Business as Usual

Except for Friday this week was pretty much a normal school week, so don't expect anything too exciting for this post and I haven't really taken any photos either. On Monday I had to be picked up at school early to go to the orthodontist, because I'd bitten off a bracket which had to be repaired. Instead of just glueing the bracket back on, the orthodontist decided to redo my entire mouth and torture me for one whole hour… No just kidding, she actually only added two extra brackets, but I must say it wasn't the most pleasant hour of my week.

After my not-so-enjoyable beginning of the afternoon, I decided to go for a run. Bella didn’t go with me this time, because she had to do some homework. I doubt she’d actually done something by the time I got back but oh well, I had an enjoyable run regardless.

 

Tuesday was just another school day. I had two spares during which I worked a bit on my blog, and unfortunately we didn’t have a practical hospitality lesson either, so that was quite a bummer. The day ended with Chapel, which was a completely new experience for me. All the Year 11 and 12’s went to a little church at the campus, said prayers and sang religious songs. A priest led the entire ceremony, talking about all sorts of religion-related subjects and occasionally reading out extracts from the Bible. It was interesting to experience something like this, because I’m not from a religious background or school so I don’t often attend church ceremonies. I do have to say that I was a bit drowsy after sitting there for an hour, but I reckon I was doing a pretty good job since some others seemed like they'd already fallen asleep.

 

In the afternoon, I had to go to the orthodontist again, because the retainer I’d taken with me from Holland didn’t fit anymore due to the new brackets. I had to get it adjusted but I was only in there for 10 minutes or something, so it wasn’t as bad as the appointment the day before. When we got home, Bella and I talked for a bit while she was doing some homework, and at night I just sat outside with Kaia and Hans (Bella's parents) and chatted with them.

 

Wednesday was a bit of a boring day at school, nothing really interesting happened. After school Bella and I caught the bus to Sorrento, where we had some sushi and then went home because I had to study for my Latin test. However, I didn’t have a lot of concentration so I ended up doing everything except for studying, which left me with heaps to do at night…

 

Thursday was Valentines Day and this also meant Free Dress Day at school! Of course, this wasn't something really special for us Dutchies as our school back home is free dress as well, but some girls here were very excited about it and clearly put a lot of effort into choosing their clothes! In the morning I had touch again, which meant my alarm went off at 5:45 am, and as some of you might know, studying till late and then getting up early is not the best combination for my mood. Especially not when we also start the day with an hour of Chapel. Note that I usually doze off during Chapel on a normal day, imagine what it was like when I was tired. Not so great indeed, so you could say I wasn’t in my best mood in the morning. However, after my Latin test it got better because it went really well! In the afternoon, Do came over to my house so we just chilled until dinner, and after dinner she got picked up by Nay’s dad. We have also arranged for Do to come with us to Melbourne next weekend, so that’s really exciting!!

 

BANKSIA! ARE YOU READY? 
ARE WE EVER!

RED WHITE RED

BANAWARA, BANAWARA, BARRABEE-HOO

ARACATA, ARACATA, ARRACOOPANOO

ILLAWARRA, MITTAGONG, YARRABEE-HA

BANKSIA, BANKSIA, YA YA YA!

 

Now you're probably wondering what on earth you just read, aren't you? Imagine these words being repeated over and over again, shouted out by a few hundred girls, all wearing red shirts, and you get the idea of my very first Inter-House Swimming Carnaval! Yes, Friday was in every aspect different to all other school days so far: no class, school uniforms or anything else you usually do at school. Just three houses competing against each other in swimming races all day: Banksia (BEST HOUSE!!!), Melaleuca (Do and Nay’s house) and Karragaroo (I know that sounds like someone misspelled Kangaroo, but no, I double-checked and it’s really spelled this way).

 

At 8:45 am sharp, every house had gathered on the oval (sports field) and started off the day in good house spirit by boisterously shouting out their war cries for the first time (and believe me, many more times followed). After some pictures, everyone moved to the swimming pool and took place in their stands, which were divided in three: one for each house. The rest of the day consisted of watching races, getting food and lots and lots of cheering. There were some really good girls who swim 9 times a week and participated in lots of races, and some girls who don't swim at all but participated in the daygirl vs. boarders race or participation race. Overall it was a really fun and eventful day, and the most exciting part was that my house won the swimming competition!!!



After school Bella had a life drawing class, so Do and I took the bus to Sorrento and were picked up by Kaia from there. At home we just relaxed and watched some series. At night we went out for dinner to Cardamom Pod (same restaurant we went to the first day I got here) with Bella, Gracey, Hayley, Sophia and Laura. I hadn't met Hayley, Sophia and Laura yet because they go to different schools but it was nice to get to know them and find out a bit about other schools than St Hildas as well. After dinner we got some ice cream at Cold Rock (Bella used to work here) and afterwards Do spent the night at our place.