My Marvelous Monday

So, every Monday I have an 8:30 am lecture and then I am done for the rest of the day. This particular Monday I intended to hole myself up in the library after class to finish some much needed work. However, when I arrived at my 8:30 chemistry lecture, one of my classmates and friends asked me if I'd like to head up to Royal National Park today with him. Hmm. . .fun Australian adventure or the library? Any guesses which one I picked?

My friend Celli (an Aussie) had also invited 3 Dubliners and a Coloradan. Two of these guys live in International House with me so we already knew each other. We hopped into Celli's car and started driving. He took us north of Wollongong through all of the adorable little suburbs. The suburbs sit right on the ocean and the beaches in these towns are absolutely beautiful. Celli told us that as we approach winter it is fairly common to see whales along these beaches because they are migrating. We didn't see any on Monday, but I am definitely going to check these beaches out again.

After a little driving we arrived in Royal National park. It was an absolutely gorgeous park with dense trees and the ocean coming in and out of view. Celli drove us through the park pointing out interesting things and stopping for us to take pictures. I had no idea that the area around Wollongong was so beautiful (called the Illawara region). At last we made it to our final destination-- a little cliff overlooking a lagoon which is "an area of shallow water separated from the sea by low sandy dunes", according to dictionary.com (do you like my use of references?). Celli informed us that we would be
Celli and me looking out at one of the suburbs

jumping off the cliff. (Sidenote: before you freak out Mom, the cliff wasn't too high, Celli had jumped there before, and we checked the depth of the water before we jumped.) I was pretty scared at first, but I finally worked up the nerve to do it. My friend Robyn (one of the Dubliners) held my hand as we jumped because I was a little nervous. But I really had no reason to be afraid because it was absolutely amazing! I jumped one more time and then we swam around in the lagoon for awhile (the calm water was a nice break from the rough ocean waves).

Celli then brought us back to his house in Austinmmer (one of the little suburbs of Wollongong) and we had a little bbq (yes, Aussies actually do have a LOT of bbqs). In Australia a bbq consists of sausages (pretty much like breakfast sausages) and bread (not buns). Australians believe that hotdogs should only be cooked over the stove and that sausages are meant for breakfast and bbqs. Although there
The lagoon.

was a lack of hotdogs, the bbq was lovely and we were able to see a variety of colorful birds eating from his birdfeeders. Seeing a rainbow colored parrot on these feeders is as common as seeing a crow in your backyard in the states. Celli wasn't too excited about them, but the rest of us grabbed our cameras and went crazy taking pictures.

I had to back in Wollongong by 3:30 for SCARF (an African refugee volunteer program). I am tutoring primary school kids and this was my first session. We jumped on the train (nearly missing it!) and I met my friend Lydia to walk to the SCARF office. We worked with 2 brothers and a sister for an hour and it was a lot of fun. The kids are recent immigrants from Africa and are therefore far behind their classmates. They were really sweet kids and we will be working with them each week.


One of the colorful parrots.

**Sorry that the labels for the pictures are all out-of-whack. I'm not sure how to do this quite yet. The italicized words describe the pictures for those of you who are confused. . .

I'm a little bit country. . .

My "parents" for the weekend on top of Bushranger's Hill
Darren and I on top of one of the many large rocks on their property
Rolling some sushi!!

Petting Ume with Io and Darren.
Hello Folks,

I just arrived back in Wollongong from a very pleasant weekend in the country. My study abroad group sent us on a country life weekend in a little town about 4 hours west called Bathurst. We left Friday afternoon, drove for a few hours and then met up with our host families. I ended up staying with two guys from my study abroad group with the sweetest family ever. The parents were youngish (well, at least young in spirit) and they had one 18 year old son. They welcomed us that night with a delicious Thai meal (the mom was a phenomenal cook) and we all just sat around and chatted for most of the evening. David and Kerry (the parents) have traveled all over the world and had some very interesting stories to tell. They were very worldly and told us all about their adventures.

They also had the most beautiful house. They converted their old sheering shed into their living room/kitchen area. It still had a tin roof and they left a lot of the sheering equipment inside of it. It had one huge window that looked over the rolling country hills of Bathurst.

We finally hit the hay around midnight and I had one of the most restful sleeps I've had since being in Australia. The next morning we woke up and they took us for a hike around their farmland and their neighbor's. It was a beautiful hike, but the most amazing thing was that there were kangaroos everywhere! Every 20 minutes or so we would come across a small herd of them (5-10); they would sit and watch us for awhile and then they would hop away. I felt like I was in some sort of fantasy world. . .it was unbelievable. We also searched for koalas, but were unable to find any up in the eucalyptus trees. Kerry and David have a pet Emu (name Ume) and were able to pet him and take some pictures.

After our hike we headed off to Morgan's (the son) school to watch him play rugby. It was the first live rugby game I've seen and it was just as violent as I imagined. Just picture football without the pads. . .scary. His team ended up winning and I think I actually started to understand the game.

We headed home for a late lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon cooking. Kerry taught us how to make sushi and we also made some appetizers for dinner that night (bruschetta and Indian chicken). I had never made sushi before, but it was actually quite easy (Kelsey- think spring rolls only easier and tastier).

For dinner we went to their neighbor's farm who were also hosting students. We ate our delicious appetizers and they made us homemade pizza, which was delicious. We had another relaxing evening talking to the students and the children of our host families.

Sunday morning we went for another early morning hike. This one was to the top of the Bushranger's hill (so named because a gang of Bushrangers used to hide out there) and we got to see Bathurst and the surrounding areas from a new perspective. The view was absolutely stunning and it made me think that country life might not be so bad afterall. We had to catch the bus at noon, so we went home to pack up. Before dropping us off they took us to the famous car racing track in town and we also stopped by a motocross race.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I forgot how much I missed the comforts of home. Of course this family could never replace my family, but it was still nice to have a home for a weekend.

I just have one more week of class before Easter break when I head off to New Zealand!

Cheers!

Kiama and the Lower Gong

This past week was fairly uneventful with a few days of class and then a few rainy days which kept us from the beach. I gave my presentation on Wednesday and it went off without any huge guffaws. I did have one embarrassing moment this week though. . .I had a tutorial at 10:30 am on Wednesday morning. This tutorial has about 20 other students in it and the Tutor for the course is a fairly intimadating woman from Eastern Europe. I arrived to the class at exactly 10:30 and opened the door to go in. As I walked in though, the entire class turned to look at me and gave me (what I thought were) kind of judgmental leers. It almost felt like they had just finished talking about how tardiness was unacceptable and all tardy people should be ostracized (although, I must point out that I was NOT late). Anyway, I got a little flustered and wasn't thinking clearly and I ended up just turning around and leaving. . .Now this isn't the end of the world because attendance isn't compulsory and I had already turned in my assignment for the day electronically. But it is still quite embarrassing because everyone in that room knew that I was supposed to be in that class and they all witnessed me come in and then just turn around and leave again. I'm not sure how I will show my face in that class next week. . .

That night (Wednesday) some friends and I played trivia at our local pub. It was a team effort, but lots of the questions required an intimate knowledge of Australia. . .seeing as we only had one Aussie with us, we did not fair too well. It was still a very enjoyable night though.

Thursday nights we have an event each week at International House called "Global Visions". We usually have speakers or discussions about current global issues. This week some different members of I-House talked about their home countries and the current issues. We heard about Hong Kong and Ireland and I learned lots of things that I did not know. For example, did you know that until 11 years ago Hong Kong was controlled by the British? China reacquired Hong Kong in 1997 (I think) and now it is slowly being blended back into China, but they will maintain quite a bit of sovereignty for another 40 years.

Today (Saturday) it was time for another adventure. Seven friends and I jumped on a 10:23 am train to Kiama, a small town about an hour south of Wollongong. Kiama has multiple beaches that are absolutely gorgeous. We saw a lot of surfers out there, so we will probably head back another weekend with our surfboards. In Kiama, they have a big produce market the last Saturday of every month. Once we arrived we checked out the market, which was quaint, but full of good free samples. Kiama is also well-known for its "blow-hole". The blow-hole is a hole in a large rock formation along the ocean that erupts with water when large waves hit the rock. It almost looked like a geyser. We spent some time taking pictures of the blow-hole and then did a little rock scrambling on some of the cliffs.

After walking around the town for a little longer we hopped on the train again and headed south another 15 minutes to Gerringong. Gerringong is a tiny, tiny town, but we wanted to check it out because we heard it had a very nice winery. Once we arrived in Gerringong, we asked for directions and found that the winery was at the top of a 400 meter long hill. So, we began hiking. We made it up to the top and did some free wine tasting. . .they make all of their wines right on site. We all felt very classy and cultured as we sipped on our wines and pretended to know what we were doing. It was around 3 pm by the time we were done and we decided we wanted to catch the 3:08 train back to Wollongong because the next train did not come in until 5:08. We began hustling back down the hill and right as we entered the town again, the train pulled up. At this point we were at least 100 m away from the platform and so we began sprinting-- backpacks, purses, flip-flops and all. Right as we arrived at the platform the train began to pull away. . .we were all defeated and upset, but luckily the conductor saw us and stopped the train for us. I forgot to mention that only 5 of us had sprinted to the train-- the other 3 were lolly-gagging aways behind us. So, the 5 of us just hopped on the train and it left without them! The 3 boys we left behind were convinced that we would all miss the train, so they just didn't even try. It's 5:04 right now, so they will be getting on the train in just a few minutes. . .Hopefully they enjoyed their afternoon in Gerringong.

One more thing. . .Gerringong is sometimes referred to as the "Lower Gong" making Wollongong the "Upper Gong". . .only in Australia.

Ready, AIME, Fire

This weekend we took a break from grand adventures and hung around good ol' Wollongong. We spent some time at the beach, tried to study, and celebrated a friend's birthday. On Sunday I went to an all-day training session for a mentoring program called AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience). Australia has a very ancient indigenous population which is said to be the oldest cultural group in the world. These aboriginals face a lot of the same problems that Native Americans face in the US. They are lagging far behind other Australians in regards to health, education, and income. Although they only make up around 2% of the population, they account for about 20% of incacerated people. The reasons for these short-fallings are a source of much debate and disagreement. However, what is indisputable is that indigenous students need help so that they can get the education they need to be successful. That's where AIME comes in. It's a program in which Uni students volunteer to mentor, tutor, and build relationships with indigenous middle and high school students. I thought it seemed like a valuable program and a good way to spend 1 hour a week, so I signed up. I was disappointed to learn that the program doesn't start until May 1st and therefore I won't be able to spend much time tutoring, but I am still very excited for the program.

After the 6 hour training session I was pretty burned out, but it was one of my good friend's. . .so I headed to the grocery store to buy some cake. We went to a local Thai restaurant for dinner (there are about 1 million Thai restaurants within a 2 mile radius of our dorm) called Coconut Thai. I ordered Tofu Pad Thai and it was delicious. Lots of my friends ordered their meals with kangaroo. . .I tried a little bit and it actually wasn't that bad! People described it as a "gamey" meat similar to elk. It is quite strange because the Australians celebrate their native animals, like kangaroos and emus, but they also eat them. However, my Aussie friends inform me that it's really only tourists who actually eat things like kangaroo. After a very satisfying dinner we went to one of the local pubs and listened to the live band that was performing there. All in all, it was a very nice evening.

Today the sun is shining, but I have to catch up on some of the homework that I put off all weekend. I have my first presentation this week, which I would be freaking out about back home, but presentations here are pretty laid back. I'm not too worried about it, but I still need to do some work on it!

I hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying the milder weather!

Bumps, bruises, and burials

Hello my cold-weather friends,

This morning all of the Aussies I encountered claimed that it was "cold" outside. I had trouble comprehending this because the sun was shining and it was still warm enough to be comfortable in shorts. A guy in one of my classes was actually wearing a scarf! I would like to see them try and survive Minnesota in March.

Course work is beginning to pick up and I am really enjoying the history course I am taking about the post-Cold War period. However, it is difficult to force myself to study when the sun is shining and the beach is only a 10-minute walk away.

I have been doing a little surfing everyday since we bought our board. I hate to admit it, but I am actually getting worse! Each time I get out of the water I have a new bruise or scratch to add to my already battered body. But I am still absolutely loving it! It's such a great way to get out and enjoy the ocean and every once in a while when I am able to stand for a second or two-- it's brilliant. I am going to keep chugging along because I definitely cannot get any worse at this point. . .

On Saturday, I had a brief lapse in judgment and I agreed to allow 3 of my guy friends bury me in the sand. I was completely covered head to toe and was incapable of moving (luckily I could still breathe!). After they had all had their fun and had taken numerous incriminating pictures. . .they forced me to crawl out myself (typical boys)! It took me a good five minutes to get my arms unburied and then I had to dig my body out as well. They all stood around and had a good laugh as I emerged from the sand covered head to toe in a fine layer of sand. . .needless to say I have learned my lesson!

Today we decided to check out one of the local thrift shops where it was rumored that there were $5 wet suits. We had a gay-old time trying to squeeze our bodies into impossibly small wet suits, but almost all of us managed to find one that actually fit. I walked away with a beautiful red and blue wet suit (circa 1980) for only $8. I am confident that I will be the chicest surfer at the beach. . .

This weekend some friends and I are contemplating a trip down south. We want to check out some of the towns south of Wollongong since we have only been north at this point. There is a nice little town called Batemans Bay where we might actually be able to see kangaroos and other native animals. . .I'm sure I will have many stories to tell if we actually make it down there!

Riding the Waves

I made a command decision yesterday. I decided that I wanted to get a surfboard, so my friend and I went on a little shopping adventure today. We were able to find a relatively cheap, used surfboard at a local shop. The shop is willing to buy the board back at the end of the semester for half-price. Two of my friends and I are sharing the board which makes the board a very cheap, but hopefully fun, investment.

I tried to surf a little bit today and actually had some success. The waves, however, were not very good and I spent a lot of time trying to hold onto my board and stay standing. I am pretty excited to have a new goal to accomplish while down here. Hopefully I will be a pro by the time I head home in July!

I also bought a plane ticket to New Zealand yesterday, which is where I will be spending my spring break. I will be flying into Christchurch with 2 or 3 friends and from there we will see some glaciers, bungee jump (them, not me!) and try to see as much of the country as possible. I have heard the New Zealand is absolutely beautiful, so I am really looking forward to this trip.

One last thing. . .I signed up to run a half-marathon in May. One of my friends here is a cross-country runner and asked me to run the race with him (I made sure he knew that I would be miles behind him the whole race). It will be my first half-marathon, so I am trying to get myself in shape to avoid making a complete fool out of myself!

The Blue Mountains

I just returned from a fun-filled weekend of hiking in the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are about 2 hours west of Sydney and about a 4 hour trip for us by train. Nine of us boarded the train in North Wollongong on Friday afternoon and headed to a little town called Blackheath. We arrived around 8:30 pm and spent a little time searching for our cabin. For our first night we had a 4-bedroom cabin with a large living area. The town of Blackheath is tiny and contains only a few restaurants, 2 pubs, and a grocery store with 3 aisles. After ordering some pizza and settling into our cabin, we spent the rest of the night relaxing at one of the local pubs.

The next day we set out on our first adventure. We caught a train to Katoomba, a small town about 15 minutes away. Many of the "touristy" parts of the Blue Mountains are located in Katoomba. We were able to see the Three Sisters which is a pretty neat rock formation. I was looking forward to seeing this all week because I wanted to take a family picture :) Unfortunately, the rocks were not quite as beautiful or chatty as my sisters.

We hiked down a massive stair case after seeing the 3 sisters and by the time we got to the bottom I was shaking. The stairs went right down the mountain and were a little frightening (but I'm glad we were going down and not up). Once we made it to the bottom we hiked a few miles to the world's steepest incline railway in the world. It was basically a backwards roller coaster. We loaded into cars and then were pulled backwards up the mountain. This was also a little terrifying because we were not strapped in. . .but the ride was definitely worth it.

We called it a day after that and grabbed dinner in a small cafe in Katoomba.

Sunday morning we decided to do some real hiking, since we took it pretty easy the day before. We settled on a 3-4 hour hike that would take us through the Grand Canyon (seriously, that's what it was called). It was probably the most beautiful hike I have ever been on. We hiked down into the canyon and were surrounded with a canopy of trees, ferns, and bushes. Most of the hike took us right alongside the tiny stream that carved out the canyon. We saw waterfalls and caves and heard a lot of birds. The second half of the hike consisted of climbing out of the canyon, which is no easy task. I tried to take a lot of pictures of the hike, but my photography skills did not do it justice :) We think we hiked at least 10 km on Sunday, so most of us are sore today!

I think I have caught the travel bug because I already want to start planning my next trip! Autumn break is coming up quickly and I will be heading to New Zealand with some friends. I hope you are all doing well. . .feel free to email me (hoconnel@gustavus.edu) or skype me!