Last week of summer

I can not believe school starts on Monday! I have been out of classes for nearly 10 months now, and although I am ready to engage my brain again, I am also nervous (and HELLO! - I love summer and beach time). My sleep at night has been somewhat restless still due to constant dreaming of failing my classes here, but I know if I ask questions if I don't understand, I'll be fine. I finally got my class schedule on Friday (the last of the last to enroll due to my many complications) but here it is:
Mondays I have three hours of Natural Resource Management and three hours of Ethics. Tuesdays I have three hours of A History of Western Civilization, and then on Fridays I have fours hours of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It looks as though I am not in class a lot (Wed and Thur are off - perfect time to work!), but this is a regular class load here in Australia. And the best news of all is that I am over half-way through my Geography degree here! WHHOOHOO!!! After this year, I will be done will all my Geography classes and I will only need three more general classes to graduate! My adviser here suggested I add another major and finish two degrees in two years, and I thought, what the heck, why not? so I added History. Yep. Last minute decision, but it's going to be fun!

Today a group of us caught the train into the city and explored by foot. We ended up in King's park and their elevated walkway, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Yesterday was the big orientation day and it was so nice to walk around and see not only my American friends and but also see my new international friends (from places like Canada, China, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, etc.) I took a campus tour and met a girl who had just come back from the states and Colorado Springs visiting the Focus on the Family crew down there, as her parents help with Focus on the Family here (who knew they had it!?)

Well, it is time for me to go get some dinner. Tomorrow, off the the Fremantle Markets for some reduced fresh produce and veggies! MMmm...

I'm learning lots of Aussie lingo - curly (tricky,throwing a curve ball at you), bub (babe), owyagoin' (how are you doing?), middy (a small beer - a half pint or so), doona (comforter), and many more!

Ta da (goodbye),
Megs

Soaking up the sun

Well, here I am, in the Land Down Under, in Fremantle (Freo) Australia. After living out of a suitcase for two weeks, and the rest of it having been packed up for nearly a month, I can't tell you how good it feels to unpack everything. I am living in the dorms with the American Study Abroad students, me being the "weird" international/domestic one, and two other Aussie girls. It's a great location and everyone is super nice! Across one street is the chapel, and across the other is a beautiful park with green, green grass and some fish 'n chips places on the other edge! I definitely need to get a job as soon as I find out my schedule, as money does not last long...
Today was officially the first day of orientation for the study abroad students, but I am required to attend some of the stuff. So it's been great - the 30 of us that live in Port Lodge have all bonded over Mary's 21st birthday the day she arrived (although the drinking age is 18) and went to the beach the next day. SUNSCREEN! Man oh man. I am really excited for tomorrow to meet the other international students studying here, so that I can make friends that aren't going to be leaving in June!
I got my SmartRider card to catch the train up to Perth, so that way I can visit Paul and Cheryl, my surrogate parents here, and their family whenever I want! I can't wait for things to really get going and get into a schedule, but I am enjoying my last few days of summer vacation, that's for sure!
Cheers!