may or may not be possible depending on whether you are using a portable device. Moving to different spaces is the same as reading nooks, desk work, floor or other learning stations in primary classrooms. For secondary aged students, well is the freedom to move around and find a space that suits the subject, like changing classrooms – even standing and writing notes on paper or whiteboards or windows might help. I say this because they mostly have their cameras off anyhow so they might as well be moving around! Hopefully as the weather improves, outside might also be an option for a learning space.
  3. Educators – see points 1 & 2!

Thanks for reading 🙂