BEACH Orientation Trip.

The last three days were incredible!  I’ll start on Monday morning, because that’s when the fun startedJ.  I woke up early. got ready for the day and got online at 7am to skype my parents.  Unfortunately, that was interrupted by a strong burning smell in our house.  All of my roommates came together to try and figure out where it was coming from or what it was… I think more bonding occurred in those 20 minutes than in the two previous days I was there J.  We decided to call our landlady and she rushed over.  She decided that the smell was not a gas leak, but marijuana.  I laughed.  Really hard.  Once we convinced her that no one had smoked marijuana, she called the electrician and he came to look at our house.  In the meantime, three of my housemates and I left for our international student beach orientation trip.  We boarded the buses with around 100 other students and took off for the coastal city of Lorne along the Great Ocean Road, west of Melbourne.  It was such a cute coastal town!  I loved it.  When we arrived on Monday, we ate lunch and then had a free afternoon to walk around and just spend time getting to know everyone.  I spent a lot of time with my roommate from Michigan.  We walked on the beach, played in the water and just got to talk.  It was really nice.  That evening we had dinner with everyone, played cards and listened to the jazz band that had come perform for us, and then went to bed early.  The next day was full of adventure!  I woke up and ate breakfast and then had some free time to wander around.  I walked along the coast and watched some of the other students as they participated in their scheduled activities.  I made a friend from Portland whom I spent a lot of time with.  She’s great!  Also, she knows a couple of my friends from Whitworth, which was a fun connection to have.  It makes the world feel a little smallerJ.  After we wandered around for a while, we made our way to the beach and our SURFING lesson!  It was awesome.  I loved it.  I kind of made it to my feet a couple times.  It was so hard and such a good workout.  Also, addicting!!  I am definitely going to try it again sometime.  I really loved it.  After surfing, we ate lunch and then went surf kayaking.  It was so intense!  The surf was really big and the kayaks were really small.  SO not my thing.  My partner and I decided that between the seasickness from the rolling waves and the instructor being thrown from his kayak by a huge wave, we were more excited to be onshore.  That adventure was not for us.  At one point, she said, “oh my gosh!  It’s like the Titanic out here!!!”  I laughed.  That might have been a little dramatic, but seriously, it was scary.  After kayaking, we hiked through the forest with a guide.  It was a beautiful hike and I didn’t see any spiders or snakes… perfect!  The landscape reminds me a lot of the Pacific Northwest.  There were lots of ferns and little creeks running through the forest.  It was very beautiful and the perfect weather.  After our hike, we went back to our accommodations (a backpackers hostel) and took a shower before dinner.  Dinner was great and the rest of the night was more of the same… socializing with new people and laughing with new friends.  This morning we woke up, had breakfast, and boarded the buses for a journey to the Twelve Apostles.  This landmark is a set of limestone pillars rising out of the sea along a steep limestone cliff shoreline.  There were originally twelve pillars (hence the name), but over the years a few have collapsed and there are only eight currently.  We stopped along the way to look at wild Koalas in some trees on the side of the road, take a short nature walk through a rainforest, and then made it to our destination.  The Twelve Apostles are BEAUTIFUL!  They are incredible.  All of my pictures look fake… like they are a painting, not real life.  After that stop, we continued back home.  After sitting in rush hour traffic in Melbourne, we made it back to campus and I had dinner, showered and got caught up on all the internet time that I missed the last three daysJ.  Overall, the orientation trip was incredible.  I got to experience and participate in so many new things and made tons of new friends and potential new friends.  I’m so excited for the semester!