G'day! How you goin?

Hello from Australia!!!! After a brutal 1+15+3 hours flying we finally made it to Cairns, Australia for orientation. The flights were fine, we had games to play, people to meet and a plethora of movies to watch. When we finally arrived we spent some time with basic get to know you games and information about studying abroad.

This country is absolutely breathtaking, the mountains are green the water is blue the people have hilarious accents and overall are really really nice. General politeness gets you a long way out here, as does intense sarcasm and the ability to take a joke (if they make fun of you, it means they like you.. think 1st grade on the playground).

We spent today snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. Its amazing when you can cross off one of the things on your "Lifetime To Do List." The Reef was beautiful. We took a boat out to a small island that looks right out of a cartoon and is also a bird sanctuary (there's a roped off area for people and the birds kept their distance, I didn't panic). Anyway, its the middle of winter but the water was still warm enough to easily snorkel with a shorty wetsuit. I'll admit, pixar over exaggerated the colors a little, but for the most part, they were right on with the Reef images in Finding Nemo. We saw a TON of fish, a sea star, a clamshell bigger than my head, brightly colored coral.... I highly recommend it.

TOMORROW however, might be even more exciting. We're headed to the rain forest to feed some kangaroos, hold koalas, check out an aboriginal dance or two. I'll send more details after we go there!!

Anyway, I just wanted to send out a quick hello, let you know that I'm here, safe and happy. I hope you're all having a great summer!!

xo, Rach