Tired.

Hello hello hello!

So here's a brief update, since not much has happened since my last massive post. We have started O-week (orientation week). It's a big deal. There are all these events going on to help new students adjust to life here. We went to what we thought was international student day yesterday (Tuesday) but it turns out it was on Monday and we missed it. Bravo eh? But we met with someone anyway and he asked us all these questions and it turns out we managed to have everything done on our own that people would have helped us with anyway! Nice! :)

But we did sign up for an excursion on Saturday which will be really really fun. We're going on a dolphin watching cruise, and then to a fauna farm where we can feed kangaroos and pet koalas. I'm so so so excited. I need to charge my cameras for that one! :)

I should probably mention that there are cockroaches here like you wouldn't believe. It is kind of difficult walking at night because I always keep an eye out for them- they're constantly underfoot. Gross.

And there are also these huge ships that go into the harbor that's kind of near my place, and they ALWAYS honk their super loud horns, and it scares me every time. This morning they jolted me out of sleep at 7 AM. Thanks ship guys. Thanks. I always manage to think it's my phone vibrating for some reason. Stupid... haha! I'm really tired today for some reason, even though I got a good, normal amount of sleep. I think it's because it's cloudy today. We might be going to the beach anyway though.

We went grocery shopping yesterday and I found some comforts of home- ketchup that actually looks like ketchup, along with cheese (yes!) and grapes. Really yummy grapes. So I'm getting used to stuff. Life has been so much better now that I have a fan. I feel like I'll be forever grateful for that!

I'm still missing everyone from home a lot, and I'll be on Skype tomorrow (your Wednesday) probably around 5 or 6PM your time so if you want to chat, let me know!! :)

Love you all.

TimTams!!!!

AUSTRALIA

Okay, I'm thinking it's time for a bigger update. I'll try to fill in the gaps from my last couple of entries.

I'll start first with my apartment. I live in what I call a boarding house. Everyone has their own bedroom and bathroom, but we all share a large kitchen and community area. The kitchen looks like a kitchen from a restaurant. We have this huge walk-in fridge and freezer, and we all have our own pantry cupboard with our room number on it. In the fridge and freezer we have our own bins with our number on them so we can keep our stuff separate from everyone elses'. There aren't any issues with people borrowing food from others, so it's nice that I don't have to worry about that.

Me after I got a little settled in to my room- not used to the heat!

Our community area has tables and chairs, as well as microwaves and toasters with all the dishes below them. Beyond that is two big rooms with couches and chairs and TVs. Our landlord-manager dude ordered the Olympics on TV so we can watch them. It's really cool to watch that in a different country, especially when you live with Canadians, Germans, and Aussies. I think the USA-Canada hockey game is on today, so I definitely want to try to watch that.

The building I live in is on this INSANE hill. Yes folks from Eau-Claire, it is WORSE than your hill at school. In all seriousness. I'll take a picture to prove it. Plus, there are trees growing out of the road... strangeness.

I'm not very far from the beach(es) so it's nice to be able to walk to them and just hang out all day. It's still a bit of a trek though. The waves are really intense here. It's cool to see all the surfers and body-boarders though. I think I'd like to try body-boarding one of these days. Maybe surfing when I feel I have balance. :) I've been to Newcastle beach and Nobby (Nobbie?) beach. I like Newcastle best so far. Nobby is on a point and the waves are a little rougher. Newcastle is a little more sheltered, plus has ocean baths nearby so you can swim in a calmer, enclosed area with ocean water if you'd like. They have lifeguards on duty sometimes, which is nice because it gets really intense and it's good to have someone watching. They usually have flags put up, and the best spot to swim is between them, because that's where they're watching. Plus they make announcements if anyone is outside the flags, caught in a rip, or just too far out. It's kind of cool.

You can see the flags here!

So there's this absolutely amazing ice cream place near Newcastle beach- I've gotten ice cream there twice. It's called Kiwi, and they make their own waffle cones. Plus they have the option of getting a hot waffle with ice cream on top. Sounds really good, but super filling, so I might have to make that one of my meals for a day. :)

Kiwi Ice Cream! SO GOOD.

Here's a picture of the beach!

Newcastle Beach- beautiful!

You can see in the picture that the waves are really intense. My plan is to make it to Bar Beach, where apparently the water is GORGEOUS and it's really nice to swim in. It's a little further away- like a 20 minute walk, so maybe I'll save that for a day excursion.

I'm registered for classes, though I'm still trying to figure out how exactly my schedule works. I know I only have class three days a week- Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but I think the lecture times aren't assigned, which is strange to me. I'm going to talk to someone about it when I get the chance.

I have had the chance to experience some of the nightlife here, and I think it's definitely a big part of the culture. My favorite place so far is the Brewery, which is a bar that's right on the water. They play a lot of techno though, which isn't really my thing. But I love that it's on the water, and there are always people there- plus it's free to get in, which is nice. Wednesday nights are 'Uni Night' so that's the big night that students go out on the town. The prices are cheaper apparently so that's what draws them out.

As far as food goes, it's relatively the same. There are things that I miss- ketchup for one. They call it tomato sauce, and that's pretty much what it is. I miss ketchup. And popcorn. I need to find some popcorn. One of the guys from ISU had some, and now I crave it a lot! But other than that, I've developed a love for Tim Tams. They're these incredible chocolate cookie things that are just unbelievable. The caramel ones taste like Twix. So good. I'll try to bring a pack back to the US, though I heard they sell them there. :)

I can't think of much else to add at this time, except that I miss everyone from home, and that it's still weird to me to think that I live in a foreign country. There are a lot of similarities between here and America, but a lot of differences too. Feel free to drop me a line guys- I miss you all!

Shoutout to my sister who says I need longer and more frequent blog updates- this one is for you! :) :)

Me on my balcony- you can see the freckles! :) :) (Gotta love self-timer eh?)

Blueys!

So, you'll all be happy to know I am sitting in my room... with a fan! HUZZAH! I can't even begin to describe the difference. Happy happy happy. :D

I went to the beach today. It was glorious. The waves were super intense though, so I only went in the water once. Then later on they announced the detection of 'blueys' or bluebottle jellyfish. If I recall correctly they said, 'If you don't want to get stung, get out of the water.' Or something like that. And then, 'If you get stung, please see a lifeguard.' They're very casual about it. But I continued working on my tan today, and got some amazing ice cream. (Lemon and Mango... yum!) I don't know if we're going out tonight or not, it is a Saturday, so we'll see.

I did take some pictures at the beach, and finally managed to get my Fiji photos up on Facebook- some of them at least. It's a start! I'm going to go to the hub tomorrow for sure and update everything I think. Try to get alllllll of my pictures up.

Send me some emails or something peoples... I love hearing from all y'all. I'm meeting lots of cool people here! Aussies and Germans and Canadians and all of that! :) Love youuuuuuuu.

Why hello, I've been in Australia a week!

Oh my goodness.
My brilliant friend Kara (care-uh) found a fan for me. Bless her heart! I don't have it yet, I'm getting it tomorrow, but I've never been more excited!! :)

I finally got the flowers my parents 'sent' to me, though the service fell through and I had to take a bus to a scarier part of town to pick them up (delivery service claims my room doesn't exist... though I'm sitting in it). They're beautiful and brighten my day. I might get flowers every so often just to have something earthy to lighten up life.

Got all my bank accounts figured out, and registered for classes! I only have class 3 days a week! (By my calculations anyway- still trying to understand their scheduling, it's very different!) Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I get three day weekends every week! Awesome!

I've honestly been trying to post pictures but facebook has not cooperated with me. I'm going to the student hub here in the city (5 minute walk+free internet=frequent use by Kelsey!) tomorrow I think to try again. I'm so annoyed with it- they're on my computer, I just can't get them up where anyone can see them!

I do still miss home a lot, but I am slowly acclimating to life here. I think once school starts that'll give me a good focus, and it'll be nice to get a routine. I don't have a routine now and I'm really really used to having one.

Overall things are good. I'm trying to cook little by little- it's harder when you don't have a cookbook! Work in progress I'll tell you that much! I think I'll be taking pictures at the beach tomorrow so people can see that too- once I finally upload everything!

I miss everyone at home, and have gotten to talk to some fantastic people on Skype lately, including: My parents, grandparents, Lindsey, Katie, Brenna, Vanessa. It's awesome to see your guys' faces. Really makes my day. If I haven't Skyped you yet, get on it! I want to see you!

I hope life is lovely for all of you, and I'm still trying to figure out how to pack some of this sunshine and warmth in an envelope and ship it your way!

Love love love love.

Here's Ashlee and myself in Fiji at our resort- a little morsel to hold you over!

Beachhhhhh.

Heyooo.

I found my camera cable. Heh. It was in my camera bag. Ironic isn't it? So now, after the one my mom mailed to me gets here, I'll have two. Yesssss.

Anyways, today I got my phone, finally! It's a lot different from American cell phones, so it's taken some getting used to. Still working on that. I also went to campus today and got my student ID card, and figured out some class stuff. I think I'll try to register tomorrow. Incidentally, the mosquitos on campus are UNBELIEVABLE. Really ridiculous. They swarm. NOT kidding. Who builds a Uni on a swamp?!?! Honestly?! I will most definitely be investing in bug spray. Hardcore. But I was traveling around there with a bunch of kids from Iowa State, so it was nice to have some Americans around. Got my picture taken for my ID after I had sweated out what seemed like my whole body weight. Sorry for being gross, but it's that hot here. And the train was really easy to take, which is nice.

After we got back, we went to the grocery store (still no luck on the fan) and then we went to the beach. (YAY) It was awesome. By the time we got there it was late afternoon-evening, and the waves were huge, so we went body surfing in them. They can take you out I tell ya, but once you get out to a certain point it's just really nice to float in the swells. I'm going again tomorrow morning to watch the surfers. :) Anyways, it's only 10:15, and I'm exhausted, again. I went to bed at 10:10 PM last night... haha! This time it's allowed though because I was in the ocean for awhile. I talked to an Aussie today and she told me where to get a fan, so I'm going to try tomorrow. I'm sooo so determined. Today was better temperature-wise, but still bad.

Plus I itch like crazy from those darn bugs. Hate 'em.

Anyways, I think it's bedtime!!

ARGGGAHHHH

You want to know what's really frustrating?

Finally having time to upload pictures and realizing that the only thing you forgot was the USB cable for your cameras.

Sorry folks, you'll have to wait awhile for my pics. Creep my facebook for tags until then!

I'm so annoyed!!!!

It's still really really hot.

You Right!

So today went better.
I woke up at like 7-ish and Skyped my mom right away. I love that I can talk to my 'rents whenever I want. We talked for a little while and then I went and had breakfast, and set out into the world that is Newcastle. I set up my bank account, and went shopping for necessities. GOOD NEWS: FOUND A PILLOW! And sheets that fit my bed! HOORAY! I'll never take that for granted ever again. Plus I found towels, and a really cheap store that has like all the essential stuff I need- minus a fan. I really really need a fan, but the only one I found was in a department store and it was $250!!! Like what?! I will not justify spending $250 on a fan. I'm going to keep looking.

But I did find a really cute part of town with good shopping- a place with scarves Linds!! :) And I hung out there for a little while. I really do need friends though haha. I'll work on that. I have to be overly friendly and outgoing. Hm..

But I got my credit card to work- thank GOD. I was so scared about that, and then the pillow shop lady helped me figure it out, and when I said thanks, she said 'you right!' (which means like you're all right, or you're welcome.) It was so Aussie! :)

I'd totally love to Skype with everyone back home, so you should let me know if you can or not. I'm still working on getting a phone, and stocking up on basic groceries. I got Nutella though, so life is good right now. Awhile ago I watched the Olympic opening ceremony with my parents through Skype. I watched it on my TV at home and got to see my fuzzy blonde doggie. :) It was good to do that.

Anywhoooo, keep in touch with me you guys, I love love love hearing from you.

Send me some of that Minnesota/Iowa windchill... I need it!! (Who would have thought I'd EVER say that!?)

Love youuuuuuuu.

It's really hot here.

Oh man, I don't know if you guys are ready for this post. I'm not even ready for it. I may cut it short because I'm really tired and have had one of the longest days of my life today... bear with me.

Okay, so I am now in Australia, but prior to my arrival here, I was in Nadi, Fiji! (Pronounced 'nahn dee') Fiji is i n c r e d i b l e! When you fly in it's just gorgeous. All green and these beautiful mountains and rainforest-y looking farmland below. Plus the fact that Fiji is composed of about 332 separate islands! Holy cow. Nadi is on the main island of Viti Levu. We stayed at the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel, which was lovely. The pool was probably my favorite thing there. It was always the absolute perfect temperature. I think I was in the pool more than I was out of it. Anyways, back to my activities...

So, I fly out of MPLS to LAX, which was an alright flight. To be honest I don't remember much about it except that I cried when I said goodbye to my parents, and it was probably one of the hardest things I've done. So I get to LAX and meet up with the group of girls from UWEC that I traveled with. 12 of us total. The whole thing was madness by the way. If you plan to travel, go in small groups. Our layover in LA was 9 hours. NINE. Terrible. Fortunately we had a little bit of internet so I could skype with my parents one last time before I left the states. We basically hung out all day, because we couldn't check in until a certain time (like 4:30 PM, and our flight was at 9:30 PM or something like that). Then we made it through security, and I called my parents and of course cried some more... I'm really emotional I'm finding out. Then we boarded our gigantic 747 double-decker (we were third row from the back of course..) bound for Fiji. Only we didn't leave for another 2 hours because of technical difficulties. Yea you heard me... stuck on that darn plane for a grand total of 12 hours. It was terrible. I was so uncomfortable. But it was totally worth it for the view we got when we disembarked. Mountains of green I tell ya. GO TO FIJI.

So we got to the resort and pretty much hung out at the pool all day, chilling and getting used to our surroundings. It was a nice first day. The next day we went to the market, which was an experience in itself- shopping and culture! And then to a different resort and used their beach, which was pretty cool. Really nice resort too- I'd love to stay there someday. Ashlee got pooped on by a bird, which was pretty funny, but my favorite part was that the ocean water felt like bathwater. Sooo warm. :)

On our 3rd day, we trekked out to South Sea Island, which was really really cool. We went to a harbor and boarded this big boat which took a ton of people out to their respectful islands for the day. It was the kind of blue water that you only see on TV and in magazines. That magical blue water that just gives you peace when you look at it. That was a good day. I saw a baby shark, and an adolescent- black tip reef sharks I think they were. Plus several sea stars (and a spiny star? Active little bugger..) We went on a semi-submersible and got a tour of the reef which was pretty sweet, and I went sea kayaking- very difficult when tide is coming in and the waves threaten to take you down constantly. :) I'll post my panoramic video soon.

Our last full day (yesterday) we hung out by the pool- in the shade mostly because we got kind of burnt from the island- and just relaxed. It was wonderful. At night the resort has this guy who sits in the corner of the restaurant/bar area and plays guitar and sings. It's all American songs which was funny, but they were good ones. The resort put together a nice big table for all of us because it was our last night, and we all got dressed up for it. Then they had a show that basically showcased all the dance styles of the native Fijians. Plus a fire dance. Intense. We just hung out the rest of that night.

Then we woke up early for our flights to Australia. Since all the UWEC girls were headed to Brisbane and I to Sydney, we were obviously on separate flights. That wasn't very fun. I mean the flight was fine, but afterwards when I landed and started freaking out because I'm by myself in a foreign country I could have used some fellow people around me. Plus the airline almost lost my bag, and I had a 3 hour cab ride to look forward to. In a cab that had no air conditioning. In 97 degree weather. Needless to say, by the time I finally got moved into my apartment and got internet set up, I Skyped my parents and cried about it. Yes, I cried again. Told you I was emotional. Looking back on it, it probably wasn't that bad, but at the time it didn't feel like anything was solvable. I'm still not very keen on my whole situation right now. I'm pretty homesick, so I know this post sounds a bit morbid and all. I don't know if I have air conditioning in my room or not, and I do not have a pillow. Interesting huh? I'm trying to figure out how to get a pillow, and I gotta get my phone figured out too. Urggggg so much to do. I'm tired of running around. Plus I don't know anyone, so I really gotta work on that.

Anyways, here are my updates to people.
Steph- This time I did say 'whew, made it!' when I landed, just for you!
Megan- I have yet to see a toilet down here that does any sort of spinning. They just kind of gush, but I'll keep you updated.
Linds- I had a whole row to myself on the flight from Fiji to Sydney, so that's my equivalent of business class!
Ashlee- I finally downloaded that Who I Am song. Alas!

Shoutouts to all the beautiful people in my life. I miss you guys so much, please keep in touch with me. I need you! :)

Layoversss.

Hi all!
I'm in the LAX airport. I have a very long time before my flight leaves to Fiji, and there's free internet, so I thought I'd update. My flights out were okay, but I've been up since 4 AM, and it's 3:30 LA time. Almost twelve hours, and it's going to be a lot longer than that!!

I have a feeling this flight will be madness!

At least I got to skype with my parents a little bit. It's going to be so weird not being able to call them whenever I want...

I leave today! Ahhhh!

Oh hi!
I leave for Fiji today!
I leave 2/6 and get there 2/8.
Then, I leave for Australia on 2/12.
But first, I have to fly from MPLS to SFO, then to LA, then to Nadi, Fiji.
Hoooooie long day!
Next time you hear from me, I'll be in a different country!
Weird concept!! :) :)

Countin' down

Well here's a quick lil' update for ya. We had some family members over tonight so that I could see them before I go and they could say farewell and bon voyage. I'm going to miss everyone. One negative thing about studying abroad is that I miss just about the busiest time of year for our family gatherings. There are many birthdays in the spring and early summer, my cousin is graduating, my other cousin is getting married, my brother is getting a puppy, and just a lot of stuff that I'm going to have to miss- and I hate that. I'm hoping I can time it so that I can skype with my family while they're having these events. Hopefully that'll help make it easier.

Just part of my awesome awesome family. :)

On another note, I got a lot done today! I printed off my important documents, am getting much closer to finishing packing, figured out a bank I can use while I'm down under, and all sorts of madness. My room looks like it got hit by a meteorite. Seriously. It's driving me nuts, but I have to deal.

Anyways, I better get going to bed if I'm going to keep kicking this cold. It has been getting better, but I still wake up with the driest throat ever and my nose won't let me breathe out of one nostril most of the time. (Ew... sorry for that grossness) Haha but I'm gonna get better! Laterrrr!

11 Camelbaks later...

Oh man you guys. 4 days.
It's really surreal. I'll have my moments now where I'm like oh NO I've got to go buy this and this and make sure that I pack this, but most of the time now I'm just like, oh, well I have 4 days. It's kind of a bad place to be. I am getting some stuff done though, and I have a good list of what needs to be done. I'm excited though. It'll be an adventure.

I'm currently battling a cold. It's been a long long long time since I've had a 'cold'. It hit me pretty hard. You know with colds, it's always the first day that's the worst. Same was true for this beast. I have to say I refilled my Camelbak about 10 times that first day, so at least we all know I was hydrated! And I've been sleeping with my pillows doubled up so my airway is clear! The lengths you go to eh? Being sick makes you that much more grateful to be able to breathe normally when you're healthy! I think we forget about that sometimes. Health-wise, I am definitely on the mend. AND Kirk has been going away!! Yay for normal sleeping hours! Though the cold gets me up a little earlier in the day, I'm getting about 8 or 9 hours, which is what I'm used to getting! Huzzah!

It's been snowing the past day or so. It's enchanted snow. The kind that's super light and fluffy and glitters when the sun hits it. I wish everyone could see my backyard. Because my house backs up to the woods, you can see the snow falling off the trees. It's glorious. Always nice to wake up to that peaceful snow. Someone should do a movie in my backyard. :)

Anyways, seeing as it's Groundhog Day, our friend Phil from Punxatawney (or however you spell that madness!) says 6 more weeks for us. (Of course he does, we live in MN, and it's February... what do you expect?) At least I'll be in 70-80 degree weather for that.

As far as my trip preparations go, today I was looking at the best way to transport myself from the Sydney Airport to my apartment in Newcastle. Looks like I'll be taking a 'coach'. AKA a bus. I don't know if it's a coach bus or what but that'll be interesting for sure. I had originally planned on taking the train to Newcastle, but because I need to check into my apartment by a certain time, I can't risk waiting an hour for the train in case I miss the first one. We'll work it out though.

I definitely am in need of nice tropical weather. I think my skin hates me for living in Minnesota- like I have a choice (but I love Minnesota!) I put lotion on it everyday and it's still looking dry. Darn cold.

Anyways, that's enough updating for now. I think I'll go work on adjusting my packing stuff. :) Have a lovely day!