"I feel like I'm in America when I'm with you"

Spring has sprung! The weather is warming up and the beaches are becoming much more populated. For some reason the smell in the air reminds me of my time in the summer spent on the east coast with family. Maybe it's the slight humidity I feel in the air?

As many of you are aware, I just had a lovely visitor from the states..Miss Danielle Rants. For those who do not know she is a friend from Western Washington University and we used to work with each other at the Western Alumni Association. Her mom is a flight attendant and gets discounted flights, thus making her trip VERY affordable. We spent two nights in Sydney and then the rest of our time in Newcastle. The entire time I was with her I kept feeling as though I was in Washington. I kept having to remind myself, "I'm in Australia, I'm in Australia"

When she first arrived I met her in Sydney. We spent two nights in a hostel in the heart of Sydney, walking around, checking out once again the Opera House, Bondi beach, and of course going out for drinks and dancing both nights. While we were there we met up with a friend of mine who I worked with a couple summers ago at Camp Collins. She is from Sydney and picked us up from the hostel and took us to Bondi beach and out to lunch.

My friend we met in Sydney from Camp Collins: Laura!

Danielle and I on the coastal walk in Sydney 

While Danielle was here we also went to the Blackbutt animal reserve checking out koalas, kangaroos, peacocks, etc. Although rather touristy we felt we had to do it!

Danielle's last night/one of my roommate's birthdays

Aussies rock concert: My friend Luc treated my roomie Kate and I to an Aussie rock concert. The band was called Dead Letter Circus, apparently very well-known here. It was quite the experience. Crowd surfing, head banging, and ringing ears. While it is not the music I would listen to on a daily basis I did enjoy it!

Luc, Kate and I at concert

These pictures are from awhile ago but just thought I would share anyways..

Marcus and I at beach called Redhead

I know I have said it before but dang...it is a small world!! I was just chatting with my roomie Kate last night and found out that one of the girls who lived in the flat (apartment) before I did (she moved out two weeks before I moved in) was from Washington State. Come to find out that she graduated from Western Washington University! And she lived in my same flat for 3 months!! What are the chances? 

Another small world example: Several girls I met turned out to be at the uni volunteering with the campus ministry for a few weeks. Anyways it turns out one girl (Emily) is from Vancouver, WA and used to volunteer at the hospital with my sister-in-law Taisha and brother Jesse! She said that she thought the name "Trigg" sounded familiar....

While I have been going on mini adventures quite regularly, this past week and a half has mainly been filled with uni work. I have written four essays, taken two quizes and lost too much sleep. I had this realization a week and a half ago, "Wow, this is what I feel like ALL quarter long at Western, and I am feeling this way only two weeks out of the semester!" I would say that's not too bad :) (Even though this past week has been rather awful). Why so much work you ask? Well, it is halfway through our semester! I simply cannot believe where the time goes....And just as Western begins in about one week...

Anyways..part of the reason I have had so much to do is of course because it is midterms time but also because I am leaving before break starts for holiday (aka vacation babbby!!).

What will I be doing you ask?

Who: 8 international students: Three German girls, four American guys (two from Wisconsin, Colorado, and New Mexico)...and me of course
What/where: We will be traveling the east coast of Australia! We will start by flying to Cairns from Sydney (located on the Great Barrier Reef), staying several nights in a hostel, then renting two camper vans and traveling down the coast, camping and checking out the amazing surrounding land. We plan to visit Whitsunday Island (supposed to be beautiful and will possibly go sailing, snorkeling, etc), Fraser Island, etc etc, making our way down to Brisbane. We have a tentative plan of things we want to see but we are all quite adventurous and spontaneous so the trip should be interesting (we may also break into smaller groups throughout trip)
How long: We will be traveling for 17 days
When will I leave? In one hour I board the train to Sydney....hence the reason I am scrambling to complete this blog before I am MIA for the next three weeks!

Excited does not even begin to describe how I am feeling! Yay to more adventures and traveling.  

I have no doubt that I will have TONS of pictures to share when I return.
It has been lovely staying in touch with some of you. I hope you enjoy the fall weather and the start of a new school year (for those starting uni soon).

XOXO 

Pink blitz= Pure bliss

Hello loved ones! Apologies for the delayed blog postings….Things have been wonderfully hectic and I have struggled to make time for posting. ;) As you can imagine I have done much since my last post, keeping busy at pretty much all times: going to the beach, socializing, surfing, studying, planning mid-semester break (trip to the Great Barrier Reef), etc. etc. etc. Due to the fact that I have done so much I have just decided to post pictures and describe each in a few short statements (this is not all inclusive of everything but it is a good start). So here is goes…

My roomie Kate and I! She is currently spending time in New Zealand swimming with Whales (literally swimming with whales)

Aussie roomies: Alice, Kate and I: Girls night out dancing :)

Meat pie lovin ' at 2am at "Harry's Meals on Wheels". People love meat pies here...basically meat pies consist of different kinds of meat and veggies baked in a doughy outer lining...often topped with peas and potatoes...YUM 

Beach volleyball! This dude (American word apparently) and I (Jared) played 2v2 against two older Aussie guys. They had clearly played for many many years.....which means yes...they "beat" us.

At the beach with Isabella (friend from England)

Bar Beach (I jog/walk here at least 2 times a week)

Izzy :)

My girl Eva (from Germany) and I went surfing!!! It was an absolute blast! We were taught by a surfer that had been surfing since he was 5 yrs old. Typical surfer: tan, longer hair than me and super relaxed. And just as I thought.. surfing is not as easy as it looks. Although, we both stood up multiple times! We are currently working on getting wet suits of our own so we can go out on our own :)

Potluck with other international ladies

The next series of pictures are from a day spent biking and hiking. Since being here I have been trying to find places to hike and I finally found an amazing spot the other day. It is called Glenrock. Glenrock is known for being an amazing mountain biking area although it has nice hiking trails as well. My friend Marcus and I biked to Glenrock (a decent ride with many hills), parked our bikes at Glenrock, hiked around and ate lunch by the water.

Not a very clear picture but there is a beautiful lagoon with the ocean in the background. 

Sundial 

Where we ate lunch

Marcus's first EVER peanut butter and jelly sandwich! I guess it's not very common in Germany? ;)

At the end of an amazing day biking. Check out dat moon! ;)

Coffee with Eva on trendy Darby Street. When you get chai tea (and other hot drinks) they serve it to you out of a glass cup with a spoon to scoop the foam before drinking the delicious drink.

The next series of pictures are from a day spent rock climbing with the moutaineering club. We went to a beautiful place called Port Stephens (about 1 hour drive from Newcastle) where we were climbing right next to the beautiful blue water. For those of you who have ever climbed on real rock you know that it is not easy (Except for Kella)! Friends and I did several climbs and then spent the rest of the time exploring the rest of the area and relaxing on the beach.

My friend Nick from Minnesota 

My friend Tobias and I

Ryan from New Mexico, quite the goof ball

My girl Jackie trying to do appear as yogis

Leonie, Eva, and Jackie

Another bike ride Marcus and I just recently did was on a well known bike path called Fernleigh track. We road the entire path and eventually made it to a beach called Red Head beach.

In addition to all these pictures of activities I have done, I have also been playing on an indoor soccer team (we are called the Pikachu Killers) as well as on a basketball team with a girl that I met from Washington state!

Curious about the pink blitz=pure bliss title? My home gurll pink blitz is my bike (I know she sounds pretty kick-ass). When I ride with her it is pure bliss.

Peace Corps update: For those of you who do not know, I have applied for the Peace Corps in order to join upon graduation. I had my interview this past week view webcam. I am pleased to say that it went very well! As of now my representative is trying to place me in the health sector which I am more than excited about. I am still waiting to see if I have an official offer but things are looking up! Thank you once again to everyone who has been an amazing support. In my interview I was asked, “Do those close to you support your decision to join?” I couldn’t think of a single negative reaction I had gotten from any of my friends and family. I am blessed.

Cheers!