Week of April 23 - First days of teaching, Anzac Day, Rugby Game, Palm Beach

View from the top of Palm Beach  

Now that teaching has started my blog posts will probably be coming much sporadically as the time is not there for daily posts.  With that said, I will still be posting at least once a week.  As I said this was my first week in the classroom and it was very enjoyable.  Monday was a staff only day so I was able to get acquainted with everything, spend time with my teacher and the rest of the math faculty and get organized.  Then on Tuesday the students came. I was introduced to the students in the classes, but the day was mainly observational. Unlike back home a teacher and students' schedule changes every day on a 2 week cycle.  For example, a student may have Math (or Maths as they say here) Period 2 on Monday, then not have it at all on Tuesday and then have it Period 5 on Wednesday and so on.

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo on School Ground

Wednesday was a day off from school for Anzac Day.  Anzac stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and can be best described as Veterans/Memorial Day on steroids.  The day begins with dawn services/parades that begin literally at the crack of dawn (we were up at 4 am to go to the local one).  The service is a remembrance and appreciation for all those who have served the countries, it is a pretty cool thing and was a strong showing of Australian patriotism.  Later on that day, Bobby and I went to a local town gathering area to play a game called Two-Up.  It's an Australian game that is only legal on Anzac Day.  Basically, there is a big ring (a little bigger than a boxing ring) and then people surrounding it.  One person goes in the middle and flips two coins, the people on the outside are then making side bets between one another betting either on heads or tails.  The coin flipper continues to flip until both coins land on the same side.  It's a very simple, but very fun and enjoyable game which I made some many on!

The deadliest snake in the world! 

After Wednesday's fun it was back in the classroom for Thursday and Friday.  I'm getting more and more comfortable in the classroom and doing more things, and next week I'll teach my first lessons to the Year 7 (Grade 7) students which should be fun.  On Friday, we had a reptile guy come in and give a presentation to the Year 7 students which I had the pleasure of attending.  I learned about the most poisonous snake in the world (the fierce snake) and even had a python around my neck (I don't have a picture on my camera though!).  It was another fun day though all around. 

My cooperating teacher, Mr. French with the python wrapped around his neck!

Friday night, I teacher from my school very graciously took Brittany and me to a Rugby League game.  It was a very fun experience, even though the team she and I were rooting for lost.  The game was held at ANZ stadium which was the main stadium for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 so it was pretty cool to be there as well. 

Rugby Game (NRL) game at ANZ Stadiu

On Saturday, the teacher took Brittany and me to Palm Beach.  Palm Beach is another of Sydney's famous beaches.  We hiked from the beach area at the bottom up to the top of the cliff where the lighthouse was.  It was a fun walk with some spectacular views along the way. 

View from Newport Beach

View back at the lighthouse from Palm Beach (actual beach area)

View off of one of the rocks during our hike

In a rock cave!

-Andrew

Aussie Words

Jumper - Sweater, Sports Jersey, Sweatshirt

Rubber - Eraser

Bushwalk - To hike 

Days 15-17 (I think) - Night Out in Darling Harbour

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty light days overall.  I spent most of Wednesday finishing up all the work I needed to and Thursday I had dinner with Brittany's host family at a Chinese Restaurant which was very good.  On Friday, we spent most of the day in the town of Hornsby just walking around the shopping centre (mall) and enjoying the nice weather. 

Little Gecko on the Deck!

The highlight of the past few days though was the first night out in Sydney on Friday.  Brittany and I took a train from Hornsby where I'm staying into the center of Sydney.  The train was only about 45 minutes so we got into the city a little before 11.  From the train station it was about a 5-10 minute walk to Darling Harbour.  There are tons of bars and night clubs around Darling Harbour and it's really a pretty awesome place to go out.  We started at one bar that looked promising but after a $10 cover and a small dance floor littered with 35+ we knew it wasn't the right place to spend the night. 

Fountain in Hornsby

 So we moved along and found another place called Pontoon, which looked very big and lively so we waited on line, and then paid a $25 cover!!  It was a pretty cool bar though, with half inside and half outside and two different DJs.  We did feel a little out of place though as the bar had to be at least 80-85% Asian.  Nonetheless it was a very fun and successful first night out in Sydney.  We took a bus back home which was surprisingly easy to navigate and everyone was well behaved and calm which was surprising for a bus at 2:30-3 in the morning.

Along the Pedestrian Bridge in Darling Harbour after our night out.

School begins on Monday, so that will be a new and fun experience to write about!

-Andrew

Aussie Words

Swimmers - Bathing Suit

Chemist - Pharmacist 

 

Days 13 & 14 - My First Taste of Kangaroo and Lots of Rain

After about 10 days of perfect sunny weather and temperatures in the 70s, we had two days of straight heavy rain.  There was some major flooding around the Sydney area and I think we ended up with over 4 inches of rain or so during the two days.  That was fine though as I was able to finish my portfolio (last major assignment for Penn St) which I just submitted!  So all was not lost during the last two days.

I also had my first taste of kangaroo, I actually ate it!!  We had kangaroo steaks for dinner on Tuesday.  I must say it was pretty good.  It's a very rich and tender steak, which is apparently very good for you.  It kind of reminded me of a skirt steak, but it was delicious.  It is a bit weird to eat the national symbol of the country, but hey it tasted good!

We have a barbecue planned on Friday at one of Bobby and Maddie's friends houses near the beach, and then two nights out on city on Friday and Saturday which should be an adventure.  Then teaching finally begins on Monday!

-Andrew

Aussie Words

Potato Gems - Tater Tots

Days 11 & 12 - Finishing up PSU work, Food and Money in Australia

The past few days have been a bit of reprieve and some relaxation from a lot of the running around I had been doing.  It's the last week before school starts, so I've been finishing up all the things I have to do for Penn State, like finish my portfolio, order a cap and gown, and finalize the paperwork I need to so I can walk at graduation in August.  It's a bit boring, but I want to get it all done this week before school starts.  I was able to watch the entire Devils game the other day on my computer on a pretty good stream which was nice, even though they lost.  We have had some games live on TV here but unfortunately no Devils games. 

The food here is really not different from back home at all.  Bobby made a grilled garlic calamari dish the other day which was sensational.  Apparently the trick to keeping calamari tender is to marinate it in kiwi juice for about two hours, and wow did it work.  It was the most tender calamari I have ever had in my life, so next time you cook calamari put in kiwi juice first!  I tried a little bit of Vegemite the other day and it was pretty awful, so I don't think I'll be eating that again but I figured I should try it.  Also, they eat kangaroo here, but we haven't eaten it yet.  I'm told it tastes like a very rich steak, so that will be something to try in the future. 

Sunset through the trees on another nice night

Money here is obviously a bit different than in the U.S.  They don't have pennies here and lowest coin is a 5 cent piece.  That gets a bit confusing sometimes as they will round off if they don't have exact change.  Also, the lowest domination of bills is a $5, so there is no $1 or $2 bill but they do have them in coin form.  The coins they have are 5 cent, 10, 20, 50, $1 and $2 while the bills are $5, $10, $20, $50, $100.  The bills are also much more colorful and the coins all have Queen Elizabeth II on them. 

$5 bill with a $2 coin in the top left corner and 50 cent piece in the bottom right

Later in the week I think we are going to go to the Koala Park where you can play with the kangaroos and koalas so that should be fun and a bit more exciting, and Brittany and I are also going to spend a night or two out in downtown Sydney which should also be an adventure. 

-Andrew

Aussie Words

 Bikkie - Cracker or sometimes a cookie

Barrack - To root or cheer for a team

Days 9 & 10 - Driving around Sydney, Day at the Races

The track at Royal Randwick

Friday and especially Saturday were very eventful and exciting days.  On Friday, I spent most of the day with Bobby helping him finish up a job he was doing in Manly.  After first stopping at a place to the west of Sydney we took a really nice drive through the actual city of Sydney and then to Manly.  It really is a nice area down there, even if it is a bit busy.  Later on Friday, I went to spend a weekend with a teacher at the school I'll be teaching at.  We had a very nice Morrocan style dinner.

Driving through The Spit, another awesome part of Sydney

The real fun however came on Saturday when we went to Royal Randwick, a major horse track in Sydney.  Unlike in the U.S. where the major races on ran on dirt, all the horse racing in Australia is done on turf.  Saturday was also one of the major racing days in Australia, highlighted by the Australian Derby which is 1.5 mile run around the track.  It was quite an experience to be there, as the the patrons were dressed in attire more suitable for a royal wedding than the horse racing I'm used to back home.  There were tons of big hats, small dresses, and suits for the men.  I did feel slightly under-dressed in my khakis and pink button-down, especially cause it was black and white day and almost everyone was wearing that!

A typical hat and attire on race day

My betting at the race track didn't go exactly as planned, as there were 9 races during the day and I only came out victorious in 1.  Thankfully, it was the last race of the day and I was able to recoup most of my winnings and leave on a good note.  I am still a little bitter because in the big race of the day, the Australian Derby my horse (Polish Knight) was winning for most of the home stretch only to get nipped out by a nose at the finish line.  

At the finish line of the Australian Derby, Ethiopia (#11) edged out my horse in the orange along the rail.

After the horse race we took a bus back to the center of Sydney, which is only about a 5-10 minute drive from Randwick.  We went to a local bar there to watch a Rubgy League game.  I'm pretty good with the rules of Rugby League after seeing a few games, as well as the AFL (Aussie Rules Football) which I had seen a few times on TV back home, but I don't think I've seen a Rugby Union game yet which is a bit different.  It was fun to watch the game, but unfortunately for the teacher I was with her team lost a close game.  After that we went into the Chinatown district for dinner for some authentic Chinese food which was very good.  Following dinner we traveled back to the suburb where her apartment his spent a little time at a local bar and then went home after another fun bet exhausting day in Sydney!


-Andrew

Aussie Words

Serviettes - Napkins

Tomato Sauce - Ketchup

Days 7 & 8 - In Town, Relaxing

After a few days of intense tourist traveling, Wednesday and Thursday were relatively relaxing days.  I traveled into town both days just to the mall and some local shops to get a few things.  I have noticed things are generally more expensive here, but not as expensive as I thought they would be based on what people told me.  The Australian and U.S. dollar are very close to equivalent nowadays, so perhaps that is part of the reason.  The two things that are much more expensive are gas and liquor.  Gas here is around $1.50 per liter which would be about $5.70 per gallon, and liquors are almost double the price of back home.  Wine is actually cheaper, I guess because they produce so much wine here.  

The one thing I've noticed and been surprised about Australia is just how diverse the country.  There are people from all across the world, and it really is a melting pot of cultures, I'd say even more so than back home.

I was able to find NHL games on TV which was a nice surprise.  They televise one per night (or morning for us here) but unfortunately none of them are Devils games so I'll have to watch those on the computer.  I'm spending the weekend with a teacher from my school, and we are going to horse races tomorrow, so that should be a very fun time.  I think next week when Brittany comes back we may spend a night or two in downtown Sydney to experience the nightlife and what not before we have to start teaching. 

Leroy the dog stole my bed!

-Andrew

Aussie Words

Bloke - A guy

Rubbish - Garbage

Day 6 - Bridge Climb, Fish Market, Dinner at Bondi Beach

At the top of the bridge with Brittany and her dad

Tuesday was an extremely eventful an exciting day, highlighted by the Bridge Climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Brittany, her dad and I took the adventurous climb up to the top of the bridge.  Unfortunately they make you empty your pockets of everything, so I wasn't able to take any pictures up at the top but we did buy a few which I'll share.  For time saving purposed we did the express climb which is about an hour shorter than the normal climb.  We walked up a total of 1,390 stairs to the top of the bridge which is 134 meters or 440 feet above the ground.  We were in a group of 12 climbers and had a very funny and helpful tour guide that led us to the top.  It was pretty windy at times, but it was an amazing view from the top and something I won't forget.  The walk down is a bit more scary at times as some of the stairs had open greats where you could see right through to the water below you.  It definitely is something everyone should do when they visit Sydney. 

Some of the few fish we actually saw at the fish market

After the Bridge Climb, I went with Brittany and her family down to the fish markets.  Fish is not my favorite but I was pretty unimpressed with the fish market.  I had heard about the fish market and was expecting to see all the fish shops with fresh fish, but it was really only a few places and was pretty boring.  Perhaps we got there too late as things were beginning to close, but the most exciting part was seeing the two pelicans you see below. 

Pelicans at the fish market

Our day concluded with a walk back through Darling Harbour which once again was bustling with people and then a cab ride to a restaurant in Bondi Beach.  Bondi is Sydney's most famous beach and I can see why.  It is a huge beach with spectacular rolling waves but I forgot to take pictures.  The restaurant we ate at was Bondi Icebergs (a bit too classy of a place for me, I got a dirty look for just ordering a glass of plain water) but the view was spectacular as it overlooked the the water and the beach.  Overall, it was a very exciting and yet another enjoyable day in Sydney. 

View from Darling Harbour

-Andrew

Aussie Words

Hundreds and Thousands - Sprinkles

Day 5 - Opera Bar and Darling Harbour

View from the Opera Bar of both the bridge and the Opera House as well as part of the city on the other side

Monday was a very exciting day and my first real taste of downtown Sydney.  Bobby and I took the train into Sydney at about 4 in the afternoon.  It's about a 15 minute walk to the train station from the house and then about a 45 minute train ride into downtown Sydney.  When we arrived we decided to go down to the Opera Bar.  The Opera Bar was only a short walk from the train station and is located right along side and below the iconic Opera House in Sydney.  It was an unbelievable view right along the water and a great place to just relax and enjoy for a few hours. 

Bridge at sunset

The Opera Bar and Opera House is located in an area of Sydney called Circular Quay, which has many different ferries that travel throughout the city and lots of restaurants and bars that sit right along the water.  It's a very nice area and one that I will definitely be visiting again.  I also learned that the design of the Opera House was originally done by segmenting an orange, which I found to be pretty interesting!

Opera House at Dusk

After spending time there, Bobby went back home and I met Brittany, her family, and her host family for dinner in Darling Harbour.  Darling Harbour is another beautiful area right along the water with many restaurants, bars and shops.  It's a little more commercialized than Circular Quay as there is a large aquarium, a small zoo, and the largest imax theater in the world as well as a few other museums and many other stores.  We went to an Italian restaurant and  dinner was very nice and pretty affordable as well!

-Andrew

Aussie Words:

Rubbish - Garbage

Queue - A line (of people)

Day 4 - Easter Lunch

It was a pretty quiet Easter Sunday.  Maddie and Bobby are not very religious, and we went over to her sister's house for an Easter Lunch.  Her sister lives about 10-15 minutes away in suburb right next to the school I was originally going to be placed in (Knox).  The lunch was very good.  I've noticed that the food here is not all that different from back home.  The lunch consisted of Maddie, Bobby, Maddie's sister Rosyln, her husband David and the two elder statement Ron (Maddies dad) who is 87 and Ruth (Davids mom) who is almost 95.  It was nice and fun to hear these two elder Australians outlook on things and the stories they told.  They were both extremely sharp for the age and it was very impressive listening to them. 

From there we went back to the house relaxing and just hanging out. Earlier in the day there was a kookaburra bird sitting on the ledge of the pool railing.  Maddie went out and fed it a small piece of meat, something that is not uncommon here and then I did as well.  It was a pretty cool thing to do, but unfortunately my camera died before I could get a picture.  A quiet day overall, but really enjoying things.

I'm beginning to grow a pretty strong bond with the dog of the house Leroy.  He is a Gordon Setter who is just over a year old.  Sometimes hes a bit shy with strangers but he has taken to me quite well, and is always jumping all over me and licking me.  Its nice to have a dog back in my life everyday, so I don't mind it at all!

-Andrew

Leroy the Gordon Setter taking a rest from usual hyper-self

Aussie Words:

Sunnies : Sunglasses

Zed: the letter z

Day 3 - Relaxation, Exploration, Barbie

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day, which was very enjoyable (not surprising I would enjoy the laziness).  I haven't really had any bad jet lag, and woke up and went to sleep at normal hours.  During the day I went with Bobby to run some errands around the town of Hornsby.  Hornsby is a large suburb of Sydney about 45 minutes north.  We went to the Westfield shopping mall which is by far the largest mall I have ever been.  It's over 1 million square feet total, with tons of stores, restaurants and even several grocery stores.  There was an Aldi there, which I know we have back home and it was just as bad as a store as I remembered.

Popular grocery store, in the mall!

Later in the day I decided to take a walk from back at the house to the center of town and the train station.  It's about 1.5 kilometers (a little less than a mile) to the train/bus station which I'll be taking to school most days.  It was a fun walk filled with some cool wildlife and views.  I saw some pretty cool birds along the way, but no kangaroos (they're not really in our area).

Two awesome looking birds during my walk.

We went over to a family friend of Bobby and Maddie for a barbie (bbq).  It was the son's 25th birthday and it was a good time with drinks and tons of really good food.  Kebabs are very popular here and they were excellent.  The family is from Scotland and only moved here 8 years ago.  I've noticed just in the three days I've been here how diverse Australia here, there are many many people who immigrated in recent years and from a variety of different countries.  

Bobby and Maddie's house, the picture doesn't do justice to the steepness of the hill or driveway

Aussie Words:

Peckish : Hungry

Barbie : Barbeque

Day 2 - Manly Beach and Up the Coast

Manly Beach Promenade area with shops and restaurants.

On Friday, I went with Bobby and Brittany (the other student teacher from Penn State) down to Manly Beach in the Sydney area.  The school I'll be in is off for the next two weeks as it's the end of the term, so I'll have some time to do some traveling around the area and to explore. Bobby, who works in IT had to pick up a bunch of computers and software down that way, so we helped him with that and then spent the day down there.  We ate a burger place along the beach which was pretty good, but EXPENSIVE.  Three burgers and three drinks cost about $45, but they were pretty good.  Manly beach is a very touristy but awesome place.  There are tons of shops, restaurants and people both locals and tourists. We hung out on the beach for a little bit, I stuck my feet in the water which was probably about 70 degrees or so.  The beach area reminded me a lot of San Diego based on the landscape with all the cliffs and whatnot.  

Beach Area in Manly

From there we traveled up the coast along the water.  It was a very scenic and pretty cool drive.  We wanted to stop for some snacks and food along the way back, but EVERYTHING was closed because it was Good Friday which was a bit of a bummer.  After the beach and our travel we just hung out at the house and chatted about things.  I stayed up till 10:30 p.m.!

I'll try to include some of the Aussie terms I've learned in my blog posts, just to give you a small taste of whats different:

Aussie Words

Servo - Gas Station

Petrol - Unleaded Gas

Brekkie - Breakfast

Chips - French Fries

First Day

I decided I'll try blogging my experience in Australia.  I can't promise anything like what Sammy did but I'll give it a shot (at least to start and when I can remember to update it).  Right now it's around 9 a.m. in the morning on Saturday here.  I arrived into Sydney about 48 hours ago on Thursday morning at around 7:45 a.m.  As many of you already know I'm staying with a host family, Bobby and Maddie.  Maddie has a son, Tim (Bobby's stepson) who is also 21 but he doesn't live in the house and I haven't met him yet.  I was greeted at the airport by Bobby who is actually American and originally from Oklahoma.  He moved to Australia almost 15 years ago.  They are extremely friendly and welcoming people!

From the airport in Sydney we went back to the Bobby and Maddie's house which is about a 45 minute drive north of Sydney.  There house is kind of built into a hill/mountain in a very bushy area, but it is extremely nice and their is plenty of bird wildlife around which is pretty cool, I've heard all kinds of crazy noises and seen some very cool looking birds already. 

After that I went to the school I will be teaching at (Asquith Boys High School, grades 7-12), obviously it is an all boys school, however unlike back home almost all the schools are segregated by gender.  Students also have to wear a uniform, which on Thursday consisted for most of nice shorts and a polo.  The school is MUCH different from the U.S.  They only have five periods per day as well as a recess and a lunch period on most days.  School starts at 9:00 am and ends at 3:05 on Monday, Thursday and Friday.  However, on Tuesday it ends at 2:20 and on Wednesday they have "sport" where school ends at 12:30 and every student goes to a nearby school and they compete in several different sports.  In addition to the differences in time, the school setup is very different.  Teachers are much more laid back in the sense that no tie is required and many had shorts and jeans on.  In addition, the school is much more spread out in several buildings, and students often have to travel outside through the courtyard to get from class to class. 

For the first day I was only there for two periods in a 7th grade English class (yes I am a math teacher, but just for the day I spent time in English).  The students were very friendly and had many questions to ask, so more ridiculous than others.  I got asked many questions about ice hockey and "gridiron" or football as we know it, as well as whether everyone in the U.S. owns a gun and if there are gangsters in all the streets.  They also asked me to pronounce several words, but it was all in good fun. 

I was able to stay up till about 9 p.m. the first night which I was pretty proud of and the jet lag hasn't hit me too bad yet.  I'm sure I've left a bunch out, but those were the highlights of the first day!

-Andrew