Yesterday I played frisbee for almost three hours and almost died because I am so out of shape and it is SUPER humid here, but I had the best time! I really miss frisbee and running hard. I sweat so much because I piled on the sunscreen before I went out. gross, but I didn't burn! (mum, you would be so proud of me! I have only gotten one tiny burn on my shoulder and no others since I have been in Australia! Talk about slip, slop, slap!)

This morning my roommates and I walked to the train station and left on the 8:44am train towards Sydney with a few other people. We got there and walked across the harbour bridge and went to eat at this nice italian place in "the rocks." After that we walked to the powerhouse museum and checked out the lord of the rings display. It was really awesome and we saw a bunch of costumes and movies about the making of the films. After that we walked to a park and sat for a while (we walked a lot, so it was nice to relax for a little while). Later we went to a food court and got the worst thai food I have ever had in my life. I felt sick to my stomach while eating it, but I finished most of it anyway because I was so hungry! After dinner we got on the train home and came back to wollongong. It was nice to get to the city and to walk around for a day.

Here are a few pictures!

here are the six girls living on gipps street


here is part of the group that went to sydney (i took the picture, and the two swedish girls went shopping and are not pictured)


this is me with the colombian girl (paula) and the two swedish girls (Maria and Johanna). they all told me to lie across, it wasn't my idea...

uow

here I am in front of the uow campus entrance sign. the school is absolutely beautiful!

pictures at last!

first of all, the classic opera house:


and the wonderful diggereedoo players!


and here are some pictures of my house:


Here's my bed


and my wonderful window view


and here's my dryer

A few days ago there was an awesome thunder and lightning storm. It even hailed! It rained today off and on, but all my laundry is on the line right now, so hopefully it stays sunny until they dry.

My first class was pretty nice, and afterwords I went to the duck pond to eat some lunch. yeah, they're not whistling dixie. I got stalked by about 6 ducks or duck-like animals. One was the ugliest thing I've ever seen (literally an ugly duck), and it was huge. It stood right next to me and I got super nervous. I tried to scare it away, but he was set on invading my personal space. I'm guessing he was about 3 inches from me, no joke. I grabbed my napkin to try and shoo it away, but I felt something and looked down to find this green bug on the napkin. He won, I wasn't going to take it with him on there. It looked kind of like a praying mantis, and I was a little worried about the whole eating by the duck pond situation. I might have to find a new place for tomorrow.

Oh, speaking of animals, it is so cool to see parrots just chillin around town. I also saw some awesome lizards on campus. I love all the exotic wildlife! I need to take pictures of the campus!

wollongong

I have now been in wollongong for about a week, and I finally found a place to live! I am living with 5 other girls, so this should be interesting. It is nice because two are from sweden, two from north carolina, and one is from colombia. I was sad that none are aussies, but at least I am not with all americans. The house is a big, blue, six bedroom place with a cute back yard. I am in the room with the view of the back with the trees and lawn, so I am excited.

It has been pretty hectic getting settled in, but I am definitely getting used to the city now. I can't even tell you how much I have been walking! I have walked more in the last week than ever before in my life. It is good exercise, but I am really sore, which is kind of pathetic. At least I am staying in shape. On my walk to school I am going to be going through the botanical garden, so you can't complain much with that. It is really beautiful with all the trees from different areas.

Right now I am going to go see an advisor, but hopefully I will get internet in my house soon so I can update more often!

canberra

I have been in Australia for a week now, but I haven't had internet on a regular basis. I still don't, but hpefully once I get into Wollongong I can get settled and be able to go online more often! I am at an internet cafe right now and it's my last day in Canberra. I leave at 6pm and then I finally get to see the city I'll be living in!

Canberra was really fun and I saw the high court, an art museum, the war monument and many other great sites. It has also been fun going out at night and meeting Australians.

I can't write now, but more later!