Some places I've been so far...

Mooloolaba Beach
This is the closest beach to our uni and is easily accessible by bus. There are sandy parts, rocky parts, and surfing parts. One of my room mates has a couple surfboards at our apartment, so I'm hoping he will teach me how to do it when the water gets a bit warmer! The beach is lined with restaurants and shops (especially the ever-dangerous tempting clothing stores). Some of the pubs/clubs we have gone to so far have been around this beach as well.

Sunshine Plaza
This is the half outdoor, half indoor mall that is built over and around a river.

Glass House Mountains
On Saturday we went on a hike to one of the Glass House mountains--Mt. Ngungun. It is one of 10 mountains in a National park and I am hoping to climb all of them except the one that is illegal. They are described as craggy, volcanic peaks and the hike was pretty steep. The view from the top was pretty sick, though, and worth the trek up there.

A week's worth of thoughts and experiences from the Sunshine Coast

Well, today is Monday and I’ve been here just over a week. I haven’t had too much time to write because it has been O-week (Orientation week) fo the new “uni” students. I am actually writing this while laying out by the pool in my apartment complex… hard life, I know.

Anyway, starting back at the beginning of the week, The flights over here last Saturday were much easier and faster than I thought they were going to be. I actually enjoyed the Qantas flight from L.A. to Brisbane because it was nighttime the entire way there and I was able to sleep easily. We left at 11:30 PM pacific time (2:30 AM eastern time)—a flight that I highly recommend. There were a bunch of students on my flight who were also coming to study abroad here and it was pretty cool getting to meet people I’d be with for the semester before even arriving.

            My first impression of Australia (on the ride from the airport in Brisbane to the uni) was that it was very similar to the states. The only differences I noticed were the whole driving on the left thing and the slight differences in road signs. It didn’t look nearly as tropical as I had figured it would. Since that point, I have noticed more and more discrepancies each day. I find it so interesting that the Australian English language is sometimes hard for us Americans to understand because of the varying slang forms they use.

            The uni, University of the Sunshine Coast, is very cool looking. All of the buildings have an artsy, metal design but the campus doesn’t feel cold or uninviting. Maybe that is partially because the campus is a reserve for red kangaroos. I don’t know if I will ever get tired of seeing the ‘roos lounging around the campus. 

The campus also has a huge amount of bird species, which never seem to stop making noise. Classes started today, but I don’t have a class until tomorrow. School here seems like it is going to be a pretty new experience. Apparently we only really have 4 long-term assignments per class per semester that we basically work on by ourselves outside of class. Things are definitely more laid back here and going to class seems to be more of an optional thing. So, I am excited to get into the swing of things and see how school really is from my perspective.

            I have met tons of new people from countries all over the world and though I  have travelled to Eurpoe and other places before, it never ceases to amaze and embarrass me that everyone else knows English in addition to their own national language. There are a number of people here from Norway and Germany, but I have also met people from Sweden, England, New Zealand, South Africa, and China. Interacting with people from so many different cultures and backgrounds while we are all adjusting to life in a completely new country is incredible to me—I love it. Comparing languages, words, perspectives, backgrounds, and everything else allows for a whole different kind of relationship than I am able to achieve with the primarily white, upper-middle class population of Elon. 

This post is a little boring, better ones will be up soon!

Cheers,

Kelsey

Leaving in a week!

I can't believe how fast these past 6 weeks of summer have gone. I only have one week left before I embark on the journey of a lifetime! I haven't started packing yet, so it hasn't really hit me yet that I will be across the world in 9 days. My mom and I have been struggling with some medical/financial things that were kind of hard to figure out, so I wanted to write out some tips on here for future students traveling abroad to Australia.

1. Money/Bank Accounts: I opened a checking account at Bank of America because they are associated with a bank in Australia called WestPac, where I will be able to take money out of the ATM without a charge in Australia. I also got a CapitalOne credit card, because they do not have international fees in Australia either. I am of course also going to bring some Australian money with me in my carry on bag.

2. Medications: Make sure to check the legality/availability of your medications and the policies of your insurance company far before your departure date. We found that obtaining a 6 month insurance override for any kind of medication is pretty difficult and time consuming. We've had the most trouble trying to figure out what the deal is with Adderall and Adderall XR. They do not have it or prescribe it in Australia and you are only allowed to bring in a 3 month supply of it at a time with proper documentation ( a copy of the prescription and a letter from your doctor saying that it really is for you). After that, we found out that I will have to find a doctor over there and together with that doctor, obtain an import permit and an import license for both the Adderall and my birth control pills. I am hoping that this wont be too hard. Don't forget to bring all of your medicine and documentation in your carry on bag because you will have to declare it and will want to have it easily accessible for the customs officer.

That's all I can think of for now!