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Du Vihn, Sophie, Me, and Robyn

Me and Calum

Dinner at Nandos

On Monday (Drea’s last day in Perth) we went to Carousel shopping center with Livia. Once we got back home, Drea packed all of her stuff up, and we headed to dinner over at Don Watt’s. Calum cooked spaghetti, and he made a really special pudding called self-saucing pudding. I had never tried anything like it, but it was delicious. After dinner Drea and I hung out there for a while because her flight was not until midnight. My friend Dave ended up taking us to the airport. It was sad to see her go…and hard to believe that our time together was already over. Her departure also meant I had to start studying for my exam, which I was not looking forward to.

So most of the week was uneventful. I kept busy studying, but it was still hard to focus because I had spent a week without doing any work so I was really starting to feel like I was on vacation. I was really excited for the weekend because I knew it was our last weekend together in Perth. On Friday, Livia, Komal and I went into the city for some shopping. I wasn’t really going for the shopping though…I just couldn’t handle studying anymore. After shopping we decided to hang out at Komal’s place and watch a movie. Livia even made a Brazilian chocolate cake for us. It was delicious.

On Saturday, I studied during the day because I knew I would be busy that night. I spread the word that we were eating dinner at Nando’s, and about twenty people showed up. It was awesome! We had a lot of fun at dinner. Some people decided to go the Casino after dinner, but I went to see the movie “Angels and Demons” with Matt, Komal, and Layla. Divya offered to drive us to the movies even though she couldn’t stay; however, unfortunately, we had to wait about an hour for a taxi once the movie was over.

This morning I went to Curtin community church. I can’t believe this is my last Sunday in Perth. After church Du Vihn and Robyn invited me over for lunch at their house. Robyn will have the baby any day now. I’m glad I got the opportunity to go over to their house one last time before I leave this coming Saturday. My exam is tomorrow night, and I am so ready to be finished. After Monday, I will start packing up my room, and I will spend as much time as I can with all of my friends before everyone leaves!

Wine tour lunch

Night Club in Subiaco

At Lake Cave in Margaret River

Wine Tour

Rock Climbing (Me, Dave, Komal and Jaymes)

Last Sunday after going to Fremantle for most of the afternoon, we decided to go rock climbing in Perth City. I was so excited because I went rock climbing a number of times during January and haven’t been rock climbing since. We had a lot of fun, and we pretty much had the whole rock climbing gym to ourselves! We were so sore the next day though because we did so much climbing.

On Monday, Drea and I headed to Cottesloe beach. It looked as though Monday was going to be the last day the temperature got above 70 degrees, so we decided we should go the beach while we still had the chance, and we especially wanted to see the sunset at the beach. We packed a picnic and had a late lunch on the beach. It was a very relaxing day and we saw a beautiful sunset.

On Tuesday our adventure to Margaret River began. We headed into the city after breakfast to catch the bus that goes from Perth all the way to Margaret River…about a 5 hour bus ride. Once we arrived in Margaret river, we waited for our hostel shuttle bus to pick us up. After an hour of waiting we finally got picked up. We found out that it had taken so long because the shuttle broke down as it was coming to pick us up. Once we got to our hostel, which was just a two minute walk from the beach, we were famished but we didn’t have many food options nearby. But we did find Gnarabar (a classy restaurant) and we sat next to the fireplace and enjoyed a delicious meal. It sounds kind of crazy that we were eating by a fireplace, but it actually gets pretty cold in Australia, especially down south in the winter. After dinner we headed back to our private room, and watched some T.V. for the first time in a while. The hostel was really nice and new and we got a really good deal, especially for having a room to ourselves.

Wednesday morning we woke and up and got ready for the wine tour we had booked a few nights before. The tour guide came and picked us up from our hostel and we headed around town to pick up the other 7 who were also joining us on the same wine tour. We went to four wineries, one brewery, a chocolate factory and a cheese factory. The tour even included lunch during our stop at one of the wineries. Drea had really wanted to try kangaroo meat, and the lunch included a little kangaroo meat. Neither of us liked it too much, although it wasn’t bad. I just don’t like the idea of eating Kangaroo. I feel that I have learned a lot about wine in the last few weeks, and slowly the taste is growing on me. Later that night, Drea and I headed back to Gnarabar for dinner because it was just that good (and we were excited to sit by the warm fire again, especially after an extremely windy and rainy day). After dinner Drea taught me how the play chess on a giant chess board at the restaurant.

Thursday morning we were originally supposed to check out, but we decided to stay another night because we wanted to explore other areas of Margaret River. Around lunch time we headed to the actual town area of Margaret River where all the shops and restaurants are located. It was fun walking around the candy shop, fudge factory, and souvenir shops. Soon after we headed down to the lighthouse …which is the southwestern most part of Australia. It was extremely windy and it was even hard to walk. Then, we headed to Lake Cave, and we had a guided tour of the cave. It was incredible. We had to climb down 200 ft before reaching the entrance of the cave. Throughout the rest of the afternoon we went to a few beaches and other scenic areas. Everything was so beautiful, and it was pretty clear why Margaret is a very popular area during the warmer months.

Friday morning we woke up and checked out of the hostel. Our bus back to Perth didn’t leave until around four o’clock, so we were able to explore the area a little more. We went to another candy shop and we got to see a honeycomb-like candy being made and we got to try it. We also stopped by an animal farm and a olive oil factory. The bus ride home seemed to last forever. We finally arrived in Perth around nine pm and we had to catch another train and bus to get back to Vickery, so we didn’t get home until around ten thirty. And, because we hadn’t eaten dinner, we made pasta and ate a very late dinner.

Saturday we woke up and made pancakes for breakfast because we didn’t have any other food in the house. So, accordingly, we went to the grocery store and pick up a few things that would last us for the remainder of Drea’s stay. In the afternoon I took Drea to Kings Park because I thought she would really enjoy the park that overlooks the city. We, again had a picnic, and enjoyed reading for the afternoon at the park. We then came home and made pasta and a delicious chocolate cake. And, we even had a glass of wine with our dinner (The wine that I got for my birthday like 3 months ago). That night we decided to go out the night clubs with some of my friends. Rather than going to Northbridge, my friends wanted to change it up and go to a night club in Subiaco. We danced all night long and didn’t get home until around 4 am. We had a lot of fun…this was only my second time at the night clubs here.

Nine o’clock Sunday morning came pretty early. We got up and went to church on campus. We saw Du Vihn and Robyn, and she is due to have her baby this Thursday! After church we went to lunch at Nando’s with Jenn and Livia. Afterwards we went and hung out at the Don Watt’s flat and we played some volley ball. I still haven’t even thought about studying for my exam, but I still have a week. Drea leaves tomorrow night. It’s hard to believe we’ve already spent a week and a half together!

Me, Komal, Dave, and Alex (Souvenir shopping)

And they already love Drea!

Michelle and I after the Steamboat dinner

Steam boat dinner...after all the food was gone

Drea arrived on Wednesday morning! I spent much of Monday and Tuesday working on assignments and I pretty much got everything finished before she arrived. On Wednesday I took two buses to get to the airport to pick her up because most of my friends with cars had class during that time. I saw her waiting outside the airport even before I got off the bus! It was so good to finally see her. We then took a taxi home, which was pretty expensive. Once we arrived back on campus, we went to the Tav for lunch, and Drea got to meet some of my friends. I also showed her around campus, and we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Later that night Jenn invited us to dinner at Don Watt’s flat because she was making meatloaf. We went, and even though I didn’t think I really liked meatloaf, I really enjoyed the meal. Drea also got to meet a lot more of my friends over dinner. After dinner, we went outside to watch the boys play some Footy (Australian football), and we even played a little bit too!

On Thursday I took Drea to my Australian studies class. We basically just handed in our final papers and then we had a party, and everyone brought food and drinks. Drea got to experience Tim Tams and Lamingtons (somewhat Australian desserts). After class ended, we went into Perth city and walked around near the Jetty and the Mall. Later that night we made a pasta dinner, which consisted of pasta and garlic bread…how healthy. I had a little bit of Math homework to finish, so Drea researched some activities we could do during our trip to Margaret River. We booked our hostel and a wine tour later that night, and we are scheduled to head down there on Tuesday by bus. We are both really excited!

On Friday I took Drea to my dreadful math class. Now she knows what I had to go through twice a week for 2 hours. But finally, Classes are OVER! When we got home from class, we decided to make brownies for the Bible Study dinner. This week the Bible study was different because it was more of a bible talk than a study because it was more geared towards non-Christian friends that we invited. Then, we went to Du Vihn’s house for a Steamboat dinner. Divya also was able to join us for dinner, so she got to meet everyone as well. Steamboat was quite an experience. It is somewhat similar to Fondue, but it is more focused on seafood, including all kinds of fish balls you can imagine (and this was my first time trying fish balls). It was a lot of fun.

Today we went into the city for souvenir shopping. A big group of us went to the city to have lunch and then we headed separate ways. Drea, Komal, Dave, Alex, and I headed around to the souvenir shops and a few other random shops. We stayed in the city until about 4pm, and then we headed back to Curtin. A few hours later Drea and I went to Du Vihn’s house to have dinner with his family. Drea is staying at their house tonight because she is only “supposed” to stay in my room a total of three nights. Tomorrow morning I will meet them all at church. Then, I am taking Drea to Fremantle for the afternoon :)

Some pictures from the wine tour

Outside the first winery

Me and the Birthday Girl!

The second winery

The tour bus

On the bus

Last Sunday I went to Nathan’s church in Subiaco with a few friends. We got to see Nathan play the drums during worship. It was also really cool because he invited a lot of our friends who don’t usually go to church. After church, we headed to the markets in Subiaco. It was my first time in Subiaco (which is more “high class” suburb of Perth), but it is always exciting to go to the markets, because you can find pretty much anything you can imagine and more. Later that afternoon (as well as Monday afternoon), Komal, Jenn, and I got together to finalize our sexology presentation. We rehearsed our presentation in front of our friends a couple of times. I have never practiced a presentation three times before, but I guess it paid off because we did really well during our actual presentation in class on Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday, Komal, Jenn, Dave, Matt, Livia, and I went over to Divya’s house for dinner. Her mom made us pasta and about ten different India dishes to try! All of the food was wonderful, and her mom even boxed up the leftovers for us to take home. It was quite an enjoyable night, especially having our sexology presentation finished (so now we are completely finished with assignments for that class).

Wednesday I played tennis with Du Vihn and Mark again. I am finally getting my swing and my serve back after playing racquetball for the past few months! Because the tennis courts are very close to Du Vihn’s house, his wife Robyn and daughter Sophie usually walk down to the courts to watch us play. Sophie is adorable and she loves to run around the court and play with the tennis balls. When I first met Sophie she could barely talk, but now she says my name all the time!

This weekend the weather changed drastically. I think it had maybe rained twice since I arrived, but since Thursday, it has been extremely windy and rainy. This weekend is the first time the temperature hasn’t reached at least 70 degrees during the day. Anyway, despite the weather, I went to Bible study on Friday, and afterwards we went out to dinner at a Malaysian restaurant.

Saturday, I went shopping with Livia and Kaitlyn, mostly in order to buy groceries and a birthday present for Jenn. Jenn’s parents are visiting from the U.S. this weekend (especially for her birthday) and today they are took us on a Swan Valley Wine tour! It was also Jamee’s birthday as well, so we celebrated both of their birthdays during our tour. We rode around in a tour bus this afternoon and visited three wineries, one brewery, and the Margaret River Chocolate Factory in Perth. It was a pretty cool experience, and I certainly learned a lot about wine even though I am not too fond of the taste. Then, after our 5 hour tour, Jenn’s parents treated all of us to dinner at a pizza/kebab place in the city!

Aside from all that, I am diligently working on my LAST paper in order to finish it before Wednesday when Drea arrives. Unfortunately I haven’t received my last math assignment yet, so that probably won’t be finished before Wednesday. I am really excited for Wednesday, and it will be here before I know it!

Last Saturday night, I had a lot of fun. I texted a few friends about dinner and told them to pass the message along, and about 12 people showed up, and many of them I hadn’t seen in a while. It was really good to catch up with everyone over dinner. Then, after dinner, Me, Komal, Divya, and Dave went back to Komal’s flat and watched Momma Mia. After we watched to whole movie we went back to the parts of the movie with the best songs and we did the “Sing Along Version”!

Sunday, I went to church, as usually. Later in the afternoon Komal, Jenn, and I got together to work on our presentation for our sexology class. This is the only presentation/group project that I have had all semester, and I am quite glad because I am not a fan of group projects. Then, Sunday night, a few of us girls were going to see a girly movie, Ghost of Girlfriends Past. However, it was sold out. Instead, we bought tickets for a later showing of Star Trek for all of us and a bunch of the guys that wanted to see it as well. So, we went home and came back to the movies two hours later. By the time I got home, I had no motivation to do any schoolwork…so much for a productive Sunday.

The next day, I went to my Residence Office to get approval for Drea to stay with me a certain number of nights. I was under the impression that our guests could stay a few nights at the beginning of their trip and a few at the end (so I was thinking she would be able to stay atleast 5 or 6 nights in my room). However, I found out that we are not allowed to have guests during study weeks or exam weeks, and she is only going to be here 5 days before study week. I tried to get approval for her to stay those first 5 nights she is here, but the manager told me she couldn’t stay five days in a row…only 3 nights total! We are planning on doing some traveling, but not for 9 days! I have been talking to friends and trying to figure other options, and my Bible study leader offered to let her sleep at his house a few nights, and I am very greatful for that!

Later Monday night, I went over to my friends flat at Don Watt’s (A Residence area on campus)for dinner. We have Breakfast for dinner…eggs, pancakes (with strawberries), and bacon. It was quite delicious. It is quite interesting how different the dynamics are at other flats. My flatmates and I always cook on our own, and we don’t really hang out with each other much. On the other hand, my friends that live in Don Watt’s take turns making dinner for everyone during the week, and they all hangout quite regularly.

Wednesday I went to the foodbank, I think for the last time. Later that afternoon I played tennis with Du Vihn. After tennis, he invited me over for dinner at his house. I really have been so fortunate to have met such a wonderful Australian (and Christian) family! On Thursday, we went on our last excursion in my Australian Studies class. This time we went to Northbridge (which is the area with all of the night clubs). Our guide was a guy who was probably in his late 60’s, and he told us all these stories about murder and hangings that occurred a few centuries ago. It was kind of interesting, but the stories were a little difficult to follow.

Last night I went to Bible study and dinner afterwards. I can’t believe we only have two bible studies/dinners left! I am really excited that Drea will be here for the last dinner, which will be extra special because we are doing a “steamboat”. I am not exactly sure what that means, but apparently it is similar to fondue. Tonight I am going over to Don Watt’s for dinner again. My friend Calum is cooking, and the funny thing is he doesn’t even live there, he is just always over there!

Sorry about the lack of pictures lately…I have been getting lazy about taking pictures. I will try to work on that!

This week seemed to go by very quickly. It wasn’t exactly the most eventful week, but I still managed to keep pretty busy. On Sunday, I went to Divya’s church as planned. I enjoyed the service, although it was probably one of the longest services I have ever been to since it was just over two and a half hours!

Monday has become my normal grocery shopping day each week. Since I don’t have class on Monday, I usually sleep in (of course), go to them gym, and walk to the grocery store from there. It is actually quite a work out to go to the grocery store and walk back home because it is about a twenty minute walk both ways (and on the way home I have to carry all the groceries)! I also was able to my family on Skype that morning, and it was really good to talk to them and actually see them! I usually try to call them or Skype with them every weekend. The rest of the afternoon I worked on a paper for my sexology class. I finished revising it before dinner time, which is really good for me because I usually am up late the night before a paper is due. Since my paper was finished, I went over with Livia to Komal’s house to hang out and watch some T.V. for a few hours.

Tuesday is my longest day of classes because I have five hours of lectures. The best part is that when Tuesday is over, I am pretty much finished with half of my week because I only have 10 hours of class total. We were going to go see a girly movie that night, but things didn’t quite work out. Instead, I was able to get ahead on my assignments so I won’t have any assignments left once Drea gets here!

On Wednesday I had my weekly meeting with Sean, my study abroad advisor. Then, I went to the food bank as usual. This week they seemed unprepared for us (even though we come the same time every week) because it took about twenty minutes for them to find something for us to do! Later that afternoon I went to play tennis with Du Vihn again. It was just the two of us this week, but we found a few new players for next week. I also ended up babysitting for Du Vihn’s daughter, Sophie, on Thursday night. They had me over for dinner before hand, and they even put Sophie to bed before they left! It was a pretty relaxing night for me!

Yesterday (Friday), I went to Bible study and then to dinner at Du Vihn’s house afterwards…two home cooked meals in one week! We actually had a bigger group than normal on Friday and almost everyone was able to stay for dinner. We started talking about dinner plans for the next few weeks, and I realized we only have three weeks of bible study/dinner left! I am excited that Drea will be here for the last bible study and dinner though! Tonight I am meeting up with a few friends for dinner, and then I am not sure what we will do after that!

On Sunday Livia went to church with me at Curtin Community Church. It was exciting for me because I am pretty sure she is not a Christian and she really seemed to enjoy the service. Other than that, I mostly relaxed and worked on a couple of assignments.

On Monday, which was a public holiday (ANZAC ), I went to the part of Perth City called North Bridge for lunch with my Bible study group. North Bridge is a place with tons of restaurant, most of which are Asian, and it is also the area where most of the night clubs are located. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant, and to my knowledge, that was my first experience at a Vietnamese restaurant. The menu was very overwhelming, and based on my first experience at an Asian place in North Bridge (the very first night when I ended up ordering a dish with 5 or more meats) I chose something very simple: chicken, rice, and vegetables. The food was very tasty. I even tried a special drink (I think it was called Three Bean drink) which consisted of coconut milk, crushed ice, three different types of bean, and a few other things. As weird as it sounds, it was actually quite good. After lunch, we stopped in a Chinese grocery store. This was my first time in one, and it was really overwhelming because I couldn’t read any labels, and I had no idea what a lot of things were.

On Wednesday, I played tennis for the first time in a long while! I played with Du Vihn (my bible study leader) and another student. We were all on about the same level, so we had some good rallies. It was $10 to use the tennis court for an hour! At home, I just take things like that for granted. Later that night, I decided to go out with my friends to the Tav and the Waterford for Karaoke. Most of my friends go each week, but I only like to go once in a while. It was so much less crowded than the last time I was there, and I even sang Karaoke with two of my friends on stage. I barely even knew the song, but I still got up there anyway!

The next day I went on a field trip to the Perth Mint with my Australian studies class. The best part of the trip was getting to see 6 kilograms of liquid gold being poured into a mold and then seeing the pure gold after it cooled. Later on Thursday I went to the movie theater with a group of eight friends to see the Wolverine movie. My friend Nathan bought the biggest tub of popcorn I have ever seen, and between the two of us we practically finished it. I was feeling quite full after the movie though.

Friday Afternoon I went to my small group. We are currently studying Ephesians. It is a lot different being in a Bible study with other international students because everyone has different levels of proficiency in English. We often have to go slower to make sure everyone can understand what we are studying. After the study we went to Du Vihn’s house for dinner. We had a chicken curry dish, which was very tasty. I always learn something new about my international friends and the places they are from because we often talk about similarities and differences between our home country and Australia.

This morning Divya and I went shopping at the Carousel shopping center. We finally got a chance to catch up over lunch. We hadn’t seen each other in about two weeks. I really enjoy having the opportunity to hang out with her one on one, but it is also really cool because she has met all of my other friends as well and she enjoys hanging out with the whole group. I am planning to go to her church service tomorrow morning.

A few of the girls

This is what the bus looked like on the inside...

Dinner time!

The whole group and Nathan (our driver/guide)

I just wanted to share a few more pictures from my Exmouth trip since I didn't get any group shots with my own camera, but now I have access to them through facebook!

Well this week has been pretty uneventful for the most part. The first week back at Uni after a long break is always a little rough. I received a few of the assignments I turned in before break back. It was really quite a shock to get my grades back here because the grading is so different. Receiving above an 80% on an assignment is very good and it doesn’t occur very often. One of my lecturers told us that in her 10 years of teaching she has given a student above 90% only a few times. So when I got a 64% on one paper and a 70% on another I was disappointed at first; however I found out that both of these grades transfer back to Elon as a B. We were told that the grading was a lot different before we came, but I really didn’t think anything of it until now.

I had a math assignment due on Friday, so most of my free time this week was spent working on that. It amazes me how long it can take to complete 5 math problems. This math class is by far the most difficult class I have taken, mostly because I don’t have the same background as most of the other students in my class. The lecturer has been very willing to help me; however, every time I go to his office for help, he always ends up trying to tell me about some other math related problem or phenomenon. So, it takes a while to actually get him to focus on my questions.

Drea, my roommate from Elon, finally booked her tickets to come visit me in Australia!!! I am so excited. She is coming at the end of May, and she will be here for about 2 weeks. I am really excited that we will be able to share experiences together in Australia. My classes here end May 29th, and I only have one exam, which is on June 15th. After my exam I will only have 6 days left in Australia before heading home. It is hard to believe I have already been here for over 2 ½ months!

Yesterday (Friday) I went to my usual Bible study, but I didn't stay for dinner because it was Livia’s birthday. We planned to have a party at our friend’s house and then go clubbing in the city. We were all excited until we found out we had to cancel the party. The housing assistants and managers found out about the party and told our friends were hosting the party that their housing agreement would be terminated if they had the party. We were pretty surprised because people have parties and gatherings all the time in the student housing. A few hours later we found out that we couldn’t go to the clubs either because they all closed at midnight because the next day was ANZAC day (a public holiday). We all felt really bad for Livia and we still wanted to celebrate her birthday. So, we went to dinner and then went and hung out at a different location on campus…Dave’s flat. Dave ended up walking Komal home soon after we arrived, and he didn’t come back because he fell asleep at Komal’s flat. So there were about 15 of us hanging out at his house without him. It was pretty funny because his roommates kept walking in and they probably were wondering what in the world we were doing in their flat!

Albany Adventures

Me, Nathan, Jenn, Jamie at Whale World

Overlooking a beach in Albany

Whale world!

Jenn, Rhys, Nathan, and I at the gap and bridge rock formations

Jenn, Jamie and I all geared up for Paintball (aside from our helmets of course)

I can’t believe my two week break is practically over already! I just returned to Perth yesterday afternoon after spending 5 nights in Albany. Our week was full of adventures.
Saturday morning Jenn and I woke up early so we could catch a bus and a train to get to the Station where our bus would leave for Albany. We bought our tickets as soon as we got to the station but all the tickets were sold out for the bus route that takes six hours, so we were stuck with the one that takes a different and longer route (about 7 hours). It was a coach bus and quite comfortable so we were able to catch up on much needed sleep from the previous week. Of course, somehow, even though the bus wasn’t very crowded, we ended up with three loud little kids near us. When we arrived in Albany, Rhys and Nathan were waiting for us at the bus station. We headed back to Rhys’s house to meet his family. Rhys is originally from England but his family moved to Albany four years ago. Nathan is one of Rhys’s roommates from Curtin, and he didn’t go home to Canberra (the capital of Australia) because it is so far away and quite expensive to travel. Rhys’s mom and dad were so wonderful to us all week. His mom was an amazing cook. I haven’t eaten so well in a long time! After dinner, the four of us headed over to hang out with a few of Rhys’s friends from Albany. Later we walked to the “downtown” area to go to the Albany night club. However, we decided to head home because it was so crowded the line was so long.

The next morning we slept in…finally. Rhys took us to some of the tourist places around Albany. We went to see really cool rock formations known as the Gap and the Bridge. Then, we went to Hungry Jacks for lunch (which is just like Burger King), mostly because I really wanted French fries because I gave them up for Lent. We thought it would be fun to take our food and eat down at the beach; however, after two minutes we were surrounded by seagulls. That night, some of Rhys’s and Nathans friends from Curtin were stopping by Albany for the night, and they were planning to camp out in the backyard. However, they arrived around 8:30 expecting dinner and without camping gear. Things got a little out of hand because the Tilbury’s weren’t exactly prepared for four others to spend the night in their house. And some of them weren’t very willing to sleep on the floor, so they ended up leaving around midnight to find other accommodation. To make a long story short, they probably won’t ever be invited back to the Tilbury’s house.

On Monday, we woke up and we went to the set of the Australian T.V. show called Lockie Leonard. It was really neat, but it would have been even cooler if I had actually seen the show before. Afterwards we headed to the beach because it was such a nice day. We drove about 45 minutes to a really secluded beach. Along the way, Rhys asked who wanted to learn how to drive his manual truck. Jenn volunteered first. Aside from stalling about 5 times, she did well considering she had never driven a manual and it was her first time driving on the opposite side of the road. Once we arrived at the beach, we still walked another 15 minutes before we arrived at the perfect beach location. This walk involved climbing up and down slippery rocks. It was hard to keep up with the five guys but we managed. On the way home, Nathan tried driving a manual car for the second time, and he did pretty well. Later that night we hung out and watched a movie together.

Tuesday we hung out at Rhys’s house in the morning, and Jamie (one of our friends from Curtin University) was on her way back up to Perth, so she stopped by for a little while. The five of us went to Whale World in the afternoon. There we got to learn all about whaling, as it was a previous whaling station/port. Jamie and Nathan headed back up to Perth later that afternoon. I tried driving Manual that night, but only drove on the road near Rhys’s house. My Dad taught me how to drive manual a little a few years ago but I was really uncomfortable driving manual. This time, however, I didn’t even stall! It was really weird driving on the left side of the road though.

On our last full day in Albany, we went to a historic Fort in Albany. The lady let me in free because we think she thought I was a little kid in the backseat. We got a good laugh out of that. We were running a few errands and Jenn and I realized neither of us had appropriate clothing for paintball (we had a reservation to play on Friday morning back in Perth). So we went to Salvation Army (the Australians call it Salvos) to pick up some old t-shirts. Then, also went to well known squid shack restaurant for a snack. There, Jenn and I tried fried squid. It wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t my favorite. Our last dinner was wonderful, as usual. I tried coronation chicken, which I had never tried before. We relaxed and watched a movie later that night. We went to bed at a decent hour because we were leaving the next morning at 7 am. The Tilbury’s drove back to Perth the next morning, and it only took about 4.5 hours, instead of the 7 hours it took on the bus.

We arrived back at Curtin around noon. It was Komal’s birthday, so we took her out for dinner later that night and a few of us hung out afterward. Today went to play paintball at a place that was about an hour away. I must admit I was quite nervous. I was with a lot of others who had also never been before so that made it a little less scary. The first game I got shot pretty bad because after I got hit I surrendered and someone still kept shooting me! It really stung the first time, but it wasn’t too bad. And then I got hit on the top of my head a little later and that hurt even more. I ended up having a lot of fun, but I definitely have proof that I played. .. I have about 6 bruises/welts on my body. We were so dirty after playing because we had all been crawling around in the dirt. We went home to take showers and then we planned to go see the new Fast and Furious Movie in the theatre. Once we arrived at the theatre, we found out that all of the tickets were sold out for each showing. So went to Blockbuster and rented a few movies. I have really been enjoying the break, but tomorrow I really need to focus on the one major assignment that I haven’t even looked at since the break started!

Kalabarri National Park

Sunset at Monkey Mia

Dolphin!

The Farm Stay

Break...Week One

The Bus/van

The Pinnacles

SOme of the girls at Ocean park

Me and Jenn...and our Margaritas

Sandboarding

The adventure began on last Saturday morning at 8:00 am, which was our scheduled departure time. We met our tour guide/driver ( Nathan) and we got to see the lovely blue bus that were traveling in. Our group consisted of 15 students, which was much smaller than we expected, but it turned out to be really fun with a small group because we got to know everyone really well. Our first stop was at the bizarre Pinnacles. We then had lunch, which involved making our own sandwiches and washing our dishes. . . which I wasn’t exactly expecting. After driving another few hours, we somehow managed to get two flat tires, which held us up for about two hours. The adventure was only beginning. After what seemed like ages, we got back on the road and ended up staying a Farm Stay accommodation rather than the beach house we were originally planning to stay. We were served dinner, which included a choice of kangaroo stew or old fashioned farm style tucker. I stayed in a room with 5 others because each room had 3 bunk beds. When we woke up the next morning we actually were able to see horses, lambs, and llamas…it was much more obvious that we were on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

Sunday, we had breakfast at 7am (breakfast every morning was cereal and toast) we headed off to Kalabarri National park where Nathan led us on a hour long hike. It was really beautiful, especially the areas overlooking the ocean. We also stopped at Shell beach, which is a beach made entirely of sea shells. Then, we were off to Monkey Mia Backpackers Resort. Monkey Mia is known for its world famous dolphins. Once we arrived we went down to the beach and saw the sunset and the dolphins. We enjoyed steak and hot dogs on the barbeque for dinner…I think this was the only night that Nathan did all the cooking by himself. After dinner we went star gazing on the beach.

Monday, we woke up early so we could be there for the feeding of the dolphins. We really got to see the dolphins up close! Some people in our group were randomly picked to feed the dolphins. By 10 am we were off again to Ocean Park to see tiger sharks. Again, we got to see tiger sharks up really close as well as a number of other interesting fish and sea creatures. Then we headed off to Warrorra Station where we spent the night. This accommodation was much more rustic than the previous two places we stayed. There were 2 people per room and we didn’t even have sheets on our bed. Plus, when we went in the kitchen to start cooking pasta for dinner, we encounter a number of spiders and even a few cockroaches. Surprisingly, the pasta was delicious and I ate every bit of mine. That night we also celebrated Lottie’s 18th birthday. We also enjoyed “Australian” style smores by a campfire.


The next morning breakfast was at 6:30. I got up for breakfast only to find that under my right eye was really swollen and I had no idea why. I figured the swelling would go down after an hour or so, but it didn’t. I ended up buying some allergy medicine later that day, and even that didn’t work very well. So, basically I had a swollen eye for a day and a half. Anyway, that day we only rode in the bus for an hour total (which was wonderful because the past three days had involved anywhere from 6 to 9 hours of riding on the bus). We arrived in Coral Bay around 9am and we had the whole day free. Most of us decided to enjoy the day on the beach. Jenn and I rented snorkel gear and we went out and snorkeled for a couple of hours. It was really cool because we saw so many colorful fish, stingrays, and even an octopus! That night we had stirfry for dinner, and then we went to the local bar as a group. Jenn and I each got a Margarita. That night we went to bed before 10 o’clock even though it felt so much later!

Wednesday, we had to leave coral bay and head to Exmouth (our final destination) at 5:45 am. My friend Matt and a few other were going scuba diving and they had to arrive at a certain time so we all had to get up early. It was only an hour and half drive to Exmouth, and again we had the rest of the day free. I ended up going to the beach and the pool. A few of us even went to the sand dunes later to try out sand boarding (I had never heard of it before, but basically it is like snowboarding on sand). We had chilli for dinner, and again we went out to the local bar to hang out. We ended up playing quite a few games of pool.

Thursday was the day we were all dreading because we had no fun stops other than fuel stops and bathroom breaks between exmouth and Northampton. So, we drove for about 9 hours and only stopped twice. We arrived at the same Farm stay we were at the first night. We actually arrived before dinner so we got to go for a dip in the pool, and we also played quite a bit of table tennis. Instead of Kangaroo stew for dinner we had a beef stew. We all enjoyed our last night hanging out together. We even got a present for Nathan.

Friday, we departed at 7 am, and we had about 6 hours of driving before arriving back in Perth. For some reason those six hours seemed the longest. Along the way we stopped at a gas station for lunch (which, of course was sandwiches). We got home around 2 pm, and ever since I have been busy getting ready for my next trip, which is to Albany. Jenn and I leave tomorrow morning bright and early! Tonight we celebrated Komal’s birthday because her birthday is in a few days and we won’t be around. We made a pasta dinner and cake for her tonight, and then watched the Lion King. Such a good night.

Midterm Week

(This map shows most of places I am going over the break. The first week we will be going to Northhampton, Kalbarri, Shark Bay, Coral Bay, and Exmouth. And, then the second week to Albany!)

As this week is midterm week, I have actually spent a lot of time working on papers and studying for my math midterm, which is tomorrow (friday) afternoon. I am the only student from our class who is taking the midterm before break; every one else is taking it two weeks from tomorrow, which is during our two week break. This week has been long and hard, but I know it is going to be worth it because I won't have to worry about studying over the break!

Now, as for the exciting part, I am going on two main trips over the break. The first week I am traveling up the west coast with a big tour group. Jenn, Matt, and I signed up for the trip together. We will be going to a lot of national parks and beaches. We also are going to the famous Monkey Mia, and there we will be able swim with Dolphins! The farthest north we go is Exmouth, and then we travel back down the coast and stop at a few other places. I am also excited because it will be warmer up north, and it actually is starting to cool down in Perth. Today the high was about 75 F I think, which is a big change from Febuary and most of March when the temperature was in the upper 80's and 90's.

Then, the second week of break, Jenn and I are going to Albany, which is about a 5 hours southeast of Perth. We will take the bus down, and it will probably be about a 6 hour bus ride. When we arrive, we will stay at our friend Rhys's house. We met him through Matt because Rhys is one of Matt's roomates. I am not exactly sure what will will be doing in Albany, but I know it will be fun :)

Nathan and I (at the cookout)

Rhys, Jenn, and I (the cookout)

Cirque du Soleil (I couldn't take pics once we were inside)

Divya, Me, Jenn, Livia, Matt, Sean, and Ashley (at my bday dinner)

Im sorry it has been over a week since I have written! I have lots to share :) Last Sunday I went to church with Divya. I really liked Diyva’s church, it is more like what I am used to back home. It was actually an evening service, and a man shared his incredible testimony about dying for 55 minutes and then being brought back to life. The man was only 39 years old and he had a heart attack. The doctors tried everything, but they couldn’t revive him. His wife arrived, and she prayed a simple prayer, and he was brought back to life! I wish I could share more of the details because it really was an incredible experience.

Monday we went out dinner for my birthday dinner. Through the international program, we are allowed to take five friends out to dinner, and the program pays for each of our meals (although we were on our own for appetizers and drinks). I invited Jenn, Livia, Komal, Matt, and Divya. My advisor (Sean) also came and so did our senior student advisor (Ashley). I really wanted to go to an Italian restaurant, so Ashley knew of a good Italian place called Bella Rosa. Dinner was delicious, and the best food I’ve had in a long time. Unfortunately, after dinner I had to work on an assignment. I know it probably seems like I NEVER do any school work in Australia, but I actually spent most of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday working on my first assignments.

On Tuesday, Nasir cooked dinner for a group of us. I met Nasir through my friend Komal. He has quite a big crush on Komal, and he really enjoys cooking, so he cooks for all of us about once a week. He is originally from Pakistan, like Komal, and he is really good at making Curry dishes. Divya also joined us for dinner this week. After dinner we went across campus for dessert at Jenn’s house. By the end of the night, were racing shopping carts in the Vickery House parking lot.

Wednesday I went to the Cirque du Soleil with Komal, Jenn, and Livia. The circus was in downtown Perth, so we took a bus into the city. It was incredible! Unfortunately, photography was not allowed. The things that the acrobats did seemed humanly impossible. As the show continued, we were more and more amazed by the talent of the performers. After the circus we went for a walk along Swan River as we slowly headed to the bus stop It was such a beautiful night.

On Thursday we went on our second field trip in my Australian Studies class. This week we went to Fremantle. Now I can actually say I had class on the beach! We walked along the beach, and we also went to a few historical places. Then, because my friend Livia wants to get a tattoo on her birthday, we went to a tattoo parlor so she could make an appointment. Going to a tattoo place was definitely a new experience for me! Later that night, I went over to a friend’s house to hang out, and we also watched the movie “Transformers.”

This weekend has been quite enjoyable as well. On Friday, I went to my weekly bible study, and enjoyed a home cooked meal at Du Vihn’s house afterwards. I also look forward to those home cooked meals! Saturday I went to the local shopping mall with Komal and Nasir. I was really excited to use the Target gift card my parents gave me for my birthday; however, I found out that the Target in Australia is not related or owned by the Target in the U.S. The three of us had quite a fun time shopping together. Once we got back to campus, I got ready for a Saturday night cook out/camping trip. It is kind of complicated, but we went to Matt’s (my friend) roomate’s boyfriend’s house near Fremantle for the cookout. A few of my friends brought tents for camping out in the backyard; however, a few of us came home around midnight. It was a lot of fun, and it was actually a little chilly outside, so it was quite nice to have a fire going. It seems that there is never a dull moment around here. I am beginning to realize how difficult it will be for me to leave all of my friends in a few short months.

This morning I woke up to go to church, without realizing that the time had changed. I arrived at church an hour early and no one was there! It took me a while to realize what was going on. So now there is only a time difference of 12 hours between here and back home. This coming week is midterm week, and then I have two weeks of break! I am excited about my upcoming trip along the west coast of Australia.

My 21st!

Livia, Komal, Me (At the Club)

The Bus on the way to North Bridge

The Costume Party

Me, Rhys, Matt, Komal, Nathan

About to make a bday wish

Me and Divya

At the Waterford on Weds

Well I am officially 21 now…and I had an amazing Australian birthday! The celebration began Wednesday at Karaoke night at the Waterford Bar. It wasn’t even my birthday yet, but somebody told the D.J. it was my birthday so everyone sang happy birthday to me. I had my first real drink since I’ve been here that night at the bar, and it was of course a girly fruity drink. And a few hours later I had a Yager bomb…quite the experience. The bar closed at midnight (as everything in perth closes early) and my friends and I went to catch the courtesy bus back to our residence, but somehow even though we were the first ones waiting at the bus stop and It was MY birthday, everyone else rushed to the bus before Jenn and me, and we couldn’t get on. So we decided to go back to my friend Komal’s house which is right by the bus stop to wait for the next bus. So we hung out there for a while, but Jenn, Benedikt and I were really hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything since dinner, so we walked to Rhys’ house because he had lots of Chinese leftovers. Finally we headed home, but along the way we had to dodge all the sprinklers as we walked back across campus. It was a pretty adventurous first few hours of my birthday.

The next morning (Thursday), I woke up and opened all my packages and cards. Thank you all for all the birthdays wishes and cards! After class I came back home to get ready from my birthday party. We decided to have a Disney/Pixar Costume party. Earlier that week a few of my friends and I went to salvation army thrift store to get items for our costumes. I decided to be Tinkerbell (with Drea’s help of course). It was interesting afternoon because for some strange reason my cell phone wasn’t working properly, so I had no idea what was going on. I found out that none of my text messages were getting sent to my friends. It was kind of more interesting that way though, because everything was more of a surprise. I finally arrived at Komal’s house a little late, and the whole common room was decorated and Jenn had made a casserole, fruit salad, and a chocolate cake. It was also really exciting because my friend Divya was able to come as well, and this was the first time she has gotten to meet my other friends. Everyone did a great job with the costumes as well. We had Genie and Rajaj from Aladdin, Pocahontas, Cards from Alice in Wonderland, an Emperor, and few random costumes. A little later in the night we turned the common room into a dance floor.

And, for some reason, my birthday continued on Friday as well. I went to my small group as usual, and then we had an international dinner afterward at Michelle’s house. Almost everyone (and by everyone I mean about 10 of us) brought a dish from their country. All the food was quite delicious. Then, I got a ride home so I could get ready for Northbridge, which is the downtown area of Perth where all the night clubs are. Friday was my first time going to Northbridge, and it’s the first time I have gone out to a club. We took a bus into the city at around 10:30. There were about twenty of us all going together and we took up the whole back of the bus, and my friends decided the bus ride was an appropriate time to sing happy birthday even though it was no longer my birthday. Once we got off the bus, it had started misting and we had quite a long walk, but we finally arrived at a club called “The Deen”. We danced so much that night, and I was pretty tired when we left around 2am. I had a lot of fun, and of course there was some drama. I’ll probably go again sometime but it isn’t exactly somewhere I want to go every weekend :)

(Jenn, Me, Livia, Toni)

(Livia, Victoria, Jaymes, Me)

(Renae, Victoria, Livia, Me)

(top: Victoria, Benedikt Jaymes, Jenn, Matt

Bottom: me, Livia, Rahoul)

(Me, Komal, Jenn)

Just thought I would share a few pictures! The top two are from beach bash last weekend. The third picture from the top is one taken at Cottesloe beach. The fourth picture was taken at the Waterford, which is a restaurant/bar that has Karoke night every wednesday. This was our first wednesday night Karoke. And, finally, the last picture was taken at the zoo, which seems like ages ago!