It has been a while since I have blogged because after the Northwest it will forever be hard to find something to top that trip. But the highlight of the weeks since then has been student teaching! I am beginning to know my class and the teachers that I work with so much better! I really enjoy going to class on Wednesdays and being with the students and talking to my teachers about life in Australia. I have been learning so much about Australian curriculum and school processes. I had my mid-semester meeting with my teacher and my supervisor (who is the assistant principal) and they had really great feedback for me. I also asked if there was any way I could do something for Books for Zambia (which by the way you should check out www.booksforzambia.com for the picture of me and my Wayne students). They loved the idea and said that it would be a definite possibility to send a few books. I just have to do a small write-up explaining the cause. I also found out from my teacher that there is a children's literature center in Freo that I am going to go to later this week!!! I was so excited! They have many books and author presentations and artwork! I have two weeks off from teaching because the kids are on break, but when I go back I get to teach a full class lesson (I didn't before because we had a full prac who needed to be teaching all day to finish her course). It is so wonderful!
The big happening since the Northwest trip was Earth Dance (which takes place all over the world by the way, many in the U.S., even one in New york city, i dunno how that happens), which I went to this past weekend. We were told about this music and peace festival through some friends that had heard it was really cool. So on Friday eight of us packed up two cars and a ute (small truck) with all of our camping gear. We drove three and a half hours, with only a few minor detours from getting lost, to a tiny town called Bencubbin. The festival was at the Marshall Rock Nature Reserve. On our way in we were stopped by the police and they looked around the car and looked up license numbers...apparently some people got full car searches for drugs, but not good enough because plenty came in. Then we pulled into the reserve and drove through lots of tents, hippie vans, and people and picked a spot to set up camp. There were people everywhere (I'm not sure how they are allowed to have this many people on a nature reserve..). We set up our tents and walked around. We caught the sunset from the top of a huge rock, there were two on each side of the area that Earth Dance was in. It was a really beautiful place with some VERY interesting people. As night fell we went to the center of the festival which consisted of lots of stalls selling fairy wings, wands, food, t-shirts, hippie clothes, etc. Then there was a dome in the middle and a patch of dust covered by an awning which was one of the "dance floors." On the other side of the stalls there was another dance floor with screens and a fire pit! Among the campers there were areas such as the cinema (projected the strangest movies, the most normal was bedknobs and broomsticks, which is very weird also). Then there was the healing dome (massages, henna), and the playground (face painting, hula hooping, big teepee), and the workshop area (with laugh therapy and yoga sessions). As night fell it turned from a very nice warm day to a freezing cold dark night. We walked around and took in the sights of fairy wings, tutus, furry clothing, headresses, fishermen pants, and all kinds of other get ups. The music was awful and consisted of trance music with teh same beat for hours on end with little change that I am convinced can only be convinced if you are on drugs.
Thus the title of the entry--it felt more like a drug festival than a festival promoting peace.
I spent most of the night standing around the fire that was at the cinema area and trying to figure out what was going on in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which was playing because it was supposed to be a family friendly festival. I do not know who would bring their child there.... The next day was much better, there was some artists that played acoustic guitar, banjo, and bongos which I actually enjoyed and the weather was very nice. We went for a walk up the other rock and went into town to the only place open (the pub) to watch the footie (australian football) grand final. We made some bracelets and hung out at our campsite. The next night brought more cold weather and more watching people on the dance floor with some minimal dancing to warm up.
It was a fun weekend for the camping part, but the festival was not my scene at all. I think that for someone who does not do drugs it is not really catered for my enjoyment. It was a very interesting experience and I got to see a beautifully nature reserve and pee in the bush many times :) I was also with a wonderful group of people and we made our own fun, which was great (mostly by crafting bracelets, eating and chatting)!
This week I am on break and I have lots of work to get done, but I am hoping to make some day trips to Freo and to Kings Park in Perth! Kelsey has an ecology project all week from 9-5 everyday so I am hanging by myself and hoping to do some exploring of the area. Next weekend if the weather is good we are hoping to go to Rottnest Island, which is a gorgeous island with beaches and bike paths (no cars are allowed). We will do a lot of bike riding and go camping there!
Miss you all! There are a few more pictures up on picasa from earth dance and my friend Elyse's birthday! Love you! Peace out
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Australia is Gorges NW Part 2
This is the continuation of the story of the Northwest trip!
Day 6: A day of driving from Coral Bay to Karijini National Park (the most amazing place I've ever seen!). We had some car trouble so we had some long pit stops at some exciting and strange road stops. We finally got to our destination after night fall and had to set up our tents with the lights front the buses. We soon discovered the red dust that covers miles and miles of this part of Australia and gets on everything and doesn't come out! We went from beds to no running water and tents, which was actually kind of cool. I felt like I was really camping when I brushed my teeth without water. We had a late dinner and greeted a Dingo (wild Australian dog) to the outskirts of our campsite. They are very friendly because some people stupidly feed them! If they are fed then they may have to be put down because they will never leave the campsites.
Day 7: KARIJINI!!! Today was FULL ON!!! We traveled through the rolling outback to our first destination. We began hike number one and were led down into a gigantic gorge made of beautiful red rock.
The hike was pretty challenging and had ladders and large rock drop offs. At times we were climbing along rock faces with huge distances to fall. It was exhilirating! We got to a place called the ampitheater and left our clothes and backpacks on the flat rocks, then we got ready to do the spider walk. The spiderwalk = two rock faces with a crevasse down the middle that you can walk along with one arm and one leg on one rock and the other two on the other rock. you are suspending in the air over a small stream that turns into a large pool at the end. When we finished the spider walk we jumped into the most refreshingly cold water I have ever felt! Our tour guide told us that the water in this gorge was naturally fresh enough to drink and tastes better than a lot of tap water in Australia ( I still didn't try any though..). After returning on the spider walk we climbed back up to the top of the gorge for some lunch! Then it was time for another gorge hike! This time we got to go on the lookout before we hiked down into the gorge. It was amazing that we could hike down into so vast a gorge. The hike was a little less intense, though there were some difficult areas. When we reached the bottom of the gorge we went through a pool and found another larger pool and a waterfall. We made it through the frigied water and sat underneath the waterfall! Then we went to the other side of the gorge. Lucy and I wanted to go but it was really scary! We barely made it, the rocks were slippery and the drop off was big enough to frighten me. But we were brave and we went slowly and caref
ully and it was so worth it. We made it into a large river with the most beautiful river and the coolest rocks for many meters on each side of us! We swam down the river and climbed onto cliffs and jumped in again! It was so amazing! The water was cold enough that your body went numb after a while. But it was so surreal to swim in that setting, enveloped by these huge rock masses and the color of the teal water against the red rock was stunning! After this day there wasn't much to do but eat, play games, and go to bed! Right before bed we heard our tour guide, Fi screaming and then she walked into the campsite with a pillow covered in red dust....a dingo had stolen her two pillows and she had chased it down and managed to get one back! The other is left in the bush....haha
Day 8: Our last day at Karijini :( We woke up early and set out for a hike. We went down into a gorge that was equally as large, but the hike was much easier. We got to a set of naturally formed rock stairs into a pool wit a waterfall at one end and a large rock face across from them. We swam, sunbathed, and cliff jumped. Then we visited Fern pool, which is ju
st gorgeous! It is surrounded by rock, trees, and foliage and has two waterfalls that you can go underneath and behind! The water was a beautiful temperature, it was a nice chage from the frigid waters we had been in. We could actually swim for a while without going numb! This pool was a sacred Aboriginal area so we had to be very respectful of the land and not be too loud or jump from things. It was an amazing place to see! Then we went back and did some more swimming and sunning....then back to the bus :( We rode to Newman, a mining town of Iron Ore. The town is made entirely to support the mining population, mostly single males. We popped up our tents, had dinner, and then headed to the pub called Red Sands. Here we turned the heads of many miners and had some fun meeting a group of miners from Ireland, three of whom were named Patty. They taught us some Irish drinking songs it was hilarious. Terry, our tour guide kept close watch to make sure that no miners crossed any lines with any of the females on our trip. It was good fun to see them all in their florescent orange mining outfits. We were also told that if we were too noisy at night they might come after us...we didn't try and find out if this was true.
Day 9: Drove ALLL DAY LONG!!! Our place for the night was at the coolest sheep farm I have ever seen in the middle of nowhere! The
re is iron and bone artwork everywhere and lots of sheep and horses. The family is super nice and there son was telling us about how he hunts for kangaroos and emus everyday and has to be homeschooled because they live so far from anyone. The showers are labeled Rams and Ewes and everything is decorated very sweetly using recycled materials. They hot water heater is a fire box outside that has to be continuously stoked to keep the water warm! We had a wonderful night with great food, spirits, laughs, a huge fire, and lots of stories! I spent a lot of the night with my new friend Lucy, she is from Kentucky and goes to school in Ohio. She is so sweet and we get a long really well:) It was really nice to have some bonding time!
Day 10: Up early, tents came down for the last time. And BACK ON THE BUS! We didn't get very far though before we got a flat tire! But Fi and Terry are monsters and had that tire changed so quick it was amazing! We drove and drove and everyone just wanted to get home and shower and sleep! We bypassed lunch and kept on driving. We got back to campus around 4:30pm. It was so sad to leave Terry and Fi, but we are already planning our r
eunions!!! Fi is coming back in October for a while and we are going to see Matt Gresham (the artist that we listend to all the time on the trip) together!
Soo..that is the shortest version of the trip that I can muster!! This is Me and Fi!!! There was so much packed in, but this are the main events and hopefully they give yo uan idea of just how amazing this trip was!!!! Everyone should try to get out and see WA, especially Karijini!!! Love you all miss you! More later!
Day 6: A day of driving from Coral Bay to Karijini National Park (the most amazing place I've ever seen!). We had some car trouble so we had some long pit stops at some exciting and strange road stops. We finally got to our destination after night fall and had to set up our tents with the lights front the buses. We soon discovered the red dust that covers miles and miles of this part of Australia and gets on everything and doesn't come out! We went from beds to no running water and tents, which was actually kind of cool. I felt like I was really camping when I brushed my teeth without water. We had a late dinner and greeted a Dingo (wild Australian dog) to the outskirts of our campsite. They are very friendly because some people stupidly feed them! If they are fed then they may have to be put down because they will never leave the campsites.
Day 7: KARIJINI!!! Today was FULL ON!!! We traveled through the rolling outback to our first destination. We began hike number one and were led down into a gigantic gorge made of beautiful red rock.
The hike was pretty challenging and had ladders and large rock drop offs. At times we were climbing along rock faces with huge distances to fall. It was exhilirating! We got to a place called the ampitheater and left our clothes and backpacks on the flat rocks, then we got ready to do the spider walk. The spiderwalk = two rock faces with a crevasse down the middle that you can walk along with one arm and one leg on one rock and the other two on the other rock. you are suspending in the air over a small stream that turns into a large pool at the end. When we finished the spider walk we jumped into the most refreshingly cold water I have ever felt! Our tour guide told us that the water in this gorge was naturally fresh enough to drink and tastes better than a lot of tap water in Australia ( I still didn't try any though..). After returning on the spider walk we climbed back up to the top of the gorge for some lunch! Then it was time for another gorge hike! This time we got to go on the lookout before we hiked down into the gorge. It was amazing that we could hike down into so vast a gorge. The hike was a little less intense, though there were some difficult areas. When we reached the bottom of the gorge we went through a pool and found another larger pool and a waterfall. We made it through the frigied water and sat underneath the waterfall! Then we went to the other side of the gorge. Lucy and I wanted to go but it was really scary! We barely made it, the rocks were slippery and the drop off was big enough to frighten me. But we were brave and we went slowly and caref
ully and it was so worth it. We made it into a large river with the most beautiful river and the coolest rocks for many meters on each side of us! We swam down the river and climbed onto cliffs and jumped in again! It was so amazing! The water was cold enough that your body went numb after a while. But it was so surreal to swim in that setting, enveloped by these huge rock masses and the color of the teal water against the red rock was stunning! After this day there wasn't much to do but eat, play games, and go to bed! Right before bed we heard our tour guide, Fi screaming and then she walked into the campsite with a pillow covered in red dust....a dingo had stolen her two pillows and she had chased it down and managed to get one back! The other is left in the bush....hahaDay 8: Our last day at Karijini :( We woke up early and set out for a hike. We went down into a gorge that was equally as large, but the hike was much easier. We got to a set of naturally formed rock stairs into a pool wit a waterfall at one end and a large rock face across from them. We swam, sunbathed, and cliff jumped. Then we visited Fern pool, which is ju
st gorgeous! It is surrounded by rock, trees, and foliage and has two waterfalls that you can go underneath and behind! The water was a beautiful temperature, it was a nice chage from the frigid waters we had been in. We could actually swim for a while without going numb! This pool was a sacred Aboriginal area so we had to be very respectful of the land and not be too loud or jump from things. It was an amazing place to see! Then we went back and did some more swimming and sunning....then back to the bus :( We rode to Newman, a mining town of Iron Ore. The town is made entirely to support the mining population, mostly single males. We popped up our tents, had dinner, and then headed to the pub called Red Sands. Here we turned the heads of many miners and had some fun meeting a group of miners from Ireland, three of whom were named Patty. They taught us some Irish drinking songs it was hilarious. Terry, our tour guide kept close watch to make sure that no miners crossed any lines with any of the females on our trip. It was good fun to see them all in their florescent orange mining outfits. We were also told that if we were too noisy at night they might come after us...we didn't try and find out if this was true.Day 9: Drove ALLL DAY LONG!!! Our place for the night was at the coolest sheep farm I have ever seen in the middle of nowhere! The
re is iron and bone artwork everywhere and lots of sheep and horses. The family is super nice and there son was telling us about how he hunts for kangaroos and emus everyday and has to be homeschooled because they live so far from anyone. The showers are labeled Rams and Ewes and everything is decorated very sweetly using recycled materials. They hot water heater is a fire box outside that has to be continuously stoked to keep the water warm! We had a wonderful night with great food, spirits, laughs, a huge fire, and lots of stories! I spent a lot of the night with my new friend Lucy, she is from Kentucky and goes to school in Ohio. She is so sweet and we get a long really well:) It was really nice to have some bonding time!Day 10: Up early, tents came down for the last time. And BACK ON THE BUS! We didn't get very far though before we got a flat tire! But Fi and Terry are monsters and had that tire changed so quick it was amazing! We drove and drove and everyone just wanted to get home and shower and sleep! We bypassed lunch and kept on driving. We got back to campus around 4:30pm. It was so sad to leave Terry and Fi, but we are already planning our r
eunions!!! Fi is coming back in October for a while and we are going to see Matt Gresham (the artist that we listend to all the time on the trip) together!Soo..that is the shortest version of the trip that I can muster!! This is Me and Fi!!! There was so much packed in, but this are the main events and hopefully they give yo uan idea of just how amazing this trip was!!!! Everyone should try to get out and see WA, especially Karijini!!! Love you all miss you! More later!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The beginning of the greatest adventure of my life! NW Part 1
So here is the much anticipated blog about my ten day break going on the Northwest trip...this is installment one so I don't overwhelm you too much all at once. Regardless, it is going to be a novel...so I will try my best to make it as short as possible:)
Day one we are up and ready to leave at 7:45am. There are 33 students sleepy-eyed and weighed down with packs, pillows, and snacks. The buses are running late per usual and no one really knows what to expect for the next ten days. We are introduced to our tour guides, Terry and Fi (fiona). Then a man in a stuffy business suit from Murdoch tells us the rules and all the things that can kill us in the outback and sends us on our way. We jump on a bus and we are on our way! And our way consists of kilometers of driving! This is all we do the first day besides making pit stops for bathroom breaks, snacks, and stretches. Our bus was driven by Fi and had nineteen people on it. We wasted away the hours doozing, reading, talking, and singing.
Now I am gonna stop this play-by-play to tell you about Fi. She is the coolest woman I have ever met. She is 32, beautiful, independent, hiking boot and jeans clad, smart, hilarious, and she has a laugh that makes everyone else laugh whether they knew what was funny or not. Terry our other tour guide I want to be my surrogate uncle. He is a sweet man, who is so intelligent about the world around us, he cooks amazingly, he always has the answers, and is always looking out for everyone!
Back to the play-by-play :) We stopped for lunch at a cute seaside stop in Geraldton with a little playground and sweet beach. We stopped for the first night at a sheep farm in Lynton. It has many, many acres of land and tractors and old buildings. It also has an extremely large hill that rises up behind the buildings. This is what we climbed up our first night, it was quite a little climb especially with the wind trying to blow us off the face of the earth! The view from on top was breath taking you could see the ocean in the distant and all the farm h
ouses and land that went on for miles and then there was the lone road that led into the property. Our sleeping quarters for the night=the old sheep barn. We made dinner and played card games and then everyone laid mats onto the floor, got out their sleeping bags and it was one big slumber party!! The only trouble, was the obstacle course to get through when you had to pee in the middle of the night and since the bathrooms were so far away the side of the barn had to do, but it was the perfect viewing of the entire night sky!
Day two: Up at 6, leave by seven (Terry's motto) and back on the bus! We made a few stops on our way to Kalbarri National Park. On our way we saw our first of many Kangaroos in the wild, as well as Emus and wild sheep and goats. The park was incredible! We had our first little hike that overlooked the huge Murchison river that flows in a
nd around the area! There were some incredible views across to the other side of the gorge and the rock formations are amazing. After lunch we headed to Monkey Mia and Shark Bay. We stayed in a campground at Hamelin Pool where the stromatolites are located!! For those of you who aren't familiar with what these are, they are bacteria that live on special rock forms and need water to live, they are some of the oldest living things on the planet and they helped create life as we know it because they produced the oxygen that plants, animals, and humans needed to evolve and survive!!! ..That said they aren't the most interesting things to look out, unless you appreciate them for what they are! There is a beautiful boardwalk that you go out on to look at them and a nice beach and the ocea
n in front of them! The campground we stayed at was owned by the funniest hick man I have ever seen complete with a long scraggly beard, plaid shirt, big boots, few teeth, and a great Australian accent. He told us stories about how he had been bitten by a snake a month before and had only an hour to live and they took him to the hospital but couldn't find anyone who knew how to give him the right injection. They finally got it into him and he lived to tell the tale: when the snake bit him his reaction had been to immediately break the snakes neck and when he got back from the hospital he stuck the snake in a jar and brought it to the pub with him that night! ...only in Australia :) We had the best bon fire and all tried to stay warm (the nights were chilly till we got up north).
Day 3: We went to Shark bay today where there is a gorgeous beach, boats, and most importantly..DOLPHINS (indo-pacific bottle-nose)!! Yes, the dolphins swim right up to the beach, feet away from us standing in the water. They swim around and now all the people who work there. There are very particular dolphins that they feed three times
a morning, that their families have been coming for years. They do live and survive in the wild because how much, what, and when they are fed is precisely controlled. They are beautiful and gentle, it was so neat! We got to see six dolphins ( one was pregnant)! Then we played the most entertaining game of beach volleyball with too many people and soo many laughs! Then we drove to a lookout of Shark Bay and saw the world's largest population of sea grass! The most gorgeous view of endless ocean, a big island, and the most beautiful color of water! Then we visited shell beach ..and yes it is just how it sounds..a beach made up entirely of little pure white shells!! The tide was low and we got to walk out and make mounds of shells to stand on so it looked like we were Jesus walking on water! I of course searched for shells, they were all so beautiful..but not the most comfortable beach to walk on without shoes on :) We spent the night in Hamelin Pool again and had another wonderful bonfire. We also saw a Kangaroo extremely up close that was just chilling out when all of a sudden he jumped towards us, we all screamed like silly Americans, but he was just looking for more food:)
Day 4: A day of driving to get to Coral Bay. We stayed a little ways out of Coral Bay at a gigantic farm. Beds and rooms here!!! Yes! I had a room with Kelsey! There were horses just roaming and feeding inches from our building and then because we had made such good time we got to see the most amazing beach I have EVER been to!!! The family that owns the farm also happens to own 50 km of private beach off of the Ningaloo reef. I know..its no big deal..... This beach was perfect...pure white sand, the Indian O
cean, warm ocean water, waves, and an untouched beach with the most beautiful shells left behind. I spent the evening swimming in the waves and enjoying my happy place! I found some gigantic shells, a sea urchin shell (that I later sat on and broke..so sad), a gorgeous orange and pink crab shell, a starfish, and many other amazing shells! Most people know how much a love collecting shells..so it was my own little paradise! This was easily one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen! The night consisted of bonfires, yummy dinner, a salt water shower, and a bed..though not the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in..but I wasn't complaining after a lot of ground to sleep on!
Day 5: Up before dawn in time to see the most gorgeous sunrise and off for a day at Coral Bay, home of the "not as renowned b
ut better conserved and untouched" Ningaloo Reef! Today was unforgettable we started the day by going on a glass bottom boat! Everyone sat around on the boat and looked down through the glass to see the most amazing reef life. There are over 200 different kinds of coral and millions of sea species! We saw numerous different kinds of fish in all sizes, shapes, and colors, as well as star fish, huge clams, sea cucumbers, and huge sea turtles!!! Then we got to go snorkaling off the boat!!!!!!!!! I have never been snorkeling in open ocean before and it was an out-of-body experience! I felt so calm and at one with the water. I followed a huge rainbow fish for a while and trailed schools of gorgeous fish...only taking a huge gulp of sea water into my snorkel a few times because it was so windy :) At the end of our snorkel Kelsey and I were some of the last people in the water (the rest couldn't handle the cold) and they began to throw fish food from the back of the boat. This meant that I was completely surrounded by my own kind! It was mostly a school of "Spangled Emperors", big silver fish that are atleast two feet long, try having those all over your body, it was so cool and when I looked down into the water there was more fish around then I have ever seen of all different colors and sizes! Wow! After this the day was spent at the beach soaking in some warmth and sun (but amazingly no sunburns the whole trip due to MASS amounts of sunscreen!)! It was great! Then we attended happy hour at the pub right off of the beach from 5:30-6:30 pm. Our group went through 21 pitchers and it made for a fantastic ride home that was full of music, horrible singing, and a pee stop that meant twenty people piled out of the bus to the side of the road and peed in the bush in one large group! Now that is some group bonding!
I am going to leave you with that lovely picture for now!!! I am tired of typing and if you have even made it down here I'm sure you need a break from reading this! So here is installment one of two! There is so much more fun to come...now you can begin to see why this was such amazing trip that I could never begin to explain all of !!!!! Miss you all so much! All the pictures are up on picassa (this is just a speckle of the good pictures) and fb..the link to them is on the right of the screen! <3 xoxoxo
Day one we are up and ready to leave at 7:45am. There are 33 students sleepy-eyed and weighed down with packs, pillows, and snacks. The buses are running late per usual and no one really knows what to expect for the next ten days. We are introduced to our tour guides, Terry and Fi (fiona). Then a man in a stuffy business suit from Murdoch tells us the rules and all the things that can kill us in the outback and sends us on our way. We jump on a bus and we are on our way! And our way consists of kilometers of driving! This is all we do the first day besides making pit stops for bathroom breaks, snacks, and stretches. Our bus was driven by Fi and had nineteen people on it. We wasted away the hours doozing, reading, talking, and singing.
Now I am gonna stop this play-by-play to tell you about Fi. She is the coolest woman I have ever met. She is 32, beautiful, independent, hiking boot and jeans clad, smart, hilarious, and she has a laugh that makes everyone else laugh whether they knew what was funny or not. Terry our other tour guide I want to be my surrogate uncle. He is a sweet man, who is so intelligent about the world around us, he cooks amazingly, he always has the answers, and is always looking out for everyone!
Back to the play-by-play :) We stopped for lunch at a cute seaside stop in Geraldton with a little playground and sweet beach. We stopped for the first night at a sheep farm in Lynton. It has many, many acres of land and tractors and old buildings. It also has an extremely large hill that rises up behind the buildings. This is what we climbed up our first night, it was quite a little climb especially with the wind trying to blow us off the face of the earth! The view from on top was breath taking you could see the ocean in the distant and all the farm h
ouses and land that went on for miles and then there was the lone road that led into the property. Our sleeping quarters for the night=the old sheep barn. We made dinner and played card games and then everyone laid mats onto the floor, got out their sleeping bags and it was one big slumber party!! The only trouble, was the obstacle course to get through when you had to pee in the middle of the night and since the bathrooms were so far away the side of the barn had to do, but it was the perfect viewing of the entire night sky!Day two: Up at 6, leave by seven (Terry's motto) and back on the bus! We made a few stops on our way to Kalbarri National Park. On our way we saw our first of many Kangaroos in the wild, as well as Emus and wild sheep and goats. The park was incredible! We had our first little hike that overlooked the huge Murchison river that flows in a
nd around the area! There were some incredible views across to the other side of the gorge and the rock formations are amazing. After lunch we headed to Monkey Mia and Shark Bay. We stayed in a campground at Hamelin Pool where the stromatolites are located!! For those of you who aren't familiar with what these are, they are bacteria that live on special rock forms and need water to live, they are some of the oldest living things on the planet and they helped create life as we know it because they produced the oxygen that plants, animals, and humans needed to evolve and survive!!! ..That said they aren't the most interesting things to look out, unless you appreciate them for what they are! There is a beautiful boardwalk that you go out on to look at them and a nice beach and the ocea
n in front of them! The campground we stayed at was owned by the funniest hick man I have ever seen complete with a long scraggly beard, plaid shirt, big boots, few teeth, and a great Australian accent. He told us stories about how he had been bitten by a snake a month before and had only an hour to live and they took him to the hospital but couldn't find anyone who knew how to give him the right injection. They finally got it into him and he lived to tell the tale: when the snake bit him his reaction had been to immediately break the snakes neck and when he got back from the hospital he stuck the snake in a jar and brought it to the pub with him that night! ...only in Australia :) We had the best bon fire and all tried to stay warm (the nights were chilly till we got up north).Day 3: We went to Shark bay today where there is a gorgeous beach, boats, and most importantly..DOLPHINS (indo-pacific bottle-nose)!! Yes, the dolphins swim right up to the beach, feet away from us standing in the water. They swim around and now all the people who work there. There are very particular dolphins that they feed three times
a morning, that their families have been coming for years. They do live and survive in the wild because how much, what, and when they are fed is precisely controlled. They are beautiful and gentle, it was so neat! We got to see six dolphins ( one was pregnant)! Then we played the most entertaining game of beach volleyball with too many people and soo many laughs! Then we drove to a lookout of Shark Bay and saw the world's largest population of sea grass! The most gorgeous view of endless ocean, a big island, and the most beautiful color of water! Then we visited shell beach ..and yes it is just how it sounds..a beach made up entirely of little pure white shells!! The tide was low and we got to walk out and make mounds of shells to stand on so it looked like we were Jesus walking on water! I of course searched for shells, they were all so beautiful..but not the most comfortable beach to walk on without shoes on :) We spent the night in Hamelin Pool again and had another wonderful bonfire. We also saw a Kangaroo extremely up close that was just chilling out when all of a sudden he jumped towards us, we all screamed like silly Americans, but he was just looking for more food:)Day 4: A day of driving to get to Coral Bay. We stayed a little ways out of Coral Bay at a gigantic farm. Beds and rooms here!!! Yes! I had a room with Kelsey! There were horses just roaming and feeding inches from our building and then because we had made such good time we got to see the most amazing beach I have EVER been to!!! The family that owns the farm also happens to own 50 km of private beach off of the Ningaloo reef. I know..its no big deal..... This beach was perfect...pure white sand, the Indian O
cean, warm ocean water, waves, and an untouched beach with the most beautiful shells left behind. I spent the evening swimming in the waves and enjoying my happy place! I found some gigantic shells, a sea urchin shell (that I later sat on and broke..so sad), a gorgeous orange and pink crab shell, a starfish, and many other amazing shells! Most people know how much a love collecting shells..so it was my own little paradise! This was easily one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen! The night consisted of bonfires, yummy dinner, a salt water shower, and a bed..though not the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in..but I wasn't complaining after a lot of ground to sleep on!Day 5: Up before dawn in time to see the most gorgeous sunrise and off for a day at Coral Bay, home of the "not as renowned b
ut better conserved and untouched" Ningaloo Reef! Today was unforgettable we started the day by going on a glass bottom boat! Everyone sat around on the boat and looked down through the glass to see the most amazing reef life. There are over 200 different kinds of coral and millions of sea species! We saw numerous different kinds of fish in all sizes, shapes, and colors, as well as star fish, huge clams, sea cucumbers, and huge sea turtles!!! Then we got to go snorkaling off the boat!!!!!!!!! I have never been snorkeling in open ocean before and it was an out-of-body experience! I felt so calm and at one with the water. I followed a huge rainbow fish for a while and trailed schools of gorgeous fish...only taking a huge gulp of sea water into my snorkel a few times because it was so windy :) At the end of our snorkel Kelsey and I were some of the last people in the water (the rest couldn't handle the cold) and they began to throw fish food from the back of the boat. This meant that I was completely surrounded by my own kind! It was mostly a school of "Spangled Emperors", big silver fish that are atleast two feet long, try having those all over your body, it was so cool and when I looked down into the water there was more fish around then I have ever seen of all different colors and sizes! Wow! After this the day was spent at the beach soaking in some warmth and sun (but amazingly no sunburns the whole trip due to MASS amounts of sunscreen!)! It was great! Then we attended happy hour at the pub right off of the beach from 5:30-6:30 pm. Our group went through 21 pitchers and it made for a fantastic ride home that was full of music, horrible singing, and a pee stop that meant twenty people piled out of the bus to the side of the road and peed in the bush in one large group! Now that is some group bonding!I am going to leave you with that lovely picture for now!!! I am tired of typing and if you have even made it down here I'm sure you need a break from reading this! So here is installment one of two! There is so much more fun to come...now you can begin to see why this was such amazing trip that I could never begin to explain all of !!!!! Miss you all so much! All the pictures are up on picassa (this is just a speckle of the good pictures) and fb..the link to them is on the right of the screen! <3 xoxoxo
Saturday, August 22, 2009
R-A-I-N-B-O-W spells rainbow!
Blog entries are becoming part of my Sunday routine!! I will try and briefly reflect on the week that has passed:) Can anyone believe that I have been here for exactly a month today!! I feel like I just got here yesterday, but at the same time have been here for a very long time..it is strange.
Last Sunday evening: A beautiful family dinner (all my flatmates) of mashed potatoes, peas, marinated chicken (by Kelsey and I) and dim sum, dumplings and stir fry veggies (from...who thinks my Singaporean roommate..that would be my first guess..but no..from my French roommate)! It was a smorgasbord of of diverse food and flat 39 love!
Monday: A trip to Salvo's (that's right the unique name of the Salvation Army in Australia) to find long-strapped, little bags (to bring clubbing, that won't get lost and still allows dancing to happen). acceptable purse found! Miss-estimated bus timing...missed my class (but no worries it is recorded and put on the web..so who REALLY needs to go to class :). Beautiful part of missing class...Kelsey and I made delicious grilled cheese and soup..perfect on a rainy day :)
Monday Night: Kelsey: "Hey Lauren, there is a Community Chorus in Perth that Murdoch students are welcome to go to, we should go!
Lauren: "That sounds great Kels!"
Acquire Directions, travel thirty minutes on three different modes of transportation (luck was on our side it could have taken an hour), things are looking up, we end up at the University of Western Australia, we find the room, we sit down, people are friendly....
Then with no warm-ups we jump into some baroque classical tunes in German, Latin, and Italian. They have supposedly been practicing them for weeks, but the ladies beside us aren't even singing for most of it. There are two tenors. Most people are over forty.....not my musical scene. But a great experience none-the-less!
Tuesday:Kelsey and I feel ambitious and the sun is out, so we go for a run. Things are going great, my foot is feel good (I hurt it about a month and a half ago). We search for this pond that we were told about and find it quite quickly. It is beautiful and we are starting the loop when.............Yes folks it begins to rain...not just rain pour..harder and harder. Kelsey and I brave it for a while, but when our shoes fill with water and we can no longer see where we are going, we head back. Short-lived and very wet, but a great laugh.
Tuesday Night: Slow night. But we made delicious tacos! I went to my friend Tina's house to watch Shrek and Finding Nemo. We are writing papers on them for our Children and the Media class.
Wednesday: Up early for another day of teaching in Kindy! Today the weather is warm and beautiful! I get to the bus stop just as the bus is pulling up and have a very enjoyable walk to school. I get there on time to speak with Jannine, Carrie, and Alex (the full-prac) about the day and we greet all the students as the get to school. It was Hazels birthday and boy was she EXCITED!!! Bopping all around exclaiming that she is five today!! We started our unit on the sea and will be going to the beach on September 9th! To end our unit on dinosaurs we were paleontologists and gave each child a cup that had plaster and dinosaurs in it. They wore toy hard hats and had little hammers (sans goggles...a little scary) and started hammering away at the plaster and brushing away the dust to find their dinosaurs! So exciting! We had cupcakes for snack and did some painting (which of course I got all over myself)! During free play my favorite child (shh..don't tell anyone else) Adi (a four year old adorable little boy, who I am quite sure has a high-functioning form of autism) was putting together a puzzle and Miss Jannine asked him what the picture was of. He responded with the correct answer "rainbow" and then she asked him if he could read all the letters in the word. For a boy that doesn't talk much and has social and physical difficulty, he stood there and very clearly said R-A-I-N-B-O-W! Need I say more, it was so beautiful :-D Those are the little things that make life wonderful! It was a super day in Kindy!
Then I met Kelsey and we went to some op shops (thrift stores) in Fremantle. Good Sammy's! Is incredible I got a beautiful teal dress for three dollars and found an even better long-strapped purse for two dollars! They are much better stalked here and quite clean!
Wednesday Night: Volleyball with the sustainability club! There were about twenty of us that played. I went with Kelsey even though I am not technically in the club. All of our Australian friends are in it and there were some other random players that we met. It was great fun!
Thursday: Full of classes! Pepresentation and Gender is so interesting! The lecturer is so captivating and knowledgeable; it is extremely good!
Thursday night: Moondyne Joe's again! There were about fifteen of us there to support Keith. It was strange because our Australian friends were there with us and it seems like we have known them for so long, but Kelsey had met them only a week ago in the same place! Kelsey and Keith did a duet!! It was so beautiful! I love open mic nights:)
Friday: pretty uneventful, started one of the three papers that I have to finish by Thursday (because we are leaving for the northwest trip!!!!) It's a challenge because I am not sure how they like their papers done here in Australia! The prompts I have are very broad and quite vague.... I went for a gorgeous run around the lake!!! It was the perfect day; the sun was out and the pond was full of swans and ducks. It is a protected park so there is a lot of foliage and bush vegetation!
Friday Night: Fight Club with my German friend Lisa, some American friends, some Australians.
Saturday: My paper on Home Alone and Finding Nemo!! Very difficult to write, finally got the final draft done today of over eight pages!
Saturday Night: Summer Heights High (ridiculous mockumentary) that we watched with Lucy and Julie!
Sunday: Finished my rough draft, one paper to go! I am playing ultimate frisbee at three (trying out the club team). I have been told no experience is necessary, hopefully that is true :) Really excited!
I will put more pictures up onto Picassa today!!! There are not too many as I keep forgetting to bring my camera out, but they are fun! Miss you all soo much, but I am having a fantabulous time here! Hope to hear from you soon <3
Last Sunday evening: A beautiful family dinner (all my flatmates) of mashed potatoes, peas, marinated chicken (by Kelsey and I) and dim sum, dumplings and stir fry veggies (from...who thinks my Singaporean roommate..that would be my first guess..but no..from my French roommate)! It was a smorgasbord of of diverse food and flat 39 love!
Monday: A trip to Salvo's (that's right the unique name of the Salvation Army in Australia) to find long-strapped, little bags (to bring clubbing, that won't get lost and still allows dancing to happen). acceptable purse found! Miss-estimated bus timing...missed my class (but no worries it is recorded and put on the web..so who REALLY needs to go to class :). Beautiful part of missing class...Kelsey and I made delicious grilled cheese and soup..perfect on a rainy day :)
Monday Night: Kelsey: "Hey Lauren, there is a Community Chorus in Perth that Murdoch students are welcome to go to, we should go!
Lauren: "That sounds great Kels!"
Acquire Directions, travel thirty minutes on three different modes of transportation (luck was on our side it could have taken an hour), things are looking up, we end up at the University of Western Australia, we find the room, we sit down, people are friendly....
Then with no warm-ups we jump into some baroque classical tunes in German, Latin, and Italian. They have supposedly been practicing them for weeks, but the ladies beside us aren't even singing for most of it. There are two tenors. Most people are over forty.....not my musical scene. But a great experience none-the-less!
Tuesday:Kelsey and I feel ambitious and the sun is out, so we go for a run. Things are going great, my foot is feel good (I hurt it about a month and a half ago). We search for this pond that we were told about and find it quite quickly. It is beautiful and we are starting the loop when.............Yes folks it begins to rain...not just rain pour..harder and harder. Kelsey and I brave it for a while, but when our shoes fill with water and we can no longer see where we are going, we head back. Short-lived and very wet, but a great laugh.
Tuesday Night: Slow night. But we made delicious tacos! I went to my friend Tina's house to watch Shrek and Finding Nemo. We are writing papers on them for our Children and the Media class.
Wednesday: Up early for another day of teaching in Kindy! Today the weather is warm and beautiful! I get to the bus stop just as the bus is pulling up and have a very enjoyable walk to school. I get there on time to speak with Jannine, Carrie, and Alex (the full-prac) about the day and we greet all the students as the get to school. It was Hazels birthday and boy was she EXCITED!!! Bopping all around exclaiming that she is five today!! We started our unit on the sea and will be going to the beach on September 9th! To end our unit on dinosaurs we were paleontologists and gave each child a cup that had plaster and dinosaurs in it. They wore toy hard hats and had little hammers (sans goggles...a little scary) and started hammering away at the plaster and brushing away the dust to find their dinosaurs! So exciting! We had cupcakes for snack and did some painting (which of course I got all over myself)! During free play my favorite child (shh..don't tell anyone else) Adi (a four year old adorable little boy, who I am quite sure has a high-functioning form of autism) was putting together a puzzle and Miss Jannine asked him what the picture was of. He responded with the correct answer "rainbow" and then she asked him if he could read all the letters in the word. For a boy that doesn't talk much and has social and physical difficulty, he stood there and very clearly said R-A-I-N-B-O-W! Need I say more, it was so beautiful :-D Those are the little things that make life wonderful! It was a super day in Kindy!
Then I met Kelsey and we went to some op shops (thrift stores) in Fremantle. Good Sammy's! Is incredible I got a beautiful teal dress for three dollars and found an even better long-strapped purse for two dollars! They are much better stalked here and quite clean!
Wednesday Night: Volleyball with the sustainability club! There were about twenty of us that played. I went with Kelsey even though I am not technically in the club. All of our Australian friends are in it and there were some other random players that we met. It was great fun!
Thursday: Full of classes! Pepresentation and Gender is so interesting! The lecturer is so captivating and knowledgeable; it is extremely good!
Thursday night: Moondyne Joe's again! There were about fifteen of us there to support Keith. It was strange because our Australian friends were there with us and it seems like we have known them for so long, but Kelsey had met them only a week ago in the same place! Kelsey and Keith did a duet!! It was so beautiful! I love open mic nights:)
Friday: pretty uneventful, started one of the three papers that I have to finish by Thursday (because we are leaving for the northwest trip!!!!) It's a challenge because I am not sure how they like their papers done here in Australia! The prompts I have are very broad and quite vague.... I went for a gorgeous run around the lake!!! It was the perfect day; the sun was out and the pond was full of swans and ducks. It is a protected park so there is a lot of foliage and bush vegetation!
Friday Night: Fight Club with my German friend Lisa, some American friends, some Australians.
Saturday: My paper on Home Alone and Finding Nemo!! Very difficult to write, finally got the final draft done today of over eight pages!
Saturday Night: Summer Heights High (ridiculous mockumentary) that we watched with Lucy and Julie!
Sunday: Finished my rough draft, one paper to go! I am playing ultimate frisbee at three (trying out the club team). I have been told no experience is necessary, hopefully that is true :) Really excited!
I will put more pictures up onto Picassa today!!! There are not too many as I keep forgetting to bring my camera out, but they are fun! Miss you all soo much, but I am having a fantabulous time here! Hope to hear from you soon <3
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Fish Face *Pucker Pucker*
Soo..I realized today that it has been a whole week since I have written a blog entry! Things are starting to get quite busy!
So I will try to give you a short recap of the week :)
Monday- My Children and the Media professor continued to talk in circles and make no concrete points during his lecture. My German friend Tina asked if I could understand what he was talking about because she thought it might be an English barrier..but nope.
Tuesday- First Photo tutorial! I am so excited about this class, but I think it will be very challenging. There are a lot of very experienced photographers in the class with their fancy cameras and their love of micro-pinhole photography...seriously? Tuesday night I went to see G.I. Joe with my roommate Nelson. He is from Singapore and we met about twenty other Asians at the movie theater. It was very cool to be the token white girl for a change. Everyone was so friendly. The movie was action-packed, I liked it. After GELARE=gelato and dessert waffles with cream and/or gelato on top. Yes, Australians eat pancakes, muffins, and waffles for dessert NOT breakfast. They also do NOT eat peanut butter and jelly..sad day.
Wednesday- My first day of student teaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get up early with only a slight idea of how to get to the school. I am all professionally dressed and I head out the door to a beautiful windy downpour. Even with a rain jacket and umbrella the rain whips all over me. I get to the bus stop and one side of my body is drenched and my pants are sticking to my bum and my shoes are squishing....yuck! Then my ten minute bus ride gives me a few minutes to dry off a little and the rain slows down. I manage to press the button for the correct stop, step off the bus, and guess what ...it starts to pour harder this time and it's so windy that an umbrella cannot even be used. I start what should be a five minute walk. My map is out and getting soaked. I have to stop halfway through the walk to stand under an awning because I am drenched! I don't want to be late so I suck it up and walk through it and finally find the school (it is in a small house across from the primary school). At first i try to go in the wrong door and as I am walking around to find the other one I manage to step in a humongous puddle!.....So I looked extremely professional and put together as I walked into the building my pants soaked through and my shoes two big puddles. I met my teacher "Miss Jannine" and the assistant teacher "Miss Carrie". They are both so sweet and it was immediately puzzle time and I sat down in all my wetness to help three girls put together a dinosaur puzzle. I quickly learned that this kindy class is actually a pre-kindy class, so my students are all 4 and 5. Their accents quickly stole my heart as parents continued to drop off their kids and stayed to help put together puzzles. Morning meeting started and soon I was introduced to all twenty students. The ooed and aahed over the fact that I am from the United States and were amused by the way that I talk. We went to play outside and of course...the sun had come out, it was warm and beautiful. Haha just my luck! Soon I was stomping around like a dinosaur, leading a game of tag, and talking on my plastic "mobile phone." I quickly learned everyone's names and attitudes and was informed that our classroom is inclusive, with a few students with learning and behavior disorders. The rest of the day (which is from 8:30-3) was spent in small groups or at play time. I led a sewing activity, rhyming games, and puzzle making. It was such a fun day and I am so relieved to have the teacher that I am with. She is friendly, helpful, and informative and wants to know all about the similarities and differences between here and the U.S. By the end of the day I was exhausted and my shoes and socks were still soaked, although the rest of me had finally dried. I can't wait to go back next week!
After a shower and a heater Kelsey and I got ready to celebrate our friend Keith's birthday. We went over to his flat and his flatmates Jess, Darren, and Ray cooked dinner. Delicious! We decorated the flat and ate cake that Kelsey made!! It came out well even in our decrepit oven. We celebrated with champagne and an asian drink called Lychee. Then we went out to Newport and danced!!
Thursday- I made it through three classes ( my longest day of the week). They were all quite enjoyable! I was tired from teaching and dancing the day before so I stayed in with my roommate Nelson and he agreed to watch P.S. I Love You with me!! It was a beautiful moment :)
Friday- NO CLASS!!!!!!!!!! Sat around waiting for the computer guy to come fix my computer for the second time and did some laundry....let me tell you how long of as process that was. Since our dryers can run for 60 min for 4 dollars and still be extremely damp after I did two loads and then hung som of my jeans on a communal line while the rest of my laundry came back here and got hung up in every possible space around my room. Then between the off and on rain all day and the wind that threatened to take all my clothes off the line, things were still drying today (Sunday). What a pain!
Early evening we got a call from some Australian friends that Kelsey and Keith had made at the bar the night before. We went over to their flat for some afternoon wine and music playing. They are such nice people and so fun! The girls had face paint and we all decided to be painted by Rachel who is very artistic! We had spiderman, Kelsey as a butterfly, me as a fish, Keith as a sharkface, a crab, a baboon, and a tribal design. We these crazy paintings on our face we all decided to go to Freo on the bus. We got some amazxing looks that night. We went to a bar/brewery called Little creatures they make the most delicious local beer and french fries (fritz)! On the way back..more rain! There was almost face paint tragedy...but we all made it safely home with face paint intact!
Saturday- School work..wah wah
Saturday night it was Anna's 19th birthday (one of our new Aussie friends). We went to her flat for some wine and hanging out and slowly amassed a huge amount of people. The party moved to Perth city where we decided to go dancing at a gay bar (fun to dance without guys creeping on girls..safer and tons of fun).
Sunday- School work..and who thought I never did any of that here...I do! Then a beautiful family (flatmate) dinner with a smorgasboard of Mashed potatoes, peas, redwine garlic chicken, dim sum, dumplings, and stir fry vegetables :) Beautiful! Everyone helped and we all ate together like a little family..I have wonderful flat mates!
Great week though mothing extraordinarily Australian! Making more friends, teaching, and getting busy! Favorite Australian word= heaps...ie. heaps and heaps o' hotties or heaps o' food ir heaps of anything really :) Miss you all, leave some comments! Till Later!
So I will try to give you a short recap of the week :)
Monday- My Children and the Media professor continued to talk in circles and make no concrete points during his lecture. My German friend Tina asked if I could understand what he was talking about because she thought it might be an English barrier..but nope.
Tuesday- First Photo tutorial! I am so excited about this class, but I think it will be very challenging. There are a lot of very experienced photographers in the class with their fancy cameras and their love of micro-pinhole photography...seriously? Tuesday night I went to see G.I. Joe with my roommate Nelson. He is from Singapore and we met about twenty other Asians at the movie theater. It was very cool to be the token white girl for a change. Everyone was so friendly. The movie was action-packed, I liked it. After GELARE=gelato and dessert waffles with cream and/or gelato on top. Yes, Australians eat pancakes, muffins, and waffles for dessert NOT breakfast. They also do NOT eat peanut butter and jelly..sad day.
Wednesday- My first day of student teaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get up early with only a slight idea of how to get to the school. I am all professionally dressed and I head out the door to a beautiful windy downpour. Even with a rain jacket and umbrella the rain whips all over me. I get to the bus stop and one side of my body is drenched and my pants are sticking to my bum and my shoes are squishing....yuck! Then my ten minute bus ride gives me a few minutes to dry off a little and the rain slows down. I manage to press the button for the correct stop, step off the bus, and guess what ...it starts to pour harder this time and it's so windy that an umbrella cannot even be used. I start what should be a five minute walk. My map is out and getting soaked. I have to stop halfway through the walk to stand under an awning because I am drenched! I don't want to be late so I suck it up and walk through it and finally find the school (it is in a small house across from the primary school). At first i try to go in the wrong door and as I am walking around to find the other one I manage to step in a humongous puddle!.....So I looked extremely professional and put together as I walked into the building my pants soaked through and my shoes two big puddles. I met my teacher "Miss Jannine" and the assistant teacher "Miss Carrie". They are both so sweet and it was immediately puzzle time and I sat down in all my wetness to help three girls put together a dinosaur puzzle. I quickly learned that this kindy class is actually a pre-kindy class, so my students are all 4 and 5. Their accents quickly stole my heart as parents continued to drop off their kids and stayed to help put together puzzles. Morning meeting started and soon I was introduced to all twenty students. The ooed and aahed over the fact that I am from the United States and were amused by the way that I talk. We went to play outside and of course...the sun had come out, it was warm and beautiful. Haha just my luck! Soon I was stomping around like a dinosaur, leading a game of tag, and talking on my plastic "mobile phone." I quickly learned everyone's names and attitudes and was informed that our classroom is inclusive, with a few students with learning and behavior disorders. The rest of the day (which is from 8:30-3) was spent in small groups or at play time. I led a sewing activity, rhyming games, and puzzle making. It was such a fun day and I am so relieved to have the teacher that I am with. She is friendly, helpful, and informative and wants to know all about the similarities and differences between here and the U.S. By the end of the day I was exhausted and my shoes and socks were still soaked, although the rest of me had finally dried. I can't wait to go back next week!
After a shower and a heater Kelsey and I got ready to celebrate our friend Keith's birthday. We went over to his flat and his flatmates Jess, Darren, and Ray cooked dinner. Delicious! We decorated the flat and ate cake that Kelsey made!! It came out well even in our decrepit oven. We celebrated with champagne and an asian drink called Lychee. Then we went out to Newport and danced!!
Thursday- I made it through three classes ( my longest day of the week). They were all quite enjoyable! I was tired from teaching and dancing the day before so I stayed in with my roommate Nelson and he agreed to watch P.S. I Love You with me!! It was a beautiful moment :)
Friday- NO CLASS!!!!!!!!!! Sat around waiting for the computer guy to come fix my computer for the second time and did some laundry....let me tell you how long of as process that was. Since our dryers can run for 60 min for 4 dollars and still be extremely damp after I did two loads and then hung som of my jeans on a communal line while the rest of my laundry came back here and got hung up in every possible space around my room. Then between the off and on rain all day and the wind that threatened to take all my clothes off the line, things were still drying today (Sunday). What a pain!
Early evening we got a call from some Australian friends that Kelsey and Keith had made at the bar the night before. We went over to their flat for some afternoon wine and music playing. They are such nice people and so fun! The girls had face paint and we all decided to be painted by Rachel who is very artistic! We had spiderman, Kelsey as a butterfly, me as a fish, Keith as a sharkface, a crab, a baboon, and a tribal design. We these crazy paintings on our face we all decided to go to Freo on the bus. We got some amazxing looks that night. We went to a bar/brewery called Little creatures they make the most delicious local beer and french fries (fritz)! On the way back..more rain! There was almost face paint tragedy...but we all made it safely home with face paint intact!
Saturday- School work..wah wah
Saturday night it was Anna's 19th birthday (one of our new Aussie friends). We went to her flat for some wine and hanging out and slowly amassed a huge amount of people. The party moved to Perth city where we decided to go dancing at a gay bar (fun to dance without guys creeping on girls..safer and tons of fun).
Sunday- School work..and who thought I never did any of that here...I do! Then a beautiful family (flatmate) dinner with a smorgasboard of Mashed potatoes, peas, redwine garlic chicken, dim sum, dumplings, and stir fry vegetables :) Beautiful! Everyone helped and we all ate together like a little family..I have wonderful flat mates!
Great week though mothing extraordinarily Australian! Making more friends, teaching, and getting busy! Favorite Australian word= heaps...ie. heaps and heaps o' hotties or heaps o' food ir heaps of anything really :) Miss you all, leave some comments! Till Later!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Where are we? !? ....We just stepped into fairy land!
The Sunday plan = going to King's Park for the day (all 430 acres) of it!!!
Well this was quickly vetoed because the forecast was rain and cold all day.
Second Plan = Western Australia's Aquarium (all kinds of marine animals..including the dangerous ones!)
Also vetoed because the bus schedule to there is very limited on Sun
Final Plan= the old standby...Freo!
We will make it to those places soon, but our day in Freo was perfection :) We came with some books, pens, and the intention to study, but left with full tummies, tired legs, and a only a few pages read (doesn't it always happen that way). We meandered up one of the streets and came across a small garage sale...though the sign claimed it was "massive". Despite the claim the clothes she had were very cool and a sweater quickly became part of my wardrobe for 2$. Kelsey got the coolest ripped jeans and a sweatshirt with crazy designs. The girl having the sale wasn't much older than us and so nice, asking us where we were from and if it was like the movies showed it? We left with new clothes and empty bellies to find a new place to tryout the lunch menu. The most beautiful part is..we were already walking down the "cappuchino strip" with more cafes and restaurants than you could ever want. We peered into places and checked out a few menus before settling on an eclectic restaurant called The Merchant Tea and Cafe fitted with bamboo fans moving back and forth on the ceiling, large mirrors, and dark wood. I ordered a sandwich called The Earth filled with delicious vegetables, pesto, and feta cheese. Before thinking about dessert we decided we needed to walk off our lunch a bit and realized that right across the street there was a Plaza that we'd never ventured down into. We walked down a cobblestone street with a music store, masseuse, hairdresser, restaurants, and jewelry shop WE turned the corner to find a store called "recycled clothing" (an upscale second hand/consignment store). Then we walked into a fantasy world where the first store on the street was a medieval shop full to the brim with blood red dresses fit with corsets, next my favorite store-Alice's Wonderland. This children's store is full of stuffed animals, mini tea sets, little clothes, shoes and books...the best part is the room out back fitted with two tea tables, soft light, pretty flowers, and a tele playing Alicec in Wonderland:) Next was THE FAIRY STORE...that's right it is full of UNICORNS, fairy dust, costumes, a fairy birthday party was happening in the back. Then as quickly as we'd walked into it we were back on the main street. Amazing what you can find if you look around!
We continued our walk down the street to an indoor market that we had heard was open only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Walking in we encountered two street performers: a silver angel and an acrobatic pirate. Then the unexpected...a huge crowd of people with every stall and good you can imagine. We quickly became lost in the place among the clothing, shoes, jewelry, artwork, souvenirs, metalworks, soap, candles, glassware, the list goes on and on. Then we found ourselves in the food section with a beatiful selection of the most brilliantly colored fruits and vegetables. We learned that they are cheaper than at the grocery store, better look, and delicious! We also learned that you have to shop around for the best prices as the sellers are always adjusting their prices. After this brilliant find we were hungry for dessert and new just the place we wanted to go. An italian dessert shop complete with purple walls, cannolis, cake, gelato, and outdoor tables. We settled on Gelato after salivating over the dessert case. Strawberry was my choice....and every bite was a little bit of heaven in my mouth.
After our dessert, we decided we should at least try and read, so we headed to the park (by the way the weather stayed beautiful all day despite the forecast). At the park we scouted out our own bench and read while watching all the people playing games, talking, drinking for someone's birthday, swordfighting with balloon swords. This is where we only finished a few pages before it was time to head back home because we wanted to go to a church service that we had heard about on campus, a christian service.
Boy we had no clue what we were in for! It started with some rock music, people jumping up and down. That was cool, but then the pastor came on stage. He began by using a bible verse to tell us how much more God would love us if we gave during the offering, he continued by informing us that we are dead if Jesus is not our savior and frontman, continuing by talking about his fertility trouble with his wife, then topping it off with a story about a flight he was on. Before the flight the head steward came on the line introducing himself in a gruss, big voice "Hi, I am Bill and We will be taking care of you today. Dinner will be served shortly." The Pastor said he didn't think he should be pushing a little dingy cart up and down aisles serving people, he should be a wrestler or kung fu artist. Then he follows with the plane hitting a lot of turbulence and the pilot comes on the line in a high pitched, small voice, "Hi, I am Jill your captain we seem to be hitting some turbulence, but will be out of it shortly." The Pastor proclaims to the audience "I heard her voice and I didn't want HER driving the plane, I wanted Bill (in a deep man voice) to e driving the plane. he continued to say this over and over, as the ongregation hooted and proclaimed. Meanwhile I sat there thinking, I need to get out of here or I might cause a riot. It wasn't right, it just wasn't right. Kelsey and I left fuming wishing we could have escaped far before that. The awful experience served to lead us into a long life chat that was beautiful, despite our night. You live and learn.
So that was Sunday, quite eventful. To recap the the prior week in the condensed version. Wednesday = no class!! woohoo! (but I will be student teaching from now on!)
Thursday = Festival day at Murdoch.
I went to my Representation and Gender class. My professor seems quite good. She was interesting, inquisitive, and made great discussion. Then I checked out Festival day which is like Activities day at Boston College. All the clubs and activities have tables, as well as tables tht are selloing jewelry, books, stationary, watches, computers, etc. I went around looking for things to do with my freetime and found some social justice clubs and sports activities that I can hopefully fit into my schedule (this is also where we hear about the church). Then I went to my photography lecture, which is huge. It sounds like it will be challenging, but so interesting! I am quite excited:)
Thursday night = two open mic nights that Keith played at
A large group of us left after dinner and boarded the bus to find the first bar that Keith was going to play at called "Moondyne Joe's," after a man that escaped from the Fremantle Prison so many times that they made a special iron cell just for him. The bar looked kind of like a saloon with a dark wood bar, rodeo pictures, and an abundance of older folks taking in the music. There was quite a posse of Keith listeners and we filled the bar. It was quite enjoyable. The next bar was called the Bar Orient. The crowd was a little younger, though not so many college age people. It was much more friendly with couches and chairs, televisions playing and some really great open mic performers. I tried free creatures, the beer brewed in Fremantle, it was really good, my favorite. It was so nice just to sit, listen, and chat with people:)
Friday = Yoga class (very nice), no classes, and relaxation
Friday night = pizza delivery and hanging out with some of my German friends
Saturday = Tree planting!!
We went out to the farm that Murdoch has on it's campus and into the bush. Where we joined a bunch of other volunteers and planted many, many saplings to help the birds come back to this area! It was fun, we met a woman from Colorado who is moving to Australia, a girl that lives in the area and goes to Murdoch, and a woman that is from New Zealand and recently moved here. It is so cool to see how environment conscious Australia is in general. So many people are willing to help!
Saturday night = a club called Newport
We met our German friends for coffee, at a cafe in Freo. People were out everywhere, it was a happening place! We crossed the street and into a club fit with big screen teles, lots of people everywhere, loud music, a live band, and a dance floor. The band was great and played lots of american music new and old! It was so fun to know the songs and dance, though we quickly learned that next time no jackets and very small bags to make it easier to dance.
After another novel..thanks for staying tuned. Miss you all!! Wish you could chare this with me in person:) <3
New Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/Au
Well this was quickly vetoed because the forecast was rain and cold all day.
Second Plan = Western Australia's Aquarium (all kinds of marine animals..including the dangerous ones!)
Also vetoed because the bus schedule to there is very limited on Sun
Final Plan= the old standby...Freo!
We will make it to those places soon, but our day in Freo was perfection :) We came with some books, pens, and the intention to study, but left with full tummies, tired legs, and a only a few pages read (doesn't it always happen that way). We meandered up one of the streets and came across a small garage sale...though the sign claimed it was "massive". Despite the claim the clothes she had were very cool and a sweater quickly became part of my wardrobe for 2$. Kelsey got the coolest ripped jeans and a sweatshirt with crazy designs. The girl having the sale wasn't much older than us and so nice, asking us where we were from and if it was like the movies showed it? We left with new clothes and empty bellies to find a new place to tryout the lunch menu. The most beautiful part is..we were already walking down the "cappuchino strip" with more cafes and restaurants than you could ever want. We peered into places and checked out a few menus before settling on an eclectic restaurant called The Merchant Tea and Cafe fitted with bamboo fans moving back and forth on the ceiling, large mirrors, and dark wood. I ordered a sandwich called The Earth filled with delicious vegetables, pesto, and feta cheese. Before thinking about dessert we decided we needed to walk off our lunch a bit and realized that right across the street there was a Plaza that we'd never ventured down into. We walked down a cobblestone street with a music store, masseuse, hairdresser, restaurants, and jewelry shop WE turned the corner to find a store called "recycled clothing" (an upscale second hand/consignment store). Then we walked into a fantasy world where the first store on the street was a medieval shop full to the brim with blood red dresses fit with corsets, next my favorite store-Alice's Wonderland. This children's store is full of stuffed animals, mini tea sets, little clothes, shoes and books...the best part is the room out back fitted with two tea tables, soft light, pretty flowers, and a tele playing Alicec in Wonderland:) Next was THE FAIRY STORE...that's right it is full of UNICORNS, fairy dust, costumes, a fairy birthday party was happening in the back. Then as quickly as we'd walked into it we were back on the main street. Amazing what you can find if you look around!
We continued our walk down the street to an indoor market that we had heard was open only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Walking in we encountered two street performers: a silver angel and an acrobatic pirate. Then the unexpected...a huge crowd of people with every stall and good you can imagine. We quickly became lost in the place among the clothing, shoes, jewelry, artwork, souvenirs, metalworks, soap, candles, glassware, the list goes on and on. Then we found ourselves in the food section with a beatiful selection of the most brilliantly colored fruits and vegetables. We learned that they are cheaper than at the grocery store, better look, and delicious! We also learned that you have to shop around for the best prices as the sellers are always adjusting their prices. After this brilliant find we were hungry for dessert and new just the place we wanted to go. An italian dessert shop complete with purple walls, cannolis, cake, gelato, and outdoor tables. We settled on Gelato after salivating over the dessert case. Strawberry was my choice....and every bite was a little bit of heaven in my mouth.
After our dessert, we decided we should at least try and read, so we headed to the park (by the way the weather stayed beautiful all day despite the forecast). At the park we scouted out our own bench and read while watching all the people playing games, talking, drinking for someone's birthday, swordfighting with balloon swords. This is where we only finished a few pages before it was time to head back home because we wanted to go to a church service that we had heard about on campus, a christian service.
Boy we had no clue what we were in for! It started with some rock music, people jumping up and down. That was cool, but then the pastor came on stage. He began by using a bible verse to tell us how much more God would love us if we gave during the offering, he continued by informing us that we are dead if Jesus is not our savior and frontman, continuing by talking about his fertility trouble with his wife, then topping it off with a story about a flight he was on. Before the flight the head steward came on the line introducing himself in a gruss, big voice "Hi, I am Bill and We will be taking care of you today. Dinner will be served shortly." The Pastor said he didn't think he should be pushing a little dingy cart up and down aisles serving people, he should be a wrestler or kung fu artist. Then he follows with the plane hitting a lot of turbulence and the pilot comes on the line in a high pitched, small voice, "Hi, I am Jill your captain we seem to be hitting some turbulence, but will be out of it shortly." The Pastor proclaims to the audience "I heard her voice and I didn't want HER driving the plane, I wanted Bill (in a deep man voice) to e driving the plane. he continued to say this over and over, as the ongregation hooted and proclaimed. Meanwhile I sat there thinking, I need to get out of here or I might cause a riot. It wasn't right, it just wasn't right. Kelsey and I left fuming wishing we could have escaped far before that. The awful experience served to lead us into a long life chat that was beautiful, despite our night. You live and learn.
So that was Sunday, quite eventful. To recap the the prior week in the condensed version. Wednesday = no class!! woohoo! (but I will be student teaching from now on!)
Thursday = Festival day at Murdoch.
I went to my Representation and Gender class. My professor seems quite good. She was interesting, inquisitive, and made great discussion. Then I checked out Festival day which is like Activities day at Boston College. All the clubs and activities have tables, as well as tables tht are selloing jewelry, books, stationary, watches, computers, etc. I went around looking for things to do with my freetime and found some social justice clubs and sports activities that I can hopefully fit into my schedule (this is also where we hear about the church). Then I went to my photography lecture, which is huge. It sounds like it will be challenging, but so interesting! I am quite excited:)
Thursday night = two open mic nights that Keith played at
A large group of us left after dinner and boarded the bus to find the first bar that Keith was going to play at called "Moondyne Joe's," after a man that escaped from the Fremantle Prison so many times that they made a special iron cell just for him. The bar looked kind of like a saloon with a dark wood bar, rodeo pictures, and an abundance of older folks taking in the music. There was quite a posse of Keith listeners and we filled the bar. It was quite enjoyable. The next bar was called the Bar Orient. The crowd was a little younger, though not so many college age people. It was much more friendly with couches and chairs, televisions playing and some really great open mic performers. I tried free creatures, the beer brewed in Fremantle, it was really good, my favorite. It was so nice just to sit, listen, and chat with people:)
Friday = Yoga class (very nice), no classes, and relaxation
Friday night = pizza delivery and hanging out with some of my German friends
Saturday = Tree planting!!
We went out to the farm that Murdoch has on it's campus and into the bush. Where we joined a bunch of other volunteers and planted many, many saplings to help the birds come back to this area! It was fun, we met a woman from Colorado who is moving to Australia, a girl that lives in the area and goes to Murdoch, and a woman that is from New Zealand and recently moved here. It is so cool to see how environment conscious Australia is in general. So many people are willing to help!
Saturday night = a club called Newport
We met our German friends for coffee, at a cafe in Freo. People were out everywhere, it was a happening place! We crossed the street and into a club fit with big screen teles, lots of people everywhere, loud music, a live band, and a dance floor. The band was great and played lots of american music new and old! It was so fun to know the songs and dance, though we quickly learned that next time no jackets and very small bags to make it easier to dance.
After another novel..thanks for staying tuned. Miss you all!! Wish you could chare this with me in person:) <3
New Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/Au
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
You mean they actually go to class in Australia?!?
That's right. I started class on Monday (at 12:30..rough huh?) and yes for anyone who had doubts people do go to class here, just not for too many hours:) I am taking seven and a half hours of class...a huge downscale from my 15 plus at BC. My first class was Children and the Media. It is a class of about 25 with a professor who is an older British man who swears and cracks jokes that no foreigner can understand. Only the Australians in the back of the class laugh and respond to him in a conversation that I also do not understand...and I thought they spoke English here?? Not the English I'm used to. When the initial banter is over he explains the class and how the only assignments besides our weekly reading load is one 2500 word paper, one 2500 word proposal and a ten minute presentation/project. Wow! Sounds great as of now, I'll get back to you at the end of the semester.
Then I had the tutorial for the class (3-4). There are four people (all girls) in the tutorial/discussion group and come to find out one of the girls is from half an hour outside Boston and is going to be a senior at the University of Southern Maine. Shows just how small of a world it is. The discussion group was very cool and since there are only four of us it is only an hour instead of an hour and a half, like the bigger groups! We were shown pictures of children and discussed what the pictures spoke to us about childhood. Right up my alley, it was very cool! That was class day one.
Day two...no class. (although i will have one hour and a half of photo tutorial starting next week)
So..talked to Megan via skype and participated in an epic dance party to "My Sharona". Thanks to Skype you can dance with someone half way across the world, as well as look up their nose, and see their many funny faces :) Then we (Kelsey, Keith and I) traveled by bus to Fremantle (just the cutest little city). Kelsey and I ventured to the library while Keith set up in the town square with his guitar to join the many street performers lining the street. We found the library and asked about getting library cards. They told us since we werent permanent residents we would hav eto pay 20 dollars for a membership. So we said okay and spent an hour gathering books from the library (since our library at murdoch only has reference and reserve books...makes me feel so lucky to have Bc's libraries!). We get to the counter with four books each and they tell us we can only take out one at a time with the membership.....bummer! So we left without any library books :( But then we joined Keith as he played guitar and harmonica and sang for the many people walking through Freo. We sang some harmonies and enjoyed the beautiful day...it was wonderful :)
Barbequed chicken kebabs and french fries for dinner....french fries on the barbie...works better than you would expect:)
Next an adventure to find the bar that Keith was playing a gig at. Kelsey, Keith, Malte (our German friend), and I waited twenty minutes for a bus, rode to the train station and waited 28 minutes, rode the train, got out walked to another bus station, caught a taxi and finally made it to the pub (Floreat). It was a cool place..despite the low number of people there at 11pm. We ordered some beer and and enjoyed there couches as Keith played some Dispatch, Jack Johnson, Shakira, and originals. Love adventures :)
Day three..no class (nor will there ever be, though student teaching is a possibility)
Biggest accomplishments...baking chocolate cookies that are very tasty despite our decrepite fire in a box stove. For dinner Malte baked homemade German pancakes for twelve friends with nutella, bananas, and cinnamon. Yummy! How nice it is to have so many cultures around! Then we played scattergories (board games are a big deal here...makes me so happy). They are so fun when you have Americans, Australians, Germans, Austrians, Danish, and Singaporeans :) Then Family Guy with my roommates...all of us together in the living room!! Yay!
These past few days have not been as exciting to read about...but things are starting up and I have three classes tomorrow!! My first day of Representation and Gender and Photography and digital imaging! I am so excited!
Ciao, Lauren
Then I had the tutorial for the class (3-4). There are four people (all girls) in the tutorial/discussion group and come to find out one of the girls is from half an hour outside Boston and is going to be a senior at the University of Southern Maine. Shows just how small of a world it is. The discussion group was very cool and since there are only four of us it is only an hour instead of an hour and a half, like the bigger groups! We were shown pictures of children and discussed what the pictures spoke to us about childhood. Right up my alley, it was very cool! That was class day one.
Day two...no class. (although i will have one hour and a half of photo tutorial starting next week)
So..talked to Megan via skype and participated in an epic dance party to "My Sharona". Thanks to Skype you can dance with someone half way across the world, as well as look up their nose, and see their many funny faces :) Then we (Kelsey, Keith and I) traveled by bus to Fremantle (just the cutest little city). Kelsey and I ventured to the library while Keith set up in the town square with his guitar to join the many street performers lining the street. We found the library and asked about getting library cards. They told us since we werent permanent residents we would hav eto pay 20 dollars for a membership. So we said okay and spent an hour gathering books from the library (since our library at murdoch only has reference and reserve books...makes me feel so lucky to have Bc's libraries!). We get to the counter with four books each and they tell us we can only take out one at a time with the membership.....bummer! So we left without any library books :( But then we joined Keith as he played guitar and harmonica and sang for the many people walking through Freo. We sang some harmonies and enjoyed the beautiful day...it was wonderful :)
Barbequed chicken kebabs and french fries for dinner....french fries on the barbie...works better than you would expect:)
Next an adventure to find the bar that Keith was playing a gig at. Kelsey, Keith, Malte (our German friend), and I waited twenty minutes for a bus, rode to the train station and waited 28 minutes, rode the train, got out walked to another bus station, caught a taxi and finally made it to the pub (Floreat). It was a cool place..despite the low number of people there at 11pm. We ordered some beer and and enjoyed there couches as Keith played some Dispatch, Jack Johnson, Shakira, and originals. Love adventures :)
Day three..no class (nor will there ever be, though student teaching is a possibility)
Biggest accomplishments...baking chocolate cookies that are very tasty despite our decrepite fire in a box stove. For dinner Malte baked homemade German pancakes for twelve friends with nutella, bananas, and cinnamon. Yummy! How nice it is to have so many cultures around! Then we played scattergories (board games are a big deal here...makes me so happy). They are so fun when you have Americans, Australians, Germans, Austrians, Danish, and Singaporeans :) Then Family Guy with my roommates...all of us together in the living room!! Yay!
These past few days have not been as exciting to read about...but things are starting up and I have three classes tomorrow!! My first day of Representation and Gender and Photography and digital imaging! I am so excited!
Ciao, Lauren
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Echidnas, Woollys, Joeys, Jarrahs, Acacias....Dad's paradise!
We were told we were going to a barbeque today and leaving at 10am. We left half an hour late as usual and drove for about an hour...no one knew where we were going. We ended up at The Perth Hills National Parks Centre and a beautifully sunny day, not too hot, not too cold, and the bluest blue sky with not a single cloud. Surrounding us was kilometers of bush and the weir a reservoir of water that some famous guy built with 600 kilometers of piping to bring water to Kalgoorlie (a gold mining town). At this point we still thought we were jus tin for a barbie, but we found out that we had many sessions to go to.
My day started out at indigenous culture. An aboriginal man spoke with us about his culture and how his people started in dream time as plants and animals. He threw his spear and boomerang and wore his kangaroo pelts for us. I was informed that their culture runs on an eye-for-an-eye principle so if a man steals from you you can go try to find him to kill him...BUT...if you can't find him just kill any guy you can find and justice is served. It was very interesting to hear him speak and learn that he came from a frog and it sits behind his eyes. It was just so totally different from any culture I have ever really heard about.
Next station: Tea time...all the time...got it from the British colonizers.
Next station: MARSUPIALLLSSSSS!!!! My favorite favorite part of the day!!! We got to see two joeys (baby kangaroos) one that was the equivalent of a 4 month old baby and should still be in the pouch but it's mother was killed (precious animal), the second was a bit older, almost a year and would almost be out of the pouch. Its mother also died in a car accident. I want one as a pet they are sooo cute! Next was the woolly so endangered that it may be the only time I could ever get to see one for they may be gone soon. They are the smallest marsupial in australia with big feet and long tails about the size of a rat, but much cuter. Next was a baby python that I got to hold...way cool! And next...snorkles the echidna (hedgehog looking creature with way cool spines and the cutest long snout and 8 inch tongue!!) The first monotreme (mammal who lays eggs, the only other is a platypus) that I have ever seen! Also their species is dated to about 120,000 years ago to be roaming around with the dinosaurs. The sort of lumber around in the funniest way and this one has been rehabilitated since he was very small due to his family being destroyed by fire so he is very friendly and will come right up and sniff you. All of you who know how much I love animals can imagine how awesome this was for me :)
Next station: Raptors! Two hawks, a peregrin falcon, and a barn owl. The rehabilitator told us all about these birds and how they prey and live in Australia. They were all very beautiful...but you wouldn't want to mess with them, especially the females, they are most vicious and the killers!
Next station: Bushwalk...woulda been dad's favorite! We went on a short hike (they have tons of trails and one that runs for 1,000 of kilometers along the southwest coast). The woman told us about all kinds of trees and plants that are native to western australia including the Jarrah and the acacias, as well as the grass trees, gum trees (yes they bleed a sort of sap that is even stickier than ours), and fungi (fun-gee:) ). Dad you would be so proud at the end of our walk she pointed out a tree and asked if anyone could remember wha tit was and guess who got it right ?? This girl did! I did ya proud! It was just the most beautiful walk and just a gorgeous day!
Last night we went to Fremantle prison and as you can guess I was quite freaked out....it doesn't take much. This gives you a little look at how easily scared I am....I went to the toilet before we left and walked in and the light was on. As I was going pee the left turned off on me and I was so freaked out; I practically ran out of there barely taking the time to wash my hands and feeling so silly for being so scared. I still have no idea if the lights go out on purpose to scare people or if it was motion sensored...or what?? Maybe ghosts are real..... We went on a torchlight tour at 7:15pm and each had our own mini flashlight. The prison was opened in 1855 and decommisioned in 1991 (not that long ago), but it still looks almost the same as when it first opened. It is four stories and extremely long and was used as a maximum security prison for convicts sent over from the U.K. and eventually from Australia. The grounds are huge and we went inside and it was very dark. Our tour guide was a great storyteller and told us a bit of history and stories of some inmates. Their first scare tactic came when we were on the first floor in the dark and our guide was explaining the "suicide netting" wire nets set up to catch suicide victims, not to save their lives, but too save the lives of the people walking below. As he was telling us about the crap buckets (they never got plumbing) that would come crashing down upon the guards through the netting a dummy fell from the top floor and a bucket crashed from his hands.....so lame looking back on it, but everyone screamed and jumped (dad you might have jumped right outta your skin). After that I was ready for the people that jumped out at us, but it was still very creepy and made my skin crawl, especially when we went into the gallows and saw where 44 people were hung from the same beam that is there today, fitted with a trapdoor beneath that they would pull open at 8 am on Monday morning. The last person was hung there in 1964...that seemed so recent to me to have someone hung...I thought that they would have utilized (yes Megan UTILIZED) a more modern way of capital punishment by then. There was one woman hung there (said to have killed her sick stepchildren with hydrochloric acid). We saw solitary confinement and the cells over the decades, as well as a special cell where a prisoner was given permission to paint murals all over his wall, we saw the chapel (where the ten commandments were posted and instead of you shall not kill it was you shall not murder because of the capital punishment that was seen as a justified killing). We also heard of all the ghost sightings that have been claimed over the years......all I know is I could never work there. It was a very cool tour in every dark, creepy sense of the world "cool."
After we got back on campus we went to our neighbors house and drank some wine with them; they are guys from South Africa, Austraia, and Georgia. It was really neat we just sat and talked about differences between our cultures and things we find funny here. Then we played a hardcore game of pictionary. Kelsey and I were the girls team against the guys. It was great fun and very close, until the end when we pulled ahead. Sweet victory! We rocked even though we got words like descendent. It was funny to see the culture barriers as well. The guy from Georgia drew a chocolate chip cookie (round with dots) any American would have gotten it straight away but the other two guys eat different kinds of cookies ( for the australian-bickies (biscuits..very yummy but different from our cookies). It was great fun :)
Two days ago we also went into a digeridoo shop and the owner played for us and let us play as well!!! He was soo good! I wish I could bring one home (Ryan you would LOVE it!) I got it pretty quick because of the PVC pipe ones I made for my physics project, they are hard to get used to and make your lips feel very fuzzy after! :)
These are where my pictures will be up, as well as facebook. Spread the word! Let me know if you can't see them for any reason!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/20090728?authkey=Gv1sRgCMmZto_whay0Pg&feat=directlink (Pictures from L.A. and Australia!!)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/20090729?authkey=Gv1sRgCLzE45Pj25Hy8QE&feat=directlink (my room and a beautiful sunset)
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/lauren.fish12/20090801?feat=directlink (digeridoo and national park)
If you have made it down to here you are very dedicated!!! I love you all!! Miss you! <3
My day started out at indigenous culture. An aboriginal man spoke with us about his culture and how his people started in dream time as plants and animals. He threw his spear and boomerang and wore his kangaroo pelts for us. I was informed that their culture runs on an eye-for-an-eye principle so if a man steals from you you can go try to find him to kill him...BUT...if you can't find him just kill any guy you can find and justice is served. It was very interesting to hear him speak and learn that he came from a frog and it sits behind his eyes. It was just so totally different from any culture I have ever really heard about.
Next station: Tea time...all the time...got it from the British colonizers.
Next station: MARSUPIALLLSSSSS!!!! My favorite favorite part of the day!!! We got to see two joeys (baby kangaroos) one that was the equivalent of a 4 month old baby and should still be in the pouch but it's mother was killed (precious animal), the second was a bit older, almost a year and would almost be out of the pouch. Its mother also died in a car accident. I want one as a pet they are sooo cute! Next was the woolly so endangered that it may be the only time I could ever get to see one for they may be gone soon. They are the smallest marsupial in australia with big feet and long tails about the size of a rat, but much cuter. Next was a baby python that I got to hold...way cool! And next...snorkles the echidna (hedgehog looking creature with way cool spines and the cutest long snout and 8 inch tongue!!) The first monotreme (mammal who lays eggs, the only other is a platypus) that I have ever seen! Also their species is dated to about 120,000 years ago to be roaming around with the dinosaurs. The sort of lumber around in the funniest way and this one has been rehabilitated since he was very small due to his family being destroyed by fire so he is very friendly and will come right up and sniff you. All of you who know how much I love animals can imagine how awesome this was for me :)
Next station: Raptors! Two hawks, a peregrin falcon, and a barn owl. The rehabilitator told us all about these birds and how they prey and live in Australia. They were all very beautiful...but you wouldn't want to mess with them, especially the females, they are most vicious and the killers!
Next station: Bushwalk...woulda been dad's favorite! We went on a short hike (they have tons of trails and one that runs for 1,000 of kilometers along the southwest coast). The woman told us about all kinds of trees and plants that are native to western australia including the Jarrah and the acacias, as well as the grass trees, gum trees (yes they bleed a sort of sap that is even stickier than ours), and fungi (fun-gee:) ). Dad you would be so proud at the end of our walk she pointed out a tree and asked if anyone could remember wha tit was and guess who got it right ?? This girl did! I did ya proud! It was just the most beautiful walk and just a gorgeous day!
Last night we went to Fremantle prison and as you can guess I was quite freaked out....it doesn't take much. This gives you a little look at how easily scared I am....I went to the toilet before we left and walked in and the light was on. As I was going pee the left turned off on me and I was so freaked out; I practically ran out of there barely taking the time to wash my hands and feeling so silly for being so scared. I still have no idea if the lights go out on purpose to scare people or if it was motion sensored...or what?? Maybe ghosts are real..... We went on a torchlight tour at 7:15pm and each had our own mini flashlight. The prison was opened in 1855 and decommisioned in 1991 (not that long ago), but it still looks almost the same as when it first opened. It is four stories and extremely long and was used as a maximum security prison for convicts sent over from the U.K. and eventually from Australia. The grounds are huge and we went inside and it was very dark. Our tour guide was a great storyteller and told us a bit of history and stories of some inmates. Their first scare tactic came when we were on the first floor in the dark and our guide was explaining the "suicide netting" wire nets set up to catch suicide victims, not to save their lives, but too save the lives of the people walking below. As he was telling us about the crap buckets (they never got plumbing) that would come crashing down upon the guards through the netting a dummy fell from the top floor and a bucket crashed from his hands.....so lame looking back on it, but everyone screamed and jumped (dad you might have jumped right outta your skin). After that I was ready for the people that jumped out at us, but it was still very creepy and made my skin crawl, especially when we went into the gallows and saw where 44 people were hung from the same beam that is there today, fitted with a trapdoor beneath that they would pull open at 8 am on Monday morning. The last person was hung there in 1964...that seemed so recent to me to have someone hung...I thought that they would have utilized (yes Megan UTILIZED) a more modern way of capital punishment by then. There was one woman hung there (said to have killed her sick stepchildren with hydrochloric acid). We saw solitary confinement and the cells over the decades, as well as a special cell where a prisoner was given permission to paint murals all over his wall, we saw the chapel (where the ten commandments were posted and instead of you shall not kill it was you shall not murder because of the capital punishment that was seen as a justified killing). We also heard of all the ghost sightings that have been claimed over the years......all I know is I could never work there. It was a very cool tour in every dark, creepy sense of the world "cool."
After we got back on campus we went to our neighbors house and drank some wine with them; they are guys from South Africa, Austraia, and Georgia. It was really neat we just sat and talked about differences between our cultures and things we find funny here. Then we played a hardcore game of pictionary. Kelsey and I were the girls team against the guys. It was great fun and very close, until the end when we pulled ahead. Sweet victory! We rocked even though we got words like descendent. It was funny to see the culture barriers as well. The guy from Georgia drew a chocolate chip cookie (round with dots) any American would have gotten it straight away but the other two guys eat different kinds of cookies ( for the australian-bickies (biscuits..very yummy but different from our cookies). It was great fun :)
Two days ago we also went into a digeridoo shop and the owner played for us and let us play as well!!! He was soo good! I wish I could bring one home (Ryan you would LOVE it!) I got it pretty quick because of the PVC pipe ones I made for my physics project, they are hard to get used to and make your lips feel very fuzzy after! :)
These are where my pictures will be up, as well as facebook. Spread the word! Let me know if you can't see them for any reason!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/20090728?authkey=Gv1sRgCMmZto_whay0Pg&feat=directlink (Pictures from L.A. and Australia!!)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/20090729?authkey=Gv1sRgCLzE45Pj25Hy8QE&feat=directlink (my room and a beautiful sunset)
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/lauren.fish12/20090801?feat=directlink (digeridoo and national park)
If you have made it down to here you are very dedicated!!! I love you all!! Miss you! <3
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I'm eating what?....kangaroo meat!
That's right..today I tried kangaroo meat on the barbie (barbeque) outside in the forty degree chill. A large group of Americans, Germans, Singaporeans, Finlanders, and Danish(ers?) stood around the barbie ( a flat so called grilling surface). The two singaporeans who have been here for a semester took over the grilling and we attempted to cook pork, sausage, beef patties, chicken, wings and dan dah dah kangaroo kabobs. After fiddling with the grill that turns itself off after just so long...no wonder things were cooking so slowly, we finally cooked through all our meat. My dinner consisted of lots of meat including some kangaroo. It had a very unique taste, kind of gamey, but decent and know I can say I have eaten kangaroo. Kind of sad when just yesterday I was taking my picture with one...:/ Oh well, I hope they will understand.
Kelsey moved into my double today!! Woo hoo, know things will jus tbe easier and I won't have to keep anxiously awaiting a roommate. Plus we can skype more easily and I don't have to be worried about what I leave out in my room. That is a weight lifted off my shoulders :) Our room is so cheerful now, it makes me smile :)
We made chocolate chip cookies today...with an interesting recipe and an oven that has only two temperatures..hot and hotter. The recipe we used was one with condensed milk and too much butter...we definitely need a different recipe next time they are very crispy and extremely buttery. Certainly artery clogging! The stove is self-lighting when it wants to but the flame is open in the back and doesn't cook things very evenly or at any certain temperature. It could be interesting for our later cooking endeavors.
We were supposed to go on a prison tour tonight, but it has been moved to Friday. Probably a could thing as Kelsey had time to move in and get all set up! I got my books today for all three of my classes...178 dollars not bad compared to Boston College. My photography book was the most expensive but looks sooo interesting! We have more orientation sessions tomorrow and Friday and a couple barbeques this weekend (boy do they love their barbies).
Longer letter later love lauren
Kelsey moved into my double today!! Woo hoo, know things will jus tbe easier and I won't have to keep anxiously awaiting a roommate. Plus we can skype more easily and I don't have to be worried about what I leave out in my room. That is a weight lifted off my shoulders :) Our room is so cheerful now, it makes me smile :)
We made chocolate chip cookies today...with an interesting recipe and an oven that has only two temperatures..hot and hotter. The recipe we used was one with condensed milk and too much butter...we definitely need a different recipe next time they are very crispy and extremely buttery. Certainly artery clogging! The stove is self-lighting when it wants to but the flame is open in the back and doesn't cook things very evenly or at any certain temperature. It could be interesting for our later cooking endeavors.
We were supposed to go on a prison tour tonight, but it has been moved to Friday. Probably a could thing as Kelsey had time to move in and get all set up! I got my books today for all three of my classes...178 dollars not bad compared to Boston College. My photography book was the most expensive but looks sooo interesting! We have more orientation sessions tomorrow and Friday and a couple barbeques this weekend (boy do they love their barbies).
Longer letter later love lauren
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Where are the Elephants?!?!?!
Today in one word...Elephantastic! Gosh I love the zoo! Today we went to Perth zoo and got to see kangaroos (staple animal to view while in australia...check) , koalas, tasmanian devils, numbats, a gigantic crocodile that could easily eat me whole, GIRAFFES, ELEPHANTS (my two favorites), orangutans, zebras, Tortoises that were the size of a small coffee table, and so many other cool things!! We also discovered the city of Perth and how beautiful it is! The day was gorgeous and the blue sky highlighted the ferris wheel and cool buildings in the middle of Perth. We rode the ferry across the river to South Perth which is where the zoo was located. The hours we spent at the zoo were lovely..we had just enough time to see all the animals we wished to see and we got to spend time with two girls from Germany: Isabelle and Tina (who will be in my photography class)!
Yesterday Keith, Kelsey and I attempted to make fried rice..well Keith and Kelsey did really. There was a lot of sauteing, rice cooking, defrosting, and frying of meat vegetables and rice. The finished product...good, not great. It is so fun to experiment with cooking, especially when no one really knows what they are doing. Kelsey and I have been brainstorming recipes and trying to come up with anything we can especially for dinners. Last evening we settled on having tortellini again..delicious. But this evening we decided to be a bit adventurous and made asian style quesidillas with sauted carrots and onions with chicken in an asian sesame sauce that we put over rice in a halved tortilla with cheese and salad!! We decided this recipe could be another staple of ours that can be changed up with a different sauce, meat, and vegetables.
More exciting updates..my flat mates are great! Yesterday we had a Wii tournament in our living room. I am so lucky that they are so friendly. We played tennis, bowling, and golf. I held my own in tennis and bowling taking second place...I failed in golf. But it was just so nice to feel welcome and have fun!
This place continues to bring me sun, beautiful skies, and new friends....I think I am going to like it here!
Yesterday Keith, Kelsey and I attempted to make fried rice..well Keith and Kelsey did really. There was a lot of sauteing, rice cooking, defrosting, and frying of meat vegetables and rice. The finished product...good, not great. It is so fun to experiment with cooking, especially when no one really knows what they are doing. Kelsey and I have been brainstorming recipes and trying to come up with anything we can especially for dinners. Last evening we settled on having tortellini again..delicious. But this evening we decided to be a bit adventurous and made asian style quesidillas with sauted carrots and onions with chicken in an asian sesame sauce that we put over rice in a halved tortilla with cheese and salad!! We decided this recipe could be another staple of ours that can be changed up with a different sauce, meat, and vegetables.
More exciting updates..my flat mates are great! Yesterday we had a Wii tournament in our living room. I am so lucky that they are so friendly. We played tennis, bowling, and golf. I held my own in tennis and bowling taking second place...I failed in golf. But it was just so nice to feel welcome and have fun!
This place continues to bring me sun, beautiful skies, and new friends....I think I am going to like it here!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday in Freo (Fremantle)
Back from Fremantle...a small town next to Perth with beautiful beaches, and a plethora of restaurants. We walked around today with a large group of people whom we have met from ohio, kentucky, washington, and minnesota. We had lunch at a cute cafe called the Fremantle Bakehouse. It is one of the many restaurants and cafes down the "cappuchino strip" in Fremantle. We also walked along the beach and went to Target!! Woohoo...but it is a VERY expensive version of Target...strange.
This morning I had a very lovely breakfast with Kelsey and my three guy roommates. It was very cool to sit out in our living room and chat with them and watch the Australian Today show :) They are so nice and it is cool to hear about where they have come from and what they are doing here at Murdoch.
Yesterday we went to the Murdoch International office at 10am expecting to go on a tour of Murdoch. They then told us that we were going to do a scavenger hunt "Amazing Race" style. We were broken up into teams. I was with Keith from Miami and three girls (whose names I won't even try to spell correctly) from Singapore. They were quiet at first, but once we got going on our hunt they were very sweet and we ran around Murdoch finding various buildings and doing various tasks such as making paper cranes, doing handstands, and having a conversation in our best Aussie accents. It was exhausting but very fun and at the end we were neck and neck with Kelsey's team who had a guy from South Africa who was crazy (their team ran the whole thing), but they still got third place to our second!! We then had snags on the barbie (ie sausage on the grill)..it was delicious! I met many girls from Germany during lunch and attempted a few words of German with them. One of the girls is going to be in my digital media and photo class and is very sweet!
After the hunt we went back to k-mart and the grocery and spent obscene amounts of money to get groceries...fresh food is very expensive here! I made dinner for Kelsey and Danielle (chicken stir-fry and rice..about the only meal I know how to cook) and it came out pretty good!! Then the jet lag took over and bed time was very early.
Tomorrow is Monday and there are no plans made as of know..so we shall see what sort of adventures turn up. Signing off from Australia....in all it's sunny bliss :)
This morning I had a very lovely breakfast with Kelsey and my three guy roommates. It was very cool to sit out in our living room and chat with them and watch the Australian Today show :) They are so nice and it is cool to hear about where they have come from and what they are doing here at Murdoch.
Yesterday we went to the Murdoch International office at 10am expecting to go on a tour of Murdoch. They then told us that we were going to do a scavenger hunt "Amazing Race" style. We were broken up into teams. I was with Keith from Miami and three girls (whose names I won't even try to spell correctly) from Singapore. They were quiet at first, but once we got going on our hunt they were very sweet and we ran around Murdoch finding various buildings and doing various tasks such as making paper cranes, doing handstands, and having a conversation in our best Aussie accents. It was exhausting but very fun and at the end we were neck and neck with Kelsey's team who had a guy from South Africa who was crazy (their team ran the whole thing), but they still got third place to our second!! We then had snags on the barbie (ie sausage on the grill)..it was delicious! I met many girls from Germany during lunch and attempted a few words of German with them. One of the girls is going to be in my digital media and photo class and is very sweet!
After the hunt we went back to k-mart and the grocery and spent obscene amounts of money to get groceries...fresh food is very expensive here! I made dinner for Kelsey and Danielle (chicken stir-fry and rice..about the only meal I know how to cook) and it came out pretty good!! Then the jet lag took over and bed time was very early.
Tomorrow is Monday and there are no plans made as of know..so we shall see what sort of adventures turn up. Signing off from Australia....in all it's sunny bliss :)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Finally in Perth!!
We finally made it through our 25 hours of flying and around 36 hours of total travel time. It was exhausting, but things went pretty smoothly. Thank goodness we were told we had to get our bags in sydney and recheck in or we would have been with no bags in perth. Customs was a little stressful in the Sydney airport because we only had a two hour layover, but we got there in time to board the plane to Perth. The trip from Sydney to Perth was little painful because we were so anxious to finally get there!
Then we took a shuttle bus from the airport that dropped many people off in different places, we were on the bus for about an hour and a half driving around the city and to some suburbs and then back to murdoch. It turned me all around so i have no clue how far we are from the middle of the city. Once we finally got here we found our rooms. Kelsey is right across the courtyard from me! The apartments have a living room and kitchen and then a hallway with five rooms, two singles and three doubles and two bathrooms.
I do not currently have a direct roommate and until last evening had not met any of my suitemates. Kelsey and I went right out and bought necessities for our rooms and food. We made dinner, took showers and pretty much hit the hay. As soon as I was ready for bed with no glasses on, wet hair and pajamas one of my suitemates arrives home. So I met him for a minute..but was so exhausted I didn't catch his name and felt silly this morning when I could not remember. My other flatmate I met at 6am this morning as I walked to the bathroom to go pee and was still half asleep...how I remembered his name I'll never know!
After speaking to my family this morning on skype and chatted with ally, megan, and greg I was feeling a little lonely and missed home. But then I attended orientation all day today and made lots of friends and saw our beautiful campus and learned about the campus and all the cool places there are to see. I signed up for activities over the next week or so to go to the zoo and the city and such. I am going to make dinner at Danielle's (the other girl from BC) and then we are going to hang out with some of the people we met today from Miami, California, and Wisconsin...yeah no Australians yet due to the orientation being for international students, but hopefully soon!!
I am super excited about the next few weeks and hope I will figure out how to get around and how to do the things I want to do!
Miss you, love you, Leave you something later!
Then we took a shuttle bus from the airport that dropped many people off in different places, we were on the bus for about an hour and a half driving around the city and to some suburbs and then back to murdoch. It turned me all around so i have no clue how far we are from the middle of the city. Once we finally got here we found our rooms. Kelsey is right across the courtyard from me! The apartments have a living room and kitchen and then a hallway with five rooms, two singles and three doubles and two bathrooms.
I do not currently have a direct roommate and until last evening had not met any of my suitemates. Kelsey and I went right out and bought necessities for our rooms and food. We made dinner, took showers and pretty much hit the hay. As soon as I was ready for bed with no glasses on, wet hair and pajamas one of my suitemates arrives home. So I met him for a minute..but was so exhausted I didn't catch his name and felt silly this morning when I could not remember. My other flatmate I met at 6am this morning as I walked to the bathroom to go pee and was still half asleep...how I remembered his name I'll never know!
After speaking to my family this morning on skype and chatted with ally, megan, and greg I was feeling a little lonely and missed home. But then I attended orientation all day today and made lots of friends and saw our beautiful campus and learned about the campus and all the cool places there are to see. I signed up for activities over the next week or so to go to the zoo and the city and such. I am going to make dinner at Danielle's (the other girl from BC) and then we are going to hang out with some of the people we met today from Miami, California, and Wisconsin...yeah no Australians yet due to the orientation being for international students, but hopefully soon!!
I am super excited about the next few weeks and hope I will figure out how to get around and how to do the things I want to do!
Miss you, love you, Leave you something later!
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