This blog will be based on my amazing orientation weekend trip. This 3-day excursion allowed me to meet many new people and forge new friendships from all over the world. Together we shared wonderful moments that are sure to be forever treasured memories. The trip started with boarding a bus that left from La Trobe Campus and brought everyone to the Great Ocean Road along with Apollo Bay, where we all had the opportunity to eat local food and try our hand at surfing! But first off we all stopped at an Australian football field and got to experience the chance to throw a homemade boomerang. This was something that really surprised me. I always knew what a boomerang was and how it was used but never had the ability to try it. The high level of excitement was contagious throughout everyone. Trying new things was the theme of the weekend. Surfing was something I will never forget. Being from Northeastern Pennsylvania, I had never surfed and was a bit nervous that I would embarrass myself in front of my new friends. As soon as I suited up in my wetsuit and was strapped to my board, I knew there was no turning back and I am so grateful for it. It was such a rush to surf for the first time. Australian beaches are unlike anything I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear and was very welcoming. Although the water was most definitely not the warmest, as Australian summer months are coming to an end it was refreshing. After perusing around the local shops and bars, my new new friends and I headed to the beach to catch some rays. Three hours later I was a lobster (wish my mom was here to force me to put sunscreen on!!). I was unaware of how different the UV rays are here in Australia, unlike the sunshine in the states and suffered with some sunburn for a couple days after this trip :( There were a total of 42 students on this trip and I met each and every one of them. Staying in touch with new people you meet is a huge benefit but it also can be difficult. Adding them on social media platforms or asking for their phone numbers, if you have an Australian number, helps better stay in contact. If you are like me, you love meeting new friends but may have a hard time remembering each of their names so make sure you get ahold of something which has their name on it (like their Snapchat or Facebook). It seems that Australian adolescents and young adults use Facebook way more than we do in the US. I am not sure the reasoning behind that but I was forced to jump back on the bandwagon to stay in touch with my new friends. La Trobe has an extremely bigger campus compared to Susquehanna and there are way more students and places to get lost here. Once arriving on campus I downloaded the Lost On Campus app which allowed me to see where I am, where places are located and the easiest routes to get there. I highly recommend that anyone download this app, it is not just for La Trobe University but for most large universities around the world and it is very helpful. There are still so many items on my list of “things to do” before I finally start my classes on March 2nd. This last week before classes will be filled with checking off those boxes on the list, finding my classrooms and attending all orientation meetings and events. School starts next week and I am very eager to find out how they will be set up and I am interested to see the differences between American education and how Australian universities are run. I can not wait to get started and meet all my professors for this upcoming semester abroad. I am starting to feel like I belong here and no longer like a lost tourist. Everything takes time and you must not get down on yourself or stress over the little things. Remember to breathe! When we chat next I will be fully enrolled in my subjects and will communicate to you about how my first week of abroad classes went. Thanks for keeping up with me everyone :) Talk Soon xoxo - Tori
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May 2020
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