Oh my! It's been a long time since I've had a chance to update, so here comes a similarly long entry on all the fun things that've been happening to me.
School started this week, and was awesome. I'll be teaching 7th grade, 10th grade Evolution, and 11th grade Ecology this term. It's going to be great! All the teachers I'm working with are wonderful, and they all have a great sense of humor and love their jobs. It's so amazing.
This week at school was just orientation, which they call their "Alpha Program." It's a time where kids are introduced to their schedules, set goals for the year, get all their paperwork and such done, and get used to being back in school. For me, it was a great chance to meet the other teachers, find my way around, and sort out all my requirements.
This weekend, though, was SO great. Friday after school, I went on a shopping trip downtown and found all the stuff to hook up internet for my computer downstairs. I wandered through all kinds of cool shops, where little Japanese ladies were selling silk scarves, and big old Aussie guys were selling fresh fruit and vegetables. It was awesome. It was also quite hot. SO, I bought a box of ice cream treats to take home, and headed for the train station. :) hehehe.... I forgot to check the train times, and just barely missed the train back home. The next one came about a half hour later, but I sat, with a rapidly-going-soggy box of ice cream treats, late for dinner... and I just had to eat 'em before they went gooey. So.. I had a few. Just a few! The rest are pretty much just refrozen blobs wrapped in paper with a popsicle stick somewhere in the middle now.
Saturday, I went to Ashley's first basketball game of the season. Those kids sure run their hearts out! It was great to be in the stands again - I haven't been to a basketball game since my little giant of a brother played in high school. After that, it was steamy-hot, and Ash was beat, so we headed for the nearest ice cream parlor. I had a humongous cone, the smallest on the menu, that had about half a tub of ice cream on it.
Then, we went to pick up Laurel in Bayswater, and headed for the beach! It was a beautiful day to go for a swim, and we arrived just as some of the crowds were dispersing. The waves were over a meter tall, and so much fun to crash through and be tossed by. It's a rather famous beach, called Brighton Beach, because of some adorable little bathhouses where rich people change into their swimsuits (which are called toggs here). We tried to body-surf in the huge waves, and splashed until we were nearly sick with salt water, and then combed the beach for shells and such. Afterward, we went to check out the famous bathhouses, and saw THREE different weddings taking place within about 100 meters of each other. :)
Okay.. so swimming, and then more ice cream, and then home, and dinner, and Laurel and I talking and laughing like only old roommates can do until late in the night....
Today! We went to the zoo!
Well, not really - it's Healesville Sanctuary, an open, natural-type preserve for native Australian animals. I finally got to see all the iconic Aussie critters up close! I was inches from a platypus! A platypus!!! It was way too hard to get good pictures from the water, but I took a picture of a brass statue of him, anyway.
I also saw WALLABIES!!! Lots and lots of wallabies. They were cute, they were cuddly, they were sleeping in the shade. Much like their older cousins, the kangaroos. I also saw KOALAS! And echidnas, the egg-laying mammals that resemble our porcupines. Anyway... it was an awesome day. Laurel and I had a blast with the family, and though it was hot and long, it was big pack of memories I'll never forget.
So, here are a stack of pictures, a poor representation of all the wonderful I got to see. More on Monday! -- Tracy
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