Goodbyes are Harder than Hellos

I've checked out of my room. I'm all packed (and in two suitcases!). I've said goodbye to everyone here. While I'm sad to say goodbye to Perth and the people, the fact that I've moved out of my room means that I have no home here, so I am looking foreward to going home a little bit more. I've had an amazing last few days here. Hanging out with people, cleaning up, and exploring a few last things. I'm sorry I never got pictures up before I left, there will probably be many after I get back to the states. So now I'm off to Sydney to meet my parents. We'll stay until the 4th when we head to New Zealand. They'll stay until the 13th, while I leave on the 10th to meet a friend in Fiji. I'll leave Fiji on the 13th too, and we'll all get back the night of the 13th. Hope all is well and I can't wait to see everyone!

Freedom

I'm done with classes for the semester! I now have three days to pack and finish up whatever I want to do in Perth. I can't believe my time here is coming to a close. It's all getting more real, my flatmate Dave moved out today. I really wish I had more time here and with the amazing people I've met here. It's always been okay saying goodbye to friends in Colorado or Texas when the semester is about to begin or finish because I know I'll see them again within a few months. This time, I have no idea when I will see people, if I will ever see them again. I have no idea if and when I'll see the Americans that I have met here, not to mention all of the international students. That said, I'm really trying to enjoy my last few days in Perth and with everyone, which is harder than you might expect due to studying for exams and many people's families that are in town. While I am sad to be leaving WA soon, I am excited to travel around, see my parents, and eventually see everyone back home.

PS: Sorry I haven't posted pictures, its been a pain to sort through all of them. I'll do my best to get some up in the next few days, but it might have to wait until I'm back in the states in a few weeks.

Two Weeks Notice

Wow. I can't believe I have less than two weeks left in Perth before I go to Sydney, New Zealand, and Fiji. It seems like I just got here, and there is so much more stuff that I want to do and see before I leave here.

The trip down south was amazing. We stopped at the Stirling Range, Albany, Denmark, Augusta, and Margaret River. It was a crazy adventure to say the least. We saw the tallest peak in WA in Stirling Range; the gap, natural bridge, and blowholes in Albany; Elephant Rock, Green Pool, Circle Pool, and the Treetop walk in Denmark; where the Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean meet in Augusta; and we hit up a couple wineries in Margaret River as well as part of the Busselton Jetty. We had to deal with driving on the other side of the road, kangaroos sitting in the road, setting up camp in the dark, and many a thunder and lightning storm. I'm really glad we got to go down south, because its not what you might expect Australia to look like. It was really green and had forests, the one with the treetop walk had trees over 60 meters (almost 200 feet) tall, and those aren't the biggest ones down south.

The weekend before we left, we had the opportunity to go cliff jumping along the Swan River at a place called Blackwall Reach. The cliff was around 35 feet in the air. I ended up jumping, and I'm glad I did, but its definitely something I'm not rushing to do again.

Today, Jeremy and I made it to the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) which was really interesting. The exhibits are set up as if you are traveling up along the coast of WA. Probably one of my favorite exhibits was the DangerZone, where they had some of the poisonous marine animals.

There is so much left that I want to do which I'm trying to fit into the last two weeks in addition to studying for my two final exams as well as spending time with all of the people here that I might never see again. Facebook may finally really be worth something besides a procrastination tool.

3 TAGE WACH

Three days awake. It wasn't exactly that, but its what I felt like this past week as I stayed late each night to finish up assignments. Not the best planning on my part, but now I'm done with classes and assignments! All that remains are two finals. I only have three weeks left here in Perth, and its so hard to believe. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I'll be leaving soon. Next week is our southwest trip, which I'm really excited about. I get to hang out with a bunch of cool people and see more of Australia. Then its back to study for finals before I pack and head out to Sydney. This semester has gone so fast. It seems like I just got to Perth and started school.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I know am in my last week of classes. Everything is a bit crazy. Some of the girls we visited in Cairns are here visiting. I have three papers and a project due this week. Trying to figure out classes for next semester and coordinate registration with back home. And we're trying to finalize plans for the southwest trip. As crazy as everything is, I'm really trying to appreciate everything and enjoy the time I have left since it is almost over.

On November 23-25 6 of us went to Rottnest Island, which is just off the coast of Perth. We camped and grilled which helped make it a cheap trip. There are no vehicles allowed over on the island so we had to walk everywhere. We had the option of renting bikes, but the weather on Saturday was not very nice, so we opted to walk around the island instead. Sunday, Justin and I took the bus (yes, they have one bus for the whole island) to the west end. It was so beautiful there and we got to see dolphins and humpback whales.

This past weekend was Halloween, which was an interesting experience here. They don't really celebrate it, but it is slowly getting more popular. We all dressed up and went to the party that the village was having before going out to the clubs.

The weather here is finally really warming up. Its weird to keep hearing about the snow that Colorado keeps getting and seeing Christmas stuff in stores when the weather just keeps getting warmer.

I'll try and post pictures from everything as soon as I have time.

Time Flies

Wow! I can't believe it was August when I last posted. I've been meaning to post more, but stuff has always just come up. Now it almost seems overwhelming. I would love to go into detail of everything that has happened, but that would just make me put of posting. So, instead, here is a quick recap of everything that has happened.

One of Jeremy's flatmates, Abby, took us home with her for a weekend which was amazing. She lives on a farm about 3 hours east of Perth. The scenery was absolutely amazing, especially all of the canola fields that were in bloom blanketing the land in a bright yellow. It was great to see a different part of Australia and be welcomed by her entire family.

For our first study break (yes, first) the four of us booked tickets to Cairns. We stayed with some of the girls going to James Cook there that we had met at orientation. While they were still in class, we had a great time entertaining ourselves and had fun with them when they were able to join us. I got to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef at Green Island which was beautiful. We spent a couple days on the beach. We went bungy jumping, which was a blast. Justin, Joe and I made it to the zoo where we got to feed kangaroos and hold a baby crocodile, snake, and, of course, a koala. Justin, Jeremy and I spent a day at the botanical gardens and the rainforest walk.

After coming back to Perth, we had three weeks of school before the second study break. In the middle, for one of the weekends, we had an adventure weekend put on for us by IFSA-Butler. The weekend consisted of abseiling, or repelling, rock climbing and caving, or spelunking. While I was nervous about abseiling at first, I had a blast and ended up going more than the rest of the group (most were more interested in rock climbing). Caving was definitely one of the times that I was glad I'm so small as I was able to wiggle my way through holes in seconds rather than minutes.

For the second study break, I went on the Northwest trip. The Northwest trip is a trip that is sponsored by Murdoch for international students who are on exchange or study abroad. The trip was 10 days of getting up early and driving in two buses up the coast of Australia. It was an absolutely amazing trip and I met so many new people. Some of the places we saw were Kalbarii National Park, Shark Bay World Heritage area where we went to Monkey Mia, Denham, Eagle Bluff, and Shell Beach and saw stromatolites, Coral Bay and the Ningaloo Reef, Hamersley Range, and Karinjini National Park. Everything was so amazing, its hard to pick a favorite.

This past weekend was packed full and incredible! As Murdoch students we got free weekend passes to the inaugural One Movement Festival in Perth. It featured artists from all over including, but not limited to:

• Hilltop Hoods, the top Australian hip hop act
• Sarah Blasko
• Kate Miller-Heidke
• Blue King Brown
• Fefe Dobson
• Tata Young
• Scribe
• Davy Knowles & Back Door Slam
• Tigarah
• Art vs Science--They were AMAZING
• Matt Nathanson

The festival was all day Saturday and Sunday. Friday we had a party at Cynthia's, a girl from the Northwest trip, and then we went to the beach for a little on Saturday. Then it was off the the festival to catch Matt Nathanson and we were there for the rest of the night. Sunday Justin, Tim and I got up early and headed down to Rockingham to Penguin Island. Is was a nice day out where we saw Little Penguins, the smallest penguin species, the Australian sea lion, pelicans, and more than enough seagulls. After that we headed back to the concert for the night.

I only have two and a half more weeks of class, which is hard to believe. Then for the study break (yes, I have yet another week off before exams) a bunch of people are going to go on a road trip to the southwest to visit Albany, Denmark, and other places. I'm having an thoroughly awesome time and with I could stay longer. I am coming home earlier than originally planed, but I'm excited because I'm meeting up with my parents in Sydney for a few days and then New Zealand for a week before I meet up with Jeremy in Fiji. I hope all is going well stateside and I'll try to post pictures from the past couple months.

Pictures Round 2

Australian Football (aka Footie)Me and the boys on the wine tour
Lots of barrels
Joe, Justin, and Jeremy on the wine tour

Kookaburra

City Beach
City Beach
Awesome Fig Tree by Kings Park
Galah's (aka Rose-breasted Cockatoo)
DNA tower in Kings Park (One of Australia's "Big Things")

Tree top walk in Kings Park
Perth skyline from Kings Park
Cottesloe Beach, sunset over the Indian Ocean
Cott
Cott
Cott

Time Flies

Sometimes it's hard to believe that I've been here for over a month and other times it seems completely normal. We got to hang out and explore Perth for three weeks before classes, which was awesome. The second week we didn't really do much because it was raining the whole week, but we still managed to do some interesting things. Some things we've done are try kangaroo (which is delicious!), visit Fremantle and the Fremantle Markets on the weekends, take a cruise down Swan River, learn how to use the public transport system (which is awesome), explore a few parts in the actual city of Perth, visit a couple beaches, get 18+ cards (no more carrying around my passport!), go on a school sponsored wine tour, and visit Kings Park. Classes started two weeks ago and have been going pretty well so far. I'm taking Introduction to Marine Biology, Introduction to Photography, and Aboriginal Cultures. I also only have class Monday through Thursday. Last weekend we got to go to an AFL or footie game, which was really interesting to watch. Its really hard to explain, but it was an awesome game to go to because Fremantle dominated Port Adelaide (and Freo normally isn't really good). That's a quick update about my time here so far. It's all going so fast, our first spring break is in two weeks (yes, I did say first, we get two). Me and the three J's are going to Cairns for the week to hang out with people we met at orientation and chill on the Great Barrier Reef. Overall, I'm absolutely loving my time down under!

My Address

Michelle Sparks
Flat No: 147 Room:1
Murdoch University Village
PO Box 1055
Canning Vale, WA 6970
Australia

Orientation Pictures

Here are some pictures that I took during IFSA orientation in Sydney.

Bridge over Sydney Opera House


Sydney Opera House


Sleeping Koala


Sydney skyline from the zoo


Wallabies with a Kangaroo at the very back


Emu

Perth!

I finally made it to Perth. We had orientation in Sydney for a couple of days (pictures should go up soon) which was fun. Then I had an additional 5 hour flight to get to Perth on Quantas. Quantas is the most amazing airline if you ever get the chance to fly with them. The past few days me and the three other boys that are going to Murdoch (Jeremy, Justin, and Joe) have been getting to know the public transportation system as we explore and go shopping for the necessities. We were fortunate enough to be able to get our student IDs early so we could get the student bus passes which have been awesome. I'll try and post more when I have more time.

Addresses

I've gotten a few requests for postcards while I'm away. I can't guarantee anything, but if you would like me to try and send you a postcard, e-mail or facebook me your address and I will do my best to send you one.

I will also post my address when I get to Australia and get everything confirmed.

Dreams Come True

I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I am going to do e-mail updates or something like that while I’m abroad. So, I’ve decided to do a blog to make my life a little easier instead of rounding up everyone’s e-mail. I’m making no guarantees about when and how often I will update it, but I will do my best to keep this updated about my time in Australia. The single question I’m asked all the time is if I’m excited to study abroad in Australia. The answer is an absolute YES! I have always loved traveling and the new experiences, but this is even more exciting for me because I’m fulfilling a childhood dream. Not just to study abroad, or visit Australia, but to study abroad in Australia. I know it’s not the normal childhood dream, but it’s been one of mine for as long as I can remember. My parents both studied abroad and are still in contact with people from their time abroad, so I’ve always heard stories about it which made me want to study abroad. I’m not exactly sure when Australia became part of the dream, but I know for sure that ever since elementary school I’ve wanted to go to Australia, so that’s probably when it got incorporated into it.

While I am so excited for this journey, there are still some parts that I struggle to wrap my mind around. I leave in less than three weeks, which seems absolutely crazy. I’ve already said goodbye to my friends from school, and its hard to believe that I won’t see them until next January. Now I’m working as much as possible to store up some money in the bank in addition to trying to see people here in Boulder before I leave. One somewhat scary thing is the fact that I don’t get my living assignment until about a week before I leave. I also don’t know who I’ll be living with. I could be with anywhere from three to seven other people (yes, I could live with boys). All of the housing is apartment style, and I’m hoping to be fortunate enough to get a single room. I also won’t get my class schedule until I get to Australia, which, while is a little scary, is somewhat of a nice thing because I’m not too worried about it right now.

I have my plane ticket and my student visa for Australia. So now the only thing is time and packing, which should be interesting. I’m looking forward (I think) to learning how to live with only the basics. I leave on July 6th from Denver in the late afternoon. My overseas flight is from LA that night to Auckland, New Zealand arriving on the 8th. I then fly from Auckland to Sydney for IFSA Butler (the program I am traveling with) orientation before leaving for Perth. On my way back I’ll get to spend, as of right now, two weeks in Sydney and two weeks in New Zealand before returning to Denver on January 4th. If I am lucky enough to find people willing to travel with me, I might add a couple days in Fiji after New Zealand.