G'Day Mates!!!

Welcome to my blog! I am a senior at Baylor University and will graduate on December 18, 2010. Before I graduate though, I wanted to experience the educational system in another country…and have a little vacation at the same time :) When I was younger, I always said that if I had the chance to visit any country in the world, it would be Australia… That sounds corny but I’m not kidding. I actually have a survey from third grade that asked... “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?,” and my answer was Australia!

Well, the opportunity arose through Baylor to study abroad in Brisbane, Australia, to teach and assist at Whites Hill State College (a middle school in Brisbane), to independently travel to Sydney and Cairns, and also to travel to New Zealand on the way back to America. The trip will last from November 9 to December 12. Needless to say, I am super excited to travel to Australia and learn about the people and culture in this country!!!

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and I look forward to sharing my adventures with you! G’Day mates! Let’s go to the land down under!!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Hollywood in Brisbane

I thought it was going to be sunny and hot here in Australia. Instead, the weather has been very inconsistent and the rain seems to be following us wherever we go. The rain came down hard at school today. The students have already received their "final marks" for the year. During the last couple of weeks of school the teachers are wrapping up the end of the school year. Today, the students created treasure maps and then watched a national geographic video on crocodiles. The students also helped set up and decorate for the movie night they are presenting to their parents. The students have been creating, filming and editing these movies for about 8 weeks. They have worked very hard and I personally think Mr. Seipel's class has the best movies ;) We also went to the pool and the brave students swam while the rain was pouring!

Deanna and I planned on returning to the school to attend the movie night tonight. In between school and the movie night, we killed some time at the mall. Deanna's teacher was nice enough to give us a "lift." The store times here just blow my mind. At 4:30 p.m., the malls are packed with people. By 5:00, the mall is clearing out and by 5:30 it is deserted. We went to grab some dinner at the food court and the  restaurants were closing one by one. Hurry! I thought it was ironic that of all the restaurants available, the only ones that were still open by 5:30 were KFC, McDonald's, and Subway!!! The U.S. fast food joints dominate!

We were so proud of our transportation skills tonight. We got on the correct bus and got off at Whites Hill. The students were not in their uniforms. Instead, the girls wore dresses and the boys wore suits and ties. It was fun getting to see them in regular clothing. The teachers dress very casual at school but tonight they dressed up as well!

Mr. Horstman, Deanna, me and my teacher, Mr. Seipel

Caitlyn, me, Nelson, Phoebe, and Katherine

Waiting for the movies to begin!


I feel like such a world traveler when I bum rides off of people. We were a bit concerned about how we would get back to our apartment all the way across town. So I asked one of my students if her parents could drive us and her dad said yes! Much better than having to wait on the bus in the pouring rain or pay for a taxi! We were so thankful!!!
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