Trip to Hobart

Last week was my mid-semester break so I had the pleasure of going to Victoria’s house in Hobart, which is also the capital of Tasmania. She went home on Wednesday and since I had class and the AMC ball I took the bus down on Monday afternoon. There is a bus service that comes to campus and takes students to Hobart pretty much everyday for really cheap. It reminded me of the Megabus. So Monday evening I got off at the Bridgewater stop where Victoria picked me up and we drove to her house. Her house is about 30 minutes away from the city and lives in a more rural area. At her house she has sheep (triplets were just born and were sooo cute!), a dog named Hunter, and a cat named Buster. Her mom is a principal at a primary (we would call it elementary) school and her dad works for a water company. She has an older brother who works at a cell phone company and actually helped out his mom in the office this past week. They built their house and it had a gorgeous view of the mountains and water. I enjoyed my time with the McDougall family and plan on visiting again over grand finals weekend (Australian football final game).

On Tuesday… we made our way to Port Arthur. This is where they brought all of the convicts that had committed the worst crimes. It rained all day, but I learned much about Australia’s history. We went on a tour and as our guide began to speak I realized he did not have an Aussie accent. I learned that he was from Cali and actually lived in Indiana when he was younger. He took us all over the place and then we went on a boat cruise around the island. Later that night we went on the ghost tour and it was still raining and the wind really picked up, which added to the haunted feeling. As we went to the different buildings our guide told us stories about ghosts that had been spotted at each place and tried scaring us too. He made Victoria carry a lantern so that we could see where we were walking and when we got to the parsonage he made her walk up to the door all by herself, knock, open the door, and then go inside. She was soo scared even though she had been on the tour before. Supposedly that building was the 2nd most haunted building in Australia. No one in our group saw/felt any ghosts, but it was tons of fun. We actually had people from Canada and Germany in our group too, which was fun talking to them.

On Wednesday… Victoria had to work 9-5 so I did some homework. For tea (dinner) we all went out to eat. Attached to the restaurant was a room filled with slot machines and Victoria’s dad gave me a $2 coin to try one out. I didn’t win anything.

On Thursday… we went to the Cadbury chocolate factory where we got lots of samples and got to see how the chocolate was made. We also went to the reject shop and I stocked up on some yummies. Then, we went into the city and did some shopping. I finally found a pair of boots that I liked and a few other things. I also met the manager of Harris Scarfe (Victoria’s work) and he was from Indiana! He grew up in South Bend, but also lived in Columbus for awhile. We talked for a long time, mainly about college basketball. He said that is the one thing he misses the most. He is a Purdue fan so he lost a few points in my book haha.

On Friday… Victoria’s mom took me to school with her. The school is Catholic and has about 150 children, grades Prep (Kindergarten) to 6th. Before school started Mrs. McDougall called all of the classes down to the area outside where the students eat their lunch. She congratulated the 6th grade on how well they did at a science competition and then she introduced me. She made me go up and talk about where I was from, why I am here, and what I have done so far. Before I introduced myself she had them say good morning to me and they said, “Good morning Haley and may God bless you.” It was cute and every class that I went to visit they would great me like that. I got to sit in on two second grade classes, a prep, and 1st grade class. It was Friday and the last day before break so they did not do too much, but it was a great experience just talking with the children. A lot of students said that I talked funny and they asked some hilarious questions. One girl asked if I would sing the ABC’s in my language. It was also interesting hearing what these children thought of America. One little boy asked if I get hijacked all of the time and another boy thought that Queensland (on the mainland of Australia) was the U.S. I also enjoyed talking with the teachers and hearing their views on education. Many of the teachers were fairly young and they gave me some great advice. Also, they have morning tea where they students eat a snack and they get to play for half an hour around 10 o’clock and I went to the teacher’s lounge and it had the most beautiful view of the city. The school sits high up on a hill so you could see everything. I enjoyed myself and would love to come back and possibly teach here… Teachers here also get paid much more! They start out making at least $50,000 and up to $70,000 a year!

For dinner we went to Nando’s, which Victoria thought would provide me with some really spicy food and she was right (it is hard to find spicy food here!). I got a chicken burger with their hottest sauce and it was perfect. Victoria hates spiciness so she stuck with lemon and herb chicken. For dessert we got gelato and I got the cheesecake flavor, which was delicious. That night we watched Jindabyne, an Australia movie about Aboriginals. The acting was not that great, but the overall message and history was interesting.

On Saturday… we went to the Salamanca Market, which is a GIANT market that occurs every Saturday. It reminded me of the Madison Chautauqua, but bigger. However, it poured the whole time and was really chilly. I had my raincoat thank goodness, but my pants and shoes were drenched. I got a children’s book for my future classroom written by a native Tasmanian and a few other things. That night we watched a couple footy (Australian football) games and went out with Victoria’s brother and some of his friends to a lounge to watch the Collingwood (a footy team) game. The McDougalls are big Collingwood fans. My favorite team (Tassie Hawks) lost.

On Sunday… came back to Launceston, which was sad. I like Hobart much better than Launceston because there is more to do. However, it is warmer here in Launceston…