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! :)