I'm sorry I haven't posted in about a month and I suppose it's mainly because my alone, free time has been extremely limited. As the time draws near for me to leave I've noticed that everyone has been spending every waking moment together in an attempt to enjoy the last few weeks together. It's quite a bitter sweet feeling, knowing that in a very short time I will be flying back home.
Anyway, enough of that! Since I've last posted I spent a wonderful week with Dad and Melissa, showing them around Townsville and exploring Magnetic Island with them. It was so amazing just to have them here and show them simple things like my room, my campus and some of the places we hang out. I took them to the Strand which is a long stretch of beach and we had some of the most fantastic meals. I think perhaps my favorite part about having them here was the meals and long talks, just catching up and sharing stories. I loved just being in their company and having the opportunity to share a part of this amazing experience with them.
Here's a picture we took on their last night in Townsville. We had the greatest meal and the best service! I even got to taste dessert wine! :)
Melissa and Dad left on a Friday and that Sunday I experienced my first all day, outdoor live concert. It was absolutely incredible! There were three different stages and food and people everywhere. The sun was shining so brightly and I'm shocked I didn't get extremely sunburned. The best part was that everyone dressed up in crazy home-made shirts so it was easy to find people from George Roberts really easy in the crowd. Almost all the music was Australian too which was a great experience because I haven't heard much of it yet.
These are the shirts we made for the concert. It was called Groovin The Moo which is what the GTM stands for and the spots all over our tank tops are supposed to be cow spots. As you can see the bright colors made everyone really easy to spot.
Since Groovin and the visit with my family I've mainly been doing work, trying to finish up my last few assignments of the semester and prepare for finals. I'm finally realizing how truly different the education system here is as I ready myself to take a test that is worth 40% of my grade. They take studying very seriously here, even giving us an entire week off before finals just to study. They open the dining hall to study after 8:00pm and provide people with tea and coffee as they study into the late hours of the night. I'm just hoping that I do well enough not to completely kill my GPA I've worked so hard for!
Oh, I almost forgot a couple weekends ago I went on this amazing camping trip on the beach with a bunch of my friends from George Roberts. There was a group of eleven of us and we packed up a couple of trucks and found this great spot right on the beach where we set up some tents and the guys set up their swags. Swags are Australian versions of sleeping bags, basically the same thing expect they have a mattress pad in the bottom of them that makes for a very comfortable sleep.
This would be an example of a swag. You can also not set up the pop up cover and just use it like a sleeping bag. That's what I ended up doing in the tent.
Camping was absolutely amazing. We made a giant fire and introduced the Australians to 'smores. The water was pretty warm and proved to be a nice shower in the morning. We cooked sausages, eggs and bacon over the fire for breakfast and dinner and just hung out, lounging on the beach during the day. It was one of the best camping trips I've been on - despite the fact with the night came heaps and heaps of rain. We had set our tents up under a tarp though and some how managed not to get wet.
Other than that I haven't been up to much really. I am heading to Melbourne next weekend for five days to experience the city. It's supposed to be the culture capital of Australia, with cafes and museums on every corner. I've also heard that there are amazing open markets everywhere you go where you can get fresh cheese, breads, dips and fruits. I'm going with four other girls and just looking forward to my last little adventure before leaving for good. It should prove to be a nice little break right before finals as well, hopefully keeping me from stressing out too much in my finals weeks here!
Anyway - I must be off, heading to the gym with some of the other D-Blockers (that's the block I live in at GR) I will try to update more, potentially again before I go to Melbourne and definitely when I get back!
Love & miss you all
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