My dear boyfriend has brought to my attention that people were not able to comment unless that had an account. That is lame, no one likes accounts. I changed the settings so now everyone should be able to speak their mind freely! Keep it clean people. Thanks Ben for letting me know!

I picked up my bike this afternoon before volleyball. The nice bike shop man put a whole new brake on the back (it's really shiny) and he tightened up the front brake. He said I will be able to stop on a dime!

After volleyball, I was biking back and I was going a different way since I had to take the roads. By the way, I DO ride on the left side and it's not that weird. Anyway, I was riding along and I rode past the soccer fields where there happened to be a males soccer practice going on. Naturally I decided to gawk a little bit because, I mean, well... you know. And that's when I missed my turn to get on to the bridge. I immediately slammed on my brakes and sure enough, I stopped right away, just like the guy said. I casually turned the bike around and pedaled away quickly. Had I not fixed those brakes they would have squeaked so loud everyone would have looked and it could have been way worse. But since I fixed them I endured much less embarrassment. Only this one girl on the path saw me and probably saw me staring at the soccer players anyway so it couldn't have gotten much worse. Soo I am really glad I have a working bike now. I am sure I will have more bike stories to come too, considering I am not the best biker in the world...

The other day, I bought a bike. It was pretty inexpensive and seemed to be of decent quality, at least for only one semester. I got it home and realized the back brakes were a bike squeaky (also, the back brake is the left handle instead of the right so I have been having whole heaps of troubles trying to get used to that in an effort to not flip over the handle bars). I went to the store to see what I could do about the brakes and the dude suggested getting new brake pads. So I did, and I even installed them myself! I tried riding it and realized the brakes were not very good at all so I thought a professional should look at it.

Well, this morning I had an appointment with the bike shop on campus so I decided to try to ride it in and see how bad it really was. Luckily, it was UP HILL BOTH WAYS to school (or at least it felt like it), until the final stretch which was a pretty steady decline. It was quite scary actually. I don't think either of my brakes were working. Also, I had to stop TWICE for these dumb birds that were just leisurely crossing the path. Normally, I wouldn't have minded (because I enjoy wildlife) but I was pretty much banking on momentum at this point so they really threw me off. I basically walked my bike as soon as I got it on campus. The dude at the bike shop suggested I get an entire new back brake because it was so bad, and he said the front brake didn't even work. Awesome. Hopefully these will be the last of my repairs with this dumb thing. As a side note however, I did get to campus much quicker so I think it will all be worth it once it's fixed.

P.s. Don't worry, I was wearing a helmet. It's illegal not to here!

I love school. That is all I have to say. You don't think you'll miss it, but you do-kinda. And it's nice to see all the students bustling around campus. Plus, it's gorgeous outside so walking to class and lounging during breaks is most enjoyable. Now, come end of May when all my Madison folks are on summer vacation I probably won't be as excited to go to class but for now, I am loving it. Also, I only had two classes today soo maybe it was just an easy first day of school. Oh, and for all of you Madison students who are wondering... yes, they have syllabus week here too. This whole week is gonna be fabulous! I'll probs go to the beach on Wednesday ;)

Do you want this anemone to sting you???

You can't really tell from the picture because I was trying to be discrete...but a McChicken is $7.15!!!! I am eating 7 off the dollar menu when I get back just to make a point

The other day, at volleyball, an Australian dude came up to me and asked if that was my natural hair color. Yes, I said (ginger pride). He then said "Oh, and it matches your sunburn" pointing to my pinkish shoulders (kinda rude) "and it matches your nail polish!" My nails are literally neon orange/pink. (see pic below) Seriously...

This morning I ventured nearby my house for some city exploration. There is a pretty nice shopping area nearby (about a 15 munite walk) so I was happy to check it out. There I discovered a wonderful authentic German butcher shop. It even had a German looking sign on the front so I knew it would be good. I went in and found the butcher to be extremely helpful. I assumed he was German but I couldn't really tell if he had a German accent or an Australian one, or if he maybe came here from Germany but has lived here so long that now he sounds like an Australian? I don't know, anyway he was wonderful. I was longing for some Wisconsin food so I bought a few bratwursts. Apparently, they were made to a recipe for the oldest, best bratwurst ever in the history of all time. I had it for lunch and it was quite delicious. I would have preferred to cook them in beer but lord knows I can't afford that shit anymore. I also bought some Kangaroo! It was very exciting for me. I asked the butcher how to cook it and he said: "There are only two ways to cook Kangaroo: medium rare or not at all". With that, I settled on the Kangaroo "rump" a very nice, lean piece of meat. He cut it into smaller pieces so I wouldn't have to eat it all at once so I left with three very nice cuts of 'roo.

As dinner approached, I was very anxious/nervous to cook this kangaroo. I really didn't want to ruin it. I Googled it for a bit and decided to pan fry it on very high for a short period of time. The websites all agreed with the butcher that is should be cooked medium rare. This is what freaked me out the most, I never eat things medium rare because it's gross and bloody. Anyway, I cut the piece into smaller strips and started to cook them. They cooked really fast, just like the website said. I took one off the stove and cut into it and it was totally uncooked, ew. I cooked it a little more and checked again, still kinda gross. I hate medium rare. I decided to take them off after they were cooked through but still pinkish/bloody (so stressful for me, but I knew I had to do it). After letting them sit for about 5 minutes they stopped bleeding so much and turns out they were cooked to perfection! Kangaroo tastes like steak, the benefits are that it is better for you and here, in Australia, significantly cheaper than actually buying a steak. I have a feeling I am going to make it a staple part of my diet for the next few months. Plus, I know how to cook them now and I am sure I can only get better and better. The only remaining question is: SG, are you so proud???

You think I eat healthy, but really I eat cheap. You can't afford anything but fruits and veggies on this island!!!

Today was a rainy Friday. I had stayed home most of the afternoon just indulging in some Bachelor drama (I justified being a bum and not exploring the city since there was rain). Then my friend Camilla, who I met on the street, called and asked if I wanted to go to the Modern Art Museum. At first I said no because it was rainy and I was completely consumed with Bachelor love/drama, but then I decided I needed to get out of the house so I met up with her and her friend, Hannah. The art museum was actually pretty cool. Here are some pics:

Stop staring at me!!!!

We were handed stickers upon entrance to the room. I put that pink one on the wall

Everything in this room was made of sugar. Avatar anyone?

After about an hour of modernness (I don't really "get" art by the way), we decided to head back. But it was raining so hard we didn't want to walk to the train station, so we snuck into the public library nearby just to stall. We then discovered this sweet little cafe with an outdoor seating area. And just as we sat down with our fancy coffees (see pic below), a band set up and started playing live music. It was actually quite swanky, right on the river too. The rain eventually let up and we all quickly escaped back home. For a rainy Friday, I would say it was a pretty fun afternoon. Now, more Bachelor.

OooOOOOoooo Yum.

I am currently walking to campus. I just slipped in a PUDDLE (Yes, a puddle) right in front of this Australian dude with a skateboard. So embarrassing. He asked if I was alright. Even more embarrassing. I swear, I spend one week in 85 degree weather and I forget how to walk in unfavorable weather conditions??? I am used to treking through snow puddles and ice patches in Wisconsin. What is happening??

I ventured to the liquor store today. It was quite exciting for me and turns out it is really close to my house (so perfect). I wanted to share some insight, however, into liquor stores in Australia....

Bottle of Smirnoff vodka: $60
Bottle of any whiskey: $55
6 pack of Corona: $22
6 pack of Budweiser: $18
Bottle of wine: $8

I bought two bottles of wine and the dude didn't even check my I.D.

Yesterday, I discovered something wonderful: a fresh fruit and veggie market 5 minutes from my house! It is awesome. Open everyday of the week with super cheap fruits and veggies as well as things you go through quickly like bread, milk, eggs, etc. I bought so much food for only $12 and they even take credit card! My life is complete.

Today was Market Day (basically like the student org fair at Madison) and it was very exciting. I am now an official member of Quest, an org for exchange students to party and meet other exchange students and the Waterski/Wakeboard club. For those lake-country folk who are reading, you will appreciate this. As a member of the waterski club, you can ride every Sunday, behind a Malibu boat, all equipment provided, on a RIVER (no waves at all), and you can chill at a barbecue on shore with other members while you wait to ride. It's basically perfect. I plan to waterski until my little chicken legs can't take it (or until I don't wanna pay anymore, it's $1/minute). I also plan to join to Beach Volleyball club. All you haters out there reading this who know that I hate volleyball can just keep your comments to yourself. Yes, it's true. I don't particularly enjoy volleyball. But I like the beach and I like meeting new people. Plus, they have free coaching for beginners. I think I am really gonna like it. Nonetheless, I will keep you posted.

Also, to any of my SWEsters that are reading this: they have a club just like SWE! It's called "Skirts in Engineering at UQ" Don't worry though, they don't do half the cool shit we do. Plus I don't want to network with Australian companies, I love America. Also, it's $15 to join and they only have three events planned for the semester. UHHMM  UW-Madison SWE has three events per day basically. Word up. Soo I didn't join, but I am so missing SWE!

Today on my walk back from the Uni, I took a secret path through this really nice area on campus. We have like 3 lakes (really they're ponds but they call them lakes here). I took a bridge across one of the "lakes" (clearly they're not large if you can build a bridge across them) and I saw a lot of Australian wildlife. There we a tons of birds making obnoxious sounds and cute ducks and swans and stuff. I also saw some more exotic species. Here are some pics

The view from the bridge

A happy snapping turtle

A super cute lizard (bearded dragon, I believe)

A very large spider (yes, I was worried it was going to fall on my head as I took the picture)

And look, I decided to pick up an alligator!

Just kidding, that zoo keeper lady just passed him to me

The other night my friend Allison was over (a fellow Madison student, she's just visiting this fine country) and we captured another large spider. It was crawling on the ceiling. I only cried for like 7 minutes or something. Allison caught it in a cup and put a piece of paper over it.  We released it in the backyard. I really enjoy wildlife, but I seem to enjoy it less when it's in the house. Unless it's a gecko, then we're cool.

Just kidding... it was the floor of an elevator

 After arriving in Brisbane on Tuesday, we had about a week to find a place to live before orientation started. Technically, we had as much time as we wanted to stay in that hostel and continue living out of a suitcase. I was (naturally) more productive than the boys and managed to find a place relatively quickly. They are still searching. Finding a place to live in a new city is definitely an adventure, let me tell ya.

I started with my first showing for one bedroom available in a 6 bedroom house pretty close to campus. I started walking there with about a 30 buffer for a 15 minute walk. Well, good thing for that because I got completely lost. By the way, I didn't have a working phone or any maps or anything. It was basically like travelling on the Oregon Trail. Also, the street signs here are stupid and the roads are all backwards because they drive on the left and everything... it was just bad. Thankfully it is a very civilized place with many people walking about and I see a girl holding her phone (I assumed using it for GPS). I stopped her and asked if she knew how to get to Carmody st. To my surprise, she was heading to Carmody street as well. So we start chatting and I find out her name is Camilla and she is from Norway also studying at UQ for just one semester. Then I ask, "why are you going to Carmody street?" and she said "to look at an apartment". Well, sure enough, we were going to the same place with only one bedroom available. We continued to be lost and continued chatting and it was actually quite nice. After seeing the place we both decided it wasn't right for us. Walking home I asked if she wanted to meet up with me and the guys sometime to go out in the city (I figured they would love me because she is really pretty, typical Scandinavian, blonde hair blue eyes etc.). She said she would love to go out and sure enough, I had made a friend on the street. We have hung out three times since we met on Thursday.

After going to the bars Thursday night, I woke up Friday after minimal sleep. But I had to get up early because I had a big day! I was visiting two houses that seemed really promising. The first one was a really nice four bedroom house close to campus with a big bedroom. If you can't tell yet, this is the one I went with. But before I share the excitement of finally finding an apartment, I must tell a story about the other house I saw that afternoon.

It was quite the hike, but this time I had maps! Yes, paper maps. I am telling you, we are really crippling ourselves by becoming so dependent on our phones. Searching for a house in a new city with no GPS is probably one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life thus far. Anyway, two buses, and a long walk (by now I am sweating) later, I arrived at the second house. It was in a nice quiet neighborhood. But the house was hidden by overgrown trees in the front yard and I started to get a bad feeling right away. Mind you, I was kind of excited about the place because the ad said "1 male tenant, 3 females, all students". Well, it was very misleading and my excitement diminished quickly. The person who greeted me was a 40 some old lady. She was one of the tenants, a graduate student (lame). The male tenant was her Dad (yes, the math should put him over 65). The other female was her niece and the last one was an exchange student from Saudi Arabia. Uhm, NIGHTMARE. I wanted out of there so badly, but I took the tour anyway. Dirty, cluttered and the bed room was hot pink. I was basically dying because I felt so uncomfortable. I couldn't get out of there fast enough and I quickly realized the house I saw earlier that morning was definitely the one.

The next day I called the landlady. I paid my security deposit on Saturday and moved in on Sunday. It feels so good to unpack and to finally have a home!

My new home!

I don't have much to say about the bars/clubs scene here, except this:

The drinking age in Australia is 18. 

Positive: I can get into any bar I want without getting butterflies in my stomach as I approach the bouncer (although I still did the first time)

Negative: There are 18 year olds in the bars. And they're obnoxious

And that's pretty much it. It's quite fun otherwise.

Here is a pic of me with my first (legally) purchased beer in Australia:

Here is a link to all my pictures from Fiji via Shutterfly: http://christinasfijipictures2012.shutterfly.com/

Warning: There are 292 pictures. Do not start viewing them unless you are in class or at work where time spent on the computer really doesn't matter.

Enjoy!

The other day, I spent some time on the UQ (University of Queensland) campus where I will be studying. I spent the morning searching online for an apartment, calling the phone companies, and enrolling in classes. Pretty average day if I do say so myself. Around noon, I decided to grab some lunch on campus. Surprisingly, the campus has quite a few options, almost like a food court you would find in a mall. I decided to get Subway (yes, my fellow engineers at Madison, you can't avoid Subway for lunch apparently) and it seemed like it was going to be a pretty American experience besides the prices (8 something for a 6 inch! scam). Anyway, I get the usually, chicken teriyaki, and the normal questions come at me: "what type of bread?" "what size?" "toasted?" "what kinda of cheese?" and to the last one I answered like normal: American. Then the person picks up a stack on orange triangles aka cheddar. UHM no, you don't eat cheddar cheese unless it's in Cheez-it form. I corrected her  and pointed to the white triangles like I normally get and then quickly realized that saying "American" in another country is basically asking for the most cheddary cheese you can find. After being totally embarassed I moved along to the veggie station. Hit with yet another surprise, they have like half the good veggies we have in America (AKA no spinach lettuce). Startled by this I tried to continue my requests. I couldn't stop thinking about how Subway was really not giving it to me "my way" as they claim. Lastly, it was time to order a drink. To my surprise, and excitment, they had VANILLA COKE in a bottle. Of course I got it. The closest thing I can get to vanilla coke in the States is when I mix coke and vanilla smirnoff. The total was $10.50. Bullshit

After that traumatic experience (which I expected to be so familir), I found some Wisconsin familiarity somewhere else. I sat down across from some nerdy-ish looking guy playing on his phone. I thought maybe he would want to chat or something or I would just talk at him for the remainder of my lunch. Initially he wasn't to chatty, but I soon realized he did love talking about particular topics, mainly the NFL. He asked where I was from and I said the US, and he said "Oh, which part?". (By the way, all Australians do this, when really the only place they actually know in the US is California). Anyway, I tell him Wisconsin and of course he hasn't got a clue where it is. I use my typical way of clarifying, "Um it's kinda by Canada" (not at all) or "Near the great lakes" and then I tried something totally random that I now know I should be using more often: "Uhm our NFL team won the Superbowl last year" Well, thanks to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, I had an instant friend. This guy seriously loved Aaron Rodgers. He went on and on about how great he was and how he was the best player ever. He also mentioned that Eli Manning is a baby. We talked for probably twenty minutes about the Packers.  I am just saying, people can be relatively clueless about stuff but when it comes to football they will never miss a beat. Props to the Packers for my new found conversation starter!

I am experimenting with some new blog designs. Thanks everyone (all 6 of you) for voting in the poll!

Hello again!

I have been in Brisbane, Australia now for three days and things are starting to get really exciting. I'll try to break this up again as to not completely bore you.

Landing


We landed in Brisbane around 10 am and we basically had no idea what we were doing. The school has a free service that picks you up from the airport and takes you to your temporary accommodation (since we don't have an apartment yet). Naturally, the three slackers from Madison did not plan to utilize this in advance so we showed up at the airport with no plan. Thankfully some Asian dude (from Canada, weird I know) was planning ahead (typical Asian) and called a shuttle for himself. Again, in typical Madison fashion, we mooched. Luckily he was cool about it and the driver was more than happy to accomodate us. He was an old Australian man who clearly loved picking up delinquent students who don't have a clue about anything and telling them everything they need to know about the city in a brief van ride. He was so helpful, telling us about the transit passes we should get, and where the good neighborhoods to live are, and where to travel in Australia. Before piling in the van, however, I had my first awkward encounter with Australian "lingo". We were standing around waiting for Alex to get his stuff and the man looked at me and says "Did you need to use the loo before we leave?". I looked back at him and for some reason said "Why yes, I should freshen up a little bit". Soo many problems with this: 1. I don't talk like that in real life so I just sounded like an idiot 2. No one should say annoying shit like that and 3. I don't even know how to freshen myself. Regardless, I quickly walked to the bathroom (loo) shaking my head at myself. I didn't have to pee, so I just stared at myself in the mirror for a little bit. I re-did my "messy" bun in an attempt to freshen but really I just re-messied it. I went back out and thankfully we were starting to load our things into the van, hopefully no one noticed my awkwardness. The man dropped us off at the hostel we are staying at until we all find apartments. We ditched our bags and went off to do some city exploring. Turns out Brisbane is a pretty cool city.

My new city!

City Encounters


Not a whole lot to say here except that I already love Brisbane. It is clean and modern and really safe. After checking in we explored the downtown area. There is a huge mall area with outdoor shops and food stands. It was just buzzing with people. Things are pretty similar to the US, but there are some differences. There is a "coles" grocery store, a Target (it's is kinda set up like a department store which is weird), Kmart (which is, apparently, the nice place to shop) and various other mall-ish type stores. People still run to make it into the cross work before it stops flashing, they still walk while texting, and they do a pretty good job on walking on their side of the sidewalk. You know, in America when there is a crowd you typically stay on the right side just like you were driving. Well, same concept here except that they drive on the left side thus naturally they walk on the left side. I caused only a few disturbances in pedestrian traffic before I quickly realized I needed to follow the rules of the sidewalk. Stressful.

Campus Life


We spent our second day in Brisbane exploring the campus, and it is beautiful! The buses drop you off right in front and it instantly becomes a walking campus. It's basically it's own separate little community, not like Madison where it is mixed into the city. Although it's a big school (about 45,000 students) it's not very big distance wise. Here is a map so you have an idea of it's surroundings

And look, here is me with a sign! (Typical tourist)

Next week is Orientation week and school starts on the 27th. More posts to come!

Disclaimer: This is going to be a long post. But bear with me... I have a lot to share. Fiji is very desolate so I have compiled my notes from the trip and now that I have wifi it's just gonna come all at once. From now on, I will keep them brief.


The title of this post is actually perfect (not just because I thought of it) because I really can't think of a better way to provide a visual for the country of Fiji. See photo below

I decided it was a mix between Jurassic Park, Avatar (if only those mountains were floating), and a beach screen saver

Fiji is an incredible country filled with gorgeous beaches, turquoise water, and some of the best people you will ever meet. I was fortunate to spend seven days travelling through the Yasawa Islands, staying at three different islands total. Map below

We landed in Nadi where we took a boat (similar to the one pictured) to the top of the Yasawas

Arrival

After being dropped off in the airport on Sunday, I met up with two other students from my program, Alex and Adam, who were also going to Fiji before Australia. We first flew to L.A. and after getting off the plane in Cali we ran into nine other Madison students (from a different program) that were on the same flight and going to Fiji the exact same days as us. It was basically a miracle but I was so happy because it was nice to be travelling with a bigger group. Total there were twelve of us, and I would say we all got pretty close within one week. Here is a group pic

Left to Right: Larry, Matt, Me, Molly, Dave, Andrew, Josh, Paul, Evan, Adam, Alex and Rachel in the front

Day 1: Tavewa Island Arrival

We arrived in Nadi, Fiji on Tuesday morning after a 10.5 hour flight from L.A. The flight was really easy actually. I basically did all of my favorite things: ate, slept, and smiled at friendly Fijian people with flowers in their hair (okay, that is a new found favorite). It was about 6 am or something when we landed and already 85 degrees. We collected our luggage after going through the most laid back customs I have ever been through. Seriously, the man was more concerned with teaching me how to say "hello" ("Bula") in Fijian than he was with making sure I wasn't bringing in the forbidden beetle depicted on the poster behind him. All twelve of us hailed some cabs and that's when I had my first Fijian adventure: driving. Because islands are secluded from neighboring countries, they are allowed to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Naturally, it is a bit alarming watching cars flying by you on your right when you are on the left, not to mention the fact that the front seat passenger sits on the left side of the car. To add to this unfamiliar chaos, the taxi drivers are of course reckless and the roads are "loosely" kept. From dodging potholes, swerving around other cars, and the bizarre heat at 6:45 am, I couldn't wait to get out of that car. We ditched our bags at Nadi Bay hotel which is where we would return on the last night of the trip. From there we took only the necessities to Port Denarau where the real adventure would begin. We boarded a huge yellow yacht which took us on a five hour boat ride to the very top of the Yasawa Islands (see map) where we would then slowly island hop our way back down to the port.

Spending five hours on a yacht is not as pleasant as it sounds, by the way. It is especially less pleasant when you are hungover and there is a cyclone causing eight foot waves to toss the boat back and forth. That story is coming...

The yacht came to a stop near Tavewa island where we would be spending two nights at Coral View resort. We got off the big boat and climbed into a significantly smaller, less stable boat (essentially a row boat with a motor). As the boat approached the shore of the island a group of about 15 Fijian people lined up on the beach and began to sing a welcome song. We were greeted with handshakes and many "Bulas!!" from everyone. After lunch, we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the beautiful ocean. By beautiful I mean really warm and crystal clear turquoise water, just to clarify. Although the resort had an awesome socializing area and 24 hour bar, we all went to bed around 9pm that night. Something about "sleeping" on a plane and frolicking in the ocean all day can really wear a girl out.

Day 2: Tavewa Island Activities


At this point I would like to say "we woke up on Wednesday morning around 8 am for a beautiful breakfast yadda yayay..." but by this point in real life I had lost all track of time and date. There are no clocks in sight, or calendars. The staff literally bangs a drum when it is time to switch activities. Anyway, we woke up some day at some time and were quickly whisked away on another small boat to a different island. Here we were greeted by a local who debriefed us on what was planned for us that morning. We were about to jump into a fresh water underground cave beneath a mountain.... so normal. We climbed up before climbing down in the mountain, careful to dodge the rocks above us.

I can't really explain the caves that well, mostly because I don't know if I have a wide enough vocabulary, but also because there is nothing else I can really compare them to. Basically, you walk down these steps and it is like a pool, will rock all around you and some openings at the top where light shines through. The water was warm and not salty because it came from mountain run off. You could see right through it but could not see the bottom which was a little creeping. After playing for a while in the first cave, a Fijian came and asked us to form two groups to go to the second cave. The second cave, mind you, is also inside the mountain but has only one entrance: under the rock. Here is a brief dialogue: "Okay, hold your breath, dive down, and swim toward the flashlight, the other Fijian will grab your head and guide you up". To spare you all the details about me basically shitting my pants at that point, I did it. I held my breath and swam under a rock into a pitch black cave where some random dude was holding a flash light and guided me up to the clearing where I was greeted by the rest of my group. We were then led by the Fijian man through very narrow straights in this completely pitch black under water cave. The experience was unlike anything I have ever done and probably will do again.

After lunch, we decided to take another trip to a very famous area in Fiji called the Blue Lagoon for some reef snorkeling (I didn't bring my camera but here is an idea):

No, we were not on that boat. We were again travelling by a small row boat+motor

After being abandoned on the beach, we ventured to the designated swim area. This was my first time snorkeling with real wildlife and it was pretty awesome. I saw so many fish from Finding Nemo (Dory, Nemo, Peach, and Gill, just to name a few). And in case you were wondering, clown fish really do live in anemones. They love them. Also, the fish look right at you. It is kinda bizarre, like they know you are examining them so they just give it right back. Not to mention we probably look freaky as hell with those masks on. While we were swimming about, the winds seemed to pick up and blew in a pretty big rain cloud. Side note about Fiji: it rains quite sporadically and quite frequently. So we snorkeling in a quick tropical rain shower and by the time we got back on the boat it was sunny again. Beautiful.

At night, we were feeling rested and ready for a party. We met some other travellers at dinner who were curious about where we were going next and after we told them the name of the island they immediately told us not to go there. Apparently they (the resort, not our new friends) had bed bugs. And an extremely unfriendly staff. And bad food. All things I hate. We continued to ask around and various other people confirmed the bed bugs which was enough to get us thinking. We continued the night with drinking games among foreigners (Canada, Denmark, England, and Australia), but clearly had some thinking to do about the rest of our trip. By the way, the Canadians like to sing before playing flip cup. It is quite catchy acutally and if you like the movie Cool Runnings you will appreciate it. After singing "ole, ole, ole" a few times, you start the game with "Feel the rhythem, feel the rhyme, let's get fucked up, it's flip cup time!"

Crazy Canadians...

Day 3: Tavewa Island and the Great Bed Bug Fiasco

Okay fine, it wasn't a fiasco. We simply decided not to go to the bed bug invested island (don't worry Mom) and just forked over the money to stay another night on our current island (again, don't worry Mom). It rained a lot that day anyway so we didn't have a lot of activities planned. During low tide we walked along the rocks to the other side of the island. Here is a pic of me with a weird island tree that we discovered along the way.

While it was raining we played a lot of cards. I learned how to play Hearts which I am not very good at. We also had a very intense volleyball match in the afternoon, which I am also not very good at. I had a lot of fun though. It started pouring when we were playing but it was 80 degrees and I was already in my swim suit so it was actually quite nice. The local Fijians are pretty good at volleyball, but then again they don't really do a lot during the day so I am sure they are secretly practicing. I got two rug burns on my knees.

That night was also really fun. Followed with more drinking games, the foreign variations, and mingling with other travelers from all across the world. Fiji is actually a much more travelled country than you might think. We drank a lot. Again, I blame the  crazy Canadians

Day 4: Kuata Island Arrival

We woke up all pretty hungover (naturally) and boarded the big boat around 12 to take us to the next island: Kuata. The ride was about 3.5 hours and it was raining. The rains the previous days must have also conjured up some fierceness in the ocean. Regardless, there were eight foot waves tossing the ship about, we were cooped up in the inside cabin due to the rain, oh, and I puked. I have never been sea sick before in my life, but let me tell you... it is a weird feeling. I want to spare the details but also I just want to tell you. You basically puke until you can't puke anymore and then you still feel sick and you just sit there and wanna die. Don't worry, no PDP (public displays of puking) I went to the bathroom. But still, quite traumatic. 

We arrived at Kuata and I have never been so happy to be on land. The resort here was significantly less "fancy" than Coral View. There was minimal running water, basically no electricity, and more simple dorms. It was really nice though, more authentic I suppose. The people were incredible which is what made it so wonderful. We arrived in time to eat dinner at basically begin our nightly activities. I was drinking Sprite (dumb boat). And then, all of a sudden a small group of Fijians started gathering on a mat in the main dining area. Eventually, we were all gathered around listening to a Fijian man play Bob Marley and John Mayer on his guitar and then we experienced something truly Fijian. They begin to make excessive amounts of Kava, a traditional Fijian drink. Kava is a non-native plant brought to Fiji and has been grown there for the sole purpose of making Kava drink with it. They beat the plant to a powder and put it in a bag then put the bag in water to essentially steep it like tea. In sum, it is basically mud water.  Regardless, it is a very big deal to drink Kava with local Fijians. As they passed the cups around everyone had to try it and we all had to cheers with "Bula" before drinking it. Kava is basically like alcohol, except that and I quote the Fijian leader "alcohol will make you dizzy when you lay down, but Kava is much better. When you lay down you just fall in love with your pillow" This is exactly correct. Plus it makes your tongue numb. Either way, I was still drinking mud water. I was happy with just one night of Kava.

Day 5: Kuata Island Activities

Thankfully, we woke up to relatively clear skies which means our activities that were planned for the day weren't cancelled. And it was a big day! We left right away in another small boat to basically the middle of the ocean for another snorkeling trip. Apparently the reef was very abundant there, as I was soon to find out. We were the second group to go out so we approached the other 10 or so snorkelers already in the water. We came to a stop and started to put on our snorkeling gear. Suddenly, someone shoots their head up and says "Guys! There is a shark right here further down by the reef" then the man in the boat looks right at me and says "Okay jump in". I looked at him with that very distinct "Are you nuts??" face, which he must be immune to by now. Again, he said "get in"... What the hell I thought, and jumped off the back of the boat. Immediately after putting my face in the water and looking down I saw the shark about 10 feet below me. It is an apparently "harmless" breed known as a reef shark. Still, it was very shark looking. Here is an example pic (thanks Google)

I stared at it for a while and then I realized I was staring at a shark... so I began to swim away (duh). The coral and the fish were really beautiful and the water was so wonderful you didn't even feel like you were in the ocean. I swam and swam and then again another shark. This one was very "friendly". It was swimming along the bottom pretty far down but then it started to come up near the surface, right towards me. Well, I froze. I literally stopped flipping my flippers and stopped breathing and just watch it. The shark swam right underneath me (probably because it didn't realize what that stiff, lifeless floating thing above it was) proabably about 2 feet. It was really awesome, once I started breathing again of course. By the end of the snorkeling trip I had actually become pretty comfortable with them. The Fijian guide hoped into the water and started releasing some sort of food for the sharks. Next I know I am looking under the water at four of these sharks just swarming around a group of snorkelers. Then, the Fijian dude just reaches down and grabs the shark by its head (mind you there are like 4ish feet long) and holds it above the water. I have no comment on the sanity of these people but they sure do know how to give you yours moneys worth.

Meanwhile, a cyclone was brewing to the north of us and greeted us with a gentle rain storm. Soon, it became less gentle, and then painful. We all piled back into the small boats and began our 20 minute or so ride home. The waves became quite violent actually and I was sincerely afraid for my life. As I was getting my shit tossed in the front of the boat, the two Fijian men were arguing across the boat. A conversation I assume went like "But we can't expect all of these Americans to swim for their lives in this ocean, there are sharks out here!" We approached the other boat with the rest of our group and one of the Fijians tapped the guy next to me, Alex, and said we needed to get rid of some weight. Alex then jumped from our boat and swam to the next one. That's when I thought "Dear god if he looks at me to jump next we are going to have some serious issues". He made some other dude jump. We continued to drive back toward our island among rain and wind and very large waves when all of a sudden we went in a different direction towards a smaller lagoon. We slowed to a stop and one Fijian man starts hustling about in the front of the boat. He grabs a snorkel mask, some flippers, and a spear gun (yes, there was a spear gun just casually laying at the front of the boat). He looks at the rest of the passengers and says "Okay see you guys tomorrow!" and jumps into the ocean. We had fish that night for dinner. Correlation? I think yes.

In the afternoon, we had an ocean kayaking "race". This really isn't that good of a story so I will keep it brief. Basically, we got paired up guys and girls to race kayaks from one island to the other for the grand prize of free beer. I was paired with Larry, who was pretty buff (not to mention he was Krystal's "type").  I didn't realize how the buffness would benefit me until the Fijian dude leading the race told us that the men would paddle. I asked what the girls were going to do since we weren't given paddles too. He said "sit in the front and hold your teams flag". They are very sexist (I gave him a lot of sass don't worry). To wrap this up, it rained, there were 50 mph winds (or whatever), the current was so strong you couldn't go straight, I complimented Larry's muscles the whole time because he was doing so much work and I was doing jack shit, the race was called off half way through due to weather, and we were picked up in the middle of the ocean by a motor boat.

We ended that night with a very interesting entertainment performance by the "Bula Boys" who were basically just a bunch of really tall, half naked Fijian men dancing around and shouting.

Oh yeah, they're ripped too

Arrival at Beachcomber Island

The next day we basically lounged around on the beach at Kuata and did nothing. We were waiting for the boat to come pick us and take us to our next island: Beachcomber. Beachcomber is apparently the best party island of the entire Yasawa islands so we were all pretty excited. Needless to say, this made the day go extremely slow. We lounged in the sun, read a little, had in depth conversations about what we want to do with our lives, played cards, and waited. Finally around 3:30 the boat came and took us to the next island. No, I did not get sick this time. We arrived at Beachcomber about an hour later and we were totally excited. As soon as we checked in we went right to the bar. The facility was so nice and fancy and really was designed for a party. I drank two red slushie drinks and was just loving my life. After dinner we finally showered and got ready. The night was greeted with lots of dancing and drinking and heart-to-hearts (since it was our last night together as a big group). The next morning we all woke up late with headaches and rather large bar tabs.

The Last (incredible) Day on the Seaspring

Alas, it was the last day to spent in Fiji. We left Beachcomber island around 10 am where we were taken to a more exclusive resort. Although not allowed into the exclusive resort, we waited by their dock where we soon boarded the Seaspring, a giant ocean sailboat which we would be cruising on all day. We departed for our first stop: Castaway Island. Yes, where Tom Hanks and Wilson filmed the movie. It was so beautiful and somewhat familiar. See if you can tell:

We snorkeled and explored the island all morning. After returning to the boat, and having a fabulous on-water lunch, we headed to our next island where we would experience yet another truly Fijian encounter. We went again to another Kava ceremony with the chief of a local village. We were then able to roam the village, shop at the local shell market and finally, visit the local school. The children were so sweet and happy and truly excited to have visitors. They were obsessed with the cameras and loved looking at pictures of themselves. It was a really humbling and unique experience to mingle with locals and an incredible way to end my week in Fiji.

We arrived back to port on the last day around 5 pm. After wonderful Fijian meals all week, the group unanimously agreed on 10oz burgers from the Hard Rock Cafe as our last meal. I love being American.

Summary

As I said earlier, Fiji is a truly incredible country. The landscape is unreal and the environment that surrounds you seems completely untouched. The thing about Fiji though that really made it beautiful was its people. I think the most enlightening thing for me was how we all just trusted them so much. I don't know what it was, but they made you feel safe, even when you are theoretically unsafe. Trust is a tricky thing too, especially when you are a foreigner. As a traveller in Fiji, you have to put complete in the Fijian people. You trust them to pull your head up from an underwater cave, you trust them drive you home in a cyclone, you even trust them when they serve you their mud water (which I am sure was not made with purified bottled water). All I am saying is, (and this is only legitimate because I didn't die) Fiji is full of adventure and beauty and people that you can genuinely trust even though you would never trust them if they were running around in a skirt in the US.

Bula!

Last night, which happened to be my final night in America for a while.... something happened to me that I had been hoping to avoid for a while: my fake ID was taken.

Krystal, her boyfriend, Ben, and I decided to go out in Chicago and we went to this bar where they meant business, apparently. Anyway, we thought we could handle it but then there were so many of them questioning and being rude about the fact that my id wasn't me so we left. A man in a taxi drove us home and I touched his tube (which was used for heating).

I am not that upset because by the time I return from Australia I will be within three weeks of turning 21. Abby (the girl on my fake) gave me a good run and I truly appreciate the time that I had her. Here is a picture of me the first night I got my fake. Enjoy!

Not sure why I was making that face...

Just added the daily puppy widget to the right column! If you're bored with my stories from Australia (which you won't be) at least you can check every day for your daily dose of cuteness. Seriously..... SO CUTE! Speaking of cute... look at what I found

 

So, I have spent a stupid amount of time trying to reverse the order of my posts so that the blog reads in chronological order making it more of a story. I thought it would be nicer for you reading folk because that is how normal humans read. But after many failed coding attempts and a bazillion forums later, I am giving up. Apparently it is easy but I think it is hard. Anyway, I decided to make a "welcome" page so if you are just joining you can reference that easily to get some background information on the blog. All other posts will be in the posts section and we be posted newest first, which basically just means you need to keep up or you're gonna fall behind and have to read bottom up and that is annoying. Just check it everyday. OR put your email in at the top and you will just get any new posts emailed to you. Lastly, if there are any nerds out there reading this, please help a sista out. Java/HTML experience is supposedly a must (I don't have it, thanks for nothing Deb Debbler). Comment if you are smarts and can help, I will bring you back something cool from the land down under. Also, comment if any of you know Deb (I would love to reminisce)

Two more days!

Packing is hard! The many pre-trip shopping trips were enjoyable...until now.

Hello and welcome to my awesome blog!

First things first.... put your email in at the top to follow via email (so convenient) or become a member over to the right for easy blog access (so flattering).

This blog will be primarily focused on my study abroad adventure this spring in Australia, but it might also include general life thoughts and feelings because I think I am going to like having a place to vent about stuffs, plus I love to talk.


Background


My name is Christina and I am a junior in Industrial Engineering at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some might say I am a "nerd" but apparently people like nerds because I've been told many times that it's hot. Something you should know right away, I am a ginger. Here's a pic:

This is me receiving a piece of candy from a street dancer in San Fran

 If you are confused by the term "ginger" please see the urban dictionary definition below:

ginger	4436 up, 3632 down
	A ginger is, among other things, a person with red hair, freckles and pale skin. Some darker skinned or non-ginger haired persons feel compelled to degenerate gingers out of jealousy because a ginger's look is unique. Men typically love ginger women.

See that, men love gingers. As a side note, check out the definition of my name "Christina"

Christina	3844 up, 850 down
	The coolest, cutest, nicest girl ever. With the best personality, also very quick witted and very smart. Everyone should get to meet her at least once.

The 850 people that "down"ed this were probably named "Christine", just sayin.



Study Abroad Info


I decided to study abroad last fall, as in 2010. I know, it was a long time in the process. I was officially accepted this Fall 2011 and now I leave February 5th 2012. I am going to continue studying engineering at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Geography below...





Things that matter

I am pretty excited to go but also sad to be leaving behind some pretty cool stuff. For example:

My best friend: Krystal. 

So Drunk

My boyfriend: Ben. 

So Happy

My family: John, Rita, and Andrew  

So hard to find a decent picture of the fam (this is from 2007)

I will also miss...

My school

My SWEsters (SWE, Society of Women Engineers)

my darling gecko

.....and Wisconsin!

Wait.... not that though 

Things I am so pumped for

WARM WEATHER!

Beautiful Scenery

Uhm, more scenery

80+, yes please

OH, and school of course! (and meeting new peeps)

Students at St. Lucia, UQ

Study Abroad Goals


Below is a list of goals for my study abroad experience:

• Get rid of my gingery skin
• Jump out of a plane
• Eat Kangaroo (even though they are cute)
• Pass my classes
• Join a beach volleyball team (even though I don't really like volleyball, it seems like the cool thing to do)
• Hold a variety of Australian animals that I could never hold anywhere else
• Snorkel (maybe scuba dive) in the Great Barrier Reef
• Find Nemo (that is a joke) (but kinda not really)
• Take a "jumping" picture in front of the Sydney Opera House (Those are still cool right??)

MORE TO COME, comment with any suggestions

*NOTE: These goals are in no order of importance, although working on my tan might still be number one if I had to rank them