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.