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