American Love

So I’m home! And it’s a bit weird to write that. I’ve been putting off writing this last post and ending this blog because I’ve been so busy but also because Australia just feels kind of like a dream at this point. It feels SO good to be home and feels a LOT longer than just a week since I flew back.

The day we left, we spent the day downtown getting last minute things and packing up everything. I packed my bag (which was so full and trashed that it threatened to burst every time it moved… getting to the airport was quite an ordeal to say the least). I spent the last night at the apartment exchanging pictures and hanging out with each other. Lauren and Emma and I all had to be at the airport early on Saturday morning so it didn’t make sense for us to go to bed when we had to get up at 4 to catch the Greyhound into Brisbane so it was kind of an all-nighter.

The bus/train rides to the airport were uneventful, but saying goodbye to Emma while she flew to Hong Kong while Lauren and I flew to LA was sad. Surprisingly, I stayed up for most of the 13 hour flight watching the in-flight movies (I heart Qantas). Lauren and I arrived in LA, more excited than EVER to be back on American soil. We split up at baggage claim because she had to run to her next flight. :( It’s so bizarre to think that the people I spent nearly every day with this past semester are not at home with me. I bought a magazine (less than $8!) and some lunch and waited for my connecting flight to Detroit. Meanwhile, I’ve been awake for God knows how long and it’s only Saturday morning in the States, yet I wasn’t tired. I took a short nap on the flight to MI and arrived to my parents waiting for me at baggage claim. It was SO good to see them after having been away for what felt like years, and not months. One of my friends from high school was getting married that night so I made a short stop at her reception before I went home. I thought I would be crashing by this point but jet leg didn’t hit and never did, thankfully. Oh to be young.

This past week has been jam packed with catching up with friends and basically just going where everyone tells me to. :) Our basement was flooded a few days before I got back so my stuff still isn’t unpacked and everything I own is basically just sitting in our now dry basement while I wait to repaint my room. I leave tomorrow to help staff for a middle school Christian conference so it might be awhile until my life settles down a bit to what is ‘normal’.

So you've come to the end of my blog- I really loved writing it for you guys and appreciate all your interest and prayers about my trip. It was an experience I’ll never forget. I met some great people that have become dear to my heart and saw and did so many things that I will probably never have the opportunity to do again. If you ever get down to AUS or NZ, let me know! Love you all!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

So it’s here. My last day in Toowoomba, AUS. It really hasn’t hit me at all that I will be leaving here for good in less than 12 hours. The last few days have consisted of me taking exams (I’m done!), packing (not quite done) and hanging out with friends here. Lauren and I discovered that we have the same Qantas flight from Brisbane to LA tomorrow morning so we are getting pretty excited for our in-flight movies and TimTams while flying across the Pacific.

Today was spent pawning off my bike (cha-ching) while Daniel got a tattoo of the Southern Cross on his wrist (don’t worry Mom, no one else got one…) Tonight should be fun as we are celebrating everyone’s last nights in Toowoomba.

This has got to be short because 1.) I still have to finish packing and 2.) any worthwhile stories I can tell you in person soon enough! I think I calculated out the time and with all the crazy time differences, I have some 30+ hours of traveling ahead of me. GREAT.

One thing that I would greatly appreciate are your prayers for my friend Alex. He had to leave AUS early on Wednesday night because he found out that his Dad was sick and has metastatic cancer. We haven’t heard anything yet, but your thoughts and prayers would be great.

I can’t wait to see all of you and to be back in the good ole USA.
Much Aussie love, Stephanie

Bittersweet Symphony

I literally cannot believe I have less than one week here. Seriously, I can’t wrap my mind around it. I think it’s the weather that’s been messing me up. My internal seasonal clock wants to break out the Christmas wrapping and holiday cheer because that’s what I usually want to do when it gets cold for too long. But instead, I have to constantly remind myself that everyone at home is still in flops and bathing suits. Two things that have been buried in my closet for several weeks.

Last Saturday was my last day at the Breath which was probably the saddest part of it all. I loved working there and the people were just so great. Occasionally, on weekend nights, someone will dress up in the blindingly bright pink pig suit and wave/take pictures with the kids. I’ll give you one guess as to who was the lucky girl that got to do it Friday night. That’s right. And I loved every minute of it. Saying bye to everyone on Saturday was bittersweet and I left with several gifts/Hog’s Breath paraphernalia. :)

So lately, I’ve been thinking about things that I’ve wanted to do in Australia before I left and I was mentally going through the list. Visit Sydney and walk the bridge? Check. Swim in the Pacific (from the other side)? Check. Learn to surf? Check. See a kangaroo? Check. Eat kangaroo? Now that one had not been done. But it just so happened that my friend Steffen had bought some and cooked it up for his dinner the other night, so he let me try a piece. And so now I can officially say I’ve tried kangaroo. In all honesty, it wasn’t anything special, and if you hadn’t told me, I probably wouldn’t have known. But it still kind of made my day.

Another noteworthy thing that made my day was the amazing package filled with cookies that my grandparents sent me! I mean really, what is more exciting than getting a box full of Grandma’s cookies all the way on the other side of the world? Not much.

While the Aussie accent doesn’t really faze me anymore, I still can’t get over certain words. Here are some new ones for you:
Sunnies= sunglasses
Mozzies= mosquitos
Rellies= Relatives
Pushy= A bike (specifically my hot pink Southern Star that I’m currently trying to sell)
Bickies= Biscuits (like cookies)

I probably shouldn’t be writing this post right now instead of studying for my exam that I have later today, but someone’s gotta inform of you all of the life down under. I miss you all SO much and will see many of you in less than a week!!

A Movie Script Ending

Last week there was frost on the ground. Actual frost. And at the moment, my heater is on full blast. Not exactly how you picture Australia, huh? Everyone thinks its sun and surf all year round here… not quite the case. The one perk about it being this cold, however, is that people have taken pity on me at work and have been offering me rides. So I’m not complaining. Speaking of work, I’m actually starting to get really sad about leaving The Breath. While the biking to and fro isn’t my favorite, I have really liked my job there and love the people I’ve gotten to work with. So it’s all starting to get bittersweet in some ways.

Although I will tell you, finals are over in less than 2 weeks and that’s looking pretty good. Pretty much my life has resorted to studying the 4 subjects I’m taking here inside and out now that classes have ended. Work finishes up this weekend and all that’s left is the 4 exams! It’s a bit crazy in a way: I’ve been envisioning going home and imagining what it will be like for so long and now when I think of something from home, it just seems so close. For example, I discovered this candy place in the mall here that specializes in American candy (for our Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and peanut butter M&M cravings). They also sell Pop Tarts. For $11. Ridiculous. I don’t even like Pop Tarts that much, but knowing that I could have one in 12 days if I wanted to (for free since our house is usually stocked) puts a smile on my face. Not much else is going on here, besides the work, the studying, the cold, and the mental countdown I have going until I get home to America!

Also, although I have not developed the Aussie accent, as hoped, I have picked up some slang. It’s actually in my vocabulary, not just words I think are funny. I found myself saying “how you going?” the other day without even realizing it. So you may hear me say that, among other words such as “heaps”, “whinging”, and “feral”, all of which are in my every day vocabulary. (whinging= whining and feral= disgusting/trashy. Similar to how my mother uses the word “skanky”). :)

Tension is a Passing Note

So the countdown has begun. It starts to become real once you realize there’s less than 20 days. Life here is… well… let’s just say I’m anxious about coming home.

Work is coming to an end. Although not before they max out my student visa work limitations, it seems. I have a full week of Hog’s Breath in front of me and I KNOW I’ve been working there too long when I saw the first person I actually knew there last week. It’s kind of like working at the Dexter DQ, where every other person you know is someone you went to high school with, except it was weird because I don’t really live here. Anyhow, it’s keeping me busy and is somewhat of a nice distraction from studying. My last class is tomorrow (!) and then finals start next Wednesday. Finals are really stretched out over here, so I have one every 3 days which makes it slightly less overwhelming.

This weekend was pretty chill and just involved Trina and I watching the OC and baking cakes (for all of you who don’t already know, I have become quite the domestic goddess, you just wait and see). But now, it’s time to finish off the week. The weather has gotten cooler already and while it’s not raining anymore like it did all last week, I’m ready to start putting my shorts and dresses in my suitcases already and am missing my Uggs.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for everyone’s grad parties that I missed- you know I would be there if I could! Also- happy 25th to Mom and Dad and I hope you had fun in Mackinaw!

Brighter Than Sunshine

I really can’t describe to you in this post how much I LOVE the city of Sydney. I had somewhat forgot how great it was from my first weekend, or just credited it to the fact that it was the first place I’d been in AUS, so naturally I would have loved it. But seriously, it is a fantastic place and my weekend there was SO fun.

I left everyone in Toowoomba and started my travels down there. There were some bumps along the way; such as the fact that I lost my boarding pass in the airport. But luckily, security in domestic flights here is nothing like over in the States. I’m pretty sure that was the only time I ever had to show my ID all weekend. So I arrived in the Sydney airport and caught a train (how convenient that a public transportation system would run past 5 PM) to Macquarie University where some of my friends are studying abroad at. I stayed at my friend Rachel’s apartment and we went to this party her friends were having. It was so cool because their whole apartment complex was filled with Americans that were in the exact same boat that we were, so it was all really fun. The next morning, she had an internship to go to downtown, so we both caught the train down there, where she left for work and I left to check into my hostel and explore the city. I didn’t do anything too eventful that day but I remember feeling slightly overwhelmed at all the places I wanted to go and all the restaurants I wanted to eat in and that I only had slightly less than 2 days to do it all in.

If you can recall all the way back to my first AUS post, the group I studied abroad with was CIS. There were about 8 of us students, our leader, Kym, and her son Scott and we all stayed in Sydney our first weekend. Kym was down for the weekend guiding another group, and Scott and his friend Andrew came down as well. One of the CIS guys who studies in Melbourne came up too, with some of his friends who were visiting him from Boston, so it was a mix of totally random strangers that made up for a really fun reunion. So anyways, Rachel and I wanted to see Kym while she was in town, so we went with Scott and Andrew and met up with Kym for dinner. After that, we went and had drinks with some of Rachel’s friends from the night before at Darling Harbour, but because it was so rainy and cold, the night ended short.

This probably worked out for the best, seeing as how I wanted to get up early to see all of Sydney. Now, I hate being touristy, but I pretty much did every tourist thing you could do in Sydney. I started the day walking through Hyde Park (after eating breakfast at this awesome French bakery) and made my way through the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House. The views of the bridge from the Opera House were awesome and so I walked along Circular Quay to get the starting point of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The weather forecast for the weekend was rainy, but it held off for most of the day and would only drizzle off and on, which made my walk along the bridge much more enjoyable. I didn’t actually walk up over top of the bridge (that costs major bucks and time, neither of which I had) but walking across it as a pedestrian was still SO cool. On the other side at Milson Point, there isn’t much to do, but I did get to see Luna Park (which couldn’t help remind me of ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’) and just as I was waiting for the ferry, a rainbow appeared right over the Opera House. Awesome.

After taking the ferry boat back (McDreamy?), I walked through Circular Quay to get to the Rocks, which is this cool district near the bridge with all these little shops and a weekend market with awesome stuff for souvenirs. I took a detour on the way back to the hostel, so that I was able to see Darling Harbour in the daylight without the pouring rain. After basically walking for 6 hours, I was tired and wet so I chilled out at the hostel until I was supposed to meet up with everyone for dinner.

Eight of us ended up going out to dinner at this Irish pub which was really close to both Scott and my hostels, before finishing the night at Scubar. It was awesome because Scubar (this funky little bar in Sydney if you ever get to go) was where we all hung out our first weekend there, so it was only natural that our Sydney reunion would end there as well. It was sad to leave everyone that night knowing I probably wouldn’t see most of them again, but unfortunately, I had to go back to Toowoomba.

The next day brought Sunday and a bunch of people had told me that while I’m in Australia, I should check out Hillsong church. So I got up the next morning and took the free shuttle over there. Definitely not a decision I regret. It kind of reminded me of EPIC at Northridge and was a good way to end my whirlwind trip of Sydney. After taking the train back to Sydney (public transportation running on Sunday was also a new concept compared to Toowoomba), I caught my flight back up to Brisbane to take the TT coaches back. And who should I meet at the shuttle station besides Michelle and Casey, some friends from Student Village! I guess I should’ve known… we all try and get out of Toowoomba on the weekends as much as possible… so we rode TT coaches back and arrived here at last.

Sydney was a blast and if I could come back and visit anywhere in Australia, it would be that magical city. The people are awesome, the views are amazing, and it’s just so iconic, that everywhere you go, it feels special. So now, I have 5 days of classes left and then 2 weeks of exams. It’s all pretty spread out, so I’m not feeling too overwhelmed (yet). Two of my friends, Daniel and Lauren are doing their nursing clinical in Mitchell (this small town about 5 hours west) so Trina and I are making plans to bake/watch movies while she does hers here at the Toowoomba hospital.

I’m still working (only 3 more weeks of it left though!) and counting down the 27 days until I get to arrive back in the good ole USA. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather (I’m super jealous) and awaiting my arrival… hahaha….

Time Turned Fragile

So it has been far too long since I’ve last updated; I don’t even know where to begin. It might be a bit jumbled, but I believe I left off at the semi…

Semi-Formal was a few weekends ago, and so everyone from my dorm got dressed up in “Fairy Tale” theme and went. I arrived and felt like I was at a Halloween party, seeing as how everyone got really into it. I guess Halloween isn’t big down here, so this is their excuse to get all dressed up. I went as a fairy and enjoyed a nice meal with all the people from my dorm; they had an after party later that night in the dining hall with dancing, and by midnight, I was out. But the whole thing was really fun.

Classes have been…. Meh. But I was thinking about it, and after this week, I have roughly 7 more days of class and then finals! Finals stretch out for 2 weeks here so I’m planning on studying my butt off to make up for…. Well, I don’t want to say “lack of work” that I’ve done here, but…

In other news, Trina, Lauren, and I decided that it would be a good idea to go on a cleanse detox. Whether it WAS a good idea, I have yet to decide. Basically, the Master Cleanse involves drinking a bunch of salt water in the AM, this lemon juice/water/syrup/cayenne pepper mixture throughout the day, and tea at night. With no food. We started on Tuesday, and the cleanse is supposed to last for 10 days. Now, I know myself well enough that 10 days without food was just not going to happen, so I shortened it to 5. We were all going pretty strong… until Day 4. And then we crashed. But I will tell you: my mood has never changed so fast as when I first ate that sandwich after 4 days of nothing but this mixture that basically tasted like sour lemonade sweetened with syrup. I was elated. It was definitely… an experience, I will say that.

Work has been going well- nothing new to report there. But it is slowly starting to hit me that I will be home in less than 5 weeks. And that thought excites me. Don’t get me wrong, AUS (and NZ) have been awesome, but it will be so good to be home again. Also, the fact that everyone from home is out of school and tanning by the pool, while I am here with my heater turned on as it gets perpetually colder, kind of makes me jealous. I was so excited that I was leaving the snow for sun that I didn’t even think about the way home. Last week, it rained for most of the week. Now, I love rainy days, but when you can’t eat and you’re supposed to be in the sunniest place on earth, getting up to walk through the wind to class is not appealing.

This past weekend was basically spent living at my friends’ apartment. Daniel was scubadiving in Cairns for the weekend so the girls pushed the mattresses together and we had OC watching marathons (with our rediscovered love of food). The girls also could have had a bake sale with how much food they baked one night. But now, I have to do work and get everything organized before I leave for Sydney. I leave on Thursday and I have no idea what I’m going to be doing there once my plane arrives. But I’m sure I will have a blast catching up with people from the CIS (the study abroad program I went through).

I will be putting up pictures of my life recently soon and will update about the wonderful city of Sydney when I get back. I’m sure I forgot a lot of things to write on this blog, but that will just give you another post to look forward to… :)

Somewhere a Clock is Ticking

I figured I’d provide another update with life here in the ‘not-quite-Outback-not-quite-beach’ parts of Australia. Everything feels so normal now, from walking to class in flops (or shall I say thongs?) and seeing tons of starts every night when I walk home, but there are definitely things I miss about home, like when I think of my kangaroo shirt that I didn’t pack or my own sheets or GCC blueberry muffins. There’s also still lots of subtleties that makes Australia different from the US like the fact that they don’t have lemonade like we do here. It’s all carbonated and goes by the name of Sprite. I would love a can of Countrytime right about now. Also, no one eats PB & J sandwiches (I’m shocked) and when I ate banana with peanut butter the other day, the whole table looked at me like I was crazy. I also just discovered that they don’t celebrate Halloween here. Seeing as how Halloween is my second favorite holiday, I could not imagine growing up without trick or treating.

But all in all, it’s going well. I worked like crazy this past weekend, seeing as how it was Mother’s Day. Down here, Mother’s Day is a WAY bigger deal than it is in the States. It’s similar to our Thanksgiving where everyone gets their extended families together, and a ton of people go home from uni over the weekend. Needless to say, the Breath was packed and all I can say is that I realized how grateful I am that my mom is not super high strung like some of the mothers I witnessed at the restaurant. But work is keeping me busy: occasionally people will ask about my accent, but usually they just look at me like I've sprouted 3 heads as soon as I open my mouth. Cool.

Classes are… well, classes. Not too much else is going on in that area, seeing as how most of my assignments this semester are finished. Steele Rudd (my dorm) is having their semi-formal next weekend and everyone has to dress up in theme (Fairy Tale) so I am in the process of putting together a fairy costume. Also, next week is their blood drive which I am pretty excited about (as you know, I love donating blood!) Other than that, the nights I’m not working, I just spend hanging out with friends, playing cards or watching movies. (I think you all think my life down here is a lot more glamorous and exciting than it actually is…) :)

Sydney is in a couple weeks and then it’s nearly finals! Crazy. I love hearing from all of you and miss you all dearly! For all you Grovers, I hope all your finals go well and enjoy the first half of summer for me!

P.S. I fixed this blog so that anyone can leave comments- I love hearing from you!

Golden Afternoon (Melbourne Part Two)

We woke up the next morning (Daniel’s birthday) and headed to Krispy Kreme for breakfast (love love love) before going to Melbourne 360 which is this giant tower that overlooks the whole city. It was a beautiful day and it was awesome to see all the buildings and the ocean from so high. For lunch, we headed down to the Greek Precinct which was delicious. The whole afternoon was pretty much spent meandering downtown, walking into various shops down by the waterfront. We came full circle to our hostel and walked about a block to DFO which are these outlets (not really outlets, more of a small mall, but…) We didn’t have much time in there because they were closing, so we had plans to come back the next day.

For dinner we headed out to this great place called BBNT (Burgers, Burritos, Nachos, Tacos) which was open late and absolutely delicious. By our hostel, there was a casino which we went to. Now, I’ve never been in a casino before but I have to say, it was pretty cool. I didn’t gamble much (unless you count the dollar or two I spent on the slots) and it took Lauren and I awhile to figure out any of the games anyway, but the atmosphere was really fun. After more celebrating of Daniel’s birthday, we went to this really trendy club downtown. I was exhausted from the whole day so I couldn’t wait to get into my bed, but it was still a blast.

The next morning brought us back to the DFO where we spent the morning shopping (I’ve missed shopping so much!) Some of the stores were really expensive and boutique-y, but we managed to find a lot of things for some great prices. We came back in the afternoon, Daniel and I slept while the others went to the aquarium and then we donned our new clothes because we had tickets to see Wicked! We saw that Wicked was playing in Melbourne and I’ve always wanted to see it, but never have had the opportunity to, so we splurged on tickets and went Sunday night. All I can say is that I loved it just as much as I imagined I would. The cast was great, the costumes were exquisite and it made a perfect ending to a great weekend in Melbourne. We ate a late dinner at BBNT again, made one last stop at the casino, and I feel asleep catching up on Grey’s Anatomy and the Office on Daniel’s iPod. Could life be any better? I think not.

Monday was our travel day, so after we made fruit salad from all of our left over fruit, we took the Skybus to the airport. From the plane, we took 2 busses to the train back to the TT coaches, only to arrive home to find that Trina, Casey and Michelle had made us dinner. Such great friends. :) The weekend was whirlwind was absolutely perfect. I’m paying for it now by working at the Breath constantly but I’ve got to save up for Sydney (and my jobless summer) somehow!

Here's to the Night (Melbourne Part One)

So I’m back from Melbourne and I already miss it. Melbourne is a beautiful city and I think that if I could live anywhere in Australia, that I would live there. The weather is great, the city is big without being overwhelming and it’s just so full of culture. But now, I’m starting to sound like a brochure, so I’ll just tell you what we did…

5 of us (Daniel, Lauren, Steffan, and Alex- who all happen to share an apartment) left Thursday afternoon, catching TT coaches to Brisbane, where we took a train from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast to catch our flight. Let’s just say it was not the most enjoyable plane ride I’ve ever had seeing as how I was seated next to the crying baby. Great. We landed in Melbourne that night and rode the bus into the city where we checked into our hostel.

The rate we had been told for the hostel was that we paid $26 one night and get the other 3 nights for one penny. I was skeptical at first, but we called to double check these prices and they were right so when we got there and they told us that it should have been $26 per night for all of us, we protested. Luckily, they let it slide and even didn’t charge us for the one night, which left each of us paying our $2.50 deposit for our 4 night stay. However, I will say that the hostel quality matched the price we paid. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cleanest place I’ve been, the bunk beds caved in enough so that I was scared for my life every time Steffan got into his top bunk and “free breakfast” means that the staff puts out white bread and jelly every morning. AWESOME. But it just meant that we were more motivated to get out and see the city.

Friday morning we got up and walked around downtown, seeing Federation Square and all the main streets that we were close to. Daniel even bought us flowers from the street in honor of May Day! (which is an unheard of holiday down here) We went to China town and had lunch before walking down to the Queen Victoria Market where they had crafts and fruits and veggies and pretty much anything you could ever want to buy. We bought a lot of cheap fruit and I got a lot of gifts for you all back home.

Melbourne (supposedly) has the biggest AFL (Australian Football League) stadium and we were able to get tickets for Friday night’s game for about ten bucks so we all went and sat in the nosebleeds watching Aussie Football, which to me looked like a mix between NFL and Rugby. I’m sure to anyone sports-inclined, they will say that it is completely different, but whatever. We had no idea who to cheer for (Melbourne Roos vs. the Collingwood Pies) but our team (we eventually decided on the Roos) ended up winning and that’s what matters anyway, right?

We left the game, making a quick stop at Mackers and went to this British pub where Daniel had his first legal (in the States) drink at midnight in honor of his birthday. After that, we headed up to the Fitzroy District where we had heard there were a lot of great bars and clubs. We stopped at a few, ending at one that heralded “90’s Night” where we danced the night away to Ace of Base, Counting Crows and B*Witched. Perfect. At the last place, I ran into James, who I had met while I was in Sydney the first weekend for CIS which was really exciting and we talked about how we’re both going down there soon during the same weekend so we will have another reunion. All in all, it was a fun night and I was already in love with Melbourne.

They Say It's Spring

Well… we are back on the main island. New Zealand already seems so far away but it is good to back in warmer weather and to return to ‘normal.’ I spent the last week catching up on homework and working at “The Breath,” as I so fondly call it. Saturday was ANZAC Day (which is like the Australian equivalent to Memorial Day) and the whole weekend was spent relaxing and recuperating from our trip (with Nutella and Grey’s Anatomy, of course).

I can’t relax for too long though because I’m heading to Melbourne this weekend! After we got home from NZ, we already felt that we needed to get out of Toowoomba. It’s Daniel’s birthday this weekend so 5 of us are flying down to Melbourne for a long weekend. The flights were fairly cheap and the hostel we booked is really cheap so I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.

It has also recently occurred to me that I don’t even hear the Aussie accent anymore. Being around so many nationalities recently, I can’t really distinguish the dialects. I’m hoping this means I will be returning with a bit of Aussie in my speech. I have picked up these words for you though:

- Problems= Dramas
- Sketchy= Dodgy
- If someone is silly/stupid, they are a dag
- And a ginger is a wranga (pronounced ringer)
- I also get “Ta” and “Cheers” a lot at work which I thought was just a British thing but apparently not.

In other news, no mice have returned to my room and I’m currently feeding my HP addiction from the USQ library. (Isn’t my life just so thrilling that you get to hear about mice and my current reading list?) We leave for Melbourne on Thursday so until then, I’ll be packing and working. Hope you all are enjoying the warmer weather you’re getting because I’m heading into winter!

Everyday is a Holiday with You (or Installment 8)

It was a bit sad leaving Nelson, knowing that we only had one more destination before heading back home to Australia (is it weird that I feel like it’s home?) But the thing that made it DEVASTATING was the fact that about halfway through our Harry Potter audiobook, Emma realized that only half of it got uploaded onto her iPod. We were depressed about this (obviously) but we journeyed on, stopping in Picton for some lunch and listening to 90’s music (always a surefire way to get me back in a better mood).

We checked into our hostel in Christchurch in the afternoon and discovered this market that was held right across the street that sold food on Fridays and crafts on Saturdays/Sundays. So we walked over and checked out all the homemade food (and Lauren and I bought some cupcakes. Typical.) After dinner, we went grocery shopping (yes, again…) where we discovered the best grocery store we’d seen by far. It was set up kind of like Costco and had really cheap prices, but you didn’t have to buy in bulk. This is what I call a win-win. We called up the guys we had met in Queenstown and were planning on going to see this improv comedy show with them, but it was sold out. So instead, the guys invited us back to their flat were we met a bunch of their other flat mates and friends (almost all of whom were international as well, which was neat). Their flat was located right in Cathedral Square which is basically the center of Christchurch and they lived behind this alley above 2 bars which made for a fun time. After hanging out in their flat for a bit, we went out to this 80’s club called Boogie Nights were I felt like I could’ve seen my parents dancing across the room. But it was a blast.

The next day we slept in and walked across the street to the art market again, checking out all the handmade scarves, pottery, and the international food booths (mmm, Nutella crepes…) The whole thing was like the Ann Arbor Art Fair on a small scale so it was cool. Also right across the street were these giant Botanical Gardens were we spent the majority of the afternoon. They had this rose garden which had over 100 different types of roses and a greenhouse and this lake which you could canoe on. It was absolutely beautiful. After dinner, we met up again with Anja and Antje and were invited back over to our new friends’ flat. We went out again that night to this Irish bar called Sullivans (where they played EXCELLENT music) and made several other stops that night before crashing into our beds.

Our last full day was spent looking at the Art Gallery and listening to this Salvation Army band that had set up right outside. Apparently, the weekend we were there it was this big jazz festival so I felt like there was always some sort of live music playing. Because we were leaving the next day, we needed to finish all the food we had bought which meant only one thing: binge hardcore. :) After stuffing ourselves, we hung out for the last time with the people we had met and ended up watching a movie at their place. We watched Defiance (with Daniel Craig) and it was actually really good. It was really great knowing people in Christchurch because we would run into them everywhere, like at the grocery store or at the art market which just made the weekend all the more fun.

And thus concludes the tales from New Zealand. The next morning we sadly returned Ellen, our rental car and boarded the plane back to Australia. The trip was amazing and I would tell anyone to go there. Now I am back at school (trying really hard to get out of vacation mode and back into school mode) and working my butt off because there are more trips to plan and more places to see! More updates soon (although you’re probably super sick of this blog by this point) and I hope you all are doing well!

P.S. For all you who were dying in anticipation wondering what happened to Lauren's camera, the hostel sent her an email the other day saying they had found it! :)

I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today (or Installment 7)

Because we couldn’t stay at the Nelson YHA for 2 nights, we had to relocate in the morning to another hostel across town called the Green Monkey, which was one of the better hostels we stayed in (free internet and free cake every night? Sign me up). We walked around the town of Nelson in the morning and hung out (taking full advantage of free wireless) in the afternoon.
Nelson is roughly the size of Toowoomba, I’d guess, and the fact that it was slightly warmer than down south was also a plus.

Nelson’s claim to fame is the fact that you can hike (and when I say hike, I really just mean walk up a steep hill) up to geographical center of NZ. So we did. And it was just as thrilling as you can imagine. Get to the top, see the sign, stand there, take a photo, hike back down. But it was fun. After dinner, we went to this cute pub across the street that had all these ciders and special brews which were all delicious. Meanwhile, Lauren had lost her camera somewhere between relocating hostels and none of us could figure out where it went no matter how hard we searched. But more on that later…

Another White Dash (or Installment 6)

The next day when we woke up (Monday) it was raining but it wasn’t too bad because we had a long day ahead of us in the car driving up to Fox Glacier which is about a 6-7 hours drive north of Queenstown. We listened to Harry Potter 6 basically the entire way, all of us wanting to sleep in the car but trying really hard to stay awake just so we could listen. Once we reached Fox Glacier, it was still raining and we were super tired so we didn’t get to hike to see it, but instead watched Titanic in the hostel and ate some instant noodles. Great life choice.

The next morning, we decided that it would be a good idea to wake up wicked early (eww) and do a hike before driving to Takaka, which is on the northern part of the island. So we all trekked out to Matheson Lake were we saw the stillest water I’ve ever seen in my life. Everything was reflected perfectly into the water and it was especially cool to see the sunrise behind Mt. Cook (we’re on the other side of the mountain now). After the hike, we loaded into the car (and by this point, all of our bags plus the food that seemed to keep increasing was jammed packed into the car, so much so that you couldn’t see out the back window) and headed north, listening to HP (because by now, we were obviously hooked). The roads were super windy and I was thankful I don’t get carsick, but we made a stop on the way at the Pancake Rocks which was kind of neat. Basically, it’s all these giant rocks that are layered on top of each other in the ocean and no one really knows how they formed. So we stopped there for lunch and kept on driving until we spent a quiet night in Takaka.

We left Takaka the next morning, but because our next destination was only a few hours away so we thought we’d see a lot of things on the way. We started out the morning going to PuPu Springs which are apparently the clearest springs in the entire world (besides Antarctica, but who really sees those anyway?) A little further down, we hiked to the Wahui waterfalls, which were absolutely beautiful. All through the hike, I felt like I was in Lost or about to get eaten by a dinosaur from Jurassic Park 2. Actually, everywhere I went, I felt like I was in a movie/TV show (which kind of makes me feel lame, but hey, that’s my life…) The falls were similar to what I’d seen in the Smokey Mountains and the drive up north was a little like the Hawaiian landscape (not that I’ve ever been, but what I imagine it would be like…)

After the springs and the falls, we did a walk through this Grove Nature Reserve (it was a big nature day obviously) which we decided would be the coolest place to have in your backyard as a kid. There were swinging vines (Tarzan?) and all these rocks that had been split apart to made caves/forts. We had heard about this little salami shop that was located nearby so we (after several wrong turns) went to this quaint little homemade salami shop that was owned by this older couple. The others all bought some salami, which at the time seemed like the best idea ever, but eventually caused our food bag to reek of spicy sausage. Mmmm… We also stopped at this bus which was like a roadside restaurant where I had probably THE most delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever had. No lies. Finally, we reached Nelson that night and spent the night in, enjoying hot showers and some salami.

Designer Skyline (or Installment 5)

Queenstown. Definitely a must-see if you’re going to NZ. It was absolutely beautiful. It was a bigger city, similar to Estes Park that clearly made its money by being a tourist destination. Downtown was filled with souvenir shops and places where you could book your skydiving/bungy jumping/paragliding adventures. Because it was Easter weekend and we hadn’t called ahead, we ended up having to call about 10 hostels before finally finding one that was available. Which turned out to be absolutely perfect. It was called the Hippo Lodge and while I didn’t understand why they chose to be branded by a hippo, it was easily one of the better places we stayed. Our window opened right up to the parking lot so we just opened the window and tossed all of our stuff into the room, firefighter style.

We walked downtown (down another giant hill that our hostel was located on top of) and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day and all the nice cafes that lined the streets. We ate dinner while watching My Best Friend’s Wedding and met some of the other people that were staying in the hostel (more on them later as well). We all went downtown that night (it was Friday after all) to the World Bar which is this really cool place (there’s one in Sydney as well) with a great dance floor and drinks served in teapots. We came back that night and crashed, only to wake up the next morning to…

Free pancakes. I’m not joking. I don’t know WHY I thought it was such a big deal, but the hostel provided free pancake mix every morning which I loved. We didn’t have any syrup and they were more like ‘butter cakes’ with all the butter I had to use to make them not stick but they were so delicious. And free. After breakfast, Lauren and I went on this hike (they love their steep hills in NZ) up to the top of this mountain where you could see Queenstown from up high. Once we got back, we walked downtown to visit the weekend craft market as well as Chocolate Patagonia: only the greatest dessert place ever. Actually, let me just digress and tell you; Saturday was a great food day. Breakfast: free pancakes, Lunch: Delicious chocolate mud cake and homemade cookies and cream gelato from Chocolate Patagonia, Dinner: Fergburger. Fergburger is this place which kind of reminded me of Blimpy Burger and had been recommended by literally everyone we had talked to, so of course we had to go. It was pretty good and definitely a step up from the PB&J and grilled Cheese I had had every day until then. (And when I say every day, I mean I had a grilled cheese every day. Good thing, I love it… :) OK, enough about food, I’m making myself salivate.

We went out again that night with the guys we met at the hostel and woke up to (yet another) amazing pancake breakfast. Lauren gave us makeshift Easter presents including a NZ pencil and Cadbury chocolate. :) It was the cutest thing. We had to move out of the Hippo because they were booked but we stayed in the YHA down the road. By this point, Anja had split up from us and was going back down south to Milford Sound with Antje, another girl we know, so Lauren, Daniel and I walked down the riverside while Emma went paragliding in the morning. I spent the day walking along the harbor and Lauren and Emma and I spent the afternoon going to this winery where Emma’s mom imports their wine so we got a free tasting which was a great end to a relaxing day in Queenstown. So that was Queenstown… definitely a favorite weekend thus far (and don’t tell, but I stole some free pancake mix and took it with me for the road. What can I say? I’m a sucker for free food…)

Spectacular Views (or Installment 4)

After leaving Dunedin behind in the morning, we drove a few hours to Te Anau which is on the West side of the southern part of the island. I navigated in the front seat while we listened to various iPods and Harry Potter 6, which Emma had on audiobook (more on this later). The little town of Te Anau is essentially where everyone goes if they want to go up to Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound. It reminded me so much of Grand Lake, CO, with the tiny main street and several lodges to stay on the lake. The YHA hostel in Te Anau was great, mainly because I spent an afternoon reading by the fire (I love vacation).

We were in Te Anau for 2 nights, so the next day the 4 of them went up and took a Milford Sound Cruise and saw dolphins! I didn’t go, but spent the day relaxing and relocating hostels to one down the road, which came to be known as the Holocaustel because of the large Star of David engraved into the wall and the fact that we had about 1 pot and 2 spoons in our kitchen and one rickety ladder to split between two bunk beds. Needless to say, it was not my favorite. But (as it always was in NZ) it was beautiful by the lake and we had fun with it. The next morning we drove up to Queenstown (the adventure capital of the world) which was (yet) another one of my favorite places.

By this point, we are about halfway through with the NZ trip. If you’d like to take a break, perhaps grab a snack and return after intermission, you may. Too bad you don’t have homemade chocolate Kahlua ice cream from Wanaka…

Edge of the Ocean (or Installment 3)

Because we were spending 2 nights in Dunedin, we wanted to spend the day at the Otago Peninsula which is where you can see penguins, seals, sealions, etc. What we didn’t know was that the road to get there was one of many winding roads where I thought I might die falling down a cliff. I swear, the ocean was not even feet away from our car with a giant cliff on the other side of the lane. AWESOME. Even though I did fear for my life at several points, Daniel managed to keep us on the road and the sights were really beautiful and idyllic (I feel like I’m narrating a children’s book…) Anyways, we made it to this place called the Albatross Center. Apparently though, the albatross had migrated to Africa or South America or somewhere so they weren’t in New Zealand. They would have been cool to see but in all honesty, I was under the impression that an albatross was a type of fish, so…

But while we were there, we got to walk down to the beach where we saw seals! Like actual seals sitting on the rocks and jumping in and out of the water. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a seal outside of a zoo so that was pretty cool. One thing we all really wanted to do before the day was up was see a penguin. We heard that if you go down Seal Point Rd. (Clever, huh?) you could maybe see sealions and penguins. So we drove the windy roads up and down to get to Seal Point where we descended down the most gigantic sand dune I think I’ve ever been on in my entire life (even bigger than the one at Warren Dunes). At the bottom, there were all these sealions just laying on the beach… like we probably saw about 10 of them just laying there! It blew my mind. Obviously we didn’t want to get too close because these things were pretty massive but at one point, I was at least 10 feet away from a gigantic barking sealion (slowly backing away of course). Sometimes they would flop over or shimmy (do they shimmy? Maybe shimmy isn’t the best word, more like drag) themselves over into the water and there were two that were fighting. The pictures are incredible. But we had not seen a penguin yet. We went up to this blind where you have to sit and watch penguins or else they won’t come out. We probably sat in there for a good half hour before Anja was like “Wait, what’s that white thing on the grass?” And lo and behold, we saw our penguin. Sitting above the rocks on the grass. He didn’t do a lot, except maybe flip over one time but at least we got to say we saw one which is all that really counts…

We drove back through Dunedin, climbing the steep streets, and picked up more groceries (where we found bagels! I can honestly say a Parmesan bagel has never tasted so good in my whole life). After dinner, we went downtown to go to the Speights Brewery Tour. Speights is this really popular NZ beer and it is made in Dunedin so we got a tour and a tasting which was pretty fun. We were going to go out for the night, but it ended up raining so we played Life (which was a major blast from the past considering I haven’t played that since I was about 11). But overall, Dunedin was beautiful and I would definitely go back and visit there someday.

Buildings and Mountains (or Installment 2)

The following morning, we left Mt. Cook and drove a short way to Wanaka, this quaint little inland city that we all just loved. We pulled into the hostel (which oddly felt like summer camp) in the early afternoon and had the entire day to see beautiful Wanaka. Since we didn’t go kayaking at Mt. Cook, we decided to go on Lake Wanaka, which is this absolutely gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains. While the water was a bit chilly, the views were breathtaking. After drying off, we went to one of Wanaka’s main attractions: Puzzle World. Obviously, we were all pretty stoked about going. :) Basically Puzzle World is half Cosi Science Museum with all these neat optical illusions and half outdoor maze. It took us about an hour or 2 to make it through the maze, having to reach all 4 towers. (Brandon, it was like “A-MAZE-ing Mirrors mixed with corn maze). Needless to say, it was awesome.

For dinner, we read that there was a free Sausage Sizzle in the park and since we’re all about free food, we went and had some dinner. After dinner (or napping for some of us) we decided to check out the cinema. Everyone had told us to go to this cute one-of-a-kind cinema that they have and I am SO glad we did. It’s this little art house cinema that plays (relatively) new movies and makes their own homemade cookies and ice cream. The theater doesn’t have typical seats; instead you sit on couches and pillows that have been put together in this giant room. We watched Revolutionary Road (don’t watch if you’re looking for something upbeat) but it was good. And the homemade cookies and ice cream were definitely worth it. We may or may not have gone back to get more during intermission. One of the coolest things about Wanaka was that it had such a small town feel. The same guy who rented us our kayaks worked at the cinema and there were lots of other people that we had seen before, whether it was travelers from Mt. Cook or people around town. Definitely one of my favorite NZ places.

After only one night in Wanaka, we took a beautiful drive down to Dunedin (you should probably just be google imaging these places as I write about them…) which is at the southern part of the island. Dunedin is a little rainy university city that is just off of the Otago Peninsula. Or maybe it was just rainy while we were there. Regardless, after setting up in our hostel (which felt like I was staying at my great aunt’s house with all of her cats) we walked around the city, stopping in coffee shops and getting more groceries. The evening was chill and we enjoyed the free sauna/hot tub that was there. We wanted to be well rested for all the adventure we’d have to tomorrow, after all…

Such Great Heights

So I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to blog about the last 18 days of my life without writing a novel and overwhelming myself, let alone you, and I’ve come up with this. I will warn you, there’s a lot to write about, but I figure if it’s in installments (Dicken’s style), you won’t be stuck at your computer for hours. Because let’s be honest, my life really isn’t as enthralling as you think and you all lead very busy lives, I’m sure.

So 2 and a half weeks ago, 5 of us (Daniel, Lauren, Emma, Anja, and myself) all boarded TT coaches to ride into Brisbane. Normally, this is a mundane, even comical 2 hour ride. Not so. They had gotten a new bus and the ride into Brisbane felt like a terrifying roller coaster, what with the driver trying to get as close as he could to the wide load truck in front of us and all. But we made it there alive and boarded the plane. I ended up sitting next to this cute older couple (Erin, you would’ve loved them) and tried to sleep for the 3 hour flight to Christchurch, NZ. By the time we got there, it was about 10 PM with the time difference and we didn’t have any place to stay. Unfortunately, everything in arrivals was closed for the night (I’m telling you, these airports are small) except the arcade and a vending machine. So our dinner consisted of cookies and we camped out with all of our luggage behind the Sega Strike Fighter Machine. I was able to get a few hours of sleep, using my towel as my blanket and waking up to the sounds of Need for Speed Underground (which some kid decided he needed to play at 4:30 AM.)

The next morning (Friday) we were able to get our rental car and get on the road to Mt. Cook. The car was quickly named Ellen and she was the greatest thing we had the entire trip. We spent the better part of the day driving but we stopped every hour or so just to get out and take pictures because it was so beautiful. I had no idea what to expect when going to NZ but it is honestly THE most beautiful place I’ve ever been. So much of it reminded me of Colorado with the mountains everywhere and I constantly felt like a hobbit was going to pop out from behind a tree. (Speaking of LOTR, you would not believe how many tours are available to see where they filmed, visit the jeweler who made the ring, etc. It’s ridiculous.) So anyways, one of our main stops on the way to Mt. Cook was Lake Tekapo and the St. John Observatory where Ellen chugged up this steep hill to see the lake from above. I honestly can’t even describe to you how gorgeous it was. I’ll put up pictures, but even those won’t do it justice. Also, I knew New Zealand was known for sheep, but they are EVERYWHERE. I mean, they aren’t running across the street or anything (except once) but there are tons of penned in cows, sheep, and deer which was weird considering deer are grossly overpopulated in the US.

Once we got to the hostel, we were starving, but of course, we didn’t have any food. So after practically selling an arm and leg to buy food from the hostel, we drove 45 minutes to the next town to go to a grocery store/ATM to get some much needed supplies. Like most mountain towns, Mt. Cook had nothing except for our hostel, a nice hotel and… well, that was about it. So we chilled in the hostel that night, wanting to be well rested for our hike the next day. Unfortunately, Lauren’s alarm was still set for Australian time so we ended up waking up at 11, not 8. But we still made a day hike up to Hooker Valley (which is part of Mt. Cook) and visited this huge glacier that was at the end, which was fun, but SUPER cold and windy. Again, all through this hike, I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings, which was kind of cool/kind of made me feel dorky. After eating our lunch in this cove by the glacier, we came back, warmed up with some Speights, ate some dinner and played Monopoly (NZ style with NZ money).

Wow. I cannot believe I’m only on the third day. Hope you all enjoy reading.

How the Day Sounds

So before I embark off to yet another country, I figure I’d write one last post of all the random things that keep popping into my head and then I think “Oh! I need to tell people at home about that…”

I’m loving Aussie life more and more. It’s just so much more relaxed. Namely the fact that I’ve never paid to dry my clothes here. Everyone just hangs them up on the line outside. I don’t know why I love this so much, but I do, and I get such joy out of hanging my clothes up on the line.

One thing I DO NOT get joy out of is locking myself out of my room. Maybe it’s the fact that GCC is probably the safest place I will ever know and so the whole locking doors thing hasn’t clicked yet, but I’ve locked myself out multiple times (this week). Although it’s not so bad because I discovered the windows here just pop out from the outside. Which is all fine and dandy until you get caught by your RA asking you if you’re locked out and you sheepishly reply “yes… again.” Awesome.

I meant to tell you all this when I first got below the equator, but the toilets do NOT flush the opposite direction. Well, they might, but all the toilets here are dual flush (I feel like I might’ve told you all this already…. oh well) and so it kind of just goes down. Although I was thinking about it and I don’t even know if I could tell you what direction the water spins in the US, so…

Walking around barefoot is lot more common here. I’ve seen people in the grocery store, the outside plaza, Cold Rock (this awesome ice cream just like… you guessed it, Cold Stone) all walking around barefoot. Which is kind of weird/kind of awesome.

One last final story about my life. I think I need to get a mousetrap. A few weeks ago, I woke up to this rustling sound in my trash can. I freak out (because if it’s loud enough to wake me up in the middle of the night, it’s a big deal) and flick on the lights only to see a mouse fly out of my garbage and sneak out underneath my door. Ew. And now, they’re back. I have literally seen a mouse in my room the last 3 nights in a row. I’m starting to calm down about it more and more because they just run around and then leave, but I feel like Sara from The Little Princess, curled up in my threadbare sheets while the mice scurry around beneath me. Lovely. I hope everyone got the Little Princess reference… (And my sheets aren’t really threadbare, I just pretend they are for dramatic effect.)

Now off to NZ I go!

Where Happiness Lives

I don’t know if Brandon even reads this blog but this Scrubs quote is for him…
Jake: “Trust you? You don’t even know where New Zealand is…"
J.D: "I know you can dance your way there from Old Zealand…”

That’s right, I am leaving for NZ in approximately 3 days and I am SO excited! Not only is it 18 days that I don’t have to be in school but we are basically touring the entire country (both islands), which is sure to be beautiful. We take the Toowoomba Transit (fondly known as the TT shuttle) into Brisbane were we are catching a flight to Christchurch, NZ (in the south island). From there, we are spending the night in the airport until the car rental place opens on Friday morning, and then off we go…

Back in Toowoomba, I have been busy working and am finding myself busier than ever. This past weekend, 5 of my friends went over to Brisbane while I was stuck here; finishing assignments that are due before I leave. But it wasn’t all just studying. This weekend at my college (Steele Rudd) was Davis Cup weekend which is a big event weekend that we put on. Friday was the Desperate and Dateless Ball at the uni club where everyone dresses up crazy and hangs out. After work I went over and it actually ended up being really fun. Saturday was a road rally and a bonfire which I unfortunately couldn’t attend because of work but the weekend still ended up being a success.

Today and tomorrow I had signed up to do this room audit, where I basically get paid $22 an hour to go around to classrooms and count how many people are in them. AWESOME. And tonight I have to go to this Responsible Service of Alcohol Convention in order to get my Alcohol license so I can work the bar at Hog’s Breath, so I’m definitely staying busy.

My domestic skills are improving (Emily…) as I made the most delicious Chocolate Zucchini Cake yesterday. I wasn’t sure it was going to turn out because I’ve never actually made it by myself, but it did! I was so happy and now I get to sit here eating my favorite cake in the whole world. Life is good. (Don’t worry, I’m not eating all of it…)

For all you people who are keeping up with the Aussie slang (get ready to hear a lot of it when I come back) here is some more…
- Cotton candy= Fairy Floss
- Silverware= Cutlery
- Converse shoes= Connies
- McDonalds= Mackers
- Pickup truck= Ute (I made a fool out of myself when I got a ride home from work the other day and told the guy he “had a nice truck.” He just looked at me and was like “Truck?”)
- They also say “How you going?” instead of “how’s it going” or “how are you doing” which I have started to pick up.

Hope everyone at home is doing wonderfully… although I heard you got some snow, so sorry about that. You should all just move down under to enjoy some warmer weather. It’s no big deal, just fly on down…

Life, Fall Fast Now

So let’s just say that today was a day of firsts. I went to breakfast this morning and had my first experience with Vegemite. Two people from my college were like “Oh Steph, you have to try it…” So this guy I know prepared it extra special, telling me that it’s all about the right consistency of butter and Vegemite. Americans often think of Vegemite as the Australian equivalent to peanut butter, but it is actually only a very thin layer that gets spread on buttered toast. As they all anxiously watched me take my first bite, I felt like I was in a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie, circa Our Lips Are Sealed. And it was actually good! It kind of just tasted like buttered toast with salt sprinkled on it and was a pretty good way to start my morning.

Because tomorrow is a public holiday here in Toowoomba (the Toowoomba Show is apparently the fair that comes to Toowoomba every year) my lab class was cancelled, leaving my afternoon free. When I returned from class, there was a note on my door from this girl I know asking me if I wanted to go on a “fun bike riding challenge.” I was intrigued so I grabbed my bike and got ready. When I went to go meet her, she told me how excited she was to have me on their team for the inter-college Triathlon. At this point, I’m thinking, “What? This is NOT what I signed up for.” But I got suited in blue and white (Steele Rudd colors) complete with blue war paint to go compete in this triathlon. Everyone comes out to support those competing from their colleges and it’s a pretty big deal because the 3 colleges here compete with each other to win a big trophy at the end of the year. Basically, the triathlon involves riding a stationary bike for 500 meters, throwing 3 balls into a bin and then running around the quad twice. No big deal. So I thought.
I was in the third leg for the girl’s race, and although they had told me before how your legs would feel like jelly after getting off the bike, I didn’t think it would be a big deal. After medaling about 200 meters, I was feeling it in my legs. But it was funny because everyone was cheering “Go America! Yea Team America!” which I thought was cute. After biking, it took me FOREVER to get the tennis balls into the bin (because of my amazing hand-eye coordination skills) so I was relieved to start running.

Until my legs went out beneath me and I ate the pavement.

Like, full out skid, my chin hitting the sidewalk. I heard the collective groan of everyone around me and I wanted to just sink into the pavement beneath me. But instead I got up, finishing my 2 laps. After the race, I felt like my lungs were going to die and that I was going to throw up. But I held it together and watched the rest of the races. Everyone kept coming up to me asking me if I was OK which I thought was odd until I realized that I had this gash on my chin that won’t stop bleeding and that my knee and hand were scraped up pretty bad. AWESOME. I’ve cleaned it up a bit, but I’ve still got a pretty nice battle wound on my face. All because I was game for a “fun bike riding challenge.” Despite the injuries I sustained, it was fun and I got to meet a lot of people that I live with which was nice.

Tonight at uni club is Beach Party night which should be fun and I’m working tomorrow all day (I know, on a public holiday, what an outrage…) But all the work will be good because I need some way to finance my NZ trip!

Semi Charmed Life

Although to me, it seems like nothing exciting (or blog-worthy) has happened in my life recently, I started listing things that I want to tell people at home and the list kept going so I figured I should probably update. This might be long, I’m just warning you…

Oz (what they called Australia, not Austrailia, Emily… :) has really begun to feel like home. My job at Hog’s Breath has kept me busy and I really like it. I just started waitressing this past week and the people I work with are really great. It actually kind of reminds me of the dynamics of when I used to work at DQ. Hog’s Breath is this big Australian chain that also has restaurants in NZ. The best way I’ve found to describe them is that they have food like Outback Steakhouse (they’re known for their Prime Rib) but with the casual feel of an Applebee’s. Both of which happen to be 2 of my favorite restaurants, so it all works out. I ride my hot pink bike there and back 6 miles… let’s just say, I better be fit when I come home.

Since the school work doesn’t keep me too busy, I usually go over to my friends’ apartments to hang out. Two other Americans (Daniel and Lauren) live in an apartment with 2 guys from Germany (Alex and Steffan) and the Student Village Apartments maintenance guy, Dev. (Don’t feel like you need to worry about all these names…) Trina, another American girl and this couple (Michelle and Casey) from Canada and I all usually hang out at the apartment most nights and play cards. Clearly, our lives are thrilling. Although, having been raised in a card-playing family, I’m shocked at all the card games I’ve been taught. The nice thing about having friends in the apartments is that they will let me cook over there. So I’m planning on going to Aldi soon and buying ingredients for Puppy Chow (because I miss baking SO much!)

It was Dev’s birthday the other day and apparently, it’s an Indian tradition to have all your friends come over, give you cake, and then have each person feed it to you, ala wedding cake. Except a lot messier. I’m talking cake going EVERYWHERE, including Dev’s hair and all over the floor. Needless to say, it was a very interesting birthday party…

Daniel, Lauren, Emma (an English girl from Hong Kong) and I are in the process of planning our trip to NZ, which is all very exciting. We were going to take a bus tour around the 2 islands, but now we are thinking about renting a car and then going to all the same places we would’ve gone on the tour (AKA: following the bus) because it’s about half the price and we are all very budget conscious (see Mom and Dad?)

Other happenings in my life down under: Last Tuesday there was an Inauguration Dinner for all the people who live on campus. All the awards were somewhat boring, but my Chicken Kiev was delicious and I met some people from my dorm which was nice. After the dinner, Trina, Lauren, Michelle and I had a girl’s night involving bruschetta, brownies and my personal favorite movie, My Girl which was really fun.

I know the last thing you probably care to read about in my blog is my feet, but I need to tell you. They are ALWAYS dirty. ALWAYS. You know that red dirt I was telling you about? It gets on the bottom of all of your shoes and you can’t walk around without having this film of red dirt everywhere. I’m gonna need new socks soon because this stuff does not come off in the laundry.

It’s always the random little things that I want to tell people from home so here they are: Jell-O is not Jell-O here. What we call Jell-O, they call jelly. What we call jelly, they call jam. All very confusing. Also, they rarely use preservatives (you can’t even buy bread WITH preservatives) which may sound all nice and organic, but when my garbage smells up my whole room because of the moldy bread I had to throw away, it’s not as nice as it seems. Oooh Toowoomba….

The city of Toowoomba is kind of a joke around here. It’s this backwoodsy city which has a reasonable population and size but is very small town in feel. Most of the people at USQ are commuters and/or have lived here their whole life. At work, one of the girls asked “Why the HECK would you come to Australia to study in Toowoomba?” So we all just try and laugh at the decision we made to come here and study rather than somewhere on the beach. Hindsight’s 20/20, people.

Also, for all you Grovers, you will happy to know that I received my package yesterday and want to thank you all SO much! I got it on my way to the apartment and Lauren and I opened it in her kitchen basically in tears about how great my friends are. So, good work, you’ve made everyone here jealous of the awesome friends I have. :) I especially liked the music video. A LOT.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now. No, that’s a lie, I could write about a lot more, but I’ve got to go to work and have a fabulous Saturday night! Miss you all lots!

The World Spins Madly On

Life in Toowoomba is an interesting thing. I’ve been in classes for nearly 2 weeks and compared to Grove City academics, USQ classes are a breeze. I spent a total of 4 hours on Tuesday learning how to calculate the median and mean for my statistics class, so let’s just say I’m not too worried about failing. Along with statistics, I’m taking a basic biology class, an online business law class, and an advanced international business class (where 17 other international students and I get to sit in wheely chairs for 3 hours every Friday.) So the academic part is going OK; it certainly gives me a lot more free time than I would back in PA.

I also started my job last weekend and have 2 more shifts this weekend, which is exciting. The people are nice, and it’s usually pretty busy which keeps it fun. Right now I’m just running food out to tables but soon, I’ll be trained and then I’ll be a real waitress… I had to get a bike (because taxiing from downtown to USQ was ridiculously expensive) and the bus systems stops at about 5 PM every day here in the small town of Toowoomba. It’s getting delivered today and it’s hot pink so I’m (obviously) pretty excited about that.

But my life in Australia would be no fun if it was all just school and work, right? That’s why I’m leaving for New Zealand in 3 weeks! 3 of my friends here and I just bought our tickets to go to the southern island of New Zealand over uni holiday and we will be there from April 2nd- 20th. We are still deciding on if we are going to go through a tour company to see the whole island or if we’re going to plan our own trip, so we shall see. I have no idea what to expect in NZ so I’ll have to do some research.

Some random things about life here: They have drive-through bottle shops (what they call liquor stores) which I find odd because drinking and driving is illegal here… hmmm… There’s also no stop signs; only roundabouts which I think is very cool and something I wish we did in the States. Random things here are inexpensive/expensive, like you can get a pineapple for $1 but a candy bar costs at least $2.50. Guess I’ll be eating healthier… Although Domino’s delivers medium 4-topping pizzas here for $5.50 on Tuesdays. Perhaps not…

To All of You American Girls

So after living in Toowoomba for a few weeks, here are a few things I've noticed.

1.) There are crickets everywhere. Like lying dead on my carpet or in my shower. Ew.
2.) I’ve already grown accustomed to looking to the right side first when crossing the street. Which means I might die being hit by a car when I return to the US.
3.) Perk: Every Wednesday someone comes in to change my sheets and vacuum my room. Even my mom doesn’t do that.
4.) Because of the humidity, my hair takes probably a good 10 or 15 minutes to blow dry.
5.) The giant window that takes up my whole wall is always open, even at night.
6.) It always startles me when I hear the birds that sound like they are cat-calling right outside my window.
7.) All the dirt here is red or black because Toowoomba used to be a volcanic site… or something like that.
8.) They don’t have bagels here. Like I don’t even think they know what they are. I’m craving a Panera Asiago Cheese Bagel with cream cheese like crazy.

In other news, I just got a job! I start this Friday working at the Hog's Breath Cafe (which is less like a cafe and more like a restuarant) running tables. Classes have been OK (A lot easier than at GCC which is a refreshing change) and they leave me a lot of freetime which gives me time to enjoy the sun :)

Island in the Sun

So far my time in Toowoomba, while it started out difficult, has felt like an extended summer vacation. And our little trip to Surfer’s Paradise didn’t help me feel more prepared to go back to class after a 10 week break. But the coast was SO fun. The 9 of us left Thursday morning taking the city bus into the Bus Interchange here in town where we loaded our stuff into a big shuttle van that was going to Brisbane. After the 2 hour shuttle, we took the Brisbane train to the Gold Coast, then took a bus to Surfer’s Paradise, and then a taxi to our hostel. So after 6 long hours of traveling, we finally made it to the beach! The hostel we stayed in was nice, and felt like a little bungalow right across the street from the beach. We dropped our stuff off in our ridiculously hot rooms and then sprinted over to the coast. It was absolutely beautiful! I haven’t been swimming in salt water in as long as I can remember, so that took me aback, but the water was so warm, it was nearly bathwater. The beach was so beautiful and clean and the sand squeaked when you walked across it. After swimming in the crashing waves (they probably averaged about 1.5 meters the whole time we were there, some getting to be probably 2 meters!) we played volleyball, but not before I got my first jellyfish sting! After everyone told me about all the poisonous animals here in AUS, I felt 3 little bites on my foot and saw a little blue tentacle sticking out of it. I panicked, but they were really tiny jellyfish so the sting didn’t last for more than a few hours.

After swimming, we went back across the street to this little marina that our hostel was right in front of and checked out all the nice yachts and parasailing companies. We went out for dinner and got gelato at this little place next door which was nice. Fun fact: all the bars/restaurants here all have signs on the door saying “No thongs or singlets.” We knew that thongs were flip flops, but we wanted to know what singlets were, so we asked. I was under the impression that singlets were those things that wrestlers wear which is why I was confused that they would need a sign, but it turns out that singlets are tank tops, although the rule is more for guys than girls. We walked down the beach at night which was a little eerie, and then came back and played games on the balcony outside our rooms which was a relaxing way to end our first day outside of Toowoomba.

On Friday, we woke up expecting to go surfing in the morning but it was all booked so we just decided to spend the morning at the beach. We packed lunches and headed down to the beach. For being a very touristy city (it kind of reminded me of Miami) the beach was fairly empty. We lathered up on sunscreen since the Australian rays here are wicked hot, but we all ended up getting a little burnt. In the afternoon, we were all drained from the sun so we decided to head over to the mall that was right next door. It was a smaller mall, but kind of reminded me of Somerset in MI because it was really ritzy and had all these nice boutiques and this really nice art gallery (although I would never walk around Somerset with a bathing suit on). Also, at McDonalds here, they sell their ice cream cones for 50 cents! (Which is really only about 33 cents US). Jealous? The whole day was very relaxed; all the showers we took were cold ones, we wore sunscreen and aloe instead of make-up, and we took naps whenever we wanted to. Before dinner, we played a game of Monopoly (which has Aussie money) and surprisingly I won, despite the fact that Brandon wasn’t there to bribe me to play with extra money and properties. For dinner, we had a BBQ on the patio that the hostel provided for us. We had heard that there was this farmer’s market downtown on Friday nights, so we headed down to the main strip expecting to stock up on groceries for the weekend, but it turned out that it was more of a craft fair and actually reminded me of Dexter Days, but it was still fun. The walk home from the main strip took about an hour on the beach but it was nice to see the stars that we don’t have in the Northern Hemisphere.

On Saturday, we had booked surfing lessons in the morning so after making breakfast, we got a ride to the main strip and suited up with our sun protective tops, lots of sunscreen and our surfboards. There was a group of about 20 of us and we started on the beach learning technique and then we got into the water to just try and paddle with a wave. After we had all gotten the hang of it, we tried getting up on the board. It took a couple of tries, but I was successfully able to stand up! It’s actually not as hard as I thought it might be and I felt like I was straight out of the movie Blue Crush. Very cool. We all got up several times and it was a blast… Also our instructor said I did really well at one point, so I feel like that counts for something. :) Our lesson was over by noon so we got lunch on the strip and walked around for a bit before we went back to hang out/nap. That night, we went out to this club called Melba’s which was very Hollywood and surreal, but definitely fun and a great way to end a day of surfing.

We woke up on Sunday, packed up our stuff and went to the beach for the last time. None of us wanted to burn our burns, so we weren’t out for that long, and then we just hung out until we took a ridiculously expensive taxi back to the Gold Coast. From there, we took the train to Brisbane and the shuttle back to Toowoomba. It was a bit sad to go back but it was a great beginning of school vacation. The atmosphere there was different- it was a definite tourist destination, but it was still relaxed and I felt like I was staying at someone’s beach house for the weekend. One other interesting thing I noticed was that EVERYONE wears surf brands like Billabong, Roxy, Ripcurl, etc and it made me want to come home as a surfer girl. We’ll see…

Classes started today and they don’t look to be that hard. I’m trying to get all my books/class timetables together but it should be good. I’m putting up pictures on Facebook soon and I’ll try and get some up on the blog so you all have proof that I actually surfed. :)

February Air

So things have calmed down enough to post again. Orientation has slowed down and classes start next Monday, so there’s not much left to do until then… Which is why we’re planning a trip to the beach this weekend! A bunch of the international students that I’ve been hanging out with are planning on taking a trip up the Gold Coast this Thursday for a long weekend on Surfer’s Paradise (Google image it). Needless to say, I’m very excited and can’t wait to learn how to surf :) I’ll be sure and tell you how it goes and how many times I crash into wave.
Other than that, I’m adjusting to life in Toowoomba. I went out job searching over the past couple days and it’s looking pretty good. It’s not too hard for a uni student to get a job working at a café or as a waitress at a bar, like I am trying to do, so hopefully I’ll get something lined up pretty soon. Over the weekend, we hit the town of Toowoomba and last night was our friend Casey’s birthday, so a bunch of us planned a birthday barbeque last night which was super fun (since we’ve all been craving some cheeseburgers).
Toowoomba is a difficult town to describe. It’s roughly the same size as Ann Arbor but it also has this small town feel to it. The houses have a Spanish look with the terra cotta roof and then there are trees that look like they are straight out of the Lion King, so it’s definitely got this eclectic feel. I’m going to start to try to take more pictures of town and the campus so you can understand what I’m talking about. There are certain brands that are different but it’s not too hard to find what you need in a grocery store. I was surprised though at how many brands Australia shares with the States. There’s a Target, a K-Mart, a Baskin Robbins and a Pizza Hut all fairly close to the uni. And Burger King is known as Hungry Jack’s down here. Same food, same logo, just a new name. Also, I’ve gotten pretty good at using Public Transportation since I take the bus anytime I need to go downtown.
Some weird things about Australian life:
1.) The locks turn the other way. Which gets me every time I go into the bathroom.
2.) Actually, everything goes the other way. Including cars and the direction you walk on the sidewalk. Meaning I’m constantly running into other people.
3.) The driver’s seat is obviously flipped to the right side, so I’m always taken aback when I see what looks like a ghost driver driving down the street.
That’s about for now, I’m sure I’ll write back after Surfer’s Paradise.
P.S. Aussie kids are SO cute. They all wear uniforms and little hats to go to school and one little boy offered me his seat on the bus the other day. I might take one home with me... Kidnapping isn’t illegal here right? :)

Capped Internet...

This is a short update for now, but I’m beginning to adjust to life here which means capped internet. So unfortunately, that means way less Facebook and no uploading pictures, Skype, etc. Hopefully I can figure out a loophole, but for now, the best way to get a hold of me is to email me at w0097092@mail.connect.usq.edu.au because that address doesn’t count toward my quota. I’ll write back more later- I think today, we are going to climb Tabletop Mountain which is this flat rock in Toowoomba, so we shall see… Miss you all!

Other Side of the World

So I’ll tell you this, uni is a lot different from my weekend in Sydney. While my weekend was very structured and jam packed, after arriving in the Brisbane airport, I got picked up and dropped off at my (nearly empty) dorm here in USQ at Toowoomba. The dorm is small (like 10x10) but it’s fine for just me. There’s a giant window that takes up a whole wall which lets me hear the bugs/birds that live down here. I swear, I feel like I’m living in a rainforest! I live in the Res Colleges and they try to split up most of the international students between the buildings, so right now it’s pretty empty, but it will fill up as soon as the Australian students move in next week. Orientation is pretty boring: a lot of meetings about Visas and health care but it gives me a lot of time to sort out a lot of the logistical work that I have to do to be enrolled, getting a student ID, etc. There’s not a ton of international students here, but I’ve met a few people. I’m trying to get pictures of my trip to Sydney up so hopefully you can see those as soon as possible! Here’s some Australian lingo that they actually use all the time
a. Brekkie= breakfast
b. Fringe= bangs
c. Heaps= lots
d. Scullying= chugging
e. I’ve heard ‘mate’ a lot but I haven’t heard ‘sheila’ yet
f. Good on ya= good job
g. Jumper= sweater/sweatshirt
h. Lift= elevator

Life in Technicolor

G’day! (It sounds cheesy when I write it, but they actually DO say that).

I don’t even know where to start about my trip so far. This past weekend has been so jam packed and so unreal… I left Detroit on Wednesday morning to arrive in LA early Wednesday afternoon. My flight to Sydney didn’t fly out until 10:30 PM so I spent most of the day walking around Manhattan Beach and going to this resturant that my parents recommended. The weather in CA wasn’t great- kind of drizzly in the high 50s, but it was nicer than the MI snow. The greatest I experienced jet lag was while waiting in LAX for Sydney because it was nearly 2 AM to me by the time I boarded our flight. The flight down under was amazing. I love flying and the Qantas flight was really nice. I watched a few movies (Australia being one of them, which made me very excited to go) and tried to sleep, even though I could only sleep for a few hours. During the plane ride, as we descended, I started to see how beautiful Australia is- the sky was bluer and everything was so green! We landed at around 9 AM Friday morning and after going through customs, I met with all of the other CIS students, our leader Kym and her son Scott. The way the time changes worked out, none of us were too jet lagged, so the 9 of us left for a tour of Sydney.
The first thing I noticed while walking around Sydney was that everything was so clean! It’s a huge city, and I felt like I was walking around NYC but without feeling as cramped or as dirty. It’s so open and not overwhelming in the least. We walked throgh Chinatown and stopped in this place called Patty’s Market where you can pretty much buy anything. I picked up some forgotten towels and we ate lunch (since all of us were ravenous). The currency is different here and I feel like I’m in Canada everytime I pay with a $2 coin. After Patty’s, we went to this tower that is in the middle of Sydney and allows you to see the whole skyline. Unfortunately, the weather was kind of foggy/rainy so we couldn’t see a ton, but it was still so cool. For dinner, we walked to this pub called Alice Thai which served amazing Thai food. It tasted so good after a long day of walking around. We stayed at this hostel just a few blocks away, which to a lot of people sounds really sketchy (Australians say ‘seedy’), but was honestly one of the nicest places I’ve stayed in. We stayed in rooms with bunk beds and were all very excited to hit the showers that night. I was exhausted by the time we got back so a few of us went straight to bed at about 7:30 and slept straight through til 6 AM the next morning.
The next day started bright and early and after brekkie (breakfast) we took the train up to the Blue Mountains. The mountains are about 2 hours outside of Sydney so we relaxed on the train before hiking. Just our luck, the first weekend we are in Australia the weather is a cool 50/60 degrees and foggy/rainy. So we went hiking through the trails in the rain, but it was still so beautiful. Years of camping experience were no match for this- I kept feeling like we were walking through a rainforest, which essentially we were. Our tour guide would point out various plants, ecosystems, etc. and we ate our lunch inside of a cave. We ended the tour a little early so we all walked around the little village where the train station was and warmed up with hot chocolate in this little café. By the time we got back, we were soaked and couldn’t wait to get past the 2 hour train ride to get into a hot shower. We relaxed a bit for heading out to dinner. The night was a free night to do whatever we wanted, so we all went with Scott to this little bar and grill to get dinner and then went to another bar. Underneath the hostel there was a bar called the Scubar where we ended the night dancing and having drinks (and yes Mum, I got my Wallaby Darned). It was an interesting and unique Valentines Day to say the least…
This morning (Sunday) we woke up to get breakfast at the hostel and then head out to take the train to the Circular Quay. From there, we had an AMAZING view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and we took the ferry to the Tarango Zoo, passing by the bridge and the Sydney Opera House. It was so unreal seeing those things in real life rather than on a postcard (or a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie). The zoo was AWESOME, and for not liking our pets, I loved seeing the animals. I felt like I saw every animal that existed (except we missed the platypuses). And I’ll have you know that kangaroos are a lot smaller than you think they would be. Apparently, they only get to be about 5 feet tall. I was picturing this 8 foot mammoth creature that would kill you by waving its tail at you. But still cute, nonetheless. I took a billion and half pictures so I’m sure you will all see them at some point. We left the zoo, took the ferry and the train back to the hostel and packed up our stuff. Most of the CIS students were going to Macquarie, which is a universtiy in Sydney. I was the only one going to University of Southern Queensland so we all parted and said goodbye. Even though we all only knew each other for just over 2 days, they were all so nice and we all got so close so it was hard to say goodbye knowing that the only people I know in Australia are hours away. But hopefully, we will all reunite before June. I caught my flight from Sydney to Brisbane and am writing this while waiting for my shuttle to come pick me to take me to uni (which is what they call college…) There were so many other things that I’m sure happened that I wish I could write but the weekend was so jam packed and so surreal, that unfortunately, even I can’t remember them all. So goodbye for now, hopefully I will write as soon as I start orientation at USQ!

Life Less Ordinary

I figure I might as well get this thing up and running before I'm so busy packing and have a million other things on my mind. I leave in just over 4 weeks and it feels unbelievably far away. I haven't given too much thought to packing, but I have everything else in order and am sorting out my plane ticket dilemma. Everyone has been asking me if I'm excited, and I know that I am excited, but at the same time, it's still kind of surreal. I mean, I'm flying to this island that's located on the other side of the world. Craziness.

Hopefully I'll be able to update often once I get there, but we'll see. As for now, I'll be enjoying the comforts of the States for as long as possible and coming up with a "To Do List" for Australia. Here's what I've got so far...

1.) Take a picture with a kangaroo
2.) Learn to surf
3.) Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef