All in a weekends Work - (Sun Feb 20)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISE! Ok so Sunday was Lise’s birthday and we had quite the day planned – with the roommates and one more friend Lindsey… So Amy, Shannen, Lindsey, Lise and I all headed for Noosa Heads – which is an extraordinary beach and rainforest (again). It is about an hour drive away – so it took us about an hour and a half on the city bus – which isn’t too bad. We all took our time in the morning and went on our way. Once we got there Lise and I wanted to tour around the rainforest for a bit – we had learnt about the whole place when we did the tour of the Sunshine Coast – our tour guide brought us up there to look around and what not. That’s when we decided we wanted to go back – he also said that there are Koala sightings sometimes daily… So attempt #2 at the Koalas.. Anyway we left the other girls at the beach soaking up the sun and we headed for the rainforest. We set we would meet up again in 2 hours (well our walk took a little longer than expected and ended up taking almost three hours!) Anyway we wanted to do this one tour of it but ended up on the longest track somehow. So what was supposed to be 30 min – an hour walk ended up being over 2.5 hours. It was awesome though – we stopped at a little beach called Alexandria Bay which is (I’m assuming) a local area where more locals go than tourists… It was an amazing little cove beach thing with only a few people there (whereas Noosa Beach was packed full of people) anyway we dipped our feet in the water (because it was too far to walk to the other side to go swimming) which felt like bath water – it was soo warm – not so much refreshing like the water hole, but awesome nonetheless. We then headed up to “Hells Gate” – I still haven’t figured out why it’s called that – but it’s a cliff edge that looks over Alexandria Bay and the rest of the ocean – You look out and all you can see is water as far as the eye can see.. it was amazing! Apparently it’s a good spot to go and watch the whales migrating in the winter (on the check list – absolutely!) We didn’t see any whales because it would be too hot for them at this time of the year.. but maybe June or July we will head back and maybe see some then!  Anyway after Hells Gate we started our trek back to the beach – we were kind of running out of time at this point in time – but we were missioning back!  Oh on our way to Alexandria Bay and Hells Gate I was walking with my head down and Lise goes Oh My God Alyssa what is  that in front of us…. I look up I’m like that’s a dead turkey???? OH NOOOOO – the stupid thing was playing dead we got a little closer and the dumb animal jumped up and waddled away – well did we ever jump… What a dumb bird – They are called bush turkeys here and they look the same as at home except they are a little bit smaller and don’t have a beard just a red neck…  still as dumb as posts though! That one in particular – I’ve never seen them play dead it just lied down in the middle of the walk-way with its legs all bent funny then it blinked and jumped up – haha it got us that’s for sure!  Anyway on the track back I pulled the - I haven’t seen any critters yet (besides that lame excuse for a bird) hoping to see a Koala…. This is pretty much our last chance before we go to the zoo and see one… well it worked again – only it wasn’t a Koala! All of a sudden I heard something running the bush beside us (well in the trees) I look up – I had no idea what it was until I saw it climb a tree and realized it was a lizard – it was running – probably faster than I could run – so no pictures! But as we kept walking I saw a little tail slither right in front of us on the pathway – well I squealed and jumped back because I thought for sure it was a snake – but it was just a nasty lizard – we managed to get pictures of this guy because he ran to the side of the trail and camouflaged himself and just sat there until we left – hopefully you can see the pictures of him!  Anyway that sums up the tour of that rainforest – I would say way more satisfying then the other rainforests!  So after another 2.5 hour hike in the rainforest we finally managed to get back to the beach and met up with everyone!

Noosa Heads - Ladies and Gents!

stupid turkey

alexandria bay

walk to the rainforest

hell's gate

view from hell's gate

can you see the lizard?

Lise and I took a dip in the bath like ocean… it was soo warm! And soooo busy – there was some sort of iron man pre competition happening in boats so only part of the beach was open – and it was an absolutely perfect beach day so there were tons of people there! It was cool though – before we got in the other girls had said they had seen a blue bottle jelly fish (not good – need to stay away from those little guys) and I could see tons of little fish swarming our feet – I didn’t like that very much so I didn’t stay in very long – just enough to cool off and then we headed back. We dried off a bit and then ventured to find a restaurant. We ended up at “Zachary’s” which was a pizza place. It had so many different kinds of pizza on the menu – like pizza with lamb, one kind with prawns.. there was a whole bunch of random kinds. Shannen and I shared the Hawaiian pizza – pretty plain jane – but it was delicious! Anyway after that we headed back home on the – what seemed to be – longest bus ride of my life… I think we were all in bed by 9 or 9:30 just exhausted! It was definitely a packed full weekend of fun and adventure! So that’s it for now – I have caught you up on everything! I’m sure there will be more exciting updates soon! Hope all is well at home!!

Alyssa

All in a weekends work - Saturday (Feb 19)

Ok so today was spent with the idea of cleaning and getting organized before class started on Monday – I got my bed made…. That was about it.. haha… Lise’s birthday was on Sunday – so Saturday night we were going out to celebrate. So I did manage to get her out of the house long enough to decorate, and make a cake. So that was a nice surprise for her when she came home. She was all excited and took lots of pictures of the decorations – at this point in time she still didn’t know about the cake – I had it hidden in my room. So I bought this raspberry jelly stuff – that is actually meant for ice cream but I figured it would work for the cake as well – it was an experiment… So I wrote Happy 23^rd Lise on the cake and it was a little hard to read but could get the general idea, well a couple of hours later I went in to check on the cake – and all of the writing had slid off – hahaha experiment = not so good…. So I just rubbed it all in all over the cake – it actually tasted very good – sooo the experiment wasn’t a complete fail at least – all that matters was that it tasted good – and it seemed like everybody enjoyed it! Haha..  Anyway after dinner a few friends came over and we celebrated! We were supposed to go to the bar but we all kind of lost track of time and ended up staying in – but we all had a good night over all!!

All in a weekends work - Friday (Feb 18)

Ok so this is the really cool part! We had an awesome weekend packed jam full of fun things to do! Lise, our roommate Shannen, her friend Kim and I went on a tour of Kondalilla Falls and Sunshine Coast Hinterland. There were two bus-loads of 94 people that went on this trip! So tons of people did it – we went at staggered times so it wasn’t too crowded. We had to meet at 8:45 am at the bus terminal at the school we signed in and headed on our way. Our first stop was about 30 minutes away at Kondalilla Falls. Basically it’s a rainforest. It was a 2 hour walk at a leisurely pace all around and through the area.  Our first stop here was at a water hole and the base of a miniature water fall. So gorgeous and of course we were allowed to go swimming! The water was “freezing”, or so that’s what they said to warn us – sure it was colder than the ocean but it was refreshing! We swam around there for a while, swam to the waterfall and crawled up behind it which was cool. Warning before we got off the bus “Don’t jump off the rocks at the waterfall”  well guess what most of the guys were doing?? Oh most certainly did all of them listen to this warning – NOT! Almost every single guy was jumping off the rocks – some girls too… Not I – I’m not that adventurous – I don’t even jump off the rocks at the camp – are you crazy!  Anyway apparently the hole was over 60 feet deep so I guess it was relatively safe – no one got really hurt just belly flop burns I suppose…  Oh and before we had decided to go swimming Shannen looked down to realize she had a leach stuck to her ankle – gross!! This was before we got in the water. Lise was trying to pull it off – but it was just growing – Nastiest (I don’t even know if that’s a word – but I just made it up to describe how I felt about that) thing I have ever seen (I was happy it wasn’t me – I would have freaked out!) Anyway I remembered I had chips in my bag and Lise picked it off with a salt and vinegar chip… Apparently it had happened to quite a few people in the same area – nasty little things…  Moving on – so we continued our adventure through the rainforest – it didn’t rain that day which kind of sucked because apparently that’s when the “rainforest comes alive” with all the animals making an appearance… We were told we COULD see snakes (:S), goannas (aka lizards), bush turkeys, and KOALAS!! I really was hoping to see a koala but no such luck my friends – we didn’t see any animals really – just birds and one little tiny gecko thing… But let me tell you this – 2 hour “leisurely” walk – nearly killed us – the walk back up (I don’t mean that lightly) to the park was stairs, hills, and more stairs…. I was happy to see the top that’s for sure!  Even when you thought you got to the top there were more stairs… It reminded me of Buddha…

So after that we jumped on the bus and headed to a little quaint touristy town called Maleny where we grabbed some grub – we were starving after that hike and a half!

After our bellies were satisfied we jumped back on the bus and headed for  Mary Cairncross Park where we saw the “Glass House Mountains”. Which are live volcanic peaks – or something like that.  In my opinion they were a little overrated – we could only see them from across the street and I guess it was kind of foggy that day so didn’t get great pictures – there were a few though.  Anyway after we took some pictures of the Glass House Mountains we then went for another tour in a rainforest. This time we were really tired from our previous walk – and really wanted to see some animals! So I pulled a dad I wined and said “aww we haven’t even seen any critters yet – I just want to see a critter!” It worked – All of a sudden we saw something move right beside us in the bush – we saw a wallabie! We actually saw two – but they were fast critters – nothing like the kangas on campus these guys weren’t too fond of us humans – we did manage to get a quick picture though where you can kind of see them. Still no Koalas which I really wanted to see in the wild. Anyway after that we jumped back on the bus and headed home, we stayed in the rest of the night because we were all prettied drained – but it was a cool day with lots of picture opportunities!!

All in a weekends work - Thursday Night

Ok so hopefully I didn’t bore you too much with the previous entry and you kept reading because this is the really interesting part! The weekend!! Yay…  So I will begin with Thursday because I left everybody hanging after the orientation session about taco night! Yep you read right in the last update - $2 tacos!!! So after orientation we headed home to meet our two roommates and headed for the bus. We caught a free shuttle down to Maroochydore (about 30 minutes away). The shuttle was packed full of incredibly drunk people…. We stayed sober that night so it was quite entertaining! First of all we were sitting two people in a seat meant for one. My seat buddy was an 18 year old… who sang the whollleeeeee time. Now for those of you who attended my going away party on the 22^nd of January – I know what you must be thinking – but don’t you worry  (That’s all I’m going to say about that one – those of you who were there know what I’m talking about ). Anyway yeah buddy sang the whollleee time and he got the bus to follow along with him – again as I said before  - it was entertaining none the less. Once we got there – our one roommate had a hard time getting in because she’s not quite 18 yet (which is the drinking age here). Even though it wasn’t advertised that it was an 18+ event, and our other roommate had called during the day and asked if she could get in and we were told yes as long as she was accompanied by an adult 20 or older – well Amy is 21, Lise is 22 (now she’s 23) and I’m 23… anyway after speaking with the manager he let us all in and threatened if he caught anyway of his drinking there would be serious consequences – we weren’t there to drink.. and they really should have advertised that better – but anyway we all got in and enjoyed our $2 tacos. Oh and we enjoyed the last bit of the tacos because they ran out – really organized bar.  Moving on….

Orientation!

Hey Everyone,

So as promised here is an update from the rest of last week and the weekend! This particular one covers Thursday’s big orientation day and class from today - so sorry if it's dry - this is for the people at home who are concerned I'm not going to school! The updates from the weekend - will be awesome!!
Ok so last Thursday (the 17th) was our grad. diploma in education (aka teachers college) orientation day. It was a full day that started at 11 - we went for an hour session with tons of information thrown at us - regarding placement, wider field experience (which I'll explain shortly) and all of the key information we will need to graduate... After all that information was thrown at us we had an hour to grab some lunch so we got some free sausage from the barbeque on campus (which we had been eating all week because well it's free you know!) After lunch we had been split up and given designated rooms to go to and pretty much split up in our programs - so my group was mostly primary with a few middle phase students. Our afternoon was then filled with four hours of sitting in the same tutorial room with name games and getting to know one another. We then talked about Wider Field Experience - which is part of our program in order for us to graduate. We have to complete 13 days or 65 hours of volunteer work - in a setting that is working with children - and broadening our skills as a teacher - for example if we do extra-curricular work in the school of our placement after hours, or there are mentor programs (from my understanding kind of like big brother big sister). I have signed up for one with indigenous students so I'll have to update you about that one when I hear back. The second half of our four hours involved a guest speaker - who is a specialist in Physical Education and teaches secondary (high school) kids (mostly). However this woman has done everything! She taught in elite schools and schools of only indigenous students, she has been head of departments and an acting principle. She has created lesson plans and unit plans when the school has had nothing and she has built the repertoire up. Currently she is a primary school phys ed teacher. She is amazing - and a little bit intimidating considering how much she does and how much extra work she puts in above and beyond her requirements! She was really cool to listen to. After all that mandatory "fun stuff" we had one last session. Sharon Hogan who is our program coordinator, and professor, and who we met at the conference in Toronto, organized, begged, planned and pulled off a social event for all of us that included some of our professors, TA's (or tutors as they are called here), current and former students. The best part about it - was the free drinks! I felt so grown up with my glass of wine, introducing myself to all of my professors... this school definitely makes you feel more like a person as opposed to a number - that much is true!
Anyway after all that - we headed home absolutely exhausted with the long day we had just participated in - but that didn't stop us because we headed out for $2 tacos... Which I will explain in the next update (remember this is the boring update!)

So that brings us to today – First day of class!!!! I had class 8-10 and 12-2 one lecture and then one tutorial of the same class (EDU 342 – Curriculum A in the Primary Phase – now doesn’t that sound like fun!) In our undergraduate usually the first day (or first week) of class involved going over the syllabus and calling it a day – well in your fifth year it’s definitely not like that! We didn’t go over the syllabus really – we just jumped into content. In our tutorial we got into pairs and started on our first assignment. Well one day down – and I can already tell what the rest of the semester is going to be like – I’m glad I enjoyed the beach when I did because I feel like the beach is going to be as foreign here as it would have been at home. DARN! Anyway our first assignment involves picking a “theme” or “context” and developing 4 weeks of a unit plan – which includes covering two or three subjects with lots of lesson plans! WHOA…. First things first – I have never done a unit plan… second thing – a lot of the lingo and groups of classes are different here than at home so I’m also trying to decipher the meaning of everything. Good thing my partner is an Aussie and she can help me out with the lingo. So far we have decided to do a “Welcome Back to School” unit with Social Justice / Society and Socialization as our context so we will see how that goes. So that basically covers the school aspect of the update… It should be an interesting semester / year – but I am glad to have started and hopefully soon I’ll settle into a good routine – keeping on top of everything!
Oh and one more thing – I have taken pictures of the University and of my “home” for the next 10 months so I’ll add those to this update.

Now that covers the worried parents who wonder if I’ll ever be in class – yes I will be! If you’re interested in all of the fun weekend events that took place – keep reading!

Oops....

That one was kind of a long one! Hopefully I'll update it a little more often with shorter updates!! :)

oh and now it's pouring rain... the kind of pouring rain i was talking about earlier - and i have to walk back home - greeeaaaatttt - maybe i'll just wait it out

No Worries...

Hey All,

Due to popular demand - I have decided to update this thing! Sorry for the long long long delay - My internet in my dorm costs $36 a month for 5gb.. well much to my surprise 5gb is not a lot at all - and because of my love for everyone at home and wanting to update them on skype all the time - I have used well over half of my gb for the month and have not quite reached half way through the month - sooo needless to say - I'm backing off of the internet usage in my dorm. So today I ventured to the "Uni" (as it is called here) and figured out how to set up my wireless account - and voila free wireless! Thank you USC... So I have a LOT of updating to do - my bad!
Sooo I'm not even sure where to begin. I guess we will start with the living situation - As of Monday February 14th (stupidest day of the year may I add) all of the "flat"mates of 32 have moved in! Our new roommate wasn't the one who was initially supposed to move in but because - well basically 32 is so awesome she requested to live with us - well she requested to live in an all girl dorm and they put her in ours... I like my story better. Her name is Shannon - and she is from somewhere that starts with a "T" in Australia. She is 17 - a youngin...
Secondly - school update: soo orientation week has started and we have been spending a lot of time at the University figuring out classes and important dates and getting all of the necessities done and done before classes begin on Monday. Things are looking good! Everything is falling into place nicely.. Feeling a little bit overwhelmed at times but everyone is awesome here... The laid back attitude of everyone here and everywhere you go is wicked - don't feel like wearing shoes - who cares go in bare feet! Which tons of people do - to the mall (or the "plaza") to the bank, to the school, where ever you want! There are these things called "go cards" which you scan getting on and off the bus you just put money on it instead of having cash on you all the time (kind of like DCB - from Brock for my parents who understand what that means) - so we have been putting off getting one because really every time we're at the mall we forget about it - well good thing we did! Normally the card costs $5 and then you just keep putting more money on it when you need to - well we heard that you can pick them up at the school on tuesday - just for orientation week. So we waited until Tuesday. Well not only did we get a free card we also got $70 balance already on the card - FOR FREE!!! Again thank you USC - there are some perks to being a student you know. I've pretty much figured my way around campus now - it is a really really small campus which I love! I don't think there are more than 5000 students here - but that is a complete guesstimate... I see kangaroo's and palm trees every day.. rough life i know! Looking forward to classes starting on Monday - tomorrow is our "Edu" orientation for our program - where we meet professors and former and current students and figure out important stuff - like placement - should be interesting.
Thirdly: Weather - well that's quite the topic - one minute it's sunny and hot - with a gorgeous breeze and the next minute it's absolutely pouring, I mean pouring - we were in a lecture on monday and we couldn't hear the speaker because the rain outside was too loud.. Oh speaking of that you know how when you go to the Dominican Republic and the airport is all open - and the hotel is all open - everything is all open? Welcome to USC... like lecture halls are just a building in it's own - you walk outside and open a door and walk into lecture - you don't walk into a building and then find the lecture hall.. I have pictures...
Fourthly: ok sooo I'm going to say that covers most of the important things I need to tell you about - except for the upcoming plans - which I'm really excited about! So this Sunday it's Lise's 23rd birthday - do we ever have a weekend planned! Friday we are going on this tour (I can't remember the name of the town) however there is a rainforest where we have been guaranteed pictures of tons of animals! There is a waterfall - and there is a water hole of I think natural spring water - and it's cold! I think it's going to be an awesome adventure with amazing picture opportunities - and only for $20!! I can't wait... Saturday is going to be the celebration of the big birthday with a venture to the bar - and I'm sure too many drinks will be had - but I'm over it! Sunday for Lise's actual birthday our housemates are all heading to "Noosa Heads" for the day. Google it - AMAZING. We are taking the city bus up and we are spending the day there - again rainforest and beach and staying there for dinner afterwards. Tons of stuff going on this weekend and I promise I'll update you early next week about everything! As mentioned before I also have pictures to upload of the school and my new home for the next year so hopefully next week I'll get on that!
As for everything else going on - I'm lovin life right now - having a really good time. I'm meeting people from ALL over the world.. the different cultures coming together and mingling is really really cool! The language barrier - even with our roomates - is soo funny - Lise and I have been caught twice with dumbfounded looks on our face trying to figure out what the heck our Aussie roommates are saying! But we will get used to it - I'm learning tons of new words and slang - I'll probably be using them when I come home!
I would also like to give a shout out for a second - I don't know if you have seen the new photos on facebook (for those that have it) but there are new pictures of the beach - Mooloolaba - which Canadians have a heck of a time trying to pronounce properly! The first L isn't really pronounced... Anyway point of the story - I took pictures in the water - and my camera still works! Just so you know - so thanks for that!
That's all for now - thanks for reading! As I said - update soon - early next week at the latest - that one should be a good update!
I hope everyone at home is doing well! I miss everyone but am really enjoying myself so far!
Talk soon....