Australia // Working With Children Check

"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time." - R. Tagore


It's such a long time since I last updated my blog. I'm a bit sorry for that.

Anyway... today I'll go back to my life in July 2014 (in Sydney) to talk about the Working With Children Check.

What is actually the WWCC?

It is a requirement for anyone who works or volunteers in child-related work. It involves:

- a National Police Check and
- a review of reportable workplace misconduct.

It is valid for 5 years, during which you are continuously monitored. BUT BUT BUT...wait a minute... mine is still valid ;)

It implies a fee if you are a paid employee or self-employed, otherwise (as in the case of students or volunteers) you don't need to pay the fee. For those who are considering to go there, you can have a more detailed look at the website: WWCC.

-- My StOrY -- 

Let's go back to my story. How did I get to the "working with children check"?

Well...I was working in Lane Cove (Lane Cove Gymnastics Club) and I was recreational coach for children from 4 to 8.

There I understood that I needed this check if I wanted to work with children. At that time I went directly to the service centre of Bondi, but now I see you can easily apply online.

I really loved my time there. I remember I was feeling like the happiest person in the world after my class. Teaching in general... not only in gymnastics ... makes you feel good.

Another thing I remember is the good amount of words I have learned, that are: straddle, pike and tuck. Then the expressions "nice and tall", "chest in", hurdle steps, handsprings, cartwheels and so on. It was lovely to coach those kids. They give you evidence that you can always overcome your limits.

"I would hope I would inspire kids everywhere to know that you can do anything you put your mind to." - S. Biles

Slovenia // My name is JANEZ JANŠA // Jaz sem JANEZ JANŠA

Berlin, January 28th 2008 – Signature, Event, Context

"No name. No memory today of yesterday's name; of today's name, tomorrow. If the name is the thing; if a name in us is the concept of everything placed outside of us; and without a name you don't have the concept, and the thing remains in us as if blind, indistinct and undefined well then, let each carve this name that I bore among men, a funeral epigraph, on the brow of that image in which I appeared to him, and then leave it in peace, and let there be no more talk about it. It is fitting for the dead. For those who have concluded. I am alive and I do not conclude. Life does not conclude. And life knows nothing of names. This tree, tremulous pulse of new leaves. I am this tree. Tree, cloud; tomorrow book or wind: the book I read, the wind I drink. All outside, wandering.” - L. Pirandello

                                                  Jaz sem JANEZ JANŠA

My name is JANEZ JANŠA is a project introduced during the exhibition CONSPIRE, which was part of the transmediale.08, the historical Berlin festival of digital arts. [ed. The next one will take place from 31. Jan to 4. Feb 2019].

In 2007 – that makes already 11 years ago – three artists (Davide Grassi, Emil Hrvatin, and Žiga Kariž) legally changed their names into that of Janez Janša and joined the SDS (the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party). So far, all good. Except for a "small" thing. Janez Janša was also the name of the leader of the Party and the Prime Minister of Slovenia (that was from 2004 to 2008 and again from 2012 to 2013).

You can easily guess... It turned to be quite an interesting issue to talk about at the time. 

Out of a sudden, Slovenia has Janez Janša no. 1, the Prime Minister, Janez Janša no. 2 (Davide Grassi), no. 3 (Emil Hrvatin) and no. 4 (Žiga Kariž), dominating the same physical and media scenario.

The three artists started this project mainly to investigate the meaning of the self in connection with the process of art. 

The choice to take the name of the Prime Minister was for sure unconventional and a debate in the art society and in the media system was inevitable: What was its purpose? A political criticism? A mere provocation or an active support of the three artists to the SDS-Party? Who knows?

Since the Prime Minister had a slogan “The more of us there are, the faster we will reach the goal”.

The first assumption about this choice was that it was a kind of provocation. The three artists basically interpreted his motto literally, as if the prime minister by saying “the more of us ” was meaning his person X millions. Like joining the party to study the enemy from the inside. Though, they have never declared it as a political act.

It was, then, in 2008 that the three artists started a daily correspondence in the newspaper Dnevnik under their new names - that of Janez Janša - talking about different kinds of topics. The funny thing was that they were "indirectly expressing left-wing opinions in the name of a right-wing prime minister".

This project also helps to shed some light on the concept of identity in relation to art.

   "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

A name is how we define things and ... it could be any name - as Shakespeare and "its famous rose" teach. In the world of art the name does play a role, in particular for an artist.

As an artist, your name is working as a brand on the market. By changing their names, they are deliberatly choosing to take the distance from the system. And the performance finally becomes the real protagonist.

However - in this case - it doesn't work like that. The importance of the name chosen - that of the Prime Minister - put them in a category and we consider them according to this category. Again, the definition becomes the name and the attention of the people is one more time focused on the name and not on the performence itself.

Practising art without defining it commercially could lead the artist to break the rules and to create something which goes beyond a limit: names.

Well, there is much more to discuss about.. but it will be for another time ;)

Australia // "Let Stalk Strine", the Aussie slang - Part I

Many many times we hear the "Down Under People" talking a  misterious language... in a misterious way... with misterious noises...

No idea what the hell they were talking about even after 10 years of languages' classes, travels abroad and living for a while in Sydney. Even though, I must admit that... the worst accent ever is the Scottish one... Once I met a guy (Jonathan), I thought he had serious problems with the English language... NO WAY. I mean for me... not for him ;). No clue he was native of Scotland.

Anyway, I love discovering new expressions and in particular new "languages".

That's why I want to share with you what I have learnt so far.

First of all... I have noticed while I was working there that the customers used to greet you by saying: "G'day, mate.. How are you going?" and I understood after a while that they were not really asking to receive a real answer...but they just need to place the order... and when I was replying "Fine, thanks and you?"... that "and you?" was a problem. They were not expecting that.

I didn't stop to reply in that way, though... I'm Italian and I love to be a good host and it was funny to see their reactions, like...

customer: "How are you going?"
me: "Fine, thanks and you?"
customer: [a couple of secs of hesitation + embarrasment] "Well... I'm fine.. ehmm ehmm.. a double shot flatwhite please"

then .. it comes the moment, where you will hand the flatwhite and they will answer back by simply saying "TA".

and this is now YOUR turn of hesitation .."TA" ... "TA what?" ... to discover that it was "thank you".

Another answer to the same flatwhite could be "Cheers".. and don't pretend not to think my same thing... "why are you saying that for a coffee? where is your beer?". Aussies use it for different circumstances.

Among my researches about the Australian slang and interesting ways to map the world through words, I have found a lively guide, Let Stalk Strine, by Afferbeck Lauder.

Afferbeck Lauder was the pseudonym used by Alastair Ardoch Morrison, an Australian graphic artist and autor who, with this book, illustrated phonetically the Australian way of talking to show it as a complete different language.

A couple of examples:
"Emma chisit" - How much is it?
"Egg wetter gree" - I quite agree

and the pseudonym of the author itself is an example of that "Afferbeck Lauder =Alphabetical order".

I am personally fascinated by all this. It might be because languages are in a continuous change and - by changing - they bring with them a portray of an age, a culture and somehow of the people. I LOVE IT!

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks." - Harper Lee