Week One!!!!

Hey Everyone! So I arrived in Australia a week from yesterday! So much has happened in the last week so I will try and recap everything I have done:
I got to Sydney on Saturday the 14th at around 8am. I was there for a 3 day orientation with IFSA-Butler (the program I'm going through).  The orientation was a mix of IFSA students going to Macquarie University, University of New South Wales (both in Sydney), Monash University (in Melbourne) and me, going to Murdoch here in Perth.  I made it through the longest plane ride ever! Yay! Then we got going pretty much right away.  We went on a walking tour of Sydney, which was super cool and fun! It was a lot of walking but we got to see a lot of cool places in Sydney.  After that it was a pretty chill night, we just ate dinner and went to bed basically.   I actually was never too jet-lagged which was super awesome

Day 2 (Feb 15th)- We went to Featherdale wildlife park first.  That was SO much fun! We got to see all sorts of Australian animals which was so amazing! I got to take a picture with a Koala, feed some kangaroos and I even got a selfie with one! haha.  Then we saw a presentation about some other animals like some snakes and other reptiles.  Ill be posting pictures to facebook pretty soon.  Thats the next thing on my social media To-do list! Then we continued on our bus ride up to the Blue Mountains! That was breathtaking! The views were amazing and everything was so cool! We learned about them and took a tour of some of the great spots.  After that we made our way back and had pub food for dinner.  I had some delicious steak.  Finally, some of us finished the night at a German pub.

Day 3 (Feb 16th)- We got up and had some brekkie (breakfast in Australia :) ) then we had a morning full of information sessions.  For the afternoon we were given free time to roam around.  Most of the group ended up at a beach that is a short ferry away from Sydney.  Its called Manly beach.  It was so nice to be able to relax by the beach.  We had to be back then in time for dinner and dinner was a wonderful cruise in Sydney.  It was so cool to see the city from the water and also at night.  Then I had to say goodbye to the friends I made in the 3 short days we had together.  That was pretty sad.

Day 4 (Feb 17th) Me and the two girls going to Monash had to go to the airport pretty early in the morning.  But we made it and I got on my flight to Perth! Everything was fine with that and Molly, my student services coordinator, picked me up at the airport.  She took me to Murdoch and helped get me settled in.  She showed me around campus and we had lunch and she showed me some useful information.  Then after she left I had a little free time before the Study Abroad dinner we had.  There I met most of the group of friends that I know hang out with a lot.  In our group we have some Americans but also a girl from England, Canada, Japan, Denmark and some other places too.  They are pretty great and I'm glad I made some great friends pretty quickly!So I spent that night with them before heading to bed.

Day 5 (Feb 18th) We had some orientation for living in the student village in the morning which was pretty long but useful.  That afternoon a couple of us got some grocery and other shopping done which was good.  We then spent a little time at the village pool which was nice after a hot day of walking.  That night a bunch of us went into Fremantle (or Freo) to a place called the Newport Hotel.  That was a lot of fun as well.

Day 6 ( Feb 19th) That day we had a long day of International student orientation.  There was a lot of information thrown at us and it was pretty overwhelming.  It ended with an aboriginal presentation which was pretty cool.  We had actually had one in Sydney when we were in the Blue Mountains but it was still cool.  After the orientation was over there was a little thing at the Murdoch Tavern, which is a little place on campus.  Then that night the village put on a "speed meet" event.  Basically we ended up meeting a lot of people and it was done in a little bit of a speed dating setting but that was cool.  I have met so many people the last couple of days that there is no way I can remember them all.  After that I did my first Tim Tam slams with my friend Sam! We did them with chai tea lattes and they were delicious.  If you don't know what a Tim Tam Slam is, look it up!

Day 7 (Feb 20th) In the morning I finally had time to finish unpacking my stuff which was good to have done.  Then we had yet another orientation.  This time it was just for the Study Abroad and Exchange students.  They told us about these amazing trips that they put on and I am excited for them! After that we went on a great day trip.  They took us to Kings park and Cottlesloe beach.  Both were amazing.  King's park is this huge park that overlooks Perth.  Its bigger than Central park and has so many parts to it.  We definitely didn't have time to go through even a fraction of it.  Then the beach was also beautiful! Then after we got back from that I called an early night and went to bed after taking care of a lot of things because I had to get up early yesterday for: ROTTNEST!

Day 8 (Feb 21st) So like I said I had to get up pretty early in order to get a start on the day.  As part of my study abroad program we get to go on some trips.  Well yesterday was the first one.  So Molly, her daughter Jara and I caught the 715 ferry out to Rottnest Island.  Rottnest is a beautiful holiday island about a 30 minute Ferry ride from Freo.  Yesterday was also special because there was an event called the Rottnest Island Channel Swim, where there was a race to swim all the way across from Freo to Rottnest.  This is actually apparently the biggest open water race in the world.  So there were a lot of people in the main part of the island.  But we didn't actually get to see any of the swimmers.  We just explored the island and its amazing views.  Like I said earlier, pictures are forthcoming! After I got back from that, I took a much needed nap and then spent the night in Freo with friends.

Day 9 (Feb 22nd) Today was a kinda eventful day.  There was a carnival that happened for the village residents.  They had a lot of pretty cool stuff there.  But my friend was doing this surfboard thing.  It was basically a mechanical bull but a surfboard.  It was in an inflatable thing but she got thrown off of the surfboard and ended up hitting her head on the hard ground.  I stayed with her the entire day and went with her to the hospital and she is doing much better now but it was pretty scary for a little while there.  Then we had a nice chill night with a bunch of our friends and watched Mean Girls :)

So that is about all I have done in the last 9 days.  I absolutely love it here! I do miss some things about home, but I am trying to soak up everything Australia has to offer! Thanks for reading this massively long post!
Until Next Time!
Jean