Tuesday and Wednesday - Internship

Well, I have started my internship (the whole reason I am here in Australia). I am working at Brandon Park Primary School in the year 3/4 classes (pictures to come soon). At this school, the kids are not put in their grades based on their age but rather on their abilities. In other words, in the year 3/4 class you have a relatively large age range.

My days at BPPS have consisted of working on oral reading and comprehension with reading groups, helping student with math work and taking the students to swimming lessons on Tuesday and Thursday. Not that difficult you might ask... well over the next month I am also going to organize a "Canada Day" for the kids, help with a new reading recovery program, and help organize and prepare for a school open house. The staff at BPPS are great! All the teachers enjoy working with kids, which is very nice to see. I can tell I'm going to really enjoy working here :)

Monday Adventures - It was for the birds

Monday was a day off in Australia, so instead of going into work I got to go site-seeing with my Aussie-mum Sheryl. I had a relaxing morning. Sheryl took me to see the bay in Melbourne. There I saw Bass Strait, which would take you Tasmania (for those who listen to Hamish and Andy, they got on their tall ship at this bay).

From there, we drove to St. Kilda, the eccentric part of town. I saw the very interesting Luna Park entrance (a face). Known for their cakes, Sheryl and I went to a little coffee shop to have the best Vanilla Cake in the state of Victoria.

Then, it was off to visit my other Aussie family (Sheryl's family), grandma Ruth, sister Belinda, niece Charlotte and nephew Jack. Together, we went to Grant's Picnic ground to feed some birds. Sounds mundane... but stay with me, it was the complete opposite. The birds that we could feed were: Parrot-like birds, Cockatoos, Galahs, Rosella and Kookaburras. You could stand with bird feed in your hand and the birds would come, land on your arm and eat from your hand. It was so fun! There were hundreds of birds, but the cockatoos were the bosses! Whenever they came in, all the other birds flew away.

In the park, there were also trails which I walked with my aussie-niece Charlotte. Together, we saw all the palm, eucalyptus and gum trees (no koalas though :( ). Very muddy, but enjoyable none the less.

Adventures through Melbourne

After a wonderful sleep, I decided to take the train into the city. I'm in a little town outside of Melbourne called Mount Waverley. Mt. Waverley is about a 30 minute train ride into the city. The train ride was lovely, it was outside, so I was able to see different things coming in.
This weekend in Australia was a long weekend. They are celebrating Anzac Day, which commemorates the soldiers who fought in WWI. On the Sunday, there is a big footie match played at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. Unfortunately, it was sold out. But on my train ride, I saw many people decked out in footie gear.

When I got into the city, I met up with another OISE intern and we traveled through the city together. We saw Federation Square, which has a very unique architecture. We then traveled on the River City Ferry (definitely recommend that everyone goes on this ferry ride!). Being a little hungry, we decided to go to Hungry Jacks (Australian Burger King). After that we traveled on the free city tram to the parliament building. But that time all the shops were closing, so it was time to go home.

Did you know... in Australia they have...
- Lululemon
- Target
- K-Mart
- Nando's chicken
- Starbucks
- Subway Sandwiches
- McDonalds (with fully equipped McCafe, which looks like a Starbucks)
and the list will continue as I find things.

Nicest Plane Ride

I was warned that the L.A. to Melbourne flight would be brutal. The flight was 15 hours long. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the service and comfort of the flight.

When I walked to my seat I saw some lovely little gifts there. Everyone on the flight got...
- a nice fluffy pillow
- a nice blanket
- toothbrush and toothpaste

Once the plane took off, I fell asleep (which never happens to me on flights). I woke up to dinner on my tray table. We had a choice of salmon or chicken. I had the chicken which was delicious. After that I fell back asleep. The next thing I remember was a "snack bag" on my lap. In this snack bag was a bottle of water, M&Ms, lemon cookies and dried fruit and nuts. I fell back asleep.
I was fully awake about halfway through the flight. Then I started looking through the wide variety of movies and T.V. shows that were on the personal On-Demand screen. Before I knew it, I saw Australia through the clouds, we had arrived. Barely any turbulence over the course of the flight (except for right at the very end).

All in all, excellent flight!

California Daze

The time was 9:20 pm. I arrived in Los Angeles. Boarding for the long flight to Melbourne was at 10:35pm. Not much time you might ask... well it was enough time for me to leave the airport, go to a fast food joint, see my cousins and come back through security and go to my gate, all with time to spare.

My life was a ball of stress for the that 30 minutes I was out of the airport. But now looking back, I am SO happy that I took that risk. I got to meet a wonderful new addition to the family, Miss Shannon! AND I got In-n-Out Animal style fries (best fries EVER!)

Worst and Best moment of the trip!