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 :)