Long Time No Blog

Well it's been like forever since I've put anything on this. And heaps of stuff has happened. So I thought I'd clue you in on some of it. This particular photo is after four days of Bush walking in the Grampians. I'd say I look pretty sexy :) That's four days of no showers, no running water (aka long drops. . .), drinking from creeks and hauling your life on your back. My rucksack weighed about 18 kilos, about 40 lbs. But that wasn't the problem. I was quite happy to be in the bush, sweating like a pig and smelling like death. The only problem I had was with the massive mountain I had to haul my pack up. 5 Kilometers!! I just about died. Plus it was 33 degrees (95) and I was just miserable. Other than that, I was little miss optimistic the entire time.

This is the view from the top of Brigg's Bluff which was a side hike we did on the third day. We ditched out packs and walked about 3 k's to the top of this thing. The view was amazing, cause it's a pretty easy hike up to the top and when you get there, it's just a massive drop off. This is Jackson, I know it doesn't really matter cause ya can't see his face, but in case you were curious.

These are some of the other genius's I went on Camp with. L to R: Brody (Harps), Traun, Ryan (Matho) and Matt (Grosser). This was the top of Mount Difficult when we stopped for lunch. By the time we got to the top, we were absolutely rooted (dead tired). So that's when we made the decision to take the shorter path to the closer camp where there was NO guarantee of water.

What a mistake that was. . .This is Lindsay (Linz). That bottle is full of water, not piss, water. It was dark yellow and had gum leaves floating around in it. We had to drink this for about a day. Even though it was boiled and we knew it wasn't going to give us any diseases, it was still revolting. . .
These are the other three girls who joined me on camp. Jakarra, Linz and Jess. Jess was my tent partner. All amazing girls. We had some good times on camp. They were my winging buddies :)
New subject!!!I moved host families on November 17th. For my last day we had a Thanksgiving dinner. It was nothing like Thanksgiving but it's the thought that counts right?? I made Pumpkin Pie for the event. As you can tell, I'm about to kill Claudia. NOT! It was totally posed. I love that kid to death. That same day Claude and I walked from Kyby to Victoria. It was something like 8 K's. I have no idea why but I've always wanted to be able to say "I walked to Victoria". And now I can.

This is the heap of shit that I had to take with me when I left. I cam here with those two massive suitcases. Which was way to much to begin with. But, point is, I've accumulated so much more stuff!! I never thought that I would have to pack up everything that I owned and move it four times. I just thought I had to get it there and get it back. But no, I have to pack up everything I own and move house three or four times while I'm here. It's quite a hassle.

I also went shearing with my Rotary Counsellor Trevor Hahn. I didn't actually do any of the shearing but I did the Rouse-Abouting. Where you pick up the wool and what not. Both the shearers were Kiwi's. There is something very funny about the way that they talk, but I can't quite pick it out. I can't even hear the Aussie accent anymore. Which is such a dissappointment cause I LOVE the Australian accent.
My next adventure would take me north. North to Renmark. I spent a week there visiting an. . .old friend? His name is Nic Crouch. I met him at the interview weekend for my exchange in Colorado cause he was on exchagne to Colorado from Australia. And we've kept in contact ever since. Pretty amazing really seeing as that was a year ago and we had only met once. . . I was his Prom date. . We'll get to that later. . .This particular photo is of Headings. It's a look out in Renmark. It's probably on of the things I like most about OZ. Renmark. I love the Murray and how it reminds me of Durango. Most would say the Durango is the exact opposite of Renmark, Durango actually know's what a mountain is. Renmark is just flat, flat, flat. But something about the town and the River just remind me of Durango. Dunno. . .Anywho. . .

This is Nic. It was his brother's 15 birhtday the second day I was there. We made him an ice cream cake that would have knocked your socks off. He got a Wii. Nic was more excited than he was . . . Bloody useless. . . Kidding, he knows I love him to pieces :)

This is A park in Peringa that we spent a lot of our time at. Dunno why, we just did. It was green and right on the River. Nic was a lame host and didn't actually get me out on the River. Oh well, that just means I'll have to go back before I leave. Bummer. . . :)

This was the Rotary meeting I went to in Renmark. Nic's dad (David) joined Rotary after Nic went on exchange to Colorado and that's him farthest to the left. The woman in the middle was the guest speaker of the night, she talked about animals. Then it's Nic and me. The place Rotary was held was right on the River, it had the most amazing view. The trees were this colour of green that I just loved.

This was our grand entrance. We arrived in this 1940's nazi staff car, that was AMAZING!!! And had to walk down the red carpet thingy in front of at least half the town. Talk about nerve wracking!!! I was so happy that I stayed upright the entire time! My heals were massive and I'm so proud at the fact that I could walk in them! YAY!

This is Nic and I all dressed up for that Formal thing. They call it a formal here in Naz, but it's Prom in Renmark. It's a big formal dinner. And yes, I made Nic get his hair cut. I wasn't about to be seen in public with someone with a mullet like that!! Anyways. . .There isn't a whole lot of dancing and thank God for that because I am the worlds worst dancer. As is Nic. But I'm good at the whole propper eating thing, I've got those manners down :)

This is me on my own. I just thought I'd throw it in there cause I was so damn sexy :)

Moving on. . .After my trip to Renmark, I headed right off to Mount Gambier for a Rotary weekend. I got to give advice to the Outbounders of District 9780, cause they leave in January and I'm now the one with all the experience. The weekend wasn't to entertaining as it was a bunch of lectures on things that I already know or have personally experienced. But I guess it was good cause I was helping the other kids out. The best thing was getting to spend time with my fellow exchange students. I love seeing those kids!! They're just plain awesome! Every one of em. And I can't wait to see them in January for the Mini Safari!!

This is Amanda and Camilla, both from Brazil. And, obviously, we as exchange students are masters of good photos. . . .I love it girls :)

This is me and Maddy, she's going to Switzerland on exchange in January and I'm so happy for her. There's just somethign about this girl that I like. I think she'll do very well on her exchagne and I can't wait to hear about it!! (aka keep in touch!)

This is another one of those bloody marvelous photos. Starting with me (Australia jumper) and giong left we've got Luca (Germany), Kevin (Switzerland), Amanda (Brazil), Seglien (France) and Johanna (Germany). I love these kids. I love that even though we've only met twice, we're friends for life. It's amazing to think that I've now got friends in every part of the world. I love it.

These are my mates here in Naz. Yes, I have managed to make some friends :) we've got Lucy, Jakarra, me, Jess and Ash down the bottom. Kate's got the camera. This was at the pre year 12 camp we went to at Robe. We basically got to spend three weeks bummin around on the beach. Twas fun.

This is our jump photo. We spent forever taking pictuer after picture trying to get a good one. There might be three or four decent ones out of the 20 we took. It was good fun though. This one's got Lucy, me, Gaby, Jakarra, Kate and Ash.

The Glenelg River

I last posted on Sunday and it's Wednesday. Usually not a lot would have happened in such a short time period, but in the last three days a lot seems to have happened. I've been canoeing and kayaking on the Glenelg River, America has elected it's first black President, and. . . .ummmmm. . . .well, it seemed like a lot when I started writing. . . :) Anywho, like I said, I just got back from the year nine camp along the Glenelg River. We went just south of a town called Nelson, if any of you feel like whipping out that map of Australia I know you keep on your person at all times, you can have a look :) The first day was wet and rainy and the last thing I wanted to do was go out on the water, it funny cause every time I start writing about this that song 'Smoke on the Water' pops into my head. . . The second day was better cause it got sunny and I got to watch my entire team sink into the river, it was HILARIOUS!!!!! The instructor told them all to get into the same canoe and I was with the instructor so I didn't have to, but when the last person got in the boat just started filling up with water and down they went. It was funny as, sitting up there nice and dry watching these kids go screaming into the river, desperately trying to jump into the nearest canoe. HAHAHA!!! Then we went night canoeing, that was amazing. The third day, this morning, was good cause it meant we got to go home and have a shower!! YAY for showers!! :) And, not only my team, but almost the entire camp ended up in the river. The same thing happened, except they weren't all in the same boat and they had at least managed to paddle up and down the river before falling in. But it was still funny as :) I'm surprised the idiots didn't fall in as they attempted this move, there are like four kids standing up in the middle of canoes in this photo! If you've ever been canoeing, you know how stupid that is :)

On the second day we also had to build rafts out of jugs, string and boards. Ours looked pretty sturdy but the moment we picked it up to move it down the hill, it practically disintegrated in our hands. Then Mitch tried to repair it at the edge of the water. That didn't do much good, yet he go on anyways :) He actually ended up falling two meters backwards. . .and Scott (the bloke on the jetty. . .without a head), who only made it a total of two meters before falling in, beat us. Bummer :) It was another one of those oh so hilarious moments.
This is me and Meg during the food challenge that we had on the second night. These kids are really into putting their heads together and taking their own photo. . .I don't really get that cause then you just have faces in the picture rather than the background. . .Anyways. . .I just had to eat three dry WheatBix. That's just an Aussie cereal, so it didn't sound that bad cause I've had WheatBix with milk and every thing was fine. Little did I know they are a pain in the ass to eat dry. They are meant to soak up all the milk when you eat them for breaky, so they soak up all you saliva and make chewing, let along swallowing, impossible. But I did it, didn't win anything but hey, A+ for effort right :)

Kaniva Auction

So today I was a volunteer. I did something for the greater good. Became a better person if you will. Ah, who am I kiddin??? I served snags, steaks and hot dogs to hungry Aussies. . . :) I went to the Kaniva Auction today and helped out a fellow Rotary club, serving the hungry people. I even got to wear those sexy rubber gloves. If any of you have seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show, you should be remembering that seen with Frankenfurter and his creation where he snaps his glove on. . . or off, I can't quite remember. . .anyways. . .Twas fun, well as fun as serving snags can get. . . It was raining, so I was happy to be inside next to the barbie keeping warm. :) Oh and a snag is a sausage. But their sausages are different here in the wonderful world of Oz, they resemble hot dogs. Except they taste funny. The firs time I had one, no one told me it was a sausage and it looked like a hot dog so I'm just thinkin "wow, this is the weirdest tastin hot dog I've ever had. . . "

At this auction they had a little bit of everything. They basically collect junk from people and sell it. Most of it happens to be from people that have croaked and then their houses have been cleared of all their excess stuff. And it was raining. . .so I found an umbrella. . .

These are the men who were auctioning the stuff. Ya know how in the states they do it all properly, they have people up on the stage holding the item up for bid while the bidders sit neatly in rows silently holding up their numbers to make a bid? Well here in Oz, they just follow the auctioneer around like a mob, with the auctioneer standing on tables and yelling out to the crowd, the crowd yelling back. Then they simply pass the items out and take the bidders number down so they can record who owes what to who. It's a much less organized process but it works just as well.

This is a camping toilet, usually they sit over a deep hole in the ground and that's where you do your business. It's called a long drop toilet. It was up for bid. I thought it was pretty funny. Made me smile :)

This was the sign that was in the bathroom. The sinks were all rusty and the toilets had spiderwebs all over them. . .typical Australia, everything has spiders crawling all over it. In fact, there is a massive, well massive to my American standards but tiny to Australian ones, spider living in the window sill at school. But no biggie, we just let it be. But every time I'm in that corner of the room, I remember it's there and turn around to make sure it isn't sneaking up behind me thinking a bit of Yankee might taste good :) Anywho. . .this is a sign that was on the wall in the toilets, obviously you shouldn't drink the water. But why would you want to, the sink was pretty rank.

Halloween!!! Be Afraid, Be VERY Afraid :)

So today was Halloween. No one in Australia gives a hoot about Halloween. Never in my life had I stopped to consider what Halloween is. Where it originated, how it came to be the way it is or why in the world us crazy yanks celebrate it. I've come to the conclusion that it's just a heap of fun. Full stop. I'm 16 and I still trick-or-treat and dress up. Just for the hell of it. I was a Zombie Bride this year. Never in my life would I have thought I would be a Zombie Bride for Halloween. I usually go for more original stuff, I thought I'd be an Ompa Loopa, ya know the orange guys from "Willy Wonka", but that took to much planning. The Zombie Bride was easy, Claude and I just went through their dress-up box and chose costumes for each other. She told me I was gonna be a Zombie Bride and I told her she was gonna be Cruella Devil from 101 Dalmatians. Pretty clever costumes for such late notice, we threw them together when we got home from school. Then went trick-or-treating around Kyby. And the weather was perfect for Halloween. It was grey and cloudy and gross. The wind was blowing just right and it would have been just like the weather you see in Halloween movies. If any of you get what I mean. . . Anywho. . . People in Australia don't do Halloween so no one had lollies, we got chocolate and biscuits instead. But hey, who's complaining?? As long as it tastes good right!?!?!? :) Here's some photos.

This is me and Cluade in our costumes. My face is pretty sick wouldn't ya reckon :) Claude did my makeup, I love that girl. I love being a kid. Cause back home I practically have to drag my sisters by the hair to get them to come trick-or-treating with me. Claude is just so willing. And enthusiastic. I love her to pieces :)

This is us at Aunty Lee's house. She was our first stop, she gave us biscuits :) Hooray for biscuits!!!

When we got back from our wonderful adventure around Kyby, we went a tad bit loco with the face paint stuff. . . Twas fun. Notice Claude's got one big L on her forehead and I've got like 20 million all over my face. I must be ten times the looser Claudia is, and that's sayin somethin :)

CFS Fire Parade

YAY!! Something intresting finally happened!! Well, that depends on what you call intresting. . .For Nazza, this was intresting. Today was the CFS Fire Parade. It marks the start of the fire season. Yup, that's right, the fire season starts in October. . .How strange is that?? Isn't is supposed to be winter?!?!?!? Na, who am I kiddin! It's freggin hot here! Yesterday was 33 again, today is just humid. Not the wet kind of humid you get in the eastern US but it's just. . . like the air is hell thick and it's still bloody hot. Or as Andrew says, it's pregnant :) I'm gonna melt :)

This is Smokey the KOALA. Not Smokey the Bear. We're in Australia, remember?? :) hahaha I found that particularlly amusing

This is a Fire Truck. Duh. Well, look at the front of it. It's flat. I can't quite remember what the front of big trucks look like in the US, how sad is that? But I can remember thinking that these ones were hell strange. I remember driving back from Adelaide the day I arrived and thinking 'wow, those are the strangest looking trucks I've ever seen'. Now they're just the norm.

This is just an ancient one. It's from Binnum. A tiny town some where past Kyby. I thought it was the coolest and deserved a spot on my blog :)

This is my host Dad Andy and Cluade. He is a Volunteer Fireman. Most fire services in Australia are volunteer orientated. The spaces between the large towns and the tiny ones are to great, so they need volunteers. YAY for volunteers :) But the thing is, once you get a criminal record, for anything what so ever, you can no longer volunteer for anything. Even if it's the smallest charge, you just cant' volunteer at all. That's not cool.

News Article

Naracoorte has a herald. WOW right? Nah, not really :) It comes out once a week on Thrusdays. Point is, I was in it. How exciting is that!?!?!?!?! YAY! :) The photo is just me in front of the sign at the school. Hence the "IGH SCHO" :)

HOT HOT HOT

So, yesterday was hot right?? Well I had no idea just how hot it really was until I looked up a Fahrenheit to Celsius converter. It was 33 degrees celsius yesterday. That's 94 degrees fahrenheit. That's the hotest of the hot in Durango. I used to tell people that it got up to about 38 in Durango cause I thought that that was about 89 to 95 degrees fahrenheit. Little did I know that that's really 104 or something like that. I'm so screwed when summer actually gets here. Cause you do get days where it's 40 or above. That's like 112. Although, yesterday didn't actually feel that hot. I didn't know what 33 degrees ment so it just felt like a summer-ish day. Not to hot though. But it was HOT HOT HOT (isn't that a song?)!!!!Anyways. . .back to my whinging :) And, just an F.Y. I, it's bloody October (in case you didn't know)!!! It's supposed to be getting COLD!!! But I reckon I'll get used to it. . . hopefully :)

The Nararcoorte Show and American Brownies

Today was hot. Full stop. End of story. But I didn't really notice cause I had been out in the heat all day at the Naracoorte show. It wasn't till after, when I popped into Subway to visit Gennaeve that I realized how bloody hot it was. I've got a lovely neck tan (. . . burn, what ever ya wanna call it) to prove it :) I went to the show with Nicola, Claudia, Ryan and Jacob. The last two are my host cousins and the first two are my host sisters. Later on I met up with a few friends from school. Anyways. . . I think we've already been over this, but a 'Show' is the Aussie version of a county fair. They bake cakes (packet mix mind you) and enter jars of honey to see who's the best. I entered a packet mix cake for my cooking class. It broke in half. . . and I had to frost it back together. . . Who knew you could ruin a packet mix cake?? :) There are rides and games. So I guess that makes it a carnival and a county fair mixed together. . . Righty-O, I went on a couple rides. At 7$ a piece I wasn't gonna do many. So I got on the 'scariest' one. The Kamikaze. I know I didn't spell that right. . . Nicola and I went on it together after we watched Claude and Jacob go. It just looked like so much fun. :)

I spent the entire time screaming, but that's half the fun of it. Nicola thought I was scared shitless but it was all and act. . .or that's what I tell myself so I can sleep at night :) . . .The ride goes around in circles and you hang from your seat, completly upside down, for a few seconds at a time. Great fun it was. :)

Hey, ya know what I just realized? It's my Aunts Birthday here in Oz. But not in the US. Well not quite yet. . .Back to business. . . .I also went on this one called the. . .Skydiver?. . .was that it?? Anyways . . . Nic and I screamed bloody murder on that one two. For a laugh, ya know? Twas fun.This is a family portrait. Well, the half the family I went with. . .Nic, Ryan, Claude and Jacob (left to right) They're standing in front of the car part of the show. For some reason it's 'intresting' to look at old utes (pick up trucks) and semi's. . .don't ask me why :)

This is Nic and I eating Dagwood Dogs. They're Aussie corndogs, only the bread on the outside is seasoned differently. And they call ketchup "sauce" and it's thinner or something. And they put it on bloody everything. . .well not everything. . .that might be a tad bit of an exaggeration. . .just maybe. . .a little :)

And these are to brownies I made. Packet mix (they didn't break in half though). From America, arrived via mail several week ago. The brownies are half gone. . .we forgot to get a photo of me mixing it, so for all you know, Marilyn could have made them. . . but would this face lie to you?? Nah, never :) They took heaps long to make. They were in the oven for like an hour and a half. . .Those pants I'm wearing have got to be like 6 years old. They used to be white but now they're grey. And I think there is about ten holes in em. But I still brought them half way across the world. . . And that's my tourist t-shirt!!! But I'd say the tourist jumper is worse. . .blue with a ginormous Aussie flag across the front. It just screams foreigner :)

A Place Called Home

So, as you all know, I am going to be living with three or four host families during my exchange. My first host family is the Bartosek's. They live in Kybybolite. I will stay with them till the end of November. My next host family is the Evans' I will move in at the end of November and stay till March or so. I am not sure who my third and fourth host families are going to be, but I'll let you know when I do. Anyways, that means I have to pack up all the shit I brought over here PLUS everything that I've accumulated in the four months that I've stayed with that family and move four times. I have lived in the same house my entire life. This is a pretty big first move, halfway across the world. . .The thing is, it didn't occur to me that I would have to move everything four times this year. So I packed before leaving the US thinking that I only had to put it into my massive suitcase's once to get it there and once to take it back. WRONG!!!!! Anther thing that never occurred to me is how it must be to be the host family. To know that you have a complete stranger coming to live in your house for the next four months. And that you just have to hope it goes well. I have been very lucky in that I get on with both my known host families VERY well. Anyways, over the next year I'll have four bedrooms. A far cry from the one I've know all my life. Here is my first one.

It used to be Fran's room, so some of her stuff is still on the walls. Fran moved into Claudia's room and Claudia has been sleeping with Mum for the last three months. Thanks guys. :) Cause being able to have that little bit of privacy, being able to close a door, has made all the difference.

The Australia Map on my wall above my bed has been marked with permanent texter along all the roads I've taken on my many travels. There are dots in all the towns I've visited. It'll make it easier to remember all the great places I've gone. Oh and that's my St. Kilda scarf hangin from the top right bed post. It was the first game I saw, so now I'm a St. Kilda supporter.

Moving to four different host families also means that I will go through four different kitchens, four different lounge rooms, four different dining rooms, four different backyards and four different bathrooms. This is the kitchen out at Kyby.

And the Bathroom/toilet. They have this funny thing here where the bathroom is separate from the toilet. If I say I want to go to the restroom, they take me to the bathroom where there is no toilet. . . .the toilets are usually in a little, cut off cubical like thing in the laundry room or just a separate room next to the bathroom. You can see the toilet at the end of the hall in this photo, the doorway to the right is the bathroom.

This is the dining room. Where we eat out meals. In the Bartosek household, Monday night's Nic cooks, Tuesday nights Cluade cooks, Wednesday is tea at Dad's, Thursday Fran cooks and then Friday through Sunday is GYO (Get Your Own). Pretty clever if ya ask me. :) Mum does the wahing, cleaning and makes breakfast (happy??) :) And she's just awesome

School

I'm on a student exchange right?? Well, that means that I have to go to school. . . .bummer I know :) hehehe, nah it's alright. I meet people and it makes me more of a local. Rather than just going to live in a foreign country for a year and being a tourist ya know. I actually LIVE here. . . .Don't know where I'm going with this. . . .Anyways. . . Here are some photos of the things I see every day. Not so exciting I know but I thought all you people back home might find it a tad bit interesting. . .just maybe ya know?? :)

This is the bus that I take from Kybybolite (we already went over how to pronounce that so I'm not gonna do it again:) hahaha) to Naracoorte (same goes for that one). The trip is about 20 minutes long. All the buses look different here. No two are alike, much like snow flakes :) Some of them are even coaches. Like the thing you would take on a cross country trip. Anyways. . . I wake up at 7, well that's the time my alarm goes off. . .I hit the snooze button a couple times before actually moving. I catch the bus at 8, there isn't a snooze button there so I have to catch it at 8 every morning. And I get to school at 8:30. Class starts at 9 and just hip hip hooray from there on!! I mean who wouldn't be excited about 9 hours in a stone building??? :) These are all of the different buses.
This is our bus stop, it's pretty rad. I've whipped out the Vanna White pose :) It's got a couch in it. For when it rains ya know. Cause the last thing ya wanna do is sit on the cold cement when it's raining. Ya know, get your uniform dirty. That doesn't fly cause you've got to wear the same thing for a couple days. I've only got two shirts. . . :)
This is the lovely school hat I get to wear every time I set foot outside. Sexy I know :) It's a law or something. I have to wear it till the end of term 1 next year. That's till April or something. I'm eating an apple. . . Australia has amazing apples. Pink Lady. MMMMMM!!!!!!!!! :) They're magical.
These are our lockers. They look nothing like American lockers. And most people don't really use them. They aren't big enough for a backpack so there are school bags laying everywhere.

Oh!! And they have grass ceilings here!!! It's something to do with insulating the building or some shit like that. This is a photo of a classroom. You can kinda see the grass ceiling. They don't have fancy-pants desks here. Just tables. That are broken cause we sit on them rather than the chairs. What every floats your boat right?? :)

Righty-o. Well I've got to go. Catch ya. Hopefully my next post will be a tad bit more interesting :)