adventure down under

follow my semester abroad in Australia

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Weeks 11 & 12

Again I find myself having to combine my weekly blog posts because it’s hard to find time for me to sit alone and reflect on my week. Like I have already mentioned, there is so much to do and working weekends to save up travel money also bites into my writing time.

Anyway, everything is going great here. The weather is beginning to really feel like Aussie weather and I am ready to spend my days off on the beach and outside! I have been doing fun things with my friends and flatmates such as going to reggae shows and just having a night out of dancing and drinking. I am so lucky to have met so many amazing people. I know it’s going to be incredibly difficult to depart...which is only in a little over two months! Crazy!

Today I found myself writing a lot in my travel journal I am writing in more frequently than this blog and I want to share some of the thoughts I wrote down today. One of them has a lot to do with my future and goals and the whole mess of life that lies ahead of me. Everyone has always talked about how traveling changes you and what not, and I didn’t think much of it until I started realizing these changes. Coming to Australia my goal was to do a semester here, head back to the states, prep for the MCAT, go to medical school at WVU and become a practitioner somewhere in the US. I don’t think the plan has completely changed, but I’m thinking of all these other options recently. I am pretty confident that medicine is the field I want to go in, but what if I did medical school abroad. Australia isn’t the first time I’ve had this thought- a few years ago I was watching House Hunters and this guy did medical school in Grenada and since then I’ve done slight research on the side about medical schools abroad..Anyway, that is something that has crossed my mind, as well as taking a gap year between undergraduate and graduate. I love school and learning and am ready to commit myself another four years, but taking a gap year doesn’t sound like a horrible idea. It could be the time for me to take a year and travel more and really figure out what I want to do in my life. Basically what I am getting at is I am not ready to come home. I know I still have a few months left, but as each day passes I think of another place I want to go or another thing I want to do and I stress about time. Another wild thought that has been crossing my mind frequently is joining Doctors Without Boarders after medical school. I could commit myself a few years and travel parts of the world that I may otherwise never see in my life. I don’t want to get sucked into the life of getting a job, settling down, and staying in one place. There is way to much of the world left to see.

Sorry, this is a bit of a wanderlust and poorly thought-out, spastic blog-but I had to get it out there. And even though I love it here and am having the time of my life and basically said I would live here forever, I miss my family and friends back home a lot! Oh, and my bed! Haha. Well I will be heading off to bed as I have a busy day of laying on the beach tomorrow and planning my next adventure. Hopefully I will be posting pictures soon!

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Weeks Nine & Ten

These past two weeks have been amazing, but so so busy!! I just got back from holiday, and had the most amazing trip up the east coast of Australia. We first arrived in Whitsundays, which is basically an amazing beautiful chain of islands that we got to explore and swim in. The sand was white, ocean was bright blue, and weather was perfect. I was smiling cheek to cheek the whole time. To finish our time here we saw about six whales in the ocean only about 30 meters from us, it was one of the coolest things ever.

After Whitsundays we hitchhiked up the coast with a man who was a college professor. Very kind, and helps backpackers out as he frequently travels from south Australia to Cairns once a month. This was an odd experience for me because I usually have my vacations fully booked out with transportation and accommodation taken care of, but we just went for it and it all worked out. When we arrived in Cairns it was like a spring break looking town. We stayed in a super fun hostel and met some really great people.

I then finally got to see the Great Barrier Reef, and wow it was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. We did a free scuba intro with the trip as well, and it’s such an odd and cool phenomenon to be able to breathe underwater- I was definitely channeling my inner mermaid during this. The following day we did a waterfall tour and drove around Queensland chasing waterfalls. This was probably the best guided tour I’ve ever been on. The guide was absolutely hilarious and kept us entertained the whole day- Uncle Brian’s Waterfall Tour. It’s trips like these and some of the amazing outdoor scenery that makes me question my whole life. Maybe not that dramatic, but I am 95% sure I am going to go into medicine, but each new amazing place I see lowers that percent and makes me want to get involved in environmental conservation or something of that nature.

Overall the trip was absolutely amazing, I spent way too much money and maybe took advantage of the daily bar specials, but I wouldn’t change a day of it. I was so glad to be traveling back to Sydney though. It’s really feeling like home. I was missing my bed, my flatmates, and most of all our amazing shower. I love traveling and exploring, but nothing beats coming home to a place so welcoming and where you feel settled. Unfortunately there is more coming up with uni this week so I have to get out of vacation mode and back into school mode. Hopefully I will have some neat pictures and videos uploaded from my trip. It really was so spectacular. 

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Week Eight

Things are going well here in Sydney! Again, still keeping busy with work and school. I recently booked a trip to travel up the east coast, which is super exciting. I will be traveling to Whitsunday Islands and Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef. I am still in awe that I am actually going to the Great Barrier Reef, it’s always something I’ve said I’ve wanted to do, but never did I think it would happen! It’s important that I go now though, because at the rate of global warming and decay of the reef-it might not be there in 20 years.

On a brighter note though, I was awarded the study abroad GEO grant from WVU. I’m not sure if I mentioned this in my last post, but I am so excited. It was also perfect timing since I have been booking trips and buying my flight to Bali soon. I haven’t been very stressed with money since I’ve been here. It also doesn’t really feel like real money. I don’t know if it’s the pretty colors of their bills or just the exchange rate, but it feels like monopoly money. Haha, probably not the best way to thing of it. But I am just glad I worked a lot this summer to save up before I came. It is fairly easy to make extra money here though. I have met people who left their country with less than $800 and are still here like two years later with a good life. There is so much opportunity in Sydney, and I’m excited to explore more of this. 

There’s nothing too crazy to report on for this past week, but all is well and life is good. We have to take some time to think how fortunate we are when it comes to things we typically take for granted. 

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Weeks Six & Seven

This past week has been pretty busy with work and uni, so I am condensing these weeks together. I am so thankful to have scored such an awesome job. I’m a hostess in Darling Harbour at this cute Italian restaurant. It’s really easy, pays well, and all my coworkers are really fun- so not much to complain about. 

As for uni, it is also going really well. I was getting really stressed for our first biochem exam, but it was all for nothing. I can honestly say it was one of the easiest exams I have taken thus far in my college career. I think Australian schooling is a bit more relaxed, which is perfect for my semester abroad. It also makes me thankful for how much I was forced to learn my first two years at WVU. I feel really prepared as I am taking different science courses over here. I also recently realized that anything over a 75% will transfer as an A back to WVU, and anything over 50% would be considered a C. I don’t know why I just found this out, but it has me even more relieved about my grades here. I will obviously still work my hardest, but it’s nice knowing I have that blanket there.

Life in general has been amazing though. It’s nice having a routine now and it’s feeling more and more like home every day. Today I finally made my way out to the beach again for a run and I just kept getting chills as I am looking out on to the water and realizing that I will have this view for four more months. I am so so so lucky to have this opportunity and I think Sydney was definitely a perfect fit. I have already met some wonderful people, and many that I wish to keep in touch with and potentially visit after leaving Australia. I always wondered what it would have been like going to university out of state, but now I do-out of the country. I love WVU, but it’s really nice just making a fresh start with new people in a new place. 

I also recently discovered I was awkward the Global Education Opportunity Grant from WVU study abroad. This was such exciting news and now with my recently acquired funds I am ready to start booking some trips to explore more of this amazing country. I know I say this in almost every post and have already said it once here, but goodness- I am so thankful for this amazing adventure. 

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Week Five

Wow, each time I come to write a post I can’t believe how much time has passed. It was been an amazing five weeks, and I’m excited for the next five months. The passed week wasn’t too eventful as unfortunately I came down with a bad cold I had to see a doctor for. Luckily the medication did it’s job and I’m feeling back to normal. It was weird having to find a doctor in the area and make sure my overseas healthcare would work, but it wasn’t too much of a hassle. 

School is coming into full swing. I am starting my online courses through WVU and preparing for some mid-semester tests here at ACU. The courses aren’t too difficult, but I’m anxious to see how the assessments will be. My vegetation ecology course took a trip to the Cumberland Plain Woodlands, which is a critically endangered ecosystem south of Sydney. This was a neat experience as I used skills I read about in my ecology course at WVU out in the field. Overall school is going well, just making sure I’m staying on top of my work.

My long weekends are usually eventful as i have made some great friends to meet up with. This week I met up with my German friend from the hostel and we spent our Sunday having wine on the beach followed by some drinks at the bar, it was a day well spent. Last Sunday I listen to some reggae bands in Manly, which was also good fun. I plan on going back and bringing some more friends along. I am really enjoying city life as there is always something to do. Last night, a random Monday night, a vintage-looking bar had a movie night and we went and watched Aladdin. They’re all very random events, but always a good time. I’m currently researching flights for a potential spring break trip to Bali...so maybe by the next post I will have something booked, here’s hoping. Till next time, cheers!

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Some pics over the past week. 

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Week Four

Had to check my calendar because I can’t believe I have been in Sydney for almost a month. Time is flying by! Still obsessed with how beautiful and adventure filled this city is. With only having class twice I week I have felt kind of useless since I’m not working and can basically be a bum 5 days out of the week. I’ve been trying to take advantage of my awesome schedule though. I’ve been trying to visit some of the many markets Sydney has to offer and explore some of the beaches. I’m hoping to get the ball rolling on job searching soon and will hopefully have something by the end of the month. I was also hoping to get some volunteer work in at the hospital so hopefully that will work out as well.

I have met some really great people here and have already gained so much from this experience. I came across a group who were traveling to Bali and how thankful and appreciative they were able to embark on such a journey was nice to see. I can’t forget how lucky and blessed I am to have the ability to live and study in such a great place. There are so many things I tend to take for granted and not fully appreciate. As I am doing my daily routines or running the coastal walk I make sure to take the time to look around and take it all in. I know my time here will fly by, as it has already and I want to take advantage of every minute. So excited for the many weeks yet to come as well as the summer weather! 

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SOOO much beauty at the Blue Mountains. Going with good friends doesn’t hurt either

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Week Three

AHHHH! Gosh I seriously cannot get over the beauty of this place. Yesterday we hiked the Blue Mountains and it was the most amazing hike I haver ever been on. So beautiful and filled with canyons and waterfalls! Things have been great, my flatmates are so much fun! You would think 7 girls under one roof would be chaotic...and well it is, but a good kind. It’s such a mix of nationalities and personalities. I love this melting pot of a home. Today wasn’t great unfortunately. Just a lot of things to make a day kind of gloomy, but I kept thinking ‘What in the world, I am in Australia!’. It was just the lack of communication I had with people from home. My bad day is going on and they’re all sleeping so I was just holding it in. I come home though & one of my Brazilian flat mates says ‘Ahhh, but you’re alive, safe, and live in such a great place’. There is no point in ruining a good day with pettiness, so I turned it around with some cheap Asian food and and even cheaper wine. Haha. But really, this country never ceases to amaze me. So excited to start booking some weekend trips to explore more! Stay tuned 

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Had to share this video we watched in our health care ethics course. It’s hard to believe these are all human rights that should be automatically given to all people.. If only the world were that easy. 

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Week Two

It’s week two and things are starting to become a routine. Luckily I have the best schedule and will only have to travel to my uni twice a week (which is kind of nice since it takes two buses and a train to get there). I am now living in Waverly, which is a 10 minute walk to Bondi. I can walk right down my road and be on the coastal walk. It’s absolutely amazing. I’m ready for courses to pick up and I can get learning. I will be taking biochemistry, health care ethics, and vegetation ecology. It’s an interesting range and should be a good time. I am ready for winter to pass so I can spend my extra long weekends hanging out and reading on the beach. There’s so much to do here, I need to start making lists of things I want to cover before I leave. 

The people have been so much fun, I’ve been going out with my friend from the UK and it’s been a good time. I’m looking forward to hanging out with other exchange students and hopefully some locals. 

Cheers mates!

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More photos from other adventures in Sydney