Finally... On the Right Side of the World!

I am finally out of the states and on the right side of the world! I left LAX after spending a nice week with Janet and Bill (thanks again, by the way) and boarded my flight to Nadi, Fiji. I was extremely excited to see Fiji and from the looks of it so far, I'm extremely excited to go back and check out the other islands! I was able to leave the airport for a few hours because I had about a ten hour layover in Fiji, which was great because I was able to check out some of Nadi and the main island of Fiji. The taxi took me to a local resort (First Landing Resort) where I spent time on the beach, or more time on the rocks around the ocean. The rocks were amazing (Marie, you would have loved them!) there were all kinds of shapes and sizes of them! I spent a few hours out on the town in Fiji, mainly by the ocean. I watched salmon jump upstream, butterfly fish, some other kinds of fish, and the waves crash in on the rocks! Got a bit sunburned during my stay, which was OK- considering I didn't really do much sunbathing in LAX while I was there!

The people in Fiji were very friendly and I learned a lot of new words; such as "Bula (boo-la) means hello, which was said to me about a million times that day. I met a sailor from Melbourne who was on my flight from LAX to Nadi, who was extremely informative about his country. We actually had plenty of hours when I got back to the airport to talk about Australia and things that I should know! I even ventured and tried Fijian beer (their very own brew) Fiji bitter... rather tasty!!

The flight from Nadi to Melbourne was uneventful... even though the Wilkens' told me to try and stay awake on that flight, it was really tough! I guess the Fiji bitter was starting to settle in! It was about a 5 hour flight from Fiji to Melbourne and I had already just had the longest day of my life. I landed in Melbourne, Australia at around 1030pm and was able to meet the Wilkens' outside of the customs area at about 1230am on Tuesday the 20th! It was weird when I looked at my phone (which still had KY time) seeing Monday the 19th... We have about a 15 hour time difference between us, so I'm sure it is going to be tough trying to catch people, but I'm sure we will figure something out!

My first day in Geelong was great! I woke up (pretty early for going to bed at about 2:30am). I spent the morning getting to know four out of the five Wilkens' that I am living with and also spent time playing games with the two youngest girls. Jaimee, the oldest daughter was still in school today but the other two were off because of the Geelong Cup! We took a drive to Bellaire Primary School, where I will be teaching (starting tomorrow) and they showed me around the outside of the school. The school is laid out on a large area of land and there are different buildings that the students walk outside to get to. I'm am excited to finally get to see the inside of the school and how it runs during the day! We also went to a lookout that showed all of Geelong as well as looking out to the line of the sea. We ate lunch at the bay and walked along the beach that looked out around the harbour. It is so pretty here, and I am so excited to see more of Geelong and Australia!

Jet lag so far hasn't seemed to bother me. However, when Shane (the dad) fixed up my computer and I logged on for the first time (since Sunday evening) my clock was still on USA time and I noticed it was about midnight, (way past my bedtime). So, Carol (the mom/mum) and I went for a run down a path with lots of scenery to look at. A river runs through the middle of the path, where lots of rowing competitions are held at the beginning of the school year, which is February. There were already rowers??? out practicing for next years games, which was cool to see! Luckily, the run woke me up and I was able to make it through the rest of the day. Which consisted of going to the grocery, Charli's (the youngest daughter) swimming lesson, and having dinner... It is now around 930pm and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO tired! So, enough for now and more to come soon. Keep in touch, everyone! <3