Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Cuddling Koalas

Well I am an absolute fail at weekly updates already! Sorry.  Anyway last week was full of firsts: first class, first tutorial, first pub crawl, and first time holding a koala.  Let me tell you that the koala and pub crawl were definitely the highlights of my week.  We started class on Monday, and I'm not gonna lie, I loved every second of my first class.  Crime and Deviance in Australia has to be my most interesting class by far.  We are going to learn about stalking and cults, and much much more.  Tuesday, I had love sex and relationships.  That class was pretty awesome, I've definitely learned some things already.  Wednesday,  I had Applied Crime Analysis, which is kind of like criminal profiling combined with crime scene investigation.  For homework, we looked at pictures of dead bodies, which I won't lie disturbed me to no end.  I never really thought about my career before that day, but when I saw those photos I was like "omg this is what I'll be doing for the rest of my life".  Strange.  Thursday, I had motivation and emotion, which I definitely didn't find as interesting as I though I would.  That was also my first tutorial - its like an hour a week where you go over what happened in lecture and ask any questions you may have.  In my tutorial on Thursday we watched a movie about motivation and how someone becomes motivated.  The pub crawl happened on Friday so of course instead of staying in and preparing on Thursday night, we ended up going out and having a blast.  At least that's what I've heard... Anyways, Friday was mostly a slow day, until about 3pm when we got ready for pub crawl which was happening at 4:30.  That night was pretty fun and I met a lot of awesome people.  I refused to drink too much.  I did not want to be that girl.  The one who is so drunk she can't stand up and makes out with anyone who will have her so I paced myself.  I'm really glad about that decision because it was a long night and ended with me and Brynn having an awesome heart to heart as I cooked spaghetti.  Speaking of food, we have literally gone through so many groceries since I've arrived.  Collectively I think we have spent at least 500 dollars on groceries over the past one and a half week.  Since cam's a vegetarian we make a whole lot of pasta, which I think I'll be sick of by the end of the month.  Anyway, Saturday we woke up and made our way to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.  It was a hike.  We took a train to the Robina train station, then took a train to Brisbane, and a taxi from there to the sanctuary.  It was amazing seeing the animals up close.  We literally got to lay down next to kangaroos and hold koalas.  I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have that experience.  How much I appreciated my parents, and what they had allowed me to do.  They not only allowed me to leave the nest, but to go thousands of miles away and become my own person. I hope that I can live up to their expectations.  That I come home a changed person - a better person.  I want nothing more than to find myself.  Sunday was the first day I was truly homesick.  I remember I just wanted a hug, but everyone who usually makes me feel loved and shows me were literally miles upon miles away.  I thought that it would just be like a phase last like an hour, but it lasted for hours until I finally broke down and skyped my friends.  I won't tell you how I reacted to seeing their faces, but I just knew that they'd be the only ones besides my parents who got to see me break down.  They told me that they wanted to know everything - "the good, bad, and ugly" and I spent two hours on skype telling them all about my week and how everything here was going.  Brynn thinks that talking to them will make me even more homesick, but sometimes its good to know that they are still thinking of me.  That they haven't forgotten about me just because I'm far away.  I feel like I will always be able to rely on them, even when we leave college.  We won't leave each other.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Travelling Across The Hemisphere

So I have survived my first week in a new country!  Well I guess survived isn't the right word because I'm not stuck in some third world country without milk or internet.  Australia has actually held some amazing experiences for me only being here such a short time.  I know that in the long run that I will be such a different person when I get home, that being able to see new places and try new things will influence the way that I see the world.  So I arrived last Sunday and am still getting used to the time difference - falling asleep at 11 and waking up at 8 is so not the way I want to spend my time here.  The first day I arrived, I went to Surfers Paradise where we stayed overnight.  While there, we went to main beach and went shopping for the necessities.  That night we went out and witnessed the night life, which was good for a Sunday night.  On Monday, we moved into Varsity Shores an apartment complex which is about a five minute walk from campus.  Monday also marked the beginning of  o-week on campus or orientation week for new and study abroad students.  It consists of registering for classes, getting our student IDs, and some pretty fun events, such as the jungle party and tight bright party as well as a beach day.  I've met some pretty cool people - two girls from school, who I never met before coming here and my roommate Camille along with her friend Marine, who are both French.  They've taught me a few French phrases, I can introduce myself, say my age and that I'm from America.  I told them that I want to be fluent in French by the time I get back to America.  I had my first pangs of homesickness on Friday, its difficult thinking that I will be on a different continent from my family for four months.  I'm so used to being able to talk to them everyday or at least once a week, but I mean skype definitely helps.  We have already started planning trips - we want to go to Fiji and Sydney - and things we want to try while were here - we found three surfing lessons for a hundred dollars.  We're terrified that we'll be eaten by sharks or fail massively at it, but when in Australia...