Whoa- it seems like things are starting to pick up quickly around here! Assignments are due, trips are coming, and Easter is approaching full force!! It's exciting to get out of Lismore and luckily, that's exactly what I will be/ have been doing. Last weekend, we drove with our friend Cathy to her hometown of Toowomba...
They had a carnival/ "Show" there and it was basically a town fair filled with cotton candy, prize-winning goats, and fireworks. We also got to see alpacas (Ben and I wanted to steal one to take home to the States, but the whole transportation thing became an issue!), I got an up-close encounter with "First-Place Poultry" in the hen and duck house, and I even got to see a demolition derby. All in all, it was a lot of down-home, Australia-lovin' fun, haha!! It was really nice to meet Cathy's family, though, and just be in a house for a change...we even got a home-cooked meal on Friday night which was superb! Driving to/from her house, we also got a picturesque view of the Australian landscape, complete with rolling hills and lots of green- it's absolutely breath-taking!!
Tomorrow (yes, tomorrow!!), Ben and I are leaving for Sydney by train and we'll arrive at 7AM on Thursday! I'll update soon after we return on Tuesday morning :)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
I know, I know...I need to update this thing more often. Honestly, though, nothing too exciting has been going on. It's just been the basic routine of class, homework, hanging with the Aussies...hmmm...
Last week, though, Ben and I booked two trips: one to Adelaide to visit Crock (April 22-26) and one to Sydney (April 1-6). The Sydney one is quickly approaching and I'm really excited :) We're going to do the Sydney bridge climb during the day on Friday, go on a trolley tour of the Blue Mountains (I've heard they're beautiful!), go to the Sydney Aquarium, and go to Bondi beach for some swimming and a public market on Sunday. Again, REALLY excited!!!
Nothing else is too new around here. My friend Karie and I went to a kickboxing class on Thursday at the gym which was a blast...well, atleast until I woke up Friday morning and felt like I had worked muscles I never knew I had- good workout though!!
Anyways, all's going well and Easter is coming up soon; it'll be strange to not be with family on Easter but those of us that are in Lismore that weekend are going to do our best with cooking an Easter meal (we'll see how it goes!) ... Maybe I'll get an Easter greeting or two in the mail?!! :)
Last week, though, Ben and I booked two trips: one to Adelaide to visit Crock (April 22-26) and one to Sydney (April 1-6). The Sydney one is quickly approaching and I'm really excited :) We're going to do the Sydney bridge climb during the day on Friday, go on a trolley tour of the Blue Mountains (I've heard they're beautiful!), go to the Sydney Aquarium, and go to Bondi beach for some swimming and a public market on Sunday. Again, REALLY excited!!!
Nothing else is too new around here. My friend Karie and I went to a kickboxing class on Thursday at the gym which was a blast...well, atleast until I woke up Friday morning and felt like I had worked muscles I never knew I had- good workout though!!
Anyways, all's going well and Easter is coming up soon; it'll be strange to not be with family on Easter but those of us that are in Lismore that weekend are going to do our best with cooking an Easter meal (we'll see how it goes!) ... Maybe I'll get an Easter greeting or two in the mail?!! :)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hmm, I left off on Wednesday so here's the update on netball...
it's a very frustrating sport if you are used to playing basketball, haha!! For anyone that is not sure what netball is, it's a sport that is similar to basketball except there is no dribbling, no back board on the basket, and everyone is designated a certain position and can only go in certain zones where those positions are allowed. The first game was fun, but trying to get the different rules down got a little dicey- especially the rule that "when someone is taking a shot, you must stand 3 ft. away from them and simply put your arms up"...I think I need to work on that aspect, haha! Everyone was really helpful, though, and the refs. were understanding of the fact that most of our team were JUST learning that night!
After netball, I was looking at my schedule and realized that the lab science that I'm taking right now (Biology) could be switched with a Geology class so that I only have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This makes traveling over weekends much more convenient and easier to get a group together to go on longer trips (plus only having class 3 days a week isn't bad either!!) On the topic of traveling though...
Sorry I didn't post anything this weekend, but a group of girlfriends and I drove to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast for a couple of days of seeing the beauty of the ocean (the Gold Coast is only 2 hours from Lismore). We left on Saturday morning, bright and early at 7 AM. Our Australian friend, Cathy, drove us and our car consisted of nationalities from across the globe. Carin is from Sweden, Ashley is from Canada, Simona is from Germany, and, like I said, Cathy is an Aussie.
We got to Surfer's around 9AM and decided to start with some shopping while we weren't sandy from laying out on the beach. After awhile, we grabbed lunch and then laid on the beach for the rest of the afternoon- the temperature was perfect and not excruciatingly hot like it has been on other days. The sound of the ocean and the nice breeze that was perfect for on the sand (which I took full advantage of!) Around 5ish, we walked back to our hostel, the Islander, checked in, and showered and got ready for a night on the town.
The streets were completely packed with people and we went to a few different nightclubs throughout the night (we got in free because we had talked with a girl that worked at one of the stores we had gone to earlier and she told us how to get on their "VIP" lists from the internet!) The nightclubs were fun, but after about 1AM, the techno music was getting a little too intense for us. We decided to get some fresh air and were walking on the sidewalk when we passed a street musician that was playing all Bob Marley songs- of course, I stopped and started dancing and we just danced on the sidewalk for a good 45 minutes. The best part of the night came though when we were starting to walk back to the Islander (Dad, you'll enjoy this!!) We stopped at an Irish pub that had a live band!!! The music was really good and we had a blast on the dance floor- it definitely made our night! We got back safe and sound, bummed around Surfer's on Sunday and got back to Lismore late Sunday afternoon.
The entire weekend was a blast (don't worry, pictures will be posted soon, I'm working on it!!) Right now though, I have to get to my 3 hour lecture! Thanks to all who have been e-mailing me and reading this; I hope you're enjoying it!
it's a very frustrating sport if you are used to playing basketball, haha!! For anyone that is not sure what netball is, it's a sport that is similar to basketball except there is no dribbling, no back board on the basket, and everyone is designated a certain position and can only go in certain zones where those positions are allowed. The first game was fun, but trying to get the different rules down got a little dicey- especially the rule that "when someone is taking a shot, you must stand 3 ft. away from them and simply put your arms up"...I think I need to work on that aspect, haha! Everyone was really helpful, though, and the refs. were understanding of the fact that most of our team were JUST learning that night!
After netball, I was looking at my schedule and realized that the lab science that I'm taking right now (Biology) could be switched with a Geology class so that I only have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This makes traveling over weekends much more convenient and easier to get a group together to go on longer trips (plus only having class 3 days a week isn't bad either!!) On the topic of traveling though...
Sorry I didn't post anything this weekend, but a group of girlfriends and I drove to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast for a couple of days of seeing the beauty of the ocean (the Gold Coast is only 2 hours from Lismore). We left on Saturday morning, bright and early at 7 AM. Our Australian friend, Cathy, drove us and our car consisted of nationalities from across the globe. Carin is from Sweden, Ashley is from Canada, Simona is from Germany, and, like I said, Cathy is an Aussie.
We got to Surfer's around 9AM and decided to start with some shopping while we weren't sandy from laying out on the beach. After awhile, we grabbed lunch and then laid on the beach for the rest of the afternoon- the temperature was perfect and not excruciatingly hot like it has been on other days. The sound of the ocean and the nice breeze that was perfect for on the sand (which I took full advantage of!) Around 5ish, we walked back to our hostel, the Islander, checked in, and showered and got ready for a night on the town.
The streets were completely packed with people and we went to a few different nightclubs throughout the night (we got in free because we had talked with a girl that worked at one of the stores we had gone to earlier and she told us how to get on their "VIP" lists from the internet!) The nightclubs were fun, but after about 1AM, the techno music was getting a little too intense for us. We decided to get some fresh air and were walking on the sidewalk when we passed a street musician that was playing all Bob Marley songs- of course, I stopped and started dancing and we just danced on the sidewalk for a good 45 minutes. The best part of the night came though when we were starting to walk back to the Islander (Dad, you'll enjoy this!!) We stopped at an Irish pub that had a live band!!! The music was really good and we had a blast on the dance floor- it definitely made our night! We got back safe and sound, bummed around Surfer's on Sunday and got back to Lismore late Sunday afternoon.
The entire weekend was a blast (don't worry, pictures will be posted soon, I'm working on it!!) Right now though, I have to get to my 3 hour lecture! Thanks to all who have been e-mailing me and reading this; I hope you're enjoying it!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
This past weekend was a blast in traditional Aussie fashion...on Saturday a big group of us went to Evanshead Beach and spent the day in the water and playing beach volleyball (of course, we had a BBQ too!). We spent most of the day at the beach and then loaded back on the bus and headed back to the college to quickly shower and get ready for seeing OUR FIRST FOOTY GAME!! My friend Cathy took a group of us to see the Gold Coast Titans vs. the New Zealand Warriors...we cheered hard for the Titans but the Warriors dominated us in the end. Either way, it was a blast- we sat on blankets around the "Oval" and tried to get all of the rules and regulations down...it was definitely a lot faster than football!!
On Sunday, a big group of international students got paired up with families from around the Lismore area who volunteered to make lunch for us. Ben and I were psyched to go and we were ready for anything...then our "family" pulled up and ordered us like we were hamburgers at McDonalds, "I've got Ben and Alex", haha! Anyways, the family was really nice with a lot of kids and husbands and wives to meet...they also made us kangaroo, which I ate in an attempt to not seem rude (it was a difficult feat considering I had just been petting soft kangaroos at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary the week before!!) but I stayed strong and cleaned my plate of the delicious "Bush fare"...haha!!
The rest of the week has not been extremely exciting; it's been basically filled with schoolwork and some house-cleaning. Tonight is my first night of netball, so we'll see how that goes :)
Otherwise, all is going well. A group of girls and I are driving to Surfer's Paradise early on Saturday morning and spending the weekend there for some shopping and beach bumming- I'll update again soon!!
On Sunday, a big group of international students got paired up with families from around the Lismore area who volunteered to make lunch for us. Ben and I were psyched to go and we were ready for anything...then our "family" pulled up and ordered us like we were hamburgers at McDonalds, "I've got Ben and Alex", haha! Anyways, the family was really nice with a lot of kids and husbands and wives to meet...they also made us kangaroo, which I ate in an attempt to not seem rude (it was a difficult feat considering I had just been petting soft kangaroos at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary the week before!!) but I stayed strong and cleaned my plate of the delicious "Bush fare"...haha!!
The rest of the week has not been extremely exciting; it's been basically filled with schoolwork and some house-cleaning. Tonight is my first night of netball, so we'll see how that goes :)
Otherwise, all is going well. A group of girls and I are driving to Surfer's Paradise early on Saturday morning and spending the weekend there for some shopping and beach bumming- I'll update again soon!!
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