Saturday, April 16, 2011
Keith Urban Concert!!! (with Lady Antebellum!)
So I just got back from this AMAZING concert!!! I have never been to a concert before, so it was pretty awesome for my first one to be in Australia...and it was probably the best concert I could have gone to! It was so incredible, I got tons of photos and video footage, which I will be making into a DVD for sure! :) The first to perform was Lady Antebellum for the first half hour or so. They were beyond amazing. Theya re such a talented group and I love all their songs. Usually singers find it more difficult to sound good live, but to be honest I think that they sound BETTER! Keith Urban was epic as well...plus he is one gorgeous man! Who wouldn't be in love with a man who sings country music?? :P This was most definitely the best night I have had in Australia since I got here, and the best kickoff to my two week break I could ask for. I had so much fun with my friend Lucy, who is also a huge Keith Urban fan, more than me for sure. But we had so much fun singing along :) We both definitely lost our voices from this night. I bought a Keith Urban t-shirt as well...it was a little pricey but totally worth it. Keith actually made his way aroung the entire entertainment center throughout the concert and they werre throwing out guitar pics and drumsticks to the crowd the whole time. Lucy and I were two seats away from the aisle, so when he walked by he actually threw his pick to a guy nearby...hwe didn't catch it but Lucy immediately went over and picked it up because it was just laying there. So she got a guitar pick and it says his name on it!!! HOW COOL! He also autographed his guitar right in the middle of a song and GAVE it to a guy right next to him! AMAZING! I so wanted to be that guy! The concert was twice as special because Keith Urban is Australian and he grew up in a town in Queensland called Caboolture (which I have been to)... so it felt cool to see how much he loved his homeland :) The whole experience was unbelievable and I wouldn't trade it for anything else! BEST EVER!!! :D
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Valley in Brisbane
So this past weekend I went to Brisbane with Tara. I got to met her best friend Jess and Jess's boyfriend Liam. We stayed with Jess at her place for the weekend, which is at Griffith University just outside of the main city of Brisbane. Tara had a few things planned for me including going to the museum and the art gallery, and of course to experience the night life of Brisbane in a place known as "the valley." We left early on Saturday morning to drive to Calboolture (which I thought was actually Caboolcha until I saw the road sign because of the Australian accent :P). From there, we caught a train to Brisbane where Jess met us at the airport. Basically we went back to her place, I got introduced to her bf, and we spent a majority of the afternoon at a shopping center called DFO. It is basically a plaza/mall with more discounted items because it is a factory outlet that sells things that aren't in perfect condition....but nothing noticeable enough to not buy them. It was pretty cool. Being the picky shopper that I am I didn't really buy anything in light of saving money. After shopping we went back to Jess's place to get ready to go out to the valley.
The valley doesn't have the best reputation for safety, but it is known for its exciting clubs and it is basically the place to go when you want to go out and have fun! I would never have gone if I didn't have a group to go with though, since it tends to have higher crime than most parts of the city and lets just say you can find some very interesting people there. The four of us (Tara, me, Jess and Liam) stuck together as much as we could to avoid any 'danger.' It was all very exciting, people were walking everywhere and there were so many lights. Everything was very fast paced, and there were all kinds of people there. We went to a few different clubs and pubs that we heard had cheaper drinks so we could save money, but the main club we ended up at was really cool. It was basically what I imagined a club to look like, kind of similar to what is in the movies. We had to pay a $15 entry fee, which I though was a little pricey, but it ended up being worth it. When we walked in there were a bunch of separate lounge areas where people could sit and talk...or whatever. There were a few levels and the whole place was a lot bigger than what it appeared to be on the outside. The dance floor was wild and people we everywhere. There was a DJ in the front that was actually creating the music, not just choosing songs to play, there were a few big screens that showed music videos and lighting, and there were a couple cages up above that train female dancers actually danced in. There was a ton of entertainment, including a huge mechanical dragon thing that descended from the ceiling and blew steam over the crowd, there was never a dull moment. For the most part the people were kind of weird, so Tara and I tried to keep our distance....the people we met and danced with weren't exactly keepers! ;)
We left the club around 2am and went to find Jess and Liam who left a little before us to get some coffee. When we found them, they told us that they had witnessed three arrests while they were sitting in the coffee place! One was for assault, one for a drug deal, and the other for prostitution...talk about entertainment! haha it was one crazy night that I will never forget!
That night all four of us stayed up until 5am talking, so we slept in until 1pm the next day. We were a little delayed with our schedule, so we didn't end up going to the art gallery, but we all went to the museum. Liam was basically being the tour guide for me to make the museum experience more enjoyable haha. He did very well. I would have to say the best part of the whole weekend was getting to know Jess and Liam. They are both such great people and they are such a perfect couple! I had a lot of fun hanging out with them and getting to know them! I can totally see why Jess is Tara's best friend, because she is such a cool person :) Hopefully they will be coming here to Sippy Downs to visit before I head back home!
The valley doesn't have the best reputation for safety, but it is known for its exciting clubs and it is basically the place to go when you want to go out and have fun! I would never have gone if I didn't have a group to go with though, since it tends to have higher crime than most parts of the city and lets just say you can find some very interesting people there. The four of us (Tara, me, Jess and Liam) stuck together as much as we could to avoid any 'danger.' It was all very exciting, people were walking everywhere and there were so many lights. Everything was very fast paced, and there were all kinds of people there. We went to a few different clubs and pubs that we heard had cheaper drinks so we could save money, but the main club we ended up at was really cool. It was basically what I imagined a club to look like, kind of similar to what is in the movies. We had to pay a $15 entry fee, which I though was a little pricey, but it ended up being worth it. When we walked in there were a bunch of separate lounge areas where people could sit and talk...or whatever. There were a few levels and the whole place was a lot bigger than what it appeared to be on the outside. The dance floor was wild and people we everywhere. There was a DJ in the front that was actually creating the music, not just choosing songs to play, there were a few big screens that showed music videos and lighting, and there were a couple cages up above that train female dancers actually danced in. There was a ton of entertainment, including a huge mechanical dragon thing that descended from the ceiling and blew steam over the crowd, there was never a dull moment. For the most part the people were kind of weird, so Tara and I tried to keep our distance....the people we met and danced with weren't exactly keepers! ;)
We left the club around 2am and went to find Jess and Liam who left a little before us to get some coffee. When we found them, they told us that they had witnessed three arrests while they were sitting in the coffee place! One was for assault, one for a drug deal, and the other for prostitution...talk about entertainment! haha it was one crazy night that I will never forget!
That night all four of us stayed up until 5am talking, so we slept in until 1pm the next day. We were a little delayed with our schedule, so we didn't end up going to the art gallery, but we all went to the museum. Liam was basically being the tour guide for me to make the museum experience more enjoyable haha. He did very well. I would have to say the best part of the whole weekend was getting to know Jess and Liam. They are both such great people and they are such a perfect couple! I had a lot of fun hanging out with them and getting to know them! I can totally see why Jess is Tara's best friend, because she is such a cool person :) Hopefully they will be coming here to Sippy Downs to visit before I head back home!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Aussie Twin!
So I may have mentioned it a couple posts back, but I met this really cool group of people one night that I went out by total coincidence. One of the girls that I met was extremely nice and I ended up spending the entire night with her. Well ever since that night, we have become really close friends. We have been hanging out a lot and while getting to know her, I quickly realized how much we had in common! It was crazy how alike we were, because almost every time we would tell each other something about ourselves the other would just say, "no way! me too!" Her name is Tara and she is from Australia. She grew up in Gympie, which is a small town just an hour or so from the Sunshine Coast. Lately we have basically been spending all of our free time together, especially the weekends when we have plenty of time for adventures!
It has been amazing how close we have gotten in the past couple weeks! She is so nice and she has been so excited to take me to all these places I have never been to just so that my experience in Australia is amazing. We have been making lists of places I want to go and things I want to do before I go home, and she has volunteered to be the one to do them with. So she has basically been planning my weekends for me. She also has talked about wanting to come to America! So I told her it would be totally cool for her to come and stay with me! She wants to come in January 2012. She can't stop talking about how excited she is to go to America for New Year's, to see snow, and to do just as many fun things. So it is sort of a trade off, she will be my tour guide here while I am hers in Wisconsin. It will be so great!
This past weekend was the first of our many busy weekends ahead...we drove to a small tourist town called Monteville on Friday to go shopping and spend the day there. It was so cute and I bought some nice gifts/souvenirs. On Saturday, today, we went to the Australia Zoo! It was so much fun and I got to see so many cool animals. I got to pet a baby kangaroo and koala! :) There are pics on Facebook! Tomorrow we are going to her parents' house to spend the day and have dinner (tea). I will get to spend time with her family, which I have briefly met and they seem to be really cool! I am really excited because I miss my family and it is nice to be in a family setting...it makes me feel more at home here.
I am so thankful that I met Tara! I know I will have a blast while I'm here, and now that I have someone to have amazing adventures with, it will be really hard for me to go back home! :( But I can't wait to bring her home to meet my family. They already adore me haha so they will have no choice but to love her just as much!
Bottom line is that you never know who you are going to meet, an adventure like I am having could have turned out to go any which way. I thank God every day for how well it has been going and I don't regret anything I have done thus far! Going to another country can be an awesome experience, and going on your own can be challenging, especially when you don't know anyone....but if you keep a positive attitude and try to make the best of it, it can turn out to be unforgettable! It is definitely crazy to think about that you could have a twin all the way across the world....so study abroad...you may have one in another country as well! :)
It has been amazing how close we have gotten in the past couple weeks! She is so nice and she has been so excited to take me to all these places I have never been to just so that my experience in Australia is amazing. We have been making lists of places I want to go and things I want to do before I go home, and she has volunteered to be the one to do them with. So she has basically been planning my weekends for me. She also has talked about wanting to come to America! So I told her it would be totally cool for her to come and stay with me! She wants to come in January 2012. She can't stop talking about how excited she is to go to America for New Year's, to see snow, and to do just as many fun things. So it is sort of a trade off, she will be my tour guide here while I am hers in Wisconsin. It will be so great!
This past weekend was the first of our many busy weekends ahead...we drove to a small tourist town called Monteville on Friday to go shopping and spend the day there. It was so cute and I bought some nice gifts/souvenirs. On Saturday, today, we went to the Australia Zoo! It was so much fun and I got to see so many cool animals. I got to pet a baby kangaroo and koala! :) There are pics on Facebook! Tomorrow we are going to her parents' house to spend the day and have dinner (tea). I will get to spend time with her family, which I have briefly met and they seem to be really cool! I am really excited because I miss my family and it is nice to be in a family setting...it makes me feel more at home here.
I am so thankful that I met Tara! I know I will have a blast while I'm here, and now that I have someone to have amazing adventures with, it will be really hard for me to go back home! :( But I can't wait to bring her home to meet my family. They already adore me haha so they will have no choice but to love her just as much!
Bottom line is that you never know who you are going to meet, an adventure like I am having could have turned out to go any which way. I thank God every day for how well it has been going and I don't regret anything I have done thus far! Going to another country can be an awesome experience, and going on your own can be challenging, especially when you don't know anyone....but if you keep a positive attitude and try to make the best of it, it can turn out to be unforgettable! It is definitely crazy to think about that you could have a twin all the way across the world....so study abroad...you may have one in another country as well! :)
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