Author: Jessica Hanson

Location: Newcastle, Australia

G’day Mates!

This is me checking in from my last full day in Wisconsin before I jump on a plane and start my journey studying abroad 9,000 miles away. Even though I knew I only had two months of summer from ending my sophomore year at Valparaiso University, IN, and leaving for my semester abroad, I can’t believe how fast it disappeared! Between working full-time hours at Kwik Trip, going on a 9-day vacation with my family to The Rocky Mountains & Yellowstone National Park, and figuring out flights, classes, packing, layovers, and all the other countless details and information about my new home for the next four months, I still can’t believe it’s already here.

To fill everyone in, I will be studying at the University of Newcastle (UoN) in Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia (!), about two hours north of Sydney by bus. Luckily, Newcastle is the seventh largest city in Australia and only a half hour from the beach, so I should be able to find plenty to keep me busy! This “Uni,” as they call it Aussie-style, has an enrollment of 26,000 on my campus, quite a big difference from the 6,000 total enrollment I know from Valpo. I will be a “Wombat” for the semester, although the school symbol is a horse head, and the coat of arms features an odd-looking horse/seahorse hybrid….Nonetheless, the school motto of “I look ahead” represents exactly the experience I hope studying abroad will provide – answering many questions about what I want to do after Valpo and looking forward into a career!

The past few weeks getting ready for this trip has been such a roller coaster of emotions for me. The hardest part for me is saying “see you later!” (NOT goodbye) to all my loved ones. As my brother and my best friend can attest (Sup Zach. Hey Jennifer!), I get super sentimental knowing that this is the last time that I will get to see my family and friends for four months. Sure, four months isn’t any different than being away from my Valpo friends for a whole summer, but knowing that I’m a whole world away and completely on my own in a foreign country makes it all the more difficult.

Aside from my sentimentality and excess of hugs as I leave my friends and family at the door, I have gone back and forth between being extremely excited or utterly terrified. Right now, knowing that I will be in a new country less than 72 hours from now, is exciting (well, to be honest, rather terrifying too.) It is also terrifying that I will have to figure out the airports all by myself- I’ve traveled before, but when you’re following a herd of 300 people during group travel, navigating the airport seems to be a breeze! I am terrified that I will be living in a studio apartment all by myself and have to learn how to cook and fend for myself (I know, real adulting, I guess I should probably get used to that by now!). I am terrified that I have to figure out a different classroom learning style and culture all at the same time.

But I am excited to explore Los Angeles for the very first time during my 10-hour layover. I am excited to meet new people and learn, and try new things (Vegemite, anyone?). I am excited that I am going to a country that is a lot more environmentally conscientious than the United States (on the whole) and that I have the opportunity to learn all about it and live this new culture. I am excited to see koalas and kangaroos, go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and learn how to surf. I am excited to be fully immersed in a new culture for four months. And I am excited to see how this experience changes me and inspires me to do great things.

I have a lot of personal goals and ideas for what I hope my study abroad semester will turn out to be- but I also know that I shouldn’t go in with too many expectations. And I know the biggest asset I can have is an open mind- and an open heart. However, my biggest goal is simply that I don’t let myself be afraid to try new things. I would hate to miss out on experiences because I’m scared, or nervous, or tired. I want to explore and take risks (safe ones, of course). I want to be intentional about the experiences I have and the limited time I will be abroad. I want my trip to matter, whether that simply means having the time of my life or it means finding tools and connections to change the world. I hope this trip brings me insight and knowledge and curiosity and courage and love. And above all else, I am looking forward to growing as a student, as a person, as a traveler, as a woman, and most importantly, as a world citizen- in whichever direction the Australian wind blows.

So farewell, my friends, or as the Aussies say, “Cheerio!” I will write again in a few weeks!

Blogger: Jessica Hanson

Location: Newcastle, Australia

Major: Chemistry and Environmental Science

Blogger: Abbey Little

Program: CISabroad – Newcastle, Australia

Opportunity cost (noun): the loss of other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.

I have been educated on the concept of opportunity cost in courses like economics, but I tend to overlook the real-life application of the matter. My experiences in Australia so far have given me an authentic insight on what an opportunity cost truly entails. I would like to defend this concept and preface my explanation by saying that choosing one alternative over another is not necessarily a negative action. However, the reality of it is absolute.

It was obvious that I would be sacrificing some parts of my everyday life when I made the decision to pack up and come to Australia for a year. I would miss celebrations such as birthdays, holidays, and graduations. I would miss family, friends, and all the familiar faces I encounter in a week’s time. Ultimately, I was sacrificing familiarity and comfort for an unexplored world full of excitement.

Melbourne, Australia

Throughout the month of April, I was fortunate enough to do some traveling in southern Australia. I visited Melbourne, which is a lively city booming with art.

From there, I traveled to Tasmania, which is easily the most picturesque place I have ever been to. Worlds could never truly describe the sense of happiness that Tasmania gave me, and pictures will always fail to capture the true beauty of it.

While in Tasmania, I was given back a little piece of joy that I had sacrificed to come abroad – a group of friends and I rented a car. That may sound silly, but constantly checking bus times to get around and hauling groceries from bus stops across campus is far from appealing. The fear of driving on the opposite side of the road from the right side of the car was masked by pure excitement. There were two groups of us, with four to each car. We all agreed to take turns driving, respectively.

The morning of our first full day in Tassie (Tasmania) rolled around, and it was my turn to get behind the wheel. I would be driving the first two hours of our four-hour road trip to a destination in northeastern Tasmania know as the Bay of Fires. From there, we would head south back towards our AirBnB in Cremorne and make a stop at Wineglass Bay for sunset, then return home for the night.

The sun was not properly risen as I pulled out of the driveway, and there was an eerie mist amongst the mountains. We were finally in control of where we would go. Josh and Josh made themselves comfortable in the backseat as I passed the aux cord to my trustee and co-pilot, Elena. we were on our way.

A sense of freedom was upon us. The boys both dozed off in the backseat as the sun began to come over the caps of the mountains on our right. Ahead, I could see a wall of fog, but did not think much of it. Within minutes, I was driving up a mountain through a thick cloak of fog. The road was demanding that I take sharp, slow turns. Eventually, I hit a patch of unpaved highway. The sense of accomplishment after getting through that drive was sublime. I have been given the opportunity to drive again; I was in control. That privilege had been absent from my life for months.

Our journey continued, and we had the glory of properly seeing Tasmania by means of the most outstanding road trip I have ever taken part of. Ever since, I seem to dread public transportation a little more, but again, I remember that I will get to be in control of my direction again someday. The privilege of driving daily was something I sacrificed by studying abroad in Australia. This sacrifice along has led me to the most glorious days I’ve had the chance of living. I have been in the land down under for approximately three months now, and I have come to the realization that I have indeed sacrificed a lot of normality since my arrival. Nevertheless, I would not trade any experience I’ve had for its alternative. I can confidently say the payoff of each opportunity cost I’ve encountered has been well worth it.

Cheers! xx

Abbey

Blogger: Abbey Little

Program: CIS Abroad — Newcastle, Australia

Upon my arrival in Australia, I was regularly confronted with the question, “Why Australia?”  Invariably, I had two justifications—firstly, the lack of a language barrier, and secondly, the claim that math is the same across the world (which pertains to my Actuarial Science major).  After week 1 of lectures, workshops, and tutorials, I found flaws in both of my rationales.  I caught myself asking my Australian friends to repeat themselves three or four times before finally, if ever, really grasping what they were saying.  Sometimes, a soft smile and a nod would have to suffice.  I was writing statistics terms in my notes that I have never come across in my studies thus far. These events did not cause a sense of doubt in myself or my decision to study abroad here in the remarkable country of Australia, but a feeling of wistfulness crept upon me.

It was a feeling so distant, foreign to say the least.  It’s bittersweet, yet soothing, the feeling of wistfulness.  As in melancholy, something that distance cannot repair.  Accompanied by a cloud filled with drops of despair.  As in nostalgia, I’ve spent moments yearning.  But overall, of myself I am truly learning.  This feeling of wistfulness was unusually soothing, I must say.  Bittersweet, yet so foreign in the most comforting way.

I suppose I was not prepared for the load of culture shock I would experience, because I continue to feel that I belong here day in and day out.  There is a change in scenery, of course—I am awakened by the screeching sounds of cockatoos each morning, rather than a blanket of snow.  Bell peppers are not a thing here, but capsicums are.  Pronouncing words such as herbs, basil, oregano, and aluminum in front of a group of Australians will cause confusion and laughter amongst them.  An American friend of mine told her Australian roommate that she was struggling to get her joggers over her calves, which completely baffled her roommate, given that joggers are the equivalent to our tennis shoes.  Brekky is now my first meal and lunch is served in the arvo.  I no longer shop at malls; I shop at shopping centres.  I sit on a bus or in the back of Tayla’s car (yes—Tayla, not Taylor) in traffic on the left side of the road—something I have adjusted to quite easily!  I flip switches “down” to turn outlets “on” and turn door locks to the left rather than to the right.  You won’t find a car in a parking lot, instead a car park.  At first, these modifications seemed troublesome, but now I don’t give them a second thought.

What I have found most refreshing about my first month in Australia is the generosity of the individuals I have interacted with.  Liz, a fellow American, and I woke at 5 one morning to catch brekky at a kiosk on the beach.  We ordered an Uber from outside of West Tower where we reside, with plenty of time to enjoy the sunrise.  We stepped in to a Cadillac that was in the control of an older man, mid-60’s if I had to take a guess.  Conversation has come easy for us because we always get posed with the, “where are you from?” question.  We discussed some major U.S. cities—i.e. New York City, LA, Chicago—and then babbled on about our love for the beauty of Australia.  The driver then asked us where exactly we were planning on going to see the sunrise.  When we told him, he shook his head slightly in disapproval.  “Let me take you somewhere better. It’s the best place to watch the sunrise,” the man suggested.  We were then en route to Newcastle’s iconic Nobby’s Beach—a place we had only seen midday.  What was so humbling about the whole experience in the Uber was how serene we were to change our plans because someone who had only just met us cared enough to share a piece of his home with us.

As we pulled up to the beach, the sky was filled with storm clouds, but we were still anticipating a beautiful sunrise.  Liz and I strolled in to the Swell Kiosk when they opened their doors at 6:30 am and ordered our coffees and food before wandering across the pavilions.  We sat silently, listening to the wave’s crash in to the rocks near the shore.  It wasn’t too long before we realized we were not going to see the sunrise we had expected.  Instead, we were greeted with a calm under the waves, welcoming the collision of two worlds—a storm ahead racing towards clear skies behind us.  We savored our brekky under a pavilion as we watched the storm roll in.  Within the chaos that was brought on by harsh winds and the beginning of rainfall, we made the decision to order an Uber back to the city as the storm settled in over the beach–a delicacy that we could only attempt to capture in photos.  I long for more unforeseen adventures such as this peculiar Tuesday morning.

Being 9,000+ miles away from home is undeniably challenging, but there is an incomparable beauty within it that.  Stepping outside of my comfort zone has allowed me to form friendships that I will cherish forever, with both Americans whom I already look forward to visiting in the states as well as Australians who I cannot imagine leaving someday.  I am living in the glory of a foreign culture and I have found true gratification in that.

Cheers!

xx Abbey

New Zealand with Alex Fenn & Pall Baggett

So here we are… Landing in the beautiful city of Auckland, New Zealand, the largest city in New Zealand with a population of just 4 million. For a couple days we are staying with some of Alex’s family then will be beginning a another unforgettable journey; backpacking the north island with the ‘Kiwi Experience Bus’. The Kiwi Experience is basically a hop on hop off bus that backpackers use to get around New Zealand and meet new people along the way. Mostly made up of 18 to 25 year olds all with a common interest. Travel, live life and have fun doing it.

On the 1^st of February we departed from downtown Auckland unsure of what to expect. And when I say unsure what to expect, I mean it. We didn’t exactly know where we were going to go, how long we would be there for or the people we were going to be with. A quote by Alexander Pope says it all, “Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed”  The only thing we were certain of is we had a flight out of Auckland the morning of the 12^th and we had 12 days to do everything we could.

Day 1 Hot water beach.

Hot water beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world finding itself in the top ten voted by trip advisor. Upon arriving at the hostel, we were offered an opportunity to go kayaking along the surrounding islands. So for about 3 hours a group of us kayaked throughout and actually made it to cathedral cove. A Marine Reserve is on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand popular for the movie Narnia being filmed there. Now it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why hot water beach has its name… There’s boiling hot water!! And I mean it! All you do it dig about two feet down and you find yourself in boiling hot water. The water gets so hot that the  Maori natives use to actually cook their food in these holes. 

However hot water beach is not what made day 1 memorable. It was the people we met. Two people specially. Cedric and Vikor. Cedric, from Montreal Canada, just graduated law school and is now traveling for 4 months. Vikor is a Swedish carpenter trying to travel New Zealand, find work and live a simple life here. It was definitely these guys and several others we met along the way that made a difference in our travels.

Day 3 Waitomo

After hot water beach, we were off to Waitomo. Here we were able to go black water rafting with the ‘legendary black water rafting company’. When we first heard our bus driver say “black water rafting”, we truly had no idea what it was. He explained that black water rafting was basically rafting on rivers in underground caves. These caves are known for look like stars above glowing on the walls.r having these species called glowworms exclusively found in New Zealand. Up close they resemble maggots but from a distance they glow like stars. After our adventures in Waitomo, we hopped back on the bus to head to Rotorua.

Day 4 Rotorua

Rotorua was memorable for several reasons. Here we stayed in a Maori village and got to experience a bit of their culture. Before this stay we had stayed in hostels the entire way with public bathrooms and uncomfortable beds. as how our food was prepared. They used However, here, the accommodations were a bit different. We slept 30 to a room in the most comfortable beds imaginable. At the village we were introduced to the culture and lifestyle of the Maori natives. The one thing that stood out that was the  traditional Maori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called Hāngi.

Day 5 Taupo

One of the most popular cities in New Zealand, Taupo, offered us the opportunities to do a variety of activities, including bungee jumping, cliff swinging, and sailing. Due to the weather we were unable to go skydiving but it didn’t stop us from bungee jumping and I have to say, it was a bit nerve wrecking. Having skydived before we thought they would be similar… boy were we wrong. The act of jumping alone towards a large body of water is just as nerve wrecking as it sounds. Although, once you actually jump…the adrenaline is incredible. It was definitely something I would do again given the opportunity.

Day 6 River Valley

Alex and I both agreed that this place was our favorite stop. It was a hidden spot with epic scenery and logging. The hostel was in a valley in the middle of no where surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains. Here we got to chose between two activities…horseback riding or white water rafting.  We ended up rafting on New Zealand’s longest river, The Rangitikei River. Followed by the long day of rafting, our next stop was Wellington.

Day 7 Wellington

Unlike Auckland, which is known to by an outdoor city, Wellington is known as the indoor city with many museums, cafes and amazing restaurants. Here we we stayed a couple days so we could have some time to relax and catch up on laundry and sleep. We also got to ride on wellington cable car. A railway the connect the city to Lambton Quay, a suburb that overlooks the city. This cable car has been recognized as a symbol of Wellington for over a century.

Day 10 Back to Rotarua

Leaving Wellington meant leaving much of our friends we made along the way. When we left, we were headed north while most of the others continued south. Our first stop on the trek back north was Rotaura. Here instead of staying in the Mauri village, we rented some bikes to go mountain biking. Rotarua has some of the best and hardest mountain biking in the world, and it was obvious to Alex and I. After mountain biking, our plan was to go lugging right outside of town. We were told that going late was the best because it wouldn’t be so busy, but when we got there, Alex read a sign that killed us both – “Closing early”. The luge was closing at 6pm that evening, and it was 5:50 when we got there. This might have ruined our chances to luge but right next door we noticed a small mini golf course. Given that we had about 30 minutes to kill before the next bus, we decided to give it a look and after telling the owner, Fiona, our situation, she didn’t hesitate to give us a free round of golf. We may have missed that next bus and had to walk about 6km back to the hostel, but it didn’t change the fact that we had an unforgettable day.

Back in Auckland.

At about 5pm on the 11^th of February, we got back to Auckland where Alex’s uncle was waiting for us. We got back to the house and his family wanted to know everything we had done. One question after another. What’d you do? What type of people did we meet? Favorite part? They wanted to know everything. That’s when I realized that we just made memories that will last a lifetime. Its not everyday that one gets to backpack the beautiful country of New Zealand and meet such great people along the way. It was definitely a trip to remember that will bring great memories for years to come.