Catch-up. Big time.

I don't even know where to begin. Firstly, I'll apologize for my MIA status. I've been so busy down here and the internet reception was pretty awful in Hobart. Now I'm in Melbourne for two months, and will do my best to keep up (and catch up) with this blog.

In order to continue, I would like to recap the past month and a half that I've neglected. The last I wrote I was in Perth, Western Australia. We spent one more week there and these are the highlights of that week:

• The final project for the Media class was a photo narrative, a collection of 15-20 photos representing our time in Australia thus far. I chose to try to depict my homesickness (yes, I miss you all...). So I captured relationships that I saw in Australia that reminded me of the relationships I have at home. I presented it to the class and was pretty proud of my effort. 
• My last day of class I woke up early and borrowed a bike from the hotel. My friend Casey and I biked to class (which is normally a 45-minute train ride). It took us about the same amount of time and was a gorgeous ride along the water. It was hot, though!
• Our second to last night a group of us took blankets and boxed wine to the nearest beach, where we night swam and spent the night. Sleeping on the beach is one of those things you should experience when you're young. It was quite chilly and I woke up with sand EVERYWHERE. It was quite a funny train ride home. Everyone else was heading off to work and we were ragged and sandy heading home. 
• Our very last night, we had a group dinner and threw all of our leftover food together and made a feast. It was a great dinner and the perfect way to end our time in Perth. 

Then we flew out to Hobart, which is located in Tasmania, the little island below Australia. I loved Hobart. It's an older city, compared to Perth, nestled among tall mountains and sits right on the harbor. We stayed in 5-person apartments, which was quite interesting because there was one room for four and a single. Luckily, we were able to choose who we lived with so I roomed with 3 of my best girl friends on the trip and my friend Will had the single. It was a nice apartment, cozy for five, but provided us with everything we needed. The only complaint is that we had a mini-fridge, the kind a college student would have in their dorm room. To store food for five people in that sized fridge was a struggle; we managed though. 

Everyone else on the trip lived in the same vicinity so we would leave our doors open and visit each other. It was a pleasant little community. To get in the center of the city, we had to walk about 30 minutes. Our school, the University of Tasmania (UTas), was only a 10 minute walk. Here we took a course in Environmental Studies. Tasmania is a great place to study the environment because 40% of the island is comprised of national parks (many I visited). The class was every morning from 9-12 am and our professor was a young woman who was completing her PhD at UTas. So it was pretty relaxed and gave us plenty of free time. The highlights of which will come in next entry. 

So this will be like those TV shows that end in TO BE CONTINUED... (I know how everyone hates that...)

A Lost Thong, A Forgotten Brush

Firstly, I want to apologize for slacking as a blogger. I have been so busy and we don't have internet in our rooms. We have to go down to the lobby of the apartment complex to log on. Also, I haven't posted any pictures either and I apologize about that (I'm not really sure how to post pictures on here). And I'm trying not to live this experience through a camera lense.

This week has been fantastic. We had class on Monday and I worked with two fellow students to put together a radio show package. We interviewed six Murdoch University students and asked them if they were the other sex for one day what would they do. You could imagine the responses we got. On Tuesday we only had a half day of classes so a few of us went to Scarboro Beach. It was a hot day, we spent a lot of time in the water. I tried skim boarding and fell right on my butt. I swear it won't ever be the same again. Then on Wednesday we woke up early for a class trip down south. We started the day at a lookoff point, where we saw the city of Busselton. We boarded a dolphin excursion boat and got close and personal with some dolphins. It was a beautiful day (but then again every day is gorgeous). In the afternoon we walked along the second longest jetty in the world (it was long...). At the end was an underwater observatory. It went as deep as an 11-story sky scraper. We were able to see some awesome sea creatures. It's a whole 'nother world down there! On the walk back my good friend, Will went ahead on the jetty to scare the rest of the group. When we passed, he came up from behind and was successful in scaring me (and some others) but in the meantime stepped on the back of my flip flop, which they call "thongs" in Australia. I turned around to put it back on and I saw it floating in the water (it was a windy day). I exclaimed "My flip flop's in the water!" Everyone laughed. I had to walk 3/4 of the second longest jetty in the world barefoot. Good thing I wear those cheap Old Navy flip flops. Will owes me $5 now.

That night we stayed overnight at Bunbery at a campsite. It wasn't hardcore camping but we did sleep in tents. We cooked dinner together and it was nice for all 30 of us Ithaca students to be together. The next day we woke early (after a fun night on the beach) and went to this awesome cave. I learned a lot about the formation of the cave and the stalagmites and stalagtites (ummm...I think that's what they're called). In the afternoon we went to a Eagle Preservation place where we saw these birds that have been taken in because they're injured or couldn't survive in the wild. It was a burning hot day. We then boarded the bus for a 3 hour ride home. I passed out that night.

ON FRIDAY I WENT SURFING!!! There aren't words to describe how freaking amazing this was. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I loved every minute of the weekend. We departed from the city at 7am and arrived at the beach house at 8:30ish. Now let me describe the beach house. It's one of those houses you see in the movies with two stories with wrap-around decks and as soon as you enter the second floor there is a pool table, a huge couch and bean bags, a plasma tv, and a long table with a dozen chairs. In a sense it was a dream bachlor's pad. The six of us bunked together and shared the house with about 20 other people from around the world, including Germany, New Zealand, Holland and France. After setting our stuff down and getting a short demonstration on how to surf, we shimmied into our wetsuits and applied our sun block and hit the beach. The day was perfect- the sun was shining and the waves were calm. After several nose dives and wipeouts, I surfed my first wave in before lunch. It was all uphill from there (or you could save up wave...). We surfed for about 6 hours that day and when we returned to the beach house we filled up on cheap wine and beer- most of us drunk before 5pm. What a great day!

The next day, Saturday, didn't bring the same weather. It was cloudy and the waves were a bit stronger, but we still headed to the beach around 8am and surfed the day away. I rode a ton of waves in and worked on my technique. The sun came out in the afternoon and the surf camp ended perfectly. Our instructors were so enthusiatstic- they were so excited when we were successful! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. It's one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I will never ever forget.

I forgot my brush in the bathroom of the beach house (oops! but I had baaad surfer's hair). I like to think a part of me will always be at that house, surfing those waves.

Sunday I woke up with a fat lip, bruises and sore arms. I felt like a true surfer girl. We took the day easy, just walking the city and shopping around. I got my haircut- about 4 inches off. In this heat I couldn't stand the mane of hair I was growing out to donate. So the donating will have to wait.

Today was a "Media Frenzy day" and we learned how to put together a television show. It was fun. After class we took a two hour bike ride around King's Park (Central Park equivalent). So the reason I'm rambling now and this blog isn't making much sense is because I'm exhausted.

I will end with what the main surfing instructor told me. "There are three things that make a surfer a great surfer- passion, opportunity and stoke. The passion to want to surf and the opportunity to surf are pretty clear. Stoke isn't something that can be defined, it's just a feeling that only true surfers can understand."

I totally have the stoke.

Birdpoop Twice = Luck at the Casino

Let me explain. Last Sunday, a group of my new friends and I went to Penguin Island (we were supposed to go kayaking, but couldn't reserve enough kayaks so just explored the island). On our way home, they noticed that a bird had pooped on me. Luckily I threw on a tee-shirt before the bird decided to choose my back as it's toilet. Then on Tuesday, we were sitting under a tree in the campus quad for lunch and I felt a splatter. AGAIN, I was pooped on. In retrospect, it's hilarious that I was pooped on twice in one week; but at the time I wasn't very happy about it. Apparently, however, if a bird poops on you, you have good luck. So I thought I might give it a go at the casino. No worries mate, I'm just kidding. I have yet to hit up the casino and don't think I will. I'm living in Australia on a college kid's budget. I can't afford to leave my luck to the birds.

This week has flown by. It was our first week of classes, which was very interesting. We had a journalism lab, learned about public relations and documentary film making, and spoke with an Aboriginal man about his culture and history. The course I'm taking is called Spinning Yarns: Media in Australia and so, is a melting pot of media. Everyday we have two sessions, from 10-12 and 1-3, and each is a different lesson. I'm very familiar with the material and it doesn't involve a lot of outside work, so there are no complaints from me. And they give us three day weekends. Tough life, huh?

Friday we took advantage of the first opportunity to sleep in and then hit the beach in the afternoon. We made it a relaxing day because we had big plans for Saturday (and Thursday night was a lot of fun, if you know what I mean). On Saturday six of us woke up early to meet a Christian group, which consisted of about 35 Singaporeans (we were the only caucasians), at Murdoch's campus. The group organized a trip to Western Australia's Swan Valley, which is home to a wildlife park, wineries and a chocolate factory. We found out about the trip when we went to Murdoch's activity fair. It was $15 for the entire day (which is an awesome deal) so of course we signed up. We had no idea what an experience it would be - we definitely got our $15 worth.

In the morning, we went to Caversham Wildlife Park, where you can find all of Australia's favorite animals. We hung out with some kangaroos (it was our first sighting of 'roos!), pet the koalas as they ate eucalyptus, and saw several varieties of birds. I have to admit, it was a huge highlight of the trip so far. I was a little kid in a candy shop as we were among these creatures that I have wanted to see for so long. After a few hours at the park, we headed to a winery and tasted wine. Swan Valley is known for its wineries. Looking out the window during our trip (sidenote: it was weird being in a car for the first time- the driver was sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road!), we passed rows and rows of grape vines. It was gorgeous. I'll never admit to be a wine connoisseur, but I enjoyed the tasting. We had a lunch at the winery, which was prepared by a woman from a local church- it was traditional Singaporean food (yum!). Then, for those who prefered non-alcoholic beverages we went to a grape juice farm (it reminded me of Jones Farm). The juice was all natural and was absolutely delicious. Finally, we ended the day with a visit to Margaret River Chocolate Factory, where we indulged ourselves in some decadent chocolates. What a day! And we made some pretty fascinating friends along the way- all of who are studying in Australia from Singapore.

Then today, Will and I escaped the city and went about an hour north of Perth to go horseback-riding. It was an awesome way to spent the day. We arrived at the train station, where an old man, Ron, picked us up in his rickety old truck. He took us to the middle of nowhere, to his ranch, where he owns 1700 acres of land and houses about 55 horses. Will and I were set off with a 15-year-old guide into the dust and vegetation of the Australian outback. It was breath-takingly beautiful (descriptions don't even do it justice). As Will chatted with our guide, I fell about 20 feet behind with a lazy horse named Beauty (reminded me of Bobby in Ireland, for those of you who know what I'm talking about). I didn't mind though, he was just my pace. I soaked in the scenery and realized how fortunate I am to be here.

Right now I'm wicked tired. I had an amazing weekend. So maybe those pooping birds did give me luck, just not the form you can get at the casino.

Water, Water Everywhere

Have I got a funny story for you. My apartment mates and I have been living in Perth for a week now and tried doing laundry a few days ago. The washer wouldn't work, so we placed a complaint at the hotel's lobby. Only a few hours later I heard a knock on the door and a chubby, friendly maintenance man stumbled into our apartment and fiddled around with the washer. His conclusions were the same as ours- a broken washer. During his meddlings, water was poured into the washer and the draining wasn't working anymore. He's on his hands and knees chatting me up like non other (typical Australian friendliness) and I look down. "Um, sir, the water has leaked onto our floor." His reaction was absolutely priceless. Where in New York the man would be cursing up a storm, this maintanence man simply said "Oh boogers" and smiled at me. I did my best not to crack up. Too bad there wasn't anyone around to witness this with me. He tripped around a bit grabbing towels, taking his time, eventually cleaning up the problem and removing the old washer from the apartment. That same day, he returned with a brand new washer (the hotel has been treating us very well) and installed it. By this time, let me tell you, I knew the whole man's life story. I don't know whether he really enjoyed talking to me or if he wanted to slack off from working. Either way, I was eager to leave the apartment, which I did for the entire evening. When I returned with Will at about midnight, we walked into our apartment to greet another maitenance man holding a gigantic vacuum cleaner with a very distressed look on his face. Aparently our third roommate, Lauren, tried doing laudry, left the room and returned to find that the washer didn't correctly drain the water- instead it spilt all over our apartment. Witnesses said the water rose to about 3 inches high. So, Will and I were moved to another room for the night, while the staff of the hotel finished cleaning up. This however is not the end of my saga... The next morning, Will and I returned to our apartment to get ready for the day. I showered and was making a pb and j in my towel (I like to hang out in my towel, just ask LuAnn) when I heard a knock on the door. I yelled to my roommates asking one of them to kindly answer it, because I was indescent. They did and a third maitenance man walked in, fixed the drainage problem and stood next to me, as I was making my lunch (with only a towel covering me), and again began telling me all about himself. I've made many friends with the maitenance men at this hotel, which could be a good thing, but could be a creepy thing as well...

The title of this post was not only for that incident. We have been going to some absolutely beautiful beaches and unique fishing towns as of late. Perth is right on the coast so there are so many awesome water-related activities to do. Yesterday we went to a town called Rockingham, where off the coast is an island that houses the smallest penguins in the world. They were adorable! We've also been to Scarboro Beach, which has some massive waves, Cottesloe Beach, and Mandura, which is a quaint fishing town that had some great fish and chips. A group of my friends and I went to King's Park for sunset and played frisbee all night. Other nights we sit on the beach at night looking at the stars for hours on end. The city center of Perth was hopping on Saturday afternoon and we watched street performers for hours. And that doesn't even touch upon the night life here. We've found a perfect Australian bar in the city called Mustang and I totally dig it. I love leaning across the bar ordering a pint of Toohey's New (which is my favorite beer down here, by the way). I couldn't be happier, except for a sunburn I got yesterday. I love it here.

Classes started today and it was a bummer to be sitting in a classroom for 4 hours when there is so much I'd rather be doing. But, I guess the classes are why I'm here, right? We're learning about Australian media for our first class, so it's right up my alley. We're thinking about going to the beach after class tomorrow, how great is that?

GOOD NEWS! I booked a weekend in Lancelin (north of Perth) to learn to surf with 5 of my new friends for the end of the month. I am beyond excited!!!

So, a little water leaking onto my kitchen floor can't even begin to put a damper on this trip...

Jetlag? What's Jetlag?

So today is the first time I felt jetlag since I landed in Australia. I'm absolutely beat. It hasn't helped that we've been non-stop since we got to this amazing country.

The two-day trip went very smoothly but was very long. We arrived on Saturday to Perth around 3 pm to the apartments (I left my house Thursday morning!). I know, quite a trip. Luckily I slept a lot and I had no luggage problems (I always seem to loose my luggage).

I'm living in an apartment with my friend Will and I girl I just met named Lauren. Will and I get along great and she fits in perfectly. I've also met some awesome people while here. The apartments have everything we need (including a washer and dryer!). We had our first meal together tonight, which consisted of 89 cent pasta, 99 cent sause, salad and bread. With the cost of beer (6-7 dollars in the bars and 14 for a six-pack), I'm going to be pretty cheap with groceries.

Saturday night a group of nine of us went to dinner. After searching awhile, we decided to eat at an Italian place. So my first non-airline meal was pizza and beer. I was happy. Will and I searched around the city after dinner. Perth is a fairly small city. It's difficult to compare to US cities. It's so beautiful, I can't even describe it in words (you'll have to wait for pictures). And surprisingly clean. There are only a handful of sky risers and the city is surrounded by water, a lake (Swan Lake) splits the city up and the beach (Indian Ocean) is only 6 miles or so from the center of the city. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, the water is clearer and the sun is hotter.

On Sunday I only burnt a little bit. We did so much. The same group of nine from dinner on Saturday night went to breakfast at Murdoch University (where we're going to studying) on Sunday morning. The campus, like the city of Perth, is gorgeous. Everything in Australia, I've noticed, is much more spread out. To walk across campus, it took quite awhile. But I swear it was like walking through a resort. The vegetation is like nothing I've seen. And everything is so colorful!

Breakfast was with all the international students at Murdoch University. Afterwards we went on a tour around Perth. We first stopped at King's Park, which is a park and botanical garden. There you can find a breathtaking view of the city. And it was a sunny, clear day. Doesn't get better than this. We drove from King's Park to Fremantle past the beautiful beach. Fremantle reminded me a lot of Ithaca. There was a fresh fruit market and cafes and cool shops. Some locals told us about a show that we attended Sunday night. It was certainly strange; it took place on Swan Lake and was some sort of French interpretive fireworks show. Pretty cool, huh?

Ok, I'm going to end here and pick up later. There is just too much to tell you!

We're down to the wire, people!

T-minus 2 days until I board a plane to Los Angeles. And then board a plane to Sydney. And then board a plane to Perth. Oy! What a trip! Can ya believe it's happening in 2 days? After all this waiting, I can now pack my suitcases and hit the road (or the air, whichever way you look at it). But, let's not talk about packing. You try fitting five months of clothing for weather that ranges from 90 degrees to 40 degrees in two less-than-fifty-pound bags. Oy again! And I won't begin on all the shoes I have to leave behind!

In all seriousness, I'm a little nervous to be leaving the comfort and familiarity that is New York. I am also leaving behind all the fantastic people whom I will miss very much. As much as this trip will probably be the most exciting part of my life thus far, I'm hesitant on leaving my current life. But as my mom always says, it will be waiting for me when I return (right?).

So welcome to five months of hilarity and insanity mixed with genuineness and coming of age. I'll do my best to share my experiences, including the (appropriate) juicy details. And please respond. I'll enjoy hearing from any and all of you.

And now I'm signing off from my first post. Peace!