Program Introduction

Well hello!

Where to begin?! These past few days have been so amazing. My journey began Tuesday (Sept 1) morning when I departed from Philadelphia to L.A. We stopped in Phoenix on the way over, so with the time difference and all, I arrived in L.A. at 2:30 p.m. California time. I sat around in the airport for a long time and slowly other AustraLearn students finally started to trickle in. Soon we all began talking, getting to know each others' names, hometowns, schools, etc. We played some good ol' catch phrase to pass the time, and before we knew it it was time to board the plane for our 11:40 p.m. departure to Brisbane! Luckily I slept for more or less the entire 14 hour flight.  When we arrived in Brisbane (6 a.m. Thursday morning in Australia) we took a flight immediately from there to Cairns, where our program introduction took place.

When we arrived in Cairns, we were greeted at the airport by our three introduction leaders, Michelle, Russell and Dicky. We all gathered our luggage and then boarded the bus to Bohemia Resort, the backpacker we stayed in. When we got to the backpacker, we were all extremely hot so we all decided to jump into the pool for a few minutes before the traditional Aussie Sausage sizzle and ice breakers. Next we had an introduction session in town at the Rydges Hotel plaza, received our cell phones, and then all headed over to Blue Sky Brewery for some beer and dinner. We all stayed and had a few drinks, but headed in early because we had to be ready to for breakfast the next morning at 7:30 a.m.

Friday we headed back over to Rydges for breakfast and a quick info session, but then departed early for a day at the Rainforestation! Here I got to pet kangaroos, hold koalas and snakes, see humongous crocodiles, talk to parrots, and see a disgustingly huge spider (not part of the plan). We also went on an army duck tour on one of the original army ducks and got to see a traditional aboriginal performance. We even learned about how to properly play a didgeridoo, how to throw spears, and how to throw a boomerang so that it actually comes back to you! Shortly after some lunch we departed back to Bohemia, where we all took naps and then got ready to go out for a night on the town. A group of us went to eat at a fantastic pizza place on the waterside in Cairns, where we had some Hawaiian pizza and pesto pizza, accompanied by a few pints of Strongbow (yum!). Afterward we all met up with the other AustraLearn students at Gilligan's bar and club, where we all drank a bit more, socialized with some Aussies and danced. We had a great time, but headed back to Bohemia relatively early because we had a long day ahead of us!

Saturday we woke up, ate a quick breakfast at Bohemia, then took the bus down to the Marina and boarded the Passions of Paradise boat to the Great Barrier reef! It was a 2-3 hour boat ride out to our destination in the middle of the ocean. When we arrived, I was in the first scuba diving group. Diving was absolutely amazing. It is definitely a strange feeling to adjust to breathing under water, but once you acclimate it is so fantastic. The reef was beautiful and colorful. There were so many fish and so much coral. I have a battle wound on my right hand and on my left knee from scraping against the sharp coral, which i must admit I'm pretty proud of. Some of the coral was clearly very sharp, but then Dicky (our diving instructor) was able to point out some super soft and squishy coral which we were able to feel. We also picked up sea cucumbers, which are these strange bright/hot pink plants in the water that are shaped like cucumbers, saw all kinds of fish, and saw a few huge purple clams that closed shut when you tapped then. After my scuba was over, I snorkeled over to this little island in the middle of the ocean, which was also really amazing, and then snorkeled back to the boat to grab lunch and relax on the boat for a while with the other AustraLearn students. We spent all day out in the sun on the boat, going in and out of the water all day and just all talking, eating and drinking and having a great time. Later in the day when we got back to Cairns, we went back to Bohemia to freshen up and then headed back out to Rydges for our last info session/pizza dinner. Afterward, a bunch of us signed up for a weekend surf trip in a few weeks which should be amazing-- but more on that later. We then walked around a bit for our last night in Cairns, got some ice cream, watched a fire torch show that happened to be going on down at the water, and then went for a quick swim in the Lagoon in town before deciding to retire back to Bohemia.

Today (Sunday) we flew back to Brisbane and then drove to the Gold Coast so we could finally arrive at Bond University!! When we got here, we all settled into our accommodations. I am living at University Place, which is a complex of 2-3 person villas. I am SO glad I decided to live here-- I love it!! Its so pretty and my villa is so spacious for just three people, and its just a five minute walk to campus. My roommates are two other girls from AustraLearn-- Michelle from Missouri and Alyssa from Maryland (but goes to Roanoke). They're both super nice, so it should be a really fun house! I got all settled in, unpacked, and then headed over with a big group of other kids to walk around campus for a little while before the big welcome/orientation week Sausage sizzle. Afterward, we headed over to the "bottle shop" where we all got a few bottles of wine and alcohol to begin stocking our houses with, and walked around the little town area right next to campus. The town and the campus are ABSOLUTELY beautiful. There's a gorgeous lake in the middle of campus, and everything looks brand-spankin' new and awesome and its just absolute paradise to think that I will be living here for the next 4 months. When we got back to University Place, a few of us went over to my friend Emily's, drank a bit of sparkling wine to celebrate arriving at Bond, and then planned out tomorrow and a general idea of what we are going to do over the next week. We don't begin classes until next Monday, so this whole week is all fun orientation activities. 

I am having a fantastic time and I can't believe I haven't even been here a full week yet! I've met some really great people here so far, but I'm looking forward to meeting even more people, particularly people from Australia and all over the world. I truly miss my friends and family back in Ohio and NJ so so so much, but I know this is the experience of a lifetime and I'm about to live it up!!! =D

Thats all for now! 

Love,

Arlyn