Thank You!!

So, I realized yesterday that I never properly thanked many of my family and friends for coming to the going away party my family set up for me! 

 

 I wish I had all your addresses so I could send you postcards!! Thank youuu!!!

I Finally Have a Home! :D

I had an induction/orientation on Friday (6 August). It went well, but I got soo intimidated!!

I got to the school to learn that:
1. Everyone was dressed down, denim (jeans) is fine
2. Teachers have office areas and desks (not in a particular classroom) becauuseee…
3. Teachers move from classroom to classroom
4. Classes change places everyday (but stays the same weekly)
5. There is a recess (for students)/tea break (for teachers)
6. Part of the school is outside

I was intimidated.
It did get better as the day went on though!

To explain:  The school system is soo much different here, teachers don't really dress up at all, they mostly just wear denim and a nice shirt, and sometimes the shirts aren't even nice! We have timetables because everyday is different; the classes change daily, the teachers don't have a permanent room, there are only 6 periods, and they have a recess for 25 minutes after the 2nd period (this is tea time for the teachers) & lunch for an hour after the 4th period. It's awesome how everyone isn't soo rushed.


Monday was a curriculum day, all the students in the state got the day off, the teachers on the other hand went to school to learn about this new online program they would be working with called Ultranet. Unfortunately, since every school had off and every school was working on this at the same time.. We really only got an explanation of it, because when we went to open it up & play around with it, the site was down. Hah! I think it was a good experience though.

Tuesday was my 1st day of planning! I was in the school but since each day is different Tuesday is planning day.. I only observed 1 class but I observed many more in the remainder of the week. I will start teaching on Monday; my 1st class taught is year 10 biology & the next topic they will be learning about Classification & Evolution.

To help better explain my weeks, here is my timetable: 

When I came in on Tuesday, one of my supervising teachers (I have 2) invited me to go to a “footy” game (AFL game) this weekend with him & his wife! I'm pretty pumped! I was told to definitely get to one of these games if I could. It's Aussie Rules Australian Football League, they use both their hands & their feet, they don’t wear any padding, &&& I hear they get in A LOT of fights. I'm excited.. my friend from back home spent a semester studying here and explained it to be kind of like a game of quidditch in HP with all the rugbe scarves & stuff! & Ken said he’d bring me a scarf to wear!

Yesterday, Wednesday 11 August, I got invited to go on a camping trip!! One of the teachers asked me to lead a camping trip with him and 17 students! It’s on 8-10 September, & I definitely jumped on that opportunity. We're going to go kite surfing! I wonder how I'll do :/ I'll probably make more a fool of myself than anything else.. I'll just have to embrace it. I’m pretty stoked!! Now, I just need to find a sleeping bag! And thermals! And a waterproof jacket! And waterproof trackies!

There was also a staff meeting at the end of the day yesterday. I learned many things, but 2 of the mains ones are:
1. Teachers love food.
2. They serve alcohol at these things! Who knew!? (I enjoyed my 1st Australian beer: Pure Blonde)

Today.. I FINALLY HAVE A HOME! At then end of the day today Cathy, one of my supervising teachers, found me an open desk!! This means I FINALLY have a place to keep all my books & notes & lesson ideas without having to lug them back and forth to school!

This past weekend, I saw Inception and helped my host brother, Jamie, move out a bit.. Well, actually maybe it was more of a watching and laughing session @ him & his friend Lachlan. They were packing up Lachlan's "ute," this is like a mini utility truck.. it's pretty funny.. *see photos* Oh yeah!! and this old lady came by to bring Viv flowers because she was "feeling under the weather," (which she wasn't), and she said Jamie was going to miss the fridge, and that I was going to get married while I was here.. Legit, I know!! It was ssooooooo funny! ask me about it so I can tell you in person b.c putting it into words won't do it any justice...

Jamie's going to take me out this weekend so I'm pretty excited for that! I'm really hoping I start meeting more people. I am starting to make friends at school, with the other staff.. It’s fun, but hard to keep track of when some of the staff is part time & are only in on some days, etc.

It’s pretty crazy learning about teachers' lives & being on the other side of the fence. Especially after growing up thinking they pretty much lived at school.. They don’t! It’s a huge shocker.. but they do have more of a life than you think! ;)

More words:
Bottle shop – liquor store
Shopping center – mall
Chewy – gum
Jelly – jello
Jam – jelly
Yappy – trendi, people in their 20’s or so wanting to make something of themselves
Bin – trash can
Queue – line
Petrol – gas
Jumper – sweater
Tracky – sweat pants
Thongs – flip-flops
Ute – mini pickup/utility truck
Fortnight – 2 weeks
Petrol – gas
She’s all apples – this one would be said if someone was asked if they were sick or ok.. someone would say back, yeah she’s apples
Throwin a leg over – sex
Get one up ya – have a drink

Most used word so far: Reckon – I think it’s the national word of Australia.
Also: Good on ya. - I’m really just not sure about this one.. but they say it a lot at the end of conversations.


Some more things I’ve learned:
- Don’t underestimate 40-50 degrees.. It IS cold. It gets dark early.. so that means less sun & more time that I have to get cold. They don’t lie when they say it is winter.. even though the degrees isn’t that low.. it’s still a chiller!  I bought slippers yesterday!!
- Aboriginals see 6 seasons. When the golden wattle flowers in August, it is the 1st part of spring (whereas to other Australians, this is still winter). Also, Australia’s national colors, yellow and green, are based on the colors of the golden wattle flowers.
- There’s at least one good thing about rain.. the smell of eucalyptus is strong and amazing on my walk to the bus stop! :)


I feel like I’m learning soo much everyday.. the list keeps getting longer and longer!

Well.. Good on ya!
<3 M

Victoria – The Place To Be

I had trouble with picking out a name for this blog… that’s why it has taken me so long to do one.

Anyway.. Victoria – The Place To Be.
At least that’s what the license plates say..

My flight from Sydney was really delayed. It was suppose to leave at 8, we didn’t board till 8, and then we waited another hour for the LAX passengers to land and make it onto the plane too. At this point, I think anyone would be anxious & frustrated… but me, I was happy I got more Percy Jackson book 5 reading time! I was supposed to get there at 9:40am yesterday, but I arrived around 11:00, not too bad. Got through customs really quick, probably only took about 10 minutes which is super sweet. Everyone here is friendly... even the dog who smelled my bag, he seemed to be suuper excited that I arrived.

I was really happy to get here, even though I still have 70 pages left to read in Percy. Kevin met me right outside customs with a sign that had my name on it! I felt pretty dang special:) Since Vivian (my host mum) wasn’t going to get home from work until about 4:00, we took a little tour of the City (“the City” – with a capital C, is pretty much how we would use the term “downtown” for the city of Cleveland). Something I really noticed about the City was how different the architecture was from building to building & how colorful the buildings are compared to ours! Especially the nab building.. I should get some photos to show you soon. Kevin was explaining to me how the National Australian Bank was beginning to become really old-fashioned and boring, therefore they revamped themselves; built this awesome building in the City & now they are known as “nab.” So now there are areas of glorious technicolor panels all over the building, it’s radtastic!

It started raining half way through the day & after sitting through a lot of slowed down traffic, I finally met my host mum around 4:30. She is soo nice & welcoming. We talked a lot, and that’s an understatement; I still don’t have anything unpacked, and it’s the next day! I learned that they are healthy, this makes me very happy! & Vivian doesn’t eat much meat either, she was a vegetarian for I think she said 40 years, & is just starting to eat it again… Scotty loves meat.. but they only eat free range!! Vivian said she’d teach me about what foods are good in protein to replace meat. & she said she’d teach me all about a vegetarian lifestyle. I met Scotty, Vivian’s husband when he got home from work, he is lovely as well. And after I decided to take a shower, Jamie (host brother) came home, so I met him a little after.

We ate dinner at 7 or so, I was told it is the most Greek meal I will probably ever get. We had chicken soup with rice & lemon; a lot of lemon, and vegetables with a lot of garlic; a lot of garlic. It was very strong tasting and good; I’m not sure if I’ve ever tasted something with that much lemon & garlic before in my life. We set up my computer & I found that I had 40 facebook notifications (I hope this never happens again). Well I meant to get to bed by around 9:00, but then got distracted with talking to Jamie awhile. We found out we have a lot of similar music taste, but a lot of the bands that I listen to are almost mainstream here whereas at home no one even knows they exist! Well I was up till about 10:30, I meant to be asleep by around 9!

I woke up this morning around 9:00, and talked to Ash a little bit before her computer froze. I’ve been TRYING to talk to my mum but Chelsea never told her to get on Skype! Siiiggghhh….. Other than the weekends this is my only free day, because everyone is at work!

I really need to get unpacking then I think I will go on a walk and get used to the neighborhood a bit.



Things I’ve learned on the way:
- Flight attendants are hilarious these days!
- Sydney airport sucks... At least the part I was in... But the workers are soo nice!
- They like to delay there flights for delayed flights… but that’d be pretty awesome if I were to have been on a late flight…

Things I’ve learned in Melbourne so far:
- Pronunciation: Melbourne [mel-bin] – I don’t get it! ...I just figure they must not like r’s.
- Lollies mean candy or sweets.
- I’ve really got to get used to the lingo… it’s a bit hard to communicate otherwise.
- Not all Australians are criminals! Who knew!?
- Everything is really close together.
- The Attorneys for the supreme and county courts still wear gowns & wigs! I saw some on the street, it was awesome.
- Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit, & Phoenix are just about mainstream here. I’m glad they have good music taste…
- Coffee is served in glass cups.
- Tropical birds live here.
- Australia is trying to “go green” as Americans like to say it… & their doing really well!
- Toilets have 2 options for flushing – full or half flushes (to save on water).
- Sarcasm is NOT rude :)
- Oh yeah, and the right side of the couch is Scotty’s.

Things that haven’t hit me yet:
- I’ma be here for 3 months!?

<3 Miranda!~