Exciting plans for break!

Ever since I knew I was coming to Australia, I promised myself that I would travel around since I was most likely only going to be there one in my life.  I knew that I wanted to visit a lot of places, but a lot of [places costs a lot of money, so I told myself that if I had to choose only a couple places to go FOR SURE before I left, they would have to be the outback and Sydney! Growing up you can only learn so much about a country... You can study everything about it and know tons of facts about it, but you never truly know about a country until you actually visit it.  I learn from my experiences in life more than anything else, so even though I had read about Australia in books, seen it in a few movies, and utilized Google for every question I had about the country, I still didn't really know what it was like or what to expect.  What I did know for sure is that I had to see the infamous outback for myself...and who can go to Australia and NOT go to Syndey??

With this in mind I decided to visit the STA travel agency, which is an awesome place to book trips and tours that don't cost a fortune. I went there to simply talk to them and tell them what I wanted to do while I was in the country.  Once I sat down and talked to someone about it, she got me so excited about everything that I ended up booking trips for my entire two week break right then and there! I told them that I wanted to go to Sydney to visit my good friend Ruby for the first half of the break. I also mentioned that I wanted to do an outback tour.  So they helped me book my flight to Sydney and then a six day trip in the outback! This six day trip/tour was all-inclusive, which was awesome. From Sydney I would be on a flight to Alice Springs. Once I got there, I would be picked up from my hotel and the tour would begin....there would be experienced guides to take us through canyons, The Lost City, and the ancient Garden of Eden. Then we will head to Uluru, home to the famous Red Centre, where we would go on aboriginal walks (walkabouts haha), ride camels, and camp out under the stars. Then as we travel up the northern territory to Darwin, we would tons more exploring, canoeing, swimming in natural thermal pools, and visiting horse farms. I am so excited for it!

A couple days after booking my trip, my friend Lucy and I found out that Keith Urban was going to be in Brisbane for a concert, along with Lady Antebellum! We HAD to buy tickets! So early one morning I sleepily stared at my computer screen, ready to refresh the page when the tickets went on sale....that way I could immediately buy them. We ended up getting two Gold tickets for only $130 a piece! It is on the 16th of April, which is the night before my flight to Sydney leaves Brisbane...so it was a perfect kickoff for my break!  Now I can't wait for break to come. I will be heading to Brisbane for my very first concert, then to Sydney to spend an entire week with Ruby in the city (where we plan to live it up!), and then the outback for six days! WOOHOO!!!!

P.S. Keep a look out for new pics on facebook! :)

Making Friendships

Before I came to Australia I felt like that hardest part about the beginning of my journey here would be finding friends. I am usually very shy when I meet people at first, even the friends I have back home say that I am a way different person compered to when I first met them. I'm not very good at first impressions because it takes me a while to get to know people before I can really be myself. Because of this I was a little worried about coming all the way across the world not really knowing anyone at all.

At first, it was hard for me, luckily my roommates were really nice and almost everyone else I met were really friendly. I was thankful for that because it made things a bit easier. On the inside, I always feel extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable when I meet new people, but I always try my best to make sure others do not realize that it is how I feel. I say hi and introduce myself, and try to make small talk. Doing this only gives you acquaintances, unfortunately...so it is a lot harder to find a group of friends that you really click with and that really like your personality. I went the first week knowing my roommates and a couple people that I registered with on the first day. The next week I finally got reunited with Vanessa, so I had her and her roommates, who were all extremely nice! I did things with them from time to time and I always enjoy my time with them, but in the back of my mind I always felt like things didn't feel right...and I didn't want to seem like I was incapable of branching out on my own.

It wasn't until recently that I met a really cool group of people! I went out to a club, there were free shuttles going to the club from UniCentral. I went with Vanessa and her friends, but when the shuttle came, we all didn't fit so I ended up taking the second shuttle with a bunch of people I didn't know. They were basically all roommates in a big house together. I sat next to a girl named Tara who I talked to on the way there, and I met a few of her roommates that were sitting nearby. I quickly discovered that we were going to be very close : ) I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night and I had a blast!!! I was so excited that I found my own group of friends. I learned that no matter what, it will always be a process to find friends for me (something I don't have much patience for), but when it happens, it is completely worth it! I just have to put myself out there, go out and have a good time, and soon enough everything will fall into place. I am looking forward to the adventures ahead!