Since being home...

I know I haven't posted in awhile - so I figured I would do just a quick update.  Since being home it's been great spending time with family, especially my little nephew who was born on May 3rd (while I was away).  He is SO fun to have around!  I have also spent lots of time with my parents (aka my new roommates..) brothers, cousins, friends, etc.

We recently had our first snowfall, which is making me think "I WANT TO GO BACK!!!".  I would love to go back, as I miss everyone from Australia heaps, but right now it is definitely not in my budget.  I am hoping that I can get back sometime soon though!

This Friday is commencement.  I will actually be walking across the stage to shake the President's hand, get my diploma case, and call it good at WSU.  I can hardly believe I actually have obtained my Bachelor of Science degree, it just seems unreal!  Where I am going to go from here?  I am just not sure.  I have been praying about it a lot, and am trying to find out what would be best.  I do still want to travel and see things, however paying off my student loans is not allowing me to travel like I would have hoped.  I have thought about the Peace Corp and Ameri Corps - and also teaching of course:)  I am just not sure where I want to be/go at this point, so I am just taking things as they come.  I currently am working full time and living at home to help pay off loans, but I am hoping that within the next year or two I will have a better idea of where I am going from here.

I guess that pretty much sums it up for now.
 Happy Holidays to you all!

Kayaking, Starfish, Sea Shells, and... a Photo Shoot?

May 20, 2011

            Amazing….  Today I woke up at 6:30, ate some breaky, (only to find out later that there was BUGS in the cereal I ate…..)  and headed down to the sport hut.  At the hotel there was a list of activities that were free for the guests to do, and the one for today was to kayak around the island…  So I went down at 7am, which is where I met Kensly.  Kensly works at the sport hut at the Holiday Inn.  It was only me there, but he was still keen to take me, so out we went.  I wanted to bring my camera along, but he said it would definitely get wet, and I should leave it behind…  I ran up to the front desk to leave it there, which is where I saw my first HUGE Vanuatuan spider…. (YUCK!)  It was massive!  So when I saw it, I shrieked a bit, and pointed it out to the two front desk workers.  They book looked at the spider, looked back to me, chuckled a bit, and went back to work….  I was like “umm you are just going to leave it there??” and they said “yeah, it won’t hurt you”.  It was so nasty, I was so freaked out by it, but it was so interesting that they were so incredibly calm about it!  Anyways….  went back down to meet Kensly at the Kayaks and out we went… It was amazing; the water was like glass, still as ever.  Everything was so quiet and peaceful.  I got a tour around the small island that the hotel owns, and also back by some houses.  It was a lot of fun. 

Here I am, out on the Kayak!  

Here is myself with Kensly! 

            Even though I went on the trip to learn about the island, I learned so much more!!!  Talking to Kensly I found out that he was 24 years old and from Ambrym, which is one of the smaller islands of Vanuatu.  His island is known for the carvings, which is pretty cool.  His island also has volcanoes that tourists often like to see.  I learned that he grew up “living free”.  His family had no money, but it wasn’t needed.  They ate everything they grew, and they made their house in the land, with the land.  They had cows and chickens that they raised and butchered for the meat.  I asked him how he got to the island we are currently on, Efate Island.  It was amazing to hear that he actually would collect coconuts, split them open (which is a LOT tougher than you would think…), and then carry them to the markets to sell..  He did this long enough to get the money so he could take a ship from Ambrym to Efate.  How amazing is that??  He has never been anywhere else in the world, but he would love to see Australia.  I just find it so amazing.  Kensly then asked about me and my life growing up.  He asked if I was able to “live free”.  I replied with “no”, and he immediately responded with, “oh, you grew up in the city?”.  I found that so interesting, the image that he must have had of the United States.  I then explained that no one can “live free” in America, as you need money for everything, if nothing else the property that you want to live on. 

            I also got to learn about Kensly’s life.  There are four children in his family as well.  He said that it is part of their culture to have arranged marriages.  WE talked about why he didn’t think that was fair, and I also learned that Kensly is a Christian, and goes to church in Port Vila.  We also talked about school, and how they do actually have university in Vanuatu, but it doesn’t sound like it is very common to go to. 

            I loved learning about Kensly’s life as a Vanuatu citizen, it was wonderful – but my adventure for the day didn’t stop there.  Philip came along also!  Philip is another worker at the hotel.  He is a bit older than Kensly, and I am not exactly sure which island he comes from.  He loves to have a good time, and was so keen to have Julie and myself making us try Kava.  He was fun to have, and was a lot of fun to be around as well.  Having so much fun Kayaking in the morning I rented another kayak from Philip and went out.  I wanted to make it to the ocean, unfortunately that didn’t happen, but it was a great time!  I went far enough to see some of the houses of the people.  I could see what Kensly was talking about, they were made out of anything and everything – and were not much at all.  My favorite part was when I went by about 5 kids.  They were along the shoreline, and they spotted me right away.  The kids were between the ages of 1-6 probably.  They were so excited to see me, all jumping and waving at me.  They even started to sing!!!!  It was so great to see.  I really wanted to stop and say hello, but I figured that would seem a bit odd, so I continued on. 

Here I am with Philip!! 

            When I got back to the beach, I decided to do some shell collecting.  While looking for shells, I noticed this HUGE starfish that was very brightly colored!  It was the most amazing creature I have ever seen!  It was so large, larger than my hand, and it was red with black spikes.  I took a picture and ran up to the sport hut to ask Philip what it was called.  He told me that it wasn’t poisonous and that I could pick it up…  So Philip took me down by the beach again and we picked it up.  It was so neat… It was so heavy, but so neat!  The black thorns sticking out were so sharp, but it was such a beautiful creature!  What an amazing thing to find!

            After a long day kayaking and collecting shells at the beach, it was time for us to head up to our room to grab something to eat.  On our way, a lady who worked at the hotel stopped us.  She asked if we would be in a photo with a customs officer for a competition.  I said I would, thinking it would only take a few minutes.  I was then introduced to the customs officer (Simon), and the two people with him.  I learned that the photo would be entered into a competition that would be participated in by many countries around the world!!!  So it was a bit bigger deal than I thought, and before I knew it, a real photographer came in….  I couldn’t believe it, I am not very good at acting, and I am surely not a model!  After an hour and a half of photo taking and laughing (mainly laughing), the photographer was finally satisfied!  It was such a great time – Simon had such great humor (which was surprising since he is a customs officer). 

Here we are, Simon, the photographer, and myself...  I was supposed to act like there was something illegal in my bag.... and I was supposed to be scared.  Simon continued to make me laugh! 

Simon and I, posing for the photo yet again! 

:)  It was a lot of fun... :) 

            It was a wonderful day today!  I wouldn’t change any of it for the world!  I am so lucky to be here and to have met so many great people and learn so many wonderful things!  J  I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings, but for now, goodnight!!! 

Oh, hey little pacific island!!!

G’day Mate-

I know it’s been awhile since I have last written.  I have been crazy busy with school- writing more lesson plans a day than I could ever have imagined, at school from 8am until 5pm every day.  I know that it sounds very exciting, but I have other exciting news.   I am currently sitting in Sydney International Airport.  I am sure you are perhaps guessing that I am flying home to the U.S. – but that is not correct.

My Australian Visa is coming to an end.  With my tourist visa I am only allowed 3 months at a time.  As the end of my three months is coming up fast I had two options:

1.      I could pay around $250.00 to fill out some paperwork online and continue to stay in Australia. 

2.     I could buy a round trip ticket to fly out of Australia and come back in and my visa would be automatically renewed for another three months.

After chatting with my host family about this – and my host mom making an amazing offer, flying out of the country seemed like the better choice. Where we’re heading you might ask?  Well, don’t worry if you have never heard of it, because I hadn’t when she asked me about it, but the country of Vanuatu.  Vanuatu is a country made up of 83 islands that are out in the Pacific. 

Heading to this tropical island I am thinking that it will be a beautiful island full of sun, beaches, and people.  I was right, however I was missing a lot! 

When we arrived at midnight (our plane was a couple hours late.. I guess that’s island time!!), there was an island band that was there to greet us.  We got off the plane outside in the open air.  We just walked to the door that said “international arrivals” and went in.  Right in the door was an island band.  They were dressed in the bright colors and playing the island music.  It was a fun welcome!  The airport was NOT like any I have ever seen before (however, as you know I haven’t really seen that many airports in my life!).  There were no computers, no flashing lights, trolleys, people running in all directions, etc.  It was a laid back, comfortable feel.  We stood in line to be checked in by the customs officers.  Surprisingly enough, these guys actually cracked a smile J After customs we went to collect our luggage – and there was no worry as to where to collect it at, as there was only one belt for luggage.  We then went through with our baggage.  There were no metal detectors; there were no machines to put our luggage through, just men waving us through.  It was so amazing to have an experience like this in an airport.  The duty free was about the size of a hotel room, and that was all that was at the airport.  Just incredible how this international airport was so laid back and easy going.  What a great experience!  There was a bus company awaiting us as when came in.  They took our bags and loaded them into their trailer, gave us a bottle of water, and had us sit on the bus.  When we left the airport, one of the ladies on the bus explained a few things about Vanuatu.  She told us that the people here love to talk to the visitors.  They will answer any question we have, so feel free to ask.  She also said that seatbelts are not mandatory here, and most vehicles will not even have them.  Any buses are marked with a “B” on the license plate, and Taxi’s are marked with the white “Taxi” sign on top of the vehicles.  Tipping is not necessary here, but small gifts are appreciated.  There are NO speed limits and NO stoplights in Vanuatu.  (Yes, this scared me a bit!)  People drive on the right side of the road (so like the US) however they give way to the people on the left (like Australia)…. 

The Band that greeted us as we went through security! 

With this information I had a whole new idea of what Vanuatu might be like.  I know I was a bit worried about getting in a taxi or bus after that, knowing there were no seat belts, speed limits, or stop lights. 

When we arrived at our hotel, we were greeted with many smiles.  It seemed as though the hotel staff were excited about our arrival (Perhaps because they had been waiting 2 hours extra for us to check in!!!)  They carried our bags to our room, which was very nice of them.  The hotel is astonishing!!!  The lobby is all open, HUGE ceiling, and just a lovely tropical feel to it.  Our room is one that has just been newly renovated.  We are pretty lucky!!! J  Well that is it for now!  Off to bed I go, I want to be up nice and early to explore Vanuatu tomorrow!

 We just spent our first day here and I learned so much.  We first went to check out the beach, talked to the people who were working at the hotel, and went into town to grab some food for the next few days.  We were told that the market would be our best option as it would be cheapest to get fresh fruit and vegetables.  We found the market and wandered around it, I only recognized one item there, and that was coconuts.  I have no idea what other vegetables or fruits they were selling.  I don’t even know if I could figure out how to eat them.  Most of the items were green and brown, so there was not much color.  The people who were selling them all greeted us with a smile.  There were whole families there, children too!  Walking through the market, one of the more popular tables was a table that was selling lunch.  Using a leaf for a plate, they were serving octopus and a few different fruits and vegetables.  It seemed to be popular because when we were walking around the market there were small groups of people sitting on the ground eating out of the large leafs. 

This was the food market in town! 

Here were a few of the islanders playing a game outside of the markets.

Since we weren’t sure what exactly we were looking at in the fresh markets, we decided to take a look in the super market.  Here we were a bit more knowledgeable as to what we were getting.  We got a few biscuits, peanut butter, cereal, milk and tuna for the next few days. 

While we were in town we decided to grab some lunch.  We had to first get some Vatu (the currency used in Vanuatu) out of an ATM.  It is amazing how their currency is in such large amounts.  For example, for $20 Australian dollars, I received around 2,740 Vatu.  I know this seems like a lot, but it really isn’t.  A burger for lunch was about 700 Vatu.  Things are really that much more expensive, but when I see the large numbers I definitely cringe a bit at them!  While we were eating lunch at Jills Café, a man, Allen was his name, came over to ask if we wanted a newspaper.  I asked how much, and he told me it was 100 Vatu.  I said “no thanks” to him with a smile.  He asked where I was from, and I told him I was from the United States.  His face completely lit up, his eyes got large, and he smiled.  He asked if he could please just shake my hand.  I told him of course, and he was so happy!  He asked what my name was, and introduced himself as Allen.  He seemed so shocked that I was in Vanuatu from the US.  He asked if I liked it here, and was so pleased to see me.  He then asked if he could give me a kiss before he left, so I turned my cheek for him.  He shook my hand again after that and smiled while he said “Nikki it is so nice to meet you!”.  Allen then turned away to continue selling his papers.  After this, I was really thinking about why was he so excited.  What made America so appealing to him?  I figured it must be media, or perhaps word of mouth that he would especially show interest in a person from America.  I almost felt bad, he should not be the one appreciating me, I would love to appreciate him for welcoming me into his country.  It just truly amazes me to think that I had never even heard of this place called Vanuatu – and I am here now and there are 83 islands!!!  There are thousands and thousands of people who live here, who work here, who sell their local produce at the markets, each and every day!  It truly is amazing to think how large our world is, and how much is really out there.  I am so blessed to be here, and to be able to learn about the culture here.  It makes me want to learn more, see less common places in the world, meet the actual villagers, and see what makes the country the way it is – so thank you Allen, thank you for greeting me with such kindness today.  Please know that I want to thank YOU for welcoming me into this beautiful country that you live in.  I am  very fortunate to be here. 

Not only did I meet Allen today, but I also met a lady named Gweneth.  She was selling clothing and other tourist trinkets in town.  She was absolutely lovely, and was so happy to just talk.  There was also another lady we met today, Nancy.  She was absolutely lovely.  She smiled at everyone as they walked past, shook my hand, and told us how the day before the weather was so bad.  She thinks that we may have brought the sunshine.  J  I also met a grandmother and her two granddaughters.  They were at the markets selling trinkets and clothing also.  The granddaughters were 6 and 7.  They were so happy to be there, smiling the whole time.  It was absolutely adorable.  They were so excited to show me the different items that they had. 

It was just an amazing day today!  I absolutely loved meeting with all the locals.  I wish I could have visited with them more!  They were lovely!  The people here are so kind; they love sharing their culture.  It is absolutely beautiful.  They also are so considerate, every person that I met throughout the day said to me “I hope you like it here..”  It was almost said as though perhaps I wouldn’t like it, and they were really hoping that I would enjoy my time here – well let me tell you this place is BEAUTIFUL – and not only because of the landscape.  The people here are what really make it beautiful!  I think I am really going to enjoy Vanuatu.  Tomorrow I am planning to go on an island tour that is hosted by our hotel for free, and then perhaps take a kayak out and just wander around the lagoon.  I would really love to meet more locals, and possibly visit a real village.  I will just keep praying about it and see where it takes me!  Goodnight for now!

Love from Vanuatu! 

The Kayaks at the hotel! 

A look at the lagoon we stayed at... :)  

Welcome to the world Hayden!

This post is a bit different than all of the previous posts.  This is just to announce the birth of my nephew, Hayden Donald!  He was born today, May 3rd, 2011, at 7:36pm.  He weighed 9.1lbs and was 21.5 inches long.  Hayden is healthy, and mommy and daddy are very excited.  :)  (So is Auntie Nikki!!!)

I love you Hayden!!!  Even though I am not there physically, I am there in spirit with you, I cannot wait to meet you in person!  I am so happy that you are here, and I cannot wait to watch you grow up!!!  You have absolutely amazing parents, you are a very lucky little boy!  I am so happy to have you in our family...

This is extremely hard for me, as I am a total kid person, and for me to not be there to hold him and see him is very difficult.  I cannot wait until I get to see him and hold him!!  I hope time goes by fast!

The Miracle of Life...

Baby Hayden - healthy :) 

The beautiful family... LOVE

Hayden and his beautiful eyes!! 

Just adorable! 

Hayden and his Great Grandma Reschke.  

Hayden's first bath!

April 21, 2011

G’day Mate! J  So Australia has been wonderful to me as we head into their Autumn season…  Student teaching is going just wonderfully, I am loving the kids, the staff, and the schools!  I am now living with my host family in Kulnura.  They are absolutely AMAZING.  They made me feel right at home here, and have a room just for me all set up!  Jen, the daughter, made a sign on my door that says “Nikki’s Room” and they rearranged since I had last been here, creating a beautiful little bedroom.  I feel so blessed to be here, and have everything that they have given me!  It is absolutely amazing!  Being out in the bush is definitely different than being on the beaches, but it is fun just the same!  It is nice being away from the busy city, and getting peace and quiet out in the bush. 

One of the first mornings I woke up because I thought I had heard a monkey… Knowing that there are no monkeys in Australia, I had to ask what it was… I found out it was a Kookaburra bird!  They are SO loud!  There is also another bird that copies different sounds that other animals/people make, so it could have been that one as well.  Either way, it was a really neat sound to hear coming from a bird!

Australia's largest Holstein! :) 

My family took me to Sydney’s Royal Easter Show the other day… I was told it was somewhat like our State Fairs…. It definitely was… TIMES TEN!  It was humungous; there were so many people, so many rides, so many animals and shows, it was just unreal!  We saw the different farm animals, went to the farm nursery (where they had chooks or chickens, sheep, goats, and calves just walking around in a big pen).  It was lots of fun just walking around to the different animals and petting them.  I really enjoyed it, maybe more than the kids…. Haha.  After that we went to the rides, which was crazy!  The rides we have at the Houston County Fair are NOTHING compared to what they had here… They literally had two roller coasters set up!  I couldn’t believe it!  It was so huge!  Also, very popular at the Easter Show, were the show bags.  Here they had all the brands of candy, popular clothing, toys, etc., and they had “show bags” which were anywhere from $5-$40 in price, and had a bag full of stuff… haha.  The best one purchased was probably the TimTam bag… but in America we don’t have TimTams…  Trust me guys, you don’t know what you’re missing!

Myself & the kids petting a goat! 

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! 

The VERY popular woodchopping show! 

Myself walking across planks of wood at the treetop course.

I also went to a treetop park with my host family!  It was Jen’s 13^th birthday, so we went to a high ropes course in the treetops!  It was so awesome – I definitely want to go back and do it all again!!!!  There were 4 courses, however, we only got through three and then it was too dark!  It was a lot of fun though, and I am definitely going again!!! 

Myself on one of the many "Flying Foxes" at the treetop course.

Besides the exciting things, its been nice to be in a home environment (however it does make me miss home a bit more..)  It is nice to have the boys and Jen around, reminds me of when my sister and brothers and myself all were at home together.  It is also nice to have dogs around again!!!  They have two dogs, and the little one, Bear, I have really taken a liking to (not that I don’t like the other one, Max… but Bear just connected with me first..).  Anyways, little Bear, we have cuddles often, and it’s nice to have him around.  Reminds me of Ellie, whom I miss a lot!   

The sign that Jen made me for my room :) 

My beautiful bedspread and matching pillowcases!!! :) 

I have also been extremely busy with homework since it is nearing the end of the semester.  It has been a lot of work thus far, and it continues to be a lot of work, but I am confident that I can get it all done, and get it done right. 

One thing I am looking forward too…. MY BROTHER IS VISITING ME, HERE, IN AUSTRALIA, IN 54 DAYS!!!!  I absolutely cannot WAIT!  It will be SO nice to have someone from home, HERE, with me!  J  It is something I am really looking forward to, and I am currently trying to plan out the itinerary for when he visits.  I hope it will all work out J 

Well, I hope you all are doing well!  Hopefully the weather is warming up there, because it is cooling down here (still shorts and t-shirt weather though…) 

“Smile, and the world might smile with ya!”

xx