Hi everyone,

"initiation"

I'm here! Crow Creek, South Dakota. The trip over from Sioux Falls took about 3 hours through gentle rolling hill country over wide dual highways. The country here is vast and wide - mostly cattle, corn, soya bean and sunflowers. Every few miles (gotta change) there are old fashioned farm houses together with sheds and a distinctive barn. The last hour or so to Crow Creek was particularly beautiful. Even through it is summer here there are still lots of green paddocks (fields) to be seen. At various stages you can look in a 360 degree circle and see rolling hills forever and not the sign of a single dwelling. It is extremely beautiful country and quite breathtaking with the winter snows no doubt.

We turned left at the corner store - just like the ones you see in country Victoria and a mile into the school. It is dominated by a massive water tower with the words 'STEPAN" on the side - that's our postal address. They reckon this ball should be painted like a basketball such is the interest here and the skill of the students. They came 4th in the State last year.

I was wondering what our accommodation would look like and was very pleasantly surprised to find out how spacious it was. It is a long transportable with 2 bedrooms, an office, kitchen and living room - 2 bathrooms. It is pretty old but Kate has done a great job cleaning it and already it feels like home. We have got a digital camera and will send photos as soon as we can.

We awoke to the first morning here to our fantastic view. It really reminded me of the country down in Colac Victoria. Heaps of cows grazing on green grass, a meandering creek and quite a few trees. Yet, you can look forever over the hills and into the distance in a vast panorama. We sat on the front step and had our breakfast. There are lots of birds around surprisingly - meadow larks, wading birds, sparrows, swallows, starlings I think and others.

Now we were to have two days of initiation - this was for all the new staff. We drove to work, which took 1 minute - I made the excuse that I was still jet lagged. We had lots of interesting info in the morning session and I was very surprised that all teachers are required to take a drug test. Yes, you've guess it - give a sample in the cup with the administrator behind you to make sure there is no cheating of the system. If you test 'dirty' you have 30 days to rectify the situation. Instant dismissal if you are found alcohol contaminated. Had a terrific 2 hour talk by Jim, a Native American, about the culture. He had heaps of stories and we all learnt a lot. My tongue was hanging out for morning tea but they don't have that quaint custom here. No breaks - just plough on through to lunch time.

The school is very modern and I will give you the address of the web site to look at next time. The Principal is Joe Ashley. He is Native American, over 7 feet tall and a gentle giant. I looked modest in height beside him. I'd imagine if he played basketball it would be a matter of stand beside the ring and dunk the ball down. There's 2 Joe's on the staff - as you can imagine "BIG JOE and little Joe". On the third day all the staff turned up in the Gym and we had more input. This was given by the Administrator etc. They are an unreal mob here. Everyone is so unbelievably friendly. They all like to laugh, joke and tease. Many of the staff are 'out there' some with outrageous personalities. I mean that in a good way. There is "RD" - Kate and I call him "road dog". He is a science teacher with a wild, free spirit and ready to take the mickey out of you. Doug is his mate - he has those small spectacle glasses that scientists have and he is just as mad as RD. There are heaps of other people like these guys. We've all got plastic ID's with photos that we have to wear around our necks. This is for all sorts of reasons including security and these cards will be coded to open up doors and to log into/out of work etc.

The sunsets are pretty unreal here. The sun seems to set really slow compared to the Kimberley. Because it is so hot at present there is an orange glow in the sky for ages. Last night, a plane came over after sunset and it was a golden colour as well as the vapour trails.

It's 107 degress F today and there is a real strong wind. We've talking Balgo winds here - very dry and constant. There are massive wind blades on the surrounding hills to generate electricity. I can't imagine what it will be like in winter when these same winds blow off the snow. The last 2 years have been mild here because of the drought but they reckon this year could get back to the big chills.

Yesterday we travelled to the next town to get a social security number for me. Everything seems to depend on this - your pay, medical etc.

Please excuse my spelling from now on because I will be very confused - travelling/ traveling, cheques/checks etc.

I'll tell you about the school, what I'm teaching and the students etc next time.

Kind regards,

Kate and Brian.