Winter/Kangaroos

What is winter like in Australia? Can you tame kangaroos and keep them as pets?

From Prairie Boutique

It depends on where you live!
Winter is of course, not over Christmas. In South Australia, winter is rainy/rainyer than usual, and anywhere from 5 to 20 degrees Celcius. In Queensland, it is anywhere between 15 and 25 degrees celcius, and dry, rather than wet. Queensland and the Northern Territory has two main seasons- the wet season and the dry season. The wet season is during summer, and it's wet and humid and hot. So a great time to travel to Queensland is in June and July! The Northern Territory and Alice Springs can be 30 degrees in 'winter'. In Tasmania, it is colder, from about 0-10 degrees I believe, and it can snow a bit, in the mountains (it can also snow in the mountains in New South Wales and Victoria. It doesn't tend to snow in places where people live).

You can tame kangaroos yes, but they won't ever be exactly like a dog or cat. People don't tend to have them as housepets. My aunt has 'tamed' a few by feeding them, and she can pat most of them. Some come when they're called. They roam around her land.

Coober Pedy

Photos
I recently watched a documentary on the underground town, Coober Pedy. Have you ever been there... heard of it? I was fascinated.
BayoulandBabies




There's something magical about the idea of Coober Pedy, a town in the middle of South Australia, red, hot, full of Opals (it's the Opal capital of the world!), where everyone lives in caves underground called 'dug outs'. There are even churches underground!



Opal

But as well as being fascinating, this is a very valid action. It prevents the inhabitants from being too affected by the heat, as under the ground the temperature is more constant. And it is eco friendly, before the term existed. Many sci fi books I've read imply that in the future we should all be living underground.



Though I've obviously heard of it, and I've read books like Fire in the Stone by Colin Thiele (I'd recommend it!) I have not been there. Why, you might say, looking at the map. Don't you live in South Australia?

I do indeed. But it is 850 kilometres away, or over 9 hours drive. One day I'll go. How about you?

Eating Kangaroo and Emu

This is the Australian coat of arms. It has a kangaroo and an emu on it. They're on it because they're quite common in Australia, and because they're both animals that cannot walk backwards- symbolic of our progression as a nation.

People have been eating kangaroo and emu for centuries. The Aboriginal peoples have been eating them for thousands of years. I ate a kangaroo meat patty the other week and it was delicious. It's quite a good meat, very lean. I've not yet eaten emu but I wouldn't be opposed to it. There are sometimes emu and kangaroo farms for meat, other times, there needs to be a cull of them (they are too abundant in some areas due to humans planting/allowing grass, providing too much food. Then they have a population boom, eat all the grass, and potentially starve or ruin crops.), and that meat I believe is sometimes eaten. (if it's not, it should be!).

Foreigners are often horrified by this. How can we eat something so cute??

Apparently there is now/going to be emu or kangaroo flavoured chips. Why is that worse than beef flavoured chips?

Some people are getting a bit upset about it, but most Australians I've asked are not concerned- though they may not choose to eat them themselves.

Their argument is that 'it's on the Australian coat of arms'. We're apparently the only nation that eats the animals on our coat of arms. But we made a choice that was like putting a cow or pig on the coat of arms.
And I think that the argument against the chip flavour is ridiculous.
It's not like we're eating a bald eagle, a lion, a unicorn, etc, things that don't exist or are almost extinct.

What's your opinion?

Frustration?

Do you get easily frustrated when a student doesn't understand what you are trying to teach?
- Samphor


Easily? No. I've only been teaching for a little while and I've had some children not understanding. Sometimes it's because it's a hard concept and will take them a while anyway, sometimes it's because they have massive gaps in their learning, sometimes it is my fault for not explaining well enough or not being able to explain in various different ways. I get frustrated at myself for not being able to get it explained, but I would try my best not to let it show to the student.

However, I do have a confession to make. Times tables and other maths surrounding that still makes me feel that ball of rising panic I felt when I was 8 years old. It is really hard to stop telling myself "I'm not good at maths" and just get down and teach it. It is like a foreign language to me still! I'm improving a lot, and I'm looking forward to understanding it more and more as the years go past. So perhaps that's why I am being patient with the kids- I was like them. I just didn't get something. I know how it feels, and in fact, still feel it. It is my job to help them feel successful so they don't label themselves as 'no good' like I did and put up a mental block for themselves. I want my students to feel that even if they're not getting it NOW they will get it later, and it's okay to struggle with things for a while, it doesn't mean you're a failure and no good- these are hard concepts to master! (for any subject, not just Maths).

I think that's a really important thing for teachers to hold onto, and any students reading this: You CAN improve whatever you're having trouble with, be it art or maths or English or Science or even P.E.

Some teachers get frustrated but I have a feeling it's because they are annoyed that they don't know how else to explain it, or they really want kids to all 'get' important concepts... forgetting that not all students will get there straight away. These same teachers often resent it when the student has the concept explained in a totally different way by someone else and 'gets' it. I honestly don't understand that feeling. I just want the student to understand it, if it's because of me, great, if not, then I have just learnt a new way to attempt it with another student the next year, and this student can now move on. Huzzahs all round!

Parents, you can help your student's frustration by learning what they're attempting to do, and working through it- use different ways to explain it if you can, perhaps one of us will be able to ease this child's mind! Then we all win.

Personal Life of Teachers

Do you ever let your personal life interfere with your teaching? Like if things are going bad at home, do you teach not as well at school?
- Samphor


I think that that is the case, yes. Personally, the worst thing happening in my life so far in my teaching career is simply being exhausted! I spent the first few days of teaching feeling very very tired, due to being very nervous and not sleeping properly. I think it affected my teaching by me not being as bubbly or as quick thinking as I can be. I still did the best I could and I believe I was very successful at 'faking it'.

If I were really upset in my life, I might have less patience for things that I usually am fine with, but I would try my best not to 'take it out on' any kids- it's not their fault. But personal life does affect things a little. I was talking with a teacher who was so upset about things going on with her life that she burst into tears when a teenager insulted her, it was the last straw.

Other teachers I have witnessed actually getting really angry on their bad days. Which is sad, and I really hope I never get like that.

The other day I was really disappointed in the class due to some extremely bad behaviour, so the next day I was certainly not as fun, though I was still polite. I got over it.

Teachers are human, and their emotions do affect them, just like a horrible horrible night at home would affect any other person in their career- they won't be up as much as usual.

Sometimes I think that if things were going great at home/in my other life, I would be really happy in class, so it works the other way too!

Teachers should try to remain professional, but sometimes, slip ups happen. And sometimes people have been so upset for so long they can't control it anymore- I saw that in quite a few teachers I had in High School and Primary School. It was very sad. Remember: It's most likely not about you, if they're constantly freaking out at everyone. Try to stay sane even when they're being stressful.

How would other teachers answer this question about their personal experiences with interactions between real life and teaching?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guest_family/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Living At Home

How common is it for 20-somethings to live with their parents in Australia? Has this changed in the past few years?

I'd say "Very common". Most of my friends live at home. Two went almost straight to jobs from high school (after TAFE or a year or so of uni before stopping), I and a friend are uni students (yep, still, at 24), one friend is married, but if she weren't married she intended to stay home until after she finished her degree. My boyfriend lives in a shared house thing by 'himself', because he lived in the hills and it was too far to come to uni every day, and also he didn't get along with his parents particularly well.

People start thinking about moving out of home at about end of uni (so, 21 ish) but it's certainly not uncommon to stay longer to save money or because you simply can't afford to move out (I won't be able to until... at least a year and a half away.), if you're at uni or if you're not. I really don't even mind, I usually like my family! I also think that people don't want to fuss around with room mates who you might not like, move out with boyfriends or girlfriends you might not stay with, loneliness, deal with renting crappy places, and so on. And parents don't usually go "Right, you're moving out!!", at least not amongst my 'class' of people.

There are of course people who move out at 18 but I've noticed that is very uncommon. People don't go away to uni unless they can't get the degree they want locally, for example if they live in the country. Most Australians live in cities, most cities have universities, Tafes or other ways to have further education (apprenticeships or what ever) in your choice of career, so we just stay home. No dorm life for most of us.

I don't think it's actually changed much recently, I don't believe this is a 'Recession!!!' issue, this is a different cultural attitude and different geographical facts.

Constellations

How many constellations can you see there????

Hmn. I've never counted! And constellations are really just humans putting their imagination onto random placements and creating patterns connecting it with things in their lives. I don't know 'how many' to be honest. Most of them are upside down for us so 'Orion's Belt' becomes the bottom of "The Saucepan". Kids look in the sky and see The Saucepan, and also, The Shopping Trolley. (two different constellations). Aboriginal people of this area look into the sky and see a big stingray, where we see The Southern Cross (which is on our flag, and apparently can't be seen in the Northern Hemisphere). I don't know much about the Northern Hemisphere's constellations or if I can find them down here. I just know that when I travelled to Europe the sky looked foreign and weird.

Here are some links that might be useful.
Learning the Stars Downunder.
Some info about (some) Aboriginal interpretations of the stars.

Something you might be surprised about if you ever visit is that the Southern Cross and the two pointer stars is quite small! It certainly doesn't take up a huge space of night sky. But most (I think) Australians can pick it out and find it quite quickly. It can help us with directions, though very few know how to do that properly.

What constellations can *you* see as an Australian?

Toilets

Our toilets flush clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Is it true they flush counter-clockwise in the southern?

I went and tested. And tested our sinks (Didn't test the bath or the shower, perhaps that would have different results!). And I'm suspecting that things are differently shaped over here!
Our toilet didn't go any way at all. It just flushes. Straight back, no swirling at all. So do the toilets in the school.
Our sink, well our bathroom basin has two taps. The tap on the left the water went anti clockwise, the tap on the right it went clockwise.
Maybe someone else can help me with this?

Are our toilets shaped differently further than the dual flush thing? (We often have two buttons, one for full flush one for half flush. You only use the full flush for more solid waste, and the half for most flushes. Saves a LOT of water, and is compulsory for new buildings to have these now).

Kids Smarter Than Teachers

Are any of the students smarter than the teachers nowadays? Bet that's true!



LOL UniquelyEmber! I don't know if this question was a joke, serious, or a jab at teachers, but I'll try to answer it seriously.

I honestly believe that 'smart' is subjective. And I also deeply believe that it doesn't MATTER if the teacher is less smart on certain topics than the students. I also believe that it's okay to acknowledge that kids are smart, and adults have different strengths and weaknesses.

For a modern teacher it is a huge strength to acknowledge, in public, to the children, that you do not know everything. Modern teaching, at least in Australia, does not require it. And it's true. We don't. My first degree, which I'm basing my grad entry teaching degree on, was in History and English- does that mean I'm an expert at Maths, Science, or PE. But I have to teach them anyway. I'm put through a one semester course on each subject. Do I now know all there is about science? No. But I hope that I have the intelligence and skills to find out and teach myself.

Here's how modern Australian teaching works. We don't have teaching textbooks to work through. We look at the curriculum, and then decide how we want to teach that aspect of it. They're really broad, it's not "Child will know multiplication by the end of year 3". Then we pick what we want to teach, and go out and research it. We check what the children already know, then build upon that. This means that every year will be different. We often pick things based on gaps we see in the student's learning or skills, rather than 'semester 2, this means I should be teaching Australian History now'. I might notice 'oh wow, these kids have no idea about how people lived in the past!' and then do a unit on that. The next year that same year level might be obsessing over animals, so I do a unit on animal cruelty. Those are both society and environment topics.

The kids are *supposed* to be bringing in their own information. It is normal and common for a teacher to say "oh wow, I don't know the answer to that, why don't we look it up?" It's stupid to keep on insisting you're right when the kids say you're wrong though. But recent teachers are trained not to do that. And every year, teachers should improve their skills and expand their knowledge. Revise what they did last year, and add to it, or take away things that were irrelevant the year before.

The other day I made a really stupid mistake with tens and units and pop sticks. I said "If you want to minus six from a hundred, you unwrap this 10 here, and put ten of them in the ten's column, remove six and then put the four left over in the units". One of the students was like "Don't you have to move that 90 down to the tens?" and I said "Oh yes [Child's name]" you're right, I forgot about that step, why do you do that again?" and she explained to me (though I already knew what I'd done at that point.) I knew that I had to move it down, but I just forgot because I was holding 100 popstick bundles up in the air pressed against the whiteboard so they could all see. My mistake was no big deal.
If I'd gone "Oh yes, I was just testing you!"then that would have been very stupid.

If a child asks me a question, I reply with the best of intentions (ie, no bullshitting) and then they say "but what about..." then I should take that as an opportunity to model 'how do we find out more information' which is an important skill for adulthood. If I later find out that I made a mistake, I'll happily announce that to the class and say I was mistaken, here is the real information. It's about modelling.

As a class, we're all entitled to make mistakes, without embarrassment.

Modern teachers cannot be afraid to go into teaching as a partnership, as a facilitator of learning, nor to give up the old fashioned attitude that they are the all powerful, intelligent, all knowing, teacher, and that it'd ruin the children's perception of you if you didn't know an answer straight away. So you don't know the answer- what do you do about that? No one knows the answer to every question in the world.

However! Some teachers do not do this. Some teachers refuse to acknowledge their gaps. I consider that extremely stupid. But they've been doing that for all time, that is the traditional way of teaching. So I don't think that you can say that students are smarter 'nowadays'. In the past there were many, many stupid teachers, many uninformed students, and also many intelligent teachers and students. We now all have to think for ourselves, and not use textbooks.
And there would be the teachers who not only don't teach smartly (ie researching the best they can, and then helping the students answer their questions), but ... simply don't have much in their heads.

There are many intelligent children. In the past, I think teachers refused to admit that children could know a lot. And children have a different sort of intelligence. They aren't in training to be part of society, they already are part of society, and are people. And people have different strengths. Little Timmy might have wonderful reasoning skills for example. But I'll probably still 'know more' in other ways, because some sorts of intelligence just come with age.

In the words of my fellow student teacher

"And that's okay."


Photo credit

Koalas and Kangaroos

Are the koalas friendly, and do you see them a lot? I think they are so adorable. Or are they only in certain areas? And how about the kangaroos, are they all over and how do they react to people?


Hi Earthy Elegant Jewelry!
Koalas aren't friendly. They won't attack you randomly, but they're wild animals, and see those large claws for climbing trees with? They hurt. A lot. They usually just sit in their tree and eat and stare at you, and that's the end of it. You can't just go up and pat ones that are wild. There are lots of native animal parks however where they do provide experiences patting koalas! They just chill out on logs or on their keeper's hip and you pat them- only on the lower back/rump or they don't really like it.

However you do see them quite frequently, at least around here. My boyfriend went for a nice walk in the hills and he saw one, sitting quite close to the ground, eating nice eucalyptus leaves. They quite often show up in suburban backyards, if you're near the edge of suburbia near the hills. We've had them in our back yard two or three times. They are only in certain areas- places with plenty of food for them, that is, eucalyptus trees. (gum trees).

But then there's the drop bears. They're vicious and vindictive.

Kangaroos should live all over Australia, but since we've got so many houses, they don't often live in cities, they stick to the lesser populated areas. But go to any country town and you'll see them around the place - though not usually hopping down the street! My aunt has a mob of them that live on her property, and they're quite friendly because the previous owners tamed them. They'll come and knock on her door to get treats, and try to get inside. Most of 'hers' loves being patted, they're like dogs in that sense. However wild ones tend to hop away when they see humans. There's a large variety of different sorts of kangaroos. Around here we have the Eastern Greys.

Climate Change

What is its condition or situation since it is affected daily by climate change, declining water quality from coastal runoff, development...

by akapalaria


Hard question to answer. Australia is indeed having environmental problems, however the biggest problem is the drought. We're really not sure if it is 'climate change' or part of Australia's natural cycle (at around 1896-1901 there was a huge drought similar to this), but our water habits and farming habits and developments are not making it 'better', that's for sure. Damming upstream of the River Murray causes massive problems for South Australia's water supply. Farming of unsuitable produce such as rice (!) causes a problem too, but people argue back that it's better for the environment or we'd have to ship the rice further from Asia. I'm rather torn on that issue.

We've changed our attitudes in a few ways. I'm amazed hearing about 30 minute showers from Americans, and that '15 minutes is a short shower' from others, where here, we're usually limiting ourselves to 10 minutes maximum. We already had dual flush toilets. People are installing rain water tanks, recycled water systems, solar panels, and other things. The government is creating desalination plants (though this will cause salinity problems in the ocean, which is not good), storm water cleaning (many people are opposed to this) and have banned plastic bags in shops. People willingly shower with buckets, so that they can water their plants, or use that water to flush toilets- we're under water restrictions that mean we can't water our gardens as much as they need. If people have a green lawn in summer, people look at them as if they're being decadent, and others put signs on their lawn informing the public that they're using bore water, or rain water, so they don't get glared at.

I think Australia looks about the same as it did, but the growing population does mean there are more housing developments going up, which always distresses me. Australia is a place where people love living in suburbia. These developments are often tiny plots of land (gardens that are 2 metres wide...), and are also often on land that would be better put to farms or parklands. I wouldn't want to live there, and I also want to see more trees. Cutting down trees doesn't do any good, especially when they don't plant more to take their place because of the water crisis! However I don't know what to do with all the people either. Perhaps new settlements out in land that doesn't grow much produce? Attitude change perhaps should happen.

Please don't think we're a treeless, ugly place though! We're dry, yes, and there are houses and cities, but we're still nice. I promise. :)

Hotness of Australian Guys

Are all the guys as hot as Keith Uban? hee, hee
By Ceejay60.

I had to google to see who Keith Urban is. :P Oh yeah, that guy! The one who for some reason looks like Tim Minchin without makeup and shorter hair! (I don't know why I make that connection)

Like all (most? Debate it!) places in the world, there are certainly quite a few hot guys around the place. :P However, most are 'average' looking. But in a good way.
It's weird, but I *have* noticed a slightly different facial structure/attitude/expression on Australian faces vs 'foreign' faces (like the British or Americans). I can often pick out Americans from a group without ever hearing their voice. I can also pick out people from Polish ancestry. Apparently our mixes of races mixed in a different way, and our expressions are somehow different too!
Australia is not a place of hot people, just like any other country, with the possible exception of Sweden. :P (Kidding...) It's an ordinary place.

Has anyone else been able to 'pick' Australians (or other nationalities that are supposed to be from similar stock, such as Americans) from a crowd without hearing them speak?

Have you been to Australia and found a disproportionate percentage of the opposite sex 'hot'?

Vegemite

If I had a jar of Vegemite, what are some ways to enjoy it? I've had it on toast, and in a sandwich with butter, but I didn't care for it then. It has been years since, and I'd like to give it another chance. Any suggestions?





Hi! I'm an Australian with a similar problem. As a child, I hated vegemite! I was a travesty to the Australian traditional childhood! ... or not.

Honestly, I didn't like it because I didn't try to eat it often enough. It is most certainly an acquired taste, and it really has to be eaten in extreme moderation. It is STRONG.

It is usually the children who were fed it as small children who enjoy it, not the adults who try it for the first time.

That said, another option is on dry biscuits with butter (and I mean the teeniest, tiniest, thinnest layer of vegemite). By dry biscuits I mean 'Sao' biscuits.

But it's actually a quite nice ingredient in various savoury recipes! If you can get a hold of 'cheesymite scrolls' try it. That's the only way I eat vegemite. It's a savoury bread scroll, with cheese and a tiny bit of vegemite within it, rolled up. You eat it cold, and I buy it from a bakery chain here called Baker's Delight. Or you could make some yourself.

You can also use it in various meals! I direct you to the official vegemite website since I assume they know what they're talking about, and have pretty pictures to show examples.

Enjoy giving it another go!

The Great Barrier Reef

Q: What is the status of the Great Reef Barrier from your (local) close perspective over there? (akapalaria )

I'm not quite sure how to answer this question. The status as an icon is that... well it's not a South Australian icon, and most South Australians have never been. I've been... once. When I was 4. I still have absolutely fantastic memories- of small glass bottomed boats and clear waters and beautiful corals, and gorgeous beaches along the coast. One morning my mother and I woke up and went down to the beach at dawn, and the whole beach was covered with tiny blue butterflies. Other beaches were covered in almost microscopic crabs. Our caravan parks were right on edge of the rainforest, and we played on the vines like they were swings. We patted sting rays in a giant touch pool, and found giant shells on the beach. The glimpses of the actual reef that we saw through the glass bottomed boat were stunning, though none of our photos turned out properly pre digital age and photographing through glass.
I'd highly recommend it as a tourist destination- as long as this tourism is careful and responsible, and not damaging to the local environment.

It's environmental status... to be honest, it is endangered. Temperature changes and pollution have damaged the coral, which are living beings. In many areas its colour is fading to white, bleached by damage. Extra nutrients in the water from sewerage etc has caused too many water weeds to grow, which suck life out of the balance. The reef also has a status as being one of the most fantastic natural features on the globe. What others do you know of?

School Question About Australia

This question is from iheartmetees .

She asks: What months do children go to school there?? Is it Aug/Sept to June like the US?

No, Iheartmetees, it's not. The reason for this is that our seasons are opposite to yours! June is the middle of our winter, and we don't get snow (in cities, where most of our population is). Our Summer is at Christmas time, so the summer/christmas holidays are combined. The children get a six or seven week holiday over Christmas/Summer, starting around the 11th of December and ending at the end of January.
The school year is divided up into four terms (two semesters), unless you live in Tasmania, where they kept the old three terms a year format (and I believe they get longer holidays). Each term is about 10 weeks long, some are shorter or longer depending on quite arbitary seeming things, and there is a two week break in between each of them.

Something that I consider good or interesting about this system (not that you can help it with your crazy backwards seasons :P ) is that it is the same calendar year for their whole school year. 2009, they ARE in year 3. Or whatever.

It's hard for me to wrap my head around only having a short holiday for Christmas!

Controversy

What is one of those harder, no single right answer, questions going through your head right now?

Questions About Australia

Got any questions about Australia? Leave them here, and I'll try to answer them as a blog post.

Didgeridoo

About how long does it take to master the didgeridoo and do significant numbers of musical white Australians give it a try?


It takes a very long time to master the didgeridoo- because to play it 'properly' you need to develop cyclic breathing, that is, being able to breathe in while you're blowing out. The lip vibrations needed are also very difficult. I think that most kids have tried blowing into a didgeridoo or even just a cardboard tube, to try and make the sounds, but most musical adults don't take it up, they stick to things like the saxophone or the guitar or the keyboard- most white people seem to prefer to be able to play a tune. And there aren't many opportunities for a white didgeridoo player to play it.

Most people who buy didgeridoos are tourists, to be honest. Or you buy it as a cultural item, rather than something to play.

Something else to think about- women can't play it (and it's frowned upon for anyone white to play it too). According to Aboriginal traditional Law, it is a man's instrument. That's not stopped girls from giving it a try, but it's very much frowned upon, so by the time they're adults, most of the women don't try or play, out of respect. I haven't tried playing a didgeridoo since I was about 9 years old, it just seems wrong to do it, and when I tried, I didn't know the rules.

Nicole Kidman apparently played one in the Australia movie- that's caused quite a lot of backlash.

Are There Big Spiders In The Street Or In Your House?

The first "Questions about Australia" entry!

This is one that so many people ask. They're terrified that they'll be bitten and killed.
The thing is... yes. There are spiders. We have the most poisonous spiders in the world, and there are quite a lot of them. However, most of them are outside, being poisonous to other insects. They don't usually enjoy being inside- there's not much for them to eat.
They do get inside though.

A few weeks back, my friend and I were at a party, and we were helping clean up afterwards. And we came across a red back spider- one of the most scary ones. They've got a black body and a red line/streak on their backs. They're not huge compared to other spiders, but I hear they're a *lot* bigger than American or English spiders. We had a great time trying to kill it! (sarcasm). One of the guys was trying to spray it while standing on a chair, and it was just flailing around rather than dying, and then it decided to drop from the ceiling and because it was night time we couldn't see it for a while. We eventually had to squish it because we sure couldn't kill it with the spray fast enough! That was however one of the only poisonous animals that my friend definitely saw.

Again a few weeks back, there was a nasty looking black spider running around in my dvd collection- cue me squealing and getting my friend to catch it for me.

A few years back, there was a really big huntsman spider (they're HUGE, look them up!) in our kitchen. I couldn't squish it because it was huge, I couldn't spray it because again, it was huge, and there was food around the place that Mum had prepared for that night. The only option we had was to catch it.
It was so big, I had to catch it in a sieve. One of those big ones.
It was pretty horrifying!

Basically in answer to your question- Yes, there are spiders. Yes, they come inside. Yes some are huge and some are poisonous. But with a bit of common sense you can avoid them or get rid of them, and if you're here on holiday you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

I'm Answering Questions About Australia

Ask me questions about Australia, and I'll try to answer them!