Sunday, January 10, 2010

The End.

That's a really sad title, yet there is really no other way to put it. I feel like I should do some sort of wrap up to this blog, so this is my attempt, though I don't know exactly what to say. It's the same type of speechlessness that I get when people ask me "how was Australia?" Ummm... good? Do you really want to sit down with me for 5 billion hours and have me explain every detail? Or do you just want the surface level answer?

I suppose the problem is, there really is no way for me to fully summarise my time abroad and put complete closure on it. Like any other experience in life, studying abroad was a rollercoaster. It had it's ups and downs, thrills, and bumpy parts. But overall it was an AMAZING experience. One that I wouldn't give up for anything.


I had never considered studying abroad until the majority of my friends were beginning their plans to tour the world. I am more than happy at Hope College, and why would I want to give up a semester away from my favorite place in the world and my amazing friends? You aren't growing, though, unless you are uncomfortable...out of your comfort zone. Next thing I knew, I was recieving my acceptance letter from AustraLearn.


It wasn't until my parents dropped me off at the airport the first of September did I finally realise that I would be out of the country for four months without initially knowing anyone. I had no expectations going into this because.. well... I had no idea what to expect.



Either way, my semester abroad far succeeded anything that I had imagined. Australia is far more beautiful than what my pictures show, for one thing. Plus, I was able to live through 2 summers this year... and we all know my feelings about that. Thanks to a certain two people, I traveled a lot more than I thought I would. In terms of education, Bond Uni caters toward international students, which made life a lot easier. Would I go to Bond for my full degree? No, unless I was doing law. But it worked perfectly for one semester. What was the most important thing that I learned? I'm saying no to clinical psychology and yes to history.



However, like all things in life, the most important thing is not where you are or what you are doing. It's who you are with (yes, I know that is gramatically incorrect). Although I have learned through going to an out-of-state school and then working at a summer camp, both of which I initially knew nobody, that God will provide people to build relationships with, I still wasn't expecting much during my time abroad. I thought I would be surrounded by a trillion drunks who have the personality of a door knob. Yes, I did see my fair share of those, but I met great people who made my time in Australia more than fantastic. I could go through and individually list each person, but I'll spare you. They know who they are.


Was I sad to leave Australia? Of course I was. It was certainly hard to say goodbye to people that you may never see again in your life. But fortunately technology is out-of-control these days, and staying in contact with people on the other side of the world is easy. Was I excited to get back into the states? Oh yeah. I am more than blessed with family and friends who make life a lot better than it should be.


So once again I am going through yet another transition. Words cannot even express how excited I am to get back to Hope and finish my degree surrounded by beautiful friends and quirky professors, yet I know this semester will be an uphill battle. When is life not?

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has kept me in their prayers, wrotes me notes, stayed in contact, and offered me support and encouragement while I was abroad. It was all greatly appreciated.

The End.
"If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness." -Les Brown
Below are the links to all of my travel photo albums from Australia:
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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Airplane (one of my favourite movies, btw)

An automatic assumption that one must take upon entering an airport is that things will go wrong. It's always good to prepare yourself for inevitable inconvenience and stress. Fortunately, the first part of our flights actually went better than planned. For one, my friend Tiffany and I were on the same flight from Brisbane to L.A., so at least I had a companion for the 12 hour flight.


But it only got better from there. After requesting seats next to one another, we were informed that we were bumped up to economy class, which is a step below first class. Not only that, we had the first row of seats, meaning extra leg room, plus no one was sitting on my right side. As you can tell from the pictures below, we were pretty excited about all of this.


We both did not get any sleep on that flight because there was too much to do. There were tons of movies, music, TV, and documentaries to watch, plus an almost constant influx of food into our mouths. Hard life, eh?
The moment we stepped off that flight, though, things went dramatically downhill. Because of the closure of the JFK airport in NY, there were way too many people frantically wandering aimlessly trying to figure out what to do. The first problem was the line for getting our tickets: the problem was that there was no line, just a huge glob of people. We did see Michael Cera, the main male actor in Juno. Tensions were high, and everyone quieted down when this man was yelling at a worker who was making him test the size of his carry-on luggage. The luggage proceeded to get stuck and he was thrashing around like a madman. Very entertaining.
Once we got our luggage, we then had to get in a line to get in line for security. Seriously? Amidst this line was this man wandering around asking everyone "where is my wife? Where is my wife?" Uhhh. Finally we get into the line for security and realised that we only had 15 minutes until our plane boarded. We asked a worker if we'll be alright on time, which obviously we weren't, and all he kept on repeating was "plenty of time," which got really annoying after the 1000th time. Fortunately, everyone else was in the same boat.
That's when we met the most annoying girl ever in my life. Everything about her was annoying. I can't even describe it. However, she was rather pushy, and it was because of her that we were able to sneak to the front of the line and get through security. We ran to our plane and the door closed behind us. Normally all of this would have stressed me out, but I was too tired to even express any form of emotion.
We then flew from L.A. to Chicago and parted ways as I flew to Columbus. After an ungodly amount of time traveling, I found my sister impatiently waiting for me, with her first words of "I'm over here, you idiot." Welcome back to the states, Kendra. I slept straight for 14 1/2 hours and my sleep schedule is still a bit thrown off.
Oh.. and this weather? Awful.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! Alice Springs, Outback, and Adelaide

BEST TRIP EVER!!! Don't get me wrong, every travel experience has been absolutely wonderful, but the Outback.. well, it was just out of control awesome. With the help of our Aussie friend, Matt, our adventure began when we were dropped off at the Brisbane airport at 5:30 AM to fly to Adelaide and then to Alice Springs. These flights went reasonably smooth, minus the most annoying couple ever sitting next to me who were all touchy-feely and kissing one another the entire time. I wanted to vomit.

We spent the first night in Alice Springs at a great hostel (I know, usually "great" and "hostel" don't go hand-in-hand), and awoke at 5:00 AM to begin our 3 day tour of the Outback. With a group of 20 others, who were all close to our age and similarly filled with too much energy, and our crazy tour guide, Heith, we set out for a 5 hour drive to King's Canyon. Once arriving there, we commenced a 3 hour hike around the canyon which was simply breathtaking. Literally. And hot. And when I say hot, I mean 40-45 C (104-113 F).

The rest of the day was spent driving some more, stopping at the occasional cattle ranch and other picture-worthy sights, until we made it to where we were sleeping, which was in the middle of nowhere... perfect for sleeping under the stars in our swags. The moon was so bright that I almost put on my sunglasses when sleeping to block the light out. This is not an exaggeration. Well, maybe. But it was the brightest I have ever seen the moon.

The next morning we awoke at 4:00 AM to see an Outback sunrise.. beautiful! We then drove to Mount Kata Tjuta, which was my favorite part of the tour. The 3 hour hike felt so surreal, as if I was walking on a different planet. I have never seen anything like it before and the entire time I repeatedly said "am I actually here?!" Only downside to all of this, though, were the flies. They were everywhere and would not leave you alone. They are somewhat tolerable until they swoop into your mouth, nose, ears, or your sunglasses... which happened all the time, making them never tolerable.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a "resort" area near Uluru (Ayer's Rock). Fortunately, it had a pool, and I'm pretty sure our skin actually sizzled when we first jumped in. That evening we drove to a spot near Uluru to watch a sunset. Seriously? Does it get any better. Yes.


Early next morning we headed to Uluru to do the basewalk. It took us about a good 2 1/2 hours to walk around it, but every moment was spectacular. Besides the flies. And the dry heat. And my hunger level, which as you all know, is a constant high.

The rest of the day was spent driving back to Alice Springs, with a stop at a camel farm. Once arriving back to the hostel, our group spent the rest of the evening together until everyone died of exhaustion.

We spent another day and night at Alice Springs, walking around the area, shopping and attempting to have a normal body temperature by spending the majority of the time in the pool. Both mornings I attempted a run, but I'm pretty sure a turtle would have been able to pass me.

The next day we flew from Alice Spring back to Adelaide to spend the night there. Thanks to our awesomely amazing friend, Kit, who grew up in Adelaide, she arranged for us to spend the night at her house with her parents. I LOVED Adelaide... as in if I ever live in Australia, that's where I would find myself. It's a somewhat small city filled with old buildings and many, many trees. Kit lives in a 150 year-old house which I was pretty much in awe of the entire time. Her mom drove us around, giving us a grand tour of the city, highlights including a Christmas lights display and a stop at a pie floater cart (do not ask). Thankfully, her dad was willing to take us to the airport at 5:30 AM the next morning for our final flight back to the Gold Coast.


That's pretty much the abstract to the entire report I could write on this trip. There's so much I could say but I really don't even know where to begin. However, I am leaving out some details that I at least think are pretty interesting...
  • The spot where we slept on the first night of our Outback tour is owned by a man who owns 1,006,000 acres of land. How is that even possible?
  • Yes, we did see dead kangaroos on the side of the road.
  • During the second night while I was passed out, others saw dingoes walking through the area where we were sleeping.
  • I'll try not to go on a lecture right now, but obviously in Alice Springs there were plenty of Aboriginals. Do some research on them, and you'll quickly understand the condition that these people are in. It's a heavy, debatable topic on what to do about it, but either way, seeing the Aboriginal children broke my heart.
  • 35 people have died climbing Uluru.
  • Props to my friend, Abbey, for putting up with me during the many, many hours we spent on the bus together. I resort to childlike behaviour when confined for such a long time.
  • I have never drank so much water in my life. But it barely did anything because the water in your water bottle was basically boiling.
  • Speaking of water, it took much coaching for me to pee in the middle of the Outback. I suppose its a good thing, but my body simply does not understand the concept of peeing when I'm not sitting on a toilet. Yes, this may all be too much information, but it's the truth.

Now off to study for exams.

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Monday, November 30, 2009

Olga, Scuttles and Charred Feet- Moreton Island

It wasn't until I got home this weekend that I fully comprehended the amusement of this past weekend which was spent on a three day, 4x4 tour of Moreton Island. I really don't even know where to begin because we did so much that everything just blended together. Therefore, instead of attempting to write this in a logical manner, I'll explain the highlights in no specific order:

1. Joe and Olga. An old, Italian couple who also did the tour. I have no idea what they were thinking when they signed up for it because they strike me as the type who would rather spend their weekend in a bed and breakfast, not camping on an island. After our first adventure of climbing up the world's largest sand dune, I thought that they might die. However, their surivival was a good thing because Joe blessed us with only speaking in Italian grunts the rest of the weekend (I honestly didn't hear him say one word the entire time) and with the opportunity to take the best picture of my life (see below):
2. Scuttles. I cannot stand crabs (FYI, all crabs are called "scuttles" in my book). If they want to pinch me or not, I want nothing to do with them. Therefore, when we arrived on the isolated of all isolated beaches and were told to go look at the scuttles, I knew I was in for it. There weren't just a few scuttles. Or a few hundred. There were thousands. Actually, take infinity to the infinite power, and that's how many scuttles there were. I wanted to vomit. And the worst part is that everyone was basking in the scuttles, rolling around in them as if it was some spa treatment. However, scuttle beach turned into one of my favorite areas because there were "rivers" formed from the tides that were as warm as bath water and would let the current carry you until you got held up in sand. Then I would just roll.

3. Ship Wrecks. To help tourism and marine life, several ships were sunk around the island. We were able to snorkel around them, which was quite fun until Shawn saw a shark (I have never seen anyone book it so fast out of the water before). On the last day we were scheduled to snorkel some more, but a wicked storm blew in that was awesome to watch. Included in this storm watching was us diving into the ocean only to come flailing back to the safety of the 4x4 when lightning struck and dolphins and loggerhead turtles swimming right in front of the area that we were watching. Below is a picture of some of the ship wrecks, with an attempt of a Happy Thanksgiving greeting to you Americans.


4. Pain and annoyances. Yes, these are highlights because I find great pleasure in complaining about anything and everything. One, it was super hot. As in I thought I was going to suffocate at night in the tent. Two, which goes along with one, the sand scorched our feet. Granted, it doesn't help that my flip flops have holes in their soles because I am too cheap to buy new ones. To escalate the problem, I poured boiling water onto the top of my foot (do not ask), which fortunately only temporarily made my foot purple. Three, flies were on the rampage. Toward the end of the weekend, I resigned to the fact that they would constantly be on me, no matter how much I thrashed around.
5. Sand Boarding. Oh. My. Word. I can't even explain how much fun I had doing this (even though I was terrified). I absolutely love sledding...and warm weather... so the combination was epic. Yes, I believe epic is an overused word, but I cannot describe this any other way. To see where I am coming from, it would be in your best interest to watch the following videos:

First time down. Yes, screaming does help.



Tandeming with Stephanie. Best part: the crash at the end.

I could go on and on about every single thing that we did, but that means this post would be a novel long and no one would want to read it (let's be honest, there is a negative correlation b/w the length of a blog entry and the amount of people who read it). Some last words is that one of my favourite areas was Blue Lake that was near our campsite. It was a gorgeous, fresh water lake that we swam in numerous times throughout the day. I also enjoyed the champaign pools, which was an area surrounded my large rocks that we stood in to get trampled by waves. Fun, I know.

Sadly, I have one more tripped planned, and then its exams and heading back to the states. But it's the mother of all trips.. the Outback... one week... in the summer... we might die.

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Crikey! Enough of these spiders.

What is it about zoos that make me immediately transform into a child... as in, I wanted to shove pass all of the other youngsters so I could get the best view of the animals and would plaster myself to the glass of each exhibit to watch whatever animal stare back at me. We spent all of Friday at the Australian Zoo (Steve Irwin's) running around like the little kids who can't even pronounce the names of the animals (prime example: the echidna which I called the enchilada).

Why was this such a good zoo experience? One, it wasn't crowded at all.. in other words, we did not have to deal with the usual screeching kids who demand for every stuffed animal souvenir. Two, although the zoo was rather small, it was the most interactive zoo of my life. We got to feed the elephants, watch an otter feeding... the list goes on and on. One of my favourite parts of the day was the tiger show (see pic below). I think my mouth was hanging open the entire time.


We also got to chill with kangaroos and pet koalas (so strange.. you just go into this area called the "Koala Walk" and there are koalas just moping around in the trees. Next to a tree it simply says "Pat a koala." Ok.) As we were leaving, one of the workers was walking a wombat around on a leash. This made me happy.


The rest of the weekend was once again basking in the greatness of the Gold Coast. Saturday involved surfing, which I hadn't done for awhile. I'll swallow my pride and be honest.. I am afraid of waves. Maybe it's an inferiority complex, but I don't like things that are bigger than me and knock me down. So it takes me a good while to get used to being thrown like a rag doll each time a wave hits me as I swim out, but eventually I get over it and begin the many failed attempts at surfing. It was a fun time, as you can see. But seriously, I do like it.
There has been an influx of spiders here lately. I've been loving it because it doesn't pertain to my house and the stories that are told are greatly entertaining. Case in point: Abbey's house. Situation: Abbey is casually going through her dresser to pick out clothes when she sees legs (not her own legs, but a spider's legs. That's the point of the story). Panic follows with an immediate call to the troops (as in anyone who is nearby, and more specifically is male). Once recruited, every item is taken out of her room to find the creature (see pic below).


The spider is once again spotted, and with much strategizing, a frying pan is used in an attempt to murder. You know the situation is desperate, though, when a frying pan would not do the job. When being told this story, the highlight for me was when Chris matter-of-factly stated "I had to use a bookshelf to kill it" (it was actually Abbey's dresser, but same difference).



Nevertheless, another spider was found on the kitchen floor in her house, in which Tiffany killed with a "no smoking sign." We were then eating dinner when we saw a lizard crawl on the wall. No one did anything about that.

I love Australia.
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Monday, November 16, 2009

I do more than just travel. I buy earrings that have marijianna leaves on them.

Spending all of last weekend in Sydney, it was nice to spend this past weekend here on the Gold Coast. Nevertheless, on Saturday a group of us drove to Nimbin and Byron Bay for the day. Nimbin is similar to Byron Bay, but a lot more hippier. As in just walking through the town I thought I was going to get high. We went through all of the shops, and I was quite pleased with my purchase of some earrings until Abbey pointed out that they were styled after marijianna leaves. Such is life.

We then attempted to find some waterfalls in the surrounding area, but that was a complete failure. We were extremely low on gas, driving up and down mountains... we gave up. Either way, we saw some breathtaking views, and we eventually wound up back in Byron. Although I have already been there twice before, any place that provides me with a beach and gelato is good enough.

I've realised that all of my posts have solely been about traveling, and I've failed to mention where I live besides hostels and tents and what I spend the majority of my time doing. First thing first, housing. I live off campus in what I suppose you would call townhouses (see picture below). I have my own room, though two other girls (one American, one Aussie/American) share the house/apartment/whatever with me.

I absolutely love the place where I am staying, though I have hard wood floors and a bed with wheels, which isn't a good combination. My favourite part, though, is our pool (see picture below) which is a great place to do some reading and studying.

Besides school work, which you all know I do excessively, I've really enjoyed not being spread so thin with all of the activities I usually get myself involved in. I do attend weekly BCC (Bond Christian Connection), where I have met some really great people. When I'm not traveling, I'll go to Hope Church on Sundays, which has a contemporary worship service.
But here comes my latest obsessions. The gym offers excercise classes, which are "free" if you paid your student membership fee. The first week of Bond I tried out as many classes as I could to see which ones I liked the best. I clearly remember a step aerboics class in which I couldn't stop laughing because I was in the middle of all of these older women, stepping and clapping, listening to "Yeah" by Usher. Not for me.
And then I met the spinning and boxing room (cue for dramatic music). The first time I went to spinning, I was with a group of friends and I recall all of us rather confused walking into a dark room with disco lights flashing... what is happening? Greatness that is. I honestly haven't worked at this intensity since track and cross-country. Our instructor, Joel, kindly (and by kindly, I mean not kindly) reminds us that we are not on holiday and before each class to make sure we have everything we need, including water and Jesus.
Besides spinning twice a week, I also do boxing 1-2/week, which is rather difficult too, especially taking into account the heat of the room (same with the spinning room; I think they purposely pump in hot, humid air). "Suck it up," is a constant yell in our ears from the instructor, Richard, though I'm surprised I can even hear it considering that I am underwater in my own sweat.
As always, though, these classes are just in conjunction with my running, which my passion for has only increased since arriving. A large part of that has to do with the hot weather (I know, I'm strange, but something about dehydration just makes you feel like you are working harder) and beach runs.. and knowing that I will have the opposite of that when I return back to the States. Boo.
Now off to go stand in front of the air conditioner because it was bloody hot today.
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Monday, November 9, 2009

SYDNEY! And, no, I did not find Nemo.

I have finally conquered the tourist feat of all tourist feats here in Oz: I have seen the iconic Opera House. From Thursday until Monday, I, along with Abbey, Stephanie and Chris, flew to Sydney to spend a weekend touring the city and surrounding area. Our first night was quite eventful, for after getting off our flight, in which we saw a spectacular lightning storm in air, we found ourselves in McDonald's where we met Rhyse. One word to describe this creature: drunk. I was innocently standing in line to buy an ice cream sundae when Rhyse approached me, obviously enthralled by my Americanness. This for sure was a good experience, for not only did he buy me my sundae (with extra sundae.. that's how he ordered it, anyways), but he also took us all out for a drink. Interesting fellow, nevertheless.

The next day we spent hiking the Blue Mountains. After a 2 hour train ride, we stepped into the mountain town in our shorts and t-shirts only to find everyone else bundled like eskimos. Opps. We quickly learned that if we kept a good pace, the cool weather wouldn't bother us too much, even though we are greatly spoiled by the warm weather in the Gold Coast. Despite the misty and foggy weather, the sites were gorgeous and we even had a go at climbing a waterfall (not the one pictured below, but you can pretend that is the one). Success, minus Chris slipping and falling down about 10 feet. I may or may not have found great enjoyment out of that.


That evening we ate at a Japanese restaurant. Chris ordered eel. I tried it. I wanted to die until I had breakfast the next morning.

Saturday was perhaps the longest day of my life, but in a good way. The entire day was spent walking around Sydney, trying to see as much as we possibly could. The day began with the best eating experience of my entire life: Tip Jar. Waffles. Let me describe in detail: waffle topped with PB, roasted nuts, whipped cream, and PB ice cream on the side. Enough said. We then went to the markets where I proceeded to spend way too much money. Anywho, highlights of our sightseeing adventure were the Anzac Memorial, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Opera House, Luna Park and Sydney Harbour Bridge. I wanted to be pushed in a stroller by the end of the day.



Our last full day was spent at the famous Bondi Beach, which unfortunately had poor weather. But that did not deter us from spending the entire day looking through the shops and markets and the display of sculptures by the sea. The rest of the evening was spent back in the central part of Sydney until we finally collapsed in bed, only to get up at 3:30 AM to catch the plane back. Get this: the flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast was shorter than the time spent on the bus traveling from the Gold Coast Airport to my house here in Robina. I hope that brief story clearly sums up my feelings about public transportation here in Surfers.

On a more positive note about the Gold Coast, it was comforting to know that after spending 4 days away, I had a sigh of relief once getting off the plane knowing that I was back home, so to speak. I truly am falling in love with this place and I cannot fathom that I have exactly 1 month and 11 days left.

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