O-Week

I have officially been in Australia for one full week! In ways it feels like I have been here forever, but on the other hand I can't believe 7 days have already passed. Orientation week was absolutely crazy, so much going on all the time and I was constantly meeting people. Yesterday we hiked Mt. Keira which is the local mountain here and the views of Wollongong and the sea were incredible. The picture attached was taken at the top of the mountain. The hike was more difficult than expected, but it created a great environment to bond with other students. Everyday I meet more awesome people from all around the world. This morning I went on a beautiful run by the ocean and sat for nearly two hours just listening to the waves. Living by the ocean is my favorite part of UOW thus far. Now we just need some warm weather so we can surf and swim! Tomorrow marks the beginning of the semester, it is strange to think that we are actually here to go to school. I am taking an exercise psychology class, a world politics class and a literacy in the primary years class. All seem very interesting, and we found each building where our classes are held on Friday which helps supress any anxiety about getting lost on a big campus! The University is beautiful, much like it is set in a tropical rainforest. Because campus east is so much like a community, most of our days are spent hanging out in dorm rooms, playing random sports outside (such as lawn bowling, "footie"), and just being with other kids. My roommates are on the local australian rules football team and their game was televised the other night so we had fun watching that. The entire campus is completely exhausted from many late nights and theme parties. After the first week of class, we are headed up to Sydney next weekend to do some sight-seeing. So far, Australia is INCREDIBLE! There is limited internet access here, but my university e-mail has unlimited use so I am going to check my Denver account less and use the UOW account. My address is dh981@uow.edu.au, feel free to write me, I would love to here from you :)