great success

Today was another wonderful day in the land of OZ. I woke up around 8:15a.m and caught breakfast before class. It's not too bad. Our college has the "best food on campus", which is nice. Fruit and vegetables for every meal! I had a hard boiled egg, toast with jam, an apple & weetabix! After breakfast, I walked over to foccacia fo' coffee for a hazelnut latte. That place is my favorite coffee place on campus. Really good. Then I had Sex, Drugs & Human Nature class at 10. Nothing has changed, it's still such a weird class. Our professor was lecturing in Cairns so we had to watch him on the projector. It's really odd, I've never had a professor that teaches on two campuses before. I tell myself every week that the class will get better, but it really doesn't. Today we discussed the drug trafficking of opium through out the world. It's interesting at times, but seems to be a waste of my time. That class has so much potential, but our professor proves no justice. After wasting 2 hours in class, I had about a 20 minute walk to my next class. We discussed natural disasters and how they would affect the social norm/groups of the human lifestyle. Would people feel obligated to commit crime because of a natural disaster? When everything is completely gone and you have nothing, would your mindset change? Perhaps, to steal in order to survive or start a war because of differences among groups? Everyone has a different viewpoint, but the general concensus our class came to was that people would act out of line/differently if a natural disaster was to occur. I agree to a certain extent. Anyway, after class I stopped by Nicolette's to say hello and slowly made my way back home. I got back, put my belongings in my room & hopped on my scooter for a ride into town. It was so fun to just drive around & explore the town more. It's nice to get a grasp on my surroundings & community. I went to the Strand & had Subway for lunch. I hate subway at home, but it's so good here. It actually IS fresh, just like they say. Fresh vegetables, actual red tomatoes. It was nice to have a little American meal for once. I finished up & had a walk around town. It's so gorgeous here. I went down to the harbor and gazed out into the horizon. I could see Magnetic Island & a gorgeous sunset between all the boats. It was nice to have some independent time to myself and do things I want to do & see. I explored around town for a bit & thought I should get home before the rain started. It was spitting on the way home, but nothing serious. I'll never drive without my sunglasses again! Such a bad idea. I got home just in time for a little skype chat with Ryan before he was going to bed. I had a 5:30 spin class that turned out to be absolutely phenomenal!! The instructor was so intense, I loved him! I'll definitely be going back. He has two sessions a week on Tuesday & Thursday evenings. He was like screaming at us the whole time, spin class boot camp! Haha. As we were spinning to the last techno song with JT yelling in our face, my laces got caught and totally ripped out of my shoe. It made my shoe so tight & it totally messed up my flow. It's all good though, I tucked them in the side of my shoe and continued on for the remaining 30 intense seconds.  Sooo, yeah. They're broken now :( Wah. Ah well, I can't wait to go back again next week! I scootered back to my college & made it just in time for dinner, a plate of marinated vegetables. It was really good. I've been working on a paper for tonight & just enjoying the night. It's the weekend for me now & I have an open day tomorrow! I'm not too sure what I'll get into, but really looking forward to Ry's arrival on sunday!! I can't believe he's actually coming here, so weird! I'm looking forward to a relaxed weekend.
Cheers!

Days go by... Unfortunately

The six of us about to head down to
Alma Bay for our first dive in our stinger suits :)

Wow, sooo it's been a while. Once again. Time just flys by here like crazy! I can't believe it. I spent this past weekend at magnetic island again getting my scuba certification done. So worth it! I still have one dive to do until I'm officially certified. I took my test & everything. I couldn't do the last dive because I was having problems with equalizing going down to the ocean floor. My ear drums were borderline about to rupture so I opted out on the last dive, it's not that big of a deal. I'll just go back to do my last dive in a few weekends! It was pretty intense though, I guess I didn't realize. We were on the go all weekend. We left thursday afternoon to catch the ferry & go over for a diving physical examination. All went well. Ben & I met up with some others to go check out the hostile we stayed at. (http://www.magnums.com.au/magnums_on_magnetic/). It was my first time staying at a hostile so I was a little nervous about it because all I ever see is horror movies on tv about them. It was really awesome though. They had something going on every night at the place, totally catering to backpackers. Great place, but we were all so tired from all the work we did all day. We tried to check it all out, but hit the sack around 10 every night. Every morning we were up by 7:30, getting coffee & walking a few minutes down the road to Pleasure Divers. Being an island, everything is even more expensive. I think I paid the most I ever have for a freakin latte. Yeah, $7.50. Yikes!! Day one, we had to watch videos til lunch time then got a break for an hour to catch a bite to eat back at our hostile. After lunch, we had 6 hours spent in the pool learning what felt like hundreds of skills underwater. There's a lot more to learn than I realized. Every day was pretty much the same. Day two we spent more time in the pool then got to do dives out in the ocean! The visibility wasn't the best because of the cyclone, but bearable. The coral was pretty beat up from it too. Day three was the worse though, I could barely see my fins in the water & the ocean was so rough. It was a gross day & rainy, but the trek continued on... all until I was having problems with my ears! I was pretty bummed out about it. I just wanted to finish the whole certification, but it's alright. The last dive is the easiest too, but I didn't want to risk it. They told me to wait it out, so I'll be back. The test was super easy though. It was just a 50 multiple choice exam & I missed one. Not too bad. We finally finished up our long weekend & caught the 5:20 ferry back to townsville. I missed it! I felt like I was gone forever. I'm always around all my friends here so it was weird not to have any of them out there with me for the first time in like a month. I went with some nice kids from Colorado and New York. We all clicked pretty well. Lauren & Liz made me a peanut butter & jelly sandwich because I missed dinner, how sweet of them. I passed out sunday night when we got back, I was so tired! 8-6 every day of all work in the sun really wears on ya. This week has already flew by! Tomorrow is Thursday, where the heck did the week go & what have I been doing!? I made the best decision yesterday morning since I got here. I hopped on the bus early a.m to head to the Yamaha shop. I've rented a scooter for a month. It's seriously a million times better to be able to have some wheels to scoot around on. Driving on the other side of the road is normal now. It's weird to think of how it is in the states. I hate having to rely on public transportation. Especially because the bus timetables are never correct. They mean absolutely nothing so I just have to go wait and hope that a bus can come soon. It's super annoying when you have places to go & things to do at a certain time. I got there & drove away with a sweet red scooter, 2 seater. It's nice to not have to feel trapped on campus anymore. I got it mostly just to explore my surroundings more. It's a wonderful place, great town, just lots to find out still! I'm trying to make the most out of every day here because I know it's going to fly by & I want to go back home (Or, not go home?) with no regrets what so ever. That's my goal. I'm taking advantage of every traveling opportunity I possibly can. I'm in one of the most beautiful countries in the world & have the great barrier reef in the palm of my hands. I'm loving my life right now, just need to take it slow. The days are longer here which is nice too. The sun rises super early & goes down around 7:30p.m. The seasons just switched the other day so it's now fall here now. But, that means nothing really. I feel like it's even hotter so no changes there! I'm just hoping the humidity goes down soon. It's 100% humidity every day with a whopping 90-95 degree temperature. No worries by me, anything is better than snow. I'm extremely happy with the decision I've made coming here. I was pretty skeptical about it last semester. I've experienced things that I will probably never get to do ever again, which is totally mind blowing to me. I'm loving every moment here, every day is a new adventure for me & that's what I enjoy the most. Everything just really makes sense here. Even the little things. Like the two buttons to flush the toilet, using 1 gallon for pee & 4 gallons for the other. How economically smart & eco-friendly. Or, the lids to coffee cups. It's hard to describe, but it's not flat and a little hole like, say at starbucks. It actually forms upwards and fits perfectly for your lips and doesn't spill. Another thing that makes sense here is healthcare. Shit, it's free. People make their contribution to the health care system through taxes and the Medicare levy based on their income, and through private financing such as private health insurance. The aim of the national health care funding system is to give all Australians, regardless of their personal circumstances, access to health care at an affordable cost or at no cost, while allowing choice for individuals through substantial private sector involvement in delivery and financing. That's that.


I have some readings & research to do, but will be back with an update shortly. I have to do a debate on MDMA for my sex,drugs & human nature class. I have to argue that it should remain illegal & the other half of the class argues to legalize it. This should be interesting?? What a weird teacher, seriously. Ah well, after my two classes tomorrow I'm done for the weekend! RYAN COMES ON SUNDAY!!!!!!! Do I pick him up on my scooter & let him sit on the back to let his luggage wheel on road on the way home right next to us? HA. I'm filled with excitement. I'm looking forward to my other half being here with me. He's going to absolutely love it which is exciting because I really want him to enjoy his spring break! It's going to be so chill. Can't wait to go sailing next weekend! Some of the girls are going this weekend so they can let me know how it goes. I'm sure it's phenomenal out there on the reef. 
New journeys, new experiences with my life :)