It truly is hard to believe that I am almost halfway through my journey in Western Australia. The past few days have been absolutely wonderful and allowed me to see how blessed I truly am to have this opportunity in my life. Special shout out to my family who helped make this trip a reality :)
Friday, March 2nd
Hooray for my last day of solo teaching! As excited as I was to get the day over and on to the weekend, I did get a bit said towards the end. When one of my students asked if I was going to be teaching again and I replied no, the whole class responded "noooo, we love having you teach us Miss Carlton!" Hearing them say that made my heart almost melt right on the spot. It meant a lot to hear that although they have put me through it all, that I did actually leave a good lasting impression on them. The students concluded all of their post assessment materials so I could see if they really did learn something after all. To my surprise, they did! For the most part, every single one of them aced the closing activities. The little things like that make me realize how special my job really is and so happy that God has blessed me with the opportunity to make a difference in children's lives on a daily basis.
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| Putting together our work throughout my two weeks of teaching. |
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| Of course I blinked! |
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| Love my Year 8's! |
It was nice being on my own teaching the last two days. My teacher was away for a couple of days, so I really got a feel of what life is like as a teacher. I also got to leave a little early, which is always a good way to start your weekend. John, my supervisor, came and picked me up from school to pick up Stacey from the airport. John brought with him Bob, another COST student, who goes to school with Stacey. I must say, I am quite envious of these two. They have a familiar face from home and someone who can help them out with assignments whenever they need it! I did get a bit homesick when I entered the airport. Seeing family members reunite with their loved ones made me miss home and everything else that much more. Then, I remembered, the next time I would be in that airport I would get to see someone I have missed- Will! That quickly put a smile to my face, I can't believe he'll be here in less than two weeks!
It is so nice having someone else around that is my age! Stacey is a very sweet person and I am looking forward to getting to know her a bit better in our short time together. After a delicious dinner with the family, we decided it would be best for Stacey to stay in and get a little rest. I think she was asleep by 7:30, I don't know how she managed to stay up that long! I finished a little homework and stumbled across an Australian version of one of my favorite American television series- House Hunters. Needless to say, I am a little worried now that I will be losing sleep staying up to watch!
Saturday, March 3rd
Once again, I was up bright and early, around 7 AM. Of course I was up early the one day I could actually sleep in. I decided to make the most of it and head out for a work out in the park while the weather was still nice. After breakfast, Stacey and I made our way to the train station to head to Fremantle and meet the other students. It never gets old to me riding the train and coming to the point where you meet the Indian Ocean. It almost feels as though you are in a boat you are so close to the water. Once we arrived, we met up with Bob for a coffee at Gino's and to explore the wonderful Freo Markets. There is absolutely everything one can imagine in these markets- food, soaps, candles, clothing, artwork (the Aboriginal is my personal favorite), you name it, it's there! I found some lovely souvenirs for a few of you lucky ones! After a bite to eat, Western Australia's best fish and chips might I add, it was off to meet the other girls for a little sight-seeing!
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| Lunch at Cicerello's |
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| Gino's flat white, my fave. |
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| Fremantle Markets |
Our first stop for the afternoon in Freo was the famous Fremantle jail. This place is almost identical to Alacatraz, or so I was told by those who have been. It is a very interesting place and just closed its doors in 1991. It was quite bizarre seeing the way the prisoners lived. What was even more shocking was the standards they lived up to into the early 90's. Prisoners were forced to use a bucket to relieve themselves! Can you believe it, a bucket!! Another thing I found quite interesting was the fact that there was an old piano that was in the prison chapel that today is worth $700,000! As soon as our knowledgeable tour guide shared that bit of information everyone rushed over to snap a picture. I absolutely loved everything about the tour, but then again, I am quite cheesy and enjoy doing "touristy" sorts of things.
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| The poop bucket |
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| Probably the happiest prisoner this place has seen. |
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| Shattered glass to prevent prisoners from escaping! |
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| Ladies and gentleman, the half a million dollar piano. |
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If you read close, you'll see this is a letter from a father to his daughter. Heartbreaking.
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After doing the tour, we decided it was time for a little fun and relaxation. We took the crew back over to the Little Creatures Brewery for another tasting. Later, we made our way over to the bar next door and met some interesting characters. Turns out, this group of older men were on a bachelor party with their son-in-law. Hence the fact they were dressed in prisoner clothing... They were quite entertaining to say the least and seemed to be having a great time... Our train ride back home also was full of entertainment. We even had our own personal DJ blaring Dolly Parten and Kenny Rodgers the whole way home...
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| Solitary confinement, YIKES! |
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| The couple from the Netherlands who offered to role play a prison beating. Hysterical. |
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| Execution room... |
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| Making COST proud! |
Sunday, March 4th
Another early morning, but this one a HOT one! I went out for my usual workout in the park and drenched. I quickly found the shade to finish, the temps reached the high 90's on Sunday. We had a lovely breakfast on the patio at our house and overlooked everyone running through the park. I'm finding it hard to say no to yummy food while I am here, I probably am going to come back an oompa-loompa from all the terrible food, oh well..."When in Rome." What is so bizarre is the fact that our bad weather at home is making the news here! I walked into the living area and listened in as they were going over all of the tornadoes that swept through the states last week. My supervisor even sent me a text to make sure everyone at home was alright, which I found very thoughtful. After breakfast, Katherine took Stacey and I to the up-markets which were held at UWA's campus. No not University of West Alabama, the University of Western Australia. It is quite historic for Australia, nearly 150 years old. I quickly learned why they were named "up-markets" everything was very expensive, but definitely fun to look at! Katherine dropped us off in Cottesloe where we had a look at the "Sculptures by the sea." The artwork was incredible and something I'm glad we had the opportunity to see! The sand was so hot it burnt your feet if you had your "thongs" off. We quickly found a nice restaurant to cool down in and enjoy our Sunday Session. Sunday's are the big going out days here in WA, and even more "chockers" (crowded) when there is a Monday holiday. All of the pubs were crawling with people celebrating their day off. Of course, service again was quite terrible... We waited close to 20 minutes just for a drink!!!
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| University of Western Australia Campus |
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| Cheesing by the Indian Ocean |
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| Sculptures by the sea |
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| One of my favorites! |
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| Windblown |
Monday, March 5th: "Labour" Day
After a night in, our host family decided to take us out to celebrate our day off. We were off to Yanchep for a swim and a visit to the National Park. We went for a quick dip in the ocean, which was absolutely FREEZING! Apparently, to them the water was quite warm, not for Stacey and I. Our hands were purple only after a couple of minutes! Once again, the sand was so hot it would burn your feet without shoes. The water there was crystal clear and because there was a reef there was an area to swim without waves at all. Swimming in tough current will work up your appetite, Janette packed us a lovely lunch and we had the beautiful view of the ocean to look at as we munched on some sandwiches.
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| Wet hair, don't care! |
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| Ryan, my host "brother!" |
Once we were done eating lunch, it was off to explore the rest of Yanchep National Park. We were able to see this lovely beach called Two Rocks, where you guessed it, there are two enormous rocks out in the water. For those of you who have watched the TV series "Lost", it reminded me a lot of settings from there. After taking some photos, we explored the rest of the park where we were able to see koalas and kangaroos. Stacey and I were so excited to have this experience! After some ice cream it was back home for dinner- tacos, one of my favorites! It was definitely hard to get back in the swing of things after a long weekend. I am getting overwhelmed with school at the moment and keep finding out more and more that I have to do. All the prayers and positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I finish up my last week at my school! Then it's on to the next one...
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