Coming Home - Dealing with Reverse Culture Shock

Posted on Saturday, June 27th at 9:21pm

Hey peoples. I wanted to post this in anticipation of my return to the States in roughly 3 days from now. A lot of people don't know about reverse culture shock or that it can be more difficult for study abroad students to deal with returning home than it was dealing with the initial culture shock of living in a different country. I thought I would just post some research I've done on the subject and I want to ask for your guys' patience as I adjust to returning home after being abroad for 5 months.

I love this place. I love Australia. I love the people and the environment and the beauty and the spontaneous adventures and the friends that I've made... Part of my heart belongs in this country now and I'm going to miss it like crazy.

"Re-entry shock is when you feel like you are wearing contact lenses in the wrong eyes. Everything looks almost right." -Robin Pascoe

Stages of Culture Shock
Stage 1: Disengagement - this begins before you leave the country. You begin thinking about re-entry and making your final preparations for your return home. You also begin to realize that it's time to say good-bye to your friends in the country and to the place you've come to call home. The hustle and bustle of finals, good-bye parties, and packing can intensify your feelings of sadness and frustration. You already miss the friends you've made, and you are reluctant to leave.

Stage 2: Initial Euphoria - this usually begins shortly before departure, and it is characterized by feelings of excitement and anticipation - even euphoria - about returning home. You may be very happy to see your family and friends again, and they are also happy to see you. The length of this stage varies, and often ends with the realization that most people are not as interested in your experiences abroad as you had hoped. They will politely listen to your stories for a while, but you may find that soon they are ready to move on to the next topic of conversation.

Stage 3: Irritability and hostility - You may experience feelings of frustration, anger, alienation, loneliness, disorientation, and helplessness and not understand why. You might quickly become irritated or critical of others and of U.S. culture. Depression, feeling like a stranger at home, and the longing to go back abroad are also not uncommon reactions. You may also feel less independent than you were in the country of your choice.

Stage 4: Readjustment and adaptation - Things will start to seem a little more normal again, and you will probably fall back into some old routines, but things won't be exactly the same as how you left them. You have most likely developed new attitudes, beliefs, habits, as well as personal and professional goals, and you will see things differently now.

Thanks for reading. Later peoples.

Jourama and Wallaman Falls

Posted on Sunday, June 21st, 2015 at 3:01pm

Hey peoples, two posts in one day. Aren't you lucky! Haha anyways. The following weekend, May 16th, Jess, Peter and I went to Jourama Falls and Wallaman Falls.

When I went to Jourama Falls with my study abroad group we didn't get to see much more than the falls themselves. So we stopped there on our way to Wallaman Falls. We hiked up to the lookout and then went back down to the rock pools where we had a picnic lunch and explored a while. We met a lovely family from Germany and talked to them for a little while. We also found a blue-green colored snake. It looked really cool. Of course we didn't get too close.

Then we headed further north to Wallaman Falls. As we were driving through the mountains we saw a mama cassowary with her baby which was so incredible! There are only about a 1000 cassowaries left in the wild so seeing an adult is really uncommon but to see a baby? Almost unheard of. Wallaman Falls is the largest single drop waterfall in Australia. It's 268 meters tall. It was so hard to grasp the size of it until you looked down and saw how far away the tree tops were.

On the way back I introduced Jess and Peter to the Frosty Mango mentioned in my previous blog. We all agreed that it was probably a good thing that the Frosty Mango is an hour away from campus. Otherwise we would all be really fat by now lol

There we go. That's my main adventures all caught up with. Today is my last day in Townsville. I leave for Brisbane at 3:30am tomorrow. Pictures from this are also posted. Later peoples!

Arcadia Free Weekend

Posted on Sunday, June 21st, 2015 at 2:37pm

Hey peoples! On May 8th I left with my study abroad group for our free excursion weekend. Here's what we got up to.

We left campus around 1pm in our bright yellow van. We drove north to Ingham and stopped for about an hour at the Tyto wetlands and walked around. We saw a few wallabies here and there and many birds. No freshwater crocodiles though. It was really pretty there. The water lilies here are purple. The next stop we made was at Hinchinbrook Lookout which had one of the most stunning views I've ever seen. There were several rivers winding across the land into the ocean with mountains as their backdrop. So beautiful. After that we stopped at Five Mile Creek for a short swim. I wasn't really in the mood to go in the water so I spent my time taking pictures and watching the others play. We made a quick stop in Cardwell to refuel and we went down to the beach for a few mins to take some more pictures. Finally we reached Echo Creek Homestead which is a cattle station in the mountains of tropical north Queensland. It was breathtakingly beautiful there. I could have lived there. It was so peaceful. After dinner we spent some time star gazing. So far away from the major cities you could see everything. I think I mentioned this before but it's strange to look at the stars and not recognize them or to see a constellation you recognize but it's in the wrong place. We also heard dingoes howling which was really cool and very eerie.

We woke early the next morning and headed to Tully to meet with our Aboriginal guide who would be taking us kayaking that day. We drove up to Tully Creek and got all of our gear ready. We spent most of the day kayaking down the creek. We had to go through I think it was more than 10 mini rapids which was interesting to say the least. It was really fun though. Our guide told us about how the different plants along the creek were used by the Aboriginal people. She also showed us the different clays they use to decorate their skin and what the different symbols mean. We stopped for morning tea on the banks of where the creek widened into a small pool. Our guide made and brought damper for us to try which is a traditional Australian soda bread that consists of a wheat flour based bread and is traditionally baked on the coals of a campfire. You usually eat it with golden syrup. It was so amazingly delicious. After grabbing some ice cream back in Tully, we headed to the Jackaroo Hostel where we would be spending the night. We cleaned up and then headed to Mission Beach to hang out for a few hours. I went off and did my own thing. I took a lot of pictures and am actually really proud with how they turned out. We had dinner as a group and then headed back to the hostel. I turned in for the night pretty early because I was super tired.

The next morning was another early start. We went for a morning walk at Lacey Creek and then headed to Alligator's Nest to meet with another Aboriginal guide who taught us one of their stories and how to pain boomerangs. We spent the rest of the morning painting. We had lunch and then a swim at the waterhole before heading back south. About an hour and a half from campus we stopped at Jourama Falls for a short hike. A half hour later we stopped at the Frosty Mango which makes THE BEST ice cream. It's all freshly made on site from the fruit in their orchards. Another hour and we were back on campus.

As always, pics are posted. Later peoples!

Trying Vegemite

Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2015 at 7:12pm

Vegemite: a dark brown Australian food paste made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives (Wikipedia)

Of course I had to try the famous (or infamous) Vegemite while I'm here. And of course Peter insisted it be recorded and posted

Orpheus Island Round 2

Posted Thursday, June 4th, 2015 at 10:35pm

Hey peoples! How is everyone? It's been a while hasn't it? I've just been studying my ass off the past four days for finals. I'm actually writing this blog as a way to review what we did on our Orpheus Island trip so there you go.

The trip to Orpheus took place the day after I got back from Wambiana. I was back on campus for only about 12 hours or so. We left at 4:30am on April 28th. We arrived at the island around 8am or so and after getting settled into our accommodation we got our gear on and headed out into the bay. The biggest difference between this trip and the previous corals trip was that we got to use the boats and go to several locations around the bay. During the corals trip we only got to walk out to the point and snorkel from there. Another big difference was that there was no assessment for this trip. That took a large amount of stress off my shoulders and allowed me to enjoy learning for the sake of learning rather than worrying about getting perfect data that I could use on a report several weeks later.

The first exercise that we did was one of the same ones that we did at Reef HQ. My partner and I got into the water, scoped out a 5m x 5m area and started recording all the species of fish in the different families that we saw. We did this in 5 min increments. In the following 5 min increments we only recorded new species that we saw. This continued until we saw very few to no new species. Then we repeated the exercise in the shallow water.

The second exercise they had us do included a series of line transects where we had to count the number of herbivorous fish we saw. More specifically we were looking for parrot fish, butterfly fish and rabbit fish. We chose a point to anchor our 30m tape measure. Then, as I was swimming to the left laying down the tape I counted how many fish of each species in each family I saw. Then my partner followed the line I had just made doing the same thing. Then I swam along the line a third time doing the same thing until I reached the start while my partner coiled up the tape behind me. This was done 4 more times, once to the right, once straight up at a 90 degree angle from the first two, and two more at 45 degree angles on either side. Think of a fan shape.

After that we had time for lunch and time to use the books to identify the species that we had been seeing. After lunch we headed back out on the boat. That is, after we walked across the reef flat for a while. The tide was way too low for the boat. I know at this point we must have done another exercise but I cannot for the life of me think of what it was nor can I tell from the notes I took. I know we started following specific fish and counted how many times they bit a certain type of substrate but that was later in the afternoon because I stopped in the middle of it because I was getting too tired. Maybe we did the 5 line transects after lunch instead of beforehand. We must have. Anyways, we went in for dinner and more fish identification and then we had a short briefing on what we would be doing the following day.

Day 2 we were up at 7am for breakfast and in the water by 8:30am. The morning was busy with three different exercises. The first one was relatively simple. Each group got two samples of live macroalgae and we measured the lengths of each. Then one was anchored in the reef flat and the other was anchored in the reef crest. The results of this to be discussed on day three.

The second exercise, known as the zig-zag, looked at the sizes and distribution of 9 species of herbivorous fish on the inner-reef flat, mid-reef flat, outer-reef flat, the reef crest and the reef slope. This was done by attempting to swim in a straight line between two buoys that were parallel to the shoreline (easier said than done I might add lol). As we went we recorded the species that we saw and sorted them into 5 different size classes: 10-15cm, 15-20cm, 20-25cm, 25-30cm and 30-35cm (also easier said than done). Once we reached the buoy we swam perpendicular to the shore to reach the next starting buoy, either closer to shore or further away.

The third exercise of the morning was affectionately called the super deluxe transect. In the first transect we laid a 30m tape and looked 2.5m to either side of it and counted the number of individual fish in each family that were greater than 10cm long. Then we went back along the line, looking only .5m to either side of it and counted the number of individual fish in each family that were less than 10cm long (there were a LOT). Lastly, because of my ears I can't duck dive, so my partner dove down to look under and all around the corals along the tape, .5m to either side and he counted the number of blennies and gobies he saw.

Lunch and identifying fish as usual. Then another walk over the reef flat and onto the boat for our afternoon session. We got to go to an entirely different area on the far side of the bay for this exercise. We spent the afternoon using clove oil mixed with other chemicals and a net to try and catch some fish. The clove oil makes the fish sleepy but too much could kill them. The fish we caught were going to be used for many things, some of which meant that they were going to be killed once we got back to shore. Honestly, I didn't feel too great about that so I just followed my partner around while he caught fish and I took some time to appreciate how beautiful the reef is. I was also in charge of swimming back to the boat with the fish he caught to turn it in. At one point while I was clearing out my mask he surfaced with a fish and yelled "look at this huge goby I caught!" to which I responded "That's not a goby, it's a blenny!". When I turned the fish into the staff on the boat they asked me "was that your partner who said this was a goby?" I said yes and also told them that I corrected him. My professor went on to say something along the lines of "Hit him across the head for calling it a goby and then give him a hug because the size of this one is quite impressive". I thought that was funny.

After we got to shore we spent a few hours identifying the (now dead) fish that we caught clove oiling. Then the rest of the day ended just like the day before: dinner, identification and a briefing on the next days' exercises.

Day three started with what was most definitely my favorite activity. We got to snorkel along the edges of the mangroves that lined the bay. We saw sting-rays and jellyfish (the relatively harmless ones) and so many different species of fish. It was really cool. Apparently there was a sea turtle as well that I just missed seeing. After that we went and retrieved our algae samples. The results were that the ones in the reef flat were unchanged whereas the ones on the reef crest, well, there was nothing left but the rocks they were anchored to.

Then we did two different behavioral studies which I really enjoyed. The first one was just like the one we did in Reef HQ where we followed cleaner wrasses and observed what fish they liked to clean, which fish liked to be cleaned and how many times they bit/cleaned different species of fish. After that we looked at large groups of several species of damselfish and tried to figure out the social hierarchy between the different species based on social interactions and how close they were to the substratum. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to spend a lot of time watching what they would do and how they would act.

Lunch was the same and then, since we worked so efficiently, we got to do some more clove oil catching for the rest of the day which meant that I just enjoyed the reef in all its beauty.

That night we prepared our data for a presentation. We had dinner and then our final presentation/discussion. It turned out that our professor didn't really care about the numbers and data. He wanted to show us the flaws in each of the exercises we did (and that people have been doing for years and years now) and to emphasize that the field needs new people to come up with new ways to conduct these studies.

The next morning we got packed up and headed back to campus. Overall I was so happy that we got to see so many different areas of the reef. I also got to see the huge colonies of my coral that I was studying in my other class that I didn't get to see when I was on the corals trip. Really I have no words to describe the beauty of the reef and it does make me sad to think that what I saw is only a fraction of what it used to be and it will only continue to decline if we as inhabitants of this world, not just this country, but the whole world, don't step up our game and take care of this beautiful gift that has been given to us. Even though it was an extremely busy three and a half days, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. It was by far the greatest experience that I've had here in Australia so far.

If you get a chance, even though I can't show you the reef, go check out my pictures of the sunsets there. I was finally able to get a few and they're stunning. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer break back home in the States. Wish me luck on my finals! Almost done! Later peoples!

Wambiana Cattle Station

Posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2015 at 12:10am

Sorry for not posting in so long. I honestly just haven't been in the mood to write lately.

Originally started on Tuesday, May 5th, 2015 at 7:01pm (oops)

Hey peoples! I'm back from semester break. If you can even call it a break lol. Let me put it this way, the times I woke up in the morning for the first 7 days of break were 6:30am, 5:30am, 5:30am, 3:30am, 7:30am, 7:30am and 5:00am. It was well worth it though. I'll write about Orpheus Island in the next blog. I'm going to focus on the trip to the Wambiana Cattle Station in this one.

We arrived at Wambiana around 11am on Saturday, April 25th. We dropped our stuff off in our accommodation, which was literally a large shed with small free standing bunk beds, girls on one side of the dividing wall, guys on the other. It was interesting to say the least. After that, we had an hour of introductions and safety information etc. We also met the family that owns the station. After lunch we got into our groups and headed out to the different sampling sites. We started in a biome known as Pandanus which had a ton of large spiky plants.

(Continued on Sunday, May 17th, 2015 at 10:05pm)

In the Pandanus biome we were taught how to create and set up pit traps. A bucket was set into the ground and we dug a very shallow trench that stretched 5m on either side of the bucket. Then we hammered wire posts into ground along the trench and used those to hold up a piece of fabric. Then we filled in the trench to stabilize the fabric. The logic of pit traps is that animals run into the fabric and then, because they can't climb it, run along it instead. If they run the right (or wrong, if you're the animal) way they fall into the bucket and can't climb out. Basically if you looked at the trap from above it looked kind of like this: -----(--)----- with the - being the fabric and the ( ) being the bucket (Actual pics are posted in the usual spot). At the ends of the pit traps we set up two funnel traps, one on each side, for those animals who ran the wrong (or right) way. After 8 sets of pit traps and funnel traps were set up, we set 50 Elliot traps and four cage traps with bait in them. Lastly we set up three camera traps in hopes of "catching" a dingo.

After all that we went to the lagoon to conduct about an hour's-worth of waterbird surveys and learned how to identify them using the field guides.There is only one species of pelican here in Australia and they're really impressive birds. If you think the pelicans in the states are big, you should see the ones here. We saw seven of them sitting down by the water. After the waterbird surveys we got back into our jeep and returned to the homestead for a home-cooked meal. When we were done, everyone left to go spotlighting. I wasn't feeling too great at this point, I was probably dehydrated, so I decided to stay behind, shower up and then get some sleep.

The next day, Sunday, we got up at 5:30am for breakfast. Then we headed out to a new site to check the traps and see if we caught anything. The site that my group and I went to was the box site named for all of the box trees there. I found a little lizard in one of the funnel traps and someone else found the same species of lizard in another funnel trap. Due to the drought, that's all we caught. We relaxed for little while waiting for the sun to come up further before we started an active search for reptiles. We saw several grey kangaroos and it turns out that they were being chased by a dingo. Unfortunately I was a little too far away to see the dingo but some of my group members were only a few meters away when it ran past. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon back at the homestead identifying the animals that everyone had caught at the various sites. Again, because of the drought there were relatively few animals caught so we got a lot of down time. I used the time to relax and read. I was on semester break after all. In the mid afternoon we got back into the jeep and traveled to the bendee site, again named for the trees, to open the traps back up. We got another few hours of down time at the lagoon afterwards. Then came my favorite part: kangaroo surveys. We drove around in the jeep counting and identifying the kangaroos we saw. We made a quick stop at the riparian site to see what it looked like and then continued our search. This is when I say my first wallaroo and my first red kangaroo. Red kangaroos are really incredible animals. You don't realize just how big and powerful they are until you see one in person. When we returned to the homestead it was dinner and then spotlighting like the previous night. We went back to the bendee site after releasing some captured frogs back into the mostly dried up river where they were caught the night before. At the site we found a rare lizard and lots of little wolf spiders. We also saw a few smaller marsupials and rodents as we were driving. When we got back to the homestead there was a bon fire. I stayed for a while and then turned in for the night knowing that my busy week was only starting.

The next morning we were up at 5:30am again, then breakfast and checking the traps at the ironbark site. We caught a bettong in one of the cage traps and a possum in another. Other than those and another lizard, the traps were empty. We then did a bird survey and a vegetation survey before heading back to the homestead to identify a few more animals. Then we got on the bus and headed back to JCU.

Pics have been posted for some time. Hope everything is going well back in the states!

Later peoples!

Crystal Creek and Upcoming Events

Thursday, April 23rd, 2015 at 11:06am

Hey peoples! Are finals stressing you out yet Miami? I still have a ways to go yet. I found something out today that puts the difficulty level of the academics here as compared to home into perspective:

Australian high distinction (85%-100%) = U.S. A+
Australian distinction (75%-84%) = U.S. A
Australian credit (65%-74%) = U.S. B
Australian pass (50%-64%) = U.S. C
Australian fail (<50%) = U.S. F

Yeah... But I've been pretty on top of my game this week which feels good. I turned in my mid-term this past weekend (due Friday) and I turned in my lab report last night (also due Friday) and I've started working on my data analysis for two more lab reports (due on the 8th and 22nd). Yay productivity!

Also, I'm slightly ashamed to say that it's getting cold here. At night it's getting down to 65 degrees and it feels cold. You know you've been in north Queensland for quite some time when the Minnesota girl calls 65 degrees cold.

Anyways, on to the fun stuff:

This past Saturday I went to Paluma National Park with Dana, Jess and Peter. We drover up into the mountains to this clear water spring called Little Crystal Creek. I have never seen water that clear before. It was so pretty. We went swimming under waterfalls and climbing over rocks and just generally enjoyed life. When we got tired we had a picnic lunch and then headed farther up into the mountains to go hiking on the paths through the rain forest. It started raining while we were hiking but because the trees were so think we could barely feel it. Except of course when Peter or Dana grabbed a tree and shook is so whoever was behind them got soaked lol. It was so quiet there. I mean absolutely silent besides the rain if we stopped walking. The clouds created an eerie fog that was both slightly unnerving and strangely beautiful.

When we returned back to Townsville we dropped our stuff off in our rooms and then went and got pizza. Then we spent the rest of the night at Dana's apartment watching the Hunger Games movies and hanging out. We ended up crashing there for the night. Overall a really great day of just living, you know? No academics to worry about, or anything else to worry about, just going out and living in the present and enjoying life. I've said this at multiple points now but I really don't know what I would do without those three. I'm going to miss them life crazy when I have to head home.

I have so many things coming up. I'll try to keep up with the blogs as best I can. I think the easiest way to talk about all of them is to just make a list:

Tonight Dana, Jess and I are going to see the new Avengers movie!! AHHHH! :D

Saturday, April 25th to Monday, APril 27th I'll be at the Wambiana cattle station for my Australian vertebrate fauna class. We'll be live-trapping animals and learning how to identify them.

Tuesday, April 28th to Friday, May 1st I'll be back at the Orpheus Island Research Station for my reef fish class. We will be doing various field experience practices out on the reef.

Friday, May 8th to Sunday, May 10th I have my Arcadia free event weekend where my study abroad group and I will be going to Tully and Mission beach. We'll be kayaking, swimming, and hiking among other things.

The week of the 10th at some point Dana, Jess, Peter and I will probably go out to dinner somewhere, probably on The Strand, for my b-day.

Friday, May 29th to Sunday, May 31st Dana, Jess and I are renting a condo on Magnetic Island, making some home cooked meals, treating ourselves to a spa day and going shopping and snorkeling. We figured it would be a good idea for out mental stability if we treated ourselves before finals started.

Thursday, June 11th is out last free dinner with our study abroad leader and the rest of my study abroad group.

Friday, June 19th I'm hoping to head back to Magnetic Island and treat myself to some horseback riding on the beach and bareback riding in the ocean to celebrate being done with finals. This is something that had been on my bucket list for a while.

Saturday, June 20th Dana, Jess, Peter and I as dressing up and going out to a nice restaurant as a going away party because sadly I'll have to leave this awesome place at some point.

Monday, June 22nd I fly out of Townsville at 5:50am to head to Brisbane. My flight to LA from Brisbane leaves at 10:25am and arrives in LA at 6:25am west coat time the same day (magic time travel!). My flight from LA to MSP leaves at 1:00pm and gets in around 6:30pm on June 22nd central time zone.

Busy busy busy!

Again, I hope everyone is doing well state-side. For those of you in school right now you're on the final stretch. Hang in there!

Pictures from the park have been posted in the usual spot on my google photos thing (like on the side of the blog) and many of them have been posted to Facebook as well.

Later peoples!

Orpheus Island Research Station and Reef HQ Fieldtrips

Sunday, April 12th, 2015 at 2:04pm

Hey peoples! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been very very busy. I hope everyone had a nice Easter! Also, don't buy Olympus "waterproof" cameras. Long story short I'll be buying a new camera soon. Thankfully they are the same price AUD here as they are USD back home which means the same camera is cheaper here with the current currency exchange rate.

I went to the Orpheus Island Research Center for my coral reef class over Easter break. I skipped my class on Thursday and went on the first trip. We left at 5am and arrived at the island around 9am. After getting settled in our rooms and going through a safety debriefing, we changed into our wetsuits and spent the rest of the day snorkeling out on the point. We collected competitive interactions data on our coral species (ours was any porites massive species) and the TA's taught us how to identify different coral species in the water. After a shower and dinner we had a quick meeting and looked at the competitive interactions between the corals in the aquariums and then we all crashed for the evening.

The next day we spent the morning learning about all the research projects taking place at the center and took a tour of the center. We spent the afternoon in the water collecting abundance and competitive interactions for our species again. We finished our data collection early and spent a good amount of time relaxing a looking around. It was beautiful, too beautiful for words. I've never seen so many species of coral and fish in the wild before. After a while my partner was getting tired and wanted to head in so one of the TA stayed in the water with me. I was heading out to the edge of the reef to find one of our coral colonies that had grown to over 10m across but the TA stopped me because the currents from the incoming tide were getting stronger. As he came over he had a baby fish following his hand. When he came near me the fish started swimming in front of my hand. Then a second fish joined the first one. The entire way back the two fish swam just in front of my hand. If I lowered one hand they swam over to the other. If I lowered both hands then they swam over to the TA and then back to me when I put my hand back up. When we got closer to another group they swam over to them. At this point I was pretty tired from swimming against the current so I decided to head in. As I swam into the shallows the two little fish popped up in front of my mask and started swimming in front of my hand again. When I sat down they perched by my knee and when I cupped my hands in the water they perched in my hands. It was an amazing experience. That night we presented some of our findings, helped clean up the center and then went to bed. We got up at 5:30am on Saturday to take the boat back to the mainland and then the 2 hour bus ride back to campus. I grabbed some lunch and then took Saturday and Sunday off to recover. We had Good Friday as well as Easter Monday off so I spent Monday working on my lab report. I also had a movie night with some friends that night as well.

As you can probably guess from above, my camera broke from a faulty waterproof seal. Thankfully my memory card survived and I have a card reader on my computer so there are a few pictures posted. I didn't get pictures of the deeper areas where there was a lot more coral so the few pictures I have definitely do not do the area justice. I'm hoping to get some sunset pictures on my second trip there because I have never seen more beautiful sunsets than the ones I saw there.

Yesterday we went to Reef HQ for my reef fish class. We did dry runs of the surveys we'll be doing on Orpheus Island in a couple of weeks. The nice thing is that we don't have an assessment/field report for that trip so it should be relatively relaxed. Anyways, we did species censuses, cleaner wrasse behavioral observations and feeding behavior observations.

That's all for now. The posts will probably less frequent for a while because sadly I have to actually focus on my academics now :p   I have a major report/project due every week until finals pretty much so I won't be going out as much. That being said, I should be going to Crystal Creek with some friends next weekend which should be fun :)  We were going to go today but I have a major paper worth 20% of my grade due Friday that I need to focus on. Welcome back to the real world :p

Later peoples!

Life in General

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015 at 10:51pm

Hey peoples! How's everyone doing? I hope Miami peoples are enjoying their spring break so far!

By this time I've settled into my weekly class schedule quite nicely. Tuesdays a proving to be the most tiring. I have 6 hours of lectures and labs with no breaks in between. I don't even get lunch most Tuesdays. Instead I just make sure to eat a big breakfast before my 9am lecture.

I can't believe I've been taking classes here for over 4 weeks now. Which means I've been in the country for about a month and a half. Time is going by so fast, especially because I've been doing things every weekend. This past weekend was my first weekend off since I've arrived. I needed a bit of time to rest. It was fun though because on Saturday I was talking to my friend Peter at lunch and I mentioned that I was thinking about watching Tangled that night. Later that afternoon I got a text from him asking me what my favorite ice cream was. After dinner he surprised me with said ice cream and we watched Tangled together. Little hint for you boys out there, the best guy friends are those who are not ashamed to watch Disney with their gal friends. And if you bring ice cream that's even better. Just saying ;)

Here at JCU they have a lot more hands-on practicals/labs. In general I really enjoy and appreciate that. Although last week was... a trial... to say the least. In lab we had to dissect a fish head to look at the bone and muscle structures. That wasn't bad. The trial came after the lab, later that night. We had to take the fish head home and take all the bones out. Because my lab partner and I didn't want to stink up any common areas in the college and the sun set so we couldn't keep working on it outside, we ended up spending 5-6 hours taking the head apart on my balcony. Yup. My room smelled like fish and formaldehyde for several days after that. The next night we had to clean the bones and I got stuck dealing with the brain. For your sake I won't go into detail. Thankfully because my balcony is in the sun most of the day my lab partner is in charge of changing the water for the rotting process (the remaining flesh rotting off the bones in a sealed pale of water). In a few weeks we have to reassemble the main bones of the skull for assessment. That doesn't bother me. The process leading up to that, however, was definitely a test of patience, stomach strength, and mental stability. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if they had given us time to do it all in the lab but in the end you just have to put your head down and do what you have to do, right?

I'm discovering that you don't get to sleep much on Friday nights in Uni Hall because of all the noisy drunks in the beer garden outside my room until midnight and then because of all the noisy drunks returning from the pubs between 2-4am. It's too hot to close the window.

Next week on Thursday I leave for my first field trip to Orpheus Island to study coral which I'm super excited for! Definitely looking forward to that!

Lastly, I kind of have my senior year at Miami planned out. I will for sure be a full time student next semester but with minimum credits and minimum academic classes. I would be graduating at the end of fall semester except the last class that I need for my thematic sequence isn't offered until the spring. So I will be a part time (instead of a full time) student and a part time employee spring semester.

Overall I'm doing well and I absolutely love it here. Honestly I would not be surprised if I ended up living in Australia for a while sometime in the future. I guess we'll see where life takes me. As far as my collarbone is concerned, there have been no signs of returning infection and the scar is still red but has thinned out a lot where the second surgery was done. It still gets a bit sore when I sleep in one position for too long so I still wake up a couple of times every night but it's getting better as I slowly work on strengthening the muscles around it.

That's about it for a life in general update from me. As a concluding note, I saw this online yesterday and it really caught my attention. I wanted to share:

Something to ponder.

Later peoples!

Welcome to Sydney!

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015 at 3:09pm

Hey peoples! You know you live in north Queensland when you're relieved that you need long sleeves to keep warm in Sydney. Also it's only 88 degrees F today which is a nice change of pace. I actually was able to use the sheet on my bed the past two nights without over-heating! It's all VERY exciting... Now to the real reason you're reading this:

Sydney was amazing! I'm not a big city person by any means but I absolutely loved traveling around Sydney for the weekend. Fun fact Sydney has 4.576 million people living there which is still only about half the size of New York but it's larger than our second largest city, LA, by almost a million people. Anyways, just some perspective there. I stayed at a hostel while I was there. Another fun fact, hotels are ridiculously expensive there. The hotels that I would consider middle of the line back home were around 400-450 AUD a night to be near the city center. It was a nice hostel though. I have never stayed in a hostel before but in the end I didn't really mind it all too much. I was rooming with three other women and the bathrooms were community bathrooms by gender like they are in most college dorms. It was clean and comfortable and the best part was it was only 50 AUD a night to stay in the city center right across the street from the central train station. I met some very nice people as well. One woman was from Holland but moved to Australia when she was young and then she moved to somewhere in Asia to teach English. Another woman was from Melbourne. I didn't get a chance to talk to the last two women because they came in late at night (only the woman from Melbourne was there both nights).

On Saturday I got up at 4am to catch my 6am flight to Brisbane and then to Sydney. Because of the time change I arrived in Sydney around 11:45am. I hopped the train to central station and checked into my hostel. Another fun fact, transportation in Sydney is really expensive. $17 AUD for a 15min train ride from the airport to central station. After that I walked over to Darling Harbour where the aquarium was. Turns out that Sea Life, the same company that owns the aquarium in the MOA, has locations worldwide. When I got there I saw that the dugong exhibit was closed which was the entire reason I wanted to go to the aquarium but I decided to go anyways cause why not? The first thing I saw was a platypus!!! I've always wanted to see one! So cute! And they had little penguins (actually called little penguins) which you don't see very often in the states. Anyways so I'm walking through the aquarium and get to the place where it looks like the dugongs would be and guess what? The dugongs were out!! Another animal that I really wanted to see and I was super happy that I decided to take the risk of not seeing them. After the aquarium I walked another 20mins or so to Circular Quay also known as Sydney Harbour. There I spent around two hours or so walking around and taking pictures of the Opera House. The entire area was so beautiful. At 5pm I took an hour long tour of the Opera House which was very enjoyable. My guide was really great. I will say the inside was a little more plain than I thought it would be but the theaters were stunning none-the-less. After that I found a spot along the water to watch the sun go down and see the color reflect off of the white pannels of the Opera House. They had wi-fi there so that's where I was when I posted that picture on Facebook. I hopped the train back to my hostel and had dinner at the cafe there then went to bed.

On Sunday I woke up at 6:45am to catch at 7:25am bus tour. It was a FANTASTIC tour. To start, the bus had a glass roof which was really cool and the guide was awesome. In the morning we went to the other side of Sydney Harbour and took some pictures there. Then we stopped at a national park that overlooked the entire bay area to take some pictures. After that we stopped at Manly Wharf/Beach for about an hour to grab some morning tea and walk around. It was there that a girl from India about my age who was on the tour with her older brother came over to where I was sitting along the beach and we talked for a little while until the bus was ready to leave again. After that we went to King Street Wharf/Darling Harbour where most people had a lunch boat cruise. The few of us that didn't had two hours to walk around on our own before the afternoon tour started. I had lunch at a sit-down Italian restaurant by myself which I have to admit was an odd feeling but I really really wanted Italian food and they were having a lunch special. They seriously do not eat enough Italian food/pasta in general here in Australia. After that I spent the rest of my time walking around and playing with my camera. The afternoon tour consisted of a stop near the Royal Botanical Gardens from a different side of Sydney Harbour for some pictures, a 45min stop at Bondi Beach to walk around and driving through several different districts throughout the city. I got back to the hostel around 6-7pm, had dinner at the cafe again and then took some time to talk to my hostel mates before going to bed. The next morning (Monday) I got up and caught my flight back to Townsville, took a cab back to JCU, ate some lunch and caught my 2pm lecture (busy busy).

Overall I really enjoyed Sydney and even more so I enjoyed doing everything on my own. It was a bit intimidating at first I will admit but once I got my bearings and found my own rhythm I felt like I was on top of the world. I got to take so many pictures which is something I have a passion for but don't always have the time or opportunity to do. Traveling alone also made it possible for me to meet heaps of different people from all over the world. They all were very nice to me and seemed to really respect me for traveling alone at this age. The bus tour guide was especially kind and offered to take pictures for me (of me) if I wanted them seeing as I didn't have anyone else in a group to do so. I highly recommend taking a trip by yourself at least once in your life. It's such a fantastic experience and you learn a lot from it. I wish I had more time in Sydney. There was so much more I wanted to do. And I've decided that I want to see a ballet in the Opera House at some point. I think that would be an amazing experience. On a last, kind of separate note, I was amazed by how clean the city was, especially the beaches. They were pristine! Not a single piece of trash to be seen. I'm really hoping to go back some day and spend some more time exploring the city and maybe taking a day trip to the Blue Mountains that I heard so much about while I was there.

That should be plenty for now. If anyone would like to know where I stayed or which tours I took, etc. I'd be happy to send links and recommendations. Pictures have been posted. Warning: there are a LOT. Later peoples!

Sunrise on Castle Hill

Thursday, March 12th, 2015 at 10:31am

Hey peoples! Short and sweet blog this time.

This past Sunday Peter, Travis, Mary and I got up at 4am and drove to Castle Hill. Castle Hill is a hill (that's literally a few meters too short to call a mountain) close to The Strand. We walked the main road up to the top and to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately the hike took a bit longer than we thought it would so we weren't able to watch the sunrise from the top but the sky grew lighter as we walked and the view at the top was stunning. It was cool seeing how many people were up walking that early in the morning but I guess it makes sense considering how hot it is here during the day. After our hike we went down to The Strand and had breakfast at the Odyssey (that breakfast place we went to my first Sunday in Townsville. So good :)

Anyways, pictures are posted from the hike so you can have proof that I, Jenna Toms, actually got up at 4am to go for a hike and watch the sunrise. Surprising, right? In all seriousness though, I think it's something everyone should do once in their lives. It was a very refreshing and rewarding experience. Later peoples!

DINGO ENCOUNTER!!!! (and other awesomeness)

Saturday, March 7th, 2015 at 7:23pm

Hey peoples!!! *warning do not try this at home* ;)

So today I went back to the Billabong Sanctuary with my lovely friend Jess and we got the absolute coolest opportunity! Because the Sanctuary is celebrating their birthday this month, they did a raffle drawing after each animal show/feeding and guess what I won?! AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE DINGOES!!! They were so incredibly friendly! Two females and one male. We walked into the enclosure with the keeper and they instantly wanted cuddles and pets and they gave us kisses and sat on our laps and it was just the most incredible experience. Now the reason I say don't try this at home is because they are not this cuddly in the wild (obviously) but these guys were raised in captivity and receive walks every day before the park opens. We also go to help feed them. We had them sit down and then we set the bowl in front of them. When we clapped our hands twice they were allowed to start eating. It was adorable! In my pictures the females are the two white ones. They are alpine dingoes and are also sisters. They were so soft!!! The male has the more reddish coat and he's from a desert area making his coat a bit more wiry so he can easily shake off the sand. By the end of the 20 minute encounter both Jess and I were covered in dirt and smiling from ear to ear :)

That ended up definitely being the highlight of the day. However, I also got to hold a koala which was so amazing as well! (I told you that was going to be a thing) And while the keeper got a step stool for the young boy next in line he let me hold on to the koala even longer than everyone else. In fact, we got to hold, feed and pet a wide variety of animals including Tonka, the bare-nosed wombat. All in all an absolutely FANTASTIC day (says the zoology major)

Pictures from today are posted and the direct encounters are currently decorating the side of this blog. Hope everyone is still doing well state-side! Later peoples!

First Week of Classes, Reef HQ and Travel Plans

Sunday, March 1st, 2015 at 7:56pm

Hey peoples!

I just finished my first week of classes here at JCU. My professors are really cool and I can tell that they are the best of the best in their fields. They also let students volunteer to help them and their graduate students with their research if it's needed. My conservation professor specializes in sea turtles which is awesome! The only thing that will be different this week is that I'll start my last two practicals.

Friday night I went to see Jupiter Ascending with a group of people. My advice? Don't go see it. It was a strange movie with a week plot. But it was nice to go out. We also stopped at a chocolate restaurant before the movie and I had the best hot chocolate I've ever had. On Saturday I went to Reef HQ with Travis and Kat. It has the largest living coral reef tank which is very impressive considering how difficult it is to maintain live coral. Afterwards we had lunch on The Strand which was a lovely break from dorm food. We wandered around for a little bit longer after lunch and then headed back to JCU. After dinner I spent the night hanging out with my friend Peter who is quick to laugh at my "American accent" lol We talk a lot about cultural differences which I find to be a lot of fun. His room also has air con which is a plus lol

A few days ago I finalized my plans to go to Sydney in two weeks! I'm leaving Saturday, March 14th in the early morning and return Monday, March 16th in the morning before my 2pm class. I'll be staying at a hostel in the city center which is also near the main train station. I have a ticket to tour the Opera House on Saturday and I also plan to spend some time at the aquarium that day too. They have dugongs! On Sunday I'll be taking an all day tour of the city and the surrounding area. I'm really really looking forward to the trip :)

That's all I know for now. Later peoples!

Billabong Sanctuary!!

Friday, February 20th, 2015 at 2:19pm

Hey peoples!

I found animals!!! Today I went with the JCU student association to the Billabong Sanctuary! I got to pet a wombat, and a koala and a grey kangaroo. I also held a very large snake (really proud of myself for that, not gonna lie) and a baby crocodile. The sanctuary is really freaking awesome! There are so many wild birds running around and the kangaroos are just hanging out as well. One of them had a joey in their pouch! There was also a dingo, some emus and many very large crocodiles (all of those had their own enclosures). I was kinda sad because we weren't able to hold the koala because our group was to big so I'm most definitely going back so I can hold a koala. This WILL be a thing! :) I saw that they have a lot of hands-on volunteer opportunities so I'm considering maybe trying to volunteer there. I found out that the clubs I was interested aren't here anymore so I'm looking for either volunteer or research opportunities to get involved.

Last night I went with my hall to one of those giant trampoline places. That was fun and I was glad they finally hosted an event that was alcohol free. I also rode in my first Australian car. It was so weird! (before we were in tour buses so it didn't seem all that different) Then afterwards I caught the end of the campus wide party and got to watch some fire dancers. One of the guys had sparklers on the end of his twirling chains instead of fireballs and that was really really cool.

Other than that it's been really really freaking hot out the past two days. Ugh. But hey, the hurricane missed us so I'm not complaining. I'm sad to say though that Brisbane apparently got nailed pretty bad this morning. It was supposed to hit kind of right in the middle between Townsville and Brisbane but apparently it moved much further south than anticipated. Hurricanes (or cyclones as they're called here) are definitely not something I'm used to dealing with on a normal basis.

Go check out my pics from the sanctuary today! The animals are so awesome! (says the zoology major) Later peoples!

Classes and Awesome Opportunities

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015 at 4:10pm

Hey peoples! I'm still wondering if anyone knows how to change the time zone on this thing. Leave me a comment if you do!

I'm working on my class schedule right now and blocking off dates for all my fieldwork/field trips. Here's what I'm taking:

MB3210 Life History and Evolution of Reef Corals which includes 24 hours of lectures, 36 hours of practicals and 16 hours of fieldwork at the Orpheus Island Research Station (OMG!!!) from April 2nd-4th or the 4th-6th.
An introduction to the biology of corals and physiological processes involved in building reefs. An overview of the life histories of sessile, modular organisms, incorporating current research findings with respect to reproductive strategies and early life histories, algal symbiosis, and the evolutionary biology of corals. Aspects of the functional morphology and physiology of corals will be explored in relation to major issues impacting coral reefs, particularly bleaching and disease. A 2 day field trip will include an introduction to the taxonomy of reef-building corals and to lab and field research methods for the study of reef corals.

MB3160 Evolution and Ecology of Reef Fishes which includes 26 hours of lectures, 24 hours of practicals and 29 hours of fieldwork/fieldtrips at ReefHQ (the local Great Barrier Reef Aquarium) on April 11th and Orpheus Island Research Station (again!!!!!!) from April 28th-May 1st.
The biology of coral reef fishes with an emphasis on species from reefs and adjacent waters of the Great Barrier Reef. The subject covers the ecology, morphology, systematics and evolution of coral reef fishes. Practical work includes a laboratory and field program that introduces functional morphology, ecology and field identification of coral reef fishes. This subject will also provide an introduction to laboratory and field research methods.

BZ2705 Australian Vertebrate Fauna which includes 26 hours of lectures and 24 hours of fieldwork at the Wambiana Cattle Station from April 25th-27th.
The biogeography, evolution and contemporary diversity of terrestrial vertebrates and marine reptiles and mammals in Australia. Topics include geological and climate history of Australia; biogeographic regions of Australia, origins and evolution of the vertebrate fauna; behaviour, breeding and life histories of vertebrates in relation to the Australian environment.

EV3203 Conserving Marine Wildlife: Sea Mammals, Birds, Reptiles which includes 25 hours of lectures, 24 hours of tutorials and 16 hours of fieldwork idk where yet.
Role of wildlife in marine systems; threatening processes, current and historical, impacting on marine wildlife; indigenous peoples use of marine wildlife, including management strategies; the theory and practice of the scientific study of populations or marine wildlife; the theoretical basis to, and practical application of, management practices to control human impacts on marine wildlife.

I didn't really realize how big of a deal this is until I got here. It is extremely difficult to get into the two MB courses and to be allowed to go to the Orpheus Island Research Center. Not to mention that I'm a study abroad student who was approved to take not one but both courses. It's so crazy the opportunities I have here! I also didn't realize that JCU is ranked in the top 4% of universities worldwide. I am so lucky and so blessed to be here. It's going to be a ton of work but the education and experiences I'm going to get out of it will be beyond compare.

I'm a little nervous about their grading policies. Every class only has one exam and that's the final exam. Each final exam is worth at least 50% (yikes!) but the good thing is that we get a week off of classes to prepare. Another sort of downside is that all of the fieldwork trips take up my long Easter weekend break and my week-long semester break which makes it harder for me to travel. I'm sill hoping to go to Sydney for a weekend and Brisbane as well if I can manage it. I was kind of hoping to spend the week-long semester break in New Zealand (since I'm here) but that's not going to work out because of the field work. But hey, I'll be having an awesome time doing research on the Great Barrier Reef so it's totally worth it!

Today they had market day which is where all the clubs and organizations have booths set up. I didn't find the ones I was looking for but I'm still planning on joining a hiking club and the marine biology/science club. I might even try my hand at scuba diving. I'm not sure if my ears will pressurize like they're supposed to though. Other than that I've just been going to all the O Week lessons to try and get ahead as much as possible. I don't want to be struggling to figure out how to use all the online class websites etc. I'll also have some new ideas on how to study for the classes here since the requirements are very different from the ones back home.

I think that's plenty for today. Later peoples!

Welcome to Townsville/JCU - Culture Shock

Monday, February 16th, 2015 at 10:10am

Hey peoples! Does anyone know how to set the timezone on my Google account? Cause it's not right. Also, if you haven't seen yet, on the right hand side of my page under my picture there is a URL that takes you to my photo album for this trip so go check it out!

So the first few days with Arcadia traveling around really I felt quite comfortable. I was a little uneasy the first day but that was mainly because I was so tired. And I was thinking while I was in Queenscliff and Melbourne that I would feel even more comfortable once I got onto campus. I mean, it's a university campus, how different could it be? Yeah. I was totally wrong. I got here on Saturday and we were taken to our rooms. I have my own room so I will not complain there. However, their standards for keeping the room in good condition are different than they are at Miami. The cork-board is really beaten up and has writing all over it, the two plaster walls have tape and leftover hooks and sticky tack left on them. The two brick walls have writing on them. The furniture is made out of wood and each piece has definitely taken a beating. When I got here they didn't give me my sheets for my bed and when I did get them (they were very awesome and helpful about getting them right away) the fitted sheet doesn't exactly fit. The lights are also kinda sketch, especially the one over my desk. All that being said though, I've settled in now and it doesn't bother me anymore. And the room is clean. In the end that's all that matters. Another thing I'm having to adjust to is that we have co-ed bathrooms. Yup. Guys and girls all use the same bathrooms and same showers. There's a stall for everything though so again, not too bad. I'm up on the 3rd floor so I get a nice breeze through my screen doors and there's a ceiling fan so the room stays a reasonable temperature. Most people leave their doors open too which creates really nice circulation throughout the building. A weird but cleaver feature is that my closet door which is on a rolling track slides all the way over to the door of my room and can be latched to the wall. This provides some privacy while still letting the air circulate through the room because the closet door is slatted. They also have intercoms in the dorm and its a little like Harry Potter in that our dorm (college) is against all the other colleges for the equivalent of the House Cup. We are the University Hall Dragon Slayers. Kinda bad ass on that front. The sun rises early here and every morning we hear all the topical birds singing. They're so pretty and colorful! One last thing that's going to be an adjustment is that we only have our dining hall. That's it. So we have to eat at specific times and we have like two meals to choose from. The food is eatable, not great but eatable. We are so freaking spoiled in the states.

Yesterday, Sunday, we got up at 6am to catch a cab and go down to The Strand and have breakfast. Basically The Strand is the coastal shops area. The breakfast was paid for by Arcadia so we got to have so much amazing food. So freaking good! I had the best chocolate milkshake ever (cause why not?) and chocolate chip pancakes which came with ice cream and caramelized bananas. After breakfast Gizmo (our Arcadia leader here) showed us around Townsville. Then we took the bus to the shopping mall to buy some supplies. After that, we returned to the dorm where we had to go make headbands with our names on them which we're required to wear anytime we're out of our rooms. The amount of glitter in my room right now from that headband.... But yeah it's a good way to get to know people. All the Australians have been super nice so far and many have already offered to take us places. They love showing new people around, it's part of their culture and I love it  :)

As for today, Orientation Week started this morning. I don't have anything going on until 2pm though so I'm just taking it easy this morning and planning out my O Week schedule. Later peoples!

Welcome to Melbourne!

Saturday, February 14th, 2015

Hey peoples!

I wrote this blog yesterday, the 13^th but then was too lazy to go downstairs to connect to the free wifi in order to post it. I am currently sitting in the Melbourne airport waiting to fly to Brisbane and then Townsville.

P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Friday, February 13th, 2015

Today we finished up our lessons in Queenscliff and then got on the bus and headed back to Melbourne which is where we’re staying tonight. I am currently writing from my 12^th floor hotel room balcony while a lovely thunderstorm is taking place. No worries, I have a roof over my head and I’m sitting close to the doors. We arrived here around 2pm and dropped off the University of Melbourne students.  Then after dropping our bags off in the hotel, the leaders took us on a 45min walking tour of the city. It’s an amazing city, let me tell you. What I really enjoy about it is that you know those creepy alleyways you’re supposed to avoid in other cities? Well here that’s where all the life is. There are cafes and restaurants and shops and so much more. They also embrace graffiti as an art form here (when it’s on abandoned buildings of course). There are entire alleyways filled with graffiti. It’s quite the sight. The city in general is a mix of old buildings with all sorts of different architecture and then there’s a ton of new very modern buildings as well. After the walking tour I went with the group to find some food. After eating, I got tired of their gossip and talk of partying and getting drunk tonight so I decided to take on the city by myself for a while. So far that has been the best experience I've had here. Just feeling comfortable enough with myself to wander the city on my own and to be able to do my own thing was so liberating. I spent most of my time taking pictures in Federation Square and walking along the river. When I decided the storm was getting close I headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately I now have 4 roommates. We have an apartment, two bedrooms with two not even twin sized beds and a pullout in the living room. They all plan to go out and get drunk tonight even when we have a 7am call time (may I just also mention that orientation is supposed to be dry). This is another thing I love about Australian culture. Because they have been exposed to alcohol from a very young age, the trend of going out to get drunk isn't nearly as common here. It’s actually looked down upon. They drink responsibly here and I greatly respect that. On a final thought, the hardest thing culturally for me so far has been walking on the correct side of the sidewalk. Like in the United States, people walk on the same sides of the sidewalk as they drive on the street. In the United States that’s the right side of the street/sidewalk. For Australia, it’s the left side of the street/sidewalk. It’s been a very difficult habit for me to break, though I think I’m getting a bit better. Because of the storm I think I’ll be staying in for the rest of the evening. I need some rest and I saw everything I wanted to see when I was out on my own.

Hope everyone’s doing well stateside! Later peoples!

Penguins and Fur Seals and Kangaroos, Oh My!

Hey peoples! Two posts in one day, aren't you lucky lol

First off, sorry for the conflicting date/time on the previous post. I forgot to update the day/time on my computer. I posted that on February 12th around 2:50pm.

I wanted to take a second to share the awesome things I saw on the boat tour! Most importantly, I SAW A WILD PENGUIN!!! :) We also saw these cool sea birds called Gannets and they had chicks that were super cute. Then we found a group of fur seals (which are very endangered in the United States) and they had young pups! On our way back into the harbor we saw our first wild kangaroos on the shore. Lastly, walking back to the hotel we saw an opossum which are arguably much cuter here than the opossums we have in the United States. I was kind of sad that we didn't see any dolphins but the boat tour was really amazing and beautiful and we got to see so many other animals that we don't get to see very often.

I'm calling it a night, later peoples!

Welcome to Australia!

Thursday, February 12th, 2015 at 2:53pm

Hey peoples! I have arrived safely in Australia. That 15 hour flight was definitely something. I got lucky though and the seat next to me was empty so I was able to stretch out and get some sleep.

I arrived in Melbourne at 9:30am on February 11th. After going through customs etc. I met up with all of the Arcadia program members. There are about 50 of us right now but we're not all going to the same cities/schools. We traveled to a town called Williamstown outside of Melbourne for lunch and had about 3 hours to wander around. Then we continued on to Queenscliff where I am currently writing from. We're staying in an old hotel called the Vue Grand. It's very very pretty. Lots of unique architecture and stained glass. I got very lucky in that I have a room to myself. I do so much better mentally when I have a space of my own to "hide" in at the end of the day. After dinner at the hotel we learned about Australian slang and gave ourselves a potential Australian name. One of the leaders insisted on calling me Tomo [toe-moe] (from my last name Toms) but I settled with Jensy. Basically Australians love to shorten things and then add -o, -y, -sy, or -s/z. Their language is very very colorful to say the least. Due to their convict foundations way back when (the English sent their convicts here from Great Britain), it's hard to tell when they're being affectionate or insulting you. For example, Americans are called yanks but because that rhymes with septic tanks which shortens to seppo, we're called seppos as well. Why is that the logic behind it? I have no idea. It's just how it works here. Ketchup is referred to as dead horse here because apparently that rhymes with tomato sauce. Again, very creative. We did some research on some other language patterns and their swear words, more like swear phrases, are kind of brilliant. For example: you're as useless as tits on a bull. Yes, that's a thing. It seems like I have a lot to learn yet and they said that the people of Townsville have even a more colorful vocabulary than that. Anyways, after our language lesson we were able to return to our rooms for the night. I tried watching a few YouTube videos and I think I lasted maybe 10mins. I fell asleep with the light on.

Today we had to get up at 7am, our "lessons" started at 8am. From 8am until noon we had different activities to learn about cultural differences, studying in Australia and how to budget/if-you-haven't-figured-out-how-expensive-it-is-here-yet-then-let-me-tell-you. I am currently on lunch break, I spent two hours wandering around the bay and grabbed some lunch at a cafe. Now I'm just taking a break in my room to recharge for the afternoon sessions, which start at 3pm. Tonight we are going on a dinner boat cruise so I'm looking forward to that. Overall I'm doing well. The jet lag isn't as bad as it could be and I'm thrilled to be back in the world and especially by the ocean after the past two months of staying home due to medical stuff. The sunshine is also quite a lovely sight.

That's enough for now, later peoples!

A fresh start and so wait... what's going on?

Hey peoples!
Sooooo this whole blog thing really hasn't been off to the best start. I had a different blog that was created specifically for travelers and it was all beautiful and lovely and then it just disappeared. Poof. Gone. So now I'm trying this. After a few very frustrating hours of trying to get everything set up and looking somewhat pretty, here is my first post! (Hopefully this one won't disappear on me too)

Most of you know what's going on by now but I thought I'd write a brief summary of what I've been up to, where I'll be the next few months and what this blog is all about. First things first, over the past few months I have been working with Miami University and Arcadia University in order to study at James Cook University this coming semester. Arcadia is basically the middle-man organizing everything with both Miami and James Cook. On February 9th I'll be heading to Melbourne, Australia for a few days of orientation. After that I'll be flying to Townsville for a JCU specific orientation. After that, classes start. What classes you may ask? I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know when I know. I will be a full time student however, which is 12 credit hours in Australia (equivalent to 16 credit hours in the US). I'll be staying in University Hall which is the central college (AU "college" = US "dorm") on campus. I will be in Australia until June 22nd. That's about all I know for right now.

Lastly, this blog. I plan to spend very little time on Facebook or Skype while I'm abroad. I won't have my phone with me either. This will be the primary place for people to see what I'm to as well as look at my travel tips and tricks. Please feel free to ask questions and post suggestions/advice throughout my trip! Hope you enjoy!