Choking on an Apple of disappointment

The 8th photo I ever took on my iPhone 4

Almost two years ago I took up a job. I was teaching a grade 5/6 class in term 4. I had 23 students and they had had enough of school, and were simply not interested in having a new teacher. On top of the struggle for me to get them to relate to me, I had to write their end of year reports after only getting to know them for 6 weeks.

As a reward for my efforts, once I had finished my report, I went straight to our local shopping centre and signed up for an iPhone 4. I really liked this phone. I still do.

My husband was jealous of my flash new smart phone and wanted one too. He opted for a Samsung Galaxy S. Not S2, Not S3. Just S.

I always thought he was silly getting that phone. Actually I still do. Not only was iPhone cooler, but it obviously ran better too. I came home from work one day and he was proudly 'rooting' his phone. As English isn't his first language, I don't think he understood 100% my amusement when he said he was 'rooting' his phone. (for those who don't know, 'rooting' means 'jailbreaking' your phone - so the user has full control of the operating system)

I used to mock him as he obsessed over Android devices and how he claimed they were so much better than Apple. The two can't really be compared as one is open source and the other isn't.

I considered getting an iPad. What put me off was they were horribly expensive and I simply couldn't justify spending a great amount of money when I already had an iPhone and we had a baby on the way.

I did, however, have a fantastic idea. I could get an iPad. I could buy eBooks. Picture eBooks. Instead of having a caseload of books in my boot as I went from school-to-school teaching a different class every day I could store them all on my iPad. I'd be known as the awesome relief teacher who read books from an iPad. That and it would be a tax benefit. Win all around.

Then Steve Jobs passed away. Shortly after the iPad 3 was released and I felt disappointed. There wasn't much more to it apart from some resolution improvements. Compared to the iPad 2 it even overheats... and is thicker and heavier too.

Then the iPhone 4S came out. Apart from some spec improvement and the silly Siri addition, it didn't "wow" me.

I was also annoyed that I couldn't use flash on my Apple device. Some websites I want to view have flash, and I also watch online TV which requires Flash to operate.

My husband was so proud of my child bearing efforts that he wanted to reward me with an iPad as I spent a lot of hours up breast feeding. I told him that I was disappointed with the iPad and would rather an android device so that I could watch streaming TV when I was up in the middle of the night. For mothers day he bought me an Asus transformer. I really liked it but unfortunately it was a little bit dodgy from an eBay seller and was returned. We then saw that Aldi had a tablet for sale and purchased it, but that too was dodgy.

The Samsung Note fulfils my creative tendencies 

So I haven't had a lot of luck with devices. However, I still have my trusty iPhone 4. It still works, however I can't upgrade to the new iOS 6 because I need to free up some space.

I was semi-excited for the iPhone 5 release, but knew deep in my heart I was going to be disappointed. I was tossing up between getting a Samsung Note 2 as my next phone (but may just go for the first edition due to finances).

I woke up early on the morning that the iPhone was released to find that it was not all that it was cracked up to be, and upon having a play in the Telstra Shop, I can safely say, once my 4 dies, I will not buy another iPhone. Granted, iPhones are very user friendly and smooth, but I feel like I am limited with them and want something more.

So I am going to go with the Samsung Note when the time comes. It saves me buying a tablet and will be better on my eyes when I am up in the middle of the night feeding the bub.

Keep Indonesian Alive!

I didn't just learn Indonesian,
I danced too.

I want to tell you a story. It's usually the story I tell when people ask me, "kok bisa Bahasa Indonesia?"

I grew up in a small town in South Australia. I went to primary school in this town, and then had to make a move over to Victoria to complete high school. I commuted with a time difference, that was fun. Not to mention the time when the Olympics were on, and Victoria started daylight savings a month before South Australia.

In Victoria, I began to study Indonesian. Being a naive country girl, I thought Indonesian was the language of India.

In year 7 I hated Indonesian. In Year 7 I hated the world though. Then in year 8 I grew to like learning another language, and decided to keep it as an elective in year 9, as it was only compulsory until year 8. In year 9 I liked being one of 4 Indonesian students, and although I had only committed to doing Indonesian for one semester, I opted to do it for the full year because of a time table clash.

There were plans for our school to go to Indonesia in 2011, but then September 11 happened and any trips overseas by the Department of Education were cancelled.

I was about to quit in year 10, and then the trip was reconsidered. There were now plans for a trip to Yogyakarta and Bali. I wasn't all too sure that I wanted to go, but then my Mum insisted as I was 1) studying Indonesian and 2) She never had these opportunities when she was at school (my Mum went to my school too!). I then had to go through the process of getting a passport, immunisations and all of that fun and I found myself on a bus to Melbourne with a few different schools. We took a plane from Melbourne to Denpasar, and then Denpasar to Yogyakarta. It was a long day.

Sammy in Yogyakarta

As soon as I got to Yogyakarta I fell in love. Perhaps so much not with the heat, but it was beautiful! I think that what I love most about Indonesia is the people. Furthermore, when you can converse in their native language it makes the friendship even more special.

I was thinking to give up Indonesian in Year 10, but after going to Yogyakarta, and falling in love, I studied it right until Year 12. I was then determined to complete it on a tertiary level.


I had heard great things about the Indonesian program at La Trobe University in Bendigo, and that the program was conducted by a native Indonesian speaker from Yogyakarta.

Sammy in Bali

I was very blessed to get into University in Bendigo. What I studied wasn't important to me, as long as I did Indonesian. Initially I was doing a Bachelor of Arts but at the last minute switched to Education. It seemed Education had more of a direction career wise.

In my third year of uni, I got the chance to go to Kendari, South East Sulawesi with La Trobe. Every time an Indonesian person asks where I have been in Indonesia, and I say Kendari, they have no idea where it is! La Trobe had a lot of students from Kendari studying kemajuan masyarakat (community development). This not only strengthened communities in Indonesia, but made the relationship with Australia and Indonesia stronger.

Sammy in Kendari

And now they want to cut this fabulous program and introduce online learning. How can one learn a language or culture through online means? We will have teachers in schools not being able to pronounce words properly.

Sammy in Bandung

I feel we should have more value for language, especially that of our closest neighbour. In Singapore, it is compulsory to be bilingual. Being bilingual is a great super-power. Not only can you talk behind peoples backs (he he), you can learn more about your mother tongue.

"why do we learn Indonesian at school when the kids can't speak English properly!?"

Believe it or not, but I never 'got' English grammar until I studied Indonesian. The comparison and contrast of the two languages taught me how language works. And the study of Indonesian, be it at school or university is not just a study of language, but also of culture. Indonesia, being so rich and diverse in culture, promotes a wider world view for our children, something that is ever so important in this increasingly multicultural Australia.

Sammy in Jakarta

This is something very close to my heart, so please, wherever you are in the world, it will only take a minute...

CLICK HERE AND SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE INDONESIAN AT LA TROBE UNIVERSITY

And also because my lecturer, Nita, is the loveliest lady in the world and deserves to stay there!

Thank you!!

Spill

Source:
http://ffffound.com/image/a2111b4992a2bf206fbe6e4577307de844ba2948

So today was a significant day in Australian politics - a 'respill', a fight for the Prime Ministership of Australia.

I'm not really into politics. I don't understand a lot. I voted for Kevin Rudd (don't tell my Gran that) back in 2007, my reasons being that I didn't like what was going on in the liberal party at the time.

Then 2010 came. It was a day much like today. I wasn't called into work that day so I stayed at home. I lived in a sharehouse at the time and we were lucky to get any local TV reception, as we had one of those big satellites that broadcast TV from China and nowhere else.

I was really upset when Kevin lost his job. I think Kevin is a top bloke with the world in mind. I didn't vote for Julia, and I thought that the way it all happened so quickly was horrid.

After getting over it, I noticed that Julia annoyed me more and more. I didn't like a lot of their policies, such as Carbon Tax, Assylum Seekers, Gay marriage etc. It seemed to all go down hill from there.

I have a lot of respect for Jessica Rudd, who wrote an excellent article here. She reminds me how we are lucky to live in a country like Australia where we have a voice.... most of the time.

Good on Kevin for trying. I still have heaps of respect for him. I am disappointed that he isn't the foreign minister any more because I think he was as awesome at that job as he was at being Prime Minister.

But with all that said, I really admire what Julia had to say about Kevin today: He has done so many great things for this country, and that it must be disappointing for he and his family.

I'm not sure what my opinion is about either party now. I think time will tell. In a lot of countries there would be war over this kind of thing that happened today. I need to put my trust in that all those MPs know the inside information in Canberra. Obviously there was a majority vote for a reason.

As cliche as it is, I think we need to move forward and get on with the job...