Aussie Lingo and My Days Off

I never thought I would have trouble understanding an Aussie until I was submerged in their culture. I have learned that just because a country speaks English doesn't mean its the same English I'm use to. Aussies have their own phrases and slang on top of the accent that makes communication a challenge at times. Most of the time the natives realize we are Americans the moment we walk in the door...the amazing thing is that they change how they communicate in order to accommodate us. They talk a little slower and clearer...which helps us out tremendously! But after being here a week now...we are catching on fast! Some of the Aussie lingo that we hear and use on a regular basis is...

• G'day (which means hello or hi)
• No worries or Bob's your uncle (which usually means its okay...but we have learned it means something is wrong...for example, no worries, but we missed the last bus home lol)
• Good onya (say it fast and mush the word together, this means well done)
• Mate (friend)
• She'll be right or she'll be apples (it'll be okay)
• Bloody (very)
• Beaut (great)
• Amber fluid (beer)
• Stoked (very pleased)
• How are you going (how are you)
• Ace (very good)

It amazes me how quickly we have adapted to life here and the layed back attitude we have all started to pick up. I still cannot fathom that we will still be here in three months! If I had the choice I would move here in a heart beat. Now that we have explored the surrounding areas (for the most part) and classes have begun, we are settling into our daily routines and responsibilities.

On my days off...such as today :) I head out to the beach! Today my roomate and I had lunch in Lennox Head and explored the town...after that we walked on the beach and played in the sand! I love Australia more and more everyday!!

Ocean, Sea Birds, and a Bearded Dragon...AMAZING PICTURE!

Bearded Dragon...up close!

Beautiful Lennox Head Beach View!

Love walking on the beach everyday :)




Australia is the place to be...I would move here in a heart beat!



Rainforest Field Trip!

Today was my first class! Australian Life and Culture :) it was a three hour lecture and after class we headed out for our first field trip. In class we learned all about Australia's history, national anthem, and what is going here now. We also compared Australia's history with the United States history.

ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR

(Australia's National Anthem)

Australians all let us rejoice,

For we are young and free;

We've golden soil and wealth for toil,

Our home is girt and rare;

In history's page, let every stage

Advance Australia Fair

In joyful strains then lets us sing,

Advance Australia Fair

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross

We'll toil with hearts and hands'

To make this commonwealth of ours

Renowned of all the lands;

For those who've come across the seas

We've boundless plains to share;

With courage let us all combine

To Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing,

Advance Australia Fair

After class we headed to Dorroughby Environmental Educational Centre...here we learned about the history of the environment in the surrounding area, indigenous people, and of course the rainforest! Then we got to visit the amazing Minyon waterfall in the Whian Whian state rainforest where we jumped off 25 foot boulders into the water! It was absolutely beautiful!!!

Preserved animals such as a baby kangaroo and different kinds of snakes...used to teach the children who come to the center to learn about the rainforest.

Old school house

boomerangs  that we were able to play with!

My first try! :) and I didn't to to bad :)



My lunch plate...a little bit of everything :)

Eating my first bite of KANGAROO!!!! Yummmmmmmm

Me at the waterfall!!!!!

Getting ready to jump...I was sooo nervous haha

ahhhhh I jumped!!!!

On the way home we stopped off to see fruit bats hanging from the trees...it was a sight to see!



Fruit Bats!!!


When we got back to the cabins we had a Superbowl party!!! Our professor taped it and we grilled some food and all watched the game before talking to anyone from back home who had already seen it...we had a blast! Most people were Green Bay Packer fans...so the crowd was pleased with the win :)



P.S. Don't forget to check out my flicker account...I upload more pictures on there and they have captions explaining them! There is a link to the right :)

Byron Bay Adventure!!!

Byron Bay was amazing! We woke up around 6:45 in the morning on Saturday to catch the bus into town so that we would be ready for our first surfing lessons at 9:30am. The lessons were so much fun...first we layed on the beach and practiced getting on our board and catching a wave! After that we heading into the water and practiced lifting ourselves up on the boards in the wave...we wernt ready to stand quite yet! lol After a few times of riding the waves laying down it was back to the beach to learn how to stand up on dry land...soon we were splitting up into groups and heading to the ocean to begin surfing like the pros!!! It didn't take long until everyone in our group was standing up and riding the waves...including me :) I was very proud of myself for getting up on about a dozen waves! Catching these waves however, wasn't always a walk on the beach...i had my fair share of wipe outs. Some worse than others...the worse one happened when a guy in the group caught a wave...but didn't look to see if the other surfers were behind him first...that was the first mistake! He ran me over with the board and unfortunately the fins hit me and knocked me back...my feet flipped over my head and the ankle strap got caught on the surf board! This unfortunately hurt my ankle pretty bad and later on in the evening swelled up quite large...yuck! A few other mishaps that happened during surfing was a few jellyfish stings...every group had at least one person...usually more that got stung. No one was seriously hurt thankfully and there are no deadly jellyfish in this area for us to worry about. But in the end it was a great day surfing and I'm ready for my second lesson!

This is my surfing group for the day in Byron Bay!

On our way to the beach!!!!

Some how I managed to get put on the guys side of the bus haha

The Beach in Byron Bay where we surfed

The group after we caught some knarly waves!!!!

:) Surfing was so much fun and I couldn't be happier with how well I did :)

My hurt ankle :( YUCK!

After we got done surfing our group went and had lunch and checked into our hostel! Later that night we headed out to the Cheeky Monkey Bar :) It was a blast...they had dancing on the tables and music along with an amature male stripping...that all of our guys signed up for, it was all clean fun...but it was very humorous to watch them dance on tables! 

The group at Cheeky Monkey!

Free drinks!

Fun picture!

The next morning we woke up early again...6:45am so we could be at the scuba shop at 7:15 to head out to our dive location. When we got there we suited up, packed the boat, and piled in a van. Once we got to the beach and unloaded the boat we boarded and headed out to the Julian Rocks! The water wasn't as clear as we would have hoped but we still got to see quite a bit! I tried taking some good pics however, they didn't all turn out so good...ill still post a few of them and hopefully get some better ones next time! We saw stingray, sharks, puffer fish, NEMO, eel, and much more!

My Dive Group!



The Boat we took to our dive location...The Julian Rocks of Australia!!!



Puffer Fish!...I didn't get a picture of the sharks we saw...but they were all sleeping in the rocks on the bottom



A school of stingray!

 Scuba diving was quite the adventure and after it was over and we got back to the dive shop we were beyond exhausted! Ww had lunch at subway and then got ice cream and caught the bus home. Once we got home however, we realized our roommate who stayed home was out for the day and locked all the doors...so we had to hangout and take a nap in one of the other cabins until she returned.

With a successful first week here in Australia down i am ready to start classes tomorrow bright and early at 8:30am (Australian Life and Culture). We also have our first field trip tomorrow after class!!! It is still hard to believe I am halfway around the world!

They are DEAD!

Last night we had a bonfire for one of the students birthdays...at the bonfire the guys from cabin 4 played a few pranks...first they put crabs in a cereal box in another guys cabin and then they brought the crabs to the fire and dumped them right behind me!!!! When I got back to the cabin I barricaded the door so no one could put stuff in my room...and good thing I did lol because later that night after everyone was heading to bed the guys snuck into our cabin and unleashed more crabs!

One by the toilet...

and one in the Shower!

No worried...I caught them and the boys will pay!

We also woke up at 5:45 to witness our first Australian Sunrise and along the way we say a wallaby...I didn't get a picture because it was very quick! but none the less it was a sight to see :) ...here are a few sunrise pictures!

There were some clouds today but I'm sure I will see many more Australian sunrises and get some better pictures!