1 month down...

WOW!!!!! Can ya even believe it??? I have been here exactly one month!!!! 1 month of snow, adventures, American accents, new experiences, cold weather, 'school', new friends, walks all over Bozeman, church, Bible studies and so much more!!!

I seriously cannot believe it. 1 month down, 5 to go!!! :P The weirdest thing is that each day goes really slowly because of everything I'm doing but then I think that I've been here a whole month and I realise I'll be home before I know it!!!

I am seriously loving this adventure with God. I still get homesick and overwhelmed sometimes. I freak about what I've done and how far away I am from my family and friends. But then I remember that God is always here and I am so glad He is in America too!! And in my heart :) I am so glad I can go to church and Bible study and they all still talk about the same God :) It's really very wonderful!

Oh another totally crazy and absolutely amazing thing is that in the 1 month that I have been writing on this blog I have had over 1,100 views!!!!! What????? 1,100!!! That is crazy heaps!!! Don't you guys have lives?!?!?!?!? :P Thanks for reading all my cray adventures :) I'm sure I will have many many more before I finally head home!

So here's to many more months full of great adventures before I get back to the land down under!!

Just thought you needed to see a duck pond in the snow... 

Have fun driving those cars...!!

Dancing and other awesomeness

Howdy!

Well I have had a busy week this week and it's not over yet!! I have had heaps of homework... which has been majorly overwhelming and a bit stressful but I'm getting there and I'm slowly getting on top of it all. 

The other night, some of my friends and I had a big ah-ha moment when I walked into the dining hall to see one of my friends sitting with another group of my friends!! I didn't know they knew each other and they didn't know each other knew me!!! It was quite funny :) But really cool! To see that me friends were friends with each other :P

Now I have to confess that I think I might be in love...

Yep it's true! I am!!! (drum roll please...!!!) I'm in love with...

....

.......

...........

...swing dancing! (did I trick ya?? Did I? Did I??) It is the best fun ever!!!!!!!!!!! The other night we had a social event between Hapner Hall (the all-girls hall I live in) and Langford Hall (an all-boys hall) and we did swing dancing!!! I didn't even know it was on until my friend invited me an hour before it started :P She loves it and has gone every week to swing dancing somewhere in Bozeman (not really sure where...) So I said I'd go just to hang out and see what it's all about. So we got there and she convinced me to dance and I had the best fun. There were 3 instructors who were teaching us some moves... which were really groovy! And I loved it! My partner had done swing dancing last year so he was really good, which was nice cos he basically just threw me around and I had to follow. But man it was fun!!! Although there is a lot of spinning in swing dancing... at least what we were doing so I was slightly dizzy and pooped after a while! 

I think the funniest thing was that even though we were doing swing dancing, we were dancing to... country music... !!! I know right?! So random! But it is Montana after all as one of my friends said! And country music is really all they listen to here :P I even heard someone in the shower the other day with their country music blaring nice and loud. It made me want to do a jig to the toilet!! ...or burst out laughing... not sure which urge was stronger... :P baha!

So yeah... that was my adventure for the week... I went swing dancing! And I loved it :) When I get home I might need to take you all swing dancing somewhere in Toowoomba??? 

Australia Day

Well I know I'm a little late but... Happy Australia Day!!! On Saturday I decorated my door because it was officially Australia Day in Australia. I made a little poster, hung up my flag and added a little koala to it :) It was really fun... although I didn't get any comments from anyone on my floor so whatever :P

I also got the biggest and best surprise EVER!!! A parcel from my family!! Full of postcards and letters and an Aussie tshirt! So it was perfect timing and I loved it so much!!! :)

Then on Sunday, official Australia Day, one of my friends Alyssa and I, went to another of my friends Sarah Anne's house to bake ANZAC bikkies! It was really fun and they turned out quite well :) Everyone really loved them. Then I made them try vegemite... which they didn't like quite as much ;) I had lots of different rections. Sarah Anne didn't mind it too much, one of her roommates had tried it before and hated it and Alyssa had had it before and really liked it! So that was pretty fun :)

It was also majorly snowing in the morning so I couldn't go to church but it was so pretty!!! I've decided that falling snow is like fire, really mesmerising! I could have sat here in my room just staring out my window all day!! 

To see a video of my walk from one of the dining halls to my room, click here. My parents wanted to see the walk :) It's pretty quick and really pretty with all the snow here. I did accidentally sorta catch someone slipping on the ice in my video though! So just ignore that bit :P 

Have a great week!

Adventures with new friends

Howdy!

I have had a super busy week with homework and classes as well as with 3 different Bible studies!! On Wednesday I went to a girls Bible study at a friends house, which was really nice! There were about 20 of us squished into Jen's little hues but it was heaps of fun. Then on Thursday I went to the Bible study for college students called CrossLife at Grace Bible Church. It was huge! Probably about 200 people I guess. It was more like a church service with worship and a sermon. And then on Friday I went to an International Student Bible study at a girls house I have some classes with! Because it was the first one of the semester we just hung out, had dinner and watched a movie. But I think it will be more Bible study stuff in the future.

On Monday I went out for coffee with Lyndsay's Bozeman family (Lyndsay came to Bozeman for an exchange 2 years ago... I'm basically following in her footsteps :P ). Chad and Diane are really really really lovely people!! They are an older couple with grown sons but they are so cool! They invited me for lunch at their house on Sunday after church and I met some of Chad's cousins (who are slightly older than me... I think) Jenna and her husband Nick, and Jay (I dunno how to spell their names :P ) It was such a lovely afternoon! We had lunch and then just talked for ages. They are really lovely people :)

This week I have had frozen yoghurt twice with different friends (amazingly cheap frozen yoghurt!) and I had an almost night of bowling!! I was planning on going bowling with some new friends but we got there and the line was massive. So after waiting for ages we realised we wouldn't get a lane so we headed home! :P It was fun hanging out though!!!

I also enrolled in another subject yesterday! I found out I only had 11 credits when I needed at least 12 to be here on my visa so I have enrolled in Methods: K-8 Language Arts. I have my first class this afternoon but I think it will be a good one! I have lots of reading to catch up on though...

And I think that's sorta it for now!! I have been having fun meeting lots of people and going to lots of Bible studies :) It has been a good week!
Oh and it's snowing again!!!! yay!! That is the best part of today I think :) I woke up, headed to the dining hall for breakfast and it started snowing and it hasn't stopped yet!!! A full day of snow makes everything so beautiful :) I love it!!

Sorry about the long post :P I'll try and post things more often so they don't have to be so long!

America vs Australia

Hey lovely people!

So I have officially been in America for 18 days!! 18 days!!! Can ya believe it?! So I thought I would tell you some things I've noticed that are different from Australia!! So here goes...

1. Instead of being normal and turning their taps clockwise, they go anticlockwise!! So weird and very hard to get used to :P
2. They have ketchup on everything... like literally everything! And if not ketchup, then maple syrup
3. Coffee shops are almost as frequent as people... I reckon every second shop is another coffee shop! There are coffee shops in the MSU library, in the dining halls, in most other buildings around the uni, downtown, in the mall, at Walmart, everywhere!! And everyone seems to carry a coffee cup everywhere they go
4. They heat their houses really warm when it's cold outside so I have to constantly be putting layers on and off as I go from building to building. I could easily walk around in my hall in shorts and a T-shirt!
5. Everything is sweet... absolutely everything! Bread, cereal... So much sugar!
6. They call uni 'school', which is a bit weird. And it's run more like school too. You gets marks taken off your final grade if you miss more than 2 classes in the semester without a good reason. And we have homework all the time like in school. No big assignments twice a semester... just lots of little ones all the time. They still count towards your final grade though, which is out of 1000 cos of all the little work we do!!!
7. If you say thank you to someone, they just say 'uh huh' I think that is the weirdest thing! No 'your welcome' or 'no worries'! I feel very weird saying that now! 

Also they have some different words which weren't too hard to figure out cos we hear them all the time on TV and in movies but they are still different. Like elementary instead of primary, school instead of uni. And they didn't know what a SIM card was! When I said I needed a new SIM card they just looked at me like... what?!?! They just call it an American number :P

So there you have it! My list of differences so far! I'm sure it will get bigger as I talk to people. I had someone tell me last night that I say the coolest phrases and I really had no idea what they meant! Obviously there's lots of little things I say that make people laugh :)

Montana State University

First week of classes has officially happened!! We started on Wednesday and I really like all my classes. I think they are gonna be great! I am doing Integrating Technology into Education, which comes with a 2 hours prac every week for 6 weeks at an After School Program. Literature and Literacy for Children, which also comes with a similar prac at the After School Program and lots of books!! I had to buy 11 children's books for this course :) Methods: K-8 Creative Arts, which is basically music in the classroom. And Managing the Learning Environment, which is sorta behaviour management stuff. All my courses look super duper good and I can't wait to learn stuff!!

Everything is very different though. I have 1 or 2 classes for each course per week and I have homework for all of them every week. Sometimes just reading or a short essay or activity to do. So that's pretty different from USQ! I've met some lovely people in my classes too, although I've gotten to the stage where I recognise people but have no idea who they are or how I know them!!! I'm still working on names :P

All the buildings at MSU are really nice. They are big brick ones but some of them look really pretty. I'll have to take some photos for ya all...

I made a new friend the other day whose dad is a missionary in China and she's spent most of her life in China but has come back to the US for uni. She invited me to a Bible study group last week which we didn't end up going to but we did go shopping at Walmart yesterday which was pretty awesome!!

And then this morning I went to church!!! Yay!!! I went to Grace Bible Church, which is a non-denominational church that is really big and really lovely. We sang some hymns which I knew and some other songs I didn't know that were awesome. The whole service was really good and afterwards I talked to all sorts of people and met a girl who was in one of my classes! So I hung out with her and her husband for a while and we had lunch at church for a missionary who was leaving. Then they were super kind and drove me home (I had walked to church... only took me 30 minutes but I was glad for a short, warm trip home!!) And they invited me to the Bible study I was thinking of going to last week and a girls one at their house! So I may end up at a different Bible study every night!! :P

So this week of firsts has been great!! And it's warmed up heaps to 2 degrees today so all the snow is melting and getting all icy :( It does't look so pretty now. And certainly isn't so nice to walk on now!!

Well that's all for now! Hopefully I'll have more stories and friends after all my Bible studies next week! Have fun in the heat down under! :) xoxo

Thoughts on Snow

I have officially decided that snow is the best thing in the world. If I could live in the snow all the time I think I would... as long as it is actually snowing! Snow makes everything so beautiful. It makes boring old leafless trees look colourful and it gives the ground such nice curvy shapes, instead of harsh sharp ones. Oh man I just LOVE snow!

And snow is so gentle too! It floats down from the sky and unlike rain which is hard and fast, it just calmly floats by and sits softly on your face :) Not really wetting you, just tickling your cheeks. Snow is one of the best things God ever created. Thank you God for snow!! :)

I am majorly loving my new shoes I got for Christmas/birthday!! They are the best thing EVER! So comfy and warm and regardless of how many puddles I step in (accidentally of course :P ) I still have dry feet!! And yes... sadly I have tested that... quite a few times really! :P

SNOW!!!

Hi there!

I realised that I haven't put up many photos of how pretty Bozeman is in the snow... so here they are!!

This is the view from my room :)

And here is my room! I moved in yesterday and am loving it! I feel like I'm living in a motel. It is all so nice and modern. And the bathroom is right across the hall so everything is nice and close.

I went for a trip to Walmart... anyone want a gun?!?!

Layers, layers, layers!! The only way to walk to the bank is with long johns, pants, 2 pairs of socks, boots, singlet, long sleeve shirt, jumper, big jacket, scarf, 2 pairs of gloves and an awesome beanie :)

Anyone want to ride a bike? Might be a bit frozen!!

So there you have it! It's hard to take photos when I'm walking around cos it's so cold!! But I will try and take more to show you all because it is all so beautiful!!!! Uni starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to meeting some people in my classes. Can't wait to tell you all about it :)

Friends and other awesomeness

Today I am officially thankful! I have had a few really busy days that have been fantastic!!

On Thursday I met a girl named Esther from Malaysia and we hung out all day. She knew someone who had been at MSU for a while who showed us around the uni (which is massive!) and then took us on the bus to Walmart (which is even more massive!!!) I was so excited to have someone to hang out with and talk to :)

I also got a room mate! Her name is Maria and she's from Norway and we got along so well! We had a lot in common, like the fact that we are both bookworms :P

Then on Friday, we had a huge international student orientation day which included breakfast, lunch and dinner! We started with an ice breaker game and I met some really lovely people. Then we had different people come and talk to us about uni and stuff. We had lunch and then a fair with stalls from different groups we could join, then a tour of the library (which is also amazing!!), and a pizza party for dinner! All up I met people from New Zealand, Norway, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, China, Korea, Netherlands and even an Australian named Amelia!!!!!

On Saturday Maria (my room mate) invited to get breakfast with her and her Norwegian friends and then I ended up spending the whole day with them! We bought SIM cards, looked around the mall, ate lunch downtown and went grocery shopping and had the best Chai Latte. It was a great day :)

I am so thankful for all the people I have met over the last few days and the friends I have made. It is so nicety know people here and have someone to talk to. Thank you God for friends!!! And I am also thankful for the SNOW!!! It has snowed the last 2 days and I am loving it!! My Norwegian friends think I'm crazy cos it's actually so cold but it's worth it when it's snowing :)

Bozeman

Why hello there! Guess what?! I'm in America!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!

My flight was good and long. I left Sydney at 12:20pm on the 31st December and arrived in Los Angeles 13 hours later at 7:00am on the 31st of December! I then hung around for 4 hours in the airport, went through customs, grabbed my suitcase, dropped it off again, found my next gate, wandered about a bit and bought some Macdonalds before jumping on another plane to Salt Lakes City. When we got off the plane I walked a long way around the airport to get to my next gate and basically jumped straight on the plane again!! And then 75 minutes later I landed in Bozeman!!! Flying in I could see some beautiful mountains covered in snow and fields and houses and snow. It was all so pretty! Someone came to pick me up from the airport and take me to the uni and then I basically got sorted and fell asleep at 6:30pm!! (also on the 31st December)

Here in Bozeman we are completely surrounded by mountains and they all have snow of them and are just gorgeous!! And it's not just the mountains that have snow... the streets and houses are also covered in snow! It looks amazing but I found out today that it makes it rather difficult and slippery to walk on :P

Here are some pictures of my exploring today. The mountains look just amazing!

Slippery and icy paths!!!

...but covered in snow they were much nicer to walk on :)

Leaving

Well here I am. 1 day away from leaving Australia and my family for a long long time! I am sorta excited and sorta nervous and sorta scared and really looking forward to all the adventures God has in store for me in America!

The last few weeks have been crazy with catching up with friends then saying goodbye to friends, spending time with both sides of the family and then saying goodbye to them all, having Christmas and my birthday, making the most of the hot weather and the beach, and trying to trust God and not freak out too much!!!!

So goodbye for now my loverly friends and the next time we talk I will be on the other side of the world! Prayers for safe travels and lovely friends for be much appreciated :)

Can't wait for the adventures to come!!

xo

Packing

Well the great pack has finished! After much debate with my Mum about what to take and what not to take, we are finally all done! The first time I packed I was over the weight limit... let's hope it's all good this time round! :)

Here is a picture of all my stuff everywhere as we figured it all out...

And here's the finished product!!

For Christmas my Aunty Steph gave me the coolest tag to put on my bag too :)

Bahaha how groovy hey?!