I Found Nemo :)

Last week, I traveled to Cairns on the east coast of AUS with my partners in crime Ally and Amelia. Needless to say, we had an absolute blast. While I wanted to go skydiving with Ally, I respected my parents wishes and am waiting to do it when I'm back in the States. I did however have the opportunity to snorkel on one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the world: The Great Barrier Reef! I can safely say that snorkeling will never be the same for me again. We spent an entire day out on this awesome boat, traveling to the outermost part of the reef, practically where the reef and the continental shelf meet. I found Nemo, which made it an even more fabulous day. The crew on our boat told us that we probably saw several hundred different type of fish between our three snorkel locations. Plus, we saw the most beautiful coral of all different shapes and colors. It was kind of funny because we first became friends with the crew on the boat as they all laughed at me when I fell all the way down the steps on the back of the boat as I was getting into the water--graceful I know. We were also the first ones off the boat at every location and the last one's to get back on. All in all, that was an experience I'll cherish forever. Then, the next day, we went on a 4WD safari through the Daintree Rainforest. The rain forest was pretty neat considering I've never been in one before, but what I really loved was Cape Tribulation, which was at the breach of the rain forest. The cape was absolutely gorgeous and it was a beautiful day, which only made it better. We also went on a river cruise to search for crocodiles. Taking into account my extreme fear of crocs, I did surprisingly well. I did manage to spill my tea all of the place when I freaked out when one of the crocs was moving towards us, but remained calm the rest of the time. The last day of our mini vaca, we spent on a beach called Palm Cove. Again, this beach happened to be one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to in my life. The entire beach was full of palm trees; hence, why they call it Palm Cove. Really, the best part about it to me was that while we were laying on this beautiful beach, we had the view of the mountains over the water. To me, a beach combined with a mountain view is the best combination. We then flew home to study and pack of our rooms. I can't get over the fact that I'm leaving Perth at the end of this week. I'm VERY excited to go to Sydney and see all the tourist attractions, but I'm going to miss Western Australia. I look forward to talking to Ya'll in a few days!!

Cheers!

All Good Things Must Come to An End

Welp, I have a mere 27 days left in the wonderful land of OZ. It truly is bittersweet. I am at the point where I really do miss my friends and family, but I will be sad to leave this place. I have gotten to do and see so many amazing things over the last four months, for which I am eternally grateful to Elon and my parents. Recently, I feel like we've been trying to hit all of our favorite spots for one last meal, or one last visit, and it astounds me just how much I've accomplished in my time here. I managed to go to class four days a week, do my school work, and still really get a feel for Australian culture. As I look back at my semester, there are many many things I'm genuinely going to miss. I'm going to miss getting into many arguments over which is the correct way to pronounce a word with my Aussie roommate Daniel;my flat's Mexican/Margarita Mondays;going to Cottosloe beach (the prettiest beach I've ever been to) every Friday aftertoon; going to local pubs to have drinks with friends;footy games; and seeing kangaroos and koalas :).This has truly been a phenomenal, life-changing experience. I can't wait to show everyone my 800 or so pictures that I've taken thus far. PLUS, the fun isn't over yet. Next week, I'm going to Cairns a.k.a the Great Barrier Reef with two of my friends for a few days to snorkel, skydive, and go on a tour through the rainforest. Then, I'll come back to Perth, take my one final and pack up my room, and travel to Sydney and Melbourne for my last week. I'm very much looking foward to exploring the east coast of Australia as I'm aware that it is drastically different than the west coast. I will also be celebrating the big "21" in Sydney, which will be pretty great as well. Before I know it, I'll be back in the good ol' USA working at a summer camp wondering why I didn't stay in Australia?!! Just kidding..it will be good to be home. I'm very much looking forward to seeing all of you soon!

Cheers :)

American Football vs Aussie "Footy"

This weekend was one of the best in terms of learning about Australia culture. My Aussie roommate Daniel and I have a lot of fun together; we very have a brother/sister relationship. We often make dinner together and have long chats about life, which I love. Even more so, I love when we get into "fights" about which culture is better Aussie or American, generally pertaining to sports and other things of the sort. I introduced Daniel to March Madness, which he thought was great. In turn, he taught me about "Footy," which is Australian football. I experienced my first professional "Footy" game today and absolutely LOVED it! If I lived in Australia, I would most definitely become a "Footy" fan. "Fotty" is nothing like any American sport. If I were to describe "Footy," I would say it is a combination of American football, rugby and soccer; it is SO much fun to watch. We managed to get third row seats for $18, which was awesome. Then, after the game we went onto the field; it was great. I hope I am able to go to another game before I leave AUS. Due to the fact that I was going to the game today and didn't want to look like a "stupid American" by not knowing any of the lingo or rules of "Footy", I watched a "Footy" game last night with Daniel so he could teach me about the game. The whole time he was teaching me, he continued to explain why Aussie "Footy" players are such better athletes than American football players, and that "Footy" is so much better than American football. I told him he would not think that if he saw an Ohio State game--besides the Championships that is. The two of us watching the game together really was the funniest thing imaginable. Since I knew nothing about the game I would think something was really good based on American football standards and Daniel would look at me like I was an idiot. Plus, he was so confused when I would say phrases like "that's a riot"...he would be like no there's no riot going on. Or, when I said, "that guy is jacked"...Daniel would look at me so confused and asked me what I meant. By the end of the night I had a grasp of the game and did not look like a "stupid American" at the game today. Oh, and the best part of the game was that the guy sitting next to us was from NC and he said, "GET R' DONE!"--something I never thought I'd hear in Australia that's for sure. All in all it was a great weekend spent learning more about Australian culture.

Parkas in May?!? Australia Never Siezes to Amaze Me

Like many of you, I cannot believe it is May already. I'm heading into my fourth month of being down under, which seems unreal to me. As the semester winds down, it starting to get colder as we are heading into Australia's winter season. I love that right now it is Australia's equivalent to our November/December and it is still 80 degrees and sunny during the day, but then rather cool at night. I cannot get over the fact that I've seen Aussies wearing parkas, scarfs, you name it when it is has been over 70 degrees outside; it is absolutely absurd. Aussies look at me like I'm a weirdo for wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I just want to say to them, "this is what normal people wear when it is 70 degrees and sunny." Also with it being winter, it is supposedly going to start raining heaps here towards the end of this month and nearly everyday in June. I think it has rained one day I've been in Australia and sunny every other day,so constant rainstorms will most definitely be a change.
My "school year" is quickly coming to a close as I only have four weeks left of classes until I officially done with my junior year of college. Then, I will be spending some more time traveling, except this time on the east coast. I'm beyond excited to visit Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef. I've heard that the east coast of Australia is as different from where I am as the east coast of the US is to the west coast of the US. Plus, I will be celebrating the big "21" in Sydney with my Canadian and English friends that I made on my spring break bus trip, which will be fun. Before I know it I will be on my way back to the US. I still have several fun things to do in the mean time though. This weekend I'm going on a nighttime haunted prison tour (kind of like our haunted houses) as well as going to my first footy game! Footy is Aussies version of American football and just as popular. Anyway, I hope Ya'll are doing well and I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone :)
Cheers for now :)

My Vacation Within a Vacation

It has been a while; my apologies, I've been roaming around Bali and the West Coast of Australia. It is safe to say that the last two weeks were the best spring break of my life, or at least young adult life. In Australia, they do not want students to get too bogged down with school work, so they grant students tuition free weeks all the time--seriously they are on holiday more than they are in school. So, I had the opportunity--after completing a crap load of work--to travel and see Bali and other parts of Australia.
The first week of spring break, six of my friends and I traveled to Kuta, Bali where we had the time of our lives. First of all, because Bali is a third-world country, everything is extremely cheap for the most part. While I was there, I got a dress for $3, a pair of sandals for $7, and fake ray ban sunglasses for $2. Shopping in the markets was a lot of fun, but also very scary when the shop owners would start to grab us and chase after us trying to get us to buy their merchandise. Besides shopping, we spent a lot of our time doing touristy things. My good friend Jillian is a big surfer, so she had hired a guide to take her surfing every morning; we went with her one morning and it was very cool to watch her surf, while at the same time experiencing my first black sand beach. A few of the days the boys on our trip would go surfing with Jillian and ride their boogie boards, or "body boards" as they called them to sound cooler. So, while they were surfing in the morning, my friend Ally and I rode an Elephant named Indo through a safari, and also hiked up a volcano at 3am to watch the sunrise. Hiking up the volcano was the most intense 3am workout I've ever done, but it was absolutely breathtaking at the top. I did manage to fall 6 times on the way down though. My friends Ben and Ally decided to turn it into a game to see how many times each of us fell down the mountain--I of course lost. Other than that, we spent the rest of our time relaxing in our rooftop infinity pool at our hotel relaxing. The entire time, all of us were saying that this was the most relaxing vacation from "stressful" lives in Australia, haha. The one major disappointment in Bali was when I was told after eating the delicious room service burgers for three days straight at lunch that it was in fact made from dog--I almost got sick. Needless to say, I did not eat the burger or any other meat the rest of the week.
We arrived back in Perth on Thursday night, and we were leaving for our bus trip up the West Coast at 7am. Therefore, I had roughly 10 hours to do laundry and re-pack for my next vacation. I told you, I lead a rough life. Friday morning, we departed on our 7 day bus tour up the West Coast of Australia. I absolutely loved this trip. It was SO different from Bali, and I felt like I finally "saw" Australia. We drove to the most beautiful gorges, beaches, you name it. Each stop was more beautiful than the previous one. The other reason I really enjoyed the bus tour was because of the people on the bus. We spent three days snorkeling on the most beautiful reef in Australia. While snorkeling, I swam with turtles, sharks (I almost peed myself), a 10 foot wide mana ray, and heaps of beautiful fish. Hence, it took a lot to get me out of the water.
Considering this was a backpackers bus tour, it meant we stayed in hostels, cooked all of our meals with the food they provided us with, and spent a fair amount of time on the bus. Therefore, the majority of the people on the trip were young adults around my age traveling through Australia. On my bus, we had Canadians, Germans, Americans, Dutch, English and and a not so nice Swiss family, which we refered to as the unit; I felt so worldly. I throroughly enjoyed interacting with the people on my trip and learning about their cultures. Again, everyone on my bus claimed that I had the "thickest" American accent. Whenever I would say Ya'll, it would cause and uproar. Probably one of the funniest moments on the trip was our last night when we stayed on a farm and slept in swags outside under the starts. That night at dinner, this girl Tina was videotaping everyone with her camera, asking them about their day. Ester, who is my favorite Dutch person of all time, was telling Tina about her day (keep in mind her English was pretty good), and she said she was reading a book about a girl cheating on her boyfriend. However, with her Dutch accent, it sounded like she was saying the girl was "shitting" on her boyfriend, and we all were laughing hysterically. There were many fun memories similar to this one, but that was one of the best.

Who Knew I Could Be So Unproductive?

Ok, so as Ya'll know, I'm a fairly motivated, responsible, proactive person. Well, the moment I stepped into Australia, that pretty much went out the window. For the life of me, I cannot get the motivation to do school work here. Yes, I go to class every week, and do my reading for the week, but now that it is "mid-terms" time I have NO motivation...here is why. I am 12 days away from my glorious 17 day spring break. So, that means I am 12 days a way from flying to BALI, staying at this incredible resort, snorkling at the #1 ranked snorkling place in the world, among many other things like swimming with dolphins, repelling from rock formations, etc. Seriously, I'm not trying to make Ya'll jealous :). I'm just pointing out that I have a lot to look forward to and get excited about! That being said, I have 10 assignments between me and Bali; these are no small assignments either. Normally, I crank school stuff out, no worries. However, being in Australia brings a new life-style. Do I stay in and do homework on a Saturday night? of course not, I go out into the city and stay out till 3am. Do I spend all day Sunday doing work? of course not, I go to the beach because it is beautiful out and I can.:) Note to self,if I need to get things accomplished don't go to Australia. Needless to say, I will eventually get my work done, but it is VERY difficult.
With it being "mid-term" time here, it also means that I'm halfway though my semester :( I cannot believe that half of my time in Australia has passed. Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink" song comes to mind, that life really does go faster than you think. I've learned a lot from Aussies during my time here--mainly things involving alcohol--but one of the most valuable lessons I've learned thus far from the Aussies is to celebrate each day, good or bad, because as much bad stuff can go on, all the good things in our life that make us happy trump the bad no matter what. Australians really do have it made. Not gonna lie, I've looked into a few graduate schools here (Mom and Dad don't freak out). I hope by the end of this, I can have as much of an impact on my Aussie friends as they have had on me.
One funny story from this week. Well, as the Purcell family is OBSESSED with March Madness, I was determined to find a way to watch the games. I did have a rather difficult time at first because most online TV stuff is not available outside of the U.S. and a lot of them you had to buy a subcription to. I finally found out that I could watch the games live on mmod.ncaa.com--I was thrilled! Except for the fact that I had to take into consideration the 13 hour time difference. Yes, I did wake up at 6:45 this morning to watch my Tar Heels beat LSU. I also watched Ohio State's pitiful performance against Siena. The funny thing is, the night before the OSU game, I was explaining March Madness to my Aussie roommate Daniel because he loves sports, but college sports are not really a big deal at all here. So, I explained it to him, and he thought it was really neat. Come the next morning when I am screaming at my computer about the number of turn-overs Ohio State had in the second half (keep in mind this was 9am), Daniel came into my room and was like what the heck is going on. He then proceeded to watch the Bucks loose with me, and at then end of it he said, "your team is not good at all, how did they make it to the championship last year?" haha.
That is all for now. I promise I will upload more pictures soon, but now I must attempt to do some school work.
Cheers!

Feeding Roos, Petting Koalas, Riding Camels, Mom and Dad Visit= One Happy Girl :).

I have now been in lovely Australia for 5 weeks! I cannot believe it has been that long. Nor can I believe the amount of stuff I have gotten to do in that amount of time. Last weekend, I went to Caversham Wildlife Park, which was pretty awesome. While I was there, I had the opportunity to feed kangaroos, pet a koala, ride a camel, and see a joey come out of a momma kangaroos pouch. I absolutely love koalas! I am tempted to smuggle one home with me and pretend it is my child. Koalas do have a pretty sweet life; they sleep 20 hours a day and eat the other four hours. Feeding the kangaroos was pretty neat as well, except when one came flying at Ally and I and we thought it was going to drop-kick us. Seeing the joey come out of the momma kangaroos pouch was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Riding a camel was also on the list of things that I'd never think I'd do in my life. I could not get over how big the camels were. Random fact about Australia, Australia has more camels than people, so they export them to the Middle East. All in all, Caversham was a very smelly but fun day.

My parents came this past Monday and left today for their cruise. It was SO nice having them here and showing them around. They came to my school and saw where I lived, my campus, etc. Due to the fact that I had classes and such, I could not spend much time with my parents besides at night. Therefore, we mainly spent out time going to dinner and walking around downtown. I did get to take them to Freo, which is one of my favorite places in Australia. In addition, I took my parents to Kings Park, which is a famous park in Perth that overlooks the city. I had never been to Kings Park, so it was equally exciting for me. The park truly is one of the most beautiful parts of the city. I really did enjoy having my parents here because it gave me a taste of home. Plus, now my parents are able to see why I love it here as much as I do.

Other than that, nothing new and exciting to report. This whole going to school and doing work is not really working for me. I am very much looking forward to my 17 day spring break in 3 weeks! I am going with my friends to Bali for the first week and then taking a bus tour up the Coral Coast for the second week.

Beaches, Chocolate, Cheese and Wine...What Could Be Better?

Last weekend, I had the privilege of experiencing one of the rare treasures of Western Australia; that treasure being Margaret River. While I had been told by people that have studied here in the past to visit Margaret River, I really had no idea what to expect. Therefore, Jillian and I planned a trip for twelve of us to rent cars and drive Down South to explore Margaret River. After spending two hours at the car rental place dealing with miscommunication, and nearly loosing a surfboard on the freeway, we finally made it to Margaret River. Once we arrived, we checked-in, and immediately hit the town; mainly because we were hungry and everything in Australia closes around 6pm, but we couldn't wait to see the quaint town of Margs either. We had a nice dinner and relaxing night on Thursday, so we would be raring to go Friday morning. Friday we spent the day at two different beaches. We boogie-boarded and surfed at the first beach, and snorkeled/hung out at the second beach. I have been to a lot of beaches in my day, but I have never seen anything like the Margaret River beaches- they we SO unique. We were exhausted from being at the beach all day, so we went into town again for dinner, and then called it an early night. Then, Saturday, we had a nice breakfast in town at a cute local place, and then spent the rest of the day on a wine tour with our awesome bus driver Kim. Kim picked us up from our hotel and took us to four different wineries, in addition to the cheese and chocolate factories. Thus, I had many free chocolate samples, brie and wine; I was a happy camper :). I was really excited for the wine tour because since I am not legally allowed to drink in the States, I had not had much of an opportunity to try different wines. From the wine tours, I discovered that I absolutely love Chardonnay and most Sauvignon Blancs, but I detest red wines. After our amazing wine tour, we went to the beach to watch the sunset, and that was the end of our wonderful weekend in Margs. It was a great way to end our "holiday" before starting classes this week.
Yes, I actually go to school here. I was very scared at first when I walked into my first lecture of 300+ students. From this week alone, I can tell that I definitely made the right choice to go to a small school. While I think I am going to enjoy the content of my courses here a lot, I am not a fan of no interaction between professors and students--it's boring! School here is very different than Elon. We don't have a bunch of assignments throughout the semester, but our few major assignments are worth much more with much stricter grading. I do enjoy not having Friday classes, so I can go to the beach for the day :). Other than that, I'm just living a dream and will post again soon.
Cheers :)
I posted heaps more pictures (I've taken so many since I've gotten here). Here's the link:
http://s611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/jpurcell5/Aussie%20Part%202/?albumview=slideshow

Little Creatures: The Aquarium and a Pub in Fremantle

There is never a dull moment here in Australia. We have a few hours to eat and sleep before we are off exploring somewhere else. I have experienced so much in the past 10 days that I am still trying to take it all in. Last Tuesday we drove to Yanchep National Park to continue our "orientation." While we were at Yanchep, I had the opportunity to go surfing for the first time in Lancelin. Considering, I tripped on my ankle cord while still on the beach practicing, I knew I was going to be a pro. My advisor has already pinned me as the klutz of the group. Surprisingly, I was able to get up on the board and semi ride the waves. Granted, the waves were about a half a foot high and I was more so squatting on the board, it was a success by my standards. Also, in Yanchep I saw Kangaroos and Koalas for the first time. Note to everyone, Kangaroos are not that cute in real life; they look like giant rats with long legs. Koalas on the other hand are adorable. I wanted to take one home with me. As the last part of our "orientation" we learned a little more about the aboriginal culture while at the same time learning an aboriginal dance--I was pitiful.
Since returning from Yanchep, we have been on our own free to do whatever we want until classes start next Monday. We have pretty much gone to a different beach everyday, and explored various areas around Perth. On Saturday it was very overcast, so we decided to venture to the famous Aquarium of Western Australia. It took us two buses and two trains to get there, but we made it. The Aquarium was rather small, but still pretty neat. One part of the Aquarium consisted of a giant tank that was built around a conveyor belt that you went around on looking at different animals, mainly sharks; I was not a fan of having sharks swim over my head! I also got to see all the jellyfish that are at all the beaches I've been going to, which is really comforting. Although I enjoyed the Aquarium, our adventure to Fremantle is by far my favorite thing I've done thus far. I would describe Fremantle as the Charleston, SC or Savannah, GA of Australia. It is such a cute historical town..I LOVE it! If I could live in Australia, Fremantle is where I would live. There are a bunch of markets and cute shops in town, and a beautiful beach surrounding it. We did a little shopping in Fremantle (Freo is what Aussies call it) and then we experienced our first "Sunday Sesh." The biggest culture shock I've experienced since arriving in Perth is the amount of drinking Aussies partake in; they drink everyday!! They enjoy challenging Americans to drinking contests because they think it is funny to kick our butts. Anyway, Sunday is a big drinking day for Aussies. I told my Aussie roommate Meegan that I am used to doing heaps of homework and having a bunch of meetings on Sundays, and her response was, "we should probably do that, but we are too lazy and we would rather drink." So, for my first "Sunday Sesh" we went to this pub in Freo called Little Creatures, which is my new favorite bar/pub. They brew their own beer and cider there, which is pretty tasty :). Plus, the pub looks out on the harbor, which is pretty beautiful as well. I could definitely get used to "Sunday Seshes." I feel as though I still have a lot to learn about the Aussie lifestyle. I adore my Aussie roommates and friends I have made. In fact, a big group of us are renting a van and driving down to Margaret River this weekend for yet another adventure. Margaret River is most known for the abundance of wineries in the area; so we will definitely be going on a wine tour, in addition to seeing the caves and hanging out at the beach. I live a pretty rough life here if you can't tell :).

I've uploading heaps more pictures, and will post again soon. I miss Ya'll!!
http://s611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/jpurcell5/?albumview=slideshow

You Can Hold on to Your Jumper

After 38 hours of flying and being in airports, my luggage and I finally made it to Perth! As I waited in line in customs getting my luggage scanned, a sweet, old, Australian man told me I could hold onto my jumper. Needless to say, I was very confused because I have not worn a jumper since about 1st grade, but he in fact was referring to my sweatshirt. After being in Australia for two days, I have quickly found out that while this is an "English" speaking country, some of the words/phrases over here are completely foreign to me. After our advisor picked us up at the airport, we had just enough time to check-in to our hotel and shower before hitting the streets of downtown Perth. Where was the very first place I went in Australia? Of course, the BYOWS (Bring Your Own Wine and Spirits Store). Our advisor had each of us pick up a bottle of wine to take with us to dinner. I bought my first bottle of wine legally--it was very eliberating. Then we enjoyed a delicious meal downtown, and afterwards were introduced to Australian nightlife. Simply put, it was an incredible first night down under. Today I moved into my flat, which I must say is rather cute; it is almost like a beach condo, except we are not quite on the beach. As of now it is just Kendal and I, and our other 4 roommates are coming within the next few days, none of which are Americans. Tomorrow (Monday, I'm a day ahead here) we have a full day of orientation activities, and then Tuesday we leave to go the "the brush" where we will go surfing, see kangaroos, learn aboriginal dances and other things of the sort. All in all, it should be a pretty amazing first week. It is still surreal to me that I am even here. Perth is absolutely georgeous, Aussies are incredible friendly, and I forsee this as being a remarkable 5 months.

Here is a link to a few pictures from the past two days. I stole them from Ally because I haven't uploaded my own pictures yet. I will post again soon, with more pictures of my room and me attempting to surf, haha.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=335633652210.571532215210.1234095601121&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

Cheers :)