Surfing!!

I'm not sure if this is real life.  Another amazing week has passed, and I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming!!! So here we go with the weekly update:

-Weet-bix. This isn't so much of a highlight, but more of a new favorite food I've found.  Weet-bix are these cereal bars that kind of look like dog food, but when you put milk on them, they absorb the milk completely and take on a mushy/oatmeal consistency.  Add a little honey and peanut butter (you don't know how much crap we Americans get for loving peanut butter) and it's a delicious and nutritious start to my day!

-Mom & Dad are coming!! My parents booked their flights to come see me at the end of my session.  I'm so excited for them to come see where I'm living and introduce them to Australian culture!  You guys will LOVE it!!

-Soccer.  Lunchtime sports started this week, and I put together a soccer team for it.  Lunchtime sports are kind of like intramurals...but not as cool.  Our game was only 25 minutes, and we play 5 on a side (but had 2 subs too) so it went super fast.  It'll be fun to play each week though!  We have a pretty diverse team with people from the U.S., France, and Italy.  Our team name is the "Gophers." :)  This team doesn't compare at all to our U of MN intramural team.  I miss playing with you all so much!!!! 

-Sunrise.  My friend Allie and I woke up at 6:30 AM to go for a sunrise run.  We ran to the lighthouse just in time to see the sun rising above the ocean.  It was so beautiful!!  I'll post some photos of it soon!  We're going to make it a weekly routine.

-Surf camp!!  This was by far the best part of my week.  Several of us from our orientation group in Cairns signed up for a weekend surf camp and the date finally came!  We left from Sydney Friday afternoon and had a looong 6 hour bus ride to Crescent Head where the camp was.  We got there late Friday night, but the next day we realized the long drive was well worth it!  On Saturday we woke up early at 8, ate brekkie (Australian for breakfast), walked down to our own private surf beach (so beautiful!!!), got our surfboards, had a little lesson, then hit the waves!  I was standing up in no time!  The most amazing part--we saw about 12 dolphins 50 meters away while we were surfing!!!  I was a little freaked out at first because I thought they were sharks.  Seeing them so close in the water was surreal.  After our morning session, we ate lunch (the food was amazing), then went back for more.  The waves were a little bigger in the afternoon and we were getting pounded by them.  I now understand why surfers have such hot bods...surfing is exhausting!  This morning we woke up early again, hit the surf for a while, then got back on the bus to Sydney.  I definitely hope that I can keep trying to surf while I'm here!

This week and next week I've decided that I need to work really hard on my school work.  With my Tasmania and New Zealand trips coming up, I want to make sure I stay on top of things so I don't have as much to worry about when I'm there.  I'm sure I'll be able to fit exciting adventures in there somewhere though, so have no fear--more updates will come soon, and I'll post pictures within the next couple days!!

Much love to all! Miss you so much!

xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxox