New sayings and words in Australia

Hello Everybody,

In this post I am going to talk to you about the words and sayings that are different in Australia. By the way, this was a suggestion for a post from Elham. There are lots of different sayings and words in Australia. They also pronounce words differently but that is hard to write about. I will list the new words and sayings and what they mean below:

Give it a go means to give something a try or have a turn at doing something
Mate means friend
Jumper means sweater, sweatshirt or light jacket
G'day means hello
No worries means no problem, it's ok, and your welcome
Orright means all right
How ya goin'? means how are you?
I reckon means I think
It's all sorted means it's all figured out
Bathers means bathing suit
biscuits are cookies
icy poles are popsicles
lollies are candy
rock melon is cantaloupe
silver beet is swiss chard
Grade 4 means 4th grade
Prep is Kindergarten
Maths is math
Sport is sports
PE is called sport
runners are sneakers
tracks or trackies are sweatpants
primary school is elementary school
college is middle school and high school together
Uni is what we would call college

That's all I can think of right now. But, I find out new things every day so will report any new words or phrases when I post next. If you post a comment, tell me which one is your favorite!

Love,

Maddie

Mebourne Museum and Playground

Hi Everybody,

I would like to tell you about my visit to the Melbourne Museum and the playground nearby. First of all, Melbourne Museum is a big beautiful building with lots of designs on it. The playground is pretty cool too. The first two pictures you see here are from the playground. The first picture my Mom took of me and her at the playground. We are smiling because we are having fun. The second picture is of me and Isaac when we just came down the slide together. We had a lot of fun at the park. It had a cool slide and teeter totter and really cool play structures too. We met a nice family too. Isaac played with Ezra, a four-year-old boy who goes to the childcare (they call it creche here) next to our school!! How funny was that? Meeting a family that lives near our school at Melbourne Museum!! Ezra's is going to be a big brother soon. His mother is having a baby in January.

The next three pictures are from the Museum. The Museum is divided into sections but we didn't get to see all of the sections yet. First, we visited the gallery where people could make their own deep sea creatures. Isaac and I made cool creatures. The nice man who was a volunteer made us these pterodactyls that we are holding and flying in the picture. They are origami that move! Totally cool!! Then we went to the Aboriginal Art Gallery. It had movies of people talking about the Aboriginals and it had lots of tools and other things that the Aboriginals used including didgeridoos, which are instruments that look like a big long hollow pole that is usually decorated. You blow into the top of the instrument and it makes like a low and deep sound. It is a little scary because the sound is so low and deep. It is a little haunting but it is sorta beautiful too. It's really different from most instruments I've heard before. There were also spears in the exhibition and paintings. From the movie, I learned that how the people from Europe who came to Australia interacted with the Aboriginal people who were here in Australia already. I learned the differences between tools that each community used to write - the Europeans used pens to write on paper using words but the Aboriginals used a tool made of a tooth or a sharp edge or point to carve pictures and stories into rock. I learned that these communities have their differences but they are trying to work together. We didn't take any pictures in that gallery since the lights were lower there and we were not sure if it was ok. The second place we went to was the Children's Gallery. The children's gallery was a big cube with different colors as you can see in the picture. In the courtyard we played hopscotch, ring toss, hoola hoop, and jump rope. We also jumped on squares that made music. They were fun because whenever you stepped on a different square it would make a different sound. It was really cool and great for kids!! The last place we visited me and my Mom visited (Isaac was being a pain in the patoot) was the Forest Gallery. There were big windows where you could see under water and see fishies and plants that grow under water and the the algae and stuff like that. And there were different windows where you could see frog, lizards, skinks, toads and snakes. There were also lizards on the path!!! I thought it was pretty strange to have a forest in the museum!! It was so unusual so I think that was pretty cool. I am standing next to the tall trees that had been burned in one of the photos. I think that the Museum and the playground were really cool and I hope you enjoyed seeing the wonderful pictures that my Mom took and the descriptions that I made of the Museum and playground.

Love you all,

Maddie

Visting Sydney and meeting Robi, Art, and their family!

Hi Everyone,

I would like to tell you about my visit to meet Robi, Art, Harper, Coco, and baby Gil. My Uncle Josh and Aunty Joy sent my Mommy a message giving us their email so that we could meet them while we were in Sydney. Robi and Uncle Foffy were in Japan teaching English together. Harper is the oldest child with the red shirt. Coco is the one with the green shirt and is the second child. And, of course baby Gil is the smallest little baby sleeping in his stroller. He was only a week old when we visited! He slept the whole time we were there. My Mom says I never slept like that!! Isaac and Coco had Halloween costumes on - Isaac was dressed in the monkey costume and Coco was the froggy. I actually put on the froggy pants and they went up to my knees and made everyone laugh!! I had fun! They are a really nice family and thank you Uncle Foffy and Joy for setting us up to meet them. We've met so many nice people through our friends and family.

Don't forget to check my other post on Sydney below!!

Love,

Maddie

Visiting Sydney

Hi Everybody,

I would like to tell you about my awesome visit to Sydney. The first picture is of me at Bondi Beach. The beach was really pretty but the water was cold! It was a really hot day, so the water felt nice. There were these surfers who were getting knocked down by the strong and big waves. You can see in the picture how beautiful it is. To get to Bondi Beach we had to take a bus which was really hot inside. But it was really pretty to see different parts of Sydney on the way to Bondi Beach. The second picture is of my family in front of the Opera House. My Mom asked this really nice man to take a picture of us. He was nice to take this picture of all of us in front of the Opera House. The Opera House was probably one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire world! It was amazing! Have you ever seen something that big and with nine cone-shaped buildings? The Opera House looked different depending on how you looked at it. At night it looked bigger and from different angles (from a ferry we took) it looked like a big boat. But, at other times it looked like big white birds and sometimes even clouds. I think it's one of the most amazing buildings I've ever seen. I hope you enjoy the pictures we are sharing. The next picture is of fireworks over the Opera House. My Mom took this amazing picture. We were at the Botanical Gardens looking out at the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge when all of a sudden these fireworks started going off over the Opera House!! It was so beautiful to see all the colors around this big awesome building. My Mom thought it was fantastic to see fireworks over one of her most favorite buildings in the whole world!! Don't you think so too? And, it was a total surprise. We had no idea that they were going to happen!!! The next picture is Isaac taking a photo of the city and Opera House (with my camera) from the ferry we were taking to Manly Beach. Manly Beach was a really cool beach where you could easily play with sand and build castles. The sand was very soft. We had ice cream there that tasted really delicious. It was really cool to be out on the water in the ferry because you could see the Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, and the city from a distance and it looked so beautiful. It took about 30 minutes to get to Manly. Compared to Seattle ferries, it is a little smaller. It only takes passengers but no cars but in Seattle the ferries take cars. The last picture is of me at the Sydney Aquarium. We were in this big tube walkway where sharks and stingrays could swim all around you. I am looking at on the biggest sharks in the exhibit. It was amazing to see all these massive stingrays and sharks swimming right next to you. You could see every part of their bodies, including their mouths! It was so cool. The sharks were enormous. They were probably six to seven feet long (that's my guess). And the stringrays were really the most massive stingrays I have ever seen in my life. I want to tell you about a dinner I had with a family who are friends with Uncle Foffy and Joy. I don't have enough room here so I'll start another post!

Love,

Maddie

More Friends and Activities!

Hello everyone,
I am going to tell you more about our friends and activities!!
The first picture is of our new friends Toby, 7 Stephie, 5 and Kate, 2. Their parents are Jo and Tony (I don't know their ages!) We met them in Palm Cove. We stayed in the same apartment complex. They live here in South Melbourne so they invited us for a BBQ lunch at their house. After the lunch we went to get ice cream and then went on to the beach. In the picture we are eating ice cream having lots of fun! Toby, Stephie, Kate, and I all had vanilla with chocolate and Isaac got plain chocolate.
The second picture is of our knew friend Annette who is a friend of my daddy's colleague. We went to Studley Park on the Yarra River and had lunch and it was a blast. The third picture is of the Yarra River where we went with Annette. It shows the view of the trees and the river from where we sat to eat our lunch (my mommy likes this picture and I do too hope you do). It is very pretty and peaceful but you could also do active things like go canoeing.
The fourth picture is of Me learning how to play golf at Alexandra Park where they had a little fair type thing called GIVE IT A GO!!!! We would say "try something new" but here in Australia they say, "Give it a go." They had 35 different sports represented in this big city park (you can see the big buildings behind me while I'm hitting the golf ball!) to introduce kids to new sports. I had a lot of fun learning how to hit golf balls and making them go flying!
The fifth picture is of Isaac playing lacrosse at GIVE IT A GO!!!! Isaac threw the lacrosse ball 48 kilometers an hour!!!!!!!!! We were all so happy including the people teaching Isaac how to play. Goodbye for now but not forever!

Love,

Maddie

Friends and Activities in Australia!!

Hello everyone!

I would like to tell you about some of friends and activities in Melbourne! Today we went to Millie and Tessa's house (and my Mom remembered to take pictures this time - go Mom!) The first picture is of their family - Millie is my age, Tess is Isaac's age, and Chris and Jo are their parents (and I don't know how old they are but I bet they are younger than my Mom and Dad!) The second picture is of Tess and Isaac sitting together on a big bean bag watching a movie after some serious fun in the pool. The third picture is of me and Millie acting goofy and having fun swimming. Their family is really nice and they have a fun back yard with a trampoline, hammock, and a pool! I am so glad the Helde's introduced us to them!!!

The other two pictures are of our trip to Fraus for hot cocoa and crepes with Elya (a postdoc who works with Daddy and is from Seattle!) The hot cocoa tasted like pudding - it was so thick the spoon could stand up in it!!!!! It tasted awesome. Isaac got a hot cocoa and so did Elya and Mom. Daddy got a coffee and I got a crepe. On the crepe there were pears, chocolate and a huge scoop of ice cream!!!! It was rockin!!!!!!! I can't wait to go back.

There is so much more to tell you about. I'll post another message tomorrow night.

Love,

Maddie

Camp Dewar in Bacchas Marsh, Australia

Hi everyone,
I would like to tell you about my camp at Lake Dewar!!!!!!!
The first picture is of me getting ready to go with my suitcase and backpack. The second picture is of me and one of my best friends at my new school Vicky!! We were getting ready to go.
The 3rd picture is of my cabin mates at Lake Dewar. (I am not in this picture I was taking it). The girl on the top left is Miriam. The girl in the top center is Vicky. The girl on the top right is Emily B. The girl on the bottom left is Clodaugh. And the girl on the bottom right is Emily F.














The next picture is of one of the yellow labradors that came to the YMCA camp during the day!! This one is Nalla!! The other one that I don't have picture of is Symba!! They were really fun to play and stay with!!!
And the last picture is LAKE DEWAR!!!!!!!! It is a picture of what I could see from my cabin!! It was very pretty!!!!

What I really liked about camp was that is was the most beautiful place and I did not want to leave! The activities I did included archery, orienteering (finding markers using a map), fun games, fishing, campfire cooking, hut building, Weeribee river session, and kite making. We had a movie night and watched "Night at the Museum"!!! And we did a night walk and theater drama!!! We saw a kangaroo on the nightwalk!! So that is what we did at my school camp!! But I was also exited to come back and see my Mom, Dad, and Brother!!
See ya,
Maddie