This post will dedicated to what I have been doing in the past month in more of a daily life context as opposed to the flashy traveling and sightseeing context. During the week I really don't have much going on besides writing lesson plans every now and then, so I was trying to figure out why I hadn't been updating the blog and found 3 things that have distracted me:
1. "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold
2. "Open House" by Elizabeth Berg
3. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
If you know me and books, you would actually be quite proud of me for finishing one! Considering the last book that I finished was the second Twilight book (I stopped midway of the third...oops) back in November, I found myself completely caught up in the recount of Susie's life and afterlife in "The Lovely Bones". It was a pretty easy read and sort of the perfect book for wintertime while curled up in bed because of the graphic descriptions and insights into people's minds. I was less than impressed with "Open House," and I really don't know why I read it besides that it was in Oprah's Book Club. Nothing inspirational, thought-provoking, or stimulating for the mind. I am beyond excited to be currently reading "The Kite Runner" because it has been on my list for quite awhile. I am proud to say that I am making decent progress on it, and with the holidays right around the corner, I hope to finish it next week.
Ahh, the holidays. This is truly a well-needed holiday, and while I will only have about 5 days off starting this Saturday for myself before I start traveling, I must say that it will be nice to relax. I plan on getting my hair cut, working on my portfolio (gross), watching movies, and staying warm wrapped up in my red blanket. Don't worry though, I'm not going to be completely boring though! I have booked a flight to South Korea for a week and a half! I will be going with Chloe to visit her family who lives there. I am obviously excited to visit South Korea but equally excited to see Chloe and catch up with her! Tiffany and I get plenty of time together but we miss our far away friend! I'll also get a day in Sydney to explore one of Australia's most well-known cities and reunite with a friend from Singapore.
2 weeks ago, my family went through a trying time as most of them sat in a Florida courthouse during a 3 day trial to sentence the murderer of my cousin, Andrew, to life in prison. My parents had gone down to support my aunt and speak at the trial and had left Skype behind them in Peachtree City, so I was desperately looking online for any updates that were coming through on the news. After the third day of the trial, I broke down and used my international minutes on my cell phone (which I found out are not expensive at all) to call my parents to find out the good news. During those three days I found myself teetering on the edge of extreme homesickness and flashbacks of Andrew's death from 2 years ago making me a little unstable. Even as my parents described the horrific events of the trial and I was relieved to be hearing the details, I had to swallow hard and fight back the tears. These are the things in life that you are not supposed to miss. This is just one of the things (probably the most important) that I am missing this summer. And this is one of the most valuable lessons that I have learned throughout my time here so far: it's not where you are but who you are with that matters. I remember writing in my Alternative Spring Break biography that I was slowly starting to learn this lesson and that was a year ago. Now I wonder why it has taken a relocation across the world for me to truly understand what I wrote. I am too stubborn for my own good.
In lighter news, Tiffany and I took a surfing lesson this past weekend. My host family took us down to Anglesea for the weekend, so we thought this would be the perfect time to test the water (ha) with surfing. I quickly fell in love with Dom, our surfing instructor, who was the epitome of Australian surfer. He was 21, blonde, and simply living (or living simply) as a surf instructor. Too bad things will never work out between us because I was useless on a surf board :( I gave my best effort with every wave but only managed to stand up twice (ok, fine, just 1 1/2 times). Tiffany should probably enter the next surf competition down at Bells Beach because that girl could ride a wave like no one's business! The video is pretty much how the entire 2 hours went, but can I just say that I loved every minute that I was out there? Definitely one of my favorite experiences here so far!
Anyway, just in case you want to know about the real reason I am even over here, teaching is going well! My adviser from my university over here came and observed me today for a lesson and gave me really great feedback. He loved my lesson and told me that the only thing I need to work on is my inflection and variation while speaking to the students. Surprise, surprise, I am too calm and quiet. Some of the lessons I have done have included toilet paper squirrels, "The Cat in the Hat" hats, and cootie catchers. They loved all of them, and currently I am racking my brain for equally exciting craft projects. Never should have set my own bar so high!
As promised, here are 2 albums full of pictures of sightseeing that I have done in the month of June!
Middle excursion to the Marine Discovery Centre and Queenscliff, Bollard Walk with Tiffany
Bush Bashing, Melbourne, Bells Beach/Torquay, Anglesea, Great Ocean Road, Surfing
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