Life in Melbourne. 4

Monday 11/2/2013…
Pam brought me to Chirnside Park, which was 20 minutes drive away, to look at one of the fruit and vegetable market in a shopping mall.  The variety of fruits and vegetable was an eye opener. There’s 10 types of apple and 8 types of mangoes…
We came here for the “Golden Fall… something… apple” it was a sweet green apple.  I bought 4 green apples for $1.32.  3 brown onions $0.63 and 3 big pink skin washed potatoes $1.17
After that we drive back to Croydon shopping center which is 5 - 10 minutes drive away from the place I stay do other basic groceries shopping.

The 2nd year student start their class today and we, the first year start officially on the next day.
Tuesday 12/2/2013… First day to start schooling again…
I think all the 2nd year students get their flower from their own home garden or roadside… each one of them would give away their flower to any 1st year student they met.  I got mine from a China student, 葛Shoe, a young looking mother which I had dinner with on the Chinese New Year Eve.  It was a great idea to welcome the 1st year students… we felt so warmth and homely…
Then there were short speeches and performances from Violin Cello Piano Trio… our Speech and Drama trainer reading Shakespeare… 2nd year students choir… and Eurythmy Dance teacher dancing on Bach piano piece…
Helen, our main coordinator she set up a yellow clothe, a yellow candle and a big vase in the middle of our 1st year big circle.  We have to give short introduction about ourselves… Name, from, and why came here… then put our flower we received this morning into the vase.
It was quite entertaining to look at how people walk to the middle of the room and put their flower, especially when the vase is really full… the people near the end of this session struggled to get their flower in…
10:45am morning tea was provided… coffee tea milk bread and butter jam spread…
 
11:15am We had Helen lesson… she asked us to close our eyes and visual if we were a tree or a shrub how would we look like in the past… the colour and the shape… and what word came to our mind…
Then think about how it would look like in the present… and the word that came to us…
Then lastly… think about how it would look like in the future… and the word…
She let us meditate and visualize in our mind for awhile then asked us to grab drawing papers and crayons in spread in the middle of the circle then we were given time to draw that 3 visualization…



She asked everyone to lay out the past picture… colourful and full of energy drawing can be seen overall…
Then she asked to take away the past picture and put the present picture… amazingly… the colour change to gloomy, conflicting, falling leaves…
Lastly the future picture… without sharing our thoughts… everyone drew almost the same idea of flourishing and fruitful trees… Helen said:”See how the energy of the room change when the picture change from the past to present and future…”
Helen brought in introduction of stages of life created such powerful visual in our mind, and visual represent the energy that we are carrying right now…  And she brought our attention to the board that 2nd year students requested to draw for welcoming 1st year.  Not knowing what Helen was going to teach us, they drew an awesome big colourful tree with chalks…
12:15noon Lunch… everyone sitting in the sun…
A 2nd year student came and sell her Grimm’s fairy tales for $10… I thought since I have to buy it somehow so I just get from her.. she said she actually got it from previous student at the same price and told me I could sell it off same price after I done using it.

1:00pm We heard gongs and hand bells chasing everyone back to class.
This week we had sculpture class all together in this same big Movement room.  Next week onwards we would be split into 2 group to have sculpture class at sculpting room.
(Journal I did, we have to do after each day of class)  Blocks of white clay were distributed to everyone and we compressed the clay within our hands, No slapping No rolling.. but to press and push it into sphere.  It was a very meditative moment as Tanya wanted us to be quiet and concentrate with the senses between our hands.
After 15~20 minutes our spheres were smooth and round… and she asked everyone to exchange… Magically we felt big difference with other people’s sphere… the energy the force the weight and temperature was so difference.  At that moment everyone was amazed and eyes gazed between each other could not explain the amazing force felt in our hands.
The clay sphere seemed to carry part of my soul and aura… even with some cleansing effect.
Then she asked to work on our own sphere… close our eyes and poke one thumb into the middle of the sphere.  Slowly smoothen out to the surface of the sphere and keep repeating the movement.  She reminded us not to plan just let it be what it would be…
after 15 minutes of meditative movement with the clay in our hands she asked us to do final touch up and think how would our piece stand as an art work.  Placed it on the floor in front of us then all of us move in clockwise, walked slowly admiring each other work… everyone came out with many beautiful different “things”

Then she explained to let it dry for a day and refurbish with teaspoon or pebbles stone to concentrate the clay and it would have a shinny surface.
Later of the day Helen came in and gave us some information what would happen in this week then she made all of stand in the same big circle… hold hands and she said her closing verse..  Love in the Spirit.. Courage in the Soul… (Can’t remember all…) Love to receive and for us to give… (It’s much longer but something like that)
Wonderful way to end the first day of class… brings good energy home…
Some written lesson plans and reading materials are published in my other blog:  journey2waldorf.blogspot.com

Life in Melbourne. 3

Friday 8/2/2013 Dianne brought me to take a short walk to McAdam Square to have a nice relaxing meal.  This is a small area selling all sort of organic goods, free rage pork, chicken, vegetables and fruits.  Even the coffee served in the bakery and the cafe are all organic stuff.
This is the food supplementary powder that I thought it was equivalent to the Biorganix we have at home.   600g for AUD 129.95





We came to this bakery which looked quite popular spot to hang out.  The wooden windows, frames, shelf and even the ovens were built by the previous owner of this bakery?!  I was told about this by one of the lecturer that lives near here as well.  The ex-baker’s owner was also one of the very Anthroposophic person but later left a wonder of why did he sell this off to another person.  However this is still a very nice relaxing place to spend the whole afternoon.
There was an old man walked his dogs and just tied them up at the pole to get some bread at the bakery.  The clever one got its shade from the car and the other funny one try to hide itself from the sun by a pole… hahaha…
Dianne and I bought weak Latte $3.50 each, a Tuscan Slice $7 and a chicken-ham cheese vegetables baguette $8.

Saturday 9/2/2013 Chinese New Year Eve…
My classmate from Taiwan, Sunny, she offered to cook for everyone in her house and invited me and a few more Chinese 2nd year students.  11am Lilian drove to my area to buy the free rage pork she ordered then picked me up at the same time.
Before heading back to the house, we went to a garage sale house which was just round the corner one round about before to their house.  There was a big sign of garage sale, and a big sign of indicating the house was sold.  Long garden way into the house and we can see heaps of things display in and outside their garage.  Clothes and even thick jackets each $2… Printer $10… food processor $10… ear rings necklace 50cents… books $2… Whole set sofa $40 (but there’s some stain).. mirror.. lamps… Jacuzzi tub…
  I didn’t intent to buy anything.. but I found this… knitted sling bag.. and it’s only going for 50cents~!  SAPU lar~!!!
Then we head back to the house just opposite our school where most of them stayed there.  We started to get things organized, Lilian started to mix and kneed her pastry dough, Sunny wanted to get the dumpling filling done.  I helped Sunny chop the ingredients, PangWei served tea for everyone and kept washing utensils and dishes…
Pam’s friend Valle came and gave us a Chinese New Year card as they were going to a story telling event so they could not join us for the dinner.  It was very nice to see everyone’s name including my name was in the card.
As we were preparing dinner for 10 people… PangWei thought we should have some food for lunch as well.  So she quick boiled soba noodles and fried the mince pork and toufu which was actually the inner ingredient for the dumpling.  1pm she garnished the noodles with parsley and we had our beautiful lunch with a .
After lunch, Sunny was cooking Daikon pork rib soup and stew pork with chicken feets and boiled eggs.  Lilian baked the base of the tart pastry and then mix cheese poured into the set pastry to bake again.  Few minutes later she took it out and decorated with berries then sprinkle with sugar dust~!  Her husband and mother in law called from China while she was doing all this.  Her daughter, MangMang, kept them occupied on the phone for awhile while she tried to get the pastry right first before talking.  Lilian’s daughter MangMang 7 years old, studying grade 1 at the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School just beside the place we had our training.  They will go back China, SuZhou, next year after Lilian finish her 2nd year of training.
I skinned and chopped cabbage, one red one green bell pepper, potatoes and carrots.  MangMang helped to skinned the carrots and she enjoyed it.  Then she helped to shelled the boiled eggs.  Sunny tied the big sheet of seaweed with tread and ready to stew the flovour into the pot of boiled pork ribs.
Then Lilian’s friend, 健宇, came with her 15 year old son.  She accompanied her son to come Australia for study.. eventually they tried to start a business here.  Her English wasn’t good and was much more elderly among all of us but she was very jovial and created a lot of laughter in the room.  She brought 猪肚and SiChuan dried chili braised chicken feet… I don’t enjoy chicken feet but she offered me with full enthusiasm so I took one..  The China friends loved them, however the Taiwanese feel numb on their lips for the spiciness, that’s why it’s called 麻辣…… and the nailed of the feet did not chopped off… so it was kind of scary.
健宇was very good and fast in rolling the dumpling skin.  We were glad she's here in time cause non of us know how to do that… it would takes forever for us to get so many dumpling done.  MangMang also helped wrapping a few dumpling.  Then we thought of putting 3 beans into 3 dumplings and see who’s the lucky one to eat it.  Lilian stuff 3 beans into MangMang 3 dumplings and later she drove out to supermarket near my place again to get mystery price for the lucky 3…
All different shape and sizes of dumplings……. then the cooked dumplings.. with visible 3 black beans~!
Sunny called Taiwan home to her mum to double confirm how to cook the sugar vinegar fish.  She used the pan that was the largest in the house yet could not fit the whole fish in to the pan.. ended up the tail could not stay together, broke off while we were frying.. she plated it and covered with onions and bell peppers so it still looked one piece.
4:30pm we managed to set up the table and ready for dinner~!  We must make it early cause we planned to go for a concert at 7pm held in our school.
Before that we were making fun how desperate we want to get the mystery prize from eating the black beans in dumpling… swallow as much as possible… or what if we don’t even notice we ate the beans.. but after cooking it, the black beans were too visible from the white dumpling skin, so there’s no mystery anymore… Lilian decided to make it a lucky draw.  She cut papers folded them, put them into small bamboo basket and cover with a red clothe.  While enjoying our dinner we chatted about how to work out the order of the lucky draw… MangMang said go by the order of Chinese Zodiac… and she wanted to be the last one so everyone luck will left for her… 健宇liked to make fun of MangMang and said what if someone take away your luck? When we almost done with our main meal Lilian brought out the basket… and we follow the Zodiac order to draw the paper… when everyone got their piece of finely folded paper… we counted 1 2 3 and revealed together… Surprisingly MangMang and Lilian both got the prize.  Obviously Lilian forgot to mark one more paper.. so there was no third winner… so we said gave it to Sunny, the chef of the day…
Then we had another surprise… PangWei prepared a red envelop for everyone.  There’s a organic Lollipop (Same as the one I get from the Mental workshop by HuiMeng) and a word of wisdom.  Everyone read out their word of wisdom and it was amazingly appropriate for each other… MangMang got “peace” which she badly need…  and “patience” was what I got…
Chinese New Year sticky cake was a necessity on our dessert…
After dessert we walked across the road into our school for the concert held by an Anthroposophic musician who believe sound is a form of energy气.   He was Pam’s good friend as well.
Audience put their entrance fee by putting the money in the bowl at the door.  There were suggested price on the program sheet but we just put in the money according to our own ability.







9pm I followed one of our trainer, Pauline, back home.  She stayed near the place where I am staying now.
I am very thankful to PangWei and Sunny invited me to this wonderful night for the start of my new academic year.