Results of Studying Abroad

It’s over. My 5 month trip to Australia is finished. I’m back at home in Pennsylvania reflecting on all the good memories. It’s weird to think that I’ve been gone for so long. The first day back at home seemed foreign, but the next day, was like any other day in the states. I jumped back into my regular routine of going to work and hanging out with my friends, although the jet lag killed me. It took 5 days to get back on my normal sleeping and eating schedule.

My highlights of the trip consist of:

• Making new friends
• Swimming at The Great Barrier Reef
• Sailing the Whitsunday’s
• Backpacking in Sydney
• Partying in the Gold Coast
• Backpacking New Zealand.

I had the best 5 months I could’ve asked for. I experienced some culture shock, but quickly overcame that. AND, I was forced to learn how to cook! I’m walking away from this experience with so many new skills and life lessons.

What I’m going to miss most about studying abroad is not having a routine schedule. In Australia, every week was different compared to my life at home. All it took was an invite, and I was out the door and doing something different, whether it was traveling, hiking, boating, playing rugby or going out to dinner. I sure will miss the Aussie life.

If you ever have a chance to study abroad, do it!

If I had to give advice to anyone studying abroad, I would have to say make sure you have skype and stay in contact with friends and family back at home. They are your support team, and without them, you’ll miss home even more. They’ll encourage you to live it up and help you succeed.

I believe this will be my last post for The Australian in ME. If you have any questions, please ask away and I’ll get back to you. If you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures, please let me know. I’m looking forward to doing this all over again in a different country. Fingers crossed, I think I’m going to Europe next!

Traveling Around Australia (Whitsunday’s)

For the last 2 weeks, I’ve been experiencing Australia at its’ best with a bunch of my friends from the University of the Sunshine Coast! In a quick summary, I visited the Whitsunday’s and Sydney.  But what you don’t know is how much fun those 2 stops have been!  I’ll break this down into 2 blogs: 1) Whitsunday’s &  2) Sydney.

Whitsunday Islands:

1. My first stop was Airlie Beach, where we stayed at a hostel and partied like crazy! Airlie Beach was a nice small town, but full of life (especially at night) and beautiful women.  My first night was off to a good start.  That was also the first time I’ve ever stayed at a hostel.   It was quite dirty and not my favorite place.  Overall, I would give Airlie Beach a 7 out of 10.
2. The second day we boarded a boat that took us to Long Island, where we spent the entire week. Long Island was built more for families, but we made it a party spot and met a lot of people, including a few old couples who loved us.  Our hostel was located in the back of the resort, but it was perfect for us.  We basically had no food the entire week.  The only thing that filled us was our lovely alcoholic beverages we managed to buy before coming to the island.  I think from this point you should be able to guess how the rest of the week went.  PARTY!! 
3. While in the Whitsunday’s, we had a bunch of fun adventures that we booked with STA before we left.  They were extremely helpful.  The following occurred from April 1st – April 5th:
   1. Rock climbed the small mountain on Pelican Island
   2. Enjoyed a 4.4 kilometer hike to Sandy bay where we drank Goon, played baseball, & ran naked, which led to cutting my foot on rocks! My friend also got stung by a jelly fish!
   3. Sailed the Camira to Whitehaven Beach
   4. Snorkeled at Knuckle Reef
   5. Drunken hot tub adventures 
4. My week came to an end 2 days earlier than our group.  I chose to leave for Sydney and spend a week traveling alone, or so I thought. 

Rain, GO AWAY!

It’s been raining here for days.  I’m not talking about a little here and there. I mean straight downpour! The thunderstorms have been pretty cool to watch and I feel like I’m in a tropical storm with all this wind. I’ve basically been stuck in my room watching Alcatraz and reading Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie (owner of TOMS shoes). I rented Alcatraz on my plane ride from Charlotte to LAX and instantly fell in love with it.  It’s entertaining and only $1.99/ episode on iTunes. I have been reading a lot too.  Since December, I’ve picked up 3 books (that’s a lot for me lol) and have been reading about entrepreneurship. As I’m double majoring, my degree in business is only for general business administration so I’m trying to teach myself about entrepreneurship. I’m reading about success stories and starting to gather my thoughts about creating my own business.

I’ve been recognizing lately that I really do like my alone time, but I get a little depressed.  I know I do it to myself, but I find it relaxing to be alone. Of course I’m first in line to do anything with friends, but I’m not really going out to find people.  I think all this rain has just done this to me for the last week, but I need the rain to stop. All of my shoes are wet, I don’t have an umbrella, and to top things off, I’m drenched when I go to class. <— Annoying!

The positives:

1. I booked my flights & accommodations to the Whitsunday Islands & Sydney
2. I’m currently planning a 1 week trip to New Zealand with friends
3. Classes are pretty fun so far
4. I’m stocked up on food!