i love being a lazy good for nothing.

Home Sweet Home.

I have been home for about a week and I feel like I never left. It's a really weird thing...like Australia was just a dream.

I never really experienced any jet lag which is really lucky! I got to bed and get up at normal times and my eating schedule never was out of wack. Everything is pretty normal here...I did have to adjust to crossing the street...looking the opposite ways of what I had been the past 5 months and then getting used to driving in a car again. But, it is just really nice to be home in my big city exploring all the new stores and restaurants and going back to all my favorite old ones :)

My trip home was pretty uneventful. I got bumped up to Premium Economy which was really nice so I had a bigger seat and more leg room, a bigger TV, better food! I planned to take a bennedryl and sleep the whole way home but I ended up only getting about 2 hours of sleep thanks to watching 10 straight hours of The Good Wife. Good show by the way.

Once I got off the plane in LA I went to collect my bags. A sniffing dog came around and singled out my bag. Why? Because I had brought a banana from the plane just in case I got hungry. Dumb idea. The man asked for my customs cards and wrote banana on it. It turns out I couldn't leave customs and immigration until I claimed by banana. So I had to lift my heavy bags to be xrayed and answer a few questions all because of my banana, which I didnt event get to keep. It was funny at the time though and the security people were joking about it with me.

Once all that was taken care of I headed off to my next terminal to catch my flight from LA to Chicago. I was so excited because my bestest friend who is spending the summer in LA came to the airport to see me! AND SHE BROUGHT SPRINKLES CUPCAKES..nom nom! It was so good to see her :) <3 you lis!

The flight to Chicago was so tedious and drawn out. I did have a window seat so it was nice to look at the views the entire time and I did get about an hour of sleep. After 3 and a half BORING hours I landed and was reunited with my parents :) I got my bags, came home, ate at my favorite pizza place and passed out!

I miss Australia sooo much and I cant wait to go back someday. This was definitely the best 5 months of my life and I will never forget it!

I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog!


Melis

COUNTDOWN: 4.

I can't believe it...4 days left here! I am currently sitting in the Queensland State Library where I have practically been living the past 3 days. Tomorrow night I have my last final and I could not be more excited to be done with school and classes.

Today I got out one suitcase to start packing. In ten minutes it was half way full and that is just with bags, gifts and shoes. uh oh. haha I will figure it out though, I am an excellent packer.

My final tomorrow is in ecology. It is officially my least favorite class I have ever taken. The final is going to be 10 short written answers and two essays. oh joy. We were able to plan for our essays before hand (we were given three prompts) but only two are going to be on the test. Today I finalized my outlines and I will go over them later but I just hope I can remember everything!!

Blah. I hate studying. I have a terrible attention span today and the table I am putting my feet on keeps sliding away. I digress. <--haha I have always wanted to say that. neat.

Wednesday night I plan to go to the Casino and then Thursday is reserved for climbing Mt. Coo-tha, riding the Brisbane wheel, buying last minute souvenirs and going out at night.

It's going to be so weird to be home.
CANT WAIIIIT!

melis

"lucky to have been where I have been, Lucky to be coming home again" - Jason Mraz

I have exactly one week left here in Oz. I can't believe it. My friends have already started leaving and it's just sad. There is no other word for it.

This last week will be bittersweet. I still have one more final on Wednesday. It's my hardest one, but hopefully I will do OK. I am really nervous. Once I complete that I will be done with my Junior year of college! That's insane.

My last three days will consist of a lot of picture taking, last minute souvenir shopping and soaking in all that is Brisbane.

I really don't have much to say...It hasn't really hit me yet that I am not going to be here next week. However, I am so excited to go home. I miss everyone and everything!


Well back to studying :-/


Melis

“To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with one's mother.”

So my time here in Australia is quickly coming to an end. I only have 2 weeks left here and I just can't seem to grasp that fact. My semester went by so quickly...it's just really sad to think I ever have to leave and go back to reality.

Anyways, I have taken my first final. One down two to go. I think I did OK, it was a little harder than I thought, but at least I feel that I passed, and really isn't that all that matters?
My attention span and wanting to study has been put off by my new never ending obsession of watching sex and the city, which started two weeks ago. Oh how I wish that was my life and that I had all those shoes.

Today I am going to my first rugby game in Australia...isn't that exciting?! I miss sports...hopefully I can follow along with the game...hah.

So yeah thats whats going on in my life, a little dull, but I love my Aussie life.

Everyone should move to Australia.
OK?

-Meliss

"Your girl is lovely, Hubbell"

“Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo..I do believe it...I do believe it's true" - Simon and Garfunkel

Oh hey, it's me...procrastinating AGAIN! Today I am putting off researching for my final paper that is due on Friday. Granted, I have been researching and reading articles since 11am today, so it's not like effort hasn't gone in.

Friday I went to the Australia Zoo, home of the crocodile hunter. It was sooo much fun. We didn't get the best weather, but that's ok. When we first got there we trekked through the snake house (Australia has 9 out of 10 of the worlds most poisonous snakes) and then made our way to Kangaroo Haven. We were lucky enough to get there when the zookeeper was feeding the roo's! She let everyone take a handful of food and feed them while she taught us about different parts of the kangaroo family structure. After that fun filled adventure we journeyed on to the Echidna exhibit. Echidna's are a type of monotreme (one of two, the other is a platypus). Monotremes are egg laying mammals. The Echidna looked like a porkeypink but had the cutest little face!

After that, we headed over to see crocodiles and Tasmanian devils before heading into the crocoseum for the animal show. The show was really entertaining and educational, but I am sure it would have been 10 times better with Steve :(

After a quick lunch, our group reentered the corocoseum for some zoo keeper lecturers. Keepers of koalas, snakes, birds and crocs all came out and gave 15 minute lectures about the animals and pressing issues concerning them. After they spoke we all got to have a pat of each animal except the bird.

After a very educational yet laid back morning, it was FREE TIME! My friends and I headed over to the Asia exhibit after taking pictures with "Steve". There we got to sit in on a tiger play session. It is amazing the bond these keepers have with the animals, the tiger keeper got right in the water with them playing tug of war and swimming! AMAZING! They are sooo lucky! Once the show was over we headed over to the elephant enclosure where we were able to hand feed the elephants! I fed Bimbo or Bambo, I dont remember his name, but he was a younger elephant and therefore didnt have the best manners while eating...basically my hand was covered in dirt from the trunk haha but wow what a great memory to have! Everyone picked up a piece of fruit and stepped on a yellow mat where the elephant would reach its trunk over the enclosure and scoop it out of your hand. The trunks are so powerful, muscular and rough!

We walked back to the zoo entrance where we encountered a wombat walk about. I got to pet the wombat and take some pictures...they are soooo cute! After some shopping in the gift shop, everyone hopped on the bus and we headed back to campus.

It was a great way to end the semester of field trips!

This week is my last week of classes!! I am so happy to be done with work (besides finals)! I am working on my final paper for my TV class ;) sort of.

Well there are only 27 days left for me here...bittersweet.


G'day,
Melissa

I will post some pics up later, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. – Pat Conroy

Today is my one month marker until I come home. For the last month or so I have been so excited to return home. I have been so excited to see my family again, my friends and have all my favorite foods at my fingertips (chipotle anyone?). I am still excited for all these things. However, I have realized in the past few days how much my excitement was clouding my sadness and despair about leaving this amazing country that I have been living in for the past five months.

My sister is in Australia now and I am so excited for her to be here and experience everything I love about this country. I missed her. A strange thing happened though once she got here, I felt sad, annoyed, angry even. Not because she was here, I love that she is here (because she is the best...shout out: SUP HILY!) but because apart of home was here. A part of home was encroaching on what had become familiar, disturbing this amazing experience and I wasn't ready for that to happen. I am not ready to accept that in less than one month I will have to return to what used to be. I have grown so much, I have become so much more independent. I have changed.

Studying abroad is definitely the best decision I have ever made in my life and anyone who has the chance to do it, should. Anyone who has the chance to travel should. I found this quote that I really love about traveling:

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” - Mark Jenkins

I totally relate to this. I have seen so much while I have been here...successful cities with thriving and booming economies (except for right now because Australia's stock market crashed so now the US dollar is worth 10 cents more, which is SUPER) to extreme poverty on the island of Fiji. I have encountered the nicest of people and have experienced so many different cultures. I have tried new things and I just feel so much more well rounded, the world is no longer black and white and it will never be again.



Melissa

BIRTHDAY!!!

My Birthday has been so amazing so far and its not even half way over! I got a package from home with cute little goodies, my awesome roommate made me yummy cupcakes, I got lots of messages from my friends (thanks guys!) and the best present of all....my whole family singing me happy birthday :) :) :) That made me soooo happy!! I LOVE YOU ALL!



Let the celebration continue!!! 21!! yaaaaay!



Melis

"Procrastinate now, don’t put it off." - Ellen Degeneres

So I am sitting in the Bio Science Library and I am supposed to be writing a response paper that is due tomorrow and I just cant bring myself to do it. I am super tired and bored. It will get done thought, no worries.

Anyways, these past couple weeks have been pretty laid back. I did do some exploring around Brisbane with Ashley the other day. We went to the Botanical Gardens, explored the Queensland University of Technology campus (where I got a really good iced coffee) and walked around the docks and trails surrounding the city. It was really fun and relaxing. I have pictures but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.

Other than that fun filled day, I haven't done much else. School is winding down with less than a month of classes left...then its one week off and the start of finals! I only have three finals. One is on the 12th, ones on the 15th and the last on the 23rd. I leave Australia 3 days later. I can't believe I have a little over a month left here in this amazing country/continent/island. hah. Time went by way to fast and I feel like I am not ready to leave. I have so much more to see and do! I will definitely come back to Australia though...someday.

But, lets see whats to come in the next coming weeks?
Well...TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! (well in Australia at least.) This will be the longest birthday of my life and I am so excited to be 21 :). Next week, SISTER COMES TO AUSTRALIA!!! yaaaaaay HILARY! :) :) :) I am so excited to see her and her friends and to show them around my super cool city! Thennnnnn I got to the AUSTRALIA ZOO! on a field trip! We are supposed to get backstage access which should be a cool experience...maybe I will meet Bindi! Thats it for May though.

I am looking at flights to see if I can find something cheap and travel to one more place before finals start. Maybe Melbourne, Darwin or Ularu? I dunno we will see.


Later mates,
Melissa

PS Congrats to Beth and Matt on their Wedding!

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I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. - Finding Nemo

So a couple weeks ago I went to Sydney for ANZAC weekend (which stands for Australia, New Zealand Army Corps)...basically its like out veterans day. My flight was Thursday night and I flew Virgin airlines which was totally cool because they had TV screens for every seat! Although, you had to pay after like 20 minutes of watching...whomp. So Ashley, Kelly and I arrived late at night and headed to our hostel, The Woodduck Inn. Man, was it nice there...complete with cockroaches and all! The room we stayed in was sketchy too and smelled like an old smelly man. Granted the three of us and our friends we met up with that were also staying there decided that these accommodations were not up to par.

Somehow, we started talking about hotels and with my brilliant mind I brought up points...low and behold our friends Kyle and Colleen's parents had tons of points for Marriot and they let us use them. We got 3 rooms for 3 nights in a Marriot about a 20 minute train ride outside of Sydney! AMAAAZZZZIIINNNNG! I am forever thankful :) haha. So the next morning we packed up all our stuff and high tailed it out of that disgusting hostel to heaven. The hotel room was beautiful...I could have cried. There was a clean bathroom. A comfy bed. A TV. I could have stayed there forever....but, it was off back into the city to explore.

Our first full day was spent on a hop on hop off bus tour (the double decker buses). It was a really good way to see all the sites around the city. We decided to stay on the bus for the full 90 minutes to see where we would want to go the next day (our ticket was valid for 24 hours). After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go out the night. For dinner our group of 12 ventured across the street from the Marriot to a little strip of restaurants. I got Thai. It was AMAZING! I got fried rice with chicken and while it sounds simple, it was just the best thing that has ever touched my taste buds...well almost. It was like Doc Cheys (a restaurant in atlanta) had had a restaurant baby....it was just fate I would find jasmine rice with chicken (my favorite at doc cheys) reincarnated. heaven.

So that night we took the train into the city and headed to Minus 5, Sydney's Ice Bar. It was soooo cool! This was my first time at an ice bar and I would love to go back! It as a brisk 32 degrees F and it reminded me of Chicago..except without the wind which was nice. Inside the bar it was really cool, there were ice sculptures of Sydney landmarks, carvings in the walls and a big ice throne and car! We headed back to the hotel for an early night in. The next morning we went back into the city and got on the tour bus. Our first stop was t a market in Kings Cross where I got a really good breakfast sandwich that I shared with Ashley! YUM! Then it was to the OPERA HOUSE! My friends and I stayed there for over an hour just taking pictures and staring in awe at the opera house and harbor bridge. After that, we got back on the bus and headed to Darling Harbor (where Nemo was found)...my favorite place in Sydney. It looks just like the Inner Harbor and I loved loved loved it! Everything in Sydney ended up reminding me of home :) We headed back to Darling Harbor that night for a good italian dinner with all of our friends who happened to be in Sydney that weekend. I split Spagetti with meat sauce with my friend Megan...yum. It turns out there were fireworks that night for some reason! I LOVE FIREWORKS! that is all. After dinner we headed to what was supposed to be a karaoke bar, The Scary Canary, however, Karaoke had been canceled that night :( Soooo we went back to the hotel and watched TV hah.

Our third day, a group of us headed back to Darling Harbor (can you tell we liked it there?) and went to the Sydney Aquarium! FUN FUN FUN! I saw dugongs and sharks and rays and fishies and nemos and dories and sea horses and starfish! Lovessss it! We took a break halfway through the exhibits and went to lunch at this really yummy cheap place that had the best cheeseburgers I have had all my time in Australia. I also got a cider woo! After our delicious lunch we headed back into the aquarium to to the last few exhibits and then it was back to the food. We went to Lindt Chocolate. Ohhhh boy. I got a Chocolate Lava Cake and a chocolate milkshake. Can you say chocolate overload? Never again people. Never again. Just no. Too much. But sooooo good! Now weighing 15 pounds more than we did at the start of my trip, we headed back to the hotel for a fun night in...watching TV and eating more Thai friend rice :) :) :)

The next day was ANZAC day so Ashley, Kelly, Julie and I went into the city to watch the parade. This parade had been going on since 8am....we got there at 11am and stayed until about 1pm....and it was STILL GOING! I love parades! It was so cool to see how much pride Australians have for their troops. Every battalion, going back to WWI had their own flag, with veterans marching. There were marching bands and bagpipes too! I loved experiencing yet another thing that was truly Australian.

That night Ashley and I headed back to the airport to catch our flight home from an Amazing trip and probably my favorite trip I have taken my whole time in Australia. I really love Sydney and it has definitely become one of my favorite cities. I hope to go back someday!

In the words of Crush from finding Nemo,
Later dudes.


-Melissa


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Fiji Part 2:

Sorry this is so delayed...I have not been doing very well updating this past month. I have so many papers and projects due this coming week....BUUUUT here is an update about the rest of my Fiji vacation.

So the second day my friends Ashley, Kelly and I decided to skip the rainforest walk, mainly because we have been in a rainforest every other day of our lives here for a field trip for school or fun day trips. Rainforests are great and rare and amazing to see, but I have definitely had my fair share. Anyways so instead of taking that trek we were dropped off at our second hostel, The Uprising Resort and had a relaxing day there laying out in the sun and getting my very first massage. Now I know massages are supposed to be relaxing but I found it more of an awkward experience haha...this might have to do with the fact that I am freakishly ticklish and I just could not stop squirming. It got to the point where I had to ask for the woman to just massage my back instead of going through with the full body massage. Little did I know that asking for a back massage included the entire backside of my body... strange. But I didnt have any knots in my back after that, which was very nice. The rest of the group came back around lunch time and after that we had a coconut carnival where we learned all the functions a coconut is used for in villages. We had free time until dinner and then after dinner there was a huge bon fire on the beach...it was really nice and relaxing. That night I slept in a huge "tree house" with 27 other people. Fun. Although I actually slept pretty well. All about the experience I guess.

The third day of the Feejee experience was spent driving through Suva, the capital of Fiji. We stopped at the presidents house and took pictures with the guard. We drove through all the embassies and saw many other houses of government. After that we stopped in a small town to buy some school supplies we would later give to the children at the school we were visiting. We got back on the bus and made the long drive to a village where we would be having a traditional kava ceremony. It was a really beautiful and peaceful experience. I loved hearing the native language and seeing traditions being practiced that have been in use for hundreds of years. I tasted kava for the first time here...it basically tasted like dirty water and then numbed my tongue for a few minutes. After the ceremony the girls and guys split up...the guys had a discussion and the girls made bracelets out of bandanna leaves. I bought my bracelet I made for 2 Fijian dollars :-)After the villlage we went to visit the school. The school was made up of three classes. There was the preschool, 2nd and 3rd graders and then 4th and 5th graders. The kids were adorable and sang us songs and danced. It was a really special experience. I love visiting kids, it reminded me of Israel when I went to an absorption center. Activities like these always seem to be my favorite parts of the trip. Our final stop of the day was going Volli Volli rafting down a river. You are basically just sitting on large bamboo like sticks that are tied together with a rope. It was really fun floating down the river, however we had to walk back instead of floating back on the rafts because the current was too strong. It was fun though and makes for a good story and memory.

That night we stayed at the nicest hostel EVER! The Volli Volli Beach resort. It was BEAUTIFUL! The views were amazing and the rooms were very nice. I had an "american burger" for dinner that night which was so so good. Our Volli Volli beach resort organizer Sasha (or Sasha Fierce as we like to call him) organized all these games for us to play and contests. All in all it was a really fun night. That morning Ashley, Kelly and I woke up super early to see the sun rise. AMAZING! There were so many colors in the sky, I will never forget that.

Our last day, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant where I had chicken curry. I am usually not a fan of Indian food, but I actually liked it! That was surprising. After that, we headed to the mud pools and hot springs and then it was time for our long drive back to Nadi where we would have a final good-bye dinner complete with a traditional Fijian meal and fire dancing!

All in all Fiji was an amazing trip and I learned so much about the culture, the country and the people. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
BULA!


-Melissa

Fiji Day One:

Ok, so I have been bad about updating, but in my defense I have been super busy and it sucks. :( Too much work in this pretty place. Anyways, I have a little break so I will take this time to update you on my travels in Fiji...I will try and make it semi short. :)

My adventure started bright and early taking the train from South Bank to the airport for my 11:45 flight. It was Easter Sunday the day my friends and I flew out and to our surprise the Easter bunny was at the airport! He gave us little chocolate eggs...so that was a good start to a terrific day! We boarded our flight (Air Pacific...which has to be my new favorite airline) and to our surprise we were fed a full meal for a 4 hour flight! It was really good too...my favorite part was the chocolate cake YUM! We were also privileged to watch my new favorite movie....Alvin and the Chipmunks...juuuuust kidding! So the flight was nice and we landed around dinner time. We got pick up from the airport and got dropped off at our hostel for the night, The Nadi (pronounced naandee) Bay Resort. It was really nice there we had a nice dinner and I had my first tropical drink...a mai thai. After that, we got situated in our room, showered, covered ourselves in bug spray and then headed down for movie night at the hostel. The movie that night was Avatar. I LOVED IT! It was so good, I totally got sucked into it and now I understand what all the fuss was about. Good, good movie!

Ok, so the next morning after a light breakfast we got picked up by the FeeJee Experience bus and started our journey. Our first stop was to the Nandi Town Markets, that are usually buzzing, however, it was Easter monday and being a relatively religious country, most shops were closed. We did get to walk around into a few shops though. I bought a sulu or sarong as it is commonly known for all the village visits we would make. It is white with blue flowers on it. We also walked around a grocery store where I bought Fiji brand water (you know the water with the pretty bottle) for $2.20 Fijian Dollars...that is $1USD. AMAZING! I also got some pringles.

So, once we hopped back on the bus we headed off to Natondola beach, which many locals say is the most beautiful beach on Viti Levu (the biggest Fijian island where I was)...it is also included as one of the top 25 beaches in the world! It really was beautiful. The water was sooo blue and you could see sections of reef. I laid out for a while, hung out in the water for a little bit and then our tour guide and driver cooked us up a bbq lunch. I had some chicken, cucumber salad and bean salad. It was really good. There was also a family selling bracelets so I bought one from a 12 year old boy...its leather and has a shark tooth on it.

After that fun filled adventure we drove to a village, where I first experienced the poverty this country lives with. It was really humbling and honestly sad to see the living conditions. The houses looked so broken down, most were just one large room with a mattress in the corner. Roofs were broken and siding was cracked. The church window panels were breaking off the structure. However, as disheveled as the village may have looked, the people were so content and happy with what they had. It really made me think about my life and everyone I know at home. How we have so much, yet we are all still unhappy and are always wanting more. These people have nothing and are some of the nicest, most friendly, joyful people I have ever met.

Enough of being cheeeeeesy hah, so after getting a tour of the village, we entered into a house where we learned about the tradition of Kava ceremonies. Kava is a root that is ground up and mixed with water in order to make a drink that takes the place of alcohol, since alcohol is banned in villages. The Kava has a numbing effect though, and after one cup, your tongue goes numb for a few minutes, its a very interesting experience. Some of the kids that lived in the village followed us around and OH MY GOSH were they cuuuuute! So happy and giggly.

Right after we left the village we took a two hour drive to the sand dunes where we went sand boarding! That was really fun! The dune was so steep, the pictures dont do it justice. It was really scary going head first on a boogie board down a giant sand dune but I was able to slow down by digging my feet in the sand...its all about the technique.


Finally the day was over and we headed to our first hostel, Mango Bay Resort.We hung out a little that night with all the new people we had met on our bus and then went to sleep in our bunks. As you can see, day one was VERY busy but sooo much fun!

Stay tuned for the next entry with day two, three and maybe four? I dunno we will seeeeee.


BULA! (fijian for hello, healthy, bless you, basically everything!),
Melissa

PS DONT FORGET TO LOOK AT MY PICS ON: http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi
AND DONT FORGET TO COMMENT!

I am lazy.

Hello readers,

So, technically I am still on Easter break and I just can't bring myself to update my blog yet (or do any work for that matter)...there is just so much to write about Fiji and well...I am lazy. SOOOO don't you worry, I will update about my trip soon but to tide you over until then here are some of my pictures that I took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi


Love,
Melissa

A Video!

Here is a video of everything I have seen and done so far in Oz!





To see a larger version of this vid follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sePxaENR2aI&feature=player_embedded

Well, be back in 5 days! FIJI TOMORROW!!!

-Melissa

"I'm an Alasaurous my name is Keith..."

So it's been a while. For the past five days I was on a field trip on Fraser Island...the biggest sand island in the world. It was so much fun! During the day we did field work on the dunes, sclorophyll forests and rainforests. The field work was somewhat fun, but there were so many mozzies (mosquitos) that everyone just felt rushed to get their work done so you wouldn't be eaten alive. So therefore, I have soooo many mozzie bites all over :( they have stopped itching for the most part but still...whomp.

Being a sand Island, the only way to get around is in 4WD cars, which is a real crazy experience. It is so bumpy! Imagine riding in a wooden roller coaster everywhere you went. yeah. hah. but its FUN! We had a couple close calls but all is well haha. We also frequently saw Dingos, the native wild dog...ever heard "the dingo ate my baby?" yup I saw those cuties.

Anyways, in the afternoons, all of our tutors took us on mini adventures to different freshwater lakes throughout the island. We went to Lake Mackenzie , which is completely crystal clear...its like bath water. We went to Eli Creek, which was like a mini lazy river, Lake Wabby and Lake Boomajin. Everything was so beautiful, restine and undisturbed...it was a really great experience.
I also saw a ship wreck one day that has been on the beach for decades (it was a Japanese trade ship I believe). One day we also went to a huge sand dune where we went sand dune jumping. If you are asking yourself what is that? Just watch this:



So now I am back in Brisbane and I have only a couple days to relax until FIJI! I leave Sunday and come back on Thursday! I am so so so so so so soooooo excited! never in my life would I have thought I would be going there of all places! Hopefully it will be an amazing experience and i will get lots of cool gifts :) (our money is worth double there!)

This is a pretty short entry but I am tired so I think it's time for a nap.

Happy Passover to all my jews!

Later,
Melis

"Sometimes in the morning, when it's a good surf, I go out there, and I don't feel like it's a bad world." -Kary Mullis

I am taking a break from my never ending homework. ew.

Anyways, this past weekend was a very busy one. On Friday, I had a field trip to Brisbane Forest Park with my terrestrial environment class. We learned about the different rock formation and geology behind the continent of Australia and then went on a nature hike through the rain forest. It was actually really fun and interesting to see all the trees and flowering plants I had been learning about in class. We also got to see a platypus and wombat at the nature reserve located in the park (You can see pictures on my picasa site...the link is at the end of the post). Everyone should start to do school the Australian way...sooo much better than the US. I love field trips.
We got back to campus at about 5:45 and right from there my friend Ashley and I high tailed it to the city via bus to get picked up for our surf trip weekend! We actually made with time to spare :) I was very nervous we would miss the bus obvvvvvvv. Anyways so I really enjoyed the five and a half hour bus ride. LOVED IT...JUST LOVED IT! So we got there at 1am and immediately went to bed. There were only 2 other Americans in our weekend group, so I got to meet people from Canada, Holland, Japan and Germany, which was really cool. I feel like I have met more people from all around the world than I have Australians, still cool though. Annnyways, the next morning we woke up bright and early and started our very first surf lesson. We first went over wave structure and safety, then proceeded to do all the technical stuff on land like how to pop up on the board. It wasn't long before we headed into the water and I caught my first wave :) :) :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE SURFING! Of course I did fall...a lot (more in the afternoon when the waves were bigger than in the morning), but I was so much better this time than I was five years ago in Hawaii.

After two hours of non-stop surfing, we came in for lunch and then had a three hour break before our next lesson. I spent those three hours walking along the beach and laying in a hammock...yeah I know...my life is just awesome. Our next surf lesson was very different from the first. The waves were so much bigger at high tide and I only got up on my board about three times. It was really frustrating and I ended up stopping after an hour because I was so tired and sore. I ended up getting pretty beat up too...cuts on my feet, hands and knees from falling onto the sand. No worries though...I like battle wounds. That night we had dinner, chilled around the camp for a little and then Ashley and I headed down to the beach to take pictures of the sunset. To our surprise right at dusk a HUGE group of bats started flying for like ten minutes non-stop...NO JOKE! It was the coolest/creepiest thing I have ever seen in my life! It was also amazing to see the stars...you just don't get that in the city...I missed it.

The next day we had our last surf lesson, where I got my Mojo back (that's the name of the surf company, Mojo Surf). I stood up a bunch of times and I had so much fun. I surfed the entire two hours...I'm like the energizer bunny. After lunch we packed up our things and headed back on the bus and headed up to Byron Bay, a surf town with beautiful beaches and cool shops! I got another string bracelet to go with my one from Cairns. I also had a really good cheeseburger. yum.

So that was my weekend. On Sunday I leave for a 5 day field trip to Fraser Island...the biggest sand island in the world.

Oh and to keep a running tally, I have been to the oldest rainforest/jungle in the world, the largest stretch of reef and now I will be traveling to the largest sand island...Cool? I think so :)

So I get back from that on April 1st and then April 4th I leave for FIJI!!!!! I love my life right now. LOVE LOVE LOVE :)

Leave comments!
Here are the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi

Later dudes,
Melissa

New Picture/Video Website

Hey everyone,

I just made an account on Google Picasa and I have uploaded all my pictures and Videos on there. So, if you do not have a facebook, you can still see everything I have done and everything I will do! So check that out!

Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/104976683939790387232

New post below!

Melissa :)

“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes

I decided on a travel quote for this blogs title, because that is the theme for today.

This weekend I took my first trip outside of Brisbane to North Stradbroke Island for my marine environment class. While I did not enjoy the educational aspect of the trip so much, I loved the scenery and serene environment I was in for 3 days.

My weekend started bright and early on Saturday, driving from Uni to the ferry station on a bus with 60 other kids. Once at the doc, our coach bus proceeded to drive onto the barge that would take us to the island. One problem..our bus was too big to get on the barge. Yes that's right, our bus got stuck. After about fifteen minutes of driving forward, backward, moving the barge itself and all sorts of inventive ideas, the coach bus finally backed off the barge and pulled away along with all our luggage (we had to get off the coach once they realized there was a problem). So, the barge left with kids in tow, but no luggage. But don't worry, our luggage came about 20 minutes later on a different boat.

After reaching Straddy, we walked to the University of Queensland Marine Research Station, located right on Moreton Bay. Once everyone was settled in their rooms and after a safety briefing, we headed out to the shoreline to look at tidal zones. It was really cool to see all the different animals in the tide pools. Later that day, we went seine netting, where you use a large enclosed net to collect sea creatures. We saw cuddle fish, squid, crabs, shrimp, and a bunch of different fish species. The best part of the day though was when a huge rain storm suddenly began and everyone started running back to the station. Running along with us were little soldier crabs...it was like running with the bulls, but crustaceans instead haha! (I have a video that I will try and add later of the soldier crabs).

The next day we split up into groups and started our field work. Our group chose our hypothesis to focus around the number of mulloscs related to algal growth in tide pools in the intertidal zone of the coast line. While it was interesting to do field work, I didn't enjoy this day very much. However, that night was really fun. I played cards with a group of really fun people. Everyone should learn the game mafia. that is all.

Our last day on the island was definitely the best. After group presentations...blah, we hopped on the bus for a gorge walk. The scenery was SO BREATHTAKING! I could not stop taking pictures! The water was so blue and the waves were huge! The beaches looked so pristine and undisturbed...locals are so lucky to have that in their backyard. The day ended at the beach, where some of us climbed up a cliff and watched surfers for about an hour. Great, great day!

Now, for the second part of the post I will be talking about my travel plans for spring break. Where am I going you ask?? FIJI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!! I am going with my two friends Ashley and Kelly. Here are some of the awesome things I will be doing in the 5 days I am there:
1.Going to the Nadi (pronounced Nandi) markets.
2.Snorkeling at Natadola Beach
3.sand boarding the Sigatoka sand dunes!
4.Jungle treck in Namosi Rainforest...where we will have the chance to swim at a huge waterfall!
5.Walking around Fiji's capital, Suva
6. Visiting a local school or orphanage in the remote Wailouta village to meet the chief in a traditional sevu-sevu (kava) ceremony and join the villages bilibili rafting
7.Swimming in mud pools and hot springs
8. An indo-fjian cultural experience!

I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOO EXCITED! COUNTDOWN: 19 days!

That is all for now, Here is my favorite picture I took this weekend:

I will try and post some videos later in the week from my trip.

Until then,
Melissa

PS. Leave comments! I love hearing from everyone :) Miss you all!

A video!

This is a video that my friend Katelyn made of our trip to the Great Barrier Reef during orientation!



This weekend I am going on a fieldtrip to North Stradbroke Island. It looks like this:


I will blog about it when I get back!

Until then mates,
Melissa

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”

Today I went to the Gold Coast also known as Surfers Paradise. My roommate Ashley and I caught the 8:00am train and spent the entire day lying on the beach watching surfers and relaxing. The waves there are pretty big and really powerful especially when the tide was high...I love swimming in the ocean so that was a really fun and special thing to get to do in Australia.

There were also a lot of cool shops around the area that Ashley and I looked in. We got free ice cream and then more ice cream from Baskin Robbins... A little piece of home!! I got some postcards too so hopefully I will start to send some out to people. Email me your address if you haven't already! I love the gold coast and we were so lucky to have such a nice day when originally it was suppose to thunder storm alllll day!

Tomorrow I start my second week of classes which is cool. I like having a set schedule again, although I do love exploring Australia!

Speaking of which, I am starting to book trips for spring break and other weekend trips. I hope to travel to Sydney Melbourne and Whitsunday islands. For spring break I plan on Fiji and Thailand!! If I have time I would love to go to New Zealand but I will have to see if I have time and more importantly money haha.

I have almost been here for a month (on Thursday it will be my anniversary hah) and I can't believe it. I feel like time is going by so fast and I am already getting sad at the thought of having to leave in four months. I love Australia!! But I do miss the US... I find myself getting excited over the smallest things that remind me of home.

This Friday I don't have class so I might come to surfers paradise again! And Saturday I head to Morton island for my first field trip for my marine environment woo!

Later mates, no worries!
Melissa

ps. Leave comments! :)

Ants taste gooooood.

“Australia is an outdoor country. People only go inside to use the toilet. And that's only a recent development.”

It has been raining here non-stop since Saturday and it isn’t suppose to stop until Sunday. Now, as much as I love rain, I do like some sunny breaks in between. And it is definitely not fun having a week of 24/7 downpours when its your first week of class.

Now that we are on that subject let me tell you how my first week of classes has been going thus far. Monday, I had my film movements and genres class, which I then dropped and joined Television and Pop Culture. The film class just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it seemed to be too theoretical for my tastes. I have gone to one TV class and it seems like it will be fun, although I am still hesitant…I will just have to wait and see I guess.

My other three classes are awesome, I love them! I have already signed up for my field trips for the terrestrial environment and the marine environment classes. Some of the places I will be going to include Brisbane Forest Park, Fraser Island (for a 5 day field research excursion), The Australia Zoo (where we get behind the scene tours!) and Morton Island (Where I will be doing more field research.

I really like all my professor…not like I call them Professor…its much more casual here so you call your teachers by their first name. For example, “Steve, I don’t understand, can you explain it again?” OR “Later Angie, what a great lecture!” Here is Australia it is also custom to cuss very frequently. For example, “This shit is really boring so don’t fall asleep.” Yes, one of my professors did say that. All in all it looks like a good semester and I am really excited!

So today I went to a farmers market on Queens St., which is across the river from South bank Parklands, where I live. I got a lot of fruits and veggies...yum. We also went 45 minutes before the markets closed, so we got discounts on everything. I got 4 mangos for $5! I got a cucumber for $1.50 and 10 apples for $5 AND MOOOOORE! Amazeballs!

I haven’t gotten a lot of reading yet, so tonight my roommate Ashley and I are going to start planning our spring break extravaganza!

To cap off this entry here are some fun facts about Brisbane and University of Queensland:

-Due to the laidback atmosphere that exists in Australia, most stores close extremely early around 5 or 6pm. Therefore you need to plan your entire day around what you need. This can get annoying.
-Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday there is a crafts market in South Bank.
-South Bank is also home to the only manmade city beach in all of Australia.
-Here Internet is bought by the mega bite…so you need to monitor your Internet usage very carefully.
-In Australia they drive on the left side of the road…this makes crossing the street super difficult…I’m getting the hang of it though. (and no, I haven’t been able to tell if the toilets flush the other way…screw technology.)
- Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. The UV index can reach to 16…the highest UV index in the US is 8. Don’t worry I use lots of sunscreen mom.
-University of Queensland is one of the top 8 universities in Australia and has been repeatedly listed as one of the top 50 universities in the world.
-University of Queensland is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and has a student population of 40,000!

No Worries,
Melissa

School Dayzzzzzzz

So it is funny to think that all my friends back at American University are now starting their midterms and I have yet to begin classes. This will change Monday though.

I have officially registered for everything and have a pretty good schedule. I have class everyday, which I am used to, but most people I know here only have class 2 or 3 days a week...I guess that's what you get for taking science courses.

So here are my classes:
-Australia's Marine Environment
-Australia's Terrestrial Environment
-Film Movements and Genres
-Ecology

The school system here is very different from back home. Instead of just having a lecture a few times a week and a lab for some classes, here, I will have a lecture, a contact (which in my case would be a moving showing or lab) and a tutorial (which is a small discussion session). It is very confusing now, but hopefully I will get the hang of things pretty quickly.

Tomorrow I am going to campus to buy my books and get a lay of the land, find where all my classes are and hopefully not get lost in the process.

Now for a picture: Here is the Casino that is located downtown. Its really pretty at night and the lights that shine on it change color...its my fav building in the skyline.



Off to the beach :)
-Melissa


ps. Oh and I think I fixed my comments, so try posting one! miss and love everyone!

"Guys, my goons falling out of my bag!"

Like I said in the previous post, I am now in Brisbane. I have been here only for four days, but during that time I have gone through an emotional roller coaster. The second we landed in Brisbane, a strange feeling came over me and I just felt so out of place and uncomfortable. I was nervous about everything...what will my housing be like? Who will I be living with? How long will it take me to get to campus? All these questions just built up so much anxiety that all I wanted to do for the first three days was go home. I kept myself busy though, exploring the city and our neighborhood.

Today, I feel much better, so much more comfortable and all my questions have been answered. My housing is amazing, school is only a 7 to 10 minute bus ride away and I live in the most amazing area. The place I live in is called Southbank. There are so many cool restaurants, shops and even local craft and farmers markets on the weekends. The best part is the manmade beach (which we call the lagoon) that is literally steps from my apartment. It's so nice to just walk to the beach and layout whenever I want. I am also very close to the downtown area, where I frequent Target and Gloria Jeans...the coffee chain here. Tim Tam frap is soooo good!

I am starting to feel much more comfortable here and everyday I find something new that I love. The only downside is this city is SO expensive. I have to start budgeting big time...which is hard, becuase there is so much I want to see and do.


I miss everyone! Leave comments :)
-Melissa

ps OH and there are BATS here! THEY ARE SO BIG AND SO SCARY BUT SO COOL! the weirdest thing I have seen so far haha.

The Last Few Days of Orientation...

As of now I am in Brisbane, the city I will be living in for the next five months. I have moved into my accomidations, which are VERY nice (I have my own room and bathroom!) My roomies and I live in this area called Southbank, which is filled with cool shops and restaurants. They also have farmers and craft markets on the weekends, which I am really excited for.

So anyways, the last day of orientation was spent on the Great Barrier Reef.
We sailed on our catamaran to our first dive spot, which was in the open ocean (a little scary at first). Everyone opted to wear these really awesome stinger suits, that just looked TERRIFIC! haha.
So, my friends and I snorkeled around the coral. It was so amazing to see everything up close, not just reading about it in books or watching documentaries on TV! LOVE LOVE LOOOOVE! I saw huge giant clams, a bunch of different fish, and various types of coral.

After our first dive, we ate lunch on the boat and sailed off to our second location. This time we went to a sand island. The water there was so blue and you could see the patches of coral, unlike the other dive site. There were also these huge fish, oh my god bigger than me that would swim by the boat (don't worry they were friendly). So we all dived in and immediately saw so many fish! There were a lot of parrot fish, zebra looking fish and giant clams. We also saw a big blue star fish laying on a rock and A SEA TURTLE!!!!!!! I swam with it for a while and it was soooo amazing! They are so graceful in the water, unlike me who just flops around :)

The reef was amazing, however there was one down side...it's jelly season. In the second site we didnt have to worry about it becuase the jellies there were not stingers...in fact i held one! But the first site was FILLED with jellies, who stung and it was scary. However, I dont think anyone actually got stung by a jelly becuase apparently you would rather be on fire than be stung by a little jelly fish. There were also these little creatures, sea lice, that would nip and bite you which hurt for like 5 minutes but then subsided.

All in all, the reef was the most amazing thing I have done since I have been here and hope to take a weekend trip back and snorkel or learn to dive!



From the other side of the world,
Melissa


ps. I tried vegimite...it was gross.