Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Checking Off the "To-Do" List

       Only 10 more days until I start my journey back to the States! I'm not sure if I should be this excited to leave Australia but I am ready to be HOME! Because the clock is ticking, I'm starting to feel a bit rushed to see and do all that I've been planning on doing here. I was warned about this but I feel like regardless of how many activities I check off my list early on, I've continually added more. Simply put, four months is simply not enough time to fully appreciate and experience this place. I didn't even get to travel very far and I'm still feeling the pinch! I honestly believe I'll make it back here one day. There's still so much to learn here and hopefully I won't be alone next time! Having another person to share my experiences with here would have made this trip even better.
 
      This last week has been pretty busy with various activities. Mostly, I compiled all the information from my lectures into study guides for me to utilize in this upcoming week before finals. I love my study guides! haha- They seem to do the trick anyways. On Tuesday, Marina and I walked to Glenmore and I once again did what I said I would never do again- I ate another large pizza in one sitting. What's the definition of insanity again? This time I wasn't alone as Marina did the same thing! We took the long way home haha. On Thursday, we once again went to Stockland's and I stocked up on groceries as my usual. Most of the other students on the trip loaded up on Ramen noodles and Red Bull to prepare for this week. Red bull here is about $4 per 250 mL can! Too expensive for me- I'll stick with my tap water haha.

       On Friday, we had the opportunity to venture out to Great Keppel again for class. Attendance wasn't required and I was SHOCKED at how many students didn't go. Out of about 20 of us, Ben, Marina, Yibba, Jess, Heather, and I (all from the US) and Pauline from France were the ONLY ones who went! Seven out of 20! Patrick, our teacher, was quite disappointed at the lack of turn out especially because he had to jump through some hoops with the financial office to have this happen again. I just can't believe how many international students decided to sleep in and do nothing during the day instead of going to one of the most beautiful places on earth. I truly do not get it! I just thought it was funny how every single American student went (and one French girl) but no one else. We had a great time! I liked this trip better because of the smaller group. We were able to have more quality/ intimate conversations with the boat owners, Hans and Di, as well as with Patrick. Also, we were able to enjoy and explore the island a bit more this time around because we weren't so busy taking a million pictures! (I still got some though!)

 
 
**The island bar's walls were covered with chalkboard paper. This is one of the quotes/ sayings that covered the walls!
 
 **Jumping into the ocean while anchored! The dark part at the bottom of the picture is part of the reef (The Great Barrier Reef actually)
 

 
    
**Ben (US), me, Marina (US), and Pauline (France)
 
      The trip was a good time! Not many students have the chance to go on a cruise before finals week. :) On Sunday, Pauline and I took part in a 5K here in Rockhampton. It's called the Rocky River Run and it's the major fundraiser for many charities here in Rockhampton. It's completely non-profit and every one of the workers is a volunteer. We did the 5K but other events included a half-marathon, 10K, 5K walk, and a 2K walk/run. About 3,000 people participated this year! It was such an amazing event and the largest race that I've been a part of so far. There were 790 people that completed the 5K. I ranked 215th. Not the best but hey, I'll take it! I was ranked 77 out of the 498 adult females that did the race! (I like that number better haha) My recorded time was 28:36- so that's about a 9 minute mile.
  **At the starting line. If you can tell, it was quite foggy during our race. It started at about 8 AM and was slightly misting throughout the duration of the race. It was actually quite refreshing!
 
       Jim (the older man from previous posts) picked Pauline and I up at around 10 AM and he took us to this little country chapel called St. Christopher's. St. Christopher's was built in 1943 by American soldiers in World War II. Nowadays, the chapel is located out in the bush neighbor only to a farm but back during the war, it was a camp for American troops. Unknown to me, there over 70 thousand U.S. troops stationed in Rockhampton during that time. This site was a place for soldiers preparing for combat or they were sent here to re-cooperate after engaging in action on the islands. After being in Rockhampton for some time, some of the Army chaplains requested that a chapel be built to meet the needs of the men. After it was built, the various chaplains held services in the non-denominational chapel. Today, the church is in remarkable shape with much of the building's original materials. The only upgrades include re-painting, a tin roof, and electricity added some years later. All of the pews/ kneelers are all original as is the stone pulpit and stain-glass window that you'll see in the pictures!
 
 
  **The entrance- the building next to the chapel is a band rotunda. This is where an Army band would play during their time stationed in Rockhampton.  
  
 
*Sorry about the blurry quality! The chapel had quite the Australian feel to it. It is looked after by both Australian and U.S. ex-military who live in Rockhampton. Every year a memorial service is held here on July 4th 
 
 
      That's all I know for now! This upcoming week will consist mainly of studying and preparing for my final exams. On Wednesday, Pauline, Marina, and I are planning on going to Yeppoon to explore downtown and such! It should be a great last full week here in Rocky :) I can't wait to see everyone back home!!
 
See ya soon!-
 
Tina
 
P.S. A couple weeks ago we had a graduation ceremony of sorts for the international students and I was just emailed a group photo! It was a nice ceremony celebrating our time here. One of the students from Nigeria is graduating this term from CQU (he's been here for four years) and gave a great speech about his time here. Also, there was some great food afterwards! That made it all worth it:)
 
 



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