Spring Break Baby!

Today I leave for my Spring Break trip to Cairns!!!!! Ah, this is so so so exciting! I booked this a while ago and never thought I’d see the day! The trip is a 9 day excursion up to Cairns. I fly to Brisbane tonight and catch a bus in the morning to start the journey. We travel by bus and have a few stops along the way (Fraser Island and Whitsundays) and the final destination is the Great Barrier Reef!

The itinerary includes the Australian Zoo, bungee jumping, bungy swing, yacht sailing through the islands, bus trip on Fraser Island, Carlos sandblow, white water rafting the Tully River, staying on a Tropical Island Resort, high speed ocean rafting, rainforest and waterfalls walks, Great Barrier Reef, scuba diving and snorkeling, glass bottom boating on the reef, and skydiving!! 

How is life in NJ, friends? Yeah, Australia is pretty cool. 

1 Month Down.

Have I really been here for a month already? I feel like I just got here… although in a way it seems like I have been here for ages, too. Missing my family everyday, but also loving Australia!! I know my way around campus and the city pretty well now… its like I have been living here for forever. While I love it here, I am always going to be that little home sick deep down. Of course I miss my family, my house, my room, the unlimited food, driving, and my doggy, but I know home will be there when I get back.

When I think about leaving in 3 and a half months, I get so so sad that I will be leaving the friends I have made here. Some of my friends are Aussie, so they are here forever… and some of my friends are studying here for a year. When I go back to the States, they will all stay here and continue on without me and that just really makes me sad. I have been looking into how to stay for another semester, but I know I can’t. I have no money to do that and Australia is EXPENSIVE. I will never again complain about prices in America. Food here is unbelievable, clothing is even worse, and movies…. 30$ if you aren’t a student!!! (DVD’s new releases are 28-30$!!!!!) 

Anyway, that is what is going on in my head right now. I am so looking forward to seeing my family again in a few months. But, I wish they would come to Australia so I wouldn’t have to leave!

So what have I done for a month? I feel like I have done so much and so little. I have a list of places and things I want to do, but I haven’t checked off many of those things! However, I have done things that I didn’t plan and I loved every one of them! My friends and I go into the city all the time… the train always takes us right on the harbor bridge and right passed the Opera House, which never gets old! 

We go out a lot, too… to Darling Harbor and some local pubs around the campus. Gotta fit in the “Uni life” too! I am not a big party-er or drinker and thankfully one of my Aussie friends doesn’t drink either, so its nice to go out with someone who is in the same state of mind as you. We have though, even though we are sober! We went to a casino, The Star, on Darling Harbor last weekend and it was my first time in a Casino and I was allowed to gamble! So weird!! Very nice casino… supposedly the nicest in Sydney! 

We went back to Bondi a few weeks ago, too. Love that place. Me and Lindsey (one of my best friends here) did the cliff walk at Bondi… right along the water! I’ll have to put pictures up. I went on a surf trip (for free) to Dee-Why Beach a couple days ago and it was so much fun! The beach was weird though. It was definitely a local beach and not touristy by any means, but the sand was weird and there was some weird seaweed in the water everyyyyywhere. I’m trying not to compare the beaches here to home sweet home, but home is 10x better… maybe I’m biased? :) 

We went to Luna Park right next to the Sydney Harbor Bridge (also where they filmed a part of Mary Kate and Ashley’s Our Lips are Sealed) and it was absolutely a great time! Pictures will be up soon. 

The most fun I have probably had here so far, though, is hanging out watching movies and going on late night rides to Macca’s (McDonald’s) or Wooly’s (Woolworths… supermarket) with my Aussie friend Tiarna. Its just things like that that I find to be the best times. It’s what me and my friends from home do (nothing) and have the best times doing it (nothing). 

Other than my travel and sightseeing adventures, I have been  going to school (need to do so much homework), going to the gym (gym here is good… but I do miss running in miles. Kilometers and kilograms for weights is a bit confusing aye? I also have been cooking a lot. I have tried ever since I got here to not go out to eat or spend my money on food at the campus “hub”. Its worked… although I do cave and get fruit cups every now and again (which are $5!!!! So much money for a little fruit cup). I cooked sweet potato hot chips last night, along with steamed veggies, chicken, and baked apples in a honey mustard dressing. It wasn’t home cooked (like my mom and dad’s home cooked) but it tasted so good because I spend an hour and half making it so I could taste the hard work that went into it! haha 

So that has been my life as an Aussie for the passed month… I’ll put pictures up when I get the chance. I will try to keep up to date with my blog, but if this is the only thing I write for a while I hope its enough. I will definitely keep up to date at least once a month, but I am trying for once a week! 

Check back for pictures! xx Kristin 

I have been so busy with classes starting this week, but here are some pictures from my weekend! We went on a Sydney Harbor cruise… a lot of dancing and drinks! So much fun to see the Sydney Opera House at sunset!!! On Saturday we went to Bondi Beach… I can check that off my list! I have been obsessed with seeing the Bondi Rescue lifeguards (because I am a lifeguard myself) and they have their own tv show, which is very popular in Aus. So, I saw them filming and everything! Bondi was absolutely ridiculously beautiful! We will be going back there for sure. I met heaps of Aussies and I can say I have not met one person I have not liked! Everyone here is so friendly!! As of right now, I never want this experience to end. I want to stay here forever. 

I have so much more to write, but not enough time, so I will update later. 

Welcome to Sydney!

I have arrived in Sydney. I got here last night… but not on the best terms. I was supposed to get picked up by a rep from the school. But unfortunately no one arrived to pick me up and the number they gave to me to call in case that were to happen just rang and rang and rang and no one answered! My first hour in Sydney and already things are going bad! I was super nervous that would happen, too. 

So, I took a taxi, which cost me an arm and a leg, but I made it to the school, got my house key, and here I am! I unpacked everything and went right to bed. No one was at my house so I have no idea who I am living with or if there is anyone living here. Well, I know at least one person is living here because their bike is by the door. It’s 5 am here and I can’t sleep and I am starving!!! I have no food, so I will need to find out where to get some come daylight. Orientation for study abroad students is at 10 am. I am looking forward to meeting some people. 

I feel very homesick already… I know, I’m such a wuss! I miss my parents. I cried a little on my flight from NJ to LA, but once I got on my flight from LA to Cook Island NZ, I was fine and I thought I would be okay. Cook Island was A-MAZ-ING. The view, the people, the beauty. OMG. Then I went from Cook Island to Auckland and then to Sydney. What a long flight… 32 hours… and I slept for maybe 3. 

I just feel very alone and a little scared because I have no phone (well no phone plan so if I use my phone it’ll cost me my other arm and leg), so the only way I can communicate with my family is via email. And with the time difference, it’s hard. I just want to talk to my family. 

I am sure once I make some friends or at least find out who I’m living with, I’ll feel better, but until then, I am going to be kind of homesick. 

I am really looking forward to traveling and everything, but right now I feel like I’ll be doing it all alone, because just don’t know anyone. And I know it’s only my first day here haha, so we will see how todays orientation goes. 

I took some great pictures of cook island so those will be up soon! 

Tomorrow.

I leave tomorrow for Australia. I’m excited. But I’m kinda freaking out. I have the worst headache. I think because I’ve just been thinking about it non-stop for the passed week. I also finished packing (mostly) and everything fits, and I should have some extra room with not bringing back the toiletries, but I am going to go through each suitcase and pick 5 things in each and take them out so I have even more room. I know I will be shopping a lot and I need to make sure I’m leaving enough room. That is all!

Whew, this week kinda flew by. I’m excited, but I also wish I had like an extra week! Funny though, because last week I was saying I wanted it to be today. 

Some pictures of the passed few weeks! Bondi Cliff walk, a surf trip to Dee Why, and Luna Park and the bridge! Tons more photos, but if I put them all up I would be sitting here all day.. and I have class to go to!! My friend took the last two photos, so the credit goes to her! Luna Park was so much fun- they filmed a scene from Mary Kate and Ashley’s “Our Lips are Sealed” there. We went on the bean bag slides and ferris wheel and  a bunch others. It was so cool to be right under the Sydney Harbor Bridge with the Opera House across the harbor!

snippetsfragments asked: I was just reading your entries and what an amazing opportunity to study abroad in Australia! Sorry that it wasn't smooth sailing in the beginning, but glad to hear that things are getting better. Good for you for pushing past your comfort zone by embarking on this journey! I visited Sydney last year just for over a week (too short!) and absolutely fell in love with the country! I'm completely green with envy right now haha! Looking forward to reading more posts:) Have a great time!

Thank you. I have been here a week and I can say it was a very long week. Making it through the first couple days was tough, because I didn’t know anyone and had no housemates at the time. I had no phone for a few days, and getting in contact with family back home was almost impossible. I had no food, no bedding, no cooking essentials… everything was just very new. I cried myself to sleep the first night. A week later…. I never want to leave. I met some great friends and a ton of Aussie friends as well! We cook dinner for each other and go out together! It was a long week but now I feel like it is just going to fly by!! I don’t want to leave… ever probably. I am just starting to get into a routine and know my way around. I went to the shopping mall and got mostly everything I need, so I am so set and ready to go now! I can already see myself living here (of course in a nicer apartment than this dirty one I am in now! But hey, its college.. oh wait “uni”… so I can’t expect an upscale place!)

I have been here for a few days now. I am getting the hang of everything and knowing how to get everywhere!

I have met some really nice solid friends now and I feel comfortable. We went into Sydney last night on a boat tour and it was insane. Both the party that was going on and the sights. Sailing the Sydney Harbor was unbelievable! The bridge, the opera house, the sunset, the everything!!!!

These are some pictures I took of from the plane. The first one is of Sydney. The second one is one of my layovers in NZ on Cooks Island. Most beautiful place I have ever seen!! And the last is me and my parents before taking me to the airport! I was missing home so much the passed few days but now that I have made some good friends, I feel much much better!!! 

This is it

Can’t sleep. I’ve been up since 4 this morning. I don’t leave until this afternoon but I’m so beyond nervous. It kind of doesn’t feel real. My flight is 32 hours long. I probably won’t sleep at all so we’ll see how messed up my sleep patterns are in a few days. I’m excited to start this adventure, but terribly terribly nervous and scared. 

No going back now, huh?