G’Day my fellow blog readers. So it’s been a busy few weeks with last minute assessment and end of year exams at University, but it’s finally over, another year of my degree is done and dusted. I got results back for 2 of my 3 subjects, and am glad to say that I went pretty well, just waiting on that ever anxious last result, the maker or breaker, haha. Ok so maybe not that important. But we sent the Uni year off in style… an 80′s themed prom. It was an awesome night, with awesome people. Don’t believe me? Proof:

Now that Uni is out of the way, I can concentrate on preparations for my trip to Japan…. oh that’s right, I’m going to Japan. So it is now less than a month until I leave, and let me tell you, I am starting to get very excited. It’s all starting to sink in: I’m going to be in another country to welcome in the New Year. More about preparations… once they are completed!!

In my last instalment, I promised that I would introduce you to Guido… well here he is.

Ok so Guido is a 5 year old, Italian born waiter, who has spent the last 3 years of his life working in some dank and seedy fast food joint. He got in contact with me after reading Jason’s Blogs. Guido now finds his life at a crossroads. If he takes one path he will be stuck serving greasy burgers to ungrateful patrons for the rest of his life, and if he takes the other, he is agreeing to take the bull by it’s horns (as they say, I don’t think he is actually that brave) as I have offered to sneak him aboard the plane to Japan in my luggage. He desperately wants to experience some of the awesome adventures that Jace has been experiencing.

Ok so by now I think maybe a few of you are starting to move those cursors towards the little cross in the top right hand corner of the screen… No I’m not crazy, I’m in fact studying Primary/Elementary (for all you Americans, thanks Jace) Education and I want to be able to relate my travels to my future students, and an innovative way to accomplish this is to use what is called a ‘Travel Buddy’. A ‘Travel Buddy’ is some sort of artefact, soft toy, action figure etc. that travels to other places in order to learn about (in this case) life in another country. This can involve taking pictures of the Buddy in locations of interest, or it can involve correspondence that was written either to or by the Buddy. The ‘Buddies’ collect information that can later be used to initiate investigations and projects that the students can be engaged in. The idea is very open-ended so even though I have not finished my degree, I will be able to use the information that I will have collected in many of my future classes.

So Guido will be my ‘Travel Buddy’ and will be accompanying me on my grand adventure. If anyone has any suggestions as to what Guido should get up to, leave a comment at the bottom of the page.

Until next time folks, take it easy.