Woo! Getting work done!

     Yay! Today was so productive it was awesome. I was finally able to run some good tests and get some good data. I ran three 2 hour tests today and got pretty good data. Tomorrow I'll run 2 more and then start testing the heat sinks in other ways. I also got most of the book series I'm reading done. If you mess with the computer while it's running the test it'll crash so I just read my book and watch it. It's pretty nice.
     After work I got a lot done as well. I signed my out of house lease and got them sent off finally. It's official, I'm going to be living in an apartment with my friend Chris. We'll hopefully have that picked out pretty soon. I also started on my 375 homework already. It's so I can get the next homework done early as well, before I leave for my trip. My wonderful boyfriend adam just set up a server so that I could easily download all of his some 100 books to my nook. I'll be doing a lot of reading.. but maybe not that much. It's still nice though. Yup, all in all it's a pretty good day. Oh and Matt's back until the trip! Oh, and I got a new flatmate. He seems really nice. Yup. Great day!

Aussies are really too darn nice

     I'll tell you about yesterday first, but there really isn't much to tell. I skyped and played on the computer a lot. I also read the most of another book. Sundays are really great days for reading.
     Today was a much much more productive day. I started an experiment when I got to work and then emailed my supervisor to stop by (I tried finding him but he was out and about and I had no luck). When he came and visited me I realized I was kinda doing the experiment wrong, so I started over. The second experiment took most of the afternoon and at the end of it I realized I had recorded most of the data wrong. At the end I figured out how to record the last data I had taken and I hope that it's enough. Tomorrow I'll take it all correctly. yay.
     Ok, so now to why aussies are too darn nice. I got to lunch today at 11 and was just starving for some reason. I ordered two sushi roles when I normally get one and chit chatted with the girl that serves them a little bit. When I went to pay I realized that I had forgotten my wallet on my desk. I went back to the sushi girl and told her what had happened and handed her the sushi back. Well instead of taking it back she handed me $5 and told me to pay her back tomorrow. She was wonderful! I have a 5 dollar bill in my wallet waiting for her right now. What wonderful people. :)

Darn Rain.

     Once again my plans were fouled by the rainy season. I had planned on going to the koala sanctuary yesterday and was really excited about it, but it didn't stop raining all day. The weather channel says it's going to rain until next Saturday. Maybe I'll try again this weekend since Matt will be back in town. So instead of cuddling with a koala yesterday I went to the huge mall downtown and looked for backpacking stuff. I found a few things at target but am still missing a flashlight and a few other key things. I also got groceries while I was there. That was about it for yesterday. :)

It's alive!

     Once again I forgot to write last night, woops, but yesterday went pretty well. I spent most of the morning in the lab sifting through research papers, trying to understand them, and write an introduction for my own. They were doing some work in my lab and this professor Peter came into my little area looking for something. He asked about what I was doing, so I told him and mentioned I couldn't get the one device to work. Less than 5 minutes later he had it up and running. I had emailed the devices tech people and they had no idea what was wrong, I had the tech guy in and he couldn't make it work, and Peter fixed it just like that. It was of course a really stupid thing we were all doing wrong as well. I guess that's just what happens some times.
     After that I played with my new device and ran a few tests. I got some pretty interesting results which is just what I want. On Monday my supervisor should be back, so I can show him the set up and we can decide on the best way to do the rest of the tests.

Happy Aussie Day!!

     Well today I didn't go into work on account of it being a national holiday! Today is Australia day! It's the date the first people arrived to settle the first colony on Australia I guess, pretty sweet. I decided to go into the city today and check out the downtown area. There's this huge mall. I got there kinda early and there wasn't much to do so I decided to go see a movie. My roommate told me that movies were only $5 so I was super pumped.. then I found out movies are $20. Less pumped but seeing the second sherlock holmes movie was almost worth it. It's a really good movie. I wandered around the mall area and stumbled upon a free show. It was so cute, there were acrobats and some cute children's comedy. I'm really glad I stumbled upon it.
     After that was over I crossed the bridge over to South Bank, but sadly all the activities planned for today (which would have been awesome) were canceled last night when it had seemed like it was going to rain all day, so that means no fireworks tonight either :(. Oh well, at least it is raining now so there being no fireworks makes more sense. While I was over there I checked out the free science museum they had. It was a really cute museum. After that I headed for home and skyped Sarah and Adam and relaxed in true Aussie fashion (I've been told that most Aussies just stay in and relax on Aussie day). It was an awesome first Aussie day!

Good day :)

     Today was a pretty good day. I got to campus early and finished setting up the rest of my test apparatus. It's in a different shop now so some wiring can be done. Glad I'm not doing it myself at least. Woo. The Software for my project still isn't working, so I can't do much on that until my supervisor gets back. The lab was completely deserted when I got there today so I left at around noon. That's the good thing about not getting paid.. if there's nothing you can do you can leave. haha. After that I went home and am now finishing the second book in a series I've recently started. They're pretty good. The book is called 'March to the Sea'. I also did the 375 homework I've been putting off for the past week. I spent to much money today though buying plane tickets for my trip to Melbourne. They costed about $200 total, so I guess it could have been much worse.  I'm so excited for that trip! Night everyone.

Internet and the mall :)

     I still don't have my test apparatus working after playing with it most of the day, but at least I got an IT guy to set up the right internet for me on my computer, that's a start. That's really all I did at work today other than worrying about housing. Housing was kinda a mess for me today. I found out I was required to live in again.. I may have responded to that with a nasty email. I feel bad about being so mean now because the girls were of course amazing. The real deal is, and why it's been such a mess, is that I'm first on the list to be able to live out of the sorority, so as soon as a new pledge decides to live in I can live out. Now nothing is a guarantee, like I can't guarantee a new girl will want to live in next year, but It's very very unlikely that it won't happen, which means that I basically can live out. The details get kinda fuzzy though.
     After work I decided to take a break and check out a mall in Toowanga (I think that's how you spell it). It was a pretty nice mall and they had a great fruit and vegetable stand inside. Fruits and veggies were pretty cheap too. I was also able to pick up abreva (a generic form), lots of chocolate, a cheap tent from Kmart and lots of sunscreen. It was a really nice trip. Oh and the mall had these really cool walk ways that went from level to level above this huge open center area... that was probably the best part. hehe. I also found out that all the school children here have uniforms. That was very confusing to me at first. hehe. Well that's all for now. Night. :)

Oh Today.

     I found out that my friend Chris still hasn't signed a lease so we're looking for a place together! I'll be happy to have a place to live again next semester and Chris is pretty awesome so I think it'll work out well. Other than that today was a pretty normal day. I was happy to find out that my experimental set up was completed so that I could start doing tests. Unfortunately I couldn't get the thermocouple reader to work so I played with that most of the morning. I just got an email back from the company tonight with a good way to trouble shoot the problem. I had lunch with Matt and spent the afternoon reading more papers.
      Tonight was pretty relaxing. I watch the biggest loser Australia with Matt and then said goodbye as he's flying off to the Fiji Islands. I'm so jealous. Tomorrow I plan on going to a mall that's close to campus. I think that'll be fun. Night. :)

Normal Sunday

     Today for the most part was nice and relaxing, I did laundry, worked on my class, and worked on a package I'm going to send back to Purdue. I wrote lots of letters back to all my friends that I miss. There's cute little presents to go with the letters too.
     On another note my face has developed blisters from my sunburn.. that looks real attractive. I have a feeling I'm gunna get chewed out for not wearing enough sunscreen. I assure you I reapplied.. A lot. There just isn't enough sunscreen in the world to protect my wimpy skin. Ugh.. If only I could be part black. That would be awesome!
     I did get some bad news tonight. Early in the semester I had applied with my sorority to live out of house next year. I was told in December I didn't get it. Well I got an email today that says otherwise... so as of right now I'm homeless next semester. Great! Anyone need a roommate?

Surprise Guest!!

     I'm sorry I didn't write last night, the last two days have been kinda hectic. I was at work like normal on Friday when a kid from Purdue called me up. His name is Matt and he's studying abroad at the same university that I am. Apparently his friend that was supposed to meet him didn't show up do to some mis-communication so he was wondering if he could crash at my place. I of course said sure. Once he was here I took him to the bank so he could figure that out and then we went to this cute little German restaurant to eat that I walk by everyday. Well, I didn't realize how expensive it was, so I just had a salad and a fruity drink. Now drinks are always expensive here so I didn't think that much of paying $4 for my strawberry drink until it came out and I realized that I had accidently ordered a shot... oops. I better not make that mistake again. The food was pretty good.
     I let him crash here last night and today we went to surfer's paradise, a really popular beach here. It was a really bittersweet day today though. The beach was beautiful and amazing but I still felt guilty about not being able to go home and having fun today when Ali's funeral is only in a few hours. Both me and Matt got really burnt at the beach, even after applying sunscreen at least 3 times. I'm so glad I wore a shawl in the water because my shoulders are fine, and if I burnt them again I know it would be very bad (the last time I burnt them I had second degree burns and had to go to the doctor for burn cream). On the way home we also ran into a swarm of bats the size of birds. It was pretty cool. I tried to get a picture but it's really hard to see.
     It was a very bittersweet day today, I made a new friend in getting to know Matt a lot better, but spent most of the day secretly morning and old one. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ali's family tomorrow. It's gunna be really rough for a while, but I know you'll all get through it.

Today was.. rough.

     I really don't have much to say today. I feel like you always re-evaluate your priorities when someone you care about dies.. and that's what I spent most of the day doing. I went to campus for a few hours, but just to check on the progress the shop was making and to have lunch with my new lunch buddies. I guess God sent me friends right when I needed them. He knows what he's doing. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the new wildlife on campus I discovered. They blend in so well I hadn't noticed them before the other day.

RIP Ali

     Tonight I was gunna talk about my day again, and meeting new people and on and on, but then tonight I found out Ali died, and all I can think about is how unfair it is. She was such a wonderful person, and one of the few people in highschool that was really always there for me. We had an amazing trip to Bismarck senior year where we were snowed in for a week. haha. It was fun the whole time because Ali made it so much fun. She loved life so much and brought joy to so many people, that's evident enough already by her facebook page. I remember in the sixth grade we had a sleep over at her house, and her siblings kept bugging us, so she came up with a brilliant plan. We pretended to fight so they would leave us alone and then snuck off together to play in the woods. There was this one time at my house when she decided we should all go have a mud fight in the feild next door. haha. Mom wasn't too happy about that. She always saw the best in people. That was what made her such a wonderful person. I feel so awful I never saw her when I came back home. I tried so hard during old fashioned Saturday one year but she had just had Tryp and didn't have time. I wish I could just talk to her one more time and tell her about what a huge influence she had in my life. I love you Ali! I will never forget you and the impact you have made on my life.

Lunch Buddies!

     It's always hard to bring yourself out of your comfort zone, and lets be honest, it rarely pays off, but today it did for me. I met two awesome med students, one for the US and one from Canada, and I now have lunch buddies. haha. It's the small accomplishments that bring us the most joy right. :-) I also got my last design sent off to the shop at work and spent the rest of the day reading my book and reading research articles. It'll be pretty boring at work until I get those designs back. For now I'll just continue to research.. and read my book (which is really good).
     I've had another small accomplishment today, haha. I realized today that I have an actual light in my room (I've been using the desk light)! My light switch was hidden behind my dresser this whole time so I never noticed. It's so nice having some real light in here. Yesterday I was also able to print out pictures to put up on my wall. I picked out my favorite 20 that I had on my computer and printed them out. It makes the place feel much more homie. I just love seeing all of my friends and family and remembering that I'm not really alone out here. I have lots of support back home. Love you guys!! :)

Work is good.

     Being back at work yesterday was pretty good. In the morning I sent my project off to be built and then had lunch. After lunch I ordered some parts and then was pretty much at a stand still so I left early. It's pretty nice to be able to come and go as I please at work. I don't know what I'll be doing today. I may start trying to research articles for the paper I'll eventually write on this project. There's not much else I can do at this stage until I get my project back from the shop. I've started bringing my nook everyday so that I can read when I find myself with nothing to do. All of the guys at the shop are super nice, but I found out today to never use centimeters in your drawing as they are not an accepted unit of measurement, or something along those lines. haha. I guess I am learning something while I'm here!

Lazy Day.

     Today was nice and relaxing. I went for a run with my roommate and sat around the rest of the day. I did get a few things done, like taking pictures for the travel insurance I got with my bank here (it's really cheap and covers up to $2000 losses so I thought it was worth it) and emailed people. Tomorrow I go back to work! Hopefully I can set up my apparatus this week and start testing soon!

Museums!

     Sorry I've been lazy and forgot to post again yesterday. But yesterday was an awesome day. I went to see all the museums down at the cultural center and toured the botanic Gardens. It was really fun getting out and about and seeing all of the different cultural things they have to offer here. The modern art museum was the coolest because It was done by local artist. It was all very interesting. Here are some pictures:

Things are starting to Take off.

    Today (well yesterday, I was too tired to write this last night) was a pretty exhausting day. I woke up early to get to the University by 8 to meet my adviser and get my project rolling, however he forgot that we were meeting and arrived at 10. That was kind of nice because I had brought my nook just in case something like this happened, so I was able to finish the book I've been working on. After that I was able to get my desk set up and work on drawings of our experimental set up the rest of the day. At lunch I met this really nice girl that's from the golden coast and we chatted for a while. She was very sweet.
     Once I got home last night I worked on my ME375 homework for the rest of the night. It felt really good yesterday to work a full day and start getting into a routine. I'm not sure how I'll spend my weekend yet, but I'll find something fun to do. :)

Umm.. Today was strange...

     So today was good and bad, I can't really pick which one it was more than the other. I went to work today and had the building induction that I've been needing to have and then learned more about my project that I'll be working on. I'll be doing different things with heating pads and have to plan on how to set up the experimentation  to test these different things. I felt like I was doing a lot more listening to the people that were already there and taking down their ideas than coming up with a any of my own. I don't know the project well enough to spit out anything good. I couldn't even figure out how to find the right parts from the catalog on my own.. haha. I tried to speak up some, but got shot down quite a few times. Oh well, I'm just a undergraduate volunteer so that's to be expected. The next few days setting up this experiment at work are gunna be kinda rough, but after it's up and working I think it will get much better. My professor mentioned writing a MatLab code of some type.. that makes me really nervous, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
    At lunch today I found out that I can get sushi very very cheap and met a really nice guy that's a student at UQ. We chatted for about an hour. It was nice to meet a new friend. When I got home I learned that my debit card had arrived so I immediately hopped on a bus and went to Cole's to buy some more groceries. I also picked up a new wallet. It's cute and has flowers. While waiting for a bus to come I met my first abrogigany. That was more than interesting to say the least. He was carrying a 12 pack trying to hale a cab with his friend and wouldn't stop talking to me. I didn't want to cause trouble so I just acted nice. There was this wonderful other lady at the bus stop watching out for me as well. His friend was nice as well and told him a few times to leave me alone (I think he could tell by the look on my face I was put off). When he left he gave me a hug.. while I awkwardly tried to not be getting a hug. haha. The lady was wonderful and as soon as he left was there for me. Right away she asked if I was alright. I said yeah and that there are people like that everywhere. We chatted on the bus until she got off. She was so sweet. Now I'm back at home safe and sound trying to figure out my schedule.. it's not going the best so far, but I have lots of time to work it out.
     Uffta, what a day. Tomorrow I work more on my experiment. Hopefully that'll be all set up within a week so I can start running tests.

Good day.

     Today I started off my day by going to the university to work and taking more safety training courses. The supervisor that is supposed to show me around the building wasn't around again so I ended work at around 1. After that I came home and got some amazing news. My wire transfer came through! Once my card comes in the mail I'll be able to access my own money again! I decided to celebrate by going to the beach swimming area along the river that's close by and finally eating out. Well eating out became subway, but after a week of cereal it was pretty good! Here are some pictures of the beach area:

     After I got home from the beach I worked on ME375 and got some more of that done. It was a pretty good day all in all.

Long Day

    Uffta, it hasn't even been a week since I've left and I miss home. It seems that nothing ever seems to go my way. I just found out that the amount my dad wired here for my bond was in US dollars and not Australian dollars (a very very too easy mistake to make) so they need $44 more Australian dollars for my bond, and I don't know how to get it to them. It's all very frustrating. I was able to fax over a sheet today asking my bank to wire my new bank here some money, but I have no idea if they'll even accept it. They're so picky that I feel like I'm always pulling out my hair with them. There was a wonderful girl today though that did help me out tremendously. When I needed money to fax the papers over she gave me $20 and wouldn't even give me her email address so I could repay her. She was amazing. God always finds a way. I really hope and prey that this fax will work and that soon I'll have money over here again. That would be wonderful!
    In other news I met my professor today. I found out that I'm considered a volunteer at the university so I won't be getting paid at all. At least I'll be gaining some valuable work experience. He was extremely nice and gave me a tour of campus. I have a few more papers I need to fill out with him before I can begin working there full time. Hopefully I'll be able to start soon. It'll be nice to have a distraction. That's really all for today. I hope that tomorrow will bring better news.

Progress

     Today was a much better day. I woke up early and headed to the university. While I was there I figured out how to get my student card and a go card. You use a go card to ride all of the buses, trains, and ferries around here. They're pretty much a necessity and not having one makes life very difficult. I also was finally able to put money onto my phone so I now have a working phone once again. I also set up a bank account. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and wire some money into my new bank account from the US. It will be so nice to have money again!! I also was able to go to an information session on campus about the city. I found out that I'm not to far from a great beach where you can go swimming. I think I'll check it out this weekend. Once I got home I started my ME 375 class and went for a run with one of my roommates. Over all it was a very productive day. Tomorrow I start my first day of work. Wish me luck!

I've got Baggage!!

     My baggage finally came today at 5 o'clock! The wheels on the suitcase were broken and my conditioner kinda spilt, but all I really care about is that I finally got to dry off with towel again. Try to go without a towel for a few days and you'll understand. Other than calling and calling the airport for my baggage I haven't really done much today except for Skype mom and Adam. Oh, BISON WON!! WOO! You gotta love that. Here are some pictures of my room (I plan on printing out and taping up more pictures to the wall):

Finally getting out and about.

 I didn't get a whole lot done today, and my luggage still hasn't come, but at least I got to take a tour of the University! It is beautiful. This first picture is a picture of my cute little yellow house. I have four guy roommates and they all seem to be very nice. They've helped me out so much these past two days!

This is the river I crossed on my way to the University. I met some nice ladies on my walk who told me to spend an afternoon riding along it. They said it was a great way to see Brisbane.

This is the Mechanical Engineering Building on campus. I'll probably spend a lot of time here. 

This is a part of the Great Mall. It was beautiful!

This is looking into the front of the great mall. It was a really gorgeous place! 

Being on campus was like being in a jungle. There were plants, and birds, everywhere! And it smelt amazing!  Like those rain-forest sents you can buy at the store!

There were three ponds right on campus. This is a picture of the largest one. This pond had a cool fountain and a bridge!

I was told by the two ladies to avoid these birds, they will swoop down and take your food. This picture was also taken without zoom. They are not afraid of humans at all!

    Today was a pretty good day but I still have a lot to get sorted out. One thing I know I already like about Australia is the people. They have all been so kind to me so far!
   

I'm Alive!

      Uffta, I had the worst day of traveling in my life! At this point I really am just happy to be safe at home now finally in Brisbane. Fortunately there's a big upside to my story, but I'll tell you the downside first (it came first). When I left Minneapolis, I was sad to leave my family, but everything was still fine and dandy. I arrived in LAX, looked for the gate forever, finally found it empty, but was cheered up because I got to spend a wonderful day on the beach with Monica while I waited for my flight to Brisbane to leave. We got the the airport about 2 and a half hours early, and at first everything seemed fine (I even met this awesome girl going to Sydney, if you're ever in Sydney go to the cozy castle).. until I met the baggage lady. She was the meanest baggage lady I have ever had to dealt with.
     I thought I would only have to print my boarding pass at the both, but it turns out I was only allowed to have my bag weigh under 20Kg, which it apparently did not. She made me check one of my carry on's and in the rush of trying to check it I forgot that that bag contained my phone. Getting my bag back from baggage claim world was awful. That was the first time I cried on this trip. Luckily I did make it in time to catch my flight, now without my teddy and blanky, but I did have a relatively good 15 hour flight to Sydney.
     Once I got to Sydney I rushed through customs, only to weight 20 minutes to find out my bag had been lost... It's supposed to come tomorrow I guess. That was the first bad thing to happen in Sydney. Then once I had gotten to my terminal for my flight to Brisbane I met what I thought was the sweetest old man. I realized he wasn't so sweet later. He offered me a ride to the leasing office (my next stop) but being the smart girl that I am I chose the taxi. Once I got to my destination I realized that my wallet was missing. This time I bawled. I was stuck in the middle of this city, alone, with no money, and with a cab driver who really wanted to get paid.
     Now for the good part of my day. I met Joe. Well first a different passer by offered to pay my cab fair, but I refused, I couldn't let him pay my $44 fair. Then Joe saw me and asked me what was wrong. I told him I really needed to phone america, and he said "no problem" and led me to a phone in the office of a travel company a few feet away. It was amazing. He really was my savior. The people at the agency let me stay there for 4 or 5 hours while I sorted out canceling my cards and calling home. Adam was awesome and found a way to send me $50. The nice lady who worked there even gave me a ride home after I signed my lease, even though it meant she had to stay there an extra hour. They were AMAZING!!! Also they have some business in the US so you all should definitely look up standbycars.com and use it. In the end I got home safe and sound. My poor parents that I love so much had a very hectic evening though, and I can't thank them enough.
      My goal for tomorrow is to take pictures, set up my phone, and retrieve my lost baggage. Hopefully after the day I've had, tomorrow will bring better luck and more amazing Australians. (My roommates are super nice too, one even let me use is outlet converter!)

About to leave!

Im getting so nervous!  I leave for minneapolis tomorrow.  Me and dad are staying in a hotel tomorrow night and then I fly out at 9 the next morning.  My flight goes from minneapolis to LA to Sydny to Brisbane.  Ive had my bag packed for about a week, so hopefully I didn't miss anything.  I dont really have any big first day plans yet, ill probably just go sign my lease and then move into my new place. Im going to miss everyone back home so bad!  Im going to miss all of my sisters at the house and our late nights that are way too fun!  Im going to miss spending Friday night with Cara and Adam trying to play Mario cart (im not very good), but mostly im just going to miss seeing all your wonderful faces when I walked to and from class every day.  But I guess that's why this is my great Aussie adventure, because ill get to reach out to new people and meet new happy faces.  Ok, Sorry this sounds so corney, I am a horrible writer.  Anyways, my point is I will miss you all!  Wish me luck tomorrow!