November 17- 23rd: Thanksgiving week

IMPORTANT INFO: I want to upload more photos of my trip but it won't let me because I have exceeded space and deleted a ton of photos but it won;t let me upload any more. I will have them on Facebook if you are following my pictures there and comments here, and for the rest of you, you can check them out when i get home! sorry for the inconvenience everyone... really wish i could share more. Email me if you want me to individually send some pictures to you

November 18^th:Football Football

I watched the boys play football for hours but it was nice to just relax because I didn’t have anything left to do now that school is all finished.

picked some nice flowers for my room too

November 19^th: Argo

Tonight Anthony, Deniz, Bel and I went to go see Argo in theaters. It was a very good movie about American hostages in Iran in the 80s. it was based off a true story and I really enjoyed it. It was interesting seeing the movie as the only American in the group… patriotism feels different when you’re not in your own country.

November 21^st: Thanksgiving Grocery shopping

Today we got a decent start to go shopping for groceries. I went and got little measurements of spices and baking tools from Anthony and then we headed out to Wollies, Aldis and then to a local fresh produce market and then to the center to the Reject Shop. We were gone for almost 6 hours of shopping and then finally came back and piled everything up in my room to be cooked tomorrow. I was making a sandwich when Patrick and jerry stopped by and we hung out for a bit. The rest of the day was watching lots more Dexter…. Tried to watch a movie too but I was so tired only half of it was able to be watched. I can’t believe how much shopping I did today. And I got everything I had on my list!

November 22^nd: LOTS of cooking

Today all I did was bake and cook. I cooked from 11 am till about 10pm. I got most of the cooking done but still have more to do tomorrow before people come along with setting up. The kitchen was a mess today because I was cooking multiple things at once. I cooked my squash and pumpkin platter, green bean casserole, mac n cheese and baked an apple pie, pecan cheese cake and corn bread. Tomorrow I have to make sure I can cook that turkey in time to carve it and all before I have to get ready. I’m super excited that I cooked everything from scratch… my feet are killing me from all this standing though!!!

November 23^rd: Thanksgiving Dinner

Today was a very stressful day, but it went amazing. I woke up and cooked all day on the last minute things. I cooked the turkey for hours and made sure it was perfectly golden. I cooked a full sized turkey and 4 large drumsticks that were the size of a wine bottle each! I finished up everything, got the boys to move some chairs and tables over and set up the table while things were warming up. I had about 17 people attend and set up a long table with all the chairs around it. The food was in the center and I had people buffet-style around to get their food, but then it was right in front of us as we ate. I also scattered  little tea candles on the table. It was really nice and everyone dug right in. I got so many compliments on my cooking. I made mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (everyone’s favorite), turkey, mac n’ cheese, carrots, squash and roasted pumpkin, cranberry-apple stuffing and had little jars of cranberry sauce on the table with the homemade gravy. Actually… everything I made was homemade! After everyone had settled in I shared how thanksgiving started and that we usually go around and share what we are grateful for. I started and the circle went around the table. It was a really nice opportunity for people to sit and reflect on things that make them feel lucky and grateful lately.

After dinner I cleaned up with Anthony and Ellen and then I heated up the apple pie I made. We got the plates out and served my apple pie and pecan cheese cake. Everyone loved this food too! Everyone wanted to know all about the apple pie and I said it has taken years upon years to perfect. I was pleased and everyone was stuffed. People left and Anthony and I did the dishes, packed up the food and vacuumed the house. It was a really good day and I was super pleased at how the food came out and how happy it made everyone else.

November 13th- 16th: Final Exam Period

November 13^th: Developmental Psychology Final

Today was my first final and I was supposed to take the exam in a classroom I haven’t ever been to before. By the time I found it all the room numbers were off and I almost went into the wrong exam room. I was still early to my exam but I was the last one to sit down. Once I sat down I didn’t know the procedure to taking exams here. Because it is such a large university they have to have you write your student code and information on a check in sheet where they will walk around and check that you are you taking the exam and not someone taking it for you. There were about 90 multiple choice questions in 2 hours and it went well. I studied hard for this exam going through every lecture in the past few days and writing down my notes on them. I’m glad it went well. 

November 14^th: Animal Behaviour Final

Today was a very stressful day. I felt that the exam from 9-11 went well and that it was even easier than the midterm in this class. But then I needed to stay on campus to finish a report so I could print it out and hand it in before 9am the next day (I didn’t want to make an extra trip down at night). I spent hours working on my final report for MBM on the whale watch trip. I was very frustrated because the statistics were clearly statistically significant but the stats work reported it wasn’t. I then video called home and went to go print out the report and hand it in. I then headed home and went to study for some more of the tests the next day. Later that day I went to go look at my class unit guide to find out info on the final and I saw that the way I had done the report was wrong and I knew I would lose a lot of points if I didn’t change it before the due date. At around 9 or 10 o’clock I had to run down to the library, figure out which printer to use after putting money on my card and then find the drop box. Once I got to the drop box it was closed and I couldn’t get to it, by now I was so frustrated. I was about to call security and then found a different door with a drop box. I was so tired from stress that day I fell asleep very early…. Ready for the next final

November 15^th: Marine Birds and Mammals Final

Today I studied this morning to try to understand material in this class from the beginning of the semester and then headed to my final. It was 5 essays on the 5 parts of the course and I was able to pick either-or on each section. I felt really comfortable with my exam and was glad it was over… my hand was super cramped! Wrote 10 pages…. Onto studying for the last final I am really worried about.

November 16^th: Physiology Final

Today was my last final of this semester. I was super nervous and studied most of the morning. I took two multiple choice practice tests and hardly got any questions right. I was super nervous about this exam. Once I got to the exam I was very relieved to see that it was 40 multiple choice and 12 of 20 given written questions. The written portion was worth 2/3 of the grade and I was very happy I was able to pick which essay to write about. After writing everything I could think of for each essay and making sure I took all the time I could on the multiple choice (3 hours later and 12 pages written) I was very confident with how the test went and was sure I’d pass. I went home and was super glad to be done with finals, they were very stressful. But it doesn’t feel like I’m done with a semester again even though I am. 3 more to go till I graduate now… time goes so fast.

November 9th-12th: Prep for Exams

November 9th: Sydney Tower Dinner
Tonight was our farewell dinner at Sydney tower. It was a revolving eating area and an open buffet.... I ate so much good food. The dinner price is $85 per person and was it worth the price! But I'm glad it was paid for by the program and that we were able to go. I've never eaten in a revolving tower before.

 off to the tower!

 inside a little shop in the mall at the base of the towers

 lots of expensive shops around this mall

 the shadow of the tower

 all you can eat :)

 my first dish

 famous Aussie dessert

 i was just up there!

 sunset on the train ride home

November 1st-8th: End of Semester Fun

Thrift store find: platypus piggy bank

out on the harbour

opera house in the back

waiting to go to Bondi

bel and deniz

what lifeguards look like here

kitty pool right on the edge of the ocean

Bel not climbing the rocks

Watch out a wave!

yeahh missed it

we found a puppy.... or the puppy found us

umm wait?

better

foammmm with Ellen

November 1st: Foam Party
Today was the foam party at Ubar. Everyone was loving the foam (except for a few exceptions, myself included). I didn't find it at all sanitary and instead I sat with my friends outside and just chatted for hours. I saw Ellen and we got to talking. There was a free photo booth but I didn't make it in time before they took it down. It was nice to just chill and hang with people.

November 2nd: Halloween party
Today I was checking facebook and my friend had posted a photo of an Australian spider that came into his house and I did not like the looks of it. It's called a huntsman and they are HUGE but perfectly fine. If you want to see it check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRV4d9LCawU . EWWWW. Anthony told me that everyone will see a huntsman if they are to stay into the summer months.....NOOOOO!Then Anthony and I decided to do something with the day and we went around to some thrift stores. Here, they don't have a Good Will but have Vinnie's. We went to a few places and I found a cute book for $1 based off Finding Nemo (I thought it was appropriate considering my location). Once home I got ready to go out to the house party of our friend's who was having a Halloween party. We all chilled at the party and at one point Anthony pointed out a "garden spider" which was HUGE! I screamed and it ran away just like I did...... I haven't been cope with my arachnophobia yet to be ok with these spiders infiltrating in all the sudden.....

November 3rd: Date night
Tonight I went to dinner with Anthony on the Rocks at Pancakes. We had a good time and ordered so much food! Pesto bread with pine nuts, salad, eggplant pizza and apricot pancakes and cream cheese crepes for dessert. It was a nice dinner and we had a good time being dressed up and out on the town. We walked around the bottom of the Sydney bridge and watched the Sydney Opera House across the harbour for hours. It was a very nice evening.

November 4th: Sculptures on the Sea
Today Bel and Deniz wanted to go to Bondi Beach and see the "Sculptures on the sea" exhibit. This was one thing I had been wanting to see before I left and didn't know it was the last day of the exhibit. It is a bunch of sculptures that are one the rocks right where the tide breaks by the boardwalk at Bondi. We arrived and stopped at a bar just to chill for a bit. The sun was sweltering and we headed out toward the left of the beach and we walked on the rocks and saw one sculpture. Then a group of guys told us the rest of the sculptures were on the other end of the beach. It was confusing why this one sculpture was on this side, but we were heading back and decided to get some Aussie Fish & Chips. Apparently I have never had fish&chips until I have them in Australia. We got swordfish and calamari. It was really really fresh and good, but deep fried and we all had to sit back and breath for a bit. The sun was going down and we all decided to head back home, laughing at the fact that we only saw one sculpture.

Anthony and I bought a Groupon deal to go to the caves out in the Blue Mountain. It was an amazing deal and I had caves on my list of to-do's while out here along with seeing the Blue Mountains (which are about 100km from Sydney).

November 6th: Melbourne Cup

Today I had been thinking of going to a horse race (another thing on my to-do list here) but instead we went to the bar at 3pm to watch the Melbourne Cup. This is the "Race that stops a nation." It is a lot like the Kentucky Derby where everyone watches even if they don't like horse races and where women dress up really nice and wear huge and gorgeous hats. The bar was packed and everyone had bet. It was cool just to see the Aussie atmosphere and watch their national tradition. The horse that won was one Anthony was considering betting on but didn't... if he put down $20 he would have had a $4000 return! Too bad... always looking back in hindsight haha
Today was also the Presidential Election. I was a bit disappointed because I had registered for a voting ballot to be mailed to me in August but it never came. I've never voted before and I thought it would be awesome to vote for the first time in another country for the President, but that sadly did not happen. 

November 7th: Psych Study
Today I went to participate in another psych study. This one took 3 hours to complete and I did make some money from it, but not a huge amount. I think it's ok though because after talking to the researcher she's been conducting this study for 2 years and only has had 130 participants and still needs 20 more. I was glad to help her in her research for the love of psychology. Tonight we used the coupon that Danielle had bought in September from Groupon. We paid $25 total for up to 6 people to have an in-home wine tasting. It was me, Anthony, Danielle and Ed and the lady who came to Danielle's showed us 14 different types of wines and gave us a complimentary bottle as the offer had included. We had a good time snacking on our cheese and crackers and learning a lot about German (and other country's) wine.

November 8th: Final Day of Classes
Today was my last day of classes in Australia. Now I must prepare myself for the 4 finals I have next week along with finish my huge report on the whale trip. It would be an easy report to write but I need to run a lot of statistical tests for the results which takes forever because I hate Stats. I registered for courses at home (about 16 hours later than the registration time thanks to my inability to calculate the time difference lately). At the moment of writing this blog I am only registered for 2 courses but know I will be written into another course easily because I have been emailing this professor and the last two courses (will be registered for no problem) are not my top choices but I do need them to graduate so this coming semester will not have any classes that are just fillers. I also found out recently I will be able to complete both my majors with a concentration in each. I will graduate with a Biology major with a concentration in Neuroscience and a Psychology major with a concentration in Brain, Behaviour and Cognition. I'm very excited about this and think it will bring me down the path where I want to be.