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