Whoa...You Don't Have an Accent!

The past few days have been very laid back and uneventful. Except this: Deanna, Jessica, and I were on the way to the grocery store on Tuesday night and ran into a man from California. He was looking for a good pub in Brisbane and we were not that helpful. However, when we answered his question, his first statement was, “Whoa…you don’t have an accent.” Deanna, Jessica, and I thought this was hilarious, considering we don’t feel or look one bit “Aussie.” We took it as a complement and it made a memory for the night. Later on Tuesday (November 16), some of the group went bowling at Strike bowling alley off of Queens Street. The night was full of fun and laughter; I even won a free game of bowling!

The bowling shoes! Quite different than the ones we have back in the States!

Some of my students are real characters…Within the first two days I already knew a few names due to their behavior! Crazy how as a teacher you instantly know the names of those students who disrupt the class or have poor behavior! Also, my teacher displayed the Texas handkerchief I gave her. One of the students asked me, “Miss, is Armadillo where all the Armadillos come from?” I could not hold back the laughter! The student had though that Amarillo was spelt like Armadillo, thus inferring that Armadillos are from there! It made my day. Also, students seem to like my use of y’all…mainly because it is different. I really think they try to get me to say just so they can hear and make fun of my accent. But being in the classroom has made me more conscious of how much I use the word y’all. Believe me, I use it a ton! Crazy how your culture influences you and your use of just one word!

Today (November 18), Jessica, Deanna, and I were introduced to Vegemite and Chessybite. Believe me, this was quite the ordeal. A majority of the staff were present to watch us Americans attempt to down one piece of toast with Vegemite and the other with Chessybite. My teacher, Robyn, made up our dishes and thankfully, had chocolate for us to eat afterwards. Vegemite and Chessybite are disgusting, absolutely GROSS. There are really no words to describe it! After we all completed both toasts, Robyn gave us all crowns for surviving the taste test of Vegemite and Chessybite. We conquered and we will NEVER try that again. 

This is the plate...One piece contains Vegemite, the other Chessybite. SO thankful for the chocolate to follow this!

Here is this tasty, delicious spread...

Reaction to tasting Vegemite and Chessybite...Cleary it's SO tasty!

Crowns because we conquered the task! :)

Other than that, today has been very dreary and rainy, not typical of Brisbane. It has been cloudy all day and it rained around lunchtime! After school, we went to the train station to try and get our tickets for the Gold Coast tomorrow, but turns out we will have to wait until tomorrow…no big deal! Tomorrow after school we are heading straight to the train station and to the Gold Coast. Should be a fun one-night get-away! Looking forward to the beach, laying out, and reading a good book!

Ohh…here’s the INFAMOUS HILL:

The infamous hill...Our apartments are up past the 2nd palm tree! Definitely a good work out!

That's all for now...off to the Gold Coast for a night! I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about and more pictures! :)

Love to all,

Kelsey Michele