http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cindyatmonash/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from cindyatmonash en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:55:46 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:55:46 +0000 G'day EveryoneHope you are all doing well and heading into a great change of season whichever it might be This past week I've just experienced my very own southern hemisphere Spring Break '08 Though it only lasted a week it was a very busy and exciting timeWe started our Spring Break celebrations a bit early with our Roberts Hall Ball on Thursday night. The best way to describe this http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-331079.html Well you'll all have to excuse the several posts from me all of a sudden I've had a chance to catch up on a few things so I thought I would go ahead and catch you up on what I have been doing since the second semester has begun at Monash I realised that I haven't told you all what I've been doing in my new classes this semesterI have two FANTASTIC classes this semester These two units are http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-316762.html Well as we are all readjusting ourselves back to life without the intensity that was the Olympics it has given me a bit of reflection time about what the past two weeks really meant to the USA to Australia and even to the world.It was definitely interesting to experience the Olympics somewhere other than your own home country My friends invited me over to an Opening Ceremony party to celebrat http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-316755.html Well as I mentioned in my previous posting I headed down to Christchurch NZ in July for two weeks of worksiteseeing. As you saw from my other pictures the city was so fantastic I loved being able to travel around and find beautiful scenery very kind people and a variety of wonderful attractions all around the city. However the main reason I spent some time in Christchurch was my invol http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-316734.html Hello EveryoneI thought I might take some time to share some photos and stories with you about my midyear holiday trip to New Zealand As I was planning on going to New Zealand at the early part of July for an APEC conference more on that in a separate post I decided to build in a few days before the conference to explore and find my way around Christchurch the international gateway to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-315020.html Now while many of my US friends spent the fourth of July having an outdoor barbecue watching the fireworks and reflecting on what an amazing nation they live in I spent the weekend with 80 university and graduate students at Anglesea Recreation Camp. Though not a patriotic trip of sorts I had a wonderful time at my first Coptic University Convention in AustraliaFor those not familiar with th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Anglesea/blog-307722.html The month of June found me tied up in finishing final examinations and planning some holiday travels. However before I left anywhere I had the opportunity to visit several more Rotary clubs between midJune and midJuly including two clubs outside of District 7750.I've really enjoyed the opportunity to travel around the district and even within this region and hear the stories of Rotarians. Ha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-305561.html One of the places that I wished to visit while here on my Rotary scholarship was a trip up to Canberra. When I met Louisa Dow a Rotary Peace Fellow who's going to Duke in August she offered to let me come up to Canberra and visit her. I spent four days touring all around Canberra. For a city that has a population of about 330000 the city was very unique and you could definitely tell there wa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Australian-Capital-Territory/Canberra/blog-296800.html Hi Everyone It has be a long time since I've posted. Last time I posted we were beginning our exam period the month of June. Well while everyone was studying and taking their finalls we squeezed in a bit of fun . Exam month lasted from 6 June until 27 June but luckily I finished up on the 5th Some of the fun things we did included cultural dinner nights trips to the city and some ha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-296795.html Hello EveryoneI can't believe we have already come to June 2008 Time is passing by very quickly Well in the past few weeks we have turned in all of our papers presented all of our projects and taken any unit tests...we are now in EXAM time I have to say I really lucked out with my timetable this semester because both of my exams will take place this week 26 June. During my time http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-282693.html Hello Everyone and Happy Memorial Day to the folks back homeHope you have been enjoying the nice weather we've been getting both the fall temps here in Melbourne and the Springtime weather in the US Yesterday I went with Anthony Naomi and Nicholas to my first Footy match of the season. Here in Melbourne Footy definitely takes precedent over Rugby which is more popular in Sydney. If y http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/MCG/blog-280234.html Good day EveryoneI know that it has been a while since I have postedput up any photos of my time here in Australia. As the end of May is approaching we are also reaching our final days of the semester. Classes end in just under two weeks and then we are set for a one month examination period. Luckily my courses' exams are in the first part of June leaving me with just over 3 weeks of mid http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Kings-Cross/blog-277875.html Hi Everyone I spent the past weekend at the State Parliament House in the CBD working with the Rotary Model United Nations Assembly.With students representing 36 countries in the United Nations we spent the two days discussing and debating several resolutions covering peace and security education and health issues. Students came from several different high schools around Melbourne. Also http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-273081.html Hello EveryoneSorry I haven't been posting for a while...to tell you the truth not to much has been going on outside of LOTS of classwork My classes have picked up and in the past few weeks I've had to give class presentations and turn in a few papers regarding my research proposals for each course. This past weekend however we celebrated Easter so it was a pretty busy but fun weekend. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-271123.html Last week in honor of the Easter holidays the university closed from Good Friday 21 March until the following Sunday 30 March to celebrate Easter and mid semester break. Because we had so long a group of friends and I decided to travel to Queensland the touristyeast coast beach towns of Australia We spent time at the Gold Coast the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island.We arrived around http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Surfers-Paradise/blog-263459.html On Good Friday 21 March His Grace Bishop Suriel General Bishop of Oceania welcome His Emenence H.E. Metropolitan Bishoy to Melbourne for a weeklong trip throughout the churches and Coptic communities. H.E. works directly under Pope Shenouda so it was a great honor to have him here Since we were off from school because it was Good Friday I was able to travel to the Coptc Centre in Donv http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-261827.html Well it looks like I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain in posting messages very often Things have definitely been busy in the last few weeks but as we are just returning from EasterMid SemesterFall Break whatever you want to call it I thought I'd recap a few of the things I've been up to in and around Melbourne.Over the weekend of March 15th a few of my friends and I hired http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-261819.html The 26th Annual District 9810 Rotary Conference took place last weekend in Albury. This city located about 4 hours away from Melbourne city was like being in a different world. Set out in the bush area of Australia we were located in a city with only one main street and lots of little shops around all closing around 4pm each day. I likened the quaintness of the city to that of a small city http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Albury/blog-256536.html One of the aspects that I haven't had a moment to write about has been my experience meeting other Egyptians here in Melbourne. Shortly after I arrived at Monash I found the website for Archangel Michael and St. Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church in Oakleigh a 10 min drive from campus. After speaking with Abouna Danial one of the priests of the church he along with his son Anthony and daughter http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-252511.html After having two very successful weeks with Rotarians I must tell you how everything is going with the Rotary aspect of life here Peter Murie who is the Scholarships Coordinator for District 9810 here in Australia has been fantastic at helping me to get settled in at Monash. He and his wife have checked up on me and even made sure I have all the supplies that I could need for my study here.L http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-250641.html