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

The Bloody Teachers

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. We are running out of GB on the Internet at home and I tried to post it on Tracy's laptop but I guess it didn't work. No worries though, nothing too exciting happened yesterday. They kids were being naughty and would not listen to me or Connie. Hopefully today will be a lot better. Alazer came up to me yesterday after lunch and said, "Miss Boehme, Layla said something rude about you and Ms. Pintaudi" I said, "Well, what did she say" He whispered, "She said, 'the bloody teachers'."  I wanted to laugh but I knew this was very serious. I called Layla out in the wet area and I said, "Layla, do you have something you want to tell me? Are you mad at me or something?" She got very defensive and said, "No, its not like I said the F word or anything!" I said, "well, what is bothering you that you had to say what you said?" She said, "well I really need to go to the toilet and I know I'm not supposed to go right now but I didn't get to go at lunch and I'm busting" Then I said, "if you would have asked me like that the first time I would have let you go. But before, you came up to me shouting and screaming in my face to let you go. You should always ask politely if you need to go." So she asked me politely and went and then like 20 minutes later I was doing a lesson with them and she says, "Miss Boehme, you are brilliant!" I was taken aback and I said, "Layla, just 20 minutes ago you were mad at me now you're hugging me and telling me I'm brilliant?" She just smiled and said, "yea, I know" haha

Another thing about Alazer, he came up to me and asked if we were allowed to chew gum in the school and I said no I didn't think so. Then he said that Danny had some gum. I told Danny to spit it out and he turned to Alazer and said, "Alazer, you said you wouldn't tell" haha little children always dobbing (tattle tale).

I also went to bible study last night. It was really good and I am so thankful to have met these people! God is good......all the time. All the time......God is good. Oh the good ol' OLV days with Father Ray!

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday night! Since I am in the future I can tell you that Thursday is a beautiful day with gorgeous weather!

1 Peter 1:8-9

Laby and the Tramp

Today was probably one of the funniest days so far. Remember how last week I told you that Danny said he would be fishing on Monday and not coming to school? Well, this morning he came and I said, “Danny, we missed you yesterday, where were you?” He said, “Oh I was sick.” And said, “Oh you were sick, so you didn’t go fishing?” He smiled and said, “Well yes, I went fishing, but then I got sick after that.” Ha so then we are telling morning news and Taylor’s news is that her brother is really funny (reminded me of you, Pete) and she told us a joke that he said in the car on the way to school this morning: Knock Knock. Who’s there? Granny. Granny who? Knock knock. Who’s there? Granny. Granny who? Knock Knock. Who’s there? Aunt. Aunt Who? Aunt you glad I didn’t say granny? I thought that was so funny because with their accents aunt does sound a bit like aren’t. Then I went with the kids to their Indonesian class. They take Indonesian instead of Spanish like most of our elem schools. Anyway, I have already talked to the Indo teacher a lot because she is in the Pilates class on Tuesdays and she has given me lots of tips and info about Bali. I learned a lot just from sitting in one class and I am getting really excited about going there on Friday! The language is like nothing I have heard before. I couldn’t even really relate it to anything. Here is a little indo lesson for you:

Thank you: Terima kasih              

You’re welcome: Sama-sama

This is great food: enak sekali

Selamat pagi: good morning

Selamat siang: good afternoon (11am – 4pm)

Selamat sore: good afternoon (4pm-7pm)

Selamat malam: good evening

Apa kabar?: How are you?

After that the kids had Diary time which is were they write in their journal for 20 or 30 minutes about their weekend. Alazer’s was titled Laby and the Tramp. He said that this weekend he watched a really good movie about a junk yard dog named Tramp. And then there was a beautiful dog named Laby.

Then after that we had crunch and sip and we played “I Spy”. I did the first one and then Harry went and he said, “I spy with my little eye something that is…skin colored” I pointed to my arm and said this? And he said, “yea” haha As many times as I have played that game I have never heard anyone use that one! Also during crunch and sip, Owain came up to me to say that John was squirting him with water near the water fountain. I told him I would talk to him about it. About ten minutes later Jakob came up to me and “Miss Boehme, John was squirting Owain with water.” I said, “I know Owain has already spoken to me about it and I will talk to John later”. And he said, “oh ok, so you are going to sort him out?” They use that a lot and I just think it sounds funny. And also they do not every say period for punctuation mark. They always say “full stop”. I looked it up in the Australian dictionary and it said full stop is the point at the end of a sentence. It said period: a form of punctuation, full stop. Pretty interesting. Also since it is the beginning of the month in the states I have heard people say, "Rabbit, Rabbit" Jenny, you remember when Mrs Gandy told us about that? Well, here they say "White Rabbit".

Hope everyone has a wonderful day! Love you lots and miss you much!

Philippians 4:6