Heaps of Fun!

It has been a crazy and busy past couple of weeks.. hence my lack of blogging. Mardi Gras came a little late here, about a week later than when US celebrates. We assumed beads, crazy costumes and parades were all part of the festivities, however it was a bit different. A small group of about 1o of us took the train to the city early in the afternoon, as we heard it got pretty crowded and crazy and to get there and get a good spot to see the parade. We got there around 4:30, just in time to grab a bite to eat and head to "Hyde Park" and find somewhere we could see. The parade started around 730 and lasted till about 1030. There were fun floats going up and down the streets blasting music and dancers and people walking behind them, holding signs, lights, etc. Most of the floats were promoting Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals. That seemed to be the main theme. The costumes were CRAZY... many of which lacked material but were pretty funny anyway. Apparently there were close to a million people there. There were no beads involved, nor people flashing for them. It was basically just one big party down the streets of Sydney! Afterwards everyone was set to go out and party as well. We went to this place called 3 Monkeys which was really fun and is a landmark of Syndeys nightlife. They are usually pretty strict on what you wear into the bars/clubs in Sydney (girls have to be dressed nice and cant wear flip flops or sandals, and guys cant be wearing shorts) however tonight they were pretty lax, which was nice! People totally got into it and made it a fun atmosphere and a great experience overall.

My weeks have been filled with lots of reading for my classes and getting organized for my classes each day. I am really enjoying my Intro to Audiology class, it is so interesting learning about the other side of the communication disorders major. I still think that I want to pursue speech as there are so many more options with that degree and I really enjoy what I have been doing at the preschool. I had an Audiological observation that I had to make a presentation for which turned out well and fairly interesting. Although it was just an older guy getting his ears checked because his wife was nagging him about having to yell all the time... sounds familiar. haha! My other classes are going well also. My psychology class is interesting- it is all health related and I really like learning about those type of things.

My roommates and I get along just great. Everyone is considerate and we haven't had any problems yet. It is really fun to learn about all the other cultures and languages of my roommates from Norway and Denmark. A few nights ago we all just sat around and talked about different food that each country did or didn't have. We were googling things and trying to compare what they were like in the United States (there are 3 of us from the US). One of the things was Oreos. My roommate just recently had a birthday and his parents send him a bunch of treats so the boys got to try those. They liked them :)

Caroline and I recently found a church down the road from us, only about a 15 minute walk. It is a Catholic church but the priest is really funny and we have enjoyed the services thus far. It is funny to hear them talk and sing in their accents-makes for an interesting mass! 

A couple weeks ago (two thursdays ago) we signed up for this Pub Crawl in the city. There were about 50 people, 10 or so we were friends with. We went to 5 different bars/clubs throughout the night. It was fun to see some new places and get different ideas of where to go in the city. A few of them had live bands and we requested some American music and jammed out to that. Overall it was a really good time- met some new people and had another good night out in Sydney. 

As I am sure you know, there have been some horrible bush fires in Victoria. Because of this a radio station created a concert called "Sound Relief" and all the proceeds made from it would go to towards the fires. There was one in both Sydney and in Melbourne. We bought tickets for the one in Sydney. Saturday afternoon we went to this.. it was PACKED! It was held in Olympic Stadium where the Olympic opening ceremonies and such were held when they were in Sydney. It was a massive stadium but set up really cool. We had standing seats. The two bands we knew that were playing there were Coldplay and Taylor Swift. Coldplay only played about four songs but that was about all I knew, so it worked out. We had to wait around to hear Taylor Swift play. We grabbed something to eat, and walked around the stadium, checkin out views from every angle. We were able to get right up at the fence for Taylor Swift to come on. About 5 minutes before she was about to play, it started POURING down rain. Everyone started scrambling and we had no jackets or umbrellas but we didnt want to lose our spots so we just grinned and bared it. It was actually really fun, as the rain only last about 15 minutes and although we were soaked, we kept our seats and Taylor came out shortly (we are on a first name basis now). That night we stayed in Sydney and grabbed dinner at your local McDonalds (Mackas is what they call it here). We grabbed a few drinks at a few different bars and called it a night. It had been a long day and we were all exhausted!

This past weekend we went to MELBOURNE (pronounced "Melbin"). Our flight was suppose to leave at 5 on Thursday night but for some unknown reason it was delayed for 5 hours!! We didnt make it to Melbourne until about midnight and had about an hour ride to the hostel in the city where we were staying. When we got off the plane, it looked much like Kansas scenery. There were flat lands, tons of trees and farm animals in pastures. Caroline and I felt like we were back home. However, the city life was much different. After we checked in to our 15 person room at the hostel we decided to adventure out to the city for a little bit, even though it was already 1 am. A few of the boys that we were meeting there from school were at the Casino already. We had heard this was a main attraction so we met them there. We wandered around and felt a Roulette table that looked "lucky".  In the end I won about 65$ which was pretty exciting. I tried blackjack but my luck didn't last long with that. We stayed there until about 4 am and we were ready to head about and get some sleep. We wanted to wake up early to tackle to city as best we could. The next morning we were up and ready to go around 945. We went to a local shop and got breakfast and hit the markets. They had TONS of food,fresh produce clothing, jewelry, shoes, odds and ends, souvenirs, etc. We continued to shop througho highend  ut the day, trying to hit all the hotspots. They had fun little boutiques and also the supershopping such as Gucci, Prada, etc. Don't worry I didn't spend my money all in one place ;). It reminded me alot of Chicago with malls in the city and quant little places you could find precious things. That night the large group of us that came to Melbourne went out to dinner.(12 of us) It was a LONG walk but totally worth it as the area was so cute. There were little bars, pubs, dance clubs, shops,  and restaurants... kinds of like how San Diego is?! We went to some fun places after dinner where they had djs and lots of dancing! Somehow.. we ended up BACK at the Casino that night.. instead of gambling we went to the clubs there. There weren't a whole lot of people in them but it was fun because it was all of our friends taking over the dance floor... dangerous!! They were playing a mix of American music and also some Australian (they love their techno here).  Saturday afternoon we did a bit more shopping and exploring and made it to the highest point of the Southern Hemisphere.. in a building called "Eureka". It had a beautiful view of the ocean and the entire city of melbourne. The building itself is actually a apartment complex but the top floor is designed for tourists. AMAZING!! We were sad to leave Melbourne but we had a flight to catch at 8 pm on Saturday night. Fortunately everything was on time for that! 

Sunday we got ourselves organized and decided to go to Coogee beach for the day! It was sooo beautiful out. There was not a cloud in the sky.. may have gotten a little sunburnt. The beach itself was amazing as well. The sand was white and so soft and the water was SO blue and crystal clear. The little town it is located in is very cute as well as they have little shops, restaurants and pubs up and down the streets. There is even a little cliff that you can climb up and see an amazing view of the ocean. There was a wedding going on when we were there... perfect spot!

That has been my last few weeks in a nutshell. Sorry this blog was so long, I will try to be better about updating more frequently so I don't have to write a book like this! Hope everything is going well with everyone at home. I love and miss you all so much!

XOXO

Adventures Continue

Hello All, Sorry it has taken me so long to write on this, I need to get better about doing it every week and keeping everyone updated! So my first week of classes went well. I am taking four classes, which adds up to about 17 credits back at home- a good, full load! I am taking, Psychology-Health and Wellbeing, History-The Making of Australia, Introduction to Audiology and Statistics. I am not super worried about any of them just yet, they seem like they will be manageable, although Statistics may start to get a little tough. They do it a little different here as far as classes go. For each class you have one lecture (around 200 students) and a tutorial (only about 30 students) each week. In the tutorial you go more in depth about what was talked about in your lectures and you can ask questions and get more help than in the lectures. The first week we did not have any tutorials as there wasn't much to talk about because most of our classes we just went over syllabus' etc. It made for a pretty easy week! We went out on Wednesday night to this bar right off campus called "The Ranch" where everyone from school goes. It is a fun bar, they have a great DJ with American music and a good atmosphere overall. Thursday nights are big for our "U Bar"( Univserity Bar). Each week they usually have themes and everyone dresses up. It was REALLY crowded though because it was the first week of school and everyone was going out. Friday morning we woke up early and caught the bus to the city. From there we took a ferry to "Manly" Beach. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!! It turned out to be an amazing day, the weather was perfect. The water was a bit chilly but because it was so nice out, it didn't matter. We had some Thai food for lunch and really just lounged around for most of the day. We took the train (it just opened last week) back home- a much shorter ride than the bus. We went out in the city that night to celebrate Caroline's 21st birthday at Midnight. We went to a fun bar called "Cargo" right on Darling Harbour, very scenic. Saturday was Caroline's birthday so we woke up early and went to the mall, did a little shopping, had a good lunch, got pedicures and caught some rays and then I started cooking dinner (shocker I know). We made tacos and Margaritas and had a chocolate cake for dessert! It was surprisingly all very yummy! We went out in the city that night, I think everyone, especially Caroline, had a good night! We didn't get back until 5 in the morning because we waited for the bus! Sunday morning I woke up early to catch the bus to the city because one of my best friends from school ( Laura Hanson), her parents were in sydney for the weekend so we grabbed some coffee and chatted about their adventures and mine. It was great to meet with them, always nice to see someone you are familiar with when so far from home. This past week went by fast, classes are going well, I really think I am going to like them! Wednesday night there was a Toga theme at "The Ranch", so we got all done up for that, it was a good time! This weekend Sydney puts on a huge Mardi Gras parade in the city that we are going to attend, it will be interesting to see what it is like/ if it compares much to ours! Anyway, I best get going! I hope all is well back home! Love and miss you all SOO MUCH!!!

Fun Filled Week

Hello again!
Sorry it has taken me so long to write on this, it has been a crazy week. It was nice to finally get settled, unpacked and organized. It is still so weird to me that I will be living here for 5 months. The past week it has been pretty rainy so there hasn't been a whole lot to do and see during the day! We did go out a few nights in Sydney, which was a good time. Everything is pretty expensive down there, but it is a lot of fun. Most of the bars and clubs have dance floors, which always makes for a pretty interesting evening. We have met some really cool people that we seem to be hanging out with consistently, while also trying to meet others. On Monday, the rain went away for a little while so we took the nice weather opportunity and we went down to Sydney for the day. We walked around "Darling Harbour" and had lunch outside and took in the scenery... very beautiful. We went to "The Star City Casino"  to try our luck there but we were wearing flip flops (thongs) so we weren't  allowed in. They are pretty strict about the kind of shoes you are wearing everywhere you go...especially at night and in the city. It turned out to be a really fun day! On wednesday we had orientation where we found out which classes we were taking and how to register and such. I was able to get two of the speech classes that I wanted, which was nice! Today was a beautiful day! The sun was really beaming and it was HOT! Caroline and I walked around campus for a bit and then went to the mall to try and find 80's themed clothing for the harbour cruise we went on tonight! We found some sweet tank tops and rocked the side pony tails, looked pretty 80's!!! The boat cruise was fun, very scenic. They had a fun DJ and served pizza, it was a good time! I don't have much planned for this weekend yet, the Marquette kids are going to surf camp so I am on my own, so to speak. It will be a good opportunity for me to get to know some other people, branch out a bit! Anyway, thats all for now! Love and Miss you all lots!

Kaitlin

Finally Home!

Hey all!

So after being in Sydney for almost 4 days now, I have finally made it to where I will be living for the next five months! My orientation was so much fun. We were able to get a good taste of Aussie life, meet some people we would be living with and also do some really fun things! We had a Australian style BBQ (Not quite Gates-but delicious) went to the Sydney Zoo, took a cruise around the Harbour and even had surfing lessons... So amazing! I met some awesome people but we were all very anxious to get to "University Village" to get settled in and meet the people we would be living with.  So far, 4 out of the five people I will be living with have moved in, we are waiting for the last. I am living with three boys so far (hopefully the next will be a girl), one from Norway, one from Denmark, and one of New Jersey. I haven't really gotten to know them too well yet, but they seem pretty nice, kind of hard to understand, though I am sure I will get used to it! The place I am staying at is really nice. I have my own bathroom and closet, which is always great. I am only a few little apartments away from Caroline, it takes about 30 seconds to walk to hers!  Today we met up and we grabbed some lunch and then headed to the mall to get sheets, hangers, toiletries, etc. There is a mall right by campus which is very convenient! The weather has been not so great, however. It has rained everyday since we have arrived, but it should stop within the next couple of days... "no worries" right?! Everyone here is super nice and very helpful, I'm lovin' the accents! I think a bunch of us are going to "the city" (Syndey) tonight, which should be pretty fun, can't wait to see what the nightlife is like here! Hope all is well! Love and miss you all!