Author: skurland@rollins.edu

My birthday was this week!! Oh gosh did a lot happen. First, my best friend here, Tiffany, showed up at my house as two sets of flowers arrived from my family from home AND my friend from home, Aaron. She started screaming and singing to me “happy birthday” and put a crown and a “21”…

This weekend was Surf Camp Australia. I was originally set to go with the University of Sydney’s group, but I chose to change my weekend so I could branch out and meet other people. My friend from Germany, Freddie, happened to be there the same weekend! We immediately started making friends with other surfers. We…

11/7/2015- Grace visited me last week!! It was such an amazing time! It was so wonderful to see a familiar face and be able to see someone I’m so close with. I gave her the full tourist experience, or at least as much of an experience as possible with the terrible weather. I took her…

I called my mom the other day crying- not because I was homesick but because I do not want to leave Australia!! I am working on convincing my family to move here so I never have to leave. Being here has really changed me as a person for the better. Some things are little- like…

I have done a bunch so far in October!! I went to the National Rugby League final and my good friend Tiffany and I were the ONLY ones from TEAN who stayed the full game. You learn in baseball to ALWAYS wait/ have faith up to the very last inning! So we kept cheering for…

I’ve done quite a bit since my last post!! This entry will be dedicated to September. I went to an opera at the Sydney Opera House (of course) called the Marriage of Figaro. It was fully in Italian which made it slightly difficult to follow, but I still managed to stay until the end. It…

This is my blog entry from my outdoor education class, I thought it would be perfect for this. The trip to the Royal National Park was absolutely unforgettable. From the bus ride there (and the walk to the bus since I saw black yellowtailed cockatoos) I was majorly enthusiastic about seeing mountain-looking things out of…

I am having the time of my life here!!! Since I last posted, I visited the Blue Mountains with my friends Lizzie (from Ohio) and Emma (from Russia), went surfing at Bondi, and started some amazing classes at the University of Sydney, making friends of all nationalities everywhere. The Blue Mountains were breathtaking, especially since we…

Sorry I wasn’t able to post a before blog.. I planned on writing one during a layover and everything did NOT go as planned! Everything had been going smoothly my first time traveling by myself, tears at the airport in Jacksonville as expected, and then off to my first flight to New Jersey. In New…