The Time Has Come

I leave Sydney in just 8.5 hours. The time has flown by, yet I feel as though I have done and accomplished so much more than I thought I could in my time here.

This morning a huge dust storm rolled into Sydney. You can google it for more information and to see some astonishing pictures. I only have a few on my picasa site. Basically a huge dust storm was building up in the East (The outback) and blew into Sydney sometime during the night. I woke up to a blood red sky. And by the time I really woke up my room was OSU Orange. I opened my kitchen window and looked out and saw nothing but orange everywhere. It was quite eerie and a bit weird to me. I got to school and was told nobody had seen or heard of anything like this happening before. The air was very toxic and we had to keep the students inside with the windows and doors shut all day. All plane and water transportation was grounded for the day until about 5pm this afternoon.

My last day at school went well. I taught the entire day except the last hour when my students and mentor teacher Carlie surprised me with a Farewell/Happy Birthday Party. They had food and banners and everything up while I was away at lunch. They were very sneaky! They had made a book for me with all of their pictures in it and a special message from each of them. My class also had a huge birthday card that they all signed as well. It was very cute and meant quite a lot that they thought of it. My principal also brought in a very nice pen and tea towel that had my school on it. The staff as a whole wished me well and asked me to come back soon to visit and teach. Both of which I plan on doing!

It was quite hard to leave Rozelle yesterday but I am so grateful for the opportunity I had and all the learning and growing I did while there. What an adventure. I couldn't of asked for a better experience or a better group of people to get to work with.

I've now cleaned my room completely and my bags have been packed for the last time. I am catching a taxi around 3:45-4am to head to the airport. My flight leaves around 7am and after a few layovers I should arrive in Portland in the afternoon on the 24th.

Hope this finds everyone well and will see you all when I get back.

4 more days

Until I am on a plane headed back to the U.S.

Not much to update on. My bags are totally packed and my room is empty. I've got a few lessons left before I am done at school.

I went to one last show Sunday night at the Opera House and took some pictures. I went to the International School Music Festival. A lot like W.I.B.C. for those of you who remember me doing that in highschool. It was a great performance and I'll have pictures and videos up soon on picasa.

Once back at home the following day is my birthday and the day after that my family/friends bbq. I am excited to see everyone. Sunday will find me back up in Monmouth at a staff meeting and school beginning Monday morning at 8. I also start student teaching immediately.

I'll try to update this one more time before I get on the plane. 26 hours to get home here I come. Yipee.

Last couple of weeks

Last time I updated this I had gone to the reef, Kuranda and was back in Sydney.

I took Melissa and her mom Lynn to my school last Thursday to watch my class perform the assembly at school. They did a skit on "How the Animals Came to Australia" it was adorable. I was finally able to video tape the whole school singing the Australian National Anthem and their unique Happy Birthday Song. You can find these videos on my picasa website.

After the assembly I took Melissa and Lynn to Paddy's Market where we spent quite a few hours shopping and getting gifts. I was able to pick up the last of what I needed to get and then we headed back to my place to start packing. They took an entire suitcase of clothes and gifts home for me so I didn't have to pay for an extra piece of luggage.

I also cooked Kangaroo one of the nights for them. It turned out really good and they both seemed to like it.

One Friday last week we took a Ferry to the Sydney Olympic Park. We toured the Aquatic Center and both Melissa and I decided we wanted to work there. Her of course, as my boss. :-) We both sat and watched swimming lessons and walked around the pool. We also went through the volunteer poles that are displayed outside of the ANZ Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies took place. They have some awesome poles with names on them. Again, check out my picasa website for these. (It just takes too long to put pictures up on this - it is slower than a slug.)

We went on a tour of the Opera House and I learned a few new things about how it was built. We also went to a show the same night called Verdi Requiem. They played the entire requiem with no stops. It was beautiful!

Last Saturday I took them on the Coogee to Bondi walk I had previously done. It is probably one of my favorite things to do here. It was a gorgeous day and we got some great pictures. They were even doing a kite festival when we made it to Bondi! The same night Meliss and I went down to Darling Harbor later together and walked around and chatted. It was a great way to spend the night talking with her and walking around. We even met up with my friend Franco and had a good time.

Sunday was Meliss and Lynn's last day, so I took them to my favorite place here - Watson's Bay for lunch and to see the city from a distance. They really enjoyed it and I was happy to go back one more time before I leave. Sunday night we went and sat on the Opera House steps and watched Fame on a huge screen with over 4000 other people. What an experience! It was amazing.

Monday found me back at school. Boy was I glad to be back. I enjoyed my time with Melissa and her mom so much, but I was really missing being in the classroom. As cheesy as it sounds, it is definitely the highlight of being here and I am living my dream right now. I don't want it to end.

I did journals and spelling with the students Monday morning and it went really well. And on Tuesday (today) I did another spelling activity and taught the students about Chinese New Year for their celebrations lesson.

The students are now aware that I am leaving and each day another one comes up to me either crying or wanting a hug because they don't want me to leave. It is cute, but is making it harder for me to pack my bags.

I've started to pack my bags and my room is looking quite empty. I'm really going to miss being here in Australia. What an adventure, I hope this is only the beginning of my time teaching in Australia.

www.picasa.google.com/MeggoinAustralia - HEAPS OF NEW PICTURES

Quick update

I have been super busy since Sept. 2nd when my friend Melissa came to visit. We left Thursday morning early to head up north to Cairns. We visited the Great Barrier Reef two different days and went to Kuranda where we got to hold a koala bear and a crocodile. I have tons and tons and TONS of pictures up on my picasa website from the past week or so.
I am super busy right now having friends here and haven't been in my room to update. So give me until they leave to update it properly. However, look at my pictures! (PLEASE NOTE: I have not had time to change them all facing the correct way and have not put captions on them. I WILL be doing this soon, so check back in about a week or so for that to be finished.)

At the Great Barrier Reef we got to see 3 different turtles, huge clams, an eel, a stingray and TONS of fish. I even took some videos.

Kuranda was beautiful and I truly enjoyed holding a Koala bear again and holding a crocodile too!

We are now back in Sydney and today climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Yup, that's right, I went all the way TO THE TOP! It was AWESOME! I've got some pictures that they took to bring home and show everyone.

I went back to school for the first time in about a week and taught a lesson. The students were happy to see me and I was sure happy to see them too. Tomorrow I am going in again for their assembly and then am off to the markets with Melissa and her mom to get some gifts for their friends and pick up what I have left to get.

I hope everyone is doing well at home!

www.picasaweb.google.com/MeggoinAustralia - check out all my new pictures!