Anna, as you were taking in the smells of your new books, the newness of everything, the excitement for us teachers, in the antipodes at least, we were ducking for cover.

.

Let me explain. December is the end of the academic year here, and often we'd be finishing up , writing reports,doing Christmas plays, wrapping parcels, meeting with anxious parents, just a few days before Christmas, totally exhausted,

But hey! we had six weeks' break.

Sounds like an eternity. Doesn't it!

And I swear, somewhere between the 1st of January, and the afternoon of the same date, we were swamped with back-to-school sales...in-your-face advertising for parents, that we all hated. It totally ruined our holidays, every blessed year!

For us there was no escape. I don't know any teacher in Canberra who didn't share the view. :)