A week filled with... nothing! :)

Since my last post I successfully had my 26th birthday in Oz, finished my first week of school, went to the emergency, and tried KANGAROO!!

a) My 26th birthday in Oz (actually, my champaign birthday)!
 - This was super weird!  I guess because I've always been around my friends and family for my birthday so the idea of being across the world, without my family or close friends - really made me miss home. Oh and it didn't help that I broke my favourite necklace - one my grandmother gave me a few years back.

Oh and what else was weird was going to school on my birthday.  In Canada, unless you're in summer school, you don't attend classes in July.  So the idea of waking up, going to University/Campus all day and then not being able to do anything that night because a bunch of us had 8 am class - SUCKED!
Instead we went for Thai food at Som Tam Thai in Maroochydore.

b) Finished my first week of school!
This was a big accomplishment - haha. It was busy but it flew by! One second it's orientation day and the next you're taking notes for your last lecture of the week ;)
The classes seem busy - with a lot of assignments, presentations and reflection work - but manageable.  All as long as I pass the math test that is this week.
In the graduate program for education, we're required to partake in 65 hours of community service - though it's a little bit more complex than community service as the task(s) have to be approved by the course coordinator (and they have to be based upon 4/9 of the guidelines of the course.  A couple of us are thinking about volunteering at a school in a different country.  Apparently with our student visa we have to leave the country for at least a week between semester 1 and 2 so we might hit up a country near us and check off these community hours before it's too late.

c) Hospital Visit.
Last night I went to emergency with a friend.  She was experiencing pains/discomfort in her left leg and arm so we went to the emergency for some tests.  Thankfully we were able to ask a favour from a friend and get a ride to the hospital at around 7PM because then we weren't allowed to leave until 3:30AM this morning (took $50 to get home by cab).  So far, she's ok.  An MRI is scheduled for later this week.

d) Tried Kangaroo
I am a member of a group on facebook for all international students attending USC.  Tonight they posted that they were having a BBQ at one of the BBQ pits here at Varsity Apartments.  My friend Anica and myself joined in on the action (bringing our own burgers and salad). There was two younger German ladies who decided to be brave and bring Kangaroo steaks - we were all interested in the taste and texture of this type of meat.  So I tried it.  I only took a bite, and even that one bite was too much for me to handle.  I guess I just felt weird eating it. Or perhaps the texture was just too much to stomach. Whatever the case, I don't think I'll be eating it again.
That's one check off my Bucket List: Australia Version!

Oh ! I also found Mooloolaba beach.
The last beach I posted was of Alexandra Headlands - easier to get to by bus (the bus is more frequent).  But Moolooaba is nicer.  The shops around the beach are super cute. There are an insane amount of apartments overlooking the beach.  Most people from on campus move to this area of the Sunshine Coast.

Terms:
Mackers is McDonalds
Hours of Operations = Trading Hours

First Day of School!

Well... as the subject stated, today was my first official day of school.

Being an international student, it wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would be.  During orientation I got a little scared thinking they do things completely different here - but so far, so good.
Though, I am scared that I have to take a MATH TEST next week!!! If anyone knows me, they know I don't do math.
So ya - that should be interesting.  Oh and I have to get 80% on it. Excellent.
Guess I'll be writing that test until I pass.

Fun.

So on the way back from campus we have to cross a little bridge to get to our apartment complex.  This bridge is surrounded by tall grass and you can always see kangaroo paths in it but I have yet to see a kangaroo up close and personal... until today.

This guy was literally 5 steps in front of me.  He just hopped on the bridge and stopped.  No one knew what to do - "who has the right of way" my friend Katie said! haha
Then two Australians approached us and said "he won't hurt you... and he'll jump away as soon as you step near him", so they did.  The girl was (literally) almost stepping on the Roo's tail before it jumped away.
During Orientation every single teacher warned us of the Roos - saying they're really dangerous and they can do some serious damage to you (and even kill you) if you get too close to them.   Idiots.
But these pictures were awesome.   It honestly looked like a stuffed animal.  I couldn't believe it.

Another note: Tomorrow is my birthday.  It's going to be weird not having my friends and family around.
We originally planned to go out but because most of us have 8am class the following day, we might just do a nice dinner and then go out Thursday instead (none of us have class on Friday).
We'll see.
It's still going to be weird.

Sore day!

So yesterday was the big hike up a Glass House Mountain.  This mountain was called Mt. Ngungun.  When we arrived, we were told it would take 2 hrs to hike up and down - no big deal.

Then we started.  Holy crap did it ever get hard and fast!
The picture below shows how steep it got - and this was 5 minutes into the hike.  And trust me, it was a lot worse doing it compared to this picture!

And at the top (it wouldn't be an accomplishment if this picture wasn't taken):

You can see another Glass House Mountain in the background.

 Another view from the top:

Mission accomplished! And what a great weekend of hiking and exploring...my poor legs!

Today I also met my new roommate, Lilly.  She's from a town near Beijing.  Because I was 'nice to her' she offered me a gift - Noodle Chopsticks!  If you don't know what noodle chopsticks are, think of regular chopsticks and then add 2.5 more chopsticks (the length of them) and that is your noodle chopstick!
So sweet.
She's here for accounting, for two years.

Tomorrow school starts - should be a treat.

Something new:
Here in Oz they greet you by saying, "How you going?" Instead of Hows it going?
This is VERY confusing and I REALLY have a hard time answering them on the fly.  I always want to correct them.
Oh and instead of saying 'yes' or nodding your heading when you're in conversation with someone, here they say, YEAH (about a 100 times).
It's something I will have to demonstrate because they say it in a certain tone.

off to bed - school is going to be here in no time!

Recently I explained that I bought a box of wine for $12.99.
This is called GOON here in Australia.  For two reasons:

a)  Goon in the a native language means 'pillow'.  The Natives would buy this and drink it.  When they needed to sleep they'd use the bag of wine as a pillow.  When the wine was done, they'd blow into it and continue to use the bag as a pillow.
A friend of mine (Irish girl who has been in Oz for 2.5 years) tried this when she was backpacking and she claims it really does work.

b) The ingredients: :(

DISGUSTING!!!
Know that I was drinking this last night but after being told to read the label, I switched to vodka.

Adventure Day

After a boring day yesterday I decided to join the "Golden Key Discover The Sunshine Coast Bus Tour".  It was a $20 tour that took us hiking through Kondaillia Falls and a casual walk through a rainforest at Mary Cairncross Natural Rainforest.

Kondaillia was up (or what felt like ) at the top of a mountain.  I believe we had two hours to make it down  to the waterfalls and back.

Here are some pictures of it:

The trees are CRAZY! So weird looking!

 One of the smaller waterfalls:

A beautiful view:

And then we headed to Mary Cairncross Natural Rainforest Reserve. Here we were told we'd see Wallabies.  We were excited because on route we saw 2 Kangaroos. And while we were hiking we saw many Bush Turkeys, and a Owl/Bird.

Here are some pictures:

A WALLABIE!!!! We were just about to leave when my Irish friend wanted to check something out....there we spotted three wallabies!

Two picture of the rainforest:

Tomorrow I am going to hike on a Glass House Mountain.... 

Where I'm living...

Here are some snap shots of where I am living.

This complex (Varsity Apartments) is about a 5 minute walk to the University and filled with students - unfortunately, a lot of them are either first year students (17 years old - 24 years old).
I only signed a 4 month lease with them so I'll be moving out at the end of December - probably a lot closer to the beach - because everyone does that :P

The living room / Kitchen area (shared space between 4 people).  Where I'm taking the picture is the entrance of the apartment.  The door that's open to the left of the kitchen is my room.

 My room - That comforter took me two days to find!!! Froze my butt off for two nights while I slept with a single towel on me.

 Where I took the above picture, behind me is my bathroom and to the left of me is my built in desk. I forgot to upload that picture.

And the bathroom.  It was very clean when I arrived.  The water pressure is awesome and the water softener is amazing - my hair feels SO soft!

Pictures to go with my previous posts...

The Beach!  There are many here in the Sunshine Coast but it was the first one we saw while riding the bus to the mall - so we jumped off (very quickly).

This is the Local BBQ - Meat in a slice of bread - fried onions & tomato sauce

This is the other offering at the local BBQ - Veggie 'Burger'. Again, it's just slapped on a piece of white bread.

Everything closes at 5PM - even on the weekends.

You're a true Aussie if you walk around barefoot.

It's not cool to shower - ick.

If you want to lose weight, move to Australia - nothing is the same here....nothing!

New Term:

Goon = cheap boxed wine

Aussie BBQ

Today was the start of orientation.

We had to be on campus at 8:30 for registration and then the day didn't end until 3 pm.

We sat through different lectures where they told/explained different policies, regulations etc. 

THEN they offered a free BBQ lunch.

Ingredients:  White sliced bread (one slice)

“tomato sauce”

BBQ sauce

Fried Onions

Sausage  – no idea what kind of meat

TA DA - Aussie BBQ or also called Local BBQ

Something new: Chips are French Fries

'Heaps' is a lot of something. “There are heaps of Canadians over there”.

Skype

Hi all:

I have SKYPE:  ashleymariecosta

or you can try calling me - my room # is : 00617 5450 2117 :)

Private message me on facebook/email or whatever for my mailing address.

Also - I don't have my cell phone so please don't try texting. I won't receive it.

Thanks!!
xx

Flights and arrival..

People keep asking about the flights and travelling here... well it SUCKS!
I am dreading coming home (already).

It takes forever and all my flights were delayed - literally!

I was supposed to have left Toronto at 8:15 but didn't leave the ground until after 9PM.
Then we were late coming into Vancouver (where I had an hr and half layover).

This was a blessing in disguise as I only had to wait 45 minutes before we boarded the plane.
We boarded this plane and it was packed! If anyone knows anything about planes, this was a 777 - HUGE.
When you first walk on, you walk through First Class where they have PODS for their seats / beds & a TV that pops out from the wall.

This flight was heading to Sydney. It became delayed in the air as we hit crazy turbulence. Once I arrived in Sydney I realized my iPhone wasn't going to work in Oz. I didn't cancel it while I was in Toronto hoping that I could use it to text family and friends once I arrived - nope.
I had a layover for about 2 hrs before making my way to terminal 2 for my next flight - this one was heading to the sunshine coast ;)

After eating some McDonalds (it was gross), and figuring out I needed to take a $5.50 shuttle to terminal two, I boarded the plane.
The service I used was JetStar (cheap and dirty and really reminded me of WestJet).  This one, thankfully I didn't have anyone behind me.  What I did have one a crying baby in front of me - lucky me.
After being in the air for about 30 minutes, the captain comes on and tells us we hit a flock of birds and we need to make an emergency landing into Brisbane - GREAT!
As he's speaking a flight attendant asks if there is a medical personal on the flight - someone had a stroke - GREAT!
So we land in Brisbane.
This wait took about 20 minutes and off we went - everything was ' fine '.

I landed in the sunshine coast - about 1.5 hrs later than scheduled.
This also helped because my shuttle was waiting for me instead of me waiting 3 hrs for it.

and off I went on a shuttle service to Sippy Downs.

Then I arrived at my apartment - Varsity Apartments and checked in.  I JUST made it or else I'd have to wait outside for 1.5 hrs before security arrived to check me in.

I went to my apartment and realized I didn't have roommates so I settled in and went to bed.

(fast forward 4 days and here I am today)....

Arrived & Alive

I'm safe and sound here in Sippy Downs (the town I'm staying in).

Today was my second full day here and let me list off the things I've accomplished:

Student ID - Check
Bus Pass - Check
International health card - Check
Ride the Bus-  Check
See a Roo - CHECK
Find a comforter - Check (such a simple task was next to impossible! Here in OZ they don't have comforters so for two nights I slept with towels and it was awful).
Get Internet - Check!

Things I've realized or learned:

You don't tip in Oz
The prices you see, is what it is - no tax is added
I cannot stay up past 6 pm without yawning and dreaming of my bed
It is expensive - 2 cases of coke for $34; my mascara is $8 in Canada, and here it's $26; 5 Bananas were $8.85
There are tons of Germans here on exchanges

And finally, it isn't always sunny in the Sunshine Coast - It has been raining for the past two days.  It's also freezing!! All of us wished we brought more winter clothes - sweaters, slippers, jogging pants!!!

I am still going through jet leg.

I'm too tired to write anything else ;)