Hands Down

Ok, I know I am going to start to sound repetitive but... This weekend was amazing and beautiful.
More on that later.

Its been a month since I have arrived in Australia . Its been one marvelous month filled with every emotion possible. I look back on the day I arrived here and it feels like years ago. I know its has only been a month but since that 1st day I feel that I have changed so much. Things I didn't expect to change have changed. My thoughts have changed, my outlook on life has changed, the way I feel when I experience different emotions has changed. I've even found a new pocket of emotions I haven't felt before. And while I miss everyone at home, I am way to caught up in Australia's beauty to dwell on things like that.
Although it does feel like ages have past, at the same time it feels like time is whipping by me. I have already spent 1/4 my time here. That means I only have 3/4 left (just in case you didn't put that together yourself). I've made friends here that I can't imagine being with out, and I don't even want to think about the day we have to leave each other. And its only been a month. I wonder how the next 3 months will compare...

Jackie (on the right),Lindsey (on the left) and I went sailing around a set of islands off the coast of N. Queensland called the Whitsundays. We left land on Friday morning and sailed for 4 hours or so to a small island's cove. Anchored and ate and slept. I shouldn't say slept... It was more along the lines of trying to sleep while being in constant fear of rolling of the bed. The island we slept ate was the home of Whithaven beach (aka the most beautiful place I've ever been and I have been to a fair few places in the world. And really I'm not just saying that. I know its been a common phrase in this blog but seriously. It was. ) Just imagine what the most perfect beach would consist of and thats pretty much Whithaven beach. A white white sandy beach that feels like silk when you walk across it. It spreads in all directions around you, it swirls with the calm gem blue-green ocean water. There are pools that baby sharks, rays and fish grow in. The sky is a deep blue that contrasts magnificently with the hills covered in lush green rainforest. It sounds heavenly right? I've been there. Seeing this sight literally brought tears to my eyes. I cannot hold in my emotions when I see things like that! Moments there felt long and dream like. So surreal but solid at the same time. Worldly things felt so distant. It was a feeling I never want to forget.
We snorkeled like I have never snorkeled before. You would not believe the amount of fish in the ocean here! AND, they aren't even scared of people. They are just as curious as us. They swam up to us, checked us out and swam with us. Not just little fish, but BIG fish. Like 1.5 meters big. Like big enough to hurt you big. It was spectacular.
But alas, that dream ended on monday night as I got back to my trailer and reviewed my assignment book: Wednesday- One HUGE paper on polyp polymorphism and colony structure that will take 16 hours at least to complete. Crap. Well, I guess I came here to go to school right... sigh.
One of the other things I have learned here is that I have no patience to sit in a class room to learn things I could be learning on my own adventures. But I'll take a little and I'll give a little.

New pictures are up.
I hope everyone have a lovely Easter/ Spring break.
Love.

Beautiful Beauty:

Oh my. I just got back from the most beautiful weekend of my life. Seriously. A few girl friends and I went to Magnetic Island this weekend. Its an island just off the coast from Townsville, about a 20 min boat ride. We left Friday evening and got to watch the sun set. It was spectacular. We got to our hostel (Bungaloo Bay) and it happened to be in a Sanctuary. It was awesome.
We got up Saturday morning to walk to the beach and watch the sun rise and eat our breakfast. Then we went on 2 hikes. The first trail dropped down to different beaches all along the coast that you could only get to by boat or hike. They were secluded and beautiful. We saw a few gigantic logger head or green sea turtles (they're hard to ID). The next hike we did was called the Fort Hike. I guess the island was used for military operations during the war, so there were lots of look outs and forts around. The hike went up to a few different forts and you could see the whole North side of the island from up there. The view was spectacular. We heard that people see koalas on the trail all the time, but we didn't see any. I am determined to see one in the wild though! We did see lots of really cool bugs though. A HUGE spider and a really big stick bug! it was soooo cool!
On Sunday we rented kayaks for the day and took them to more secluded beaches and saw more sea turtles. The paddle was easy on the way there, the wind wasn't strong and it was to our back. On the way back is another story! It wind picked up like crazy and the waves got real big. Sarah and I were in a double and Sabrina was in a single. We worked for about an hour and a half to paddle against the wind and waves to shore. It was so "epic". SO hard and tiring. The other two girls couldn't make it. They had to get rescued!
This trip sparked my new interest in birds. I love them! All weekend we were IDing birds and listening to their calls. I don't know what I am doing with microbiology!
My heart wanted to explode from the beauty of this place. Really, there are no words to describe it (not even "reallying f-ing beautiful" does it....). The sights and sounds and smells and feeling of this place was nothing like I have ever experienced. I wanted to capture it in a bottle and send it to all of you so you all can feel what I was feeling. Experiencing that made my heart grow so much! How can places this beautiful exist? How is it that I am this lucky to be here, witnessing this beauty? Certainly my description or pictures don't do it justice.
I got back and got to move into the trailers! It so nice to finally have a "home" to go back to. and really, the rooms are not that bad. We get a king twin (in between a twin and a double) and a fridge and a big closet and a good size bathroom. Its actually pretty decent. I am going to get some sheets and a bit of home decor to liven things up a bit.
soooo, now that I am moved in, I have super high speed Internet. So now we can all video chat!

I can't wait!
I love all of you!
p.s. check out my pictures at.... (www.picasaweb.google.com/kristine.akland)

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher"
- William Wordsworth

Going to "uni"....

I am living in a hic town. Remember how i was trying not to expect anything? Well I failed. I definitely expected a cool college hippie town (like flagstaff in the tropics). What ev, it is still really tropical and beautiful here. The lack of cool coffee shops with wireless access is only a minor downfall.
I am starting my 2nd week of classes. All of them are very cool. We get to go on 3 day field trips to the rain forests and the reef. It should be pretty neat. The professors here are very lax here. 2 of them canceled their Friday lectures so now i only have class on Wednesday and Thursday and one 50 min class on Tuesday. I don't know what I am going to do with myself. I was thinking maybe I should pick up another class? nah...
These past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. According to the study abroad emotional phases of my trip, I passed through the "honey moon phase" and the "home sick phase" and now I am on the uphill to the "adjusting phase". This weekend I used my friends house to bake cookies and cook pasta and green curry. It made me feel a lot better. I took having a kitchen and access to good food for granted. Now that I have to eat university food (thats like NAU food divided by 17), I miss cooking like crazy.
I just have to say, I miss all of the Jines SO much. Playing with these guys gets so frustrating sometimes. I appreciate women's ultimate so much now. Today I am teaching all the new players about stack and force. I don't know how its going to go. Jess was able to give me the lowdown on the phone this morning while I took notes. I know stack and force pretty well (i hope) but my problem is getting the point across to other people... I'll let you all know how it goes.

I still miss you all so much.
Come visit?
GET ON SKYPE....emily
p.s. i love you all

Its like this:

1. Australians and Americans are practically the same
2. the mushrooms here smell real bad
3. the flowers here are beautiful (and smell delish, so it almost cancels out the mushrooms)
4. i eat a lot of nutella and pita bread (im gonna get fat)
   
5. the gekos are white and make crazy noises
   
6. everybody wears havaians
   
7. i packed really poorly
   
8. sometimes i feel like a fool wearing my chacos here ( i know... its horrible)
9. townville is impossible to get around with out a car or a bike of which i have neither
   
10. i dont know how to be less cryptic
    
11. i severely dislike this hotel room.

"fact"

Pictures?

So i think I've made a web album.

http://www.picasaweb.google.com/Kristine.Akland

I think.

love.

"Life can take the strongest man and make him feel all lone"

I didn't realize how much I depend on my car. My car was the source of my independence. I feel so depended on other people here. It's such a struggle for me to get to campus from that freaking hotel. I have to plan my day around the bus schedule, bring everything I need to campus and end up missing the last bus back. Yesterday I spent $25 dollars on a cab! It's is pretty much the source of my emotional breakdowns.
Sunday was the first day I started to miss home. It's hard coming home to an empty hotel room. I miss having someone to unload my daily struggles on or to talk with or sit around with when I am home. I don't have that here. But, like my dad said, it's only been a week and it takes a while to develop strong relationships like I had back home. Dont' get me wrong, I have definitely met some awesome people here . There are sooo many American students here.
We had our first frisbee practice of the year. About 50 people turned up and ALL of them were from the states. I guess Australians aren't that into frisbee here? I don't know. BUT, I am going down to Brisbane next weekend to play with a womens team for regionals! I seriously cant wait!
So this past weekend the frisbee boys took me up to this beautiful creek called crystal creek. It was super awesome. There were deep pools to swim in and rock slides and a cliff to jump off of and the water was blue and delicious. But about 15 minutes after we got there, one of the guys slipped off the cliff and fell about 8 meters on to rock. We carried him back to the car and took him to the ER. He broke his heel bones and probably a wrist or 2 and maybe his knees. ouch. It was probably the scariest thing I have been apart of, ever. He was in shock for about 20 min and was walking around on this broken feet! Poor guy.
Yesterday me and my friend Jon (another study abroad student from NAU) hiked up Castle Hill. It's a mountain/ hill in town and at the top you can see all of Townsville. It was really awesome and beautiful. Hanging out with Jon is really comforting. We talk about Flagstaff and what we miss and how Australia is different and who we miss and stuff. And he is actually friends with Shimomo and Mason. It's weird I didn't know him before this.
I got a new camera (last one broke). So pictures are in the near future!
I hope everyone is doing well!
Still missing you all!
love love love.