Good on ya!

Today was probably one of the best days as far as school goes. The kids were great, I taught the entire day and despite the fact that it was hot as, it was a very successful day! Today was at least 39 which is pretty much boiling. Around 3pm it started to thunder and about 20 min away from where I live there was a mini tornado. It was really weird to see it on the news and know that it was so hot over here and we need the rain to come! The grass is pretty dry and you can tell that the plants are in need of much water. Yesterday I talked to my good friend Maggie who is also doing COST but she is placed in Geelong which is just outside of Melbourne. She said that it is in the 20s there and raining a lot. I told her that I got sunburned on Saturday and she just couldn’t believe it! Anyway, she is enjoying her time there and learning a lot as well. A girl from her cohort back in AU is actually her roommate. It worked out that they are already good friends, decided to apply for COST and got placed in the same school and the same house! She said they are with a couple who has children in their 20s but the kids don’t live at home anymore. They have to walk to school which is a 30 min walk. She said they walk pretty much everywhere. Glad we have a good public transportation system here in Perth!

This morning, I got to Skype with my girls from the Auburn Family! I loved getting to talk to Beth, Lacy and Kate before I started my day! Our date was scheduled for 6am my time and 4pm their time but I accidentally slept until about 6:20. Anyway, I woke up and got on and they called me and it was really good to see them! I miss that little tree house and the girls that live there! If anyone else wants to Skype please, please email me or comment on this so I can set up a time. It will probably have to be next week sometime but we can def plan it! I would love to see any of you!

When I got to school I was a little nervous because I did something new with my lesson plans. I was afraid Connie may not approve, but she really liked it and I was thrilled because it was a lot easier than what I have been doing the past 4 weeks. It made today run much more smoothly and I had my first real day of full teaching. Last week I was starting to wonder if this profession was right for me and today I had no doubt at all. I loved being in control of the class for the whole day and I know it will be so much to have my own class one day. The kids make me laugh and I am going to miss them so much. Today, one of my students, Josh, came up to me and said, “Miss Boehme, I know how to make cat sounds.” And then he proceeds to make these noises that sound like a dying cat. I couldn’t help but laugh. About thirty minutes later, he comes up to me again and says, “Miss Boehme, I can make you laugh, can’t I?” And of course I told him he could because those cat noises were just hilarious! Also today, Levi made me laugh right in the middle of a lesson. I am smiling to myself just thinking about how funny it was. So I was teaching a lesson on how to use the dictionary. I was explaining that the word you are looking up will be in bold and I asked if they knew what that meant when a word was in bold. Levi said, “yes, that is when a man doesn’t have hair on top of his head.” Ha he said is so matter-of-fact and it was the cutest thing. Once I started laughing, the whole class did and thankfully he did, too. I was a little afraid he would be embarrassed or something but he laughed at it too. Also today I was teaching them about compound words. We were brainstorming to see how many compound words we could come up with. Alazer raised his hand but when I called him he took a long time to say something. I told him I would come back to him and he was like, “no, I just have one” but I called on Ryan and he said, “Cricket team?” and as soon as Ryan said that (which is not a compound word) Alazer sighed and said, “I was gonna say that one” haha it was so funny because I could tell he was not going to say that and it wasn’t even a compound word! I don’t know if y’all think that is funny but I guess you had to be there.

When I got home from school Catie, Luke and I went on a bike ride around the lake. I was feeling the burn in my legs and Pilates tomorrow may be sort of painful! Then when I got home, Tracy had made my favorite dinner – Lasagna, salad and garlic bread! She makes the best lasagna and the garlic bread is delicious! Also for dessert I had a TimTam. It is a biscuit (cookie) and they are better than girl scout cookies. No lie - these TimTams are the best cookies I have ever tried and for those of you who know me well, you know that cookies are my favorite! I mean hello, Kathy Kath Cookies!! Haha Ill have to bring some back to share with all of you!

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. I love it here and I can’t believe it is March tomorrow! I think it is the first day of Autumn here tomorrow! Oh and in regards to the subject: Instead of saying, ‘good job’ or ‘way to go’ they say ‘good on ya’! I have heard it lots of times but for some reason I heard it lots today! And the coolest car to have over here is a yute. It reminds me of an El Camino in a way. It is a truck but not like the trucks we have. I’ll take a pic of one but try to look it up if you can!

Luke 6:37

Saturday and Sunday

Yesterday the trains were down so they could redo some of the tracks. The good thing is we didn’t have to pay for the buses, they bad thing was the buses were packed with people and it took forever to get anywhere. But finally, we made it to Mullaloo Beach and it was beautiful! Catie, Catherine and I met Erin there and I got a little sunburned. They don’t have shells on the beaches here, which is a bit strange but yesterday there was heaps of seaweed! The water was pretty clear except in certain spots that had lots of seaweed it was all dark. Anyway, we stayed on the beach for most of the day and it was a much needed time of relaxation. I got a drumstick ice cream cone that had a hug kit kat in the middle of it! It was beautiful! (They usually say food is gorgeous or beautiful to describe how delicious it is) Erin’s host mum picked us up from the beach because she was out running errands. She took us to Joondalup where we got some snacks and water bottles and then hopped on the bus to go home.  Catie came over after dinner and we watched a movie. It was called Obsessed and it was pretty good. Beyoncé is in it so I knew I would like it since she is pretty much my idol, next to Jennifer Anniston. All you girls who have Hastings cards should rent it sometime and think of me when you watch it!

Today Brittni and Ash (her husband) picked me up for church. We went to the service and then had a cuppa afterwards in the church kitchen. A cuppa is a cup of tea or coffee and Aussie’s have one just about any time of the day! I have had the tea and I really like it (they put milk and sugar in it) but I haven’t had any of the coffee yet. I am not much of a coffee person but I think I will have to start trying it since that is the way of life over here! Also, I tried vegemite today! I actually kind of liked it! It was a bit salty so that was kind of weird but it wasn’t really that bad. I ate a half a piece of toast with it. I had that over at Brooke and Jethro’s house after church. Brittni and I went over there for lunch after church because Brooke was having a card making party. It was pretty cool actually, it was like a Mary Kay party or a Tupperware party or something but it was for cards and wrapping paper. So this lady came over with all her card set up stuff and we browsed around to see if we wanted to buy anything. I bought two cards and they are pretty cute. I really enjoyed my time over there because they are such nice people and good company to have. I am so thankful that I have met them and I feel like I will be hanging out with them a lot. Brittni invited me over for dinner on Wednesday night and then the bible study after that. They call the bible study SPLAT It is an acronym for something and I think it is Say, Pray, Listen and Talk but for some reason I don’t think that is right because they wouldn’t need to say and talk so Ill figure out what the S means on Wednesday. Anyway, I had a great time with those people and I hope to continue getting to know all of them. I know I have said this many times, but I am thankful that I have met them and that I will be able to continue growing in my relationship with the Lord while I am here. I have realized and learned so much since I have been here and I am so thankful that I can rely on Him!

Please keep Tracy in your prayers. She took Monique snorkeling yesterday and hit her toe on a rock. It is pretty bruised and may be broken. She has been keeping it propped up and taking lots of pain medicine. Also, last week Monique fractured her finger, so keep both of them in your prayers that they heal fast!

Jeremiah 29:11

War Eagle!

Today was awesome! Peter Ryan comes to teach on Fridays and I love it because it is something different and its a bit more easier for me! Today the kids were doing a science lesson on gravity and they got to build their own game using marbles and other random things, anyway, it was so fun watching them build these games and experiment within their groups to find out the best game. Danny's group was him, Levi, and James and the game was called Mouse Trap of the First Century. Danny came up with the game name and pretty much all the rules. Ha it was so cute! I had a lot of fun observing them make these games and talking with them about their games. Then later that day they were making paper aeroplanes. I think its funny they still say airport but they don't say airplane. Also at school today, Jade came up to me and was looking at my earrings, they were the ones that say 'love' on them that have the birds on them, anyway, she said,"Your earrings say love." And I said, "yes, they do." She said, "I love you....but just as a friend. I love you as a friend only." haha it was precious. At the end of the day we were all saying good bye and someone said "Bye Danny, see you on Monday" and he said, "Bye, you may not see me until Tuesday though, I think I'll be going fishing on Monday!"

After school, Kerri-Anne and I went to the shops to get some things for the BBQ that we had tonight. It was so much fun! I don't think I have laughed as hard as I did tonight since I have been here. There were about 20 or 22 people there and it was so much fun! I really love this staff and love the fact that they are all such good friends outside of school as well. Also, one of the teacher's boyfriend was there and he is American and grew up in Destin, FL. I told him I go to Auburn and he said, "War Eagle! Go Tigers!" It has been at least a month since I have heard those beautiful words and I was smiling from ear to ear! They also told me lots of things about Bali and what to expect when I go there next weekend. The kids have Indonesian for LOTE (language other than English) class and the Indonesian teacher was there and she was telling me all about Bali because she has been there so many times! She said Americans don't know how to barter and that is what you have to do over there so she said she would help me practice before I went so I am not spending a fortune! Also she said that the Saturday that I will be there is Nyepi Day which is like the Balinese New Year and it is a day of silence! They all said it will be an experience for me because everything shuts down and it is quiet and dark there but since we are staying in a 4 star hotel they will have stuff for us to do in the hotel. I will have to let you all know how that goes!

Well it is 20 after 1 AM and I am super tired! I think I am going to the beach tomorrow. It is supposed to be 38 all weekend and maybe even get to be 39 or 40! That is like close to 100 degrees if not more!! Perth has the highest rate for skin cancer! Don't worry - I always wear lots of sunscreen! Also everyone is saying that this weather is not very normal because it has been humid and muggy. They say it is more of a dry heat here but lately I have just been sweating so much because of the humidity! The beach tomorrow should be nice!

And did y'all know that hot cross buns are actually real? Maybe I am just ignorant of that but I thought it was just a song on the piano! Today at the bakery they were selling hot cross buns, I got a chocolate croissant instead but I will def go back for one soon! And there was a famous basketball player from AL that came to play for the Perth Wilcats named James Crawford. His nickname was the Alabama Slammer so I have been hearing lots about him from some of the guys I have met here, mainly older guys because I think it was a while ago. That was a little random but I have been meaning to say it for awhile and I just remembered!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Next week is March!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Kangaroos!

Today I got observed and I received great reports! I was so nervous about it and I even had a nightmare that it went terribly wrong but thankfully, it was great and he had wonderful things to say about my classroom presence and confidence in leading the students. Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words! He will be coming again during week 6 for the midterm report and by that time I will probably be leading the entire school day. This morning I explained to my kids that my teacher from Uni (they do not call it college here, it is university or uni) was coming at 11 to observe me to make sure that I am doing a good job teaching. They were like, what do you mean he is coming to watch you? So I said well he is going to come watch me to see how I do with teaching and he will let me know if he thinks I can be a teacher or not because when I go back to America I’ll be graduating and then getting a job as a teacher. Jakob said, “Wait, you mean you’re going to America for a little bit and then coming back here, right?” I said that I didn’t think that would happen, I would probably stay in the states and they all said, “Aww, we want you to come back here!” It was so sweet! But anyway, after the lesson the siren went off for lunch so the kids went outside and I stayed to talk with him. After we talked I was walking outside to go to the staff room and some of my students were waiting outside the door to see what he said. This one girl, Taylor, so sweet and always draws me pictures and tells me she likes my outfits and I love her cause she is always complimenting me, she came up to me and said, “Miss Boehme! What did he say? Did you get the job?! Are you going to be a teacher?! Haha I was already all smiles because my supervisor was so encouraging and positive and then when Taylor said that I was laughing and said, “Yea, he said it was good! But I wasn’t applying for a job or anything, but yea, he said I did good” She gave me the biggest cuddle (they say that instead of hug) and said, “Yay! I'm so happy for you!” It was the sweetest thing and I am so thankful because Tuesday was so stressful for me and I was really worried about today. Now, it is over and I feel much more confident about my ability to lead in the classroom. And tomorrow is Friday so that will be easy peasy!!

This evening when I got home from school, John (the COST supervisor and the professor who observed me today) picked up Catherine, Catie and I to go to the park to see some kangaroos! Catie got observed yesterday John gave her a ride home from school and she mentioned to him that we haven’t seen any kangaroos yet so he took us to the park today! You know how a group of lions is a pride, a group of fish is a school, birds are a flock, etc…Kangaroos are a mob and we sure did see heaps of them! The park was beautiful and actually it was a cemetery but it’s nothing like ours. They said people sometimes get married there because it is so beautiful! The kangaroos live there and there were hundreds! I took lots of pictures and hopefully will get to post them this weekend! They are kind of an awkward animal because their feet are HUGE and their arms and hands are so tiny. And the tails are pretty big, too. I saw a little joey inside the mum’s pouch too!

This weekend is going to be pretty relaxed and I think we’ll just do stuff around here and hopefully go to the beach or something. Tomorrow night I will be going to a Greenwood Primary Staff BBQ with the other teachers at the year 6/7 teacher’s house. It should be fun to hang out with them! One of the teacher’s boyfriend is from Tennessee and every time I see her she tells me I will have lots to talk about with him at the BBQ! I am excited to hear an American accent!  

Ephesians 3:16-19

Bible Study

Tonight I am writing a bit later than I normally do. I just got home from a bible study and Leila, they all remind me of you and Ryan's community group from Mars Hill. They are all young couples that are just starting families and that sort of thing. I really enjoyed going and getting a chance to meet some locals. It wasn't really what I expected because the pastor of the church came and he normally isn't there. He was there to check in with them to see how everything is going and to get their feedback on some changes he wants to make within the church and see if they have any suggestions or changes they would like to see happen. I think I will go back again because they are studying the book of Jeremiah and I think that would be interesting for me to learn more about because I do know one verse off the top of my head, 29:11 and I live by that daily because being here has been a struggle at times for me to want to figure out exactly why I am here and all of that. Jannah picked me up from Tracy's and she is such a sweet girl. She just got married about 5 months ago to a guy named Troy and she is a year 3 teacher. We had lots to talk about on the car ride there and back seeing as I am a year 3 student teacher. I told her that I was getting observed tomorrow by my university supervisor here and before I got out of the car she prayed for me that everything will go smoothly tomorrow with my observation. I just think it is a wonderful thing that I have just met this girl on Sunday for a very brief time and now she is picking me up to go to bible study and praying with me as I get out of the car. God has been teaching me so much since I have been here but I am constantly reminded of these two things: Love God. Love People. I think that is all that he asks of us because then everything else will fall into place. Time is such a valued thing in every one's life and when we invest time in others it can make a world of difference. Jannah barely knows anything about me and yet she was so willing to give up a little of her time and it made me feel so welcome and comfortable. I want to be able to share that with people that I meet here and when I come home. I am so thankful that I have been able to have this opportunity and make these memories. I have had a countdown since I got here and at first I felt guilty about it because it felt like I was trying to focus on the end point rather than enjoy the journey, but I talked to my good friend, Madison and she helped me to see that I can look at it as I only have this many days left to share God with other people, or I only have this many days left to see as much of the city as I can. She helped me to see that I need to look at it more as a time frame to get everything checked off and try to fit as much stuff as I can into those 50 something days left.

Today was a lot better than yesterday! I was able to teach for pretty much the whole day except a little at the end. The kids are still funny as ever and today I was teaching a health lesson and they had a "Healthy Eating" worksheet that they had to fill out. One of the questions said what types of food should you eat the least amount of? And Jakob's answer was "lollies and shoklat" Lauren, it reminded me of the little girl you used to babysit, Ava, that would say "Wa-ren, can I have some shoc-wat milk?" haha or however she said it. Too funny! I think there was other funny stuff that happened but I was so busy I forgot to write it down! Anyway, it is about 10 to 11 and I need to get to bed. I am getting observed tomorrow so please keep me in your prayers. Much love to everyone!

Hebrews 12:1-2

Typical Tuesday

 Nothing too special happened today. I did get ActivInspire installed on my laptop so I can make my own Smartboard lessons at home and then save them to my flash drive to use at school the next day! It has been a little hard for me with this whole student teaching thing. In my past practicum I was able to have 2 or 3 hours a day in the class and know exactly what I was doing and have that entire time with the kids by myself. Now, I am teaching majority of the day (75% right now) but she is still in the classroom and still does the other 25% while I assist her or work on something else. Eventually I will get to the point where I need to teach the whole time and I think it will be a lot easier then because I can have my stuff planned and know that I will be able to do it without having to check with her about what she has planned. I get observed on Thursday so we will see how that goes! Please pray for me that I will have the patience that I need to work efficiently in the classroom with the other teacher until I can have it to myself. Also, I am still struggling with behavior management. I know this is something that every new teacher goes through but it is still frustrating to deal with.

We had Pilates again today and it was much needed. I don’t know what it is about Tuesdays but they seem to be more stressful than the other days for me. Pilates is something I look forward to and it helps me get through the day to know I can have an hour of exercise and relaxation at the same time. May be hard to believe but I think I am becoming even more ‘hippy’ since I have been here. Y’all may not even recognize me by the time I get home. J jk

Glad to hear most of you have received your postcards. I will be writing more this weekend so I guess you will get those in about another week and half or so! Don’t really have too much planned this weekend but next weekend I will be in Bali for the long weekend! It is Labour Day here on 7^th of March and I have booked a trip with Catie and Catherine to go to Bali for the 3 day weekend! After that I will be at the half way mark and then I can see all of your beautiful faces!! Oh and Happy President’s Day yesterday!! Last year at this time I had tons of notes and text messages from my pandas and other sorority presidents wishing me a happy pres day and this year I completely missed it! Oh well, Katie D if you are reading this – hope you had a great President’s Day!  Alpha Love!

John 16:24

It is cool to lie

Happy Birthday Brittany! I wish I could be there to celebrate double 2's!! Love you!!

Today was pretty much a normal school day. They were working with partners on persuasive writing and Danny and Alazer were together. The topic was "Is reading books better than watching TV?" They had to choose a side and pick a partner that agreed with them and write the paper together. Well Danny picked the side that said TV was better but Alazer didn't agree but they were the only two left so I told them they had to reason with one another and one of them would have to change their mind. I don't know how they worked it out but when I went back to check on them to make sure they were making progress, Alazer had this look of shock and disbelief on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "Danny says it is cool to lie and I know that is the wrong thing to do" I had to hold in my smile and I turned to Danny and said, "Why do you think it is cool to tell lies?" He said, "Because I know that it is. That is what my dad told me." Alazer said, "No, Danny, you must never tell a lie. I have only told one lie and I knew it was wrong and I know I can never do that again!" haha It may not sound funny through writing but if you could see his expressions and hear his Ethiopian/Australian accent you would totally be LOLing!

After school today we had P.D. (professional development). It was a meeting about the interactive white board a.k.a SmartBoard. I have had a little lesson on how to work these at my first practicum at AEEC but this was so much more helpful! I have been doing most of my lessons on it anyway so I already knew a lot but the lady taught me so much more and I am so excited to try it out tomorrow with my lessons!

I hope that everyone back home is doing well! I miss you all so much and I love hearing from you. Please send me an email and let me know how everything is going back home. I also have a cell phone and texts are 30 cents each and I'm not sure how much the phone calls are but I would love to hear from any of you if you want me to call! I only have a few friend's phone numbers memorized so message me your number and I'll ring you (that's what they say over here instead of 'call you') Or I can give you my number and you can ring me! I got to talk to Grandpa and Grandma the other day and it was soo great to hear from them! I also got my Valentine's card from Daddy and it made me cry because it was so sweet! In the words of Gene Chizik after the Oregon game - "I love everybody!"

1 Peter 5:7

AQWA

Today was the perfect Sunday. This morning Tracy, Monique and I went to Kingsley Church of Christ for church and I have never been to Church of Christ before and it was really good. They played a lot of songs that I recognized and it felt a little like Mars Hill which was the church that I went to when I lived in Seattle. They had morning tea after the service and I met some people that are closer to my age. The lead singer in the choir came up to me straight away I guess she noticed I was new and she introduced herself. I know I say this all the time but the people here are so welcoming and friendly. Her name is Brooke and she introduced me to three other girls and told me about a weekly bible study they have with the other young adults in the church. I am hoping I will be able to go this Wednesday. I have wanted to meet some locals and I think this is just the answer for me! I will post more about that to let you guys know how it is going!

After church Tracy dropped me off at AQWA which is the Aquarium near Hillary’s Boat Harbor. It is the AQuarium of Western Australia, hence AQWA. I think I’ve talked about Hillary’s a lot because that is prob my fave place to go here! They have shops and the beach and the park and restaurants! Anyway, I went the aquarium with Catherine and Erin and we had an awesome time! I got to pet a stingray and a shark! They had a pond outside called “Mettam’s touch pool” that had fish, sharks, stingrays, starfish and other sea creatures where you could lean over the edge and touch them! The stingray and shark would swim right up to the top of the water and I just put my hand down and they swam right under my hand! They felt so weird but it was really cool. Then we went to this other part called “shipwreck coast” where stood on a conveyer belt that actually took us under the Indian Ocean into Australia’s largest walkthrough aquarium. I saw huge stingrays, sharks, loggerhead turtles and beautiful fish! It was really weird just looking through a piece of glass (very thick glass of course) and seeing all of those wild sea creatures! I got lots of cool pictures and can’t wait to show them to all of you!

After we finished that we were hungry for lunch so we walked over to the marina to get some lunch. We all decided we wanted a good American lunch so we went to subway and it was so delicious! I got a sweet onion chicken teriyaki sandwich on Italian herbs and cheese bread, a chocolate chip cookie and a diet coke! Beautiful! Diet coke has never tasted as refreshing as it did today! After that we just sat outside and talked about how everything is going with our schools and our experience here. It was really nice to be able to talk with them and we started planning for what we will do next weekend!

Now I am back at the house we are about to have quiche for dinner and then I am going to write some lesson plans to prepare for this upcoming week. Can’t believe I am about to start week 4!  

Colossians 1:27

Mandurah, WA

Today I spent the day with Catie, Catherine, Erin and Whitley in Mandurah and it was a beautiful day! First off I had a bit of a scare on the first train because I couldn’t get my debit card to work in the machine to get a ticket. It cost $9 for a day pass and I only had $7 cash. Catie couldn’t get her debit card and the train was about to leave to we just hopped on without a ticket. Now we knew this was wrong but every time we had been on the train, they never check to see your ticket so we thought maybe this one time it would be ok because we tried to pay for a ticket but couldn’t get it to work. Anyway, we get on and we see that two men in uniforms are coming towards us checking everyone’s ticket. I am terrified to say the least I was thinking of the worst possible outcomes. I thought they would send us to jail; they would ask me for my visa and I wouldn’t have it because it just got mailed to my house in Birmingham about a week and a half ago; or that they would give us a ticket and say we weren’t welcome in their country anymore – I didn’t know what we were going to do! I started saying Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s like I never have before. Catie kept looking at me saying she felt like she was going to throw up and it was just awful. Thankfully, by the grace of God, there was a boy that didn’t have a ticket either and he kept them occupied until we got to the next stop and we got off that train so quickly! We met up with Catherine and she had some cash that we could borrow to get a ticket for the next train and I was so thankful! Whew! Just thinking back on that from this morning brings my stomach to knots! Anyway, it worked out better that we got on the next train because Erin and Whitley were on that one and we were able to travel together for our adventure in Mandurah. Whitley just got here last Tuesday and she is from Macon and goes to UGA. She is so sweet and I am so glad she is here; I can tell I will be good friends with her.

First we went to the estuary in Mandurah and hired some kayaks - they don’t use the word rent here like we would. So we got 5 single kayaks for an hour and we kayaked around the estuary and it was gorgeous! We saw a huge pelican and lots of other birds that I couldn’t recognize and other kayakers and people riding their boats and it was a perfect day to be on the beach! After we kayaked we went to the marina to a great fish & chips place. I ended up getting squid instead of chips and it was delicious. Then we went around to the markets and looked at the shops. I bought a beach towel of the Australian flag and when I got home tonight Monique told me that I was looking more Aussie now. J I also got a didgeridoo! Well, it isn’t a real one it’s just a small one as more of a representation but it has really cool designs on it and you can make some noise with it too! I also got a few more postcards so keep sending me addresses if you want one!

Last night Catherine, Catie and I went to the Mullaloo Beach Hotel for dinner and it was delicious. It was about fifteen or twenty minutes away and on the way there we passed by a cemetery. But it wasn’t just any cemetery – it is the place where Heath Ledger was buried! I immediately remembered back to my freshman year when we found out he died Alice and I went to the 3^rd floor cubby of Owen Hall (where we spent most of our time anyway) and we had a memorial service for Heath with the other girls that lived down there! Allison, Rebecca, and Lindsay for sure and maybe Molly Anne and Missy were there too? I remember Libba thought it was silly but we were so serious and sad about this tragic loss! So girls, I will hopefully get to visit his gravesite and I’ll put some flowers there from the cubby.

That’s pretty much it for today! I need to write lots of lesson plans to prepare for Monday but Tracy has been to the video store today so I’ll prob just watch a movie and save the work for tomorrow!  

Exodus 3:14

Giving you the eyes

Remember when I told you the kids were learning Surfin in the USA during music class? Well they were learning it so they could sing it at the school assembly today and guess who it was dedicated to?! ME! They have an assembly every two weeks and a different class takes it to lead it with their own song and dance. Since it is the beginning of the year it was a general assembly and the head boy and head girl (from year 7 aka seniors of the school) led the assembly and as they were inviting the music teacher to the front to lead the school in singing the song they said, “we have chosen this song in honor of our very special new student teacher, Miss Boehme, who is from Alabama in America” I almost started crying because it was the nicest thing! I am so blessed to be at this school because the faculty and staff are such wonderful leaders and wonderful people! After the assembly, Alazer said, “so that was for you” and I said, “yea, that made me feel so special, did you know about that being for me?” and he said “yea, I mean I just thought about it like the song is about USA and then I thought oh Miss Boehme is from America so I just thought it would be for you” haha it was so sweet! But before we got to the assembly, as we were walking over, Owain and Alazer were walking by me and Owain was telling me that sometimes Alazer will “give you the eyes” I turned to Alazer and said, “What does that mean?” He said, “well sometimes I just give the eyes to my brother and sister, except my sister says I can’t do it to her because she is the one who teached me the eyes” haha

Later today after lunch I saw James goofing around when he was supposed to be bringing in the sports equipment so I told him to hurry up and put that stuff away and he said, “but I am an old man” For about the next thirty minutes in the classroom he was doing everything so slow and pretending he was an old man. We were working on science and they were learning about magnets and they were supposed to be picking out things in the class that could be magnetic or not and I asked him if he tried to see if Mr. Double Head (his eraser) was magnetic and he said, “No he is sleeping today because he stayed up all night at a party last night”.

Tonight Catherine, Catie and I are going out to dinner and then we are planning to go to Mandurah for the day! Ill post more to let you know how the day goes!!

Zephaniah 3:17

Homework or not?

Today I was teaching a lesson on persuasive writing and how you have to have reasons to back up your opinion. So I gave the topic of should children have to do homework. The students who agree that homework should be given stood on one side of the room and the ones who disagree went to the other side. I gave them some time to talk with each other to decide on three points to present to the other group. I explained that they have to say enough details to go along with their point so that they can try to persuade the other side to agree with them. Let me tell you, they were getting into it! The side that was against giving homework had an opening point from that said, “We believe children should not give homework because it is stupid and boring” Of course I had to tell them I didn’t like that word and they needed to pick a new one but they just said, “Ok well its boring”. Then the other two points were not very memorable I think they had to do with something about not having time for going to a party or playing video games or something. The other side (which by the way has a lot of the strong readers and writers) they got very defensive and all of them had a look on their face that meant they were talking business! They said that by giving homework “we will be up here and you will stay down here” (Owain had one of his hands up near his chest and the other close to his bellybutton to give a visual) The next point was that when they grow up the children who had homework will be getting hired at all the jobs and the others will be getting fired. Ha I can’t remember the last one but I just thought it was funny how they were getting so serious with this topic! They seemed like lawyers trying to persuade the jury to believe what they believe! (threw that in for you, Leila J)

Alazer and Danny of course always crack me up. Today I was wearing a dress that has some white buttons on the front that are shaped liked roses and they are pretty big. So Alazer looks at one and says, “Are those chocolates on your dress?” and then Danny says, “oh that is making me hungry can I have some of those chocolates on your dress?” haha they are just hilarious. They sit next to each other in class and we may have to change them around because they are always crackin’ jokes.

I know I have said this before but it is just so hard being a teacher sometimes! I come home from school and am completely exhausted! I should have been preparing for next week’s lessons but I was so worn out when I got home I couldn’t do anything except relax on the back porch! Tracy’s sister Janet came over and she is awesome! Katie Evans, she is just like your mom except her hair is brown! She is a teacher at a catholic high school and she was giving me tips on classroom management this afternoon. I like that Tracy is so close with her family around here because it really reminds me of home how I am with my family.

This morning I got to Skype with Daddy and Anna Beth! It was about 6 am for me and 4 pm for them but I’m glad I got to see them! I would love to Skype with any of you as well so just send me an email or add me on Skype. My name is kathleenboehme! Tomorrow is Friday and that means I am done with week 3 and only have 9 more to go!

Before I go I must say that I am so upset about what I have heard about Toomer’s Corner. That is one of my favorite traditions and I can’t believe someone would be so malicious. I really hope they can save the trees and keep the tradition alive. I believe in Auburn and love it!

Matthew 28:5-7

105+ Degrees

Today was hot as! Catie and I skipped our usual walk this afternoon and decided to take a dip in the pool instead. Everyone at school kept saying it is 37 or it is almost 40 out here! I had to quickly figure out what that would be in Fahrenheit because they go by Celsius over here. I think you double the Celsius and add 30 so if it really was 40 today, that would put it at a boiling 110! I felt so bad for the kids today because not only was it hot, there was barely a breeze and it was more humid than it normally is. The staff room has an air conditioner that is refrigerated but the classrooms have a different one and I can’t remember the name of it right now but basically it doesn’t work when there is humidity in the air. So while I was teaching today I was sweating so much! I am so thankful that we do not have school in the summer time because I cannot imagine having to do this every year!

Today I wore a white skirt (I know, no white after Labor Day but I feel like that rule doesn’t apply here) and a black shirt with black flats. One of the girls in the class, Taylor, always compliments me on my outfits and today when she was commenting on it, Alazer said, “You look like you are from the olden days.” And I said, what do you mean from the olden days? And he said, “You know like on the old TV shows when they wore black and white, that’s what you look like, from the olden days” haha When Danny isn’t at school, Alazer is by far the funniest kid and I really do have to hold in my laugh when I am around those two!

We had a short assembly today because they were performing a waste wise audit. A speaker came to talk to the kids about being green and all that. Thankfully, I did a good job on teaching my class about reduce, reuse, recycle and they knew so much about not being wasteful and making good choices to help the environment! I am starting to teach for the majority of the day and it is exhausting! I feel like my to do list is never ending and as soon as I think I am finished, I realize there is something else I need to do! Jessica, Maggie and whoever else reads this from Cohort C: be thankful that you are so close to another and that you have resources from past semesters. I didn’t bring any of my education stuff because 1. I didn’t think I could use it here, and 2. It would be too much to carry in my luggage. It has been very difficult for me to get organized over here and I can’t really figure out why but hopefully I can continue to make progress on my organizational skills here. I think I am just so excited to be here and see as much as I can that work and school is last on my list but really that is the reason I am here so I need to be putting that first! The other girls and I have pretty much planned out each weekend with heaps of stuff to do and I am just living for the weekends! Pray for me that I can stay focused on school and not get distracted by all the fun stuff!

Today, Tracy called the internet people to talk to them about Skype and see how much it would be for me to use. They said that we can use it with no problem as long as the other party makes the call to me rather than me calling out. So I hope all of you will try to call me soon! I am 14 hours ahead so early morning and late night will work best but if you see that I am on please call me! Or you can send me an email and we can set up a Skype date!

That’s all for now! Farmer wants a wife is coming on tonight!

2 Corinthians 12:9

The dingo ate your baby!

This morning we always have morning news before the day gets started with school work. The kids have a chance to come to the front and tell the class some news in their life. After they are done the students ask questions which is a good way for us to see that they are listening to the speaker. Harry was telling everyone how he went to the Reptile center and zoo or some type of animal place (I obviously wasn't listening too well) but anyway, he was telling us the animals that he saw and he mentioned that he saw a dingo. I have heard of a dingo but didn't really know what it was and the kids love it when I ask them about Australian stuff because they love to teach the teacher something! So I told him that I didn't know what a dingo was and asked me to tell me. Naturally, all the kids starting shouting out to tell me what it was but finally after I calmed them down and got Harry to tell me he said, "it is a dog but it is wild and they can eat children". I have done a little research on dingos and they look sort of like a fox and there are reports that they have eaten children before! Other than that, the day was pretty boring and busy! I thought that since they had Indonesian and Computer that it would be an easy day but it was more busy than ever! The work is never ending and the kids sure do keep you on your toes! I think it will be better when I have my own classroom but today I was thinking I may like it better as a teacher's aid!

After school, we had pilates and it was wonderful! I needed it because today was pretty stressful so it felt good to have that workout straight away! The instructor is a cute little Asian woman that is full of energy and hilarious! There were about 10 teachers there today and we had the session in the under covered area outside so even though it was hot we had a nice breeze come through and we were in the shade.

I need to give a shout out to my wonderful friend, Lauren, because she sent me two hilarious videos and I want to share them all with you! Pretty much everyone knows that I am always watching YouTube videos and since I have been here I haven't been able to see too many so it was great to see these two! Thanks, La!

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2011/02/09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF8GhC-T_Mo

Hope you enjoy those! Hugs and kisses to all!
P.S. hey family - if anyone can email me pics from Andrew's wedding I would love to see some! Thanks!

Ephesians 3:20-21

Happy Valentine’s Day

Today was the start of week 3 and I am starting to teach for the majority of the day. I really like it but I was thinking about my last two practicums and I was able to do more small group work. I have not done any small group work since I have been here and I really miss that. Everything has been whole group which is okay but I have 23 students in my class and that is a lot of 7 and 8 year olds to keep on task! They are constantly talking to one another and playing around with their pencil sharpeners and erasers. Today I was telling James to fix something on his work and I asked him where his rubber was and he said, “Oh, Mr. Double Head is right here!” haha his eraser has broken in half and he drew smiley faces on each half and now calls it Mr. Double Head! He is the cutest thing ever but it takes so much for him to focus on his work!

Today I did over 3 lessons by myself and it was so tiring! Mondays are the hardest because the students are with us the entire day, every other day they have other classes that they go to like Indonesian, Art, Computer, Music, etc. They only have PE on Fridays, but they have plenty of time to play at recess and lunch because they have their snack and lunch outside and as soon as they finish they can play outside. Hopefully I can post more pics soon to show you how much room they have to play outside. The campus is gorgeous and really spread out so they have lots of room to play cricket, tag, and whatever else.

When I got to school this morning I asked Connie if we were doing anything special for Valentine’s Day because she never said anything about it last week. She said, “is that today, I thought it was on the 15^th?” I have noticed we treat V-day more of a holiday than they do. Last year I made candy for my kindergarteners and it’s always a fun day for the kids to pass out the cards to their friends and classmates. I told her that I was thinking about doing a little lesson on it and the kids could write a valentine’s day card to their mom or dad or one of their friends in the class. She said that was a good idea so after I did the S&E (social studies) lesson, I talked with them about this special day! I was asking them what they think of when they hear Valentine’s Day and they were giving the typical answers about love poems, cards, chocolate, hearts, their mom and dad giving presents. Owain said that he knew a good poem that goes like this, “Roses are red/Violets are blue/Sugar is sweet/And so are you” So I wrote it on the board and some of them wrote that in their card to give their mom. Danny said that he had a good poem that goes like this, “Roses are red/Violets are red/Everything/is red/Just like hearts.” He was so serious when he said it and thought it was the best poem ever! So as I am walking around looking at everyone’s art work and letters I get to Danny and I ask him who he is giving his to. He says, “I want to give mine to you” It was so sweet! Most every word is spelled wrong but that makes it ever cuter. He wrote Owain’s poem on the inside and even though it was written on the board this is what he wrote, “Rosis are red vilets are blue shoogar is sweet lick you” No hallmark card can beat that one!

Isaiah 41:13

Fremantle, WA

This weekend was awesome! I am so happy that we were able to take the trip down to Fremantle and do some touristy things and sightseeing! On Saturday, I went with Tracy to Monique’s last net ball game of the season. Sadly, the Chippettes (Monique’s team) lost but they played a great game against a hard team! Everyone speaks so proper down here and whenever the girls made a good shot or something, the parents say, “well done!” A few times, I had the urge to say, “Nice, good one!” J After we finished her game and she got her medal for the season, we went to the train station to pick up Erin for our big weekend! Monique stayed with Catie’s host family because their son, Luke, was having a birthday party! He is the cutest thing ever and I hate that we missed his party! When I first was getting to know him, Catie told me to ask him what his nick name was. He told me that it was Sticks and when I asked him how he got it he said, “I gave it to myself because I am really skinny” haha Anyway, we picked up Catie and Catherine and then we were off like a herd of turtles!

We got to Tracy’s friend Tess’s house around 2:30 and it was perfect timing for us to make it to the Fremantle Prison for a tour. I believe it is the oldest building in Western Australia and it was in operation for almost 140 years but closed down in 1991. It was very interesting to hear about everything that went on there and I can’t wait to post pictures.  Then we went to the Markets and I saw lots of cool stuff there too. They had the didgeridoos and I asked the guy if it was illegal for women to play and he sort of laughed and said that it may be in different aboriginal tribes but now-a-days white people can play them too.  The markets reminded me of when I went to Charleston this past summer. It is crazy how different parts of Perth remind me of the states. Fremantle is sort of known as the hippy town so it was just my cup of tea to check out all the booths to see what people were selling. I didn’t buy anything yesterday but I hope to go back and get some presents to bring back with me! After we walked around the town we met up with Tracy and Tess at Little Creatures. It is a brewery and a restaurant on the water. I usually do not like the taste of beer but I really liked the one that I ordered, I think it was Little Creatures Bright Ale. They just made up a new one this week and gave us a sample of it but it was really dark and I didn’t like it at all! Anyway, for dinner we went to another restaurant and it was really good! We had fun hanging with Tracy and Tess too! Tess has been around the world two times and she is just really cool. She let me know that I misunderstood when I thought nekkid meant tired. They are really saying “knacked”. Just wanted to clear that up! But, yea I had a great night out with the girls and it was fun to see a lot of young people out too because last weekend we couldn’t seem to find the young crowd!

However, this morning I probably did the coolest thing that I have ever done! I went snorkeling in the Indian Ocean! It was beautiful! We went to Penguin Island at Rockingham and it was so gorgeous! We got to see the penguin feeding in the morning and then we walked around the island to find the best spot for snorkeling. Tracy has been snorkeling and scuba diving lots of times (she has traveled across the country and done lots of cool things too) and she helped us to get out there and see the beautiful fish and plants. We were worried that the wind would be too strong for us to go out but it was a beautiful day and we got to check off everything on our agenda this weekend!

Catherine took lots of pictures that she will post on Facebook soon so check those out if you can (I told her to tag me in all her photos so my friends can look at them on my page)! She has an underwater camera and got some great shots! I was just in awe today because I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful place. I kept stopping to look around and thank the Lord for His good works because it was amazing to His beautiful creations.  It doesn’t even seem real that I am in this city and I want to do all that I can to see as much of it as possible! It is the most isolated city in the world and it takes a good 5 hour plane ride to get to anywhere on the east coast but I don’t really care because I have loved getting to live in the capital city of Western Australia. The people here are so friendly and it is a beautiful place to be. I hope I will be able to go snorkeling again soon! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I am continuing to pray for y’all and I hope to be able to Skype soon! Erin told me that McDonald’s has free Wi-Fi so hopefully I can get up there sometime this week to plan some Skype dates with some of you! Speaking of McDonald’s, we went there for brekky this morning! It was about $8 for a breakfast combo! It is amazing how expensive things are here! And Zana, you can tell Michael Lord that I saw his Aussie twin there! I seriously did a double-take when I saw him! People at McDonald’s get paid about $15 dollars an hour and it looks a lot different than ours on the inside. It was more like a real restaurant and a lot cleaner. Food pretty much tasted the same, but sadly they didn’t have biscuits!

Ok, well I am going to watch an episode of Modern Family and then head to bed! Hope to see lots of comments! On to the start of week 3!

John 14:27

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Hello to all my avid readers! Just want to give you guys a heads up that it is Friday night and I may not be able to write again until Sunday or Monday because I am going to Freemantle this weekend! Yay! We have been talking about it for quite some time and we were supposed to go last weekend but it didn’t work out so we pushed it back to this weekend. On Tuesday night, plans were changing again and we weren’t sure if it was even going to work out for this weekend. But now everything has worked itself out and I am excited for tomorrow! If you know me well, you probably know that I am always on the go and like to stay busy with different things to do throughout the day and always hanging out with friends and family! That has been the most difficult thing since I have been here because I don’t have my car to go wherever I want and I can pretty much count my friends here on one hand! It has been a good lesson for me to learn that I am not in control and I can’t always have my days and weekends planned to a T because it is not really in my hands to begin with. My devotion for yesterday said this:

 “Don’t fall into the trap of being constantly on the go. Many, many things people do in My Name have no value in My Kingdom. To avoid doing meaningless works, stay in continual communication with Me. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

This was so important for me to hear because it was a good reminder that God will always take care of our needs if we talk to him and lean on him, he will make our worries disappear. I was so worried that if this Freemantle trip didn’t work out that it would be the worst thing ever! But now I have seen that once I just let go and stopped worrying about it, everything fell into place.

With all that said, today was a fantastic Friday! I am really starting to get the hang of things around here and it is such a relief! Today was free dress Friday for the Bush Fire relief and the kids had to bring a gold coin if they didn’t want to wear their uniforms. They have 2 gold coins here the smaller of the two is a $2 coin and the larger is $1. The money is pretty cool here, it has lots of color and it is indestructible! Seriously, I have tried to rip it so many times and you cannot tear it!  They have lots of coins, too. Besides the two gold ones, the rest are silver and I think there are 4: 50¢, 20¢, 10¢, and 5¢.

Before I go I have to wish ANDREW and EMILY a HAPPY WEDDING DAY TOMORROW!! I am so sad that I am missing your wedding but I know that Andrew will be so handsome and Emily will look gorgeous! You are so perfect for each other and I am so happy that you found each other! Welcome to the family, Emily!!

Have a great weekend everyone! Cheers!

The Farmer Wants a Wife

Last night I got hooked on an Aussie show! There are 6 farmers that are looking for love, 5 are men and the 6^th is a woman farmer (in this season she is a winemaker). They each had hundreds of women (and men) that applied to get on the show. Each of the farmers gets to pick 8 people that they think they may get along with based on the profiles.  On the first episode, which was last night, they had speed dating where they got to speak with each of the 8 people previously chosen. At the end of the show, the farmers then narrow it down to 5 people to take on a group date to Sydney, Australia for next week’s episode. It is a little different than the Bachelor because there are so many singles looking for love and it is hard to follow which girls are there for which men. Don’t know if that makes sense but in other words the girls don’t go on hoping to connect with one out of the 5 men, they go on knowing that they are going to meet one man in particular and if it works they stay until the next round, but if it doesn’t they peace out. So far it is pretty good but I do miss that “dramatic spin” that ABC always puts in there with a crazy person mixed in with the group. I don’t know, maybe there will be a weird one on the show but so far they all seem pretty normal. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Today was a fantastic day at school! I feel like this week I have been a rollercoaster of emotions because my first two days were very stressful but yesterday and today have been great and tomorrow is Friday so it automatically is going to be a good day, right?! Usually I am a very organized person with my school work and I always have to have my homework completed, but since I have been here I have been a little lost and confused about what I am supposed to do because I wasn’t sure if I needed to make my lesson plans like I would normally at Auburn or if I needed to make them like the student teachers here would make them. Thankfully, I got my head wrapped around everything today and finally got my work organized and planned out for the rest of the term! I have been learning so much about teaching and everything that goes into it. Most of my guy friends will make fun of my course load and stuff but being a teacher really is hard work! There are so many things that a teacher has to think about throughout the day and so much planning to do! Also they have a standardized test called NAPLAN that every student takes in years 3, 5, and 7. Since I am in year 3, my teacher and I have to prepare our students for this test! I think they will be taking it after I leave but I still want to do as much as I can to help them get ready for it! Anyway, I am so thankful that I have finally got the hang of how the school day goes around here – I feel like our time table kept changing! They never say schedule, they always say time table! Also, instead of saying “tattle tale” they call it dobbing. There are so many words that they say differently down here that I am able to understand but it is kind of funny. For instance, they never say vacation, it’s always holiday and they rarely ever say extra, they always say spare. I’ll try to keep track of the other words but that’s all I can think of for now.

And they do have Modern Family here I just need to figure out what time and what channel!

Love to all!

Luke 10:41-42

Surfin’ in the USA

Today we had a relief teacher (substitute) and it was such a relaxed day! She was actually younger than me (21) and is looking for a job and doing relief in the mean time. She was great though! I was able to teach a writing lesson and go to Kerrie Anne’s room for some observation - Kerrie Anne is a wonderful teacher for it being her first year! I had a great day with the kids, too! I was on duty for morning recess and I got to see some of the year 6 and 7’s play cricket on the oval. Very interesting game – still haven’t seen a full game to figure out how the scoring is but I hear they last for a minimum of 5 hours and can sometimes go on for days! Also one of the boys in my class, Levi, said something really funny today. I told him that I liked his hair spiked and he said “Do ya? Well my mom put hair wax in it this morning.” Haha Leila, it reminded me of when you gave me dread locks in Seattle and we had to use hair wax. I wonder if I will come back to the states with something like that again?! Hmm…

Also during morning recess, the kids are so polite and will just say “Good morning Miss Boehme” when they pass me and one of them (she is not even in my class) said to me, “I have been to the United States before. I have been to London!” I said London is great, I have been there too but it is in Europe! And then said, “Oh, well I have been there” and then she started talking about something else. When I was walking the class to music today the sprinklers were on and a boy from my class, Owain, asked if he could run through him because he was “boiling”. Haha

I guess you are wondering what the title has to do with this post. Well, today I sat in on the music lesson and it all my cohort friends it was like I was sitting in on a CTEC 3040 class!! I mean for real they had the xylophone box like instruments and had to make their own song with 4 beats. And then at the end they got to sing a song and they played the Beach Boys “Surfin’ in the USA” about 4 times!! They were all singing at the top of their lungs and had hand motions to go along with it! Pete, it reminded me of when we would sing that song and stand on the arm of the couch with the daycare kids all those years ago!

That is about it for today, right now I am watching the Australian version of “The Biggest Loser” and when they lose weight that say “I lost 5 kilos!” After this, there is another show that I have heard heaps about and I can’t wait for it to come on! It is called “Farmer wants a Wife” and it is similar to the Bachelor. They have a farmer from the outback and all of these city girls that are trying to win him over so they can be his wife. I’ll have to let y’all know what I think about it on tomorrow’s post!  I asked Tracy if they have the Bachelor over here and she said that they just finished Ali’s season before Christmas. So hopefully they will be airing Brad’s season soon! I told her that Brad was the new bachelor and she said, “I watched his season years ago!” She couldn’t believe that he was getting a second chance at it! For all of you who don’t keep up with the Bachelor this doesn’t make much sense to you but you should start watching it! You’ll be hooked! Also, I saw on the guide that they have Criminal Minds here so I’ll have to catch an episode soon! Now, if only they could show Modern Family over here!

Isaiah 12:2

Green Doritos bag

Today when Kerrie Anne was taking me home we went to Big W (Wal-Mart) so she could get some groceries and I saw that they have green bags of Doritos! The green bag means that they are just plain tortilla chips with no flavoring. These Aussies with the green Doritos and green M&Ms, wonder what else there is that is green packaging! Also they call granola bars Museli Bars.

I keep forgetting to post this and I’m sure all of you have thought about it but I figured out that Aussies would never say “Put another shrimp on the Barbie” because they call shrimp prawns! I haven’t heard anyone say “put another prawn on the Barbie” but I have only been to one BBQ so far so maybe I will hear it soon!

The bells at school sound like sirens for a fire drill or something. All you pandas that live in Magnolia – I thought I got away from the loud sirens in the dorm but no, I get to hear them about 4 times a day now! The teachers are used to it but I still jump every time it goes off!

Not too much happened today. I did a lesson on Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and I played the Jack Johnson song “3 R’s” If any of you have seen the Curious George movie you know what I am talking about – it’s pretty good if you want to youtube it! They loved it and learned a lot about saving the environment. It was an S&E lesson which stands for Society and Environment but is pretty much social studies.

On Tuesdays some of the teachers stay after school to have pilates in the music room. I planned on staying to do it with them but I forgot my workout clothes and was wearing a dress today. But I hope to start next Tuesday with them and that will help me to build relationships with them and get some relaxation time in!

Hope everything is going well back home! Love and prayers!

Matthew 14:28-32

One Week Down

So today I started my second week of school and it is becoming more real to me. Last week was pretty much just getting the children situated and teaching them classroom rules and today we started doing a bit more teaching. It was a little difficult because my teacher wanted me to do all of this stuff that I was not really used to. For instance, the margin thing! She kept saying, “They need to rule up!” and I had to politely ask her what that meant so that I could teach it properly because it is new to me. But anyway, this is a learning experience and I am for sure learning lots! Catie and I went on our daily walk again this evening and we were talking about how much we missed home and we missed the super bowl and we have dreams about getting off the plane and having all of our friends and family waiting for us when we come back in April! But then we decided that type of attitude wasn’t helping anything and we need to enjoy our time here and get the most out of it that we can! So with that, please continue to talk to the big man upstairs for me that he will give me strength and guidance during my time here. It really means the world to me to come home at night and know that I can write in this blog and read your comments from the previous day, thank you all for caring about me so much! I really wish I could post pictures more easily but hopefully I will be able to get on facebook or something soon so I can do that. Sorry this is a much shorter entry, but nothing too exciting happened at school today except one of my students told me that I sound like Pink and another came to me at crunch and sip to show me that his apple had a sticker on it that said USA. Haha I didn't really know what to say so I just said, "Yay, go America!" 

Also, please keep the people from Queensland in your prayers. Today at school we had a moment of silence for them because there have been horrible fires and a lot of them have had to evacuate. It seems that there are three extremes in Australia – flooding, fires and drought. Luckily, I am not in any of those regions, it’s just hot as over here!

Psalm 42:11

St Luke's

Today I went to Mass at St Luke’s Catholic Church in Woodvale. It was a beautiful church and I am so happy that I got to go! I think it is so neat that I can go to church here and have the same readings that my family has at home. At least, I think that is the way it works. Today’s readings came from Isaiah 58:7-10, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, and Matthew 5:13-16. Is that what y’all had? The priest had a great homily. He talked about us being the salt of the earth is so important because we are called to spread the Word and not be afraid if people don’t appreciate us talking about it. He said, “God didn’t call us to be the sugar of the earth, he didn’t call us to be the M&Ms of the earth.” He called us to be the salt and we do not need to be afraid that people may not like the salt. We are called to be salt and if we are not salty we are not doing out duty as Christians to spread the good news. It was just what I needed to hear because before coming here, I heard that there were Catholics all around and churches on every corner. Since I have been here I have realized that there are not many Christians at all and if there are they are just the kind that goes to church on Easter and Christmas. I know that I am here for a reason and I have already seen in growth in myself with my relationship with God since I have been here and I am so thankful for that. Also, I am thankful to be placed with a Christian household. Tracy and I have had many conversations after dinner about our faith and what we believe, she is very strong in her faith and I would not know what I would do if I could not have those types of convos with her. Anyway, I really liked the priest there. He is very funny and reminds me of Fr John Paul Kimes. His name is Fr Dennis and he is actually not the real priest but he is visiting there until the main priest gets well. Fr. Trevor (the Parish priest) has cancer and is going through treatment so Fr Dennis is staying with the parish for the time being. He is from St Emily’s which is about 45 minutes away. Today the youth group or young adult group from St Emily’s came to mass at St Luke’s and then they all went to Hillary’s Harbor to have a BBQ and visit with the young adult group from St Luke’s. After Mass, I introduced myself to Fr Dennis and he invited me out the BBQ to meet other people my age. Monique came with me and when we got there I realized that those people that I was meeting don’t even go to the church I will be attending while I am here! It was nice to meet them and one of the guys was wearing a Laker’s jersey and another was wearing a U of Texas shirt so that was funny to talk with that about that but I probably won’t ever see them again because none of them live around here. Turned out only 3 girls from St Luke’s came out and the oldest was 18 so I may see them again but I was a little disappointed that more of them didn’t come. Oh well, it was still a nice time at the marina and then my friends came after lunch and we went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Also, I got some postcards at the tourist shops that were there so be on the lookout for those soon!

Yesterday, I forgot to tell you all that I did laundry for the first time and I hung my clothes on the clothes line to dry! It was very windy out and the towels kept slapping me in the face – I’m sure it was a funny sight to see! Also, Catie and I went on a walk this evening after we got home from the beach and I almost got hit by a car because I want to look left, right left before I cross the street but since they drive on the wrong the side of the road I have to look right left right! It has been weird riding the passenger’s side too because it feels like I should be driving! I think most of our signs say keep right but theirs say keep left. Also, the yield signs say ‘give way’. I have yet to see a normal stop sign. They have round-abouts instead. It will be weird when I get home to drive because I will be going on three months without driving! Hope my little black beauty is ready for that!! Also, if you want to drive a manual here, you have to get a separate driver’s license for it!

That’s about it for now. I start week 2 at school tomorrow and hopefully I’ll have some more funny stories! Its 8pm on Sunday and I wish I could be watching the Super Bowl but it won’t be played until 10am tomorrow morning for us and I will be in school!

Matthew 11:28-29

Mexican is not the same here

So last night Catie, Catherine, Erin and I decided that we really miss Mexican food! All you Aubs peeps know that I go to Acapulco’s pretty much all the time and chips and salsa is my fave! So we found a Mexican restaurant called Zapato’s. It is in downtown Perth and we were going to take the train into town and see what the city is like. It took as a while to find it but we got there and were so excited. The family that Catie lives with told us that it would prob be different than what we were used to and that you have to order chips and salsa as an appetizer. So we get there and ask to order the Trio dips and chip which includes guac, queso and salsa. IT WAS $13!! And I can’t post a pic now but I will try to post it soon so that you can see how tiny it was! Ok so remember those Kellogg’s cereal bowls that pretty much every kid had? It was a bowl that size with some chips in it and then 3 smaller bowls each filled with guacamole, queso, and salsa. WEAK! Anyway, they didn’t have quesadillas so I got a burrito and it was $17 and it didn’t even come with beans or rice! So needless to say we won’t be going back there. So then we just walked around the city went to a few pubs (all drinks are $10 or more) and then we caught the train home.

So this morning I got to see something that I’ve never seen….a net ball game! Net ball is a very popular game in Australia and pretty much every girl plays it! Monique had a game this morning so I went to watch. It is pretty much just like basketball but you cannot run when the ball is passed to you. You have to catch it and stand still until you can find someone open to pass it to and then when you get the other end of the court you try to throw it in the basket, but there is no backboard. Looks pretty simple and the kids love it!

Then we went to Whitford’s shopping center and I guess what I got?! You guessed it, a purse! If you know me well, you know that I love bags and I have tons of them but this one is great. I got it a store called Tree of Life and it is a bit hippy and has become my new fave store! Also, remember when I told you about pretzels2go?! Well Catie and I split one today and it was delish! We got a pizza pretzel and Im gonna have to bring the recipe to Auntie Anne’s!

After that we came home and played in the pool and hung out with Tracy and her friends. They are hilarious and we talked about the differences in how we say stuff. For example, they always “How are you going” rather than “how are you doing.” Also, when they are really tired they say “I’m nekkid!” and fanny means something else than your bottom….I won’t post it publicly but if you wanna know just send me an email or something. Also, whenever you say “thank you” they say “that’s alright” or “that’s ok.” Rarely do they say “you’re welcome,” they say “no worries” a lot too. And they don’t know what a bloomin’ onion is! Outback has misled us all!!

This afternoon Catie’s host family taught us how to play cricket. I think I’ll be going to a match soon and hopefully I can figure it out better when I see it but they say the games last about 5 hours!

And I have to give a special shout-out to my sweet Goddaughter OLIVIA because it is her birthday!! I miss you so much and I hope you have a wonderful birthday at Skates 280 where it is cool and shady!!  Love you so much!!

Romans 8:6

TGIF!

First of all, I have to say Happy Birthday to my beautiful cousin and soon to be mama, MARIAN!! Hope you are having a wonderful birthday and hope the baby is doing well, too! Love you!

So I finished my first week of school! I know I say this all the time but I absolutely love it here! Connie only works Mon-Thurs so we have another teacher that come every Friday. Funny enough his name is Peter Ryan!! (first name Peter, surname Ryan) Having to say to the children write your surname has been hard for me to remember! Sometimes they say second name but I havent heard anyone say last name. Also writing the date is backwards! So confusing! Fridays are fun though and Peter is a great teacher and will be a great mentor as well. He has been teaching for about 30 years and knows a lot! Every Friday the teachers gather in the staff room and have some drinks and nibblers. They ask for a few dollars and two teachers that are in charge of it provide cheese and crackers, hummus (which taste a bit different than what I am used to), wine, beer, soft drinks, coffee, etc. It was fun to just sit and relax with all of them at the end of a successful week. Its kinda funny to open the fridge at school at the end of the week and see the alcohol, Aussies like to have a few drinks if you didn't know :) But anyway, I have realized that there is lots about the school that I want to say but I keep forgetting to write it so I kept a list today and this is what I came up with:

--I think some schools around have school buses but my school does not. They have "Kiss and Drive" which is a better way to say carpool, I think. Basically its just that the parents can drive in the car park (parking lot) to drop the kids off there. Some parents walk the kids into the class each morning and pick them up there too but I guess the ones in a hurry will wait in the car park.
--Throughout the school day the children get lots of breaks (which means the teachers do, too!) They have recess in the morning (which is morning tea for the teachers) and then lunch is about an hour and then they have crunch and sip which is like snack time in the afternoon. We go outside and its time just to eat fruit or vegetables like carrots or something. It is a time for healthy eating and a little break from school work.
--The children have to bring their lunch to school except on Wednesdays and Fridays they have Canteen. I guess it's sort of like hot lunch where they can order it ahead of time and then the lunch gets delivered to the classroom just before lunch time. I think I'll have to order it soon because today it smelled good! (Danny ordered lasagna today, typical Italian, right?!)
--Aunt Jo, if you are reading this, you will happy to know that whenever a teacher or adult walks into the classroom the students must greet them in unison like they do at St. Rose! So every morning I say "Good morning boys and girls" and they say "Good morning Miss Boehme" and then before they leave I say, good afternoon and they say it back!
--When they are writing something they have to draw their own margins! The paper is lined to write on but they don't have margins! So they get out a red colored pencil and get their ruler to make a line at the top and one on the left hand side of the page. Don't know why they do that but I guess it teaches them something...
--Whenever they sit up straight they are taught not only to cross their legs but also their arms. Usually we teach kids to sit Indian style with their hands in their lap but the kids here have to cross their arms as well. Kinda looks uncomfortable but it gets them to sit up straight!
--They call erasers a "rubber" and they call tennis shoes "runners"
--Whenever it is really hot they say "it is hot as" Since I have been here I have heard adults say it and just thought they were saying "hot ass" but finally I had to ask the teacher what it was and she laughed and said no it is just "hot as". haha the reason it came up was because a student in my class was telling he has been to Las Vegas in the summer time and it was hot as. I didn't know if he was cussing or not so I had to ask the teacher!

That is about all the notes I made for today but I'm sure Ill think of something later! Also, I wanted to let y'all know that the cyclone that is in Australia now is on the other side of the continent in Queensland. I think they have been comparing it to Katrina (although Katrina was much worse) and everyone has been asking me about Katrina and if I saw any damage from it in Alabama. It's amazing how much everyone here knows about the US. I mean I know that Katrina was a big hurricane but besides that they know lots about the states and other worldly news! Yesterday one of my students asked me about Obama and whats happening in Egypt! She is Muslim and so maybe that is why she knew about Egypt because I don't know if any of the other kids would have known about that.

Today we were doing math stuff with measurements and they used play dough to make snakes and they had to line them up on their desk from shortest to longest. After we did that they had some time to play with it and make whatever they want. I was walking around the class to see what they are making and I stopped at Alazer's desk and he told me he was making a jail. James sits next to him and he was making a missile on a ship to blow up the jail and let the people free. I asked why we would want to let the people out of the jail if they had done bad things and he said, "they are getting free so they can help the poor people. They have learned their lesson now" I couldn't help it and I just started laughing!

Tonight I am going out to dinner with the other girls from COST. I'm not sure what we are doing but I think we'll just go into the city and get some good food. Leila, Ill be sure to take pics of the food! Oh yea, the wet area...I asked why they call it that and they didn't really have an answer. I wish it was easier for me to upload pics (it took forever for me to get that one up last night) but I took a pic of it and I'll have to show y'all soon. It's got a sink, oven and stove (sorry Ryan, no bathroom there) and they do lots of art work or science experiments out there too.

Also, if you post a comment be sure to check back on that page because I have been responding to all of them! Thank for posting the comments, they are making me laugh and I enjoy reading them. One thing that has been weird is that since I have been here I have only heard 4 others speak in our accent (the 4 other COST students) so when I think and when I read silently it sounds like an Aussie accent in my head! Prob makes me sound like a crazy but just wanted to let you know when I read your comments you have an Australian accent!

Numbers 6:24-26

My school

I will get better about including pics! I have taken lots but I can't get enough internet to be able to post them all!

This looks like it may be the entire school but this is just my block! There are 4 classrooms on each corner and a "wet area" in the middle, like a lobby.

Im sorrry this is the only pic I can upload at the moment. It is taking forever but I will hopefully be able to upload heaps!



Oh yea and if you want a postcard, send me your address in an email or post it as a comment! I plan on sending some out this weekend!

much love to all!

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

OMG!

So I am officially obsessed. Seriously, I am so happy that I came here! Mama, Daddy, Alice, I know I cried to the three of you through texting or phone calls the first few days but now I am wondering why I was being such a baby!! The kids came to school today and I absolutely fell in love! We have 24 students and they are precious! Not to toot my own horn or anything but I think they like me, too!

The school is a wonderful atmosphere and I hope to work in a school with this type of environment one day. All of the teachers have been teaching together for years and they are like family. The principal (they call him boss) and the assistant principal (they call him deputy) are wonderful leaders and two of the 4 male teachers at the school. All of the teachers are so kind to one another and very generous to help each other throughout the day. It really feels like a family there and that is just what I like!

Since today was the first day they had lots of house keeping type stuff to do. So the children come to school with all of their supplies and then the teacher takes a look at it to see what she wants to do with it. Its kind of interesting because they come with a whole packet of stuff and Connie told me that some stuff she won't even need them to use. I can't really remember how we did it in elementary school but I think the teachers pass out the list that they will need rather than have a set list for everyone in the city to use? Anyway, that took up a good bit of the morning just figuring out the notebooks and folders and what we will use them for.

After we got settled with all of that, it was my turn to take over and introduce myself and talk about Groundhog Day! They thought it was very interesting and then they started telling me about holidays that they have. Last week they celebrated Australia Day, much like 4th of July. Unfortunately, that was last Wednesday which was the day that I lost while traveling over here! But I knew about it one, because Marissa told me it was in her planner :) and two, because Monique gave me some Australian flag tattoos that she said everyone had on Australia Day! Ill be bringing those back and I have about 20 so if anyone wants one just let me know!

Also, in my introduction Connie wanted me to talk about my family and explain to the kids that this year we were going to be a family within our classroom. She wanted me to talk about team work and ask them if they are involved with anything else that they feel is like a family, ie sports teams, neighborhoods, church groups, etc. So as I am talking about all of that and explaining what it is I decided to let them tell me a little about their family so I can get to them know and all that good stuff. This is the best response by far:

Me: Danny, tell us a little about your family
Danny: Well, we are a typical Italian family who loves drag racing. I have a sister and two brothers and we all love my dad's cars. They are part of the family, too.

(as he was drawing the picture of his family I had to constantly remind him to draw people because he kept drawing cars)

It took just about everything I had to hold back my laughter!! I can already tell he is going to be providing lots of funny comments that I will for sure share with all of you!

As I was leaving the school today I was just smiling non stop because I am so happy with everything here! Thank you all for your prayers because I know that is what is helping everything to fall into place here!

Oh yea, Daddy asked me about the food here so I guess I should speak a little about that. It is pretty good! I do miss our food but most of it is the same. I had lamb for dinner which made me think of Kafta and I wish I could have that right now! But most of it is pretty good. My appetite has changed since I've been here so I have only cleaned my plate like two times and usually I eat every bite! But overall its not much different than home. I haven't tried vegimite yet but I plan to do that soon! Ill let you know what that is like! They have a subway and KFC so Ill prob hit those up pretty soon when I start to really miss American food! Right now I am watching shrek 3 with Monique and we are sharing a bag of M&Ms. For those of you who know me well, you know that M&Ms are my absolute favorite! And the cool thing about these M&Ms are that they are "mix ups" which means the bag contains peanut, crispy, and plain! Hopefully we will get this at home soon! They come in a green bag so be on the lookout!

Hope all is well at home! Tell me if the groundhog saw his shadow!!

Romans 12:2