Soaking it in

It's been about a month since Thailand, and now I have about a month until I leave. How is this all going by so fast?! I'm already feeling nostalgic for something I have yet to leave.

Thailand was indescribable. Truly a life changing experience. I've been to a few other countries, like Ireland, England, Spain, and of course Australia. But I have never been to Asia, or a third world country. The culture there is so different from anything I've ever seen. Our trip started in Bangkok. While there, we traveled to the Floating Markets, Kanchanaburi Tiger Temples, White Po, Grand Palace, Khao San Road, and a few other temples. From there, we took an over night train to Surat Thani, where we took a ferry to Kao Sok National Park - aka the most gorgeous place I have ever been, and probably will ever be, in my entire life. From there we went to Koh Phangnan, where we went to beach parties, rode elephants, snorkeled, and relaxed. After our program ended, my friends and I went to Koh Samui for our last two days for a little R&R. Truly an unbelievable experience.

The past month in Sydney has been amazing. I've gotten so much closer with all of my friends here, we're like a little family! We've gotten to be great chefs, cooking a lot of dinners together. That's something I never thought I'd be able to do, cooking isn't exactly in my genes (cough, Mom). With one month left to go, my friends and I have made a bucket list of everything we need to do in Sydney before leaving. I can't wait to start checking things off the list!

Preparing for Brisbane and Fraser Island

This weekend I'm finally taking my first big trip since I landed in Sydney. I'm heading to Brisbane and Fraser Island with one of my best friends from home, Jenny, who's on the study abroad program with Boston University. We fly in on Friday morning, spend the day in Brisbane, and get picked up for a Four Wheel Drive tour of Fraser Island that'll last two days. It's going to be incredible!

Everything has been going really well here. It's so crazy to think that we've been here for a month and a half - where has the time gone?! Last I wrote, I was about to celebrate my 21st birthday. My birthday was on a Monday, when I had a full day of classes, so we went to Hunter Valley to go wine tasting the next day. What a GREAT trip. We went to five different wineries, tasted some amazing wine, and had a really nice day out of Coogee.

Another big change since I last wrote is...I am officially interning at Rolling Stone Australia! It is actually a dream come true. I started last week, and I couldn't be happier. So far, I've been doing research, transcribing interviews, and writing reviews myself that might get published in the magazine. Is this Almost Famous?

I'm a little worried about taking care of my schedule while I'm here for next semester. It's great that the time was moved at 7am, because that means it'll be 10pm for me! I like to organize a lot for registration so being here is a little stressful for me, but I've already heard from all 3 of my advisors and they're all being so helpful. It definitely eases the pressure!

I'm off to bed before a full day of class and a jam packed weekend - I'll be sure it update with some pictures of the tour!

Sick in Sydney

Hello from beautiful Coogee Beach! It's been a while since I've written, and for those waiting on bated breath for my next blog post, I apologize. Truth be told, internet is EXPENSIVE. Plus, I've been too busy doing fun things to write about! So that makes it okay, right? Anyway, I've been pretty sick the past few days, so what better time to take a moment and blog?

The last time I wrote, I was off to the last day of orientation. Since then, classes have started! We just finished up our second week, and things are going well so far. My schedule is still a little bit up in the air as I haven't been placed at an internship yet, but this Monday I have an interview with Rolling Stone Australia! Talk about a dream come true. If I get an internship, the classes I will be taking are: Australian Cinema and TV, Contemporary Approaches to Cinema, and Marine Environment.

Over the past two weeks we've done a lot of exploring around Sydney. We discovered Eastgartens and Bondi Junction Malls, we have done the gorgeous walk from Coogee to Bondi (it takes about 1.5 hours, but it's beautiful), we saw Chelsea Handler at the Sydney State Theater, we went to the first rugby match of the season, and have spent a lot of time at the beach! Oh, and studying, of course.

I've been here for a month, and I feel as if the time is flying by. My friends and I are starting to book trips, which is incredibly exciting. We just booked spring break in Thailand, on a program called Thaintro. Thailand is the one place I've been dying to go to, so it's safe to assume that I'm counting down the days.

The week ahead is going to be amazing. Tomorrow we're going to a surf competition in Bondi, and my roommate and I are going to Future Music Festival. It's a lot of techno and house music which isn't really my style, but we have VIP tickets, so that should be fun. Sunday we're going to the Taste of Sydney Food festival. Monday is my 21st birthday, so after classes and my interview we're going to a nice dinner in the city. Tuesday we're going to Hunter Valley, which is like Napa Valley wine country, for wine tasting. Last but not least, Thursday we're going on a cruise around Darling Harbor for St. Patty's day. It's definitely going to be a jam packed week!

That's all for now! I'll try to keep you guys more up-to-date next week.