From the Land Down Under...

Well, so much for writing a month later- how about six months later? Better late than never, I spose. But you are correct- I am writing from Australia! And I actually leave in 18 days back to the States for good, believe it or not. Why am I writing now, do you ask? Well, take a guess- you are correct... it's finals time! When else do I procrastinate so bad that I write an update to my blog? But as I DO have an exam to take in just about 15 hours (and of course I haven't started studying yet), I'm gonna make this snappy.

Finals went great last semester and I ended up getting the best gpa for a semester I've gotten since I started college.

China was crazy and amazing and interesting... neat place to visit, wouldn't want to live there. Look at my pics on facebook for a little bit more of a look at China...

The month back in the States after China and before leaving for Australia went really really quick- by the time I got around to seeing all my relatives and showed them pictures from China, it was time to say goodbye already!

The flights to Australia was GRUELING. It sucked. 19 hours in the sky plus two layovers by MYSELF really was not a great way to start out my semester. My flight from Chicago to LA got delayed because of weather, I therefore missed my flight to Sydney from LA, had to stay in the LA ghetto by myself for 24 hours, got to Sydney finally only to find out all my luggage was lost somewhere, and then had to miss my pre-orientation in the Blue Mts because I had no clothes or personal belongings!

But things got better- Tony got back from his pre-orientation in Cairns and so we had a few days to get settled, wait for my luggage to get in, and explore the city a bit.

Classes also suck, even moreso than at home. Even though we don't have daily homework, just a few papers in each class, they grade REALLY hard, and to be honest, profs don't care much about the students. It just makes learning and going to school that much more difficult.

Got the opportunity to go to FIJI for our two week spring break... by far the best week of my life! It was heaven. Amazing. Can't wait to go back! The people were friendly, the weather was amazing- not to mention we stayed at a 5-star resort with the biggest swimming pool in Fiji. Again- look at the amazing pics I posted on facebook. We got to parasail, go to a little island and lay around, went trekking through a rainforest and swam underneath a REAL waterfall, went snorkelling a few times and saw a real SHARK, and even got caught in a tropical thunderstorm on the water and saw a TORNADO! All in all, a completely UNFORGETTABLE spring break.

Back in Australia, Tony and I spent the 2nd week of our spring break sightseeing around Sydney doing the normal touristy stuff- going on sightseeing cruises, going up the Sydney tower and taking pictures, going the the aquarium, you know.

Since then, just been trying to balance class work with my internship (I'm a marketing intern and Habitat for Humanity here), while trying to relax and get out into the city still. A few weeks ago we went on a weekend trip up a few hours to Port Douglas, Anna Bay, and Newcastle where we went to the Hunter Valley Wine Region wine tasting (delicious!), hung out and enjoyed the nightlife of Newcastle, swam at the beach at Anna Bay, went whale and dolphin watching on a catamaran in Port Douglas, and slide sliding on the sand dunes there too! Again... great weekend!

A few days after that, I actually had to jet back to the States for four days for my brother's wedding. It was a lot of money to spend just for a couple days back there, but it was completely worth it. It was so great seeing family and friends (I have two of the best friends in the world that came all the way up to Green Bay to see me!) and the wedding was sooooo much fun. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Now I'm just preparing (or procrastinating) for my exams starting tomorrow, which will last for another 6 days... and then it's home free! Tony and I have booked a little day trip vacation down the south coast to see some waterfalls and buddhist temples and beaches and all that good stuff a week from tomorrow, then Tony won free tickets for us to see Sydney FC (soccer) play in town two days later, then the next day we have an aussie bbq party to go to with some aussie friends, the next day we have tickets to see LA Galaxy (and Beckham...mmm!) play Sydney FC (we'll be cheering for LA of course), three days later is our dinner cruise around the harbor for SAMBA NIGHTS ("sangria by the jug," dancing, samba music, food....), and then its the beach hopefully for 3 days until we catch our flights back to Wisc!

So yeah, hell for the next 6 days, heaven for the following 11 or so days, and then complete bliss once back in GB with friends and family!! Really, it has taken being across the Pacific Ocean for 5 months for me to realize how much the amazing people in my life mean to me... and I can't wait to get back to you all!