Twelve Feet, Six Continents, One Year

Happy Pi Day! We've been in Malaysia for almost a week and I need to start by recording some context because this is so different from all of our previous stops. This might be a boring paragraph so feel free to skip it. First, "worldschooling" is the term we use to describe what we are doing, somewhat in contrast to "homeschooling." Our impression, though, is that a majority of people who identify as worldschoolers are on more indefinite adventures, whereas ours is a finite "gap year" from our life in Oregon. Second, in early January we learned that there is a vast and sophisticated online community of worldschoolers (there are even factions!) and that there are in-person "meetups" of varying lengths and very diverse styles. Third, we decided that we would adjust our itinerary to join a worldschooling community in Asia instead of heading to Africa in early March, as planned. Pretty easily we found the facebook group for a meetup at Le...

We spent this weekend being full-time tourists. On Friday we took the tram downtown, ate lunch in a burger bar near "the pirate ship" and then walked to the aquarium. For the most part, we were really impressed. The kids enjoyed a lot of interactive exhibits. On the low side, however, the penguin exhibit was probably the saddest things we've seen. The Polly Woodside Henry was quick to find the Megaladon jaws Lily in disguise Ali or Cate with a friendly ray Ali struck a pose with a sea turtle (sculpture) Contemplative Cate On Saturday we bought a two-day pass for one of those adorable, double-decker, hop-on-hop-off sightseeing buses. On board the sightseeing bus Part of the downtown skyline, which seems to be expanding daily The view as we cross the Yarra River We rode around for about an hour until we reached the "Melbourne Star," one of those adorable, gigantic ferris wheels. A view from the Melbourne Star ...

“Whats On” is the Down Under vernacular for current events. On Monday, after school, “Whats On” for us was spectacular.  First, we headed up the coast about half an hour to the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA). This is a very regional aquarium with a unique and fascinating underwater tunnel. I can’t do better than let the pictures speak for themselves. Henry, especially, loved every second of it. The aquarium has other great exhibits, including a “danger zone” with tanks showcasing Australia’s infamously deadly species, such as the “bluey,” which happen to be about the size of a baseball, hard to photograph and quite lethal. I didn’t know “continuous recuscitation” was a thing but apparently its necessary to perform on a victim until the professionals arrive.  Finally, AQWA has a “relaxation room” with IKEA chairs and wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows for viewing a coral reef environment. Henry said that he would stay forever if he could....