Today I went with the other girls to Fremantle. We went into the shops and around the market. They had a bunch of cool stuff, and I bought my sister's birthday present. :) Now, I just need to figure out how to get it to her in the states.

Fremantle


They had fish shaped waffles, and you picked what filling you wanted... We chose caramel.

January 30, 2010

Today I met up with three of the others girls that are also here doing their student teaching. We met at the train station and caught a bus to King’s Park. We walked around for a while, and looked at the view of the city; it was absolutely beautiful. After we walked around the park for a while, we went back to the train station to head to the BBQ our professor organized for us. The six of us girls who are here this semester for our student teaching were able to meet, and we made plans for tomorrow. We had different Australian wines, and I tried kangaroo (it was actually pretty good and very tender.) I really like the other girls, and I am very excited to get to know them over the next three months.

At King's Park


The desserts at our BBQ.. They made an American one and an Australian one. :)

January 29, 2010

Today was a much needed, relaxing day. I woke up really early once again, and I decided to take a walk around the block. It felt very good outside with the wind blowing just a bit. After the walk, I took a shower and proceeded to get ready for another teacher-planning day at school. While I was drying my hair, my teacher called to let me know that I did not have to go to the school. I was very excited and began planning my day.

I talked to my friend, Susan, and she decided to come over to swim with me. I went outside while I was waiting for her and had a bit of an accident. I had a lot of stuff in my hands (my phone, my book, my ipod, and water), and I tripped over a chair. Everything went flying out of my arms, and my cell phone took a bounce then shattered with one piece falling into the pool. (They gave each of us a cell phone when we got here so that we could talk to one another to make plans and such.) I did not have anyone’s number because all of them were already stored in my cell phone when I got it. I knew that Susan did not know her way here after getting off the train, so I began freaking out. Good news- I called Brad and he had a number that would help me get Susan’s number, and I think I will get a new phone today. Bad news- The math and science department at Belmont know about the accident, and I assume they will remind me of it a few times this next week.

In the evening, I went with Brad, Izzy, and Jeri to the beach and we had fish and chips. The beach was beautiful as the sun was setting. Izzy and I looked in a few shops and decided we would have to come back another day, also. We got icecream on the way out.
I took this as the sun was setting. :)

January 28, 2010

Today was great. I woke up once again around 5:00 a.m. I had coffee and then Izzy showed me all of her purses and jewelry. She told me I could borrow anything I wanted (very sweet). We made plans to go shopping after school.

School was a little on the boring side as all we did was sat in meetings and worked on planning the school year. I did not really know what was going on because their program is very different from ours in the states. The principal introduced me to everyone during his welcome at the start of the day and then we had morning tea. We had a presentation on asthma, because it is very common (much more common than in the U.S.) in Australia. We had pizza for lunch. (I can eat it if I am hungry enough.. and I was.) After lunch, we spent more time planning. My teacher is great by the way, and she explained the programs a little bit. I think she is going to be great to work with.

The mall was very fun. Izzy is awesome to go shopping with. She likes to look in every store and is always hunting for a bargain, similar to me. I bought a dress, a shirt, a belt, and a pair of shoes- I just couldn’t resist, ok! After this shopping trip, I was exhausted. We came home and ate dinner, then went to bed. :)

I arrived in Perth yesterday at 5 p.m. Perth time. Brad was at the airport to pick me up along with Dr. Happs and his wife. Brad helped me roll my three suitcases to the car, and after finding room for them in the backseat and trunk, I proceeded to get into the car- on the right side, the driver side here- until Brad reminded me that they drive on the opposite side of the road (I knew this... it is just going to take some getting used to.) We arrived at his house which is absolutely gorgeous, and I met his wife, Izzy, who is also, like her husband, very sweet. They showed me around their house, and told me to make myself at home.

Yesterday was Australia Day (equivalent to our 4^th of July), so I joined my host family in going to their friends’ house for a bar-b-que. Everyone was very welcoming, and it was great hearing about Australia from them. We talked about schools around here and places I need to visit during my stay. However, because I had not had any sleep since Sunday morning, the jet-lag hit me shortly after we ate dinner.

I woke up this morning around 5:30 a.m. and luckily (since it was afternoon time in Alabama) I was able to skype with people. I got out of bed around 7:30 and Brad and Izzy were getting ready to leave for work. They showed me where breakfast food was and how to make coffee. Brad informed me that it is supposed to be around 97 degrees today (pool time??). After breakfast, I began unpacking. (This shows exactly how tired I was last night as I have never been able to go to sleep with things packed and out of order in my room.)

After lunch, Brad picked took me to the school to meet some of the teachers and staff. Everyone was very sweet, and although my placement teacher was not there, everyone talked very highly of her. I am going to school tomorrow to meet her and sit in on meetings, I guess. The students do not start until Monday, so this will be a great time to get to know more about the school and the curriculum.

After going to the school, Brad took me to the mall for some groceries. He told me to pick out anything I wanted. We then went back to the house, and Izzy made dinner (lasagna) shortly after. It was a great day, and I am very excited about starting the school year off with the Aussies.

When you miss your flight to Australia, you get to spend the weekend in L.A.

Because of delays in Atlanta, our flight from Charlotte, NC did not land in L.A. until 9:10. We were scheduled to fly out of L.A. at 10:35. In between flights we had to get out luggage and recheck it with Vaustralia. We rushed straight to the US Airways baggage claim and waited for the luggage to come out. Unfortunately, our luggage did not ever come (everyone on the flight from Atlanta was missing their luggage). We soon found out that our luggage was still in North Carolina and that it would not be in L.A. until the next morning. Without our luggage and after missing our flight, Susan and I were put on the wait list for the flight that would be going out on the next day.

We took advantage of our day in L.A by taking a shuttle bus out to Santa Monica, where we ate and walked on the pier. It was such a beautiful day, and we had high hopes that we would be able to get on the flight leaving out at 8:10 p.m. So, we went to the airport around 6 p.m. and waited. There were not any extra seats; therefore, we are now on the wait list for tomorrow night.




Off the pier in Santa Monica.

PACKING....

WOW! Let me just tell you, it is kind of hard (ok.. really hard!) to pack for three and a half months. I have been trying to pack everything into two large suitcases- one for "teacher clothes" and one for lounging/workout clothes- with full intentions of fitting the FEW pairs of shoes that i would make myself narrow my collection down to into one of the two suitcases. Well, needless to say, the few pairs of shoes turned into about fifteen and the two suitcases turned into three.

On a better note- I think I have had a pretty productive day today. My friend that I will be traveling to Perth with and I went to the mall to get our supervisor, our teachers, and our host families gifts. (of course it was all Alabama stuff :) I also took care of a few small things and enjoyed marking them off my to-do list.

I am going to make my rounds tomorrow to see my grandparents as it will be my last day to say goodbye. I am going to miss my family and friends, but I will have Skype. I just pray that my host family has wireless internet. :)

Saying Goodbye...

Well, the packing and the goodbyes have begun. (These pics are from the little family get-together at my grandmother's.) I am getting very anxious/excited/nervous about my trip. I can't believe I leave in four days.

My family and I have all downloaded Skype so that we can communicate while I am gone. Now, the only hard part left to figure out is what time will be best for both Alabama and Australia time to skype.. I will be 14 hours ahead.

I will be living with a host family while I am in Perth; however, I do not know who the host family is yet. I also do not know what age group I will be with in the school. This makes me really nervous. I trust that wherever I am placed will be for a reason and that I will learn from all my experiences. But, as you all should know, I am a planner and I like to try to have every "t crossed and i dotted" in advance. I hear that Australians are very laid back, so I guess I better get used to this.