Sydney and more

I spent Halloween, one of my favorite holidays by far in Sydney. I will say that Halloweens is sure not celebrated like is it in the USA not to mention it was super hot instead of cold and rainy!! Got to see some really cool site in Sydney but it is such a huge city that I can't wait to go back and see it again at my own pace. I dressed up as a Seattle Seahawk fan and ended up meeting some girls from the Seattle area, talk about a small world!! I will say though it wasn't best halloween outfit but it worked. One of my favorite things in Sydney wasn't really in Sydney just outside, were the Blue Mountains and the 3 Sister of course I named them Kris, Erin and Theresa!! The last days in Sydney were spent visiting several beaches including Manly, Bronte and the world famous Bondi.

School is going well for me this semester I think I have surprise myself in how well I have been able to juggle school, traveling and the sun. I officially end December 17th with my Sports Law final, my only final of the semester. Once again I lucked out and only have to do group projects as my final. These next couple of weeks will be spent working on group project, final papers and studying for my Sports Law final but I will leave some time for the beach and other things because it is to nice not going this wonderful weather I have.

Me, Kristen, Erica, Marianne and Therese are going to hit up the water park Wet & Wild finally!! I am super excited because they have my favorite ride called the Tornado!!

I just want to say that I am thankful for this wonderful opportunity and the wonderful friends and family I have in my life!! For everyone who wants to know Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Australia but I will sure miss the wonderful food!!

Erin good luck in hosting Thanksgiving this year, I am sure you will go great and I can't wait to Skype with you and all the family!! Mom have fun in Cali with Kris, Mike, Andrew and Clara..

To everyone else have a Happy Thanksgiving and be thankful that you are alive!!

Cheers,

Theresa

The last couple of weeks

Hey everyone!! Sorry I have been a slacker on updating my blog the past couple of weeks. Here is a quick update of what you have missed. Two weekends ago Kirsten, Erica, Marianne, Therese, Marc and I went to Surfers Paradise to celebrate EUROFEST 09 where they had various foods and music from Germany, Italy, France and other European countries. After spending the day there Marc, Kirsten, I went to Brisbane for Oktoberfest. Let's just say there was a lot of people, beer, pretzels and bratwurst...not to mention 14 plastic jugs that I collected throughout the night..It was a fun night to spend with friends.

My roomie Marianne and her friend Therese (neighbor in Apt.6) cooked me, Erica and Kirsten a traditional Norwegian meal with meatballs, gravy, potatoes and blueberry muffins. It was nice to have a home cooked meal not to mention it was amazing too. The funniest part of the night was we all had to say the name of the meal in Norwegian, maybe I will upload the video on day so everyone can see. It is pretty funny watching Americans and a Canadian try to speak in Norwegian.

This past weekend Kirsten, Erica, Marc and I went an hour south of Robina to Byron Bay in NSW (New South Wales) to camp for the weekend. Byron Bay is Australia most Easterly point, we drove up to the lighthouse view point that had breathtaking views of the water and beaches. Sunday Erica and Marc left for home while Kirsten and I said an extra day to walk around do a little shopping and hang out. I got a chance to stay in my first hostel called the Arts Factory, pretty neat place not to mention we got to stay in a tee pee too. Monday came around bright an early as we had a 7:15am departure time for our skydiving with Byron Bay skydiving company. Kirsten and I jumped 14,000 feet with a 60 second free fall through the clouds. I will say it was the most amazing unreal experience one could ever have. I never thought I would jump out of an airplane since I am scared of heights. I guess there is a first for everything.

I look forward to a weekend to catch up on sleep and homework before spending Halloween in Sydney.

I want to say Happy 1st Birthday to my niece Clara Van Houten. I miss you and love you lots. Also I want to say congrats to the Martinez Family (Mel, Eddie and Gael) on their newest addition to the family!!

Peace, Love and 60 seconds of free fall!!

Love,

Theresa

Renting a car and road trip to Australia Zoo

This weekend was all about Kirsten, Therese, Erica, Marianne and me. We decided that we should rent a car and drive to Brisbane to explore the world famous Australia Zoo, home of Steven Irwin. Since the stirring wheel in on the right of the car they decided that they should drive on the left side of the road..We left the driving up to Kirsten since she really wanted to drive and the navigating up to me since I was the oldest..ha ha pretty funny..We left Robina at 6am on Saturday morning with plans to stop by a little market before the zoo but by the time we got into Brisbane we only had about 30 minutes so we went to see the Glass House Mountain and take a short trail to get ourselves warmed up for the all day trek around the zoo. I have been to several zoo in my life but I will say this by far is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. The place that Steve Irwin build is all about the animals as well as giving people a once in a life opportunity as well. For example Kirsten got a chance to hold a snake and alligator (have her picture taken with them), Therese got to hold a snake and Kola (have her picture taken with them), Marianna got a chance to hold a Kola (take a picture with it) and of course myself I got a chance to hold a Kola (have my picture taken with it as well.) That is something I will alway remember in my life. We got to feed an elephant, kangaroos roamed freely in a gated area where we could walk up pet them as well as feed them, at first I was really scared because they have major claws but after seeing them a couple times later in the day I was able to feed a mama along with her Joey. They put on an amazing Croc show as well as a Bengal Tiger show. We tried our best to see everything but it is so BIG you can't do everything in one day. I shall return at another time I promise you, it is AMAZING!!. Sunday was our last day with the car so we took it pretty easy and just drove about 20 minutes south to Coolangatta to relax on the beach and enjoy the freedom of having a car. (Don't get me wrong the bus system is great but it takes twice as long to get anywhere). Next up is a trip to the outlet mall as well as a camping trip to Byron Bay sometime in November where I am thinking about Skydiving with Kristen...well shall see!!

PS school isn't as bad as I first thought, of course there is work but my professors are amazing and being a Post Grad student has its benefits. For example in my Journalism class for our tutorial we are getting one on one time with another journalism professor and he bought me a milkshake and another fellow Post Grad a coffee. I sure don't expect this every week but it was sure nice of him, Bond Uni does pride itself on knowing its students. I have a couple BIG assignments due this week so I shall spend the nights working on those.

Once again check here for more updates next week.

To all my friends and family I miss you lots and just think you too get to experience Australia through this blog. KET 4 life.

Cheers,

Theresa

First two weeks

Hey everyone!! Sorry it have been awhile since I have updated my blog. Here is what you have missed. I left Washington on September 4th and arrived in Brisbane, Australia on September 6th, yes that would be a day and half of traveling around the world.

I currently live with two roommates, Erica a 20 year old from Jersey and Marianne a 23 year old from Norway. It have been great having other people around to do things with. The first week I was in Australia I attend orientation called Bond Week, during this week they gave you chance to get to know the campus, enroll in class, set up your email account etc, they also had planned events like a campus bar b que, trivia night and a couple of parties on campus. Even though it has been busy with all this activities I have had a chance to set out and see other parts of the gold coast. I have been to Surfer Paradise, Broad Beach, Currumbin Beach and Sea World. I have upcoming trips to the world famous Australian Zoo as well as a trip to Sydney for a Halloween Harbor Cruise. I look forward to see a much of Australia as I can as well as the several countries located around Australia.

Oh no minor detail I left out...I also am here for school, ha ha. There is what I am taking for classes, Sport Law, Sport Business Innovation, Sport Public Relation and Specialized Journalism about travel and sports writing. So far all my classes have been pretty interesting but I will say going back to school after a 5 year break has been pretty hard, I forgot how much information they provided you as well as all the assignments and reading you much do. I will say it is very hard with all the distraction such as the wonderful weather, the beaches and all the social activities but I will say I came to Australia to do all those wonderful things but I also came to get a Masters degree in Sports Management and I plan in doing so.

Now that I have given you an update please check back here next week and the following weeks as I will update this each weekend.

Cheers from Australia!!

Theresa

Countdown to Australia

Hey everyone!! Well this is my first attempt at a Blog, I plan on using this as a way to update friends and family with how everything is going in Australia.

So it's July 1st and the countdown has officially began..well actually the countdown has begun since the day I was accepted into Bond University which was March 9th.

I am getting my Master's degree in Sports Management.

Since I actually don't leave for Australia for another 2 months I will update more often as soon as I get there!!

Take care,
Theresa