JDMcDsblog

Flight Glasgow to Dubai

Setting off from the house at 12.00 which was great timing as I hate early mornings but didn’t have to wait too long. Slightly panicked moment as the bomb disposal unit passed us in the car on the way to the airport but no signs of it when we got there so all was good. In good time for the plane and met Michael at check in. 27kg of luggage later we stopped for a coffee and waited for Mr McDougall to wave us off. He arrived just in time and we went through the fancy new security to our gate. We didn’t have very long to wait after purchasing magazines – Heat and Look J – and too much water to drink in the seven hour flight before having to dispose of it at security. Settled down on the plane next to a very nice lady who was heading for Swaziland to help with jewellery making, she was really chatty and was good company. Watched the Hannah Montana movie J was actually pretty good and was nice and cheery for the prospect of a long flight ahead. They then served us dinner – chicken with veggies and potato dumplings with salad and really good strawberry cheesecake. Also watched Bride Wars and Confessions of a Shopaholic which were both pretty good and I’d wanted to see them for ages so it was a good selection!! We flew in over Dubai which sparkled in the night sky. The motorways looked like lit up mirrors with a vast area of mysterious black. Couldn’t see anything of note, would have been amazing to see the Palm island from the air but no sign of it, perhaps when it’s light on the way home. Dubai airport was surprisingly smooth, you go straight from the plane to a security desk and the queue was really small and they didn’t mind that I had two bags or that my laptop was still in it’s bag and they didn’t even ask for toiletries  in a bag, pretty relaxed really which was kind of surprising J We had about half an hour in the departure lounge which had so many shops it was hard to tell where to start but the signs above each shop told you exactly what was inside – WATCHES, GOLD, TOYS… – but we just went to ‘Pulp’ which is a smoothie bar which was all we really felt like at 1 o’clock in the morning. Despite this early arrival the airport was buzzing, I think the 37 degree outside temperature had herded the nocturnal inhabitants of Dubai inside. We soon embarked on the 7 minute walk to our gate but it only seemed to take around 3 so they must expect you to be a tortoise or just be distracted by the glimmering shops en route. Managed to find some wifi at our gate so got to log onto facebook for a wee bit.

Tuesday 14^th July 2009

Flight Dubai to Melbourne

Then boarded the plane (only 13 hours between us and Australia) and we were sat in a two so was much easier to get out into the aisle. It was the middle of the night already but they served us breakfast and I had a little of it while watching Madagascar 2, although fried food at 4 in the morning isn’t great. The lights were dimmed and the led stars on the ceiling came on which was a nice touch to make you fall asleep. I apparently slept for ages but I’m not very sure, I’m guessing around 5 and a half hours but I then watched 102 Dalmatians and fell asleep about 20 minutes in!! I watched Prince Caspian as well and lunch was served, beef stir fry with rice and elderberry brownie which was amazing J Then waited for the toilet for about 15 minutes as someone decided to get changed and I think then fell asleep, they were ages… And when I finally got into one the hostesses were clearing the lunch plates and it was another ten minutes waiting for them to finish resulting in major congestion in the galley as I think every member of the crew was there and 3 trolleys but finally got back to my seat and by that time we were flying over Adelaide so almost there. The 13 hours passed really quickly and my ears were surprisingly fine so I’ve avoided being deaf for the next few weeks. Got through customs and quarantine really swiftly and Emily and her dad were there to meet us at arrivals, it looked so like the arrivals in Love Actually but everybody was staring at you as you walked past which was a bit embarrassing as no one looks their best after 20 hours of flying. We were at the car at around 11 and started on the 200 km journey to Shepparton. We stopped off for a drink but the journey went quicker than I thought and after almost falling asleep we arrived in Shepparton. It reminded me of the towns in California with rows of shops with coverings on the pavements and some bigger industrial areas but it looked nice. It wasn’t long until we got to Emily’s house which is in Pelican Court, next to Kingfisher avenue! It was really chilly when we got it but they have heating straight into every roam so it was toasty in no time J I just looked out my pyjamas and got into bed. I have my own room with a nice wardrobe and wee chest of drawers. Got to sleep pretty quickly as I was exhausted but glad to have finally made it.

Day Two

Wednesday 15^th July 2009

Woke up at about seven to go to the bathroom but couldn’t get back to sleep for ages as Emily’s dad and brothers were up and about getting ready for school. Finally dozed off again and slept in until 12.30 when Emily and I went into school. The school is really modern and every department has it’s own building which are all irregular shapes with big colourful canopies over the walkways. There are two lakes and a Emily’s locker which are so useful as you don’t have to carry anything round with you and you can leave things overnight, a definite suggestion to Mr McDougall!! We had a look in the tuck-shop which is basically the lunch room but it was really cool and had lots of home-baking J We met Mr Humphries just outside reception but he wasn’t expecting me until Thursday so I will officially arrive tomorrow when Michael will come too. The year 10 had a talk about study skills in the main hall but it was really informal and you could sit on the floor if you wanted which was pretty neat!! We sat in on the last hour of that and the guy told us about sleep and how important it was for adolescents but it just made me want to go to bed!! I did learn that I have 45 hours of “sleep debt” each term but that “binge sleeping” in the holidays won’t make up for it so I’m not really sure how you are meant to solve it as your brain can’t cope with going to bed hours earlier, you’re limited to 10-15 minutes but I may give it a go next year!! Emily was then coaching year 6 netball on the outside netball court. They also have an Astroturf hockey pitch and a giant games hall with a very shiny floor which had just been polished. There was dance practice going on in the hall for their Debutante ball but Emily isn’t participating in the formal part. The coaching finished at 5 by which time I was pretty cold and was ready to head home. We stopped off at the supermarket on the way home for essentials and saw Michael with his “mum”, he had woken up at 8 in the morning and by six o’clock at night was struggling to stay standing and awake. Final stop before home was the cinema to book tickets for Harry Potter on Friday night so I can’t wait J We then had some dinner and I unpacked but was still really tired so went for an early bed and watched Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging while filling out my diary. I discovered that they do have the film here as some of the girls at netball were saying lines from it and dancing along to the hand shake from the movie!! 

Day Three

Thursday 16^th July 2009

Woke up at 3am so clearly my body clock has not adjusted to the southern hemisphere yet. Filled in some more diary and played a few games to distract me a bit as I am not very good at getting back to sleep. 5.42 and I’m still awake having played a million games of solitaire. I’m now hungry and no more tired. I also only have a 22% success rate which is not very good having played 18 games I’ve won 4… 6.12 have eaten something but still not at all tired and losing badly at minesweeper. It was finally time to actually get up so I ate some breakfast while watching the news which is nice to know in a foreign country!! We leave for school at around 8 and there was ice on the car – it felt just like home although their ingenious solution is just to pour a bucket of hot water over it… The journey only takes ten minutes which is really good compared to some people who live an hour away out in the country. The first class is science which they still do combined but it’s physics ay the moment and they’re doing stuff we did ages ago so we all just chatted. I then went to visit Mr Humphries and he introduced us to the head teacher who is really nice, doesn’t really seem like a head teacher he was quite informal and nice. We also had a look round the library which is so nice it has millions of computers and beanbags and huge comfy sofas. I then went back for a wee bit of science and the teacher came from England and she’s also my form (tute) teacher so she was asking me bout Scotland etc. Recess involves mainly walking to and from people’s lockers and munching on something but it’s 10 minutes longer than at home so that’s always good! I then went to PE which was so much fun their teacher Mr Shrek (looks exactly like him!!) set up a series of games with 4 way volleyball with a giant beach ball, continuous softball where if you all end up at the same base you have to run with each other, something with kicking a football and running to the other side, a mixture of cricket and dodge ball really!! There was also a tennis/cricket game but I kind of failed at that one but it was really good fun and warmed me up a little. It was then lunch time, periods are only 50 minutes so they have lots of doubles. Lunch is really just sitting on the benches and chatting which is great although Emily is often busy with band or choir rehearsals so I might go and watch some of them next week. We then had double psychology which was something different, we were talking about variables in experiments and hypotheses which seemed a bit sciencey but it was good to experience a new subject. There was also a game where you had to read the aim of an experiment and then say either the independent or dependent variable which wasted about an hour so that was good!! School finishes at 3.20 but Emily helps out with assembling the chairs for assembly on Friday mornings, not sure why but they thought it would be an easier job than it is!! It took us quite awhile but we just played on the trolleys that move the chairs around and there were lots of us to help so I think it was easier than we thought!! WE were done by about 4.30 but it was parent’s evening and Emily’s dad is a maths teacher so he was waiting behind at school so a friends, Riley, took us home. We sat down to watch Transformers as Emily said, although it’s a sci-fi action film it’s actually pretty good. It was but I got really cold and tired and ended up going to bed at about six for a nap. I ended up sleeping right through until seven in the morning. I think I finally got rid of my jet lag J

Day Four

Friday 17^th July 2009

Woke up finally feeling awake. Getting into a usual morning routine of breakfast shower dressed leave which is basically like home so it’s not too hard adjusting, although 7.00 starts are a slight shock to the system, one of the only things jet lag has actually helped as it’s easier to adjust if you’re confused anyway!! Set off to school at the usual time, the sun is out every morning but just at the level of your eyes in the car so I’m blinded the entire journey. We drive through a rural part with farms and a couple of industrial sites. There is one farm with rescued animals and I was a camel (not exactly sure what it was but it definitely looked like a camel…) emus and wallabies it was so cool to have such iconic Australian animals on a farm next to the school!! The school is very quiet for about 5-10 minutes and then the buses arrive and it fills up so quickly, almost everyone gets the bus to school, especially all the people who live out in the wilderness!! We go to tute for 10 minutes and then on Fridays it’s assembly day. Their assembly is so funny, they try to be very official by announcing “please stand for the assembly party” and then they sing the national anthem!! There was an induction of new primary house captains and school leaders, the cutest girl was appointed a leader she had the biggest smile and the craziest curly hair she was so cool!! They then had a prefect speech which I think is a sort of competition but she spoke about horses and how their relationship with humans can be reflected in our relationships… it sounded very like a hutchie speech but there was a funny video clip at the end of a donkey aspiring to be a horse which won us over J Mr Humphries then introduced us, we didn’t have to get up or anything which I was so thankful of!! Although he said my name was Tia Donald but people I was talking to didn’t seem to hear and knew how you actually say it! The head teacher also told us about some government funding they are getting. They have received over $2 million to build a new year 10 area and new primary building, which seems fine at the moment it’s insane but they said it’s the first time they’ve ever got as much funding so it doesn’t seem as bad but the school is so nice already and we’re wasting our own money on the sports track… LThey then sing their school song which is very cheesy and has their school motto in almost every line – I think it’s Semper Ulterius, it means always further… but in the middle of the song they shout out the house names and it’s so scary if you don’t know it’s coming because they’re so loud!! It’s still so much more informal as everyone just leaves as they please as opposed to us going out in strict rows and in silence – I prefer the relaxed way!! First class was geography which was good as I could follow what they were talking about. They were studying urban sprawl and we were just looking at maps of Melbourne and how it spread out. We are going on a field trip to the docks of Melbourne on the 31^st which will be interesting but we have to be at school for 7.30!! We’re going on a boat ride round the area and then just a bit of free time with some tasks to do, it’s a really short trip because it takes so long to get there but it should be good. At recess we made our lunch orders which is a really smart system where you have an envelope with your name and year etc and you write what you want for lunch on it from the menu for that day. After recess was I and E which is industry and enterprise but it is basically a lesson where they do all the careers and university tests and research in the internet which is a really good idea as it saves having to do it at other times and gives them a lot of time to work on it. They have a system that is really like our Futurewise with pointless tests that magically decide what job you are going to do. Emily hates this though as she knows she wants to be a physiotherapist and has chosen two university’s in Melbourne she’d like to go to so she’s set! It was interesting that they only investigated courses in Victoria but I think it’s got a very good education system and almost every course you could think of will be available somewhere so there’s no need to go any further a field!! The second period of our double was in a classroom, we had been in the library, so no computers but we learnt about the Victorian education system and how all their exams work which was helpful as it’s really confusing but I think she only did it for our (Michael was in the same class) sake as I’m sure the other’s knew about it but they’re starting their subject choices soon so they did a bit of that as well. it’s so weird the main language they offer is Indonesian, it sounds so exotic compared to French… J If you have ordered your lunch you get to skip right to the front of the queue and collect your order first. I had a toasted foccacia which was really good and it was nice to have something warm! It’s such a good system I am definitely making them introduce it at home J We had a wander round school going to various lockers and chatting on the picnic benches. Had one period of science in the afternoon but I just chatted to Deni and we did absolutely no work, sounds very like Chemistry!! Final class of the day was English and they’re studying the Merchant of Venice so we just watched the end of the movie but I spent the whole time trying to remember what was happening from second year, was slightly confused. We hopped on the bus in to town which didn’t take too long but it’s a busy school bus that collects people from most of the schools in Shepparton. We got off at the Mall, they call it down the street!! J We got changed in mini shopping centre and had a bit to eat in Gloria Jean’s coffee shop and headed to queue for the cinema 45 minutes early J we were second in the queue but it filled up really quickly so we were glad to be prepared. Harry Potter was amazing I love it sooo much J We wandered round the town for a wee bit after the movie and headed home. Emily’s best friend Deni stayed over as she lives really far out of town and we stayed up chatting for ages, didn’t go to bed until about two!! We also kept reminiscing the funny parts of Harry Potter and giggled all night J

Day Five

Saturday 18^th July 2009

Emily had to go to netball at about 8.30 this morning, she’s so busy, she’s umpiring a game, then coaching, then playing, then coaching again and then playing a hockey game!! I went on facebook and msn for a wee bit and caught up with Hazel and Rachel and got to e-mail home etc. Still in bed at 11.30 watching She’s the Man but Deni’s still asleep so I’m not that bad!!