G’day Mate! Greetings from Newcastle, Australia. I’ve already been here for a month, time is definitely already flying. What have learned within my month here so far? Australians abbreviate everything and they’re fun and always up for an adventure! The beaches are absolutely breath-taking. It’s so nice being only twenty minutes from the ocean. The city is also an amazing place to go exploring. There are so many cool shops and restaurants. My favorite place to shop have been the thrift stores (or are they call it, the “Op-shops”. There are always cool and random things to find, you never know what you will! My favorite part about Newcastle (besides the beautiful beaches and adventurous city) are the awesome relationships that I have already developed! There is definitely a diverse population here so no one person you meet is the same, which makes meeting new people all the more exciting. Everyone is very open and super nice which makes making friends so easy. Besides all of the amazing people and adventurous things, I am also here to study. I am enrolled in four classes: Introduction to Aboriginal studies, Aboriginal human rights, youth, health and crime and introduction to anthropology. My courses have been very interesting and better help me understand Asutralian culture and history. It was definitely difficult at first getting around and finding my classes on this huge campus, while also attending lecture classes with at least 100 people (this definitely is not Rollins College!). My favorite part about my classes are the tutorials where we are in a smaller scale classroom, where we are able to have educational and critical thinking discussions with each other. It is interesting to be able to compare Australia’s history and culture to America’s. You’ll come to find out that they are very similar in some places. I am excited to be able to use the information that I am learning here and to be able to use it within my classroom as a future teacher. All I can say is so far, so good. Australia has definitely beginning to win me over!
