"I Just Wanna Dance With Somebody"

Hi all! I am alive after writing 4 essays this week! I am so glad that it is over! My week consisted of working at a cafe as a dishwasher, and I then I catered a meal today! It is sooo nice to have some income so I can travel and do things around the city. This week was unbelievable, though! It made me fall even more in love with Speech Pathology because I got the opportunity to observe in a voice clinic here on campus. It was a WONDERFUL experience, and I am observing again on Tuesday. The Speech Pathologist that I shadowed was sooo wonderful and taught me sooo much. I am so thankful and blessed. The clients were amazing and really made me love my major. One of my essays was for assessing the language of a child, teenager and an adult, and the other essay was about how animals affect patients in animal-assisted therapy. Then I am working on one that is for my sign language class. I have probably written 25 pages worth of papers this week. By the looks of pinterest and facebook, you all probably think I don't have a life besides the computer. Ha! I do though! All week, my friend, Ashton and I have be running together because she would like to pursue a career in the Air Force. I have never ran in my life, and now I feel great. I eat like a hog ALL.THE. TIME. Speaking of eating, I have also been watching Master Chef Australia the whole week with my friends, and I am an addict. I admit it. Then my Pinterest page is FULL of cupcakes. Ha. Last night my friends and I went out dancing, hence, the title of my blog and facebook album, and we had a blast. Then, tonight, we watched the introductions of all the cartoons that we watched when we were children. It is amazing how time flies and how one misses childhood. So many memories came with the T.V. shows that we watched. It made me grateful for a great childhood and made me think of Kansas. This weekend was going to be spent at a friend's home, but she came down with pneumonia, and now we aren't going to visit her parents. Darn, but I guess it gives me the chance to study for some finals and just relax after a long, longggg week. I have been following the calendar, and I have just over a month until I go home. I am sooo excited to see my family and friends in the United States. I can't describe how excited I am. BUT I am going to make my days here count by traveling to Tasmania and volunteering. One of my Australian friends here told me that they consider me an Australian, and it made really think about what I have gained from this experience. I feel like I am a part of the Australian culture and will always be and absolutely love the feeling. Kansas is always going to be my home, and I love it, but I know that I will always love Australia. Hands down. I think I will definitely be a mix of American and Australian when I get back. ;)

Time is Flying

Hey guys! I am taking a break from writing a ten page paper about Animal-Assisted Therapy for my Human and Animal Anthropology class. This week is going to be nuts! I have a 1500 word paper due on Tuesday and this big one due on Friday. Then a 1500 word paper due on Monday. I am nervous about all of them and just want to do well. These past two weeks have been great, though. I have worked at the cafe on campus and have made some extra cash and have started a running routine with friends. We have been doing it about 5 days a week, and it TOTALLY helps the stress. I have been trying to have some fun in between work and school. One of my close friends here turned 18 this week, so we celebrated that. It was soo fun, and we had a party for her. I haven't been going into the city very much just because my homework has been keeping me busy! Ah! I can't wait for Tasmania! My friend from Texas and I are going on June 5 and coming back June 7th. We are going to take a ghost tour and are going to visit the Tasmanian Devils. Ha! It will be soooo fun! I can't wait because we leave the day after my biggest final. My last final is on June 16th, and then I will have 13 days free! I am excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel but feel sad at the same time. Homesickness has been hard lately because of all the events going on back home. Thank goodness for Nathan, my family and friends. They have all helped me lots! It is getting cool here, and I love it. I have a feeling, though, that a hot, Kansas summer will feel good, too! Thanks for all the support back home and sorry it has taken me soooo long to write.

Just Checking In!

Hey guys! I am just checking in! I have been super busy with essays here lately, and I have been hanging out with some friends. On Sunday of last week, I went to church with a friend from Indonesia, and it was so nice to have a friend to go with!  On Thursday of last week, we celebrated one of my close friend's birthdays, and we went out for pizza and then dancing! It was amazing, and I was sooo excited because I bought her a mint chocolate cake! I couldn't hardly keep the secret. Haha! This past weekend was spent reading the "Hunger Games" and working on a 4 page research paper for my Culture and Globalisation class. Then my Australian friends introduced me to a cooking show called "Master chef Australia."Everyone is crazy for this show here, and I am finding that I am becoming addict myself. Don't tell anyone. ;) Today is the day for buying my plane ticket for Tasmania, and then my friend from Texas and I are going to the Cadbury Chocolate factory in Hobart! We are both excited and will probably leave with a chocolate coma. Butttt, it will be worth it! Then I have added an exercise routine into my schedule with some friends, and we see a bat every time we are out at night. We named him after Edward Cullen, and now, he is just "Eddie." The routine is used by the Air Force and eases a person into running. You run a certain distance one week and then move up a little the next week. Yesterday, I along with friends, doubled our running time. It felt good to run off stress. Last night, I Americanized my Australian friend's calendar and penciled in "D-day, Pearl Harbor, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, 4th of July and Epiphany" (My birthday) ;). I am rubbing off on one of my close friends here. She used to look at me funny when I would ask to use her "skillet" when they call it a "fry pan." Now I find myself saying "fry pan," and she says "skillet."Then I have caught myself switching back and forth from Aussie ligo to American ligo in the same sentence. Here, they call Ketchup "Tomato Sauce." So one day I go, "Ashton forgot tomato sauce, so we need to bring her Ketchup." I know I sound like a Speechie nerd, but I love hearing the dialect differences. It is amazing. Chisholm College had their own "Master chef" competition last week also, and I helped my friends make Vegetarian Curry. I am not much of a Curry eater, but this was good. But, we didn't win. Tower 6 did. Darn. This weekend, I talked to Chantel, Cody, Collin, Nathan, Logan and Katie on Skype. Then I talked to my family too. Everyone is getting ready for finals, and Chantel is getting ready for her art show. Her work is awesome, and I am so proud of her. I can't believe that she is graduating! I am sooo happy that I have gotten the chance to spend time with her in Manhattan while she was there. Matt is getting ready to graduate from Junior High. I can't believe how fast he has grown up. He told me the other day that he has his paper work for Driver's Ed, and I am thinking..."Oh boy, my car is at home unattended while I am in Australia..."Then there is Elaina! She had her first communion, and now she has her dance recital on Mother's Day!!!! I wish I could go! I am soooo proud of all three of my siblings. BUT I am in love with Australia and just enjoy going to classes here. I know it is not traveling, but I believe that the opportunity to learn from others in a foreign country is a privilege. The fall air is refreshing, and the trees are showing signs of fall. It is gorgeous. Yesterday, I had the funniest thing happen to me. I was in Australian Sign Language, and my teacher asked me what university I went to back home. I signed to her, "Nebraska,"and she signed back "You're a Husker. I like." Haha! UNL is always with me wherever I go. ;) Then my Speech Pathology teacher last week was a Stuttering Specialist, and one of my professors at UNL is a Stuttering Specialist. I asked her if she knew him, and she goes, "I read his research all the time!!! I can't believe he is at Nebraska."Traveling 30 hours to get to Australia really made the world feel HUGE, but really, it is quite small. I love Speech Pathology, and I love the teachers for it here. Then I told that same professor that I was from Kansas, and she told me that a Speech Pathologist from a University in Kansas visited last year with students. I asked her what the colors were, and she goes, "Purple and Silver."I laughed and guessed, "Kansas State University." I was right. I am proud to be a Kansan/Nebraskan. ;) It is soooo cool how all of these universities have global connections. Now, it has gotten me hoping that I get to come back for some Speech Pathology research. :) I know I will want to come back. Australia is and will always be my third home. I love the atmosphere, and I have made friends who have made the experience unforgettable. Period. I am blessed.