Times Flies at Bond Uni!

I can't believe tomorrow is already the start of my fourth week of classes at Bond University! Time is flying. This past week was a lot of fun but relatively low key. I stayed on campus all week and weekend, went to my classes, hung out with friends, etc. We finished watching the movie "Australia" in pop culture. It was a really good film-- extremely long but worth the watch if you're up for it. We discussed it afterward in class and its actually a fairly accurate depiction of the Australian legend/"bush" legend and also of the indigenous culture and the aborigines-- definitely very interesting.
This week my roommates and I decided to break down and rent a tv for the semester. It ended up being relatively inexpensive. We only get about 10 channels or so, but the library on campus has tons of movies that we can rent for free, and our tv came with a dvd player, so it was definitely worth it.
Thursday night we went over Emily's and Lizzy's again for some pong and pregaming before going out to Don's again. It was a lot of fun and we all had a good time, steph in particular (see pictures on facebook for details). Unfortunately, Emily sprained her ankle while we were out so that kind of put a damper on things, but hopefully she'll be back on her feet soon. Friday night we had family dinner at Emily and Lizzy's. Then, Emily stayed in because of her ankle, but Steph and I went with Lizzy and Brodie over to "Mick and Nick" (the Malasian brothers.. great names I know) for a little gathering. Saturday we had a Mexican themed night at Emily's and Lizzy's, complete with tacos, chips and dip, Corona's (which is one of the most expensive beers in Australia incidentally because of the cost to import it from Mexico), and of course our good friend Jose Cuervo/margharitas. Mexico night eventually turned into catch phrase night, which of course was a ton of fun.
Next weekend I am going on a volunteer trip to Southeast Queensland Parks and Reserves. To be honest I don't really know what I will be doing exactly, but I know a few people going on the trip and I'm sure I'll meet others so I'm excited to get away for a weekend and do something to give back to my host country!
Some bad news I received today is that one of my roommates, Michelle from Missouri, is leaving on Tuesday to go back to the states. She has been sick for the past week or so with severe stomach issues, and they got her results back from the hospital today that she had two different kinds of parasites and that she will have to have surgery to correct the damage that the parasites have caused in her intestines. She was uncomfortable with having the surgery here, so she is leaving to return the states and have the surgery there. It's a really big bummer but everything happens for a reason I suppose and I wish her the best.
Tomorrow Emily and I are going to student flights to book the flights to New Zealand which is very exciting so I'll keep you posted with more details on that as soon as I know them.
Right now there is exactly 12 minutes in east coast Australian time until Samantha Erin Bloom turns 21!!!!! So here's a little shout out to Sam- have the happiest 21st! I love and miss you and wish I could be there with you, but I know you'll have a great time and can't wait to have a belated celebration when we're together again in the winter!
Okay, that's all for now. Miss you all!
Love,
Arlyn