Easy Peasy...

I prob hear that phrase more than anything here! I don’t know if I have said this yet but they abbreviate everything here! I love it because I like to use abbrevs as well but it is funny because they use it a lot more than I would think. Like air con instead of air conditioner and tele instead of TV. Anyway, they say easy peasy quite a lot!

For some reason I was so tired after school today! I don’t know why because last night was the first night I slept without waking up! I have been waking up at least 3 or 4 times throughout the night but last night I slept straight through until about 6. I didn’t have to wake up until 7 so that was annoying but I was happy to have slept soundly, finally! Anyway, when I got home today I felt like going to bed! Catie and I did not go on our usually afternoon walk with the kids which I was happy about it because I was already exhausted! I’m really getting great experience in the classroom but Connie is def using me as much as she can! I am thankful to get lots of work done because it helps the day go by fast! Today we had duty during recess and I hope to take pics soon so I can show you all how cute the kids are! Whenever they go outside they have to wear hats that match their uniform. They wear aqua cotton collared shirts with black shorts (skirts for the girls). The hats are black and I think we call them boater’s hats? They are the hats that have the short bill that goes all the way around. When the kids have recess the teachers have morning tea. Australians love tea and coffee and it’s a nice break that we get to meet the other teachers in the staff room and visit for about 30 min while the kids play outside. They have two teachers on duty each day; Connie and I are scheduled for Thursdays. The kids also eat lunch outside and then they have time to play after they eat. The weather is beautiful and it’s nice to be able to go outside so much and enjoy the fresh air. All of the classrooms have two doors – one that leads to the wet area which is like a lobby type room and the other leads straight outside. Most of the teachers leave both doors open and a nice breeze comes through the room. They have air con too so it’s not too hot.

So since it is the beginning of the school year we have to do lots of testing to see where each student is academically. Today I gave the spelling test and it was quite difficult because of my accent. But whenever I said a word I would just say it in a sentence too and they usually understood what I was saying. However, there were several times where Connie had to interrupt and say “we say ____”. Some of it was kind of funny and the kids were nice about it when they would say, “Miss Boehme, what are you saying!?” Also when they had some time to write in their writing pad one of the boys, Josh, asked me how to spell favorite. I explained that in the states we spell it differently but I told him how to spell it using a ‘u’.

All in all, today was a great day. I love being with the little ones because they are always giving me compliments and telling me how they are happy that I am here. I really do feel so blessed to be placed here because it is one of the best schools in the area. Kerrie Anne (the 25 year old teacher that I have become great friends with) she has helped me out so much and since she was in my shoes last year she has just taken me under her wing and been so kind. I was worried it would be hard to make friends here but everyone is so outgoing and beautiful! They use the word beautiful in a different way than we do. It is more to describe what type of person someone is rather than how they look. Everything is just beautiful here!

Romans 8:31