Hi friends!
Life lately over here has been flying by since I returned from my trip home. I just finished my first full week of school and boy am I tired.
I have a class full of 28 sweet fourth graders and it feels so good to be back in my own classroom… BUT it’s currently the middle of summer on the East Coast of Australia and our AC has been broken for weeks!
The first week and a half have consisted of us shuffling around the school looking for reprieve from the heat (we have no ceiling fans and zero breeze). It’s made for a pretty chaotic start to the year. What’s really crazy is that there are plenty of schools in Brisbane that don’t have air conditioning at all! It makes me have a whole new level of respect for those teachers (ahem Emily Anne).
It has made for an excuse to enjoy this childhood treat in class. They call them ice blocks here and at first I thought the kids were talking about literally gnawing on giant ice cubes at lunch.
While I’ve been sweating it out at work, Travis has been abandoning me for work trips right and left. Although I didn’t really envy him when he was on a work site in 44c (over 100f) weather and wearing a net to protect him from the flies.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with my girlfriends at bible studies, lunches, birthday dinners and our monthly girls dinners. I can’t really complain about that. As usual I feel very lucky to have these ladies in my life.
What else has been going on…
The day before school started Travis and I celebrated the Australia Day holiday by taking the ferry to the Story Bridge Hotel to watch the 35th annual Cockroach Races. It was pretty entertaining and as you can imagine the cockroaches did not stay on the track for long. In fact one ran under my dress as I watched!
And it wouldn’t have been Australia Day if Trav didn’t enjoy his favorite Australian treat- a golden Gaytime ice cream bar. Bonus points because we enjoyed it sitting on a park bench by the Brisbane River.
We’ve been enjoying a lot of date nights at home since our schedules have been so crazy. Our favorite is picking up dinner at Standard Market (like Whole Foods) and binge watching Netfix. We’re currently in the middle of The Killing.
We did get out to the movies a couple weeks ago and saw Joy (I really liked it) and sadly I confirmed my earlier self-diagnosis of a coffee bean allergy. I’m officially allergic to coffee and not happy about it (and no it’s not caffeine, I can drink tea just fine).
We’re getting ready (and very excited) for my parents visit in a March. Travis is already gathering winery suggestions for our Barossa Valley trip over Easter. We can’t wait to show them where we live!
What’s new with you? Linking up with See You in a Porridge and GretchRuns.
Alkeks Abroad 
How exciting with your new classroom, minus the broken ac!
Thanks, we finally got it fixed last week!
Sounds like you’re super busy lately! Sorry to hear that you’re allergic to coffee…that’s a bummer! At least you don’t have to worry about getting stained teeth though! Thanks for joining the linkup 🙂
Haha that’s a glass half full way to look at it.
coffee bean allergy?!? SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!!!! you poor poor soul. i love my coffee and wouldn’t know what i’d do if i couldn’t have it!
I know it has been a rough transition going without my daily one, two (or three) cups.
hahaha i never had AC during my entire education. i don’t even think we had fans! i always joke that i’ve never had a snow day, but i think schools closed twice in my childhood due to the heat. ice blocks! hahaha. the first time i said that i wanted one, my brother in law brought me over a bunch of ice cubes. mmm golden gaytime. i swear, first thing i’m gonna do when i land next year is have one of those haha. sorry about your coffee bean allergy! but yay for tea! haha. thanks for linking up with us girl!
That is so crazy! Haha I love that story about the ice blocks. I seriously thought they wanted an ice pack for an injury the first time. Travis is obsessed with Gaytimes, he has to find one every weekend.
A coffee bean allergy?? I didn’t even know that was a thing! You better start looking up teas with the most caffeine in them 🙂
Yeah me neither, so annoying!
Lol, ice blocks! Those are seriously the best. When I nannied last summer in tx we lived on those. I cannot imagine any summer without ac. It gets like 80 degrees and I die. I’m sure you are up in ac too, but maybe if you don’t you just get used to it? So strange it’s the middle of summer there. Hope it cools down for you soon!
They are so good, I need to start buying some for the house! We got air conditioning last week, woo hoo!
YAY! I’m so glad your first week has gone so well! But I cannot imagine not having air conditioning. Like at all I wouldn’t be handling it very well. lol
I cannot wait to hear more about the school in Australia. I love learning about the education systems in other countries! hope you get some cool air in your part of the world soon! 🙂
Yeah I was not handling it very gracefully but luckily it was finally fixed last week!
It sounds like y’all had so much fun celebrating Australia Day but I definitely don’t think that I would’ve been able to handle the cockroaches! Gross! I also can’t believe that some schools don’t have air conditioning! How in the world do those teachers survive!!!!
Exactly! And it gets like Houston humid/hot in the summer!
haha I have heard of golden gaytime – what a weird name haha! And wow teaching/going to school in that heat must be very difficult! I remember as a child going to school until June in the heat of Montreal and it was difficult, but thankfully it usually only lasted a few days/weeks!xx
It’s crazy, today they had to stay inside for recess because it was too hot. Luckily our ac was fixed last week or that wouldn’t have been any better.
This made me think back to my days teaching in Madrid with no AC … the worst! Literally just sweating uncomfortably all day … Still I’d trade all this snowy gray weather for some Australia sun happily right about now! My parents also just watched the Killing and are obsessed! I’m going to have to give it a shot! 😀
Yup I gave up washing my hair several mornings because I knew there was no point. So it is probably best for my hygiene that the AC is back and running. You need to watch it, it’s so good!
Yikes- the cockroaches would do me in!
❤ Have Ashley, Will Travel
Haha I don’t actually mind cockroaches because I know how easy it is to squish them. Snakes are a different story…