Friday
I woke up this morning ready to begin my packing. I got up and went for an hour and a half walk around the beach and a park. When I got back, I made myself buttermilk pancakes and had a leisurely breakfast. Around 10:30AM, I went down to the beach and ended up staying there for about three hours. Needless to say, I got a little burnt. I came home, made a quick lunch and began my packing and cleaning. I wanted to leave the house especially clean for Len and Heather since they are away on a holiday right now. I got quite a bit done, when Kit (their son) said, “How about some afternoon goodbye cocktails?” So, we ended up having a drink while he did some work and I packed.
We had invited John and Hazel over for dinner, so they came around seven. We had a wonderful pasta meal and a couple glasses of wine. Around 10PM we headed for the airport. My flight left at 12:45 at night. I was actually able to sleep through the night on the plane. I’m now in Sydney’s international airport awaiting my flight across the world to Los Angeles. Making the trek from the domestic airport to the international one was not too much fun with about 100 lbs of luggage.
Saturday, April 11
The day that just wouldn’t end. I started the day on the plane from Perth to Sydney. When I got to Sydney I had a huge hassle with checking in, but I eventually made it. After sitting in the Sydney airport for nearly seven hours, I’d had just about enough airport to last me for a while. Then came the 13.5-hour fight to Los Angeles. I was able to sleep most of the flight, but it was still a long time to be cooped up in a window seat. When the plane landed in LA, I only had about forty minutes to get my luggage, go through customs, and find my new gate in one of the domestic terminals. I ended up jogging through the airport and getting to my departing flight as they were making the last call. That flight was about two hours long and it took me to Denver. Once in Denver, I had a layover for about two hours and then I boarded my last flight home. The final leg of my journey was about three hours long and took me back into Columbus. I got in around 10PM, and the whole family was there to greet me! I was awfully tired, but I was back at home at last.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
The Last Day of School
Wednesday
I started packing up some things at school today. I had a lot to carry out with presents from the kids. They had a “surprise” party for me today at lunch. The boys brought in savory foods, and the girls brought in sweets. We had a really nice spread of food, and it was all very good. Because of the party, the whole day was chaotic. The students also brought in their technology & enterprise projects in today. They built one ride or attraction from their theme park, so we had a show and tell today.
Tonight, the staff had a going-away party for me at Jimmy Dean’s restaurant. It was really nice. We all had a couple glasses of wine and a good meal. There were some other parties there who were celebrating birthdays. After the third birthday celebration, the staff thought it would be funny to tell the server that it was my birthday. They played a “happy birthday” song for me and gave me an ice cream sundae. Ashleigh and Simon were there, as well as Brett and Bobbie, Rob, Jen, Gavin & Christine, and about ten others. Kit took me and picked me up so that I didn’t have to worry about what I drank.
Thursday
Today was the last day of school. It’s really hard to believe that it’s all over, and it certainly doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for three months. We had a very relaxed day at school with very little planned for the day. They had an A.N.Z.A.C. Day ceremony at the end of school (it’s kind of their Memorial Day). We just finished up some odds and ends and played a few games with the kids. They played Capture the Flag in the afternoon, which they all love to play.
Some of the girls had a hard time at the end of the day with me leaving. It’s funny how much they get attached to their teachers. They really didn’t want me to go and were crying quite a lot. I got loads of chocolates today—too bad I can’t eat them all before I have to go. At the end of the day, we had a couple beers in the staff room. I had to say goodbye to everyone. It didn’t hit me as hard today as on Tuesday morning, but it is very sad to think that I’ll never see them again. Several staff members and students got me gifts, which were all very nice. I’m the new owner of quite a few new stuffed animals.
On the way home today, I stopped in at a bottle shop and bought Len and Heather a couple bottles of nice wine for my parting gift. Since I’ve been home, I just have been resting and packing for tomorrow. It’s surprising how much crap I’ve accumulated since I’ve been here. One sleep left!
I started packing up some things at school today. I had a lot to carry out with presents from the kids. They had a “surprise” party for me today at lunch. The boys brought in savory foods, and the girls brought in sweets. We had a really nice spread of food, and it was all very good. Because of the party, the whole day was chaotic. The students also brought in their technology & enterprise projects in today. They built one ride or attraction from their theme park, so we had a show and tell today.
Tonight, the staff had a going-away party for me at Jimmy Dean’s restaurant. It was really nice. We all had a couple glasses of wine and a good meal. There were some other parties there who were celebrating birthdays. After the third birthday celebration, the staff thought it would be funny to tell the server that it was my birthday. They played a “happy birthday” song for me and gave me an ice cream sundae. Ashleigh and Simon were there, as well as Brett and Bobbie, Rob, Jen, Gavin & Christine, and about ten others. Kit took me and picked me up so that I didn’t have to worry about what I drank.
Thursday
Today was the last day of school. It’s really hard to believe that it’s all over, and it certainly doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for three months. We had a very relaxed day at school with very little planned for the day. They had an A.N.Z.A.C. Day ceremony at the end of school (it’s kind of their Memorial Day). We just finished up some odds and ends and played a few games with the kids. They played Capture the Flag in the afternoon, which they all love to play.
Some of the girls had a hard time at the end of the day with me leaving. It’s funny how much they get attached to their teachers. They really didn’t want me to go and were crying quite a lot. I got loads of chocolates today—too bad I can’t eat them all before I have to go. At the end of the day, we had a couple beers in the staff room. I had to say goodbye to everyone. It didn’t hit me as hard today as on Tuesday morning, but it is very sad to think that I’ll never see them again. Several staff members and students got me gifts, which were all very nice. I’m the new owner of quite a few new stuffed animals.
On the way home today, I stopped in at a bottle shop and bought Len and Heather a couple bottles of nice wine for my parting gift. Since I’ve been home, I just have been resting and packing for tomorrow. It’s surprising how much crap I’ve accumulated since I’ve been here. One sleep left!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Beginning of the End
Monday, April 6th
Well, today marked the beginning of the end. It was my last Monday at school. The kids worked well all day. We went to “buddies”, which happens every Monday and Friday. My students have year one buddies. My students had made them an Easter basket as a math activity, and Frank got them tiny chocolate eggs to put in the basket. Every buddy partner group worked perfectly except one. Robbie decided to eat his buddy’s eggs out of his basket. That really made me mad, so he got a good talking to when I got a hold of him.
After school today, I flew off to get changed and meet Katy. We hopped in the car and headed down to Freo. We just walked around the shops for a little while. Freo is kind of like an upscale, hippie town. We headed back for home around 6, and Mel had dinner for us at Katy’s house at 6:30. Tonight was Katy’s last night here; she flies out tomorrow. We had a really nice, long dinner with a couple glasses of wine. Johno unexpectedly showed up with some souvenirs and stayed for a while to chat. I ended up spending the night with Katy. It was good to spend time with her host family one last time.
Tuesday
I woke up this morning and Mel made us mango smoothies for brekky. I also had some of Katy’s gooey butter cake (apparently it’s a St. Louis thing). I said all of my goodbyes and headed off to school. I’ve only been here a short time, but it’s surprising how close that I’ve gotten with Katy and her family. It was really sad to think that it’s all over. I got to school and had a fairly good day.
Since it is the end of the term, we are basically just having the kids finish up whatever projects that they have. They have a big project due tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see what the kids come up with to turn in. After school today, I headed straight to the beach. I changed at the restrooms at the beach enjoyed the sunshine for an hour or so this afternoon. I came home and baked cookies for a couple hours. I made chocolate chip cookies and no-bakes for everyone at school. I made some into thank you gifts and some to share with my students. I also packed as much as I could after doing my laundry tonight—the bags are getting awfully heavy! Three days left!
Well, today marked the beginning of the end. It was my last Monday at school. The kids worked well all day. We went to “buddies”, which happens every Monday and Friday. My students have year one buddies. My students had made them an Easter basket as a math activity, and Frank got them tiny chocolate eggs to put in the basket. Every buddy partner group worked perfectly except one. Robbie decided to eat his buddy’s eggs out of his basket. That really made me mad, so he got a good talking to when I got a hold of him.
After school today, I flew off to get changed and meet Katy. We hopped in the car and headed down to Freo. We just walked around the shops for a little while. Freo is kind of like an upscale, hippie town. We headed back for home around 6, and Mel had dinner for us at Katy’s house at 6:30. Tonight was Katy’s last night here; she flies out tomorrow. We had a really nice, long dinner with a couple glasses of wine. Johno unexpectedly showed up with some souvenirs and stayed for a while to chat. I ended up spending the night with Katy. It was good to spend time with her host family one last time.
Tuesday
I woke up this morning and Mel made us mango smoothies for brekky. I also had some of Katy’s gooey butter cake (apparently it’s a St. Louis thing). I said all of my goodbyes and headed off to school. I’ve only been here a short time, but it’s surprising how close that I’ve gotten with Katy and her family. It was really sad to think that it’s all over. I got to school and had a fairly good day.
Since it is the end of the term, we are basically just having the kids finish up whatever projects that they have. They have a big project due tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see what the kids come up with to turn in. After school today, I headed straight to the beach. I changed at the restrooms at the beach enjoyed the sunshine for an hour or so this afternoon. I came home and baked cookies for a couple hours. I made chocolate chip cookies and no-bakes for everyone at school. I made some into thank you gifts and some to share with my students. I also packed as much as I could after doing my laundry tonight—the bags are getting awfully heavy! Three days left!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Last Weekend
Thursday
I skipped my run this morning to get a few odds and ins done. Heather took me to school again. Not much happened today except that I brought pumpkin pie and whipped cream in for some of the teachers for morning tea. They really enjoyed it.
I came home and went for a short walk after school. I ended up watching a few hours of TV (something that I haven’t done much of) and relaxing. At 8:30PM, Katy and I headed to Warwick to the movies. We saw Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was good, but still very predictable.
Friday
I had my run this morning, but after my run, I felt very sick. I’m not sure if it was my asthma or something else, but my lungs/stomach felt funny. My stomach continued to hurt all day even throughout the evening. Today was the best day at school yet. We had seven kids away including two of the lowest/worst behaving children. We got loads of work accomplished, so we let the kids finish watching Remember the Titans in the afternoon. For sport today, I was in charge of volleyball, and lets just say that it was far from normal volleyball. There are about ten kids on each team, and they really don’t have a clue on how to play properly. We did have a lot of fun though.
After school, we stayed around for a couple drinks with the staff, and Brett took me home. I took a nap out by the pool when I got home. Tonight was the barbeque at John’s house. Heather and Len got home late, but we made it to John’s by 7ish. It was wonderful! We just laughed and talked about all sorts of things for over three hours! The other two COST students were there (both from Ohio) with their host families. I still felt really sick throughout dinner and even before bed. I was possibly going to go out with Katy and the boys after the dinner, but I just felt awful.
Tomorrow is my last Saturday! Len and I are going to go shopping, and the in the evening, Heather, Len and I are going to Kit’s play.
Saturday
I woke up this morning with the same pains in my stomach as yesterday. It was horrible. We were going to have pancakes for brekky, but I just couldn’t stomach them. Around 8:30AM, Len and I headed out for the shops. We shopped (strictly grocery shopped) until three o’clock. We went all over the area to about four towns. Len mainly only shops at small specialty gourmet shops, so he has a route set out every Saturday. We had lots of fun and took our time to enjoy some coffee and cakes throughout the day. When we were at a coffee shop, I saw my very first eyewitness motorcycle crash. Everyone turned out to be alright, but it was shocking. A car turned out in front of a motorcycle at a car park entrance. The motorcycle smashed right into the passenger side door of the car. It’s a good thing that the motorcycle wasn’t going very fast, or I’m afraid that it would not have ended so nicely.
When we got home, we just did some odds and ends around the house until dinner. We had eggplant Parmesan, which was delicious, but was bad news for my stomach. I became very nauseous right after I ate and almost didn’t go to the play. We did eventually head out to Kit’s play, Frankenstein, though. It was an interesting play with only four actors who all played multiple parts. I was so miserable sitting through it with my stomach pains, that I really don’t remember much of it at all. After the play, we came straight home. Len and Heather had some small cakes that we got at the French Patisserie, so I tried one as well—still not a good idea, my stomach was still very upset. I felt so bad that I just went to bed.
Sunday
This morning was wonderful! I woke up with very few stomach pains. We were going to do a bbq on the beach, but we changed our plans. We ended up on deciding that we were going to have pancakes, but Heather and I would still go feed the birds. So, Heather and I hopped in the car and went off to the market. We bought some fruits and veggies, but most importantly, we bout sunflower seeds. We then drove to a park with a big lake near the city of Joondalup. We held some bird seed out in our hands, and the parrots came down out of the trees, sat on our arms and ate the sunflower seeds! Yes, I had wild parrots sitting on my arms eating sunflower seeds out of my hands. I had the twenty-eights and the galahs—two of each. I also saw a black swan and huge white duck down by the lake.
After we did that, we came home to coconut pancakes with bananas and passionfruit syrup. I did some grading of homework while Len and Heather packed. Kit and I dropped them off at the airport. They left for England today to go visit Len’s brother for his 60th birthday. After Kit and I took them to the airport, we went to their friend, Neval’s, home. We had a light lunch and then walked to the footy game. The West Coast Eagles played Port Adelaide today. The game was so interesting. It’s ‘Australian Rules Football’ and is a cross between soccer, rugby and football. I had Ben Cousin’s ticket, which is the best player in the league. His father sells his member tickets to Len every year. The Eagles won!
I’ve just been relaxing and baking since we got back home. I’m going over to Katy’s host family’s house tomorrow, and I’m going to take them some cookies—which meant that I had to bake them tonight.
I skipped my run this morning to get a few odds and ins done. Heather took me to school again. Not much happened today except that I brought pumpkin pie and whipped cream in for some of the teachers for morning tea. They really enjoyed it.
I came home and went for a short walk after school. I ended up watching a few hours of TV (something that I haven’t done much of) and relaxing. At 8:30PM, Katy and I headed to Warwick to the movies. We saw Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was good, but still very predictable.
Friday
I had my run this morning, but after my run, I felt very sick. I’m not sure if it was my asthma or something else, but my lungs/stomach felt funny. My stomach continued to hurt all day even throughout the evening. Today was the best day at school yet. We had seven kids away including two of the lowest/worst behaving children. We got loads of work accomplished, so we let the kids finish watching Remember the Titans in the afternoon. For sport today, I was in charge of volleyball, and lets just say that it was far from normal volleyball. There are about ten kids on each team, and they really don’t have a clue on how to play properly. We did have a lot of fun though.
After school, we stayed around for a couple drinks with the staff, and Brett took me home. I took a nap out by the pool when I got home. Tonight was the barbeque at John’s house. Heather and Len got home late, but we made it to John’s by 7ish. It was wonderful! We just laughed and talked about all sorts of things for over three hours! The other two COST students were there (both from Ohio) with their host families. I still felt really sick throughout dinner and even before bed. I was possibly going to go out with Katy and the boys after the dinner, but I just felt awful.
Tomorrow is my last Saturday! Len and I are going to go shopping, and the in the evening, Heather, Len and I are going to Kit’s play.
Saturday
I woke up this morning with the same pains in my stomach as yesterday. It was horrible. We were going to have pancakes for brekky, but I just couldn’t stomach them. Around 8:30AM, Len and I headed out for the shops. We shopped (strictly grocery shopped) until three o’clock. We went all over the area to about four towns. Len mainly only shops at small specialty gourmet shops, so he has a route set out every Saturday. We had lots of fun and took our time to enjoy some coffee and cakes throughout the day. When we were at a coffee shop, I saw my very first eyewitness motorcycle crash. Everyone turned out to be alright, but it was shocking. A car turned out in front of a motorcycle at a car park entrance. The motorcycle smashed right into the passenger side door of the car. It’s a good thing that the motorcycle wasn’t going very fast, or I’m afraid that it would not have ended so nicely.
When we got home, we just did some odds and ends around the house until dinner. We had eggplant Parmesan, which was delicious, but was bad news for my stomach. I became very nauseous right after I ate and almost didn’t go to the play. We did eventually head out to Kit’s play, Frankenstein, though. It was an interesting play with only four actors who all played multiple parts. I was so miserable sitting through it with my stomach pains, that I really don’t remember much of it at all. After the play, we came straight home. Len and Heather had some small cakes that we got at the French Patisserie, so I tried one as well—still not a good idea, my stomach was still very upset. I felt so bad that I just went to bed.
Sunday
This morning was wonderful! I woke up with very few stomach pains. We were going to do a bbq on the beach, but we changed our plans. We ended up on deciding that we were going to have pancakes, but Heather and I would still go feed the birds. So, Heather and I hopped in the car and went off to the market. We bought some fruits and veggies, but most importantly, we bout sunflower seeds. We then drove to a park with a big lake near the city of Joondalup. We held some bird seed out in our hands, and the parrots came down out of the trees, sat on our arms and ate the sunflower seeds! Yes, I had wild parrots sitting on my arms eating sunflower seeds out of my hands. I had the twenty-eights and the galahs—two of each. I also saw a black swan and huge white duck down by the lake.
After we did that, we came home to coconut pancakes with bananas and passionfruit syrup. I did some grading of homework while Len and Heather packed. Kit and I dropped them off at the airport. They left for England today to go visit Len’s brother for his 60th birthday. After Kit and I took them to the airport, we went to their friend, Neval’s, home. We had a light lunch and then walked to the footy game. The West Coast Eagles played Port Adelaide today. The game was so interesting. It’s ‘Australian Rules Football’ and is a cross between soccer, rugby and football. I had Ben Cousin’s ticket, which is the best player in the league. His father sells his member tickets to Len every year. The Eagles won!
I’ve just been relaxing and baking since we got back home. I’m going over to Katy’s host family’s house tomorrow, and I’m going to take them some cookies—which meant that I had to bake them tonight.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Week 9
Monday
The students had another bad start to the week. I’m not sure what it is, but Mondays are awful in our classroom. Students become very loud and unruly. We did have fun in science today though. I had brought some pennies, nickels and dimes with me to give to my students. We took pennies and tried making them shinny again by using different liquids (lemon juice, milk, coke, apple juice and water). The students loved doing the experiment and were extremely excited about getting to keep the money.
Heather had let me drive to school today so that I could run to the shops after school. On Wednesday, my students and I are going to make ice cream as another science project, so I needed to pick up the ingredients. I need the ingredients for some cookies too, because I’m giving cookies as most of my thank you gifts. I am also going to cook dinner for Len and Heather on Wednesday as a thank you celebration before I go. I headed straight to Woolworths after school. I ended up coming out only $130 poorer than when I went in.
Tonight, I just stayed at home. Len, Heather, Kit, Hannah and I had a really nice dinner together. I had a wonderful evening relaxing at home and trying to get a few things in order for the trip home.
Tuesday
Today flew by. The students worked very well today, and we got a lot accomplished. We finished off the penny activity from yesterday and started our write up of our ice cream lab. We’ll hopefully be making ice cream tomorrow afternoon. Brett had a meeting until five today, so I decided to catch the bus home. When I got home, I took a walk down to Hillary’s harbor. It’s an area along the beach with shops and cafes. After a stroll down there, I walked home again.
I decided to make my pumpkin pies for tomorrow’s dinner. Well… I should have waited until tomorrow. It was a complete and utter disaster. First off, I don’t think Australia has a single can of cooked pumpkin; therefore, I had to make the pumpkin pie by first cooking down and mashing the pumpkin. This normally wouldn’t be too hard, but I decided to use the processor to mash it up. I didn’t get the lid on tight enough, so I ended up with pumpkin exploding all over the kitchen and me. After I had changed clothes and mopped the floor, counter and walls, I was able to pour the pie batter into the shells. The only shells that the store had were flan shells. Little did I know, but this must mean that the shells leak, so I ended up with mix, once again, all over the kitchen. I got two pies into the oven, but when I pushed the tray in, the pies splattered all over the tray. Now, I have burnt pie filling on the oven tray, which is going to be a blast to clean up. Let’s just say that what should have taken two hours took about four, and I ended up with pumpkin pies that look like puffy egg casseroles.
Wednesday, April 1
Today was extremely fun! Before school, I put the roast in the crock-pot and started it cooking. At school, we had a wonderful morning. The students worked great before recess. After recess, Brett and Ashleigh took the year 7s to talk to them about their NAPLAN testing (their standardized testing). I took Ashleigh’s year 6s, and we designed new covers for their class novels. After lunch, I zipped off to the store (Heather graciously let me take their car!) to the petrol station. I had to get some bags of ice, because this afternoon all of the year seven students made ice cream with me as a science project. It was wonderful! The students really enjoyed it, and after I talked about what happened, they seemed to have actually learned something from it.
Tonight was the night for my dinner. I had everything ready to go when Heather got home from work. It all turned out well, except for the potatoes, which could have used a little more cooking. They loved it. AND… my pumpkin pies actually turned out pretty good! They weren’t the best in the world, but most definitely edible. I’m just finishing ups some schoolwork and heading to bed for the night. I feel a little tired after today’s events.
The students had another bad start to the week. I’m not sure what it is, but Mondays are awful in our classroom. Students become very loud and unruly. We did have fun in science today though. I had brought some pennies, nickels and dimes with me to give to my students. We took pennies and tried making them shinny again by using different liquids (lemon juice, milk, coke, apple juice and water). The students loved doing the experiment and were extremely excited about getting to keep the money.
Heather had let me drive to school today so that I could run to the shops after school. On Wednesday, my students and I are going to make ice cream as another science project, so I needed to pick up the ingredients. I need the ingredients for some cookies too, because I’m giving cookies as most of my thank you gifts. I am also going to cook dinner for Len and Heather on Wednesday as a thank you celebration before I go. I headed straight to Woolworths after school. I ended up coming out only $130 poorer than when I went in.
Tonight, I just stayed at home. Len, Heather, Kit, Hannah and I had a really nice dinner together. I had a wonderful evening relaxing at home and trying to get a few things in order for the trip home.
Tuesday
Today flew by. The students worked very well today, and we got a lot accomplished. We finished off the penny activity from yesterday and started our write up of our ice cream lab. We’ll hopefully be making ice cream tomorrow afternoon. Brett had a meeting until five today, so I decided to catch the bus home. When I got home, I took a walk down to Hillary’s harbor. It’s an area along the beach with shops and cafes. After a stroll down there, I walked home again.
I decided to make my pumpkin pies for tomorrow’s dinner. Well… I should have waited until tomorrow. It was a complete and utter disaster. First off, I don’t think Australia has a single can of cooked pumpkin; therefore, I had to make the pumpkin pie by first cooking down and mashing the pumpkin. This normally wouldn’t be too hard, but I decided to use the processor to mash it up. I didn’t get the lid on tight enough, so I ended up with pumpkin exploding all over the kitchen and me. After I had changed clothes and mopped the floor, counter and walls, I was able to pour the pie batter into the shells. The only shells that the store had were flan shells. Little did I know, but this must mean that the shells leak, so I ended up with mix, once again, all over the kitchen. I got two pies into the oven, but when I pushed the tray in, the pies splattered all over the tray. Now, I have burnt pie filling on the oven tray, which is going to be a blast to clean up. Let’s just say that what should have taken two hours took about four, and I ended up with pumpkin pies that look like puffy egg casseroles.
Wednesday, April 1
Today was extremely fun! Before school, I put the roast in the crock-pot and started it cooking. At school, we had a wonderful morning. The students worked great before recess. After recess, Brett and Ashleigh took the year 7s to talk to them about their NAPLAN testing (their standardized testing). I took Ashleigh’s year 6s, and we designed new covers for their class novels. After lunch, I zipped off to the store (Heather graciously let me take their car!) to the petrol station. I had to get some bags of ice, because this afternoon all of the year seven students made ice cream with me as a science project. It was wonderful! The students really enjoyed it, and after I talked about what happened, they seemed to have actually learned something from it.
Tonight was the night for my dinner. I had everything ready to go when Heather got home from work. It all turned out well, except for the potatoes, which could have used a little more cooking. They loved it. AND… my pumpkin pies actually turned out pretty good! They weren’t the best in the world, but most definitely edible. I’m just finishing ups some schoolwork and heading to bed for the night. I feel a little tired after today’s events.
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