That One Time I Danced on Stage with the Aboriginals..

So here is the lovely video I promised, along with a video of the whole day from another amazing intern.

Video Courtesy of Kamryn Fall, another awesome intern at GlobaLinks!

Life in the Land Down Under

I have officially survived my first week! For those of you who know how much of a homebody I am, this is huge. Although I may or may not have called a few people crying and wanting to go home.. But that's not the point. I stayed and I survived! This past week has been a whirlwind. I left the rest of the group of interns, flew to Melbourne, moved into my apartment, and started my internship all in a matter of 24 hours. Since my blog was down for the last five days, I've got a lot to cram in here so y'all bare with me.

Public Transit:

This has been an ordeal. I have never used public transport except for the ebus to 6th street. Other than that, I turned 16 and got a drivers license. Trams don't exist in Texas. So this in itself is weird. And then I had to worst luck getting a tram card. I walked to two different places to get a card..only to find they were both closed. (Because the entire country shuts down on Sundays. It's weird.) I was exhausted and in tears because I had to have the card to get to my internship the next day. (This may or may not have been the time that I was possibly calling people wanting to go home..) Buttttt, then the caretaker of my apartment drove me to the shopping center to get my tram pass. Alls well that ends well.

The next morning, I took the tram to work the way I was advised by the information desk. The other teachers asked how I got to school and just about had a heart attack. Apparently, I had gone 45 minutes out of the way. Coooool information desk. Cool. So they all figured out the best way for me to get to the school and back and now I'm a tram pro! 

My internship:

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. My kids are angels. My supervising teachers are a dream. I'm so incredibly blessed to be working at Glen Waverley. Don't worry fellow educators. I'm going to have an entire blog post soon dedicated to my teacher nerd out.

But remember how I said my students were angels? I wasn't kidding.

 

They are so sweet and well behaved. I absolutely love teaching at Glen Waverley.

On Thursday, the students had a middle school social. If you ever want to feel old..even if you aren't..help supervise a middle school dance. I didn't know most of the songs and I kept thinking, "What on earth is that little girl wearing?" That's when it hit me. I'm 21 and I sound like my mother. Granted, she's basically the coolest person I know, so I can't complain.

 

The social was glow in the dark themed. Everyone was awkward and adorable and I loved it.

Tourist LE:

So after my first week of teaching was over, I had a chance to pop into the city and look around. I ended up taking a double decker bus tour, like you'd see in New York. Melbourne is beautiful. Everywhere I looked there was something magnificent. Around every corner they'd say, "And if you look to your left, this is over 100 years old. And if you look to your right, that's also over 100 years old." It was just breathtaking.

This week has been amazing and scary. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me during the next month!

Home is Where the Heart is

Well, I made it to Melbourne.

Ross, my program supervisor, told everyone this morning that someone would be calling him by the end of the day crying and wanting to go home..I don't have a cell phone, so I didn't call anyone; but tonight it definitely hit me. I live in another country.

There's one problem with living outside of my southern comfort zone.. it's uncomfortable out here. The jetlag sucks. I'm in a foreign country, by myself. And my new roommates are constantly speaking another language. All of these add up to an exhausting night. I'd give anything for some real Mexican food, Whatabuger, and a Dr. Pepper.

Missing Texas, but I know I'm just tired from my flight. Melbourne is beautiful and tomorrow I can see it with rested eyes.

When In Oz..

This has been my motto since arriving in Australia. Back home, I'm always the one taking care of other people. Making sure everyone has a ride home, always carrying around medicine just in case someone needs it, being a momma bear. I'm also fantastic at being a homebody; but, this trip I made a conscious decision to be different. I don't think I will ever have this opportunity ever again and I want to do everything imaginable. 

The last two days are probably the most amazing and adventurous days of my life. I spent yesterday outside of Cairns in a Rainforest! I took an Army Duck tour, which is a car that can run on water, through the rainforest. It was phenomenal. The plants were exotic and beautiful, although some I would avoid with my life. The birds sang like nothing you'd hear in the states and the butterflies are neon blue. If seeing a rainforest wasn't enough for one day, I literally snuggled with a kangaroo. I laid down next to one in the grass and she laid her head on my arm. It was pure perfection. 

We met a few aborigines who performed a bunch of dances for us and I even got up on stage and danced with them! Yes, there is a video. No, it hasn't been posted anywhere..yet. After, they taught us to play the didgeridoo. Since I was a band nerd in middle school and played bassoon, I actually did quite well! It's actually a really interesting and difficult instrument. (Funny story though..another intern had a bug crawl out of the mouthpiece while she was trying to play it.)

Speaking of gross bugs.. I ate an ant. Yes. You read that correctly. Me, princess LE, ate an ant. It was gross and tasted like an excessively sour warhead. Excuse the terrible picture, but really, who has a good picture of them eating an ant?

And if the ants don't gross you out enough, I spent some quality time with Rosy the amethyst python. 

It was the most perfect day full of adventure and new experiences.

Today was equally as amazing. I spent the entire day on the Great Barrier Reef. From 7 am to 5 pm, we were on a boat in the middle of the pacific. It was the most beautiful and terrifying experience of my life. I am completely petrified of water. PETRIFIED. But I signed up and followed through on scuba diving. After a crash course lesson on diving, we were thrown into the water with 100 pounds of gear, in the middle of 5 foot swells. I almost quit the second I hit the water. I felt like I was drowning, which seems stupid considering I had an oxygen tank strapped to me. But when you have huge waves swallowing you in the ocean, it's not a comforting feeling. Despite my gut feeling to climb back into the boat, the instructor pushed me down into the water and once the panicked breathing subsided, I was able to calm down and at notice the beauty enveloping me. The ocean sucked me under and I'm so glad I stuck with it. The Great Barrier Reef was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was perfection. The water was crystal clear and the sea life was unreal.
Thanks to my amazing underwater camera (shout out to my amazing mother for the purchase!), I have pictures to prove it.

I cannot even explain to you how incredible this opportunity has already been. I'm so blessed to be in Australia doing so many amazing things. I cannot wait to see what else there is in store for me. When in Australia: my motto for the next 9 weeks. 

Airplanes Are Torture Chambers We Only Use Because No One has Invented Teleportation

I hate airplanes.

And airports. And basically anything to do with the two. The first flight I was on was 17 hours long, I stopped in Brisbane long enough to run to the next terminal to get on a plane for another 3 hours. Inside of Brisbane, they stopped checking bags at the international terminal for my flight, so I had to get all of my bags on a bus and check them in domestic. (Which was a lotttt of bags!) When I got all my bags on the bus, my giraffe suitcase zipper busted and my clothes started pouring out! Thankfully, it has two zippers and only one broke. But in fixing my suitcase, my nail broke off..Sad day. So then I ran to my next flight and barely made it. It was nuts. I didn't even have time to process that I was in Australia until I boarded the plane to Cairns.

My crazy airport experience aside, the airplane ride was pretty smooth, minus a few bumps here and there.(Shout of to Collin Nace, because his flight lessons on turbulence kept me from freaking out every time we bumped around.) Overall; I slept and read a book given to me before I left. I was very fortunate to sit next to a guy who was coming back from "holiday" in the states, but was from Australia. He had so much to tell me and ask me about our two countries. We told stories until neither of us could keep our eyes open. We joked about each others accents and had to ask what the heck we were saying a few times, but it was incredibly helpful. I learned a few Australian words from him and some survival tips that will help me with my students, like the Australian Football League Finals is coming up in Melbourne. I had a crash course lesson in the rules..which is different from the four other footballs they have here.

Y'all, Australia is beautiful. I have literally been rained on almost the whole time I've been here, and it's still gorgeous. Today and tomorrow I get to participate in these incredible once in a lifetime experiences (I won't ruin the surprise) that I'm beyond excited about. The other interns are such beautiful people and we all just want more out of our lives. The people of Australia have been very welcoming and patient with our American confusion. I cannot wait to see and do more, especially when I'm not jetlagged. I'm fighting my homebodiness as hard as I can and trying to do everything they offer me. I'm determined to live outside of my Southern Comfort Zone.

All Aboard

I'm sitting in the international airport terminal waiting for my flight to Australia and it hit me. 

I made it. 

Obviously not literally, since I still have 23 hours until I arrive in Cairns, but I made it. I am leaving the country and studying abroad. All. By. Myself. 

With all the down time before my flight, I was reading a letter from a dear friend of mine that told me to live selfishly while in Australia. That sentence seems rather strange, but she followed it with telling me to get everything out of the experience I can and to grow for me. Not for her, not for my family, not for anyone else. That's when it hit me. This trip is mine. Now that is a freeing but fearful thought. I am petrified of what is going to happen in Australia, but I know that when I return home to the beautiful state of Texas, I will not be the same. I don't want to be the same. This is the trip of my life and the airline is calling my name. Once I get on the plane, life as I know it will change. 

Next stop Brisbane. 

Final destination? Growth. Acceptance. Freedom. 

Melbourne.