Office Space
Well, my new job started yesterday. Can't say I'm overly impressed with it, but hey, it's a paycheck. Plus, it's considerably better than my last employment endeavor so I'm very grateful for that. I've been thinking about it lately and it's really amazed me at how many job (and housing) stints I've had in Australia since I landed here back in February. I went from designing toys, to telemarketing research, to data entry, to teaching a cartooning class, and now filling out forms for a government office that handles just about every complaint the entire state of New South Wales can conjure. I figure this government spiel should last for about 3 to 4 weeks and then it's off for some travels!
The cartooning class I mentioned was for this community art centre just a bit north of the city. If you've ever seen the Naperville Art League, it's a lot like that. During the summer (or winter) or whatever-the-heck break the kids get down here, local parents dump their kids on the unsuspecting centre for an array of art and music related classes. Some of the kids are incredibly enthusiastic about learning how to draw their favorite animal while others would just assume spend the better part of their free day playing PSP.
Basically what happened was I got in touch with Ku-Ring-Gai (the art centre) through a friend, sent them a quick email about who I was, what I do, do you need any teachers?, etc and within a few short days their lovely coordinator Judy had got back to me saying "Hey, we like your toy design stuff! Want to teach a cartooning class?" "Sweet." Did an interview, drafted a rough curriculum, and off I went. The class ran for four days in total. Two days one week, two days the next. The kids ranged anywhere from 6-12 years old and while they were GENERALLY a good bunch, I can't blame them for being a little less than patient as the day worn on. Hey, I never sat through ONE six hour art class in college, why should they?
I'll have to remember to post this on my Facebook page but a couple of kids actually drew me on the last day of class which I thought was pretty cool. One of them even put the cargo pants in. I cried.
Check out the link below, it's a link to Ku-Ring-Gai's website. If you scroll down you'll see a couple images of my artwork, the rhino and b/w kid sketch, they posted to help promote the cartooning class.
http://www.kmc.nsw.gov.au/www/html/1477-art-centre-school-holiday-program.asp
When it was all said and done Judy said the class went off really well and would be happy to have me back in October for their next session-they filled this one rather quickly. It was really flattering but I had to turn it down as I will most likely be wandering aimlessly around Melbourne by the time that happens.
Oh, and yes, I did dive The Great Barrier Reef last week up in Cairns. It was excellent. Updates to follow just as soon as I get all these damn photos uploaded. Til then, night all...
The cartooning class I mentioned was for this community art centre just a bit north of the city. If you've ever seen the Naperville Art League, it's a lot like that. During the summer (or winter) or whatever-the-heck break the kids get down here, local parents dump their kids on the unsuspecting centre for an array of art and music related classes. Some of the kids are incredibly enthusiastic about learning how to draw their favorite animal while others would just assume spend the better part of their free day playing PSP.
Basically what happened was I got in touch with Ku-Ring-Gai (the art centre) through a friend, sent them a quick email about who I was, what I do, do you need any teachers?, etc and within a few short days their lovely coordinator Judy had got back to me saying "Hey, we like your toy design stuff! Want to teach a cartooning class?" "Sweet." Did an interview, drafted a rough curriculum, and off I went. The class ran for four days in total. Two days one week, two days the next. The kids ranged anywhere from 6-12 years old and while they were GENERALLY a good bunch, I can't blame them for being a little less than patient as the day worn on. Hey, I never sat through ONE six hour art class in college, why should they?
I'll have to remember to post this on my Facebook page but a couple of kids actually drew me on the last day of class which I thought was pretty cool. One of them even put the cargo pants in. I cried.
Check out the link below, it's a link to Ku-Ring-Gai's website. If you scroll down you'll see a couple images of my artwork, the rhino and b/w kid sketch, they posted to help promote the cartooning class.
http://www.kmc.nsw.gov.au/www/html/1477-art-centre-school-holiday-program.asp
When it was all said and done Judy said the class went off really well and would be happy to have me back in October for their next session-they filled this one rather quickly. It was really flattering but I had to turn it down as I will most likely be wandering aimlessly around Melbourne by the time that happens.
Oh, and yes, I did dive The Great Barrier Reef last week up in Cairns. It was excellent. Updates to follow just as soon as I get all these damn photos uploaded. Til then, night all...