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Published: October 10th 2007
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Hello hello!
After reading over the journal entries I wrote dating back to when I first arrived in Australia, I was able to extract the juicy parts of my trip for you all to read (at your own leisure of course)!
July 17th 2007- Augustish
Leaving New York was the most difficult part of the trip. Not only had I just had the best 6 weeks of summer I could have possibly experienced (from longboarding, skiing, and rockclimbing in CO with Bailey and Garrett; fun times at the house with Megan, Matt, Sam, Garrett, Brian and Timmy; working at AMEX Publishing; to the road trip/visit to Rhode Island and all the space in between), but there was simply too much I was not ready to let go of. Arriving in LA made the experience all-too brutally real.
Mom and Megan were able to console me over a payphone before I took a few deep breaths and boarded my flight to Australia. Luckily I was able to sleep for 12 of the 14 hours - so the trip itself wasn't so bad.
I remember arriving in SYD airport like it was yesterday. I didn't know a single
person I was travelling with and the gap between me and home felt MUCH wider than the distance of the Pacific and the whole of the continental U.S. Still, I pushed forward and pulled together to meet as many people as I could.
The program that got me to oz was called Australearn- they did their best to 'orient' all 60 of us in the northern city of Cairns. Over three days we saw 4 meter long crocodiles, held koalas, scuba/snorked on the Great Barrier Reef, fed Kangaroos, and got acquainted with everyone else in the program. By my third day I was confident that I had made a few decent friends that I would be travelling with throughout the course of the semester (...how wrong I would turn out to be!!).
Cairns was fun, but we were all eager to make it to our school: Macquarie University.
When I arrived in Australia I (stupidly) forgot to claim my gate-checked longboard decks - long story short, I freaked out about losing them, but ended up getting them back (3 weeks later). This was key because after arriving at Macquarie University Village (aka the MUV), it didn't take
long for the boredom to set in. This school is in the middle of f-ing nowhere!!!
Luckily, Megan was able to introduce me to a friend that's from Sydney (Katie), who was more than helpful! Katie took me and a few friends around Sydney to see the skyline and get views of the Harbour Bridge - it was gorgeous! After she took us out I was able to take a deep breath and relax, knowing I'd be okay in this town.
The first few weeks of school went by smoothly. The MUV ran buses into the city occasionally so we could get a feel for the nightlife and explore places like "The Rocks" and Darling Harbour. Classes were a bit difficult to get used to, especially since the style of teaching down here isn't exactly something I'm keen on. Most professors dictate their classes by either reading directly from a powerpoint presentation or reading directly from a print out of a powerpoint presentation. Dryer than toast.
My newfound buddies and I were able to counter our faltering moods (due largely in part to the lacking atmosphere of the MUV and the 45 monotonous minutes it takes to
bus into the city) by locating a car on facebook. Katie was gracious enough to drive us all the way to the car's location (it's owner was a foul-breathed shirtless, shoeless, near toothless slob of a man that informed us the car had been sitting 2 km away (from his home) on a street for 8 months. At least he gave us the papers and keys without any problem), so we found the car, bought a battery and got it running - much to our surprise!! Since it didn't have plates, we decided we'd come back for it another time. I haven't been back since....
I figured out how to use Skype pretty quickly (I suggest you all give it a go - it's so easy and FREE), so keeping in contact with certain people (Megan) has been alot easier than I thought it would be!
The following weeks were a bit cold (since it was winter when I arrived) but I did my best to make the most of it, but beach-going would have to wait until spring break.
In the second week of August I dutifully fullfilled my obligation to volunteer in southern New South Wales with "Conservation Volunteers of Australia" in Kangaroo Valley. Yes, there were lots and lots of Kangaroos. Wombats and Possums too! That turned out to be one of the best weekends I could have imagined! However, I am tired now and will have to recap on Kangaroo Valley in a follow-up blog.
I apologize for the lack of intricate detail, but please give me feedback! Also, I'd be happy to answer any questions!
More yet to come....
-Col
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Jordan
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We Miss You!
Hello Colin- Colorado is just not the same without you, but your adventures sound amazing and I cannot wait to hear them in depth face-to-face. A little brief on Colorado: Everyone here seems to be getting along quite nicely. Tuesday nights my roommates and I cook dinner for anyone that wants to come over. We have had it 5 or 6 times already and each time has been a total success. Whit, Peter, Kirk, John, Katherine and Jordan Riddle are the regulars that come, while it was Stuebe, Petey, and Dave’s first time over last night! It is just fun to feel at home in college and have a nice meal in front of you, you know? You are invited when you come back from Australia- don’t worry. Ski season is right around the corner and Peter, Whit, John and I have been more than excited. A-basin opens TODAY, but it is not going to be great skiing until November/December. I bought a mountain bike yesterday, it’s a Giant Hard Tail, I have not been able to take it for a trail ride yet but hopefully that will change this afternoon. Peter has already helped me fix it up by taking the reflectors and chain guards off (he says they are not allowed on- oh well). The boys house (Stuebe, Dave ) has a quarter pipe thing in their garage. They have been working on it for a few days strait now. I am actually amazed on the wood working they have done, you’ll see it hopefully no one will have gotten hurt by then though. Some parts look a little dangerous. Weather in Colorado is the same, beautiful like always. I am sure you are tanner than me because in the eyes of Peter I am Indian, but I am just coming to the acceptance that I am naturally always tan- so ha! to all the girls that go fake tanning and pay money to get my dark look School is going well. Junior year is very hard though, and time consuming. Writing about school- I actually need to run to class. Write more about your trips, I love reading them. Miss you like crazy and I hope you continue to have a great time. See you on skype soon??? Love always- Jordan ox