Last Day at Greenwood P.S.

Today is definitely one to remember. I’ll start this post off by talking about yesterday first. The day started off pretty normal but the kids were just coming up to me and smiling and then walking off giggling and Liv said, “Miss Boehme, I am very excited about something that is happening today” I didn’t really know how to respond but I was thinking they were planning something pretty special. During morning news, Kerri-Anne’s class came into our room and all the kids yelled Surprise! It was funny because I didn’t really know what they were surprising me with so Kerri-Anne said, “who would like to tell Miss Boehme why we are saying surprise?” Of course, Danny was the first to put his hand up and he said, “We would like to have a surprise lunch for you because we are going to miss you when you leave.” It brought tears to my eyes and I knew that I couldn’t lose it then because I still had another day! Anyway, the day was pretty cruisey and we had a lunch with TA 8 and 9. TA means teaching area and they say that instead of room number. It was a lovely lunch and all of the kids from both classes brought something in for it. So that was the highlight of yesterday but then today was a day of many tears.

This morning Kerri Anne picked me up as usual and we headed to school for the last day of the term. I made some Star Student Certificates for the kids for being such great students for me and I put some sparkly pens and cool erasers in a bag for them, which they loved! It took a while for me this morning to print them, cut them and laminate them. They were on A5 sheet of paper which is about ½ a sheet. Anyway, the morning was easy peasy because the kids made Easter baskets for the Easter bunny to come this afternoon. Tanika wrote me a note that said, “Miss Boehme, I’m not sure if they have Easter in America but Happy Easter anyway”. So after the morning of Easter card making and all that, we had morning tea. This was the first break down of three that I had today. They had decorated the staff room in Australian flags and had Aussie animals and everyone was in there to have a farewell morning tea for me. It was lovely and so nice of them. So we are just happily eating away and chatting and then Ian, the principal, gets up to say a few words. As he is talking, I just can’t hold it in and I am trying my hardest but I start crying and then when I am saying a few words I start crying even more and then the staff start crying and it really made me realize how they have been my family since I have been here and I really will miss them a lot. I have spent majority of time at the school because we usually get there at 7 am and don’t leave until after 5 most days. I have had pilates with them every Tuesday, been to a staff dinner, and of course Friday afternoon drinks is always special. I have enjoyed getting to know all of them, but I have spent the most time with Kerri-Anne with car rides, trips to the shops, and road trips with her brother, Mat. She has been my Aussie BFF and I am so thankful that I have met her. I reckon we will stay in touch and maybe she’ll come to AL one day! So after morning tea I went to each of the classrooms to say good bye to the students. I went to the Year 6/7 class first and as I was saying good bye to them I started crying again. I don’t really know why because I haven’t spent much time with them at all, but Georgia and Luke are the Head Girl and Boy of the school and I have gotten to know them pretty well because they are the student leaders. Luke brought me a box of chocolates and a card and Georgia came to say good bye again at the end of the day. They are wonderful leaders and I am so happy I got to meet them as well.   I guess seeing them in the class brought the tears to my eyes, but when I said my goodbyes to the other classes, I was alright. But then when I came back to my class, they presented me with quite a few gifts. They all signed a uniform shirt for me, the framed a class picture, and got me lots of Aussie Souvenirs. I was crying as I was opening the gifts and Owain said, “Miss Boehme, you need to stop crying because you’re going to make me cry.” They are such a wonderful class and it makes me teary eyed typing this and thinking back on the last 12 weeks with them. I am so thankful that I decided to come here for my student teaching because I have gained so much more than I would have if I stayed in Auburn. Not that I wouldn’t have loved it, I know I would have, but I have learned so much more being here and I feel like I have grown from this experience.

I have just finished packing most of things, and I am looking forward to relaxing tomorrow before I have the longest day of my life. Tomorrow I am meeting Kelsey in the city for breakfast. I don’t know if I told you about Kelsey but I met her on the plane ride over here. She has just recently graduated from Notre Dame and is studying at University of Western Australia for her masters. We sat next to each other on the plane ride over here and exchanged contact info so we could stay in touch while we were here. We haven’t been able to see each other again but we are planning to do so tomorrow since it is my last weekend. She will be here for the next 2 years and will most likely move here because her boy friend is here. She came here in 2008 to study abroad and met him here and decided to do her masters here. Pretty cool story. Anyway, I’m having breakfast with her and then meeting Kerri Anne for lunch then having a BBQ at Jan’s with Tracy’s family and then John will pick me up at 3:30am for my flight home!

I think this will be my last post until I return to the states. I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my adventures in WA. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support. Love to all.

Psalm 107:8

P.S. Can you figure out this code?            9.71520.1325.1415195.169518354.

Photos

Balingup, WA

This weekend I went to the Small Farm Field Day in Balingup with Kerri-Anne’s family. Her brother, Mat, drove us down there on Friday afternoon straight after school to meet her parents there. We left about a quarter to 4 and didn’t get there until close to 8. The traffic was pretty bad but it was a fun road trip. The three of us together reminded me of Pete, AB, and me. I can’t wait to be reunited with those little rascals! I want to play mean dog, release the cougar and the everlasting car game when I get home!! haha oh the mems we have together! I am so blessed to have them and I seriously do not know what I would do without them. 4 days baby! Anyway, the house was awesome and her mom lives down there full time and her dad goes down on Thursday or Friday and stays until Sunday night. They have a lot of property with alpacas, sheep, chickens and dogs. The alpacas look like a llama. They had several grown ones and a cute baby one too. Mat and I fed them on Saturday morning. I also got to hold a chicken, they call them chooks! And the coolest thing that I did down there was ride a camel! It reminded me of the annual church picnic when the kids ride the pony or horse around for a lap or two except I was on a camel! It was pretty awesome. The one that Kerri-Anne was on kept making noises at me and was getting really close to me, I thought he was trying to bite me or something. The farm field day had lots of food booths and market type booths set up for people around Balingup to sell the things they make. I liked being out in the country and seeing farm life for a change. All of the towns around Balingup end in the suffix ‘up’. Mat said that in those cases ‘up’ means ‘the place of’ so I think they are indigenous names. My favorite name was Manjimup. There was also Nannup, Karnup, Dardinup and some others. Kerri- Anne and I walked around the town and went into the shops and took us about 20 minutes that is how small it was. And we even went into the stores and were just strolling around taking our time. I bought a new puzzle. I thought it was going to be similar to the difficulty level of Tangram Master but it is easy peasy japanesey. Kerri-Anne’s mom is a wonderful cook and she made kangaroo the first night and I actually liked it. They are a cute animal but I tried not to think about that too much. Saturday night her dad put a lamb on the spit. I think that is the way to say it. I was tasty too!

Sunday morning we went for a drive to see if we could find some wild emu’s and roo’s. We were successful but it took as a while and I don’t think we are really sure where we went but I reckon it was a nice little country side drive. Then we got a meat pie at the Magic Mushroom Restaurant and came back to Perth. We made it back by 3:00 which was plenty of time for me to get ready for Palm Sunday church. Brittni picked me up and I was really glad that it worked out for me to go one last time to Kingsley. During the announcements, the pastor, mentioned that it was my last week there and they have enjoyed having me be as a part of their church for the past few months. I really am so happy I have had the experience to get to know them and I hope I can keep in touch with them. Ash and Steve’s dad said the opening prayer and he mentioned me and asked that I have safe travels. It made me feel like I was part of their church family even though I have only been there a short time. They have a solid congregation and I like that it is a small church because everyone knows each other and they are caring and you get the feeling that they are a family as you walk in.

Tomorrow starts week 12 of Term 1 which means I only have 2 more school days and then Wednesday to pack and say my goodbyes and then I’m comin home!

John 17

Last SPLAT

Tonight was the last SPLAT. :( We had a bbq and everyone brought something to go along with it. Everyone really liked the pumpkin pie! Brittni and Ash got me a going away gift of some TimTams of course, a West Coast Eagles scarf, a DVD of The Castle which I think is going to be a lot like Best In Show. It has a sticker on the front that says "Australia's Favourite Film". I have heard a lot about it so I am really excited to watch it! It was a great night and I dont think I can describe it any other way. They made me feel like such a part of the group and I hope to stay in touch with them for years to come. I am so blessed and so thankful for all that I have been blessed with. I only have 4 more days of teaching left and I know I am going to be a mess when I have to leave the kids on Tuesday. This has been one of the best things I have ever done. I havent even really talked to my family in a few days because I have run out of money on my phone and havent added more so Mama and Daddy, just know that I am safe and I miss you but I will see you in 8 days! Ill top off my phone this weekend to touch base. Love y'all!

Colossians 3:23

Pumpkin Pie!

Tonight was a successful baking night! Thanks, Grandma, for sending me your famous recipe! It was a lot of work trying to figure out the measurements, good thing I have become pretty good with conversions to and from the metric system! Kerri-Anne and I left school pretty much straight away to go to the shops to get all the ingredients. We bought enough to double the recipe so that we could eat some tonight after dinner and have enough for bible study tomorrow night. So we went to the shops and bought butternut pumpkin, about 2.5 kg which is a little over a pound. We had to cut it up and then boil it. After it was boiled we mashed it and used a mixer to make it smooth then we added all the spices and the evaporated milk and then we baked it! I was so thankful that we found pie crust at Woolworth's! They were really good pie crusts and made the pie taste delicious! I have some left over pie filling so I will make some more for Tracy and Monique and probably even one for the staff room so the other teachers can try it. I think it is crazy that no one here has ever tried it and they think it is crazy to think of pumpkin in a pie!

School is starting to get to that point where the kids are in need of a break and the teachers are as well. It is hard to get them to focus and it feels like the week before Spring Break back home. I think next week since it is only two days, we will just do easy stuff and probably lots of crafts for Easter and ANZAC Day. ANZAC day stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and it is like their Memorial Day. We are having a ceremony on the last day of school and the children lay wreaths in memory of the lost souls from WWI. I hear it gets pretty emotional and it is a much bigger deal here than our Memorial Day. I'll have to let you know more about it next weel.

My students are starting to write me cards and little things that say they are going to miss me and all that and Jade gave me a stuffed koala as a going away present. It is really cute and I know I will never forget this class. They are just awesome. I dont know if I have said this yet, but I taught them how to say "War Eagle, Aubie!" So cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT JUDY!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

Psalm 31:14

AOII my AOII

Every week I get the AOII announcements through email. The past two years I never read a single announcement email because I already knew everything that was going on in the chapter because of Leader’s Council meetings and all that. So this semester I have been reading them diligently, even though I cannot partake in any of the events, I still like to know what is going on. That organization has been a huge part of my college career and I love those girls so much. This past weekend at the zoo I saw a red panda which was the coolest thing because our color is Cardinal (red) and our mascot is the Panda! The red panda doesn’t really look like the pandas we know and love from China but I thought it was still pretty cool! Anyway, in today’s announcements they were giving the dates for all the senior information as we get ready for graduation. One of the main things I was sad to miss out on was going to be my senior formal, senior chapter, and senior dinner. My pledge class has been through a lot together and I was really bummed when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to attend any of those things. Well, I think you can tell where I am going with this. It just so happens that I can now make it back for all of those things! The chapter voted on which day they wanted to have formal and they voted to have it on Good Friday in Birmingham! I have to check with the advisors to make sure it will be okay for me to make an appearance but I just want to stop by to say hello to all my “sista girls” while they are all cuttin’ a rug down at the dance! And then I will go to Auburn that next Wednesday for the senior chapter so I can give my senior speech and listen to all my BFF’s give their speeches as well! Then Thursday night we are going to Provino’s for a fancy dinner and then some of us will be going to Opelika for the Drew Holcomb concert!! I am so excited about that because he was in Montgomery around November and I really wanted to go but it didn’t really work out so I am super pumped that he has back and the tickets were only $10! He is an incredible Christian artist and I am very excited to see him live. One of my favorite quotes ever comes from his song “Live Forever” He says, “Take courage when the road is long/Don’t ever forget that you’re never alone.” He is pretty much awesome and sings with his wife, Ellie. So yea, I am pretty excited about that week because then I will head back to Birmingham on Friday for the St Elias Food and Cultural Festival!! Zalybeh and kibbie sandwiches better be ready for me!! Woohoo!!

Philippians 3:13-14

Kiwi Music

Great time this weekend had by all...

Saturday: Went to the Perth Zoo in the morning with Catherine. Pretty much have seen all the animals before but I got to see a Tasmanian Devil and that was awesome. It's an ugly animal that literally just runs in circles for long periods of time. Went shopping at Harbour Town. Its like the outlet mall. Got some really great deals and it was nice being in the city. Came home to get ready to go out to eat with Catie and her cooperating teacher and friends. We went to Mount Lawley for dinner and then to a pub to meet some more of their friends. It was nice to get out because we don't really do that all that much. I really wanted to go to the Casino on Saturday night but it was going to be like a $60 cab ride or something like that and it just didn't really fit in our schedule. Anyway, Mount Lawley was a nice part of town and one of the guys with us was a Kiwi (person from New Zealand) so that was kinda cool. We listened to some kiwi music. There was a song called "Slice of Heaven" that was pretty good. Check it out by clicking on the link I have provided! Slice of Heaven

Sunday: Brittni picked me up for church and she was on roster for tea so I helped her setup and then after church I helped her served the cuppas! It was fun, I really like the people at that church and will miss them. They are having a going away party for me next Wednesday night and I am really looking forward to that. I am going to attempt to make Grandma's famous pumpkin pie because they don't have pumpkin as a sweet over here, only savoury dishes. I hope I can make it taste good cause they don't have the canned pumpkin. I'm going to have to boil it and then mash it before I can make the pie. They do have pie crust which is a relieve cause I thought I was going to have to make that from scratch as well! Not that I couldn't do it, I just didn't realize it would be so much work! Ill let you know how it turns out. Anyway, after church I came home, had some left over lasagna from last night's dinner and then met Catherine up at Hillary's to do some more shopping. I got some more stamps so be on the lookout for more postcards! The buses are few and far between on Sundays so we walked to the train station to catch the bus from there instead of waiting on the one from the neighborhood stop. It wasn't really that long of a walk but we def got our exercise in for the day! The sidewalks here are called foot paths. Oh and an electrical outlet is called a power point. And an agenda or appointment book is called a diary. And they say "Cheers" for everything! I love it! Then Kerri Anne picked me up for tea (dinner) at Connie's. Her house was beautiful and right on the lake with tons of black swans swimming around. I mean it was a beautiful view. And we had a delicious dinner. We had this crab and shrimp salad, regular salad with cucumbers and avocado, steak with shrimp on top that was sort of a surf n turf type of thing, sausages and chicken on the barbie, potato bake, bread and lemon merange (sp?)  for dessert! It was absolutely lovely!

Now I am home and probably about to go to sleep. Week 11 starts tomorrow and then I will be home after 3 days of week 12. Can you believe it?!

Romans 8:38-39

BBQ

Today at school we had an assembly and they had a card for me and asked me to come to the front to accept it. It was the nicest thing ever because the whole school was there plus parents and whoever else. I wasnt expecting it and kinda didnt know what to do so I just sat back down and then I realized I probably should have said thank you or something. I asked the deputy if I could say a few words so he called me back up before it was over. I dont even really remember what I said now but everyone said it sounded good! The card was signed by the entire school! I think there are close to 300 students and Sandra, the year 6/7 teacher told me that it was the kids idea so she helped them organize it! So thoughtful!

Tonight we went to Tracy's friend's house for a BBQ. They have lived in Australia for 15 years and are Scottish. I had to concentrate really hard when they were speaking to me because their accent was so think! The dad kept calling Catie "Cay-ee". He is really into football (aussie rules and grid iron aka american football) and he had recorded the super bowl so we got to watch some of that! This year it played here normal time but since it was Sunday night for y'all it was Monday morning for us and I was at school and couldnt watch it. Anyway, we watched an AFL game on TV and had some sausages on the barbie. They also had my favorite cheese! I dont know the name of it but it is to die for! As they say here, "it is the most beautiful and gorgeous cheese ever!" They always describe food as being lovely, beautiful, nice, gorgeous, etc. We also played pool except he pronounced it as pewl. Pretty good night all in all.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Much Love!

Hebrews 13:8

RAIN!

It finally rained in Perth! Today it was 23 degrees which is close to 76 in our language. All of the students were wearing their jumpers (jacket/sweatshirt/sweater) and saying how cold it felt outside! I said I thought it felt wonderful and this is normal weather for our Spring time! The rain was much needed here and I am glad it finally came. It was really strange though, because it would rain really hard for about 4 or 5 minutes and then stop completely and the sun would come out. A few hours later, it would happen again. Also this was the first day that we actually turned on the classroom lights. The sun is so bright here that the school has like sunlight windows in the ceiling and the windows on the wall bring in a lot of light as well. With the rain and cloudy skies today I actually had to use the real lights for the first time in ten weeks. I think I have been here at the perfect time because I got to enjoy the nice warm weather and now that it is getting cooler and getting to be winter time, I am coming home to another Summer! I plan on going to the Cedars Club every day so AB, Olivia, Leah, Evelyn, Anthony, and anyone I'm forgetting -- come to the pool with me if you want!

Last night at bible study there was another couple that came for dinner, Matt and Abbie and their little 18 month old, Josiah aka Jessie. They were teaching him to say 'ta' which I later found out is short for Thanks which we all know is short for Thank you. I think it is so funny that everyone here shortens everything and uses abbrevs more than anyone I know! I love it! One of the main grocery stores is called Woolworth's but everyone calls it Wooly's. Now that I am trying to think of more abbreviations I cant seem to remember any. Ill think of them later.

Yesterday I got a letter and a traveling Aubie from my sweet friend, Mollie! I took him to the class today and it is just a small cutout of Aubie and I was explaining to the kids about the traditions at Auburn and what a wonderful place it is. I was telling them that this was just a picture of Aubie but really he is tall and Danny says, "Oh you mean he is massive like you?" I looked at Connie and she busted out laughing and then I looked back at Danny and said, "Are you calling me massive?" The kids starting laughing and he was like "no Miss Boehme I just mean like an adult like you." ha it was pretty funny. They do use the word massive heaps more than we would. I taught them how to say "War Eagle Aubie!" and then they all started saying the main cheer here: "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, OY! OY! OY!" They really do say Oy! a lot especially the teachers to get the children's attention if we are outside or if they are mucking around too much.

Tomorrow is Friday and I don't quite know the plans for this weekend but I'm sure it will be fun whatever we decide to do! Hope all of you have a great weekend and if you want to Skye, please send me an email so we can work out a good time!

Shout out to two good friends JESSICA STRICKLAND and RAGAN COX! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS!! HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY AND MANY MORE B'DAYS TO COME!

Jeremiah 24

Oussum

Today one of my kids drew me a picture and wrote me a note. The picture was of a car, of course and the note said, 'you a oussum' which means 'you are awesome' Then I asked him to write his name on it and he said, "oh you want my autograph?" so then he wrote a bunch of scribbles cause I guess he thinks that's what an autograph is. man, I'm gonna miss these kids.

Oh and Kerri Anne is pretty much the coolest Aussie ever. So happy that she is my BFF here and that we get along so great! I especially love walking around the school grounds with her while we are on duty. Today one of her kids had the best quote of all..."Everyone! If you throw away a Justin Bieber picture....you're all getting a warning!" (as she is swishing her hair and acting very diva-like) haha Explanation: Today the kids got magazines from the library that were free for them to take. They had some pics of the Beebs and the boys were tearing them out of their magazines and putting it in the bin. Kerrie Anne's student obvi has Bieber Fever and she was not happy to see this. When the kids are naughty here the teachers give them a warning in the behavior chart so I guess she thought she would start giving her classmates a warning if they continued to tear up the JB pics! Priceless!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, beautiful Mama!! I love you so much and I wish I could be there for your birthday! See you in 15 days! kiss kiss!

Psalm 116:17

Hot and Bothered

Today there were heaps of funny things that happened! I left my agenda book at school and I'm kinda bummed cause I wrote most of it down so I could remember to write it tonight but anyway ill try to remember most of it. This morning Liv told me that I was in her dream last night. She said that her, her mom and I were all in America and people kept on breaking glass bottles on her head and that was her dream. After recess I told Layla to go into the class room and she said she was “too hot and bothered.” Ah, now I can’t really think of the other funny stuff but I know today was pretty hilarious. They say ‘dodgy’ instead of sketchy and they use the word massive a lot! Like we would probably say huge and they say massive all the time.  Today in Pilates we listened to some of the songs from the movie Country Strong. This past Christmas break me and some of my HS friends got like VIP tickets through Kristen’s work and got to see the movie for free and I also got lots of free things including a Coca Cola shirt! I know that is pretty random but when my memory is triggered, I start remembering heaps of stuff! Yesterday I was giving a lesson on maps and how to read them and I decided to use Google maps to show the kids my house back home. They were so fascinated! I almost teared up in the lesson because I miss my home! The pic on Google maps shows the jeep wrangler parked in the front yard and the boys thought it was really cool, especially Danny and Jakob.

Today is Tracy’s birthday and we went to her Auntie Glen and Uncles Erik’s house for a birthday dinner. We had potatoes, salad, and veal that was delicious! For dessert we had pavlova  (sp?) which is one of my new favorite desserts – besides TimTams of course! There were about 11 of us in all and it was a lot of fun. Makes me excited to come home for Easter weekend and be with my family. Miss y’all so much! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and loving family!

Down to the sweet 16 now! I am starting to get sad that my days here are coming to an end. It has been an awesome experience and I hope to come back very soon! I have made some really good friends and will miss them so much! Hopefully they will come to the states and visit me in sweet home Alabama!

Isaiah 30:15

Religion In Life

So sorry I haven't been posting as often as I normally do. I think I am getting caught up today because this is probably my 4th post of the day! I hope people are still reading it even though it has been about 5 days since my last post. Lately it seems as though nothing too exciting is happening during the week because I pretty much have the same schedule every day: school, work out, dinner, TV, read, sleep, repeat. I have figured out that I can save pictures to my flash drive and then when I get to school in the mornings if there is time I can upload pictures so I will try to do that more often. If you have any requests of things that I have talked about that you want to see pics of, just let me know and I will upload those on here. Like I have said before, it takes up too much Internet to upload pics on facebook and the school has blocked facebook but good thing this blog is so handy!

This post is titled Religion in Life because we had RIL today at school. At the beginning of the term the school sends home a letter telling parents if they want their children to participate in RIL they must pay $5. The RIL teacher started coming today and will come every Monday after lunch for a 40 minute lesson about religion. Today was the first day and she talked about Egypt and Pharaoh and Jesus being born. It was cute to hear what the kids had to say when she asked them what they knew about Egypt. Eric said, "back in the old days, they had slaves that would use these big blocks to build pyramids" She talked about how she is going to teach them about how they can get to know Jesus and learn about him and then she played a song that was about getting to God. It was very nice and I liked getting to sit in on the class. She just has a little suitcase so she can travel to each classroom instead of having her own room.

Oh I forgot to tell you all about April Fool's Day at school. So Friday was 1 April as you know and as soon as the kids came in, John said, "Miss Boehme, guess what-- I'm moving to America!" I said, "Really? When?" Then he just started laughing and said "April Fool's! But I do know someone who lives in America. He's called Luke" and then I said, "oh yea, Luke! I know him" And then he said, "really, how do you know him?" Then I said, "April Fool's". So I guess y'all were thinking that story was going to be a lot better than it was but that was pretty much the only good one that happened. Another thing they kept doing to me was 'A pinch and a punch its the first of the month. No returns." That got a little old after the 2nd or third kid cause they kept trying to pinch and punch me! And we have had lots of birthdays the last week. Tahlia, James and Eric all had birthdays within the last few days so they brought in cupcakes and we got to sing to them. The happy birthday song is the same but at the end they say "Hip Hip Hooray" x3 Then they clap 8 times cause that is how old they have just turned and then one more clap for good luck.

I had my final observation today and that feels really good to get out of the way. Now I just have to finish my Professional Work Sample and then I will be ready to graduate! I seriously cannot believe how fast college has gone by! Probably been the best 4 years of my life!

Anyway, hope people are still reading this, I promise to be better about posting more often, hopefully each night again!

.peace.

PICTURES!!

Caversham Wildlife Park

Sunday morning my supervisor, John, and his wife, Hazel, took all of us girls to Caversham at Whiteman’s Park. It was beautiful out there and I got to do some really exciting things! First off, I got to feed and pet kangaroos! There were heaps of tame kangaroos and they are not afraid of people at all! There were also albino kangaroos and they looked pretty cool too! Then we got to see a sheep get sheared. I got it all on video so I will have to show y’all when I get back. After that we went to see the koalas and got pics with them and got to pet them as well! Then we met a wombat named Neil and got to take a pic and pet him as well! It was really cool.

I only have two more weekends left and I have pretty much seen all that I want to and I am so happy that I have been able to do so much on the weekends. We haven’t set anything in stone for next weekend but there are two more things I want to do before I leave and that is to go to the Perth Zoo and also to the Casino. I hope we are able to do both of those things next Saturday! The following weekend I have made plans to go with Kerri-Anne’s family down south for the Farm field day. Looking forward to that and then I will be home!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to April! I got more postcards so please send me your address if I haven’t mailed you a card yet! You can write it on here or send me an email keb0006@tigermail.auburn.edu

Hugs and kisses to everyone!

2 Cor 4:18

Fremantle Dockers

Saturday night Catherine, Erin, Catie and I went to the Freo Dockers vs. Geelong Cats. Geelong is a city just south of Melbourne over on the other side of Australia. Two girls from Auburn got placed there for their student teaching and they have been enjoying it. One of the girls, Maggie, is one of my good friends since freshmen year so I have been keeping in touch with her since we have both traveled to the same continent! She said that it has been raining a lot over there and has been quite cold. Over here I literally haven’t seen rain since January 27 which was the day that I got here. Well, it rained a little bit in Bali so I saw it there but since I have been in WA I haven’t seen a drop! It is supposed to rain on Thursday so everyone keep your fingers crossed because we are in much need of rain! Anyway, back to the footy – it may be a new favorite sport of mine! It was very fast paced and they don’t wear pads or helmets. They are very tough because they still tackle and hit each other but then they just jump right back up and keep playing. The clock doesn’t stop so the game goes by pretty quickly. We had front row seats directly behind the goal posts. While they were warming up they had a net up to catch the balls that they kicked through the field goal but once the game started they took the net down. We had two balls come our way after they kicked it and Catie caught both of them so I got to touch it and then the footy player actually came over to get it back! It was awesome! I don’t know how we scored such good seats because we only paid $30 for it. We were pulling for The Dockers because they are a WA team but they ended up losing 89-78. It was a really close game the whole time and very entertaining to watch. I think that pretty much every sport was represented during this game. To start the game they have a basketball tip off; to pass the ball they hit it like an underhand volleyball serve; they can dribble the ball like basketball when they are running with it; they punt it so many times in order to pass to one another; and it is a full on contact sport and they are running into each other right and left! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and I really like Aussie Rules Football!

Ephesians 3:20

This is AFL not NFL

Not too much has happened the past two or three days, hence not too many posts on this end. School has been pretty normal. Yesterday I was on duty for morning recess which means that while the kids are outside for morning recess there has to be two teachers on duty to watch them while the other teachers have a cuppa (cup of coffee/tea) in the staff room. So I was doing my duty outside and on the oval the year 6 and 7 boys were playing footy but some of them had taken their shoes off. I went over there to tell them that anyone who didn’t have shoes on needed to put them back on. Most of them obeyed straight away but one of them said, “This is AFL not NFL” I said, “it doesn’t matter what type of football they both wear shoes so put yours back on” (in my serious teacher tone voice) and he said, ‘yea, but I’m just saying this is not NFL that we are playing.” Haha even though he was still talking back I think he just wanted to point out that our football was different or something.

Yesterday instead of doing our normal boot camp in the afternoon, we all went to the oval in the neighborhood to play rugby. I finally caught on to the rules by the end of it but you can only pass the ball behind you which was really hard to do because you are trying to run forward but your teammates have to stay behind you so you can pass it to them without getting tagged since we were just playing touch. It was a lot of fun playing out there and a lot of running too!

Last night at bible study, Ash made some Turkish bread and it was so good! He put butter and garlic on it and it was like ciabatta (sp?) bread or something like that but a little thinner. I love most of the foods here but my teacher had me try cheesemite which is like vegemite but with a cream cheese type base. Two words: not good. I think that it is an acquired taste and I do not like it at all. It is very salty and I didn’t taste much cheese at all. 

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week! Peace and blessings, oh and I sent some more postcards yesterday so you may get one soon! Also, I noticed that I bought one that has already been written on! I cant believe I wasted 30 cents on a postcard that I cant even use! Ha I am trying to decide if I should keep it for a scrapbook because it is written in Swedish or something like that or if I should send it off because it is addressed and stamped already. What do y’all think I should I do about it? it’s a beautiful postcard so it would be a great thing for my scrapbook but I bet that person is looking for it in the mail from their friend that is in Perth! Thoughts?

Proverbs 3:5

Swan Valley Tour

I feel so cultured! I went to three wineries Sunday and it was really cool! Sunday morning after church, Tracy dropped me off at the train station where I met Catie and we rode the train into the city. It took us a while to find the coach tour bus stop but thankfully we got there and had an amazing time. My favorite wine since I have been here is called Houghton and I was so excited when we got to go to that winery. It is the biggest winery in the swan valley area. Swan Valley is a part of Perth that is along the Swan River, no surprise there. Anyway, the tour that we signed up for took us to three wineries: Houghton, Charlie’s Estate Wine, and Jarrah Ridge.  Then we went to a brewery called Elmar’s and that was pretty good too. We had some time to sit in the restaurant and we ordered some hot chips with aioli which is now one of my favorite dips! Then we went to the best part of the tour – the chocolate factory! They had the best dark chocolate and don’t worry, I brought some to bring back home! We met some pretty cool people on the tour as well. There were two girls from Ireland and they asked if I had some Irish background because they know so many Kathleen’s in Ireland and said it is a very popular name there. I said I didn’t but that my last name was German. And there just happened to be a girl from Germany on the tour, too! She asked what my surname was so I said it and spelled it for her. She said it is really pronounced Boomah and sometimes they spell it Böhme because the oe digraph can also be written as the o with the two dots on top. She said her sister is friends with a girl who has that same last name so maybe she is like my cousin or something! The brewery had lots of German beers too so that was pretty cool!

All in all, Sunday was a good day and I felt very sophisticated by the end of it! There were also lots of cool cheeses that we got try. There were meant to be eaten to cleanse our palate between the wine tasting but I was eating them because they tasted so good and I was getting hungry!

Starting week 9 tomorrow which means I only have about 3 weeks left and there is still heaps that I want to do! Seriously, cannot believe it.  Hope everyone has a great week!

Romans 12:2

Rottnest Island

Saturday was absolutely beautiful! Catie and I had to wake up early to catch the bus to get to Hillary’s Boat Harbor but it was well worth it! We met Erin and Whitley there and took the first ferry out to Rottnest Island at 8am and we stayed until 4:30 trying to do as much as we could. They have these rodent type things on the island called quokkas. They are extinct everywhere except that island. They look like a cross between a huge rat and a small kangaroo. They were cute in the face but they have a rat tail that looks pretty gross. Anyway, we hired some bikes and snorkeling gear to take with us to the island. Good thing we did because it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and if we didn’t have the bikes we wouldn’t have been able to see nearly as much as we did. I was pretty much the fastest bike rider out of the group. Haha jk I think I just had a fast bike. But yea, we rode for majority of the day trying to see as much of the island as we could. It is a huge holiday spot for every one of all ages. They have cabins to rent, places to set up tents, a grocery store, shops to buy things, restaurants, pubs, a movie theatre, bus tours, lots of bays to go snorkeling and it’s a historical place. They have old cannons that were used during WWII and we went up to Oliver Hill which I think was the highest point of the island, in the middle. That was one massive hill and it has hard riding the bike to the top but it was heaps of fun riding down! We biked for the majority of the day taking a few breaks to snorkel and lay out at the beach. Everyone was so nice and helpful as usual because all Aussies pick up on our accent and are so kind to offer help and ask us about our trip and why we are here. I really love the people here because, apart from some of the bus drivers, everyone is always happy to stop what they are doing to help you out!

When we were ordering our lunch Saturday I didn’t really know what was going on at this bakery/deli so I just ordered what the person in front of my ordered which was a chicken and avocado roll. Turned out to be a sub sandwich with baked chicken, tomato, and avocado. Well, Erin ordered the same thing except instead of saying ‘roll’ she just said chicken and avocado sandwich. They brought here a sandwich on white bread with the same thing as me except mine was a foot long which gave me lunch and a snack before we left but her little sandwich only filled her up for lunch. So if you are coming to Australia and want a sub sandwich say you want a roll. Also they call cookies biscuits and granola bars Museli bars. I think I may have already told you that but just in case, there you go. And TimTams are the best cookie/biscuit ever created. I will be starting a business to import them to the states if anyone wants to help. Forget teaching, I will earn enough by introducing TimTams to the Americans.  That alright with you, pops?! :)

Hope all is well with everyone back home. I will be home in 26 days and I am so excited to spend time with all of you again. I have been missing everyone so much and I can’t wait to hug your necks when I am back! I got lots of postcards this weekend and plan on sending those out soon so if you haven’t received a postcard please make sure I have your address so I can send you one!

Lamentations 3:24-26

Perth City Festival

Every Friday night in March the city of Perth has lots of food stands set up and street entertainers performing downtown. Catie and I met Erin there on Friday for dinner and I am so glad we went. They just have it open from 5 to 8 and it was a lot of fun going into the city. I have been there once before when we went searching for that Mexican restaurant but this time we went when it was still daylight and got to see more of the city. I saw the famous Bell Tower and it changes colors at night. It looks much bigger on postcards but it was still very pretty. I also saw

London Court

which reminded me of London, imagine that! It was just a little side street downtown that had that England type architecture and lots of little shops, too bad were there after they closed. Hope to go back sometime during the day so have a look around. We saw a street entertainer that did a juggling show. He was probably the funniest guy I know, besides Peter, of course. But yea, he was hilarious and I was laughing so hard at his jokes as he was performing. At the end he asked a volunteer (actually it was Erin) to put him in a straight jacket and he would get out of it in one minute. So before we started the timer he said we would count to 3 and then say go. He said, if you aren’t from here, this is how you count to 3 in French…Chinese... those were both legit then he said, this is how you count if you are from America, 1….another one…..a bunch. This is how you count if you are Roman I….I, I…. I, I, I. haha that was my fav, get it, like Roman numerals?! He had tons of jokes up his sleeve! His name was Bruce. A few times he was juggling he dropped them at the beginning and I felt like calling out from the crowd, “You can do it Bruce-y!” for those of you who have seen Matilda, I hope you are laughing right now!

That was pretty much my day. Oh and another thing they say a little differently is ‘short sighted’ and ‘long sighted’ instead of near and far when talking about vision.

1 Corinthians 10:10

Two Birthdays

Today was another easy peasy day. Because the kids have swim lessons it is pretty much a half day for the next week! I cannot believe how fast the time is going, sorry, I know I say that pretty much every entry but yea, it is flying! So, yesterday was Alazer’s birthday and today I asked him how it was and if he got anything special. He walked closer to me and whispered, “I got KFC for dinner” I started smiling and was like, “Wow! I bet that was good!” He said, “yes, it was good but did know I have two birthdays and today is my other birthday.” I said, “What do you mean?” He says, “Well in my country, in Ethiopia, my birthday is on the 24^th which is today. But when I came here my mom changed it to the 23^rd which was yesterday. So today is my birthday where lots of people give me presents but yesterday was my birthday only for my mom to give me presents. Everyone in my family gets two birthdays. That’s just how my family is.” Haha it was so cute!

On the bus ride back to the pool Jade was sitting in front of me and this is our conversation:

Jade: Miss Boehme, what is your favorite color?

Me: Purple.

Jade: What is your favorite animal?

Me: Tiger.

Jade: What is your favorite number?

Me: 3

Jade: You have a purple tiger that has three legs.

Me: ……blank stare, I didn’t really know what to say and I probably gave her one of my looks that many of you know I can give.

Jade: You can go back to America and teach everyone that game now.

Today at school I got a phone call from my wonderful Mama and sister!! It was good to hear their voices even though I was nervous when the registrar lady told me my mom was on the phone! But yea it was a nice surprise and they called during morning tea so it was great timing since the kids were at recess.

I also got a special something in the mail today! It was an invitation to Leah’s bridal shower! I wish I could be there for it but I will be there in spirit! Maybe I can be skyped in? I’ll try to work it out because I miss all those besties from high school! Glad I am still so close with y’all even though it has been 4 years!

Isaiah 41:13

Swimming Lessons

Yesterday started swimming lessons for the kids! I can't believe it is part of the curriculum here but I think it is pretty cool. It will be all of this week and all of next. So after lunch our kids get on a bus and we drive to Craigie Leisure Center for the swimming lessons. The students have to pay $50 ahead of time and if they don't want to pay for it or attend, they can stay at school to do other work. We have 3 groups that go throughout the afternoon and we pretty much have to block off 2 hours of the day for it. The teachers are put on a roster to either stay at school with the left overs (kids who don't go to swimming lessons) have DOTT time which is a planning period or go to the pool with the kids. Yesterday Connie and I stayed at school with the left overs and today we went to the pool. It is an indoor pool and they have all the kids divided up into different levels depending on how good they are at swimming. The kids come to school in their bathing suit with their uniforms over and they are allowed to wear flip flops to school, but they call them thongs and I think its kinda funny! So that is pretty much all that has been happening here. I am going to Rottnest Island this weekend and really looking forward to that! Sorry there isn't more to say, but the good thing is I will be home in less than a month and I can speak to your pretty little faces!

Much love

Matthew 6:25-27

Scarborough Beach

We did not end up going on the boat today but it turned out to be a wonderful day. Tracy, Monique and I went to church and it really hit me that I will miss that church family a lot when I go home. I have gotten to know so many of them and I enjoy their company. Today the reading was on John 13 which is about Jesus washing the feet. The pastor talked about love and the meaning that that word holds. He talked about how it is a choice that you make and should not always be based on feelings. He explained that when you truly love someone that means you will do anything for them just as Jesus gave His life for us, because he loved us so much. The washing of the feet was supposed to be a job for the lowest ranking person in the house or a servant of the house. When Jesus got down to wash their feet they didn’t want Him to do that because that meant He was lower than they were. But He saw it as a way to serve the ones He loved and to show them how much He loved them. There were more things that he talked about, but that was the main thing that I got out of it.  

After church I talked with my friends for a bit but then I went out to eat lunch with Monique and Tracy. We went to a Japanese restaurant called Yum Cha that served Dim Sum. It was very interesting because the way they serve you is that you sit at a table with a ticket on it and the people walk around with trays full of food and you say yes or no. If you want what they have you take a plate of it and they put a little tick on your ticket to show what you have eaten. They were constantly circling the restaurant and bringing out tons of food. It was pretty good food and was very filling!

After lunch I went down to get Catie and we walked to the bus stop. We took the bus to the train station and then went to Scarborough beach. It was absolutely beautiful but it is also one of the most dangerous beaches in Perth because of the high winds and the strong under toe. It was probably the most fun I have ever had the beach because it was awesome playing the waves and body surfing. They were the highest waves I have been in and I know I will be sore tomorrow. At one point it was a little scary because it took us out past the yellow and red flags and you are supposed to always stay in between the flags for safety. But thankfully we got back to shore safely. When we tried to lay out it was not so fun because the wind was so strong it would blow sand in your face. But all in all, it was a beautiful day and I am so glad that it turned out to be such a fun day. When we were ready to leave we had about 45 minutes before our bus came so we decided to go to a restaurant on the beach to have a beer. OMG, it was the best beer I have ever had. It was called Matso’s Mango Beer. It is brewed here in the state of Western Australia in a city called Broome. I normally do not like beer at all and I think it is because the beer we get in America is just not good. Ha, Australian beer is so much better!

I am so happy and blessed to be able to go to the beach pretty much every weekend and enjoy God’s beautiful creation. He is so wonderful and I am so thankful that He is challenging me everyday to grow closer to Him.

Hope everyone has a great week back at school! Only 4 more weeks for me and I don’t want it to end!

John 13: 1-17

Cottesloe Beach

This weekend has been a lot of fun already and its only Sat-night! Let’s see, yesterday I went to the church for the youth group activity night. We played Minute to Win It and there was a pretty good crowd there. There were probably 7 leaders and 28 to 30 high school students. I was really glad that I went and after that we went to McDonald’s with the other leaders. I am happy that I making Aussie friends but I know it will be hard to leave because I have really enjoyed getting to know them the past couple of months. I was talking to a girl about how I miss Dr Pepper because they don’t have it here and she said, “What is that? Oh, is that what Nick Jonas drinks? I went through a phase where I seriously thought I was going to marry him so I learned everything about him.” haha

Today Catie, Catherine and I went to Cottesloe Beach. During the month of March they have been having a sculpture display on the beach with over 50 sculptures placed in the sand. Some of them were really cool but others really different and I guess if you have that ‘artist eye’ you would see the talent in it. Cottesloe has been my favorite place in Perth so far. We had lunch at the Ocean Beach Hotel and I got a chicken kebab! It was more of a wrap with grilled chicken, lettuce, hummus and a garlic dressing. It was de-lish-us!! The beach was probably one of the prettiest beaches I have been to. The sand was really soft and the weather was beautiful.

Tonight Jane, Jason and the kids (the family that Catie lives with) came over to hang out and Catherine is here too. Catherine is spending the night and we are hoping to do something fun tomorrow. We planned on going to Seal Island but the skipper hasn’t gotten back to us so I don’t know if we’ll end up going because we need the boat to get there. I only have 4 more weekends left and I know I say this like every post but I seriously cannot believe how fast it is going by!

I am sure most of you have heard about Mary Beth Goodner, the Auburn student who passed away during Spring Break. I remember meeting her freshmen year because she was friends with some of the girls that lived on my hall but I didn’t really know her personally. She comes from a family of 7 and her father passed away a few years ago from cancer. Please keep her family in your prayers that they will find peace and comfort in this time of confusion and tragedy.

Much love

1 Corinthians 6:19

Thankful

First off I'd like to say that last night at SPLAT tennis was awesome! I have been in this bible study with people that are approaching their 30s which isn't that much older than me but I was very happy to see someone closer to my age last night. His name is BT and he is the new Youth Minister intern at the church. I met him once before at church a few weeks ago but haven't seen him since then. He asked me to come help him with a youth group activity tomorrow night at the church and I don't have any other plans so I am going and I think it will be a lot of fun. Don't know if there will be any more early-twenties people but there will be lots of high schoolers! Ill have to let you know how it goes!

Today was a good school day and we had a special visitor at school. His name was Brett I think and he was smokin' hott! He was an Aussie Rules Football player at Subiaco and he came to talk to the kids about joining a footy team. When I came here I was expecting to see lots of hott Australian guys like the one from that movie, The Last Song. Honestly, they have been few and far between, most of them have mullets or rat tails. But today, Brett was pretty cute! The kids loved him and got his autograph even though he isn't famous at all. I think its like a club football thing or something so its not actually AFL.

Tonight I went out to dinner with Kerri-Anne and her brother. We had a great time and lots to talk about because he studied in America for about 10 months a few years ago. I am so thankful for all the people that I have met and I feel blessed to have made these friends. I hope to keep in touch with them for years to come!

I have titled this entry as thankful because I truly am so thankful for everything that has happened since I have been here. I have learned so much about teaching and about life in general. I have learned what it means to be a true friend and to have a true friend. I have realized the importance of spending time with someone and the fact that the little things to us could sometimes mean something way more to someone else. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from my freshman year Auburn Experience binder:

The greatest gift you can ever give anyone is your time. It is the most precious aspect of your life. --Margaret Carter

I won't get all emo on you now but I think that quote says it all. Time can be a very precious thing to all of us but I think it is more important to invest your time in the people that you care about rather than the work that you do or the job that you have. Thank you all so much for showing me love and support, you have no idea what it means to me and I am so blessed to have you in my life.

Joshua 1:5

Green Faction is First!

YAY!! GREEN FACTION CAME IN FIRST PLACE!!

I am so knacked!! Today was exhausting, but lots of fun! It was very close all day between blue and green faction but in the end, we pulled it off! I was so proud of them and they were so excited. All of the factions did really great and they all enjoyed themselves, I think. Next week we start swimming lessons and we will go to the pool for two hours each afternoon for weeks 8 and 9. Usually they have swimming lessons for two weeks and then the carnival at the end to show off their new skills but the deputy (asst. principal) couldn't get the pool booked after swimming lessons so we had to plan it before the lessons. It turned out to be a good day though! I picked up on some new things out there. When the teachers are trying to get the students attention outside they say, "Oy!" I guess it comes from the the cheer "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy"  "When someone is talking about someone that they know nothing about they say, "I don't know him from a bar of soap".

Right now, I am sitting in my classroom ready to go home because I am so exhausted. I am still going to bible study tonight and we are playing tennis instead of having the usual gathering at Brit and Ash's place. I am not really a good tennis player but I said I would give it a go! Tomorrow night I am going out to eat with Kerri-Anne and her brother for St. Patrick's Day and I am looking forward to that. He studied in the US for 9 months a few years ago so I think we will have lots to talk about with study abroad experiences and such.

Hope everyone is enjoying beautiful weather for spring break! Peace, love and Go Green!

Philippians 4:13

New TimTams

There is a new flavor of TimTams that has just come out. Dark Chocolate Mint. It taste like a thin mint girl scout cookie but ten times better, if you can imagine that!

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday, my Tuesdays have been getting lots better these days. Jason is starting to get harder on us with Boot Camp. We had a helluva run today. I'm getting pretty fit over here!

Tomorrow is the Swimming Carnival so I'm sure Ill have more to post tomorrow night! Bye for now! :) haha "C" girls, I hope you get that joke!

Zephaniah 3:17

Time flies...

Sorry I didn't post anything last night. Not too much happened yesterday except that I realized that my time here is going very quickly. I only have 5 weekends left so Catie and I sat down last night to plan out what we still have left to do. I hope we can get it all accomplished by the time we leave. I have less than 40 days left, it seems like just yesterday I was on that 14-hour flight to get here!

Yesterday we had a faction meeting and I learned that Green Faction won the Swimming Carnival last year so I hope we can win again this year! That will be tomorrow and I am so pumped about it!

I started emailing my resume out to some principals yesterday. If any of you know of any job openings please let me know because I am looking for something to do when I get home. I originally wanted to go to Graduate School but I have not heard back so I don't think that is happening. I would like to get a job anywhere that I can, so please let me know if there are any openings that you know of!

When I got home from school yesterday Tracy had a beautiful letter waiting for me on the counter. It was from my all time bestie ALICE!! I was thrilled to see it and I read it about 5 times throughout the evening. She has been such a wonderful friend since high school and I am so happy that we are still so close. Alice, I plan on writing you a letter back so be on the lookout!

Hope everyone is enjoying a happy and safe spring break! You will probably be about as tan as me by the time I get home because it is starting to cool down here and warm up over there! Much love!

Matthew 7:7

Yanchep, WA

Yesterday I went to Yanchep National Park. It was beautiful! I got to see several koalas hanging out in the trees, some black parrots and other birds, and some kangaroos! We also took a tour in Crystal Cave. I took lots of pictures and planned on uploading them to Facebook last night when I was at Jan’s but didn’t get around to it. I forgot that I had uploaded some pictures from Bali last weekend and when I got to Jan’s I started uploading pictures from Bali and it took about 45 min and then I realized I had already uploaded them. UGH. I was so frustrated with myself! By that time, it was getting late and we had to get home so I guess I’ll have to get my pictures organized this week and give it another go next weekend. Back to Yanchep, I went with Erin and Catherine and then Erin’s host family picked us up and we went to a festival nearby. They had lots of food, games, booths with cute things to buy, and music. There were lots of kids around and it was a beautiful night. The weather is starting to cool down and it was actually quite chilly last night.

This morning I went to church at Kingsley Church of Christ again. I really like it there and that will be one of the places I miss the most. I have made some great friendships and am so thankful for those people. After church some of the people from SPLAT (my bible study – Share, Pray, Listen and Talk) went to Joondalup to the shopping center to eat at the food court. Australians know that Sunday should be a day of rest and there are not many places open on Sunday so the mall was a good option to find good food! I got some Thai food and it was pretty good. After that Brittni and I looked around to see if there were any nice dresses. I am looking for one to wear at Leah’s wedding coming up in May and I thought it would be cool to get one from here. Too bad the prices are so high! Seriously, I picked up a shirt that I thought would be $30 at the most and it was $85!! That was just a shirt. The dresses are well over $150 for just a sun dress. I can’t imagine what it would cost to buy a formal dress here! After that I came home and Catie and I went for a little run around the oval (field) at the neighborhood park. Then we came back to go for a swim and get some sun! My book is starting to get really good and I while I am happy that I have a busy schedule here I wish I could have some more down time to finish it so I can start on the next one! I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I have the 2^nd and 3^rd one in my closet to read while I am here. Aunt Cyndie, I think one of them is yours – don’t worry I’ll take good care of it and now your book is a world traveler!

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but one of the girls in my class had nits (lice) a few weeks ago. Since I found that out my head has been itching but I didn’t know if it was just a mental thing or if I had it too. Catie checked my head today and said she saw nothing so that was a relief! This morning I got to skype with my wonderful, beautiful, sweet, kind loving little sister – ANNA BETH!! … and peter and mama. Haha jk Pete and Moms, glad I got to see you twos! Anyway, it was great getting to see AB. She is getting so much older and I could tell a maturity in her since I left only 2 months ago! I also got a thoughtful card from her last week sometime and it was the highlight of my day!

Starting week 7 tomorrow! We have the swimming carnival on Wednesday – say prayers for Green Faction! Word around the staff room lets me know we aren’t really the best faction athletically.

Hope all of you are having a wonderful spring break and since most of you will have heaps of free time I should have skype dates scheduled quite often! I understand most of you will be at the beach but if you are bored or if you’re up late having a blast in the condo or something let me know and I’d love to join the party! :)

I got a great text today from my wonderful friends, Allison and Hannah, and it was great to hear from them! All I have to say is “B-B-B- Benny and the Jets” Great times! Love you girls!

John 16:22

Boot Camp

So this week instead of going our usual walk around the lake, Catie and I have been doing Boot Camp. Jason is her host dad and he used to be in the Army so he has been giving us a work out in the afternoons. I have been worn out when we are done! He’s a really nice guy and doesn’t seem like he would be strict on what to do for workouts but when we complain he will double it or tell us to keep running or something. I mean, it’s all in good fun and he is not pushing us to where we are dying or anything but he pushes us enough to get a good workout. He has this thing on his iPod called the Beep Test where you have to run to one side of the yard and wait for the beep and then run to the other side and wait for the beep. The time between beeps is a lot at the beginning and then as you complete levels it gets faster and faster to where you are doing full on sprints. I did it last week and got up to level 8 or something like that but it was hard as. Today we did it and we had to negotiate with him to let us stop at level 6. I think the highest level is 15 or something like that. Apparently, to enter the women’s police force here you have to get through level 11. So that has been really good to do each afternoon before dinner.

Not too much happened at school today. I had a laugh during class and I couldn’t really stop. Ha, they were building towers to see who could build the tallest one. Owain and James figured out that you need to have a good base around it to keep it up. John looked at theirs and said to his group, “oh, guys let’s copy them!” And then Owain looked at me and said, “Miss Boehme, they are copying us!” Then John said, “no we’re not! We are not.” Then he turned to his group and whispered, “Alazer, hurry and build the base like theirs” I just lost it! Thankfully, they didn’t think I was laughing at them and didn’t get their feelings hurt. They just all kind of laughed with me.

Right now I am watching Bring It On with Monique and it is bringing back so many memories of when I watched this movie literally every day. Once when we were in Chattanooga Carly, Cody, Peter and I watched it one night and then after it was over Peter said, “Let’s watch it again” So we did! Haha! Go Toro’s!!

Tomorrow I am going to the National Park so I hope to have lots of photos and be able to upload them tomorrow night when we go to Jan’s for dinner!

Galatians 5:25

Faction Marshall

Today was a pretty normal day at school. John came in for another visit and filled out some paperwork that I had to fax to the COE at Auburn. It is amazing that I can send something through a fax machine to the other side of the world and it comes out in HC 3464. I just think so much of technology is so crazy! Like text messages. This morning I got an email from my roommate back in Auburn. She had some wonderful news that she is now engaged!! I am so happy for her and Mark and I know they are just made for each other! Anyway, as soon as I got the email I texted Alice to see if the candle light had happened yet, she said they had just started chapter so it was coming! But, yea so I think it is so cool that I could send her that text message from the other side of the world and she could text me back immediately! 

Yesterday at school we had a staff meeting and I was appointed Faction Marshall for the swimming carnival next week! We have swimming lessons for all the kids in week 8 and 9 and I am looking forward to that. But next week, week 7 we have a swimming carnival where all the students compete in swimming events. Every student and teacher is put into a faction or team. We have green, gold, red and blue. I am in green faction and I hope we win on Wednesday! I’ll keep you posted on what happens. It should be a fun day because we spend the whole day at the pool!

Tonight we had dinner at Tracy’s aunt and uncle’s house. They reminded me of Sittie and Giddie and it really made me miss the family at home. We had a delicious meal and good family time. Tracy’s cousin Peter and his two sons came over as well. The boys are called Jackson and Thomas (they don’t really say, ‘their name is …’). Another thing that they say a lot over here is “cheeky”. When a kid is being cheeky, it means they are being silly or like a smart alec. The kids at school are always being cheeky, especially the little boys.

I have to be honest you guys are getting lazy with the comments and emails. I know it’s almost spring break time but I look forward to hearing from ya! Come on mate!

Peace and blessings, peace and blessings!

Psalm 18:30

Top 3 Favourites

Today we had parent interviews and I loved it! I really liked being able to sit in on the conferences and meet all the parents. Lots of them had compliments to throw my way which was nice! Connie had to remind me not to get a big head about it! One of the moms said that her daughter told me I was in her "top 3 favourite  teachers at the school but she didn't really know if I counted since I wasn't a real teacher yet" :) Anyway, it was a great day because the kids left at ten after 12 and then we had a nice lunch break and now we are done with the interviews. Kerrie Anne has a few more left so I decided to write in this while I waited on her.

Tonight I am going to Brittni and Ash's for dinner. They are such a cute couple and I am looking forward to dinner and bible study tonight. I think there will be some other people there from church that I haven't met yet so I that will be good to meet some more Aussies.

Earlier today I was talking to Connie about it being Ash Wednesday and we would call yesterday 'Fat Tuesday' She said that they call it Pancake Tuesday. Also I told her about Mardi Gras and back home we used to have King Cake at school and a everyone would wear purple, green and gold to celebrate. She said that Mardi Gras here is a celebration of the gay population. They have a parade and a big party but only the gays or gay supporters participate in it. She said that it is much bigger in Sydney but they have a smaller version in Perth.

I hope all is well at home! I got to skype with one of my best mates, Lauren this morning and luckily Amanda came home just as I was about to get off! I've been emailing her quite often but it was nice to see her! If anyone else wants to skype, please send me an email and we can set it up! Also, the phone thing really isn't that expensive. I put $10 on it two and half weeks ago and I still have minutes left!

Please continue to send me emails and comments to let me know how everything is going back home! I pray for y'all all the time and I can't wait to see you in just 6 short weeks!

1 John (cant remember the exact verse from this morning but I remember it was from this book)

Bali Safari and Marine Park

I went on a safari yesterday! Ok, so it wasn’t like a real safari it was just at a park but it was still pretty legit. I got to ride an elephant, hold a baby orangutan and a python was wrapped around me! We left the Dynasty Resort at 9am yesterday morning and rode on a bus to the Safari Park which was about an hour away. The Balinese are crazy drivers! We would ride on the shoulder of the road just to cut in front of people. Also, there are tons of motorbikes and they would just zoom in and out of cars and I felt like we were going to hit one at any moment. Anyway, we got there and spent the entire day walking around the park and seeing all the exotic animals. I am planning to post pics on Facebook this weekend. We left there around 3 to go back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport. The Denpasar airport is one that I will never forget. First of all, to enter Bali we had to pay $25 US Dollars and to leave the island, we had to pay 150,000 Rupiah. Their money was so strange and quite honestly, I didn’t figure out how to use it until it was time to leave. Everything is in the 1000s. I think the exchange rate was something close to 8,940 Rupiah for every $1 Aussie Dollar. Secondly, the airport was the strangest thing I have ever been in. We walked around it about 5 times trying to find something good to eat. I heard a lot about Bali Belly and I was determined not to get it while I was there. Lots of people get it when they visit because the water is not what our bodies are used to. We had to use bottled water to brush our teeth. Thankfully, none of us got Bali Belly! Finally, we found an okay restaurant in the airport and by that point, we were so tired because we had been up since 7am, walked all day, and we were so hungry. Pretty much everything was funny to us; you know when you get to that point when you are pretty much delirious because it has been such a long day!? Well, I get like that sometimes and Catherine said the phrase, “oh yea, rollin’ like a big shot” very nonchalantly and it made me laugh so hard. We were saying that and “Go America” (remember in one of my earlier posts when I said that to one of my students because he said that his apple was from USA?) all night long. I guess it was because we were so tired but that plane ride was one the funniest I’ve ever been on. But it was also a little scary because as we were boarding, it started raining and lightening outside. We still took off and I was praying my hardest that we landed safely. Thankfully, we got home safe and sound. I am so pumped to post pics so you can check them out on facebook soon!

Today at school flew by! I was pretty tired because I didn’t get home until after midnight but we had a lot of DOTT time (planning periods) because the kids had Indonesian and Computer today. Tomorrow is parent interviews (parent-teacher conferences) so the kids get out at 12:10. We have to stay until after 5 but at least the kids will be gone. I am pretty excited to sit on the interviews to see how they go. Something really sad happened with Danny today. I was having a serious talk with him and Jakob because they kept on calling out and goofing off today. I asked them why they were choosing to act that way in the classroom and Jakob said he didn’t know but Danny said he knows why he does it. He said, ‘it’s because I miss my brother” and then tears started streaming down his face. It was so sad because he said that his 15 year old brother was bad and the high school said he couldn’t come back so he had to be sent to another school I guess it is like a boarding school or something. He said he has to be there for 3 years and they used to share a room but now he has to sleep in his room with an empty bed next to him. I felt so bad for him but Jakob was trying to make him feel better too and he said, “I bet Miss Boehme misses her family too because they are so far away”. I felt like I was going to cry then too. But anyway, on a happier note, Mama sent a post card to my class and I brought it today. They loved it! They thought it was really cool. One of the kids said, “Your mum spelled mum wrong” and another girl (very much a little diva) said, “No, that’s how they spell it in America. And that’s how I spell it too because I like to write things like Americans do” haha last week I was doing a lesson on money and they don’t use the cents sign that we use, they just put a c. She asked me about 5 times if she could write it ‘the American way instead of the Australian way’ haha Also last week I was wearing a dress from Anthro and she said I looked ‘very Hollywood’. Her name is Dakota and she when I first met her she told me she was named after 2 of the states. Her little sister is named Jorga (pronounced Georgia).

I think that is about all that has been going on the past couple of days. Today was my half way mark. I can’t believe I only have 43 days left here! If anyone wants to come here for spring break, let me know! :)

1 Chronicles 16:11

Bali, Day 2

Today was pretty awesome. We went to the markets and got some great deals on lots of cool things! I got a pair of RayBan's for $5! Everything here is really cheap, I mean you have to barter with them but they will sell their stuff for really cheap because they need the business. It is actually kinda sad. When you are walking down the street, they will come up to you, usually saying something like "hey very pretty girl; charlie's angels; my hunny bunny" (those were our favorites from today). So you go to their little set up of merchandise and look through what you like while they are shoving stuff in your face and saying, "I give you very good price, good for me, good for you, very cheap". When you pick something and they say a price, you are supposed to say no and then say half of what they said. Then they say, "no lady, give me serious price" So then you say, "I am serious" and walk away. Then they come after you and say, "ok, ok I give it to you for that" Catie is the best at it. Catherine and I would ask her to help us so we could get good deals. I did a few on my own and got some pretty good things but I always got better deals when she was around. Everyone that we met thought we were Aussies so when we told them we were from America they said, "Oh yes, we love Barack Obama" haha

After we had a full day of shopping we walked around the beach and the city of Kuta a bit. I feel like I learned a lot today because I have never been to a third world country before. I think most people think that Bali is a tropical and beautiful place, but that is the complete opposite. I mean, the resorts and hotels are very nice but the beach and city are trashed and the people are very poor. There are stray dogs roaming the street and you can tell they are starving and have flees all over. The streets are filled with potholes and the sidewalks are all cracked and have holes in them, too. Also the weather here is so muggy and you are constantly sweating as soon as you leave the hotel. I am really glad that we came because it is an experience I will always remember. I also had a very cool War Eagle moment. Some Balinese woman in the market was wearing an Aubie Shirt!! Check out my facebook photos to see it!
Tonight we had dinner on the beach at a french restaurant while the sun was setting. It was pretty because we were far enough way so that we couldn't see the trash on the sand and we could focus on the beautiful sunset. Tomorrow we are going on a safari tour and we get to ride an elephant! I am so excited about that! It will pretty much take up the whole day and then we will head back to Perth. I will probably post again on Tuesday to let you know how the safari adventure went!

Thanks for all your prayers and support! Much love!

Hebrews 7:25

Bali, Indonesia

Hey Everyone! Wow, I feel like I have so much to say! So yesterday, Catie, Catherine and I left Perth to come to Bali for the weekend. We left Perth around 9:30 Friday night and got to Bali close to 1 a.m. We were the last flight to come in since Saturday started Nyepi Day. It is the Balinese New Year and a day of silence. All the Balinese people go back to their huts and spend the day in quiet and meditation with their family. The whole island is closed down, nothing on the TV or radio, lights are out, shops are closed, no taxis are running, I mean complete ghost town - we weren't even allowed to leave the hotel to go to the beach which is in walking distance away from the hotel. Anyway, they had lots of stuff going on at the hotel today so we had plenty of things to do. We woke up and went to the spa villa and got a massage, manicure, pedicure, body scrub and facial. It was so relaxing and much needed. After that we went to the restaurant by the pool and got some sandwiches and then went for a swim. They had a swim up bar which was pretty cool. By that time it was pretty much dinner time so we came back to the room to take showers and then we went to one of the restaurants in the hotel that had a Chinese buffet. I haven't had Chinese since I got here and I didn't realize how much I missed it! I felt like I should have tried some Indonesian food but the Chinese was delicious! After that we went to the Irish Pub that is also in the hotel. They said it was probably the only bar opened on the whole island. They had a Balinese band and when they said they take requests we asked if they knew how to play Sweet Home Alabama. And guess what?! They did! So we were sitting in an Irish Pub, at a hotel in Bali, listening to Sweet Home Alabama. It was priceless! I took a video of it and will try to post it on facebook soon. It was really funny with their accents -- Swee Tome Alahbama

They had a video shop by the pub that sells movies for 10000 rupiah which is about $1.50. We bought the movie 'Just Go With It' and we are watching it now. Basically, someone has gone to the movie theatre with a video camera and video-taped the whole movie. We can barely hear the movie because we hear the audience and the camera keeps moving around and cutting off the actor's heads. So they video-taped it and then burned it to a DVD put it in a fancy case that looks legit and sells it. Ha it's pretty funny to watch because we can still understand what is going on but its just really bad quality. I told Catherine she needs to keep it and show everyone back in the states.

So that is about it for now! Tomorrow we plan on going to the beach and going to the markets! All my Aussie friends have told me that I need to barter when I want to buy stuff in Bali so hopefully I can get some deals on stuff! I will try to write again tomorrow night. Also, I have uploaded some pics to facebook but I have a lot more to put up and I will try to do that soon. It takes a while to get them all uploaded so it may be later this week but no worries, you will see them all soon!

Peace and Blessings, Peace and Blessings!

1 Cor 1:23-24