Allow, if you will, a moment to be low. For just today, please no words of 'cheer up' or even 'suck it up' because I'm at a point mentally where I'm tired … tired of not knowing what the day holds, tired of meeting new people, and tired of always having to adjust to the unfamiliar. Please don't get me wrong; I love exploring, making new friends, and getting out of stuffy routines … but, today, 7 weeks into this crazy adventure, I'm ready for a slice of HOME...

I don't know if it's being older now, perhaps that this is my second teacher exchange, or whether Australia and Canada culture are more parallel than we think, but the transition into my new school has been remarkably smooth. There are surprisingly many similar aspects between the education system in Alberta and Victoria. At the school level, there's a lot of commonalities between RJ and APPS. As a result, the shift into my new school and overall life adve...

Today was the first day of our Teacher Exchange Orientation. It was our chance to meet everyone on exchange in Victoria. RVS' other 2 teachers were placed in different states so I wanted to find out how many were here in Victoria. The final count was 8 Canadian teachers (4 from Alberta, 3 from Ontario, and 1 from BC) and 1 couple from Germany! We were all giddy to meet each other and talked nonstop about our adventures so far. Everyone except us have settl...

School is starting soon and I'll need to start changing how I write the date. 19 Jan, 2014. Or 19/01/14, I think. I'm not sure where the comma goes though. I'm also thinking that they use commas a lot more between a string of sentences, but I'm not sure how that grammatically works. I'll also have to start using new vocabulary (e.g., coloured pencil vs pencil crayons). Hey, is it spelled 'color' or 'colour'???? Oh boy. Restructuring one's thinking, es...

Happy New Years! I can't believe that it's already 5 days into it. Time flies here in the humidity and heat. We spent 9 hours on the road yesterday driving from Cairns to Airlie Beach, a trip that many have said should take 6 - 7 hours. Thinking that it was going to be a half day drive, we took it easy and stopped at many sightseeing spots, several McDs and the well re-known, Frosty Mango. They grew its own exotic fruit in the back, using it in their ice...