Life In Australia

Queensland, like the rest of Australia, is chronically short of engineers, accountants, scientists and maths teachers.

The situation looks set to worsen.

According to the Courier Mail, it seems that large numbers of Year 11 and 12 (lower and upper 6th form) students in Queensland and Australia are avoiding advanced mathematics, opting instead for the elementary variety.

Good news for British school kids who one day might want to come here? Perhaps ………… except we know from recent statistics that not many British kids are interested in learning maths either.

So who is it good news for? I imagine students from India and the Far East who know the value of hard learning will prosper.

In Queensland, more than half of all Year 12 students are studying maths A - the easiest maths course.

37.1 percent are studying maths B, the intermediate subject while just 8.4 percent have opted for maths C, the advanced subject.

In 1995, 14.1 percent of students took maths C, dropping to 11.7 percent in 2004.

According to Professor Garth Gaudry, over the past decade, there has been a mass movement into elementary maths, posing a serious threat to the nation’s capacity to compete internationally.

“The nation is at risk of a dire shortage of mathematically-trained people.”

Professor Tony Bracken, head of Mathematics at the University of Queensland said the University of Queensland’s decision to drop Maths C as a prerequisite for engineering was one of the major influences contributing to the fall off in Maths C Queensland schools.

But, he said, engineering students who had not studied Maths C at school had to complete a make-up course as part of their engineering studies.

Professor Gaudry said university entrance scores should offer greater rewards to students who opted for more difficult subjects.

“Most universities have softened entrance requirements and dropped prerequisites. They are underplaying the level of mathematics essential to undertake many degrees successfully.”

You would think I’d be used to Aussie English after two years. Well I’m not. I understand it, but some words don’t sound right.

Lolly is a case in point.

To me a lolly will always be something on a stick that comes out of the freezer. We used to make our own lollies by freezing orange juice onto sticks. If you want this sort of treat in Australia, you’ll need to ask for an iceblock. Our eldest’s favourite is lemonade iceblocks.

When an Australian talks about a lolly, they’re meaning something that I’d call a sweetie or a sweet - like Smarties or Fruit Gums or such like.

Onto more healthy issues - like vitamins. Aussies don’t say vitamins (so that vit rhymes with sit) they say “vytamins” (so that the vit rhymes with bite). Very odd sounding to Pommie ears.

They’re not common in the UK, but in Australia, Sausage Sizzles are very popular.

People grill sausages outdoors and serve them on long rolls / buns with generous amounts of tomato ketchup.

Sausage sizzles are used for all sorts of fundraising activities. My daughter’s school has them every so often, as do many societies and charities.

Now a row has blown up because of the “un-Australian” attitude of Gold Coast City Council. The council has refused a permit for a lifesaving club to have sausage sizzles on the esplanade – which they have traditionally done every Sunday in summer.

Whichever way they dispute is eventually resolved, it crystallised in my mind another Australian cultural icon – the sausage sizzle.

Australia has already exported the “barbie” to the UK – but not, unfortunately, typical barbie weather. I wonder how long it will take for the sausage sizzle to catch on in Britain?

It’s important for everyone with fair skin (and not so fair skin too) to take on board a simple fact. The UV from the sunshine in Australia will take the skin off you - literally.

People get sunburnt here much, much faster than in the Mediterranean. I’d say the sunshine in Australia is stronger than in the Greek Islands by the same amount as the Greek Islands are stronger than the south of England.

If you expose unprotected skin to the sun for half an hour here at midday here you could be burnt badly.

I’d never been a regular hat wearer until I came here. The first few days here - and ears and nose burnt so badly that the pain was excruciating - changed all that. At this time of year, I’ve learnt not to go outside for more than a few minutes between 9am and 3pm. If I really have to, I wear sunblock, hat and sunglasses and move quickly from one clump of shade to the next.

Fortunately the sun rises at around 5am in summer in Brisbane so you can get in plenty of outdoor activity before it gets really strong.

If you’re coming here in summer for the first time, please be safe rather than sorry. Cover up until you can judge safely for yourself the extreme effects of the Australian sun.

The funny things I read. I was comparing life expectancy in Australia with the UK and a few other countries on this Australian Govt. page.

Our son was born in Australia, so according to this table, by emigrating we have gifted him an extra two years of life compared with if he’d been born in the UK. He can expect to live to 77.9 years in Australia compared to 75.8 in the UK.

He also gains 2 years of healthy life in Australia. He can expect to be healthy for 70.9 years in Australia compared with 69.1 years in the UK.

Why? My guess is it comes down to 3 main reasons:

1. Australians eat a better diet.
2. Australians get out and about more.
3. In our experience, a much greater proportion of Australians are more upbeat about lives. I’m sure being miserable takes at least a few months off your life expectancy.

My honest guess is that it’s probably a better diet that leads to most of Australia’s gain.

A few weeks back, my wife was taking some cuttings to propagate some of her plants. As a once avid watcher of the late and much missed Geoff Hamilton on Gardener’s World, she knew her chances of success would be better if she added a touch of rooting hormone to each cutting. So that’s what she did. I’m pleased to report that her cuttings rooted very well.

Anyone with a passing acquantance with Australian English will know that “rooting” means more than something botanical - there’s a very much biological meaning too. Still, the Aussies don’t bat an eyelid. They still call it rooting hormone just the same.

If you still don’t know what “rooting” means, then trying thinking of rooting hormone as some sort of aphrodisiac.

And now you’ll have to excuse me, just off to get a tub of yoghurt. (Pronounced Aussie style so the “yo” rhymes with “go” rather than “law”.)