Cheers from the Classroom

On the 25th of February I received a comment on my first Australian post as follows, under which I responded with my experiences so far :

Hi Becca, this is Mrs. Fitzpatrick's homeroom, aka hound dog team. We are excited to chat with you! :-)


1. How long was the plane ride?
- The travel over consisted of three different legs : one from Chicago to L.A. (five hours), from L.A. to Melbourne (fifteen hours) and then from Melbourne to Perth (another five hours). Given transportation, lay overs and the time difference I left Chicago at 4:30 pm on February 6th and arrived a little after noon on Sunday February 8th. Two days of travel, phew!

2. Is it hotter than expected?
- Last Weds. the temperature broke 100 degrees, which I wasn't expecting this late in their summer. However, I was warned that I wouldn't be needing my jeans anytime soon.

3. How many people ask you if you are American?
-In most cases, I am asked where I am from before my name is even established. I live at a student village where eighty percent of the student are from another Australian state or an all together different continent.

4. Do they serve ice in the warm water?
- If you are out an about, most people just buy bottled water from the fridge. In my apartment, I am glad to say I have discovered ice trays (smile).

5. What kind of wildlife have you seen?
- On orientation day for the University I saw a Bobtail ( a lizard with a blue tongue - pictured below), a echidnea (similar to a porcupine), a quokka ( eats food like a squirrel). And then around my village on an everyday basis I have seen a cockroach (very large), kookaburra (a bird that laughs at you, and coos like a monkey), a skink (a lizard featured in my blog), Australian ravens (commonly called crows here) and magpies (a black and white bird that sings like a dying cat).

6. Do some small animals walk through the markets there?
- At Freemantle, the markets are pretty controlled due to the presence fruits and veggies. There are tons of pigeons in the city area though who aren't afraid to come close for bread droppings.

7. What other words have you come across that have different meanings here in America, like trolley and green pepper?
- A lolly (candy), Barbie (Barbeque), trolley (grocery cart), a cue (waiting in line), notes (dollars), reckon (I think), strewth (suprising, or OMG), G'day Mate (Good morning), unlucky (tough luck, bummer), sanga (sausage), chips (french fries), thongs (flip flops), sunnies (sun glasses), jumpers (sweaters), chemist (drug store), brooli (umbrella), spirits (drinks), bugger (oh shoot), ute (truck), doona (quilts), tots (totally), petrol (gas), biscuits (cookies), uni (college), burre (beanies), car park (parking lot), the loo or dunny (the toilet), tele (TV), mobile (cell phone), and aircon (air conditioning).
- Also English spelling is different with 's' instead of 'z' and added 'u'. E.g. organisation instead of organization. and colour instead of color.

8. Is there a speed limit? Is it in metric?
- Average is 60 km an hour, but in suburban areas it is 50 km. Or on the freeway it is 100 Km.

9. How different is the food?
- Australian food is a mix match of food from all over the world. Most Aussies have a yeast spread on toast for breakfast that is called Vegemite (also popular in Europe). Ironically, Vegemite was created during World War One along with ANZAC biscuits because they hardly have an expiration date. Barbes (barbecues) occur all the time with sausages, kabobs, or rissoles ( breaded meatballs). Most meals consist of fresh veggies in the form of curry, stir fry or meat as the main dish.

10. Is there baseball? If so, what is it called? Is soccer called football, like in Europe? Do they have bowling alleys?
- They aren't large into baseball but they do have both male and female softball. Soccer is called soccer here though. There is AFL, which is what Aussies call futbol, the Australian version of football. They do have bowling alleys, there are two in my area (haven't been quite yet).

11. What is the currency exchange? What’s an AUD?
- AUD is the Australian dollar. The currency exchange changes everyday but on average it is 1 AUD for .90 American Dollar.

12. Do they dress differently than Americans?
- Australian dress seems to be about the same however they are a lot more relaxed when it comes to wearing shoes. And everyone has a pair or two of sunnies (ray ban brand is popular) Although, that being said, you won't see anyone going to the movies in their pajamas so there is a boundary. Growing up, almost all public and private schools require uniforms.

13. Do they have McDonald’s and Burger Kings?
- There are McDonald's (rumor has it their hamburgers are better than ours due to a higher regulation on meat) and Burger King (but is called Hungry Jack here)

14. How do you feel about the time difference, did you get jet lag?
- The time difference from Michigan is thirteen hours (or fourteen if on daylight savings time, which they do not observe here). So that when I wake up, you are just going to bed. It makes it convenient when I want to talk to someone online back home. I wasn't that jet lagged on the way over because I made my mind up not to sleep on the plane unless is was nighttime Australian time. I am a bit worried about the way back, since going against the grain seems to be harder or at least that was my experience with my studies in South Africa.

Dearest Hound Dog Team,
I hope this has sparked your curiosity. I look forward to further questions!
Cheers, from a land down under

The Curious thing : Cricket

While coming to Perth, WA I knew at point or another I'd let my curiosity get the better of me in regards to the game of Cricket. While on a walk around town I saw a field of men fully clothed in white. At first I thought "Oh cool! They are fencing outside!" But atlas it was cricket.

The game of Cricket consists of two teams or "squads", each with eleven players. Required to play : a bat, two gloves, two wickets, and a cricket ball.

Forgive me, for after that I turned to wikihow.com for futher explaination.

After a coin is flipped to choose which team is on the field then :

1. The game then begins by bowling the ball to the striker, with usually one bounce before it reaches the striker. The bowler is trying to hit the wicket behind the striker to get him out.


2. In hitting the ball, both the batsmen run to try to reach the opposite popping crease. When both successfully touch, by body or bat, the ground behind the opposite crease, a run is scored.


3. Then it is the end an inning when ten of the batsmen are out, or the score required to meet is reached.

This is a VERY basic run through of cricket and fails to highlight : runs, outs, and 'getting and over'. Some have compared Cricket to baseball. However, after watching a few minutes of it, it isn't even close.

Cricket is played during the summer months and is widely popular around these Aussie sorts!

On days like today, of 40 degrees C (just over 100 degrees F) it is easy to understand why they are all dressed in white!

A colorful cheers, Becca

When all else fails... be a skink!

This is a Skink. I know this because I met one on my walk home from the lap pool today. Besides making me have flash backs to my childhood moments in Florida, this particular skink made me curious. I naively called it a lizard, and Tessa informed me that, "it was probably a skink".


Upon further discussion, I now know that skinks have an usual adaptive/ defense mechanism : if a prey picks them up by the end of the tail, they can lose their tail and continue on their (now) hurried way. The tail then grows back rather quickly afterwards. As well being the largest family of lizards in the world, they are also widely popular in Australia.


Kate (the other American) and I have recently discovered that our Graduate Prac. Work (our student teaching) may extend on into the first part of July (at least according to our syllabus). As we walk into class tomorrow it is our intention to speak with our Professor about these dates. We were both told our school responsibilities will be over by the 19th of June. Hopefully, like the skink lizard both us and the school of education will be able to adapt.

Cheers, your skinky mate

* Update : since writing this, all has been cleared up and arrangements have been made that rest assured my flight back home (June 20th) is still on

On the spiritual side...

On my way back from Sunday morning church.
Located on campus @ Mount Lawley

Today's message: PERSEVERANCE

Goal-minded. Drive. Strength. Determination. Purpose. Dedication. Endurance. Devotion.

However, sometimes we are so set on the goal, that we forget about the challenges that got us there.

Our pastor asked us to think about the current olympic heroes and realize without perseverance and setbacks, their strength today, wouldn't have been as great.

The next time you go to complain about an obstacle in your day instead perceive it as a chance to GROW.

Some quotes to leave you with:

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. - unknown

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. -Flavia Weedn

Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.

-Charles F. Kettering

Cheers, a goal-minded gal

My Life's List

I have a list of 38 things I would like to do in my lifetime.

BTW, if you think there is something I should add to my life list, please let me know!

Of the things I have on it include:

Sail for 24 plus hours straight
Laugh until milk comes out of my nose
Work for make-a-wish foundation
Go on a true road trip
Take acoustic guitar lessons

Some of things I have been able to check off so far:

Dance in the rain, barefoot

Drive a motorcycle

Go Bungee Jumping

Buzz my hair

Be someone's role model

And NOW.... (drum roll please)

SURFING

Let it be known that in my lifetime I have skateboarded, skied, snowboarded, water skied, and windsurfed. Was any of that slightly helpful?

No.

In fact, that only thing was useful was my background as a dancer and thus my balancing capabilities.

Surfing = hard, but very rewarding.

How to Surf : the Dummies' Guide

1. Wear tight-fitting swim gear, such as a wet suit OR I can promise you will quickly find yourself naked (this is not the time for those cute bikinis)
2. Wake up early in the morning with a hearty breakfast
3. Discover a beach with decent sized waves, say 3 feet swells, after all we are beginners here
4. Strap on your board's ankle leash
5. Paddle out into the fierce-looking ocean
6. Time out a wave and then glide onto your board, belly facing down.
7. Arm paddle your little heart out
8. Push up (military style)
9. Assume position
10. Then enjoy the ride and...thank the surfing gods that allowed you to get this far
11. Paddle out again into the now less intimidating waves and repeat steps 6-9
    

So here I am, after an early morning of surfing. I caught some waves and some waves caught me too so I suppose the Indian Ocean and I are even (smile).

Just when you thought my day of excitement was over...

I find myself

HERE.

Looking at a large collection of thongs and shoes.

Lets play a little game of Where is Becca?

A. At an outdoor church where shoes are not permitted

B. The Australian lost and found

C. About to go sandboarding

D. The Official Entry to the Outback

And the answer is.... C. About to go sandboarding.

This here, is a sandboard. Doesn't look like much, hey?

Now, you are supposed to do this sitting down, but I know better.

Plus, how gangsta do I look?

Just goes to show, have goals in mind (like learning to surf), reach for them, and sometimes a little extra is thrown in too (sandboarding).

Cheers, your balancing Becca

Dearest Love

(me hugging the wind and kissing the sun)

Dearest Beach,

This picture I have enclosed above captures how I feel about you. I will forever embrace you with open arms and want to dive in freely.

(Cottesloe Beach, Perth)

As we approach your tree lined shore, people bustle about and find their own niche at your home : kayaking, snorkeling, surfing, sunbathing, wake boarding,

(American Kate, reading Dexter)
curling up in your shade,

or climbing on your terrain.

(view from the rocky extension)

It should be known, how we appreciate your bliss and the nearby fish n chip stops.

(American Elizabeth, photographing sailing)

We may try to take a little of the wind and sun home with us by framing pictures and making shell jewelry.

( Tessa's (introduced prior)natural sun bow )

And... despite your sometimes painful affects or uncomfortable hiding spots for sand there is something about you that can't be fully captured in this letter.

(my little heart)

Love, your sandy beach bum

P.s. where is your love letter to? A sandy beach? A forgotten bridge? A runaway river? What would you say? What pictures would you enclose?

"Train" ing for Tessa

Has your car ever gone cross country, without you?

My newly found friend from Melbourne, Tessa, sent her car across Australia to arrive in Perth four days after her. The cost: 600 AUD

Which is more than she would have paid in gas alone. Good deal?

This is the story of Tessa's Train day.

This is her apartment, which has become where I spend a majority of my time. In fact, on their whiteboard they have all the numbers of the roomies including mine. When I tried to leave to make my own dinner (in my own apartment) I was scolded and told I should know that I am expected to eat with the "family". As an early riser, I bring my breakfast over in the morning and make sure the others are awake in time for their own agendas.
To put it plain, I spend more time here, than at my own place.

Then, off we were with Courtney driving us to train station to pick up Tessa's Mercedes.

Where exactly? We weren't sure. So we wandered around in our swimsuit cover ups, sunnies (sunglasses) and thongs (aka flip flops) not quite knowing what to expect. After knocking on a few doors, we knew just where to go!

Ah, atlas here we waited just as eager as the curious boy in the picture to see how the cars were going to be unloaded, inspected, quarantined, and then released again onto the road.

It seems to me, it isn't about the car your driving or what luggage it holds but rather the journey it takes you on to get where you are. To this boy, the car's journey was like watching a friend safely arrive. To Tessa it meant extended freedom. To me, it meant we were finally on our way to the beach!

Cheers, a beach bum

Hunting the night sky

Tonight, I went on the first run of my Australian travels (not very far mind you) and certainly not the last (as I have already agreed with my mates to go running again tomorrow morning). As we were warming up, quickly strolling around an open park, we looked up into the night sky and very clearly discovered the fierce hunter of the astronomical sky : Orion.

Now, I am sure most of you are familiar with this outline:

Orion as the gigantic hunter who eventually meets his demise by a scorpion. After which, the gods raise both him and the scorpion to the skies.

However, this outline is according to Australian Aboriginal Astronomy in which Orion (which they call Julpan) is depicted as a story of three brothers, a canoe and a forbidden fish. The three brothers go fishing and catch a fish that is strictly forbidden by law. As result, the Sun creates a waterspout that sky rockets the brothers and the canoe up into the night sky where they are still banished today.

Both of which are a reminder that although everyone may see the same it is the interpretation that can range greatly. In away I have been taught this lesson over and over again since being in Australia.

Take the family style dinner tonight which consisted of homemade Miso soup (made by the international exchange student from Taiwan), chicken stir fry with ginger and honey (prepared by Courtney, and Aussie and I), and the most delicious chocolate cake topped with bananas and Nutella (created by T, our computer science friend from Lebanon). After a non-competitive game of volleyball, and introducing the game of SlapJack to my friends from New Zealand, Finland, Australia, and Ohio, our stomachs began to growl.

Shortly afterwards I realized that although Courtney and I both may see a green bell shaped vegetable she would forever refer to it as a "capsicum" where as others know it as a "green pepper". Making some "lemonade" my Aussie friends thought I had purchased some "Sprite".

Ah, the continued adventures in the similar languages of English.

Sweet dreams, Becca

It's neither here nor there...

I have arrived! I am officially living in Perth (woot! woot!)
Having been here for 2 days, I can already derive some similarities and differences:

It's all the same to me

• My housing consists of one common room, a kitchen, and two bathrooms (http://www.ecu.edu.au/fas/vr/ml_stud_housing)


• No eating or drinking in the Computer labs
  
• Cell phones (or should I say, "mobiles") aren't cheap


• Same TV shows: Brothers and Sisters, Lost


• Target, Mejer, Coles (similar name, but not at all the same)


• Farmer's Markets still have the best quality fruits and veggies


• Public Trans is the way to go
  

No shirt, no shoes, still service

• Walking around the grocery store without shoes or shirt, is apparently completly acceptable


• Everything is at the mall : Banks, grocery stores, department stores


• The diving pool at the public pool, doesn't have any diving boards


• Trash bins = Rubbish containers. A whole new meaning to, "that's just rubbish!"


• Asking for a glass of water is unheard of and an easy way to tell I'm an American


• "Looking for a trolley" doesn't not mean you need transportation but rather a grocery cart (you can imagine my confusion when we were only 1/4 mile away from my apartment and a friend suggested we catch a trolley for my things)


• Stevie = girls name

• A WAAPA (pronounce Whopper) isn't a quarter pounder, but rather an prestigious arts college here on campus


• "Ice Water" is not a phrase I'll be hearing much...water is served very much warm


• Full time, only has classes two-three days a week (but should still be taken seriously)
  
• An entire bag of plums (amt: 16) cost 2.34 AUD (less than $2 USA)

• Although same shows, a whole season behind (Kitty just found out she was prego)

Cheers, Beccs

Taking a new step

This picture (from http:dropoular.net) pretty much sums up life at this point : taking a step away from winter (in so many ways) and spending my next five months in Perth, Australia.

Looking for CHANGE and an ADVENTURE.

Change:

-My lifestyle, now living a totally dairy-free life. Can you believe it? Becca without ice cream?

-My environment, from winter to summer. Through all my packing I still have a hard time believe I won't need my than one red fleece zip-up and a pair of jeans.

-My educational approach, I am looking for new ways to teach, new ways to inspire.

Adventure:

-Motorcycle across Western Australia w/ my pops + camping gear for Spring Break/22nd Bday
-Get a casual job in a new culture

-New vocab (I'll post the slang so we can all learn together!)

-Being a skyping star (Let me know your name!)
-Become a surfing beach babe

So, cheers! To finding my foothold down under >

P.s. What are you looking for?