CAIRNS

This is going to be long… I haven’t written in a few days and a LOT has happenedJ. 

Wednesday was a crazy day with class in the morning, a trip to the gym and some last minute packing.  Then I was off to Cairns.  I met two of my friends at the bus stop and we took a bus, train, and taxi to get to the airport.  We met another friend at the airport and boarded our plane.  The three girls I went with are Marisa, Christina and Kaitlyn.  I met and got to know Marisa really well on our beach orientation trip to Lorne before school started.  She’s from Portland and knows some kids I go to school with at Whitworth.  Also, she’s awesome!  She introduced me to Christina (Wisconsin) who is also awesomeJ.  Kaitlyn is from California and goes to school at UC San Diego.  She and Marisa went to school together for the first year and half and were in the same sorority before Marisa transferred to Portland.  Kaitlyn is studying at another university in Melbourne for the semester as well.  It was a SUPER fun group!  Our flight was quick and we made it to Cairns right on time.  We were all starved, as it was 9pm and we hadn’t eaten dinner.  We found a cab to take us to our hostel and went to find food.  We walked down the road about 30 seconds and stumbled upon the best fish and chips place ever!  It was a little, local shop, and they made everything fresh and SO good.  After our dose of grease and salt, we were all craving some sugar so we bought a carton of ice cream and some spoons and did workJ.  It was a fun night just talking and laughing. 

The next morning (Thursday) we were up really early… 5:30am to be exact.  It was still dark when I rolled out of bed, but it was beautiful watching the sunrise and the sky soften.  We got ready quickly and walked down the road a bit to Annabelle’s Bakery for breakfast before our day of rafting.  It was another cute, local shop and SO delicious!  We got picked up by our rafting tour at 6:30am and started the day.  The drive to the river was close to three hours, but flew by, as the view was absolutely gorgeous.  Everything was so tropical, green and alive!  There was field after field of sugar cane and banana plants.  It was really cool!  As we got further south and closer to the river we were going to raft, we started seeing the remnants of the cyclone that hit a couple months ago.  It was insane!  It reminded me of the way a forest looks a couple years after a forest fire goes through… all the buds are back on the branches, but everything is thinned out and bare.  It’s incredible the damage that the storm did.  After the long bus ride, we made it to the river and were assigned to our boats.  Our raft guide was a guy named Rob and he was really fun.  Our boat was our group of four and two 19-year-old Swedish girls that were awesome!  As we got in our rafts, Rob explained to us what to do when we came to the rapids, how to hold on, what to do if we fell out, etc.  I was really scared, but I played it coolJ.  He explained that the scale for rapids was 1-6 and we were rafting a level 4 river (pretty big rapids!)  We started paddling down the river and hit our first set of rapids – SO fun!  I was terrified, but I couldn’t help but enjoy myself in the process.  It was quite the rush.  Kaitlyn was the first one to fall out and she was so funny!  She grabbed hold of the side rope of the boat and was just yelling, “GET ME OUTTA HERE!”  We laughed about it all dayJ.  Everyone else fell out at some point throughout the day… except me.  I wasn’t upsetJ.  We rafted the same section of the river twice because the top half was too high to do safely.  After we made our first trip down, we stopped for the BBQ lunch the tour company made.  It was SO good.  Australians really do know how to do BBQ.  Also, the skies opened while we were eating.  It poured rain for about 20 minutes and then the sun came out again… it was perfect timing.  The second half of the day was even more fun than the morning.  We were all more comfortable and excited to have some fun.  We flipped our boat on purpose, got the people in the other boats wet, “surfed” on the rapids, and went for swims in the calmer pools.  It was so fun!  As we finished our day, we made plans with Rob and the two Swedish girls to meet up later for drinks.  We rode the bus back, showered, got dinner again (fish and chips, round 2J), and then met the rest of our group at Gilligan’s (a hostel in downtown Cairns with a bar).  We also invited a couple boys we met on the bus back who were from Switzerland.  Their names: Lores and Fabio.  Yes, Fabio… it was pretty greatJ.  It was a really fun night, but we didn’t stay out too late as we had another early morning the next day. 

Friday started at 6:30am.  We loaded the bus to go on another tour.  We drove for about an hour to a wildlife sanctuary where I got to hold a koala!  It was SO cute.  My dad already said I can’t have one, but I loved it.  Also, I got to feed the kangaroos!  They are precious.  I know people say they’re mean, but I sure didn’t get that vibeJ.  After the sanctuary, we kept going to Mossman Gorge (a beautiful rainforest walk with a swimming hole).  Of course, as we were driving there, our guide told us about ALL the varieties of spiders that naturally inhabit the rainforest, complete with visual aids.  I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy the beautiful walk, but I survived.  The walk took us out to a beautiful lookout at a river that you’d see in Lord of the Rings or something.  Like, too beautiful and clear to be real.  We got to swim in a little inlet area of it too.  It was incredible!  There were fish in there that came right up to our feet… and I wasn’t even scaredJ.  After we cooled off, we kept driving to the Daintree River and our river cruise.  We ate some lunch and then boarded the boat and took off down the river.  Our driver showed us some of the cool trees that grow along the bank.  There is one that is super common called the Mangrove tree and I really wanted him to call it the Mandrake (the roots look really similarJ).  It was funny.  As we got further down the river, we saw a baby croc and then a mama crocodile named Elizabeth.  She was HUGE.  It was crazy, but SO cool.  She was just gliding through the water, looking like a beast!  We got off the river cruise and our driver took us up to Alexandra Lookout in the Daintree Rainforest where we could look out and see the water Steve Irwin was in when he was killed by the stingray.  It was a beautiful lookout.  Also, I got to lick an ant’s buttJ.  It’s an ancient aboriginal medicinal treatment – the rear of the green ants have an acid in them that tastes like citrus.  It was so strange!  It kind of grossed me out a little, but I figured I could try anything onceJ.  After the lookout, we continued to Cape Tribulation beach.  It was SO beautiful – like off a postcard.  As we got off the bus, our driver pointed out the bathroom and told us that there was a huge spider on the wall of the women’s restroom if we were interested… um NO!  He didn’t get it – I HATE spiders.  Christina went to see it and she was impressed with the size.  She held up her hands in a circle the size of a saucer-type plate.  HUGE.  GROSS.  I chose ignorance and blissJ.  We took some pictures at the beach and then made our way to our hostel to drop our stuff off and go swimming.  You can’t swim in the ocean at Cape Tribulation this time of year because of the crocodiles and jellyfish, but our hostel had a nice pool.  We at dinner at our hostel’s restaurant partly because it was convenient and partly because it was one of two restaurants in the whole town.  Cape Tribulation consists of two hostels and a small grocery store.  Also, there is no cell phone reception.  It’s remote, but it was really nice to be so close to nature and so peaceful.  We all passed out at 8:30pm that night… with the lights on… oopsJ. 

We woke up at 5:30am the next morning (Saturday) to try and catch the sunrise over the ocean.  We found an entrance to the beach… kind of.  We forced our way through some pretty hefty mud puddles and rugged jungle terrain, but we made it.  It was beautiful morning, but there were clouds on the horizon and we never saw the actual sun.  We tried to find an alternate route back, around the big puddles and ended up walking on the “rainforest walk” for about a mile.  It was a beautiful mistake.  We went back to the hostel so that Christina could get ready to go horseback riding.  After she left, Kaitlyn, Marisa and I went to the other hostel’s restaurant for breakfast.  It was delicious.  Right when we got back, it started pouring and it rained ALL day.  And this wasn’t normal rain – this was sheets of water!  The skies opened… for 6 hours!  The pool area flooded and the roof of our hostel leaked.  It was a bummer that we couldn’t spend time at the beach like we had planned, but I spent the day in the lounge of the hostel, sprawled on a sofa, reading and listening to the rainfall.  It was pretty perfect.  I had no phone, no internet and nowhere to be.  Small blessingsJ.  We ventured to the other hostel for lunch, after borrowing some big umbrellas from the front desk.  We came back and everyone napped for the afternoon before our ride came to take us back in to Cairns.  The bus ride back was ROWDY (a lot of young backpackers looking to have a good time), but we made it back safely and had a delicious dinner.  It was at a restaurant that did discounts for our hostel, so it was even cheaper than normal, proJ.  We explored the night markets afterwards and then went back to go to bed. 

On Sunday, we woke up, got ready, made our normal trip to Annabelle’s Bakery and then boarded our bus to the pier.  We got on our boat and made the one-hour trip to Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef.  It was incredible!  The sky was a little overcast, but the sun shone through at times and it was so beautiful.  When we got to the island, we found a nice spot on the beach, donned our stinger suits (super cute, full body lycra suits complete with a hood and mittens that protect you from jellyfish stings) and started snorkeling.  We explored some shallow areas of the reef, but couldn’t find anything like we were anticipating.  We decided to take a break for lunch on the boat (so good!) and then came back out and explored a different part of the reef.  It was exactly what we had expected!  It was SO beautiful and colorful and incredible!  It was a little chilly, but I had goosebumps from the experience, not the temperature.  I couldn’t believe all that I was seeing.  I saw a NemoJ, and the most amazing lime green, purple, and bright blue fish, some bright blue coral, the wavy kind of sea plant that attaches to the coral and starfishJ.  We snorkeled all afternoon and then went back to the boat for the ride home.  As we were walking along the pier looking down into the water that we’d just finished snorkeling in, Kaitlyn yelled, “oh my gosh, is that a shark?”… Sure enough, it was!  A couple behind us explained that it was a reef shark and they weren’t harmful, but still, it was a shark!  It was cool, but I was so thankful that we weren’t in the water when it decided to swim by.  I would have been really scared if I’d seen it face-to-face.  We had a nice trip back Cairns, except for the fact that Marisa and I discovered we’d been pretty badly burntL  Oops.  It had been so overcast, we’d forgotten about sunscreen… not our finest moment.  Marisa struggled the rest of the night and as I tired as I was, it was all funny.   I was certifiably slaphappyJ.  When we got back, we walked along the Cairns Esplanade for a little while before getting dinner at the same place as the night before.  After we finished we got gelato (SO good) and then met Rob again and walked to Gilligan’s to try and find the Swedish girls to say goodbye.  After we said goodbye to Rob, we caught a cab to the airport and waited for our flight.  It didn’t leave until 1am and by then I was tired!  I slept for a couple hours on the flight, but that was it for the night.  Once we landed we took a cab and the tram home.  I made it back at about 7am, showered and started the dayJ.  I did some homework, which I had neglected all weekend, went to my classes and came home.  Staying awake was hard today.  It’s only 8pm as I write this and I was ready for bed about 4 hours agoJ.  I’m exhausted, but it was SUCH a fun trip!  I had an amazing time and did some incredible one-in-a-lifetime type things.  I can’t believe how blessed I am that I get to be here and experience all of this.  Life is so good.      

Everything Always Works Out

The last few days were again slightly uneventful, but SO goodJ.  Sunday I woke up and skyped with my family.  We had made plans to skype at our normal time – 8am Sunday in Australia before I headed to Church and 1pm Saturday in the States.  I woke up at 7:10am to get ready before they called and I got a text at 7:15am saying “we’re ready when you are.”  I was SO confused until I remembered that daylight savings time happens around the middle of MarchJ.  I got on quickly and we were still able to talk for a while.  And now we know that we’re six hours apart, not five like before… well, at least until Australia has their daylight savingsJ.  Time is WEIRD!  After we skyped, I went to Church – it was awesome as usual.  We were actually fed a live-stream of our parent church’s service in Adelaide for the sermon portion.  They were hosting a special speaker who talked about protecting and caring for children.  He talked about his work in Haiti regarding child slavery following the earthquake.  It was really cool.  After church, I came home and worked on homework, went to the grocery store and got prepared for another great weekJ.  Monday was fairly routine.  I woke up, went to class, did some homework during my break on campus, went to my two lectures and went home.  When I got back, I made myself some dinner – a VERY failed attempt at a vegetable omelet (here’s to independenceJ), and went back to campus to workout.  I decided to try one of the fitness classes the gym offers.  Monday nights they have Zumba.  I’ve heard a lot about this type of class, but I’d never gone, so I figured, why not? J.  It was crazy!  There were tons of girls and it actually was really fun.  We “warmed up” to Tik Tok by Kesha – it was great!  The class was a lot of hip shaking, dancing, and looking ridiculous, but I just worked on keeping my heart rate up and having fun.  It was a good experience, even if I didn’t know what I was doing at times.  After Zumba, I came home and showered, worked on some homework and retired early.  Tuesday was a rollercoaster day!  I woke up and dealt with some issues regarding Whitworth classes for next fall and my degree.  It was really stressful, but like a grownup, I got it all straightened out.  After I took care of that, Camille and I took the tram to an STA store and enquired about our trip to New Zealand over Easter Break.  The travel agent looked at flights for us and quoted us one that was about $200 more expensive than the one I had found earlier.  I wasn’t sure if the one I’d found was still available or if the price had been increased on it as well, so there was a definite moment of anxiety.  I took the tram back to campus to get ready for my class and look at flights online.  Good news, I found a flight that ended up being even cheaper than the first one I’d come across! J.  Also, when I got to campus, I was feeling super stressed by all the day’s happenings and SUPER tired, so I decided to splurge and buy a coffee.  The sizing of Australian coffees is different than in the US.  The sizes range from 8oz to 16oz instead of 12oz to 20oz.  At the usual place I go on campus, the cups are called regular, large, extra-large.  I ordered a large and instead of getting a 12oz, I got a 16oz – apparently the different place I went to names their cups differently.  Whatever, it was a very happy surpriseJ.  Of all the days to mistakenly order more coffee than anticipated, yesterday was the day.  After my coffee break, I went to my two classes (both very interesting) and walked to the church near my house to play the piano.  They are so nice to let me come – it is really great playing again!  After playing the piano, I walked home to start baking the cinnamon rolls we were having for dessert after our house dinner.  Last night was Camille’s night to set the menu.  She couldn’t think of anything specifically British that she knew how to make, so we settled on a “Traditional English Breakfast” for dinner and all pitched in to help.  Amar made scrambled eggs, Stefanie made blueberry pancakes, Michael made cooked tomatoes, Camille made sausage and bacon and I baked cinnamon rolls for dessert.  Everything was delicious!  I’m not sure exactly what happened with my cinnamon rolls, but the dough was quite right.  I was disappointed, but they still tasted good and with the excess homemade cream cheese frosting they were smothered in, everyone devoured them just the sameJ.  Dinner was really fun as usual – I LOVE that we have these.  We always end up having a great time.  It was funny; my Chinese roommate asked me last night what the difference was between “God” and “gosh”.  It’s cool being able to talk about and discover cultural differences while we share a meal.  As I was getting ready for bed, I was reflecting on my day and all the craziness that it entailed.  It started with stress over classes – I figured that out and it was fine.  Next came stress over plane tickets – we found and purchased tickets for even cheaper than we’d originally anticipated.  Later I ordered the wrong size coffee – I enjoyed it more.  And last, the cinnamon rolls didn’t turn out right – they were still delicious and everyone finished them.  Summary statement: everything always works outJ.  Life is good.  I’m heading to Cairns today for a five-day trip to the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef with some friends.  I’m SO excited!  Life is good and I am loving every secondJ.  

Pictures...

To view all my pictures in Photobucket, the guest password is "Aussie".  I had random people commenting them when the album was public, so I took care of that:)  Hope you all enjoy them!

Wednesday to Saturday of my Australian life

It has been a few days since I’ve blogged, but that’s because there hasn’t been anything too big to report.  Life is still goodJ.  Wednesday was a good day.  I woke up early for class, did some homework on campus and then had lunch with a friend from church.  Like I’ve said before, it’s so fun talking to Australians!  Our, “let’s get lunch around noon” turned into a 3 hour conversation which was only ended by an, “oh my gosh, I have to get to class!” J.  A few things I learned throughout our conversation: Americans are notoriously the WORST at accents, “Summer Heights High” is really popular here and considered a very accurate depiction of “Australian humor” (so glad I came preparedJ), and a “bogan” (sp?) is the term for a redneck Australian.  As I was running off to class, my friend (who plays in the worship band at church) invited me to come to their rehearsal on Friday night.  I had mentioned that I sing and play the piano some and he thought I should come along… so I did, but more about that laterJ.  My Wednesday afternoon class went well and I came for the day.  Amar, my Indonesian roommate, had knocked on my door the night before and informed me that our landlady had been by that day and noticed that our apple tree in the front yard was ripe and the apples would be great in a pie.  He asked if I would make one for our house dinner - I was all too happy to obligeJ.  It was so fun!  Amar and I actually picked the apples off the tree, I made a piecrust from scratch, Camille, Amar and I cut and peeled all the apples, and Camille and I finished the pie.  It was group effort and it was DELICIOUS!  Amar made Indonesian fried rice and Kevin and Amanda (China) made some sort of lamb/carrot dish for dinner.  It was all SO good.  There was no food leftover – we ate it allJ.  And then there was apple pie alamode… the perfect way to finish the evening.  Our house dinners have been SO fun and I’ve loved getting to know my roommates and just hanging out and talking to them.  Thursday was a good day as well.  I woke up early again to do homework and then had class midday, went to the gym, and then had a late-afternoon lecture.  Everything went well and was fairly uneventful.  All in all, a good day.  On Friday, I woke up and starting doing research for two papers.  I spent most of the morning working on those and then spent the afternoon researching my “Easter break” trip to New Zealand.  I keep calling it “spring break” and I keep getting corrected.  It’s “Easter break” or “autumn break”… definitely not “spring break”J.  Camille wants to go to New Zealand over our break as well, which will be awesome!  It’s so nice to have someone to travel with and we have similar ideas for activities, which is working out well.  We’re still in the planning stages, but I’m excited!  More details to comeJ.  I went on a long run in the late afternoon after the sun came out and then showered and got ready for the worship band rehearsal.  It was SO good!  My friend picked me up, which was really nice – I didn’t have to walk.  We got there around 7pm and everyone was just kind of mingling in the foyer.  They were all chatting and getting caught up on the week.  Everyone is so friendly and it is truly one big family.  There was food and laughter and fun.  It was probably 7:45pm before anyone even thought about rehearsing.  I LOVE that about Australia.  There is much less hurry and much more “love life”.  When it was time to rehearse, everyone went and sat down.  Apparently, that night was a little different format than normal as there was a church leader from the parent church in Adelaide that had come to do a workshop with the band.  It was really cool to get to see.  He talked a lot about passionate worship and faith.  It was like a mini-church service.  And then the band played and that was awesome too!  It was really fun.  As the rehearsal was finishing, I was introduced to a couple of younger girls (I’m going to guess around 13) and they LOVED my “accent”.  It was so funny!  Another church friend offered to give me a ride home, but first we went to Hungry Jacks (Burger King) and got food and hung out with everyone there.  The party moved from the church foyer to Hungry JacksJ.  That was fun too!  I didn’t get home until 11:30pm.  I didn’t believe the clock at first – time flies when you’re having funJ.  Saturday, I let myself sleep in a little bit and then got up and headed to the library to finish the research for my papers.  I worked there for most of the afternoon and then came home and did some work here.  Hopefully I’ll finish tomorrow.  I’m heading to bed now.  Life is so good.  I’m in AustraliaJ.  

Sunshine, Sushi, and Singing

The last few days have followed the “excellent” trend that my life seems to be on right nowJ.  Sunday I got to skype with my parents and Tyler who is home for spring break.  It was SO good to see them and talk to them!  After I finished, I headed off to church.  It was a great service and facilitated a few epiphanies, which is always funJ.  After church, I stayed and talked to my friend Leah and then the “young adult” group decided to go to lunch again, so I was able to hang out with all my church friends.  It was really great!  They’re so fun and nice and just enjoyable to be around.  I had a great time.  I made it home around 3pm, just beating the thunderstorm that poured rain literally seconds after I walked in the door.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and night doing homework and researching travel information for trips that I will take during the rest of the semester.  Monday was a pretty uneventful day.  My morning tutorial was interesting, I went to the gym, and then had two lectures in the afternoon.  They were both interesting, but nothing too exciting.  One thing I have started to notice, though, is “Australian time”.  At least five people are late to every one of my classes and instead of the professors continuing on and ignoring the interruption, they stop and repeat all the material for the latecomer.  It’s definitely inefficient, but apparently something I’ll just have to get used to.  Apparently, I didn’t need to have the stress dream where I’m late and can’t get into class because all the doors shut and lock on the hourJ.  After school, I came home and made a delicious dinner of baked chicken, roasted potatoes and cooked vegetables.  I spent the rest of the evening reading for school and just hanging out.  Today (Tuesday) has been a great day!  I didn’t have class until 1pm, but I hadn’t finished my reading for one of my tutorials so I got up early.  I made it campus by about 9am and bought a coffee.  It was such a treat and I don’t think an exaggeration when I say, it was one of the best coffees I’ve EVER had.  Seriously, it was that good.  I sat outside, in the morning sunshine, sipping my delicious coffee and learning.  It was great!  And then I got hungry, so I got some sushi… for breakfast.  I felt very AustralianJ.  I worked most of the morning on my reading and then an essay for another class.  At noon, I went to a Bible study with “Christian Union”, one of the Christian groups on campus.  I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about it… we’ll see how next week goes.  After that, I went to my first tutorial of the day.  The professor didn’t show up.  I’m not really sure what to make of that – hopefully I still get credit for goingJ.  My next tutorial was VERY lively.  It’s Middle East Politics and it was essentially a debate/discussion for the entire period.  It got VERY heated at times.  We talked about Islam and its influence on the politics of the region.  It was interesting as it was often related to Christianity in order to see similarities and differences within the Middle East and western culture.  It was so interesting and also intimidating to be one of the only Christians in the room and to have to speak for my religion and essentially the religious culture of the United States.  It was uncomfortable, but a good growth opportunity.  I think that class will definitely be one of my favorites each week.  After that, I came home to each lunch and walked to St. Thomas Anglican Church to play the piano.  I had been looking for a piano since I got to Australia – at home I play and sing almost everyday.  I hadn’t found a  “public” piano yet, so I called a church near my house and asked if I could use theirs once a week.  I sang today for the first time in a month and it was INCREDIBLE!  I LOVE to sing and it just felt so good.  The piano is beautiful and the room is very acoustic.  It was perfect.  I finished and came home, went to the store and then ran as the sun was setting.  The sky was on fire… beautifulJ.  I finished up the evening with some homework.  On a side note, I got lots of mail today and it was awesome!  It’s so happy when there’s something special waiting for meJ.  Thanks everyone!  Sending sunshine and happy thoughts across the big blue… they should be there by morningJ.        

I found nature... and it smiled back.

I am thoroughly enjoying my weekend!  It started on Friday (no classes Fridays).  I had a leisurely morning and then maneuvered through public transport with two of my friends to La Trobe University (NW of Deakin).  It took about an hour and a half to get there, but we had fun talking and catching up.  Marisa (my friend from Portland) has a friend from home studying for the semester at La Trobe.  The two of them, plus myself and our friend, Christina (from Wisconsin) are going to Cairns for five days at the end of the month.  Marisa’s friend from La Trobe got all the information from her STA agent on campus and so we decided to all journey there to book our trip together.  Even though it took most of the day, it was fun meeting Kaitlyn and just hanging out.  We all came back to Deakin and gathered a bigger group of other exchange students and went for Mexican food.  I’d been craving it for a while (it’s not a well recognized cuisine option here) and decided that Friday night was the night to goJ.  I split nachos with Christina and it was great!  We had funJ.  Today (Saturday) I woke up early and headed out to Healesville Sanctuary.  I’d heard about this zoo from a few different people and was told it was a “must do” while I was here.  It WAS a must do!  First, I would go there again, just to travel through Yarra Valley.  It was beautiful and green and SO perfect.  I was listening to Needtobreathe all day as I sat on multiple buses and trains and my favorite song “More Time” was exactly how I felt…  I wanted more time there.  When I got to the sanctuary I walked around for an hour or so and explored the “exhibits”.  It’s different than a normal zoo… you can walk in most of the enclosures and see the animals up close.  It was AWESOME!  I was so close to a kangaroo I could touch it.  I also saw koalas, dingoes, platypuses and wallabies.  They were so cool!  Also, the sanctuary was just that – a sanctuary.  It was super peaceful and luscious and beautiful.  I appreciated the surroundings as much as the animals.  After I left the sanctuary, I rode the bus, train, and then another bus to Mount Dandenong.  This turned into another 2-hour trip, which felt like 20 minutes because I was enjoying the scenery so much.  We went past fields with sheep and cows (felt like home) and the hillsides were all covered with huge deciduous trees.  It was beautiful.  I wish there was a way to describe it, but I know I’ll never find the words.  Also, besides the fact that the scenery was inherently beautiful, it was the clearest, blue-sky day and the sun made everything shine.  I made it to Mount Dandenong and the Sky High Observatory.  It’s an area at the top of the peak with a bistro, a couple of gardens, a base point for forest walks and an area for fancy receptions.  I walked through the gardens (one was called the Secret Garden – one of my favorite classicsJ), looked out over the city and the bay in the distance, and walked through the forest for a while.  It was so nice.  After that, I boarded the bus, train 1, train 2, and another bus and made my home for the day.  My soul had been craving nature for SO long now.  I hadn’t realized how much until I spent the day there.  It was perfect.  Once I got home, I made dinner, went on a short run in the sunset and then began a fun evening with my roommate Camille.  I bought Robin Hood the other day and so we watched that and made peanut butter and M&M cookies for the rest of the nightJ.  It’s so fun baking with her because she is SO excited about whatever we create – it’s all new for her.  Her enthusiasm makes it even more enjoyable for me, which is so cool.  Overall, today was incredible!  On a separate note, I’ve officially been in Australia for a month!  It’s crazy how fast the time goes.  I’m still loving life and looking forward to all the adventures that the next 3.5 months will holdJ.  

A Little Bit of Routine Feels Good.

The last couple days have been pretty uneventful, but good.  Wednesday, I had a lecture in the morning and then went to the gym, came home for a shower and lunch and then headed back to campus for a tutorial in the afternoon.  My afternoon tutorial was for my only 100 level class – Australia New World Nation (Australian history after 1901).  It should be interesting.  The actual tutorial was painfully boring as it was aimed at addressing all the needs of a first year student (where to find resources, how to do an oral presentation, etc.)  My professor is a sweet old lady.  She gave a brief introduction to herself at the start of class and I’m pretty sure that was the most interesting part of the hour.  She started teaching high school after college and then taught in international schools all over the world for about 3-4 years at a time with 1-2 years back in Australia in between.  She just kept listing countries she’d taught in and all I could think was “what a cool life!”  I’d love to teach abroad somedayJ.  After I finished class, I got some sushi (I LOVE sushi nowJ) and a coffee at Café Ava.  I was talking with my friend from church who graduated from Deakin and she said that the coffee there was her favorite on campus and I needed to try it.  It was so good!  Everything here is about twice as expensive as in the states, so most mornings I make instant coffee at home.  It’s pretty good, but not the same as an espresso.  It does make me appreciate a good cup of coffee when it comes along, thoughJ.  I did a little bit of reading over my coffee and then walked home.  The evening was pretty quiet, but I did get to hang out with my housemates again.  They’re SO fun!  I really like spending time with them.  Everyone has such unique and strong personalities (not to mention accentsJ), which makes the discussions lively and the laughter plenty.  Today (Thursday), I woke up early and headed to Chadstone Shopping Centre, the “Largest Mall in the Southern Hemisphere”J.  It’s a big deal here, but I’ve definitely been in bigger… thank you America.  I had a few things that I wanted to buy, but I also just wanted to explore a bit.  I got a map of Australia for my wall, which will be great as I plan trips, a couple Disney movies to add to my small collection of classics, a candle that reminds me of home, and most importantly CANDY!  I found American candyJ.  Australia has peanut butter, but they don’t eat a lot of peanut butter foods, for example, Reese’s Pieces or Peanut Butter M&Ms (my favorites!)… OR... peanut butter cookies!  I had the biggest craving for a peanut butter cookie while I was at the mall and I literally walked around for almost three hours and didn’t find a single food cart, restaurant, or store that sold any kind of peanut butter baked good.  I was sorely disappointed, but I bought peanut butter and I’m going to bake some myself this weekendJ.  I also bought vegetables from the fresh market and chicken from the butcher.  I came back and went to the gym and then class, then came home and made a DELICIOUS dinner for myself… baked chicken, asparagus and potatoes.  It was excellent.  All in all, the last couple days were great and somewhat “normal”.  It’s nice having a bit of routine in my life again.  I don’t have any class on Fridays, so I am also officially on weekendJ.  I have a few fun plans for the next couple days and can’t wait to do some more exploring and hang out with some of my friends.  Just living the life… and life is goodJ.  

French Food and FUN!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was an excellent day!  I woke up and got to Skype with my Mom for over an hour.  It was so good to catch up and just chat!  I’m not aching to go home as is the typical idea of homesickness, but being away has made me appreciate my family and home even more.  I can’t wait to live there this summer and get to spend two full months with them!  After I finished talking to my Mom, I chatted with Kim for a couple minutes and then walked to K-mart.  I needed a few small things, but decided the round-trip full hour walk would be a good way to wake up and stretch my legs in the morning.  When I got back, I immediately left for the ten-minute walk to the grocery store with my housemate Camille.  Michael gave us the list of ingredients for homemade French Crepes for our house dinner and it was our job to make sure we had everything we needed.  I came back from that trip to the store, got my things together and headed to class.  My first tutorial was for American Foreign Policy.  The class period was pretty painful.  A PhD student is the leader for my section and he really didn’t have a clue what to do with us.  There were a LOT of awkward silences and him asking “are there any questions about ANYTHING?”  It was pretty painful.  He seems really knowledgeable, though, so hopefully once we begin studying actual class material, it will go more smoothly.  Fingers-crossedJ.  I am the only American in that class, which is much more intimidating than I anticipated.  The material covered will be VERY similar to other classes I have taken throughout high school and at Whitworth University, but the perspective will be completely different.  I’m excited to hear what they think about America in terms of her dealing with the rest of the world.  It should be interesting!  My second tutorial was Middle East Politics.  I sat next to friend from Norway againJ.  This class was interesting despite the fact that almost 40 of the 50-minute class was spent on housekeeping items – the professor is just awesome!  Once we finished looking at the syllabus and getting to know one another, we had about 10 minutes left and she asked, “Okay, what’s going on in the Middle East right now?  What do you find interesting?”  We just talked and discussed situations, issues and events in that region until class was over.  And when I say “we”, I mean, I listenedJ.  I didn’t have a lot to contribute at this point… time to read a newspaper!  I’m excited for this class to give me a strong foundation so that in the future when I do pick up a newspaper and read about the Middle East, I’ll have a much better idea of the situation and consequences for the region of any particular action.  It should be great!  Once I finished class, I came home and got caught up on emails for a couple hours.  By then, it was 6pm and I decided that I should probably get the brownies started so they could cool while we had dinner.  Michael and Camille got home about 7:15pm and we started our House Dinner Night!  It was SO fun!!  Stephanie (Michigan) was feeling sick and Kevin and Amanda (China) weren’t home, but Amar (Indonesia), Camille (London), Michael (France) and I had a great time preparing and eating homemade French Crepes and just hanging out.  It was so comfortable and just fun!  Michael showed me how to prepare the batter and cook the crepes.  I’m so excited to know how to make them.  I LOVE crepes and now I know the French “secret”J.  We ate them with ham and cheese (almost like an omelette) and then with cinnamon sugar as well.  They were delicious.  After we finished crepes, we had brownies and ice cream (my contributionJ).  That was delicious as well!  We laughed a lot and explored a lot of our cultural differences throughout the night.  It was fascinating and fun.  Amar has lived in Australia for the past eight years, so he was an excellent source of travel information and Camille and Michael were a riot to listen to.  Camille’s mom is French so she is fluent in both languages.  She serves as a sort of translator for Michael when he can’t think of certain words.  Occasionally, they get into some sort of heated discussion in French and I have no idea what they’re saying, but I can’t help laugh when they break out the nasal “huh huh huh” that is so stereotypical of French people.  It is really fun to listen to and pretty entertaining at times.  Everyone had such a great time and was so excited to have dinner together again and explore another global cuisine that we decided NOT to wait… Kevin is cooking traditional Chinese food for us tonight!  We’re all excited.  Amar is cooking Indonesian food for us next Tuesday and then Camille or I will take a turn.  I am SO excited about getting know my housemates better!  They are really cool and fun.  Last night was great and I’m excited for more fun times this semesterJ.  I’m learning so much about Australia and the WORLD!  I’m truly being “cultured”.  This is really an incredible experience and I’m just soaking it up.  I’m off to a 9am lecture… it feels so early!  I can’t believe this is what time I start everyday in the States… now I know I’m getting spoiledJ.  

First Day of School!

Today was GREAT!  It was my first day of classes… finallyJ.  I had a nice leisurely morning, as my first class wasn’t until 11am.  I sat next to a couple of my exchange student friends and enjoyed my first tutorial.  The class set-up here is a bit different than in the States.  I am taking four classes.  Each class has a one-hour lecture once a week and a one-hour tutorial once a week.  So, for all of you keeping track at home… that’s eight hours of class time.  I’m really excited!... much less than I’m used to, which also means much more time to travelJ.  I started with my Sex and Gender in History tutorial.  There were about 15 of us in the class (4 from North AmericaJ).  There was a nice mix of people so it should make for some great discussions.  The professor seems great as well – I’m excited to get to know her.  I had a two-hour break mid day so I took the opportunity to hit the gym, sign up for a couple clubs and eat lunch.  I walked past one club’s booth and they had music on… it was Kesha… and they were the Malaysian Students’ Society.  I laughedJ.  After that I headed off to my Middle East Politics lecture.  I’m SO excited for this class.  The “syllabus” day was interesting so I can’t even imagine what the rest of the course will holdJ.  The lecturer was very personable and even though we were in a large lecture theater, she kept my attention the entire time.  She talked about an opportunity we have during the first couple weeks of May to participate in a Middle East simulation.  We become a real-life character (one option was Obama) and respond to simulated incidents and events in the Middle East.  It sounds incredibly stressful and consuming, but also invaluable and SO fun!  I’m excited.  After that lecture, I went to my Sex and Gender in History lecture.  This one was slightly drier, but I still think the class will be okay.  The lecturer wore her sunglasses on her head while she spoke… AustraliaJ.  Also, in general, it’s so fun listening to the speakers because of their accents.  For all the Friends fans out there… I feel like I’m on the episode where Ross begins to teach his University class and employs a fake British accent.  Monica and Rachel prank call him from “Fake Accent University”.  I’m at “Real Accent University”… it’s pretty greatJ.  Overall, it was a very good start to the semester.  I’m going to look through some of my required reading tonight and get a start on the work.  The only disadvantage of a much shorter term is that the time given to complete assignments is much less.  No worries, though, I’ve got this!  I’m still enjoying the incredible heat and sunshine that Melbourne has blessed us with again today.  Life is good.  

The last few days of summer...

The last couple days have been good.  I legitimately didn’t leave the house Friday.  I woke up late to the stormiest, nastiest weather and just couldn’t bring myself to follow through with either of my two plans for the day (both of which required a couple hours of walking outside).  I was still productive, thoughJ.  I wrote a few emails, finished my book and did a lot of work on my plans for intra-Australian travel.  I’m really excited!  My first big trip is in a couple weeks to Cairns.  It should be great… surfing, sun, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, hiking in the rainforest… cant wait!  The next day (Saturday), I woke up to the most beautiful blue sky and decided to take off on the previous day’s “plan a”.  I walked about an hour to a park that I had noticed passing on the tram and read and just laid out in the morning sun.  It was so peaceful and beautiful and perfect.  I then walked back, worked out, ate lunch and then went to the store.  I got back and sat outside reading and coloring.  It was the perfect stress release to my non-stressful dayJ.  Today (Sunday) was another great day!  I woke up and went to Church again.  I really like it, especially (as I have said before), the people!  They are really great.  After church, I went into the city and made my way to the Queen Victoria Market.  It is like their Pike Place Market (except not nearly as coolJ).  It was fun seeing the people, though, that actually came to do their weekly shopping.  That was new to me.  I wandered around a little, but by the time I got there, some vendors were already closing up and there wasn’t a whole lot that interested me.  I walked back across the city and into the gardens by the Yarra River. I walked a long ways to the Royal Botanic Gardens and wandered through them trying to find the perfect place to read and just be still.  The only problem with a limited about of sanctuary in the city is that everyone seeks refuge there.  Regardless of the other people, it was nice to find a grassy place, away from the street noise and hustle.  I am so excited to be here and to have the opportunity to experience Australia and another culture, but it is helping me realize the true blessing of where I live.  At home, I live in a field… perfect.  At school, I am a short drive from solace… perfect.  Here it is a trek and even then, it’s hard to be alone.  But the beauty of it is that I get to experience every unique and awesome thing here and the refuge of nature will be waiting for me when I get home… proJ.  I start school tomorrow… finally!  Big dayJ.  Sending my love and some of the beautiful sunshine I felt today.

PS.  Almost every Australian I’ve met tries to call me Kelly.  Apparently with my “accent” it’s hard to tell the differenceJ.  

Cricket and Cookies.

The last few days have been very fun!  On Wednesday, my roommate Camille and I took a trip to Frankston on the Mornington Peninsula.  It was an area that I hadn’t been to yet and decided needed exploringJ.  It took a LONG time to get there (close to 3 hours by trams and trains).  But we made it and found that there wasn’t much to see after all.  We made our way to the beach, but as it was cold and windy we only stayed for about an hour.  Despite the cold, I’m pretty sure I fell asleep listening to the sound of the lapping waves.  It’s so peaceful to be near the water.  I LOVE it.  We found some lunch, wandered through a couple of their smaller stores and then caught the train back into the city.  We got off at Richmond (LOTS of cute stores along our tram route).  We wandered down the main street and then got on the tram back to campus.  The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful and even though Frankston turned out to be fairly uneventful as well, we ventured and felt good about trying something newJ.  The next day (Thursday), I caught the tram downtown with Marisa and Christina (from Portland and Wisconsin – friends from the Beach Orientation trip).  We got off and made our way to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds to catch our first (and probably onlyJ) cricket match.  There was a very sweet gentleman outside that was super chatty – Australians are so friendly!  He was excited we were American women who had come to see cricket.  Apparently it was a big deal.  We soon found out that it was because cricket takes a special kind of person to enjoy it… and we were definitely not that kind of person.  First, none of us knew any of the rules.  Second, the game moves VERY slowly.  Third, it was cold and we were hungryJ.  So, we left after about 45 minutes to find food.  We saw the same guy leaving and he was pleasantly unsurprised by our early departureJ.  We took the tram into downtown and ate at a small sushi place.  I hadn’t eaten sushi since I was in 5^th grade, but discovered that I LOVE it.  It was great!  Marisa and Christina both raved about it, so I was interested to try it again.  Great decision!  After sushi, we found The Little Cupcake shop and I got a teddi-bear cupcake.  It was precious and delicious (two of my favorite thingsJ).  We decided to head back.  When I got home, I went for a run and then came back to check my facebook and kill a half hour before going to the store with Camille.  What was to be a half hour quickly turned into an hour and a half.  Sarah had left a comment asking if I wanted to skype right when I got on facebook so I logged on skype and we got to chat for a few minutes.  It was so good to talk!  While I was talking to Sarah, Kim logged on and we got to talk for a few minutes as well.  And then Tyler called me, as I was finishing with Kim.  Right after I hung up with Tyler, Callie logged on and I got to talk to her as well!  It was crazy.  Spontaneity wins the dayJ.  It was perfect and so good to catch up with everyone.  After I finished my “half-hour” online, I found Camille and we went to the store.  It was time to teach her to bake!  I decided we’d start with my favorite recipe and the one I learned to bake with – chocolate chip cookiesJ.  We bought all the necessary ingredients and came back to start.  It was so different baking WITH someone, but it was really fun too.  We watched a movie, ate some cookie dough, and enjoyed our fresh baked cookies throughout the rest of the night.  It was so comforting and pretty perfect.  Also, all of our roommates seemed to appear, as they smelled the cookies.  It was really fun hanging out with everyone throughout the night.  Camille was so excited about learning to bake – she wrote down the recipe in her own recipe book and everythingJ.  The only catastrophe of the evening was that I left the oven on for a long time and discovered that I had also forgotten to take the last tray of cookies outL.  They were CRISPY!!  Oops.  It was ironic that my first plate of burnt cookies happened when I was teaching someone how to bake, but we laughed about it and enjoyed the rest of the night.  Overall, lots of good things the last few days!  The weather has been pretty terrible, but no snow… proJ.  I’m living and loving life.  And never forgetting to smileJ.