Work hard, play harder

I felt it was necessary to make a separate post of all the recent dress up gatherings I have had here in Newcastle. Between Halloween, house themed get togethers, and simply being a bit wild and spontaneous, I have accumulated quite the collection of outrageous photos. Here a just a few….

Zimmy the dinosaur

Giraffe and dino conquer world

Sorry mom ;)

Zombies

Halloween at my flat

Wonder woman and zombie nurse

Celebrating Dutch Queens Day (attempting to wear orange)

Thinking of things to do on a Sunday night.....

Retro party: I am mix between 80's valley girl and Marilyn Monroe maybe? 

Groovy babyyy

Having too much fun?

Celebrate good times, wahooo!

"I reckon it's heaps good here"

Words cannot express how much I love it here. Today marks the day that I have exactly one month left in this beautiful place I have come to call home. I have noticed it has gotten harder and harder to keep up with posting due to the fact that I feel I have become more and more immersed in my life here in Australia creating my own sense of home with friends that are so close to me I could call them family.

As one of my German friends said to me here, “In Germany we say, you always meet twice in a lifetime.” I think this is true. Now that I have friends around the world, it is another reason to travel the world.

Since the last post, I have done quite a bit.....

I have been boating twice: Once wake boarding, the second tubing and just cruising around on Lake Macquarie

Johnny (landlord/friend), Moa, and I enjoying a drink in on the hot day

My Swedish friend Moa :) 

Tim's first time tubing, ever!

Whoa

Kate (roomie) and I decided to have a day date with each other. We took the car to the Central Coast, visited her family, the house she grew up in, the beaches around there, vintage shops, grabbed coffee, etc. Recently though, there was huge bush fires that lit up large areas where she is from. This is the first time in 15 years it has happened in November. Usually these happen in February during the heat of the summer.

We felt it was picture worthy

Kate and I

Once again a group of internationals stayed the night at my place (watching a movie and bringing mattresses downstairs) and then we woke up and walked to sunrise on the beach at 5:45 am :)

Aussie

Day adventure to beach: a 15 minute bike ride away

Merewether beach

Eva and I

Another day date with Jackie and Eva biking and hiking around the beaches

Here are some pictures that were just developed from my Spring Break trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately they did not turn out exactly as we would have liked but still cool nonetheless. 

Eva and I snorkeling 

Nick thumbs up

On Wednesday I am off to Asia for 18 days! I feel I haven’t had too much time to think about it but when I do I am very excited/curious/nervous! It is unlike anything I have ever done. I will start in Singapore, then Bali, Indonesia, then Labuan Bajo (islands in Indo), then Malaysia, and back to Sydney! I will be doing all of this on my own, so it is definitely out of my comfort zone, that is the fun part about it. 

Thinking of all friends and family back home, looking forward to sharing stories, adventures and catching up. Much love. <3  

Oh and by the way... I FINISHED UNI!!! Yay! Let's be honest, it was the easiest semester I have EVER had, but I still learned a lot and am thankful to be done. Now time to enjoy Asia and enjoy the rest of my time in Newcastle, whiling I try to spend time with some of the fabulous people I have met here. Cheers to that!

Enjoy life, one wave at a time

I officially have been in Australia for over three months. Which means I have less than two months left! Here are some of my recent adventures...

I LOVE SURFING. My roommate Kate and I have bee trying to wake up early (6:30 am) in order to catch some waves before she goes to work/before I start my day. Starting the day off in the water trying to surf is an amazing way to start the day! You feel so refreshed and calm, I simply love it. Kate has been letting me use her board (the one on the far left) and giving me some tips. I am no pro by any means but I am enjoying just getting a paddle in and standing up for a few seconds at a time. With more practice I hope to get a bit better. Maybe I'll be an Aussie surfer chick after all ;)

Left to right: Kate, Eva, and I

Our flat once again decided to have a party. It is always quite fun because of flat is usually filled with internationals of all ages hanging with each other.

Roomie Kate and I

Washington state represent! Rimma is from WWU as well :)

Hat party?

Left to right (Leonie (German), Eva (German), Ella (Aussie), me (American duhh)

We decided that while we were in Australia that we had to pet kangaroos at least once. Although we (I speak for Eva and I) do not prefer to do "touristy" things we decided to give this a whirl. It was actually quite nice to pet the kangaroos. They reminded me of giant rabbits. 

Trying to give one a high five...I think he thought he was cooler than me...

Eva relates to Koalas very well

The pelican invasion

Bush walk in Port Stephens

Wine tasting with the girls before going to the sand dunes. Yes, I know I look a bit creepy...

"Johnny, can I drive?" Johnny is my landlord/friend/craziest guy you will ever meet who took a a few of us 4wding/sand boarding on the sand dunes in Stockton not too far from where we live. It was a blast!  

Jump for joy

Sand boarding is SO FUN

Album cover worthy

Can't believe this is in Newcastle!

Running the dunes

Courtesy of Johnny bravo tours (my landlord wants to start his own touring company)

In addition to these fun things I have been playing soccer, basketball, cooking with friends, biking, going to class and keeping up with uni work, etc. Last night I even took a ride on a friend's motorbike. Don't worry mom, we were safe..well, relatively ;) I am currently doing a 10 day yoga session with another girl from Washington at a yoga loft near my flat that overlooks the water. Last session the instructor emphasized and encouraged us to step out of our comfort zone. It was exactly what I needed to hear as I approach the end of my time here and am about to travel Asia. So in other words everyone...do something that is out of your comfort zone this week! I challenge you ;)

On that note....I am going to start the challenge off by writing these three essays...while it is not completely out of my comfort zone, it's not exactly incredibly "fun". ;) Although they should be quite interesting. Here is what I will be writing about
1) Political Economy of Heroin (the research has been quite fascinating)
2) Women's relationship to the environment
3) Looking at an Indigenous culture and comparing the way they interact with nature with how the Western world does. I am hoping to examine a group in Indonesia so I can learn a bit more about the country before traveling there.

Anyways! For those of you in school, keep studying hard, Thanksgiving is right around the corner (which I will be miss..sad day.. ). Those of you working...keep working hard, enjoying all that life has to offer and try to spice things up each and every day....and those babies out there..well..just keep eating and behaving for your awesome parents (emphasis on my nephews and niece). Okay, that's all for my "pep talk" and Hannah's daily advice.

Blog soon to come! Love you all! xoxo