Ten Weeks Down, Nine to Go

It's officially now the Sunday that is more than halfway on this journey I've been on in Australia. It's really hard to believe that I'm more than halfway...It is just about May! This week since I've been back in Sydney has been really crazy with school work. I have two big papers due this week, one being a 1500 word annotated bibliography for my euthanasia research project. The entire thing is worth 60% of my grade of the class, 15% being from the annotation, so I need to do very well on it. The other is my research paper on Piaget for developmental psychology class, which is 40% of my grade, so that one is an extremely important aspect of my grade. Other than that, I've been working on the past two weeks lab reports for cell biology which are extremely hard. It seems everyone in the course took several prereqs that teach you everything you need to know for these labs...and I have not. I'm getting there slowly but surely. This weekend has been relaxing, besides the many hours spent at the library. It is kind of dissapointing when I have to spend a weekend doing work, and can't travel or do too many other things...But after I hand my psych paper in on Friday I'll be set! Of course soon after I have more big things due, but I can relax a bit for the weekend. I'm thinking of either going to the Blue Mountains for a hiking weekend, Jervis Bay for a relaxing weekend by the beach, or up north to either Newcastle, Port Macquierie or somewhere else. Or I could always do a major Sydney weekend, trying to finish my top 25...We'll see! One of the things I love most about studying abroad is having the kind of time that allows me to do things like up and leave for the weekend, without having to worry about anything or anyone. It's something I've never really been able to do without a care, and it's really nice.

Since I have such limited time left, I want to make a revised version of my goals for the rest of the semester. Some will be the same as what I have on my original list, but some have been revised due to time and financial constraints, but there will also be some new ones. I will start off with the completed goals, and then move on to the unfinished ones. So with that said, here goes!

Completed Goals:
1. Learn to Surf
2. Spend time by myself--not just sitting in a room alone, but wandering the city and areas by myself, and, at the risk of being extremely cheesy, finding out who I really am, and what I want.
3. Play with kangaroos, koalas, and various other aus animals
4. Make friends from all over the world
7. Relax--not just laying on the beach all the time (although I plan to do that...every weekend) but to relax my body, mind, and soul before I begin the rest of my life when I return home.
8. Soak in the Australian culture--wander around the city, spend lazy days at the beach, get to know Australians, etc. Basically, I can hang out with the NU crowd whenever I want to at home, so I really want to focus on being with the Australians too
10. Unplug myself from most technology--not worry about watching any television shows, not going on the computer more than once or twice per week, and learn to live without a cell phone. [this had to be revised due to school work and the need for a cell phone for emergency reasons]
11. Dive the Great Barrier Reef
12. Go to Taronga Zoo
14. Have a fabulous trip to New Zealand
15. Not get homesick!


OK, so now my new goals (including the remaining top 25 stuff...this might be long!)

1. Australian Museum
2. Chinese Garden and China Town
3. National Maritime Museum
4. Powerhouse Museum
5. Walk across [climbing is too expensive] the Harbour bridge
6. Sydney Olympic Park
7. Go to an Opera or other performance at the Opera House
8. Sydney Tower and Oztrek
9. Vaucluse House and Vaucluse
10. Have an awesome trip to Melbourne to see Ned!
11. Drive some or all of the Great Ocean Road
12. Experience the beauty of Tasmania
13. Experience Southeast Asia in Bali, including dolpin swimming, seeing rice paddies, elephant riding, monkey forest, hiking the volcanos, and soaking in such a different culture.
14. Get great"marks" in my classes.
15. See more of NSW, including Wollongong/Jervis Bay and somewhere north of here.
16. Hike the Blue Mountains.
17. Continue to spend time by myself and not to worry about anyone else, and do everything I want to do.
18. Continue to not be homesick!
19. Try to not go on the computer except for when I need to for school work.
20. Cut back on the money spending, while still having a great time.
21. Walk around the city more, exploring back streets and places I wouldn't normally come across.
22. Not waste one moment. I'm here for such a limited amount of remaining time, and I don't want to waste one second of it! This might also necessitate some advanced planning, since I have so few free weekends left while I'm here.

Here is the rough schedule (by weekends usually) of the rest of my time here.

May 1st Weekend: To be Decided

May 6th-11th: Melbourne (10 days)

May 15th Weekend: To Be Decided

May 21st-May 24th: Tasmania (25 days)

May 29th Weekend: Study for Finals...

June 7th-June 14th: Bali (42 days)

June 14th-June 28th: Finals Weeks

June 28th: Home (63 days)

I am still thinking about the possibility of Thailand at some point, or the thought of going to another country while I'm in Bali...I will keep everyone updated on that. I'd also love to go back to New Zealand again. As I said before, this all depends on the two most important things...Time and Money!

Until next time!