Exciting Week

This week was absolutely amazing!!

Monday morning me and my roommates watched the US vs. Canada hockey game. It was an awesome game! Later in the day we all had our orientation so we went to that. That night there was a free BBQ! Free food is always great. We ate and met some new people. Tuesday we went to the beach in the morning then walked around Surfer's Paradise.

Wednesday morning Becca and I left for our trip to Byron Bay. We were with a group of international students from Griffith. On our way there we stopped at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. I got my picture taken with a Koala and got to see a bunch of animals. When we got to Byron Bay we went to our hostel and hung out there for a while. Later we went on a hike to the lighthouse, which is the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. It was a long walk...it took us about an hour to get there and we were hiking through the mountains. That was the best work out that I've had since i got here lol. That night we went to a club called Cheeky Monkeys. We got free food!! Me and Becca didn't stay very late. We ended up going to the grocery store where I was very excited to find some Ice Cream Sandwiches!! We spent the rest of the night hanging out at the hostel.

Thursday morning we got to sleep in. When we got up Becca and I walked around town and looked at some of the shops. That afternoon we went sea kyaking. That was a lot of work. We were hoping to get to see some dolphins, but they never showed up :( That night we hung out in the TV room and watched some movies.

Friday morning was our surfing lesson. It was raining when we first went out, but the skies ended up clearing up. I had a lot of fun surfing, and I actually rode a wave all the way in to the beach once!! After surfing we had lunch, then me and a girl from Arizona, her name is Kristen, went hang gliding. It was absolutely amazing!! I thought it would be scary, but the only really scary part was jumping off the platform. The rest of it was so much fun. The view was beautiful. I took a ton of pictures from the air and they are now on facebook. We headed home on the bus shortly after we got back from hang gliding.

Saturday we went shopping in the morning. We all needed some groceries and Becca and Karisse both got phones. That night there was a free bus to one of the clubs at Surfers called Sin City. We had bought a ticket earlier in the week that let us get 3 free drinks when we got there, so we decided to go and check it out. It was a pretty cool place. We didn't end up staying very long. After we left the club we walked around Surfers. It was a fun night!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We all slept in. We walked to campus so that I could figure out where my classes are. The exciting part about the day was that I finally got to talk to my mom. I hadn't talked to her for almost a week and it was awesome to get to talk to her!

My classes start tomorrow, Monday, and I am actually really excited! It will be nice to meet some more people.

This past week was probably one of the best weeks I've had since I've been here. Pictures are on facebook if you would like to see them!

Hope everyone is well!

Cheers

Sarah

Friends :)

It has been a good week down under. The beginning of the week was pretty low key. I didn't do much, just sat around and relaxed. Tuesday morning I went to Somerset to observe some teachers. Tuesday afternoon was really fun. Me and 9 other people took a cab to Surfer's Paradise and got an hour of surf lessons. It was a lot of fun. I met some new people and I actually stood up for a few seconds on the board!!! Tuesday night I went to one of the clubs with the people I met surfing. There was a live band and it was a really good time.

Wednesday night I got a surprise. Around midnight someone knocked on my bedroom door. I opened it and was surprised to find that a new roommate had moved in. I didn't even here her!! Her name is Karesse. She is from Hawaii, but goes to school in Tacoma, Washington. We talked for a few minutes then both went to bed. Thursday I took her to Kmart to get some things. We also went to a grocery store so that we would have food to eat.

On Friday Karesse and I both slept in. We didn't do much during the day, she was still a little tired from the trip. Around 4 we got another roommate. Her name is Becca. She is from Colorado and goes to the same school as Karesse. We didn't do much after Becca got here. All the shops close around 5:30 so we didn't have time to get anything. Saturday we all went shopping again. We now all have everything we need, i think ;)

Saturday night we watched some movies on our TV that now works. We watched Never Been Kissed, X-Men, and part of Raising Helen. It was a good night hanging out with new friends :)

Both my new roommates are really nice. I think we will get along great!! We are now only waiting for one more roommate to show up. Hopefully he gets here soon!

Hope all is well!

Sarah

Life

Life in Australia has been good this week. I have mostly been sitting around and just relaxing. Its nice to have time to do that before my classes start in March. On Tuesday and Wednesday I went to Somerset College, which is the school that Mr. Bassingthwaight works at. It is a private school for grades K-12. I was only there for half a day, but I got to sit in 6th and 7th grade math classes. I got to help the kids when they had questions and I had a lot of fun. It was very interesting to see how the school systems work here. Its very different than the system back home. The kids don't sit through the same classes every day. Its kind of like being in college that way. The kids are all really sweet. I am going back to the school this coming Tuesday and Wednesday as well. I might get to sit in the grade 8, 9, & 10 math classes this time.

Wednesday night a bunch of people were sitting around talking outside. I went out there and met a lot of people. I had a really good time.

I forgot to say last time that I have a roommate now. His name is Calum. He is from a small town in New South Wales. I should be getting two more roommates on the 15th. I think one of my roommates is from Colorado, it will be nice to have another American in my apartment.

I was woken up this morning by a knock on my apartment door. I went to see who it was and was surprised to see that it was a lady delivering flowers. They were for me. They were from my mom, dad and brother. It was very nice to get a little something from them.

Life is good here, but I miss everyone back home.

Cheers

Sarah

First Week

My first week in Australia has been good. It was cloudy and rainy a lot of the time but I got a couple of really nice days. I haven't done a lot this week, I'm still trying to get used to area. There are 3 different malls fairly close to my apartment, so I went to each of those just to look around and see what was there. I haven't spent much money on shopping...I'm trying to pace myself a little bit :)

I finally got a phone the other day. Its strange because only one person has my number so far so I don't get many calls or texts (a little different than back home). All the same, its nice to be able to carry a phone with me again.

The other day I finally got to see The Lovely Bones. I have been wanting to see it for a while and am excited that I finally go to. When the movie got over I did a little shopping and came back to my apartment. That night I went to the Bassingthwaight's house for diner. It was nice to get to see everyone and have a home made diner. It was very good, and I was lucky enough to get to take leftovers home with me :)

Today was a beautiful day outside. My mom updated me on my brother's basketball game so I knew how it was going. When the game was over I decided to make a trip to the beach. I ended up going to surfer's paradise. The first thing I did when I got there was take a couple pictures of the beach. After that I walked around the shops a bit. The I finally got to sit on the beach. The sand was so soft and it was probably one of my best days here so far, just relaxing on the beach.

I have posted some pictures of the beach on facebook so feel free to check them out!!

Cheers,

Sarah