Holidays At Last!

Hey everyone!!

We're officially on holidays! That three week break we've been dreaming of for the last while has finally arrived, but that's not to say we haven't enjoyed the ride.

We went to another Sydney Swans AFL game on the 20th against Collingwood, which is a suburb just north of Melbourne. Until there were about 10 minutes left, the game was really close and exciting. Sydney had a one point lead going into the 4th quarter, but Collingwood came on strong and ended up winning by about 24 points; not so close after all! Still, Luke, Tamara, Leah and I enjoyed a night out focusing on something other than school even for just one night. To continue a relaxing weekend, we headed to the movies to see The Hangover at the Geroge St. cinemas. It was hilarious!! Definitely recommended to all of our friends back home who have not yet seen it.

Leah wrote her last of 4 exams on the 23rd, all of which she feels confident went well and will no doubt provide a passing grade in each course. She was a little too exhausted to really let loose and celebrate Tuesday night, but the girls met for drinks later in the week to let the feeling of a semester completed sink in.

I had my last day of placement at Gymea Bay on Friday the 26th. While it does feel great to be on a break, I am going to miss those kids and that school! The kids gave me a few cards to remember them by, pieces of chocolate, all of which was capped off by a surprise party just after recess on my last day. The kids brought in chips and chocolate, and wrote all kinds of messages on the board for me to read. It was really speecial, and it felt great knowing that in 6 weeks with them, I was able to make that sort of an impact on them.

Yesterday (the 28th) Leah and I went to Tamara and Luke's for a bbq!! Something we haven't had the luxury of doing on our own since we don't have access to a balcony. Sausages and kebabs never tasted so good! Mixed in with some drinks and a chocolate cake, I would say we celebrated in style.

For the rest of the break, we have plans to tour around a bit, buy a few things for our apartment or things we may need for school or work in the near future, but mostly just realxing and waiting for Brent and Wanda to arrive and head up north to check out the Great Barrier Reef and plenty of other fantastic sights while we bask in the 28 degree heat and sunshine!

Trusting that everything is going well at home with you all,

Take care,

Jeff and Leah!

The Countdown Begins!

Hi Everybody,

Here we are in the middle of June and the countdown to the end of school work is officially on! I got through all of the assignments for uni just fine; haven't got any marks back yet, but I'm confident I'll be successful. I've already had my first week of placement back at Gymea Bay Public School with my 4/5 students. The first week back was pretty easy going; Tuesday the room was getting new carpet so I had a day off from teaching, then Wednesday I volunteered to manage a team at an Aussie Rules Football event for some of the students at the school, so again, another day off from teaching! Thursday and Friday though, I taught multiple lessons both days and enjoyed it and am getting ready for a week that should be full of teaching.

Leah had a study week last week, so she spent her days with her friends studying and getting ready for her exams which start this week. She's also got an assignment due, but is putting the finishing touches on it as I write.

Last night, we took a break from it all and headed down to Wollongong dressed to the 9's for the Uni Rugby Ball. Everyone had their black and white on and sat down for a very tasty dinner and dessert, and of course the best part... all you can drink! lol. When the forks were put down, the dancing started and everybody appeared to be having great time... our first of hopefully many parties to come down in the 'Gong.

The weather here is making us miss the Canadian summer. The so called "winter" down here has been a chilly 10-14 degrees most days. The temperature isn't bad, but the wind chill makes it seem colder than it actually is. The good news is, this weather is only around for a few more weeks, and then come August it will start to warm up again... so our little space heater will do the job for now.

We trust everybody back home is enjoying the heat! We miss you all and think about you all every day!

Thinking especially of Lindsay and Ben who tied the knot yesterday! Congratulations you guys! Wish we could've been there to celebrate!

Take care and keeping checking in to our blog for more updates!

Cheers!