Reflections

The past two weeks have gone by faster than any two weeks I can remember. Two weekends ago we had a massive heat wave. We made the most of Saturday by heading out to Manly Beach, which is across the harbour from the Opera House. It took us almost two hours to get out there via bus and ferry, and once we did, it was incredibly crowded. It was a short walk from the ferry station out to the beach, and it was a beautiful stretch of sand against that amazing, definitively Australian color of blue that the ocean is down here. We laid out our towels and enjoyed a lovely beach day. I even went for a swim, but the waves were HUGE and the current was really strong. And there was lots of little bits of seaweed in the water, and lots of sand that got stuck EVERYWHERE. It was so nice to spend the day laying out in the sun, reading and listening to music. When the sun started dropping below the trees, we headed into town, where there was a street market that we walked through for awhile. It was a very nice day. The next day was so incredibly hot that we stayed inside as much as we could. However, the intensity of everyone blasting their A/C kept causing the power to go out, which was a pain in the butt. So we decided to escape the apartment by going to the movies at the mall across the street. The only problem with that plan - you think movies are expensive in America? The student price is $15 here!!! Outrageous. But we saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (which I think has yet to come out in the states). It's the movie Heath Ledger was in the middle of filming when he died. It was really good, we all liked it a lot. And it was nice and air conditioned in there.

At some point in the last few weeks (I can't remember exactly when) we had a big apartment-wide BBQ potluck up on our porch. It was really fun! My roommate Alli did all the grilling - we had steak and chicken, and corn on the cob. And the girls downstairs made a great salad, and there was a veggie platter, too. It was great to have us all together, too, and it was nice to know that we had put it together on our own. We shared stories about our placements and just took a break from lesson planning to enjoy some delicious food and good company.

This past week has been a good one as well, especially with Thanksgiving on Thursday. It did not, however, feel like Thanksgiving at all. First of all, last week was pretty warm. And secondly, we didn't get any time off. They had a big dinner for us Thursday night, though, which was really nice. It was strange to eat Thanksgiving dinner so late, and to have Thanksgiving Dinner after a day at school, but the food was delicious. The turkey was moist and really good, and the mashed potatoes were fantastic. There was also stuffing, which was ok, and corn and green beans that were pretty good, too. There was lots of wine and general merriment. The only bummer was that the dessert was not up to par. There was 'pumpkin pie' that did not taste like pumpkin at all. There was also apple pie, but it was kind of strange, too. The apple bits were really small cubes, and there was this frosting under the crust that tasted like cinnamon bun frosting. Interesting. They even had butcher paper up where we could write what we were thankful for. It was really nice to have the Thanksgiving dinner, but I missed real Thanksgiving. I missed playing flag football Thursday morning with our family friends, I missed watching the Macy's Day Parade, and most of all, watching football - which I've been missing for awhile now, but it really hit home on Thanksgiving. I missed the cold weather, even, despite how nice it is here. I think I'm actually ready to come home to winter. But missing all of those things reminded me of was how thankful I actually am to be here. I'm thankful for having the opportunity to spend a semester in Australia student teaching, I'm thankful for all the great people in my life, I'm thankful for having such great cooperating teachers who are making this experience so great, I'm thankful for having such a great support network back home and in Boston, and for international calling cards and internet that have allowed me to retain my sanity by keeping in touch with them. I'm thankful for all the amazing experiences I have had this semester, and for the fact that my parents are on a plane right now on their way to visit me! And much much more.

I'm also starting to get really excited for Christmas, although it feels weird to be getting ready for Christmas when the weather is getting hotter instead of colder. On Friday Sam and I went down to the Rocks Markets by Moonlight - every weekend there are these great markets down in the Rocks, and since November (since the weather has gotten nicer) they have started also having the markets on Friday nights. It was a beautiful night, and there was a live band that was awesome. Yellowtail wines were sponsoring the event, too, and had a free wine tasting booth. It was really nice, and I definitely plan on going back before I leave, probably with my parents when they're here. Then, on Saturday, Trinity had their Family Fiesta, an annual carnival-type event where there are rides, games, food, and more. It was incredible!! It was a really hot day, but we still headed over to school for a couple of hours. It was fun to see our students outside of class, and Sam even pied one of the other teachers in the face for a fundraiser. After the fiesta, I met Haley, Alli, and Jac downtown. We walked around a bit, grabbed some food, and did some window shopping. We then caught the ferry from Circular Quay out to Luna Park, which is Sydney's famous amusement park. I have to say we were a bit disappointed. It was pretty small, there were only a few rides, and it was SO expensive - $40 for an unlimited ride pass. Considering how few rides there were, we decided it wasn't worth it. But there was a great view of the city from Luna Park (it's across the harbour on the other side of the bridge), and we were glad to have gone and checked it out. We then took the ferry over to Darling Harbour, where they were having their tree lighting festival. We got gelato and just sat around the Harbour, enjoying the beautiful weather and waiting for them to light the tree. There was also a concert, but we were too far away to see it. Then, they finally lit the tree - it was a very strange tree. It wasn't actually a tree (I don't think), just a lighted structure that was shaped like a tree. It was also strangely colored - purple and green and blue, and it had little kangaroo shaped lights that lit up in a way that makes it look like a kangaroo is hopping up the tree. But then - there were these AMAZING fireworks!! At first, only a few went off. We had been sitting there for awhile waiting for them to light the tree, and it was a bit anti-climactic that there were only like 5 fireworks. So we kept waiting, hoping more would come. After another 20 minutes, I was ready to head home, but Alli suggested we wait another 5. I'm so glad we did. The fireworks started up again, this time choreographed to christmas carols. It was so incredibly well done and gorgeous. And there were so many fireworks!!! It was certainly one of the best fireworks shows I've ever seen. Absolutely phenomenal. And when I got home, I got to talk to my friend Kelly in London for an hour and a half, which was so great. She's also doing her student teaching, so we got to share stories and catch up, as it was the first time we'd really gotten to talk all semester. So all in all, a fantastic weekend.

And now, the time that, not so long ago, felt lightyears away has arrived. I'm in my last week of student teaching. How this happened, I cannot say. I remember, right before spring break, frantically trying to plan my units, thinking how many lessons I would need to plan between then and the end of the term. Between then and now. I only have two more lessons to plan, which is certainly exciting in it's own right - lesson planning hasn't been my favorite part of this experience. Though I will be glad to have an extended break from lesson planning (and yes, I do realize that lesson planning is inevitably my whole future), I will miss what lesson planning turns into - the actual lessons. Especially now that I have achieved a level of relative comfort in the classroom, and a real rapport with my students. Through my term of observing and teaching at Trinity, I have learned so much. It's been a rather challenging experience in many ways, but extremely rewarding. I am incredibly lucky to have been paired with such excellent, helpful, and nice cooperating teachers. They are committed to helping me learn and grow from my experiences, and have been so supportive throughout this whole term. I've taught quite a few things that were completely new to me - I've had to learn much more than I've had to teach. Though it was certainly challenging, I've learned so much. Not only about academic areas in which I had little or no knowledge (I am now a pro on vampire fiction) but also that I'm capable of creating a unit on a topic that I've had to quickly teach myself. It's the good kind of challenging that spits you out at the other end a more confident and capable person. After this experience, I really feel that I might be ready (or at least, a whole heck of a lot closer to ready) to be a real teacher. Being so involved in this school has made me want my own classroom and my own students so badly - I want to actually be a part of a school community. Trinity has been very welcoming, but at the same time, we know that we're only here for this term. I have a lot of thinking to do about what I want to do after I graduate - will I crave teaching and want to get a job straight away? Or would I rather go to grad school first, and get all my schooling out of the way? One thing this semester has done is solidify my desire to teach. I knew I wanted to teach, but now that I have taught, I know that I love it.

Teaching on my own isn't the only thing I've done for the first time this semester. Being abroad has been one of the most freeing and inspiring experiences of my life. That sounds so empty and cliche, but it truly has. The list of firsts for me here is growing longer by the day... and I've learned how to do things on my own. I've always been socially dependent on others. I just crave the company of others, and would typically choose to do something with a pal over going it alone. But I've learned to be more comfortable flying solo. Since I've been in Oz, I went scuba diving for the first time, tried new foods, learned how to surf, chopped off my hair, learned how to make paper cranes, and much much more. I've had to try to bake in a microwave, pick up all sorts of strange slang terms, and survive a semester with only 5 TV channels (gasp!) and crazy spastic internet. It's been an amazing past 3 months - and I'm unbelievably glad I decided to come abroad this semester. But I'm ready to come home. As exciting as it will be to come home to my family, friends, the food network, and unlimited internet (that almost always works), I'll miss a lot of things about this country, too. I'll miss the accents, and all those silly slang terms I was talking about. I'll miss the beautiful beaches and the softest sand I've ever felt in my life. I'll miss the weekend markets, and the crazy thunderstorms. I'll miss the Tim Tams, of course, although I hear they have made their way to the US - I'll certainly be on the lookout for them. I'll miss my students (well, some of them), and the other teachers at Trinity who have been so friendly and welcoming to Sam and me.

But my adventures don't end here. So maybe the next few years won't include crazy weekend trips to the Outback, or 2 day cruises on the Great Barrier Reef. But they will include one last semester at BU, graduating from college (yikes!), going out into the real world, getting my first job, graduating from grad school (double yikes!) and who knows what else. I'm looking forward to the holidays, and getting to be with my family again, and to returning to Boston in January to see my friends that I have missed so much while I've been here. I'm ready to go back and make the most of my last semester, so that when graduation comes, I will feel about college the way I feel now about this semester - that the experience has been incredible and indescribable, and I definitely want to come back some day, but for now, I'm ready to come home.