Study Abroad at The Gong: September 2011

The beach in Fairy Meadow walking distance from where we live-- Ran sprints here this morning. Gorgeous day. Gorgeous backdrop. I love this place! Also, uploading this made me realize how behind I am with uploading my pics. Ahhh!!

I feel as though all of my assignments are crammed into these last two weeks leading into Spring break. The motivation behind writing this blog post is probably procrastination but oh well :) Last Thursday, Sterling, Lindsey, and I gave a presentation in our Indigenous Australia tutorial. I think it went well despite me and Sterling being really sick and miserable. I'm almost positive our tutor felt really bad for us haha. Maybe she threw in some mercy points? I feel like I was sick for the longest time! I went through two rounds of antibiotics and thankfully the second worked! I still have a cough but I feel great compared to what I felt like before. Sterling is feeling better too :)

Anyways, back to the large amount of work I have to do-- I feel like I shouldn't be complaining because so far uni here has been a breeze compared to Gettysburg (knock on wood...) but next week I have a group presentation in my class called Transnational Media and Intercultural Communication (Which I LOVE by the way--I'll write another post about it), an essay due in that same class, a literature review (aka a research paper) due in my environmental science class (which I'm REALLY not that into...) and an exercise physiology exam. Lindsey and I have a partner paper due the day we come back from Spring break in ex. phys. but guess what!!! IT'S FINISHED! :D I guess it's really not that much work, I just need to sit down and do it and stay focused. After that we are on the home stretch! I will only have two more assignments due, my third and final group presentation (this uni is really into group presentations... but I must say, I think it has helped my presenting skills), and only two final exams.

I honestly cannot believe how fast this time has gone by-- Almost through our 8th week of school. After week 9 is spring break!! Sterling and I are going to Fiji for five days then going on a road trip out West to the outback with Andrew immediately following. I am incredibly excited for both!!! Then in week 11, mom and Sarah are coming to visit!!!!!! I cannot wait! I MISS THEM SO MUCH! and the rest of my fam too!! Then, right when they leave, we are going camping at Jervis Bay with the original Arcadia group and we are going to learn how to surf! There will be one or two weeks of uni after that, an extremely long study break, finals, and then we will be on the long flight home before we know it. CRAZY!!

That's it for my rambling... time for bed. G'night :)

Today Sterling and I visited Nan Tien Temple-- the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere. It was such an interesting and beautiful place. So much thought was put into its design and there is so much attention to detail. It was such a peaceful place, however, I was kind of surprised how touristy it was. I felt really out of place and like I shouldn't have been taking pictures of things so sacred to some people even though there were tons of people taking pictures. Obviously everyone there was okay with it... They wouldn't have tours or even a website if they didn't want tourists there, right??