The start of classes

Since it's been a few days, and still the first week of class, now's a good time to mention how they're going. They have us only attending lectures (not labs or small group classes), so it's really just been a taster. I definitely think I'm going to like them all, but they are really different than what I'm used to. They all operate really heavily on the end of the year exam, and some of them don't even have another test at all. Just like, lab and a final. It's weird to have sooooo much weight (60% in some cases) resting on the final. But really, I'm taking some classes that I think I can do well in. It's actually stuff I'm interested in, and since all the teachers have such strong accents, I need to pay them a lot of attention during class.

Only have half of our class load this week has also left us with quite a bit of downtime. I spent a good portion of that running around buying books, and getting things set up on campus. There is surprising a lot of errands to do. Otherwise, the group of friends that I have from the Arcadia program have been playing a lot of beach volleyball. They have a few different sand courts near our dorms, so we've played 3 different times this week. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm really glad that I invested in buying the volleyball this week. It's given us something free, fun and motile to do.

This weekend will definitely be action packed as well. We are going away to a different beach/ island about an hour north. We are suppose to be sea kayaking and scuba/ snorkeling on part of the reef, so that will be really cool too. I signed up to try Scuba, which was a bit extra, but it should be worth it. I also found a program that will get you certified over the course of 4 days, and it's actually really inexpensive. I guess they have much more competitive rates than in the US, and it's going to be amazing. I want to do it really bad, but since thats another chunk of money, I need to be careful. I just got an email that a spot opened up on the 10 day outback trip, and I jumped on it. I didn't hear if I got it yet, but if I did, it's going to be the most amazing thing ever. It's going to make this entire trip. I can't wait to hear if I got the spot or not.

I'll let you know how the weekend goes, and if I hear back about the outback! Don't forget, I turn 21 on Sunday!! What an anti-climatic 21st birthday...

Off to the Races

So the past few days have been pretty fun and exciting. We had our first few days off to do whatever we wanted, and we took pretty good advantage of it. Thursday we went to the Aquarium and had a tour. It was pretty cool. I saw a few animals I’ve never seen before, particuarly the Nataulis, which was super creepy looking to me. It was so ancient and old looking, it just reminded me of dinosaurs and things. Crazy. After that, we decided to head down to the Strand, which is the strech of beach and downtown area. It’s my favorite part in town; I wish we were a little closer to it. It really isn’t far, but there isn’t a direct bus to get us there, so it’s just kind of a pain to get there. But once you do get there, it’s totally worth it. We spent the whole day just swimming and reading and hanging out. It was really perfect. And we made it back to campus in time to catch dinner at the cafeteria. It’s not very good food here in the dorms, but it’s free (already paid for, really).

Friday was more of the same. Shopping and to the beach again. We went out trying to find dresses and cute hair things for a horse race on Saturday. It’s one of the biggest races in Townsville, and we decided to go and check it out. It was so cool there. Everyone dressed up really fancy, and every girl there had a really cool feather hair piece, or big racing hat. I didn’t find anything at the mall the day before, so I just tried to make due with what I had. It was really neat to see everyone in the best though. They had a fashion contest too right before the Cup race, with categories like Best Hat, or most innovative. And the horse racing itself was cool too; I didn’t place any bets though!

School starts this Monday, so tomorrow will mostly be getting ready for classes and maybe hitting the beach one last time before we start being busy. I’m really excited for class though, so I don’t mind that it’s coming up so soon!

No Worries

I can see my hair turning a lighter shade of blonde with each passing day. We’ve been spending the past few days here in Townsville doing orientation things, to get ready for classes to start next week. We’ve also been running around town on buses and in maxi taxis (they fit 9 passangers), and really just exploring our new surroundings. There are things for us to attend everyday; about classes, the library, and student activites. I’m actually exhausted, and really ready for a day off. Thankfully, I have tomorrow, Thursday, practically completely free. I bought a ticket to go to the Reef HQ Aquarium, which leaves at 9am. It’s the largest living reef aquarium in all of Australia (and I think the world too, but don’t quote me). I don’t actually know what that means, but I figured it would be pretty cool anyway. And since it’s a special group thing that we have, we’re getting a “behind the scenes” tour too, which I think will most likely be cool. And then, since we’ll already be downtown at that point, we’re taking advantage of it and are planning on hitting the beach for a bit. It's called The Strand, and basically it’s a strip of beaches and shops that line the coast for about 3 or 4 miles downtown. They have a really nice path set up, and some beach volleyball courts, and of course swimming (even a special, jelly fish free salt water pool). I’ve been dying to actually go swimming here, and tomorrow will be the day. I’m really excited for that.

I also got to see Harry Potter tonight, for the second time. I still love it. I think it is definitely a good movie, despite the flaws that we all knew it would have. But whose to judge at this point? They can’t fit everything, and as long as they are not wasting tons of time with stupid scenes, I’m happy. I went with a bunch of people from the program, and of course, after the movie I couldn’t hold back my “I’m a huge harry potter fan/nerd” knowledge about the books. People are finding my lightning bolt tattoo to be pretty cool, which is always nice.
But apart from the beach tomorrow, I don’t have any immediate plans. I’m sure we’ll be coming up with things to do, places to visit and explore. Honestly, that’s fine with me. I’m so tired, and would love just to sleep in. Jet lag sucks, and all this running around has me beat. And I want to be fresh for class on Monday. Which, by the way, I think I have my classes figured out. It looks like I’ll be taking 1. Introduction to Marine Sciences, 2 Cognitive Neuroscience, 3 Human Development across the Lifespan and finially 4 Biodiversity of Tropical Australia. Not too shabby, eh?
In case you didn’t know, the Aussies love their slang. “How ya going”, “you’re alright”, and “no worries” are three of their favorites. Seriously, talk to any single Australian person and I can guarentee that they will use at least two of those sayings in the conversation. I love it.

So , heres the deal. Tuesday night is 2 dolla drink night. I love it. But beware, because tequila sunrises are not 2 dollar. they are 8 dollar. and it ended my night. it was number 8 though, so i think thats okay. I want to post about what classes i have, so i'll do that tomorrow. i like my new friends a lot, but do i ever miss my old ones. Dear Old Friends, I love and Miss you. <3 cara. Ps i love jay. thats all for tonight. catch you when i'm less drunk in the morning

First post from Australia

It’s the beginning of day 2 for me in Australia, and seriously what can I say except it’s absolutley beautiful here. We had such a good (and long) first day though. We arrived in Brisbane around 6am on July 16th (Aussie time), also known as 4pm on July 15th to those back on the East Coast. That was about 31 hours after I first began the trip. Crazy, right? All the flights were good, including the 14 hour Quantas flight. Quantas had good entertainment, good food to eat, and the gave us eye masks to help sleep… so I mostly just slept.

After we got into Brisbane, it took a while to round everyone up in the program, and we got a chance to call home. Home didn’t answer, so if anyone reads this and feels like telling my mom and dad I’m here, it would be appreciated! After we were all together, we jumped a coach bus and drove about an hour norht to Caloundra, a very pretty coastal town where we are having our orientation. We’re staying in the lovely Shearwater Resort, and it seriously is a resort. It’s so nice.

We’ve mainly been doing orientation activites, but we got to do a few fun things too. We played Cricket on the beach, walked into town, learned about some trees and the area. I learned what a TimTam is, and that it is the best thing ever. I also learned to never eat Vegamite again. Seriously. It’s nasty. I’ve already made a few friends that are going up to the same school as me, so that’s a relief. Oh, and I already tried fish. Fresh fish and chips, aussie style. Not too bad actually.

Today we have a ton of orientation things to do: learning about Australian culture, money, government issues (all sorts of things so we don’t embarrass ourselves while we’re here). Breakfast starts in half an hour, and I need to get ready, so I’ll leave it here for now. I also want to mention that I’m excited for Saturday. We’re going to Steve Irwin’s zoo! It’s suppose to be amazing, and I’m sure it is.

P.S. theres a large group of people that are trying to go to see Harry Potter over the next few days, so I should be good. Please tell me it was amazing.