Keeping busy : )

So I have quickly learned that I have a lot of down time in Australia....since my classes only meet once a week and I don't have classes on Thursday or Friday, and I'm not working my butt off like a normally do at home. This gives me four day weekends and plenty of opportunity to hang out with friends, explore what Aussie has to offer and have a good time!  So far I haven't done too many exciting things since I still am settling in and meeting new people...but there is a lot to do so I stay occupied.

Anytime I want to go somewhere off-campus, it isn't too difficult because I can always take the bus, plus my roommates have vehicles which is convenient.  USC gave students a free trial of a "Go Card" with $70 on it which allows us to pay for bus fares, which I think is amazing because it will last me the entire semester and it is an expense that I don't have to worry about.  I have gone to the beach a couple of times which I loved. You have to be extremely attentive when swimming in the ocean here because there are always waves. The water is also really salty so it becomes difficult to stay in for too long.  It is nice though to go for a swim and lay out on the beach whenever I feel like it...not exactly a luxury I get at home : ) Plus, there are plenty of cute guys ; )

There is always plenty of cool wildlife to see as well. When walking down to the beach I saw all kinds of birds, lizards, and geckos. I have also gone exploring on my campus which can be cool because it is actually a wildlife reserve, so there are kangaroos all over! When I am simply walking to class, they will be laying in the shape and right alongside the pathways just chilling...I think it is so awesome!  There are geckos all over UniCentral as well. It is kind of cool because I would compare their presence almost to insects in northern Wisconsin, because they gather around lights at night time. They are better though because they eat the bugs...and they are cuter because they are completely harmless.

Other things that I have done include going to the Sunshine Plaza (which is basically a mall, but some of it is outdoors because of the warm climate), the movie theater (I went to see I am number four today and I loved it! It was a pretty sweet movie, I recommend seeing it!), and out to the bars. I have only gone to the bars once, it was a lot of fun. It was Mexican themed the night I went, there was a lot of dancing and I met so many people. I really enjoyed myself : )
I plan on going to the Australian Zoo while I'm here as well. It is known for being the home of the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. He is really big around here and he is basically the one that made the Zoo possible. I feel that it is something I must do while I'm here because I most likely won't get the chance again. As far as traveling goes...I plan to go to Sydney and visit my good friend Ruby Cook as well as see all the sights, I want to go to the Great Barrier Reef and go snorkeling, I really want to go out to the Outback and tour it...possibly stay out there for a couple days, and I want to go to Byron Bay where I can learn to surf and even skydive!!! Crazy, but I really want to do it!!! I would like to go to New Zealand as well, but I will have to see if it works out. Hopefully I can do all of these things and blog all about them.

Long time coming....

February 26 2011

So I know I haven't posted anything yet, but for the longest time I didn't have internet and it was really frustrating, but now I do and here goes my first blog :)

I can't believe it but I am actually in Australia! It has been my dream for the longest time, and I don't know exactly why but it has bee on my bucket list to come here...now I am here for five months!!!! CRAZY! Anyways, it has been about two weeks since I got here, I have met quite a few people and have already started classes. So far it has been really great, but I look forward to it getting a lot better....

I have two aussie roomies, their names are Bek and Nic (Rebekah and Nicole, but it is very common for Australian to shorten everything...) and they are both 17.  My other roommate is 21, his name is Josh and he is from Pennsylvania. They are all really cool and I was extremely lucky to have gotten random roommates that I like :) We each have our own room and bathroom which is really convenient. All the apartments are together and there are over 80 of them, all in which USC students live. The apartment are called UniCentral...I really like it. I am slowly but surely meeting now people and finding friend to hang out with, it is a frustrating process because it takes a while to find the right group of people you can feel like yourself with.

My first week of classes went well. Here in Australia, each class only meets once a week and there is hardly any piddly assignments like there often are back home. There are a couple major papers and possibly a presentation in each class. There is only one big exam at the end of the semester. I am taking two Psychology classes, an environment sustainability class for my upper gen. ed. credit back at St. Norbert, and a digital Photography class (which I find really amazing).

We get like a two week break in the middle of the Semester. In that time I plan to travel! I'm so excited and I have already figured out what I want to do and where I want to go while I'm here! Most of all, I cannot wait to have the time of my life in Australia! :-)