Phew, they say watch out for Canberra weather…but it’s so much more than the brochures let on! The kids keep laughing at me, because I continually show up wearing the wrong thing for the weather. I’ll wake up, it looks beautiful and sunny outside…then by the time I arrive at school, the gale force winds will have mussed up my hair to unrecognisable levels, and I’m wrapping the thin cardigan I brought around me so tightly the buttons are popping off. Don’t even get me started on when it rains. It certainly keeps things nice and fresh!
Though I have to say, air conditioning in Canberra is more common than I thought. I know all the official places are cooled on hot days, but most of my classrooms have both heating and cooling, which is nice. I thought it was the opposite of up north, where most places have air conditioning but not so much heating.
Come to think of it, that makes sense…Canberra has to have split system heating, because the weather changes so fast. I taught my class a new phrase yesterday, and typically, they picked it up pretty quickly. ‘Changes like the weather, miss? Yep, we know what that means!’. You say that to a class of kids up north; they’ll give you funny looks and wonder if it means changing slowly. We don’t have much variance, in that regard. Funny, that.
I’m steadily getting the hang of things. In fact, some of my fellow teachers have started giving me tips on the right clothes to wear for all seasons. It’s all about layering, apparently. You just layer up, then take off or put on things depending on your needs and the level of heat. This method is a lot cheaper than using air con all the time. Wow, yeah, I have bills now! That said, with the winter only just about to finish, I’m well and truly due for an air conditioning service. Canberra has a lot going for it, so I can forgive the erratic weather. Let’s just hope the bill isn’t too high. It’ll be very interesting to see how that changes over the ‘summer’…if at all!