How you going? (This is the first thing I usually hear when I get to the office in the morning and everywhere else that I go.)
So today was the Child Safe Environment training day at Magill. Magill is where I go everyday so this is nothing new to me. There were ten other people in training including the trainer (facilitator or teacher). It was a long training session lasting from 9am to past 5pm. There was a morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea break. I felt a little lethargic throughout the entire day. I was just sitting and listening and sitting some more. The training was over child abuse and to work with children in any state in Australia you have to take this course. So this makes me a Mandatory Notifier (or Mandatory Reporter) of any time of child abuse - emotional , physical, sexual or neglect. I didn't really learn anything new or enlightening except for the fact that in the US you report child abuse whether you're on the job or not and here in South Australia, it's only if you're at work. When you're off the clock it's considered your moral responsibility, but you're not obligated. And if you're at work and you don't report and they find out you didn't report - $10,000 fine. Overall, not much to report that is new or that was really thought provoking.
After the training, we hopped in Helen's car and she stopped at the Magill shopping center so that I could try my ATM card out again. It worked!!!! I looked like a boxer who had just won running from the ATM machine back to the car with my money in my hands. Helen was laughing at me. After this we called John Kupke (an avid cricket fan) and told him we were on our way to the Adelaide Oval.
We arrived at the Adelaide Oval which is where cricket and footy (Australian Rules Football) are played. I was here for the cricket. I went to the international game that was between Australia and New Zealand. It was great - we got in for $10 AUS dollars because the rate had gone down because we had missed the first inning and because all of the proceeds from the game were going to support the victims of the Victorian Bushfire. We arrived to see the inning in which the Australians were the only ones batting.
Many people have been asking me about cricket so here's the breakdown of the game:
It was started in Britain a long time ago and now is played in almost all of the places where the British colonized. Except the US - which I think is a shame. Cricket is played between two opposing teams. One team bats while the other fields. There are batmans and bowlers. When I was learning about the game I thought people were saying "ballers" and I thought this was funny. Until they spelled the word for me. The bowler is from the fielding team and throws the cricket ball towards the batsman in hopes of hitting his wickets. But the batsman has a wooden cricket bat in which he defends his wickets. Wickets are the yellow posts that stick out of the pitch. There are always 2 batsman on the pitch - one is the striker (the one hitting the ball) and the other is the non-striker. When the ball is hit (and isn't caught so they're out), both batsmen run between the wickets unless they choose not to and then they can just stand there, but this makes the game quite lengthy. When running the two batsmen exchange ends and thus each completed exchange of the ends scores one run. So if they ran 3 times and completed each exchange - that's 3 runs. Then there are the boundaries. When a batsman hits the ball and sends it sailing through the air to land outside the boundary of the ground (like a home run in baseball), he automatically gets 6 runs. This is called a "six". If the ball rolls along or touches the ground before crossing the boundary, he gets 4 runs. This is called a "four". When a batsman hits a four or a "sixer", he doesn't have to run. The bowler bowls the ball in sets of six deliveries (or "balls") and each set of six balls is called an over. There are 50 overs in a game. Do the math. Oh, and this was a one-day match. Some matches (depending on what kind of cricket you're playing) can last up to five days.
Here is the bowler about to get rid of the ball and the batsman getting ready to swing.
There are more rules - but I don't feel like giving an in-depth analysis on cricket any longer.
So basically, I learned about the game and then became engrossed in it. As well as watching all the activities that were occuring on "the hill." We sat at the West End Hill and it was mass chaoticness. Some guy climbed the scoreboard, people fighting, tackling each other, throwing sheep (New Zealand's known for their sheep) and other stuffed animals in the air and then the long train of beer cups. And the police were involved for a good portion of it. I felt like I was back in America at a sporting event for a minute - you know how you feel when you sit in the nose-bleed section? Australia won 4/247 while New Zealand had 8/244. This means that Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets in the fourth one-dayer to square the Chappell-Hadlee series. YEAH!!! I also forgot to mention that I had a hot dog and then some chips (which are french fries in America) and that it was amazing to have normal food again. :)
The guy that climbed the scoreboard.
Morgan, El, John and I after the victory!
So after the game Vivien (John's wife) picked us up and then drove us back to HH. It was a nice drive and they are amazing people! Well, off to bed now since I have to be up early for work tomorrow.
Which brings me to another thing - it will be my first day away from Ellie and Morgan. YAY! It is nice being with them, but I love having my own thing to do, you know? So I will be with Andrea working on the new foster care program through LCC. The government has specifically asked LCC to set one up and I get to be in on the planning!
Cheers until later!
Morgan and I enjoying some hot dogs and chips!
The money that was raised during the game for the Victorian Bushfires- it was televised nationally.
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