Sydney

The Sydney Harbour Bridge 

     This past weekend I explored Sydney. It was too far to drive there, so I took a train to Melbourne. From the train station I caught a bus to the airport. Then I flew in to Sydney (with Katie, the same girl I traveled to Melbourne with last weekend). Then we took a cab to the hostel I was staying at, which was in a terrible part of town unbeknownst to me when I booked it. (Note to self: if a hostel is way cheaper than the rest in the city, it's not a "deal," it is just a horrible place). I stayed at Kings Cross, which turned out to be a really sleazy area in Sydney (and not how Sydney is everywhere!). There were a lot of strip clubs and hookers and homeless people. I have never seen a public library in between two strip clubs before, until I went to Kings Cross. I have never seen a cross dressing hooker before, until I went to Kings Cross. I have never seen a meth-ed out homeless person trying to cut their own hair before, until I went to Kings Cross. I could go on all day. . . Needless to say, I did not go out at night there.

The beautiful Sydney Opera House 

     The Hostel from Hell, as I like to call it, is the worst place on Earth. (It is actually called the d*lux Hostel, please note this if you are planning on traveling to Sydney, to NOT go there). We arrived on Friday after a very long trip to be told that they didn't have a room for us, despite our reservations and deposit. We had to sleep in the lounge, which didn't lock, with no pillows and blankets, only to be woken up multiply times throughout the night by people wandering in, assuming it was the lounge. Then, they would find us curled up on the couches and realize their mistake, and stumble out. I was very frustrated with the establishment, especially because the same thing happened Saturday night. THE SAME THING. We were told Friday that they were so sorry and it would not happen again, then the exact. same. thing. happened. After, of course, they gave me a key to "our room" and I walked in on a half naked Indian man. He was not too pleased to see me, that is for sure. I did the dignified thing and ran away. I went to the front desk to tell them that the room was in fact, not available. To which they replied, then we do not have one for you, and directed us to the lounge again. After our night on Saturday, we were given a private room for the rest of our stay, free of cost, a free Shuttle to the airport Tuesday, and the managers apologies. He also offered us a free room, "if we wanted to stay longer." We both just stared at him like he was on drugs.  Of course we weren't going to stay longer, we wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible! Have I mentioned how much "fun" hostels are?

As far as I would go in the
water. . . 

     Due to the amount of traveling that we did after work on Friday, we ended up waiting until Saturday to start our adventure. We took a train to Circular Quay, which is the cool part of the city. There we took a tour of the world famous Opera House. We also bought tickets to see South Pacific, a musical, in the opera house later that day. It was wonderful! I am not a musical person, and I loved it. We also checked out the famous bridge, although we didn't climb it due to the expensive price. After that, we went to the Sydney Tower Eye, which is a viewing tower where you can see over the city. We had bought a package deal that came with five attractions, the Tower Eye being one of them.

Obama and I gettin' things done. 

    Sunday was a beach day for us. We took a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach, where we laid out and waded in the water. Yes, the beach had a "shark net" to keep the sharks away. Terrifying, right? But apparently this fear is very "touristy", so I try to suppress it. We also walked around some nice shops and ate at a cafe on the beach. After the beach we went to Madame Tussaud's, which is a wax museum. This was also in the package of 5 things. I probably wouldn't have gone if it wasn't, but it turned out to be very fun. There was just a bunch of models of celebrities made out of wax. It sounds lame, but it was very fun to take pictures. Of course, this one of me and Obama is real, though . . .
 

Why did you have to
leave us so soon, Heath?!

  Monday and Tuesday we were able to stay in the city instead of coming back to Melbourne to teach because November 5th is a holiday here. It's called the Melbourne Cup and it is a horse race, much like the Derby here. The ladies wear fancy hats and everyone gets very dressed up to celebrate. My host parents are actually going to it. The schools are closed (at least in Victoria, where I am) so we stayed in Sydney and flew home Tuesday morning. The actual most important fact about November 5th is that it's my moms birthday. I hope you have a good one, mom! Wish I was there to celebrate with you!
      Monday we went to a wildlife place and the aquarium. We also got an hour guided tour throughout Sydney, where we got off at a Bay and walked around. We saw a great view of the ocean there, too. After eating at a great little place in Darling Harbor, we went back to out hostel and packed our things in preparation for our 5am shuttle to pick us up.

A Koala from the Wildlife place

      In all I found Sydney fantastic. I will be going back there during my last week in Australia, along with a few other places. I am hoping to meet up with a few friends from the YMCA Summer Camp I worked at in 2010 that live in/near Sydney (Jade and Jodi, hint, hint). A wonderful but tiring weekend for me!

Great view of the ocean 

Almost Perfect Weekend in Melbourne

        This past weekend I decided to travel to Melbourne with a friend. Katie is a fellow Hoosier who is doing the same Cultural Immersions Program that I am doing. She is living about an hour and a half the opposite direction of me from Melbourne with her host family. Although we didn't know each other very well we decided to meet up in Melbourne to travel around. It was kind of a "You're going to Australia? I'm going to Australia! Let's meet up and wander around together" type of thing. There is a train station about a ten minute walk away from my host family so I walked there Saturday morning and boarded the train to the city. The train ride was an hour and a half and I finished up The Game of Thrones on the way in.  

One of the sharks at Sea Life

Sea Life, the Melbourne Aquarium

        Katie and I met up easily at the train station and started to wander around and get to know each other better. We first went to the Melbourne Aquarium, which was awesome! We got behind the scene passes and were able to feed the huge sting rays. They were about 9 feet in diameter and would jump partially out of the water for their food. It was truly amazing to watch. They were crowded around the top ledge of the tank and tried to "jump" over each other to get to their food. It reminded me of dogs, which was really strange. The aquarium also had a crocodile and a bunch of sharks in their Aquarium (separate cages of course). I confirmed my already realized fear of crocodiles. I am wary of stepping in a deep puddle over here, despite everyone's insistence that they only live in the northern part of Aussie.
       

View of Melbourne from the Sky Deck 

      After the Aquarium, Katie and I went to the SkyDeck, which is basically just a really tall building. We bought tickets to go to the top (the 89th floor) and saw an awesome view of the entire city. There is a nice river that runs through the southern part of the city. After the SkyDeck we wandered aimlessly around the city. We also checked out their casino, which is the largest one in Australia. There were restaurants and shops inside the casino. I kept thinking of how much fun my Aunt Michelle or Treys grandpa, Jake, would have had in that place! We walked around for an hour in the building and didn't even see half of it.
     We found our hostel, which was interesting to say the least. For those who don't know, hostels are extremely cheap places to stay instead of hotels. They are mainly for people who are backpacking or traveling around a new place and have little money. It was a big dorm with rooms packed full of bunk beds. There were private rooms, but those cost more so, of course, I opted for the ten person (female) room full. I arrived at the hostel around 8pm, extremely tired after my long adventurous day and ready to sleep. They offered wifi for $4 but you could only get it in the common kitchen area. So Katie and I squeezed into the packed kitchen and found ourselves completely out of place.

My lovely hostel (no one is in the room with us,
possibly because it is 9pm and our bedtime) 

        Now let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with the people staying in hostels, I was there, wasn't I? And 18 year old me would have had a blast there, talking with strangers and hearing everyones exciting traveling stories and backgrounds. But cranky and tired 22 year old me just looked at the room of people and thought What a bunch of (smelly) hippies! How in the world can they afford to live like this? Which was judgmental I suppose, but only about 10% of the people in the kitchen were completely sober. After struggling to get the wifi to work, eventually giving up and kissing the $4 goodbye, we went to our room to wind down. Clearly, we were the lame old folks. The rest of the guests ended up partying until the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say, the hostel was a unique experience that I am glad I had, but not the optimal accommodation- just the one my wallet could afford.
         

Our ride to Williamstown

        After being woken up twice in the middle of the night (okay, maybe it was 10:30 . . .) Katie and I got up in the morning, and didn't drag our feet checking out of that place. We ended up taking a ferry through the city down the river to a small town, Williamstown. There was a festival and lots of little shops and restaurants. We ate lunch and took the ferry back up to Melbourne. After making travel arrangements for next weekend, we said goodbye and parted ways at the train station.

Katie and I on the ferry

          On the way home, I had a lovely time reading from my new Kindle (thank you again, Donnie and Renee!) and enjoyed the lovely countryside. I was busy congratulating myself on being so city savvy and navigating independently through Melbourne. Then, I packed my things in my bag and prepared to get off at Yarragon, my stop. I hit the correct button to open the door once the train stopped but it would not go. Of course, my first assumption was that I was doing something wrong. I tried and tried again. Three people behind me tried to get it open but it wouldn't budge. Then, I tried to frantically make my way to a different door (which was working just fine, might I add) when the train slowly started to move forward. I was bewildered at what had just happened and helplessly watched as Yarragon got smaller and smaller out the window before, eventually, disappearing.
       After I successfully got off the train (via a different door) at the next stop and discovering that the next train back to my town was in three hours, I started to get a little upset. After all, I was such a smart and great traveler, right? I was rethinking my previous self-congratulations around the time that I realized I didn't have a cell phone and didn't have anyone's number in the area except for my host family (who was out of town at a friends house), and didn't have a number for a taxi. I could have called my host mom but I was determined to figure this out by myself. I went to the local pub, thinking they would most likely know the number of the local taxi. They tried to call a taxi who didn't answer. They told me they would try back in ten minutes or so. I turned lemons into lemonade and just ordered a drink while I waited and chatted with the locals. I ended up getting a hold of the taxi company and ordered a ride. I got home eventually, despite someone stealing my first taxi (even though I clearly explained it was mine) so the wonderful bartender ordered me a second. Needless to say I am rethinking the whole no-phone-in-a-foreign-country-thing. I will be looking for a cheap prepay phone next weekend. Overall, a great weekend in Melbourne. I have learned being flexible and resourceful is an important part of traveling. So is relying on the kindness of strangers.

"How are you going?" and Other Confusing Sayings

      I am halfway through my first week at Trafalgar Primary School. Needless to say it is completely different from schools at home! For one, school start at nine! All of the students wear uniforms and are required (as are staff) to wear hats outside during recess due to the UV rays. I had to run out and buy a

My big floppy (mandatory) hat

big floppy hat on my first day here so I would be allowed outside during recess. They also don't have cafeterias here. Every student brings their lunch to school along with a fruit snack, which they eat mid morning. They have 80 minutes of recess (a half hour mid morning and fifty minutes after their ten minute lunch).
    The school is composed of three or four buildings with different rooms in them so the students have to travel outside to go to the gym or the library, etc. They all take their shoes off when they are inside so they are constantly taking them on and off. Also, the rooms have partial walls or none at all so in our

My classroom is the one in the middle, you can see
one on the far left and there is another one on the right.

classroom we can hear two other classes, which I find distracting but the students are used to.
     All of the staff at the school are very friendly and everyone has been helpful as I am getting used to the big shift. For example, I had no idea how to make coffee here (they have a completely different system). On the first day I was confused as everyone kept saying, "How are you going?" I quickly learned it is the same as, "How are you doing?" but it still sometimes makes me pause. Also, an eraser is called a "rubber" (rubb-ah) and sneakers are called, "runners."
     The students have been so hilarious. At first they didnt know what to make of me. One little girl assured me that she has heard my voice on an audio book before. Even though I tried to explain the accent, she very seriously told me, "No, I'm pretty sure it was you." One group of girls at recess today realized that I sound different and continued to ask me to repeat a random collection of words they could come up with to hear me say it. "Can you say. . . unda cova?" (undercover- where they have shade) Then I say, "un-der cov-er". Then the girls giggle hysterically for a few minutes and repeat this process many times.  They told me I couldn't "say words properly!" I have taken a bunch of pictures, but I dont know the rules on putting pics up of the school/ kids up yet, so I will wait on that one.
    Their music program is quite awesome. I was in a prep classroom this week, which is like

Managed to find a drum set on my first day

kindergarten here. The music teacher is teaching them the ukulele. I was able to sit with them and learn a few cords. He teaches grade 3 how to play the bass, guitar, drum set, piano, and sing popular songs on the radio. A long way from the recorder I played in third grade! I ended up rocking out with them on the drums and I float in the music room during my lunch break and play with a group of kids. The music teacher mentioned putting together a staff band for some sort of festival they have in December.
     I am going to be putting together a cultural lesson for my students about America and how we do things at home and a little about our country. I haven't decided what to put in it yet, so suggestions are welcome. Next week I will be in "Grade 1" which is the same grade I taught at home. It has been an interesting few days and I slowly getting used to how they do things here. It will be hard to go back home and have school start at 7:50 again!

Shark Fishing

I arrived at my host family's home around 3pm on Friday. I managed to unpack and stay awake to meet my host mom, Raelee. She is a very sweet woman and the vice principal at the school I am going to work at. I ended up going to sleep at 6pm and sleeping for about 12 hours! I was very jet lagged. 

The Hill family's boat 

Once I woke up, I was invited to join Vic, my host father, and James, their son, on the boat to go shark fishing. I immediately decided to go, and off we went. Once we got there I was informed we were going to be "burling," which is where you tie a bag of dead fish to your boat and the current trails a line of blood, aiming to lead sharks right to where we are fishing. It wasn't until we we were in the boat that Vic turned to me very seriously and asked if I could float. I said yes, then he proceeded to explain the procedure if I happen to fall out. It is about this time that I begin to get a bit nervous. 


It was a very fun day all in all. I caught one little shark, which we threw back and two others that the men caught, which we kept. Once we started fishing and we were about to go in, Vic told me that in the very spot we were fishing his son caught (on accident) a great white shark. I noticed a pattern: they tell me scary stuff after I am in the position to refuse.  It was a great day on the boat for me. I believe they are having friends over "for a barbecue" tonight, which should be an interesting time.

 

These are the other things we caught today. On the left is a star fish and the right is a sting ray. 

Traveling

          I am told I am flying at an altitude of 11,582 meters above the ocean. Obviously, this measurement system is foolish and I have no idea how high that is. The first of many challenging cultural/language barriers, I'm sure. I have been propelled forward in the space time continuum. One minute it is 2:30pm Thursday and then a few minutes later, I have lost the rest of Thursday afternoon and it is 4:30 Friday morning. For a few hours I tried to struggle with this concept, then I decided just to give up and switch my clock to Melbourne time (which I found out is pronounced "Melbin" or "Melburn") and just move on with life.
        The flights have gone really well so far. After departing from my mom, brother, and Trey (seriously, if you ever want to know how you feel about someone, move to a different continent as them- what a tearful goodbye that was!) I boarded my flight to Dallas. Throughout my trip, I met many different people. For the first flight, I sat next to a middle aged businessman who had slept in four different states this week so far. For my 16 hr flight with Qantas Airway, I had the good fortune of having an empty seat next to me, so I had plenty of room. I sat near a friendly girl about my age who decided to travel to Australia on a whim for the weekend to attend a sci/fi convention. She was really nice and I was happy for the company. The flight went surprisingly well, each person on the plane had their own screen ahead of them with hundreds of movies to choose from. I watched a few and read my book. I also slept for about eight hours. That sleep mask my mother was laughing at me for buying really paid off! Overall a great trip so far, and looking forward to finishing it up and meeting my host family!

October 6th 

Trafalgar is in Victoria, Australia

Hello friends and family! As a lot of you know, I will be traveling to Australia in ten days to complete my student teaching. I decided to start this blog so you can read about my adventures if you want to. I will be moving to Trafalgar, Australia which is in the most southern part of Australia. I will be staying with a host family during my time there and teaching at Trafalgar Primary School. So far I have made contact with my host mom, who is the vice principal of the school that I will be staying at. She has a son and daughter that is my age and seems very nice. I still have another week and a half to run around like a chicken with my head cut off and get things ready to go! There seems to be a never ending list of things I have to complete before I leave. My plane will be leaving October 16th from Indianapolis, IN at 7:20pm. I wont arrive in Melbourne until Friday October 18th at noon. That is one long flight! I have a layover in Dallas Wednesday night and another in Brisbane on Friday morning. Australian time is 16 hours ahead of ours, I believe.  Wish me luck to get through this week!