Days 14, 15, 16- Wined Down

Another wonderful weekend here in Western Australia has come and gone! Let's see, let's begin with Friday...

Friday, February 10
After keeping myself up to the wee hours of the morning thinking of everything that could go wrong with my lesson, I was one sleepy girl when 6 AM rolled around. Once I got to school, I perked up and was ready to teach my kids their English Lesson. The lesson didn't go exactly as planned, but I still think it went pretty well. My teacher provided me with wonderful feedback and the students were very well behaved and respectful of me. She was nice enough to give me a lesson to teach every day next week so I can really be prepared for when my COST Supervisor comes to watch me do my ten straight days of teaching which starts in a week, aghhh!!

After school, I rushed home to pack and it was off to the train station. I feel like I am in the movies every time I am catching the train because I am constantly running through trying not to miss my ride! But I do make it every time and I am getting some good jogging in! Once I got over to Chelsea's place, we rode into Subiaco for dinner and drinks. "Subi" is a very trendy sort of place and can get quite pricey. We had a wonderful meal at Jus Burgers and had a couple of cocktails at the Subiaco Hotel, which is absolutely gorgeous. Very vintage Hollywood glamour sort of style. While we were there we began talking to a guy who just got transferred here from work who is a die hard Texas A&M fan. Of course I chatted his ears off about the aggies joining the SEC, it was nice to catch up with someone who actually understood college sports, so many young people here only follow pro sports. He even gave me a big roll tide! Once we left Subi, we went back down to a swanky little bar in Hillary's Harbor and met a nice fellow who knew someone from Ozark, Alabama. I know I have said this before, but really what are the odds, it really is such a small world! One thing that was reassuring to hear was being reminded how wonderful we do have it in America. This little guy would not stop talking about how he would do anything to be able to move to the states but waiting for a VISA is just too time consuming. This experience has allowed me so far to see the up's and down's of living in another country, which I am very thankful for.

A healthy burger choice that was yummy in our tummy's!

Saturday, February 11

Saturday was quite a chill day for us. After having a late lunch at Sharky's in Hillary's Harbor, we wondered around and looked at all of the markets that come into the Harbor on Saturday's. It was lovely to see all of the unique jewelry, artwork, toys for children, and everything else you could possibly think of. I found a lovely elephant necklace that I plan on wearing next football season, which seems like years from now, haha! After a little fro-yo, for those of you who might not be familiar with the hip lingo these days, that means frozen yogurt, we wondered down and napped on the beach before heading home to get ready for our BBQ. The BBQ was  very relaxed and everything I expected a really Aussie Barbie to be like! We had sausage dogs by the pool and mainly just sat around getting to know people. It was a bit awkward finding out that only one other person there was close to my age, most of the people there were 18-19 and joked with me if I brought my cane along with me! Nonetheless, they were very friendly and invited us out with them to a club near Chelsea's house. They warned us before hand that the club was quite "bogan" aka red neck, low life, that sort of thing and it most certainly lived up to what we expected it to be. We had a great time dancing to music that was far behind what you would hear back home. The atmosphere of bars here is quite different than anything we have in Alabama, but hey it's nice to try new things. After we left, all of the kids we were with insisted on swimming in the ocean. Chelsea and I sat out of this one, there was no way we were getting our cute outfits soaked in the cold water before going home! And not to mention sharks.... not a snowball's chance in Haiti.

Lounging by "Breakie"

Out and about 

 

Sunday, February 12 

Once again, Chelsea's family prepared a lovely breakfast for us. I absolutely love spending time with them. They are so intelligent and interesting to listen to, I feel like I learn so much any time I am around them. After a little breakfast, it was off to Swan Valley for a couple of wine tastings. Swan Valley is very unique and has over fifty vineyards that go for miles and miles. No worries, we didn't go to all fifty today, just three! It was wonderful going up to some because they were run out of people's home. My favorite was our second stop where a man sat us down at a nice table and let us sample all of his wonderful wines. Did I mention that Chelsea's host family are quite the wine gurus? They gave us tons of wonderful tips and before you know it, I am going to be an expert just like them! We had lunch at a wonderful little cafe where we sampled anything and everything. It was delicious, but I think I am still full. Not to mention the ice cream I had after at a chocolate factory we stopped at nearby. Once I got home, I went on my usual run and came home to some not so great news. Janette is still in the hospital and won't be out for another week. Fortunately, the doctors determined what type of infection she had and are able to treat her but want to keep an eye on her as she recovers. I talked to her on the phone for a while and she sounded much better! Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 

Hot Cakes, Mango yogurt, figs, cantaloupe, peaches and bananas :) 

The purchases made by Chelsea's family at Swan Valley... 

As I mentioned before, I will be teaching every day for the next three weeks so my apologies if I can't update my blog as frequently as I would like! Hope you all are doing well back in the mainland!! 

Day 13- Turnaround

Well today was a complete 180 from my pity party I have been having the past two days. I woke up to a nice cool breeze and well rested. Unfortunately, just like all of the cool mornings, it didn't carry over into the day. This weekend we are being hit by another heat wave and expected to have muggy weather, again... Oh well, at least it'll be the weekend!

Now about my day. Every morning I wake up and grab something to eat and am greeted by Tia and Basha, my host family's two dogs. They are wonderful and make me miss my little Andy so much! Tia is part maltese and has very similar expressions to Andy. It's so strange how much her personality resembles Andy's. It's so strange to the point that sometimes it seems like she is Andy! Her little head tilt and friendly attitude definitely makes me miss my little pup.

Today at school I was able to really work with my target student as well as the rest of the group of Year 8's in educational support. I gave a spelling quiz while my teacher worked one on one with another student. It was interesting to watch their faces whenever I would say certain words... I could tell my southern accent was confusing them a little. I'll have to be extra careful from now on.

As I finished up my last day of observing Michael, I was able to follow him around to his other classes. My favorite class to sit in on was Japanese. Since Australia is in the south Pacific, there are many Asian immigrants that come into the country, so learning Japanese would be like our students learning Spanish. Makes sense. Michael's Japanese teacher is quite the character. Think of the most upbeat person you know and multiply that by 1,000 and put that image into a tiny Japanese male body and you got him. He even did a Mister Miyagi impersonation for the class- "Wax on, wax off." I nearly fell out of my seat in laughter. One thing I really do appreciate about this teacher is that although he is a lively fellow, he does demand respect and lays down the law very distinctly. The students seem to really respect him because of his stern attitude which was a bit of relief to see. As the class continued on, the teacher began going over counting in Japanese. Suddenly, I flashed back to my 2nd grade classroom where we had a missionary come speak to us who had been to Japan and taught us to count to ten. I was actually able to participate! It was nice! I also learned a new Japanese phrase- Ki i te Kudasai! Which means "listen, please." I figured it was a great phrase to learn for my kids!

I have begun to really take notice to the relaxed dress code around the school. Not only with teachers, but with the students. Other than wearing school colors, the dress code is very relaxed. Girls wear EXTREMELY short shorts and all of the boys wear their pants extremely low. It would be far to risky for a student back in the states to dress like some of the students I have seen. Oh well, I guess its different strokes for different folks!

Later on in the day, I was asked to teach a lesson on how to tell time to a small group work because my teacher was in the meeting. It was lovely! Even though telling time is difficult to teach students with disabilities, today reminded me why I chose this field, because I really want to see my students succeed to the best of their abilities. I was so thankful to have this opportunity, especially after the week I have had!

After school, I ran a few errands and finally bought a lotto ticket. If you all remember "Clarice" I mentioned earlier in my blog, she seems to think I have some special type of luck and insisted I play the lottery this week for the big $20 million drop! So I said, what the heck, might as well give it a go! If I win, she says I have to give her a portion of my winnings since she could sense my luck. Her bubbly and carefree spirit is so nice to be around! Although I am getting used to how to get around, I am still having trouble with looking the correct directions when I am crossing the street. I know I look like such a foreigner at crosswalks because I look each way about ten times, oh well... Better safe than sorry!

Tomorrow is Friday, thank the good Lord! I am ready for a little fun and relaxation. Chelsea and I are planning to go out together and maybe even go to a wine village on Sunday! No worries, I will keep you all updated! Also, I teach my first English lesson to my Year 8's tomorrow. We are working on what nouns are and how to find them in sentences. I am a little nervous but know this will be a good way to get my feet wet before I start teaching full time for two weeks! :)

Days 11 & 12- Working for the weekend

The past two days have been quite interesting here in Perth, Australia. It's been a bit hectic, but I find blogging is somewhat therapeutic as bizarre as that may sound. It helps me get out what I am feeling and also updates you all about my adventures in Australia!

We will begin with yesterday, which for me was Tuesday. I woke up quite early for some reason and was feeling very chipper! I also noticed that I am starting to get a little bit of color to me! FINALLY. I do a lot of walking outdoors so I guess I am getting sun without even realizing it. No worries for you all thinking I am not wearing sunblock. I put it on everyday and even reapply at school if we are just going outside for a little bit. After I got up I went downstairs for some breakfast. I wake up quite early for my host family so I always try to be quiet so I don't wake them. But, on this morning my host "mum" :) was already awake. She was baffled by the fact that I would drink a Diet Coke in the morning as a little pick me up. The family doesn't drink coffee so I have to drink something that will put a little pep in my step. My supervisor at my school has offered to pick me up for school every morning, which saves me a bus fare and a little more time to count sheep. I enjoy riding with her because she is quite friendly and always has something interesting to say. I also don't mind the way she compliments me on my dressing every day. She always says "another wonderfully flash outfit, so professional!" or something of that nature. Hopefully my professional ensembles will be in the back of her mind when she is evaluating me :) On this particular day, I helped "Melody" with the Year 8 students. She is very precise with the kids and is great at breaking down tasks for them. Today during science we spent a good bit of time in the garden they are keeping for the year. I really enjoy watching the kids get into it, since they are still fairly young they seem to really like being outdoors. Not so much for the older kids though... I also was able to observe my focus student Michael a little bit more. I am slowly learning more and more about him as he slowly opens up to me! After school, I ran over to the gym next door to use my free membership pass. The facilities were alright, but not nearly nice enough for the price... Another thing I found odd was the fact that there were NO water fountains in sight at the gym. Their shortage of water must be really severe if there are no water fountains in a gym where everyone needs re hydrating! I ran over to the shops, before they closed at 5:30 (so early!), to grab a few things. I am becoming quite frustrated how certain people in the service industry act here. I am trying to be as patient as possible and not jump to conclusions, but it is quite different from the "American way." After dealing with not so nice cashiers, I heard "Take me home, country roads" on my Ipod. I suddenly was take over by feelings of missing home and how easy everything would be if I were back in the states. I keep reminding myself that this opportunity will benefit me so much in the long run! While I am enjoying my time here, our supervisor warned us that we would feel these types of emotions and that they are quite normal. After getting all down and the dumps, my day turned around! For some reason, the bus driver let me onto the bus without paying the fare. I went to give him the amount I normally pay which he seemed to disagree with. He didn't seem native to Australia, so maybe he could understand how hard it can be learning your way in the new country and thought he would help. Which I definitely appreciated! Once getting home, I sat down to watch a little bit of the news with Steve. I am trying my best to stay up to date with things going on here, but it can be a little confusing. The channel they watch for their news has a male anchor that insists on wearing either auburn color ties or even worse, that pumpkin orange color... Did I mention I have to walk by a house every day on my way home that is painted with that pumpkin orange. Yucky! Janette definitely made my day quite better by preparing Shepard's pie, it was lovely! She is very sick at the moment so I try to keep my distance. I can't afford a day to be sick while I am here, so pray for good health!

At least they have a nice yard? 

Today was another crazy sort of day. My morning started off on not such a good foot. I walked out of the house and the wind blew half of my papers out of my hand. I should have taken that as a sign, haha! As soon as we got out of our morning meeting I spilled coffee everywhere and then later at lunch, salad dressing down my pants. Probably not a sign that it was going to be a bad day, just a sign that I am very clumsy sometimes! On Wednesday's at my school, the kids do not begin class until 9 and are let out at 2:30! How wonderful, right? Short days, make for happy students. Happy students=happy teachers! I wasn't around the Year 8 students quite as much today and worked a lot with the upper school. They are very intrigued that I am an American and often ask me questions all about the states. I am more than happy to answer but one that tickled me today was- "I wish we had stores like you all, what do you do in Wal Mart? It has to be like the best thing ever!" I wish I could have told them about the people from Wal Mart website so they could see how "glamorous" it really is, but I didn't think that would be too professional! After school, I did a couple of things around the office and headed home to do MORE school work. I am feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment so all positive thoughts, prayers, vibes, what have you, are needed! You all have been very supportive of me while I am here and I know you will continue to be. Thanks again for all of your kind words and motivation!

Day 10- Monday, Monday

Today was a rather "blah" sort of day. Nothing to thrilling but perhaps you all will find it intriguing! After waking up to a rather cool morning (I even slept with a blanket and sweatshirt, wahoo!!) I began my day. One thing I despise about Australia is the constant cawing of the ravens, especially around 5 AM. They startle me every morning because they sound like crying infants. Oh well, at least I have a natural alarm clock...

After getting to school, I began to work more with my Year 8's. Did I mention that it was even cool enough to wear a cardigan to school? Can you believe it? Unfortunately, the nice weather didn't last too long with an afternoon high of about 97 degrees. Both my teacher and supervisor suggested me working with another student rather than Frank. Currently, I am working with a twelve year old boy who we will call "Michael." Michael is not a native to Australia and very little is known about his background. However, he is very positive to learning knew things and I am looking forward to working with him more and more. One interesting thing we did today in school was watch a segment of "Behind The News" which gives three minute scoops of what is going on in the world today. The bit we watched today was on NASA and various space centers. I was able to really get involved with the lesson because the teacher was familiar with the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center. The kids began asking if I could get them some astronaut ice cream shipped over, haha!

After school I ran a couple of errands and went for a quick run. My school work is beginning to become a little bit more intense than last week's work so my apologies if I don't get to update quite as frequently. Other than that, everything is quite well in WA. Oh and I was even able to watch a couple of highlights from the Super Bowl! It is amazing how well technology can keep you connected to the environment you're accustomed to! Cheers!

Days 7,8, 9- First Weekend in Perth

My apologies for not updating my blog quite as frequently. I was out exploring all of what Perth had to offer! Let's see, we will begin with Friday!

Friday 2/3/12

This is completely irrelevant to the post, but here they write their dates backwards from us. Rather than 2/3/12, they write 3/2/12, the third of February 2012. I constantly catch myself thinking, "is it March already?" Anywho, onto Friday's activities. It was a dreary morning filled with rains and thunderstorms. It did get better because I was able to skype with Will and Chelsea who were back in Birmingham. The kids came back and seem much more relaxed on day two. Maybe it was getting back into the routine, but they were quite calm compared to day 1. One thing I have noticed is that it is not considered offensive if the students use terms we may consider profanity, such as "damn" and "hell." The kids quite often say "bloody hell, I don't want to do this." This will take some getting used to... Throughout the day I was able to observe my Year 8's on various lessons and am starting to get to know them a little better. Melody placed me with my target student "Frank" and I will be working with him more next week. A funny story that happened in school on Friday were my spelling skills. One of the students asked how to spell the word color. I proceed to spell it "c-o-l-o-r." My teacher let out a big giggle and said "no, no, no, it's c-o-l-o-u-r." She understood completely why I made the mistake, there are a number of words spelled quite differently here than back in the states!

After school, Chelsea and I planned to meet in town for some dinner and drinks. Janette, Steve, and Ryan took me into the city mall which is very nice! We were absolutely starved by the time we met up with one another and trucked on into the first place that wasn't covered with people. We ate at Sixth and Moonspence, a local pub, which was nothing to write home about... After dinner we decided to just wonder a bit. We ended up in a little bar known as "Boeheme." It was rather swanky and we were a bit under dressed for the setting but we decided to give it a go. Chelsea and I were sitting there wondering what we should do next when we finally got up the nerve to just go up and ask someone, I mean really when are we ever going to see these people again? Might as well just look like a tourist and ask! The table we approached seemed very relaxed as we introduced ourselves. We then asked what we should do while we were in the city. They let out a giggle and said "we're from Ireland" in thick Irish accents. Chelsea and I have had quite a few laughs that the first people we approach in Australia were Irish!! After Boehme we went and "watched" the cricket game at a little bar called the Brass Monkey. Another thing that is quite funny to hear people say is "Mobile" rather than cell phone. When I say cell phone to others they look at me like I am from ancient history!

Beer of Champions, apparently it's pretty low dollar beer here. 

Saturday 2/4/12

After finishing up some things around my place, Chelsea and I made the trip back to Sorrento where she lives. She has been such a HUGE help learning the bus system, not sure where I would have ended up without her.We decided to make a little day trip to Fremantle which is quite a lovely suburb of Perth. Fremantle, or "Freo" as the locals like to call it, is one of the oldest cities in Western Australia which is quite evident through all of the lovely architecture. We had a delicious lunch at a little cafe and then began exploring all of the shops and everything else this quaint town had to offer. We made our way over to a local microbrewery known as "Little Creatures" for a beer tasting. Our beer guide was very nice and even sat down with us to tell us what to do and what not to waste our time doing. He also taught us some more Aussie lingo! Apparently a "bogan" here is a redneck, low life so to speak. Can't wait to use that one back home!! We made our way up to the strip of coffee shops and stopped and had a latte and then it was time to head back in and catch the train. 

Beer tasting menu at Little Creatures.

My favorite of course was the "Bright" ale

Freo 

We are definitely making a trip back to ride this bad boy! 

Heavenly Thai Chicken :)

For those of you who may ever be in Australia, take your passport with you EVERYWHERE! Especially out to the nightclubs. Chelsea and I had planned to have a night out on the town, but with my passport back at my house, that wasn't happening. We decided to cook a nice meal and keep it low key. We planned for weekends ahead and are even looking into going to New Zealand together! Her host family came back from a movie and let us sample one of their fine wines. Her family is very entertaining and offered to take us around the city for a couple of trips! 

Sunday 2/5/12

After a nice, relaxing evening Chelsea and I awoke to a lovely breakfast prepared by her host family and then we were off again. This time we went down to Cottesloe Beach and lounged around in the sun, ate a quick lunch at a local pub, and just enjoyed being out in the nice weather. One thing I have noticed is the service here is not as up to par as it is back in the states. Servers and bar tenders hourly wages are quite high, so they don't have to work for tips. Which explains why you wait 20 minutes for a glass of water... Later we went into the city to see what sort of information we could find about our travels. Once I got back home, by myself on the bus might I add :), I went on a nice run along the river path. The weather was absolutely perfect, it couldn't have gotten any better. I also hung my first load of laundry out to dry. I must admit, it has been quite some time since I have done that instead of tossing them into the dryer... Tomorrow will be a real test to see how well the kids get back into the swing of things. This week, I will be able to work more with my student and start knocking out some assignments. I even get to teach my first lesson on Friday! I can't wait :) Miss you all very much and thank you for the nice feedback! 

I didn't even get the third plate in the picture that was filled with sausages, eggs, and yummy bacon :) 

Cottesloe Beach 

Pretty amazing running path, if I do say so myself

Day 6- The boys are back in town

Well well well, school finally began for the students of my school today. School opened with an assembly held by the principal to welcome all of the students back. My oh my was the gym the most humid spot to have it, not to mention everyone's body heat all gathered together... My hair was up in no time! After assembly, the Year 8's broke off into their "contact groups" or homeroom so to speak. I was able to interact with a lot of the students. It was nice to speak with them and meet all of the faces I have heard about throughout the week. They are quite fascinated my Americans and said it felt like meeting a celebrity.. :)

What was interesting to see were the amount of adults that assist the special education teacher. There were maybe 12 or more students in the homeroom and first period and 4 adults, not including myself. I enjoy watching the interpreters to see how similar our American Sign Language (ASL) is compared to their AUSLAN. Also, several of the students sign Kiwi and there's even one little girl from Ireland who is very friendly who is learning their sign language. It really has perked my interest to get back into ASL, since my course in my undergraduate I have rarely used it!

Since the Year 8 students are in and out of the classroom, I get to see kids of all ages. Many of the higher education students (Year 11s and 12s, about 15-17) do vocational type work through the school. One of the girls is even learning to become a tattoo artist through an assisted program! Throughout the day, the main discussion was "what did you do over holiday?" I was shocked to hear that most of the kids worked, and worked MANY hours! It's not uncommon for children their age to have jobs and work part time. One of the girls told me she worked 10 hours a day 7 days per week at a cupcake shop and one of the boys worked two jobs to save up money for a car 6 days a week. I felt so selfish to think of what I was doing at their age while they are out working, it really put my blessings into prospective.

Once it got around to the Year 8 classes, I was able to assist the Melody with English and Science. Melody is an expert when it comes to individualizing instruction and can run about 3 lessons within one class. She also strongly advocates for independent work. She is far from a spoon feeder and forces (politely) the kids to do work on their own, which is exactly what special education students need. Far too often, you see teachers simply get frustrated and do the work for the students thus creating a sense of learners helplessness. It was reassuring to see that there are teachers like Melody still out there pushing students to give it their all. However, the students seem to be very behind so there is much catching up to do.

After school, I walked down to the local mall to grab a few things. In their Wal Mart, so to speak, I wondered around trying to find some good deals. It is amazing how much more expensive everything is here and now I understand why they try to use whatever it is to the fullest extent possible. Wasting is not an option here. One thing that stuck out to me the most was the price of soft drinks, a 24 pack of coca colas was $32! Could you imagine?!? I definitely had a case of sticker shock. Once I picked up a couple of things I needed it was off to the bus. What is nice about their public transportation system is that they have security guards who patrol busy stops. As I was walking onto the bus I told the driver that I was heading to Bayswater, he replied "BAAAAAYYYYYSSSSS-WAAAATTTTEEERRR?" Dragging out every sound chuckling to himself. He asked if my accent was Irish! This is the second time this has happened since I arrived. I told friends that I may pretend I am from Ireland (which wouldn't be a total lie since I do have Irish heritage) to get a good laugh in! Tomorrow is Friday and Chelsea and I are planning on going into the city to explore and relax a little! I am excited to do all of the cheesy, touristy sort of things. Photos to come!

Day 5- Final Day of PD :)

Well last night, I made the terrible mistake of starting my GNC vitamin packs. I have yet to try them and failed to realize that two of the pills give you energy. So after taking them at about 8 PM last night, I was wide eyed and bushy tailed! I stayed up until about 12 AM which made 5:45 come far too early. At the moment, the weather is very much like home- HUMID! And I thought I escaped the muggy weather for dry heat, well I thought wrong. Currently there is a "cyclone", or tornado as we like to call them, near midland and is causing this weather throughout the west coast. It was extremely hot this morning when I woke up and the heat didn't let up throughout the day.

Janette dropped me off at school again and showed me my bus route. There still are things they say that catch me off guard, for example the word "thongs." Where I live is right near a horse race course and on our way to school every day we pass it. She mentioned that if I wanted to go we could one weekend. She said all of the girls get dressed to the nines, but she and Steve like to keep it casual in thongs and hats. It took me a second to realize that she was referring to flip flops, not underwear! I think my face says it all when I misinterpret things...

Once I got into school, we began the last of our professional development seminars- YAY!!! The professional development workshops are very similar to those in the US, and they seem to have the same types of issues in school too. Communication is a huge issue among teachers as well as lack of jobs for teachers and administrators. Teaching jobs are very difficult to come by here in Australia. In years past, typically about 300 people retire each year from the education system. In 2011- only 4. However, by 2015 they are expecting a shortage of teachers in Australia as the recession soon passes (hopefully). We discussed the code of ethics, reporting misconduct, social media, and that sort of yata yata. One thing I did find interesting was that each teacher has a performance manager. For those of you who know me well, the first thing that came to mind when hearing performance review was an episode of The Office where Michael must review everyone's job performance for the past year- definitely one of my all time favorites. Well similar to Michael, the performance manager evaluates the teacher's performance through observations, interviews, etc. 4 times per year (once per term). If the teacher does not meet the appropriate standards, remediation is then put into place to get them up to par. How wonderful would this be in our education system back home?!? Maybe we could get some people out who aren't fit for the profession and get those in who truly care. We also discussed the evacuation plans in case of specific emergencies. What was so shocking to me is that students had not run through any of the practice procedures in nearly two years. TWO YEARS! Belmont is such a quite city, they rarely experience any type of harm so safety isn't as big of an issue to them.

I am beginning to catch on more and more to the lingo here in Australia. One thing my host "mum" says to me every morning is "Have a good sleep?" The first thing that always comes to mind is a video out now on YouTube where girls say that constantly, it's quite funny so I get a little laugh to myself. Also, everyone says "reckon." I feel like I am back in Alabama! Or at least talking to Will :)

After school let out, I was able to experience my first sun downer. It was extremely relaxed! Basically the teachers just sit around the table and have a beer, wine, and some snacks and chat about their days. I tried my first Australian amber ale called James Squire, it was absolutely delish! Unfortunately I couldn't stay too long because of homework, so it was off to catch the bus. I successfully made it home without getting lost, I was so proud of myself! The bus didn't take too long, what was bad however was the muggy walk home from the bus stop! I was drenched by the time I got in. I wanted to go for a run but I decided I would take a break from the not so pleasant weather.

Tomorrow the students finally come back and I get to really begin my internship. I am so excited to meet them all and hear them say "G'day Miss Carlton!" Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well!