Kiwi's are delish

I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday, but it was a pretty good day. Tuesday night I drank wine and played cranium with some of the boys in my hall…and my partner and I won mostly because I can spell words backwards really well…I had no idea I could do that. Anyway, I had my second chemistry lecture in the morning which is with a different professor than the Monday lecture. She was a young woman and was much cooler and more interesting than the 2 old men of Monday (aka the stereotypical chemists!). She does the Wednesday and Friday lecture so I will have more of her than the other professors. Nice. Then I had to run completely to the other side of campus to make it to my cognitive psychology lecture. It is HUGE. There are 800 people (!!!!) in the class but there are three lectures given during the week and anyone can go to whichever lecture they want each week. We were in a huge engineering lecture hall and it was filled. There must have been about 400 there. But the professors are very good and engaging. So there are 2 professors for the class. The first hour is a professor lecturing on methods and topics like memory, consciousness, and decision making while the second lecturer focuses more on neuroanatomy and topics regarding the nervous system and later in the semester endocrine system. It should be super easy and fun to learn. That lecture, which is really 2 lectures, ended at noon so I went to lunch back at the college. Normally at 1:00 I would have my tutorial for psychology but we don’t have tutorials this week.

At 2:00 I had my aboriginal anthropology lecture. They had changed the room (I think just a few hours before) but there were around 10 of us in the wrong room and we waited for about 15 minutes before checking at the office where we found out that we were across the campus from where we needed to be! So we all walked into the lecture 25 minutes late together—so happy I was not by myself. That class should be fun because we watch a lot of films and I’m sure the readings will be very interesting. That finished a little early/around 3:45 and normally I would have my tutorial from 4-5 but, again, no tutorials this week. So instead I went to the bookshop—I swear I go there everyday—and got myself some binders because all of my class material for every class will be notes/presentations that I print and then take notes on.

I came home and relaxed for an hour before my cycling class. The class was so challenging, probably even more so than on Monday because I was still tired from Monday’s class! I got home at 7:30 and I had signed up for late dinner so I went and ate the meager dinner that I found you get when you sign up for late dinner! You basically get what leftovers of what no one wanted thrown all onto one plate. Mine was half white rice and I don’t even like white rice. Oh well, I, along with the few others eating with me, had a good time joking about the skimpy dinner. When I got back up to my hall many were getting ready to go out because it was student night at the Regatta Hotel. Somehow in about 2 minutes they convinced me that I had to come, so I jumped in the shower asap. Near the end of my shower someone pulled the fire alarm! I was not about to evacuate in a towel so I threw on a shirt and shorts before leaving. This is the third or fourth time the alarm has been pulled—it reminds me of freshman year at Lehigh in Dravo! Well I got ready in time anyway and we all took the bus to Toowong where the hotel is. We had to wait in line for over 45 minutes before we got in and it wasn’t all that great. Very cool place but I think we were all just fed up from waiting in line for so long. So even though we left late I didn’t get back too late.

This morning I woke up early as I am incapable of sleeping in here. I went to the pool because I had a free pass (much like the free spin classes). I swam laps for 40 minutes straight and it felt really good. I knew that there was no way I’d be able to run today because my legs currently feel like bricks. Actually more like sore bricks if that’s possible. I only had one class, marine science from 12-1. It was a very interesting lecture mostly about jellyfish. They are basically going to take over the world or at least the ocean for now, and are well on their way. OH and my professor had a graph on oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay!!! I nearly let out a squeal of excitement but managed to contain myself. All he said about the location was “Chesapeake Bay, that’s in the US.” I wanted to say “It’s THE Chesapeake Bay.” It’s just doesn’t sound right without the “the.” Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture. After that I got some lunch and thought I was going to be eating by myself but some people I knew showed up within a few minutes which was nice. Now I’m relaxing and doing some laundry. I absolutely do not have any sort of homework or reading. Classes here are so chill. Alright I’ll stop now because this is very long—typical!

Let it rain, let it pour

Second day of classes went well. It most of the day, some of the time quite hard, which was inconvenient but everyone here really likes their rain! I guess that’s what happens when you live in the sunshine state!

I didn’t have class until 1:00, which is btw the latest I’ve ever had my classes start on a given day, so I ran went for a run (really hard since I could hardly move because of my cycling class last night), went down to breakfast and ate with some Americans/Canadians (met some new ones!) and then ran some errands. I went to the library to print a sheet I needed to fill in for marine science which I then had to turn in by going to a building on campus where there was a slot at the reception desk that reads the bar code as you slide it in and then alerts the professor that you’ve turned it in! Super high tech…I was quite impressed! I went to the bank to see if the money my mom wired to my new account got there, and it had, and then I had to send money to the ebay seller who I bought the printer from which turned out to be very simple. Hopefully I will get the printer soon—the seller had very good feedback so I expect good results. Then I had lunch with some from my hall and went to my classes. I had marine science lecture and then the practical. I’m excited to learn about oceans and stuff…that sounds like a joke but really that’s what we’re going to learn about. In the practical we found out that we don’t even really meet at the scheduled time until the 8^th or 9^th week of classes! Next week we have a field trip to look at mangroves and different grasses etc. and then we start our field projects at Moreton Bay (on Moreton Island, which is supposed to be so beautiful). I’m in a group with 3 other girls—1 American (Californian), 1 Canadian, and 1 Aussie. The girl from California I really like and we ended up talking for a long time after class. I told her about how basically all of my friends so far are Aussie so planning travel is hard, and she was like we should travel together! She seems really cool so hopefully we can. Oh and she lives off campus with 2 other Americans an they’ve already planned a lot of their traveling so she said I should try and go with them. So that reassured me some! Anyway, I ran more errands after my prac and then went to dinner. I was starving and dinner was really good tonight. I had tofu and chick peas and pasta and peas and broccoli and cantelope (i mean melon) and pineapple and I just love all the fruits and veges here! I just got back from a goon run with a bunch of people from my hall. We decided to have a party tonight so I better get to that! Every night this week there are huge parties with different themes. It’s so funny because my college organizes a bus to these parties and advertises them a lot—including special prices of drinks and stuff…it’s so funny to be in uni where everyone is old enough to drink legally! I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it! Peace!

Lectures, Tutes, and Pracs!

The semester is officially started! I started with analytical and metal ion chemistry (thrilling) at 8am. There are 3 professors lecturing and they all seem good. The class is relatively small (somewhere is the 60’s) which is good because the professors were reassuring that they are available to help anytime. After that I technically had nothing for the rest of the day but, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I had to go to try to get my lab switched to anything but Friday! Before that though I went to the library to try to print some lectures and papers I needed to read and sign. Both of the libraries I was in were packed. So I knew I had to pay something like 10 cents per sheet, but printing is so much more complicated than that. First you need exact change to get a printing card. So I got a 5 dollar bill put into 1 dollar coins by a machine which took me forever to find. Then I bought the card and went to a computer, which were 99% occupied, and opened up the 32 pages of one of the chem. professors lectures. I pressed print and then went and stood in line at the printer where you have to finds your document, click on it, confirm that what you’ve selected is indeed what you want, swipe your card, select a few more options, and then it FINALLY prints your document. Meanwhile, you have to leave your computer unsupervised across the library. It’s a terrible system. There were many other glitches in this process that I will not get into because it is boring, but I will say that my card did not work the first 2 times I did this whole list of things and I had to have the I.T. guy at the info desk fix it. Overall, just printing 1 of the 2143480 things I needed printed took an hour and a half and 2 different libraries. The first thing I did when I got home is search for used printers for sale. I was not successful, but later I looked on ebay and bid on one for 31 dollars with shipping and it included the cartridges. Who knows how good it will be, but I really just need one, especially since I found out today that I don’t really need to buy the 2 over 100 dollar each textbooks for chem. because the notes posted online are so extensive…but overall it will be around 200 pages or more to print.

Anyway, on a more important note, I arrived at the lab a half hour early which didn’t really do me any good but oh well. I just sat in lab and listened to the briefing and all of the info about how the lab works and at the end of it all the coordinator of the course asked if anyone wasn’t in the class and I explained my story to him after everyone left. He said that he thought a spot just opened in Monday lab so I quickly logged on and found that it was true! I signed onto Monday lab right away. So I’m IN!!!! I’m much happier with my schedule now! The only day that’s really busy is Wednesday when I have classes from 9-12 and 1-5, but it’s mostly anthropology and psychology…does that even count as class?

After lab I went to the bookshop to get a lab coat and goggles which I completely forgot I would have to get. The line went around the whole store! I came home and felt exhausted and hungry so I got a snack and then got ready for the cycling class I had planned on going to at 5:30. UQ Sport is running a program this week where all the classes are free so I’m definitely taking advantage of that! The class was an “extreme” cycling class so it ended up being mostly people who are there several times a week! For some reason no one from my hall wanted to do the extreme cycling class with me…I have no idea why haha. It was very challenging and I know I will hurt tomorrow but I had fun and want to keep doing that class. After this week I’ll buy my gym membership—I might as well wait until after the free week because you buy membership in 3-month slots. I went to dinner with some others from my hall who had also just finished their respective gym classes. Now I’m home and showered and most people from my hall just left to go to the stoplight party. Everyone was mad at me for not going because I had said earlier that I might, but I knew the whole time I wasn’t. Guess I’m just not up for the Monday night partying these days! Ok I’m exhausted I’m going to go organize and then get to bed. Pilates at 7am maybe? Probably not since I don’t have class until 1…

Vegemite

Today, Sunday, was oddly enough much like yesterday. I didn’t have such a late night because we ended up not going out but instead just hanging out here and on some other halls. This morning I went to go run some errands but found that every building on campus was closed. I thought at least one of the 15 libraries would be open, but no! I had wanted to print my schedule as well as some forms that I’m supposed to sign and turn in. Anyway it was again very hot today but not as bad—it’s only 88 in my room now and it feels nice. I was tired by the time I got back from wandering, but 2 guys in my hall were about to leaves to go to Coles which is a supermarket kind of place with other random stuff as well, and I thought I should tag along and see if I needed anything. It’s only a 10 minute walk off campus and I ended up getting some hair conditioner and some Timtams which are these biscuits that everyone here is obsessed with. I had yet to try them and this was a tragic misfortune according to my hallmates, so I had to do it—as if buying chocolate covered cookies was just SO hard for me to do. I tried one, okay maybe two, and they were delicious. But I don’t think I will be buying them again since I don’t have a fridge and my room is far too hot to have chocolate. So once we got back from shopping it was time for lunch. I went to the pool again with many from my hall and some others for the afternoon to escape the heat. I swam laps for a while and then just relaxed. Now I’m focusing on classes beginning tomorrow. I have a problem with my schedule—I have Friday afternoon chem. lab until 5pm! When I enrolled in my tutorials and labs on Monday it was the only lab left. This means that most weekend trips would be off-limits for me which is soooooo not cool. Thus, tomorrow I have to go into the Monday lab tomorrow afternoon and beg to be let in either to that one or Wednesday morning. Depending on which one of those I could get, I would have to choose between 2 psychology courses. So while I’m using my persuasion to the best of my ability I will be missing a lecture in a course that I’m potentially taking…annoying. I do NOT like missing anything…ever. I’m just very worried that I won’t be able to get out of taking Friday lab and I can never miss one for the whole semester because the policy is that if you miss one you fail the whole course (lecture and lab!). I’m so tempted not to take it and to just take easy classes but I really don’t want to have such a hard final semester at Lehigh. If I can’t change this lab I really might have to drop the course…which is also annoying as it took me many, many hours of work to get the course approved last semester. I don’t want to think about this anymore because it’s really stressing me out. I can only make my best effort to fix my schedule and hope it will all work out. I’m exhausted because I probably spent too much time outside today in the sun/heat…something I have a feeling will be happening far too often!

Mozzies

Today was a very, very hot day. I got up at 7am to go running and it was already 80 degrees so I knew what was coming! This time I didn’t get lost on my run! There were heaps of people out cycling, I reckon most of them were a cycling team or something. There were many out running also, although I expected to see more since it seems like the path by the river would be a very popular trail. Anyway so at breakfast a few girls and guys on my hall brought up going to the pool for the afternoon so that’s just what we did. When we left to go to the pool at about 12:45 it was 92 degrees in my room, and about 96 outside! The pool was nice and less crowded than I thought it would be. I swam some laps but mostly just relaxed in the water and laid out a bit. I slathered on SPF 30 but I still got color today. The sun is just too strong here! We got back around 4 and I did some research on surf lessons and on the other trips I want to do. I’m hoping to go on spring break (maybe to Fiji?) with some of my friends from the New Zealand trip but we’ll see. That would have to be organized soon though—only 4 weeks of class then it’s spring break! Hopefully I will get some info on what they are doing sometime this week. I found a surf school that seems perfect because you can get 4 separate lessons and just use them whenever you want. It also doesn’t hurt that the price is pretty reasonable—especially for that flexibility, and flexibility is exactly what I need! It’s a school just north of surfer’s paradise on Main Beach. It’s just over an hour drive there. I figure I could do them separately or 2 lessons over 2 weekends. Then I’d have to get one night at a motel or hostel which should be easy in that area. But obviously before I book this stuff I want to talk to all of the international students in Union to see who wants to do this with me. I recall that a few girls I’ve talked to want to surf so hopefully they’ll want to go to this surf school as well. I think we could get a Uni group discount that way too. The only thing left to figure out would be how to best travel there. I’m not really sure about buses and trains that run that way. But it’s a very popular beach so I’m sure there’s a way, especially because the school advertises on their website that it is the perfect place to go from Brisbane. As you can probably tell, I did a lot of researching on all of the surf schools on the Gold Coast as well as on the islands and I’ve been quite excited since I’ve found this one. Anyway I also want to go on weekend trips to Moreton Island and Fraser Island. UQ does weekend camping trips there, both 3 day and 2 day. They are both beautiful and seem to make perfect weekend trips. I’ll be going to Byron Bay for the weekend when my parents come so at least that’s one weekend that I actually know what I’m doing! But back to the more near future, I’m definitely excited about classes starting even though I’m having a great time just organizing, planning, and socializing. It seems like so long that I’ve studied for anything, mostly because it has been! I found today on UQ’s website that they post the final exams from past years for some classes, so I already saw what my finals will be like—I know, I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. Oh and tomorrow all of the 2^nd and 3^rd-years move in—very happy about that—some more people not 2 or 3 years younger than me! Anyway, I wiped out from all of the sun today but I need to go get ready for tonight’s festivities…I’m not sure where we’re going but we’re going OUT. Haha that’s all I know but I’m sure we’ll end up finding the party soon enough. I'll post again tomorrow!

Sunny disposition

It is Friday evening, and I’m currently eating the most delicious pear. Fruit here tastes so good—maybe just because it’s so hot and humid? It’s nearly 9pm here and it’s 85 degrees in my room. Earlier it was 87, so you can imagine how hot it was out in the sun! Well let’s see I never wrote about yesterday…that would be Thursday. Oh and I apologize in advance if any of this entry is terrible English as I am distracted by this amazing pear. SO I went to St Lucia shopping village which I can walk to and tried to get a phone but it was not a good place so I ended up at the BWS and bought myself a bottle of wine instead. Don’t judge, I was a bit stressed haha. I was supposed to go shopping after lunch with a girl in my hall named Caitlin but in the morning I went to a working while studying session for international students and met up with the Americans and Canadians from union college, many of whom expressed interest in shopping with Caitlin and me. It ended up that Caitlin could no longer come, so I went with a Canadian and 2 Americans. They are cool girls and they were good shopping buddies—I was so happy to not have to figure out the bus system on my own! We went to Indooroopilly shopping center which is a gigantic mall that looks just like the ones in the US. I went with the Canadian, Jess, to Optus and Vodafone, the 2 most popular phone services, and after quite a bit of research and talking to people, settled with Vodaphone. My phone from Aaron worked but needed a new Sim card—only 9.95—and so at least I saved 70 dollars on an actual phone! I bought a plan and everything and then went wandering to get random things for my room and some toiletries etc. Shopping is much more difficult here because there tends to not be aisles or any clear labels in areas to tell shoppers where they can find certain products. Thus, I ran around quite a bit. And there were certain things that I absolutely could not find. Examples: a mesh laundry bag or any sort of hamper, anything as far as desk organization, a shower caddy. And surprisingly none of the places on campus seem to have these things either, even the pharmacy. Well I’m sure eventually I’ll figure out how to get these things…or at least I hope! I had to bring my laundry down the 56 stairs from my room to the laundry room in plastic bags the other day—NOT fun, especially when it’s nearly 90 degrees haha. Anyway, continuing on, I got back just in time to get a quick shower and get ready for the toga party that is legendary here. My whole hall went together and it was indeed heaps of fun! There were probably a thousand people there (at least) so it was definitely the biggest party I’ve ever been too.

Today Union College had a trip to the water park near here but my cell phone died in the middle of the night so I had no alarm and slept through the time when everyone left! I was really upset because I really wanted to go, but I decided to make the best of my first time alone and went for a run on the path that follows the river. It was all great except I got sort of lost in that I was going I in completely the wrong direction for a long time and didn’t notice for a LONG time. But I eventually got back and now have really seen most of the campus and a good deal of the rest of St Lucia! Unfortunately since everyone was gone for the day there were no meals until dinner so luckily I steal fruit at every meal and had that. I went to the bank and opened an account at the commonwealth of Australia which will make money matters much simpler. I then bought a calendar and some supplies for organizing all of the paper information I’ve received in the past week—between banking, phones, shopping, class information, university information, etc it’s a LOT of paperwork. I happened to see a girl I know eating outside so I got a snack and talked with her for a bit. Then I headed to the library to get some relief from the heat. Then I came back around 5 and told everyone in the hall that I had completely meant to come with them and they all felt so bad that they hadn’t checked on me. But honestly they I had no idea that I hadn’t just change my mind or something so I reassured them that it was all good. We all had dinner together and I ate too much because I was so ravenous. Typical haha. Okay enough computer, I’m going to go be social. Peace out.

P.S. tomorrow afternoon's real feel temperature is 98 degrees! YUM.

Brizzie

So I’ve been a bit upset ever since I found out that when you get internet in Australia that doesn’t mean that you get unlimited access! I get a 200MB download quota per month and I used that in about 2 days. I think it went so fast because Skype uses heaps of it. Anyway I bought more internet download today and I guess I will just keep having to do that but at least now I know that I have to make it last! Last night m y whole residential college went ice skating which was a nice break from sorting out the not-so-fun aspects of my life haha. I forgot that most aussie’s very rarely ice skate if they ever have at all! I had quite a good time having everyone be so impressed after I told them that I’m not very good! We got back late and I was exhausted. Some of my hall was staying up to hang out but I just had to go to bed. I’m definitely missing out on some of the bonding because I’m so busy with international student info sessions and activities. At the same time, I’m sure I will have no problem catching up. Today was probably the most exhausting day yet. It was a big day for everyone at UQ because it was Market Day—a huge event. Every club and sports team and local vendor was there. I got a lot of free stuff. I ended up walking around the Great court (the main courtyard on campus…it’s gigantic) about 4 times throughout the day, each time acquiring more free things and information. I signed up for a club where you get a card that gives major discounts to all of the clubs and bars that everyone goes to which is very popular. Most of us on my hall got the card. I also signed up for a dance club. Yes I, the uncoordinated Erica Fratz, signed up for a DANCE club! A bunch of girls on my hall did it because it is an amazing deal. All you pay is 2 dollars and that covers the whole semester. Each week there is a dance class for an hour and each week it’s different. I guess I just had so much fun on the first night when union college had dance instructors come and we learned a lot of dances. After all of that I had my “science student day” thing that I attended with a guy in my hall who is also in science. The presentation was cheesy and definitely meant for first year students but I had a good laugh just thinking back to when I watched similar presentations a few years back. After that we had a self-guided tour that was like a scavenger hunt that required answering questions about buildings on campus. Boring but important. Then there was a BBQ but all they had was hot dogs so we made the trek back to the college for lunch there. Then I went back out to Market Day to buy some gorgeous homemade earrings from this nice woman--they were really cheap (2 dollars!). I found out about mobile phone deals and asked about 10 different people about biking and what they think I should do about getting one. I decided that I probably don’t want to do the triathlon training club because they train at 5am 3 times a week and 6am the other 2 days! I’d rather just run, bike, and swim on my own with my gym membership that I want to buy. SO I still have so much to do! Tomorrow in the morning I’m going to the “working while studying” info session for abroad students so that just in case I want to work somewhere on campus I can know what the process is and what jobs are available. I’ve heard that there are some really fun jobs on campus and I feel so guilty about how much money I’ve been having to spend. After that I’m going into the city by bus (my first time!) to buy stuff for my room and some cool fabric for the toga party tomorrow night that is supposed to be legendary. It does make me laugh when I think about the fact that everyone is so excited because it’s their first big party…I still remember that feeling! Okay I want to get the pictures up so this is all for now. Wow this was really long!

Kiwitown part 3

Day 7 we got up really early to check out and drive to milford sound for a boat ride. There were beautiful waterfalls and we saw some seals and dolphins which was nice but we were all exhausted. We got lunch on the boat and I had to give some of my food to the boys because they were so hungry and the stupid lunches were skimpy! We had to stop for food after the boat ride when we were driving haha. From Milford sound, where btw our guide got harrassed by the police because he didnt have some paper that allowed him to drive a tour in New Zealand that his boss never told him to have...this story could go on forever...we drove to Te Anau for our night's accommodation. We actually stayed in for once becaus ewe had our own rooms and most of us could hardly keep our eyes open or move! We were sort of running from the police after that which excited us all and made the trip even more extreme haha. Day 8 we got up early (surprise) to see the glowworm caves. They were cool and definitely something you should see but we were not thrilled to again be up so early! The we headed off to Dunedin. We arrived in the late afternoon and walked around the city which is known for being a uni town. We went out to dinner which was one of the included meals of the trip and me and lindsay (the other american girl) put goon in our purses for everyone so we could save money! It was a really fun night as usual and we all ended up at Mackers (McDonalds) at the end of the night for some odd reason. The next morning we got up early to drive back to christchurch. I was really sad during the car ride because we all had become so close. We are seriously like family. All of the others are going to Sydney and I'm the only one here is Brisbane. There is no one else I would rather spend my semester with so I'm still pretty upset about it all. Anyway I'm already planning my trip to visit all of them since flights round trip to sydney are 79 australian dollars and that's just the regular budget flight! So currently I'm in one of the 15 (I think) libraries at the University of Queensland. The campus is huge and I get lost 20 times a day but it's okay. My residential college is fun and there are heaps (aussie word) of activities and events going on but I keep having to miss activities to go to international student events. Well I need to get back home so I can get ready for all of the activities tonight! I am going to put the pictures on snapfish but they are alreasy all up on facebook!

Kiwitown part 2

Day 4 was a big day-- the long anticipated day of the bungy and the sky swing overlooking Queenstown. We had to get up really early and take a bus to the bungy site which was about a half hour from the center of the city. I still cannot believe I bungy jumped. It was absolutely crazy! Only the pictures can describe it. Oh and I was the only girl to do it...granted there were only 3 of us out of the 9 in the group but whatever, I was proud. After a quick lunch which we could hardly stomach we went to the famous sky swing where you are basically in a harness attached to a rope and you pull your own pin to let yourself go which is the scariest thing! I didn't even think about it when i was about to go because i probably would've freaked out. You have to see the pictures to understand what the sky swing is. After we finished the swing we went up on a gondola ride to a luge race course thing. We got five rides and everyone was so competitive and many of us flipped our cars and went off the track (oops!). Again, we completely lived up to American stereotypes, although I should mention the one guy was from Norway and one girl was from Mexico, so maybe we're really just a bunch of crazy young people! After the luge we were exhausted and we took the gondola back down and walked home. Needless to say we all needed a shower and a drink and we all had both! That night was another amazingly fun night in Queenstown. The next morning we FINALLY got to sleep in because it was a free day expect me and 3 others wanted to skydive so we had to get up around 8. Skydiving was my favorite experience. I bought pictures so I will put them up. I can see how people get addicted to jumping out of places--the adrenaline rush is unbeatable. The rest of the afternoon I rested and wandered the city and the beach which was very enjoyable. We finished off Queenstown with a crazy last night and thankfully (and unbelievably) never got kicked out of our accomodation. New post time.

I completely left out a full day! The first full day in Queenstown we went on a speed boat called on the shotover river, did a helicopter ride where I got to sit in front as the driver did all sorts of crazy dips and turns through a narrow canyon, and then white water rafted for several hours in some very rough rapids. It was the next day that we did the bungy jumping, swing, and luge. Okay now I feel better haha.

Kiwitown

SO the first day of the trip was a long, scenic drive to Fox Glacier. New Zealand is breathtakingly gorgeous! We did many photo stops along the way to break up the drive. Everyone in the group got along so well. We stopped for lunch along the west coast in a town where we got sandwiches and ate on the beach.By the late afternoon we were in Fox Glacier which is a town that is all of one block long and in the middle of nowhere. There is only one bar! Needless to say, we all got showered and went to dinner and the bar for the night. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, we had an awesome time and definitely succeeded in portraying the loud crazy American stereotype...not sure if that's a good thing haha. The next morning (Day 2) we got up early to hike through the temperate rainforest up to the glacier. It was amazing to step out of the rainforest onto a giant block of ice. We had to wear big spikes on our shoes to walk on the glacier. Since we were all young and athletic, our guide took us to places on the glacier where most groups don't get to go. It was incredibly exhausting as the glacier is at a very high altitude so when we hiked through the rainforest it was practically like walking up a mountain for several miles. The hiking took most of the day and when we got back to the town we all relaxed a bit before (surprise) going to the bottle shop. We taught Bruce some American games and he taught us (or tried to at least) some Australian games. We went to the same bar that we had gone to the night before. The following morning (Day 3) we headed to Queenstown nice and early as usual. We got some goon (that's box wine btw for the Americans ;0 ) and some beer and mad the drive really fun. When we got to Queenstown we put our things in our room and headed to the beach because it was sunny and hot out. We all laid out on the beach and explored the city a bit before buying groceries to have an Aussie BBQ, compliments of Brucey, on the public BBQ's at the park which is right on the beach. We had a really great time and even witnessed an old man go swimming in a speedo and then get out of the water and strip... New Zealanders are interesting. We headed back to our rooms and met some others staying in the hostel which was FULL of students backpacking around new zealand. We went out once again but this time we were in a city that had an amazing nightlife! Ok i'll make a new post again to continue onto day 4.

So much to tell!

Alright so I've been in Brisbane for a few days now and things are hectic as O-week proceeds! I left the MD to go to LA on the 3rd and spent a few days at my mom's friend's Audrey's house with my mom. I got a mini tour of LA over the few days I was there which was good since I had never been there. My ipod tragically died the morning of my flight to new Zealand, so we had to rush to a mall and buy a new one because there was no way to fix it. It all worked out and I got to LAX with plenty of time to spare. My flight left at 8:30pm west coast time on Tuesday the 5th and I arrived early in the morning (around 6am) Thursday morning in Auckland. I then flew from Auckland which is on the north island to Christchurch on the south island. I figured out where the shuttles were and I got to the hostel my tour group would be staying at for the night. I arrived too early for check-in and had to leave some bags in the back room of the hostel while i explored the city. There was a lot going on as it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon. I wandered for a few hours and then at 1pm i checked in. When i got up to the room there was a guy there named Matt. We still joke that we were the originals of the trip. We talked for a while and walked around. He went out on his own and i met more people as they arrived.By the evening there was 6 of us, but we had heard nothing about our tour guide and we were all just clueless about how anything was going down! We got some dinner and stopped by the bottle shop--that's the liquor store for you Americans ;) -- and hung out in the room for a bit before going out to a few bars that turned out to be quite fun. When we got back late that night around 2am, we still had no information about our tour except that we should be leaving early the next morning. We get a knock on the door and it was our tour guide, Bruce, a 25 year-old native of Sydney. He told us we had to be up early--6am! Just after that our 7th person showed up and we were all happy to have another in our group. I will make a new post for the actual trip just because I know reading a giant paragraph is no fun!