Tips to help you, help your student to survive Brisbane!
*Water
Almost impossible, but encourage them to drink at least a litre a day. The humidity is much higher than most other countries and if they are feeling unwell or have headaches, they may be dehydrated.
Plain tap water is often rejected and some believe the water has to be boiled before they drink it. A tip from Kathy is to make up jugs or bottles of cordial and watch them slurp it up! Red is the preferred colour too by the way!
*Sunscreen
They all come here for a tan and reject the idea of sunblock. I have a big 1 litre container in the bathroom for everyone's use and encourage them to use it in the mornings at least. If they are going out for the day I pop some in one of those small containers that the ginger at sushi places comes in (minus the ginger of course!) and give that to them. Some of them will need to experience sunburn before they get it though...
*Bus/Trains/Translink
The quickest way to figure out what public transport is available between two places is to use the Translink "Journey Planner" website. You simply put in the address's you want to travel between and hit search and see what options come up. Its a good idea to introduce this website to them pretty early in their stay so that they can become independent quicker.
*Google Translate
If you need to explain something important or something a little harder to get across then Google translate will work a treat in most cases. Its best to try to get your message across in English but if its important, then this might be a way to make sure that they do understand. If you haven't stumbled upon it before, go to the usual Google search page and have a look at the tabs across the top of the page. if its not there, look under "more". Select English and then the language you want to translate into. I have found that Chinese and Japanese do not translate well on Google translate due to the scrpt that is used but other translators specifically for Chinese/Japanese do.(Just Google Chinese/Japanese English translator)
When you are typing, watch your students face for understanding and recognition. If you aren't seeing it, change the sentence around and use other words. Not all words translate the way you want them to and your message may not make sense, but the longer you type for and the more words you can put in the the higher that chances of them understanding what you are trying to tell them. It works both ways. if they are trying to get something across, get them to type it in and translate it into English.
* Google maps
This is a really good way of showing them where you live and how they are getting to the school. You can use Google street view to have a look at various land marks that they may see on the way to school or to look for when trying to judge when to push the stop button on the bus.
You can also look at the school, Southbank and the city as well. - Lots of fun.
While you are on Google Earth - get them to show you their town or city as well and see if you can also have a look at heir house as well - its always interesting!
*You-tube.
A really good evenings entertainment is to get them to find a clip of their National anthem (with lyrics in English) and then show them the Australian version as well. Once you have done that, there are a variety of games, dances (try the Australian Haka! - "Take your thong off your foot...") , festivals, geographical features and many other things to show them about Australia and then to let them show you about their country. Improves their knowledge and their English and is heaps of laughs and learning all at the same time.
*BOM site
The Bureau of Meteorology is a wonderful site to get them onto nice and early in their stay. That way if they don't take an umbrella/wear sunblock/wont take their swimmers - its not your fault! Always good to be able to show them the cyclone that is causing all the rain too!
*Routines
We have found that fairly tight routines help students and small children alike! Its good for them to know what is going to happen and when and to have a level of predictability in their world. Things like dinner, showers, dishes, washing days all help the student to be able to be prepared for what you need them to do to keep the household running and not descending into total chaos!
*Church
Most students do not want to go to church - yours or theirs - while they are here. However a small percentage would like to continue their religious practices while living at your place. If you can work out where the nearest place of worship for their religion is and help them to get there you will probably really ease their mind. You can offer to take them to your church but please don't insist if they don't seem keen, but be as helpful as you can if they show an interest in another church.
*School Info
Address: 164 Melbourne St,
Brisbane QLD 4101
Phone:(07) 3844
5632
Director - Romy
Accomodation - Aline
Activities - Leanne
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