Sunday, Lazy Sunday

Hey peeps, so I know I've been a little absent for a while but there hasn't been much to talk about besides going to the beach like everyday and all that good stuff :)


In my haste to tell you about the fun activities we have all been taking part in for the past week I forgot to explain my current surroundings, silly me!!

So I know I told you that I live on the Slums block of Campus East. It is the more reserved area of Campus East. Hospital is the party area so good thing I have some ties there (Jill and Erica)! I go over there meet the peeps that are raging with us for the night and then go back to my room and get some sleep, it's a win-win and I'm suuuper not complaining. :) I have 2 roommates one from Indiana and one from Australia. Well they're more like suitemates because I live in a suite =D. We have a bathroom and yes, the toilet does spin the other way! Thank you Jesse B. for helping me with the realization haha. I have a desk that is actually pretty big, the better to clutter it with right mom?? ;) I actually just cleaned it sooo ya, it's an organized clutter. I have a phone that is my one source of communication to my friends in other rooms because we all don't have cell phones. Going back to the stone ages people! I don't know how they did it. I have a wall mounted book shelf above the desk with two shelves, the first one has books and some pictures and my toothbrush and toothpaste and retainers and some other stuff (clutter) on it and the top has my perfume, shower necessities, breakfast bars and a travel mug that was given to us all by campus east along with a water bottle and a t-shirt! Super nice except for the fact that they informed us that they were getting rid of cups in the dining hall so you have to use your mug, which tends to rust if you don't clean it out right away, and you're not allowed to fill up the water bottles they give us, why you probably are wondering....good question! So if you forget to bring your mug and are too skittish to risk getting yelled at for filling up your water bottle (I am not....in case there was question =D) you are left to either go thirsty or sip quickly from your hands, sweet options huh? ;) Back to the room I have a pretty good sized closet with a place to hang clothes, put my shoes out, a top shelf where my suitcases are currently resting, and a built in shelf place where all my clothes are neatly folded up and hanging out (challenge me on that I dare you!!) Then I have a bed with only a top sheet and a bottom sheet because it is a million degrees here, with a 5 dollar pillow and a 3 dollar pillow case. Eeee-zzeee livin' huh? It's actually quite a good time. I also have a big window that looks out onto a grassy area with a couple palm trees, and a white building with blue shutters behind it. And if I stand up and look out I can also see people's laundry hanging out on lines to dry, sawweet view =). 


The dining area is about a 2 and a half minute walk from my room, past the filtered water sink where we are actually supposed to fill up our water bottles and through the office. It opens every day at 7:30 for breakfast and closes at 10:30 then again from 12-2 and then 5:30-7:30. They are prompt. If you haven't gotten your food before about 20 mins before they start to close you're left with scrapings from the bottom of the food trays. Their food is very interesting compared to the American food we are used to. I can honestly say that since I have been here I haven't had any meat from the dining commons, I can feel myself becoming a vegetarian and as much as I want and need to fight against it, the picky person that lives deep inside of me is not allowing any of the meat served here to pass my lips, probably a gift and a curse, you'd agree if you saw the faces and heard some of the things people from the states have been saying about it. But for all you health nuts out there who may be worried about me for my lack of protein, fret not! I have been eating eggs for breakfast everyday, except today, and I had a delicious albeit forbidden McDonald's cheeseburger the other night during the pub crawl. Healthy right? =D For dinners I've literally been living off of potatoes and sweet potatoes, with some bread mixed in, and maybe some rice, at least I'm getting my energy from the carbs right?? :-/ There's an inside place to eat with maybe 10 round tables and an outside place to eat with probably 5 tables. Surprisingly, especially for those of you who have enjoyed food at Berk and know the terrible time it is to find a table during peak hours, we are always able to find a table. Knock on wood....great I probably just jinxed myself for tonight's dinner..oye. The routine for meals is, you get to the room and put your stuff down on a table claiming a seat, then get in line to enter the cafeteria place, for lack of a better word, you walk through a turnstile and grab a plate and utensils, which you always take too many of, so far every single time I've taken a knife and a fork and have only used the fork, I should probably learn to just take a fork but I know that its going to be the one time I don't take a knife that I actually need one and have to make a scene of getting up and going back into the place just to get a knife, I'll have to apologize to the hunger crazed people who think I'm cutting them that I only want a knife and I would never dream of cutting them. Then I'll have to explain to the lady who takes our cards (and money) that I was just getting a knife and I'm not stealing food, just a hassle you see? I'll just keep taking a knife in case. So then you walk past all the food debating what you want, if you want to try the green stuff or the yellow stuff that they are claiming is chicken with pesto sauce, or beef with...a yellow sauce, or kangaroo with.....haha just kidding they haven't served us kangaroo.....yet. Then it's on to the vegetables, the safest bet for sure. Load up your plate with some veggies, go to the salad station for, you guessed it, more veggies, maybe grab an apple to bring to your room and then get in line to pay. You never know how much they are going to charge you for your food and you only have 600$ on your card, which if you do the math roughly comes to about 5$ a day, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...nice! You hand them your card and watch as they start pushing buttons to charge for what you have on your plate, lucky for me in my vegetarian state my dinners usually come to about 2.50. But some people is have been known to spend 5$ on dinner alone. It's kind of funny to watch people try to outsmart the card lady by hiding things underneath other foods, it never works but its definitely funny to watch haha. Then you eat like normal, then clear your plates, easy pie. But then there is always the inevitable question...do you want ice cream?? You're sitting there panting in the hot, hot, HOT air and its just calling your name, but wait! Ice cream is 1.50 for two scoops...can you work that into your budget? Who cares! You jump up and ask everyone else if they're down...they usually are, then you repeat the process except heading right to the ice cream freezer. In case anyone is wondering...the ice cream is always worth it!


This past week we went to campus to get our ID cards and to have a short orientation. Campus is a short 10 min bus ride away, and it is absolutely gorgeous! You get off the bus and walk into what looks like a rain forest with a few buildings in it. The place is so green and colorful with plants your eyes never get tired of looking around and there is always some shady spot to sit in. The campus is also huge. And the buildings are numbered which is another huge difference from Umass where everything has a name, kinda makes things easier to remember. We went back to campus after the orientation to find all our classes and it was quite the ordeal, being here is definitely like being a freshman again...DANG! I already did my time!! I'm still going to be lost when I go to class so I've already devised a plan to go about 45 mins early so I can find my way around and not be late, yes I will still be the lost person with my face pressed up against my campus map wondering aimlessly and walking back and forth but hey, we all gotta do it right? We start classes tomorrow and I'm actually excited, I'll probably be kicking myself for looking forward to this later but I'm happy to have a schedule and I'm excited to meet the people in my classes and see how things go around here. Plus it's also kinda fun to get all new pens and notebooks and be all organized again (for the first week =p we'll see how long it lasts =D) 


I just got back from a night walk on the beach and it was amazing! The beach is just about as perfect as you could imagine. After being stifling hot all day, the sand was cool and the breeze was nice. The waves were just as blue in the cloudy sunset as they are in the bright blue sky. We walked for about an hour down and back and I just wanted to keep going. We also saw a dead pufferfish! Sad that it was dead and had had its eyes eaten out by other animals but totally awesome to see! Maybe I'll see one when I go scuba diving, which I hope to do asap! I can't wait to get in this water and see what it has to offer, it's pretty much the only thing I really want to do! So when I finally do it be prepared for an extra long blog. I know you're probably all like "LONGER THAN THESE???? HOLY COW!" but ya it will be so ya keep reading! :) o and if any of you feel like mailing me things, which is always fun getting cards in the mail and pictures and stuff, especially pictures because my walls are starting to look like prison walls, my mailing address is:
Antonia Gunion
Campus East
PO Box 219
FAIRY MEADOW NSW 2519 AUSTRALIA


Thanks for reading! Keep on coming back! :)

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. =D

Hey loyal followers! Sorry I've been neglecting you for a few days...they have a lot scheduled for us to get to know our surroundings and the people we will be living with so I haven't had a lot of time to do devote to writing about my experiences but now I do so bear with me as this may be a semi long one but hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed doing all of it. Oh and I met one of my roommates! She's from Indiana and she's super cool. She came here with 2 other girls who we've started hanging out with. They are all pretty cool, and are present for all of my adventures thus far.

So on Sunday I climbed Mt. Kiera and boy was it a hike! We started at 10am and didn't finish until 2:30pmish it was a long one. I should probably start out by saying that the night before we went out to our first Australian pub and got a little on the tipsy side. We walked back and drank lots of water so it wasn't like we were hungover this morning but it's probably not the best idea to drink alcoholic beverages and then go out and hike in a million degree weather with a million % humidity....life lessons to be learned :).

Just a short side note so that you understand what we're working with here. These Australians are the hardest partyers I think I've ever met! They start at 2 or 3 and don't stop until at least 11pm! WOW they make Zoomass look like amateurs. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday they started directly after lunch and didn't stop until well after my bedtime...I can only hope to learn their ways in the next four months and bring them back to the states where I will gladly teach anyone who is interested...for a small fee ;).

Saturday. There was a free bbq at a pub in town called the Charles, we thought "great free food, some cheap beers, awesome! Then we can come back eat dinner and get ready for tonight." We all got dressed in shorts and t-shirts and little to no make up and some flip flops (which they call thongs haha you can imagine my reaction sitting on the lawn during our bloc meeting while our RA's are telling us that shoes and thongs are acceptable in the dining room hahahaha I'm not sure but I think I was the only one immature enough to actually let out a short chuckle...gooood times). We got to the room where we were meeting a few of the people we were going to go with and they were all dressed up for a night out on the town, I'm talking dresses with full on make up and all did up hair...needless to say we were a bit underdressed, but we left with them anyway. We walked to a bus stop about 7 mins away and waited for about 10 mins for the bus to get there then the bus took us to literally the next bus stop where we got off and walked another 3 mins to the bar...the buses are air conditioned and it was a million degrees celcius so I guess it made sense. We got there at like 3ish and JO and I then realized we had forgotten our ID's haha woops...that's not like me you know to forget things =D. So we walked back and got them o and as we were leaving I tripped a little bit so I changed my shirt, hair and make up so no one would remember me haha by the time we were ready to go it was time for dinner so we waited for Jill and Erica to come back and we ate with them and then left again. (ps Erica and Jill and Jo are my friends from Umass that have made the trek around the world with me) We got to the pub and went straight to the bar where I got a cider beer which tasted like spiked apple juice yum. Only 4.20$. Stuff's expensive! There's was a live band outside in the back...yard i guess and lots of people dancing a little strangely but still dancing so that was fun. Then it started raining and the America crew that I came for ran for cover while the rest of the people cheered and kept going....we have a lot to learn.

Sunday. We woke up Sunday morning and went and ate some breakfast and then got ready for the hike. Oh and for a few of you loyal followers who probably read about me forgetting my socks well good news! I found 2 more pairs when I was unpacking so I was able to wear one of them on the hike. Sweeeeeet. We started by taking the free bus to campus and walking to the base of the mountain from there, a quick short walk. When we got to the start the RA's leading the way informed us that the hike is very strenuous and you need to stay hydrated and if you need to stop don't go down on you're own because you might get lost so you and a buddy will need to wait for everyone to come back down and get you...o and watch out for leaches....coooooool. Thank God I've been running like a hundred miles a week. O and ps we have to get back in time for your area meetings at 2:30 so this is going to be a fast hike. First group is the fast hikers aka the runners aka the insane people who want to die on the mountain...guess which group I was in...yuuuuup the first. Not that I'm complaining it was a great workout and totally worth it AND I got to be one of the first to the top which, if you know me, is a big deal...I like to be the first at everything =). Anyway we start our run with Jill and I in the faster than fast group and Erica and Jo and my water bottle in the normal smarter more enjoyable group. Well planned, well planned. We got about halfway up the mountain...at a 90 degree angle and stopped for a short rest. Luckily the RA's told us then that our meetings had been moved back to 4pm so we could slow down and enjoy ourselves...who said we weren't already?? I've always wanted to set a record for fastest mountain climb in HELL! The next half of the climb wasn't too eventful except for the part where we were literally rock climbing in a dried stream, not for beginners, and when the guy in front of us had an ant sink it's teeth into his thumb and latch on for a little bit, and the couple of leeches that found their way on to a few people, not me though thank God, I probably would have fallen off the mountain jumping around trying to get it off. We made it to the top and saw that there was a wedding going on, which was cool to see until I realized, WE COULD HAVE DRIVEN UP HERE?? NOT COOOOL! But even while I was thinking that I was looking at the most amazing view of Wollongong...which you are also now looking at. Gorgeous right??

 

We made it down with no hitches and walked back to the buses and back to our rooms to get ready for our theme party that night.....looooooooong day! So where I am living is called Campus East and in the area are different what they call blocs, I live in Slums with Jo, and Jill and Erica live in Hospital and then there is Trenchtown, and Alcatraz (I know right!!!). So my theme was superheroes, and Jill and Erica's theme was yup hospitals, then tribal trenchtown and yuuup cops and robbers for Alcatraz. It would have been really cool if they had told us about it maybe more than an hour before it was happening and if everything here didn't cost like a thousand million dollars. Needless to say we threw some stuff together, I went as Clark Kent in shorts, and a white t shirt tucked in with suspenders and my top sider shoes with Jo's glasses, and to top it off I drew the superman sign on a shirt that I wore underneath. I know...GENIUS! We went to a bar that was called a hotel and party hardied with other peeps I had a 5 dollar strawberry daquiri o and we played this ice breaker game where we each got nametags with half of a saying or pair on it and had to find our match. Mine was "G'day"....guess who I was looking for! yuuuup mate! :) It only took my all night to find him and when I finally did he wasn't nearly as excited to find his match as I was. Party pooper! We left after that and got back and all passed out. A night well spent :)

Monday. Pub Crawl. Nice. We bought super cool shirts that say "Quiet please, I'm trying to drink" perfect right??? Jill and I went shopping earlier in the day and got some necessities, like peanut butter, saltines, salt and vinegar chips, chocolate, o and the most important, 10$ boxed wine with some store brand sprite to mix it with...talk about classy with a k! We got back got ready, which was easy because everyone was wearing the same shirt, cut in some different fashion because it was not as fun regular like, and then pregamed...pregamed for a pub crawl...see we are learning! The bus picked us up at 3:45 from the front of the office and we headed to the north gong pub. The bus is definitely worth talking to it was like a limo with the way the seating was along the sides instead of in rows and it had lights on the top that changed colors sooo sick! We got to the pub and went upstairs and straight to the bar...duh :) I got a Pure Blonde....why you ask? because I liked the name. I budgeted one beer per bar...just FYI. We stood out on the porch, we danced, we watched some professional cricket on the telly and then we bounced, to the next bar, who's name has slipped my mind =D. This bar was the most fun after we got there and got our drinks, Toohey's New for me. We headed to the back where there was loud music dim lights and lots of dancing. SAAAWEEEET! We danced for an hour and a half and then headed to the next bar, there was nothing really spectacular about these bars but except the next one which had karaoke...hehe awww yeeeeyaahh! I got there and went straight to no not the bar to the karaoke line and chose a song, R-E-S-P-E-C-T nice right, after I forced my friends to do it with me, by putting their names on the card with mine then we got our drinks. Perfect timing because right after our names were called and we were up. All I have to say is that if Aretha Franklin had been in that bar last night, she would have looooooved our rendition...I JUST KNOW IT! We left to stage to a mixture of cheers and encores, ok maybe not encores but definitely cheers and headed to the back of the bar where we were told there was a free bbq. LIARS! After standing there pressed against sweaty, drunk college kids for at least 7 mins there was no more food left. So in our tipsy glory we decided to look elsewhere for food, and where is the best place to go for some drunk eats at 9 o'clock at night?? O yes Mickey D's! 4.75 for a cheeseburger, medium fries, small coke and a sundae?? Don't mind if I do! Best money I've spent so far. Then we made our way to the last bar where I chose not to buy another drink because I was already feeling good and because I had just eaten Mackey's (McDonald's to the Australians) We danced some more, sang loudly, not into a mic and then left, before the Australians....again...damn it! O well, Tuesday, orientation 9am...be there!

Tuesday. Orientation....well scheduled UOW (University of Wollongong) pub crawl the night before a mandatory orientation, that's just mean! Anyway they signed us in gave us a bag of papers with some free stuff and ushered us into a lecture hall where they talked at us for 2 and a half hours. Niceeee. Side note Campus=gorgeous! Sooo much green its ridiculous, like going to school in a rain forest, o wait that's what it is. Trees everywhere, natural shade, really cool looking and colourful (Australian spelling...dubbya tee eff??) plants. There were lots of booths set up ready to give out free stuff which was awesome, cause who doesn't like free stuff right?? We got our student ID pictures taken, heinous! and then ate lunch, pizza and fries or chips I should say, I know super healthy right? Then we left because we had to concede to our tired beat up bodies...oye. When we got back we decided to go for a run just to map out a route to do while here. Jill and I went one way while Jo and Erica headed toward the beach...did I mention it's about a 7 min walk, and maybe a 2 min run...rough life huh? Jill and I ran a route I made up as we went, we didn't get lost at all =D Then when we got back to campus we decided to run to the beach and meet Jo and Erica. The beach was gorgeous and empty. Blue water forever, some clouds overhead adding to the atmosphere, a cool breeze, and waves licking the sand where we were running. It was picturesque...wonderful, I'm pretty lucky :)

Nice right?? Welp That finishes it up for now. I hope you weren't too bored with it, because it was a little long. I'll try not to let so much time go by next time. Tomorrow I may go running again all the way down the beach to a light house but then again I might not cause I'm really looking forward to sleeping :) Adios US of A.

~Toni =)

Welp, I'm here.

So I made it. I know there were a few of you out there that didn't think it would happen what with my mom commenting on the book of face about how I was air-drying when she talked to me due to my forgetting my towels and how I mentioned that I forgot my socks...good thing it's a million degrees here with 10000% humidity. I don't think I'll be needing the socks for a while.

So it was a little nerve wracking getting here, I flew by myself and got on a bus with a bunch of people who had all come with someone, I talked to a few but I don't think I made any lasting impressions (HAH!). O and for those of you who are eagerly awaiting my comments on how I walked through the airport with a million pounds worth of stuff, give or take a few, well sorry to disappoint but airports have it down I just grabbed a nifty cart and pushed them on through customs, driving the cart was an adventure for sure because it was one where to release the break you had to push the handle down, easy enough right? Wrong. So soo wrong. After I realized that it was actually telling me to push down and thinking that that made a lot more sense then having to lift it up and push it, have you ever tried to push a cart while lifting the handle up ya doesn't work too well. So after I figured that out and quietly laughed to myself at myself I set out towards the carousel that was supposed to be bringing my bags out. Then I realized how not helpful it is to have brakes that activate when ever I lift up the handle, it stops, right away, and I run into it, everytime. It never stops when I want it to and when it does stop, it's two seconds before I meant for it to and so I run into it, again. Frustration. For a little while I just pushed it with the brakes on, at least it stopped when I wanted it to. :) I'll skip past the part where I stood there for a half hour waiting to catch a glimpse of my bags while people continually pushed their way past me because they are, obviously, much more important than me, and get the part where I get my bags and start moving towards customs.

Just a side note, how awesome does it feel to see your bags come out of the depths of the airport? I always feel  like I won something, but like it's kinda a private thing so I don't want to start yelling and make a big speech, I just quietly push past people, muttering polite excuse me's with a smirk on my face that clearly says, "don't worry, your time will come, just not now :-p" and I pick up my bag and I'm out of there. I should fly more often if not solely for the joy that comes with getting my checked luggage.

So anyway I get through customs without a glitch, but not before I tell them I have candy in my bags and they ask me if it's beef jerky....ummm noooo? I didn't realize that qualified as a candy? I find my way to where my bus is picking all the Wollongongers up, wait for a bit and then walk to the bus. We all gave out bags to the driver and he loaded them in the back and then he said, "we need two smaller girls to sit in the front...you'll do" pointing to the girl in front of me, "and...you." pointing to me, yes I am a smaller girl damn it! The ride was uneventful and when we got to Campus East, where I will be residing for the next 4 months, we got out and got handed our luggage, only there were no carts here, so I tried hard to not look like a ridiculously off balanced fool and put a 30 lb duffle over one shoulder, which also had my 15-20 lb carry on plus my backpack on my back, and then I pulled my rollie bag with the other hand...did I mention my shoes were untied and it was only a 50 foot journey from the curb to the door where we left our stuff to check in and I only tripped...about a billion times, but I made it. Checked in and got the room keys and made our way to the rooms which were up another 2 flights of stairs, but this time an RA was helping, she took the duffle while I pulled the rollie one up...ask me how many times I lost my balance and fell against the railing coming dangerously close to falling all the way down...once...but once is enough.

Welp then I unpacked and waited for my friends to get here while my mother anxiously paced the house waiting to see if I made it ok, since my phone was dead and I had no access to the internet sawwwwy o:-). Then we went shopping, I exchanged my money for colorful cool Australian money, bought a couple towels (no more air drying for me!) and then came back and had some dinner, which wasn't very good and will probably make me gain the...international exchange student 15 :-/ all in all a good first day in the land down under. Plans to go to the beach tomorrow are in the making and I got the biggest jug of sunscreen anyone's ever seen so I think I'm good. Talk to you later America.

~Toni =)

Airport

Sitting in the airport, it's pouring rain. I'm only 15 1/2 short hours from landing in beautiful Sydney (at least I'm assuming it's beautiful) and I'm kinda freaking out...still.

Reid wanted to drive to the airport...I vetoed that idea on account I wanted to get to the airport before my plane left (in two and a half hours). He'll be licensed when I get home so it shouldn't be as slow...right?

I finished packing today, my baggage allowance is 2 bags 50 pounds or less. Sure I'm only going to be there for 4 and a half months all I need is 100 lbs worth of stuff right?? WRONG. So soo wrong. I was able to fit most of my stuff into two bags together equaling about 80ish pounds (I forsook the other 20 pounds on account of the bag not being able to zip up) and then I also have a backpack with food and books and another smallish bag for things that didn't fit in the other suitcases, you know essentials, a fourth pair of boots, totally necessary, a jacket to wear in the 80 degree weather, thank God I remembered! 2 different pairs of heels who's mates I'm crossing my fingers are in the other bags, and my running shoes. (so the last two actually are kinda important). Oh and I just realized I forgot socks...except the ones I'm wearing at this very moment. Niceeeeeee.

Now I know that you are all probably thinking ok well good for her she got her bags packed she's got the essentials (and some you know other stuff) now all she has to do is sit in her seat (in the middle of two random people who I'm sure will not hesitate one minute to sleep on my shoulders) and get there. WRONG. So soo wrong. I had to go through security which is always a good time. I stood in line and waited for about 20 mins, (while my parents stayed on the outside and waved to me every couple mins, probably whether I was looking or not) and when I finally get up to the metal detector, that I've gone through about a million times, give or take a few, and I get motioned to the side where the wonderfully violating x-ray machine awaits. I put a smile on my face and start thanking God for the sit ups I've been doing and the organic food I've been eating because I've heard the stories and this thing leaves nothing to the imagination. Then right before I walk through the machine that is undoubtly sterilizing me for life, I look up and notice the company that makes it. L3 Communications...my dad works there....and I finally know what he engineers. So that was fun.

Now I'm sitting at my gate, well actually at the gate next to my gate, on the floor by the wall outlet just so I can write this. Our next topic I'm thinking will be about saying good bye to the family, which is always an adventure in itself. Of course I start with the dogs because they stay home while I get driven to the a-port. I hug them and say goodbye and I know the fact that they are squirming and desperately trying to break free of my grasp is just because they are too sad and don't want to be embarrassed by crying...it's ok Jake and Coco, I understand :). Well now is the easy part just the bros and the parentals left, piece of cake!

At the airport I jumped out of the car and helped my dad unload my million pounds of baggage, give or take a few, and then prepared for the goodbyes to the brothers. For those of you who know them you won't be able to imagine the enthusiasm they muster up for saying farewell, they hug me like they're hugging a cactus and mumble something that sounds kinda like I love you and I'll miss you and get back in the car and drive away...if that's not love I don't know what is! I won't bore you with the details of the goodbye to the parents because if you're this far in the blog you already read about the waving and all that through glass so you get the picture, they're kind of a big deal.

Welp I think I'll end it there I'm sure you don't care that I'm currently sitting here scarfing down lay's potato chips and experiencing no internet access but if you do...I'm sorry. Buuuuuut tune in tomorrow for more fun times and hear about how I traipsed through an entire airport carrying over 100 lbs of bags in a foreign country/continent, oh and about actually being in Australia. :)

~Toni =)

One More Day. Yikes!

So I've been advised to keep a blog of my travels when I'm on the other side of the world so here it is. I hope it's not too boring.

Currently there is one more day until I embark on the grand adventure that begins on the other side of a 14 hour plane trip. Kinda freakin' out. Even though my trip is less than 26 hours away I thought it would be a much better  idea to get everyone caught up on my current activities rather than to finish (start) packing.

Right now I'm sitting in my room staring into the closet I have been calling my own for the past two long months of being home...it's almost empty. My drawers actually are empty which has me a little worried about what I will be wearing tomorrow...I'm sure I'll figure it out...I need to do laundry.

For entertainment on the flight tomorrow I'm armed with the last 4 Stephanie Plum books, my laptop who's battery is a little temperamental, some snacks (or at least I hope to be by tomorrow after we go shopping), and my brand new kindle! Before you say it, I'm the cutest nerd you'll ever meet so deal :-p. Hopefully all this and maybe a few in flight movies will keep my occupied so I can endure the long flight, which somehow I just know will be worth it.

I admit this probably wasn't the most interesting first post to read but it'll get better, promise. I mean look what we all have ahead of us: kangaroos, sweet accents, new sights, new people, a cool opera house, scuba diving, deadly animals, AND toilets that spin the other way. Does it get any better?? I'm thinking no. Welp it's been real, keep stopping by and hopefully I'll have more interesting things and photos to share later.

Toni =)

PS for those of you who are worried, I'm almost positive that my health insurance covers me across the world, like 93%....they have Kaiser's in Australia right??