sorry i havent updated about my trip yet. i've been so busy with classes this week since i've gotten back. i figured i'd just write a short one and then go back and describe my trip in detail later on.
bungee jumping was amazing. i was the first one to go out of all the people from my trip. it was tons of stairs to climb up. you just kept walking and walking and look up & there were still tons of stairs. it was 44 meters high which is about 145 feet, and then you get up to the top and they tie your ankles into a towel with straps & buckles and tons of knots, then you get down and shuffle to the edge (since your ankles are bound together) and they make you wave to the camera, which is hard to do since you've already looked down at the water below you. then they said put your arms up & stick your chin in & then count 5,4,3,2,1 & you jump or dive off. i hit the water & went waist deep. i wasnt expecting it because they said it doesnt happen to everyone but apparently it has to do with how you dive off and since i was the first to go no one told me about it. it was fun though. so then you're hanging by your feet and a man in a raft comes & unties you and you get off and run back to your friends. it was weird, i felt a bit paralyzed when he was untying me, i guess because i didnt know what to do and i was really shaky. it was amazing though and i bought the video to watch when i get home.
Scuba diving was amazing too. At the Great Barrier Reef. It was a two hour boat ride on a really nice boat but it was so choppy & bumpy that we all got nauseous and had to lay down & sleep. for me diving was scarier than bungee jumping was. you have to remember to breathe a certain way & pop your ears and then swim a certain way & stuff. they say the most important thing is to not touch the reef because you'll kill it and it will cut you and at one point i thought we were going to run into it because i didnt realize the guide was steering us (3 of us were linked at the arms) so i kind of freaked out, but i just used my A-OK signal & everything was fine. the reef is so amazing, colorful. stuff you'd never be able to imagine on land. we got to see Finding Nemo fish in their little house. It was really indescribable.
I'll have to write about the rest later because i have to go to class.
I changed my flight from November 16th to the 28th. I get home the day after Thanksgiving, but I get to go to New Zealand for almost two weeks. I'm excited but I miss everyone so much!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
During One Fish Two Fish
Is it seriously October already???!!?!!!
I'm at an internet cafe in Port Douglas, which is an hour outside of Cairns up in Queensland. One Fish Two Fish (my spring break trip) is amazing!!! I have 3 days left, but figured i'd do a quick update to tell everyone i'm still alive!
We've done the australian zoo, sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, beaching, 4WD with a bus through an island, whitewater rafting was yesterday, stayed on an island with the clearest blue water ever, tonight is bungee jumping, tomorrow is snorkeling the great barrier reef and i'll probably scuba if it's not too expensive, then we still have the rainforest & cliff diving.
i'll go into more detail when i get back to monash and have time to write, although it will be my last 2 weeks of classes and i'll have a lot of work!! I can't believe how fast time's gone. I also still can't believe i'm in Australia. We all have to keep reminding each other that we're actually here... a lot of times this trip i've felt like I was in a commercial or in a dream or something. i feel like i won't be able to remember it all because there's just so much to look at!
I'm at an internet cafe in Port Douglas, which is an hour outside of Cairns up in Queensland. One Fish Two Fish (my spring break trip) is amazing!!! I have 3 days left, but figured i'd do a quick update to tell everyone i'm still alive!
We've done the australian zoo, sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, beaching, 4WD with a bus through an island, whitewater rafting was yesterday, stayed on an island with the clearest blue water ever, tonight is bungee jumping, tomorrow is snorkeling the great barrier reef and i'll probably scuba if it's not too expensive, then we still have the rainforest & cliff diving.
i'll go into more detail when i get back to monash and have time to write, although it will be my last 2 weeks of classes and i'll have a lot of work!! I can't believe how fast time's gone. I also still can't believe i'm in Australia. We all have to keep reminding each other that we're actually here... a lot of times this trip i've felt like I was in a commercial or in a dream or something. i feel like i won't be able to remember it all because there's just so much to look at!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sydney & Phillip Island
Sydney was really good! I got to the hostel around 11:30, put my stuff down & wandered around the city a little bit. Found a place to eat & then went back and took a nap until Gozi (my friend who is studying in Brisbane) got there at 4. Then we went & wandered around some more, had dinner, met a German guy who was sharing the room with us in the hostel and one of his friends who is Irish, and we hung out with them a little bit. Friday morning we got up early & walked around Sydney doing the touristy things. Saw some of the Darling Harbour, walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, saw the Sydney Opera House, which was SO cool to see. I was so excited to see it, which was surprising. We took a tour of the Opera House, which was beautiful inside. And then since we’re students & took the tour we got a HUGE discount on Sydney Symphony tickets and got to see the symphony in the Opera House later on that night, which was REALLY cool!!! I’d never seen a symphony before, and this one was doing “Crime Time” which was scores from movies like The 6th Sense, & The Matrix. The tour was really interesting. I didn’t realize the Opera House is so new. It was started in 1963 and wasn’t finished until the ‘70s, which I found shocking… for some reason it was placed in my mind in the category of things like the Eiffel tower & Big Ben, which is silly really because Australia was only found by the British in the late 1700s. But still, I guess I thought the Opera House had been around for at least a hundred years or so. We also saw some museums and stuff on Friday. Saturday was the tour of the Blue Mountains. We got to see the Three Sisters rock formation and other really cool nature stuff. I’ll put some pictures up. Sunday Gozi left after breakfast and I walked around the Darling Harbour. Went to Paddy’s Market- a huge flea market where I got a backpacker’s backpack for only $20. Also went to the Chinese Garden of Friendship which was beautiful.
This past weekend 2 of my friends and I went home with an Australian friend to stay with his family for the weekend. We were supposed to camp but the weather wasn’t nice so we just hung out and went to his friend’s house. It was so nice being in a home, and his family was so friendly and welcoming. We also went to Phillip Island which has amazing views and we watched the Penguin Parade, which is when the penguins come in out of the sea and find their little nests in the hill for the night. They’re so cute!!! They’re Little Penguins, so they’re not like the ones we normally think of, and they come in to the shore in little groups and get scared and swim back and forth until there’s enough of them to run out into the grass. It was a really good weekend.
This Thursday I leave for my One Fish Two Fish trip. 9 days of crazy rafting, bungee jumping, snorkeling/scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, up from Brisbane to Cairns. Can’t wait to be in the sun!!!
I’m thinking about changing my flight coming home from November 16th to sometime mid December. If I do I’ll be able to go to New Zealand for 2 weeks and then some other stuff that I wouldn’t have time to do otherwise. I have to figure out the flight change prices & some little things though. We’ll see!
This past weekend 2 of my friends and I went home with an Australian friend to stay with his family for the weekend. We were supposed to camp but the weather wasn’t nice so we just hung out and went to his friend’s house. It was so nice being in a home, and his family was so friendly and welcoming. We also went to Phillip Island which has amazing views and we watched the Penguin Parade, which is when the penguins come in out of the sea and find their little nests in the hill for the night. They’re so cute!!! They’re Little Penguins, so they’re not like the ones we normally think of, and they come in to the shore in little groups and get scared and swim back and forth until there’s enough of them to run out into the grass. It was a really good weekend.
This Thursday I leave for my One Fish Two Fish trip. 9 days of crazy rafting, bungee jumping, snorkeling/scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, up from Brisbane to Cairns. Can’t wait to be in the sun!!!
I’m thinking about changing my flight coming home from November 16th to sometime mid December. If I do I’ll be able to go to New Zealand for 2 weeks and then some other stuff that I wouldn’t have time to do otherwise. I have to figure out the flight change prices & some little things though. We’ll see!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Quick Update
Quick update during my break in class!
I'm going to Sydney tomorrow morning. So exciting! I'm meeting a friend there who's studying in Brisbane, so I'm flying alone, and I booked everything myself and have to catch shuttles and stuff to get to & from the airport, so I'm kind of nervous. We don't really know what we'll do when we get there. The hostel is booked, but other than that we have no plans. Definitely going on the Sydney Opera House tour & maybe a tour of the Blue Mountains. Should be good pictures!
I figured out that I have at least 13 more flights, including the ones I take to get home. That's a lot of airport time!! I never in my life thought I'd be on planes so much. Good thing I'm not afraid of flying!
Last weekend I went to a Latin Fiesta fundraiser. It was so much fun... there were Capoeira & Samba shows and we spent the whole night dancing. Last week I also went to St Kilda, which is a suburb of Melbourne I guess and it has a beach and fun sights to see. Tonight is the Deakin Ball (my residence hall). Should be a lot of fun!!
I'm going to Sydney tomorrow morning. So exciting! I'm meeting a friend there who's studying in Brisbane, so I'm flying alone, and I booked everything myself and have to catch shuttles and stuff to get to & from the airport, so I'm kind of nervous. We don't really know what we'll do when we get there. The hostel is booked, but other than that we have no plans. Definitely going on the Sydney Opera House tour & maybe a tour of the Blue Mountains. Should be good pictures!
I figured out that I have at least 13 more flights, including the ones I take to get home. That's a lot of airport time!! I never in my life thought I'd be on planes so much. Good thing I'm not afraid of flying!
Last weekend I went to a Latin Fiesta fundraiser. It was so much fun... there were Capoeira & Samba shows and we spent the whole night dancing. Last week I also went to St Kilda, which is a suburb of Melbourne I guess and it has a beach and fun sights to see. Tonight is the Deakin Ball (my residence hall). Should be a lot of fun!!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Pancakes, Star Wars & Surfing
It’s been a long time!!! I’ve been so busy, but now that I think back, I’m not sure why. So much has been going on, but nothing extremely exciting. Art projects & papers that I should be spending more time doing, but instead I watch Star Wars & make pancakes. Ingredients are different here, so sometimes we get really flat or egg-y pancakes… it’s an adventure every time. The regular sized eggs are so small! And the jumbo ones are the size of our regular eggs and they’re brownish-red. The milk here tastes different in a not good way. Especially the skim milk. The mayo isn’t as thick, and is kind of sweet… and the only place you can find real ketchup is in McDonalds. I’m not really meaning to complain, just naming differences I never would have thought of.
Something else that shocked me was the fact that NOT everyone has seen Star Wars. No one understands why all the Americans love Star Wars, apparently it’s a geek thing everywhere else. And Macaroni & Cheese!!! I made it for dinner one night (from scratch in the oven, not box kind) and the girls I made it for had NEVER had Mac & Cheese! I was amazed!!! So then I felt very stereotypically American not being able to imagine people not having seen Star Wars & eaten Mac & Cheese.
I went surfing this past weekend in Torquey. It’s a famous surf town on the Great Ocean Road. It was fun. There were 17 of us who went & stayed in a hostel. We were the only ones in the whole hostel, so we got to be as loud as we wanted. We surfed in the rainy coldness, but it was really nice to be at & in the ocean. We had full wet suits & boots, so the only things that got cold were our hands, but after they went numb it wasn’t too bad. J I’ll put some pictures on here from it. It took 2.5 hours to get there, but it was worth it! I think I need to do some push-ups before I can get any better at surfing, because my arms were so tired from paddling & pushing myself up!
Something else that shocked me was the fact that NOT everyone has seen Star Wars. No one understands why all the Americans love Star Wars, apparently it’s a geek thing everywhere else. And Macaroni & Cheese!!! I made it for dinner one night (from scratch in the oven, not box kind) and the girls I made it for had NEVER had Mac & Cheese! I was amazed!!! So then I felt very stereotypically American not being able to imagine people not having seen Star Wars & eaten Mac & Cheese.
I went surfing this past weekend in Torquey. It’s a famous surf town on the Great Ocean Road. It was fun. There were 17 of us who went & stayed in a hostel. We were the only ones in the whole hostel, so we got to be as loud as we wanted. We surfed in the rainy coldness, but it was really nice to be at & in the ocean. We had full wet suits & boots, so the only things that got cold were our hands, but after they went numb it wasn’t too bad. J I’ll put some pictures on here from it. It took 2.5 hours to get there, but it was worth it! I think I need to do some push-ups before I can get any better at surfing, because my arms were so tired from paddling & pushing myself up!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Olympics
The rain is making me crazy!!! It also made me sick. :( I had to go to the doctor and get medicine… weird using an international insurance card.
I’ve been watching the Olympics a bit. It’s really odd being in a foreign country with other foreigners watching. First of all, half of the time the Australians reporting on the games really don’t know what they’re talking about. And they never interview the winners, unless they’re Australian. If an Australian comes in 3rd or even 8th, they’ll interview that person and not whatever country came in 1st. It makes me feel sort of disconnected. It’s weird too, knowing who to route for. Obviously the US, then Australia, then whoever I’m watching with- Holland, or Britain, or Denmark, whoever.
It’s also really interesting because for a long time Australia had a really strict immigration policy, mainly to keep Asians out. Since Australia is an isolated country it has always feared being taken over or something like that. So there’s a lot of tension here towards the Olympics being in China. (I’ve heard that there’s tension in America too because it’s very likely that China will soon be the world leader, not America. Is this true??? It’s hard for me to keep up with news here, especially foreign.) It’s really a strange thing because now there are so many people here from China, Malaysia, Singapore, other Asian countries. I don’t really know if I explained this very well…
Anyway, I’m going to an Olympic party tomorrow night for the exchange/study abroad students. We have to dress Olympic-like. I know people wearing togas, a group of people going as the rings. Two of my friends & I are going patriotic. I’m wearing a blue dress, red scarf & white leggings, an American flag pin & painting something red white & blue on my face. They’re both Dutch so they’re wearing orange because that’s Holland’s national color, and red, white & blue because that’s the color of their flag & painting their faces too. It should be really fun.
Oh! Does anyone have really easy, yummy, nonmeat, cheap, healthy recipes??? I’ve been making chili a lot, and Mexican casserole (my Mexican friend hates that we call our Mexican food Mexican), and grilled cheese. My friends & I are still cooking together, so I need to stop cooking the same thing again and again.
I’ve been watching the Olympics a bit. It’s really odd being in a foreign country with other foreigners watching. First of all, half of the time the Australians reporting on the games really don’t know what they’re talking about. And they never interview the winners, unless they’re Australian. If an Australian comes in 3rd or even 8th, they’ll interview that person and not whatever country came in 1st. It makes me feel sort of disconnected. It’s weird too, knowing who to route for. Obviously the US, then Australia, then whoever I’m watching with- Holland, or Britain, or Denmark, whoever.
It’s also really interesting because for a long time Australia had a really strict immigration policy, mainly to keep Asians out. Since Australia is an isolated country it has always feared being taken over or something like that. So there’s a lot of tension here towards the Olympics being in China. (I’ve heard that there’s tension in America too because it’s very likely that China will soon be the world leader, not America. Is this true??? It’s hard for me to keep up with news here, especially foreign.) It’s really a strange thing because now there are so many people here from China, Malaysia, Singapore, other Asian countries. I don’t really know if I explained this very well…
Anyway, I’m going to an Olympic party tomorrow night for the exchange/study abroad students. We have to dress Olympic-like. I know people wearing togas, a group of people going as the rings. Two of my friends & I are going patriotic. I’m wearing a blue dress, red scarf & white leggings, an American flag pin & painting something red white & blue on my face. They’re both Dutch so they’re wearing orange because that’s Holland’s national color, and red, white & blue because that’s the color of their flag & painting their faces too. It should be really fun.
Oh! Does anyone have really easy, yummy, nonmeat, cheap, healthy recipes??? I’ve been making chili a lot, and Mexican casserole (my Mexican friend hates that we call our Mexican food Mexican), and grilled cheese. My friends & I are still cooking together, so I need to stop cooking the same thing again and again.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
tons & tons of flights
Sorry it’s been so long! I’ve been so busy!
I can’t believe I’ve been here for over a month. It’s crazy. I feel like i’ve been here forever and only a week at the same time. I’m surprised at how comfortable I am here, getting from campus to campus and going into the city on my own. The first semester at Arcadia I never did anything alone, now I don’t mind doing things alone at all… it’s nice.
I booked my flight for my Tasmania trip. I’m staying a night myself and then meeting the rest of the Arcadia people for 2 nights. I’m excited, but hopefully I can borrow a lot of stuff for that, like a rain coat or pants or anything that would be expensive and very hard to take home on a plane. I also booked a flight with my friend Sarah to Alice Springs, which is the outback, and we’re going to take a tour from there to Uluru (Ayers Rock). So we’ll probably stay in Alice Springs one night then go to Uluru and stay in hostels or camp there for 3 nights, and then go back to Alice Springs for a night and catch our flight home. That’s the weekend before I leave, and the Tasmania trip is the weekend before that… It’s going to be very busy!! I’m also planning on meeting some of the people I met at Arcadia’s orientation in Sydney sometime in September, otherwise I’ll probably go myself. I’m so excited about traveling. It’s crazy though, I’ve never spent this much money in my life! But, all of this might be a once in a lifetime chance.
Nothing too exciting is going on here… just classes and going into the city. I had a field trip on Friday to the Botanical Gardens. We had an aboriginal talk & tour. It was really interesting but it got really cold and miserable out so I wanted to leave as fast as possible.
I can’t believe I’ve been here for over a month. It’s crazy. I feel like i’ve been here forever and only a week at the same time. I’m surprised at how comfortable I am here, getting from campus to campus and going into the city on my own. The first semester at Arcadia I never did anything alone, now I don’t mind doing things alone at all… it’s nice.
I booked my flight for my Tasmania trip. I’m staying a night myself and then meeting the rest of the Arcadia people for 2 nights. I’m excited, but hopefully I can borrow a lot of stuff for that, like a rain coat or pants or anything that would be expensive and very hard to take home on a plane. I also booked a flight with my friend Sarah to Alice Springs, which is the outback, and we’re going to take a tour from there to Uluru (Ayers Rock). So we’ll probably stay in Alice Springs one night then go to Uluru and stay in hostels or camp there for 3 nights, and then go back to Alice Springs for a night and catch our flight home. That’s the weekend before I leave, and the Tasmania trip is the weekend before that… It’s going to be very busy!! I’m also planning on meeting some of the people I met at Arcadia’s orientation in Sydney sometime in September, otherwise I’ll probably go myself. I’m so excited about traveling. It’s crazy though, I’ve never spent this much money in my life! But, all of this might be a once in a lifetime chance.
Nothing too exciting is going on here… just classes and going into the city. I had a field trip on Friday to the Botanical Gardens. We had an aboriginal talk & tour. It was really interesting but it got really cold and miserable out so I wanted to leave as fast as possible.
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