Days 21-23 A Birthday Down Unda

Another weekend has come and gone here in Western Australia. The time is flying by quicker than I could have ever imagined it would. This weekend was quite the success, I can't believe my birthday has come and gone again...

 

Friday, February 17

On Friday, I awoke to some wonderful surprises from friends and family. To get my day started off right, my parents skyped me and sang happy birthday and had a lovely poster decorated for me. It was so nice it nearly brought me to tears! Later on at school, several of the students walked in and remembered it was my birthday, then it was their turn to sing their rendition of happy birthday. My teachers, the aids, host family, and Chelsea's host family all helped celebrate my birthday, which made being away from home on my birthday not so bad. After teaching a few lessons, it was time for another weekend to begin. John, my supervisor, came by and gave me a lift to Chelsea's place. We began talking about his appearances on television this past week and he shared some tricks of his that he likes to pull on people who believe in psychics. They were quite entertaining, maybe I'll try some on you guys! 

Gifts from my host family! 

My parents are the best!

Once I arrived at Chelsea's, her host mum prepared us a delicious dinner and even surprised me with a birthday cake, card, and of course chocolate. It was so thoughtful of her to go out of her way to make my birthday special, which meant so much to me. I feel truly blessed to know that so many people took time to make my birthday down unda a hit! After dinner and chocolate cake, yum, Chelsea and I began to get ready for the night. Heather, her host mum, gave us a lift and we jammed out to American Music the whole way, she even had "Walking in Memphis" on her CD. It felt like I was back home! Our first stop was Subiaco Hotel and then it was off to a dance club called The Red Sea. We had a great time and met some people who can hopefully get us tickets to the West Coast Eagles pre-season games. Keep your fingers crossed, they can get quite expensive. What I find very interesting here is the amount of people who are dying to get over to America, it really is reassuring to know that foreigners still believe that the US is a wonderful place. 

24th Birthday

Yummy! 

A lovely surprise!

Saturday, February 18

After sleeping in for a bit at Chelsea's place, I woke up to her new neighbors remodeling their house and blaring music, which at the time seemed quite annoying. I actually ended up happy that they woke us up because it was an absolutely perfect day outside. After breakfast, Chelsea and I lounged by their wonderful pool and soaked up the rays. I even dozed off for a bit on the float, fortunately I had sunscreen on or that could have ended pretty badly. Oh, and a funny story- while I was asleep on the float I was dreaming that pirates were surrounding me on a cruise ship. Needless to say, waking up with water around you after a dream like that can give you a bit of a scare! 

My favorite pool decoration. Ever. 

Later on, our supervisor and Chelsea's host family invited us to an opera in the park. The weather couldn't have been any nicer. Her host family and their friends saved us a lovely spot right in the middle of the gorgeous city park. We were able to have a picnic and a glass of wine as the sun set right before the opera began. Chelsea and I didn't exactly know what we were getting ourselves into... We thought we were going to see a concert, not a opera, in French... I tried my best to follow it and enjoy this rare culture experience, but I ended up following asleep in my chair after intermission. Oops! Oh well, there were many others who were sound asleep as well including Chelsea, so I didn't feel so bad. I am happy to have had the experience, not many others can say they went to an opera in the park in WA! 

Exploring downtown before the "concert."

Pearl Fishers and Western Australia Symphony, look to the left and you can see the sun setting! 

Pre-nap time 

Sunday, February 19

After a relaxing evening, I was up and at'em bright and early to knock out plenty of school work. I was able to get a lot done, which was relieving. Janette finally is home from the hospital and she, Ryan, and Steve took me out for ice cream for my birthday. I had a wonderful mango sorbet, I definitely will be going back for seconds in the future. Ryan always tickles me how much he enjoys singing in the car, today on our way to the ice cream parlor, "Copperhead Road" came on and Ryan began belting it out like it was nobody's business. It was very entertaining!

Tomorrow I begin my ten consecutive days of solo teaching. I have most of my work planned for the week and my advisor comes to see me on Tuesday to assess me! Say a little prayer for me this week!