Paddocks, Stubby holders, Floods, and Utes.

The past five days have been packed full of tons of funny stories and honestly I don't know where to start. I suppose this is going to get a bit long so I hope you all have your coffee or fizzy drinks (soda) while reading this.

Friday brought a beautiful day after two straight days of raining which was a good thing, BUT it also brought the aftermath of the rain and record floods for the state of Tasmania. Alisha called me from work Friday AM to tell me we had to pack up quicker than planned because they were putting up a blockade across the road in hopes of stopping the water flood from flooding up her town and everyone would be either locked out of town or in. Getting stuck in town was not an option because The Rural Youth of Tasmania had their AGM dinner planned south a few hours. As we were leaving the house Alisha stopped to tell her cat if the rain entered the house to jump up on the bed! HA! I got lots of pictures leaving town including a paddock (pasture) under water so much that the top of the fence posts were barely visible.

Alisha, Gemma, and I traveled south to the camp in a car packed just about as tight as can be to fit three people in.  Pictures will be posted at some point. We stopped at their local western wear store (similar to Sheplers) but smaller, for some Tassy ice, and went on our way. I owe Alisha my life because when crossing the street to get back to the car I looked to the way to check for traffic as I would in America, noticed no cars, and began crossing the street. Needless to say a car was coming- from the other direction as traffic travels the opposite from home.  :) OOPS! We continued our trip and I was definitely glad to know that they listen to the same music I do which made the trip go by much faster and we all enjoyed singing along. I shared jolly ranchers and American gum with the girls.  One of them liked the gum and the other not so much....the jolly ranchers were a hit although here they are called "sucky lollies."  Gemma didn't listen when I told her not to chew on the candy and she squealed that I almost broke her tooth! Throughout our drive I noticed these very common vehicles passing us and I couldn't stop myself from asking what they were called - in American we would tease about them and I immediately thought of my Uncle Herby because they looked like an El Camino but newer style. In Australia they are called "Ute's" and everyone has them as their rural vehicle. The girls couldn't understand why they were such a big deal to me and were embarrassed when I jumped out at a construction spot that stopped traffic and snapped a picture of one!

As a side note, paying for stuff has been a riot. Luckily Australian money is colored so that my Tassy friends can tell me what color to pull out of my wallet to pay so that  I don't give someone a wrong bill; however, the coins are a little bit tricky with some of them being dollar amounts and some of them being cents.  Finally at one point I had to get rid of some of the coins so took a pile of coins that I had accumlated tried to count them out and just dropped them into the cashiers hand at a sandwich shop.  He preceded to be honest with me and gave me some back- I had given him way too much.  OH and don't ask for chips with your sandwich. They will give you french fries. Chips are "crisps" and it is weird to the people here to eat a sandwich with "crisps!"

The AGM weekend went well. We stayed in at a camp like that of Rock Springs. Big rooms with lots of small beds and then another building held our meeting room and had a kitchen in it as well.  There were about 30 of us from ages 15-30 from all different regions of Tasmania that gathered for the weekend and every single one of them a riot. We spent a lot of time in discussion talking about how they could market their organization and also elected new officers for the upcoming here. I sat in the meetings wondering if we started something like that in Kansas --- it would  be like 4-H but for middle age.  I think after some time it would be quite fun and a success.  Being in Peabody for the last year I have already come to know that there are several people in their twenties and early thirties around that I have never gotten to know all interested in agriculture....I am sure we could all muster up some trouble (have fun) and help each other out on occasion to be successful for the upcoming generation.  Somethin to think about......ANYWAY, Saturday night we all packed up on a bus and went into the city for a dinner and dancing which turned into kareoke at some point.  I got up to show them how to two step and do a few line dances.  I will admit it was weird when the cotton eyed joe came on (which is very popular here as well) but everyone just dances around - I didn't know what to do with myself! :)

Sunday I traveled home with my second family.  I have a host brother and sister both in their early twenties and they live with their mom.  I already enjoy them very much and we have had a ton of laughs. My first night there I preceded to trip over the leg of my sweatpants and flail across the living room only to catch my balance and slip on the tile floor of the kitchen because of my socks and slam into the wall and then onto the floor.  We were all laughing so hard we were about crying. My house mom has plans to hem the bottom of my sweatpants tomorrow. At the Rural Youth meetings they have a fun thing they do that someone can be "fined" if they do something stupid, funny, forgetful or what not.  At this point the story is shared and if its true the person being "fined" has to pay money and they donate it to a charity. My house brother told me I will definitely be getting fined at the next meeting for my lack of gracefulness. 

Today I woke up and went for a run along the water which was amazing ...I get confused as to which side of the road to run on but the way I am dressed in my basketball shorts and a tshirty probably gives it away that i am a tourist and to watch out anyways. However, I managed to get lost this morning and had to call my host sister to ask her where I was and I was only two houses down from  the correct house! This afternoon I went and spent the day at a horse riding school and had an absolute blast.  They probably have at least twenty horses and I traveled around feeding them, tacking them, and I even got to ride (english style).  It was a great experience and I can't wait to get home and get back into riding again.

These next two weeks I will be traveling around Hobart (the capital city of Tasmania) and visiting some tourist attractions as well as spending time at a Tasmanian University with my host brother's girlfriend Tory and hopefully in some primary school classrooms.
Some new words that i have learned ---- dag (which is actually poop pieces hanging off a sheeps rear end) is what they would say for someone who is an idiot or a dork.  "you are such a dag!" ..... a paddock is a pasture. Fizzy drinks is pop.  Bundy is rum and the drink of choice sold in a can premixed with coke.  Stubby holder is a coozie.  Mackies is mcdonalds...........

That is it for now. I have already written too much. I will hopefully get some pictures posted on facebook within the next  day for people to see. Cheers to all!