First Day of Class at Griffith Uni!!

Today was my first official day of school at the Uni here in Gold Coast. Not too much excitement to share with you all but I made it through my 110 minute lecture! YAY! Love, Eros, and Truth may just take up all of my brain power this semester. I already read a speech from Plato's Symposium tonight.... I guess I'm a student again after three months off! School down under may be a bit challenging!!! 

My first day of class!

Off to the Uni!

Sam before our first class!

Off to class!

Alex before her first class!

On her way!

My new Oakley backpack!

A Day at the Beach and a Night in the Jungle!!!!

Soooooo yesterday I spent the day in Surfer's Paradise with Samantha and our friend Alan. It was such a beautiful day. We ate the most delicious Kebabs (pronounced: Ke- BAB not BOB, there is a difference here!) and laid on the beach for a few hours and shopped for a bit. So simple but such a good day.  When we got back to the village we had NOTHING to cook for dinner so we thought we'd head over to the nearest IGA... through the woods. Well now it was dark outside, we think surely Alan will keep us all safe!  So Sam, Alex, and I grabbed Alan and venture towards the path... as we approach we realize just how creepy this experience is going to be....We would have turned back but we ate the last Tim-Tam and drank the last Glo juice box!!! So we began our trek into the forest.... We made it about half way through the woods in our group of four with only one mini maglight, before the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen dropped out of a tree. It was ready to attack. The four of us (Alan included) screamed like 4 year old girls who had just seen their first insect. Not a pleasant moment. We shivered the rest of the way through the woods at a brisk pace until we reached the clearing. What a relief! We grocery shopped blah blah blah, I spend way to much money blah... and then we had to come back THROUGH THOSE SAME WOODS.... WITH THAT SAME SPIDER. Goodness help me. So Samantha grabbed a stick and walked in front of us waving the stick to break up any spider webs and hopefully protect us from the rest of the nasty wildlife that Australia has to offer. Well Samantha's efforts failed and I got bit by a four inch spider.... hahahahahaha JUST KIDDING guys... sorry that was mean. But we all made it back completely intact and with a very clear understanding that we'll only be grocery shopping in the day light from now on. Smart girlsssss!!!!

Great Barrier Reef Pictures!

I got my photos back from the Great Barrier Reef today! Not too much else going on here so enjoy these!

Life, campus, beaches, parties... what else is there?

Gold Coast is still great. Today Alex, Samantha, and I walked around campus to find some of our buildings we'll have class in. The campus is huge and slightly intimidating - it makes me miss MereCo's small campus and approximately 6 academic buildings! haha. I've finally gotten all of my classes straightened out and I'm no longer getting to take an art class while I'm here (I'm pretty bummed about that, I had looked forward to having things to bring home) but I am now taking psychology. YUCK! My schedule is pretty open so there should be lots of time for studying ;)  I am a little bit nervous about classes starting but hopefully they won't be too stressful and we'll be able to enjoy our time with our new mates! We've been out more to clubs and parties this week than I've ever gone out in my life! It is exhausting so I'm taking the night to relax here at the village. Tomorrow I plan to go pick up my prints and photo cd from my underwater disposable from the Great Barrier Reef so hopefully I'll have some good pictures to put up from that!! We have not hit the beaches in a few days so I'm beginning to feel that I may come home in the middle of summer as pale as a ghost.... here's hoping I'm wrong!

Life @ Griffith Uni Village

Well mates, it's been a few days since we moved in! Things are going well. We've made some really great new friends and settled in quite nicely.  Sunday afternoon we spend on the beach in Surfer's Paradise with a bunch of people from the village.  I went out past the first set of breakers to the sand bar for a little bit. The beaches here are so different than back home, but they're so beautiful.  O Week has officially begun on and off campus in Southport and we've heard it's a crazy week. It started last night with a Casino themed party here where I'm living, most of the village was down under the pavilion dancing and playing poker, blackjack, and other games.  Lots of fun!!! Tonight is ladies night out in Surfer's so Alex, Sam, and I are planning on going out there.  So far all is well down unda!!

How many Meredith girls does it take to put on a duvet cover?!?!

Sooooooo today we found colorful duvets in K-Mart? hahahhaha apparently K-Mart is not only acceptable but cool here! I am soooooooo glad to have more color in my room now. The village gave us double size comforters for our beds so our duvets don't actually fit. We had a time trying to figure out how to put them on... hahhahaha team workkkkkkk I've officially lived a life long dream of white walls and a colorful striped duvet, a classic beach look. YAYYYY decorating!!!! It's starting to look decent to live in!

Trials and Tribulations of the Outback Thus Far... AHHH!

WOOOOOOOW. It's been a LONG week. So many amazing and not so amazing things have happened. I'm starting to realize that my family and friends are a half a world away and also realizing just how important they all are to me.  Australia is beautiful and the people are so amazing, however this trip has not gone without it's faults. Instead of writing three pages on the details of all that's gone wrong I'll just make a "short" list of the obstacles that I have managed to overcome so far.  

 

Thursday: NO STUDENT VISA WHATTTT?!?!?! Cancelled flight, rouge taxi, missed flight, broken purse.

Saturday: Landing in Cairns with two broken pieces of luggage.

Sunday: It's time for new medicine! Guess what... Target does have flaws! Mix up with a prescription leads to a wild goose chase for insulin... unsuccessful. I'm not convinced I will die in Australia.

Thursday: Broken backpack (now every bag I brought has been broken.) $700 camera.... oh yeah cracked screen. OF COURSE!!!

Friday: HOLY MESSSSSSS, the hinge on my laptop finally snapped!!! WHOOOOOOO! We're going for a record on broken items in one week here. I think my leg may be next....maybe a toe or a finger at the least. You know. The world is going my way.

Well that is enough whining. In spite of the hardships I have been faced with throughout my journey so far I have managed to see the light in everything I've done. I have seen some of the most beautiful places in the world and I am more knowing than ever that my God is so, so good.

On our first day in Cairns we visited the Rainforestation.  This is such a beautiful oasis of Australian wildlife and aboriginal culture. I got to hold a koala, pet a kangaroo, hold a NASTY snake, successfully throw a boomerang, and see an authentic didgeridoo being played.  This day was a great start to the adventure that will be OZ.

The next day, Valentines day, was the trip to the Great Barrier Reef.  We spend the day on a large sailboat called the Passions of Paradise cruising the Coral Sea. It was truly the most beautiful day.  We were so thrilled to snorkel one of the seven wonders of the world... However, the locals are always there to burst your bubble here. We were soon informed of the dangers of the bluebox jellies and other jelly fish that reside in the areas we'd be diving.  Our best option? A STING SUITE. Yes. What is a sting suite you may ask? Well let me just tell you it is the closest thing any of us will ever come to being a member of the blue man group. 

Cute, right? I know. Well I took some photos with an underwater disposable camera and I cannot wait to see how they turned out.  I also had the GREAT pleasure of meet an extremely handsome Aussie scuba instructor, I think I"m in love.! ;) hahahaha

Tuesday was community day. This day brought me so close to home. We spent the morning potting plants on a large property. It smelled so much like home (of course there were cows there)  I began to miss NC during this time but enjoyed myself while I remembered that I was potting plants that would one day house the endangered tree kangaroos of North Queensland. What a beautiful thing to be a part of.  Tuesday night we went out and FINALLY celebrated Samantha's Birthday and a great Italian restaurant on the Esplanade.

Wednesday was our free day.  Alex, Samantha, and I decided to spend the day and the public pool on the beach. This is the neatest establishment I've ever seen. 100% free and right on the ocean, it's gorgeous. We also explore the shopping center in Cairns and replaced those broken pieces of luggage with ones that have a three year warranty. I now take NO chances.

Thursday we were off on a plane to our "final destination", Gold Coast. We arrived at our apartment and soon realized that we're used to a lot of space. I'm choosing to look at our stark and white little place as a modern home away from home and a chance to live in a way that I never have and (hopefully) never will again. We're loving it here. Thursday night was our first night in Surfer's Paradise which meant a lot of fun for everyone. It was ladies night so we managed to get out with only spending $10 on cab fair. Sweet! We had an amazing time with our new room mate from Finland and some new friends from the Village.

As of today we're loving where we are. It may be hard sometimes to miss the ones that we love but I believe that it is experiences such as these that show us who is truly important through who we hold onto and who we let go. This trip will be life shaping and life changing, a one of a kind experience that I know I will never regret. Happy, tanning, and loving the Australian version of February down undaaaaaa!!!! Love you all back home. I'll write again soon.

This is the beautiful property we planted on.