Just Heaps of Fun.

One of the first things that you must know about the University of Newcastle in Newcastle Australia is that 40% of the students who attend the uni are study abroad students.  So at social events it gets very interesting talking to vast array of people with different accents and levels of English. Its a very different cultural experience than back in the states.  I've become really good friends with Will from Holland who is taking 6 months of his life and traveling up the cost of Australia then New Zealand then Japan. Another one of my good friends who is also going to uni is Frederick from Germany.  You never know who your going to bump into on every given night and what their story is.  

We are fully moved in to our new apartment and have made several day trips to the beach a short 10 min walk.  We have also made a couple of 10 min train trips into campus to look at our buildings and find out way around.  The University is like a national forest with a scatter of buildings with paths in the trees connecting the buildings.    

Newcastle Beach is only a short 10 min walk away.

Walking from building to building on campus is like taking a nature hike. 

Cody and I are officially moved in to our new apartment and just completed our traditional college "Super Cleaning Wednesday."

Kitchen of our apartment is attached to the living room below.

The bedroom with two single beds. 

I start school this coming Monday 3/2/09.  I will be taking Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Organic Chemistry.  I am also thinking about taking an Aboriginal Studies class as well.  I'm ready to start having a schedule and some sturcture.  I hope everything is well back home with everyone!

It finally feels like home

We have found an apartment. After 4 days of searching and getting pretty frustrated we found a place to live. Its a one bedroom with two single beds fully furnished pretty nice apartment. It was the cheapest one we looked at in our four day search. It right on the bus route to the University of Newcastle and like a 5 min walk to the train which takes you right next to the University. Everyone says the train is cheaper so I'll probably make the walk.

Its been raining here just about every day since we got to Australia which a bunch of local students told us that they haven't had rain since November. So its really weird weather right now. Its still in the 80's 90's every day and sunny most of the day. Yesterday we went out on the beach for a while and we couldn't get into the water because lifeguards spotted great white sharks right off the beach. Then they had a helicopter come and do flyby's to spot them. Pretty interesting stuff.

Well I've got to run. We are signing the lease today at 1 and moving in after. I will post pictures of the apartment the University and of the beach that's like a 5 min walk from my apartment soon!!!

Bula!

Hey everyone I wanted to get a post in to upload some photos and give everyone a quick update. After a long travel we finally made it to Newcastle Australia. Today we are going apartment shopping and trying to find a place where we can finally unpack our bags. Living out of a suit case gets very old after a while.

Fiji was everything I thought it would be. We had trouble getting adjusted to the time change but it definitely was worth it having a few days to just relax on the beach and take it easy. One afternoon through our hotel we went out to the outer islands of Fiji and went snorkeling. An Auzzy was snorkeling with us saw two sharks that were about 2 feet long. Unfortunately i didn't get to see them but we did get to see bright blue star fish and many other brightly colored fish along with tons of coral. It definitely reminded me of something you would see on Nat Geo.

This is a picture off of our hotel balcony in Fiji.

Cody and I stayed in Sydney Australia for 2 nights at a Hostel after we left Fiji. We got to walk around and see pretty much all of Sydney. The Opera House and the Bridge, we walked up and down the peer. The Opera House is definitely one of those things that you should see. We didn't get to walk up "The Rock" which is the bridge because it costs like 80 auz.

Me standing in front of the Sydney Opera House and the Bridge. The Rock climb you actually climb up the superstructure of the bridge and are up by the flags (you can see the flags in the picture) on top of the bridge.

Well I hope to be finding a place today and will be able to have easier access to the internt so I can keep everyone updated. I hope everything is going well for everyone back home!