Australia!!

Waiting.....

2010-07-26T05:35:00.002-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been great. The 15th and 16th was the Literature Festival. It was very neat to see the different authors and illustrators. Their stories and talks were amazing. Friday night was the Lit Dinner. The dinner was amazing, the guest speaker was very entertaining, and the band after diner was great. All in all it was a very fun night :)

That Sunday we took a boat out to one of the islands to do some snorkeling. The boat ride was awesome. We saw a whale on the way there and on the way back. The snorkeling didn't go so well. Since it is the middle of the winter here, the water was very cold. But that wasn't really the worst part. Just the feeling of being in the middle of the ocean, not having a floor beneath me, I kinda freaked out. Then looking down to the water I would start hyperventilating. So I was in the water for about 2 minutes then got out lol. For the rest of the time dad and I sat on the beach.

Monday was the farewell assembly for the Jim Hill group. There were lots of tears at that assembly. My dad got up the next morning to be at the airport at 5 to see the group off. I think he is crazy for doing that, but he is usually up early anyways so...

The rest of the week at school was a lot more normal. Classes were back on as usual. I have been going to classes every day. It has been very interesting going to all of the classes.

This last weekend Mr. and Mrs. French took my dad and I to Cape Hilsboro. We went for a hike, saw a kangaroo, sat around the bonfire and had a relaxing evening. Sunday morning I went for a walk along the beach, on our way back we stopped at a Tea House for some morning tea. I got back to Angela's house around noon and the rest of I was lazy lol. I watched a movie, took a nap, watched some tv and saw the Masterchef Finale. It was a really good day lol

Now that its getting so close to the time to come home, I'm getting very anxious. I really hope it doesn't make the next week go by slower. But I now leave a week from tomorrow :) Then I'll be on my way home!! I am soooooo excited!!!! lol

Well, I will see everyone in a week!!

Sarah

Busy Times

2010-07-14T02:23:00.004-05:00

Wow!! The last few weeks have been pretty amazing!! The from June 30th to July 5th I stayed at the home of a family I know here in Aus. They were in NZ at the time so I had the place to myself. It was a good week of relaxing :) I went to see Eclipse on July 1st and it was absolutely amazing!! The rest of the week I mostly hung out at the house and went to the mall a couple of times.

On July 6th I left for NZ. My flight was good. I made it to the hotel by 7:30 that night. My dad's flight was supposed to get in at 5 the next morning. I figured he would be at the hotel by 6:30 and I wanted to be up by the time he got there. So I set my alarm for 5:45. Now NZ is 2 hours ahead of Aus. So I was really getting up at about 4am Aus time. It was a lot easier to get up that early than I would have thought. I think it was mostly because I was so excited to see my dad. Well I didnt realize that the rest of the group from Jim Hill was on a different flight from my dad. Their flight came in later. So they didn't end up getting to the hotel until about 9:30 AM. I was up way to early. But it gave me time to make sure I had everything packed and ready to go. When he got to the hotel my dad called up to my room, I got my stuff and went down to the lobby. It was so good to see him!

Not long after I went downstairs we were off to our first stop. We walked to the Auckland sky tower. We went to the top and saw the amazing view. Our bus picked us up and we went to Mt. Eden. Its a dormant volcano. We went right up to the top and saw into the crater. It was very cool. A little later we went to one of the museums in Auckland. We had some lunch and a tour and then headed back to our hotel. After my dad showered (he had been traveling for about 35 hours) we walked back to the Sky Tower. I then jumped off the top :) The Sky Jump was very cool. It is basically a very controlled base jump. I fell for about 10 seconds :) Dad and I had made a reservation for diner at the revolving restaurant in the Sky Tower. We went and ate and the diner was very good! After diner we went back to the hotel and dad went to sleep.

Day 2 of our NZ adventure started out early. The bus left at 7:30. We had about a 2 hour drive until our first stop. The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. Those caves were so cool. And we saw tons of glow worms. We got some lunch and got back on the bus. We then had an hours drive to Rotorua. We went up the Gondola and the kids got to go on the luge ride. After that we went to see the gysers and hot mud pools. At the same site we got to see a Mauri culture performance. It was very interesting and cool to learn about their culture.

The morning of day 3 we got to sleep in :) Dad and I did a little shopping and then went back to the hotel. We did something first (cant remember what that was at the moment lol) then we went to the black sand beaches. That was one of the prettiest beaches I have seen yet. And it was awesome to be there with my dad.

Saturday morning we left for the airport. We all flew from NZ to Brisbane together, then my dad and I were on a different flight up to Mackay. Our flight was supposed to land 5 min after the group's and we were nervous about missing the big welcome party that would be waiting for us. Well our plane ended up landing about 5 min before the group's so we waited for them and all went into the terminal together.

Our welcome was awesome. All the teachers and host families were there to meet us. Plus there were some aboriginals and other natives to Aus there to perform some dances for us. It was a great way to start our time in Mackay. Saturday night we went to Mr. Greer's house for a BBQ. It was a nice way to get to know some of the teachers.

Our first day at the school started with a tour. In the afternoon there was a whole school assembly where we were all introduced. Day 2 at the school I went to the Sugar mill with some of the other parents. We got to see how they process the sugar cand and then got to tast test some of the products they make right at the mill. Some of that stuff was awesome!! We got back to school around noon and ate some lunch. Then my dad and I went down to the oval to watch the senior school in the athletic carnival. It was a georgous day to be outside.

Today (Wed) we went to The Hut to learn more about the culture of the aboriginal people and the South Sea Islanders. They cooked us a meal the traditional way their people cook, which was very interesting. We learned about their culture and got to do some painting.

At the moment I am waiting for the launch to the Literature Festival. Angela is on 'board duty' (she is watching the kids in the boarding house) and I'm sittin here waiting for dad and Mr. Greer to arrive at the school. I am very excited for this Lit Festival over the next couple of days. Last time we were here it was amazing! Should be a good 2 days :)

Wow...I think that's it for now. When I remember what else we did on our last day in NZ I'll write another quick post lol

Hope all is well. I'll see you all in a few weeks :)

Sarah

Ok I remember what else we did on the 3rd day in NZ. We went to a rainforest and walked some of the trails. It was georgous :) Dont know how I forgot about it lol.

Goodbyes

2010-06-27T03:30:00.002-05:00

This last week has been a fun one. On Sunday I went to Sea World. It was a beautiful day and it was a lot of fun. The only thing that would have made it more fun would have been if I could have gone with someone lol. My favorite part of the day was seeing the dolphin show. It was amazing! There was also a pirate show that was really good. There were people tumbling and jumping off of a big ship into the water. It was crazy!

Becca and Karisse got home Sunday night. We didn't do anything too exciting...just stayed in and watched some TV. Monday we spent packing and doing a little cleaning.

On Tuesday we went to a town called Burleigh to go to a wildlife park. We took the bus to Burleigh and from the map online it was only supposed to be a short walk from there to the park. Well we got off the bus and started walking. We saw a few signs for the park so we knew we were headed in the right direction. Then we kept walking and walking. We went up a hill and ended up in a residential area. We didn't want to go any further without being sure of where we were going. So we went back down the hill and to a hospital. We asked a lady where the wildlife park was and she offered to give us a ride there since we were quite a ways away. We accepted the ride gratefully. We were then at the park within 5 minutes. Then we fond out that there was some construction going on so we got our tickets for half price (that was $5!!) Then we got a pass to go back whenever we wanted. It was a pretty small park, but very cool. There was a building with nocternal animals and we got to se 2 palatypus. It was awesome. After we were done going through the park we went to the bus stop. We sat there for an hour before the bus came along. Then we had about an hour bus ride home, but we finally made it back.

Wednesday was Movie World day. The only thing that would have made that day better would have been less rain. It rained on and off all day. And I'm not just talkin about a nice sprinkle. Im talkin about it pouring rain on and off. We went on most of the rides and they were all pretty good. The best in my opinion was the Superman Escape ride. It was sweet!! There was also a Batman ride, a Scooby-Doo ride, and a Lethal Wepon ride. We saw a Shrek 4-D movie and did some shopping. It was a really fun day.

Thursday morning I took one of my suitcases to the Greyhound station to ship it to Mackay. It has already made it there and been picked up. The rest of Thursday was for more packing. And at midnight we watched Brazil and Portugal play in the World Cup.

The rest of the weekend was used for packing and cleaning up the apartment. Becca had to take a shuttle to the airport at 4:45 this morning so we said our goodbyes on Saturday night. Karisse took the shuttle at 12:45 this afternoon so i helped her finish cleaning up this morning and got her stuff down to the shuttle. No tears were shed, but I plan on visiting them in Washington as soon as I can.

Its been pretty lonely here since they left. But I'm only in the apartment for a couple more days, then I leave for New Zealand on the 6th where I'll get to see my daddy!!

Hope all is well!

Sarah

Done :)

2010-06-17T21:37:00.002-05:00

Well it's official!! I am done with classes for the semester :) I was done with all my lectures by the 3rd, but I just finished all my exams. It feels so good to be done and not have to worry about school anymore.

This week I have had the apartment all to myself. David left for China for 3 weeks on Sunday. Becca and Karisse went on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, they also left on Sunday. Then Callum started moving some of his stuff out a couple weeks ago and hasn't been around. I think he has got another place for next semester, but since he doesn't really talk to any of us that much I'm not really sure. lol

It's been kind of nice having the place to myself since I've been studying a lot. But now that I'm done with classes I'm excited for Becca and Karisse to get back. This next week should be pretty fun. I plan on going to Sea World one day and Movie World (which is kinda like Universal Studios) another day. It should be a really fun week, but sad at the same time, since it will be Becca's and Karisse's last week here :(

Thats it for now.

Sarah

Time Flies

2010-06-04T07:16:00.002-05:00

Wow...I can't believe its already June! This last month has flown by. I only have one more month on the Gold Coast. Then I will meet my dad and the group from Jim Hill in New Zealand then we will head up to Mackay for 3 weeks, then finally I'll get to come home!

The past couple weeks have been good. The 25th was my 21st birthday :) We didn't celebrate that night since we had class the next day. Thursday we went out to eat then we came back to the apartment and hung out. It was a great night! I got some cards from my mom, dad, and bro. It was nice getting a little something from home.

This week was my last week of classes!! I never have to go to a physics lecture or lab ever again!! Next week will be a study week. Then I have a physics exam on the 17th and a math exam on the 18th. After that I will be officially done with school for the semester!

I am so excited to finally be done with classes. But when I look back, the semester when by so fast! I can't believe I've already been in Aus for 4 months. I am really looking forward to coming home. I miss everyone so much! I have a feeling that my last two months here will go buy so fast. It will seem like no time at all and I'll be on my way home :)

Cheers!

Sarah

Sydney

2010-05-22T08:56:00.002-05:00

Well it has been a while since I wrote anything on here, so here's a fun story for ya!

Last weekend Me, Becca, and Karisse took a trip to Sydney. We left the coast Thursday night around 8:00. Our plane landed in Sydney around 10 then we caught a cab to Freshwater. Becca knows a family there so they let us stay with them for free. When we got there around 10:45, we set our stuff down then Trish (the mom) took us out to the local pub. We weren't there long, since the pub closed at midnight.

Friday we made our way into the city. We saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge which were both absolutely amazing! We walked around down town Sydney for the rest of the afternoon. That night we went to a sailing club with Trish and her friends. We got there and found out that the tide was so high that we had to walk through the water to get to the door. When someone went to the door, they found out that it was locked. And of course the guy with the key was running late. So we sat around waiting for the key. We finally got into the building and it was very cool. We sat around and talked for a while. We tried our hand at fishing and Karisse caught an EEL!! Finally diner was ready. We had a great meal and some funny conversation.

First thing Saturday we went to Bondi Beach! When we got there we got some fish and chips for lunch. It was the best fish and chips I've had since I got here. We walked around the beach for a little bit then caught the bus back to the train station. After Bondi we went to Sydney Stadium. We looked around the AFL shop a little bit (Becca bought a Jersey) then left. We found some markets and looked around there. When we got back to the city we went to the Queen Victoria Building. Its a really nice building with really expensive, designer stores. That night was Becca's and my birthday celebration. We had a lot of fun that night.

Sunday we went back to the city. We went to Pancakes on the Rocks for lunch. It was an amazing meal!! We walked around the markets at the Rocks after that. We then walked across the Harbour Bridge. It was so pretty. We went to Luna Park, got in for free, and left about 20 min later lol. We went back to Freshwater early that day. We had a great meal at Trish's house that night.

Monday we stayed in Freshwater. We walked to the mall and walked around there for a bit. Then we went back to Trish's house and just hung out until it was time to head back to the coast. We took the ferry into the city, which was very pretty. From the ferry we took the train to the airport.

None of us wanted to leave Sydney. It is so pretty, and I feel like there was a lot more that I wanted to see and do. Good thing I'm going back in August :)

Hope all is well!!

Sarah

2010-04-29T05:22:00.003-05:00

The last couple of weeks haven't been too exciting.

Last Friday Becca, Karisse, and I went to QBar. Its a bar on the 77th floor of the Q1 building down by Surfer's. The bar was really nice, kind of expensive, but well worth it. It was fun getting dressed up :)On Sunday Karisse and I were planning on going shopping. Then we realized that Sunday was ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day. So everything was closed. So we went shopping on Monday instead. All I had planned on buying was groceries and some gifts. Well I didn't end up getting any of the gifts, but I did get groceries :)

The weather here is still gorgeous. Its starting to get a little cooler at night, but its still been in the mid- to high-70s during the day.

That's it for now. Keeping it short and sweet this week.

Hope all is well

Cheers

Sarah

Lions Game Day

2010-04-17T21:07:00.002-05:00

Ok so here's the story. Its a long one and I hope you enjoy it.

There was an event put on by the Village to go to an AFL game on Saturday the 17th in Brisbane. With the ticket we would get a drink and food voucher, plus a 2 for 1 meal at a restaurant. Becca and I decided to go, so we bought our tickets from the RA earlier in the week. By Friday afternoon we still hadn't heard anything about getting our tickets. Then Friday night around 8:30 an RA posted a message on Facebook saying that we could pick up our tickets. Well, I didn't see the message until 9:15 and the office closes at 9, so we didn't get our tickets that night. So Saturday around noon we went to the office to get our tickets. We get down there and the office is closed. So we call the RA on duty. She comes down and we get our tickets, but she doesn't know anything about the food and drink vouchers.

We found out that the Brisbane reserve team was playing at 3:30, so we decided to go to that game. We left our apartment around 2:30 and got a bus to the train station. Our train ride into Brisbane was around an hour long. We got off the train in Brisbane and went to the bus stop. We were so confused trying to figure out which bus to take to the stadium. We eventually figured it out and got on the bus. It was only about a 5 min bus ride from the train station to the stadium. We got to the stadium around 4:00.

I had looked on a map to see where in Brisbane the stadium was. When I was looking, I found a street named 'Princess St'. It was only about 3 blocks from the stadium so Becca and I walked over there so I could take a picture of the street sign :) After I got my picture we walked back to the stadium and looked around at the Lions shop. Finally we went into the stadium.

Now before we had left we asked the RA where we could pick up our vouchers. He told us to go to the Match Day Office. So that is what we did when we got into the stadium. They told us to go to the ticket office by Gate 9. Well we found gate 9, but the ticket office was outside the stadium. So we went outside to get our vouchers. The guy at the desk then told us that only our RA, who bought the tickets, could pick up the envelope with the vouchers in it. So we tried getting his number, so that he could tell them to give us our vouchers. Then the guy tells us that the RA's ID needs to be shown just to get the envelope. So we gave up on that and went back inside to watch the Lions Reserves team play.

We watched the game for a while and then I realized that I needed to find an ATM to get some money. So we asked one of the workers and she told us to go to this counter. So we go over there and my card doesn't work. The lady said that a lot of international cards don't work there. So she said that there was an ATM at one of the shops across the street. So we went outside the stadium again. We walked across the street to a gas station and I got some money. Then Becca and I decided that we were hungry, so we walked to the 7-11 to get something to eat. There wasn't anything good to eat there, so we went to get some pizza from Dominoes, which was basically right next door.

We ordered a pizza that only cost us $8. When we got our pizza we had no where to eat it. So we went next door to the laundry mat and ate in there. Once we finished our pizza we went back to the stadium and watched more of the Reserve's game. Finally by 7:00, 3 hours after we got there, the RA shows up and we get our vouchers. But of course we aren't hungry then since we just ate a pizza.

We watched the game for a while then. At half time we decided to use our vouchers. So we both got fries and a drink. We went back and watched the second half of the game, which was a lot better than the first half. The game got over around 9:30. The Lions ended up winning the game 101-79!!!

After the game Becca and I decided to walk to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone. We got there and were super excited because ice cream cones are only $.50! Once we had our ice cream we walked to where all the busses were and saw a sign saying "Walk to south bank", which is where the train station was. So we start walking and decide to follow this girl in front of us. Eventually she turned into a dark alley and we decided not to follow her there. So we just kept walking straight. We found an information sign and there were some people standing around it. When i went to look at the sign, they asked where we were going. We told them we were going to the train station. They said we were going the right way and gave us some directions, so we kept going the right way. Finally we made it to the train station.

When we got on the train it was already full so we had to stand. We stood for the whole ride back. When we got off the train we found the rest of the group from the Village. The RA said they were going to take a bus into town, then take another bus to the university. When we got to the bus stop in town around 12:15, we found out that the next bus wasn't supposed to come until 1. So our RA called a friend of his to take two people back to the Village to get their cars, so that they could pick everyone else up. There was extra room, so Becca and I got in that first car.

The driver of that car was a very funny guy and he was telling us a story about how he was driving at night and almost hit a kangaroo. He said 'it went Hop Hop on the road' lol Becca and I laughed so hard at this, but apparently no one else in the car thought it was that funny. We finally made it home around 12:45.

We told this whole story to Karisse once we made it home. She laughed. So i hope this story makes everyone smile :)

It was a crazy day. Filled with frustration, excitement, more frustration, an exciting football game, and some laughs.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers

Sarah

Easter

2010-04-07T00:17:00.000-05:00

What a week! This past Thursday me, Becca, and David went out to diner with Karisse and her parents. They took us to the awesome steak house. All the cuts of meat are set up in a class case and when you order, you go up there and pick the cut you want, you tell them how you want it done and what kind of sauce you want on it. It was absolutely amazing!! It was nice to get to sit down for a nice meal and talk with everyone.

On Friday I went to the Good Friday service in the morning. I found out that there is a church that meets in the auditorium of the high school right next door to my apartment. It was a great service. There was a lot of music which i really liked. During the service I realized that that was the first time that I had gone to church without my family. It made me kind of sad, but I'm glad I went. After I got back from the service Becca and I went to the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day! We spent a while sitting on the beach then we went to the Q1 building. It is the tallest residential building in the world. On the 77th floor there is an observation deck. We spent some time up there and the view was amazing. Becca and I bought passes so that we can go back as often as we want for free :) We will be going back at night sometime to see the city lights.

Saturday Becca's parents came. It was nice to meet them. They left for their trip that afternoon.

On Sunday I went to church again. It was another nice service. I met some people that run the church and I am definitely going to be returning. The rest of that day was pretty laid back. I watched some TV and a couple of movies.

This week we are on Easter Break. I like to think of it as spring break, but since its technically fall here they just call in their mid-semester break.

I hope everyone had a good Easter!

Cheers!

Sarah

Routines

2010-03-30T05:46:00.000-05:00

Nothing too exciting has been going on these past two weeks. I'm getting into the routine of my classes. Loving having a long weekend every weekend. :)

This past weekend was really fun though. On Friday we walked to a shop that only sells stuff made in New Zealand. There was a lot of neat stuff there. There were some amazing wall hangings that I really liked.

Saturday was amazing! The first part of the day we just hung around the apartment. But that night we went to a professional rugby game. We were sitting in the section where all the crazy fans sit and we were in the front row. We got flags to hold and it was so much fun. Each of our flags had the name of a player on them, so we were each cheering really hard for our player. The people we were standing by knew it was our first game so they explained some of the rules and what was going on during the game. It was very helpful. The only sad part about that game was when the cheerleaders came out. I miss cheerleading so much and it made me sad to see them out stunting, wishing I could be out there too. But other than that, the game was awesome! And the Titans won 24-4!! GO TITANS!!!!!

The rest of the weekend has been pretty lazy. Karisse got a surprise tonight. Her parents are visiting for Easter break and they surprised her by showing up a day early. It was nice to get to meet them.

I am very excited for next week and Easter break. No classes all week :)

Hope all is well!

Cheers

Sarah

Another Week

2010-03-15T07:10:00.000-05:00

This week was pretty relaxed. On Monday Karisse, Becca, and I watched the Oscars. It was strange because we watched them live, and they started around noon here. So we spent a good part of the afternoon in front of the TV.

Tuesday was club sign on day. The three of us signed up for a movie club, where we go to a movie with the club once a month. Wednesday and Thursday I was busy with classes.

Saturday was a fun day. We took a trip out to Robina to go shopping. They have a pretty big shopping center there. The trip there was interesting. To get there we had to take a bus, a train, and another bus. Our first bus was late which made us late for our train. We had to wait half an hour to catch the next train. We spent a few hours at the mall and ate lunch there. On our way home we got to our first bus on time, but still missed our train. So we had another half hour wait. We finally made it home and were lazy the rest of the night.

That's it for now. Hope everyone is enjoying the last of winter back home!

Cheers

Sarah

Classes

2010-03-08T19:29:00.000-06:00

What a week! I started my classes this past week. There are both good and bad parts about my schedule. I have no classes on Mondays or Tuesdays. Wednesdays I have class from 9am til 8pm with some breaks in between. Thursdays I have class from 11 til 5 with some breaks. Fridays I have one class and I am done by 11. This means that from 11 on Friday until Wednesday morning I don't have any classes. So I always have a long weekend! The strangest thing about my schedule is that I have 5 physics lectures in 2 days. I have 3 lectures on Wed and 2 on Thurs. I do have to say that Wed and Thurs are both long days, but its worth it to have the long weekend.

This past Monday I bought my books. Its very exciting because I didn't have to buy a book for my math class. Its awesome because math books are usually big and heavy. Since I didn't have class on Tuesday I decided to be lazy all day. It was very nice to just sit around and do nothing :) Wednesday was my first day of classes. They all went very well. When I got to my math lecture that day I was very surprised at how many people there were in the class. We were in a big lecture hall and it was absolutely packed. There were well over 200 people in the class. It is so different from back home. The biggest class I've had was probably about 40 people. Thursday was another day of classes.

On Friday after my one class Karisse, Becca, and I went to the mall. We went to Alice in Wonderland in 3D and it was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! I definitely want to see it again. After the movie we did some grocery shopping and came back to the apartment.

On Sunday we went to a different part of the coast to do some shopping. We were at the very southern part of Queensland. It was nice to see a different part of the coast. There was an amazing surf shop that just recently opened in a city called Kirra. It was absolutely huge and there was so much cute stuff there! It was a very fun day of shopping and just walking around. The worst part of the day was that it was about an hour and a half bus ride both ways. All in all it was a very fun day.

Everything is great here! Hope all is well with you :)

Cheers!

Sarah

Exciting Week

2010-02-27T22:53:00.000-06:00

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 :)

2010-02-20T06:52:00.000-06:00

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

2010-02-13T03:33:00.001-06:00

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

2010-02-05T03:01:00.000-06:00

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

The trip and getting settled.

2010-01-28T19:30:00.000-06:00

My last week in Minot was hard. I still hadn't figured out how to pack everything into 2 suitcases and I had a meltdown one night. My mom came to my room and we decided that I would bring three big suitcases and pay the extra charge. Wednesday night was my last game night at Kelsey's house for a while. It was good to see everyone that was there and it was a fun night. When everyone started to leave was when it got sad. I was very proud of myself though...i didn't cry.

Thursday was a hard day. My mom and I had decided we would drive to Fargo Thursday night because of the storm. The bad part of that was that both my dad and Trevor had a basketball game out of town. I went to the school at 1:30 when Trevor got out of school so that I could say goodbye. We were standing in the hallway and I started crying when he had to get on the bus and some of Trevor's friends stopped and asked what was wrong which made me cry even harder. My dad finally got to the school about 1:50 so i had to say a quick goodbye to him so that he could get on the bus. I was sobbing the whole drive home before I got it under control.

Mom and I left Minot around 6 that night. We stayed in Fargo for a night, then left for Minneapolis Friday morning. We got to Minneapolis around to and couldn't yet check into our hotel so we went to the mall. Saturday morning we were back at the mall at 9 to watch the cheerleading competition. The one team I really wanted to see was West Fargo, but they didn't make it because of the storm. We watched the competition for about an hour then we shopped until about 6. We went back to our hotel and took a nap then hung out the rest of the night. Sunday we went to the science museum in St. Paul. There was a Titanic exhibit that was really neat. They had actual artifacts that were recovered from the wreckage which was cool to see. The rest of the museum was ok...it was a lot more fun when I was younger. My last day in Minneapolis we went back to the mall. After the mall we went to Kohls!! We ate at TGIFridays that night and it was amazing!!!

We left for the airport Tuesday morning a little before 9:00. There wasn't a very big line, so I checked my baggage pretty quick. I still had about 2 hours before my flight left so mom and I sat down and talked a little before I went through security. When it was time to finally go through security I started crying. Mom and I were standing in the airport crying pretty hard. I made it through security fine, but when I looked back at my mom I started bawling again. I finally found my gate and sat down to wait for my flight to Denver.

The Flight to Denver was a quick one and then I found my gate for the flight to LA and waited for about 2 hours. The flight to LA was another quick trip. When I got to LA was when things got a little confusing. I had to switch terminals, which meant that I had to catch a shuttle. When I finally got to the right terminal I had to go through security again. Luckily the line wasn't very long and I made it through in just a couple of minutes. I found the right gate and waited again. When I boarded the plane I was very excited to find out that my seat was in an exit row, this means a lot more leg room :) It was nice to have all that extra room for such a long flight. The flight itself was about 13 hours long. The good thing was that I could watch movies! I ended up watching two movies then sleeping for a while. I had a 4 hour lay over in New Zealand so I called my mom and read my book. It was a 3 hour flight from NZ to Australia. I read more of my book on that flight.

I made it to Brisbane on Thursday morning and when I got to the baggage claim area I could already feel the humidity. The closer I got to the door the more I could feel it. I made it through customs just fine and I saw Kathy, a friend of the family that we have known for a while now. She took me to my apartment and helped me get everything to my room. She took me to the grocery store so I could get some food and she brought me back to the apartment. I didn't have internet yesterday so I had no idea what to do. I got most everything unpacked and set up in my room. I then walked to the university and found a computer so I could e-mail my mom and tell her everything was ok. I was asleep by 8:00 that night. It had been a good 34 hours of traveling, plus running around getting stuff for my apartment, plus 8pm here would have been 4am in Minot, so I was definitely tired.

My first night here was an interesting one. There was a huge thunderstorm, one of the biggest I've ever heard. The lightning was so bad that it set of the fire alarm in all the apartments. I grabbed a coat and went outside, but right when I walked outside the alarm stopped. I went back to bed and was up again by 6am. I had some breakfast and tried to get the internet to work, but it wouldn't so I read. I finally got my internet working and got to talk to my mom on Skype which was very exciting.

I will most likely hang around my apt. for a while, then there is a gathering tonight for everyone who is here. I will go to that and hopefully meet some people.

So far everything is going great here!

Cheers

Sarah

Getting Ready

2010-01-16T00:30:00.000-06:00

I've been counting down the days until I leave for Australia since the middle of fall semester. When I first counted down the days during class one day I was at like 130 days or so. Now I am leaving Minot in less than a week!!!! I leave Friday the 22nd for Minneapolis. The Minot High Cheerleaders have a competition at the Mall of America on the 23rd so I will be there for that. Then I get to spend a couple of days hanging out with my mom before my plane leaves Minneapolis on Tuesday the 26th.

So I have trouble figuring out what to pack for a weekend trip, now I'm trying to pack for six months!! I started packing for this trip and now realize just how hard it is to pack for 6 months. I have one suitcase just of summer clothes so far. I don't know how I am going to get the rest of my clothes into one suitcase. This has been the most stressful part of planning my trip so far.

Everything is all set up for my school there. I will be living in a 5 bedroom appartment with 4 other people. The strange thing is that I have no idea who any of these 4 people are. I will be moving in and I don't even know if they will be back from break yet. That is one of the things I am very nervous about. Meeting people and making new friends is not something I'm very good at. I am usually quite shy unless I have known someone for a while. That is something I am really going to try to get over while I am in Australia. I plan to come home with a lot of very good friends.

Saying goodbye to everyone here is going to be so hard. Both my dad and brother will be in Williston the night before I leave and they won't be getting home until late so I won't have a lot of time with them before I leave. I have one week left at home then I have the drive down to Minneapolis and a few extra days in Minneapolis with my mom which will be nice. I don't know when I am going to get to say goodbye to all of my friends but I will find sometime this week to do that.

I have one more week at home and I am going to make the best of it. I am going to have a great experience in Australia and I will hopefully learn a lot about myself while I am there.

Cheers!!!

Sarah