Mom and I arrived in Sydney fairly early. We collected our bags and took the train to Circular Quay, near where our Marriott Hotel was. We were not able to check into the room right away, so we hung out in the executive lounge for a while waiting. Once we were able to check in, we realized that the hotel room seemed like a palace compared to the hostels we had been previously staying in. Luxury at its finest!! Once settled in, we decided to go explore the city a bit. We walked around on The Rocks, an area of town with lots of restaurants and shops and a street market. We stopped at a pub for lunch and talked for a while. Then, we headed back to the hotel. Mom fell asleep and was in for the rest of the night. I hung out with Matty and Layla later that night for a few hours, even though they were stayed down the street in a hostel.
The next day, Mom and I ate breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks, suggested to us by my good friend Nathan. It was a really good breakfast, and afterwards Mom and I headed out agian to explore some more. On our way to meet Matty and Layla at a supposed observation center, we got lost. We were walking along the well-known icon Bridge, but could not figure out how to cross it!! Eventually, a man let us know that we had walked too far and needed to backtrack in order to cross. So we did. Eventually, we found Matty and Layla and continued on to find the observation area. After about 20 minutes of walking around up and down hills, we discovered that the 'observation tower' was really just one of those towers for planes. We were bummed out and walked back, only to find that the REAL observation area was a park with a lousy view of nothing.
We continued walking through the city over towards the waterfront. We ended up stopping for some lunch at a small cafe. While Matty and Layla were ordering, Mom and I found cute little birds. They landed on the table literally 2 feet from where I was sitting!! They were clever little birds and ripped open a sugar packet and ate all the sugar and then took a second sugar packet with them for later!
Once Matty and Layla got their food, we sat on the waterfront so that they could eat. We then walked to the Sydney Opera house for some prime pictures. The Opera House is smaller than I would have imagined, but still magical!
***Will update later***
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Brisbane
Brisbane, while a very nice city in itself, is not my favorite city in the world. It is quite clean, but fairly busy for its size and it seemed there was not a whole lot to do. Mom, Matt, Layla and I were lost the first few hours in the city, not knowing what to do or where to go first. We ended up walking across the river onto the esplanade. There are some great views of the city, including the casino, which is lit up red at night. We rode the observation Ferris wheel, from which we were able to view the entire city. That night, we just crashed for the evening.
Our second day in the city, we walked around to see what there was to see in the daylight. We walked downtown to a street mall called Queen Street. This mall reminded me so much of the Hay Street and Murray Street Malls and made me think about Perth. This was about all that we did this day, unfortunately wasting much of the day.
The third day in Brisbane, we decided to get out of the city and visit Steve Irwin’s zoo, called Australia Zoo. Here, we watched a crocodile show put on by Terry, Bindi (aboriginal for ‘little girl’) and Bob Irwin. The show was quite neat, but I was glad to be seated in the stadium instead of in the pool with the croc!! He was a very large croc and a favorite of the trainers for his ferocity. Also, they put on a free-flight bird show that was absolutely awesome! Imagine parrots, cockatoos, and other ‘exotic’ birds flying “at will” around the stadium until ‘recalled’ by their trainers. We feed and petted kangaroos, watched Asian elephants up close and personal, petted koala, and were blown away by the Sumatran tiger show (they swim!!!). We also saw wombats (Mom’s fav), otters, wallabies, dingoes, camels, cassowaries (weird birds!), and many other crocs and lizards.
We stopped at a fresh local fruit market on the way back to Brisbane – pineapple, strawberries, and macadamia nuts – then asked to be dropped off at our favorite restaurant – the Criterion – for an early evening dinner. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel and crashed for the evening.
The next day, we all decided to walk to the esplanade again, just to see some sights we had missed in the days prior. We came across some markets, but just walked through them since they were about the same as other market places we had been to on this trip. We called it an early night, after walking a few kilometers back to the hostel. Later that night, a few friends from Curtin university, Livia, Jaymes, Aurelian, and a few other, popped into the hostel to visit with Matt and I for a few minutes before heading out to the clubs. It was nice to see them for the last time before heading home.
Our second day in the city, we walked around to see what there was to see in the daylight. We walked downtown to a street mall called Queen Street. This mall reminded me so much of the Hay Street and Murray Street Malls and made me think about Perth. This was about all that we did this day, unfortunately wasting much of the day.
The third day in Brisbane, we decided to get out of the city and visit Steve Irwin’s zoo, called Australia Zoo. Here, we watched a crocodile show put on by Terry, Bindi (aboriginal for ‘little girl’) and Bob Irwin. The show was quite neat, but I was glad to be seated in the stadium instead of in the pool with the croc!! He was a very large croc and a favorite of the trainers for his ferocity. Also, they put on a free-flight bird show that was absolutely awesome! Imagine parrots, cockatoos, and other ‘exotic’ birds flying “at will” around the stadium until ‘recalled’ by their trainers. We feed and petted kangaroos, watched Asian elephants up close and personal, petted koala, and were blown away by the Sumatran tiger show (they swim!!!). We also saw wombats (Mom’s fav), otters, wallabies, dingoes, camels, cassowaries (weird birds!), and many other crocs and lizards.
We stopped at a fresh local fruit market on the way back to Brisbane – pineapple, strawberries, and macadamia nuts – then asked to be dropped off at our favorite restaurant – the Criterion – for an early evening dinner. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel and crashed for the evening.
The next day, we all decided to walk to the esplanade again, just to see some sights we had missed in the days prior. We came across some markets, but just walked through them since they were about the same as other market places we had been to on this trip. We called it an early night, after walking a few kilometers back to the hostel. Later that night, a few friends from Curtin university, Livia, Jaymes, Aurelian, and a few other, popped into the hostel to visit with Matt and I for a few minutes before heading out to the clubs. It was nice to see them for the last time before heading home.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Melbourne
On June 25, I flew into Melbourne from Perth. Mom, Matt, Layla and I decided to travel together for 2 weeks before returning to the States. I met mom in Melbourne in the morning, and we went around town and found a hotel to stay in for the night. Matt and Layla did not join us the first day/night. Since we arrived so early (my flight got in before 6am, hers around 9am), we had plenty of time to get to the hotel, shower, and get ready for the day. By the time we were both situated, it was noon, even though we both felt like it was about 7pm! We decided to get some lunch and head to the aquarium.
The exhibits were fabulous!! They had the cutest penguin exhibit I have seen in an aquarium!! They were absolutely adorable, and mom and I both loved them!! We also saw a variety of jelly fish, large fish, sharks, sting rays, sea turtles, frogs, scuba divers, star fish, urchins, crabs and seahorses.
Afterwards, we were both fairly tired, so we headed to the hotel for the night. It was weird sleeping anywhere without my friends around, since we all lived together the entire semester!! I definitely missed them that night.
The next morning, Matt and Layla made it to Melbourne. We all checked into a hostel and got ready for the day. We walked around town a bit, through the esplanade, and settled at a cafe for lunch. We then headed to Eureka Observation Tower to get some views of the city..which is much larger than Perth, and also quite fabulous! Afterwards, we walked around town a bit and hoped onto a free bus that takes you to all the touristy destinations around the city. It gave us a good idea of what the city is like. We hopped off the bus and walked back to the hostel to rest (we were all tired) before dinner. We walked into town for dinner at a really nice italian street restaurant. Afterwards, we all crashed for the evening.
The next day, we took the bus out to St. Kilda beach. There are markets here, but only on Sundays. Luckily, it was Sunday and we were able to scan all the vairous booths and see interesting works. We also got to walk on the beach and docks a bit and get a great glimpse of the city from a few kilometers away!! While walking back along the docks, we found a tiny penguin in the rocks that form the ledge between two pathways. He was so tiny and adorable..and blue!! We ended up eating dinner in St. Kilda and hanging out at the restaurant for a few hours chatting. Once back at the hostel, we started up a game of rummy 500 and made a few new friends around the place.
Monday, the 4 of us went on a tour called the Penguin Parade. We started out at an Australian Garden, stocked with only native Australian plants...alot of what you would find in the outback and bush. It was neat to see what the native plants look like because you can't find many of them in the wild any more. Next, we went to a chocolate factory. It was hands-down the best chocolate I have had!! Yummy!! They had lots of free samples, and lots of artwork all done in chocolate. The next stop was a Koala conservation. Koalas are not new to me, since I have been in Australia for 5 months, but it was still exciting to walk through the trees and spot the cute creatures nestled among the branches. We then went on to a natural formation called the Nobbies. These are small islands off the coast of Phillips Island. Among the Nobbies live many sea lions!! unfortunately, we did not see any of them, but it is neat to think that they are there!!
The last stop for the day was the Penguin Parade. The idea is that everyone sits in this semi-stadium located right on the dunes of a beach at night time. The only lights allowed are the stadium lights, which are blunted. The tiny Fairy Penguins swim into shore every evening, coming out in groups between 10-30. They are absolutely adorable!! This is one of the most amazing events I have seen! The little guys would pop out of the sufr and wait there for the rest of their group to come out of the surf. Then, one brave little penguin would waddle towards the dunes to make sure its safe, followed by the rest of the herd. Once on the dunes, the each went their separate ways to their dens. As we walked back, the penguins were all around the paths...within petting distance, although it's illegal to touch/photograph/film them for fear of blinding or harming them.
Tuesday, Matt and Layla took the day to explore more of the city. Mom and I took the Great Ocean Road Tour of southern Melbourne. It was a great day tour..though quite long!! We got picked up at 740 am and drove out to Bells Beach, which is apparently quite popular for surfers. While I cant remember the exact order of what we did, these are the events:
- Lorne - very expensive beach resort area
- Apollo Beach - nice beach area with cute shops and cafes
- 12 apostles - rock formations in the ocean
- London Bridge - rock formation that formed a natural bridge into the ocean..part of which fell 20 years ago
All of these are worth seeing, but unfortunately it rained on us for a few of the sights
Tuesday night, we were all fairly tired, but I got to skype with Rhys, which was a good time!! We had to get up at 430am wednesday morning to catch our flights to Brisbane, but I only got to bed at about 130am. After laying restlessly in bed for a while, the girls next door began screaming incredibly loud, body slamming into doors, etc. After about 15 minutes of waiting for this to stop, I decided to go see what the commotion was. Turns out, it was just a few inconsiderate girls. As soon as I knocked on their door, the noise stopped for the rest of the night and I was able to sleep in peace..for about an hour and a half until my alarm woke me up!!
The exhibits were fabulous!! They had the cutest penguin exhibit I have seen in an aquarium!! They were absolutely adorable, and mom and I both loved them!! We also saw a variety of jelly fish, large fish, sharks, sting rays, sea turtles, frogs, scuba divers, star fish, urchins, crabs and seahorses.
Afterwards, we were both fairly tired, so we headed to the hotel for the night. It was weird sleeping anywhere without my friends around, since we all lived together the entire semester!! I definitely missed them that night.
The next morning, Matt and Layla made it to Melbourne. We all checked into a hostel and got ready for the day. We walked around town a bit, through the esplanade, and settled at a cafe for lunch. We then headed to Eureka Observation Tower to get some views of the city..which is much larger than Perth, and also quite fabulous! Afterwards, we walked around town a bit and hoped onto a free bus that takes you to all the touristy destinations around the city. It gave us a good idea of what the city is like. We hopped off the bus and walked back to the hostel to rest (we were all tired) before dinner. We walked into town for dinner at a really nice italian street restaurant. Afterwards, we all crashed for the evening.
The next day, we took the bus out to St. Kilda beach. There are markets here, but only on Sundays. Luckily, it was Sunday and we were able to scan all the vairous booths and see interesting works. We also got to walk on the beach and docks a bit and get a great glimpse of the city from a few kilometers away!! While walking back along the docks, we found a tiny penguin in the rocks that form the ledge between two pathways. He was so tiny and adorable..and blue!! We ended up eating dinner in St. Kilda and hanging out at the restaurant for a few hours chatting. Once back at the hostel, we started up a game of rummy 500 and made a few new friends around the place.
Monday, the 4 of us went on a tour called the Penguin Parade. We started out at an Australian Garden, stocked with only native Australian plants...alot of what you would find in the outback and bush. It was neat to see what the native plants look like because you can't find many of them in the wild any more. Next, we went to a chocolate factory. It was hands-down the best chocolate I have had!! Yummy!! They had lots of free samples, and lots of artwork all done in chocolate. The next stop was a Koala conservation. Koalas are not new to me, since I have been in Australia for 5 months, but it was still exciting to walk through the trees and spot the cute creatures nestled among the branches. We then went on to a natural formation called the Nobbies. These are small islands off the coast of Phillips Island. Among the Nobbies live many sea lions!! unfortunately, we did not see any of them, but it is neat to think that they are there!!
The last stop for the day was the Penguin Parade. The idea is that everyone sits in this semi-stadium located right on the dunes of a beach at night time. The only lights allowed are the stadium lights, which are blunted. The tiny Fairy Penguins swim into shore every evening, coming out in groups between 10-30. They are absolutely adorable!! This is one of the most amazing events I have seen! The little guys would pop out of the sufr and wait there for the rest of their group to come out of the surf. Then, one brave little penguin would waddle towards the dunes to make sure its safe, followed by the rest of the herd. Once on the dunes, the each went their separate ways to their dens. As we walked back, the penguins were all around the paths...within petting distance, although it's illegal to touch/photograph/film them for fear of blinding or harming them.
Tuesday, Matt and Layla took the day to explore more of the city. Mom and I took the Great Ocean Road Tour of southern Melbourne. It was a great day tour..though quite long!! We got picked up at 740 am and drove out to Bells Beach, which is apparently quite popular for surfers. While I cant remember the exact order of what we did, these are the events:
- Lorne - very expensive beach resort area
- Apollo Beach - nice beach area with cute shops and cafes
- 12 apostles - rock formations in the ocean
- London Bridge - rock formation that formed a natural bridge into the ocean..part of which fell 20 years ago
All of these are worth seeing, but unfortunately it rained on us for a few of the sights
Tuesday night, we were all fairly tired, but I got to skype with Rhys, which was a good time!! We had to get up at 430am wednesday morning to catch our flights to Brisbane, but I only got to bed at about 130am. After laying restlessly in bed for a while, the girls next door began screaming incredibly loud, body slamming into doors, etc. After about 15 minutes of waiting for this to stop, I decided to go see what the commotion was. Turns out, it was just a few inconsiderate girls. As soon as I knocked on their door, the noise stopped for the rest of the night and I was able to sleep in peace..for about an hour and a half until my alarm woke me up!!
A Hard Ending
The last few weeks of my study abroad trip to Curtin uni brought about many mixed emotions from me as well as the group of amazing friends I have made here. I am so sad to leave them, even heartbroken. While I love and miss my friends back at home and at Elon, the friends here I will cherish the rest of my life! We formed such a close bond so quickly, and it seems that it was stripped from me entirely too quickly.
The last few weeks, we were able to hang out alot more often, since everyone was done fairly early with their finals. We played a few pick-up games of footy and soccer, and went out a fair bit. In the last week all together as a group, 2 people celebrated their birthdays: Rhys turned 20 and Renae turned 18! The entire week was a long birthday celebration for the 2 of them consisting of going out to the pubs and clubs, since Renae is now legal!! Everything we did that week was so fun and so memorable..it was the last time that we will have that exact group of people together to go out and have fun :(
Anyway, people began slowly leaving for home and holidays, and I became increasingly sadder. I am sure some of these people have walked into and out of my life for good, though I hope I come across them again at some point! Towards the end of the week, I went to Albany to stay with Rhys at home. While there is not a ton to do in Albany, we found things to do together such as a Walk Among the Giants, in which u walk the suspension ramps up to 40 meters high in the Tingle Trees (excellent views!), go to Denmark to the beaches and to see where my friend Jamee comes from, go to see Transformers II, and drive around Albany a bit. It was a slow-paced week, but I cherish it!!
The night that I left Albany is one of the worst nights I can remember. I was not ready to leave WA and definitely not ready to leave Rhys! I cried the entire way from Rhys' house to the airport, the entire wait in the airport, and almost the entire hour-long flight to Perth. Once I got to Perth, 2 good friends Matt and Calum were there to meet me with my luggage. I am forever grateful that they were there because I was too upset to deal with the issues that I began having when I tried to check in. My luggage was almost 30 kilos over the limit for domestic flights, and for every single kilo over the limit you have to pay a fine of 10 dollars. I was ultimately going to pay about 300 dollars to take my luggage to Melbourne with me, so instead I repacked my bags and left a bag in Perth with the boys. Matt will bring it back to the states with him when he returns towards the end of July.
After a sad goodbye and thank-you to Calum, he and Matt left me in the airport to catch my flight to Melbourne. Goodbye WA, I can't wait to see you again!!
<3<3
The last few weeks, we were able to hang out alot more often, since everyone was done fairly early with their finals. We played a few pick-up games of footy and soccer, and went out a fair bit. In the last week all together as a group, 2 people celebrated their birthdays: Rhys turned 20 and Renae turned 18! The entire week was a long birthday celebration for the 2 of them consisting of going out to the pubs and clubs, since Renae is now legal!! Everything we did that week was so fun and so memorable..it was the last time that we will have that exact group of people together to go out and have fun :(
Anyway, people began slowly leaving for home and holidays, and I became increasingly sadder. I am sure some of these people have walked into and out of my life for good, though I hope I come across them again at some point! Towards the end of the week, I went to Albany to stay with Rhys at home. While there is not a ton to do in Albany, we found things to do together such as a Walk Among the Giants, in which u walk the suspension ramps up to 40 meters high in the Tingle Trees (excellent views!), go to Denmark to the beaches and to see where my friend Jamee comes from, go to see Transformers II, and drive around Albany a bit. It was a slow-paced week, but I cherish it!!
The night that I left Albany is one of the worst nights I can remember. I was not ready to leave WA and definitely not ready to leave Rhys! I cried the entire way from Rhys' house to the airport, the entire wait in the airport, and almost the entire hour-long flight to Perth. Once I got to Perth, 2 good friends Matt and Calum were there to meet me with my luggage. I am forever grateful that they were there because I was too upset to deal with the issues that I began having when I tried to check in. My luggage was almost 30 kilos over the limit for domestic flights, and for every single kilo over the limit you have to pay a fine of 10 dollars. I was ultimately going to pay about 300 dollars to take my luggage to Melbourne with me, so instead I repacked my bags and left a bag in Perth with the boys. Matt will bring it back to the states with him when he returns towards the end of July.
After a sad goodbye and thank-you to Calum, he and Matt left me in the airport to catch my flight to Melbourne. Goodbye WA, I can't wait to see you again!!
<3<3
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Study abroad dinner and Swan River Cruise
Friday was the last day of classes at Curtin, so the school threw a huge party for the campus at the Tav. My friends and I always meet there fridays for lunch, so we got there at noon as usual. The place was PACKED!! Instead of leaving and coming back later for the party, we decided to stay at the Tav and wait around for the party to start. I left around 4.30 to get ready for a dinner in Perth with the study abroad group with all our advisorss while the rest of my friends stayed at the Tav.
We all got on the bus to head to Perth, going the way that I know best to get to Northbridge. A bunch of the people coming with us had no idea how to get to the restaurant we were going to, so I told them to follow me because I knew exactly where we were heading. No one believed me!! So, instead of arguing with the large group, I told Matt and Komal to follow me and that we would get there with or without the rest of the group. The rest of the group reluctantly followed me, complaining the entire way that we were going in the wrong direction. Ignoring them, we continued to walk towards Northbridge in the right direction. Only after we arrived at the restaurant (without having taken any detours or getting lost) did everyone realize that I did know where I was going!!
For dinner, I ordered pumpkin soup, potato gnocchi, and a chocolate brownie. It was really good...and free!! We had some good conversation with the rest of the group and the advisors, saying our final goodbye's to some members of the group we would not be seeing again as they are leaving early for home. Once the meal was over, Matt, Komal and I were going to walk across the street and take the train back to school. Some other girls decided that they were coming with us and demanded that we take the free bus instead to the busport and take the bus home from there, which we ended up doing. After lots of complaining (and Matt and I regretting that we ever listened to these girls at all), we got to the bus station and found out that the next bus wasnt for over an hour! Having had enough of these annoying girls, Matt and I left the bus station, draggin Komal (who felt bad for the girls) with us to the Perth underground. Long story short, we got home before the annoying girls even got on the next bus home.
Saturday, a large group of us went into Perth city for some shopping and lunch. We hung out around town for a few hours, signed a petition against cutting down a rainforest somewhere in Asia, then headed back to campus. 4 of us...Matt, Rhys, Layla and I...were all going on a boat party cruise up the Swan River for the end-of-the-year bash for Kurrajong Village, which is where Matt and Rhys live. It was cocktail attire, so I finally had an excuse to wear the cocktail dress I brought along to Australia with me!! The boat was a TON of fun!! I knew alot of the people that went along on the cruise, including my student advisor Sean, so I had a lot of fun socializing with everyone one last time before study week. On the boat, we were given dinner (subway, chicken, sushi), had a dance party, and were able to walk out on the front of the boat and overlook the city. Overall it was very fun and we are all glad we went!
After the boat cruise, Rhys and I walked downtown and caught the bus to a bus station about 2km away. From there, we walked to the Burswood Casino to watch some rugby with his South African friends. South Africa played against New Zealand. I didn't understand most of the game and was really tired and cold (yes cold!!), so I was a bit grumpy at the game. We eventually got a cab back to campus at about 2am.
Sunday, a bunch of us all went down to Fremantle to show Kelsey's friend Drea (visiting from Elon) around. We ate lunch at a fish and chips place, walked around town a bit, and tried to go on a tour at a Submarine museum, but all the tours were full. We headed back to campus for the rest of the day. Back at campus, a friends sister came by to do "beauty day" with the girls. I got my eyebrows waxed for 6 bucks!! Pretty exciting considering it costs around 20-25 to get that done regularly (which is MUCH more expensive than at home where I pay 5 bucks).
After dinner, I was washing up some dishes. I didn't realize that one of the cups I was cleaning had a crack in it (which I had seen days earlier and didnt think anything of). Unfortunately, as I was cleaning the cup, it broke and gave me two nice cuts on my pinky finger, which didnt stop bleeding until monday morning. It's still sore :(
Today, we are going to try to get a bunch of friends together to play some a pickup game of footy before some people head home for the week for study week.
Later!!
We all got on the bus to head to Perth, going the way that I know best to get to Northbridge. A bunch of the people coming with us had no idea how to get to the restaurant we were going to, so I told them to follow me because I knew exactly where we were heading. No one believed me!! So, instead of arguing with the large group, I told Matt and Komal to follow me and that we would get there with or without the rest of the group. The rest of the group reluctantly followed me, complaining the entire way that we were going in the wrong direction. Ignoring them, we continued to walk towards Northbridge in the right direction. Only after we arrived at the restaurant (without having taken any detours or getting lost) did everyone realize that I did know where I was going!!
For dinner, I ordered pumpkin soup, potato gnocchi, and a chocolate brownie. It was really good...and free!! We had some good conversation with the rest of the group and the advisors, saying our final goodbye's to some members of the group we would not be seeing again as they are leaving early for home. Once the meal was over, Matt, Komal and I were going to walk across the street and take the train back to school. Some other girls decided that they were coming with us and demanded that we take the free bus instead to the busport and take the bus home from there, which we ended up doing. After lots of complaining (and Matt and I regretting that we ever listened to these girls at all), we got to the bus station and found out that the next bus wasnt for over an hour! Having had enough of these annoying girls, Matt and I left the bus station, draggin Komal (who felt bad for the girls) with us to the Perth underground. Long story short, we got home before the annoying girls even got on the next bus home.
Saturday, a large group of us went into Perth city for some shopping and lunch. We hung out around town for a few hours, signed a petition against cutting down a rainforest somewhere in Asia, then headed back to campus. 4 of us...Matt, Rhys, Layla and I...were all going on a boat party cruise up the Swan River for the end-of-the-year bash for Kurrajong Village, which is where Matt and Rhys live. It was cocktail attire, so I finally had an excuse to wear the cocktail dress I brought along to Australia with me!! The boat was a TON of fun!! I knew alot of the people that went along on the cruise, including my student advisor Sean, so I had a lot of fun socializing with everyone one last time before study week. On the boat, we were given dinner (subway, chicken, sushi), had a dance party, and were able to walk out on the front of the boat and overlook the city. Overall it was very fun and we are all glad we went!
After the boat cruise, Rhys and I walked downtown and caught the bus to a bus station about 2km away. From there, we walked to the Burswood Casino to watch some rugby with his South African friends. South Africa played against New Zealand. I didn't understand most of the game and was really tired and cold (yes cold!!), so I was a bit grumpy at the game. We eventually got a cab back to campus at about 2am.
Sunday, a bunch of us all went down to Fremantle to show Kelsey's friend Drea (visiting from Elon) around. We ate lunch at a fish and chips place, walked around town a bit, and tried to go on a tour at a Submarine museum, but all the tours were full. We headed back to campus for the rest of the day. Back at campus, a friends sister came by to do "beauty day" with the girls. I got my eyebrows waxed for 6 bucks!! Pretty exciting considering it costs around 20-25 to get that done regularly (which is MUCH more expensive than at home where I pay 5 bucks).
After dinner, I was washing up some dishes. I didn't realize that one of the cups I was cleaning had a crack in it (which I had seen days earlier and didnt think anything of). Unfortunately, as I was cleaning the cup, it broke and gave me two nice cuts on my pinky finger, which didnt stop bleeding until monday morning. It's still sore :(
Today, we are going to try to get a bunch of friends together to play some a pickup game of footy before some people head home for the week for study week.
Later!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Birthday,
Today was my 21st Birthday!! Mom and Rick were in town, so they took me and a bunch of friends on a Swan Valley Wine Tour. I have never been on a wine tour, so the whole experience was new to me. We were picked up in Perth and were driven into the valley. We went to three differrent wineries where we tasted around 6 types of wine at each place, along with nouget and cheese. I didn't find too many wines that I enjoyed, so I guess I won't become a wine-o, as mom puts it!!.
We were then taken to a german brewery where we each had a glass of beer each. We got to pick from a list of about 4 different types of beers. I tried a pilsener and was not too fond of it, so I swaped with mom. Her beer was a little bit better. At the brewery, they had german sausages there for everyone to sample as well which were REALLY good!!
After, we went to Margaret River Chocolate Factory. This factory is famous for its quality chocolates all over the world. The chocolates were veryyy good!!! Everyone was given a sample chocolate, and then I bought an ice cream and a small box of hazelnut chocolated covered peanuts, which are REALLY good!!
Then it was back to Perth for dinner with everyone at a pizza shop!!
Overall, a very fun and unique birthday!!!!
We were then taken to a german brewery where we each had a glass of beer each. We got to pick from a list of about 4 different types of beers. I tried a pilsener and was not too fond of it, so I swaped with mom. Her beer was a little bit better. At the brewery, they had german sausages there for everyone to sample as well which were REALLY good!!
After, we went to Margaret River Chocolate Factory. This factory is famous for its quality chocolates all over the world. The chocolates were veryyy good!!! Everyone was given a sample chocolate, and then I bought an ice cream and a small box of hazelnut chocolated covered peanuts, which are REALLY good!!
Then it was back to Perth for dinner with everyone at a pizza shop!!
Overall, a very fun and unique birthday!!!!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Footy
One of the student advising staff members bought tickets for the study abroad students within my group to attend an Aussy Rules Football game on Friday. Not as many abroad students as expected actually picked up tickets to attend the game, so I was able to gather enough tickets for my friends to come along. The game was held at the Subiaco Oval in Perth City. Fremantle Dockers, which was the home west coast team from Perth, was playing against the Hawthorn Hawks, who are from Melbourne area. The game was really fun and exciting to watch. It is fairly similar to rugby I am told, but I don't know anything about rugby either, and is much faster pacedthan American Football is. Unfortunately, the Dockers lost the game, but it was a fun experience to see an aussy-rules game in Australia!!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Some updates
Friday, a group of about 18 friends (including me) went paintballing. This is the first time I have ever been paintballing, so I wasn't sure of what to expect. After getting lost (the place is about 45 minutes away from Curtin), we arrived at the course. The instuctor had us all fill out a waiver and get into some jumpsuites and masks. He then proceeded to inform us on how to use a gun and about the different areas we were going to be gaming in. I was scared out of my mind by the time he was done explaining everything to us. Then it was time go onto the first course. For the majority of the course, I hid behind a tree, terrified to get hit. I saw alot of people from the other team surrendering and walking off, so I thought I might be able to move away from my hiding spot. As soon as I moved, I was getting shot at!! Terrified, I began shooting all the people I saw around me. I got a few people to surrender, but eventually got shot as well...right on the tibia (shin) bone. OUCH! BUT the paintball did not explode, therefore I was not out yet!! I made it through the first game alive!
In the next game that we played, I had to surrender because I ran out of ammo. As I was surrendering (raising the gun up so people know NOT to shoot at you), I got shot 3 times...once in the thumb, once on the left thigh and once on the right knee. It was painful!! These hits yielded HUGE welts which eventually turned into nasty ringed bruises...blue/purple/red/white rings...literally!!
By the end of the day, I was ready to quit!! We played many different games on different courses. It's fun, but terrifying!! I suppose I will never ACTUALLY shoot guns because holding a weapon was scary enough...not to mention the 50 other people on the courses holding guns and shooting at me!!
Other news: I finally got a grade!! Only halfway through the semester..ya know. Anyway, it was on my Cell biology test that I took before the 2-week break. I got an A! Yay!! Told you I studied..
<3 me
In the next game that we played, I had to surrender because I ran out of ammo. As I was surrendering (raising the gun up so people know NOT to shoot at you), I got shot 3 times...once in the thumb, once on the left thigh and once on the right knee. It was painful!! These hits yielded HUGE welts which eventually turned into nasty ringed bruises...blue/purple/red/white rings...literally!!
By the end of the day, I was ready to quit!! We played many different games on different courses. It's fun, but terrifying!! I suppose I will never ACTUALLY shoot guns because holding a weapon was scary enough...not to mention the 50 other people on the courses holding guns and shooting at me!!
Other news: I finally got a grade!! Only halfway through the semester..ya know. Anyway, it was on my Cell biology test that I took before the 2-week break. I got an A! Yay!! Told you I studied..
<3 me
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Albany
For the second week of April break, my friend Kelsey and I went down to southern WA to Albany to visit my friend Rhys and his family. We had to take the bus from Perth, which took about 7 hours. Once we arrived, Rhys and another friend, Nathan (who had been there all week - also from Curtin) picked us up and we went to Rhys' house to settle in. We went to Rhys' friends house that night to hang out and were going to go to a nightclub in town but decided that the line was too long and just went back to Rhys' house to hang out for the rest of the night.
The second day, we did some touristy things such as see the Natural Bridge formed by rocks and the Gap...a huge gap between rocks. The pictures are a better explanation. That night we had an awesome BBQ for dinner and some of Rhys and Nathans friends from Curtin stopped by the house while on a road trip through SWA. We hung out with them for a bit, then they left
The next day, one of Rhys' friends' brothers took us to the TV set for a TV show that plays in Australia. I have never heard of it before and can't remember the name at the moment. The cast and crew were on holiday for the week, and Matt (who took us there) works there as set design crew. We got to see the entire set and help bring props in to be set up!! I have pictures of this, but I am not allowed to post them online, so if you want to see ask and I can email you.
Afterwards, we stopped for some lunch and went to eat on the beach. It was really windy, and there were tons of seagulls, so we ran to the car. As we left, we put all the food we didnt eat in the paper box it came in, stuck it under the car and drove away to see if the gulls would eat it. We drove approximately 15 meters one way, went around a driving circle and drove back. It took us about 30 seconds...by the time we came back the food was gone...even the box was missing!
The next day was really great weather, so we decided to go to a nice beach which the locals called the Waterfalls. On the way, Rhys decided I needed to learn how to drive. This proved very interesting because a) they drive on the opposite side of the road, b) Rhys drives a large pickup and c) its stick-shift. SOOO he pulled into a parking lot, turned the car around and I got into the drivers seat. I turned on the car (always always always remember to keep the clutch and brake in!) and Rhys put the car into gear. I stalled within seconds and had to restart! I eventually got out onto the road and drove (a very rocky) 20K or so to the beach.
The beach itself was soooo nice!! It was tucked away amongst huge boulders. We hiked through some woods and over some boulders to get to a more secluded beach. There were about 8 of in total...Kelsey and I were the only girls AND the only ones who had never done this treck before! We climbed some HUGE boulders (I thought I was going to die) over to sit on a sloping rock, then slid down to stand on a rock that was out in the water a bit. The water around this rock was at least 10 ft deep, but CRYSTAL clear and with very little current. I wish we had beaches like this at home...nothing at all compares! Anyway, after sitting there for about 30 or so minutes, we decided to go back to shore. The only way back was to dive in and swim back...so that is what we did. 2 of the boys went first, then Kels, then me. I dove in and as soon as I looked up I was like..'where's Kelsey!?'. She dove in maybe 10 seconds before me and already she was jetting ahead of everyone to get back to shore!!! (She is TINY too!). It was probably about a 3-400 meter swim back to shore, but it was very refreshing!!
The next day, Rhys had a dentist appointment so his mom decided that the three of us (me kels and nath) should go to Whaleworld..where they used to hunt, capture, and kill whales. We sat around for a bit at the house waiting for another friend, Jamee, to get to the house from Denmark, a town about 45 minutes from Albany. She got there, and Rhys got home before we left the house, so we went with him instead of his mom. It was a pretty neat exhibit...we enjoyed playing on the large ship they had at the museum. Nathan and Jamee then headed back to Perth while the three of us went to go see some natural Blowholes (which we didnt actually get to see, even after a 1.5 K or so walk down a hill...and back up again). We also saw Salmon holes, where salmon fishing and surfing are both popular.
The last day we spent in Albany was fairly relaxing. The three of us went to another tourist atrraction where they had alot of war remnants. The price was 6$ each, but I think the woman taking our money thought Kelsey was a child and let her in for free!! Quite funny because she is actually the oldest of the three of us!! (She is 21, I am 20, Rhys is 19). We saw lots of canons and Rhys got a kick out of being able to spin some around and act like he was shooting me. Typical boy.
Afterwards, we just hung around Albany for a bit and chatted with Rhys' parents, who are very interested about our lives in the US and how everything is so different from here!! It was fun telling them about some of the things that are different and things that we like to do around PA and NC.
That is all for now!!
<3 me
The second day, we did some touristy things such as see the Natural Bridge formed by rocks and the Gap...a huge gap between rocks. The pictures are a better explanation. That night we had an awesome BBQ for dinner and some of Rhys and Nathans friends from Curtin stopped by the house while on a road trip through SWA. We hung out with them for a bit, then they left
The next day, one of Rhys' friends' brothers took us to the TV set for a TV show that plays in Australia. I have never heard of it before and can't remember the name at the moment. The cast and crew were on holiday for the week, and Matt (who took us there) works there as set design crew. We got to see the entire set and help bring props in to be set up!! I have pictures of this, but I am not allowed to post them online, so if you want to see ask and I can email you.
Afterwards, we stopped for some lunch and went to eat on the beach. It was really windy, and there were tons of seagulls, so we ran to the car. As we left, we put all the food we didnt eat in the paper box it came in, stuck it under the car and drove away to see if the gulls would eat it. We drove approximately 15 meters one way, went around a driving circle and drove back. It took us about 30 seconds...by the time we came back the food was gone...even the box was missing!
The next day was really great weather, so we decided to go to a nice beach which the locals called the Waterfalls. On the way, Rhys decided I needed to learn how to drive. This proved very interesting because a) they drive on the opposite side of the road, b) Rhys drives a large pickup and c) its stick-shift. SOOO he pulled into a parking lot, turned the car around and I got into the drivers seat. I turned on the car (always always always remember to keep the clutch and brake in!) and Rhys put the car into gear. I stalled within seconds and had to restart! I eventually got out onto the road and drove (a very rocky) 20K or so to the beach.
The beach itself was soooo nice!! It was tucked away amongst huge boulders. We hiked through some woods and over some boulders to get to a more secluded beach. There were about 8 of in total...Kelsey and I were the only girls AND the only ones who had never done this treck before! We climbed some HUGE boulders (I thought I was going to die) over to sit on a sloping rock, then slid down to stand on a rock that was out in the water a bit. The water around this rock was at least 10 ft deep, but CRYSTAL clear and with very little current. I wish we had beaches like this at home...nothing at all compares! Anyway, after sitting there for about 30 or so minutes, we decided to go back to shore. The only way back was to dive in and swim back...so that is what we did. 2 of the boys went first, then Kels, then me. I dove in and as soon as I looked up I was like..'where's Kelsey!?'. She dove in maybe 10 seconds before me and already she was jetting ahead of everyone to get back to shore!!! (She is TINY too!). It was probably about a 3-400 meter swim back to shore, but it was very refreshing!!
The next day, Rhys had a dentist appointment so his mom decided that the three of us (me kels and nath) should go to Whaleworld..where they used to hunt, capture, and kill whales. We sat around for a bit at the house waiting for another friend, Jamee, to get to the house from Denmark, a town about 45 minutes from Albany. She got there, and Rhys got home before we left the house, so we went with him instead of his mom. It was a pretty neat exhibit...we enjoyed playing on the large ship they had at the museum. Nathan and Jamee then headed back to Perth while the three of us went to go see some natural Blowholes (which we didnt actually get to see, even after a 1.5 K or so walk down a hill...and back up again). We also saw Salmon holes, where salmon fishing and surfing are both popular.
The last day we spent in Albany was fairly relaxing. The three of us went to another tourist atrraction where they had alot of war remnants. The price was 6$ each, but I think the woman taking our money thought Kelsey was a child and let her in for free!! Quite funny because she is actually the oldest of the three of us!! (She is 21, I am 20, Rhys is 19). We saw lots of canons and Rhys got a kick out of being able to spin some around and act like he was shooting me. Typical boy.
Afterwards, we just hung around Albany for a bit and chatted with Rhys' parents, who are very interested about our lives in the US and how everything is so different from here!! It was fun telling them about some of the things that are different and things that we like to do around PA and NC.
That is all for now!!
<3 me
Friday, April 10, 2009
Ningaloo Trip!!
So this trip started out very interestingly. I had my alarm set for 7am, bags packed (sans toiletries) and everything ready. 7:32am rolls around and I get a text from my friend Kelsey asking if I was ready to head out to meet the group. This also happened to be my wake up call, unfortunately!! I forgot to set my alarm for Saturday, so it didn't go off!! I had to scramble to get all my toiletries in order and run out the door...without brushing teeth/hair or changing out of pjs. We made it to meet the group a few minutes early, so I went in to the bathroom to change into regular clothes and freshen up. This is when I realized that I forgot my hairbrush AND toothpaste. I did, however, remember the essentials such as mascara..go figure.
SOO then the bus pulls up. It's this old VW-looking blue bus with the MOST uncomfortable seats EVER! 13 of us pile in. It's about 8:05 and we are missing some people - we had strict instuction to be prompt. Nathan, our tour guide, calls the missing members...who happen to be in the middle of breakfast. Let me get this straight...I hopped out of bed, forgot a ton of necessities, made it to the bus AND changed in under 30 minutes while these girls are having breaky?? I didn't even get breaky!!
ANYWAY...we eventually take off!! First stop was the Pinnacles Dessert...about a 4 hour drive from Perth. It was a neat dessert with eroded sand/soil forming large rock-like protrusions from the ground. After the Pinnacles, we drove for a few minutes until realizing we had blown a few tires on good 'ol Oliver, our van. We had to pit stop for about 3 hours at a gas station that was unable to help us. We continued our travels towards Northampton Farmstay. It was literally a farm!! It was a fun place, though, and I bunked with 5 others.
Day two consisted of a drive up the Kalbarri National Park. The scenery here was soo pretty!! Red rock cliffs on the ocean..very nice! Then we took a hike around Mushroom rock for some more pretty scenery. We stopped at Shell Beach, which was made completely of tiny shells and was completely infested with annoying flys. My friend Toni and I had a fly-killing contest. We both won.
After, we went to the beach at Kalbarri and walked around the town a bit. The water was way too cold to swim in, but the town was a good alternative. Then, we loaded up the bus for a few hour drive to Monkey Mia. This was a pretty neat place...it was a backpackers resort (every place we stayed was a hostel/backpackers resort). Resort is a very loose term, but it worked for us! Nice beach with sting rays and dolphins right on the shore!! We all woke up relatively early to watch a dolphin feeding on the beach (7am), then took a power nap until about 945am when we departed for Coral Bay.
It took a few hours to get to Coral Bay, but it was well worth it!! We arrived fairly early and had breakfast at a small shop on the beach. A few of us decided to lay out on the beach for a while. It was ridiculously hot out (north = HOT!), so Kelsey and I got in the (shallow) water. We walked out probably 300 meters and the water was only hip deep. HUGE (1/2 meter long) fish were swimming all around us, so we decided to rent snorkeling gear and check out the reef that was just a few more meters out. It was SOO neat!! We saw marine life such as tropical fish, octapus, jelly fish, sting rays, coral, eels, etc. I would definintely do that again!!
After a few more hours on the beach, the group headed to our over night accommodations at another backpackers resort. We had dinner and decided to go to the beach lookout for the sunset, and the hang out at the beach hotel bar, which sits right on the beach. We all went to bed at about 9pm because we had to be on the bus and ready to depart before 550am!!
Once on the bus, I took nice pictures of the sunrise and the Australian Outback. You do not realize how barren Western Australia is until you drive through it. There is literally NOTHING here!! It's crazy. We drove over 7 hours and saw nothing more than bush.
We drove up to Exmouth, our final destination. Some people went scuba diving/snorkeling on a guided tour, but I wanted to see the Ningaloo Reef, so I stayed with the group and went on to Turquoise Bay. It was really nice to just relax on the beach!! The Reef was not as impressive as it was in Coral Bay, but it was still fun to snorkel over for a few minutes. I fell asleep on the beach and got about 5 shades darker!! I was very excited!! Once we left the beach, we toured the visitor center and the light house. I got some really pretty pictures of the Bay area/reef. Then we headed to the backpackers resort and hung out by the pool for a few hours. 3 of us decided to go sandboarding. We never actually found where we were supposed to sandboard, so we settled for a sand dune on the beach. It wasn't as fun as we though because the dune was short and not that steep, but we had a good time nevertheless!
This is about the end of the trip, unfortunately. It was a really good time and I highly recommend a trip up the Western coast of Australia to anyone!! The next day, we had a 12 hour drive back down to Northampton, back to the Farmstay for the evening. We had a good time that night catching up with each other and some of the other tour groups staying there for the evening. The next day, we had about 7 hours drive back to Perth!
Thats all!!!!
<3 me
SOO then the bus pulls up. It's this old VW-looking blue bus with the MOST uncomfortable seats EVER! 13 of us pile in. It's about 8:05 and we are missing some people - we had strict instuction to be prompt. Nathan, our tour guide, calls the missing members...who happen to be in the middle of breakfast. Let me get this straight...I hopped out of bed, forgot a ton of necessities, made it to the bus AND changed in under 30 minutes while these girls are having breaky?? I didn't even get breaky!!
ANYWAY...we eventually take off!! First stop was the Pinnacles Dessert...about a 4 hour drive from Perth. It was a neat dessert with eroded sand/soil forming large rock-like protrusions from the ground. After the Pinnacles, we drove for a few minutes until realizing we had blown a few tires on good 'ol Oliver, our van. We had to pit stop for about 3 hours at a gas station that was unable to help us. We continued our travels towards Northampton Farmstay. It was literally a farm!! It was a fun place, though, and I bunked with 5 others.
Day two consisted of a drive up the Kalbarri National Park. The scenery here was soo pretty!! Red rock cliffs on the ocean..very nice! Then we took a hike around Mushroom rock for some more pretty scenery. We stopped at Shell Beach, which was made completely of tiny shells and was completely infested with annoying flys. My friend Toni and I had a fly-killing contest. We both won.
After, we went to the beach at Kalbarri and walked around the town a bit. The water was way too cold to swim in, but the town was a good alternative. Then, we loaded up the bus for a few hour drive to Monkey Mia. This was a pretty neat place...it was a backpackers resort (every place we stayed was a hostel/backpackers resort). Resort is a very loose term, but it worked for us! Nice beach with sting rays and dolphins right on the shore!! We all woke up relatively early to watch a dolphin feeding on the beach (7am), then took a power nap until about 945am when we departed for Coral Bay.
It took a few hours to get to Coral Bay, but it was well worth it!! We arrived fairly early and had breakfast at a small shop on the beach. A few of us decided to lay out on the beach for a while. It was ridiculously hot out (north = HOT!), so Kelsey and I got in the (shallow) water. We walked out probably 300 meters and the water was only hip deep. HUGE (1/2 meter long) fish were swimming all around us, so we decided to rent snorkeling gear and check out the reef that was just a few more meters out. It was SOO neat!! We saw marine life such as tropical fish, octapus, jelly fish, sting rays, coral, eels, etc. I would definintely do that again!!
After a few more hours on the beach, the group headed to our over night accommodations at another backpackers resort. We had dinner and decided to go to the beach lookout for the sunset, and the hang out at the beach hotel bar, which sits right on the beach. We all went to bed at about 9pm because we had to be on the bus and ready to depart before 550am!!
Once on the bus, I took nice pictures of the sunrise and the Australian Outback. You do not realize how barren Western Australia is until you drive through it. There is literally NOTHING here!! It's crazy. We drove over 7 hours and saw nothing more than bush.
We drove up to Exmouth, our final destination. Some people went scuba diving/snorkeling on a guided tour, but I wanted to see the Ningaloo Reef, so I stayed with the group and went on to Turquoise Bay. It was really nice to just relax on the beach!! The Reef was not as impressive as it was in Coral Bay, but it was still fun to snorkel over for a few minutes. I fell asleep on the beach and got about 5 shades darker!! I was very excited!! Once we left the beach, we toured the visitor center and the light house. I got some really pretty pictures of the Bay area/reef. Then we headed to the backpackers resort and hung out by the pool for a few hours. 3 of us decided to go sandboarding. We never actually found where we were supposed to sandboard, so we settled for a sand dune on the beach. It wasn't as fun as we though because the dune was short and not that steep, but we had a good time nevertheless!
This is about the end of the trip, unfortunately. It was a really good time and I highly recommend a trip up the Western coast of Australia to anyone!! The next day, we had a 12 hour drive back down to Northampton, back to the Farmstay for the evening. We had a good time that night catching up with each other and some of the other tour groups staying there for the evening. The next day, we had about 7 hours drive back to Perth!
Thats all!!!!
<3 me
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Grant visits
One of my good friends from home in Lancaster came to visit this weekend!! Grant is studying abroad in Brisbane, which is on the East Coast towards the north. I took a cab to meet him at the airport, found him, and took a cab back to campus. Cabs are not cheap. We then walked to the Tav to meet up with a bunch of my friends. We hung out and played pool for a while before deciding to head over to Don Watts (where some of my friends live). This is where Grant was going to stay for the weekend because they have couches there and it's much more spacious.
Once we got to Don Watts, we all changed and got ready for the beach. We went out to Cottesloe beach, which is a really pretty beach here. It was also apparently Heath Ledgers favorite beach!! We hung out on the beach for a while and played footy (aussy rules football...much more fun that american football) and swam.
We left the beach to head back to school around 6 and showered, ate and got ready for a night out in Northbridge. On the way home, I took Grant through Perth city so he could see some of the things Perth has to offer such as the Swan Belltower, the ferris wheel, the Swan river (the city sits on top of the river), a glance at Kings Park (we didn't get up there), the street malls, and the Perth Kangaroos.
Grant forgot to bring his passport, so the only ID that he had to get into the clubs was his Pennsylvania license. We luckily ended up getting into a club, although my friends and I don't always like this club. It ended up being a good night for this particular club, though, and we all had a good time. They had a live band that night doing covers of popular songs!
Saturday, we all hung out, played some footy and ate lunch. We went to a BBQ at my friends boyfriends house. He lives in Fremantle, so it was about a 20-minute car ride. A bunch of us took public transport since we only had one car about 15 of us went. Public transport took an hour and a half.
Once there, we met Chris' friends and hung out around the fire pit. Chris grilled up some food (sausages, burgers, potato salad, veggies, etc) and we all ate. It was a pretty fun night...new people, good music, fire..all fun. We camped out in Chris' back yard in tents and swags. A few people went back to Don Watts because it was kind of chilly out. I toughed it out in a swag. They didn't turn off the music all night, but I eventually fell asleep only to be woken up the next morning by Chris and his friends flipping my swag. It was 630am. Music was blaring again. They are crazy!!
We ate breakfast and packed up the car and went back to Don Watts. Because we all were woken up at a ridiculous hour, we were all tired. We watched Transporter 1 and 2 and vegged out until about noon when we decided it was lunch time and went to subway. We then watched footy all day. Grant had to catch a cab at about 3 to make his 5'o'clock flight. After he left, we watched more footy and then went to pick up our friend Calum at his friends house. Rhys and I went in the car with Jamee, the driver, because we had not left the house all day. We watched more footy when we got back. What a lazy day. Then I helped Steve and Nathan study their physiology. I'm a pro at physiology. Not really, but I know my stuff pretty well after having about 4 physiology classes. I felt smart.
I went to bed last night (sunday night) before 9pm since I didn't get much sleep the night before. It was all in good fun though.
That is all for now!
<3 Me
Once we got to Don Watts, we all changed and got ready for the beach. We went out to Cottesloe beach, which is a really pretty beach here. It was also apparently Heath Ledgers favorite beach!! We hung out on the beach for a while and played footy (aussy rules football...much more fun that american football) and swam.
We left the beach to head back to school around 6 and showered, ate and got ready for a night out in Northbridge. On the way home, I took Grant through Perth city so he could see some of the things Perth has to offer such as the Swan Belltower, the ferris wheel, the Swan river (the city sits on top of the river), a glance at Kings Park (we didn't get up there), the street malls, and the Perth Kangaroos.
Grant forgot to bring his passport, so the only ID that he had to get into the clubs was his Pennsylvania license. We luckily ended up getting into a club, although my friends and I don't always like this club. It ended up being a good night for this particular club, though, and we all had a good time. They had a live band that night doing covers of popular songs!
Saturday, we all hung out, played some footy and ate lunch. We went to a BBQ at my friends boyfriends house. He lives in Fremantle, so it was about a 20-minute car ride. A bunch of us took public transport since we only had one car about 15 of us went. Public transport took an hour and a half.
Once there, we met Chris' friends and hung out around the fire pit. Chris grilled up some food (sausages, burgers, potato salad, veggies, etc) and we all ate. It was a pretty fun night...new people, good music, fire..all fun. We camped out in Chris' back yard in tents and swags. A few people went back to Don Watts because it was kind of chilly out. I toughed it out in a swag. They didn't turn off the music all night, but I eventually fell asleep only to be woken up the next morning by Chris and his friends flipping my swag. It was 630am. Music was blaring again. They are crazy!!
We ate breakfast and packed up the car and went back to Don Watts. Because we all were woken up at a ridiculous hour, we were all tired. We watched Transporter 1 and 2 and vegged out until about noon when we decided it was lunch time and went to subway. We then watched footy all day. Grant had to catch a cab at about 3 to make his 5'o'clock flight. After he left, we watched more footy and then went to pick up our friend Calum at his friends house. Rhys and I went in the car with Jamee, the driver, because we had not left the house all day. We watched more footy when we got back. What a lazy day. Then I helped Steve and Nathan study their physiology. I'm a pro at physiology. Not really, but I know my stuff pretty well after having about 4 physiology classes. I felt smart.
I went to bed last night (sunday night) before 9pm since I didn't get much sleep the night before. It was all in good fun though.
That is all for now!
<3 Me
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Cirque du Soleil
Last night (wednesday), Livia, Komal, Kelsey and I went to Cirque du Soleil!! This is probably one of the most amazing events I have ever attended in my life!! The people are ridiculously acrobatic/flexible/balanced!! SO crazy!! I absolutely recommend it to anyone into dance/performing arts.
Some of the stunts that they performed included:
- juggeling with a combination of 9 pins and balls while doing flips, spins, turns, etc.
- balancing on balls twice the size of the person while doing flips, spins, turns onto/off the ball and balancing on each others shoulders
- a trampoline act involing like 10 people, 2 large trampolines, and high walls. They jumped off the walls and did ridiculous flips onto/off of the trampolines, ran up the walls and fell, etc. So cool
- one girl got up on a round platform that was probably 10 ft off the ground and had only about a 4 ft diameter. on the platform was a tiny little balancing bar. she balanced on the bar with ONE hand for like 15 minutes doing absolutely crazy handstands/airsplits/body cortorsions. she was amazingly flexible
- one couple did a gorgeous duet on material hanging from the ceiling. they each had their own piece of material and they did variations on wrapping their body in the material and falling back to the ground...they were not attached to ANYTHING...they just depended on their material wrapping skills. that act alone made the entire show worth seeing.
- girls in pointe shoes balancing on balls comprapable to lightbulbs. they balanced on each other shoulders...while on point on these balls...up to 3 people high...without falling. take it from me...pointe isnt easy even without anyone balancing on top of your shoulders...i can't imagine anyone (let alone 2 people) balancing on my shoulders while on pointe and balancing on balls. wow.
Anyway...the show was definitely worth seeing!!! I loved it and decided I am joining it!
<3 me
Some of the stunts that they performed included:
- juggeling with a combination of 9 pins and balls while doing flips, spins, turns, etc.
- balancing on balls twice the size of the person while doing flips, spins, turns onto/off the ball and balancing on each others shoulders
- a trampoline act involing like 10 people, 2 large trampolines, and high walls. They jumped off the walls and did ridiculous flips onto/off of the trampolines, ran up the walls and fell, etc. So cool
- one girl got up on a round platform that was probably 10 ft off the ground and had only about a 4 ft diameter. on the platform was a tiny little balancing bar. she balanced on the bar with ONE hand for like 15 minutes doing absolutely crazy handstands/airsplits/body cortorsions. she was amazingly flexible
- one couple did a gorgeous duet on material hanging from the ceiling. they each had their own piece of material and they did variations on wrapping their body in the material and falling back to the ground...they were not attached to ANYTHING...they just depended on their material wrapping skills. that act alone made the entire show worth seeing.
- girls in pointe shoes balancing on balls comprapable to lightbulbs. they balanced on each other shoulders...while on point on these balls...up to 3 people high...without falling. take it from me...pointe isnt easy even without anyone balancing on top of your shoulders...i can't imagine anyone (let alone 2 people) balancing on my shoulders while on pointe and balancing on balls. wow.
Anyway...the show was definitely worth seeing!!! I loved it and decided I am joining it!
<3 me
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Birthday!
This was a really busy week!! I have been putting alot of time into bio...remember how I said I don't understand chem? I still don't think I would do very great in a chem class, but I am getting alot better at what we are learning in my bio class!! So I guess that is good news..
Tuesday was St. Patty's Day. Two of my room mates, Leah and Kellie, and I went to the Burswood Casino. We ate dinner at the restaurant there (yummy chinese) and then hung out with Kellies friends at the pub and in the casino. I gambled away 4 bucks and got sick of losing my money and quit. We really wanted to go to the Ruby Room, which is supposed to be a fancy club, but it was closed.
Wednesday was an air guitar competition at the Tav. My friend Dave entered into it and probably should have won (he was awesome), but my other Friend, Aurelian, took first. I missed his performance, but I hear it was even more awesome. Luckily, I got Dave's performance on video!
Thursday was Kelsey's 21st birthday, so we had a little get together at the Erica Underwood complex. It was a Disney/Pixar theme party and we all dressed up like different characters. I was Genie from Aladdin, Kelsey was Tinkerbell, Komal was Pocahontas, Victoria was Rajah the tiger from Aladdin, Matt was the Emperor from Emperors New Groove, Jaymes was a Poncho (inside joke/his nickname), Rhys and Nathan were cards (Ace of Diamonds and Ace of Hearts), Dave was really random things throughout the night, and Livia, Divia and Benedikt did not have costumes :(. The party was really fun...we had 2 cakes, fruit salad and a pasta bake to eat. We also had a dance party in the living room! Kelsey and the rest of us had a great time!
Friday we decided that we wanted to hang out downtown, so we went to The Deen, a club that most of the people in our group like.
Saturday, I did alot of school work during the day, then hung out and watched a movie with some friends for the evening.
Sunday was another day filled with lots of school work. I also did some grocery shopping to restock my very empty fridge and shelf. I then proceeded to make a good dinner consisting of pan fried chicken, mixed veggies and potato salad. It was very yummy. Then I went back to working on school work.
While it seems that all I am doing here is having a blasty blast (which I truely am!!), I also DO study and do a ton of school work (yes, during the week!!). Ask my friends...whenever I see them and they ask what I have been doing that day, my response is always...studying. I do realize that while fun is to be had, lots of time also needs to be put into school, and I am definitely making that effort!! I just didn't want any of you to think that I am blowing it off to have tons of fun!! The fun comes after the work! I still have no grades, but the week of the 30th I have a lot of things due: a sexology paper, a bio test, an australian sport paper and an australian sport presentation. It will be testing my patience that week, but it's about time I get some grades!!
My bio prof handed out a practice test, which is actually an old test. I took it the other day just to see how I would do and ended up finishing the entire thing in under 5 minutes (it was only 20 questions long) and didn't know 2 of the answers. I am still in the process of looking them up in the book. It's an old test and may therefore have come from an old edition of the book.
I have post cards for lots of people at home, but you will need to be patient with the delivery. It is quite expensive to mail things back to the US, so you will either receive it very late or I will hand deliver it to you when I decide to come home...which may take years.
Some big events that are coming up in the near future:
- Cirque du Doleil wednesday
- Grant is visiting Perth this weekend!!
- tests/projects due in 2 weeks
- april break!! (will explain more later)
That is about all for now!!
<3 jenn
Tuesday was St. Patty's Day. Two of my room mates, Leah and Kellie, and I went to the Burswood Casino. We ate dinner at the restaurant there (yummy chinese) and then hung out with Kellies friends at the pub and in the casino. I gambled away 4 bucks and got sick of losing my money and quit. We really wanted to go to the Ruby Room, which is supposed to be a fancy club, but it was closed.
Wednesday was an air guitar competition at the Tav. My friend Dave entered into it and probably should have won (he was awesome), but my other Friend, Aurelian, took first. I missed his performance, but I hear it was even more awesome. Luckily, I got Dave's performance on video!
Thursday was Kelsey's 21st birthday, so we had a little get together at the Erica Underwood complex. It was a Disney/Pixar theme party and we all dressed up like different characters. I was Genie from Aladdin, Kelsey was Tinkerbell, Komal was Pocahontas, Victoria was Rajah the tiger from Aladdin, Matt was the Emperor from Emperors New Groove, Jaymes was a Poncho (inside joke/his nickname), Rhys and Nathan were cards (Ace of Diamonds and Ace of Hearts), Dave was really random things throughout the night, and Livia, Divia and Benedikt did not have costumes :(. The party was really fun...we had 2 cakes, fruit salad and a pasta bake to eat. We also had a dance party in the living room! Kelsey and the rest of us had a great time!
Friday we decided that we wanted to hang out downtown, so we went to The Deen, a club that most of the people in our group like.
Saturday, I did alot of school work during the day, then hung out and watched a movie with some friends for the evening.
Sunday was another day filled with lots of school work. I also did some grocery shopping to restock my very empty fridge and shelf. I then proceeded to make a good dinner consisting of pan fried chicken, mixed veggies and potato salad. It was very yummy. Then I went back to working on school work.
While it seems that all I am doing here is having a blasty blast (which I truely am!!), I also DO study and do a ton of school work (yes, during the week!!). Ask my friends...whenever I see them and they ask what I have been doing that day, my response is always...studying. I do realize that while fun is to be had, lots of time also needs to be put into school, and I am definitely making that effort!! I just didn't want any of you to think that I am blowing it off to have tons of fun!! The fun comes after the work! I still have no grades, but the week of the 30th I have a lot of things due: a sexology paper, a bio test, an australian sport paper and an australian sport presentation. It will be testing my patience that week, but it's about time I get some grades!!
My bio prof handed out a practice test, which is actually an old test. I took it the other day just to see how I would do and ended up finishing the entire thing in under 5 minutes (it was only 20 questions long) and didn't know 2 of the answers. I am still in the process of looking them up in the book. It's an old test and may therefore have come from an old edition of the book.
I have post cards for lots of people at home, but you will need to be patient with the delivery. It is quite expensive to mail things back to the US, so you will either receive it very late or I will hand deliver it to you when I decide to come home...which may take years.
Some big events that are coming up in the near future:
- Cirque du Doleil wednesday
- Grant is visiting Perth this weekend!!
- tests/projects due in 2 weeks
- april break!! (will explain more later)
That is about all for now!!
<3 jenn
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Grapes
This week was not too eventful. Alot of school work and studying...my bio class is turning into a chemistry class. For those of you who know what kind of relationship I have with chemistry..you understand the issues I am having! But I am working through them, so hopefully it will turn out alright.
Friday, some friends and I decided to go to the clubs in an area of Perth called Northbridge. It was pretty fun. Some of the clubs are really crazy, but they are free to get into for the most part so we didn't complain. They play alot of techno, which we are not used to. We did find one that played American music, so we stuck to that one for a while.
Saturday, my friends Livia and Kelsey made dinner for Matt and I, and then we all went over to Matts house to watch movies with his room mates. We watched Basketball, which is really funny, and also Clockwork Orange, which is really wierd and I ended up sleeping through most of it because I a) couldn't understand it and b) it didn't catch my interest.
Today (sunday), I studied for a few hours and then went to Cottesloe Beach with Matt, Livia, Easton and Caitlin. It was a pretty fun day. We hung out on the beach for a while, then went to the Cottesloe Hotel for some food, then went to a party on the beach where they had drumming, fire tossers, juggles etc. It was pretty neat...it only happens every so often so we were glad we could catch it.
This week might be a bit busy. I have alot to study (just to understand the chemistry is enough!), plus I want to get started on some research papers that I have due at the end of the month/beginning of April. It is also Kelsey's birthday, so a group of us are going out to dinner (on the study abroad advisors!) one night.
One funny note: while we were watching movies at Matts house, we saw a cat out the window and Matt's room mate Rhys (said like reese) said he was going to throw a thong at it. Of course, he didn't mean he was throwing ladies underwear at it...he meant a flip flop!! Silly english..
That is all for now!!
<3 jenn
Friday, some friends and I decided to go to the clubs in an area of Perth called Northbridge. It was pretty fun. Some of the clubs are really crazy, but they are free to get into for the most part so we didn't complain. They play alot of techno, which we are not used to. We did find one that played American music, so we stuck to that one for a while.
Saturday, my friends Livia and Kelsey made dinner for Matt and I, and then we all went over to Matts house to watch movies with his room mates. We watched Basketball, which is really funny, and also Clockwork Orange, which is really wierd and I ended up sleeping through most of it because I a) couldn't understand it and b) it didn't catch my interest.
Today (sunday), I studied for a few hours and then went to Cottesloe Beach with Matt, Livia, Easton and Caitlin. It was a pretty fun day. We hung out on the beach for a while, then went to the Cottesloe Hotel for some food, then went to a party on the beach where they had drumming, fire tossers, juggles etc. It was pretty neat...it only happens every so often so we were glad we could catch it.
This week might be a bit busy. I have alot to study (just to understand the chemistry is enough!), plus I want to get started on some research papers that I have due at the end of the month/beginning of April. It is also Kelsey's birthday, so a group of us are going out to dinner (on the study abroad advisors!) one night.
One funny note: while we were watching movies at Matts house, we saw a cat out the window and Matt's room mate Rhys (said like reese) said he was going to throw a thong at it. Of course, he didn't mean he was throwing ladies underwear at it...he meant a flip flop!! Silly english..
That is all for now!!
<3 jenn
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Toga Toga!
So this week has been rather eventful!! Nothing too special happened Monday or Tuesday, but Wednesday was the Toga Party hosted by the Guild (student org) at the Tav. It was a ton of fun seeing everyone there in their togas/other accodomations. I was going to wear a toga..I had a sheet and everything..but my friends convinced me to just wear my white dress that I wore over to their house where we were all getting ready. It turned out to be just fine, though I am sure the toga would have been more festive :). Highlight of the Toga Party: seeing a very big dude in a hot pink, fuzzy toga. Unfortuntately I was laughing too hard to get any pictures :(
After the Tav, a bunch of us headed over to the Waterford for some Karaoke. Livia, Victoia and I sang the Thong Song. Yes..I did karaoke!! It was a lot of fun, but the crowd was small and I knew most of the people, so making a fool out of myself was alright. If I had tried it later in the night..I'm not so sure I would have done it!
Thursday...nothing special. Just some classes and such.
Friday was Beach Bash!! What a great event!! It was also sponsered by Guild at the Tav. Everyone came in bathing suits/beach wear. They had hot tubs, sand and random sand toys, a live band, and a foam machine! One of my aussy friends, David, and his friends all actually came wearing yellow life vests and swim caps...crazy kids! There is documentation of that. My friends and I just wore bathing suits with sundresses over...so we were still beachy-festive! The event lasted until 1130, at which time we all went back to Erica Underwood (the nicer accomodations on campus) to get some pizza and socialize with all the new friends we made. We continue to accumulate friends into our group..it's always a good time and I feel like I know a ton of people, althought not that many aussys. Even walking across campus (40,000+ students I think) I always run into someone I know...that doesn't even happen at Elon that often!
Saturday was a lazy relax/study on the beach kind of day, so we took off around one, ate lunch in Scarboro, and went down to the beach. When we got there, there was a helicopter circling over the ocean. About ten minutes later, sirons began sounding and everyone who was in the water made a mad dash for land...apparently there were sharks!! EEK!! After about 30 minutes of the siron/helicopter/boats attempting to get rid of the sharks, it was safe to get back into the water. And thank God because it was brutally hot just laying there on the beach! No one went in very far for fear of a returning hungry shark, but waist deep seemed safe enough. The water is crystal clear, so we would have seen a shark coming from fairly far off. I am not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but the water here is surprisingly very cold...which is amazing on a hot day! Unfortunately, if it's cool at all (as in below 85 or so) the water is almost too chilly to get in.
On the way home from the beach, we were talking about the Little Mermaid for some odd reason, so we rented it and watched it. Today (Sunday), Livia, Kelsey and I decided to skip the beach and head into Perth to do some shopping. It's generally harder to get public transport back from the beach on Sundays since they only run about once an hour. We found that out the hard way last Sunday, but it worked out in our favor because we ended up getting to watch the sunset on the beach...something I have never seen before since I live on the east coast in the states. That was really pretty!!
That's all for now!!
<3 me
After the Tav, a bunch of us headed over to the Waterford for some Karaoke. Livia, Victoia and I sang the Thong Song. Yes..I did karaoke!! It was a lot of fun, but the crowd was small and I knew most of the people, so making a fool out of myself was alright. If I had tried it later in the night..I'm not so sure I would have done it!
Thursday...nothing special. Just some classes and such.
Friday was Beach Bash!! What a great event!! It was also sponsered by Guild at the Tav. Everyone came in bathing suits/beach wear. They had hot tubs, sand and random sand toys, a live band, and a foam machine! One of my aussy friends, David, and his friends all actually came wearing yellow life vests and swim caps...crazy kids! There is documentation of that. My friends and I just wore bathing suits with sundresses over...so we were still beachy-festive! The event lasted until 1130, at which time we all went back to Erica Underwood (the nicer accomodations on campus) to get some pizza and socialize with all the new friends we made. We continue to accumulate friends into our group..it's always a good time and I feel like I know a ton of people, althought not that many aussys. Even walking across campus (40,000+ students I think) I always run into someone I know...that doesn't even happen at Elon that often!
Saturday was a lazy relax/study on the beach kind of day, so we took off around one, ate lunch in Scarboro, and went down to the beach. When we got there, there was a helicopter circling over the ocean. About ten minutes later, sirons began sounding and everyone who was in the water made a mad dash for land...apparently there were sharks!! EEK!! After about 30 minutes of the siron/helicopter/boats attempting to get rid of the sharks, it was safe to get back into the water. And thank God because it was brutally hot just laying there on the beach! No one went in very far for fear of a returning hungry shark, but waist deep seemed safe enough. The water is crystal clear, so we would have seen a shark coming from fairly far off. I am not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but the water here is surprisingly very cold...which is amazing on a hot day! Unfortunately, if it's cool at all (as in below 85 or so) the water is almost too chilly to get in.
On the way home from the beach, we were talking about the Little Mermaid for some odd reason, so we rented it and watched it. Today (Sunday), Livia, Kelsey and I decided to skip the beach and head into Perth to do some shopping. It's generally harder to get public transport back from the beach on Sundays since they only run about once an hour. We found that out the hard way last Sunday, but it worked out in our favor because we ended up getting to watch the sunset on the beach...something I have never seen before since I live on the east coast in the states. That was really pretty!!
That's all for now!!
<3 me
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Coldplay/Cott/Scarboro
Friday I didn't have any classes, so I wandered around campus getting some things done. A few friends and I hung out for a few hours until it was time for the Coldplay concert! WHAT A GREAT SHOW!! Hands down, it was the best concert I have ever been to!! They had awesome effects (lights/video screens etc) and, during the song "Yellow" for those of you familiar with the band, they released HUGE yellow balloons filled with confetti. They exploded randomly as people were bouncing them overhead. The guitar player even burst a few with his guitar!! Then TONS of confetti was released from the ceiling. SO much fun and definitely worth going to!! Getting home was interesting, though. Since the concert let out "late" (11pm), public transport was interesting to figure out. We couldn't get a bus from the Burswood Dome, where the concert was held, back to campus, so we had to walk to the Victoria Street Bus Station, which is a few K away. It took about 30 minutes to walk there, and then we had to wait 45 minutes for the next (and last) bus of the night. We got home at about 130am.
Saturday a few of us went to Cottosloe beach for the day. We took our books along to study as well. I got through the first chapter of my cell bio book...it's all review of things I already know, so that is a good sign I guess. After the beach there was a welcoming bbq at the common room where I live. They had interesting sausage...very different from what we have in the states. After, I hung out with some friends/made new friends.
Today (sunday), a bunch of friends and I went to Scarboro Beach which is about an hour away on public transport. It's such a nice beach!! The waves are bigger than they were at Cott and at Yanchep, so it was alot more fun to be out in the water! We spent about 6 hours at the beach and, from what I can tell so far, I didn't burn!! YAY!
Now I am beat from a long day in the sun sooo it's bed time!!
Saturday a few of us went to Cottosloe beach for the day. We took our books along to study as well. I got through the first chapter of my cell bio book...it's all review of things I already know, so that is a good sign I guess. After the beach there was a welcoming bbq at the common room where I live. They had interesting sausage...very different from what we have in the states. After, I hung out with some friends/made new friends.
Today (sunday), a bunch of friends and I went to Scarboro Beach which is about an hour away on public transport. It's such a nice beach!! The waves are bigger than they were at Cott and at Yanchep, so it was alot more fun to be out in the water! We spent about 6 hours at the beach and, from what I can tell so far, I didn't burn!! YAY!
Now I am beat from a long day in the sun sooo it's bed time!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
First Week of Class
So this was the first week of classes! My schedule is very conducive to sleeping in, which I am a huge fan of! Cell bio was the class that I had the most this week, since lecture meets twice, and lab and tutorial meet once each. We didn't have tutorial this week, though. The lecture itself is fairly boring. I can't really understand the professor because he has an indian/australian mixture of an accent, and he doesn't really say things the way that I am used to. He kind of just puts up slides and says what each slide is. I am hoping the book will be able to teach me a little bit more of what I need to know. Lab was very basic. We "learned" how to use a microscope, which I already know how to do from years of experience, and looked at some onion and ciliated protista. The microscopes are Olympus, so Rick would approve!
We didn't do much in sexology, which meets only once a week. The class is considered a psychology class and, from what I understand so far, we talk about various subjects such as sex slaves, differences in gender..ect ect.
Indiginous Australian Sport should be interesting. We learn about aussy-rules sports and how the differ from other sports and also why the athletes who play these sports are successful at what they do. We have a few short presentations to do in this class, but nothing huge.
Other news:
-My friend Kelsey and I went out and got a printer this week. We think it's probably a good investment because printing at the library is a) expensive and b) very hard because it is nearly impossible to find a computer to use. The printer itself cost 70 dollars, plus we got an extra ink cartridge and a stack of paper. We each paid about 50 dollars for it. Hopefully that will save us money in the long run. Talking with a girl who is in my cell bio class, she paid 15 dollars to print out the lab/tutorial/lecture notes just for this week. And thats only one class.
-The smoke detector in my room is going off because the battery is dying. I told the office but no one has been by to replace the batteries yet. It's very annoying because the intervals at which it beeps are becoming smaller. It's also loud.
-I am going to a Coldplay concert tomorrow (friday) night!! That should be very fun and entertaining!
-My room mate Stephanie (who is at Elon) has her 21st birthday on Sunday...so if you know her say Happy Birthday to her!!
-I gave up candy for lent. We'll see how that works out..so far so good, but it's only been a day and a half.
-I got a new phone (camara!!) because the free phone that I was given finally bit the dust. It was old and broken anyway. At least it was free.
-I ate a kangaroo hot dog. It was not good. I don't recommend it.
-The weater really cooled off this week...from the 100s down to upper 60s and lower 70s. I finally had to shut my bedroom window which had been open since the day I got here. I also had to break out the jeans and a sweatshirt. You all and probably thinking "I only wish it was that warm here at home" while we are all saying "why is it soo cold all of a sudden!". That's what happens when you become accustomed to very hot weather!!
-My tan is coming along. Believe me...it's better than any tan I get in the states!
That is all I can think of for now!!
Love,
Me
We didn't do much in sexology, which meets only once a week. The class is considered a psychology class and, from what I understand so far, we talk about various subjects such as sex slaves, differences in gender..ect ect.
Indiginous Australian Sport should be interesting. We learn about aussy-rules sports and how the differ from other sports and also why the athletes who play these sports are successful at what they do. We have a few short presentations to do in this class, but nothing huge.
Other news:
-My friend Kelsey and I went out and got a printer this week. We think it's probably a good investment because printing at the library is a) expensive and b) very hard because it is nearly impossible to find a computer to use. The printer itself cost 70 dollars, plus we got an extra ink cartridge and a stack of paper. We each paid about 50 dollars for it. Hopefully that will save us money in the long run. Talking with a girl who is in my cell bio class, she paid 15 dollars to print out the lab/tutorial/lecture notes just for this week. And thats only one class.
-The smoke detector in my room is going off because the battery is dying. I told the office but no one has been by to replace the batteries yet. It's very annoying because the intervals at which it beeps are becoming smaller. It's also loud.
-I am going to a Coldplay concert tomorrow (friday) night!! That should be very fun and entertaining!
-My room mate Stephanie (who is at Elon) has her 21st birthday on Sunday...so if you know her say Happy Birthday to her!!
-I gave up candy for lent. We'll see how that works out..so far so good, but it's only been a day and a half.
-I got a new phone (camara!!) because the free phone that I was given finally bit the dust. It was old and broken anyway. At least it was free.
-I ate a kangaroo hot dog. It was not good. I don't recommend it.
-The weater really cooled off this week...from the 100s down to upper 60s and lower 70s. I finally had to shut my bedroom window which had been open since the day I got here. I also had to break out the jeans and a sweatshirt. You all and probably thinking "I only wish it was that warm here at home" while we are all saying "why is it soo cold all of a sudden!". That's what happens when you become accustomed to very hot weather!!
-My tan is coming along. Believe me...it's better than any tan I get in the states!
That is all I can think of for now!!
Love,
Me
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Rottnest Island
ok just to clarify:
Waterford - bar/restaurant next to campus that does Karaoke wednesday nights..very interesting
The Tav - oncampus bar/restaurant that sometimes has awesome bands and such playing and where Beach Bash will be held in March!!!! SOO excited!!
The aussies love to abbreviate..I am a fan.
Onto Rottnest (Rotto) Island:
Two of my friends (Benedikt from Germany and Sebastion from Sweden) and I went to Rottnest Island today. We caught the bus at 825 this morning and headed for Fremantle, which is about an hours bus ride. Once there, we figured out how to purchase tickets to the ferry (thank you student discount!), and waited around to board. Bene and I rode on the deck but Sebastion decided to ride inside because he gets seasick and also didn't want to get wet from the waves/sea mist. Lame!
The ferry ride was only about 30 minutes, so we got to the island plenty early. We rented bikes for the day (again, thank you student discount!) and were on our way. The island is only about 25K the whole way around and has about 40 beaches. We rode a few K (mostly uphill) to one of the first beaches we came to and went for a quick swim. It wasn't too hot out, but the water was refreshing anyway. The water was SO crystal clear for a ways out and there were absolutely NO waves...perfectly calm.
Once we were done swimming, we rode to the general market and got some lunch. This is where I found out that my debit card was not going to work anymore. I don't know why yet. But it was rejected and I was stranded on this resort island with ten dollars. Lunch cost 14. I found something really cheap and ate that. I soon discovered the forgotten banana that I tossed into my bag before running out the door this morning and ate that too. Then we saw the animal for which the island is named!! It's reallly cute...it looks like a HUGE rat..its about the size of my cat Mikee...if you know how big he is. This thing (which I don't know how to spell) was just hanging out under the picnic bench that we were eating at...not at all phased by all the tourists staring and flashing camaras in its face. It was awesome.
We finished lunch and rode on. We came to a beach called City of York Beach. This is the prettiest beach I have ever been to. EVER. Blue/green waters, no waves, and boulders jutting out of the water everywhere. We all layed on the boulders for about 2 hours or so. There were little snails burrowed into the crevices. Neither Sebastion nor Bene knew what they were, so I had to explain to them their name and what they were.
Onward to the Lighthouse!! This was a few K away from where we were at the York Beach...and ALL UPHILL. By the time we were only a few hills away, I was walking. I didn't think I was going to make it. Soo many hills for soo many K!! Definitely a great workout...for someone who is in shape!! I will be way sore tomorrow for sure!! The lighthouse was pretty neat though. It's the highest point on the entire island, so we got a great view of tons of beaches. We couldn't see any of the shoppes, inns, or any other structures, though. After a 20-or-so minute rest on the benches, we resumed our journey. This time, the entire trip was downhill. Thank God because I don't think I would have made it if there were any hills!!
Once we got back from our ~15K ride over the island, we returned our bikes (which had to be in by 5pm). We had a little over an hour to kill, so we found a really neat outdoor beach bar and got some water (yes...water at the bar). We relaxed in the shade until it was time to board the ferry again.
The ferry ride back was realllllly great!!! Bene and I sat out on the deck again. There was a whole group of people on the other side of the deck from us and only 4 (including the two of us) on our side of the deck. About 2 minutes into the ride we decided that we made the right choice of seats. The way that the wind was blowing caused the waves to come barrelling over the side of the ferry, water pelting everyone full-blast on the opposite side of the deck. It was probably the funniest thing that happened in a LONG time!! After about 3 minutes of pelting water, everyone on that side was absolutely soaked as if they had jumped into the ocean themselves!! 2 of them actually got out their snorkles and masks!! SOO funny!! At least they were all really good sports about it and laughed the entire time...as did they dry ones (us)!! We barely even got misted!!
The ferry arrived in Fremantle and we RAN to catch the bus back to school. We had planned on taking the bus that was a half hour later than this bus, but that was when we thought that the ferry was going to take an hour instead of a half hour. We got to the bus and were taping on the door when he started pulling away. NOPE. Not gona happen. We ran after and eventually got on.
Once I got back to my room, I discovered that I was sunburned in just about every spot that i was not sunburned last time. Even after reapplying sunblock numerous times!! I am going to have some very interesting tan lines...that's for sure!! But hey, at least I have them!! Woo!! Even the flipflop tan line got burned...no more flipflop tan line!! Darn..
Well that is all for now!! I am beat from cycling/swimming/sunburning all day so I am going to bed relatively soon. Plus, classes begin tomorrow. The only one I have is Cell Bio from 3-4pm. I think I am going to go to campus a few hours early and figure out where my class is held and buy my text books and such. If I can even walk at that point...
Love,
me
Waterford - bar/restaurant next to campus that does Karaoke wednesday nights..very interesting
The Tav - oncampus bar/restaurant that sometimes has awesome bands and such playing and where Beach Bash will be held in March!!!! SOO excited!!
The aussies love to abbreviate..I am a fan.
Onto Rottnest (Rotto) Island:
Two of my friends (Benedikt from Germany and Sebastion from Sweden) and I went to Rottnest Island today. We caught the bus at 825 this morning and headed for Fremantle, which is about an hours bus ride. Once there, we figured out how to purchase tickets to the ferry (thank you student discount!), and waited around to board. Bene and I rode on the deck but Sebastion decided to ride inside because he gets seasick and also didn't want to get wet from the waves/sea mist. Lame!
The ferry ride was only about 30 minutes, so we got to the island plenty early. We rented bikes for the day (again, thank you student discount!) and were on our way. The island is only about 25K the whole way around and has about 40 beaches. We rode a few K (mostly uphill) to one of the first beaches we came to and went for a quick swim. It wasn't too hot out, but the water was refreshing anyway. The water was SO crystal clear for a ways out and there were absolutely NO waves...perfectly calm.
Once we were done swimming, we rode to the general market and got some lunch. This is where I found out that my debit card was not going to work anymore. I don't know why yet. But it was rejected and I was stranded on this resort island with ten dollars. Lunch cost 14. I found something really cheap and ate that. I soon discovered the forgotten banana that I tossed into my bag before running out the door this morning and ate that too. Then we saw the animal for which the island is named!! It's reallly cute...it looks like a HUGE rat..its about the size of my cat Mikee...if you know how big he is. This thing (which I don't know how to spell) was just hanging out under the picnic bench that we were eating at...not at all phased by all the tourists staring and flashing camaras in its face. It was awesome.
We finished lunch and rode on. We came to a beach called City of York Beach. This is the prettiest beach I have ever been to. EVER. Blue/green waters, no waves, and boulders jutting out of the water everywhere. We all layed on the boulders for about 2 hours or so. There were little snails burrowed into the crevices. Neither Sebastion nor Bene knew what they were, so I had to explain to them their name and what they were.
Onward to the Lighthouse!! This was a few K away from where we were at the York Beach...and ALL UPHILL. By the time we were only a few hills away, I was walking. I didn't think I was going to make it. Soo many hills for soo many K!! Definitely a great workout...for someone who is in shape!! I will be way sore tomorrow for sure!! The lighthouse was pretty neat though. It's the highest point on the entire island, so we got a great view of tons of beaches. We couldn't see any of the shoppes, inns, or any other structures, though. After a 20-or-so minute rest on the benches, we resumed our journey. This time, the entire trip was downhill. Thank God because I don't think I would have made it if there were any hills!!
Once we got back from our ~15K ride over the island, we returned our bikes (which had to be in by 5pm). We had a little over an hour to kill, so we found a really neat outdoor beach bar and got some water (yes...water at the bar). We relaxed in the shade until it was time to board the ferry again.
The ferry ride back was realllllly great!!! Bene and I sat out on the deck again. There was a whole group of people on the other side of the deck from us and only 4 (including the two of us) on our side of the deck. About 2 minutes into the ride we decided that we made the right choice of seats. The way that the wind was blowing caused the waves to come barrelling over the side of the ferry, water pelting everyone full-blast on the opposite side of the deck. It was probably the funniest thing that happened in a LONG time!! After about 3 minutes of pelting water, everyone on that side was absolutely soaked as if they had jumped into the ocean themselves!! 2 of them actually got out their snorkles and masks!! SOO funny!! At least they were all really good sports about it and laughed the entire time...as did they dry ones (us)!! We barely even got misted!!
The ferry arrived in Fremantle and we RAN to catch the bus back to school. We had planned on taking the bus that was a half hour later than this bus, but that was when we thought that the ferry was going to take an hour instead of a half hour. We got to the bus and were taping on the door when he started pulling away. NOPE. Not gona happen. We ran after and eventually got on.
Once I got back to my room, I discovered that I was sunburned in just about every spot that i was not sunburned last time. Even after reapplying sunblock numerous times!! I am going to have some very interesting tan lines...that's for sure!! But hey, at least I have them!! Woo!! Even the flipflop tan line got burned...no more flipflop tan line!! Darn..
Well that is all for now!! I am beat from cycling/swimming/sunburning all day so I am going to bed relatively soon. Plus, classes begin tomorrow. The only one I have is Cell Bio from 3-4pm. I think I am going to go to campus a few hours early and figure out where my class is held and buy my text books and such. If I can even walk at that point...
Love,
me
Friday, February 20, 2009
Orientation/Kings Park
Ok so the past few days:
Wednesday was Orientation day, so everyone came on campus to sign up for clubs/get free things/hangout. It was fun for the hour or so that I was there. After, there was a party at the Tav. A local band out of Perth played. They are really decent..I hear people at home have heard of them so I guess they're fairly well-known. After, a group of us hung out at a friends house and then moved on to the Waterford.
Thursday was a relatively boring day. Nothing too much was going on, so I just did some laundry and hung out. Around dinner time, there was a Welcome Party for Vickery House, where I live. They had free pizza and more clubs and trips to sign up for. Afterwards, a few of us went to a friends house in Erica Underwood, which is clear across campus from Vickery House. We ate more dinner there and watched tv until it was time to go home. It was nice to have a down day since every other day has been pretty packed with things to do.
Today (Friday), I went with a few friends up to Kings Park in downtown Perth. It is a really pretty park (and REALLY big) that over looks the entire city. It's really cool because downtown is relatively small, so you can see the entire thing and then some. It also sits right on top of the Swan River. When we left, we went to the Carousel Shoppes to get some groceries and such, then went home.
I am currently getting ready for another Orientation day party at the Tav. I don't think there is a band or anything, just a big hang out. Should be pretty fun because alot of people go to it.
The past few days have been cooler...around 25 celcius (80F), but today it spiked again to about 35 or 40 (100-110), so it's REALLY hot out!! But that's why I am here!!!
Classes start Monday!
-Me
Wednesday was Orientation day, so everyone came on campus to sign up for clubs/get free things/hangout. It was fun for the hour or so that I was there. After, there was a party at the Tav. A local band out of Perth played. They are really decent..I hear people at home have heard of them so I guess they're fairly well-known. After, a group of us hung out at a friends house and then moved on to the Waterford.
Thursday was a relatively boring day. Nothing too much was going on, so I just did some laundry and hung out. Around dinner time, there was a Welcome Party for Vickery House, where I live. They had free pizza and more clubs and trips to sign up for. Afterwards, a few of us went to a friends house in Erica Underwood, which is clear across campus from Vickery House. We ate more dinner there and watched tv until it was time to go home. It was nice to have a down day since every other day has been pretty packed with things to do.
Today (Friday), I went with a few friends up to Kings Park in downtown Perth. It is a really pretty park (and REALLY big) that over looks the entire city. It's really cool because downtown is relatively small, so you can see the entire thing and then some. It also sits right on top of the Swan River. When we left, we went to the Carousel Shoppes to get some groceries and such, then went home.
I am currently getting ready for another Orientation day party at the Tav. I don't think there is a band or anything, just a big hang out. Should be pretty fun because alot of people go to it.
The past few days have been cooler...around 25 celcius (80F), but today it spiked again to about 35 or 40 (100-110), so it's REALLY hot out!! But that's why I am here!!!
Classes start Monday!
-Me
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Perth Zoo/Fremantle Excursion
This week, we had off a few days to go off and do our own thing around the city. On Saturday, two friends and I decided we would try out the public transportation system on our own and ventured to the Perth Zoo. The trip required us to take two different buses. The first bus we were to get off at Henley Street after Axford Street. We asked the bus driver to let us know when this stop was since the bus does not stop unless someone hits the 'stop' button or unless someone is at the stop waiting to get on. The bus driver was no help because he had absolutely no idea where this bus stop was, so it was up to us to figure out where we were. We eventually saw Axford street and got off at the next stop. Woops! We went one stop too far and had to literally run a mile or so back to the previous bus stop in time to catch the next bus to the Zoo. This bus was somewhat easier because there is a stop designated for the Zoo itself.
So after all that bus drama, we arrived at the zoo. It was a really nice zoo with animals from all over the Australian outback, among other places. I saw some animals I have never seen before including a wombat, dingo, and wallabe. After the zoo, we took the two buses back to campus, this time with less stress. We rented a movie and hung out for a while and then went our separate ways for the evening.
Sunday, a large group of us went to Fremantle to meet Amanda, one of our student mentors. She lives there and was able to give us a pretty good tour. Fremantle, or "Freo" to the locals, is a really neat, hippyish town with tons of shoppes, restaurants, and pubs. We first went to the Round House, which is right on the water. They have a cannon here that is fired everyday at 1pm. We ate lunch at a fish and chips place. I had chicken. After, we went into town for some shopping and meat pies. I do no suggest meat pies. Once we finished up at the shoppes, the group met at a local pub for some snacks. The pub was called Little Creatures and sits right on the water. It was a really neat, open air place. After, we took the bus back to campus and hung out and watched movies for the night. Tomorrow, a group of us are planning a day trip to the beach about halfway between Curtin and Fremantle called Cottesloe, or "Cotto" as the locals call it. We are also planning on getting proof-of-age cards so that we don't have to carry passports around the city, and a quick trip up to Kings Park!
So after all that bus drama, we arrived at the zoo. It was a really nice zoo with animals from all over the Australian outback, among other places. I saw some animals I have never seen before including a wombat, dingo, and wallabe. After the zoo, we took the two buses back to campus, this time with less stress. We rented a movie and hung out for a while and then went our separate ways for the evening.
Sunday, a large group of us went to Fremantle to meet Amanda, one of our student mentors. She lives there and was able to give us a pretty good tour. Fremantle, or "Freo" to the locals, is a really neat, hippyish town with tons of shoppes, restaurants, and pubs. We first went to the Round House, which is right on the water. They have a cannon here that is fired everyday at 1pm. We ate lunch at a fish and chips place. I had chicken. After, we went into town for some shopping and meat pies. I do no suggest meat pies. Once we finished up at the shoppes, the group met at a local pub for some snacks. The pub was called Little Creatures and sits right on the water. It was a really neat, open air place. After, we took the bus back to campus and hung out and watched movies for the night. Tomorrow, a group of us are planning a day trip to the beach about halfway between Curtin and Fremantle called Cottesloe, or "Cotto" as the locals call it. We are also planning on getting proof-of-age cards so that we don't have to carry passports around the city, and a quick trip up to Kings Park!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Yanchep National Park
Here are the goings-on of the past few days at Yanchep National Park:
Tuesday we arrived at Yanchep and went to the beach for a few hours. The water there is crystal clear and waist deep until you reach a rock barrier about 100 meters out. The barrier is apparently dangerous because little tiny octapi like to hang out there are if you irritate them, they will sting you.
After the beach, we headed back to the hotel we were staying at for dinner and such. We played a quiz game about Australia. They asked us random questions about common Aussy sayings and various cultural things, among other things. My team came in last place :(.
My room mates and I went to bed relatively early..around ten or so. The next morning was an early one. We got up and had to be at breakfast by 645am. We left at 730am to drive about an hour to go surfing!! The waves were really tiny, but it was soo much fun!! They water was really shallow...waist deep for hundreds of meters out and crystal clear. 2 dolphins came within feet of me! I only stood up one time and fell off right away, but I got up to my knees a couple of times, so it's progress!
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we had to meet with some counselors from Curtin University for about an hour to talk about safety on the campus. Then, a group of us went to the beach for about 4 hours. I found this really neat shell on the ocean floor so I picked it up and there was a starfish on it! It was really tiny, about the size of a quarter, so I found another shell, stuck him on it, and threw him back. I kept the neat shell for a decoration in my bomb shelter.
After the beach, we ate dinner and played a get-to-know-you game with the group. 2 truths and a lie is the name and the rule. You write 2 truths and a lie about yourself and someone else reads your paper, tries to figure out whose paper it was, and which statement was the lie. I learned some very interesting things about the people on my trip! My room mates and I called it another early night. The sun here really takes all your energy out of you.
Thursday we got to sleep in a little bit. Breakfast was at 8. Afterwards, we went to learn how to throw a spear and boomarang, do an aboriginal dance, and learn about the aboriginies. It was all very interesting!! Once we were done, we ate lunch, packed the vans and headed back to campus.
On Thursdays, Carousal, a relatively large mall a few minutes ride from school, is open late. "Later" is 9pm. We got back around 130pm, so 3 friends and I hoped on the bus and went to the mall. We got some fun stuff like shoes and movies, and headed back to school around 830pm. On the bus ride back, there was a lady sitting in front of me and one of my friends. She was clearly on some kind of drug because shortly into the ride she began talking to herself about absolutely random things. I quote: "They can't f*cking knock on my door and they say 'I'm staying my sister lives here' and I can't f*cking believe that they can't knock. I'm feeling sick. I'm going to vomit on you all (pointing to everyone around) BLAHHHH. Get off this bus. No don't. He knows. He knows. He knows." This went on for about...twenty minutes. I was really uncomfortable but wasn't able to move because the bus was very full and I was at the back. Once the bus got to our stop, all the students ran off the bus to get away from her. Clearly, she was scaring some people.
I just met one of my new room mates. Her name is Kellie and she is from about 2 hours south of Perth!! Apparently another room mate, Emily, is also from about 2 hours south of Perth. I have aussy roomies!! YAY!!!
I am about to head over to hang out with some friends across the courtyard for the evening!! Yay friends!!
Tuesday we arrived at Yanchep and went to the beach for a few hours. The water there is crystal clear and waist deep until you reach a rock barrier about 100 meters out. The barrier is apparently dangerous because little tiny octapi like to hang out there are if you irritate them, they will sting you.
After the beach, we headed back to the hotel we were staying at for dinner and such. We played a quiz game about Australia. They asked us random questions about common Aussy sayings and various cultural things, among other things. My team came in last place :(.
My room mates and I went to bed relatively early..around ten or so. The next morning was an early one. We got up and had to be at breakfast by 645am. We left at 730am to drive about an hour to go surfing!! The waves were really tiny, but it was soo much fun!! They water was really shallow...waist deep for hundreds of meters out and crystal clear. 2 dolphins came within feet of me! I only stood up one time and fell off right away, but I got up to my knees a couple of times, so it's progress!
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we had to meet with some counselors from Curtin University for about an hour to talk about safety on the campus. Then, a group of us went to the beach for about 4 hours. I found this really neat shell on the ocean floor so I picked it up and there was a starfish on it! It was really tiny, about the size of a quarter, so I found another shell, stuck him on it, and threw him back. I kept the neat shell for a decoration in my bomb shelter.
After the beach, we ate dinner and played a get-to-know-you game with the group. 2 truths and a lie is the name and the rule. You write 2 truths and a lie about yourself and someone else reads your paper, tries to figure out whose paper it was, and which statement was the lie. I learned some very interesting things about the people on my trip! My room mates and I called it another early night. The sun here really takes all your energy out of you.
Thursday we got to sleep in a little bit. Breakfast was at 8. Afterwards, we went to learn how to throw a spear and boomarang, do an aboriginal dance, and learn about the aboriginies. It was all very interesting!! Once we were done, we ate lunch, packed the vans and headed back to campus.
On Thursdays, Carousal, a relatively large mall a few minutes ride from school, is open late. "Later" is 9pm. We got back around 130pm, so 3 friends and I hoped on the bus and went to the mall. We got some fun stuff like shoes and movies, and headed back to school around 830pm. On the bus ride back, there was a lady sitting in front of me and one of my friends. She was clearly on some kind of drug because shortly into the ride she began talking to herself about absolutely random things. I quote: "They can't f*cking knock on my door and they say 'I'm staying my sister lives here' and I can't f*cking believe that they can't knock. I'm feeling sick. I'm going to vomit on you all (pointing to everyone around) BLAHHHH. Get off this bus. No don't. He knows. He knows. He knows." This went on for about...twenty minutes. I was really uncomfortable but wasn't able to move because the bus was very full and I was at the back. Once the bus got to our stop, all the students ran off the bus to get away from her. Clearly, she was scaring some people.
I just met one of my new room mates. Her name is Kellie and she is from about 2 hours south of Perth!! Apparently another room mate, Emily, is also from about 2 hours south of Perth. I have aussy roomies!! YAY!!!
I am about to head over to hang out with some friends across the courtyard for the evening!! Yay friends!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Updates
Just a few things you might like to know-
Units (classes) for this semester:
Monday - Cell bio 3-4pm
Tuesday - Sexology 1-4pm
Wednesday - Cell bio 11am-12pm
Indiginous Australian Sport 2-3pm
-tutorial 3-5pm
Thursday - Cell bio lab 2-4pm
-tutorial 4-5pm
Friday - no class!
My address:
Jenn Kirchner
unit 15
Vickery House
Hayman Road
Bentley
WA 6102
Australia
**DON'T PUT CURTIN UNIVERSITY**
I am leaving in a few hours for camping/surfing/beaching! I will update when I get back to campus!
Units (classes) for this semester:
Monday - Cell bio 3-4pm
Tuesday - Sexology 1-4pm
Wednesday - Cell bio 11am-12pm
Indiginous Australian Sport 2-3pm
-tutorial 3-5pm
Thursday - Cell bio lab 2-4pm
-tutorial 4-5pm
Friday - no class!
My address:
Jenn Kirchner
unit 15
Vickery House
Hayman Road
Bentley
WA 6102
Australia
**DON'T PUT CURTIN UNIVERSITY**
I am leaving in a few hours for camping/surfing/beaching! I will update when I get back to campus!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Landed, grounded, moved in
Hey all--
I am finally here and all settled into my (tiny) room at Curtin University!! The past few days have been crazy busy!! Flying was...put simply...long and exhausting. 5 of the people in my program were on my (13 hour) flight from Brisbane to Perth. We were greeted at baggage claim by a current graduate student named Ashley. She is from Texas and did this same program a few years ago and loved it enough to return for grad school (good to know?!). Anyway, she took us all to our hotel that we were staying in for the night. We were given some time to shower (yes it had been 2 days =/) and get ready for a night out in the city of Perth. It only took about half a second to realized that the outlets in the rooms didn't work. That was very unfortunate for the 10 girls who were looking foward to drying and straigtning their hair, using a computer, or charging a cell phone.
We walked probably around 2 miles to an asian restaurant downtown and stayed there for a few hours. Australian waiters do not work for tips, so things get accomplished on their time. For example, we were sitting for at least 20 minutes before we were waited on, then waited a good hour until the first entree was served. Not everyone at the table was served at the same time. In fact, two were served first and had completely finished with their meals with time to spare before the others were served.
After the meal, we hung out for another hour or so until the check came. After we paid, 4 of us took a cab back to the hotel while the rest went on to a bar to hang out for the rest of the night. It is not commonplace to wear flip flops out to bars and restuarants, so I wore heels. Big mistake. By the time we reached the restaurant I had blisters SO bad that walking across the street to the ATM was like...I don't know...Hell. I am paying for that now, and I have (nasty) pictures to prove it!
Today we all met at 10 am (most of us were up by 6am because of jet lag/time difference) to go back into town to the "shoppes" to do some shopping. We went to some tourist attractions first, like the Bell Tower and a Ferris Wheel similar to the London Eye. 2 of the girls and I went on the Ferris Wheel and got a great view of the city. The city is built on the water, so there are some great strips of city jutting out into the water connecting to the land by bridges.
After the tourist attractions, we made it to the "shoppes", which is how the Australians refer to closed off portions of streets littered with malls and stores with everything you could possibly think of to buy except a hair straightner. It figures that the one thing I was looking for is no where to be found.
We checked into our rooms this afternoon. I am living in an 8-person suite called Vickery House. I am told that it is all girls, but currently I am the only person here. Many others are co-ed. The suite literally looks like a bomb shelter. Its kind of scary actually, but I think once I get some colors and such up it won't be so bad. The suite contains a common room with 8 chairs and a table (no tv), a kitchenette with a sink, oven, stove (scary thing), 2 fridges, a microwave, and lots of cabinets. There is also a kitchen table with a bunch of chairs. Everyone has their own bedroom, which is nice because I can't imagine trying to stuff 2 people into this room! There are 2 toilet rooms (not bathrooms), and in a separate room there are 4 sinks and 2 showers. It's very basic, but will work for the semester. There is no AC, but it cools down at night and I do have a personal room fan.
I already got sunburn. Sunscreen is DEFINITELY necessary!! The only exposed place that was not affected was my face and that is only because my moisturizer has SPF in it! Good thing I used that this morning...
I don't know when I will next update because I hear that our orientation is taking us camping/beaching/surfing for the next few days!!!! SOO exciting!!
Love me!
***I think that pictures are going to have to be a once-a-month deal because internet here is not free. You pay by the month and pay for MGBs and everything, which get wasted fairly easily.
I am finally here and all settled into my (tiny) room at Curtin University!! The past few days have been crazy busy!! Flying was...put simply...long and exhausting. 5 of the people in my program were on my (13 hour) flight from Brisbane to Perth. We were greeted at baggage claim by a current graduate student named Ashley. She is from Texas and did this same program a few years ago and loved it enough to return for grad school (good to know?!). Anyway, she took us all to our hotel that we were staying in for the night. We were given some time to shower (yes it had been 2 days =/) and get ready for a night out in the city of Perth. It only took about half a second to realized that the outlets in the rooms didn't work. That was very unfortunate for the 10 girls who were looking foward to drying and straigtning their hair, using a computer, or charging a cell phone.
We walked probably around 2 miles to an asian restaurant downtown and stayed there for a few hours. Australian waiters do not work for tips, so things get accomplished on their time. For example, we were sitting for at least 20 minutes before we were waited on, then waited a good hour until the first entree was served. Not everyone at the table was served at the same time. In fact, two were served first and had completely finished with their meals with time to spare before the others were served.
After the meal, we hung out for another hour or so until the check came. After we paid, 4 of us took a cab back to the hotel while the rest went on to a bar to hang out for the rest of the night. It is not commonplace to wear flip flops out to bars and restuarants, so I wore heels. Big mistake. By the time we reached the restaurant I had blisters SO bad that walking across the street to the ATM was like...I don't know...Hell. I am paying for that now, and I have (nasty) pictures to prove it!
Today we all met at 10 am (most of us were up by 6am because of jet lag/time difference) to go back into town to the "shoppes" to do some shopping. We went to some tourist attractions first, like the Bell Tower and a Ferris Wheel similar to the London Eye. 2 of the girls and I went on the Ferris Wheel and got a great view of the city. The city is built on the water, so there are some great strips of city jutting out into the water connecting to the land by bridges.
After the tourist attractions, we made it to the "shoppes", which is how the Australians refer to closed off portions of streets littered with malls and stores with everything you could possibly think of to buy except a hair straightner. It figures that the one thing I was looking for is no where to be found.
We checked into our rooms this afternoon. I am living in an 8-person suite called Vickery House. I am told that it is all girls, but currently I am the only person here. Many others are co-ed. The suite literally looks like a bomb shelter. Its kind of scary actually, but I think once I get some colors and such up it won't be so bad. The suite contains a common room with 8 chairs and a table (no tv), a kitchenette with a sink, oven, stove (scary thing), 2 fridges, a microwave, and lots of cabinets. There is also a kitchen table with a bunch of chairs. Everyone has their own bedroom, which is nice because I can't imagine trying to stuff 2 people into this room! There are 2 toilet rooms (not bathrooms), and in a separate room there are 4 sinks and 2 showers. It's very basic, but will work for the semester. There is no AC, but it cools down at night and I do have a personal room fan.
I already got sunburn. Sunscreen is DEFINITELY necessary!! The only exposed place that was not affected was my face and that is only because my moisturizer has SPF in it! Good thing I used that this morning...
I don't know when I will next update because I hear that our orientation is taking us camping/beaching/surfing for the next few days!!!! SOO exciting!!
Love me!
***I think that pictures are going to have to be a once-a-month deal because internet here is not free. You pay by the month and pay for MGBs and everything, which get wasted fairly easily.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Just a start
I am leaving tomorrow (the 5th) for Australia! AHH! How crazy!! Here is the plan...my flight out of Philadelphia is at 4pm. I land in LA at 704 pm LA time, and take off for Australia at 1150pm LA time. I arrive in Brisbane at 745am Brisbane time on the 7th (yea I totally miss the 6th..I am in the air and cross the international dateline before then). I have a good 5-or-so hour layover until 120pm, at which time I leave for Perth!! Once I land in Perth at 535 pm, I will be picked up from the airport and taken to Curtin University where I will be studying for the semester!
I don't know what courses I will be taking because I cannot sign up until I actually get to the university. I am living in Vickery House, which is a house owned by the university. I will have either 5 or 7 room mates, all of which are international. We will have 2 weeks of orientation...1 with just American students and 1 with all international students. We begin classes on Feb. 25th. I am not sure what the schedule for the semester looks like yet, but I will find all that out soon enough!
I will miss you all, but I am sure that I will be able to find things to occupy myself!!
Next time you hear from me, I will be in Australia! How exciting!!
I don't know what courses I will be taking because I cannot sign up until I actually get to the university. I am living in Vickery House, which is a house owned by the university. I will have either 5 or 7 room mates, all of which are international. We will have 2 weeks of orientation...1 with just American students and 1 with all international students. We begin classes on Feb. 25th. I am not sure what the schedule for the semester looks like yet, but I will find all that out soon enough!
I will miss you all, but I am sure that I will be able to find things to occupy myself!!
Next time you hear from me, I will be in Australia! How exciting!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
