Stress Stress and more Stress

It's the last two weeks of school before prac starts.

What does this mean?

EVERYTHING is due. There are tests, assignments, exams, quzzies - all in the next two weeks.

NOT COOL.

 I felt the 'stress' as soon as I stepped back into my apartment (from vacation). We all knew it was coming - crunch time!

Realistically, I have 1.5 weeks left.
I have one assignment due Monday which I finished today - will have my teacher review it tomorrow.
Then I have an exam, 2000 word paper and a math lesson plan.  GO ME!


So this is why I haven't blogged. There's nothing to talk about.

Oh! I did receive my grade for my presentation - HD!!
And for those of you who don't know this (weird) system of marking, HD = A!
We finished one course and I received an 80% (two assignments later).

All good news.
Notice I don't tell you when I receive average or 'bad' marks ;)

Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer, and fall (fall is an amazing time of the year in Canada).

love!
Ashley

Road Trip - More pictures

I copied some of my friend's photos that she took on the trip......
This picture was taken on Caitlin's parents farm.  We were in the Ute (like a pick-up truck) and Niamh was in the back taking my photo.  Caitlin was showing us the farm .. then we stopped a dead calf :(

 Just having fun at 5am watching the sun rise...

 5 am .. can you tell by our eyes? haha

Welcome to 1770!

 I didn't like the surf came we went to. But perhaps it wasn't completely their fault. The waves, well there wasn't any. The instructor was new but the head guy, he was just standing on the shore line instead of helping us out. There was 11 people per 1 instructor. Not a bad ratio for out here. And maybe I was too tired to even really try ;)

 And then the mess once we arrived back home.... three of us did our laundry together :

Road Trip - Wrap up

The trip to the town of 1770:

It's called 1770 because in the year 1770, Captain James Cook entered Australia via the town (they then called), 1770.  This town is super small. It's right on the waterfront where they have one restaurant, connected to one bar. There are some houses on the cliff, but we were told that there won't be any more houses built. Whatever is there, will stay there. If a tree dies, they will just plant a new one. A lot of the houses I saw, were actually up for sale. So that's interesting but a local said that they're priced in the millions and for the house conditions, they aren't worth it. And, since the floods last year, a lot of people are weary on buying houses near any form of water.

We started on Friday where we headed to Caitlin's parents house (on a farm). Here we gathered all of their camping equipment and then headed to bed. The next morning we left at 8 am for our road trip adventure.

First stop up to Caitlin's parent's house: The Ginger Factory.

This was a free admission factory where we could explore the growing of the ginger, eat lunch, taste icecream made from ginger etc.  It was fun but slightly boring haha

 Then we stopped at Catilin's parents house ... this picture is of me picking lemons - they are HUGE! Her parents farm has lemon trees, custard apple trees, alpacas, cows etc. It was beautiful.

 On route we stopped in Bundaberg where we went to the Bundaberg Rum Factory. We didn't want to pay to go through the factory so we just did what was free. And of course took every opportunity to take pictures :)

After a couple of more stops for booze, lunch and random snacks for the ride, we arrived at Captain Cook's Camp Ground. After setting up our 12 man tent (for 4 people), we explored the site and tried to find the water.

We went down to 1770 (right on the waterfront) and ate dinner and had a couple of drinks. Then Casey and I went down to the water to enjoy the sunset. It was beautiful. Then, as funny as it was, we ran into someone from University. She was stopping through on her way to Cairns and stopped to do the sunset kayaking tour.  

 Then we went to the camp site for a bit before we went to bed early..... so we could wake up at 5 am to watch the sunrise. This was beautiful. I think I've done this before but here, it was just really special because it wasn't too too cold, and we were in Australia haha We did this for two mornings.

 After this day, we went to the beach until 2 pm. Then we headed off to surfing lessons. We found this company that was $22 for 4 hours of surfing. We had 11 people and one instructor. I didn't really enjoy it as the waves didn't show up. And I think I just accepted the fact that I won't become a world class surfer haha   When we came back to the camp site, we jumped into the pool (to take the sand off us ), but one of the camp ground workers started talking to us and told us about a beach, a private one that no one uses. So the next morning we woke up at 5, packed our bags and headed there for the day. It was breathtaking! I felt as though I was on a island .... or in Fiji! haha  Literally the first day we were there, we saw 1 person walking their dog. The next day, we climbed some of the cliffs and went to a different part of the beach and it was AMAZING!

One of the nights we went back around 2 pm and went on the sunset kayaking tour. This was exhausting but fun. The waves were huge(ish) so the instructor taught us how to surf the waves (much easier on a kayak than a surf board). We did flip twice trying to do this - and I blame Casey (she'll agree, too) because she did things she wasn't supposed to do - like turn around while the wave was coming - you should always be straight into a wave). And p.s getting into a kayak from the water isn't easy.

So basically the trip consisted of driving, eating, swimming, surfing, camping, kayaking, reading and tanning.

It was amazing and I loved every second of it.

For those of you looking at how tanned I got ( the above is a sneak peak of the Australian sun).

Yesterday we went to Brisbane: Here are some random photos of downtown Brisbane.

Am I smarter than a 5th grader?

Ekks!

So yesterday I found out that my placement for teaching will be with a grade 5 class.

AM I SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER?
- I'll find out soon enough!

Deep down I was hoping for grade 1 but at least this will be a challenge. And if I can teach or even observe a younger grade, at least I'll have a grade 5 class under my belt.
I think I'm only nervous about teaching math. As discussed in an earlier post, I HATE MATH! haha

Placement starts in 2-3 weeks.

But before then, this Saturday, I am leaving on a road trip!
We have next week off for a break so 4 of us are going to a town called 1770 for some camping and relaxation!
The only thing we currently have planned is a one day cruise into the Great Barrier Reef. We will board the Lady Musgrave Day Cruise where we'll have food, snorkelling, glass bottom boat, and swimming etc.  http://www.1770reefcruises.com 
We also heard that there's surfing lessons and board rentals for 3 hrs for $17 so we MIGHT do that too. http://www.reef2beachsurf.com/surfschool.php
 Otherwise, the beach it is!!

:)

this weekend I missed a lot....

So this was the first weekend where I felt I was missing out on things that were happening in Canada.


a) The Wedding of Shauna and Nic Armstrong.
Congratulations guys! You both are so wonderful and I am so happy you two met one another. I cannot wait to see pictures of the big day - I can only imagine how perfect it will be on the farm! 
Congratulations guys!! xoxox


b) The Weekend to End Women's Cancers
The has been a part of me for the past 5 years. It means a lot to me. It's something I look forward to every year - Weird because it involves me walking 60+ kms. It isn't about the kms though, it's about raising money for cancer research; it's about walking with amazing people; it's about the friendships I've made and the people you meet.  Congratulations to everyone who walked and to everyone who participated in it!


c) Andrea's wedding shower
This made me realize that I will be missing a lot of my friend's wedding events.
I hope you had a great and very special day. Your wedding is approaching really fast :)


SO instead I went to a outlet mall on Friday in Brisbane.  It was excellent.
Some of the great purchases (Meaghan will be proud):
$5 ROXY bathing suit top
$2.99 tube top
$5 scarf - it's still really cold here at night. It was 10 degrees last night.


It was fun. Then we went to downtown Brissy and walked around for an hour before we had to rush off to the movies - The Change-Up.
Oh we also stopped at this chocolate cafe. My friend Niamh told us we HAD TO because their hot chocolate is amazing and they have chocolate dipped strawberries.  It's cute though, their cups were these: (you have to hug it to drink from it)

 Then we drove back home (the travel time isn’t bad, in a car – about 45-1 hr).

Oh but we stopped for a pee break and people got dinner at McDonalds (Mackers as they call it here). But look what they have – shakers for their fries!!

Also, their small ice cream cone was only $0.50!!! What a steal! haha

On Saturday we were supposed to go back to Brisbane for a teaching conference but we heard it was an expo and we’d only get credited for 2 hrs of volunteer hours….so it wasn’t worth our time. Instead I went to my friend, Dave’s final footy match. THEY WON!

(as you can tell, it was a windy day, we were all bundled up)

GO DAVE!!!

Afterwards, we came back home around 6 pm and I watched a movie, Friends with Benefits and then to bed.

Sunday I went to the beach with my roommate for a couple of hours. The sun was soooo hot today. My roommate actually fainted. She asked if I wanted to get food so I decided on Booster Juice and in line, she told me she wasn’t feeling and I could that her eyes were a little off. I’ve fainted before so I told her to stand against the wall (I stood beside her). Next thing I knew, she was falling on me and down she went… Good thing I was paying attention because I just walked her down the wall as she fell. She came to shortly after falling. I got her some sugar and she was feeling better. In the end, she needed to eat. She barely had dinner and didn’t eat breaky. She’s good now. But I think she learned her lesson.

Then I came back at around 3 and worked on my assignment that I have due tomorrow. It’s already done. Go me!

One more assignment due on Thursday and then I’m off for a week!

I’m doing a road trip to a town called 1770. Supposed to be super ‘chilled’ with a great beach. We’ll be camping for 3 nights so it should be great fun.

Receiving mail is the greatest...

So I've mentioned that this week has been going really well.

Sunday night I received my first 'distinction' in my graduate program :)

Monday I had my presentation (teachers teaching teachers) and I killed it. I am so very happy with how that turned out. Then it was my friend, Casey's birthday so it was a celebration all day and then my Irish friend, Niamh (Neve) made us all birthday dinner (everyone who attended brought an app or dessert). It was a fest!

Tuesday I woke up and for some reason looked at my room phone - if the light is lit, then there's mail for you (packages that don't fit into your mailbox). The light was off. So I went on my day. Around noon I received a phone call, "there's a PACKAGE for you"!!!
So off to reception I went. BOOM! It was a large package :)

Woohoo! Go Mom and Dad!

I requested all the Canada stuff to bring into the classroom with me - it's a great reward for good behaviour haha :)

This weekend I might be heading to Brisbane ($7 bus ride) for a teaching conference (scoring some more volunteer hours)....more to follow.

Hope everyone is having a great week!!

xoxo

Life of a graduate student...

Literally was at the library on a Saturday morning at 11 am.  Those books - every single one of them - I had to use for my presentation.

Today I had my presentation.
I KILLED IT!

So happy with it :)

Sunday September 4th

Today in Australia it's father's day.

So from across the world ....

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD!

(Graduation from The University of Western Ontario)

There is nothing more to report as I have been staying in all weekend working on school assignments. The next two weeks are insane. Tomorrow I have a presentation - Teacher Teaching Peers.
Then on Wednesday, assignment.  Then next Monday, assignment & next Thursday, assignment.  I am one of the lucky ones and only have two assignments next week, but they're huge. Some people are presenting and having those two assignments. Go me! haha

All I know is that it is now officially spring here! The weather is getting nicer and nicer by the day - on Friday I actually received a little bit of a sun burn on my face. Nothing major and it was gone by the next morning but we all got a fair warning to bulk up on the sunscreen (especially for the coming months).

Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend in Canada!

xx