It's been too long since I've written anything, but for good reason: I've been busy!
Work
I can't believe how lucky I've been. It's Term 4 here, which is the final term of the Australian school year, so typically supply (or relief as they call it here) work slows down, but I've been incredibly lucky and have had pretty much full time work since last writing. It's a good job really, because I won't get paid over the summer holidays. Even luckier, has been the fact that I've had the opportunity to get regular work at one local school in particular. Being a supply teacher and not knowing anyone each time you enter a new school isn't as nice as having work friends, however having a regular schools means I've met lots of lovely people and I'm not making small talk in the staff room - I've actually been able to get to know the staff. The nicest thing: I've been invited to their Christmas do! How lovely is that? As well as that, I've taught nearly all the classes so the kids and parents know me too. I feel part of the school and look forward to my days there. Having said that, the odd days I've not been booked to work there, I've worked at some other nice schools too!
Travel
I've not done too much travel lately, as I've wanted to save money for the summer holidays, but I did visit my friend in Melbourne. It was a lovely long weekend. 3 nights/3 days. The weather there, for once, was beautiful - nice and sunny! I enjoyed strolling around and spotting a couple of places I remembered from my first visit a few years ago as well as hanging out with my friend, who I met in South America last year. We went to a few really lovely bars, restaurants and cafes and also went to a Dirty Dancing film screening event, with a free watermelon margarita ("I carried a watermelon" - you have to have seen the film) and a Dirty Dancing themed DJ set afterwards. That same night we ended up walking into a random bar that I recognised instantly - my friend and I had gone there years ago for a couple of drinks. So random that in such a big city I ended up in the exact same bar! Absolutely love Melbourne and can't wait to head there again next year - hopefully for a bit longer next time. As for other travel, I have been exploring areas local to Brisbane, but the big trips will be over the summer hols. I'm off to New Zealand, Sydney and Indonesia (hopefully - the volcano might change that), but I'll write about those trips later.
Social
For those of you who know me well, I like being busy and having plans locked in. I've been making sure I've had things to look forward to whether it be socialising with friends or taking myself to the theatre, I've been keeping busy! I've continued going to Spanish/English conversation nights in the city, practising my Spanish but also meeting new people. Friendships with people from there are getting better and better and I'm so pleased I joined that specific meetup group when I first arrived in Brisbane. (Meetup is a website for people to start up/join social groups to "meet up" with people with similar interest). We've had a few catch ups over dinners and last weekend some of us went to King George Square in the city to see the Christmas tree lights get turned on which was nice. Strange that it was so hot but we were doing something Christmassy, and also that is was in November, but it was fun nonetheless! My salsa lessons have started to pay off - I now know a fair few turns and moves and have gone to some social salsa nights with a couple of people from the classes, which is nice. A couple of weeks ago I went to an event for British people in Brisbane and met a few nice people, one of whom I saw the Wizard of Oz musical with. It was nice to say "You alright?" as a greeting and not get misunderstood - here if you say "you alright?" it's like asking is someone is OK because it seems like something is wrong, not just hey. The Aussie equivalent is "how are you going?" or "how is it going?". When I first visited Aus a few years ago that really threw me - how am I going? Forwards? Backwards? Haha but now it's normal. As well as meeting new people I've been lucky enough to get to know my lovely housemate even better and we've done a fair few things together including going to the spring horse races and going to the Ashes last weekend.
I really can't complain about my time in Aus so far. I feel incredibly lucky that things seem to have just fallen into place and I'm making sure I enjoy every bit!
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| Brisbane |
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| Manly |
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| Suburbs by night |
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| The Brisbane Wheel |
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| Me placing my first bet at the races and I won! |
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| Wynnum Pier with beautiful artwork to show respect to the Aboriginal people |
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| Wynnum |
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| Wynnum |
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| Free music festival down the road from my house |
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| The quickest melting ice cream ever |
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| Just, you know, a small little treat... |
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| Personalised Vegemite anyone? The joy of KMart |
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| Take off to Melbourne |
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| Melbourne |
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| Melbourne |
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| Melbourne |
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| A bar in the middle of the river in Melbourne |
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| Waiting for brunch in Melbourne... |
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| Treated myself to a smoothie at the Queen Victoria market in Melbourne |
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| Hosier Lane in Melbourne is famous for its street art. |
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| Hosier Lane |
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| Beautiful window display before the result of the postal survey here |
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| Melbourne |
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| Dirty Dancing film screening |
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| Nice view on the descent to Brisbane |
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| Saw this at the QPAC in Brisbane with a new friend |
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| Rugby League World Cup is coming to Brisbane |
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| Brisbane |
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| Christmas Tree lighting at King George Square |
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| The Ashes at the Gabba |
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| Turns out it rains a lot in the "Sunshine State" Queensland |
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| Feeling poorly so took myself out for a treat |
