Surfing at Spot X

Well this weekend was absolutely AMAZING! The girls and I loaded up on a bus with lots of other weekenders to Spot X. Spot X is one of Mojo Surf Australia's best surf camps down in Arrawarra, New South Wales! It was a beautiful place to learn to surf - and that is just what we did! We stayed in a cabin right by the lesson area with a few other students from Griffith and another school. We had three surf lessons throughout the weekend and they were all great... Good news, it's official, I can surf!!! I was so nervous that I would not be able to actually stand up on the board but I did. Not only did I stand up but I was pretty good! I also had the opportunity to tandem surf with one of the instructors on a long board. It was so much fun to be able to do something like that (not to mention he was VERY attractive!). Samantha, Alex, and I had such a great time. Learning to surf was one of my goals for this trip and I have to say, it feels amazing to have accomplished that. It is such a fun sport and I definitely plan on continuing on and becoming better through the coming years. I am buying some pictures taken from the weekend and I will hopefully have those up here soon (things are delayed because my computer is still in the shop). I think surfing may just be my new favorite hobby!! I cannot wait to go again and keep the fun going!! SURF SURF SURF!!! Love to all back home, hope you're doing well!

COMPUTER CATASTROPHE!!!!

Well folks... I'm sitting here in the computer lab trying to stay in contact with family and friends. Why am I not in my room you might ask? Well the answer is simple!!! My laptop screen is on the fritz! It has a short in it apparently. What a lovely addition to the trip! I guess we should incorporate that in the list of things that went wrong that was made back in my first post in the country!! Well here's the kicker - Samantha's computer did the SAME thing, on the same day! Who knew our computers were so in sync?! We've gotten a $300 estimate which simply brightened the light that was already just SHINING on my quickly draining bank account. Fortunately for us Meredith College has agreed to cover all repairs needed since if we were back in Raleigh we would have it repaired by our tech services team free of charge. We're so lucky that we attend such an amazing school back home. I'm missing it there sometimes (mainly when I have to walk twenty minutes to class instead of two). So hopefully those laptops will be back in action by the end of next week so it'll be back to communication as usual.


On a brighter note I started the 100 day photo challenge on Facebook which will count down the one hundred days until I return home to my loving family and friends... and all of the food I'm missing so dearly (I'm not sure which I miss more the people or the food... just kidding guys it's definitely YOU!) So I'm now on day four which was supposed to be "Day 04 - A picture of yourself and a family member"  well of course I didn't want to pick just one person so I tried to incorporate as many people as possible. I decided to use a photo of all of my grandparents and our 5 piece Chickens (aka Jenkins) clan from Peyton's graduation. So for those of you out there who were in that photo YOU'RE IN THE COUNTDOWN! Feel honored - really. :)  This leaves us now with 97 more days in the beautiful Gold Coast, Australia.


This weekend Samantha, Alex, and I are venturing down to Byron Bay for our surf weekend. We are learning to surf at Spot X on some of the greatest waves in Queensland. Byron Bay is supposed to be one of the really neat cities around so I'm excited to go. I'm also ready to learn to surf. My uncle Brad taught me how a looooooong time ago and I caught ONE wave back then (Thanks for your effort) so hopefully this will turn out better for me! haha. I'll be sure to let you know how the weekend goes and post some pictures a bit later when I get the computer back!


G'Day until then mates!!!

It's Saturday!

Well we're done with week three of classes and I cannot believe how quickly it's going. I've been gone for well over a month now and that just seems insane. We're still having a blast. Saint Patrick's day was this week so we spent that night out at the tavern with some friends. Sadly I must report there was not green beer on tap... Bummer.

Today I found out that my little baby Layne bought her first car.... or should I say large truck! Things like that make it harder being gone. I guess that's just one of the big things I'll have to miss out on being away. But she's so cute and she loves her new truck. So I'm on the hunt for the perfect Aussie car decal for her!

Not too much is going on down here. Just lots of classes and not so much beach time since it's been bad weather down here in the Pac regions.  I should also mention that with all of the earth quakes in Japan and near the Solomon Islands we are still in a low danger zone according to the Australian government. So, No worries mates!

Sea World!!!

Well this weekend was my first visit to SEA WORLD!!!! It was amazing. I mean, they don't have a whale like they do at other Sea World parks but they do have lots of other pretty cool animals. I saw sharks, dolphins, polar bears, penguins, star fish, sea cucumbers, and lots of fish! I just loved seeing all of them. I wish I had gotten to take pictures on my Nikon but silly me.... I left the battery at the apartment... oops! We'll be back there soon though, we bought the season pass cause we're Queensland VIP's!!!! YAY!

I guess not too much else is going on around here... I got my ear pierced last week and mom says I am DONE DONE DONE with piercings... hahaha we'll see. :)  Other than that it's just business as usual, school, beach, and having fun!!!

I MADE IT!

Hello Mates!!! Well I'm just here to tell you all that I have made it through the first full week of class! WHEW! There was a point there (You remember? Back in the beginning when everything was going wrong!!??) when I wasn't sure I'd ever live to my first class, much less finish out the entire week. Well folks, I did it! YAY! So the uni is pretty nice and all of my classes seem like they'll be at least a small bit interesting! I've been making it through the rest of what the world has to throw at me with only minor freak outs.... well except for this one day that I was convinced I had armpit and tonsil cancer.... haha. Maybe I'm a hypochondriac, does it make me one for wondering that? hmmmm. oh NO! Gold Coast continues to be an interesting place to live and a wonder to navigate. Tonight we walked to subway. Our lovable Finnish roommate assured us that the shopping center subway is in is "about a 15 minute walk" HAAAAA try 30 or 35 minute walk. Let's just say... we all got foot longs! Walking everywhere that we can has truly provided us with some serious adventures, and about a 20 combined weight loss in the last few weeks! Apparently that exercising thing works? Who knew! Well I'm off to bed before our intended walking workout in the morning! Catch you all later!

These pictures are from about a week ago when we went to Tallebudgera Creek, it was beautiful!

G'Day

Not too much is going on down under as of late. We've been settling into our new schedules with classes starting up. I think I'm going to like the set up here with just one lecture a week and then having one tutorial to follow. My schedule is pretty relaxed so it should be a good semester! I'm loving Griffith Gold Coast so far!

Monday: Love, Eros, & Truth lecture 4:00 - 5:50 pm
Tuesday:  Love, Eros, & Truth tutorial 11:00 - 11:50 am
                International Change and the Social World lecture 2:00 - 3:50 pm
                International Change and the Social World Tutorial 4:00 - 4:50 pm
Wednesday: The Global Environment tutorial 8:00 - 8:50 am
Thursday: Psychology for Social Science lecture 10:00 - 11:50 am
                Psychology for Social Science tutorial 6:00 - 6:50 pm
Friday: The Global Environment lecture 10:00 - 11:50