The End

Due to the lack of responses, I'm assuming that no one is reading this blog. I'll keep it open for a little while longer in case anyone wants to comment, but if there is still no interest shown after a few weeks I'll close it down. Internet is expensive here, so I don't want to spend it creating a blog that no one is reading. If you'd like to contact me, e-mail me at jmv006@student.usc.edu.au.

Update

The weeks since Easter Break have been the busiest yet. We've started our Wednesday Workplace Learning placements, which impacts our schedule a lot more than I thought it would. I really like the teacher I'm working under, though. And the school, although very different from anything I'm familiar with (as it's a private school) is good. I am largely observing right now, sitting in on Year 8 History, Year 7 SOSE (Geography, History, Sociology), Year 12 English, Year 10 English, and Year 7 Support English. It's a nice variety. When I start my full-time placement my focus will be Year 8 History, Year 7 SOSE, and Year 7 Support English.

I also started a part-time job this week (finally - it's slim pickin's for jobs here). I'll be working at a Swedish stationary shop called kikki.K. I'm pretty in love with this store. I pestered them until they hired me, and I'm actually excited to work there. Check out their website (kikki-k.com). They ship to Canada!

This past weekend was a long one, due to the ANZAC Day holiday (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) and this upcoming weekend is the long Labour Day weekend but it's not as fun as it sounds. School is so busy right now, I don't have much time to spend traveling. We did have an ANZAC Day bbq though (they celebrate it kind of big here. Think May 2-4 in Canada. So our bbq was pretty low key by comparison), and hope to get some beach time in on Labour Day.

Besides that, unfortunately, I can't think of much to report on. I feel badly that I haven't been posting much, so... I was hoping you guys (whoever is actually reading this) could help me with my next post. In the comments section post any questions you might have and I'll post a collection of the answers for my next submission. Ask anything you want: about school, the beaches, my apartment, the animals, the weather, the health of my pale, pasty skin in the Ozone-free sun, whatever tickles your fancy.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Easter Break, Part II

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've either been out of town or in the library finishing assignments. Easter Break is over and we're back into school full force, but I'll fill you in on how I spent the rest of my break.

The casino in Brisbane. Intimidating.

As the previously posted link suggested, I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane and got to hold a koala! We took a boat tour down the Brisbane River to the sanctuary, where we also saw tons of kangaroos (unlike wild kangaroos they were very gentle and we could go right up to them), wombats, tasmanian devils, dingoes, a platypus, crocodiles, emus, various birds, giant bats, etc, etc, etc. The focus is definitely on koalas, but there are plenty of other animals to see and interact with as well. It was a great day.

Hanging out with a kangaroo. No big deal. (At Lone Pine)

We had Easter dinner on Saturday with our neighbours, followed by an egg hunt. Some of the Australian's were confused as to why we were hiding chocolate around the complex, I guess egg hunts aren't as popular here (I asked an Aussie friend and he said they're not completely unheard of though). It was a great day to just relax with friends and enjoy good food and good company.

Surfers Paradise

Early Wednesday morning my roommate Riley and I met up with some other friends on the train for a trip to Surfers Paradise. It is such a difficult place to explain. It looks like a big city, but operates more like Grand Bend. The focus is on the strip (albeit a much bigger one with much better stores than GB), but there are skyscrapers everywhere too. The ocean was beautiful here though, despite the constant tourist traffic. Australians really respect their beaches and keep them very clean. We spent two nights in Surfers exploring the shops and beach and indulging a little bit in the nightlife (although I'm a bit of a loser so I usually went to bed early while the others stayed out partying). Then on Friday we spent the night in Brisbane before heading home. It was a great way to end the break, and it was nice to get out of Sippy Downs for more than a day.

At a bar in Surfers. They were giving out fake mustaches so obviously I snagged one.

Now, as I said, I'm back to school full on. I have 5 more weeks of classes (full of lesson planning and essay writing), but now I'm spending one day a week in practicum (it starts Wednesday and I'm incredibly nervous). After that I have 5 weeks as a full-time pre-service teacher in practicum. I'm excited about it, but as it gets closer nervousness is definitely the dominant emotion. With everything coming up, I have a feeling the next 10 weeks are going to fly by.

Link

Check out this link: http://i.koala.net/0104105693.htm

A more detailed explanation to come in the following days!

Easter Break

Right now I am on the first week of a two-week break from school. Five weeks of classes are complete, five more weeks remain (with one day a week spent in practicum) and then I have five weeks of full-time practicum and the semester is over. It's flying by and I think it will just go by faster when I'm actually teaching. So I hope to take advantage of my time off and see a bit more of the local area. The weather has been a lot nicer lately and Friday night we went to Mooloolaba Beach to have Thai food and watch some fireworks over the ocean. Saturday we went to an outlet mall outside of Brisbane to find some clothes for teaching (and I got a new bathing suit for $10!). I went to Brisbane on Sunday for a rugby game: Brisbane Broncos versus New Zealand Warriors. It was actually really exciting, even though the Broncos kind of suck. I'm looking forward to going to more games.

Broncos game at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. I'm glad we were sitting in a shaded area.

And Tuesday I saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D:

I liked the glasses.

It was good. I definitely recommend it. The rest of the break will include a boat tour, koala sanctuary, Easter potluck dinner and egg hunt, the Gold Coast, and lots of beach days. I'll post updates and pictures along the way.

Feel free to email me at vanderburgt.jennifer@gmail.com or jmv006@student.usc.edu.au, too. I'd love to hear updates from you as well!

Noosa National Park - Best study break ever

Me, Riley and Allissa by Devil's Kitchen

Today a few friends and I took a USC bus trip to the nearby Noosa National Park. It's a great place for hiking, experiencing wildlife, and taking some amazing photos. Our hike (around the park, therefore along the ocean's edge the entire time) took around 3 hours with much needed breaks to stop and appreciate the scenery. Some of the locations we visited boasted names like "Devil's Kitchen," "Tea Tree Bay," "Granite Bay," and "Hell's Gates."

In front of Hell's Gates (it's much more menacing than this photo suggests)

The waters were pretty rough, which made for some exciting moments and dynamic pictures. There were two spots where there was a break in the cliff, and although we were too high above to see for sure, I'm fairly certain one of those spots is the hiding place of Voldemort's Slytherin horcrux.

Unfortunately we didn't see any dolphin's at "Dolphin's Beach" or "Dolphin Lookout," but we were lucky enough to see a koala! My first one so far!

My first koala!

We also saw some kind of lizard (we didn't have a guide, so I don't know what kind it was) and... a snake! Don't worry, Aunt Becky. It wasn't that big, and it slithered away as soon as we came close.

There was also a surf competition going on and we were able to watch a bit of it from our vantage point on top of the cliffs. It made me both excited and nervous to try surfing. Then we went down to Noosa's Main Beach for a swim and to see the stalls and excitement of the surf comp audience.

We were also lucky enough to finally have good weather! Although it was cloudy at times, there was no rain whatsoever. I think wet season is finally coming to a slow close (although we're getting cyclone warnings instead, so I'm not sure if that's a trade I'd choose to take).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I was thirsty.

St. Patrick's Day is definitely not as big here as it is in Canada (even for students, who usually pounce on any excuse to drink). Luckily, I live in an apartment complex with tons of Canadians, so the day was done justice.

My contribution to the potluck (it's a fruit pizza).

We started with a potluck brunch with our neighbours, followed by some games after more friends showed up. Then we headed down to the resort pool where many of the Canadians were playing flip cup. By 4:30 we were on our way to the Irish pub, where there was live music. As the pub filled up throughout the night, we had fun catching up with many of the Canadians we met on the Fraser Island trip, and we even got to hang out with a real Irishman for a while. It was a loooong day, but it was a lot of fun. I am lucky to have some really great friends here that I could celebrate with!

Anne (Berlin), Shannon (Ottawa), Allissa (Tavistock), Riley (Kenora), and me