YEEEEW! Surfin at Spot X

Hello there! I finally got my pictures from my surf camp in March. Proof that I actually got up on the board, many times, and surfed on the Pacific! :)

The Sunny Coast Crew

Like a pro on my first try!

Practicing my form on the beach

Pro...

Saturday Night Footy

On Tuesday, I decided to take the bus into Mooloolaba for some 'Me' time. It was a beautiful, sunny day, great for some shopping and beach walking. I took a few hours to enjoy the beauty of everything around me, knowing that in a few weeks, this will all be a memory. I walked down the esplanade, browsing the shops and enjoying some time for myself to relax and go where ever I wanted to. After little success at the shops, I decided to take a walk along Mooloolaba Beach. Since it's technically winter here now, and it was a week day, there were very few people on the beach. I got to enjoy its peacefulness and walk at my own pace, engrossed in the sound of the waves of the Pacific. After the beach, I took the liberty of walking down the paths along the coast to see where it would take me. I found some beautiful picture points along the way, but finally made it down to Alexandra Headland, or Alex Beach. It too was pretty quiet, so walking along the beach was very relaxing. My toes got a taste of the chilly Pacific Ocean, but I was still quite warm with the sun beating down on me. I enjoyed having some time to myself. Later that night Jess, Nikki and I went over to Tahlia's house for a pizza night.Girl time is nice.

Mooloolaba Beach

Part of the Esplanade where many hotels are overlooking the Pacific

Mooloolaba on a quiet day

In my counselling tutorial, I was asked by my friend Kelly, a native Aussie, if I had a gun... yes, a gun! I responded...with a surprised look... umm no! In the midwest people only own guns if they hunt. We don't just buy them to shoot people! In the south, well, they do things different and have different views than we do in the Midwest. Its amazing how Aussies classify Americans as 'Gun Owners' like everyone has one and we're all crazy! I was happy to set the record straight.

Alexandra Headland with Maroochydore in the distance

Mooloolaba

Saturday night, Ally, Nikki, Tahlia, Jess and I took a road trip! Well, not really, only an hour away, but it was so much fun! We got tickets through a student price deal, and were off to Brisbane to see an AFL (Australian Football League) game of the Brisbane Lions VS North Melbourne Kangaroos. It was raining throughout the game, but it just make the experience more fun! Footy is a sport played on a circular field with 18 players to a team. They can kick/punt the ball to each other or punch it, so to speak. There are 4 posts on each end of the field. if the ball gets in (either by kick, throw or roll) the outside posts, its 1 point and through the center it is 6 points. It is very physical, they wear no padding, the men are very muscular, and known for being studly :) and It was very fun in person. We scored front row seats!!! It was an intense game and the Lions ended up winning! Fan's get dressed up a little for sporting events, but no where near what Americans do. It was definitely a fun experience that was worth the drive!

The Gabba (Stadium)

Raiiiiin

Brisbane Lions

Quite Rough

Victory Huddle After Winning

Johnathan Brown (aka Joe Mauer's Brother) Look Close Up! You'll agree!

This week is all about being productive, then on Friday, Me, Nikki, Jess, Jourdan, Ally and Carly are off to Melbourne!! Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Cheers!

Crunch Time

I know its been awhile since my last post, but that is only because nothing too interesting has been happening lately! I've been busy trying to find motivation to write my final 6 essays before my final exams in June and have been successful...more or less...

Lately I have gone on walks on the path/s I've gone running on. So pretty! Plus, as a bonus, the city has stretching and exercise stations set up along the path to influence people like me to exercise. Kind of nice actually! There are two small lakes around where I walk/run interwoven in pretty neighborhoods. It is such a nice area.

Lake where I walk/run

 Lately, It has been fairly sunny but the temperature has definitely cooled off. More like a MN fall during the day with low 50's high 40's at night. For the Aussies, that means its time for boots, hats, scarves, and jeans and a sweater everyday! Its insane. I still wear flip flops, t-shirts and shorts during the day. They don't even know what cold is, in my opinion. Many of them have never even seen snow. As much as I hate winter, I can't imagine never  seeing snow!

4 friends and I booked tickets to Melbourne this week, so we are very excited about that at the end of May. This weekend is productive weekend. Hopefully, with some play time too! I'm still meeting new people weekly and getting to know acquaintances more. Definitely nice to meet new people. I can't believe I have only about a month and a half left here! Time has flown by, and I have loved every minute of it. It is still hard to believe I have seen and been to all the places that I have. The world is an exceptionally beautiful place.

I also love the fact that I'm always learning new things about the culture here. This week Nikki, Tahlia and I drove up to Caloundra just for a McFlurry and got to talk to Talz about driving and their laws here. Everyone, mostly, drives a manual stick shift. Supposedly even those who learn stick, then switch to an automatic, end up missing the manuals. No Thank you!! Seems so hard, even though she explained it like it was a piece of cake. They get their provisional licence when their 17-18, have to manually log over a hundred hours plus other nonsense, and then take a separate class and test for manual driving. There are speed restrictions for every type of license, provisional and full at yr 19-20, and they change by state. So confusing. Tahlia couldn't believe some people in South Dakota are driving at 14 with their parents.

In my counselling class this week we were talking about drinking behaviours and whats normal for Aussies. I didn't realise how much drinking is the norm here and how stiff Americans seem. Its so interwoven into the culture. Even though the drinking age is 18, no one is surprised when their 14 year olds are getting drunk and partying. That is not ok in my book and so weird! I also don't think the cops police drinking very much or give out 'minors' like they do in the states. The culture is very much open and easy when it comes to alcohol. To back this up, I learned in one of my Psychology lectures that Australia is known as the binge drinking country, not as bad as the Brits I guess, but way worse than Americans. Good to know we're not as bad as people think :)

I also have gotten better insight as to why everyone in Australia is in love with Barack Obama... seriously, they are... When the newscasters got ahold of how the Americans killed Osama, it was all over the news... but every station was saying the same thing and expressing the same point of view. Therefore my conclusion is... all any Aussie hears is a liberal point of view, thats all that is televised or portrayed in the media. Interesting being an American and knowing both sides.

Thats about all I have for now, sorry I bored you all to death. Hopefully I will have more fun and interesting things to share next time.

Cheers!

Interesting!

These past few days I've been lazy and preparing myself for the second half of the semester... meanwhile I have to be jealous of everyone I know from the US studying abroad that is heading home now. Wish I was that close to summer!

This weekend I learned a couple interesting things...
1) Elli, Nikki, Jess and I went to see a movie at the cinema at Sunshine Plaza and I was so surprised how spendy movies are! $13 and thats with the student discount. But thats not the only surprising thing from the night... when buying tickets, they ask you where you want to sit! Its all assigned seating. So weird! We got good seats, luckily, and the theater itself was very nice. The concept of assigned seats is interesting and kind of nice actually, we bought our tickets head of time so we could show up after the previews and have great seats instead of wandering through the whole theater looking or getting stuck in the front. The cinema also has candy boxes in the wall, with all kinds of gummies, m&ms and chocolates, and you can take a plastic cup (3 diff. sizes) and fill it with whatever you want from the wall, and thats your movie treat! Genius!

2) The Australian government differs from the US in a few ways. Besides the fact that they have a prime minister,  their healthcare procedures and money grants are so different! Everyone has healthcare from the day their born, until they die, through the government. Its universal healthcare. Such a weird thought. They don't have to work to get it but the option of more healthcare is available if people want it through work. The Aussies find it odd that places like the US don't have that for everyone and that some people are denied care. Explaining our process to them is definitely an experience. Not quite sure how I feel about the issue... but seeing how different countries do things is cool.

3) In the US, students get scholarships and grants for higher education right? Well... here scholarships aren't too frequent before uni and instead, the government hands out money to individuals that need it, regardless of if they're going to school or not. Its a free for all! I know a few people that get weekly/fortnightly (every 2 weeks) checks from the government. Its not welfare or anything, they just get it based on their parents income. Interesting thought. But, like the US, some don't get it if their parents make too much, despite if they're paying for everything on their own and have a job. Interesting aspect of government I thought...

Other than that, today is labour day, so I have the day off from classes. Its been a gorgeous few days and I hope to do some homework outside! Still  nice enough for this MN girl to get a tan while being productive! Heres some other photos from NZ and Fiji that I got from the other gals and some from my day of celebration. Hope spring is treating you all well!

Cheers!

Queenstown

Last night in Queenstown ~dinner

On our Vessel in Milford Sound

At the Skyline Restaurant

Skyline

Mission Accomplished

Fiji

So tired on my Big day!

Julien ~ thought the ugly shirt would look better on him than some girl

Birthday Girl

Love them <3