How you going?

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Bondi Beach
Blue Mountains

Dee Why Point
Great Barrier Reef
Cairns

Hi friends & family! I have finally found some time to set up the long-awaited blog so you all can keep up on my adventures...Australia is AMAZING! After 25 hours or so of traveling I finally made it. I cannot believe I have only been here for 4 weeks....it feels so much like home already. "How you going?" is the Aussie way of saying 'How are you?' or 'What's up'. It is a lot easier now to pick up on the local lingo than it was in the beginning. The first week I was in beautiful Cairns in northern Australia...where the Great Barrier Reef is located! My program (Australearn) and I traveled inland to a place called Rainforestation. We were able to pet kangaroos, hold snakes, and take a picture with a koala. We also watched authentic aboriginal dances, played the didgeridoo, and threw some boomarangs (which I am terrible at). The next day we were treated to an all day ocean adventure on a catamaran called Passions of Paradise. We sailed 2 hours offshore to the reef & snorkeled the entire day! It was possibly the most exciting and beautiful thing I have ever seen! The water is extremely clear and bright turquoise, the coral is so colorful, and there are fish everywhere! We even saw a giant turtle. The water temp was around 25 degrees celsius...which is around 75 degrees farenheit....and the air temp was nice & warm! Overall, Cairns was an AWESOME way to start my trip.

After a 5 hour flight and an hour or so bus ride from the airport, I arrived at Macquarie University....where I will be living for the next few months. It is about a half hour outside of downtown Sydney in the town of North Ryde. My first reaction was that it was COLD! Nobody ever told me Australia got cold! It is a beautiful and big campus....with over 38,000 students. Although the trees are all dormant now, spring is coming within the next few weeks and I cannot wait to take some pictures! I share a townhouse with 5 other roommates....Shippy from Australia, Stephen from New York, & Malia and Berlin from Germany. I don't see them too much because of our different schedules but they are all really great. I am enjoying my classes so far although the academic requirements are a lot different from the United States! It is typical here to have 2 or 3 essays per class that make up your ENTIRE grade. On the plus side, there is no busy work!

I am getting to know the train & bus system pretty well from traveling around. A ticket to the city and back is only $4. One of the first nights here, all international students were invited on a night time harbor cruise...it was freezing but so rad to see the famous harbor bridge and Opera House all lit up! I have also been to Dee Why Point, Bondi Beach, the Blue Mountains, and the Royal Botanical Gardens. Tomorrow I hope to go to Watson's Bay, just north of Bondi. It is a boat town on the harbor with the famous Federation Cliffs and the Raleigh Reserve Lighthouse. I am really excited to take some pictures! On saturday night (were 17 hours ahead) my friends and I are going to a huge rugby game at ANZ Stadium, where the 2000 Olympics were held. It is Australia vs. New Zealand (huge rivals) so I'm expecting the game to be really intense! I have met some really awesome friends too. There is 7 other students from the University of San Diego that I hadn't known before so it will be neat to go back to school next semester and be able to share our experience abroad. I have met a few people from San Diego too who know some of my friends back home...such a small world! I miss you all! I would love to see some pictures from back home of anything new and exciting that happens while I'm gone. I will be updating my blog as much as I can and posting lots of pictures too! Also, feel free to send some mail if you want! My address is....

122 Culloden Road Unit 78

Marsfield, New South Wales 2122

Australia

Love you all....Cheers!