Uni

Well, I've officially had two classes at my new "uni!" My Tourism and Leisure Management was a pretty traditional class. Professor, PowerPoint, etc. The class sounds really interesting and there is a lot more to tourism than I originally thought. How different cultures have different needs is huge when it comes tourism, so there's a lot of Sociology stuff in tourism which is so cool! About half of the class is Chinese students, so it'll be neat to hear their input on tourism and how things work in their region. There is a new arrangement between China and Australia which offers direct flights, so the Chinese community is flooding Australia to see what this awesome country has to offer. Something I found super different in class was the amount of iPad use and cell phone disruptions. In the states, if one cell phone goes off, everyone checks their phone so they are not to be embarrassed. Not the case here! One person's phone went off on three separate occasions in addition to other random noises and chimes throughout the class. I was in shock! I was so close to saying something, but it was the first day and I'm a new girl....awkward.

My class today was Sex Drugs and Human Nature via the Townsville JCU campus, so it was via web cam. IT WAS AWFUL. I have SO much more appreciation for Witt classes today more than ever! We sat there and looked at the projector. This professor spoke in circles and made ZERO sense. The whole class had this dazed look on their face the entire time, so I know I was not the only one feeling that way. Since today was the first day, the lecture didn't go the whole two hours, but I have NO idea how I will sit through that next week. It was awful. I tried to be an active listener, but this man didn't make any sense and no matter how hard I followed along, nothing worked. I looked at Pinterest instead after 45 minutes of confusion. Oops.

Tomorrow, I don't have class! I'll probably end up going to Trinity Beach and do a bit of reading :) Hard life, I know! I'll have tutorials (guided study sessions) starting next week, so I'll be much busier. This week is the equivalent to syllabus week. Hope everyone back home is doing well! Just confirmed housing for SENIOR YEAR! Tiana and I will be back in our lovely abode, so come on by.
Xoxo
SZ

Green Island!

I had my first Great Barrier Reef experience this weekend! Early Saturday morning, we headed over to the boat terminal (I think that is what it's called..) on a rainy morning. It was not very promising as we boarded the ferry over to Green Island. There was us, the JCU student group, and a huge group from China. They had some impressive camera lenses! I thought Alejandro, my camera, was impressive, but he totally got shut down by all the other big lenses. The ride over was pretty rainy the whole 1.5 hours, but once we got to the island, it started to clear up. We slipped into our VERY attractive one-piece suits (which are NOT called onesies....my mistake) and went into the water. It was really fun to see the reef! It got really sunny later in the day it we saw some great wildlife! We saw three sea turtles, clown fish, a sting ray, and all kinds of other things. It was great! Some of my friends even saw a shark which sounded so cool. Overall, it was a really exciting day. Even though I had on a ton of sunscreen, still got quite a bit of sun. Today (Sunday) marks my first school night in SO LONG. This break from school has been great, but I sure hope I know how read and write still....fingers crossed.
Xoxo
SZ

PS: Blogger isn't allowing me to upload my newest pictures so please click the following link to see pictures from both bungy jumping as well as Green Island!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151287411977097.464106.630367096&type=1&l=c63d7729b9

AJ Hackett

I WENT BUNGY JUMPING! It was so amazing! I went through a university sponsored event so they bussed us over there and then we did it! AJ Hackett, what the diving place is called, is the name of the guy who founded bungy jumping, and this is one of his "spots." You climb up about 200 stairs, get clipped on, then jump! It is so so so so so fun! I recommend it to everyone! Even people who were standing on the little platform crying before they jumped ended up liking it! All of the pictures and videos done by the professionals were really expensive, so I didn't buy them, but a girl took a video of me jumping and getting ready, so once I have those, I will post them!

xoxo

SZ

PS: Everyone, please keep the Pugliese Family in your thoughts. Thank yoU! 

Vamos A La Playa

BEACH!!!!!!!!

After finishing up with orientation shenanigans, a whole different form of shenanigans began! We signed up for a beach trip which ended up being SO FUN (not that I had any doubts)!!!!! A red, double decker bus picked us up outside A1 (main building on campus) with "Party Bus" painted on the front. We got in and lights were flashing and music was blasting. We drove for about 30 minutes and were at the beach! The sand wasn't really like sand, it was more small pebbles. There were also dead "jellies" all along the beach which was kind of frightening. They're not friendly! Even when dead. COMPLETELY changing the topic from the beach to our fingers. My roommate and I both have really swollen hands! Is it from climate change? The heat? The elevation change? They've been this way since getting here. Tomorrow I'm trying something brand new and I can't wait!! 

Xoxo

SZ

My Life in Cairns

We arrived here on Saturday and it is now Monday and I have already met so many amazing people! There are quite a few kids from the states, but also kids from France, Rusisa, Norway, and many more countries. We've had a lot of fun getting to know people and just hanging out together. Today, I went to the James Cook Campus for some orientation stuff, and I feel like such a freshman! Setting up my e-mail account, figuring out my "timetable" and all of that routine stuff. The fun orientation activity for the day is a trip to the beach! No idea which beach, but I'm guessing it's close because the time slot is only from 4-6. Hopefully, I won't melt! Almost every Australian I've met makes some reference to sunscreen, sunburn, or sun intensity to me...I get it, people. I'm fair. I've been applying sunscreen often so I should be okay :) The picture of the ENORMOUS bug was the little guy who decided to come hangout with us the other evening. Not only is he huge and scary looking, he hisses! I don't think he could do any harm but it's pretty freaky. Girls down the hall have a dead gecko in their room, so I guess it could be worse! 

Xoxo

SZ

Cairns

I'm beginning to get settled into what is my home for the next 4.5 months! It is SO tropical up here. Palm tress are everywhere, and everything is very very lush. Right now, it is 88 degrees but feels like 97. Such a big transition from the cold weather we had in Cleveland! I Have two roommates from the IFSA Butler program who are both really nice. We all get a long fine so there are no big issues. There are a lot of Australians living in the lodge who have been nothing but welcoming and love asking us questions about the states and how we feel about certain things, etc. The only mean people we've encountered are the bus drivers! No matter how polite you are, they're just nasty! Now I realize they drive a huge bus around in circles all day, so it must suck, but come on. Be nice! Last night, our first night out, we went to Downtown Cairns. We went to a club called Gilligans, which was insane. It was three stories and had a lot of outside space with patios and such. It wasn't really my scene but it was a fun way to start out our time here. We start our orientation for James Cook University tomorrow, so we will be meeting more and more people this upcoming week. There are so many names to learn in a short period of time and I can't keep them straight. I definitely feel like a freshman again...moving into the dorm, meeting new people, going to different activities, and playing name games. 2010 throwback!
I haven't really taken any more pictures but when I do, I'll be sure to post them.
Love to everyone back home!
xoxo
SZ

Sydney!

Today, Friday, is our last day in Sydney! We had meetings all morning about our departure tomorrow, and what we can expect at our new "uni." We learned that in Carins, we will see tons of dangerous spiders, snakes, and God knows what else that could literally KILL US. Cool? Scary as shit? Who knows. She also said the geckos come into the bathroom and poop everywhere. MMMMMMM. After the meetings, my FRIEND, (yes, I've made a friend or two) Grace and I explored Sydney. We walked around and did a few errands. Now, we're back in the room reorganizing and packing up for tomorrow. If you can imagine, four college girls in a tiny hostel room is quite a disaster. Tonight, we have a dinner cruise to see all of our orientation friends for the last time until we go to our different schools. It'll be great to be in our home university--living out of a suitcase is getting a little old.

The pictures attached to this blog are from yesterday's adventure to the Featherdale Wildlife Park and our two hour hike in the Blue Mountains. The pictures do not do the mountains justice, but even the pictures are pretty spectacular!

Blue Mountains

Today was BY FAR one of the best days. Ever. We started out the day really early..on the road by 7:45. We drove about an hour and went to a Wildlife Sanctuary where we pet kangaroos, wallaby, KOALA BEARS and so much more. It was amazing to see all these animals so close and be able to interact with them. Afterwards, we headed towards the Blue Mountains. It is similar to the Grand Canyon, but with much more trees. We hiked down from the top, which took about two hours, then took a tram/cable car back up. It was SO beautiful. It was a lot to take in because it is really sinking in that I'm in AUSTRALIA! After the hike, we went to a tourism center and had a presentation on the Aborigines of Australia. The main message we took away waas that they were happy, simple, and looked out for everyone. The Aborigines survived for thousands of years without all that we have now and were completely ignored by the British. It's too bad because they knew so much about the land, environment, etc. We got back to the hostel at 8 and were to be downstairs by 8:05. We all felt tired and awful, but dinner was close and it was a fun night. We came back, quick showered, and headed out to Sydney nightlife. It was really fun! The first bar we went to was AMAZING. It was on the roof of some fancy building with tons of people. There was a little pool, and tons of fancy people who were much older than us. I have no idea how we got in. We met a few people, but overall, no one was very friendly. We then headed to the bar where we had dinner and it was so fun. Most of the people from our program were there so we had so much fun. We danced like fools and had a great time. Tomorrow, we have a few meetings in the morning and then we have the afternoon free. It has yet to be determined what we are going to do in that time, but I'm sure it'll be a blast! Hope everyone is well back home.
Xoxo
SZ
PS I will post pictures tomorrow.

LAX-SYD

I MADE IT TO AUSTRALIA!
The flight was not nearly as bad as I was expecting! I was able to sleep on and off for a few hours, watched a movie and a half, and then we landed! I sat in the middle of the middle section on this HUGE double decker plane. It was MASSIVE. I sat next to a girl who's final destination is also Cairns, and a crabby AAA Traveler who was not very nice. Once we got to Sydney, it was full speed ahead.

We met our group coordinators at the airport and they knew us all by name! We took a big bus from the airport to the hostel, which was about a 25 minute drive. It was tempting not to fall asleep. Once we were at the hostel, we kind of settled in, and kind of freshened up. Then, we went to the big meeting area and had some tea, and had an introduction to the program. The coordinators seem really nice and very enthusiastic. After we had a few meetings, we had lunch and got the cell phones figured out. Mine, of course, is not working yet. I'll be calling Verizon shortly, then I'll be able to use Viber etc. After the cell phone ordeal, we went on a THREE HOUR WALKING TOUR. Not only had I not showered since Sunday (it's now Wednesday), I had only a bit of sleep on the plane after being up for 24 hours. Needless to say, none of us were in our prime. We got back from our walk, had a bit of free time, then had dinner. Afterwards, we sat on our rooftop patio at the hostel and enjoyed the view.

The kids in the group are really fun and we're all having a great time. Tomorrow, we are going to Blue Mountain. It is about a two hour journey that we are breaking up by stopping to see some Kangaroos and KOALA BEARS! I am so excited :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!
Xoxo

SZ

CLE -> LAX

I made it to LAX! I arrived at about 10:30 AM local time, already tired of traveling. Oops. After I figured out the logistics, I hopped on an LA city bus and went to Venice Beach. I got off the bus entirely too early, and ended up at the wrong, boring end of the beach. However, this mistake offered me the chance to go on a walk of about oh I'd say a solid mile. It was some PRIME people watching! I saw everything from speed rollerbladers to people playing live music along the walk. It was beautiful! The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. After a few hours at the beach, I figured I'd better head back to the airport. The bus I took back was a different one than I took to get to the beach, but it worked just the same. Unfortunately, the driver had a case of the "Lets drive really fast then slam on the breaks to make the passengers fall and feel dizzy." It was awful! I almost got off and waited for the next Big Blue #3. I'm now killing time with more people watching and writing to you all! I've posted some pictures from my fun afternoon at the beach! I'm a little anxious about this 15 hour flight that is quickly approaching, but I'm sure I'll be just fine. Thank you all for your love and support as I head on the exciting journey! Xoxo
SZ

SZ.