Finally at school, finally have internet

Disclaimer: I forgot my camera cord at home....and I'm kicking myself for it right now. I don't have a way currently of getting my pictures onto my computer. I'm going to be asking my parents to mail it to me, so hopefully it will get here within a reasonable time. I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, but there will be alot of them when I get my cord!

Hi Everyone! I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get on here and update this thing. We just arrived here at Bond University last night, and received our ID cards, which allow us to get onto the Internet, this morning, followed by multiple meetings. When I first signed on I was totally overwhelmed; I didn't know where to go first (naturally I chose facebook). Anyway, I'm sure what you would really like to be hearing about is what the heck has been going on these past 6 days. I'll give you the rundown...
Our flight left LAX for Sydney last Thursday night, I was already emotional getting on the plane. Having to say goodbye one more time on the phone was NOT easy. Thankfully, I had remembered to pack some NyQuil pills in my backpack, which allowed me to fade in and out of sleep during those 14 LONG hours. We finally arrived at Sydney airport in the morning, and struggled to figure out what we were supposed to do next, and where we were supposed to go. Luckily there was a large group of us, and I was able to pair off with a few girls, and we eventually got it figured out. From Sydney we flew to Cairns, where we would spend the first 3 days of orientation with about 200 other Australearn students that were going to be studying at Bond (I was pretty surprised about how many people there were). The first thing that I learned about Cairns is that it's humid.....really humid. Australearn picked us up from the airport and took us to "Gilligans" a backpacker/hotel where we would be staying. I was staying in a room with 4 other girls, 2 of which happen to be soph's at APU!!! I had never met them before that first day, and did not know who they were, but by pure chance they ended up in my room. Their names are Corinne and Lindsay, and I am so thankful for them. They have been such a blessing to me already; God provides.
That first night I think I feel asleep at 9pm, so exhausted and jet-lagged.
The next day Australearn has scheduled for our group to go visit Rain Forrest Station - an animal park in, guess where, the rainforrest! It was incredible, we saw wallabies, dingo's a MASSIVE crocodile, all kinds of lizards and snakes (which I avoided), and got to feed and pet kangaroo's and take a picture holding a koala! I'm going to do everything I can to bring one back, I love them! We also rode on an army duck, which is a WWII vehicle that drives on land and water, that took us through and rainforrest, showing us all kinda of crazy plants and animals. We also got to see an aboriginal dance show, throw a boomerang (mine almost made it back to me), and watch them throw spears across a football sized field. It was an amazing day!
Day 3 began very rainy, but still very humid. This was bad news because this was the day that my group was set to go snorkel and dive the great barrier reef. The good news is that we still made it there, the bad news is that the 2 hour boat ride out to the reef made just about everyone queasy. Picture a boat full of about 100 seasick college students. No good. It was rainy and stormy and the waves were HUGE. I took 2 seasick pills to make sure I didn't hurl; and it was well worth my money. We arrived at our first location on the reef and jumped in with our snorkel gear as the storm continued to rage on. The reef was BEAUTIFUL, but the only problem was that it was difficult to enjoy it while i was swimming for my life. I felt like I was in the movie, "The prefect storm". The waves were intense and it was pouring down rain, which made it hard to really experience the reef. Thankfully, after lunch we moved locations, where the storm had subsided and the water was very clear. This snorkeling experience was much better, I got to see some awesome fish, a stingray (RIP Steve Irwin), and tons of gorgeous, colorful coral. I was in total awe that this was all natural; creation is truly amazing. The only bummer was that the water was literally infested with jelly fish. We were wearing wet suits, but they were stinging us on every exposed area of skin, you know, like our face and hands. Now I know this sounds really intense, but they were harmless, mostly very small, and the stings only felt like a prick, and then the stinging went away after a few minutes. They were creepy, and constantly stinging us all, but it ended up not being so bad, seeing as we were at the great barrier reef! After that long day we headed back to Gilligans and once again crashed before 10pm.
The next morning, Jan 8th, we woke up, packed up, and headed to Cairns airport to catch our flight to Brisbine. Since it was still storming there were some delays at the little Cairns airport, but we eventually made it to Brisbine, where Bond rep's picked us up with a huge bus, and we drove about an hour to Bond! Let me just say.....this campus is gorgeous (seriously, look it up on google). The buildings are huge and amazing, and there is a river that runs through campus! Our rooms are pretty cool, not very big, but they have everything we need, including a private bathroom, and a balcolny that looks out to the pool! :) However, the part about Bond that I am most excited about so far is this: I am rooming with a girl named Ali from APU, and we had planned to live together, but check this out...Corinne and Lindsay (the other 2 APU girls) are our next door neighbors!! I honestly could not have asked for more, I'm so happy about it. I have been spending alot of time with them, and they are great. We have also connected with a few really cool guys from Bethel university, also a christian school, and we are very excited about having found them. At our first meeting this morning (or i guess yesterday morning now) the campus Chaplin spoke breifly, and afterwards we went up to meet him. He told us about the on campus christian club, the "sober activities" they have organized (really awesome stuff, like a weekend trip to a waterfall), his ministry on campus, and his Church that he is the pastor of close to Bond, that provides transportation to church every Sunday. WOW. We walked away from talking with him soooo pumped up and thankful. One of my biggest fears in coming here was that I would lose that Christian community and be somewhat stranded. But oh man, God is so good. I am so excited to get involved and to have that base that I so love. I am so thankful for the support and community that the APU girls have already provided, and I can't wait to further this growth. God provides no matter where you are.

I am missing you all from home so much already, and I love you all very much. I'm going to try to get on here more often so the updates aren't so massive (sorry about that!). Miss you guys, I'm looking forward to hearing from you :)
Lots of love from halfway around the world, Katie