JCU--TOWNSVILLE..so far

So it has been a week since the last time I decided to blog. Shame shame. But i haven't forgotten, which is a plus because I know how I am with stuff like this.
I have FINALLY made it to James Cook University in Townsville!! Townsville is a small city with only about 150,000 people. But it is gorgeous here. The campus isnt as pretty as I am used to at Spelman, but I think just being here makes it pretty. The weather is much warmer than in Coloundra where Arcadia orientation was held. It has been in the high 70s and low 80s all week.
When we got here we got to go out with Kat to the Strand which is down near the beach... The picture above is what we saw when we were walking up to the beach. I really can't believe how beautiful everything is here. I think I am still in shock that a) I am on the other side of the world and b) I am FINALLY outside of the states.
Needless to say that there is soooo much that I want to do while I am here!... I dont know how I will afford everything that I want to do. I want to get scuba certified, go to the outback and do spring break in FIJI!!.. but we will see about the last one. Plane tickets are really expensive here.
So far I havent really met that many Australians on campus, but we have mostly only had orientation for international students. So I have met people from everywhere. And people seem to be really nice thus far. Of course the group of us that came from Arcadia have been sticking together pretty tight. It is nice to have other Americans around that are going through a lot of the same feelings and things that I am, but I do want to make sure that I allow myself to branch out and meet other people as well. Which I have, but as the saying goes: don't put all of your eggs in one basket.
We have been going out a lot and it has been really fun. We went to the Jupiter Townsville Cup today and it was something else! I knew that people dressed up for horse races, but I think that I definitely underestimated the statement. But we all dressed up and I did the whole nine: satin gloves, hat/hair thingy, heels and a really classy dress. It was a fun affair, but tiring. I think we will probably go out tonite tho. I WILL only live in Oz once.

Will be back later...
Kiara

The Reason that I'm Here

During the last blog I think that I was more excited that I had finally made it to Australia than anything. It still seems surreal that I am half-way across that world. I guess because I have never been out of the country, it still doesn’t feel real to me. The sky is still just as blue since the first day that I arrived. You know how when you go to the beach and its pretty and you’re excited, but then the next day it is raining and its just not so pretty anymore? I really don’t think that I will find that a problem here in Oz. Everytime that I take a walk on the beach I see something different and exciting. I think that it is better than I ever could have possibly imagined.
Now that I have had a little bit of time to observe and reflect on exactly why I am here, I decided that I should write about it. My decision to come to Australia was based on several factors. 1: being a biology major it would be very difficult to study bio in Spanish. 2: I needed to go somewhere that would offer the science courses that I needed, and 3: I wanted to go somewhere that was somewhat different from the US. That narrowed my choices down to Australia and New Zealand. My decision from that point was based off of courses offered and the surrounding climate.
In the meantime, someone introduced me to a guy that lived for a year in Australia. He had the opportunity to travel all around the country and live in several regions, but the one thing that he said that stuck with me was that Australians tend to be more free-spirited and happier than many Americans. When I thought of Australia as my host country, I thought of what he told me about how the lifestyle was very different from the Americans and I figured that there was something that could be learned and appreciated from the Aussies.
As I aspire to become a healthcare professional, I will need some of the personality traits that these Aussies have and cherish. Something must be said about a happier and healthier country. Something must be said about an indigenous people that still hold the longest documented civilization in the history of the world. Something must be said about a people that have learned to live on the driest continent on Earth. So here I am… coming to find out what it is the Aussies have, that Americans do not.

The First Day... Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I am still very new to this whole idea of blogging, and I am not quite sure how it works, but I am going to give it a try so that my experience here can be documented. Oh yeah, I still don’t have a really catchy name, so if you can think of one, I am open to ideas.

The flight over wasn’t as bad as I thought it would have been. The only bad part of my 23 hour journey over was on the flight from Philadelphia to LA… I was in between some big, huge, computer tech type guy (who wouldn’t stop picking his nose), and this really rude lady. Needless to say they were both from LA. Anywho, once in LA I was really excited to finally get onto the final leg of the trip! The 13 hour segment of the flight wasn’t that bad. The food wasn’t spectacular, but it was edible and served its purpose. But about 13 hours later, the sun was rising as we were landing in Brisbane, Australia. (BTW: Brisbane is pronounced Bris-bin, kinda like we call Mebane Me-ban, and not Me-bane)

Once customs was over and done with, we finally met with Arcadia staff, who are all very nice and excited for us to be here, or so it seems. We were greeted by Cam who is based in New South Wales in Sydney. When we went outside to store our bags during orientation, we were reminded of the season switch during the 13 hour flight. It was pretty cold outside, probably about 10 degrees Celsius, which is about 50 degrees our temp. Most of us were not prepared for this, but we did have hoodies (which are called ‘jumpers’ here.

After 30 minutes of freezing, because I have been spoiled with the hot & humid climate of NC and the southeastern US, we FINALLY got on the bus to drive to Coloundra, about an hour north of Brisbane. The first thing that I noticed about Australia is that the sky is much more brilliant than ours. It makes Carolina Blue look silly. It is probably a whole new shade that Crayola hasn’t come up with yet. And that’s not to mention the scenery on the drive over, the mountains, the trees, the fields, the houses, and then we were to our destination: The Shearwater Resort at King’s Beach. When I read the sign I was pretty excited! I have been DYING to get to the beach, and here I am!! But I must say that I don’t think that I will ever look at other beaches the same. We had to talk a little bit before they took us on our walk through the little coastal city.

Once again I am at a loss of words when it comes to the landscape out here. The Pacific Ocean is a marvelous thing. And in contrast with the white sand here, it is amazing! It is so much better than any picture I have seen, you must simply be here for yourself (But I will put up pics and you can tell me what you think).

We finally got something to eat and had to head back to check into our rooms for orientation. I have to give it to Arcadia, this place is pretty nice. It overlooks the beach and the little town down the street. I really don’t mind sleeping here either. And the food isn’t bad at all. Healthy, but still tasty. They gave us fish and chips from the store underneath the hotel. I asked them if they had any hot sauce and I don’t think that they have a Texas Pete equivalent. Put the chili sauce that they provided was ok..

After a long day, which seemed like it went on forever only because we are still operating on Eastern Standard time, which is a 14 hour difference, we were all tired and went to bed around 7:30 Brisbane time.

So far, I am LOVING the accents! Will be back soon!

Kiara