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G'Day Everyone! Sorry I haven't started writing on this yet. I have been so busy with traveling, making more travel arrangements, booking flights, going to the beach and doing school work that I have not had much time to write a blog but i am going to start now! So ... where to start ... I guess day one! So I flew from the Philadelphia Airport on February 17th to LAX Airport and then from LAX airport to Melbourne, Australia. Due to the time difference I completely skipped over the 18th of February and landed in Melbourne at 9:30 am on the 19th (1:30 am on the 18th in the US). I spent my first day in Australia in a town called St. Kilda which is a suburb of Melbourne. We walked around and explored the town and then checked into our hostel to begin the Arcadia program orientation. We all had dinner together at the hostel and then went on a night walk for star grazing! It was so beautiful because there was absolutely no light pollution so the sky was completely clear! It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The next day we just sat around the hostel and listened to different presentations about Australia; what to expect once we are exposed to Uni (University); orientating us to Australian culture (for example: driving on the other side of the road to just name one); etc.
We went on a beach walk and played in the tide pools! The scenary was amazing! The next day we drove to Melbourne and checked into our hotel which was in the direct center of the city! We went on a guided tour (done by our orientation advisors) throughout the city and looked around in the little shops. They have these artistic grafitti alleys which were amazing! The city of Melbourne was not what I imagined but I loved it so much! Hopefully I get to go back to visit while I am here!
That night I went to an aussie rules football game! It was a great atmosphere to be in to really understand Australia! The teams were the Geelong Cats (Melbourne) vs. Adelaide. The Geelong Cats won and everyone was so excited! The next day we drove to the airport to fly to Sydney. The flight to Sydney was about an hour which was not bad at all considering the fact that we were all recently on a 15 hour plane ride. Once we landed in Sydney we took a bus to Wollongong where they dropped us all off at our residence halls (known as colleges in Australia).
The city of Wollongong (which is where I am going to college and affectionately known as "Uni" to Aussies) for the semester. Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales (NSW) Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean (Tasman Sea) located about 82 kilometres (51 mi) south of Sydney. It has a population of about 280,200 and it is the third largest city in New South Wales. Wollongong is the 9th largest city in all of Australia. Okay so now that you know some background I can tell you what I have been doing.
I have been going to the beach a lot because there are three beautiful beaches located about 15 to 20 minutes walking from my residence hall. Besides going the the beaches I have been shopping in different Australian stores for myself and for souvenirs to give as gifts! Australians are definitely ahead of us when it comes to fashion but behind us in everything esle (for example tv shows...new seasons of the gilmore girls and the simpsons are still playing because they are seasons behind us). The first weekend I was here I went to a wildlife center and played with kangaroos! They are so cute! We got to feed them and play with them for as long as we wanted! I really didnt want to leave but we had to look at the other animals too ... haha. The wildlife center is located in Helensburg which is a section of the city of Wollongong so it was only like a 15 minute train ride away. The following weekend I went into sydney to go to the aquarium and to go to gay mardi gras. I stayed with a friend from summer camp who is from america but is studying abroad in Sydney for the semester. That weekend was so much fun! And this past weekend I went to Sydney again but only for a day (Saturday) for the Sound Relief concert which was a benefit concert for the victims of the Victoria Bushfires and the Floods in Queensland. Coldplay, Jet, Taylor Swift, The Presets, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Gibb (from the Bee Gees), Josh Pyke as well as about 10 other bands performed! It was an amazing concert and a great thing to be a part of while in Australia. Toni Colette (from little miss sunshine, about a boy and in her shoes) was a special guest! So that has been my life so far! Sorry for taking so long! I will try to keep you all updated more frequently from now on! If you have any questions feel free to comment on the message board or email me! Miss you and Love you all! <3 hill
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