Days 39-41 "Ohhhh we're halfway there..."

These past couple of days have flown by and I can't believe I have reached my halfway mark! It's all downhill from here, literally. Although I am ready to see everyone and get back into the swing of everyday life, it is quite sad how quickly things are going by. I remember my Mom telling me, "don't wish your life away" and thinking "yeahhh, whatever Mom." Now I TOTALLY see what she means, everything in life as you get older is gone in a blink of an eye. I am trying my best to be thankful for every little blessing that comes along the way!

Tuesday, March 6th

After having the long weekend, it was tough to get up and back to school but I was anxious to see my students and spend what little time I have left with them this week. To my surprise, the students were STILL upset I wasn't their teacher, I must have really left my mark on them! We watched a news series that highlighted the Republican Primary back home, the kids were far from intrigued but I did get a lot of questions from the staff. It is amazing to me how much our news is a part of theirs here in Australia. Every time I turn around there's something on the TV about what's going on in America!

After school, I went for a run in the park, which never gets old. Running here is great for people watching AND dogs. I know I have said this over and over, but it really is such a delight seeing all of them enjoying themselves, I know Andy man is doing the same back home but I wish he was here with me to play! I even saw a three-legged chiwawa running along the trail! It brought back memories from when I was a kid and Laura Beth having a three-legged lab! Later I got to work on some things for school and began getting quite overwhelmed, the amount of work is unbelievable. However, I took a look at my final grade rubric for internship- all of this work, only 8% of my grade. 8%!!!!!! I cannot believe the amount of time I have spent at the computer and typing for this to only be 8% of my final grade. With that being said, it is quite a relief, as long as I keep up the good work in school, there is no reason to stress over 8%! The Aussie way of life is really starting to rub off on me. The whole "no worries" attitudes is quite catchy! I just need to scheme up a way to make all of my advisers and professors at home think the same....Suggestions appreciated.

Wednesday, March 7th

Well, no shock here, another hot morning here in WA. Oh and guess what?! You guessed it, another heat wave... Over the weekend heat is supposed to rise to 39 Celsius. For those of you who do not have a converter on hand, that's close to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Needless to say, I will be spending the days indoors... Any who, it was off to school once again. My supervisor had been out sick so it was nice to catch up with her on the ride to school. She had yet to observe me teach and wanted to see me in action. We had planned for my lesson to be on Thursday, but things do change and I was thrown on the spot to teach within the hour. So I decided to teach what I knew best, the history of Alabama. I found a lovely video that highlighted just about everything from the Civil War, Rosa Parks, music, food, weather, etc. The kids loved it and I received rave reviews. The students were especially interested in the information regarding the tornado and couldn't seem to wrap their minds around the fact that it took so many lives. After the lesson, there was a little free time so I gave the students the opportunity to ask me questions about the United States or Alabama. I was expecting questions about our food, animals, malls, and that sort of thing. You know, things that 12 year old boys and girls like. So when my first question is- "Miss, Miss (the students rarely call teachers by their last names here) do you know if Arnold Schwarzenegger going to be making any new movies any time soon? I keep waiting, but my Mom says he's having issues in his life" I was quite surprised. My supervisor and I both died out in laughter... I did get a couple questions about fast food restaurants. The kids seemed shocked when I pulled up a picture of our McDonald's and the fact they look exactly the same... Oh and while at school, I received an email from my wonderful Father saying that we just missed Taylor Swift over the weekend. She was at Cottesloe, where we saw all of the sculptures, just a couple of days before us! She's touring over here at the moment. Maybe I'll have a celeb sighting while I'm down unda! I decided to show Stacey around the park by our house after school. I found out along the way that Stacey isn't as much of a dog person as I am, but she still seemed to have a good time checking out the scenery. We went on a nice, long walk and enjoyed the sunset. It is so relieving to have someone always around who is experiencing the same type of emotions and things as I am! I was able to get a lot of work done for school, just still have to push through the next couple of bits to get this project finished!

Thursday, March 8th

Well ladies and gentleman, I am halfway home. Today marked 42 days until I am back in the land of the free. I have a feeling it is going to go by fast with Will coming to visit, trips planned on weekends, teaching full time again, and NEW ZEALAND! Speaking of NZ, I was able to talk to a girl I work with who happens to be a Kiwi (native to New Zealand) today at school about my trip. She gave me tons of great travel advice and assured me my dollar would go quite far, which was quite the relief. After school, Stacey and I ran to the Galleria with Ryan and Janette to grab a couple of things. Stacey was just as surprised as I was at first to see all of the lovely things their K-Mart has to offer! If only they were like this at home!

Tomorrow is my last day at Belmont City College. Although I am sad to leave the lovely staff and my students, I am ready to move on to my next placement. Tomorrow morning my supervisor is driving me over to Carson Street to meet my teacher and find my way around. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well! Oh and I failed to mention what I will be doing period one tomorrow.... a guest reading. One of the English classes is reading "To Kill A Mockingbird" and I have been asked by the teacher to read an excerpt. She believes my southern accent will really get the students engaged, we shall see. For once my ole redneck accent is good for something!