Mt Kiera Hike!

Yesterday, a big group of us from International House went on a hike up Mount Kiera. It took almost 6 hours to complete the hike!! It was a really hot day, about 85 degrees and it was a very steep mountain in Wollongong, approximately 1100 feet up. When we got to the top of the mountain, there was a bbq waiting for us and plenty of much needed water and juice!! There was also a really cute restaurant and patio that overlooked the whole coast! I took lots of pictures and ate my lunch and then we started back down the mountain. By the time we returned to campus, I was dead tired, sweaty, and ready for a nap!! I showered quickly and passed out almost immediately! I woke up regretfully, about an hour later so I wouldn't miss dinner! Then, we got ready and just went down to the local pub for about an hour for a drink. I met this really awesome boy from my floor named Angus, who is also gluten free, and we talked forever!! He gave me some gluten free cereal and gummy bears to try and told me that Domino's Pizza here has gluten free dough!! I am super excited and I can't wait to try the pizza!! When I got home, I skyped with my family until like 3 am, until I got in trouble by my mentor for "being too loud" haha you know the Haywards...always causing a ruckus!! I woke up around 10 this morning for brunch and then came back to my room, intent on booking a trip for spring break. I spent all afternoon working and finally booked a trip from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand for 4 days and then from Auckland, New Zealand to Nadi, Fiji for 4 more days over April vacation!! Then, I will return to Sydney on April 10th, and then begin classes again on the 12th. I also booked rooms in hostels in both cities, so I will have a place to stay and eat when I arrive!! I am so excited and I can't wait to travel and see more of the world!! I am counting down the days...
I start classes tomorrow...wish me luck!!

Wrapping up O-Week!

Yesterday, I went for a long run down by the beach when I woke up and stopped at Office Works on my way back to stock up on all my school supplies! I start school this Monday, March 1st. Then, after lunch Kay and I packed up and spent the afternoon at North Beach. We walked all the way down to Fairy Meadow beach, picking up shells and dodging blue bottle jelly fish! We even found a dead seahorse washed up on the beach and we brought it back with us to take pictures! We came back to campus for dinner and showers and then there was a big Bush Dance. It actually reminded me alot of Vermont and the country haha everyone was dressed like hicks and doing funny little dances. Later in the night, we all walked down to a club called 151 and danced and hung out! Then, I met up with some other friends from Campus East and walked to Hotel Elora. By the end of the night I was hot and tired and my feet were killing me!! Boy, Australians sure can dance!! We left the bar and I split a cab with my friend Tricia and it brought me back to my dorm. We bought tickets yesterday to see Mid Summer Night's Dream at the Sydney Opera House next Saturday, March 6th. I am so excited I can't wait! We are going to the play and then meeting up and staying with some friends from Sydney that we met at orientation!! It should be a blast!! I've also been in touch with a travel agent about booking trips to both Fiji and New Zealand! I am trying to get a big group of girls to go skydive the beach with me next week, but I am still waiting to hear so I can book tickets. I have always wanted to go skydiving!!! Hope everyone at home is staying safe and warm!! Miss you guys!!

Glass House

Yesterday, I met the head of the kitchen in my building AKA, my new best friend. Her name is Jeanette and she is such a nice lady!! She prepares most of my meals and is in charge of buying all the food for special needs students. She took me into town with her and let me go shopping for all the things I wanted to have at school! It was so great!! Then, she took me to the pharmacy to pick up my enbrel. It was so nice of her to go out of her way to make my life easier!! I am so thankful to have her. She said that she will take me anytime I need to go anywhere!! She is awesome. In the afternoon, I just kinda took it easy. I think the past couple weeks finally caught up with me and I'm stared to get really tired!! So, I just did some things in my room and napped for the afternoon. I went downstairs to get my mail and hand in some forms and one of the cleaning ladies was coming out of one of the rooms with a fan. I jokingly said, "I would love to have that in my room!!" She was like,"Do you want it darlin? Ashley won't be back till second session!!" I almost died!! I thank her and ran up to my 100 degree, humid room to plug it in!! It is amazing and my room is so much cooler now...I love it!! Then, before dinner, Kay and I went for a run down by the beach on a bike path that leads to a light house. It was a beautiful run and a good workout. After dinner we showered and got ready. Around 9 a bus came to pick us up to go to the Glass House. This is the most popular club in Wollongong. It is a two story club with an open outside area, tons of dance floors, two bars, and like a million people!! Wednesday and Sunday nights are like their weekend nights here, so the bar was packed!! Like everyone from our whole dorm went and a lot of other students from campus. It was a blast!! I got to meet tons of new people and experience the night life in Wollongong!
Today, I'm going to office works to get a bunch of school supplies that I will need for next week and then going to the beach. It is a beautiful day here today, about 74 degrees!! Although I am starting to miss VT, I am not missing the snowstorms! haha!! Stay warm!

Sydney Trop Fest/Orientation/Pub Crawl/Kayaking Trip

Sorry I haven't written in a while, I have been so busy!! I haven't had any down time the past few days!! On Sunday, we took a train into Sydney and went to the Trop music festival. It is the smallest short film festival in the world! There were about 70,000 people in the garden and we watched 16 short films (really similar to the grammy awards in the United States). We got to walk around Sydney and have dinner and hang out with other UOW students. We rode the train back to Wollongong and we didn't get home until like 130 am. Monday morning, we had orientation at the University where we finished enrolling in classes and tutorials, got our student id's, and took a campus tour. It was a great day and a really good way to meet new people!! After orientation, we went to a campus pub crawl and checked out all the local bars in Wollongong. It was a really fun night and I met lots of new friends!! Today, we woke up early to go on a kayaking trip with our IFSA-Butler group and had a BBQ lunch in the afternoon. My arms and abs are SOOO sore...kayaking is harder than it looks!! After our trip, our adviser Michelle dropped Kayla and I off in Wollongong to run some errands. I got lots of last minute things I needed, exchanged money, and went to the pharmacy. My goal was to buy a fan for my room because it is like 150 degrees in here, but apparently it is the end of the "summer season" and everyone is out of fans. I have looked EVERYWHERE!! I am living in the hottest country in the world and it is blazing hot and no one seems to have a fan!! It is so frustrating!! It is really hard to sleep at night because my room is very humid and muggy!! I met Jeanette today, who is the manager of the kitchen in my dorm and she is taking me shopping tomorrow so that I can pick out all of the gluten-free food I want to have at school. It is really great to have such support so far from home! It feels really good to know that I can be here and enjoy myself and not have to constantly worry about being sick!! Classes don't actually start until next Monday, March 1st. This week is called O-week and it is full of fun activities and events to help everyone meet and mingle!! Everything is going great so far and I'm having a lot of fun!! Miss everyone like crazy!!

First Full Day in Wollongong

Today, I woke up early and went to breakfast where they had gluten free rice krisipes and bread and fruit for me!!! Then, we packed lunches and set out to find the campus clinic and go to the beach for the afternoon. I needed to see a doctor and get a prescription for my enbrel because I wasn't able to bring it with me and my American prescription wont work here. So, we walked to the bus stop, waited forever for the bus, finally found the clinic and realized that it is closed until March 9th. I was so frustrated! After putting in so much effort to get there, it was really annoying that no one was there. I called my adviser and she told me that I needed to go to the clinic in Wollongong and they would write me a prescription there. Apparently, there is a pharmacy attached to the clinic. So, after all that I decided that adventure needed to wait until Monday! Then, we went to the beach and layed out and swam all day. We met lots of new people (mostly everyone is arriving today and tomorrow) and hung out all afternoon. I met a really cool girl named Ashley and she is from NH and she is a psych major too. We have one of our classes together, so it will be really nice to know someone in my class!! We just got back and it's dinner time. Then, I am going to catch up on the Greys I missed this week and take a nice long shower. I need lots of lotion and aloe tonight....I'm burnt!! Later tonight we are going to walk across the street to the local pub with live music and outdoor seating. I guess it's supposed to be a really cool place and it's really close to my dorm...I'm hoping for maybe a little Pines feeling ;) but its probably going to be an early night...I'm exhausted!! Tomorrow a big group of us from Wollongong are taking a train into Sydney to hang out in the city and see the harbor and the beaches. Then, at 6 o'clock we are going to the Film Festival with live music. It should be a blast and a great way to meet new people! I can't wait!

Welcome to the University of Wollongong!

Today, we were bussed from our orientation spot in Sydney to The University of Wollongong. It was a long trip and I was so relieved when I finally arrived. I have been living out of a suitcase for a week and I was so excited to finally get settled into my room. I bought my bedding and an internet cord and plan from the college and organized my room all afternoon. I made my bed, put all my things away, and set up my much needed internet and skype!! After we were all settled, Kay and I ventured to the bus stop and into the city of Wollongong. There is a free shuttle that will take us to classes and all around Wollongong, so we caught the shuttle into town. We were starving and needed some basic essentials that we couldn't bring from home. We walked up and down the strip of stores and restaurants and couldn't find anything but Thai, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese food. We settled for a small Thai restaurant and I made the best of some rice, chicken and veggies (NO SOY SAUCE!!). Then, we went to Woolworths and bought our essentials and then hit up the liquor (spirits) store. I bought alcohol for the first time...very exciting!! Then, arms full, we waited for the bus and loaded on all of our stuff. By the time we reached campus, our arms were breaking!! I forgot how much of a luxury it was to have my own car and my own wireless internet etc. It is a really helpless feeling to have to rely on other people to get around and make things happen. But, in the end, when I arrived back in my dorm room, I felt so empowered! We had managed to maneuver our way into the city, buy the things we needed, and make it back all in one piece! It was such a great feeling...I felt as though I could do anything!! When we got back, I unpacked all of my things, finished organizing my room, and took a shower. Then, we called a cab and headed out to explore the night life in Wollongong. We went to a few different bars and danced and met some nice Australians, but the atmosphere was much different than the U.S. Everyone was VERY dressed up!! They all looked like they were going to the prom in high heeled shoes and very fancy dresses; the men mostly wore suits and dress shoes. At the end of the night we called a cab and it brought us back to our dorm. It was a lot of fun to get out and explore a new city and meet new people!! It was a really interesting day and I am so glad that I finally got to move in and get settled. I skyped with my parents and grandpa for the first time tonight. It was so nice to hear their voice and see their faces!! I'm missin everyone at home!!

Long Beach Surfing!!!

It never rains here:) apparently there are places in New South Wales that is hasn't rained in 15 years!! New South Wales is the state within Australia that Wollongong and Sydney are located. Yesterday, we went to Long Beach in Sydney and took surfing lessons!! I learned how to boogie board and long board!! The water was 74 degrees and the beach was beautiful!! We had a twenty minute group lesson and then all of the instructors came out to the water and helped us catch waves!! We learned that “hang ten” is when you have all ten toes off the front of your board. The instructors said they would pay anyone who could do it 100 dollars...but I'm afraid all we could do were nose dives haha. I started on the boogie board and by the end of the day I was riding a long board!! It was so fun, but also really tiring. I have so much respect for surfers now...it is a really hard sport and it takes a lot of strength and patience. I am sore today!! When we arrived back at school we had an information meeting about our new school and about Wollongong. Then, we played basketball and hiked up the same mountain for a swim in the lake before dinner. At dinner, they made me gluten free pasta! It was delicious and it is so nice that they are catering to my needs! It can be soo frustrating to never be able to eat anything! After dinner, we watched a performance of aboriginal tribe dancers. It was really interesting!! This morning, we woke up and ate breakfast and packed our suitcases again...boy am I sick of moving!! This afternoon, we are going to move into the dorm at our university. I have a single room in international house. We are excited to finally ger situated and explore the city and buy all the things we need! I still don't have internet, only on my blackberry, but I can't wait to skype and see everyone!!! I miss everyone like crazy!!

Sydney Zoo and Harbor Cruise

Yesterday, I woke up and four thirty am haha. I am still not adjusted to the huge time difference here in Australia!! I talked to my dad on the phone for a while and went for a long run until kayla woke up. Then we showered and ate breakfast and we went to the Sydney Zoo. We saw tons of native Australian animals as well as giraffes, elephants, zebras, bears, and hippos! It was a huge outdoor Zoo with a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbor. Then, we boarded a boat and took a three hour cruise of the Sydney Harbor. We got a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House, beautiful waterfront houses, beaches, bridges, and more! We got to see sailboats and speedboats and other tours. It was a beautiful day outside and kayla and I got tons of sun!! I am already really tan!! When we got back, I crashed and took a two hour nap until dinner...I was so drained from the sun!! After dinner we listened to a native Australian band and mingled and danced. It was a beautiful night! Although I love the weather and culture here, the food is very different! They have been very accommodating and provided me with all gluten free meals, but often times things taste much different than we are used to. Everything is very light and VERY bland. They put butter on sandwiches, the ketchup is tomato sauce, and the coffee is no green mountain coffee haha but I'm sure I will get used to the differences! We are being bussed right now to take surfing lessons today! Should be a great time!! Missin everyone at home!
Britt

I made it!

It is 430 am and I'm wide awake haha the 15 hour time change has been a little rough on eveveryone! I arrived in sydney yesterday at about 830 am after a nearly 24 hour flight. We were bussed to the sydney sports academy where we will be until friday as we get to know other students that travelled using the IFSA Butler study abroad program. I will be bussed to the university of wollongong on friday for another week long orientation. Yesterday when we arrived we were assigned motel rooms and I am rooming with my friend kayla from smc. We also met two boys who are also going to wollongong and one is actually from vermont so we have been spending a lot of time hanging out and getting to know them! Then we had lunch and got track phones to use to call our families. I don't have real internet access yet,only on my phone but I should have it all set up by this weekend! Then, we went on a run/hike up this beautiful mountain that overlooked the ocean the mountains and a small lake right by the sports academy. On our way down we all swam in the lake...it was so warm!! It is in the mid eighties here and really humid...I love it! As we got almost to the bottom of the mountain, we saw a wallabee (baby kangaroo)! It was so adorable!! I took lots of pictures and I will post them as soon as I have computer access! Today, we are leaving at nine fifteen to go to the sydney zoo and then take a cruise of the sydney harbor! Tomorrow, we are taking surfing lessons! I can't wait! I have met so many cool people...I am having so much fun! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the snow ;)

Burlington, Cleveland, LAX, Sydney!!

Today, I will leave Chelsea, VT for four and a half months and begin my journey abroad (down underrrrr!!) I will fly from Burlington Airport to Cleveland, where I will switch planes and fly to LAX. When in Los Angeles, I will meet up with my group flight and board my international flight to Sydney, Australia. The approximate time of travel is 24 hours and I will arrive in Sydney on February 16th. It is 82 degrees in Sydney Australia today!! :) I miss everyone already!!
Happy Valentines Day <3