How ya goin? Hello again from Brisbane!
It’s hard to believe that our trip is already halfway done. We are starting our school placements this week, and we are so excited to get to see how the Australian classroom runs.
We had the opportunity to tour our school before they went on their semester break, and we were blown away by so many different things. Firstly, the campus is massive! With over 3,000 students attending Kelvin Grove State College, the school is separated into primary and secondary sections on campus. As Australia is so warm, subjects can be spread out across several buildings, giving the campus a university feel. We explained how in Canada, sometimes it is too cold for students to go outside for lunch, and our schools are contained in one building. The students at KGSC wear uniforms, which is consistent with most Australian schools. The school has so many opportunities for the students, and we got to tour a lovely Art room and hear about how the Queensland Ballet Academy is located on campus for young dancers to train alongside their studies.
Australian students are sorted into four houses which creates a sense of friendly competition within the school. In KGSC, the four houses were recently renamed Herbert, Lutwyche, Bowen, and Petrie, to connect to Indigenous history in the area. Elders worked with school staff to identify local animals to name the houses after. We were also able to tour the school’s Indigenous Garden which consisted of several yarning circles that classes can engage with. There is also an Indigenous teacher at the school that we are very excited to meet and learn from!
We have also had the opportunity to visit Anzac Square and the Queensland Museum. The Queensland Museum featured an apology message that acknowledged how the museum had been disrespectful towards Indigenous peoples in the past with their collection of objects. There was also a statue at Anzac Square to commemorate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women that have served in the war. We were surprised at how heavily involved Australia was in both world wars. We learned about Annie Wheeler, who is known as the “Mother of the Queenslanders” for her efforts to make contact with Australian soldiers in World War I. She would receive letters from Australians that were concerned about serving family members and created a card index system that would let her keep track of the soldiers so she could provide information to their families.
We have had a lot of educational moments on this trip so far, and we have also been having lots of fun! Some of the highlights include:
- Visiting the beautiful Sunshine Coast
- Holding a Koala at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
- Driving along the beach at Bribie Island
- Watching the sunrise over the city
- Going to Felons, which is the biggest and busiest brewery we have ever seen
- Seeing the Irwins (minus Bindi) at the Australia Zoo (crikey!)
- Getting free cake from a café that our gym receptionist works at
- Visiting Karen’s Diner and having a TikTok of our experience reach nearly half a million views and 67.1k likes (and counting!)
- Gold Coast getaway
- Visiting Movie World and doing a roller coaster that we were scared to go on!
- Trying Fairy Bread
We are so excited to see what the second half of our trip will bring. While we miss everyone back home, we are so grateful to be having this experience and getting to make new friends here.
Talk soon,
Emilie, Lauren, and Sara