On Campus

We got started on campus today at QUT. Met some faculty, talked about what to expect, discussed a few teaching strategies, spent some time in the sun, and had a lunch of pizza and Tim Tams. I got really excited when we talked about teaching strategies, because we were handed multiple resources that I plan to bring back to the states and use in my future classroom.

One random thought for you is that the students have time in their school to go to LOTE (Languages Other Than English). That is just like our elementary students going to a Specialist Class teaching a foriegn language. In America, the most common second language would be Spanish, right? Well, in Australia the students learn Indonesian! Which of course makes sense because that's who their neighbors are. It's just the little things like that where I have my biggest Ahh moments." Because it makes so much sense but you would have never thought of it on your own. That's what this experience is all about anyway!

Kari and I ventured off by ourselves in the afternoon. We took the bus from campus to a train station and from the train station to the Morayfield Shopping Centre. Now, that doesn't sound too difficult but it was definitely a learning day. Some busses we needed to catch ran on the hour -- which left us waiting around the majority of the afternoon. And of course, we are not familiar with any of the suburbs in the area and I have no sense of direction here yet. So we relied on asking a lot of strangers questions along the way. We made it to the mall and funny enough, we ran into our friends Kimberly and Jordyn. We bought Trac Phones, so once I get that up and running I will let you know what my number is. Then we ventured back to another part of town where we walked to meet our Host Mom, Heather, and she showed us the way we will take to walk home when we are teaching at the schools.

An interesting moment happened today when Kari and I stopped to recharge our Go Cards (our public transportation cards). Kari talked to the clerk first and she asked if she was from the US and where in the US. Kari of course responded, "Minnesota." Then I handed her my card and money and she asked if I was from the same place. I said yes but the clerk was surprised, she said, "Oh really, your accent isn't quite as drawn." I thought that was neat because clearly I'm from South Dakota and we wouldn't notice a whole lot of difference but someone from another country does anyway.

After supper tonight, Heather served us Lemoningtons. It's a sponge(a very light cake) covered in chocolate syrup and rolled in coconut shavings. Delicious! She also taught us how to use Britain's dessert fork. (This is the picture I posted tonight.)

Thankfully, our host family eats healthy meals. Yes, I am eating things I wouldn't normally eat -- but we all know that's good for me!

The sun's rays are a lot stronger here. I got some funky tan lines from my shorts and t-shirt today. Hopefully those will fade out soon. You would not believe how beautiful it is here all. the. time! QUT staff said it was nice to see us enjoying the sun so much because they take it for granted and get annoyed with it quite often. But that goes the same way for us with snow. They LOVE snow. Most people have never seen snow in their life here and can't imagine living through our winters.

Again, we learned some more Aussie words throughout our day. Kari and I are trying to keep track of them, so to help me and entertain you, I'm logging them on here.

rubber - eraser

chuck a sickie - to take a sick day

lollipop lady - school crossing guard

wag - to skip school

tucker - food

tuck shop - food shop

sunnies - sunglasses

air con - air conditioner

have a go - give it a try

car park - parking lot

pudding - dessert, any thing you have for dessert is called pudding!

I love you all dearly and miss you muchly! Hugs to all.