Australian Money
My friend Nicole and I at the Indy 300 Race
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Birthday Weekend
I am 21 years old – can you believe it??
I went out Thursday night with my friends to dinner at Melbas on the park. It’s a restaurant and club in Surfer’s Paradise. We had dinner and then hung out there. It was really nice and I’m glad that everyone came out! Friday was my actual birthday and we went to our friend’s apartment to bake a cake. Mom sent a package with mix, frosting, candles and sprinkles to decorate. We don’t have ovens in our apartment here, so we had to go there to make it and then brought it back. My friend Allison did most of the baking, she is always making cookies and banana bread. We went out Friday night too to celebrate in Surfers. I am feeling much much better from last week but unfortunately now everyone else is starting to feel sick.
The package from mom was great too because she put in candy saucers and also chips with salsa and cheese in little individual containers. I still have not had sit down Mexican food since we’ve been here. Just burritos a few times at one sort of fast food like place. I miss Jalapeño Loco nights!
Saturday night we went to the casino for a while. I actually didn’t gamble a single cent (thank goodness). It didn’t appeal to me much, but it was still really cool to see and hang out there. I don’t know if that’s normal to go hang out at a casino and not gamble…haha
Today we hung out at the beach all day and I think we’re going early tomorrow too before class. I am definitely not looking forward to coming home to Ohio’s December weather at the end of this trip.
I went out Thursday night with my friends to dinner at Melbas on the park. It’s a restaurant and club in Surfer’s Paradise. We had dinner and then hung out there. It was really nice and I’m glad that everyone came out! Friday was my actual birthday and we went to our friend’s apartment to bake a cake. Mom sent a package with mix, frosting, candles and sprinkles to decorate. We don’t have ovens in our apartment here, so we had to go there to make it and then brought it back. My friend Allison did most of the baking, she is always making cookies and banana bread. We went out Friday night too to celebrate in Surfers. I am feeling much much better from last week but unfortunately now everyone else is starting to feel sick.
The package from mom was great too because she put in candy saucers and also chips with salsa and cheese in little individual containers. I still have not had sit down Mexican food since we’ve been here. Just burritos a few times at one sort of fast food like place. I miss Jalapeño Loco nights!
Saturday night we went to the casino for a while. I actually didn’t gamble a single cent (thank goodness). It didn’t appeal to me much, but it was still really cool to see and hang out there. I don’t know if that’s normal to go hang out at a casino and not gamble…haha
Today we hung out at the beach all day and I think we’re going early tomorrow too before class. I am definitely not looking forward to coming home to Ohio’s December weather at the end of this trip.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Cough Cough
I have had a nagging cough and bad cold since mid last week so I finally went to the doctor on campus tonight. Turns out I have bronchitis, so he wrote me a couple prescriptions to help clear it up. I’m going to take it easy this week and hopefully I’ll be feeling better by my birthday this weekend. I think we are going out to dinner Thursday night to celebrate both mine and Ashley’s birthdays (hers is today). I still have my birthday card from Grandma to open on Friday too – I’ve been saving it since August when I left (that is some serious self-control if you ask me)!!
The concert last week was so awesome and the secret party was so much fun too. Turns out it wasn’t at Q1, but on an equally cool level it was at the Big Brother House. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the American TV show, but Australia has their own version and the party was at the house they use for the reality show. It made me want to watch the series here, but obviously they are between seasons right now.
We are going to Melbourne Halloween weekend. I doubt we’ll get to dress up for any Halloween parties though. It’s more of an American holiday. It will still be fun, and we are planning on going to a day of the Melbourne Cup. It’s a huge horse race they host each year. I got a dress and I’m going to wear my roommate’s floppy white hat. She got it to wear for a race day they had around here earlier in the semester.
I have a huge midterm tomorrow for one my classes. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t have a lot of homework and assignments in my classes because so much of our grade depends on the midterm and final. So off to study – more updates later this week!
The concert last week was so awesome and the secret party was so much fun too. Turns out it wasn’t at Q1, but on an equally cool level it was at the Big Brother House. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the American TV show, but Australia has their own version and the party was at the house they use for the reality show. It made me want to watch the series here, but obviously they are between seasons right now.
We are going to Melbourne Halloween weekend. I doubt we’ll get to dress up for any Halloween parties though. It’s more of an American holiday. It will still be fun, and we are planning on going to a day of the Melbourne Cup. It’s a huge horse race they host each year. I got a dress and I’m going to wear my roommate’s floppy white hat. She got it to wear for a race day they had around here earlier in the semester.
I have a huge midterm tomorrow for one my classes. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t have a lot of homework and assignments in my classes because so much of our grade depends on the midterm and final. So off to study – more updates later this week!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Bondstock
I'm off to an exciting week! It's week 5 here at Bond and that means Bondstock is happening all this week. I have my ticket to see The Potbelleez and End of Fashion tonight on campus - yay :) Tomorrow night, Nicole, Brynn and I are going to a "secret location" party. We heard a rumor that it's on the top of Q1 which is the largest (or maybe second largest now) residential building in the world. It's right in surfers paradise. I really wanted to go up and see the view sometime this semester so if we got to go for this, that would be awesome.
This morning on campus I went to go hear John Howard speak. He was the Australian prime minister from 1996 to 2007. I thought it was really interesting and the US was brought up on several occasions. In the question and answer period he even started into his thoughts on the US elections and the candidates. So far from my experience here, Australians are far more politically and globally aware than most Americans. It's rather scary at times.
Last night, my friends and I did some trip planning as well. It's looking like Melbourne, Cairns/The Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand will be on my list. I wanted to visit Alice Springs and see Uluru, but it's really expensive to fly out there and then take a tour in the outback. I'm already so grateful that I've seen as much as I have on this trip, so I'm not too disappointed. There is still a ton to see around here too! We are planning on taking the train to the Steve Irwin Zoo on Sunday for a day trip.
Well that's all for now - I have my group tennis lesson soon and then one more class for the day. I'll update more later and let you know how Bondstock went.
This morning on campus I went to go hear John Howard speak. He was the Australian prime minister from 1996 to 2007. I thought it was really interesting and the US was brought up on several occasions. In the question and answer period he even started into his thoughts on the US elections and the candidates. So far from my experience here, Australians are far more politically and globally aware than most Americans. It's rather scary at times.
Last night, my friends and I did some trip planning as well. It's looking like Melbourne, Cairns/The Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand will be on my list. I wanted to visit Alice Springs and see Uluru, but it's really expensive to fly out there and then take a tour in the outback. I'm already so grateful that I've seen as much as I have on this trip, so I'm not too disappointed. There is still a ton to see around here too! We are planning on taking the train to the Steve Irwin Zoo on Sunday for a day trip.
Well that's all for now - I have my group tennis lesson soon and then one more class for the day. I'll update more later and let you know how Bondstock went.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
What's cookin?
Sarah and I cooked Kangaroo for dinner tonight and then made wraps with it. It was pretty good but I'm not sure if she enjoyed it. There had been one night in Sydney she got really bad food poising, and thought maybe it was from eating roo. She doesn't know for sure, but I think it was on her mind.
The weekend went by way too quick, but it was a fun one. The weather was so nice, we had two good days at the beach. I put sunscreen on everywhere but my legs and of course I got burnt :(
The weekend went by way too quick, but it was a fun one. The weather was so nice, we had two good days at the beach. I put sunscreen on everywhere but my legs and of course I got burnt :(
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Week of Updates
Okay...where do I begin?
Last weekend I got to experience my first Rugby game. It was a local charity game that my Aussie friend Clinton was running. He had invited me awhile ago and I thought my friends might all like to come too. It was an all day even though and they wimped out on me, they went to Brisbane (closest big city to us) earlier that day. I went to Rugby tourney with Clint. It was a lot of fun, but very random since I didn't know anyone else. Not only was Clint playing on a team but he was running everything so we hardly hung out that day. I helped his sister and some of her friends grill and see sausages and hamburgers to raise money. I was just excited to hang out with locals and actually talk to Australians all day. There are so many Americans and international students at Bond, I get annoyed not getting to meet more people from here. I had some funny conversations with people too. Like one guy who asked me where he should visit when he goes to the US. I didn't even know what to say, there is so much to see and so much to do. I guess it depends what you like. I should have told him just to go spend a few weeks in Cleveland...jk! Actually the name of the suburb where we were was named Cleveland as well. I wanted my picture with a sign on the road, but didn't get a chance. I'll have to go back for it.
After the rugby, I got a ride to Brisbane to meet up with my friends. We were staying at a hostel there for the night. Downtown Brisbane was okay, it's not my new favorite. It is certainly not a bad city. They were hosting an Oktoberfest. We stopped in the next day but didn't stay for that long. I think more people went on Friday and Saturday and the weekend before. Afterward we walked to Chinatown and had lunch in the area. We shopped a little but I didn't have time to go to a mall (I heard the shopping in there was good). We took a train home, it was only about $5 with our student IDs. It's a little over an hour ride, or closer to 40-45 min. car drive.
This week we had a group meeting with our client for Sports PR class. He is starting a business called Gold Sports Tourism and our group is researching and designing a website. He works and has worked with different teams on the Gold Coast. He was supposed to get us tickets for the Blaze, the Gold Coast's professional basketball team, this Thursday. I don't know if he remembered to get them though. I figure I'll make it to a game eventually. We just missed Rugby season. The Aussie Rules Footy season had it finals this past weekend too in Melbourne.
I've been playing tennis. I started hitting in group lessons and I also with with my roomie today and my neighbor Jeremy last week. It feels so good to be playing again. I shouldn't have taken such a long break. I was really sore after my first lesson. The instructor is really funny, his name is Mark and he is from southern Australia. You can tell he is a really good player, he said he had to quit playing at a certain level when he hurt his back. He is only 18. I think I'm going to enjoy the lessons even though he sometimes he takes to many breaks and pauses for me.
Living with Sarah has still been good. Sometimes I think she does really funny stuff, that I don't necessarily think she knows is funny (if that makes any sense). Right now I am listening to her talk on the phone with her dad in the other room. She has him going through her closet and describing the dresses in her closet to her so he can mail one to her. hehe!
I guess that's about it for the week! I'll have more updates soon. I'm going to try to be better about keeping up :)
Last weekend I got to experience my first Rugby game. It was a local charity game that my Aussie friend Clinton was running. He had invited me awhile ago and I thought my friends might all like to come too. It was an all day even though and they wimped out on me, they went to Brisbane (closest big city to us) earlier that day. I went to Rugby tourney with Clint. It was a lot of fun, but very random since I didn't know anyone else. Not only was Clint playing on a team but he was running everything so we hardly hung out that day. I helped his sister and some of her friends grill and see sausages and hamburgers to raise money. I was just excited to hang out with locals and actually talk to Australians all day. There are so many Americans and international students at Bond, I get annoyed not getting to meet more people from here. I had some funny conversations with people too. Like one guy who asked me where he should visit when he goes to the US. I didn't even know what to say, there is so much to see and so much to do. I guess it depends what you like. I should have told him just to go spend a few weeks in Cleveland...jk! Actually the name of the suburb where we were was named Cleveland as well. I wanted my picture with a sign on the road, but didn't get a chance. I'll have to go back for it.
After the rugby, I got a ride to Brisbane to meet up with my friends. We were staying at a hostel there for the night. Downtown Brisbane was okay, it's not my new favorite. It is certainly not a bad city. They were hosting an Oktoberfest. We stopped in the next day but didn't stay for that long. I think more people went on Friday and Saturday and the weekend before. Afterward we walked to Chinatown and had lunch in the area. We shopped a little but I didn't have time to go to a mall (I heard the shopping in there was good). We took a train home, it was only about $5 with our student IDs. It's a little over an hour ride, or closer to 40-45 min. car drive.
This week we had a group meeting with our client for Sports PR class. He is starting a business called Gold Sports Tourism and our group is researching and designing a website. He works and has worked with different teams on the Gold Coast. He was supposed to get us tickets for the Blaze, the Gold Coast's professional basketball team, this Thursday. I don't know if he remembered to get them though. I figure I'll make it to a game eventually. We just missed Rugby season. The Aussie Rules Footy season had it finals this past weekend too in Melbourne.
I've been playing tennis. I started hitting in group lessons and I also with with my roomie today and my neighbor Jeremy last week. It feels so good to be playing again. I shouldn't have taken such a long break. I was really sore after my first lesson. The instructor is really funny, his name is Mark and he is from southern Australia. You can tell he is a really good player, he said he had to quit playing at a certain level when he hurt his back. He is only 18. I think I'm going to enjoy the lessons even though he sometimes he takes to many breaks and pauses for me.
Living with Sarah has still been good. Sometimes I think she does really funny stuff, that I don't necessarily think she knows is funny (if that makes any sense). Right now I am listening to her talk on the phone with her dad in the other room. She has him going through her closet and describing the dresses in her closet to her so he can mail one to her. hehe!
I guess that's about it for the week! I'll have more updates soon. I'm going to try to be better about keeping up :)
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