(no subject)
I am so happy that I decided to do this study abroad trip to Melbourne, Australia. I love it here. The city is perfect. Very clean, way better than Seattle. There is so much more to do here. There are so many stores, restaurants, cafes, pubs, clubs, bars, and really cool hidden bars. The weather was really hot when I first got here. It was up to 107 degrees F but lately it has been in the upper 60s to mid 70s. It has a real Seattle feel to this place so sometimes it just feels like I'm home. The only downside to this city is the prices here are really high for anything. I saw a 14 pack of coke for $17 which is pretty insane. And their movies here on sale are $30 and their video games are $100. But I have been going out a lot to the pubs and clubs with my group and because a lot of them don't card or believe fake IDs I always get in.
I have seen so many kangaroos here and even pet some and fed them. I have actually seen a few wild kangaroos which is pretty cool. And the possums here are so much cute than our ugly ones back at home and they aren't afraid of humans. You can go up and touch them and they don't do anything. I just booked my trip to Cairns which is where the Great Barrier Reef is so I will be doing some snorkeling for a couple of days which I am thrilled for. Then I will be zip lining through a rainforest which will be awesome and staying on a beautiful beach. We won't be able to swim in some of them though because it is stinger season which means all the deadly jellyfish are out along with crocodiles.
We have been on some pretty fun field trips and went to parliament and was able to sit in their congress rooms and such and also went to a zoo, sanctuaries, museums, and do a really cool beach where I attempted skim boarding at which I failed miserably on my second attempt.
The college I am staying at is really nice and my dorm room is huge. I have it all to myself and there are a sink, desk, bed, gigantic closet, bookshelf, nightstand, and a lounge chair. And the dorm food here is really nice too. They eat meat and potatoes a little more than I like but I still really enjoy the food.
My group ended up being really chill which is great and everyone goes out and has fun except for a few who don't seem to be getting along with the rest of the group. I have made a few close friends here who i know I will be hanging out with once we arrive back home.
The work assigned on our trip is pretty easy. We have two five page papers that we get about four weeks to work on, a open note test every week, a couple of weekly questions, field trips, and watch movies. Pretty easy, but the movies can be really bad since Oz doesn't spend as much money as America does. Most of the field trips have been fun excluding a few.
I have made a couple of local friends here in Australia too. They are laid back and just a blast to hang out with. This Saturday is Australia Day so everyone is going to be partying their "arses" off and there are going to be events all around Melbourne celebrating it. As some of you may know already the Australian Open has been going on here, I decided not to go to it the day most people went and I am glad I did because some of it ended up getting rained out. We also went and saw a cricket game and a really nice stadium here. It was really mellow and I didn't even know they were playing because of how little people were there. I just thought they were warming up but it is still pretty interesting to watch.
We leave like two more weeks from now to go to New Zealand which I am really excited to go to. Although I was supposed to be staying in apartments with the rest of the group but because of some mix up at the college, us guys are being placed into some crappy ass apartment where we all have to share one room with bunk beds so I am pretty pissed about that. Also, the apartment was going to have wi-fi for free but not where I'm staying so that makes me even more mad.
But while I am in NZ I am going to be doing this kick ass thing called "zorbing" which is when you get into the gigantic ball and roll down a huge hill. So I am pretty stoked about that. I think I will also be doing some bungee jumping while I am there too.
I do miss home though and its cheap large-portioned food. A medium drink here at McDonald's is equivalent to our small back at home. They have no value menus here and a big mac meal costs a little over $10 so when I get back I am going to get a cheap dollar double cheeseburger. I miss being able to sit around and watch my favorite TV shows too whenever I felt like it. There is no cable where we are staying right now so I am missing a couple of my favorite shows. I miss the people back home too and my pets. I hope everyone is doing well and is doing alright in school. I feel so out of the loop when something happens back at home but I do know Heath Ledger died because he was an Australian so you can't pick up a newspaper here without him on the front cover and about 40 pages on him inside.
G'Day from Austral
I have seen so many kangaroos here and even pet some and fed them. I have actually seen a few wild kangaroos which is pretty cool. And the possums here are so much cute than our ugly ones back at home and they aren't afraid of humans. You can go up and touch them and they don't do anything. I just booked my trip to Cairns which is where the Great Barrier Reef is so I will be doing some snorkeling for a couple of days which I am thrilled for. Then I will be zip lining through a rainforest which will be awesome and staying on a beautiful beach. We won't be able to swim in some of them though because it is stinger season which means all the deadly jellyfish are out along with crocodiles.
We have been on some pretty fun field trips and went to parliament and was able to sit in their congress rooms and such and also went to a zoo, sanctuaries, museums, and do a really cool beach where I attempted skim boarding at which I failed miserably on my second attempt.
The college I am staying at is really nice and my dorm room is huge. I have it all to myself and there are a sink, desk, bed, gigantic closet, bookshelf, nightstand, and a lounge chair. And the dorm food here is really nice too. They eat meat and potatoes a little more than I like but I still really enjoy the food.
My group ended up being really chill which is great and everyone goes out and has fun except for a few who don't seem to be getting along with the rest of the group. I have made a few close friends here who i know I will be hanging out with once we arrive back home.
The work assigned on our trip is pretty easy. We have two five page papers that we get about four weeks to work on, a open note test every week, a couple of weekly questions, field trips, and watch movies. Pretty easy, but the movies can be really bad since Oz doesn't spend as much money as America does. Most of the field trips have been fun excluding a few.
I have made a couple of local friends here in Australia too. They are laid back and just a blast to hang out with. This Saturday is Australia Day so everyone is going to be partying their "arses" off and there are going to be events all around Melbourne celebrating it. As some of you may know already the Australian Open has been going on here, I decided not to go to it the day most people went and I am glad I did because some of it ended up getting rained out. We also went and saw a cricket game and a really nice stadium here. It was really mellow and I didn't even know they were playing because of how little people were there. I just thought they were warming up but it is still pretty interesting to watch.
We leave like two more weeks from now to go to New Zealand which I am really excited to go to. Although I was supposed to be staying in apartments with the rest of the group but because of some mix up at the college, us guys are being placed into some crappy ass apartment where we all have to share one room with bunk beds so I am pretty pissed about that. Also, the apartment was going to have wi-fi for free but not where I'm staying so that makes me even more mad.
But while I am in NZ I am going to be doing this kick ass thing called "zorbing" which is when you get into the gigantic ball and roll down a huge hill. So I am pretty stoked about that. I think I will also be doing some bungee jumping while I am there too.
I do miss home though and its cheap large-portioned food. A medium drink here at McDonald's is equivalent to our small back at home. They have no value menus here and a big mac meal costs a little over $10 so when I get back I am going to get a cheap dollar double cheeseburger. I miss being able to sit around and watch my favorite TV shows too whenever I felt like it. There is no cable where we are staying right now so I am missing a couple of my favorite shows. I miss the people back home too and my pets. I hope everyone is doing well and is doing alright in school. I feel so out of the loop when something happens back at home but I do know Heath Ledger died because he was an Australian so you can't pick up a newspaper here without him on the front cover and about 40 pages on him inside.
G'Day from Austral