I spent two days in the classroom this week at a primary school in Tasmania. The kids had SOO many questions they were asked to write them down on paper and I could spend some time answering them one at at time. These were most of the questions asked:
1) What do you do on the 4th of July?
2) Do you think we have a weird accent?
3) Do our schools and your schools look the same? How many schools are in Kansas? How many kids are in each class?
4) What is the top novel in America? - They asked if we liked "Goosebumps" , "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", "Twilight", and "Harry Potter" ?
5) Do you like it better in Tasmania than America? Are you glad you got to come visit us?
6) Is Justin Bieber big in America?
7) Have you ever been to Arizona? Los Angeles? Michigan?
8) Do you have dams in America?
9) Do you live in America?
10) Are there gardens in America?
11) What is your favorite restaurant in America? What is the most popular fast food place?
12) Have you ever been sprayed by a skunk?
13) Have you ever met Justin Bieber?
14) Do you get a tan in America?
15) Do you learn another language while in school in America?
16) Have you had any tornadoes like the Wizard of Oz lately?
17) Is it true that people go buy really cheap rustbuckets and when they break down they leave them on the side of the road and go buy another rustbucket and so on? (I laughed the hardest on this one)
18) Is there a lot of violence in Kansas? I saw on TV once that there was a security guard at a school. Is that true?
19) What is the weather like in America? Is Kansas a desert? Do you have cactus in America?
20) Did you know that in America the average slices of pizza eaten in a second is 350 slices?
21) With your ranches in Kansas do all of your cows get hand milked or do you have electronic suckers?
22) Do you have gator farms in Kansas with gators in them?
23) I heard that Sloppy Joes is a shop in America...is that true? Have you been there?
24) What is your estimate of people that play soccer in America?
25) What kind of brands are popular in America?
26) Do you have the circus in America and do you have unicycles?
27) Have you heard of Justin Beiber? (AGAIN)
28) Are there any brumbys in America? (Brumbys are wild mustangs)
29) Do you and your family have a lot of fast food?
30) Is there a lot of violence in America?
31) Do you have any celebrities where you live?
32) Are there beavers in America?
- Other than asking a million times if I knew Justin Bieber .....I also learned this through conversation:
1) -couldn't believe we didn't have beaches -- they didn't understand the concept of lakes.
2) -wanted to visit Chucky Cheese
3) -totally freaked out by the idea of skunks
4)) Most of the information the kids had on Kansas or America came from the movies -- they wanted to know if Kansas was just like the western movies?
5) -couldn't believe we had security guards and cameras at our schools?
6) -fascinated that our toilets were always half full -- their toilets just have a little water sitting at the bottom
As far as the observation went....this class had 54 or so kids in it....all 5th and 6th graders to two teachers. Sometimes they split up but usually they were co-teaching. Immediately I asked about their policy with testing ...they test 3rd and 5th for literacy and math...but the testing is not like us as I am sure that was assumed. Most schools here have uniforms and the kids could not believe that we did not have them. Their discipline system is similar to like that in America and their techniques in the classroom as well to keep structure and such. Bullying charts are commonly posted on the walls and also alerts to teach kids how to use the internet and media effectively and safely. The guidelines are given through the ACMA (Australian Communication & Media Authority). A typical school year (because their seasons are switched) go from February to December, around Christmas, and their day lasts from 9 - 2:50. Schools do not serve hot breakfast and hot lunch typically -- the kids just bring a lunch from home and eat outside...they have an hour to eat and play outside. Some things that I picked up that I really liked was the idea of PMI-- to think of something Positive / Minus / Interesting of something that the child experiences. They also use the "I think, I know, I wonder" method.
The school I visit is also starting a program that the kids from 3rd to 6th grade cook in a high tech kitchen. They are taught by a gourmet chef and cook mainly with the things they have grown on their own or in their garden that was also issued through the grant. It is hard to put into words how neat the program was and how incredibly excited the kids are to be a part of it.
Teachers are supposedly needed here but it is not easy to get hired on "Full-time." Teachers start off on a short contract as in America and go from there. They are paid about 70-80 grand though but the cost of living is higher here as well --- I am not going to lie when I heard that number I was in awe and then I remembered how much more expensive things are here.......... I hope that this is not the only experience I get with the kiddos while I am here. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just before I left I even took a group of kids out to teach them basketball for fifteen minutes.....it was tough breakin it down to the very basics....a few of the kids did not know the concept of offense / defense / dribbling / etc. Def a different sports world here. :) They wanted to teach me cricket but I ran out of time...................Til next time.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
(Insert catchy title here)
Good afternoon all! :) .....I never know where to start with these things. Do you get sick of reading that as the first line of every blog? It would have been the first line of all of my papers through high school and college if it wouldn't have docked my grade. I was always given the instructions that I had write a "broad and general statement" to start every paper and "I don't know where to start" seems about as broad and general as you can get.................. anyway -- a little bit of adhd kicking in there. the dogs are snoring and the birds are chirping and people are mowing their lawns and builders are hammering and the sun is shining and I don't feel like sitting inside at a computer but TOO much has happened for me to wait another day! :D
A week ago today I attended UNI with my host brothers girlfriend Tori...which is college or a university to us. In Tasmania, they have the Unversity of Tasmania but you can attend that school at several locations. College to the people here happens at age 16-18 (11th and 12th grades) ...they finish high school after tenth grade. They have the same problem of trying to find a place to park on campus as we do in America except their hills to walk to campus and back are an experience. It brought me back to memories of going to class on campus at KU. :) The grading system is a little bit different but mainly mostly their wording of it - i believe their percentages mean about the same thing. Scholarships are available to attend the school for grades and such but sports scholarships do not seem to be much of an issue. That is a huge difference of life here versus life in America. Sports are a HUGE part of life at home and here their main sport is Footie (Football) which is a mix of our sports of football and soccer I would say. Baseball is not played here at all I don't believe and I have probably seen about three basketball goals. Anyway back to school info....their lectures are same as us - about 50 min- with labs; however, their teachers change with each unit. I sat in a chemistry, bio of animals, and bio of plants class. I learned how a dragonfly flies and other species related --- by flexing their thorax (their butt musles). I sat their imagining what it would be like if I flexed my butt muscles and it made me fly.......I also learned that drinking fountains are not the same here. I went to fill up my water bottle in the middle of the most popular hang out spot on campus ...I filled by bottle from the mouth spot and kept tilting it more and more to try and get more and more water in the bottle so nearly the water was actually spilling out the top.....apparently someone saw me struggling and came up to flip on a spout on the side of the fountain that was specifically for bottles! HERES MY SIGN! :D
Wednesday was a quiet day- I watched a movie with my house mom ..Although most of the movies are the same here as at home, she had never seen She's Just Not That Into You and I also did some laundry. Most families do not have dryers here so I have been having fun hanging my laundry out on the line...I admit I was a little embarrassed about hanging my undergarmets so I put my jeans and such around the outside of the circular line and hid my other stuff on the inside. :) I will say good thing I was home Wednesday because three times I had to bring my laundry inside because of rain and then the sun would come out and you think it was over...and it would rain again. All a wonderful experience.
I went on a tour Thursday of Hobart (the state capital) and took a tour of the Cascade Brewery. One of the things I saw on the tour was a signal station that they used to alert the next hill over and that process would keep going until the Port Arthur (the main site where convicts were kept) was alerted - It was said the process took twenty min and it is an hour or so drive from Hobart now-a-days. The Brewery was established in the early 1800's by a man that owned some prime land at the foot of a mountain by fresh spring water --- he was taken into jail for not paying a debt in England and while he was in jail he thought of the idea of running the brewery, received permission when he got out and it was up and running within a few years. The workers were able to drink all the beer they wanted while they worked and at that time a glass of beer was about 15% alcohol. After the owner realized the workers were drinking about as much as he was making, he started rationing them with an "open bar" (this is where the term came from) and a man would serve beer four times a day for ten minutes; however, the workmen were said to have about ten glasses of beer during the ten min which would amount to more than a case of beer for the workmen throughout the day everyday............ugh! Imagine what their beer bellies looked like! :) Thursday night was salsa dancing night! I learned pretty quickly and lost the awkward feeling after about fifteen minutes. Some people had been there for four weeks and still couldn't get the basic step...I had the footwork down but couldn't quite get into the whole swinging of the hips thing. I think I'll stick to line dancing and swing dancing!
Friday I went to a wildlife park called Bonorong National Park. I got interact with Kangaroos of all sizes and Koalas, pet a wombat, talk with a few birds, and see Tasmanian Devils, Emu, and possum. I tried to get gutsy and hand feed the Emu and three of them attacked me at once and at one point I thought I was going to lose the skin off my hand. I used the tactic like when I used to hand feed grain to horses to keep my hand tight and then they can't "bite" me...It didnt work out as well. Tasmanian devils do not look anything like the cartoon and are very viscious looking. Their possums are all furry -- head to toe -- which I thought was interesting. The wombat was the most interesting animal - they are similar to our badger and can be kept in a wildlife park til they are two and then they must be released because they develp their adult instinctive habits such as going through everything in their way- even if it is cement. Definately not an animal I would want to meet on a jog down the back roads. Speaking of animals - I was telling my friends and family here that we say in Kansas, "If it flies it dies, if it crawls it falls" ..if you lived in Tassie you would have to add "If it hops it drops." Apparently they hunt and eat kangaroo and it is also frequent road kill on the side of the road. Imagine hitting that driving down the road? The warning sings for Kangaroo crossings are pretty humorous. Oh and they also have black Swans here instead of white. I keep joking with everyone that swans of death and impurity inhabit their island and America has swans that symbolize purity and life. After Bonorong we visited the home of Cadbury's chocolate and went on a little tour and strolled through their candy store....and I thought strolling through Dillions during easter time was tempting!!!! :)
Saturday I went into the city and visited "Salamanca Market" ...a whole block is shut down for tents and venues of food, crafts, etc. but all of it has to be made in Tasmania. I found all sorts of fun things I wanted to take home with me...apparently I was so excited about one that after it was wrapped and handed to me I tried to walk off without paying for it. :) Luckily, the man at the tent didn't freak out and kindly got my attention and said "maam are you going to pay for that??" wheww I was a little bit embarrassed. Here I was walking around with my bag signaling I am clearly a tourist and now people prob thought I just try to steal things with it..........
Sunday we visited Bruny Island - we tried to make a 930 ferry and as soon as it was our time to load, the ferry had reached its limit of cars and we had to wait til 11:15. The island itself was beautiful (minus the extreme winds) and I have great pictures which I will post soon on facebook...the waters were aqua blue and the beaches were practically white. I decided to run up a ton of stairs to the top of a lighthouse viewing and Monday morning felt the wrath! I was getting a little bit of an ADHD attack from spending a lot of time in the car and saw some of what I thought was ducks on the side of the road. I preceded to quack at them and immediately I saw my host sister slump her shoulders and shake her head. "Hens don't quack in Australia Gretchen......." she told me......Another amazing moment of me having to laugh off being an idiot. :) Now everytime we see a cow she "baa's" at me. Of course just our luck at we pulled up to get on the ferry home, it was just pulling away so we sat and waited another hour for the next one........still, it was a great day.
As for random things that have happned - they do not tip here which is nice and tax is prefigured in costs of everything so what is on the price tag is what your spending. That helps BUT everything is more expensive here ...except for UGG boots. Everyone here can't believe what we pay for the boots in America. I have found that instead of stop lights, round-a-bouts are much more frequent. They do not know what biscuits and gravy are here...I might have to make it. To add to that, if any of you ever come visit rolls is a sandwich. Biscuits is cookies. Chips are fries. Crips are chips. Crackers are plain things you put cheese on,
scones are biscuits, and cookies are not really used. Did you follow all that? Ya, I don't either.....oh! like we have mini oranges, they have mini apples. :) Anyway, they don't rinse their dishes after they wash them, and they call fanny packs bum packs- This is why- the word fanny to Tassie people is another word for a girl part.....oops. :) To add to that and finish my extremely long blog once again I will share my weekly embarrassing story --- My host brother Dale, his girlfriend Tori, sister Simone, and myself were going to a Rural Youth meeting and saw a rather chunky man running down the road in jeans and bright green crocks. I (Trying to use Aussie slang) said loudly, "Ah, my future Tassie husband, I'd chase after him but I'd have to take off my thong to run fast enough........." Huge awkward silence. They obviously call flip flops thongs here....but I forgot to add the "s".....
Today I spent the day at an elementary school but I got back again Thursday so I will save those stories for my next blog. It felt great being around kids and they had a ton of questions to ask me. It was quite interesting what kind of things they asked.................til next time. If you made it to the end thanks for reading! Hugs to everyone back home.
Gretchen
A week ago today I attended UNI with my host brothers girlfriend Tori...which is college or a university to us. In Tasmania, they have the Unversity of Tasmania but you can attend that school at several locations. College to the people here happens at age 16-18 (11th and 12th grades) ...they finish high school after tenth grade. They have the same problem of trying to find a place to park on campus as we do in America except their hills to walk to campus and back are an experience. It brought me back to memories of going to class on campus at KU. :) The grading system is a little bit different but mainly mostly their wording of it - i believe their percentages mean about the same thing. Scholarships are available to attend the school for grades and such but sports scholarships do not seem to be much of an issue. That is a huge difference of life here versus life in America. Sports are a HUGE part of life at home and here their main sport is Footie (Football) which is a mix of our sports of football and soccer I would say. Baseball is not played here at all I don't believe and I have probably seen about three basketball goals. Anyway back to school info....their lectures are same as us - about 50 min- with labs; however, their teachers change with each unit. I sat in a chemistry, bio of animals, and bio of plants class. I learned how a dragonfly flies and other species related --- by flexing their thorax (their butt musles). I sat their imagining what it would be like if I flexed my butt muscles and it made me fly.......I also learned that drinking fountains are not the same here. I went to fill up my water bottle in the middle of the most popular hang out spot on campus ...I filled by bottle from the mouth spot and kept tilting it more and more to try and get more and more water in the bottle so nearly the water was actually spilling out the top.....apparently someone saw me struggling and came up to flip on a spout on the side of the fountain that was specifically for bottles! HERES MY SIGN! :D
Wednesday was a quiet day- I watched a movie with my house mom ..Although most of the movies are the same here as at home, she had never seen She's Just Not That Into You and I also did some laundry. Most families do not have dryers here so I have been having fun hanging my laundry out on the line...I admit I was a little embarrassed about hanging my undergarmets so I put my jeans and such around the outside of the circular line and hid my other stuff on the inside. :) I will say good thing I was home Wednesday because three times I had to bring my laundry inside because of rain and then the sun would come out and you think it was over...and it would rain again. All a wonderful experience.
I went on a tour Thursday of Hobart (the state capital) and took a tour of the Cascade Brewery. One of the things I saw on the tour was a signal station that they used to alert the next hill over and that process would keep going until the Port Arthur (the main site where convicts were kept) was alerted - It was said the process took twenty min and it is an hour or so drive from Hobart now-a-days. The Brewery was established in the early 1800's by a man that owned some prime land at the foot of a mountain by fresh spring water --- he was taken into jail for not paying a debt in England and while he was in jail he thought of the idea of running the brewery, received permission when he got out and it was up and running within a few years. The workers were able to drink all the beer they wanted while they worked and at that time a glass of beer was about 15% alcohol. After the owner realized the workers were drinking about as much as he was making, he started rationing them with an "open bar" (this is where the term came from) and a man would serve beer four times a day for ten minutes; however, the workmen were said to have about ten glasses of beer during the ten min which would amount to more than a case of beer for the workmen throughout the day everyday............ugh! Imagine what their beer bellies looked like! :) Thursday night was salsa dancing night! I learned pretty quickly and lost the awkward feeling after about fifteen minutes. Some people had been there for four weeks and still couldn't get the basic step...I had the footwork down but couldn't quite get into the whole swinging of the hips thing. I think I'll stick to line dancing and swing dancing!
Friday I went to a wildlife park called Bonorong National Park. I got interact with Kangaroos of all sizes and Koalas, pet a wombat, talk with a few birds, and see Tasmanian Devils, Emu, and possum. I tried to get gutsy and hand feed the Emu and three of them attacked me at once and at one point I thought I was going to lose the skin off my hand. I used the tactic like when I used to hand feed grain to horses to keep my hand tight and then they can't "bite" me...It didnt work out as well. Tasmanian devils do not look anything like the cartoon and are very viscious looking. Their possums are all furry -- head to toe -- which I thought was interesting. The wombat was the most interesting animal - they are similar to our badger and can be kept in a wildlife park til they are two and then they must be released because they develp their adult instinctive habits such as going through everything in their way- even if it is cement. Definately not an animal I would want to meet on a jog down the back roads. Speaking of animals - I was telling my friends and family here that we say in Kansas, "If it flies it dies, if it crawls it falls" ..if you lived in Tassie you would have to add "If it hops it drops." Apparently they hunt and eat kangaroo and it is also frequent road kill on the side of the road. Imagine hitting that driving down the road? The warning sings for Kangaroo crossings are pretty humorous. Oh and they also have black Swans here instead of white. I keep joking with everyone that swans of death and impurity inhabit their island and America has swans that symbolize purity and life. After Bonorong we visited the home of Cadbury's chocolate and went on a little tour and strolled through their candy store....and I thought strolling through Dillions during easter time was tempting!!!! :)
Saturday I went into the city and visited "Salamanca Market" ...a whole block is shut down for tents and venues of food, crafts, etc. but all of it has to be made in Tasmania. I found all sorts of fun things I wanted to take home with me...apparently I was so excited about one that after it was wrapped and handed to me I tried to walk off without paying for it. :) Luckily, the man at the tent didn't freak out and kindly got my attention and said "maam are you going to pay for that??" wheww I was a little bit embarrassed. Here I was walking around with my bag signaling I am clearly a tourist and now people prob thought I just try to steal things with it..........
Sunday we visited Bruny Island - we tried to make a 930 ferry and as soon as it was our time to load, the ferry had reached its limit of cars and we had to wait til 11:15. The island itself was beautiful (minus the extreme winds) and I have great pictures which I will post soon on facebook...the waters were aqua blue and the beaches were practically white. I decided to run up a ton of stairs to the top of a lighthouse viewing and Monday morning felt the wrath! I was getting a little bit of an ADHD attack from spending a lot of time in the car and saw some of what I thought was ducks on the side of the road. I preceded to quack at them and immediately I saw my host sister slump her shoulders and shake her head. "Hens don't quack in Australia Gretchen......." she told me......Another amazing moment of me having to laugh off being an idiot. :) Now everytime we see a cow she "baa's" at me. Of course just our luck at we pulled up to get on the ferry home, it was just pulling away so we sat and waited another hour for the next one........still, it was a great day.
As for random things that have happned - they do not tip here which is nice and tax is prefigured in costs of everything so what is on the price tag is what your spending. That helps BUT everything is more expensive here ...except for UGG boots. Everyone here can't believe what we pay for the boots in America. I have found that instead of stop lights, round-a-bouts are much more frequent. They do not know what biscuits and gravy are here...I might have to make it. To add to that, if any of you ever come visit rolls is a sandwich. Biscuits is cookies. Chips are fries. Crips are chips. Crackers are plain things you put cheese on,
scones are biscuits, and cookies are not really used. Did you follow all that? Ya, I don't either.....oh! like we have mini oranges, they have mini apples. :) Anyway, they don't rinse their dishes after they wash them, and they call fanny packs bum packs- This is why- the word fanny to Tassie people is another word for a girl part.....oops. :) To add to that and finish my extremely long blog once again I will share my weekly embarrassing story --- My host brother Dale, his girlfriend Tori, sister Simone, and myself were going to a Rural Youth meeting and saw a rather chunky man running down the road in jeans and bright green crocks. I (Trying to use Aussie slang) said loudly, "Ah, my future Tassie husband, I'd chase after him but I'd have to take off my thong to run fast enough........." Huge awkward silence. They obviously call flip flops thongs here....but I forgot to add the "s".....
Today I spent the day at an elementary school but I got back again Thursday so I will save those stories for my next blog. It felt great being around kids and they had a ton of questions to ask me. It was quite interesting what kind of things they asked.................til next time. If you made it to the end thanks for reading! Hugs to everyone back home.
Gretchen
Monday, March 28, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
G'day Mate!
I have arrived safe and sound after 24 hours of traveling and figured I better write my first blog. I had to find a new computer adapter to charge my computer battery and the voltage in America is 120 watts and in Tasmania it is over 200 ..the store clerk warned me to be careful plugging my computer in for the first time. If is it not compatible it will BLOW UP! oh wow no big deal! You should have seen Alisha and I plugging it in the first time! Then I just spend 45 min trying to write an entertaining blog for you all and it deleted........The girl I am staying with for my first few days told me to sum up my stay with a few words: "Its raining and I saw sheep!" ..........Anyway....
I sat in my seat on the first plane only to realize a few seconds later that my seat had been wet. With what?..I don't know. Quickly I knew that I needed to keep a good sense of humor. After all, I was on minute one of my trip of 24 hours of flying, in the same clothes, without a shower. I put my sweatshirt over the spot and just sat on top of it hoping for the best................The quote from talledega nights "I was sitting in my pee pants ALL day" had a whole new meaning to me.
Just before my 16 hour flight, my stomach began to hurt and I just keep hoping it was the butterflies and not the fact that I was getting an upset stomach from eating mexican food from the airport food court. :) It did end up being butterflies and I slept most of the long flight, watched a few movies, and enjoyed watching the sun come up from the window. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Alisha and her friend Gem picked me up. They said they figured out it was me because "I looked like I had been flying for over 24 hours." ..........I packed way too much luggage and Gem's car was so small that my carry on and purse fit in her "trunk." My suitcases went into the middle seat and I sat in front. Alisha immediately started laughing when she looked over and saw my 6ft frame sitting in the front seat. I think my knees were almost to my chest. :)
Tasmania seems rather laid back and made up of rather small towns spread out. The terrain varies but it is definitely not flat like Kansas. The roads are typically one lane and a few two lane and paved. There are not a lot of what we would call "back roads" so I suppose I will not show the Tassy people how we crop tour..........It has rained the whole entire time I have been here and in parts of the state flooded more than the locals have ever seen. Houses are mostly brick here and open floor plans with lots of windows. I have already noticed that they do not have garbage disposals or laundry dryers typically. They have a toilet room AND a bathroom so you have to be specific in asking what you want. Even holding your cell phone in the car is illegal here ...if you get caught you get points taken away and a ticket (Each person has a certain amount of points and if you lose all your points by getting tickets, you lose your license.) Of course the Tassy lingo is very different here and I am having fun already picking it up! For instance, Bloke = man and Best mate = good friend. tea time = dinner time. More of those fun words to come!
This weekend I will be staying at a camp site (like Rock Springs) with most of the Rural Youth of Tasmania for their annual general meeting to select new officers for the year and what not. They have about 150 members across the state and it will be those members and their families that I will be staying with / working with for my ten weeks.
Well it is "tea" time here so I had better get off. I will have another update early next week after a fun weekend!
HUGS!
I sat in my seat on the first plane only to realize a few seconds later that my seat had been wet. With what?..I don't know. Quickly I knew that I needed to keep a good sense of humor. After all, I was on minute one of my trip of 24 hours of flying, in the same clothes, without a shower. I put my sweatshirt over the spot and just sat on top of it hoping for the best................The quote from talledega nights "I was sitting in my pee pants ALL day" had a whole new meaning to me.
Just before my 16 hour flight, my stomach began to hurt and I just keep hoping it was the butterflies and not the fact that I was getting an upset stomach from eating mexican food from the airport food court. :) It did end up being butterflies and I slept most of the long flight, watched a few movies, and enjoyed watching the sun come up from the window. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Alisha and her friend Gem picked me up. They said they figured out it was me because "I looked like I had been flying for over 24 hours." ..........I packed way too much luggage and Gem's car was so small that my carry on and purse fit in her "trunk." My suitcases went into the middle seat and I sat in front. Alisha immediately started laughing when she looked over and saw my 6ft frame sitting in the front seat. I think my knees were almost to my chest. :)
Tasmania seems rather laid back and made up of rather small towns spread out. The terrain varies but it is definitely not flat like Kansas. The roads are typically one lane and a few two lane and paved. There are not a lot of what we would call "back roads" so I suppose I will not show the Tassy people how we crop tour..........It has rained the whole entire time I have been here and in parts of the state flooded more than the locals have ever seen. Houses are mostly brick here and open floor plans with lots of windows. I have already noticed that they do not have garbage disposals or laundry dryers typically. They have a toilet room AND a bathroom so you have to be specific in asking what you want. Even holding your cell phone in the car is illegal here ...if you get caught you get points taken away and a ticket (Each person has a certain amount of points and if you lose all your points by getting tickets, you lose your license.) Of course the Tassy lingo is very different here and I am having fun already picking it up! For instance, Bloke = man and Best mate = good friend. tea time = dinner time. More of those fun words to come!
This weekend I will be staying at a camp site (like Rock Springs) with most of the Rural Youth of Tasmania for their annual general meeting to select new officers for the year and what not. They have about 150 members across the state and it will be those members and their families that I will be staying with / working with for my ten weeks.
Well it is "tea" time here so I had better get off. I will have another update early next week after a fun weekend!
HUGS!
Friday, March 18, 2011
My first blog!
I am just wanting to make sure I know how to do this so that when all the exciting stuff begins I am all set and ready to go and share with everyone! :) I leave in three days...LET THE PACKING BEGIN!
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