"Ok crabby lady...."

Although we haven't been blogging regularly..I hope that you still find our blog a bit amusing and interesting! We both are a bit busy..and after a few days, we forget sometimes!
On with the show! Continuing with Sydney, the wonderful!
Alex and I both said when we got back to Brisbane, how awesome of a time we had in Sydney. You know, it was one of those times where when you are in it, you think it's good but don't think it's incredible. Then, when you look back on it, it's like.."MAN, that was a good time!" It's a bit like traveling in general...you think about it later and remember all of the awesomeness that it had within it!
On our third night in Sydney..we thought it was hilarious all of the stuff happening to us in Sydney. With the commercials...some crazy lady literally yelling in my face as we walked by her, and the ginormous corn, we were ready for more of the adventure. Bring it on Sydney!!! Wednesday, I decided to head to Hunter Valley, home of a multitude of vineyards..and Alex hung out in the city, catching some ferries to various locations, and paying 20 bucks to get into the olympic grounds, when...he wasn't able to get a tour of any of the attractions! pffft. Damn you Sydney! I had a good wine tour...it was awesome, and when I came back to the city, Darryl and Alex (Darryl is Alex's friend from England who he met at home working at Stanhope Beach Resort last summer) had us all set to head to a comedy show. Perfection!!! Who doesn't love comedy!??
So we set out to the show. Amazingness started to happen from the beginning. We had a bite to eat, took our seats, got some beverages, and awaited the hilarity that was to follow.
Now, on a side note, Alex and I had seen this guy named Adam Hills up in Cairns and he was good, so we were on a bit of a comedy roll. If you look up Adam Hills, he's pretty good! He made our Cairns trip a bit sweeter as well!
Soooo at this show, there was a host and four acts. Hosts, as you know, are usually comedians themselves, and this host was awesome! Sometimes you get crappy ones where you're just like, "Get on with the show lame ass!" but this guys was awesome.
One of the first questions, "where is everyone from?" some girl shouted out "Canada" and then...the ball just kept rolling.
After his conversation with her, he asked who else was from Canada, Alex and I shouted, and the host started talking to us. He asked what part we were from (the others had been from Toronto...surprised??) and we said..PEI. Now, if you've ever traveled, you know that when people ask where you are from they know either a)Toronto b) Montreal or c) Vancouver. Does anyone know East of Montreal???? NO! Sooo we say "Prince Edward Island" and he says "OHHH Vancouver Island!" and then starts making a joke, then he comes back to us, and Alex says "No Prince Edward Island" and he doesn't hear at all and then does another joke, and then he comes back a third time...and I shouted loud "PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND" and he didn't hear, so I did it AGAIN "PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND" and he says "Ok, crabby lady...Prince Edward Island...geez!!" andddd soooo....I was forever known as the crabby lady...I believe it's the furthest thing from my actual personality, but hey, the host says your crabby..so your crabby. Instead of get upset, I laughed, got another beverage, and got settled in for a night to remember.
From the beginning the acts were amazing. None were lame..which sometimes you expect. The best deal in town this night was! Fifteen bucks for four wonderful performances! Better yet, the headliner was Alonzo Bladell?? is that his name? I forget. Andddd sooo, being North American (US) we found him funnier I think...mainly, because he found all the same things that we did when we were in Sydney! I kidd you not, he talked about the commercial of the two old people and the "when we go" thing (check blog below if you have no idea what I'm talking about)! Alex and I were like, oh my god! Also, he talked a lot about the security differences..and Alex and I were like, YES, this is exactly waht we're saying! It was just awesome!
Several beverages, sore ab muscles, and a hundred pictures later, we were at the hotel. Now..after an evening like that, with all the laughter, you need some food. Since we all missed China Garden...so we decided to get some Chinese! I decided to all my mother..because..well...it was OBVIOUSLY the perfect time to do so! After my monologue phone call..we left for the restaurant. Most of you know the rest of the story, but it was the Gaga evening! This night was amazing!
We head to the restaurant, order some food...and as it's coming, we see this figure appear with several bodyguards and a three person posse. She looked like Lady Gaga, weird, crazy, and out of control, and we all doubted it at first except Alex. Finally as she was literally two inches from our table, we were like..holy crap! that's her! Yellow (sun yellow) hair, massive glasses, fishnets and an animal print bathing suit thing with massive shoulder pads...this little number was definitely THE Lady Gaga! It was nuts..and I wanted to go tell her I loved her, but the boys didn't let me. Still a bit sour about that one..you only live once! Butttt it's all good.
The food was disgusting, and it may have given Darryl a parasite...literally, his was chicken with no bone taken out, but chopped..so there was bone in it an everything....sick!
As we were exhausted, we crashed. Such an eventful day..and sooo many amazing things happened! Lovely!
The next day, I awoke with a mystery bite (Alex??) and a little bit of a headache. I was pretty exhausted from all that we had done on the trip..but Alex and I set out, only to return a few hours later to nap. We went to meet Darryl again for a beverage, since it was our last night in Sydney..however, this ended in us saying karaoke was a good idea, and we tried to find a karaoke bar. Unsuccessful at first, we stopped at a hostel bar for a beverage and then went around the corner to a very dead street. We thought it was no use, when we decided to just stop at another place for a drink. BINGO. We had found a karaoke bar! Darryl and I almost peed ourselves with excitement (I think I did a little!) and Alex just went along with it. Thanks Alex! (I owe him my life for putting up with me for these past two months! poor bloke!). The place was one with separate karaoke rooms..so we grabbed one, and had some fun!
Now...Darryl is amazing! He didn't want to waste time so he had a system set out "Ok, while I'm singing, you look up your song" After I couldn't find a song the first round, he got a bit frustrated and just picked a few for himself. hahaha, sooo funny!
We soon got into a groove..and I mean a GROOOOOVE! And we were both singing show tunes, some Lady Gaga, as a tribute to the night before...and a few.....ahem...."Darryl songs" that he wanted to sing..but we didn't know them at all! This night was just a riot!!!
After a stop at Macca's (what they call micky d's) we were on our way back to the hotel. A little deja vu for us from the night before!!!
Since Alex and my flight's were super early in the a.m. we crashed just a few hours before we needed to wake up. The plane ride was a mix of sleep for Alex, daydreaming for me, and longing for our "own" beds back at the place we are staying.
We had initially booked a night down at the Gold Coast, but we were absolutely exhausted from our week, so we just went home...I crawled into bed...napped..and Alex, being the machine he was, headed off into town to run some errands.
Easter Break, complete. Full of amazing, weird, scary, hilarious, and memorable times. Could it have been better??? Perhaps!! But, could it have been as memorable? Definitely not!

peace and love everyone!
Stay tuned for a bit more on our last week at Ashgrove *tear*

Amers

Australia exposes some of it's...ahem...weirdness?

Well...let me tell you..we did NOT expect to see/experience such weirdness in Australia!! We first noticed things were a bit off when we boarded the plane to Cairns. Here is how the conversation went..literally. Alex, if you want to say any of this is untrue, feel free to...this is how bizarre it was for us Canadians who have had to endure some of the most strict security restrictions ever! Oh the glories of being next door neighbors to the US of A!
Just to set this up for you...we were flying Virgin Blue with just carry on luggage. Andddd cut to scene.

Airline Clerk: Hi guys! How ya going? Checking in?
Alex: yup!
Airline Clerk: Surname?
Alex: Ritchie
Airline Clerk: Ok, perfect Mr. Ritchie..it's Alex?
Alex: yea
Airline Clerk: And Amy MacPherson?
Amy: Yup
Airline Clerk: Alright guys, do you have any checked baggage today?
Alex and Amy: no it's just the carry ons
Airline Clerk: Any sharp objects inside?
Alex and Amy: No
Airline Clerk: Alright, perfect, here are your tickets! Enjoy your flight!

A puzzled Amy and Alex walk away..thinking...oh my god, that was the fastest ANYTHING has every happened in my entire life!!
Cut to me...OH NO! I had tweezers in my carry on! Luckily, the girl we're staying with, Heather, was still there...so I asked her to take them home with her. No worries at all! Pheww! Next thing we know we're heading through security, and Heather and her partner Ralph are coming too. Um...guys?? Don't you know that you aren't allowed beyond the security point without a boarding pass!!???? um...that's not a rule here!!! Anyone can go beyond security, anyone at all! Andddd you are allowed to take liquor on the plane!! LIQUOR!!! up to like...5 litres!? Now..that is wayyy more than our "allowance of a clear bag filled with no more than 3oz bottles of liquids or gels" in the states and Canada...sheesh!
So...we head through security..metal on us...Alex's watch, his belt, my earrings...etc! Not a sound. Alex was fortunate enough to have the random bomb search performed on him...but that was it!
Now...remember when I said I gave my tweezers to Heather, and then Heather went through security!? yup, you guessed it! Not a question, sound, no nothing. We were through, and let me tell you..it was the easiest thing ever! Just amazing...
Now..correct me if I'm wrong..but haven't the Australian airports been relatively safe/no issues/no nothing for quite some time!? Maybe they're onto something! I have to admit though...growing up in a society where security is extra extra tight...I have seen that I would prefer the extra tight security...and yes, that's just because I've grown up knowing it! It's crazy the realizations you figure out when you go somewhere that does things so different than where you're from....Alex and I both consider ourselves very open minded...but the security thing just came out of nowhere...we totally thought it was nutso!
Now...Alex and I brought our passports, cause we figured at some point, people might want to know who we are and where we are from and check to see our Visa's etc. Nope. Not ONCE did we have to give ID at all! We got our boarding passes from the airline clerk who, the only thing he wanted to know, was if we had any sharp objects in the bags. He didn't ask for ID. We get the boarding passes, head to the gate, and they just take the boarding pass...that's it. No ID no nothing. We could have been anyone, no ID required! Now..for some, this might not seem like a big deal...but for people living in North America where you literally have to take off everything but the necessities walking through security, this was insane!! It blew our minds! Here Alex and I were trying to take out our wallets and purses to make sure they were separate etc...and the lady says, no no, just put the entire bag through...alcohol and all. hahaha, crazy!
This wasn't the only thing that blew our minds...that's right...BLEW OUR MINDS!!! In Sydney...crazzzzzzzzzziiiinessssss started to happen. It began with a commercial on the tv Alex and I were watching..yup, they have commercials here too!!!!
It started off with two older people, a man and woman, walking down the side walk. They start off by saying, "When we go, we don't want our families and friends to have to be left with the cost of our funeral." um...ahem...EXCUSE ME!???? When you go!?? Do older people actually speak like this when they're leisurely walking down the street!!???? Two people just walking around downtown Charlottetown..."Oh George, we should talk about our deaths!!! And what's going to happen afterwards!" You know...maybe they do...but still, geeeez!!! They don't have to say "when we go" they could just tell us...costs of funerals are expensive...and ...end of story!!! no beating around the bush down here!!! Geez louise!
Second commercial we see..and no joke, it's in the same show we're watching! It's this disgustingly graphic smoking commercial....now, apparently we are too sheltered in Canada because we found the couple talking about dying a bit morbid, but this smoking commercial was just horrific!! I'm going to post the link down below and you can judge for yourselves....but we were sick to our stomachs, it was horrible!
Thirdly, we saw a commercial selling Red Bull...now, I don't think anything would be allowed to be shown in Canada or North America with this commercial...it was pretty graphic, and very sexual...and maybe they are showing it up there, who knows!! But we didn't think that the graphic nature of the commercial would be allowed in North America...again, if I can find the link I will try....
now, just think of Alex and I..two...pretty level headed individuals who are a bit astonished at what we have seen so far. Three very random and crazy commercials in one tv show we saw. Wowza!!!
Next, we decide to view a restaurant make over show with Chef Ramsay..you know the one! Well..apparently down here they do not bleep out the 'f' word...but bleep out other words...that start with 'c' ....now, correct me if I'm wrong....but a swear word is a swear word...is it not!? And who decides which word gets bleeped out, and which one doesn't.
"Well Jerry, I just don't think that word is appropriate, but by all means the 'f' word needs to be in there!! IT wouldn't be a show without it!"
I'd love to hear that conversation at the networks.
Now, we know that everyone everywhere has its ups/downs/weirdness etc....and I know that tons of people are probably thinking..pffft, that's nothing. But for us, living in this relatively familiar place for a few weeks, thought that the stuff we saw was just bizarre....just bizarre, that's all! Not completely crazy...just a little puzzling!
At the end of the day/week...we decided that Australia had exposed some of it's crazinesssss to us! That's right folks...every country has its craziness, and we've seen some of Australia's....I wonder what Canada's are!? "Oh my gosh, that person said 'sorry' to me fifteen times!!!! This country is weeeeirddd!"
peace and love everyone!!!

Smoking commercial (BE WARNED, VERY GRAPHIC!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rSrrSTW0UU&feature=PlayList&p=18E100D3300638C5&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=57

Alex and Amy versus GINORMOUS corn!

All hail Sydney!!!! We arrived in the city super early..and hoping sooo much that we could check in....the night before..ended at 1am, and I was in some serious need for some rest. We get to the Holiday Inn at The Rocks (older part of the city..and just lovely!) and we're told our room isn't ready. We head out to a local cafe to catch some breakfast..and some much needed caffeine for me. Alex realizes that we have forgotten to change the room from a king bed to two doubles. Uh oh..hopefully we can! So we head back to the Holiday Inn after breakfast...unfortunately they're all booked up so they can't give us two double beds. At this point it looks like Alex and I might have to share a bed..um...no thanks! Love you Alex, but I don't think we would have appreciated each other enough to share a bed..to get a cot was 55 extra...huh!? BUT an upgrade to an executive room with a pull out coach was only 30....hmmm...tough one!!! I mean I really would have preferred the small scrunched up cot for 55..but we took the roomy pull out executive room for 30.
Luckily, THAT room was ready. *sigh* sweet relief! We get up there..take a lay down on the bed and chair and shower..cause we were gross. Alex heads out to the local market (it's Easter Monday and the markets were awesome!) so he heads out..I take some time to get ready since I'm running on like three hours sleep. Good times!!! Alex comes back and starts raving about this amazing corn....ok Alex, corn is corn....corn is good but come on..just calm down!
So we head out again...we go through the market, both of us dog tired!! I see the corn...smells amazing! You should have seen the size of these things! Probably one and a half what you would normally get back home...and they just put it on a stick..literally..you just grab this corn on a stick....so I grab some...two for 5 bucks, not too shabby!! They cover it in butter, salt and pepper...and Oh...My...God. These two pieces of corn on the cob made up for any crappy Kuranda tour guide/rain/no sleep etc. Alex goes and grabs another two...and we both chow down...hilarious!!! seriously..you should have seen us eating these things!! you almost needed a warrant for these things. We sat outside the Holiday Inn at the smoking area...nice tables with some ash trays by them...and we looked like we hadn't eaten anything in five weeks..we were just transfixed on these massive corns...sooo delicious...it was like..if you walked by us, you'd almost stop to look cause there was just butter dripping...corn coming off the cob onto the table (you know how that happens when you eat corn!) the only thing that made us stop was a woman, random woman, you came up to the table next to us, grabbed a cigarette butt, and took it with her down the street. Um....did she just grab a cigarette butt from an ashtray!!!???? yes, yes she did. And yes folks, this was our first experience in the beautifully strange city of Sydney!!
Fifteen minutes later, the corn was devoured, the table a mess, and we were more satisfied than we have been in weeks.
Amy and Alex-1
Corn-0

The good, the bad, and the fern trees

Well children...I know you've all been wondering what has been going on with Amy and Alex this past week....and for those who aren't wondering..well you will be glad you read this after you're done! If you find it boring..too bad...
It was one of the most eventful, and uneventful weeks of my entire life!!! Immediately getting to Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef, we thought it looked really lovely! Our view was changed by the end of the three day run...because we had endured three days of straight rain!! Ok, not completely because of the rain...to be honest, the Reef was the most incredible experience ever!! I did a scuba dive and got to feed an actual sea turtle!! Now, the trip out to the reef was a bit rocky..and by a bit rocky I mean disgusting!! I was sooo nauseous...I didn't actually puke...but there were A LOT of people who did...people were puking in bags, puking on the boat...actually ON the deck...one girl puked in the cabin where we were all sitting...all over her seat...it was just sick. Once we arrived though...it all went away and was totally worth it all!! Anyway, back to the reef!!! Down in the water, our instructor pulled out some red flower stuff from the reef and then gave the other girl and I some of it and the turtle just came over to us and we fed him!!! He snapped my finger...but I didn't care at all...he was so cute!! ANDDDD HUGE! He was sooo big! It was just incredible! I did a snorkel at the second spot we stopped, which was also amazing but no where near the turtle experience and touching and seeing the reef....just lovely!
So Alex and I arrived back that night...went out to a local pub and had some eats and drinks and booked another trip for the next day!! Couldn't wait for the adventure to continue...little did I know...it would be one of the worst, but also most hilarious, days in my life.
We decided to take a trip to Kuranda...which is the rainforest up in Cairns. So the bus was going to pick us up at our hotel...saweeet! not so much. We get on the bus, and there are about 15 other people on there....well...don't we spend TWO HOURS driving along the same five blocks to pick up people...we passed our hotel like three other times. Luckily, we met an English guy who found it horribly boring as well and we laughed about the hilariousness of it all.
Oh, well...it wasn't over yet!! We finally get to Kuranda...where the driver told us three times where to meet him at the end of the day...ok buddy...think we got it!! We hop off the bus and have to get on another one to head up the mountain. Well, this driver just loved his life! I kid you not...we're driving up the mountain, and just picture this....a bunch of people who have been on a bus for two hours driving around somewhere that's only ten minutes away...and we get on another bus hoping for him to revive our faith in bus driver guides! Well...he didn't. "and if you look to your right there's some fern trees" (no joke...this is no joke what he said) "and there's a river..it looks like chocolate...but it doesn't always look like chocolate" (again...no joke...he actually said this..and it wasn't even followed by anything!!! they were all just random snippets of random things that no tour guide should ever be saying to people paying 85 bucks to be there!!!) and finally...the last bit of information.."if you look to your left there's a bit of jungle"
Now...I know what you're seriously thinking...there's no way he was that boring, you're exaggerating. Nope. Not at all. These were the wonderful pieces of information that the tour guide decided to tell us. Thanks homeslice!! Thanks a lot!
Fortunately for us, the English guy (John), Alex and I took the things he said and just made fun of it all. That's really all you can do in a situation like that...friggin guy.
So we spent the next five hours just hanging in the pouring rain at Kuranda and recapping how hilarious our day had been thus far. We really didn't find Kuranda enjoyable..it was quite boring to us...and the tour guides, two hour drive that should have taken ten minutes, and the rain..did not allow us to feel the day was good.
Luckily, we celebrated the end of the day together over some drinks. And if you've had these kinds of days before...then I would suggest you do the same...just don't fly at 6am the next morning...uggg!!!
Next stop...Sydney. And I'm sure there will be more adventures from there!!! Maybe not anything as eventful as the fern trees, the jungle, and the chocolate river...

One Wanka, two rubbers, and a trip to the toilet....

In coming to the land down under, Alex and I both had exciting (at times unrealistic and silly!) terms/lingo/phrases that we thought the Aussie's would say. We did not, however, estimate the AMOUNT of different sayings/cultural norms etc. We thought, we're going to a commonwealth country...how different can they be from us? They, as do we, have aboriginal issues pertaining to assimilation in their history, a national sport, schools....grocery stores...and the list goes on! I mean come on, these people are practically us!!!!
Not so much.
Our first encounter with some Australian linguistic screw ups (aka awkward sayings that Alex and Amy have no idea what they're saying) was on the way home from the airport. Our "mom" and "dad" for the trip told us that they were just going to stop off for some morning tea. Cool! I mean, Alex and I like tea...we don't drink it a lot, but sure, you go right ahead! We stopped off at this bakery and they asked us if we wanted anything. Croissants, muffins and danishes later we left with the food to indulge on their deck at their house. We noticed Heather and Ralph had not picked up any tea...we thought maybe they didn't have what they wanted or something, and brushed it off because they made some when we got back to their place. So we enjoyed the little snack, and a chat! Next day at school...my co op teacher Tim told me we have "morning tea" at 11...hmm....everyone has morning tea??? I didn't ask questions cause I didn't want them to think I was ignorant...haha, which I was! I realized quickly that morning tea was just "recess" because the kids had a snack and then a playtime....us foolish Canadians...
This brings me to my next point...not asking questions like, "what does that mean?" "oh, you say what when you need to go to the bathroom!!!!????"
For a few days, I was hesitant to ask questions...and then Alex and I would talk about things they said in the day that we didn't understand..."can I please go to the toilet" "That should go in the rubbish" "I reckon we could fit that in there!" and the list goes on. Not asking questions can get us into trouble sometimes though children, it really can!!! I don't know if anyone else does this, but I do....I sometimes pretend I heard what someone said, but didn't..and just sort of smile and nod, or laugh. Well...this doesn't work so well when someone asks you a question, and your response is a chuckle and nod....note: happened about three times with Tim and I. I quickly realized that anything that was said, and I didn't hear it or needed clarification...I would ask.
This can work the opposite way as well. Sometimes they don't understand Alex and I. Another note: do not give a spelling test if you are a Canadian to an Australian class of year 7's...unless you are prepared to repeat the word in a sentence several (10?) times.
In our particular class, I had them spell the word "worry." Seems simple enough doesn't it? "oh, Ms. MacPherson...is it warry??"
"yup, worry"
"ok, is it warry? or warried?" (this is what worry sounds like in their accent)
now...when they said that, I didn't hear the -ed on the end...so I thought they were asking if it was worry, or worry....I was like...um....YES it's worry!!!!
"so it's warried????" they asked...
"worry, yes" I replied...feeling badly and still thinking they said worry, not worried "I did worry a bit when I came here...worry"
"ohhhhh ok, so it's warry!!!!" a few of them said...."not warried!!"
"well..what's the difference...it's the same word!!!" I said...
"no no no" a girl said trying to be really helpful "warry with an -ed on the end, or just warry"
hahaha ok, I know what you're all thinking...geeeeeeezzzz! how long did this take! um...yea..quite a bit
we all chuckled...got it all down pat..and moved on...but I felt rather silly after that...friggin Aussie kids...get it together! Kidding, they're seriously the best ever!
Some other fun things that have happened are hearing stories about differences in the weather! It only goes down to like 15 degrees here in the winter...so they don't have any cold really...well..they think 23 is cold, telling Alex and I to turn off the AC when the temp outside is less than 23-24...ahem, excuse me!!?? Do you know where we're from??? we will saturate our clothes in sweat if we turn these off! Kids these days...
My co op teacher enlightened me with a story the other day about his adventure to England for a few months. He was staying at a friends house who he was also house sitting, so he had access to his friends car. It had frozen over the night..and my teacher didn't know what the hell to do with a car where the windshield was frozen! He tried putting the wipers on really hard, didn't work...so he stuck his head out the window the whole way and back. The next time, he tried pouring warm water over the windshield..only to have it freeze on...haha, so he drove to the store with his head out the window and back. The next time he tried he found some anti freeze in the garage...poured it over...it did better!! But it still clouded the shield and didn't know how to get that stuff off....so put his head out the window there and back. hahaha, by now, you're probably saying...seriously? and yes...seriously. He finally bought a scraper! YEAHHHH!!! He asked me what we do...."oh, well we just usually heat the car up for ten minutes or something on a really cold morning...everything just melts off really"
"ohhhh" he said.."Never thought of that."
haha, just to put it all in perspective a bit..these types of stories happen all the time! It's just so different that there is no need for them to know anything about winter really...funny eh?
I really enjoy the fun stories though, and figuring out what their customs are and stuff...it really is wayyy different than I thought it would be...very heavily influenced by the Brit's.

Some lingo things:

They spell tires-tyres...weird!
reckon=think
rubbish=garbage
wanker (wanka)=an idiot
biscuits=cookies
markers=pylons
sunny's=sun glasses
the boot=trunk (apparently we say this home too...but I have never heard it)
rubber=eraser (this one catches me off guard!!! "um, can I borrow you rubber" sick...)
hockey here=field hockey
ice hockey=hockey to us
can I go to the toilet=bathroom...this one's weird still
Have a go!=give it a try
Heaps=lots (they say this heaps)

A few facts:

The peanut butter IS different...but it IS Kraft...and tastes pretty good!!
Reese's is basically non existent..only in a few shops (cadbury rules the roost down here!)
Only about three of my students have ever HEARD of Sidney Crosby (no one knew what he did when I asked)
None knew who Wayne Gretsky was
Cricket is their national sport....it's really boring!!!!
Rugby here is the equivalent to hockey in North America, Soccer in Europe
have AC in houses/schools...no heaters!
Light switches...you flick up for off, and down for on
Drive on the left side of road+pedestrians have no right of way...ever really...=Alex and Amy scared for life!!

Still...such a good time here...we're having a blast..enjoying it all, and will have tons more stories soon as well!
Keep on reading!
peace and love

Cassette VS Alex and Amy....

The arrival at Ashgrove State School was nothing less than expected! The people there are just absolutely amazing, and the students are a dream! Every child in our classes are incredibly talented in a multitude of things, whether it's sports, music, drama, they've done it all! There are virtually zero behavior issues with our grade levels, and from what I can tell, within the school as a whole. The children are so polite and willing to help, that it makes me feel just so great to be a part of their day. Not only are the students polite and helpful, but they actually WANT to be at school. The teachers here are respected a great deal; think England! Our school reminds Alex and I of the movie Matilda actually. There is just so much we can do with our students it's amazing!

More than all of this, the students are willing to learn and want to hear about your lessons. They are engaged most of the day, and this is due to the amount of time they get outside of the class I think. The school day starts at 9, they have recess/snack (they call it "morning tea" hehe) for half an hour at 11, classes start again at 11:30. Lunch is at 1 until 1:45, and then they only have another hour and fifteen minutes til school is done! They are ALWAYS outside because, well, it's Brisbane and the weather allows for that. So really, these students are just happier in general! Kids need activity and stimulation outdoors for them to succeed indoors..I believe..and here they get it every day! Think about all of the time that our students are cooped up indoors..the entire day 6-7 months of the year. You can see a marked difference in the kids here and the kids back home. Not that we can help the weather, I'm just saying it's interesting that the differences are that severe!

On top of all of this, our students are doing a unit on the outback (huh????) and Alex and I know nothing of this! Tonight, our assignment was to study two dances, Strip the Willow (quite scottish actually..Laura, we did this one the night the old man put me on the floor...long story folks), and the Little Brown Jug. These dances are part of the curriculum here..I believe...and they're called Bush Dance styles. Mostly they have a lot of English/Scottish influence. Now, I know what most of you are thinking. "sawweeeettt! Amy and Alex would be amazing at this!" and yes, we thought so too....of course, Alex packed his leg warmers, and I, my leotard. However, we didn't anticipate the music being on cassettes! Tammy...we need your help on this one!

So we get home here, and we're like....k, this is no problem at all! um....yea it is! First, luckily, our family we're staying with HAS a cassette player (Tim and I spent a few minutes this afternoon thinking this would be a huge obstacle...but luckily, not so much!). So we get to the basement here, pop the tape in, no sound. No big deal, just rewind. So we do. Still no sound. After about ten minutes of this, we finally found the song ("Tell my ma, when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone..."). We played it a bit, then rewound the entire side...or so we thought. Alex and I then spent the next half hour...mostly spent with Alex on the floor frustrated to the max, as to why we couldn't get the song back. People...cassettes are harder than they look to operate these days!!!! In a day of technological advancements wayyyy farrrrr beyond that of a cassette..we have lost how to truly work the machines that were, and still are, the nuts and bolts to our technological age now. Either that, or this machine is just messed! I choose the latter.

As we fiddled with the player for another few minutes, we played the tape, and constantly the tone would go so low and slow, that it sounded like, "An old 30's VHS tape!!!" (Alex, in one of his frustrated states). It sounded like an old cow mooing, it was going so slow!!!! Alex thought perhaps the tape/woman on the tape had undergone a sex change over the past few minutes.

Soooo low and behold, Alex and I jumped on our laptops, said screw the god damned cassettes, and pulled up, within seconds I might add, songs for these dances on youtube.

Lesson complete.

Amy and Alex-1

Cassette-0

Benefibre and Peanut Butter

Alex and I got through our crazy plane 14 hr plane ride from LA to Brisbane perfectly fine! Well...not completely....we hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and we boarded the plane, only to find a crying baby parked right next to us..great! Alex popped a few gravol, I popped a few benadryl, and we snoozed for a few hours to la la land. In total I had about 6 hrs or 7, and Alex probably the same. We woke up quite early in the morning, about 4am and felt absolutely disgusting...traveling those amounts of hours makes you feel like the biggest piece of mud pie!

Nevertheless, we arrived in Brisbane at 7:45am. Who knew that peanut butter would be one of the highlights of trek to the world down under! In the PEI airport, the security had to ask me what the thing was in my bag that looked like a jar. "Benefibre?" I replied. "um...no...it's not that" um...hmmm " OH! Peanut butter!" "oh yea, that's probably it" I told them there were a few...she assured me that was it...but as PEI airport would do, they didn't bother to check the bag, just allowed it all to go right on through!

Cut to Brisbane...where they had to go through everything. "Alright mate, I need you to open up your bags!" cut to..my mom two days before putting those plastic tag things that pull and tighten to lock up my zippers..."um...you wouldn't happen to have scissors to cut all of these off?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't find all of the tissues I had used on the flight (I had a bad cold). So he cut off all the tags, we talked about why I was there...Alex watched patiently..as he has done for the last four days! And I hauled out my three containers of PB, some other fibre bars and snacks...the benefibre..haha, he told me..and then read from my benefibre bottle, "to keep you regular." I chuckled..."yea," I said.."it's a powder thing you take with water." " Oh, well I don't really need that do I," he told me..."We have metamucil down here!" I laughed...thinking of all the things in my life, that benefibre and peanut butter would be the biggest thing I would have to get through on this trek down here. Fortunately...they don't ban peanut butter OR benefibre from entering their borders..so we were good to go! Poor Alex!

More later on the family we're with and the school, when I've had a bit of a rest.

peace and love everybody!

The Infamous Trip From C-dot to B-dot

Holla peeps! Sooo it's been a fun-filled day...well...at times fun filled. Alex and I took off early this morning..6am to be exact, on a little plane which took us to Montreal. Alex sat beside a prominent business owner in C-Town, and I sat with...well...a lady of MANY words and opinions...gotta love small planes for that! There was no escape...I looked one way, and there was the aisle, and the other, well...was the lady! So I put up with it, the good citizen that I am...and thanked god when we landed 20 min. earlier than planned!

Montreal!!! Gotta love US customs...line ups weren't too bad, but bad enough. We basically just got to our gate in time to pee (for me) and get a bite to eat (for Alex) when we were asked board. I was waiting for Alex to get back to our seat when, say WHAT!!??? Jake Gyllenhal?? Alex comes up to me and says, "geez, sorry, this guy was walking really slow." I was like...um...that's Jake! (yes, we're on a first name bases). And so...Jake boards our plane! And not only did he board the plane, but we sat two rows away from him! Ohhh ladies, let me tell you...he's smaller than I thought he would be (not really small or anything, just smaller than I thought) but man, is he ever SMOKIN! Ladiesss...let me tell you!!! And Air Canada...props to you for making our meeting occur..

Moving on! Flight from Montreal to L.A. was a mix between the bathroom (it's a 6 hour flight), some mildly amusing comedy, a movie or two, and, well, endless stares at Jake....*sigh...I even caught Alex looking once or twice...he's THAT enticing!

Once Landed in L.A. we went to gather our checked bags to take them to Air Qantas. But first, what's a trip to L.A. without seeing a huge pair of "paid for" breasts! And I mean....huge. The perfect thing to get rid of all of my stereotypes about L.A.!! Oh...wait....nope, no, it did the opposite.

Alex and I then did the roundabout to try and find our terminal for Brisbane, only to find that we couldn't check in until 2:30pm (it was 11:30 when we landed) sooo we had some time to kill! Landing at Micky D's, Alex opted for the ol' McNugget meal, I opted for a southwest salad..not too shabby for Ol' Micster McD'! As we sat and chilled in the second terminal...discussing various topics, just hoping for our time to pass...we finally realized it was 2:07pm, time to check in!!

We arrived at the Air Qantas counter..where we waited for about 20 minutes for three people to go ahead of us...and when I got there...I knew why we waited so long. This lady must have had a bad piece of sausage that morning, cause she left me with a bad taste in MY mouth! She tells me, not nicely, that "the person who set your visa up did it completely wrong!!!! And now, I have to call Australia!!! You should be very very appreciative right now!!"

ahem..

Excuse meeee lady mcgee!!! That's right, I called you LADY MCGEE!!! Who are you, and why do you think you have the RIGHT to tell ME to be appreciative of YOU! Maybe...just MAYBE some people are appreciative right off the bat, and you don't have to tell them to be...but you wouldn't know that, because YOU DON'T KNOW ME! So, I made a mistake...I'm sure it happens a lot...and no matter how many times it happens or does not happen, please don't tell me ever to be gracious...because..ya see...when you tell me to be gracious, I just don't wanna be!! See how that works people?? And lady, by the way...I'm from this little place called PEI, and no one, I know this for a fact, would EVER speak to me the way you just did...and no, you aren't better than me....so wipe the disgusted look off your face right now cause God forbid you had to pick up the phone and call someone! Sorry that I made you do your job for once.

Phew...I needed that! Sorry folks, but I do NOT take well to that kind of belittling behavior. Of course, you all know me, I said nothing of what I was thinking!! I smiled politely, as a true Canadian does, and said, "I'm really sorry! Thank you so much for that" Pffft.

Sooo now we await the last part of our journey...we've been waiting for five hours, and have seven left here at LAX. So what's in store for us next? Who knows!!! The first leg of our journey has been so eventful!

Stay tuned for more from Alex and Amy!

peace and love everyone!