Homecoming

I can't believe it's already here! I am sorry I've been away from the blog for a long while but I guess it shows how busy I was with teaching! I still don't have much time to write but I just want to say that it has been a great time. If you want to see pics from the different things I've done in the past 3 weeks, check out albums 7-9.

I will be sure to share my stories with you all once I get home!

Till Wednesday!

Phil and I returned home (Melbourne) today from our 9 day vacation! We had a wonderful experience in Cairns! It was a lot warmer in the north... We snorkeled, kayaked, hiked, basked in the sun, ate good seafood, and got a good look at the surrounding reef and islands. If you look at the Photo Albums 4-6 you will see the kinds of places we visited. I have truly never seen anything like the Great Barrier Reef. It was so fun to swim with all the different kinds of fish around you and in the coral! Even the beaches were covered in coral remains! It was everywhere! The kayaking was the next best thing! Although the water was a bit rough, we managed to get around the island just fine.

We spent 6 days in Cairns altogether and our next stop was Sydney! Sydney itself didn't have too much going on outside of the hustle and bustle of everyday life but it definitely provided for some beautiful walks along the harbor!

I only have 4 weeks left now of teaching and this will be the hardest stretch. The secondary kids here are some of the toughest kids I have seen to deal with but I am optimistic that I will do alright.

Wish me luck!

Off to Cairns!

Well... it's been a long past 2 weeks! I finished my teaching at the primary school and now it is the term break. It came at a good time, I must add. Phil and I are very excited to set off on our holiday in Cairns, located in the north of Queensland = warm weather!

We will also be stopping in Sydney on the way back! I will post the pictures once I get home!

Drive on the left?

We took our first road trip this past weekend! Apparently Australia gets a lot of foreign drivers in these parts because they had these signs all along the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road runs along the southern coast of Victoria and when you look out on the water you are basically facing Antarctica. You can feel it too. Check out the photo album from the weekend (Album 3 on the right). I took us 4 hours to get there but it was well worth it. Half of the fun was driving on the other side of the car and the road. Every time I wanted to turn, I accidentally turned the whippers on. LOL! I also had to shift with my left hand. Phil had a go at it as well. The sights were unbelievable. Most of the pics don't even do them justice.

I taught my first full lesson today to the eighth graders. They are notorious for being the worst behaved class on campus, but I think I managed them quite well for my first time. My cooperating teacher thought so too. :-) I actually liked that class a lot and I am looking forward to doing more work with them. I get to teach the 5th and 6th graders tomorrow!!! Wish me luck!.

I can't believe it's already the 4th week. The days are flying by and I have a feeling I will be back home in no time. I have already gained so much valuable experience through teaching, living with a new family and traveling in this country. It's amazing what I still have to learn about my own country.

I made pumpkin pie for my host family. It was the first time they had ever tried it and the first time I ever made one from scratch. I'll put a photo up of it in another album soon.

Hope every thing at home is well! Much Love....

Ein schönes Wochenende nach einer langen Woche.

This weekend was a nice one. Phil and I got to experience an "Aussie Barbie" with hot dogs and natural wonders. We fed the birds at the park which were wild but quite tame as you can see from the pic. While we were eating, one of the birds called a "Kookaburra" swooped down and swiped a hot dog from one of the girl's forks as she was putting it in a bun. LOL!

We also went to Phillip Island and saw surfer's beach, the koala sanctuary, Churchill Island and the penguin parade! There is a spot on the island where, every night at dusk, the penguins come ashore altogether and go into their burrows. It was really fun to watch! Check out the pictures from the weekend in "Photo Album 2" on the right side of this page.

As far as teaching goes, I had my first few lessons in the primary school and I am still observing a lot. I will start teaching full time at the primary level in just a few weeks and then at the secondary school a few weeks after that. Thats when it will really start to get busy!

Settled in...

Well, a week has already gone by. I am finally settling in to my "home" and getting to know the city a bit more. Phil and I went into downtown Melbourne yesterday and were so distracted by all the cool sights that we forgot to take any pictures. LOL! We ate in Chinatown which was really good and we did a lot of walking because it was such a nice day.

Today my host family took us up to one of the local "hills" which was more like a mountain. It's called "Mt. Dandenong". We could see all of Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay and some other mountain ranges from the top. This is a picture of us up there. It was really windy.

I start my second week tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. The school schedules are really crazy here. I have a different schedule everyday for 2 weeks and then it starts all over again. I just wrote it all out in my planner today.

I miss everyone at home already!!! This place is amazing but I have learned in my years of traveling that nothing ever compares to home.

First day of student teaching...

Well I wouldn't necessarily call it teaching just yet. I am still figuring out my "time table" (when you see the "", it usually means it's the Aussie way of saying it.)

I observed the primary school today and they welcomed me with a nice little sign in the front entrance. Of course my name was spelled wrong (like it always it) but it was still a nice effort on their part. Ironic how they are also advertising a spelling bee. :-)

The kids were funny but I think they thought I was even funnier. They asked me to say words like "slurp" and "tornado" and then giggled when I said it. They think Americans sound "funny". It was fun for me to have the accent this time though so I played along and laughed with them.

I'll have more to report hopefully once I get a good feel for what I will be doing on a regular basis. For now, it's time for bed. Good night! (or should I say good morning?) ;-)