Wow it's really the end of this

My last day in Australia. It's a hard concept to wrap my head around. It's been a great day though. Will and Jo, my 2 best friends here, had their last finals at 8am this morning, so I got up at 7am to have brekkie with them (for the last time!) :( Then I packed a bit more, went to the gym, and showered. At that point they were both back from their exams and it was time to celebrate! I put my last load of washing in and we went to the bottle shop so I could get a bottle of champagne and Will could get coronas. It should be noted that it was supposed to be a themed Mexican day, but I ruined it because I wanted champagne instead of coronas or margaritas. Anyway, we began the drinking at 11:30am--always a sign of a great day!. It was kind of chilly today but the sun made it that perfect temperature. We sat outside and had a picnic which was awesome. Everyone was just out on the oval having a few beers and playing some rugby or soccer or frisbee. We played some frisbee and I climbed a tree. Perfect final afternoon in Australia. Now I'm back in my room, waiting while Will packs a few things before he takes off with his friend who is picking him up for a concert tonight. Jo left about an hour ago for the airport. So basically I will spend tonight alone, in my room, with my stuff all packed up. Very exciting stuff.
It's going to be a long journey back home because I leave for the airport at 8:45 tomorrow, depart at 11am, get into LAX at what will feels like midnight but will be 7am there, then have a near 9 hour layover before my 5 hour flight to DC. I get in just before midnight EST. Oh well, I'm over it. It think I'm just ready to leave. I've had to say goodbye to everyone and it's been really hard. SO I suppose this is my last entry. I might buy access to the WiFi In LA so that I have something to do and maybe I'll post then? We'll see how desperate I get!

DONE!

I'm done with my final exams! Chemistry this afternoon went pretty well--I've improved my cramming skills immensely since being here. I counted up t he points I'm sure of and I definitely got enough to pass and probably got enough for a grade higher actually. So my grades will probably be much better than I expected. That's good since I've been thinking about coming back to Australia next year for grad school. Anyway, now in the next 5 days I just need to send a package home, close my Aussie bank account, and pack! I was hoping the weather would be perfection (as usual) for the rest of my time here but it's looking like it will be cloudy several of the days :( If it was going to be unseasonably warm I was thinking of heading to Gold Coast for a day to surf because the surf school I went to lets you use their full wetsuits for free when you rent a board. But it's looking like it will be just a bit too chilly for me to travel that long and risk it. I was originally planning to try and do everything in Brissie that I hadn't done/see what I hadn't seen but I'm kind of tired now and just want to rest. Maybe after tomorrow I'll feel differently. I'm a bit nervous for packing because it just seems like there's a lot of stuff in my room...how am I going to fit it all into one suitcase and one (very large) backpack? And not have it be way over the weight limits? Oh well, it has to be done somehow! Tomorrow I go on a search for a box--I'm hoping the post office on campus will have one?--so I can package up some bulky things to send home. Anyway, I'll probably update again on how my packing goes.

No hero in her sky

So exams are going by relatively quickly and smoothly. I have only one more left, but it's my chemistry one and it's going to be really hard. Plus, I actually need a decent grade on it. My first exam, for marine science went really well and I actually enjoyed some of the studying for it since over half of it was on marine plants and marine animals. So mostly I was just zoning out and thinking about my time on the reef but I guess it worked! I realized just before walking into the exam that I had actually already passed the class without even taking the exam! It was nice to have the pressure off. It's also nice to just have to pass my classes since the grades don't transfer back to lehigh. I had my anthropology exam yesterday afternoon and psychology today in the afternoon and both were straightforward and I'm sure I did really well. Both of those I only needed minimal points on the exams to pass. But now I have chemistry the day after tomorrow and I'm really not looking forward to it...but I also don't even want to study...it's terrible!
Today after my psyc exam, which I finished in 50 minutes by the way, I came home and went to the college gym with Will because he hates exercising by himself. He's not the most athletic boy I've ever met, so what he considered a lot was not all that much for me...haha but I had a good time. Since I'm still sick it's not a good idea that I do a crazy workout anyway. It was enough to get some endorphins flowing and that's what really matters!
So now it's nearly time for dinner and I have to begin the chemistry madness. I have an incredible amount of information to cram into my brain in the next... 44 hours? And considering I'll be spending at least 20 of those sleeping and 10 of them (at least) wasting time or eating or running or something....The point is I will never learn it all and I just have to try to fully understand the concepts of which I already have a vague understanding. There's no time to learn the stuff that I don't understand at all. And it's incredibly hard to concentrate with 39252308 other things on my mind that seem much more important right now. I can't believe I leave here in a 8 days.

the best deceptions

The past 8 days were absolutely amazing. Cairns is an amazing city. The Daintree rainforest, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation...all breathtaking just like I had expected. But nothing on this planet can compare to the reef. Or scuba diving. Learning to dive was so much fun even with all of the classroom time and 4-hour pool sessions. I, surprise surprise, met some really amazing people. My dive buddy and I, an Irish guy named Darragh, became fast friends. I guess that's what happens when you are so quickly put in a position where you are responsible for another person's life! Our instructors were AMAZING and made everything so much fun. The boat was really nice too and even though there were about 40 of us on the boat we all got to know a lot about each other just by sitting with different people all of the time at meals and discussing dives.
The Great Barrier Reef...I could go on for days. I saw hundreds of different species of fish and corals and was able to either identify them on the spot (I attended this "reef teach" class the night before we left on the boat) or later using one of the books or charts on the boat. I swam along side blue-spotted lagoon rays and this beautiful green turtle who was at least twice my age. I saw giant clams that were at least 1 meter long, a white-tip reef shark (on my night dive), a mackerel shark, and swam right next to many Maori Wrasse (fish that probably weigh more than I do and are incredibly friendly). All we did for the 3 days was dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive each day. It was amazing and I'm still incredibly exhausted. I loved it so much that I ended up doing more instruction and furthering my certification to adventure diver which means I can dive to 30 meters, anywhere in the world, anytime for the rest of my life. Plus I did my technical training in underwater photography! After we got back to land on friday in the late afternoon I checked in at my hostel and talked with my new roommates. Then I went to the restaurant where all of the staff and everyone else on our trip met for dinner and drinks. Later we all, well at least the younger crowd+ the staff, went to a bar/club where we were all let in like VIPs because our instructors know the bouncers really well. It was a great time but I got home really late and therefore only got a few hours of sleep before I got up to check out of my hostel.
Anyway, I'm really sad that it's over because the whole trip was such a high. And now I'm trying to concentrate on my 4 finals that begin in just 2 days which I haven't really started studying for. It's not working at all and I feel no pressure at all which is terrible. All I can think about is how I have to leave this amazing country soon and spend (at least) a full year not traveling. I love it here and I don't like the idea of living anywhere that's not here...
On top of this distraction I think I'm getting sick, or I should say sicker really because I've already been kind of sick all day today. It's probably stems from the 6 days that I pushed myself to full exhaustion every day...Basically studying has been close to nonexistent today and that's bad, right?

Going

I'm leaving for the bus station (bus to train to airport) in 5 minutes! I'll arrive in Cairns in the early evening. I'm very excited even though tonight will probably be dull. I'll write all about it upon my return (June 7).

Caught by the river

I haven't been writing often enough lately so this is my effort to do so!
On monday I only had my 8am chem lecture so I spent the rest of the day going through all of my notes/readings/random papers from the whole semester and organizing them. I organized a lot of other stuff too. It actually took all day! In the evening I had my last extreme spin class :( but it was SO good. I could hardly walk home after it!
Today I got up, went to brekkie, wasted time, gymmed, went to lecture, and went to the mall with Will to get our hairs cut. I went to a place called "Price Cutters." Yea, I know, no description needed. Anyway, it was $19 and it's not crooked so whatever. I got back at 4:30 and just couldn't stop thinking "where did the day go?" I feel so tired. I think I've been fighting off some virus or multiple viruses for weeks now. I cannot get sick though because anything sinus related would not bode well with the whole scuba diving thing!
Anyway, tomorrow is quite the busy day as usual. I will also be getting back both my psychology paper and my anthropology ethnography paper. I have a practice final exam in my psyc tutorial and in my anth. lecture my professor said she was basically going to tell us exactly what we need to know for the final. My anth. tutorial, my last class of the day, is at pub that is on campus. I believe my prof. is buying us a round of beers. Not sure if I'm going though just because I usually go to the gym after that class. But yea Aussies are so amazing.
Okay off to dinner. I am being summoned outside my room!

Understood

I haven’t written since last Sunday! It’s just been busy here. Where to start?

Basically up until Thursday afternoon my field research report was my life. Monday was my last chem. practical. Before it I attended the study abroad going home seminar thing for information on transcripts and stuff. They had a raffle and I was one of 7 winner—I got a UQ hat which is pretty sweet. After prac. I had my second-to-last :( extreme spin class and it was the best one so far. Tuesday involved the gym, marine lecture, going to my tutors/professor for help/revision of my research report, and giving blood (yay second time in Australia!). Wednesday was the typical crazy day except for that it was even crazier because after my 7 hours of class it was the first round of State of Origin! State of Origin is the 3 rugby league matches between NSW and QLD. Long story short, we lost, but at least I finished the first draft of my report and was able to send it to my dad for some editing! Thursday I finished up my report, submitted it, gymmed, went to lecture, went to the mall to buy stuff for my costume for MiniBall. MiniBall is the biggest event of the semester at Union. It’s just a huge costume party where everyone goes all out. I was dressed as the ocean/the great barrier reef…there are pictures. The event was at a really amazing club in South Bank called Foxy’s. The top floor, where we were, is outdoors and there’s an amazing view. Overall, everyone looked so amazing and it was a really great night that, as any good night does, ended at the kebab shop! Friday involved lectures, gym, and I think about 2 or 3 naps. In the evening I finished my chem. prac. calculations (thrilling). I also finally booked my hostel in Cairns for the first 2 nights. The last night, which is 4 nights after those 2, is still up in the air because I don’t know if I want to stay in the same place or a different place.

Yesterday, Saturday, I worked on my third and final chem. computerized test thing, gymmed, lunched, worked, did a quick shopping, and submitted my test after dinner. I did not do well, and the worst part is I don’t understand why my calculations are wrong. Oh course, this is the one test that we only get one chance to do—just my luck. Anyway, I’m going to have to get help from my professor sometime this week because I know that there will be at least one question on the final like the ones I got wrong.

SO that brings me to today. I had seen that today was going to be beautiful weather and warmer than it has been (27!) so I knew I wanted to be outside, especially since I had officially finished all of my assignments for my classes (!). In the morning I went with my friend Will to the Sunday markets in the Valley. They were not really all that impressive and I later found out from a girl in my hall that Saturday is when the valley market is big. Oops. After seeing all that was there, we wandered to find food and, despite it being only 11am, ate at this place that serves “healthy burgers.” I got a child’s one--any place that lets me order the child's size is winner in my book--and Will got one with heaps of topping including pineapple and avocado. They were so good—all the veges were so fresh and the meat was so lean. Plus we sat outside in the sun which felt so good. After eating we walked from the Valley to the city by the river which took about a half-hour and then we took the city-cat home from the city. Even though the market wasn’t as good as I had hoped, we both agreed it was a very good morning. I got home a bit after 1:00 and changed to go to the pool where I sunbathed and started a new book. I probably would’ve stayed for several hours, but I got bitten by one of the ants that I am allergic to after an hour or so. It bit one of my toes and the pain was basically crippling. I tried to stay despite it but it was not possible. I was tearing up the whole time I was walking home! The pain has subsided since the afternoon and I still consider today a great day. I’m currently doing laundry (much needed, I have only one gymming outfit left!) and I’m going to try to organize some of my class notes and stuff.

On another note: Before dinner, one of the 3^rd-year guys was walking across the courtyard completely naked…just leisurely walking. Like that is completely normal behaviour. Funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time!

Last week of class? Bring it on. Finals? Not so much...

Listen up destiny

Just a quick post on the weekend. Saturday I worked hard on my report but still seemed to not get all that far somehow. At the gym I managed to multi-task and read 3 journal articles which helped the time issue out a bit. After a really fast dinner, Bridgette, Will, and I got the bus to Suncorps Stadium to see the Queensland Reds vs. New South Wales Warratahs--rugby union. NSW and QLD always have the biggest rivalries for every sport in Australia, so this was the biggest game of the season from my understanding. It was very fun but QLD lost by a few points...I actually forget the score...15-18 maybe? Well, whatever, I didn't really care that much that they lost, I was just happy to be in the atmosphere and watch some rugby! After the game we ended up walking about halfway back to Uni just because everytime we came to a bus stop we would've had to wait at least 15-20 minutes so we would just keep walking to the next stop just so we wouldn't have to sit around.
Today I woke up and started working immediately. Writing up my research is so dull and I cannot wait until I turn the stupid thing in and never have to look at it again haha. After getting distracted many times in the afternoon I headed to the gym so that I could be guaranteed to be productive for at least a short period of time! Anyway, I've gotten a lot done since dinner but now I can hardly keep my eyes open--probably from staring at word documents and excel spreadsheets all day! This is a really busy week in every aspect but after this week there's only one more week of class and I don't have all that much to get done that week. Must keep going!

Looking for something I've never seen

I was alerted by my dad when I spoke with him over the phone this morning that I had not posted recently enough, so I thought I’d give a little update.

This week has been good and very busy. Tuesday made me freak out a bit about my marine report because I’m so unprepared for it. I have a lot of research to do and heaps of statistical analysis to run on our data. They are very serious here about writing field work up as if you are sending it out to try and get it published. We have a 3000 word limit and it seems to me that if I get half that many words I’d be pushing it. The whole thing is such a daunting task for me right now.

Anyway, Wednesday was crazy Wednesday. I got my psychology paper back and at first I didn’t think the grade was that great, but I forgot how harshly they grade writing here. Basically, over a 50% is good work, and no one gets very close to 100 at all. Thursday I tried to get a lot done but had to spend all of my time finishing my chem. computer-managed test which was due today. I got a 10/12, and I think I understand why I got the 2 wrong that I did, so I’m pretty happy with that. Today I had my lectures and I did my last hour of research participation for psychology. I’ve been trying to work on marine for days and it’s not coming together at all because I’m all over the place. I’ve just been concentrating on making it to class and the gym every day and it’s been pushed aside.

This weekend, other than the serious working part, should be really fun. Tomorrow in the afternoon I’m teaching my hall beer pong. Will is going to the city in the morning to get the red solo cups—he really wants to be authentic--and balls. None of them have ever played and they are so excited. The pong session will be followed by going to the city to Suncorps stadium to see the Queensland vs. New South Wales rugby match. It’s the biggest rivalry in rugby union. I’m happy to see rugby union since I know it, but I’m also really excited for State of Origin which is next weekend—the huge rugby league match of Qld vs NSW. Apparently everyone paints their bodies maroon and packs into the pubs in the city. I’m SO excited for that!!! Also this Thursday night is union’s ball which is basically a big event for only union people where everyone gets dressed up as…whatever they want! My hall is most likely going to be smurfs…only because we really want to be blue for days afterward haha. Anyway, I have t go to dinner and then get to work!

Hold on tight

Back from another fun weekend. I’m still exhausted so I’m going to try to keep this short…but that’s always hard for me! Just like for last weekend’s trip, I had to leave at 5:20 to catch the ferry to the city etc. When I was sitting at the bus station gate Char’s 3 roommates arrived and I sat with them and I immediately began to wish that they weren’t there. (It’s hard to explain…it’s not that I dislike them, it’s just that the three of them have this impenetrable bond and they don’t want to let anyone else in on their little clique.) So when we were getting into the 2 4WD vehicles, I was getting in the one with them, but there ended up being 1 seat left in each vehicle and 2 girls who didn’t want to be separated so I volunteered to go to the other car. Little did I know, this was my best decision I could’ve ever made. The car that I left had 2 girls from Mexico, the 3 roommmates, and 2 girls also from UQ. I honestly don’t know if any of these 3 groups socialized outside of their group the entire trip…SO the vehicle I went into had 3 German/Swiss girls, a guy from London, an older Aussie woman, another guy from England, and an American doctor. It was a fun group!

Onto the actual trip.

We had to drive a long way because the southern tip of Fraser Island is just north of Rainbow Beach on the Sunny Coast. The driving was about 3 hours or so and we took a break halfway to Rainbow Beach. We spent a while at rainbow beach and had lunch which was nice but mostly we were all anxious to get over to the island. We drove about 15 more minutes north and took the ferry to the island—it was SO much smaller than the Moreton one and took 10 minutes (as opposed to the 2-hour Moreton ferry). As you can see, it’s a very short distance between the southern tip of the island and the mainland:

http://www.boxatrix.com/images/area-map.gif

The island is very large—the largest sand island on the plant—so it takes a while to get places. We went to the Maheno shipwreck which has a really cool story that I don’t feel like telling, Eli Creek, and Lake Wabby—all very interesting and fun. We got back to the campsite just before dark and took showers. Everyone fixed their dinners and ate and drank. The night in short involved 7 hours of competitive card playing with our 3 AMAZING guides, Wes Mic and John and the other cool people on the trip—meaning everyone who actually socialized with people other than the ones they came with! Everyone else just talked amongst themselves and eventually went to bed. So yea the 3 Swiss/German girls, Dave from London, Wes, Mic, John, and me stayed up until 3:30 or so playing 500 and some other game that I forget the name of that were basically spades and hearts with other complicated rules added. Despite being on a gorgeous sand island with rainforests and sparkling lakes, I say with confidence that that night was the best part of the trip. I won the first 10 games or something so Wes begged me to get a job as a tour guide with them just so they could use me to hustle people! Taking tourists around a beautiful island during the day, hustling by night? Not a bad life! I was incredibly tempted and still am! Haha. Anyway, I eventually lost my luck and had a bad losing streak for the rest of the night. (Oh and I should add that before going to bed I had brushed my teeth and was walking back to camp and witnessed Wes backing up the car into a huge sand dune. I was laughing so hard. I promised him it would be our little secret! In the morning he made up some excuse to everyone on the tour to explain why there was a huge pile of sand on the back bumper :D)

At night it POURED rain on and off so all of my stuff that I’d left out to dry was soaked in the morning! Not the most pleasant thing to wake up to at 6:30am! We cleaned up the site, had breakfast, and went to Lake McKenzie where we swam even though it was cold and raining, and then drove to and walked around the Central Station rainforest. Wes explained a lot of cool things about many of the plant species there, but it was rushed because everyone was wet and getting cold. Then we headed to one of the resorts on the island where we had lunch in a pavilion next to the beach. The weather was finally really nice and sunny. After lunch we got in the trucks and drove down the beach to the ferry to go back to rainbow beach. Once again we spent some time there and I mostly sat out/ walked on the beach with some others. The drive back to Brissie was long and tiring. Sunday late afternoon traffic into Brissie from the Sunny coast is normally bad enough, but being Mother’s Day made it even worse. We actually left earlier than normal for this trip because of that. Saying good-bye to everyone at the transit center was hard and I’m just no good at this good-bye thing as I’ve explained before. I was so sad to leave Wes especially—he is one of my favorite Aussies so far, which really does say a LOT because I’ve loved most Aussies that I’ve gotten to know! I really do wish I could just be a tour guide like that. Too bad I’m probably too weak to pack heavy coolers etc. on top of big 4WD vehicles :( and I’d be hopeless at driving the things! Anyway, I got home and unpacked my wet, dirty belongings, took a much needed shower, talked with my hallmates, called my mom to wish her a happy mother’s day, and went to bed.

Today (Monday) involved my 8am chem. lecture, participation in a psychology study (now only one more left!), and chemistry practical all afternoon. I’m still exhausted/my whole body hurts so I am not currently at my spin class. I’ll have to pay for that later in the week but right now it seems like the better option. I hate that laziness plays these tricks in convincing me that it's the better option!

Going the distance

Don't really have time for an entry right now as I have to leave in 5 minutes but...I must announce that I booked my scuba diving certification and 3 day trip on the GBR! And I booked my flights. I got amazing promo fares from virgin blue and the times are really good too! Now all that's left is booking my rainforest trek (which I looked into a lot today but there are SO many choices--different locations/style/tour group etc) and a hostel for the nights that I'm in Cairns...which I suppose is all but 2 of the 6 nights. Jo, a girl on my hall with whom I'm pretty close, is from Cairns so I talked to her earlier today about helping me choose a good rainforest tour. SHe has a close friend that works for one of the companies so she is going to get in touch and ask around for me based on what I told her I want.
Any, today was a good day. I didn't get that much done in the morning as far as work because I was distracted by all of the Cairns business. After marine lecture I went straight to the gym which was nice because Char was going to the gym from class as well so I had a workout buddy! We always talk about doing this but never seem to go at the same times. After the gym I went to the pharmacy to talk to a pharmacist about Omeprazole (prilosec) and, like I should've assumed when I couldn't find it anywhere, found out it is not OTC. SO I have to go to the docter and get a perscription. I'll try to get an appointment tomorrow I suppose, ugh. Anyway, I came home, showered, ate my lunch that I had packed at breakfast, and got some work done/looked at my parents australia pictures/mucked around on facebook. Everyone on my hall started getting ready at about 5:00 for this crazy decades party thing that I'm very sad to be missing. I really need to sleep since I don't get to sleep much on the weekends, especially because it seems like a flu-type thing is going around and I do not want it!!! Ok I have to go because I'm watching Rules of Attraction with James. It's along story, but we had a discussion about how we both liked this movie a few days after we met while in a pub and we vowed we'd watch it together. So he brought it back from canberra and we're going to watch it yay!
Oh and I found out from char that her roomies are going to be on my fraser trip this weekend. Cool I guess. I kind of like not knowing anyone. :)

Devastation

SO my camera decided it was a good time to just die on me. I went to load my pictures onto my computer last night before I went to bed and, surprise, it says "lens error, restart camera" on the screen. When I googled the problem--the only way I know how to get answers for anything-- I found all of these forums about how this is a really common problem with the otherwise great powershot sd1000. Essentially there is a piece or few pieces of sand or dust lodged somewhere between the gears that control the lens movement. Most people that fix it do it by banging their camera on a table or something until it magically works again. Yea, I tried it, MANY times, and it didn't work. I will begin a search for a can of condensed air to attempt to remedy the situation but I don't have time to be distracted this week. In the meantime, I have the most amazing parents in the world--my dad got my email and immediately packaged up my old camera and charger,which is now actually his camera, and mailed it to me global priority. It's possible it will get here friday and therefore in time for fraser island this weekend, but it will probably arrive saturday or monday. SO I guess I'll just tell everyone I camp with this weekend about what happened and ask that they share their pictures! Maybe I'll pick up a disposable camera on friday as well.
Anyway, today was pretty good. In the morning Mike called my room phone while I was still sleeping, and needless to say I did not answer, but he called back later so we were able to talk. Of course that contributed to me getting not nearly enough work done this morning! After lunch I had marine lecture and then marine practical for the first time in many weeks since we've just been working on our own with our field research. We had to present our study to the class and state our basic results. I basically had no idea what I was going to be saying until 5 minutes before, long story, but it turned out fine. I got to hear about Char's trip to Cairns over the weekend and she thinks she knows exactly how I should spend my time there so we're going to discuss it soon. When I got back from prac I went to the anthropology building and submitted my paper (25 hours early!) and then went to the tuesday spin class which I don't usually go to. The instructor was this random woman filling in because the regular was sick, and, let me tell you, she was insane. She kept screaming at us and it was just really bizarre because she was this tiny Asian woman and I guess you just wouldn't expect it haha. I came back and had dinner and a shower, and well now I'm here. Tomorrow will be a long day and I really should work on my next assignment that is due next week but I'm supposed to have a good portion of it done for my tutorial tomorrow. Alright, PEACE OUT.

This is the life.

What a great weekend! So I got up at 5am on Saturday morning, left at 5:25 to catch the 5:45 ferry to the city. I had to walk for about 15 minutes through the city to get to the transit centre from where, I found out, many of the tours to Brisbane’s surrounding area depart. I sat and waited for about 20 minutes before I got into the 4WD vehicle, along with 8 others, to go to the ferry that takes people to Moreton Island. The others on the trip were an interesting mix—a French couple in their mid-30’s, a 24 year-old German girl working as a nanny for an Aussie family, a Swedish nurse in her 30’s, a Malaysian woman who has lived in Brissie for 4 years now, a Californian in his 30’s doing his 2^nd post-doc in neuroscience at UQ, an Aussie couple who were about my age, and an Aussie my age who had been offered the job of being a tour guide for this company and was testing out if he liked it. Then there was our tour guide who was your stereotypical aussie surfer type, 22 (+/- a year… I forget), and who knew basically everything about Moreton Island, from the full history to every species of plant-life.

Anyway, the diverse blend of people on the trip proved to be really fun and we all got along great. Once again, I went on a trip and was so sad to leave the people I had only known for a few days—a very common trend for me! Okay, so when we got off the ferry, a 2-hour ride, despite how close the island is to Brissie, during which we all got to socialize a bit, we hopped back into the truck and drove to the sand mountains—Moreton is the 3^rd biggest sand island in the world only to North Stradbroke and the biggest Fraser (where I’m going this weekend). We got these boards that we waxed the bottoms of and rode down the dunes. It was so steep so the speed was quite a thrill…walking up was not so much, haha. I found a less steep incline where I was able to stand on the board and go down which made me very excited! After that we were all sweaty and hot and we loaded back into the truck to got to the campsite for lunch. Our guide had to fix our lunch once we got there, so we each picked our tents and threw some of our stuff in them that we wouldn’t need for the rest of the day. Then we all went over to Blue lagoon which is a freshwater lagoon that was beautiful and only about a 2 minute walk from our tents. We came back to camp and had a lunch of sandwiches and salad which was good but, little did we know, basically the same as every meal to come for the rest of the trip!

After lunch we went to Moreton Lighthouse and our guide pointed out the turtles that looked like big round masses, all along the rocky shore. It takes about 4 strong men just to lift up these turtles by the way! So yea, pretty cool, and we saw a few dolphin too. We walked down through the forest and down these incredibly steep sand dunes to a little beach. We just relaxed and laid out on the sand and I out over some of the big rocks—all very beautiful. By the time it was almost 5:00, the breeze off the water was pretty cold, so we headed back up; thankfully, we went a different route on the way back that was about twice as long but not as steep. When we got back to camp our guide started dinner and we all decided against any showering (haha) because whatever we were camping. So we took some wine and went to the lagoon to watch the sunset. It wasn’t all that amazing of a sunset, but still very enjoyable. When we got back to camp we started up the fire and ate our dinner in the dark around the fire. We couldn’t even see what we were eating! We spent the next several hours around the fire just talking, drinking, and admiring the stars. Apparently I have never been so far away from the city, because I didn’t realize that stars were so bright and plentiful! It was magnificent.

In the morning we were all up by 7am just because of the sunlight I suppose. We had some breakfast and then got in the truck to head to North Point where we went to honeymoon bay and the champagne pools. At north point there is an endless stretch of white sand beach in one direction and then large rocks at the point where many people were fishing. If you walk around the point, there is an inlet with a really nice, small beach. There were really good waves in the inlet, so I ended up bodysurfing for the entire 3 hours we were there! I was with the Aussie who was training to be a guide, and he was so impressed with my bodysurfing skills that he wanted me to give him tips! Anyway, we left there and walked back to the trunk to go back to camp to have lunch. After lunch we got all of our stuff together and made sure camp was clean before heading to Tangalooma Beach. This beach is famous because 15 ships were sunk just out from shore to make it a good spot for boats to dock. We snorkeled the wrecks for a bit which entailed being surrounded by fish and not having more than 2 meters of visibility. All of the fish ramming into me kind of freaked me out a bit honestly! After we dried off our guide pointed out the incredibly steep sand dune just up the beach where, from the top, you could get an amazing view. None of the men were up for the challenge, but the girls decided to embark on the journey! Looking up at it, none of us thought it could be that bad, but wow, it was really tough. It was so steep that with each steep you only make a few inches of progress, and this thing was tall! It took us a while, but eventually we made it to the top where we took some pictures before running down. It reminded me of the dunes in the outer banks, but much, much steeper! We were all sweaty and exhausted so we laid on the beach for a bit but pretty soon we had to hop in the truck to catch the 3:30 ferry back to the mainland. On the ferry ride home I got an iced tea and laid out on the top level with some of the others. I ended up falling asleep for most of the ride! We drove back to the Brisbane Transit center without a hitch and I said most of my goodbyes there, but I went with Vicki and Ti, the Swedish woman and the Malaysian woman to their bus stop because it was on my way to the ferry. I said my goodbyes to them and then picked up subway—my first (and probably last) American fast food in Australia!—and got to the ferry at 6:53, not even knowing that there is a 6:53 ferry back to uni! Rarely do I have good luck with public transport here, but it was very much appreciated because I was exhausted and in need of a shower—and would’ve had to wait 30 minutes until the next one had I missed it! I came home to most of my hall still a bit drunk from Sunday afternoon festivities, haha. Anyway, today I did a massive amount of laundry—I honestly had not one piece of warm clothing left—and finished my paper for anthro.

I should also mention that I finally know when my finals are! The last day of classes is the 30^th, and then my finals are on the 11, 13,14, and 16. Soooo HUGE gap that I want to use to travel. It looks like I’ll be able to go to Cairns after all! Filipo and James (from my hall) planned their trip to Cairns several weeks ago and are leaving on May 29. I’m going to try and join with them and maybe I’ll be on my own for a bit but whatever. Then after finals I have a little less than a week that I’ll spend seeing everything I never did in Brisbane. I have time to think about all of this so I won’t rush it for now. Alright I should get some more work and organizing done…and wow this was a really long entry!

Truckin

Today was so exhausting and seemed to drag on forever. Chemistry wasn’t too bad. **Actually, on a side note, it was pretty cool because the lecture was all about radioactive isotopes so I learned about all of the radioactive things that we are exposed to everyday naturally. There are so many radioactive elements that our body uptakes all of the time mistaking them for essential elements and that’s normal! And the ocean naturally has a very high concentration of uranium. A few lectures ago we went through all of the elements that are essential for us and all of those that are toxic in basically any amount. These have been the only lectures I’ve enjoyed, but I’ve enjoyed them a lot because I’m a huge dork (which has already been established many times). **

Okay back to my day. So my first psychology lecture was pretty good, but I knew that the lecturer for the second hour was terrible so I didn’t stay so that I could instead go to the library and check out all of the ethnographies I need to write my paper for anthropology. Very, very luckily, they were all available. I sat outside for a bit and looked over the notes for the lecture I was missing, and observed the winter coats and boots people were wearing—it was about 75 degrees today and sunny. Ohhhh Aussies from Queensland are hilarious. I mean it was in the 60’s this morning but a winter coat? Really? At lunch I got some lentil spinach thing and it had no taste whatsoever. I was not pleased. In my psyc. tutorial we discussed our lab report which I had kind of forgotten about and it’s due soon. Oops. Anthropology lecture was probably the most boring 2 hours I’ve ever had to sit through and it didn’t help that I was falling asleep even before it began. Then our substitute anthropology tutorial leader person decided that it was fine to run class until 25 minutes after it should be over. I was so tired and grumpy when I came home so I just curled up in bed for the half hour before dinner. SO I had dinner which was fine and took a shower and now I’m here. It’s somehow 8:15 already. I have so much work to do meaning I need to start planning out/writing my anth paper but I’m burned out. I’ll probably just go to bed early.

One good thing that happened today was that I got the package that my parents said they had sent. It contained the Australian cash they had left over once they left, a sim card with some prepay minutes, and a tube of mini m&m’s—compliments of kehilat shalom’s purim package that was sent to me at home! Anyway, always fun to get mail.

All I ask for

Tuesday. Got up really early for no apparent reason and thus I was really sleepy all day. I did some more work on my chem online exam and then went for a run before lunchtime because it was about 21 (that's ~70) or so and fully sunny so I couldn't resist being outside. After lunch I had marine lecture in which we started on plant stuff. Our lecturer for this subject is our practical professor and I like her very much. After that I went to the pharmacy to get some acid reflux medication because my prilosec ran out :(. They don't have prilosec here which i found out simply by asking my friends if they had heard of it and they all said no. SO I got Zantec which does exist in this country. I really hope it works because acid reflux is no fun. Anyway,
I came home and got more work done but had to take a powernap before dinner so that I'd be able to function. I finished my chem online exam after dinner and submitted it about a half-hour ago and...I got 11/12!!! :) Well actually it says I got 9/12 but 2 of them are actually correct but the system marked them as wrong and my professor told me monday to bring in my test so he can fix it if/when that happens. Now that that's done I have to think about my anthropology essay that is 35% of my grade and is due a week from tomorrow. It is by far my toughest assignment and I'm really not looking forward to starting it. Plus I doubt I'll even be able to get a hold on the very ethnography I'm writing my paper on because several others are also using it and I'm sure they're all out of the library...great. I only have the introduction which I photocopied many weeks ago. Oh well, there's not much I can do. Okay I must go read a really long article for one of my tutorials tomorrow. It will be a looooong day.
But :)

DTB?

Alright so I really should be doing work right now, but I want to update on the past 5 days. So I left for the airport early Thursday morning and took the ferry and then train to the airport. I ended up seeing one of Charlene’s roommates (who was with her mom who was visiting) on the train—crazy—AND found out we were on the same flight. You also have to realize that planes go from Brisbane to Sydney at least every hour if not more. Anyway, checking and security for Australian domestic flights takes about 15 minutes, which was good because my ferry was late and then my train took forever or some reason. The flight was short—it’ only about 70 minutes—and when I landed I called Lindsay, hopped in a cab, and was at her house in about 20 minutes. Her apartment looks out onto the ocean and it’s about a 1 minute walk to the beach. Amazing. She had just gotten home from class, so we chilled for about half an hour and then went to the harbour so I could see the Harbour bridge, the opera house, etc. We walked all around and through the botanical gardens and just talked because we had quite a lot to catch up on. We ate a late lunch at a café on the water and then it started to rain so we ran back to the bus stop and headed back to Coogee beach (that’s where Lindsay as well as most of my NZ friends live). We got together some plans for the night, and just as I had promised, I bought 4 litres of goon for Lindsay and my other friends Taylor. So we got all showered and pretty and headed over to Taylor’s apartment. He lives on the other side of the beach in an apartment with only one other guy. When we get there the first thing I notice is that in their tv room there are 2 girls and I know one of them because she lives in union college with me! How ridiculous is that? It ends up that taylor doesn’t know her, but he knows her friend and they needed a place to stay for the weekend. So anyway, it’s a small world to say the least. We went to this karaoke bar and had so much fun and I got to meet a lot of Lindsay’s friends.

On Friday it was Anzac day, the reason why I had a 3-day weekend in the first place, so we went to the parade/other festivities downtown with several of her other friends. We watched the parade for a bit and then walked all around the city. We had lunch at this yummy take-away salad place. By the afternoon we were so tired and we walked past a movie theatre and decided we wanted to see a movie. Not everyone did, so we split up and Lindsay, me, and her friend Paul saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I hadn’t thought I’d see a movie while I was here, but it was nice. We got home around 7, and got ready for another night out. We went over to Taylor's place and chilled there and then headed back out to the city where we went to 2 of their favorite bars/clubs in the course of the night. Good night.

On Saturday we got up pretty early because we knew it was going to be really nice and sunny out and we walked from Coogee beach to Bondi beach on this path built for that purpose. It was gorgeous—the most amazing views of all of the beaches and huge cliffs etc. It took about an hour and a half so when we got there we were ready to pass out on the beach and we did. We had lunch later at this place that has really good chicken burgers—it was all Lindsay's friend mark talked about the entire walk over to bondi! We laid out after lunch and Taylor and his roommate went surfing—there were SO many surfers out, but the waves were huge and I thought I would get pummeled if I attempted to surf. It got chilly after a while because even though the sun was fully out, there was a very cool breeze off the ocean—too cool. (I’m so happy I’m in warm Brissie J) I walked around with Lindsay and some of her friends to look at the shops and then we took the bus home. We went home and showered and then went back out to get some food. We went to Lindsay’s favorite Indian take-away—it was SO SO SO good and we ate it while watching the Australian Biggest Loser tv show. Then we got ready and went over to my other friend matt’s house because I had yet to see him! He basically lives in a frat house which is so weird since frats don’t exist in this country. Anyway we hung out there for a while and I met some of his 13 roommates (yes, 13!). Then we went to Taylor’s and then were supposed to go to Darling Harbour to where some of the nice and classy-type clubs are—(Lindsay and I were all dressed up)—but instead we went to king’s cross which is, well, the exact opposite of classy. We had fun anyway and I’m glad I got to see so many different areas of Sydney nightlife.

On Sunday Lindsay and I both woke up so exhausted from so many long days—kind of like NZ all over again!—but we made the journey to Manly beach anyway because Lindsay knew I really wanted to go there. To get to Manly we had to take the bus to the harbour and then get the ferry to Manly. It takes about an hour total, but the ferry is so nice because you get to see the harbour bridge and the opera house from out on the water. Once we got there we just laid on the beach and did a lot of surfer-watching. I definitely could’ve surfed there and Lindsay said I could go rent a board but the water in Sydney is much cooler than farther north and I would’ve needed a full wetsuit. Plus I don’t think I had the energy to surf anyway after 3 nights of minimal sleep. We walked all around the shops there and had yummy salads for lunch—they have so many good salad places there!—and then headed home because Lindsay had a paper to write for Monday that she hadn’t started! We got back and I left her to do her paper and just chilled and watched tv in the other room with her two roommates. I went to bed early because I had to get up at 6:20 this morning to go to the airport. I had called a cab Sunday night to get me at 6:45, and it was on time and got me to the airport in 15 minutes. Then I checked-in at one the electronic check-ins and went through security in about 3 minutes because domestic security here is basically a joke. So I got to my gate around 7:20! My flight left at 8:30 so I had time to get some coffee and was able to call mike and use the rest of my minutes that expired later in the day. The flight was easy and I hopped on the train and then took a bus I’ve never taken before and got home fine. It was so warm here today—29! WONDERFUL. Unfortunately, I got back, had a quick lunch, checked my email, turned in my chemistry lab report, and had my practical from 2-5, so I couldn’t really enjoy the warmth that much. I actually finished my practical early and took a nap because I could not keep my eyes open for obvious reasons. Now it’s near 9:00 and I’ve got so much work to do. But yea overall, great weekend and Sydney is awesome.

But it does end up that I’m going on this Moreton Island trip this weekend on my own L. I just hope there are some people on the trip I can hang out with! I just have to remember that Moreton Island is a place I really want to go and that should be enough. Also, it look like Fraser Island the following weekend will also be just me. Maybe I’ll be able to convince someone if I really recruit, but it’s unlikely and I don’t really have the energy to make that kind of effort. Alright, time to work and then get to bed!

She only sleeps when it's raining

So it’s late and I should go to bed since I have to get up early to leave for the airport, but I felt I should write before I leave for Sydney! This week has been fine, although my foot is ripped up…I think I’ve written on this?...so that’s been frustrating. It’s really not better and I can’t wear shoes sooo thongs (that’s flip-flops) for Sydney it is! I finished all the work that had to be finished before I left yesterday so I had time to go to all my classes today and pack. But not really, because it’s 11:00pm and I just finished. And I have to get up at 6:45.

I decided to just plan my next few weekends. I booked a camping trip to Moreton island for may 3-4, and a camping trip to fraser island may 10-11. As of now I’m going on my own, but UQ sport books the trips for UQ students so I believe it’s a bunch of UQ students so whatever as far as going alone. But I think Charlene may want to come to Moreton but she’s already been to fraser for a class field trip weekend thing. The weekend after fraser I want to go to a queensland reds rugby game. I’m going with Charlene and some others…at least I think I am—I just sent char all of the info so hopefully she has no problem with that date! Ok I’m exhausted and I should get some rest before my inevitably crazy, long weekend!

P.S. The Anzac day parade is supposed to be crazy in Sydney—just as crazy as in Canberra where the “official” parade is. So I’m pretty excited for that. I also know that the police turn a blind-eye to things like gambling in the streets and probably all sorts of other rowdiness that normally gets drunk people into trouble! All to honor the war veterans so I guess it's just cause! Aussies are crazy. I love them. Ok gooooodnight.

Time Flies

Where to start? The week went pretty well—it was busy, hence the lack of updating! Some highlights:

On Tuesday and Thursday I did some of my research participation for psychology—Tuesday was kind of boring and involved perceptions of different people’s faces. Thursday, on the other hand, was so fun! It was a study on spiders and birds and learned/conditioned responses. I had an electrode hooked up to my arm that would deliver electric shocks and headphones on that periodically made a very unpleasant loud noise. I had a breathing monitor on and my sweating and blinking rates were also being monitored. So I had wires coming from everywhere! Anyway, the noise and shocks were a bit unpleasant, but all for the benefit of science, right? I thought it was quite fun.

I no longer was feeling sick like I was on Monday once Tuesday rolled around, so I was able to go for a run in the gorgeous weather. Wednesday was the typical crazy busy day and I had thought that I might go out but my plans ended up falling through—long story. I got my psyc. essay in on Thursday morning—it wasn’t due until Friday so that felt good. I did some work in the afternoon but was not very successful in concentrating. I made it to spin class which made me feel more accomplished. I went out on Thursday night to the valley to a place called birdees with some of my friends in my hall and had a great time—I had really needed that kind of night! Friday was a bit tough considering the long night before, but it worked out fine except for me napping all afternoon instead of working. Thus, I had to work until late last night.

Today I got up early for some reason and started work on my chem. lab report. For about three hours I attempted to find journal articles or any previous research done on my topic and found NOTHING. It is so frustrating because it was like I had gotten nothing done all morning! I went to lunch a it upset but cheered up because I gave myself a break and went to Indooropilly (the mall) and did some random shopping and walked around. I got back at 4:00 and started work again. I’ve been working until now on this lab report and it’s terrible. It’s basically supposed to be in the format of a published journal article but that doesn’t make sense to me because I don’t feel that my experiment has any implications whatsoever. Maybe that’s because I can’t find a single real publication on the subject! SO early tomorrow I will head over to the engineering library when it opens to use the class textbook for basic background information, but I still don’t know what to do about the lack of scholarly work. I’ve used every means of searching that I know! I can’t even find unusable stuff on Wikipedia or anything! To me that means one of two things: 1) Cu2+ and ammonia metal/ligand reactions are useless and uninteresting and thus there are no publications or 2) people have done the research but it yields nothing of interest and thus there are no publications. Either one of these possibilities leads to me failing. Metal ion chemistry is not my favorite... as if that wasn't already evident.

Not only do I need to do this report, which by the way is a huge portion of my chemistry grade—honestly the only one that really matters—but I also have a CMT (computer-managed test) for chemistry that I’ve hardly worked on that’s due soon as well. Plus I have to do all of my prelab calculations for Monday. I hope to go to a seder tomorrow evening but I haven’t heard back about it. Complicated story. I’m afraid it won’t work out. I’ll just have to wait and see.

All I want to do is think about is how I leave for Sydney on Thursday morning!!! I’m very excited but I must get my work done before I leave because it’s due within hours after my return to brissie!

Monday

It was a decent day despite waking up sick with some sort of head-cold-type-of-thing. I got a lot done--I basically wrote my entire paper that's due friday. Actually, not just basically because I fully wrote it. I just need to edit it and turn it in! I had my chemistry practical today that is the one for the full lab report which is worth 30% of my final grade in the class. I had a funny argument with my practical professor on accuracy in buret readings which turned into me calculating all of these probabilities of how accurate one can be when reading a buret in order to make my case. I am such a dork, but I refused to back down on my position and my professor thought it was pretty funny. It's a complicated story so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was pretty funny and entertained the tutors and other students in the lab... a lot. I guess I'm just a pushy American! Ugh I'm so exhausted so this is all for today.

The workers are going home

Well it’s been forever since I updated last!

Last week went pretty well overall. I got my assignment in on Wednesday for anthropology. On Thursday I studied all day when I wasn’t in class and went to the afternoon spin class instead of the later one—it’s a different instructor at that time and he was like a drill sergeant…not a big fan of it—because we had a college event in the evening. The event was called the “twilight concert.” Basically, it was a semi-formal dinner with free drinks for which we got vouchers with our pictures on them. (I would like to point out here that the college required that I give them something like 6 passport pictures when I applied. Alcohol vouchers are their sole purpose as far as I can tell!) SO also the reason why it was a concert is that people from college performed their respective talents throughout the night and the winners got money prizes. It was very entertaining and the food and wine was good BUT I had to come back, after 3.5 glasses of wine and study for my exam that was the next day at 11am. That evening all turned out fine actually—it was the next morning that went wrong. After my chemistry lecture I had an hour before my midterm so I went to the grassy area in the Great Court to sit against a tree and go over my note cards I had made. Long story short, I got bitten by some ants or something that I have a particularly bad allergic reaction to, had to go over to the health center where I had to sit in the waiting room while getting nervous for my exam and secretly thinking that I might die. All the nurse could do was put some cortisone on it and I rushed off to my exam. The exam was good and luckily I was able to concentrate. My leg, on the other hand was not so good, and the pain was not even gone by Friday night when I got into bed! My whole calf muscle throbbed and the stinging was unbearable at times during the hours afterward. I vowed I would never sit on the grass in the Great Court again!

Anyway, Saturday morning I had to get up at 6:45am to go with Charlene and Carrie, my marine field research partners, to do our research at Moreton Bay. Luckily, Carrie has a car and picked us up. We went to eat at this amazing Italian café that carrie frequents often and I had a soy cappuccino and a some ricotta boysenberry thing that was delicious. We continued out to our first site of the day, Nudgee. We’re doing our study on salinity effects on mangrove growth. Nudgee is a more open site which means it gets flushed more often and the water is thus a bit less salty. We compared this to our second site, Lota, which is farther south on the coast and is more closed to open bay/ocean. Overall, it was a gorgeous day and we all got muddy and had a lot of fun despite it being hard work. I tested about 150 samples! I got home around 2:00, cleaned up, and then spent the rest of the day working on learning chemistry, preparing for my practical on Monday, and starting my paper/reading journal articles on the subject. I worked until late and got a lot done.

Today I slept in for the first time in what seems like forever. After brekkie and a bit of working I went for a walk during which I called mike. I ended the walk at the park where the lakes are. I stayed there for a few hours doing more reading and starting to write out some of my essay. It was so sunny and I ended up getting really hot but it was great. Later I called my mom and found out how their flights were etc. Of course we ended up talking for nearly an hour. I walked home after that as I had been out in the sun for 3 hours at that point. I did more work when I came home although I started feeling sick so I wasn’t very productive. I’m still feeling sick now. I’m getting a cold or something. Somehow I always manage to get sick. SO I’ll probably try to go to bed early and maybe take some meds. It’s going to be a hard week but hopefully I’ve prepared for it well and I can stay focused!

Yikes

Someone got eaten by a shark in Ballina yesterday. It was a 16 year-old boy and his friend saw the whole thing but could not save him despite his best attempt. Just a bit scary considering I was surfing there only 3 days before that!
I'm stressing out because I'm realizing that I'm very behind in chem because I have become an expert at procrastinating/ignoring the material in that class. Also, with some busy weekends (that I'm turning into very extended ones) coming up, I have to get certain papers and assignments done much earlier than I would normally. Alright I'm going to go work on all of that.

Tuesday Bluesday

My only lecture today was my marine lecture. We have a new lecturer and she’s talking about marine animals so it’s a nice break from our previous lecturer who was difficult to understand. Before that I had gotten up early and worked all morning and finished my assignment for anthropology that’s due tomorrow. I also went to the library to print some stuff—I really hate how I have to do that almost every day! When I’m back at Lehigh I’m going to appreciate my printer and the free and accessible printing on campus SO SO SO SO much. In the afternoon I went to the bank (which ended up making me really upset...long story) and then for a walk that I went on basically so I could go buy tea, m&m’s, chick peas, and soy linseed crackers. VERY important business. Apparently more important than the readings and research I have to do for tomorrow.

Charlene wanted me to come to the birthday party for Chrissie at their apartment tonight and just stay the night and go to uni with her in the morning, but I don’t have the energy to get dressed up, pack for tonight and for all day tomorrow of classes, and then catch the bus to her place. Plus it wasn’t even going to be starting until after 9:00 and I would have to get up at 7am. It’s just too much planning and honestly, it’s a Tuesday night and at this point going out would just confuse me! I feel bad though because she's going to call me when I should come over and I'm going to have to tell her that I'm not...I hate doing that so much.

So I’m in my room procrastinating and a girl on my hall is having her hair dyed and it’s also Bridgette’s birthday today so there’s a big cake blah blah blah. It was a good day but I was so productive in the morning and then I just wasted the rest of the day away. Now I have a bunch of work that I could do or could not do and I’m guessing I won’t. At least I’m doing my laundry right now so that’s something in the way of not wasting space on the planet!

Funny Little Frog

Catching up. My midterm went well on Friday so I was able to thoroughly enjoy the weekend in Byron Bay. I met my parents at their hotel after my midterm where my dad was ready with the rental car. We drove to Byron, checked into our motel, and went to a nice restaurant for dinner. Good food and wine and some amazing dessert that had something to do with white chocolate and honey. We were pretty tired so we went to bed early.

We all got up early and it was decided that we would go to Ballina (where my second cousin Kaia lives with her husband Dan and their two little girls) for the first part of the day. We spent some time catching up and then we went to the beach, despite the on-and-off rain, where Dan and I went surfing. The break was great and because the weather was less than perfect there was basically no one on the beach and maybe ten surfers out at most. I was so pleased with the good conditions and free board usage/tips from Dan! After the beach, which we left when it began to rain hard, we went back to their house where we had a delicious lunch. We went back to Byron after lunch, and despite the still on-and-off rain, my mom and I made he trek to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is on Cape Byron, on which is the most eastern point of Australia. I, of course, needed a picture with this sign. The trek back was longer than on the way there—we did a loop—and we ended up getting a little side-tracked because the signs for the trail were terrible. I was also not feeling well during all of this, but all in all, my mom and I both agree it was well worth the over 2 hours of walking. The views off the cape where you are standing so high above the water on a very steep cliff from where you can see the sandy beaches on both sides is just amazing—even when the weather isn’t! So when we got back to the motel we were exhausted and soaking wet. I showered and we took a breather before heading out for dinner. We went to a smaller restaurant that seemed like a little café but ended up being a great restaurant with the best food I had had in a long time. The owner (or we think he was) convinced us to get a $50 bottle of Shiraz which was yummy.

On Sunday we went to the market in Byron which happens every Sunday there and is a place where mostly locals, but also many tourists, go to buy and sell and socialize. Once again, the weather was crazy and there was on-and-off rain. My dad mostly listened to the live music while my mom and I shopped. I bought several pairs of earrings (a weakness!) and a necklace, as well as a piece of artwork that my mom will bring home with her. I could have bought so much more there—I loved everything! Kaia and Dan and the girls met us a bit later and we had lunch together. My mom and I got falafel that was delicious. It got really sunny while we were eating, but then of course it was time to leave! We left a little after 1:00 because we had to have the rental car back in Brisbane at a certain time. The drive back to Brisbane was faster than on the way there. I said goodbye to my parents, who were staying in Brisbane for the night and heading off to Heron Island (on the Great Barrier Reef) Monday in the early morning. I got back to campus in time to shower and unpack before dinner. I caught up with everyone on my hall and then went to bed early because, once again, I was so tired/could not/would not do work.

Today I had my 8am chemistry lecture but no practical this afternoon. I have an assignment for anthropology that requires a lot of research so I’ve been working on that all day at the library and in my room. Now I’m going to go print some stuff at the library/check out some books I need for resources for the assignment and then go to my spin class.

Ok so my computer froze so I'm posting this now. Spin class was super hard today; I'm not sure what it was but our instructor definitely changed something up today. Let me put it this way--I don't know if I'll be able to walk in the morning. Ok I must get work done tonight because I saw Charlene on my way to the gym and she wants me to come to Chrissie's (one of her roommates who I went to Fiji with) birthday party tomorrow night. Peacing out.

Madly

It’s been a few days since my last post but I’ve been trying very hard to concentrate on my work—i.e. it’s probably a good thing that I haven’t posted! Tuesday I didn’t have any classes because my marine practical is not at scheduled time for many weeks because we’re working on our field research in our own time (or, rather, supposed to be working on it). My lecture was canceled because the professor had a last minute time conflict that he couldn’t avoid. So I spent the day in the library in a quiet corner trying to read an incredible amount of textbook and commit to memory every type of wind, tide, current, wave, etc. I find it all very cool but there is so much random terminology and technical stuff that I really need to know. I left the lib at 5:00 so I could go for a long walk before dinner because my brain hurt and it was beautiful outside. I spent the evening practicing my anthropology presentation and timing myself and such until I felt very prepared.

It was a typical long Wednesday in a way, but it was actually much longer. Chemistry lecture, as usual, just made me feel like I should spend MUCH more time studying for that class…as of now I spend no time, so anything would be an improvement. Psychology lectures were 2 of my favorite so far this semester. The first one was on learning and conditioning stuff which I already knew about but it was still good. The second hour was on sleep and basically answered every question I’ve ever had about stages of sleep and REM sleep. I got some quick lunch and then had my psyc. tutorial in which we discussed our essays that our due in 2 weeks. I honestly didn’t even remember this assignment was coming up! It should be simple though and we were basically given step-by-step directions on how to write it—I forgot that in first year classes you get led through the writing process! The way we’re supposed to write the essay is comparable to the way I wrote essays when I was 12 years-old and thus goes against every rule of good essay writing, but I guess I just have to do it!

After that tutorial I went to my anthropology lecture which I enjoyed because it was on kinship and that is what my professor specializes in—so she was very into it. In the first part of the lecture she ended up mentioning this anthropologist, Malinowski, who studied the Trobriand Islanders, and for some reason I remembered everything that he studied from reading his work last semester. SO, being the teacher’s pet that I can sometimes be, during our 10 minute break during the lecture I just went up and talked to her about spirit conception and kinship of the Trobriand Islanders. I think she was impressed :) haha. When we all got to the tutorial, she asked who was presenting and when I raised my hand I like to think she was very excited to get to here ME talk AGAIN with all of my ultimate wisdoms. HAHA, okay, just kidding, but she did have a big smile. But, anyway, my presentation went really well and my professor loved my critique of the writing.

After that I had to walk home very quickly to drop off my notebooks and then walk to the ferry so I could go meet my parents in the city. I couldn’t believe that they were actually here! They were at the ferry stop when I got to the city and we went to one of the first restaurants we saw because I was very hungry. Everything was very expensive but I had the barramundi which was good and the wine was even better. I had an amazing dessert—some peanut butter chocolate masterpiece. We sat and talked for a long time and then walked around a bit while waiting for my ferry home. I got home around 10:20 and was exhausted but I ended up talking with people on my hall and showering and, before I knew it, it was 11:30! I was exhausted and went to bed.

SO it’s Thursday morning now and I cannot believe that my marine midterm is tomorrow. Have marine lecture from 12-1 today, then I have to register for lehigh classes* and then hopefully after I will go to the library with Charlene and Carrie to study with them. I think talking out all of this material with them will really help me learn it and indicate the material I know nothing about! At 5:00 I’m meeting my parents at the UQ ferry terminal so that I can take them around campus and show them my room/hall and stuff. Then we’re going to get dinner at the kebab place that is nearby where I live. Then I suppose they’ll go back home and I’ll get back to studying for as long as I can stay awake. Friday I’ll have chemistry lecture, and my midterm from 1-2, after which I will leave with my parents to go to Byron Bay for the weekend. It should be really fun and hopefully the surf will comply with my needs :).

*p.s. I changed the my lehigh class schedule for those of you interested--I'm taking: analytical, engineering, globalization and religion, and then 3 credits of undergrad research for Dr. Iovine (yay fish!). It's only 13 credits but I'll probably live in Iacocca in the lab. Plus I only need 24 credits after this semester to graduate so...

Back to class. Joy.

It’s been a pretty average Monday. My 8am chem. lecture was dull and I was going to go the library afterward until noon but I just couldn’t make myself because I was tired and didn’t feel up to it. Normally I would just force myself in a time such as this-- I have so much work to get done, but whatever. I took a powernap and then got some work done before lunch. Chemistry practical was not too difficult but the prelab had taken me forever and the calculations afterward ended up taking longer than the lab itself. I went to my spin class which on Monday is the extreme class and that was great. There was only 5 people in the class so it was really intense. Nothing beats the feeling/endorphin high after that class! I had dinner right after (always a bit nauseating) and did some work before working more on my class schedule for Lehigh in the fall. I have to register at noon on Thursday my time, but I have marine lecture then so I will just do it after—I should have no problem getting into any of my classes.

I just finalized my schedule which has taken me many hours over many days. I'm feeling the pressure of wanting to take all the classes I've ever wanted to take since I have so little time left to do it! I wonder, if not next year, when I'll ever be able to take random classes in all of the subjects I enjoy that aren't science related. :( Thinking about that makes me sad-- is I could have it my way college would never end!!!

Well, in case anyone is interested, I think this is what I’m taking: Analytical chemistry, engineering (ugh, it’s required of me), globalization and religion (finishes up my religion minor and is my writing intensive course), bacteriology (I don’t need to take this at all—I just want to…), and 2 credits (so 2 days a week) of undergrad research for my adviser. SO it’s all only 15 credits but it’s heavy stuff and way more class hours than it is credits. It’s looking like on Monday and Wednesday I’ll go from 9-4 which is always a blast haha.

Okay well I’m exhausted and want to go to bed—my favorite part of the day! Tomorrow I have to get so much studying done for my marine midterm. SO MUCH. There is just no way to avoid cramming for this exam. But I still haven’t even finished my preparation for my class presentation in anthropology. So that first, then some major cramming of marine terminology and processes. Wish me luck—I’ll need it!

BulaBula

On Wednesday, Char and I got a taxi at 7am—we arranged it the day before—to get to nearby resort where a bus would pick us up and take us to Port Denarau where we got on a boat to go to Tivua Island, one of the Mamanuca Islands. On the boat ride we got to see many of the Yasewa and Mamanuca Islands, all of which looked so beautiful. On the boat we got some breakfast and relaxed in the sun. When we got to the island Char and I decided to go snorkelling first. We were taken out on a boat to the best coral and we snorkelled for an hour or so. Then we went back to the island where there was free lunch and did I mention that beer, wine, and soda was unlimited? So we had some wine and a Fijian beer and lots of diet coke—soda in the rest of the world is incredibly expensive, so we took full advantage! After lunch we laid out on the beach and did more snorkelling. We sailed/boated back to mainland and once again, char and I got a lot of attention from the Fijian crew on the boat—they changed the words of some of the songs they were singing to be about us! Also once again, we basked in the attention! We didn’t get back to the hostel until about 8:00 so we showered and met up with everyone else. Char and I realized that we had to finish the bottle of rum before we left but only I wanted to drink! I told team GB this and they were appalled and thus helped me drink it haha. It was another night of scrabble and cards but this time it went until quite late.

On Thursday, char left after breakfast to head to the airport L I took out a kayak—the hostel offered them free!—and went really far up the coast which was amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention to the current, and on the way back I had to go against the current. Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got back. I laid out with the others on the beach for a bit and then it was lunch time. After lunch, team GB wanted to have some competitions in the pool. We had many contests and I would like to point out that I (along with my partner of team GB, who I called Mr. Richard Joyce,) won every chicken fight—that’s when you sit on someone’s shoulders and try and knock the other person doing the same off of their person’s shoulders in to the pool. Anyway, we all felt really sick from all the swimming, handstanding, pool wrestling, and flipping that we had done only about 10 minutes after eating lunch, so we took a break. It was just in time because it started pouring rain right after we got out! The girls went back to go shower because they were checking out in a few hours. I hung out with team GB and then made a coconut necklace—one of the other free activities the hostel offers. I had signed up to get a traditional Fijian full-body massage from 3-4 earlier in the day—it was amazing! I got rubbed down with freshly made coconut oil and it was wonderful…and only cost 20 Fijian dollars (for a whole hour!) which is less than 15 US dollars! At 4 I had afternoon tea with everyone before Team GB and I said goodbye to char’s roommates who I really liked. At 5:00 I played in the daily volleyball game with team GB, some of the Fijians, and a few other guests. It was quite fun but I still have bruises on my arms from it! Quite a competitive crowd—especially the old Fijian men! We all showered and had dinner where I found out that a few Norwegian girls and some English guys were going to make a bonfire on the beach that night. I played some cards with team GB until the fire was started and then we broke out the rum and joined the group around the fire. I was a bit sad as I talked with Team GB that night because I’m just no good with all of this meeting so many cool people when you’re travelling and then having to say goodbye so soon. Meeting people from all over the world is so amazing and there is nothing that compares to it, but when I click with someone so soon after meeting them, it’s hard for me to just let that go. It ends up team GB will be in Sydney up to the day before I’m going to Sydney. I tried to convince them to stay an extra day or 2 in Sydney—I’ll just have to see how it goes. Also, Char and her roommates offered their apartment to them if they want to stay in Brisbane for a bit. Again, I’ll just have to wait and see!

On Friday I got up early and went for a swim in the ocean despite it being overcast and a bit drizzly. I had breakfast (by myself because the boys weren’t awake yet) and then showered and packed up. I went to pay my tab—the hostel just put all the meals we bought and any other charges on a tab which was awesome—and found out that the shuttle to the airport wasn’t going to run that morning because it was only me who needed the transport! So I had to take the public bus again! But this time it was going to be by myself which did not make me happy. Team GB cheered me up though and we hung out for a while before they walked me to the bus stop. My bus arrived—20 minutes late of course because they are on “Fiji time”—and we said our goodbyes. I was really sad and they were too because now they didn’t have me to play cards with! Anyway, I left the hostel at 11:20 and didn’t get to the airport until 1:45 and my flight was at 3:20. I would like to add that if I had asked any Fijian what time I would get to the airport if I took the “11:00” bus they would say 12:30. Yea, not even close. They honestly do not believe in time in Fiji, which was great while I was there, but not so much when you have to catch an international flight! I thought I would have to rush but I had plenty of time to check in and buy a bottle of rum to bring home. Then my flight got delayed 20 minutes but it ended up taking off 40 minutes late. BUT, when we boarded I found I had all three seats of my row to myself! It was a pleasant flight and when we landed my baggage came out on the carousel within 1 minute so I beat the rush to customs. I declared everything I bought just to be safe, which I am glad I did even though it was all fine. They are very strict in Australia with what you bring in because it is so easy to introduce an invasive species. Anyway so I was able to catch a train about 2 minutes after I got to the platform which is awesome because they only run about every 40 minutes. I got off in the city and had to take the bus to campus. At the bus station I ended up talking to a woman, a graduate from UQ actually, for 45 minutes because the bus never showed. Eventually the bus I needed came and I got home around 7:45 and promptly took a much needed shower. I had no food except ¾ of a sleeve of Ritz crackers so I ate that for dinner (healthy) and then went to bed.

Overall, the hostel, the country, the people, and the food were unbelievable. There is no such thing as an unfriendly Fijian. I could have stayed there forever…but I could do with another means of transportation that is not the public bus ;). I could not have asked for a better semester break.

It’s now Sunday evening and I’ve had a lot of work to do since I have my regular work plus a presentation for anthropology on Wednesday and my marine midterm on Friday. I’ve been at the library all day and I still am not even close to being done with my work L Plus, my parents are currently in Sydney and will arrive in Brisbane on Wednesday so I’d like to be fun and energetic when they’re here! I’m exhausted and this was a lot of writing! I can’t help but try to include every detail when I write about this stuff!

Bula

I’m finally getting a chance to write about Fiji! It was definitely an amazing 6 days of my life.

So it began Saturday night. I slept over at Charlene’s apartment—which is awesome and has a HUGE deck that overlooks the whole city—and we woke up at 5am on Sunday so we could catch the early train to the airport. The train station is about 50 meters from the front door of her apartment complex which was obviously very convenient. We got to the airport and, of course, since we were so early there was no one in line yet to check in. We got first choice with the seats since we were so early, and so we were offered row 1—the one with about 5 feet of leg room! We were at our gate probably within 15 minutes of arriving at the airport. We got some coffee and I got out the 6 pieces of fruit I had taken from the dining hall for our breakfast—I know, I am the master at stealing of food from dining halls J. We just talked and before we knew it, it was time to board. Our flight was great because the crew was really friendly, we had tons of leg room, and char and I talked the whole time making the flight go by so fast. We also used her Fiji guidebook to help plan out what we were going to do. As we were descending, we got to see the gorgeous coral and many of the other islands from above which was amazing. When we got off our flight we got our baggage, did the whole customs thing, got some Fijian money from the ATM—there is only one ATM in the Nadi airport!—and went straight to duty free to get a bottle of rum for the both of us. All the liquor was so cheap!!! Anyway, we got some food—pizza, haha—while waiting for the bus and also looked at some brochures for some day trips we could do. We got on the 4:20 public bus and, well, it was an interesting experience. It hadn’t occurred to us that the bus would not really be a tourist bus, but an actual bus that Fijians use to get around. We laughed afterwards about how we were the only white people and how we put our bags underneath the bus in storage while everyone else used that storage for things like roots and leaves that they had collected. It was a very hot and crowded bus so we were happy when the 2 and a half hour bus ride to the hostel was over.

We checked in and I met Charlene’s 3 roommates and one of their boyfriends who had come from New Jersey to visit for 2 weeks. It was perfect because the rooms were 6 bed dorms and there were 6 of us. They were just going to eat dinner so we went out to sit with them and then char and I swam in the pool for a bit. We just hung out and talked for a while and then showered. We went to the office and had them book the 2 day trips we wanted to do for Tuesday and Wednesday. That left us with Monday (the next day) free to do the waterfall trek our hostel offered. We went to bed pretty early.

On Monday we got up early and had breakfast which was yummy and free from the hostel. Seeing the beach and everything in the daylight was phenomenal. At 10am we met our guide, one of the older men from the nearby village of Navola. It was the six of us, 4 people from Japan, and 2 from England. We basically hiked through the rainforest, barefoot, in lots of mud, though streams, over rocks etc. to get to Korolevu waterfall. During the hike we were taught about many different plants and their many functions/usages. The best part about it is that it is a waterfall that has a special meaning for the people of the village and only they really know about it/visit it. We swam in the pools there and took some pictures after we climbed up the waterfall. We headed back and we were all so exhausted—we didn’t get back until 3:00! We all ate lunch and took showers. While everyone else took naps, Char and I chilled at the beach and read/played on the swings that hang from the palm trees. We had dinner after which we met 3 really fun guys from England who had just arrived and who we hung out with for the rest of our time in Fiji. They are on a 6 month trip travelling around the world as they graduated from uni together at the end of last year and are beginning their respective jobs in July. We played mafia—yea, I know, it felt like camp or something!—for hours and also some other card games and had so much fun. We were all exhausted so we got to bed relatively early again.

On Tuesday, Char and I got picked up at 9am by our tour van that took us to Pacific Harbour, about 30km away from the hostel to the east, where we boarded a canoe and boated up the Navua River. We went to a village where they welcomed us elaborately. We took part in our first Kava ceremony and were told the history of the village. We were taken around the village and got to watch the women doing some really cool handiwork and were able to see the pre-school. The children sang for us and told us their names and ages—it was SO cute. We were served a lunch cooked the traditional way—underground. There were curries and fish and coconut and other salads and things. It was the some of the best food I’ve ever had! After we ate, the young men of the village danced for us and the women sang afterwards. When the women finished the men—all of whom were about our age-- came back and grabbed Charlene and me off the floor to dance with them! It was so much fun and everyone in the group ended up dancing too. The young men really loved Charlene and me and even told one of the elders about how thrilled they were to have “2 such beautiful young ladies” come to the village. Not going to lie—we both loved the attention and got a big kick out of it all. Anyway, after buying some crafts from the women, they sang a traditional farewell song and we got back on the canoe for the next part of our trip. We went to the Magic waterfalls which are huge. We swam in the pools there and got to jump off a rock that was about 15 meters above the pool. After that we got to bamboo raft down the river for a bit which is the original Fijian mode of water transportation. We got back to Pacific Harbour and then got dropped off by bus at our hostel at about 5pm. Char and I decided not to waste any time and to go snorkeling since the tide was high. The snorkeling was amazing at the beach where our hostel was! When the sun began to set, we got out and showered and had dinner with everyone where we were able to catch up on what everyone had done all day. In the evening we went to the village because we had been invited to drink some kava and just chill I guess. We stayed for hours in the village meeting room, drinking kava with the older men of the village and asking them all sorts of questions about their culture. After we walked back to the hostel we played scrabble and more mafia with the boys from England (aka Team GB…for Great Britain—we were known as team USA) Again, so much fun, and being able to hang out in the village seems so surreal.

I’ll continue in another post.

Yes, I'm still here.

So I haven’t posted in a few days because I’ve just been really busy…and still am but felt I had to write something before leaving for FIJI. (!!! )

Thursday I met with my marine group at a coffee shop where we could sit outside to plan our field work. It took us 2 hours but we completely planned what we are testing and the methods/statistics we will use so it’s should all be pretty easy from here. After that I came home to grab lunch and went to the library for the rest of the day to study for my midterms that are (too) soon! I came home, had dinner, and then packed for my Friday excursion.

Friday I woke up at 5:50am (yay!) to catch the ferry to the train to the bus to surfers paradise again for my second and third lessons. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in sight the whole day, so the beach was pretty crowded. I didn’t mind though--especially because I spent minimal time on the beach. My first lesson, from 10-12, built on my first one. The first wave I took when we all went in to warm up I caught all the way in which made me feel pretty good! I felt myself getting more used to the balance and everything and even was able to do some turning which is what our lesson was on. I was tired after the 2 hours so I went to lie out on the beach and eat the sandwich I had made for the occasion.

Around 1:30 I went walking around a bit and then headed back over to the surf school for my 2-4 lesson. That lesson was amazing. My muscles were fatigued from the start, but I didn’t care. Also, there were only 4 of us on the third lesson which was fun. We warmed up like we always do, but then our instructor called us out and told us it was time to paddle out in the rip current! Just as he tells us this, by the way, the lifeguard siren goes off and they rescue a surfer from the rip. That was the third or fourth rescue I had seen that day! He told us how to get over the big waves and stuff, and then off we went! I was secretly really nervous, but once we got in and I got over a few waves and felt a little better. Then I got completely wiped out and was able to really feel the pull of the rip and realized that it felt the same as rips I had felt when in the outer banks, just stronger. I was no longer nervous at all and I paddled hard out to where my instructor was. I got roughed up on the way out, but I eventually made it to the sweet spot for catching the best waves. When I got on my first wave, I was caught by surprise at how big and fast the wave was and didn’t stand up fully. But I got back out (which takes about 5 seconds when you’re in the rip) and when I took my next wave I got up and rode it. It was so exhilarating because when you take the big waves, it’s like, “wow, I’m really surfing,” …if that makes any sense at all, which I think it does if you surf and remember how it felt when you started. I only caught a few waves really successfully, I think partly because I was probably getting really tired. Also I kept sliding too far up my board and nearly nose-diving. I actually did nose-dive on one wave—it was actually really fun and I ended up doing several somersaults underwater. I love that feeling. Oh, BUT one of them I took from all the way out in the rip right to the shore!!! I actually just stepped off onto the shore! I was so exhausted and had been in the sun for over 7 hours so I headed to the bus stop right after the lesson. I didn’t get home until about 7:30 so I had missed dinner. I knew I would so I had bought a can of tuna and some crackers earlier in the week. After I ate I showered and fell asleep right away.

I woke up early this morning—I had gone to bed at 9pm! I did my laundry, went to breakfast, discussed plans for travel tomorrow with Charlene, called my mom, the talked to mike, started packing, went to lunch, and packed for the rest of the afternoon. I will go to dinner in about 10 minutes, then finish packing and head to Charlene’s apartment in Toowong which is about 10 minutes from campus. Her friend is picking me up because the buses stopped running early today. Tomorrow we will wake up at about 4am to get the 5am train to the airport. Our flight doesn’t take off until 9:05am but the next train would get us there at 7:35am which we both agreed is way too late for an international flight. So we’ll get there early and just get breakfast or something. Even though the flight is only 3.5 hours, by the time we catch the bus from the airport in Nadi to our hostel it will be 6:45pm Fiji time—(3:45pm Brisbane time). So it will be a LONG day. I’m so happy to be going with Charlene though—she is the so much fun and we are very much alike in our travel style. Ok I have an hour before I get picked up and I have to go down to eat and I’m not even fully packed!

I’ll be back on Friday night!

Oh and one more thing—I think it’s going to be raining the whole time we’re in fiji! Oh well, I think Charlene and I will make the best of it! I'm already tan so I don't need to work on that haha, so if I can't lie out on the beach, so be it. We'll hang out in the rainforest or something. :)