So this week I actually had a major assignment due (it is STUDY abroad after all). So I had to do a little bit of real work. It was for cell bio, comparing and contrasting two diseases. Nothing too major. I’m a little nervous to see my grade on it….things are done differently here academically so I hope I did it right!!
I’ve now had two practicals (labs) for cell bio…the first was mere pipetting, but it still took some getting used to being back into the swing of things inside a lab. We get to wear these official JCU lab coats (think Meredith Grey). The second prac was this week, it it took significantly longer…FIVE HOURS. It took so long as there were incubation periods where we were doing nothing for an hour, rinse off a gel, then wait another hour…it actually sucked. But while we were waiting I finally got a chance to kind of hang out with my bio classmates. That class is so small it’s really strange we don’t talk more…but while we we’re waiting for our gels, we finally did. Sigrid is a Norwegian study abroad student who lives in the block next to mine at Rotary, so I’ve seen her around. And her lab partner is Riley who lives in George Roberts college and is from Minnesota and is really spunky. My lab partner lives in GR too and is also Norwegian but is actually on her second exchange at JCU lol. Anyways, it was cool talking to people in other colleges for once. And talking to people in my major. So that was nice.
Tuesday was St. Patricks Day, so of course we went a little hard. We hit up every bar on Flinders Street and had a fantastic night. EVERYONE was out, of course. It was so packed everywhere we went, but we had a good time anyways.
Yesterday was the first big Rotary hosted event, the Garden Party! We’d been looking forward to this for a while since we got to dress up a little fancy, hang out with our best friends and didn’t even have to leave our backyard! We all got ready and head outside around 4. The set up was adorable with strung lights and lanterns. A bar serving whatever drinks you wanted. Tables of finger food that was all DELICIOUS and homemade and went really fast with us hungry Rotarians. We all mingled and hung out until it got dark. Then these two people gave a beautiful concert playing ukuleles and singing. It was great. Around 8 things had died down, and some people went into town, but we went to Kate’s block. They just bought a Nintendo 64 with Mario Kart, so we played drinking games to Mario Kart, and ordered a ton of pizza. We later watched a scary movie for a little while, and eventually ended up in the common room…it was just a long night. But I love how it never feels like a long night with my new friends, it’s so nice to get to know everyone.
Rotary Garden Party
Micaela was not here this weekend for the Garden Party because she went on a live-aboard trip with the JCU Dive Club. I’m so jealous!! She got to spend three full nights on a boat doing tons of dives on the famous Yongala Wreck and the reefs!! SO COOL. I wish I wasn’t terrified to dive 😐 When she was done, we picked her up downtown and we stopped at Max Brenner on the way back. The famous choclatier did not disappoint. I got a chocolate suffle and it was soooooo delicious. We’ll be going there again for sure, as a study break or just snack time! Yum!
Oh, and earlier in the day we went to have lunch at a place called Fasta Pasta. It’s like Chipotle but for pasta. You can pick your noodles, your sauce and your sides. They also have pizzas and steaks. It’s not that expensive either, so we’ll DEFINITELY be going back real soon. Delish!!
Tomorrow starts week 5 (EEEEEK). Time’s moving so fast. I keep feeling like I should be going out on adventures every weekend, but it’s hard to plan things in advance with unpredictable weather and changing schedules. I’m not doing anything this weekend so I’m hoping I can convince my friends to go on a weekend adventure to Crystal Creek, Airlie Beach, Bowen, Mt Stuart, or even Cairns (but they just got hit with a cyclone so maybe not Cairns yet). We keep mentioning things, but haven’t actually gone yet.
We have, however, planned our trip to FIJI!!!!! We’re going for the better part of our spring break for the last week of April. 5 days and 5 nights on the beautiful Beachcomber Island of Fiji!!! Kate, Micaela and Molly (Bish’s girlfriend) are going. It’s going to be AWESOME. Of course, I’m counting down the days. It’s an all inclusive package, so we’ll be doing tons of snorkeling, kayaking, diving, tanning, reading, relaxing, drinking and having an EPIC time. To say I’m excited is a complete understatement!!
But I still have a long list of things to see here in Oz, so I’m trying to get on them as soon as I can!! But I am excited to see Melbourne and Sydney again after Easter with the fam bam!! ❤
PS – soccer update: the RFFC (REAL Friends Football Club) is undefeated. Cheer for us in our next game tomorrow! Go us!
19south146east 
So glad Fiji lowered its drinking age in 2009!!!! Go McKenna!!
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