Sometimes it's good to breathe.

As this week has been pretty hectic the realisation that it is only TWO weeks until the end of the school year has almost, but not quite hit me. 

Just like the realisation that in exactly 10 days I will have been in England for 6 MONTHS. 

But most importantly.... That in 24 days I get to be reunited with the person that makes me smile the most & just quietly it's getting hard to sleep at night, a 5 week European adventure with the best company, is this for realz?! Ah huh!!! 

Tuesday and Wednesday burned me out. I was the sound techie for the year 6 performance of Coppelia. Just sayin..... It was intense. All the lights, all the PowerPoint slides, all the dancing, the singing, and of course that crucial moment where you have to play the music or the creaky door sound effect in EXACTLY the right spot..... What did I come to England to do again..... Because I'm sure I've added more to my list of endearing qualities in the last six months that throughout my 21 years of existence. I am Tonoya the gappie (gap student) aka the Aussie, the 'best drawer in the whole world' (not my words), the coffee maker, the coffee pourer, a tea brewing extraordinaire, the cookie lady, the sponge cake cutter, the getting parents smashed of wine encourager, the server of the cheese straws, the prawn toast holder, the dish washing pig, the mum of the house (again, not my words), the playground duty officer, the teddy bear holder, the lunchbox guardian, the HOVER NANNY (I even have a jacket), the hand holderer, display creator, the walker of children from here to there to everywhere the Ben and Jerry's addict & most rewardingly

A teacher. 

My time spent with the girls makes this journey easier as each day they give me a reason to smile.

Here are some favourites from this week.

A kindergarten student grabbed my hand before play time exclaiming that her foot hurt and she thought she had the tickle bugs..... Aka pins and needles. 

A year one asked me if it was hard being an adult, or maybe just even half easy and half hard. I told her it was hard sometimes because you had to make lots of decisions on your own.

Constant hugs from girls each morning and afternoon.

A kindergarten student standing on the school street corner and screaming out goodbye Miss Cragg as the Hover bus cruised past.

Year 6 girls getting sad that I will be leaving them and them me when they go up to year 7 in the senior school.

Having really lovely conversations with parents who are genuinely interested in what I'm doing.

Getting kisses on the cheeks and hugs of gratitude from David, the year 6 teacher for helping with the play. 

This weekend I plan to relax and have some me time on Saturday (maybe work on the tan) before going to a BBQ with my Geordie girl Abbie and the other junior school staff on Sunday. I'm going to attempt a mars bar and malteser slice with either a pav or a peppermint slice to top it alllll off. Next week is set to be another hectic seven days with the sports day (sports carnival), music festival and the senior school formal which Halle and I are both looking forward too, free food, a blackjack table, a magician and a live band- its a win win win win win situation. 

Although I doubt I will be able to fit any more English travelling in before I leave, I am content to just soak up the delights of Portsmouth and spend time with the very special people that have made my time here, a time to remember forever. 

Harry got hunted.

Although last week was fairly quiet school wise, the usual scun knees at lunch time, playground stories with my favourite five year olds (shhhhhh I don't really have favourites.....), school functions serving wine to parents that seem unable to pour their own glasses and my regular hover nanny duties  I was spoilt on Thursday with one of the best days of my life. 

HARRY POTTER WORLD

Now, I had pretty high expectations. Given that they had filmed at those very studios for ten years.... I had a feeling that a lot of props, costumes and sets may be lurking around the building somewhere..... I was not imagining every single one of the best moments of the films to come to life before my eyes.

There were goblins, there was dobby, Hagrid (not a living version), giant spiders, basaliscs, cardboard miniatures of every single building that appeared, I walked through diagon alley, peered into the griffindoor common room, the weaselys house, hagrids home, dumbledores office, the ministry of magic portal, the moving staircases, the nimbus 2000 and the thunderbolt, I walked through the great hall with the benches set with cutlery and goblets on each side. BUT. The highlight was walking around a darkened corner to find an exact replica of hogwarts castle towering over me. Just taking in all of these bits and pieces that made these movies so incredible was overwhelming enough, but to understand the level of effort that went into creating these magical memories gave me a newfound appreciation. Every scene was painted prior to being filmed, every goblins head was made by hand to perfection, each costume created specifically for each character with over 2,000 cast and crew members making their contribution every one of them crucial to Harry Potters success. 

Not only was it an unforgettable day for me, the girls got just as much out of it and it was really lovely to see their excitement and share it with them every step of the way. 

Friday was very quiet in comparison. Until a new light was shed on Thursdays drama as a sewerage tank leaked above the school office. Mmmmmm poo juice dripping through the ceiling was not ideal, thankfully we had the right people in to fix the smelly situation and the office was returned to its former glory by late Friday afternoon.

Saturday was hightea time at the tenth hole, and boy were we treated to the ultimate afternoon feast. There were cheese and chilli jam sandwiches, fruit scones with jam, cream and fresh strawberries, sponge cake, caramel slice, raspberry macaroons, rhubarb tarts and shortbreads. Oh and I can't forget the enormous pot of tea. I now feel englishly-complete. All that was left to do was sit on the beach until we felt able to walk home, then sunbake in our backyard for the rest of the afternoon. Someone had to do it. 

Today was another day of working on the tan, music in the background, a few sneaky bubbles and preparing for another week of work. 

28 days until my European adventures begin, but who's counting right? :) 

The wind in my sails

This week has been yet another week of firsts, four days on the water learning how to sail!

When I signed up for this placement, I had no idea it would involve such a variety of activities, costume organisation for plays, teaching girls how to speak in proper Aussie accents, drawing, painting and of course..... Sailing! 

The highlights of this week have been.....

Capsizing. It turns out Americans and Australians are not great together in a sailing boat.

Holding on for dear life in a powerboat trying not to fly off the back.

Silently pooing my pants over the size of the local seal colony in the bay.

Eating way too many kit kats.

Actually acquiring quite a nice face and chest tan...... Although everywhere else is still pearly white!

Watching the girls face plant it into the water. Girly girls actually getting their hair wet was so satisfying! Even if they did encourage one of the trainers to tip a bucket of water over my head, lucky I'm such a good sport or I would have made a formal complaint.... Jokes, I'm not that prissy. 

Thursday I took the day off sailing and spent the morning wandering through an art exhibition with the year 3's before having a little painting session (which included the demise of one of my favourite shirts, acrylic paint splattered all up my back + delicate cycle in the washing machine is not a great combination) after all that drama I spent the afternoon watching the girls play in the park and working on my mad English tan before indulging in an icecream and wandering back to school at the end of the day....... Oh what a hard life!!

Friday was the final day of sailing and we headed over to Hailing Island for a picnic by the beach, Halle and I managed to avoid the end of day soaking by the girls which included quite a lot of saltwater and a seaweed fight which resulted in discovering seaweed in places where seaweed should never be found. It was basically a fantastic week that included a lot of laughs and a lot of relaxing which has made the 4 weeks left of classes creep up even faster. 

The end of my week was made even brighter (literally) by a ginormous bunch of flowers FOR ME. Lillies, roses and lupins all in different shades of pink to celebrate the best 6 months with the most amazing man. I will never have enough words to explain just how thankful and grateful and happy I am thanks to MY Harry. If life is this good apart it's going to be unbelievable when we are finally together again.

Today I ventured out for a morning walk, choice of footwear was a crucial error as my thongs have given me the biggest blisters which resulted in me hobbling all the way home. But it was all made better by Jordan and I's lunch time treat as we went out and indulged in some slug and lettuce. Not literally guys, the restaurant is called slug and lettuce. The menu today consisted of a Pimms (an English cocktail with fresh fruit and mint) and....... Wait for it....... A CHICKEN PARMY!!!!!

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

5 months without a parmy has been hard, and taking that first bite almost brought tears to my eyes.

As we slowly walked home the skies decided to part and the heavens unleashed, white tshirt not a great idea...... Hello wet tshirt competition. But, it's all ok, because a week in England of 20 degree days and no rain would have been ridiculous. 

Tomorrow a visit to Spinaker Tower is on the cards and maybe even a trip to the cinema! 

5 days until 5 months!

The 5 month milestone. 

During my 5 months here I have managed to see.....

London

Ireland

Northampton

Bath

Leicester

The Peak District

Dorset

Arundel

Brighton

Chichester

Eastbourne

Winchester

Oxford

Bristol

London take 2

Southampton

London take 3

& Windsor & Eton scheduled for this weekend! 

So far I have managed to complete 6 1/2 of my goals for this year.....

5: I have interrogated several Nandos...... No sign of One Direction.

4: Visited Eastbourne..... Although there were no boats to let loose with the air guitar, I did do a little bit of Angus Thongs & Perfect Snogging soundtrack singing, which I think made up for it.

2: Time seems to be running short & a visit to Jane Austens home in Alton doesn't seem realistic, BUT I did visit her home in Bath & wandered around Winchester, close to her home town, where she is buried so I like to think of that as an accomplishment! 

1: The half comes from the Pride and Prejudice film location goal, as I visited Mr DARCY'S house, Chatsworth in the Peak District.

8: I think I have done well in terms of exploring in England. In another 8 weeks I will be able to check

Greece

Santorini

Mykonos

Rome

Florence

Venice

Nice

Cannes

Monaco

Barcelona

Paris

& even more of London off the list.

6: Ireland was the first of my exciting journeys with my paddywagon extravaganza! 

My 5 months have given me so many incredible memories and allowed me to explore places that I never ever thought I would see. England was always a dream of mine and sometimes it still doesn't feel like a reality. 

Yesterday I was particularly impressed with myself as I took on the train and tube by myself. 

I know I know it probably doesn't sound like a BIG DEAL but I remember how scared and apprehensive I was about the train and tube station when I first arrived..... I had never seen or experienced anything like it! But I just knew that I could do it and I didn't think twice. 

I know that being here is teaching me to grow in more ways than I recognise, but yesterday really made me recognise how far I have come and I will always appreciate this experience for giving me so much that I can't buy, that no one can buy, but things that just come from living & testing & thriving.