my Necklace

Before coming to Australia, and because it was my wedding my mum bought me very lovely and special gold jewellery. It was my name and my husband's name in Arabic. Firstly, she bought my name separately then my husband's name. The second day she went to the jewellers to put them together. It started with my name and finished with his name. After that she put it in a necklace and gave it to me.I love it, I've never taken it off my neck because firstly it is from my lovely mum who I love with all my heart, secondly because it is holding my name and the name of my love, the name of the man who I love with all my heart for all my life. I love this necklace.
You can listen to my story and those of my classmates here.

Carlton

In my opinion Carton is a good area to live in and many people would agree with me for a lot of reasons.

Firstly, a lot of people like to live there because it is a quiet area. In Carlton you can be relaxed, you don't hear any noise, the only noise you can hear is the bird's voice. If you want to go for a walk, you can find good parks to enjoy it.

Secondly, people like this area because it is close to everything. It is close to Kogarah which is an important suburb because you can find there the hospital, banks, schools, Tafe and everything you need to have for an easy life.

Finally, Carlton is a good area for transport because it is very close to the airport, it is on the city line to go by train, you don't need to change trains to go to the city.

For all these reasons, I will stay in this area.

The Sculpture

On Tuesday we went to Bondi to see the sculptures there. Everyone had information about one sculpture and we had to achieve a report about it. My one was number 25. When I looked and read the paper for the first time, I didn't understand anything and I was laughing because it looked funny on the paper, I could only see some semi-circles.

I arrived to my designated sculpture, I looked at it surprised. It was built with metal. The most commonly used metal is stainless steel. It was long, the size was 280cm by 92cm by 80cm. It was all silver. It was built in this way: Flat sheets of metal were cut into pieces which were formed and then welded together. Also, the sculptor often builds pieces for public places which must necessarily be very strong, this piece had to also withstand a very long boat ride.

It is a nice sculpture it makes you feel happy, her colour becomes brilliant with the sun and makes it more impressive.

SCULPTURE BY THE SEA

On Tuesday 10 of November we went with Marion's class on an excursion to Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi.

This day I woke up at 8:00 o'clock. My husband took me to Kogarah Station. It was early and I didn't have coffee at home so I went to Gloria Jeans cafe to have a cup of Cuppucino. While I was drinking my coffe, I was reading the information about the sculptures.

It was 9:00 I walked straight to the station and waited for my friends. We walked to the platform but we missed the train, some students had got on it and waited for us at Bondi Station. We took the next train. Then from Bondi train station we took the bus to Bondi Beach.

We had to walk from Bondi Beach to Tamarama Beach. On the way we were looking and taking photo of the sculptures. Then we had lunch before continuing our way. I arrived with two of my friends before every one, so we sat down under the trees waiting. The weather was nice but when I came home I saw that I was burnt, my face and my hands were red.

It was a different and really nice place to visit.

A TERRIBLE DAY

The day began terribly. My alarm didn't go off and I left the house with only 1 hour to spare before my English class started.

I walked straight to Carlton train station, but because I wasn't lucky I missed the train, and Carlton station is a quiet station so every half an hour a train stops. I went to have coffee across the road, I forgot the time and I was talking on the phone with a really talkative friend, I looked at the time it was about 3 min to the next train.I was running to be on time, but I took the wrong train because I was in hurry and it was two trains stopping.

I was very angry and I came back home and didn't go anywhere. It was really a terrible day.

Cairns

Cairns is an Australian, touristic city. It is on the beach with a good climate to spend a holiday there.

The location of Cairns is on the north-west coast, in Queensland. The distance is 1700 km from Brisbane and 2500 km from Sydney. Approximately, about 123.760 people live in this city. Also, there are about 25 State primary schools, a Large TAFE Campus and a small University which is called James Cook University.

The climate in Cairns is tropical but it is the safest tropical city in world. In winter the average of the temperature is 24-28⁰C, but in summer it is 30-35⁰C. July is the coldest month, the temperature is 16⁰C minimum. Frequent thunderstorms happen usually on October-December. Summer is often wet and very humid. It often rains late afternoon or night.

The most important industries in Cairns are tourism and fishing, but many Australian and international tourists visit Cairns in winter because it is preferred to swim on this season. The popular tourist activities in Cairns are diving and river rafting. Most tourists go there because they admire the Great Barrier Reef, to have excellent diving on a very clear and warm water. Also, they like the beautiful beaches there. Cairns is a beautiful and interesting city to visit it.

Interview with Maya (a librarian).

Last week 2 AMEP classes interviewed Maya a librarian at St George TAFE. We did it on Video conference. At first we said hello, and we wanted to ask her some questions about her experience in Australia.

Students: Where are you from?

Maya:I'm from Russia.

Students:How long have you been in Australia?

Maya:I've been in Australia for four years.

Students:How did you start work?

Maya:At first I worked as a volunteer, which is without any pay.

Students:How did you get this job?

Maya:My teacher helped me and found it for me to start here in Australia.

Students:Did you have to study at University when you came here or you just used your qualification from overseas?

Maya:No, I didn't do anything at University here. I just did the EFS English course at TAFE.

Students:Did you come by yourself to Australia?

Maya:No, I came with my husband and my children.

Students:Do you speak English at home with your husband and children?

Maya:No, we speak Russian.

Students:Did you work as a librarian in your country?

Maya:No, I didn't.

Students:Can you tell us one of your responsibilities and explain it?

Maya:Yes; the first one is customer service: helping students to find the books, CDs and anything else like information for example.

Students:Do you like it?

Maya:Yes I do.

Students:So, thanks Maya for everything and thanks for your time. BYE.

Physical Punishment

In my opinion physical punishment is not good for children. This punishment leaves negative points in the memory of the child.

Firstly, according to psychologists, hitting children can be harmful for their development. If abused children are not confident, they will be scared from everything, can't make right decisions. Also children lose some IQ and can become bullies themselves, hitting everyone with the same method that their parents used.

Secondly, new research shows that physically abusing children when parents are angry can lead to a huge and serious physical damage. It causes injuries and if the parents don't restrain themselves they can cause brain damage or death, for example if the dad slaps his child and pushes him without any control, the child can fall on something and cause a big problem, like brain damage.

Thirdly, it has also been proven that using physical punishment does not work with children. When you do it many times, children get used to it and it will be a normal punishment and won't be scared. So, the child becomes more rebellious and says:"Ah! My parents are going to hit me and that is normal". Also<>

For these reasons, I propose to have some meetings to teach the parents how to choose the good way to punish their children, because the physical punishment is not a good way with children.

kangaroos

The kangaroo is an Australian animal, which we can find in different kinds.

There are about 60 differents pieces of kangaroo but they are very close. We distinguish two categories: the Macropodidae and the Potoroidae. Some of the macropod family are different in size and weight ranging from 0.5 kg to 90 kg. The potoroinae lives only in Australia. Kangaroos live throughout Australia.

Kangaroos are herbivorous, they eat some plants and sometimes Fungi. Kangaroos are variable between nocturnal and diurnal. Some of them are nocturnal but some are active in the early morning and late afternoon. Potoroids make nests while tree_kangaroos live above the ground in trees, but some of them live in caves and rock clefts.

usually kangaroos are brown, but there is one family which is white and its name Albino_kangaroo.

They have one thing in common: powerful back legs with long feet. all female kangaroos have front_opening pouches that contain four teats, this is where the young Kangaroo is raised until it can survive outside the pouch. Most kangaroos able to breed all year round.

The Editor

Dear Sir

Cigarette Smoke

Smoker Joe didn't convince me, because I am totally against his opinion.

Everyone should have Fresh Air and clean enviroment, so no one can have an excuse for their filthy habit.

Smokers don't have the right to annoy other prople. Cigarette smoke is very bad for people who suffer from breathing problems. The tax that you pay from smoking is coming back to you when you have health problems.

Smokers have to respect the others and should smoke at a smoke-free area.

M.Z.

St George area.

The Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus Strigoides)

They are birds, they are not owls but they are more closely related to Kookaburras.

They are found throughout Australia. The adult Frogmouths are about 50 cm from head to tail ( 350_530 mm) in length, but they are larger in southeastern Australia than in the north.

The male has a greyer plumage but the female has a browner plumage and it is less mottled in colour.The sexes are similar, the male slightly larger and the claws slightly darker. Their upper parts are dark grey streaked with black, tipped with white and russet flecks. They have a face grayish/ white brown and dusky. They have white tipped bristles spreading towards the tip of bill is olive to black grey and they have a yellow mouth. Their eyes are lemon to orange yellow, their tails are grey barred with black and their feet are olive brown.

They blend in with the trunk of trees and they are look like a broken branch of a tree. They are indistinguishable while roosting in trees. They sound like an " oom oom oom " call which they repeat 10_50 times like a motor that won't start and sharp " took took " in alarm.

They are nocturnal.they live in the same area year after year. they growl, hiss and snap in threat or defence. They hunt for food and mainly insects. The breeding period is from August to December. The female lays 1_3 eggs which they are incubated for about 20 to 32 days by both parents, each spends up to 12 hours in incubation and the male often does it by day. The Young fly in 25 -35 days.

MY FIRST DAY IN AUSTRALIA

My first day in Australia was really a beautiful day because I met my husband after one and a half years in Lebanon by myself.
I left my parents on 14 December, sad, crying because it was the first time I was going to be alone without my mum. On the plane I was thinking about the meeting with my husband. I arrived to the airport om 15 December. The first person I saw was my brother in law, then it was my husband waiting for me holding a bouquet of red flowers. I left my bags and I ran to hug him and kiss him.
All his family was waiting with him, so I said hello to everyone. I had only met his parents before. On the way home my father in law called my parents and gave me the phone. I was happy because I was with my husband but I felt sad because I had left my parents. We arrived to my parents in law's home with his family, then we had dinner together.
i was tired, when everyone left I had a shower then I sat down to relax. I was speaking with my husband about my life in this year by myself. We stayed awake till four o'clock in the morning.
That was my first day in Australia. It was a day which I will never forget.

Hi everybody

image by NordNordWest

My name is Maysaa. I'm from Bint Jbeil, in the south of Lebanon, although I lived mainly in Beirut. I've been in Australia since December 2008. I'm a student, I'm studying English at St George Tafe on level 3.