Well first, it's been a couple of weeks filled with HUGE bugs...or Jurassic Park bugs, if you're into the pop culture references. Within the past two weeks, I've found an enormous Egyptian-looking beetle, two cockroach-looking beetles, and two huge spiders in the flat. Ga-ross. Each time I'm not sure whether to vom or to cry...these bugs are one of the few things I will NOT miss about this country!
Like, he had muscles!!
Anyway, two Mondays ago was Dancefest, in inter-college dance competition where each college choreographs a dance and performs in front of judges. It was really fun to see some of my John's friends rockin' out on stage! Thursday was Rob's birthday dinner, so a group headed to Sizzling Mongolian, a BBQ place where you put the raw food in your bowl and they cook it in front of you - yum! We then went to one of the most fantastic hot chocolate places I've ever been to, then proceeded to the parking garage at Indooroopilly to give Nicki a stick-shift driving lesson! It was such a fun night, and it reminded me so much of something I would do with y'all at Vandy, so good. On Friday Elizabeth and I had one of our "city study days," which involved more chatting at Zarraffa's Coffee than actually studying! I also stumbled upon Folio Books, a bookstore I've been wanting to visit, and picked up Tomorrow, When the War Began, the first book in a classic Aussie teen fiction series. I'm so keen to read it! That night Betsy and I headed over to Elizabeth and Allison's apartment to watch Finding Nemo. I loved this movie before, but I have a MUCH greater appreciation for it after spending so much time Down Under ("...they're a bit dodgy!...Good on ya, mate!") Betsy and I then made our way home in the MONSOON that was taking place outside, shambles!
On Saturday Elizabeth, Krista, and I met up in the city for a free tour of Brisbane...while the fact that it was three and a half hours long surprised us a little, we quite enjoyed listening to some new facts and history about our home away from home from our VERY enthusiastic tour guide!
The Australian coat of arms - the kangaroo and emu are the only animals that can't go backwards!
Statue of Queen Elizabeth, the only one in the world where she's holding a purse!
Parliament House with the Aussie and Queensland state flags, plus a jacaranda tree (also called a "study tree" because they bloom in October, around when uni students sit exams!)
With Alex, our tour guide!
After the tour we walked around South Bank a little bit, then went over to the Roma Street Parklands and enjoyed some of Australia's unique and beautiful flora!
Our last stop was St. John's Anglican Cathedral so Krista could see it, and after that we had all definitely had enough walking! Eventually we ended up at Elizabeth and Allison's apartment for MEXICAN NIGHT!! We are all unhealthily obsessed with Mexican food, and though I've gone out for it a few times, it just hasn't been the same as it is in the States. However, ya can't really screw up taco seasoning, so the tacos we made tasted just like home!
(Auntie Ramune, this is the "thumbs-up" picture I promised you!)
Last Sunday was cool because it was the day that Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia's first saint, was canonised (officially became a saint). I went into the city with a few friends to the Cathedral of St. Stephen, where all kinds of festivities to celebrate the event were taking place! We watched the canonisation and Mass (it took place in Rome but was screened at the Cathedral), and afterwards some of us headed down the street for coffee and hot chocolate. It was such a nice night, and really cool to actually be in Australia for such an important historical event!
Since Elizabeth, Allison, and I don't have class on Mondays (tough life, hey?), we decided to head to the coast last Monday. We took the train about two hours north to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. Before arriving, though, we hopped off the train at Caboolture, a little town with only one appealing feature as far as we were concerned: it's where KEITH URBAN grew up! We are all very excited because now if and when we see him in Nashvegas, we can let him know we've seen where he's from! Or maybe that's a little too creepy...Anyway, after exploring a little bit and sampling some coffee and Lamingtons (pound cake covered in chocolate and coconnut, delicious!), we were back on the train and at the beach shortly! I am really going to miss going to school in a place that allows me to go to the beach on a random Monday...
In Caboolture with Dusty, the mascot for their Urban Country Music Festival!
Coastal Pathway in Caloundra
King's Beach
Glass House Mountains in the distance, I would love to hike there!
This weekend some of us were thinking of heading to Noosa, another beach town further up the Sunshine Coast, but most of us are loaded down with school work so those plans fell through. I'm actually glad, though (see?! everything happens for a reason!) because I got to spend some quality time with some of my friends from college. I also said my first official Australian goodbye, as Andrew is donseki with his med exams and headed home yesterday! We got this awesome photo before he did though:
As you all probably know, I am horrible with change and therefore with goodbyes, so actually having to say bye to someone made the imminence of my own leaving feel very real! But it's also made me really want to do everything I can to absorb everything and everyone here in Aussieland as much as I possibly can in the next month.
This week I have two major assignments to get through, eek, but next weekend I am flying to Alice Springs and then on to Uluru (a huge red rock in the Northern Territory, it's an iconic Aboriginal sacred site, SO keen!). After that is swot-vac week, or study week (yeah, this week is our last week of classes. INSANE!), then there are two weeks of exams. I have heaps of time between my two English exams, so I'm hoping to do lots of fun local-ish things in that time. I also finally have post-semester plans: Michelle (the other American from the road trip) and I will fly down to Melbourne for a couple of days, then to Tasmania for a few more, and we will return to Brisbane to head back to the States on November 24th. Crazy that there's actually a real, finalized date! But I'm so excited to get to spend more time in Melbourne, I really liked it when we visited briefly during our road trip. And Tasmania is the one other place in Australia that I would have hated to leave without seeing, so this plan works out quite well!
Gosh I need to update more often so these don't get so long! Thanks for reading, miss you all heaps!
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