Video special!!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h42sdfcm764ook6/DSCN0464.MOV?m
Here is the video you all have been waiting for!!

Computer problems!

Ughh! I made this awesome video for all of you, but unfortunately this web page won't let me upload it!! Grrr! I will try and re film it so that maybe it will load! But to catch you all up on what has been happening....not a whole lot! haha I had a relaxing weekend with friends! We all woke up at 5:30am on Saturday morning to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics which was a total of 4 hours long...I was the only one that stayed awake for the whole thing! woo go me!! I have been trying to watch as much swimming as possible and the Olympics in general, but it's really hard with the time difference. Watching them in Australia, I now know all about a majority of the Australian athletes since that is all they have on the TV. It's definitely not the same watching them here compared to home. I don't even get to listen to the Olympic song when it goes to the commercial breaks! :( It's one of my favorite songs/tunes...haha I have been representing the USA pretty darn well though!! I wear my American flag bandanna every time I go to watch! Oh and I found these awesome leggings while in Australia that I HAD to buy! :D For those of you wondering what that weird looking piece of food is below...it is a meat pie!! My very first!! It was very good and not what I expected at all! Apparently everyone puts ketchup on them, but I figured I would try it plan for the first time! Well besides classes, there hasn't been anything that exciting going on! This coming weekend I have a bush walking experience trip with some of the international students through their office!! I'm very excited!! Then Saturday night Kim and I will be attending a rugby game!! We are very excited for that as well. A bunch of TEDS kids will be going so we have a fun big group to meet up with! I was also invited to meet one of my friends in Melbourne the last weekend of August to watch more rugby games but a different league! There are 3 different leagues and it's all very confusing! haha The game is more intense than American football, it's continuous, and the players don't wear padding of any kind! They think it's silly that we wear so much padding for football! I think they referred to us as "soft" as in something like we can't take the heat of playing a rough game. But again there is so much slang here, I'm having a hard time keeping track of everything they say and what it all means! Well, I am off to watch more Olympics!

HI!

Hey guys!

So today pretty much ends my first week of classes. It was a great week. I only had three lectures. All of my classes seem like they will be pretty basic and just like the ones back home. My professors seem awesome too...well except for the anti-America one which you all have probably already read about. Here at TEDS, there are 2 formal dinners in a semester. One at the beginning which you can see in my photos. Each school aka dorm dress up in nice clothes and wear a robe that is placed in the dorm closet for each student. We all met in the dining hall, listened to the head people of the Accommodations, enjoyed a video from O week (orientation week), and ate some great food. I felt like I was in Harry Potter with the dining hall and the whole robes thing. I just needed a wand and I would have been set!! haha

So I have noticed that Australia really doesn't have that much Mexican food which makes me really sad!! But my good friend Kevin found a place and knew Kim and I plus our friend Amy have been craving it. So we went out to dinner and had a decent Mexican dinner....for Aussies. It definitely doesn't compare at all!

For those of you that don't know, Australia is very expensive compared to the US. An average coffee here which is 8oz of espresso and milk is around $4.00+ and for those of you who know me well enough, you know that I LOVE my coffee! Because of the price difference in just about everything here, I decided to apply for a part time job. This is allowed with my student VISA. I turned in my resume to Gloria Jeans (the big coffee place here since apparently Starbucks couldn't hang and went out of business here), a smoothie, crepe, and sushi place called Delish, another on campus coffee bar, and a smaller book store. They are all on campus since I have no idea really how I would be getting to a job way off campus! Ughh public transportation confuses me a bit, but don't fret, I'm working on figuring it out! Go me!! I will keep you updated on whether or not I get the job. Keep your fingers crossed! Plus how cool would it be for me to come back with awesome coffee making skills?! EEEKK! I'm pretty excited!

I'm trying to think of other things you all would want to hear about...I'm kind of drawing a blank! Leave a comment to tell me what you want to hear about!! I'm willing to share!! Campus photos will be coming soon so don't worry about that! But walking to class is almost like walking through the rain forest. I love it! If you have heard that the people here and the culture is really laid back...they were right! I've noticed the people just go with the flow..."No worries" is a huge phrase here! I'd say that is one of the best phrases ever! I feel very at home here, always relaxed, I don't feel too stressed even with classes. The teachers have that relaxed mentality also. It's sooo awesome! :D Oh I have a white board in my room that I have dedicated to inspiration quotes or ones that make me smile! So if you have any that you think will be uplifting and good enough to make the board, post them in a comment!! I like making this blog interactive; I love hearing your comments so don't be shy! <3

Next weekend, Kim and I will be going on a bush adventure with some of the International students! Keep an eye out for a post about it!

First Day of Classes

Today was a very short day. The first week is mostly just the lecture part of the Uni. They have class periods called tutorials for each class that are about 2 hours long. The "tuts" are more like discussions with a small portion of your lecture. The lectures are usually only 1 hour long and this is where the professor teaches the material. So my first class is at noon. Breakfast is from 7:30-9:30 in the morning and if you don't go at those times you don't get breakfast. So this school has me getting up earlier than I would want! haha The group of kids that I have made friends with go right at 7:30 and call themselves the breakfast club! I love it..so cute! For those of you wondering...yes Kim and I are now a part of the breakfast club! haha I feel so 80's! :D Anyways, after b-fast it was time to get ready for class. Of course, it was starting to rain...yay. One of the good friends I have made, Steven who lives upstairs, offered to drive us to class because of the rain. Kim and I had our history class today. It is Hist 1052: Australia and the World. It was interesting and a typical lecture class except he sure made it clear that he is not a huge fan of Americans...uhohhh. Kim and I will definitely be keeping quiet in this class. It was in a huge lecture hall, but was no where being filled full. After, we walked to get lunch at Bar on the Hill and just hung out the rest of the evening since it was our only class for the day this week. Next week the tutorials will be starting, so we will have our history tut later that afternoon. Well the boys are making us dinner tonight, I'm off to eat some risotto! Yum!!

Lecture hall for history

A Rainy day at the Uni!

Hey All!
It's a rainy day here at the University of Newcastle! The Uni as the Aussies call it is located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia! It is about 1 and a half hours to 2 hours north of Sydney. I will be studying public relations and taking an Australian history class with Kimmy! While playing around on my computer today I discovered this photo under my desk! As you can see it's some one's feet on the beach and the back of it says " Make the best of your Life :)" I thought it was very relevant to my situation of studying abroad and what not! Thought I would share with you all and hopefully brighten your day like it did mine.
The very last photo is the view from my window, unfortunately, the boys had gotten to the lawn before the rain hit and didn't clean up after themselves. :/ It is very green everywhere you go! Well until next time, remember life is short and live it to the fullest! :D

O Week!

Hi guys!

Free drinks at Bar on the Hill

Koala! :D

The first week on campus has been great! Kim and I attended all of the fun stuff that the school had to offer. We sat through the business stuff, had University Olympics (scavenger hunt around campus), walked around the city, went to their mall, and went on an excursion to a Reptile Park!! I have met people from all over the world like Tokyo, Canada, London, and of course some Australians!! They are all so nice! The girls that live in our dorm were nice enough to drive us to the store so we didn't have to walk! Fewf! There is TONS of walking here! On the hunt around campus we went to all of the major buildings and did a task to get our papers checked off. I thought getting around NAU was hard with all the trees, but UoN is on a whole new level!! I will definitely be needing a map on the first day, makes me feel like a freshman again..haha! The malls are different. They have grocery stores in them, produce, meats, seafood, and normal clothing stores oh and they have a Target, but that is way different too! The coolest part of the week though was going to the reptile park! I got to see Koalas, kangaroos, huge snakes, dingoes, crocodiles, and a HUGE turtle! The park was very cool!

There was an orientation week for the dorm we are staying in also! We went to a pub crawl and had themed parties of Cops and Robbers and
Mardi Gras. They were a lot of fun. Tons of dancing too which is my favorite!
But tomorrow is Sunday so Kim and I will be doing some trekking around campus to find classes! Yay! I will keep you all posted at least once a week! :D <3


Hugo the turtle!

Coolest thing ever! Kangaroos! I walked right up and hugged it!



First day on campus!

Hiyaa!!



So today was my first day on the Callaghan campus! Kim and I got here extra early so that we would have time to move our suite cases to our rooms which are thankfully on the first floor...do you know how hard it is to lug 4 huge bags around?! Oh it is an adventure for sure! We got our student cards, checked in with the International office and were off to our orientation meeting! We learned all about what the Uni (University- Australian slang) has to offer such as safety aids, clubs, sports, and other things like that! We even had some creatures come visit us at the end!

The interesting looking hot dog above is what we had at our BBQ for lunch today! Pretty tasty! Finally, after a stressful session of registering for classes, I got to unpack! The pics above are the finished product! It isn't my best work of decorating, but I was limited on resources! It's a small room but pretty cozy! I mean it has to be since I'll be living in it for the next 4 months! Luckily I'm across the hall from the bathroom so I don't have to travel far! But a can of Febreze will be on the shopping list! haha Until next time...

Last chill day in the City!

So Sunday was out last day in the beach town of Newcastle...as the locals call it the city! We woke up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean and beach! It was so beautiful!

We went to a cafe and got delicious coffee and chocolate cake! It was very relaxing! And they had a pretty design in the coffee! I've always wanted to drink coffee that looks like that! Oh and I know some of you were probably wondering about the whole living in a hostel situation! It wasn't bad at all! Picture shown below of my fancy coffee and hostel!

We walked up to the light house which is on Nobbys Beach! It was a beautiful walk and the light house was way neat up close! There was a pier right behind it too! We even saw a seal in the water which according to the locals is very rare! Kim and I had a very relaxing day! The next morning we were off to campus!!

Backpackers by the Beach!

Hi!
Today was definitely a day for exercise! Kim and I walked all around Newcastle! We started out by the water and moved our way in to more of the shops and such. The water was beautiful and blue, but it was bit breezy today so it made it quite chilly. We found some cool places to venture back to like some bars, clothing stores, and even an awesome shopping center with a Big W which was a lot like Walmart, and grocery stores! We then proceeded to walk down Beaumont Street and Darby Street which are 2 of the more social streets with cafes, coffee houses, and restaurants, and shops all the way down the street! They were pretty neat too. We found our first Mexican food place! Yay! I have been missing spicy food A LOT!!! Good thing I brought my mini hot sauce bottle with me...good thinking Mom!

We proceeded to make it back to the room relaxed for a bit, then walked down to the beach for the sunset, except the sun was behind us so we got the cool pink clouds in the sky to look at. But it did give us the idea to wake up early tomorrow to go watch the sunrise at the beach! Ahhhh I'm very excited! There were tons of surfers and paddle boarders! It was a lot of fun to watch. We also found a pool that was walking distance from us and the ocean since it was kind of attached to the ocean. It had an open swimming area and then a lap swimming part with lanes and everything! It was older looking but very cool and it was all ocean water and the bottom of it was sand and other ocean creatures that managed to make their way into the pool! And to my surprise there were a few swimmers, 2 wearing wetsuits and one not! ahh brrr! It was back to the hostel to play some cards then chill in the room. It was noodles for dinner along with a rugby game on in the background! Those guys are insane!! Hopefully, I will get a chance to go watch a live game! Pictures on Facebook to come! Miss you all!
Kylie

Off to Newcastle...

To start today off, Rachel made us try Vegemite!! Kim and I mentally prepared for it since we have been told that every American thinks that it is sweet, but it’s not. It is very salty. But the special way that they eat it is called a toasty! You toast the bread, put on butter, a bit of Vegemite and melt cheese on top! And guess what?! Kim and I liked it!!! We were Rachel’s first Americans to like it! I felt so privileged.  J Rachel dropped us off at the train station around 10AM and we made it on the 11:15 train to Newcastle. We made it by 1:00PM. Good thing our hostel, Backpackers by the Beach, was only around the corner from the train station so we didn’t have to go far. The train ride was pretty boring though, but very beautiful scenery on the way. The hostel isn’t bad at all except 2 girls with 4 bags each getting to the second floor was a bit of a challenge without an elevator or lift! We venture around to the beach which was beautiful even in the gloominess of the day. We got some food for our days at the hostel and planned out our attack for the 2 more days that we are here. Everyone has been pretty nice here so far. We had a pizza party at the hostel tonight with the residents! We have been told it is really hard to find jalapenos and yet the pizza they got was Pizza Hut with jalapenos on it…. Until next time…Stay classy USA! :P

Yumm!!

 Too many bags..ugh!

Yay beach!

Being a tourist is fun!

Hey Hey Hey,

We have recently adventured in Sydney! We started off the day by visiting the Sydney Fish Market, according to Rachel; it is the 2^nd biggest in the world! It was a rainy day so the market didn’t smell much which is good! We walked around the market saw all the different types of fish that are specific just to Australian waters! So neat! Rachel stopped at her favorite sushi shop in the market. We each got something different. Kim got prawn tempura, I got salmon sushi, Nick got calamari, and Rachel got sashimi! They were all delish and super fresh since the boats they came off of were right outside of the market!! Though I definitely didn’t have the guts to try the sashimi! Eek! Rachel bought some prawns for later. We were then dropped off by the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Kim and I walked across and got some great photos! Right at the end of the bridge is a neighborhood called the Rocks; it is the place that the first person came to Sydney! We walked to the Opera house, so neat up close and personal. We took a ferry to Manly Beach! The ferry was pretty cheap and the perfect place to get photos of us with the bridge and opera house in the background (Mom I know you will appreciate those photos!). We even saw a pod of dolphins swimming nearby on our way to the beach.

Now Manly Beach was one of the beaches that were recommended that I visit. It reminded me a lot of San Diego or Newport with the “Corso” walk to the beach. Translation- Corso meaning shop walk aka there were a bunch of restaurants, surf shops, and yummy ice cream shops on the walk to the beach. Surprisingly, there were a bunch of surfers in the water…brrrr! Rachel, her husband, Pete, and Nick met us at the Corso. It was a good touristy day followed by shelling prawns with Rachel and Grace! It was quite an experience that I don’t plan on doing anytime soon. I wasn’t much of a fan of the whole ripping the heads off thing…eeewwwie! I also am not a fan of the texture/taste. I will have to work on liking them more!

Rachel and Pete invited us to their friend’s place for a little dinner party. So, of course, we went with! Oh and remember that Rachel and Pete are from New Zealand and so are the rest of the friends that were at the house. We got to hear a lot about NZ and what all of these families do. NEATO!! What was really cool, was that the friends wanted to know all about Arizona! They were so cute and kept Kim and I talking for 2 hours! We had awesome pizza and the younger son told us all about how he loves Lucky Charms and is jealous that we get all of these sweets in America! Hugo was a funny one; we told him all about Reese puffs and Honey Nut Cheerios. I’m pretty sure he was drooling and those are just cereals. The house we were at had a built in home theater! It was literally my dream room! Wall full of DVDs and a projector screen with comfy couches! Hugo wanted us to watch one of these shows that had New Zealanders in it. It was called Flight of the Concords which was apparently really popular in New York, but I was def not a fan of the humor. Then it was off to bed!

Photo uploader froze...for more photos find me on facebook....facebook.com/kyliep3

Day of Business...and fun!

So yesterday we spent the day running some errands. We got our phones all figured out and mapped out route to Newcastle with the train and such! Rachel showed us around her home and neighborhood! Their house is super cute!! And they even have a cute little puppy that helps with me missing my Peanut! Rachel took us walking around her neighborhood! Everythign is walking distance which is really nice. The stores are cool and different. We wandered into the market and it was like a mini mall of groceries! So cute! Kim and I ventured out on our own for a bit and guess what we stumbled upon....?! The BEACH!!! How cool is that?! Well it's off to explore more of Sydney today! Until next time...

Made it to Sydney!!

Hiyaa!!
So the flight was long, but pretty comfortable! Kim and I met Rachel at the airport after our long line waiting for customs. It was raining when we arrived! We made it to Rachel's house safe and sound. We got to drive over the bridge and saw the opera house! It was soo cool and we only saw it from a car window! haha We are setting up our cell phones today and figuring out our train ride to Newcastle. It's very exciting. We have a full day of sight seeing tomorrow! I will post again soon!
<3

Security Check!

Hey Followers!
Kim and I are sitting at the airport waiting to board the first leg of our tripl! We are heading to Honolulu, Hawaii for an hour layover! Then it is off to Sydney, Australia!! I am very nervous and already miss my family so much!! Thank goodness for Skype!!! We are expected to arrive in Sydney at 7:30pm Tuesday, Australian time and 2:00am Tuesday, American time. We are roughly a 17 hour difference, me being in the "future" as everyone called it last night at my last going away dinner for my friends in the Pheonix area! Well off to the plane I go! Make sure to skype (kypow21) and facebook me all the time!

Show me the money!

I received my Australian money the other day! Yay! It is very pretty and very different from the US dollar!

 I have also gotten a new camera for my trip!! It has a built in GPS, is waterproof and shockproof!! In other words, it's Kylie proof!

 Kim and I were walking around at the park that we grew up going to the other night and the moon looked so perfect with the water and such! I will most definitely be missing this!

Preparation time!

Helloooooooo!
So today I celebrated my country's Independence day! Sadly, it was a rainy day, so inside we sat and ate delicious waffles my mom made for breakfast, had a wonderful time with each other's company, and then went grocery shopping for our red, white and blue dinner. Of course, dinner was very American with ribs, sour creme potatoes (my favorite!), and corn on the cob with Mom's special spread! We watched the new movie Red Tails, which is about the all African American fighter pilots in WWII! It's such an awesome movie; yes I would say that with my father being a pilot all my life! He has influenced me so much...specially with his love for flying and planes! Which is why I am so excited to fly to Australia..granted it really being the only way to get there, but still being in a plane makes me all excited inside. Plus airports are the best!! I love the fact that everyone there is going to a different place in the world. If you really wanted to, you could get on any plane and go where ever you wanted! SO COOL!!


Shocker...I've gotten off track on what this post is supposed to be about! hehe Here are some picture from the 4th....

While running errands yesterday with my mom, we spotting something huge, something wild, something crazy, and simple delish....a wiener!!! And when I say wiener, I mean the Oscar Mayer Wiener bus!! Now, if you know my mom, she will do just about anything to get a fun picture. So for a good 20-30 minutes, we drove in circles following this huge wiener bus! Let me tell you, it was quite entertaining! I think we definitely made the drivers angry though since Mom decided it would be a good idea to cut them off to get the picture...uhhhohhh!! haha Oh well specially since we got this awesome photo!  Please note the shirt...reppin' that Intramural's RECognize tank!!

Finally, after all that craziness, we finally reached the store and did some shopping for Australia! We def did some work on that Walmart! But I think that is all for now! Next stop...packing time!!