Rebecca Sanders
Reading, particularly on long flights and weeks of netball tours, has been a very big part of my life. It enables us all to escape from the every day for a while as we get lost in the books we are reading. Books can also be inspirational and motivational.
My favourite book at the moment would have to be The Da Vinci Code. It is a very clever book which manages to entwine fact and fiction so well that you are not sure which parts of the book are actually not factual.
When we first moved to Vietnam, I was working as an English teacher. It was a wonderful way for me to learn about the people of Vietnam and about the different cultures and lifestyles that they have compared to us. One thing that we all have in common, however, is a love of reading. Reading is a wonderful way to learn about many things, including other countries, places to visit, things to do, and the people who live there. My students introduced me to a whole range of books to help me to learn about the Vietnamese way of life, and I showed them and let them borrow books and brochures all about Adelaide and Australia.
Fact File
The best thing about my job
getting to work with all kinds of yucky things!
My favourite food
definitely chocolate
My dream car
something sporty and convertible
My worst injury
broken cheek bone and dislocated ankle
My favourite movie
Love Actually
The funniest thing that has ever happened to me
making the bloopers tape of the sports highlights
My favourite colours
pink and blue
My hero and why
Steve Waugh because I think he was a great captain of Australia and also a great ambassador for our country as well as being a really lovely person.
My favourite possession
my dog Mack
If I wasn’t doing my current job I would like to be
owning a cafe somewhere by the beach
The most important things in life
finding someone to love and share everything with
My Ambassador Reading Tip
enjoy every book that you read and learn as much about people and places as you can from them.
Some more information about Rebecca
My netball achievements include:
- playing with the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the national competition
- seven years in the Australian Netball Team
- winning a World Championship
- winning 2 Commonwealth Gold medals.
- I have worked in Serology, Immunology and Microbiology at Gribbles Pathology for 17 years.
Rebecca lived in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in 2007 – 2009. Now she works as a scientist at Adelaide Pathology (Molecular Biology Department).
Rebecca in Vietnam – 2007-2009
I moved to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in 2007. There are so many people in Vietnam and I have never seen so many motorbikes in my life! Crossing the road is a very difficult task here! There are 85 million people in Vietnam even though the size of the country is only about the size of South Australia.
The people are very nice and friendly. The weather is always warm and humid, which is very different from Adelaide. Also, there is a lot of rain every day and I wish I could send some of that water back home because I know just how much South Australia really needs it.
When I first came to Vietnam, I was teaching English to people of all ages. Some of my students were only 5 years old whilst my oldest student would have been about the same age as your grandparents! Everybody over here wants to learn how to speak, write and read in English. Like you, they love to read and and talk to each other about the wonderful stories they have read. They especially seem to love reading comic books!!
I am sure they would love to have a great programme like the Premier’s Reading Challenge to encourage them to read even more, and they would really love the opportunity to win a certificate or medal if they achieved their reading goals! Just like all of you, they are fun and hardworking and eager to learn.
My partner and I opened a cafe in Ho Chi Minh City which keeps us very busy.
We returned to Adelaide in 2009.
