Australian Bucket List

I’m one of those people that if I don’t write it down, it’s out of my head. So I figured if I actually want to make sure I get the things done I want to do while I’m here I need to document it! So without further ado here is my bucket list:

Skydive over The Great Barrier Reef

Get a Tattoo

Get a Tan … & NOT get sun poisoning

Snorkel/Dive The Great Barrier Reef

Bungee Jump

Learn to Surf

Go to New Zealand

Hold a Koala

Pet a Kangaroo

Climb the Harbor Bridge

See an Opera Show

Learn to Cook

NOT spend all my $money$

Perfect an Australian Accent

Backpack in the Outback

See Uluru

Visit Brisbane and Melbourne

If you can think of anything else I should do while I'm here, let me know!!

First Full Week Recap

This week started the first week where classes and interning began. Most people had their interviews and possibly their first day on site at their internship on Tuesday but my supervisor was in Queensland so I had another free day! A big group of us went down to Coogee beach and it was absolutely beautiful! It had this little lagoon with a cliff overhanging it with rocks to tan and jump off of and you could see the town jutting out into the water. I haven't been to manly yet but I like Coogee better than Bondi so far!

On Wednesday a lot of people had classes and work so I went out and found my internship. It's at Hornsby physiotherapy and it was a hike to get there. I left at 11 and didn't get home until 3:30! I took a bus a train and another bus to get there for an hour and a half and the same thing to get home for 2 hours. Luckily my supervisor is a really cool guy and picks up and drops off his employees from  the office. After I found my way home I just relaxed and accomplished a little bit of homework. Since both of my classes are on Monday we had online work for this week because of the public holiday.

Thursday morning I had my first class here in Australia! It is a "Learning Through Internship" class so that you apply your knowledge from your internship and reflect on the experience. We have a research paper to write and I'll probably do mine on the cultural differences within the workplace between America and Australia. This class only meets 3 times throughout the semester so most weeks I only have class on Mondays! After that Erika, Courtney and I headed back to Coogee to relax and lay out. Thursday night a bunch of us went to IVY because it's cover is usually $45 and it was free the night. It was an incredible club, a bunch of levels with a pool on the top. I guess I understand the need for the expensive cover.

Friday I had my first day at my internship site! I had to get up pretty early to make it there by 9am. From now on my supervisor will pick me up but it'll be at 6am so we can get there by 7. I'll be working 20-24 hours a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday's, so I have a free day on Wednesdays (Happy Hump Day!) Friday's will always be long unfortunately because the office is open from 7-7 and drinks after work are pretty much the norm here... I didn't get home until almost 10pm! At my internship though, they kind of tossed me right in and I worked with patients and did stretches and heard about their diagnoses. I felt like I learned so much! It was really cool to actually be applying things I've learned in school and I felt like in that one day I learned a lot more than I do sitting in a classroom. It's also super interesting because my supervisor has students from all over the world intern with him for clinical hours. I worked with a girl from Switzerland, a girl from Norway, a boy from Hong Kong, an Australian boy and 2 American grad students, so you get a lot of different perspective and see how physio is practiced all over the world! After work we went out for drinks and appetizers and watched some cricket before heading home for the day.

Yesterday we had our first excursion through Phi Beta Dingo where we went to the Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park. We headed out at about 8:30 am and got there around 10:30. First thing you see when you walk in were... koalas! Super cute, super sleepy. Then you walked a little further and there were kangaroos just freely walking/ hopping around everywhere! There were also wallaby's and emu's that were a little more shy. Had to get the classic Australia picture with a kangaroo! Some of the park workers walked us around and told us about the aboriginal people of Australia and all of the plants and wildlife. They also provided us with lunch... at this point the emus were a lot less shy and came up and plucked a girl's hotdog right off her plate! After lunch we learned about and how to throw boomerangs... spoiler alert, it was not my strong suit. Then we got to pet and hang out with a koala for a little before heading home! I totally forgot to put sunscreen on but barely burned so I really lucked out! 80 degrees here is a lot different feeling than 80 degrees at home... we were boiling all day long. Later that day we went out to this bar called the Scary Canary. It had these jug drinks and a lot of techno music but an awesome atmosphere. We danced a ton with our group we went out with.

Tonight is a Chinese New Year festival/parade and a CAPA provided dinner so if I don't have to cook it, of course I'm going!

 Cheers!

Australia Day & More

So I guess I can do another post today to also write about what I've been doing the past few days!

On Friday we had and orientation at ACU about our internships and the business culture here in Australia. At that I found out that I have my internship and first day of work this Friday in Hornsby at Hornsby Physiotherapy! I'm really excited to get started and I've heard that my supervisor hires people from all over the world to work with him so I'll be with ah ute mix of other people! I'm pretty sure I'm going to have pretty long 12 hour days though. I guess thats alright since I only have class here on Monday and Thursday morning.

After that we had someone come to tell us about all of the places and things to do we should accomplish while we're here! There's so much to pack in in only 3 months. Later, I had my first Aussie food experience! I tried crocodile pizza and it was pretty weird. I think I would describe it like chicken but waaaay chewier and I liked it less. It was kind of rubbery. There was also Kangaroo pizza to try but I just didn't have the heart to stomach that yet. They're just too cute!

After that I saw my first good glimpse of the harbor and the opera house at Circular Quey. It was just as beautiful as described. It was kind of overcast & windy that day but still a cool experience nonetheless. I think I'll be passing it every day on my commute to class or my internship & I'll get to appreciate the view.

That night we went to a really cool bar in King's Cross called World's bar. The name kind of fits because there were people there from all over, not only Australia and America but Italy and Belgium and Spain among lots of others. It was a fun place with different rooms and atmospheres and lots of dancing. King's Cross is kind of a sketchy place though, I'd never seen so many strip clubs in my life...

On Saturday some of us ventured out to Bondi Beach! It wasn't the best day but it got sunnier in the afternoon. It was absolutely beautiful with the biggest waves I've ever seen! There was a fun little bar, with different mixed drink jugs right on the water and $10 margaritas, too, super yummy! Even though it was cloudy you could still really feel the sun coming through, but it was windy and kind of cool so we headed back early.

Sunday was Australia Day!! Australia Day is essentially like America's Fourth of July. It had lots of stuff going on in the city and day drinking and beach going and all that jazz. A group of us headed back out to Bondi for the day and it ended up being beautiful! I got my first bit of sun on my face. I'm really going to have to remember to keep up with the sunblock here though because we were only there for an hour or so and I got as much color as I would all day on the beach at home. We came back to go to Darling Harbor for fireworks and it was easily the best firework show I have ever seen! It was beautiful right over the harbor with all the building surrounding it and great music playing. A group of us headed out to a nearby bar for casual drinks to finish up the night.

Today has been a relaxing day, the first one I've really had and it's been nice to just sit around and take it all in. I've done a little homework but we have limited wifi in the apartment so I'm going to have to get used to using cafes and school campus to get a lot done.

Cheers!