Hey everyone, I bet your all wondering how I have done with the switch, getting settled, new family, new house, new atmosphere.
Well I have been doing pretty good actually. :) Yesterday, on Australia day I went to the Aussie day festival in Nelson Bay and helped with the Rotary club selling drinks and food. And then I met up with a girl from Tomaree highschool that is going into year eleven, same as me, and we hung out and went swimming and just chilled. Her name is Bronte, and I have a feeling we will become very good friends, it will be good going to school knowing at least one person now. :) Well anyways after we brought her home my counselors John and Jenny Shaw brought me over to Fingal Bay to where my first host family over here lives. Their names are John and Ella Clarke, theyre about in their sixties and have one daughter, their daughter is a teacher at my school and has two kids, ages three and seven, a girl and a boy, theyre lots of fun and are obsessed with me it seems like. Haha. But yeah the house is a three story house, really nice, can see the ocean from their house. They have a pool also. It is about a two minute walk to Fingal Bay Beach which is a very popular beach around this area. It is very nice. My host dad is very much so into fishing, and he is a retired school teacher and he now writes best seller books for the bay area on fishing and oysters and the history and all that. He is a very nice and fun man to be around. His nickname around here is "Stinker" because of all his fishing. Ella is the administrater at the Nelson Bay college. They are very nice people and my room is nice too, with a big bed and a mirrored wall. I have it all decorated with photos from home and my banner from Gilgandra. Ohh another thing about this couple, Ella was born in Gilgandra and thats how they met! Pretty ironic I reckon.
So today I had a nice sleep in cause I was so busy and tired from yesterday unpacking and getting settled and all that. Once I got up I went to the school to try and get registered, but for some reason they will have to call us back and I will have to go to interviews and possibly wont be starting school the first day back when all the other kids start. But I did get my uniform, the uniform consists of a plaid blue skirt and a white polo blouse. It looks really nice, and since I am a senior now (eleventh grade) my blouse is a different colour to the rest of the underclassmen. After that I came home and threw on my swimmer for a dip in the pool with the kids. And after I had a walk down to the beach and just layed there listening to my ipod watching the waves, completely relaxed with absolutely beautiful weather. :) Was almost picture perfect!
Once I get the wifi set up to my laptop here I will post photos of the place that I am staying. From here on out its like a completely different exchange. Im ready for anything that comes my way now!
Thanks for reading, will update life soon!
Love you all.
-Bailee Jo
Xoxo
Another BIG thanks to Rotary! Without Rotary I wouldnt be where I am today, so again, I thank you. :)
Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The transition over to Nelson Bay, Chapter 3
Well wow, what a few days it has been! On the 21st I moved to Nelson bay, which is about an hour north of Newcastle, this is where I will live for the next six months. :)
On the 21st Greg and Paula Flux (Rotarians) came and picked me up from Claire's house, and we went to their daughters for a bbq. And then it was about eight at night when we got home and I got all situated, they lived maybe five minutes from the beach, their house was very nice and my room was huge. So I got all unpacked, realized I have way too much crap and need to start shipping stuff home soon!
So then the 22nd, on a Sunday I woke up super early. Like 7! That never happens, I dont know whats gotten into me. Haha, cause I love my sleep ins. But anyways I woke up that early, Greg, Paula and I went to Shoal Beach for a morning swim. The water was so nice. We were the only ones swimming at this time of day. I wasnt planning on getting my hair wet because I had it nicely done, but then all of a sudden a huge wave came and smashed me into the sand. It was pretty funny, and embarassing, Greg was laughing at me. After that we dried off and went to a cafe for brekky and a cuppa. Was nice, then went back home and got dressed to go out yachting with another Rotarian family! I was pretty excited, the yacht was 42feet long, and like a luxery boat. We went out at ten and got back around three. We spent lunch on the yactht, and we even got to see dolphins! Was so cool!
Well then in the afternoon my really good friend from Gilgandra, his name is Joe Alchin, him and his family came to the bay for their holiday. So I went to where they were staying and hung out and we went to the beach and watched movies and had a bbq with them it was really nice. :) I really enjoyed it.
Then on Monday, I woke up early again, and headed over to the Alchin's again. They were staying at an apartment about 20 metres from the beach, and there was a pool there too, so whenever we got done swimming in the ocean and were full of sand from body surfing and getting smashed by the waves we would wash off in the pool. Then later that afternoon Greg and Paula picked me up and brought me to HASH. HASH is this group of people, really really fit people! Who meet up once a week, there is a group of like 80 people. And they go on runs/walks for an hour or two, then have drinks, and dinner and just a social thing. I was dumb enough to decide to run the dang thing. Up and down steep sand hills through trees and brush across a nude beach. With blisters in the making and a rolled ankle. Haha, geez that was a rough run. But... I managed to survive! And after the run when everyone was having drinks like everyone got in a big circle and the leader spoke and had all the Americans go in the middle of the circle.. *cough cough* (ME) :/ HAha. But yeah I went to the middle of this big circle and told them about me and then they had this HASH song they sang and I had to down a drink as fast as I could and what I couldnt drink during the time period of the song I had to dump on my head. So that was pretty funny, I did manage to drink most of it. And then I got a tshit and they all call me Miss Minnesota. Because everyone there has a special nickname and you cant call anyone by their real names. Idk its werid but yeah, I just went with it, it ended up being a really good night. I was exhauseted and came straight home to bed!
Then on Tuesday I was up early again! I went for a morning swim with Paula and her friends and then got dropped off at the Alchins. :) Was another lovely day with them, we swam and went on a walk and went out to dinner with their family at a Thai place. It really was an awesome day! I didnt want to say goodbye to them, but will definately be seeing them soon. :)
Then today has been a very busy day too! I woke up early and packed up all my suitcases and then went to help with a Rotary fundraiser at Salamander Bay Shopping Centre. We were selling sausage sizzles, that went well we raised 1,000 dollars for Rotary. :)
Afterwards I got dropped off at my counselors house, Their names are John and Jenny Shaw. They really are lovely people, I get along with them so well and have only known them for a few hours. I have my own suite here with a bathroom huge room and they live literally 30 seconds from the ocean in Fishermans Bay. It is so nice here. I definately will be here more often, theyre great people to be around and even though they have never had an exchange student they can understand me very well. :)
So anyways! Tomorrow is Australia Day! It has been very rainy and crummy weather and its supposed to be like that for tomorrow too. :/ Im going to Nelson Bay to the festival and then move on the my first host family for here in the bay. Will be good to finally get settled in after a month and half of moving to place after place! Cant believe summer holiday is almost over, I start school at Tomaree HighSchool on Monday. Am definately nervous for this start because I wont know anyone, what I liked about Gilgandra was that the school was so small like everyone had added me on facebook before I arrived and I had at least gotten to know a few kids. But hey all apart of the experiance, hey?
Well I will write soon!
Thanks for reading!
Love you all.
Take care! :)
Xoxo
-Bailee Jo
On the 21st Greg and Paula Flux (Rotarians) came and picked me up from Claire's house, and we went to their daughters for a bbq. And then it was about eight at night when we got home and I got all situated, they lived maybe five minutes from the beach, their house was very nice and my room was huge. So I got all unpacked, realized I have way too much crap and need to start shipping stuff home soon!
So then the 22nd, on a Sunday I woke up super early. Like 7! That never happens, I dont know whats gotten into me. Haha, cause I love my sleep ins. But anyways I woke up that early, Greg, Paula and I went to Shoal Beach for a morning swim. The water was so nice. We were the only ones swimming at this time of day. I wasnt planning on getting my hair wet because I had it nicely done, but then all of a sudden a huge wave came and smashed me into the sand. It was pretty funny, and embarassing, Greg was laughing at me. After that we dried off and went to a cafe for brekky and a cuppa. Was nice, then went back home and got dressed to go out yachting with another Rotarian family! I was pretty excited, the yacht was 42feet long, and like a luxery boat. We went out at ten and got back around three. We spent lunch on the yactht, and we even got to see dolphins! Was so cool!
Well then in the afternoon my really good friend from Gilgandra, his name is Joe Alchin, him and his family came to the bay for their holiday. So I went to where they were staying and hung out and we went to the beach and watched movies and had a bbq with them it was really nice. :) I really enjoyed it.
Then on Monday, I woke up early again, and headed over to the Alchin's again. They were staying at an apartment about 20 metres from the beach, and there was a pool there too, so whenever we got done swimming in the ocean and were full of sand from body surfing and getting smashed by the waves we would wash off in the pool. Then later that afternoon Greg and Paula picked me up and brought me to HASH. HASH is this group of people, really really fit people! Who meet up once a week, there is a group of like 80 people. And they go on runs/walks for an hour or two, then have drinks, and dinner and just a social thing. I was dumb enough to decide to run the dang thing. Up and down steep sand hills through trees and brush across a nude beach. With blisters in the making and a rolled ankle. Haha, geez that was a rough run. But... I managed to survive! And after the run when everyone was having drinks like everyone got in a big circle and the leader spoke and had all the Americans go in the middle of the circle.. *cough cough* (ME) :/ HAha. But yeah I went to the middle of this big circle and told them about me and then they had this HASH song they sang and I had to down a drink as fast as I could and what I couldnt drink during the time period of the song I had to dump on my head. So that was pretty funny, I did manage to drink most of it. And then I got a tshit and they all call me Miss Minnesota. Because everyone there has a special nickname and you cant call anyone by their real names. Idk its werid but yeah, I just went with it, it ended up being a really good night. I was exhauseted and came straight home to bed!
Then on Tuesday I was up early again! I went for a morning swim with Paula and her friends and then got dropped off at the Alchins. :) Was another lovely day with them, we swam and went on a walk and went out to dinner with their family at a Thai place. It really was an awesome day! I didnt want to say goodbye to them, but will definately be seeing them soon. :)
Then today has been a very busy day too! I woke up early and packed up all my suitcases and then went to help with a Rotary fundraiser at Salamander Bay Shopping Centre. We were selling sausage sizzles, that went well we raised 1,000 dollars for Rotary. :)
Afterwards I got dropped off at my counselors house, Their names are John and Jenny Shaw. They really are lovely people, I get along with them so well and have only known them for a few hours. I have my own suite here with a bathroom huge room and they live literally 30 seconds from the ocean in Fishermans Bay. It is so nice here. I definately will be here more often, theyre great people to be around and even though they have never had an exchange student they can understand me very well. :)
So anyways! Tomorrow is Australia Day! It has been very rainy and crummy weather and its supposed to be like that for tomorrow too. :/ Im going to Nelson Bay to the festival and then move on the my first host family for here in the bay. Will be good to finally get settled in after a month and half of moving to place after place! Cant believe summer holiday is almost over, I start school at Tomaree HighSchool on Monday. Am definately nervous for this start because I wont know anyone, what I liked about Gilgandra was that the school was so small like everyone had added me on facebook before I arrived and I had at least gotten to know a few kids. But hey all apart of the experiance, hey?
Well I will write soon!
Thanks for reading!
Love you all.
Take care! :)
Xoxo
-Bailee Jo
Friday, January 20, 2012
Life Lessons Learned.
Frown less, smile more.
Talk less, listen more.
Judge less, accept more.
Watch less, do more.
Complain less, appreciate more.
Fear less, love more.
<3
Talk less, listen more.
Judge less, accept more.
Watch less, do more.
Complain less, appreciate more.
Fear less, love more.
<3
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
First surfing experiance! :)
Yesterday I got to go surfing! This was one of my goals for the year, was to learn to surf! Well Im not all that good yet, haha but it was still accomplishing a goal! It was so fun. I loved it. I had a friend that has been surfing since he was six teach me. I got up a few times, and I also wiped out a bunch! And swear I swallowed half the ocean. Haha but it was definately worth it, hopefully I will be able to go surfing more in Nelson Bay, move there in three days. Well I am off to the beach with Claire, Nicole, and Jamie.
Will write soon! Love you all!
Thanks for reading! :)
-Bailee
Xoxox
Will write soon! Love you all!
Thanks for reading! :)
-Bailee
Xoxox
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Five months in Australia!
Bailee Jo Jerger, My host clubs have been the Narromine Rotary Club for the first four months and I will now soon be hosted by Nelson Bay Rotary Club.
School in Gilgandra has been great, I absolutely loved it. It was very small a school of only 300 students but that way I got to know everyone and become very close with many. I was able to try some new subjects like aboriginal studies, cooking, art, and got to experiance a whole new schooling system that I like alot better than the American one. I will be moving to Nelson Bay in a few days, my school there has about 1500 kids. Im pretty excited actually but then a bit nervous too.
Since my host Rotary Club was forty five minutes from where I lived I had only went to one Rotary meeting at my club and that was where I gave my presentation. I have given my presentation to a couple different Rotary Clubs, host family, my class mates, and family friends. I have it memorized and has come together very well, I keep adding to it after every presentation.
I have met so many Rotarians that I have lost count of the number, but they have all been wonderful to me and definately appreciated my presentation.
I don't really have regular contact with my counselor. My first host Club didn't get to know me very much because I only went there once, which was the only time I was invited, also the drive was a problem too.
For my personal experiances, I havent been sick yet so that's a plus. Knock on wood. Haha.
in Gilgandra i sorta just had been hanging out with friends at school, I have managed to make it to a few get togethers after I had moved and they have been a blast! Lots of fun.
Travel-Since I lived in the outback I didnt get to travel all that much, I managed to get to Sydney Australia a few times with school for excursions, and a trip even further in the outback which was definately different we got to see some of the unique wildlife and go yabbying and ride the bikes in all the red mud. One day we went to a koala park where we got to pet the koalas and that was so cute! Me and my host brothers spent a fair bit of time down at the river spear fishing, that was fun. We fit in one weekend of camping which was an absolute blast, where we went to a concert a some mountain. I went to a big concert in Sydney with my classmates and that was one of my best memories. But sadly Due to a sickness of my host father we had to cancel some holidays that were planned, which is understandable though, I know I will have many more opportunities to see Australia. Living outback Oz for four months and the rest of the time on the coast isnt something many students get to do. But I have the privelidge of doing so.
I have had visits with other exchange students, I am currently living with my best friend from Canada, we just met a few months ago and I live with her until I move to Nelson Bay in a a few days, previously I was living on a little alpaca/goat farm up in the hills with a lovely couple from Rotary and that was for about two weeks right after Christmas. It was so good living there I really enjoyed it, I helped out with farm work and then it was only a bit of a drive to the beach and I went there a bit. The beaches here are absolutely gorgeous! And the shopping centres are great! I have bought far too many clothes so I will have to ship some home soon. At my next town I really hope to join some sort of sport, maybe swimming. But also one of my goals before I go is to learn to surf! I will do that soon! Sometime in February me and my best friend from Canada are going sky diving! That's going to be so exciting. Also something that is awesome is that I am picking up on the accent here, the other day I was at a party and someone asked me to speak the hear the accent and they reckoned I was an Aussie! I was so excited. Haha. In May all the exchange students will go on something called "The Capricorn Ramble". Its a safari, and we will travel half way around Australia and see so much of it in three weeks. We will be camping and busssing with one plane trip. I am so excited for that!
The holidays here are like the same back home, except they dont celebrate thanksgiving, so I made dinner that night. Christmas was great, my host family had like twenty people over and the family treated me like family. It was as if I had known them my whole life. Christmas was perfect. I didnt get homesick at all over Christmas and New Years.
Although when I moved from Gilgandra, to six hours away to Newcastle for the summer holidays (Just to spend time on the coast) I got very homesick for Gilgandra and it was a rough couple of days but I just tried to stay busy to get over that as quick as possible and also my mom was a big help with that, since she knew exactly what I was going through just messaging her helped me alot.
I cant believe how fast five months has gone by. It will be five months on Tuesday and then it kind of is the down hill trek of me coming home. My visa expires July 5th so maybe I will come home around the 3rd so I will be able to spend it with all the family at our family get together. I have missed them alot, but then our relationship has definately gotten stronger from me being away. I love Australia that much that I am thinking about coming back for college.
It is going to be so hard to leave this beautiful country, I have made so many friends that I know will stay my life long friends. I have so many memories, so many laughs, I have become such a strong, independent, responsible young lady. I have become more open and bubbly, and talking to people and making friends is easy now and I love doing that kind of stuff. This experiance has been a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am one of the eight people that was lucky enough to get sent to this wonderful country and sometimes I still find myself in shock that I am here. But hey, this is actually reality. I have grown up so much from this exchange. I have learned so much and I have done my best to share as much as I know about America and teach people about my home and where I come from and what I do back home. I have done my absolute best to represent The United States of America. I love Australia. Through the ups and downs I have become such a better person from these past five months. If I were to look back on myself five months ago I dont think I would recognize me, as in my personality, the way I look at life now, the way I look at people and new opportunities.
Smile, cause life is so good. Some people don't realize that. I am so thankful for everything Rotary has done for me! I would not be here without Rotary. Doing an exchange has been the best choice I have ever made in my life.
Best wishes to everyone else! I hope all your exchanges are going as well as mine.
This was my Rotary update of the past five months. Hope you enjoyed reading!
Love you all. Miss you!
Bailee Jo
Xoxo
School in Gilgandra has been great, I absolutely loved it. It was very small a school of only 300 students but that way I got to know everyone and become very close with many. I was able to try some new subjects like aboriginal studies, cooking, art, and got to experiance a whole new schooling system that I like alot better than the American one. I will be moving to Nelson Bay in a few days, my school there has about 1500 kids. Im pretty excited actually but then a bit nervous too.
Since my host Rotary Club was forty five minutes from where I lived I had only went to one Rotary meeting at my club and that was where I gave my presentation. I have given my presentation to a couple different Rotary Clubs, host family, my class mates, and family friends. I have it memorized and has come together very well, I keep adding to it after every presentation.
I have met so many Rotarians that I have lost count of the number, but they have all been wonderful to me and definately appreciated my presentation.
I don't really have regular contact with my counselor. My first host Club didn't get to know me very much because I only went there once, which was the only time I was invited, also the drive was a problem too.
For my personal experiances, I havent been sick yet so that's a plus. Knock on wood. Haha.
in Gilgandra i sorta just had been hanging out with friends at school, I have managed to make it to a few get togethers after I had moved and they have been a blast! Lots of fun.
Travel-Since I lived in the outback I didnt get to travel all that much, I managed to get to Sydney Australia a few times with school for excursions, and a trip even further in the outback which was definately different we got to see some of the unique wildlife and go yabbying and ride the bikes in all the red mud. One day we went to a koala park where we got to pet the koalas and that was so cute! Me and my host brothers spent a fair bit of time down at the river spear fishing, that was fun. We fit in one weekend of camping which was an absolute blast, where we went to a concert a some mountain. I went to a big concert in Sydney with my classmates and that was one of my best memories. But sadly Due to a sickness of my host father we had to cancel some holidays that were planned, which is understandable though, I know I will have many more opportunities to see Australia. Living outback Oz for four months and the rest of the time on the coast isnt something many students get to do. But I have the privelidge of doing so.
I have had visits with other exchange students, I am currently living with my best friend from Canada, we just met a few months ago and I live with her until I move to Nelson Bay in a a few days, previously I was living on a little alpaca/goat farm up in the hills with a lovely couple from Rotary and that was for about two weeks right after Christmas. It was so good living there I really enjoyed it, I helped out with farm work and then it was only a bit of a drive to the beach and I went there a bit. The beaches here are absolutely gorgeous! And the shopping centres are great! I have bought far too many clothes so I will have to ship some home soon. At my next town I really hope to join some sort of sport, maybe swimming. But also one of my goals before I go is to learn to surf! I will do that soon! Sometime in February me and my best friend from Canada are going sky diving! That's going to be so exciting. Also something that is awesome is that I am picking up on the accent here, the other day I was at a party and someone asked me to speak the hear the accent and they reckoned I was an Aussie! I was so excited. Haha. In May all the exchange students will go on something called "The Capricorn Ramble". Its a safari, and we will travel half way around Australia and see so much of it in three weeks. We will be camping and busssing with one plane trip. I am so excited for that!
The holidays here are like the same back home, except they dont celebrate thanksgiving, so I made dinner that night. Christmas was great, my host family had like twenty people over and the family treated me like family. It was as if I had known them my whole life. Christmas was perfect. I didnt get homesick at all over Christmas and New Years.
Although when I moved from Gilgandra, to six hours away to Newcastle for the summer holidays (Just to spend time on the coast) I got very homesick for Gilgandra and it was a rough couple of days but I just tried to stay busy to get over that as quick as possible and also my mom was a big help with that, since she knew exactly what I was going through just messaging her helped me alot.
I cant believe how fast five months has gone by. It will be five months on Tuesday and then it kind of is the down hill trek of me coming home. My visa expires July 5th so maybe I will come home around the 3rd so I will be able to spend it with all the family at our family get together. I have missed them alot, but then our relationship has definately gotten stronger from me being away. I love Australia that much that I am thinking about coming back for college.
It is going to be so hard to leave this beautiful country, I have made so many friends that I know will stay my life long friends. I have so many memories, so many laughs, I have become such a strong, independent, responsible young lady. I have become more open and bubbly, and talking to people and making friends is easy now and I love doing that kind of stuff. This experiance has been a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am one of the eight people that was lucky enough to get sent to this wonderful country and sometimes I still find myself in shock that I am here. But hey, this is actually reality. I have grown up so much from this exchange. I have learned so much and I have done my best to share as much as I know about America and teach people about my home and where I come from and what I do back home. I have done my absolute best to represent The United States of America. I love Australia. Through the ups and downs I have become such a better person from these past five months. If I were to look back on myself five months ago I dont think I would recognize me, as in my personality, the way I look at life now, the way I look at people and new opportunities.
Smile, cause life is so good. Some people don't realize that. I am so thankful for everything Rotary has done for me! I would not be here without Rotary. Doing an exchange has been the best choice I have ever made in my life.
Best wishes to everyone else! I hope all your exchanges are going as well as mine.
This was my Rotary update of the past five months. Hope you enjoyed reading!
Love you all. Miss you!
Bailee Jo
Xoxo
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
SWEET SIXTEEN IN THE LAND DOWN UNDER! :)
It was such an amazing birthday! Finally sixteen, I cant believe! I have accomplished way more than I thought I would by this age. To travel 9,000 miles away on my own, to complete strangers, to live for a year. I have had accomplished in learning to make life long friends, I have learned to be more outgoing, and have took in so much information about this country and have taught many people about back home. I have learned to cope with homesickness and get over that. I have lived, I have loved, I have been hurt, and I have survived 16 years of life. <3
Well for my birthday, I spent it with my Canadian bestfriend, her name is Claire we met a few months ago here and have become very close, she lives near New York back home. Anyways, on Mnday, the day before my birthday Claire and I got all cutely dressed and went to Charlestown shopping centre, its a huge huge mall! So we went shopping for a little bit with a friend and then we were off to a party. It took us two buses and a train ride to get there but somehow we managed. I have no idea how, haha but two foreigners managed! The party was with a bunch of other exchange students, like kind of a goodbye to all the outbounds and to say happy birthday to me. Well that was all good fun, it was a blast so many memories made, so many funny stories to tell, definately started my birthday night off great! Then Claire and I got picked up by some friends and we went for a swim at Redhead beach, which was a forty five minute drive but we got there and that was just a blast, the moon was full and the water was nice, the air was warm, and then I turned 16 at midnight on the beach. Was so good! :)
Well Claire and I went back to hers and we slept and woke up with sand absolutely everywhere from the beach the night before, haha we had only got a few hours of sleep, and then we got up and ready and then went over to friends house to hang out and watch Rambo, that was good then we went to Maccas (McDonalds) for some ice cream and then back to Claires where Denise (my host mum) picked me up and took me to the Rotary dinner that was at a surf club on the beach. We socialized, had dinner, and then went for a sunset walk. It was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, and then me and some friends went for another night swim. The water was so nice again, and that was how I ended my sixteenth birthday in Australia. It was perfect. :)
Even though I was missing family and friends from home and Gilgandra, I pushed through that and made the most of what I could. Which was a good idea because I know I will never forget this birthday.
We are having the cake today that Denise made me, I thought that was very thoughtful of her to do that. :)
I have a busy few days coming up. Shopping and beach tomorrow, Sydney and party Friday, Saturday I move in with Claire for a week! And then another going away party and all next week I will be doing something every single day most likely beacause Claire just doesnt stop. Haha she is alot of fun to be around. :)
Well then it is ten more days until Nelson Bay, I used to be scared about moving, but now I am so excited to make new friends, with the new atmosphere, new families! Very keen! :)
Also I called my family yesterday just to talk to them and hear their voices on my birthday. The first sentance I said," hey how are you?' Brooke (my little sister goes) OMG! YOUR ACCENT! Hahaha and so did the other siblings, Erika reckoned I sounded weird, gee thanks Erik. But I was so excited to know that Im picking up on it! :)
Well that is about all I have to write about this time, sorry I havent been able to post photos, as soon as I have wifi with my laptop I promise I will post photos from the past month! :)
Love you all! Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! Was greatly appreciated!
Miss you all.
Best wishes!
-Bailee Jo
Xoxoxo
P.s. Happy birthday grandma Skinny! <3 Love you!
Well for my birthday, I spent it with my Canadian bestfriend, her name is Claire we met a few months ago here and have become very close, she lives near New York back home. Anyways, on Mnday, the day before my birthday Claire and I got all cutely dressed and went to Charlestown shopping centre, its a huge huge mall! So we went shopping for a little bit with a friend and then we were off to a party. It took us two buses and a train ride to get there but somehow we managed. I have no idea how, haha but two foreigners managed! The party was with a bunch of other exchange students, like kind of a goodbye to all the outbounds and to say happy birthday to me. Well that was all good fun, it was a blast so many memories made, so many funny stories to tell, definately started my birthday night off great! Then Claire and I got picked up by some friends and we went for a swim at Redhead beach, which was a forty five minute drive but we got there and that was just a blast, the moon was full and the water was nice, the air was warm, and then I turned 16 at midnight on the beach. Was so good! :)
Well Claire and I went back to hers and we slept and woke up with sand absolutely everywhere from the beach the night before, haha we had only got a few hours of sleep, and then we got up and ready and then went over to friends house to hang out and watch Rambo, that was good then we went to Maccas (McDonalds) for some ice cream and then back to Claires where Denise (my host mum) picked me up and took me to the Rotary dinner that was at a surf club on the beach. We socialized, had dinner, and then went for a sunset walk. It was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, and then me and some friends went for another night swim. The water was so nice again, and that was how I ended my sixteenth birthday in Australia. It was perfect. :)
Even though I was missing family and friends from home and Gilgandra, I pushed through that and made the most of what I could. Which was a good idea because I know I will never forget this birthday.
We are having the cake today that Denise made me, I thought that was very thoughtful of her to do that. :)
I have a busy few days coming up. Shopping and beach tomorrow, Sydney and party Friday, Saturday I move in with Claire for a week! And then another going away party and all next week I will be doing something every single day most likely beacause Claire just doesnt stop. Haha she is alot of fun to be around. :)
Well then it is ten more days until Nelson Bay, I used to be scared about moving, but now I am so excited to make new friends, with the new atmosphere, new families! Very keen! :)
Also I called my family yesterday just to talk to them and hear their voices on my birthday. The first sentance I said," hey how are you?' Brooke (my little sister goes) OMG! YOUR ACCENT! Hahaha and so did the other siblings, Erika reckoned I sounded weird, gee thanks Erik. But I was so excited to know that Im picking up on it! :)
Well that is about all I have to write about this time, sorry I havent been able to post photos, as soon as I have wifi with my laptop I promise I will post photos from the past month! :)
Love you all! Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! Was greatly appreciated!
Miss you all.
Best wishes!
-Bailee Jo
Xoxoxo
P.s. Happy birthday grandma Skinny! <3 Love you!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
BEACH.
Well the past two days I have spent at Nobby's beach in Newcastle. Has been so good! An absolute blast, I went with some of the exchange students, we all met up. I got plenty of sun though, the first day my whole back side ended up getting burnt then today was the front side, geez just cant win with this Australian sun. Haha, but Im definately going to start wearing the sun screen as I am quite sore today.
Tonight I am staying at a friends house, her name is Laura, she is going to be living in Canada soon this month. Tomorrow Denise is taking me to Nelson Bay to check everything out. Then hopefully Friday Stevie will take a bus over here and spend a few days with me, that would be good!
Birthday in six days. :) Bit excited, except that Im still waiting on my Christmas package to arrive, that seems to be taking ages. :/
Well anyways, the beach was great, I ended up drinking like half of the ocean! Was pretty funny though, and the guys were teaching me to body surf the waves, its like where a big wave is coming and you start to swim into the shore and then let the wave take you in to the shore heaps far. And sometimes your body would just get over taken by the power of the wave and it was just tumbling me around. Haha it was great though, I love the beach and it definately got me excited to be living in Nelson Bay.
I got offered a holiday with one of my exchange student friends to go to Canberra for ten days starting the first of February, so hopefully if I get all the permissions okayed I will be set to go! Pretty keen. :)
Well I guess that's all I have for now, will write soon. Love you all!
Thanks for reading!
-Bailee Jo <3
Xoxo
Tonight I am staying at a friends house, her name is Laura, she is going to be living in Canada soon this month. Tomorrow Denise is taking me to Nelson Bay to check everything out. Then hopefully Friday Stevie will take a bus over here and spend a few days with me, that would be good!
Birthday in six days. :) Bit excited, except that Im still waiting on my Christmas package to arrive, that seems to be taking ages. :/
Well anyways, the beach was great, I ended up drinking like half of the ocean! Was pretty funny though, and the guys were teaching me to body surf the waves, its like where a big wave is coming and you start to swim into the shore and then let the wave take you in to the shore heaps far. And sometimes your body would just get over taken by the power of the wave and it was just tumbling me around. Haha it was great though, I love the beach and it definately got me excited to be living in Nelson Bay.
I got offered a holiday with one of my exchange student friends to go to Canberra for ten days starting the first of February, so hopefully if I get all the permissions okayed I will be set to go! Pretty keen. :)
Well I guess that's all I have for now, will write soon. Love you all!
Thanks for reading!
-Bailee Jo <3
Xoxo
Monday, January 2, 2012
Chapter Two...
Well here I am, over at the coast, half way done with my exchange year. Such a scary thought! It went by so fast. But it has definately been the best six months of my life! So it was on Thursday that I made the six hour bus trip to Newcastle. The goodbyes were very hard, I cried for a few hours, missed Gil and friends and family alot, and got a little homesick. But I brought as much as I could to little town Gilgandra, and it's amazing to see the impact that I have had on so many people. The day I left there were dozens of facebook statuses about me and how they will miss me and that is was so great to know me, made me feel very good to know that I have touched so many lives. <3
I loved Gil to bits and pieces, the friendships and memories that I have made there are absolutely going to stay with me my whole life. I will grow old, telling my grandchildren the great stories of good ol' Gil. Definately holds a big place in my heart.
I would like to thank the Gardiner family again, you guys are such amazing people. Like on the Christmas gift, you are crazy, fun, sarcastic, caring, loving, perfectly imprefect and my second family. <3 I love you all so much, my six months here spent with your family was unbelievable, through the ups and the downs, we made it out with such an incredible bond. Thank you so much, for just being yourselves and accepting and opening your home to a complete stranger for half a year, Time flew by, the goodbyes were difficult, but always will each and everyone of you hold a dear spot in my heart and will stay in contact for ages. Plus! Start saving, cause you will all be flying over for my wedding! ;) Haha love you guys.
So the bus trip was long, but it was good, packing my whole room into three suitcases was a bit hard, had to leave some stuff behind but I managed to get it packed up, I should probably stop buying clothes... Not! Good joke. Haha. Well anyways I got to Maitland at about eight at night and then Denise and Jack picked me up, I was so tired that day that I just got home and went to bed, I was a bit homesick and sad but in the morning I woke up with a new attitude. I decided that Im not going to live in the past, and that I am going to make the most of my next six months cause I know that it will go by way too fast!
So your all probably wondering how the family is? Well they are great people! So nice. It is very quiet around here which is a big difference, haha. But I have gotten used to it. I am living on a farm right now, there are six alpacas, three goats, two birds, and a dog. The house is small but it is so gorgeous! And the view is incredible! We spend alot of time just sitting out the front looking at the view. We live forty five minutes out of the big city Newcastle, so we go into town once in a while. But when were out here the days are full. I barely have time to watch tv! The other day I was helping shovel the alpaca poop into the trailer then into the garden, Ive been helping with the gardening, and taking care of the animals, theyre in the process of building a chicken coop so Ive helped them with that. All has been good, for New Years Denise took me into Newcastle to show me around and we went to the beach. Wow the beaches are so nice! It gets me a little excited about moving to the coast! We also went to the mall to go shopping. That was fun too! Bought some more clothes, haha go figure. And we also watched some people take off on para sails, Ive decided to put that on my list of things to do before I go. So hopefully I will be able to manage that! Looked amazing!
Then for the night time we went back into the city to watch the midnight fireworks over the harbour, they were pretty good too!
These past two days have just been relaxing and helping out around here. Tomorrow and the next day Ill be heading to the beach to hang out with friends. Then Friday, Stevie will most likely take the bus over to spend the week with me! I am so excited about that, and then in just eight days will be my sweet sixteenth! :D Sunday, me, Claire, and Stevie are heading down to Sydney to shop and beach and imax theatre should be a good day! Then stay the night at Claires, theres an exchange student party the next night, and then my birthday where we will get to do whatever Denise reckons. So I am very keen for the next few days to come!
So thats all I have for now, loving life at the moment.
Happy New Year!
Love you all and thanks for reading.
Best wishes, Bailee Jo. :)
Xoxo
I loved Gil to bits and pieces, the friendships and memories that I have made there are absolutely going to stay with me my whole life. I will grow old, telling my grandchildren the great stories of good ol' Gil. Definately holds a big place in my heart.
I would like to thank the Gardiner family again, you guys are such amazing people. Like on the Christmas gift, you are crazy, fun, sarcastic, caring, loving, perfectly imprefect and my second family. <3 I love you all so much, my six months here spent with your family was unbelievable, through the ups and the downs, we made it out with such an incredible bond. Thank you so much, for just being yourselves and accepting and opening your home to a complete stranger for half a year, Time flew by, the goodbyes were difficult, but always will each and everyone of you hold a dear spot in my heart and will stay in contact for ages. Plus! Start saving, cause you will all be flying over for my wedding! ;) Haha love you guys.
So the bus trip was long, but it was good, packing my whole room into three suitcases was a bit hard, had to leave some stuff behind but I managed to get it packed up, I should probably stop buying clothes... Not! Good joke. Haha. Well anyways I got to Maitland at about eight at night and then Denise and Jack picked me up, I was so tired that day that I just got home and went to bed, I was a bit homesick and sad but in the morning I woke up with a new attitude. I decided that Im not going to live in the past, and that I am going to make the most of my next six months cause I know that it will go by way too fast!
So your all probably wondering how the family is? Well they are great people! So nice. It is very quiet around here which is a big difference, haha. But I have gotten used to it. I am living on a farm right now, there are six alpacas, three goats, two birds, and a dog. The house is small but it is so gorgeous! And the view is incredible! We spend alot of time just sitting out the front looking at the view. We live forty five minutes out of the big city Newcastle, so we go into town once in a while. But when were out here the days are full. I barely have time to watch tv! The other day I was helping shovel the alpaca poop into the trailer then into the garden, Ive been helping with the gardening, and taking care of the animals, theyre in the process of building a chicken coop so Ive helped them with that. All has been good, for New Years Denise took me into Newcastle to show me around and we went to the beach. Wow the beaches are so nice! It gets me a little excited about moving to the coast! We also went to the mall to go shopping. That was fun too! Bought some more clothes, haha go figure. And we also watched some people take off on para sails, Ive decided to put that on my list of things to do before I go. So hopefully I will be able to manage that! Looked amazing!
Then for the night time we went back into the city to watch the midnight fireworks over the harbour, they were pretty good too!
These past two days have just been relaxing and helping out around here. Tomorrow and the next day Ill be heading to the beach to hang out with friends. Then Friday, Stevie will most likely take the bus over to spend the week with me! I am so excited about that, and then in just eight days will be my sweet sixteenth! :D Sunday, me, Claire, and Stevie are heading down to Sydney to shop and beach and imax theatre should be a good day! Then stay the night at Claires, theres an exchange student party the next night, and then my birthday where we will get to do whatever Denise reckons. So I am very keen for the next few days to come!
So thats all I have for now, loving life at the moment.
Happy New Year!
Love you all and thanks for reading.
Best wishes, Bailee Jo. :)
Xoxo
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