January in Melbourne

I had the unexpected opportunity to head to Melbourne this past January for a month of learning. I’ve been trying to attend the Montessori Adolescent Orientation for a couple years now to learn how to build a Montessori middle school. It’s held every summer in Ohio (and now a couple other locations).

I got really close to bringing my family to Ohio two summers ago but had to cancel at the last minute because I simply couldn’t balance the training with my full-time job. The summer is one of my busiest times as we refine curriculum, develop professional development, and get ready for the upcoming school year.

When I learned there was going to be an Adolescent Orientation in January, I jumped at the chance to go! I brainstormed ways to bring the whole family along, but it ended up being too expensive (my school paid for the training, but I paid for my own housing, transportation, etc.). In the end, there’s no way I would have been able to balance the intensive training + my full-time job back at Montessori For All + mothering every night and weekend.

I left on Christmas Eve (the boys were excited to celebrate Christmas together early) and arrived on December 26. I checked into one of the dorms at Deakin University in the suburbs of Melbourne. I shared a dorm apartment with five other roommates from all around the world! We shared four bathrooms and a kitchen but each had our own room.

The training started right away and was literally the most intense academic thing I have ever done—way harder than college! In college, I remember having 2-3 classes a day. This training was from 8:30am-4:30pm every day (and sometimes on nights and weekends!). Every time we listened to a lecture, we had to type it into our notes verbatim. The trainers would read through our notes to make sure we were recording everything accurately. My shoulders ached from all that intense typing!

On top of listening to lectures and typing up pages and pages of notes, we had to write essays, design two years worth of curriculum, define vocabulary words in a lexicon, read tons of esoteric primary sources, create a detailed unit plan, chronicle our learning and thoughts in daily journal entries, and write an overview of our proposed program for stakeholders. By the end of it, I had written more than 80,000 words (250 single-spaced pages).

The demands of the program kicked me into high gear. I had to use all my time management and organizational skills (on steroids!). On the first day, I made a schedule for myself that divided up all the work across the entire month. I also had to stay on top of my regular job. I had conference calls nearly every day lasting 1.5-2.5 hours, either starting at 5am or 6am Melbourne time. When we had 15-minute breaks between lectures, I would work straight through. I also tried to squeeze in time to make a separate FaceTime call to Henry and Tate every day. Nearly every day during the van ride back and forth between the dorm and the public Montessori school where the training was held, I would read or write my journal entries. I was determined to stay on top of my work and have free time to enjoy Melbourne! It was incredibly difficult and intense, but I succeeded at having time to do fun things in Melbourne on the weekends!

I took advantage of two different experiences on AirBnB, which I highly recommend! The experiences on AirBnB enable you to connect with local people who want to share something about their city with visitors.

The first one I did was an all-day excursion to the Mornington Peninsula. We hiked down to the beach, traversed through forest, watched kangaroos, picnicked, snacked, and ended the day in the hot springs. It was fun forging friendships with strangers. The next one I did was a sunset sail on a catamaran. I was able to get five other people from my program to go with me.

My other trips included a chance to watch penguins coming out of the ocean to feed their young, a trip to a chocolate making factory, a swim in the river, multiple trips to the beach, an outdoor movie, trips to a couple different museums, multiple dinner parties, and dancing at a club (well, two different clubs/bars).

It was such a soul-satiating experience. It felt like a return to a Self I haven’t gotten to experience since having children. I was only in charge of myself. I didn’t have to cook for anyone, clean-up after anyone, or subjugate my own needs for anyone. Every day, I went for a walk or run on the forested trails right outside my dorm room. I microwaved a simple quesadilla and ate a bagged salad for dinner nearly every night. I went to sleep when I wanted to.

And I got to be a learner again. And I learned so much! The Montessori theory of child development makes so much sense and is so profound. Everyone always describes AMI trainings as transformational, and it was.

And I made a ton of new friends! I find it easy to connect with others when you are going through a significant life experience together. I made friends from Mexico, Taiwan, Mainland China, Perth, Melbourne, Germany, New Zealand—the list goes on!

And I loved exploring a new city (mainly by public transportation and foot!). Melbourne is an immensely fun, walkable, beautiful, and livable city.

And I loved getting a second summer during the year. Sunshine! Beaches! Dresses! Skirts! Flip flops!

I’m so grateful to Matt for taking on solo-parenting for a whole month so I could have this experience. I tried to make it as painless as possible for the boys by making them tiny presents to open each day, writing daily notes for their lunchboxes, sewing a stuffed animal for them, and calling frequently. But it was obviously still hard. I’m trying to make it up to Matt by encouraging him to take a solo trip to the Pacific Northwest.

What an amazing opportunity. Melbourne will live in my heart forever!