Where's the HEB?

In Australia, the people buy their groceries at Woolworth's. Here we are at the store buying our first groceries. What!? $8 for grapes!? We also found some Tim Tams which are delicious Australian cookies that come in many varieties. 

My first meal in Australia. 

Iguanas seem to be an everyday animal in Australia. This iguana here just happened to be on the sidewalk as we were exploring the city. 

Along the sidewalk is the view of the Story Bridge shown below which is just next to our apartment on the hill. Beautiful!!!

Where do I Live, and How do I Get Connected with the World?

The apartment is fully furnished with a kitchen, living room, washer and dryer.  We also have a huge patio that has a good view of the city.  Of course, I’ve slept on the couch the past two nights… some things never change, right? Hey, it’s a really comfy couch!

One thing that I have always heard is that the water in the toilets in Australia spins in the opposite direction than in the U.S.. Well, I tested it, and it’s true!! I also think it is interesting that the toilets here have 2 buttons…one for a half flush, and one for a full flush. What a great way to save water!!

For all you tennis players out there, the apartment complex has a tennis court to play on… a GRASS tennis court to be exact. How cool is that?!?! My friend and I both played in high school so we are super excited and hope to play soon.
The apartment sits on this enormous hill that we have to walk up and down on whenever we go to town. Needless to say, we don’t have to worry about gaining weight here…we walk everywhere we go!

Two things that I will never take for granted when I get back to the States… owning a vehicle and easy access to the Internet.  Australia is definitely not as connected as the U.S.. Get this… the closest place to get decent wifi around here… McDonalds in Chinatown!!  Yep, we travel halfway across the world to end up sitting at a McDonalds talking to our friends and family. 

If you want to buy Internet at the apartment, it’ll cost you $24.95 for 24 hours. Or how about go ahead and get it for the month while you’re here… for $200…uhhh, no thank you.

27 Hours Later...

From San Antonio to Dallas, Dallas to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Brisbane, the journey to Australia was 27 hours long!!! The time in Brisbane, Australia is 16 hours ahead of Texas time. So, when we landed at the airport at 7:45am on Thursday in Brisbane, it was just 3:45pm on Wednesday in Texas!

Waiting to board the airplane. We arrived at LAX at 8:15pm and our boarding time was at 11:45 pm.

For those of you who know me well, I had no trouble sleeping on the plane. J

We finally made it to Australia!! Here's the group of girls, 10 in all! The bus picked us up at the airport and drove us to our apartment. 

We are all so excited to begin exploring and sight-seeing the city of Brisbane!! 

Are you smarter than a 5th grader??

Before I said my goodbyes to my 5^th grade kiddos at River Valley Intermediate School in Waco, TX, the students wrote letters to my future students in Brisbane.  The following are some quotes from their letters…

·      I have 3 dogs, well ones an older brother, but he counts as a dog. He’s 12 for goodness sake.

·      Do you believe the world will end in 2012? My brother/dog does.

·      Are there any fads like Silly Bandz that are small, if so can you send me some?

·      I was wondering if ya’ll take field trips or do you take the TAKS test?

·      Do you have to hunt for food?

.   Don't forget to flush the toilets to see if the water spins in the opposite direction!

·      Do you have phones in Australia? I can teach you texting words. Here are a few:

LOL: Laugh out loud

gtg: Got to go

tul: talk to you later!

ROF: Roll out falling

·      We just celebrated Halloween, which is an American holiday. All you have to do is go to people’s door and ask for candy. Usually they will give it to you.

·      I’ve heard that Kohala bears are mean. Is that true? Because I don’t believe it. They are too cute.

·      Texas isn’t THAT hillbilly!

·      Hunting is another thing I love to do. This deer season I hope to sack a deer.

·      I have 1 mom, 1 dad (not divorced), 1 brother, 1 sister, and of course…1 me!

·      We have lockers that get very crowded and we have people who always get books thrown on them and kids who get hit in the head with them.

·      I’m glad I got to write to you, mate!

·      We have a restaurant in Texas called “Outback , “ its Australian.

·      My first, most important question, do you have WKB? World Kangaroo Boxing?

·      Is it difficult living in Australia, I mean with poisonous snakes, poisonous lizards, man-punching kangaroos…don’t die.

·      Have you ever been punched by a kangaroo?

Kids say the darnest things!