“But when they go look, it’s not like the book and they find there is none to compare with beautiful, beautiful Queensland. Out where the wild flowers grow. We’re proud of our beautiful climate where we never see ice or snow”

Hm…. I went to QLD on holiday with the Doubles and I had a really good time.

On our first week there we went to Fraser Island, the most beautiful place of the world Rio is better. On my first day there i just wanted to go to the beach, but when i got there i saw a Dingo sign advising to keep the doors closed and be “Dingo Safe”, i was alone at the beach, so i decided to come back to the pool and be dingo safe there so brave.

2nd day at Fraser Island

Off to the whale watching. It was raining, the sea was rough and they said: If you are sick or if you think you gonna get sick, do not come and try to book it for tomorrow, some weak people came back to the resort, but we stayed there. After a while people started to get really sick, it was disgusting… Okay, now the good part, we saw whales! They were swimming very close to the boat, nawwww

3rd day

We did a tour around Fraser Island, we went to lake Mckenzie, to a beach that we couldn’t swim because of the sharks. Btw, I’m looking forward to go to a beach without any dangerous animal, like stingrays, dingos, jellyfish, crocodiles etc.

On our last night there we went out for dinner, not a normal dinner, an Aussie dinner. We tried kangaroo, emu and crocodile. I have to say that I felt really bad when I was eating kangaroo, poor animal, could be jumping around, happy with his family… Emu tastes like crap… Crocodile is really good, tastes like chicken tho.

 Back to Brisbane.

Sea World & Dream World

I went on a rollercoaster for the firts time in my life. Exciting, i know. I was so scared I didn’t open my eyes. such a girl. But on the others I was alright, I actually was really scared about the Superman one at the Movie World, but I had to go just to say ‘been there, done that’ and, yeah, it was awesome! Oh, and the dolphins at sea world were soooo cute, they jumped so high! I was trying to teach my fish to jump, but he is not that cool…

I bought so many things that I was lucky they didn’t weight my suitcase on the way back. I had to wear 5 jumpers so I could fit 9 soft toys in my bag, I was really hot, I mean I’m hot, I mean the weather.. Wait what? lol (internaljokes) Well, I made it! It was really hard to fit everything in my bag, but I’m awesome. It was kinda oval.

The thing that i liked most about Movie World was the Parade. OMG I’ve never thought that I’d be able to see Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck shuffling, it was so funny! I don’t know how they did that wearing those big costumes, but they were really good. It was amazing! They danced to party rock, yeah 3x, etc.

I climbed the Brisbane’s Story Bridge with my host family, they city is even better when you see it from there. Talking about the beauty of Brisbane, i have to mention the South Bank, OMG that place is amazing! The street beach is beautiful, and the best thing was: it was 7pm and there were some hot guys swimming there. I’m already missing the good weather, Brisbane remind me of Rio, close to the beach, surfers, good weather, young people everywhere… Love that City!

Back to Melbourne

Life isn’t fair, I know. We arrived in Melbourne on saturday night, or sunday morning, whatever… And it was raining and cold, well, welcome to Melb! When I got home I coulnd’t sleep, so I skyped with my friends from Brasil till 7am, then i fell asleep and woke up at 11am..

Sunday afternoon I moved to a new family, the Hamiltons (I went to the snow with them) they are lovely! I have 3 siblings: Kate, Jess & Leroy. Kate went to Brasil last year, so when we don’t want nobody to understand what we’re saying, we just speak portuguese. Jess is always cooking brazilian food with me, we have already made brigadeiro, bolinha de queijo, quibe and pao de queijo, yummy! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I went to the City with my host mum (Celia) and Kate and we found a South American store where we bought those things, we were so happy! ahaha Leroy is my big brother, he is pretty cool, you should watch his amazing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNMeHZM7VE, LOL.

Now I’m living a bit far from school, so I have to wake up at 6:30 and catch 2 buses… Poor me One day I missed the bus stop, it was 5pm I didn’t know where I was and my battery was about to die, fml. I had to catch another bus, but then I got lost again… I decided to call my host Dad and he picked me up from somewhere. hahah Now I’m used to it, won’t get lost again! :)

School is being really tough tho. Sometimes I feel like they don’t care if I’m there or not. I miss my school in Brasil where I talked to everyone, even with those I didn’t know, teachers, principal etc. Here I’m always quiet, they don’t know the real Jacque, the one that is always talking, making jokes and ‘being silly’. I’m not shy. I actually must be the most outgoing person of the world, not really but still… And here at school I have nothing to say, I would like to go out with school friends so we would have something to talk about during school… I don’t know if it’s my fault, but I’m really trying to make friends, I guess I have to try harder, but I don’t know how. When I ask someone out they always have something to do and do not invite me. I dunno, I must be really scary and ugly, that’s why no one wants to talk to me… hahaha. Hm, at least I have the exchanges students with me… They are the most amazing people here in Aus!

Last weekend I had the Rotary Camp, it was really good. We had a costume party on saturday night, the theme was Australia. I was an aboriginal… Lots of fun! The bad thing about camp is that i always eat to much there, the food is so good. ): We are all getting fat, if you compare the pics from our first camp to the pics of this one you will see the difference… Who cares? I do… But when I see that I’m getting fat i get depressed, and when I get depressed I need to eat chocolate. ):

Well, I think I wrote a lot… My life here in Aus is pretty good, I’m loving my new family, still having problems at school, I’m trying not to spend all my money at once, the weather is warming up, I’m sick at the moment. That’s all.

Thanks for reading that! :))

xoxox

Things are getting better, weather is warming up, I’m talking to more people at school and I’m now on holiday! Yeah, after a 8 months vacation in Brasil I had to go to school for 2 months and I’m now on holiday again! ahahaha But only for 2 weeks. I think I can get used to this.

On the 1st weekend of September, I went to the city with the exchange students, it was just amazing! We offered free hugs and lots of people wanted one, a guy came to me and said: “I’m on a shit day so I need a hug!” hahaha a girl was running and screaming I’M GONNA HUG YOU and I was like God help me… lol People asians  wanted to take photo with us, hopefully they didn’t post any of those photos on facebook… Nevermind I’ll find someone like you we’ll never see them again and it was pretty fun. After an hard day of hugging people, we went to Lucas’ and had barbecue, well, we deserved that! haha It was a very good weekend, I love being with the exchange students, they are just awesome “No, they’re not dude don’t lie”.

On sunday I went to the footy with my host family, #GOTIGERS! I really enjoy footy players. hahaha

On the 2nd weekend of September I went to Warrnambool with my host family, they took me to beautiful beaches, we drove along the Great Ocean Road, I saw the London exBrigde , the 12 apostles five and a half etc. It’s a shame that the weather wasn’t good… I really can’t wait for summer! =)

3rd week of September

On Thursday I had an “Art Day” at school and the teacher asked me if I could bring some brazilian food, I don’t know why I said yes… I tried to make brigadeiro but it’s not the same thing without Nescau. I didn’t like it, some people said that it was good, but I think it was just to make me feel better. Hahaha

Friday I played volleyball with the school team, we won! YAY It was funny ‘cause i thought that it was a serious competition, like in Brasil, but when we get there I saw girls playing without shoes, wearing jeans… That was good tho, ‘cause I’m not a good player, I wouldn’t be able to play against a good team! ahahah

Friday Night yeah we danced on tabletops I went to Phillip Island with Cait, Amber, Marie France and Adrianna Swedeen. On Saturday we went to the beach HEEL YEAH and to the Penguin Parade. On Sunday we went to the Phillip Island Wildlife Park and I finally fed kangaroos, wallabies and wombats they are so fluffy, i’m gonna die. After that we went to the beach again! :B What a good weekend! <3 

Tomorrow I’m going to Queensland with my host family. We are going to Fraser Island, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise… CAN’T WAIT! Hope you guys have an amazing holiday! =)

beijo me liga! XOXO

Friday, 15 July 2011

After a 28hours flight, with a pit stop in Chile, just to chill with Muchachos, I’m finally here.

July – The adaptation

Different language, different food, cold, no friends

If you know me, you must know that I love eating. I’m always eating, every time, anywhere, but not everything. That’s your fault, mum!  So I reckon that the food was the biggest problem. Not just because they love vegetables, but also ‘cause here we just have a big meal for dinner, lunch is just a sandwich or something like that. I was missing my rice and BLACK beans. But that’s alright, new country, new culture, new food.

16^th of July – I’m freezing

The weather here is like in Brasil but colder, CRAZY. Sometimes it’s freaking cold, sometime its warm, sometimes its freaking cold again and again and again. But it wasn’t a big problem, I enjoyed it, okay not really, but it was a new experience. I’ve never had a cold winter before.

1^st of July – Started School

The worst day of my life. No one really wanted to know nothing about me, I was alone, didn’t know anyone there, so I started to think about my friends, my school, how far away they are… Guess what? I started to cry.  I didn’t want to come back to school anymore. I thought that it’d be like in Brasil, everybody would come and talk to me, but it wasn’t like that…

-          Okay, July wasn’t that bad. Now I have to tell you about the good things.

I’m living with the Doubles, they are a lovely family. The house way bigger than mine in Brasil, but is not near the beach!  I have my own room, my own bathroom, that’s really good! Ahaha I also have a brother here, but he is younger than me (15), it’s my first time as a big sister!

 I had a birthday dinner with all of my host families, I loved it. I tried to cook brigadeiro (a Brazilian dessert) but I failed. One of my host sisters went to Brasil last year, so I spoke Portuguese to her and I have to say that her Portuguese is really good. I also tried to teach Samba to them, it was fun.

My host brother is a scout, so he invited me to go with him to the Big Burger Challenge, it was fun. We made a huge burger, with vegetables, chicken, brownie,  everything, and we had to eat it. It wasn’t bad I just ate the brownie.   As an exchange student I think I have to join everything, this is something that I wouldn’t do in Brasil, but here is an opportunity to make friends and learn more about the aussie culture.

I went to the footy (AFL, aussie football, it’s pretty much a mix of American football, with soccer and UFC) with Dan, he explained the game to me, I think I got it just blame the umpire if your team isn’t playing well.  I really enjoyed the match! Oh, I also enjoyed my meat pies best junk food ever

I’m lucky because I have the best craziest  Rotary Club ever.  The  meetings are every Thursday. We have dinner together, not breakfast like in Brasil. They are always happy, making jokes, talking about football… I have to do a speech every week, talking about what I’ve been doing, I like it, not just because it’s good to improve my English, but also because is good to know that they care about me.

August – Getting there

Going to school isn’t a huge problem anymore, but I still don’t like it.

I’m doing Maths, Art, Biology, Chemistry, English & History.

Maths is really different, they use the calculator to do everything.  And they are learning some stuff that we just learn at UNI. I hate maths. 

Art is the best class ever. The girls ( Mia, Steph & Rommie) are always dancing and singing and being crazy, i love art! We are making a sculpture; I’m trying to make “Christ the Redeemer” (is a statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro) isn’t very similar, but……  

Biology is the same as in Brasil. I’ve studied the same thing that we are studying now last year, but it doesn’t mean that I’ve learned. Ahahah I usually sit with Rommie and Chelsea, they are soooo funny!

Chemistry is the best subject of the world, I love it! But I have to say that is a little bit hard to interpret the questions. However, I got 31/35 on the test!  8-)

English is okay, not that hard, but sometimes I struggle a little bit to do the essays. But the teacher is helping me, she gives me a different easier topic to talk about.

I love History, is my second favourite subject, and the teacher is amazing!

 I’ve been talking to some girls at school, they are very nice. Some of them invited me to join the soccer team, as a Brazilian girl I should be a good player, but I’m not. At least we had fun!  After one match I went to Stephs house, she is really nice. She told her mum that I don’t like vegetables so we had pizza for dinner ahaha I really enjoyed that.

I went to the cinema with Mia another really nice girl, she is being such a good friend here, always helping and making me feel welcome and we watched Red Dog, an aussie movie! It’s a good movie, i love movies about dogs not the ones that they talk.

The Rotary Camp was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I’m the only Brazilian but this isn’t a problem. I think it was the first here time that I was 100% happy, the inbounds and outbounds can prove it, I was always doing something like dancing, singing, talking, annoying people… I just stopped when I went to bed, but before that we had a “party”, it was soooo fun! Then Anthony told us to go to bed ): ahahah Oh, I have to complain about Dan waking us up with the Bombers theme song, and then he started to talk, we thought that he was in our room so we were like “where are you, Dan?” then we saw the speakers… lol

The inbounds were deciding where they want to go, so I was like BRASIL!! I was trying to make everyone choose Brasil, it didn’t work very well, but one guy is going to Brasil!! YAY! I’m trying to help him (Josh) with his Portuguese, I don’t know if he’ll stay in my house, but I’m sure that he’ll visit me next year!

To know a little bit more about Oz, my host family took me to the Healesville(?) Sanctuary, I saw kangaroos, koalas, emUs, etc. It was a very good day! =)

I also went to the cinema with Mila, the exchange student from Finland, she is such a cutie! The best thing about the exchange students is that we don’t need to see or talk to each other every day to maintain the friendship because when we meet is like we are friends for ages, we always have something to talk about, we understand our problems and we support each other, that’s why I love all the exchange students!

I went out for dinner with my host family lots of times, I ate different types of aussie food,lol just kidding, it was Italian or Mexican… etc… ahahaha

On the last weekend of August I went to the snow with the Hamiltons (my next host family, they are a lovely family), I loved it! I’ve never seen snow before, so it was totally a new experience! I tried to snowboard… I’m really good, just don’t know how to stop, so on the first time that I tried to slide down the hill I thought that I was awesome, but then I started to go faster and faster and I couldn’t stop. Conclusion: I fell. It really hurts. I slide down the hill a few more times, I fell a few more times then I decided to make a snowman yeah, I gave up because I was scared, my host sister Jessie came with me and we made the coolest snowANIMAL ever! We made a snow kangaroo and a snow koala! Ahahah When I got home I couldn’t move my neck, my arms, my legs… but I had a great time! I’m looking forward to go there again next year!

Well, I think that’s all. I’m way better now than I last on July, but I know that it can be better, I’m get used to some things, but not with everything yet. Sometimes I miss my family more than everything, my dog, my friends…  I think about them every day and when I’m sad or angry, they always make me feel better. Every week I send them an email telling what I’ve been up to, I think this is a good way to keep in touch but not too much, so I always have something to tell them and they also have something to tell me.

Sometimes I wish I were in Brasil with my friends, enjoying our last school year, because I really miss them. But I love Australia! It’s such a beautiful country, with lots of things to see and I know that this will be the best year of my life, so I have to enjoy every single minute here. It won’t be easy but I’m sure that next year I won’t want to go home.

Thanks to all of those who helped me during these months; I really appreciate everything that you’ve done!

      Love,

Jacque/Jacquie/Brasil

      Xoxoxox <3<3<3

tadinhooooooooo

HAUAHUAHHAUHAUHAUHUAUHAUHA RIMT

- Expectativa

- Realidade