Last Night in Oz!

Tonight was our final night in Australia! It was really a really great night, actually. The Dunning family took me and Elizabeth out to a Queensland Reds rugby game, and a great dinner. I think it was an appropriate finale for a wonderful exchange.

The game was really close! One of the biggest players on the team had his birthday today, so many people were really rooting on the Reds. However, they lost by 3 points! It was a bit of a disappointing ending, but since it was so close, the game was super exciting! The poor guy who's birthday it was had the final kick which could've evened the score, but he missed. Then he just sad in the middle of the field and looked sad. SO SAD.

After the game, we went to South Bank for dinner. The restaurant was called Jetty, and it was REALLY nice. I had a garden pea risotto with mint and marscapone, as well as one fresh oyster. The risotto was really creamy and rich, but also light! It was so good! And the oyster...so creamy and briny, it was near perfection!

After the awesome dinner, we took a few pictures (with Miranda's phone, so I don't have them, sadly) in front of the city, and then walked a bit farther down to Nitrogenie for ice cream. For those of you unfamiliar with Nitrogenie, they take ice cream mix and pour liquid nitrogen into it while a machine stirs. It makes the ice cream really smooth, but also made me feel like I was eating poison...weird. It was really yummy, though! Both Elizabeth and I had Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee, a vanilla ice cream with flambeed praline on top. It was good, but the blowtorch nearly melted my ice cream all the way!

It was a really wonderful night, and a really great way to end this great exchange!  I'm so excited to be going home, but so sad to be leaving, too! Overall, I've had such a positive experience here, and I want to come back as soon as I can! Love you, BRISBANE!

Going-Away Party!

Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte and I walked down to Oriel Park with most of our friends for a farewell picnic. Issy and Mercedes organized it, and they brought cookies. Everyone else went to either Sirianni's (a grocery store) or Vanilla Pod (a bakery) to buy something to share. I bought a big slice of caramel coconut cheesecake from Vanilla Pod, and it was SOOO good! We had cookies, chips, soda, ice cream, cupcakes, pretty much any sweet imaginable! We also bought a can of whipped cream to make "Spiders", the Australian equivalent of an soda float. I also covered Felmo in it...haha! It was a really nice afternoon, and I'm incredibly sad to leave all of these girls. 

Tour of St. Margaret's

Hi everyone! I've had a few requests for a visual tour of St. Margaret's, so here it is! 

The Boarding House

The Boarding House is the main part of boarder's lives here at St. Margaret's (obviously). The entry pictured is called the Breezeway, and it leads to the inner "courtyard" of the Boarding House. Both the Health Center and Garden Room are located in the Boarding House, as well as the Dining Hall, Eton kitchen, and Eton Hall. 

The Dining Hall

The Dining Hall is underneath the Year 12 hall and faces into the courtyard of the Boarding House. They serve breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. Only boarders are allowed in. They serve very nice food (although a bit lacking in green veggies). 

Avoca

Avoca is the main classroom building at St. Margaret's. It has three levels, and each year level has their own level for lockers. Instead of being just for a few subjects, almost all of the subjects are taught here, except for science. Its interior looks a bit like a public school, and classes are all taught at desks. It is definitely a different style of learning environment than Emma Willard. I have enjoyed all of my classes here, though!

Chapel and Garden

Boarders have Chapel every Monday night. The services range in formality and content, but most of them have been about Lent this term. The garden was just finished a few weeks ago. It has a purgula walkway, water feature, and putt-putt course. It's really easy to walk from Avoca to Eunice now, instead of having to walk around the Boarding House!

Eunice Library

The Eunice Science and Resource Center is named after Mother Eunice, the head nun. The upstairs part of the building is the Library and Independent Learning Center (or ILC for short). The downstairs part houses the science labs and the walkway down to the pool. Charlotte and I spent all of our spares either in the ILC or by the giant picture window at the back of the library. It has one of the best views of Brisbane!

Arts Center

The Arts Center is one of my favorite buildings on campus! It's where we rehearse for Elevarsi and have events. I just really like it because it gets great natural light! The top level, called the Arts Center Foyer,is mainly used for events or staff meetings. The levels below that are all art classrooms. The AC and Eunice connect through one hallway underground. Very cool.

Mooloomburram

I really hope that I spelled that right! Mooloomburram is the main administrative building on campus. Ms. Curtis and Ms. Cohen (the principal and deputy principal) both have offices there, as well as the schedulers and assistants. The building is called a Queenslander, a style of house that is meant to keep the house cool in the oppressive Brissy heat!

Supply Shop/Laundry

Last, but not least....the Supply Shop and the Laundry! The Supply Shop is where we get our uniforms, as well as notebooks, textbooks, Panamas, and pins from! The women who work in there are incredibly nice, and were really dedicated to making sure that Charlotte and I had everything we needed! The Laundry is right around the corner from the Dining Hall. It has little metal chutes in the wall so that we can sort our laundry correctly. After about two days, your whole load is ready for you to pick up! Each girl gets her own cubby and hanger space for her fresh clothes. The big blue bins are for Sheet Day (every Thursday), where we strip our beds and then get clean linens. Sometimes, it's a drag to have to wait a few days for laundry, but overall, I'm glad that we have the service!

Tomorrow is our last day here at St. Margaret's. It's been one wild ride of experiences after another, but even thought it's been really tough sometimes, I'm so glad that I came here. I'm spending the last few days at the Palmer's house, and we fly out on Sunday! I'm so excited to be going home, but very sad to leave. And I think that's good.