The Life and Times of Ashley...well at least the last few weeks.

Wow, I cannot believe that in less than 2 weeks I will be headed home. It seems so strange. I had my last teacher evaluation last week and I am so glad to be done!!! School has been a great experience. At first I was apprehensive about working with grade 6, however, after spending the week with them at camp I really got to know them much better. Now I am able to joke around and we have a great time in class. They get to take several speciality classes, including computer, which are all macs. They know more about computers than I do, as Chris can easily believe (I have wireless on my computer?!). This week we have a Beauty and the Beast performance that we get to go to. I am excited, although I am not sure yet what version it will be. Friday is my last day. The students keep saying they will miss us Canadian teachers when we leave. I tell them not to talk about it because I am really going to miss them all. They also have a really interesting program for the local schools where grade 6s from various schools get together and play sports against each other. Each school makes teams for 4 sports and they practice during the week and then one day a week they play another school for fun. They are huge on sports for all ages here, there are many types of clubs you can join for entertainment.

In the past few weeks we went to the Dandegong mountains, where we saw a limo and pretended it was our ride. About 15 minutes later we took pictures for some other people and eventually found out they were the ones who rented the limo. We went to a Christmas in July dinner in the mountains. They had a performance by Santa, a yodeller, and a few other singers. It was interesting. The food was amazing and all you could eat. For one of the many desserts I ate was warm pancakes and ice cream, which I also had at camp. It is delicious! Our last stop was a horrendous place, to which I never want to return. It was Grant Park, where tons of birds come and get fed bird seed. The birds fly in and land on you whether or not you have food. Needless to say, I spent most of my time there inside the gift shop. I did, however, get brave enough to go outside and see the birds and take a few pictures before returning to safety. A couple people in our group got bit and scratched by the birds. Despite being accident-prone I did not get hurt and have managed to spend the last few weeks without any injuries.

I went to Werribee zoo a couple weeks ago. It was fantastic; they even have a safari type excursion that you can go on. There were lions, and wild dogs, meerkats, giraffes, zebras, rhinos as well as hippos. I actually saw a baby hippo, about 6 months old I believe (see photo below). It was incredible. They attempt to make the zoo as close to the natural habitat as possible by bringing in animal droppings or fur to scent the area, getting them used to other animals being nearby. They also have enormous areas in which the animals live.

The next weekend I went to Hanging Rock. It used to be a volcano that erupted a long time ago. Now it is a park area that people visit. The weather has separated the rocks and it is a really great place to explore. There is even a movie about this place because many years ago a school went exploring there and a few girls apparently got lost. Two of the girls returned not knowing what had happened but the others were never seen again. I didn't find this out until I was already there. No worries though, I was safe and there were clear paths and directions for us to follow. While we were at Hanging Rock there was a kangaroo that was in the car park. We went over to get a closer look and while I was getting out my camera it came right up to me. I was eating an apple and it wanted my food but it was so neat to actually see wild kangaroos. Just before we left there were over 2 dozen munching away in the nearby horse race course. Apparently there was one with a baby joey, unfortunately I did not see it anywhere.

This past Saturday I went back to the market and got to look around once more before I head home. It was neat to see a different part of the market from my first visit. Before we left the market we had some homemade doughnuts. They had jam in the middle of them and were really tasty, but they don't beat my grandmother/brother's homemade doughnuts. I have become addicted to Krispie Kreme doughnuts, I like them better than Tim Hortons. It is a good job there is not a Krispie Kreme too close to where I am staying or else I would be there every day.

Saturday afternoon was another amazing or "gangsta bro" TM adventure as the students in my class would say. I finally went to the Scienceworks Museum! It took me long enough to get there but it was well worth the wait. There is stuff there for people of all ages. There is even a Star Wars exhibit (just until September). The activities and information there is incredible. From how appliances and various household items work, to sports, weather, animals, math/science brainteasers, a plantarium, sports activities to try and their history as well as the science behind them. I could have spent a whole day in there!

Well, I am off to go relax and watch a movie. Lata!

A Rose Between Two Thorns

Wow, what a week at camp. I am realizing how old I am getting since I am exhausted after just one week of camp, haha. Camp was a great time. We were constantly eating, and I mean constantly. We had brekky, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner between 8am and 6pm. The teachers even got a special breakfast, bacon and eggs each day! Camp was a great opportunity for me to get to know all the grade 6 students in our school and get to know their personalities.

We got to walk to the beach one day. It was extremely windy but enjoyable (see first picture below).We also went to a place where there were several mazes. The kids had a blast. Some of the girls are even planning to get married there because the gardens and water fountain are beautiful (second picture). Just as we were headed back to meet the buses I decided to go through one maze, the rose maze. I seemed to find every dead end path I could possibly find. I was almost through the maze when at the last minute I saw a branch sticking out over the pathway. I bent down to go beneath the branch and I managed to hit my head on the branch. Of course the branch was covered with thorns and my head began to bleed. One girl tried to tell me that I was cut in two places and that I should be worried about the other cut but I kept telling her I knew where the cut was. When I finally made it to the bathroom I saw what she was trying to tell me. There on the top of my forehead was a thorn, sticking out of my skin (refer to the bottom picture, top right hand corner. It was hilarious!!!
The last day of camp was fantastic. I got to play cricket and football (aka footy) with the students as well as was forced to go on the giant swing, which is enormous. The students pulled me up to the very top, against my will, and I was up above the trees (at least twice the height of our trees at home) and was able to see the surrounding area. It was unbelievable, and then I had to pull the cord to drop down and swing back and forth in the air until I came to a stop. It was exhilarating (thought I might plummet to the ground at first) and a lot of fun! I would definitely recommend it!

Well, I am off now to prepare for teaching tomorrow. Until the next amazing adventure!

What You Don't Normally See at a Footy Game on TV

This week has been a great time at school. The students at the school at which I am interning are extremely polite and a lot of fun. I have been told that I have an accent (haha) and I need to try both types of Vegemite (apparently the new kind is creamier and not as tangy or "vegemitey". Thursday and Friday have been sunny days and I have enjoyed going for walks to see the area. There is a park near my host's place that is amazing and I will update a few pictures later. The park has a large skateboard park as well as a big playground for kids. There is an dog obedience training field, pond and long walking trails. On top of that there is a field for practising sports, 2 hockey fields, and 3 or 4 softball fields. It was incredible. I also walked to the plaza, which was an hour walk, longer than I expected. I met up with one of my students and her friend and siblings. They wondered what my favourite part about Australia was, she said her class should be my favourite part.

Saturday I got to see my first footy game and I actually understood what was going on! It was a great time and I definitely want to go see another game. Now I can go play footy with the students at lunch time. Last time I went out to play I asked one kid how to play and he told me just to watch and I would catch on, well I didn't catch on until my host family explained the game to me. At the game I couldn't get over how many birds were flying around. We arrived and during warmups there were over 20 birds flying around the oval. It was ridiculous. At half time there were 9 games of footy being played by young boys and girls. Some of them are extremely talented. Nearing the end of the game it was so windy on the field that people's rubbish had blown onto the field. It was unbelievable how much rubbish was scattered around where the players were. That is definitely not something you see on t.v. Overall, the game was awesome and the Hawks won!!! No worries, I was cheering for the winning team. (Not to say I am a die-hard Hawks fan, it was just the team we all decided to cheer for, perhaps because one of the host families is a Hawks fan. I will let you know when I pick a team for good.)

Well, I am off for now, gotta go pack and get some sleep as I have a long and tiring yet fun week of camp ahead of me.

WARNING: Follow the Warning Signs

G'day,

This week has been extremely exciting and I have been doing a lot of fun stuff and seeing a lot of things. I went on the tram to the city. It was quite an adventure. My friend and I did the tourist shopping thing for a bit and then we took some pictures of art centres and the river, which is gorgeous at night when it is all lit up (picture on the left).

On my way home on the tram there was a problem with the track and so we had to switch trams and get on another one that would take us home via a different route. It was a bit nerve-racking since I was alone on this tram but I made it safe and sound; I just followed the massive crowd.

The next day we went on a road trip to see the ocean. I absolutely love the blue water. It was a nice ride, the roads had crazy turns, worse than 1st Peninsula, Nova Scotia. Then we went to see the falls. It was incredible. We decided to climb down and see the whole falls and it was amazing. It reminded me of a rainforest. The trees were incredibly tall and there were fern trees all over the place. There was a sign that warned about snakes, slippery terrain and shallow water and to be careful going beyond a certain point. We kept going on our way and I kept my eyes open for snakes. No worries I didn’t see any, however, I did manage to slip on a rock covered in algae and fell down in the middle of the river. I was soaked and covered in algae. I now have a nicely coloured bruise on my back.

Yesterday I went to the zoo and got to see a wombat, a dingo, a young Tasmanian devil (which are extremely fast), a koala, a platypus and emus. I also got to pet a kangaroo and a wallaby, which practically climbed on top of me looking for any food I might have. They are so adorable and soft animals. I want one for a pet, hehe.

Well, that is about all the exciting news for now. Just make sure you follow the warning signs or you just might fall flat on your face.

Here at Last!

Well, I am finally in Aussieland. It has been a long trip with many stops and visits through customs but I made it with only one small problem, my visa had the wrong passport number - which they were able to fix in about ten minutes.

They actually have peanut butter down under, which I am really excited about. Apparently I must try Veggimite on this trip, which I am not looking forward to (don't worry, I will update you on that experience). Aussies also have McDonalds, Burger King (called Hungry Jack), Kmart, and 7 Eleven. They also have several types of cars that are the same as ours and I have seen many utes similar to that on MacLeod's Daughters.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I must go get some sleep.

PS - Word has it they skate counter clockwise, unless there is a DJ at the skating rink who gets them to switch directions (I have yet to witness this however).

Ashley's Adventures In Australia

I'm going to Australia! Woot!

This will be a blog about my adventures in Australia (not about alcoholics anonymous!).