Winter in Australia is awesome

I have hit a crossroads in my life. I finally took the time to figure out when exactly I will be done with classes and when exactly I will be coming home. While I miss my friends and family terribly and can't wait to get home to them, I'm also amazed at how fast time is going and everything I still have left I want to do. When I first signed up for this degree, it was called a 6-month course finishing at the end of December. The original plan was for my parents to visit somewhere in the middle, and then Eric was going to come spend Christmas, New Years and my birthday here in Australia and then we'd fly home together. When I got here, I figured out that the last day of exams was November 14. Spending an extra month and a half here traveling and partying would have been pretty awesome, but sadly my whole 15 months of work didn't exactly leave me with much money to work with. So, original plan was canned and the parents decided to come right after exams and travel with me for about 3 weeks before heading back to the States. I have now come to find out that I have no real final exams in my classes, just huge projects due the last week of classes. Which means I will actually be done with school on October 23. Talk about a short degree. In literally 13 weeks I will have earned a Graduate Certificate. That's almost shorter than summer school! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. But that does give me a little more room for planning, frugally of course.

Last week I won a $10 flight. Its one way and I can choose to go to Sydney, Rockhampton, Mackay or the Whitsundays. I chose to see the Whitsundays. I was really hoping I could get to Hamilton Island so I could punch the guy that won the Best Job in the World contest that I lost . . . but fortunately for him, accommodation there is way out of my range. You may have won the contest and gotten 6 months paid vacation in Australia, but I still made it here. So take that, British guy. Instead of Hamilton Island, I'm looking into some sailing trips around the islands. Its pretty much like a hostel on the water. You stay on bunk beds on the boat, they stop for snorkeling and diving, stop at various beachs, all meals are cooked on board and you can bring your own alcohol. I'd say thats a win. And if I can try to win another $10 flight it will cut down on my costs that much more. I'm puttin a lot of eggs in that basket, the MTV basket (quote from Talledega Nights). This trip is really exciting to me because it will be like when I first arrived in Australia and knew no one. It really forces you to meet new people.
This past weekend I spent Saturday at the Lagoon with Eugen and Wolfgang. We got our tan on and swam in the somewhat warmer lagoon. We ended the afternoon with a snack and some beers at the Boardwalk. And to think, I'm already this tan and its still winter . . . wait til I get home. :) I went out with the boys (and Hanne of course) Saturday night. We danced the night away and ended up at my favorite bar, the Down Under. They play my American music which is SO much better than techno. I am extremely thankful techno has not caught on in the US like it has everywhere else. Its ok in small doses, but strobe lights, fog machines and music that fast is not really my thing. We ended up losing Wolfgang/Wolverine which had me extremely worried, but the other guys reassured me he'd be fine and sure enough he showed up the next afternoon.
This week I'm working on planning out most of my weekends left here so I can get the most out of my trip. I really only have about 8 weekends left to travel. We're planning a paintball excursion soon and I can't wait. In my two experiences playing, I won both times and never got shot. That is until Eric decided to shoot me when we weren't playing so I could "see what it felt like." Lets just say I got the nickname "Psycho" last time I played and I was the only girl. This weekend its off to Hervey Bay for Whale Watching!! For now I need to focus on my presentation Thursday and catch up on some reading for class.

Let the countdown begin . . . 95 days