News from the University of New South Wales

Ashley is currently spending the spring semester in Australia and sent a report about her experience so far:

G'day! I've just returned from the twelve day Spring Break of a lifetime.
The trip was named One Fish Two Fish and took me from Brisbane to the Great Barrier Reef with many memorable stops along the way. The trip was sponsored by extreme adventures so there were countless jokes about things being "EXTREME." Our two tour guides were awesome- one is a pro surfer named Matt and the other is Veronica, who is finishing her last year of uni.

We started the trip by going to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. I got to feed an elephant (pretty gross actually), play with kangaroos and watch crocs get fed. There was a huge shrine for Steve Irwin and it was very touching. Then we hit Fraser Island, the world's biggest sand island. We got to off road in a bus and it was so exciting. Next up we headed to the gorgeous Whitsundays and stayed on Daydream Island. It lived up to its name 100%. I got to jet ski and banana boat. My group had to be on our best behavior on the island because the group before us had already established a bad rep- the night before we got there, the LEADER of their group got a little too EXTREME and jumped into the resort's shark tank!
That gave everybody a good laugh, except for the families that were just trying to enjoy their Easter and asked for refunds. I definitely didn't want to leave the place. From there we spent a day sailing on a yacht and a day white water rafting.

Finally, we ended up in Cairns (pronounced Cans), the city by the Great Barrier Reef. I got the opportunity to scuba dive, cliff jump, sky dive and snorkel, which were all amazing. But of course, my favorite was bungee jumping. It takes a lot to throw yourself over the edge, whereas someone just gives you a shove out of a plane. I didn't hit water like other people did but it was one of the most thrilling things I've ever done. The people on the trip have been so much fun- 59 study abroad students from the states. Now I have connections all over Australia and the US. It's hard to part ways. And of course, there is one additional member of the trip that can't be forgotten - the inflatable kangaroo that served as our mascot and went everywhere, yes everywhere, that we went (sky diving! bungee jumping!). He had somebody responsible for him every day and got renamed by them. There was a lot of emotional attachment to the roo and there was an intense game of rock paper scissors on the last night to decide who got to keep him. I still haven't developed my underwater camera pics or put my bungee jumping video on youtube, so be on the lookout for those!

For now, it's back to the books. I just got back from a Pasta Trivia night with my Sports and Law class. It was great to be with my classmates and professors in such a low key setting.

Oh, and she does report about the classes she is taking:

I'm really enjoying classes here at the University of New South Wales- I'm taking two sociologies, one business ethics and law and one sports and law. Class participation is greatly encouraged. There also seems to be more emphasis on writing papers than taking exams. In fact, I have one exam the entire time that I'm here! The professors are all very laid-back and take a strong interest in knowing all their students, even at such a big uni. One even requested that everyone send postcards from their Easter Break trips!