Starting School Down Under

So today was my first day at Blackfriars Priory School, and it was quite the day!  The principal was out sick, and nobody else has a clear idea of what I'll be doing yet, so I got to experience a bit of everything.  Once the principal gets back we're going to work out a clearer program, but I think it will still involve a lot of different things, which is really exciting.

The school itself is set on a small outdoor campus just north of downtown Adelaide.  The racial makeup of the school is actually really interesting -- there are over 80 different nationalities represented there, so probably just about half of the boys are Australian, while a lot of the others are Afghan, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Chinese, or any other.  Some of the boys are from refugee families, so it's great that they have the opportunity to go to the school.

I started out my day in a Year 10 Religious Ed class; they were learning about the Eucharist, and two of the boys were assigned to talk to me about it.  I think half of the talk was actually about the Eucharist, and I let them have the run of everything else.  They each insisted that the other was mental and that I ought to watch out for him, while at the same time asking me if I'd be their new best mate.  I got plenty of questions, too: "Do you have a wife and kids?  What do you think about the troops in Afghanistan?  Do you know Vinn Diesel?  How bout Jessica Alba?"  It was quite the class!

I got to spend some time in a couple different math classes, too (or "maths" as they call it here) and talk to the boys there, and also refresh my memory about adding fractions and common denominators.  What was really fun was spending time in the Year 1 class, with the boys just learning to read.  I helped them go through lists of words, and then they read to me such literary masterpieces as "What the Pirates Saw" and "I Want New Socks."  They were a great bunch of kids!

A lot of the day I spent in the Learning Enrichment office, where they help out kids with special needs and learning disabilities.  I worked one-on-one with a bunch of the boys in there, which I really enjoyed.  Some of the boys are having trouble reading or speaking, and others just need a little extra help with the math skills.  It's great all the help that BPS offers, and I hope to be really involved in the Enrichment program.

Doing all this different stuff around the school is really cool -- it can definitely help me figure out what I want to do with my life, working in so many different areas.  It looks like every day will bring something new, and it's exciting to see what is in store for me!

First (Full) Day Down Under

Well I've made it through my first full day in Australia!  After getting 12 1/2 hours of sleep, I feel almost recovered from the long journey here -- although as soon as 7:00 rolled around, I felt about ready for bed (which is where I'll be headed shortly).  I went out with Brett today to buy a few things and had my first Aussie mall experience.  Not too different from America, except for the fact that I'm surrounded by accents!  There are some "normal" things around here, like McDonald's and KFC, but there's also plenty of Australian businesses that I've never heard of.  I've been amazed by the simplest things, which makes everything all the more exciting.  I'm still having a bit of trouble getting into the right side of the car, and then not panicking every time I see a car heading towards us on the left side of the road, but I'm sure I'll be used to it soon enough...just so long as I can make an easy transition back to America -- it might be a little disastrous otherwise.

One of the things that really confused me was the coffee down here.  Not only does it cost $4.00 (I miss Dunkin already...although food is generally much more expensive here anyways), but espresso with frothed milk is the norm.  I tried explaining to Brett what coffee for us is like, but I'm not sure he got it.  I'll have to be on the lookout for normal, non-frothy coffee.  

Once we got back to the house, I got a chance to explore the neighborhood a bit.  It's really nice -- it's a somewhat new neighborhood in Sheidow Park, just south of Adelaide.  The houses are all beautiful, and definitely different than American houses.  I could see some hills and the sea off in the distance, which makes me all the more excited to explore South Australia in the coming days and weeks.  When I got back to the house, I played with 3-year old Cooper in his toy room.  He has a John Deere tractor toy, which gives him high points in my book!  He treated me to toast and tea at his little table, and shortly thereafter he wanted to "bang the table" and proceeded to smash it all with his hammer (plastic, thankfully).

                               Some of the hills around the neighborhood -- I can't wait to check them out some more!

Tomorrow is my first day at the school, so I'm really excited to go there and will be sure to let you all know how it goes!

I made it!

After spending almost an entire day in the air and losing out completely on May 27th while crossing the International Date Line, I finally made it to Adelaide!  My first time leaving the East Coast, and I just had to go almost as far as I possibly could.  The flights weren't as bad as I had feared they might be, though.  After an initial doubt halfway through my flight from Boston to LA (worrying that there was no way I could possibly stay on a plane for 6 hours, let alone 15), I made it through just fine.  The flight across the Pacific was definitely disorienting, but the fact that we got free food and drink and I got to watch Lord of the Rings made it much more bearable.  Other than getting delayed in Sydney because of an overly large custom line and my water bottle dripping down from the overhead all over some woman's shoulder, there were no real problems. 

                                         My first view of Adelaide, coming out of the clouds

It feels almost unreal actually being in Adelaide now.  I spent so much time looking at it on Google Earth that it's hard to believe I'm actually here now.  I met up with Fr Mannes and got to know a bit about him and the area, and now I'm at Brett and Reagan's house, where I'll be staying for at least the next two weeks.  I have a really nice room to stay in, with a huge window and my own bathroom.  Although as I sit on my bed, I can feel my head spinning as if I were still on a plane -- maybe that's a sign I should get some sleep and recover.  It is nice to know that I finally have firm ground underneath me!  

Preparing to go Down Under

     Last week I was being interviewed about my Fr. Smith Fellowship, and the woman asked me: "What do you hope to bring back from your time in Australia?"  The first thing that came to my mind: a koala.  I told her this and she laughed, but I don't think she realized that I was serious...

     It's hard to believe that just 24 hours from now I will be boarding the plane at Logan Airport that will begin my 6-week journey to the Land Down Under.  The time certainly crept up on me!  As I sit here now with my dog, having enjoyed what may be my last Dunkin Donuts coffee for the next 6 weeks, I'm trying to imagine what these weeks may hold.  It's been a long time in the planning, from the first stages of emails and proposals to being blessed with the Fellowship I received to actually preparing to embark on the journey that awaits!

     I'll be spending my time in Australia in the city of Adelaide, working at the Blackfriars Priory School, an all boys Dominican-run school.  The school is home to 1000 students between the ages of 5 and 18, and I'll be working in the Chaplain's office and helping teach Religious Education classes.  Fr Mannes Tellis, OP, the chaplain at Blackfriars, has been working on a program for me there, so it will be really exciting to see what he will have me doing.  I'll be staying with one of the teachers from the school, and as Fr Mannes said, I will be "shared around" and possibly staying with more than one different family.  What a great way to really experience life in Australia!

     I can't wait to work with the boys of Blackfriars, and I'm equally excited (or maybe more so...) to see kangaroos, koalas, and all that Australia has to offer.  This will certainly be an adventure, and I hope that you can follow along with me on my blog!