A bunch of waffle.: January 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Aussie Aussie Aussie. OI OI OI!

Australia Day was a success.

Monday, January 25, 2010

It's BurLEE not BurLEH.

Burleigh- we're finally here. I can't believe after three weeks of craziness we're finally all settled in our new home for the next 15 weeks. It feels so good. I'm trying to upload a video of our apartment but it's not working! I'll try to do it tomorrow on my like 3 hour break :) Here are some pictures of our apartment:

Our living room and porch.

The view from our porch.

Our living room + Kitchen

Just part of Molly and I's room.

The view from our roof.

The beach we live across from- view from our roof.

So I'm not really sure how to explain how I'm feeling. I can't believe I'm going to be living in the middle of Burleigh, right across from the beach, for the next 15 weeks! I am so blessed. God is so good and I'm definitely not deserving of this. Also Matt made friends with our neighbor while we were in Surfers and he was another huge blessing. He offered to drive all our bags over to our new apartment. We have so much stuff and bringing it on the bus would have been a HUGE hassle. There have definitely been a lot of God moments on this trip. It's really comforting to know that He is still with us even in Australia :)!

I'm at Bond right now waiting for Matt to get done with class so we can start preparing for Australia Day! It's pretty much like our 4th of July. Basically everyone just goes to the beach, BBQ's, and spends time with friends & family. I'm glad Nanae, Matt, Molly, and I have all become a little family. We have all been there for each other through everything and I couldn't have asked for better roommates.

There was a lot I wanted to say in this blog but I can't remember. Matt and I went to dinner last night at this INCREDIBLE Thai place. I want to go back soon- it was seriously one of the best meals I've had in a while. These 5 day weekends are really nice/it's hard to get back into school but I'm doing it haha. OH and we're going job hunting/surfboard shopping this week. I'm excited! I can't wait to start surfing. A bunch of my friends surf back home so it will be nice to go out with them when I get back.

Well that's it for now. If I think of anything I'll blog again later.

I'm super bummed I don't have internet at our actual apartment but Mc Donalds has been a lifesaver. For reals.

Our computers died- so we took pictures while we waited for Molly to finish blogging!

SOO looks like we're having about 15 people over today for a BBQ! It sounds like it's gonna be fun :) I'm really excited to have people over and enjoy Australia Day. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers for now, mate!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

150. 8. 10.

Today in Social Psychology we talked about living to 150 and how some psychologist is trying to make this possible. He is trying to increase our life span and get rid of sickness and other things that come along with age. I'm not really sure if I would want to live to be 150. I don't believe we were made to live that long/play God and test to see if we can overcome death and sickness. Hm just a thought. I'm curious what you think... whoever you is.

Anywho - another day at school! Today is my long day. It started at 8 am. What a burn. I don't think I've ever gotten up that early for a class and I hope I never have to again after this semester. My schedule today is 8-10 social psych, 10-11 politics tutorial, break from 11-2, 2-4 spanish tutorial, break from 4-5, 5-6 psych tutorial. Busy busy busy. 10 hours of school! Makes up for all the days I have off :) Oh! And Molly and I are the dumbest people in our politics class- it's really quite comical. Everyone has worked with International Relations somehow or they want to go into it... Molly and I don't really even know what's going on. We'll see how that class goes!

I am so tired though. I need something to wake me up. Rockstar maybe? Gotta love those. Trippin' balls. Alright well I'm off. I guess this was a pointless blog but whatevs.

Cheers!

Beer on the porch

Almost done with the first week of classes! Tomorrow (Wednesday) my weekend officially starts after 6pm, thank goodness :) I have only been to school two days and I've already dropped a class. It was Australian Media and it didn't count for units anyways- I felt super out of place cause I was the only American and I didn't really have any of the resources to complete the assignments for the class. Yeahh so that leaves me at 9 units and a really nice schedule. I have Monday, Thursday, and Friday off!

So Molly and I are sitting at McDonalds again using their wifi and I already see some familiar faces. A lady that was in the other day came in, got a small meal, and is sitting in the same place as last time. I wonder if this is a daily routine for her? She looks kind of lonely... makes me sad. I'm starting to fall in love with Surfers Paradise. It's become home since now we know our way around town and are able to walk every where. Last night we walked into town and got smoothies. On our way we stopped in a art gallery where we taught Christian (one of the guys who worked there) the "SoCal handshake" (just the high five with a pound). He was obsessed. He told us to come stop by anytime we were around and we all agreed to go back and buy one of his photographs. They're not too badly priced for Australia. We are gonna all try and head over to Burleigh on Thursday and scope out our apartment/make sure we still have a reservation/try and request a ocean view room. Hopefully it has a legit porch where we can do homework/journal/drink a beer/talk/hangout.

I'm not really sure what else to talk about. Not too much has been going on (I know I say that in all my blogs). It's been pretty lowkey now that we're pretty settled and starting to get the hang of everything. We've finally got the bus system down- knock on wood- and it's not too much of a hassle. It seems like a common thing here, to take the bus, unlike home where I don't think I've ever ridden on one. It will definitely be more of a culture shock going home than it was coming here. I've also finally gotten used to the driving on the opposite side of the road thing. Now when I go home I'll be looking the wrong way. It's only been 2 1/2 weeks and I already feel like an "Australian" haha. We'll see what happens after 4 months :)

Well it's 9:36pm and I have a big school day tomorrow starting at 8am and going till 6pm. I have a 3 hour break so ya'll should go on Skype or iChat and call me !! My break is from 11am - 2pm so 5pm-8pm.

Cheers!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Makin' a list and checkin' it twice.

Things to do in Australia:

1. Go out every night one weekend

2. Lay on the beach all day and go out at night

3. Go to Sydney

4. Pass my classes

5. Have an aboriginal theme party at our apartment

6. Surf a bunch

7. Try the Australian Rum that Jay warned me about

8. Get super tan

9. Pick up on the AU slang

10. Work for a month aka May

11. Never say NO... unless necessary.

12. Try kangaroo meet

13. Find a platypus

14. Make a new Australian friend

15. Trip to New Zealand.

I'll be checking this list off, as our 4 months progress, with pictures! Get ready :)

Here is a video of our first two weeks in Australia! Enjoy!

You are now connected to McDonalds free Wifi.

Free Wifi at Mc Donalds? Only in Australia. Too bad it's slower than dial up, but no complaining, it's better than paying $7 for 1 hour. So we start school tomorrow... crazy. I still don't think it's hit me that this isn't a vacation and that in less than 24 hours I'm going to have responsibilities again. SO lame, but I have a feeling it will be better than a normal semester because I'm in the Gold Coast at a beautiful university.

So the other night we all decided to head to the beach... probably not the smartest idea we've had this whole trip. Molly and I went in but only ankle deep cause the Australians we talked to right before heading to the beach told us it was dangerous to go out at night. We decided to figure that out for ourselves, and we did. After being in the water for only 10 min I felt a really bad sting and something wrap around my ankle. I immediately ran out of the water. I didn't think it was a big deal cause while at the Great Barrier Reef I got stung on the face by a small jelly but it only hurt for 15 min. This pain was a lot different because it wasn't going away and it started to hurt worse. As we walked back to the hotel to try and take care of it Molly and I stopped to look at it and we saw that the stinger was still inside my skin and you could see where it had wrapped around my ankle. It hurt so bad. We finally made it back and Nanae went to the 24 hour gas station and bought vinegar to clean it. After an hour it still was stinging but the pain was getting less and less. What a way to kill the night. Today while we were at the beach the life guards put up a sign and made an announcement that a bunch of Blue Bottle Jelly Fish had been spotted and to be cautious going into the water. Wish the signs had been up earlier :)

I've had some bad luck on this trip, soar throat for the past week and 1/2, pink eye, and getting stung but it's all part of the adventure! I wouldn't want it to be any other way. Well there really isn't much to say- we met some awesome New Zealanders last night named Christine and Denise. They were married and here for their daughters dance competition and so funny! We sat and talked a little bit throughout the night. It was cute. Everyone here is so rad and friendly. I love it. Sorry this is such a short post but not too much is going on! Hope everything is going well at home. Leave some comments and tell me how you're doing :) Love and miss you all!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

"Day trip to Bond!"

SO I'm at Bond right now, using their free Wifi, and I'm kind of bummed we start school in 3 days. The campus is beautiful and I have basically all my classes with Molly, but it's been so nice just bumming it, waking up whenever we want, and going to the beach or downtown. We've been told about a million and one times that school is a lot harder over here so I guess we'll see if everyone is right! I'm taking 4 classes- Spanish 1, a politics class, Social Psychology, and Australian Media. My schedule is pretty nice though, I only go to school Monday-Thursday and on Thursday I get off at noon, so it will be nice to have a 3 day weekend :) I'll be spending it at the beach working on my tan. Obvi.

Day trip #1 to Bond! :)

Being over here has been quite the experience so far. I can't really put into words how I feel! It's a mixture of things. I didn't really prepare myself before coming here. I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it has been. It's really weird not being able to talk to anyone except the 3 people you're with 24/7. The time difference is lame cause when we're finally on the internet it's already like 8 or 9 pm at home. Thankfully my friends are night owls, but my mom&dad aren't so I haven't been able to Skype with them yet :( It's weird that we're completely on our own having to fend for ourselves and figure out how to get around and get by. We still have to move one more time in a few days to our apartment. I can't wait for that. It will be nice to finally be settled in somewhere we can call home. I might be repeating myself but I'm not sure what I wrote in my last blog haha. I'm so hungry right now. Eating here is so expensive so we've just been living off of family deals at Italian places and Nutella (SO bomb). Also food tastes different over here. It's weird how being across the world can do that! I miss inNout and Chipotle and being in a place where I am comfortable. However, I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else than where I am right now. I am so proud of myself for stepping out of my box and traveling half way across the world with 3 friends and no clue what we were really getting ourselves into. This has been such a cool/learning experience so far and I believe it will only get better! I'm in Australia... wow. I still haven't fully grasped that this is my home for the next 4 months. SO weird. Well I can't wait for Ryan, Lisa, my sister, and mom&dad to come visit! That will be nice to see some familiar faces :) Well we're gonna go to K-Mart and eat at Pacific Fair! I'll blog later. Thanks again for reading.

Molly and I in our hotel.

Matching tanks, no big deal.

Waiting for the bus. story of our life.

Beach down the street from our hotel.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Lets take the bus...

Well... lets see. Nothing too exciting happened in Cairns after the rain forest. We just relaxed the last few nights we were there. Monday morning was a pretty crazy day though. We had to wake up at 615 so we could eat breakfast, get all our luggage to the bus, and check out all by 730. It was a lot more stressful than it sounds. We had to drag all our bags to the bus in the rain... it didn't help that 1/2 our resort was covered in heaps of puddles. Anyways- after we got on the bus we headed to the airport where we checked in our bags and got on our 2 hour flight to Brisbane. It wasn't a bad flight at all, Matt and I ended up next to each other again and Molly sat across the isle. When we landed in Brisbane we found out that Australearn forgot to mention that we weren't on the list to get a ride to Bond so we had to find our own transportation to our hotel in Surfers Paradise. It was a little stressful but it ended up being a pretty easy trip! We took an amtrak style train an hour to the Gold Coast, got off, asked a young boy which bus we should take to Surfers Paradise, bought a ticket, and got on the bus hoping he was right. While on the bus, with all our luggage, we asked some people where our stop would be if we were staying at Club Surfers. They were helpful and we finally found our hotel! After we checked in, Nanae scared us by saying there was only one single bed and a couch... thankfully when we all got in there we saw that there was another room with a double bed. We've all been making due with the small space that we have. When we all got settled we decided to take a 1/2 hour nap which turned into a 2 hour nap. We then went out on the town, looking for food. We found a nice italian place or as Nanae says it E-Talian. Oh and before all this I thought I had lost my bag with my passport, computer, camera, journal, and a bunch of other important things but thankfully I had just left in the check in room and in the morning I was able to get it. Seriously a God moment. I was so worried. After we ate we bought a bottle of pink champagne, went back to the room, and played cards for the rest of night. The next day we made our trip over to Bond to check out Orientation week. It was quite the trip. We decided to take a taxi because after looking for a bus station for 30 min we couldn't find a bus heading to Bond till 9pm. When we got there we were so impressed- the school is BEAUTIFUL.

It's like something you'd see on TV or in a magazine. After checking in and getting some info on the school we went to Cafe Bond, ate, and then headed to the library to get our ID and email account. When we were done using the wifi we went on a tour of the school. Thankfully all of our classes are in building 6 so we don't have to walk to far. When we were done we got a taxi back to Surfers Paradise where we took another 45 min nap and got ready to go out for the night. We went to Target, K-Mart, and Coles. Target turned out to be the most expensive out of the 3 and K-Mart was really nice compared to the ones at home. We are starting to get the hang of the Australian prices. Everything is so expensive over here! It could have something to do with minimum wage being $16 an hour instead of $8. After getting supplies for the week we went to Subway and got $12 footlongs... but ordered a really cool way. You do it all yourself on a screen.

It was pretty exciting. haha When we were done eating we got on the bus and headed back to our hotel where we stayed in the rest of the night. I feel like my body is shutting down over here. Ever since the Great Barrier Reef I've felt super dizzy, tired, and my throat has been hurting really bad. I hope it's not a cold. That's the last thing I need for the first week of classes. BUT I can't complain- I'm in Australia :) Today we looked all around town for a bus pass so we didn't have to keep paying $6.80 for a day pass or $20 for a taxi! We found one at 7-11 and headed over to Bond where we've been using their wifi for a good 2 hours. It's weird not having internet at our disposal. It's kind of nice.

Well... I think that's everything. I feel like I've been here for months, but it's only been a week! I can't wait to get settled and familiar with everything. It's definitely been an experience figuring out things for ourselves and being completely on our own in a new country. I've learned a lot about myself in the past 6 days than I have in a while. I can't wait to see what happens over the next 4 months! I hope I come back with the cool Australian slang- we've already started trying to talk like them. Heaps- No worries/No drama- G'day. Haha it's kind of fun! Well I'll try and blog again soon. Thanks for reading!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

You have to do it, it's Australia.

So I'm sitting here in Cairns, Australia (pronounced like you would Kansas but without the ending AS) and it's beautiful. There was a rainstorm the past two days but now there is just a light breeze and not a lot of humidity (thank goodness)! Everything is incredible here from the people to the culture to the weather. I can't believe this is my home for the next 4 months. The past 5 days have been insane and completely non stop. I have a hard time condensing things, but I'm going to try for this. I don't want you to get bored or anything. The internet sucks though so I'll have to upload pictures later!

Okay... where to begin...
We started our journey on January 4, 2010 and finally made it to Australia January 6, 2010. It was a long "day" of traveling, to say the least. We first flew into Brisbane and then took another 2 hour flight to Cairns only to find that because we took 2 hours to get through customs our bags didn't make it on the flight with us and that they would be dropped off at the hotel later that night. Thankfully they made it on the trip from LAX to Brisbane. When we stepped outside in Cairns it was extremely humid but SO green! After getting our bag situation figured out we all got on the bus and headed to our hostel where we would be sleeping for the next few days. To be completely I didn't know what to expect when they said it was set up dorm style and that we would be rooming with 4 to 5 other people. I was a little nervous. It hasn't been bad at all minus living out of a suitcase. I'm ready to finally be settled in the Gold Coast! The first night was boring- after exploring the area around our hotel with Matt, Nanae, and Molly we headed to an informational meeting and dinner at a hotel in town. After we came back and Molly and I went to sleep. It had been a long day and I was extremely overwhelmed and homesick. Thankfully that feeling went away when I woke up the next day and got ready to go to the Great Barrier Reef!

Molly and I on the plane.

Cairns, Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef was phenomenal! Words and pictures won't do the sights here justice. The water was clear, blue blue blue, and warm. The boat driver/team said we had ideal conditions and that we were really lucky. After being in Australia for only a few hours I learned how hot the sun really is and sadly I got pretty burned on my face, back, and the tops of my feet. I have now become an expert at putting sun screen on and I have gotten some color :) After the reef we came back and met up with Molly who was put in a different group than Matt, Nanae, and I. We all got ready and decided to go explore the town since we had a free day the next day! After picking up some $1.30 water from the local grocery store, as well as a magazine with a map, we were ready to find our way around. We walked about 20 minutes into town to the local bar/food place called Woolsheds. It was ladies night so Nanae, Molly, and I all got pink bracelets that allowed us to get free champagne between 10-11. It was legit and the best night we've had here! After Woolsheds we headed over to Gilligans for the last hour and danced till it closed- then finally headed back home and slept.

Anti Stinger suits.

Ladies night at Woolsheds. They loved us.

On our free day we went to what we thought was a beach near our hostel, but instead it was a lagoon where there were "sparkling" crabs and other little creatures. We laid in the park for about 3 hours under the shade. A random rainstorm came while we were there, which was really refreshing since it was so humid. I love their weather here. One minute it's sunny and the next it's raining. After that we headed back to the hostel, got ready, and prepared for another night on the town. This was more of a fail, but still not too bad! We went to different bars- Vibe Rihno Bar-but they weren't as fun as Woolsheds. We decided to head back pretty early since we had to wake up early the next day and do community service.

Laying in the rain.

$1.30 water.

Jumping into the sand.

Lagoon.

Community service was fun! We went into the rain-forest and helped at a Cassowary Preservation place. We learned a lot from this awesome lady named Jax, who later became Molly and I's hero. While another group went to plant trees Molly, Matt, Nanae, and I stayed and potted plants/killed them I'm pretty sure. After we did a few we found out we were supposed to take out the worms and weed them... yeah, Molly and I didn't do that. After community service we headed back, took a naps, and headed out into the torrential rain to try and find food. It was kind of exciting being caught in an Australian storm! We ate at a fairly cheap place, which was a nice surprise, and decided to just stay at the hostel and play cards/swim. It was a very relaxing night. In the morning we were going to the rain-forest!

Sweet bug.

Our hero, Jax.

Giant Ants nest.

The rain-forest was absolutely breathtaking. It was so green and lush. It was one of my favorite days here by far. We did so many exciting things! After we broke off into groups and got our schedules for the day, our group headed to watch spear throwing, boomerang throwing, and aboriginal dances. I definitely sucked at throwing the boomerang. After we got to go on a duck tour through the rain-forest where our car turned into a boat and we learned about all the weird/crazy plants. We then went to get some amazing lunch and finally we got to hug and take a picture with a koala, as well as play, pet, and feed kangaroos! The koala was pretty heavy, and had sharp claws, but it was so soft and cute! When we were done at the rain-forest we headed back to home and now I'm here, on the crappy internet, blogging from Australia.... I couldn't be happier :)

I hope this wasn't too long, I seriously could write for days and we've only been here less than a week!! I'll upload pictures when I get to better internet. It's taken me more than an hour to upload my facebook pictures. ugh. I hope everything is going well back home! Thanks for reading and just know I love and miss you all so much! :)

My attempt at throwing a Boomerang.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.

Sorry I'm so behind. There is a ton to write and bad internet here. I will post a nice long post about our cultural adventure program complete with pictures and everything once I get better internet :) Lets just say I'm in love with Australia and if it were up to me I wouldn't come home. I miss and love you all though!