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.