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Kirsten in Australia
"Hello Rotary, friends
and family!
I am so excited to write this! There is so much to tell, and I have no idea
where to start. I will try my best. First off, I hope everybody's summer in
good ol' BC was great! I hope to hear from you all and know how things are going.
Well, here in Aussie land.. all I can say is things are going SPECTACULAR!
I am feeling well, and functioning great! So all is good, and surprisingly enough,
even after a weekend of snowboarding, no broken bones! I was a little homesick
last week, but things at school were going slow for a while, and I was contacting
home a little much. That will happen though, and I was prepared for it. I had
a lot of help from my Host Parents to get through it, so it was all good after
a few days.
Two weeks ago, it was The Dookie Weekend. Which was a really good weekend. It
was where all of the inbounds and outbounds met. There was I think 42 there,
so it was a fair amount, and we slowly but surely devoloped these friendships
that will never end. It was so exciting to see Heather Bethune again, and we
definitly didn't take our time to start chatting away and updating each other
on how our Exchange is going. I took ALOT of pictures, and had a really good
time! We got into groups of the Inbounds from Canada and the outbounds going
to Canada. And likewise with all of the other countries. It was the coolest
thing ever! Because I remember doing that with Malcolm and Cara from Australia...
but I was the nervous outbound, about to make my way across the world. But this
time I was the loud, singing, Canadian Inbound, preparing Fraser and Milly (
They are the ones going to Canada...weird also, because they are both going
to B.C) preparing them, for their adventure. It definitly made me feel so proud
to be Canadian, and proud to be on Exchange telling them about my home country!
So that weekend was awesome, and I had a really good time!
Afer that I had another two weeks of school before the next Rotary Trip. Those
two weeks were hilarious! It was "freezing cold" over here in Australia,
with a temperature of, I think it was.. 9 degrees celcius. And that is their
Winter! Everyone was running around with pretty much clothes on ready for a
-40 degree blizzard, getting excited thinking it was going to snow! And yes..
I was walking around with a T-shirt on! It actually did get chilly, and went
down to 3, and it was snowing everywhere in Australia.. except for Wodonga!
Everybody was frantic, and waiting for the snow. It did hail though, and that
was really exciting, and I took lots of pictures! I have made lots of friends
at school, and am always looking forward to another day! It is so much fun,
and we all have a really good time at Break and Lunch...and sometimes during
class, but that's another story! Haha. No, just kidding. I have been to Albury
( Which is the bigger city about 2 minutes away) And have experiened Australian
Fish and Chips.. which is even better than Canadian Poutine! Believe me, I was
shocked too!! Haha.
And then just this past weekend, was the ski weekend.. the one thing I have
been so excited to talk to you all about! It started Friday evening and I arrived
home last night. It was absolutely amazing!! Fraser and I jumped in the outdoor
pool which was at -2 degrees celcius.. it was training process for him. Hahah
it was awesome though! And Tobias ( From Finland) jumped in also. That was the
first night. ( I made 5 bucks doing that!! Haha). I ended up in the spa room
where eight of us girls slept, and we had an absolutly spectacular time! Everyone
came into our room and we all just hung out until the early hours of the morning..
haha not to mention we had to be up by six in the morning the next day. Or I
guess you could say, the same day. We had an early breakfast at quarter to seven,
where we had Pancakes and Maple Syrup ( They knew two Canadians were coming,
I guess!) Haha, and Eggs and Bacon.. and so much more!
We started the journey to the
hill at quarter to 8, and I dont think I have ever had so much fun on a bus
before! We were singing the Australian Anthem, The Vegimite Song, a song I taught
everyone, and the Canadian Anthem, and practically anything we could think of
to sing! By the end of the trip Heather and I were known as the Crazy Canadians!!
I did snowblading the first day, and then snowboarding the second day.. wow
, alright..... just picture ME on a snowboard.. haha yes, am I falling down
the hill yet? I almost got hit by a snowmobile.... a skier.. a few snowboarders,
and a guy sledding. Almost, but I think God was with me, because I remained
alive! It was soo much fun! And we were all 20 minutes late for the bus because
I couldn't make it down the hill in time.. so Heather and I reswitched half
way down. The second day was at Falls Creek, and hahah I think there was more
grass than snow!! I swear! It was the funniest thing in the world!! We all couldn't
stop laughing. Because there was no snow, we got to take the chairlift down
also, because there wasn't enough snow at the bottom. It was definitly good
fun though! We all came back and have plans to go to Melbourne the next school
holidays which is only in two weeks!! Two weeks off of school.. and then about
6 weeks after that, we have Christmas Holidays which is about two and a half
months!! And I am getting ready for my 40 degree Christmas!
Starting September 9th, I am going to the Coast with the President of my Rotary
Club. I am soo excited!! We are going for about 5 days, and I am going to see
so much! I can't wait. Also, in October we are having a weekend in this place
called Tatura, and we are going to have a BBQ all day, and then everyone is
going to go out at night. I am really excited for that also. However.. you will
all have to wait until next report to hear about these things. I am already
excited to write that one! Well, keep me updated on how things are in British
Columbia, and I will talk to all of you again soon!
Talk to you later and... G'day mates!"
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