Classes begin...

So this week we started classes. It's a shame I couldn't go on just having fun all the time, and that I actually have to go to class. But it's alright. I'm taking Intro to Aboriginal Studies, where we will learn about the indigenous people of Australia who were settled before the white people came. I'm also taking Business Communication (easy), and Business Finance (very hard). I only have class Wednesday and Thursday, so I'm got extra long weekends to go travelling! Speaking of, we're planning on heading down to Sydney next weekend for Mardi Gras!

Anyways, besides class, I've been hanging out, reading Harry Potter, and going to the beach. The beaches here are great; they're only about 15 minutes away from campus and have great waves, sand, and water. Every once in a while, they post warnings about marine stingers (jellyfish). There's only one kind around Newcastle, and they're Blue Bottles. They're pretty small (about 2 or 3 inches), and they float in depending on the wind conditions. A few friends of mine got stung the other day, but they're not that bad. They told me it feels like a horse fly bite, then it stings for about an hour or so after that.

Wednesday was our roommate Carl's 21st birthday so we made him a cake and went out. Wednesday nights are the big night to go out here in Newcastle as well. Carl ended up getting kicked out of the bar later on that night - whoops! After a night out, the train ride back to Evatt is always interesting. The trains here leave from downtown at either 12:24 AM, 2:24 AM or 4:24 AM, so if you miss the train, you've gotta stay out for another 2 hours or call a cab!

I've posted some new pictures. Make sure you read the captions below the pictures, or better yet, just click "Slideshow" and watch! I apologize to everyone for mostly posting pictures involving alcohol; that's not ALL I've been doing here, but it seems to be the only thing I'm taking photos of.

Here's my address in case any of you want to send me a care package or anything. :)

Chase Cheviron
University of Newcastle, Evatt House
Room J172
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia

Finally, there was some confusion about this earlier, so let me clarify. If any of you feel like speaking with me on the phone, simply call (217) 408-4118. There is no cost to you; it's just like calling any other number in the States. I pay for this number through a service called Skype. When you call, it rings to my computer and if I'm not there, you can leave me a message.

Until next time...cheers!

Pictures and Videos!

To check out all of my photos from Fiji, Sydney, and Newcastle, check my Fotki site by clicking the link above. For Marty, Alex and all those loyal to Flickr, it appears that Flickr isn't compatible with the land down under (at least the Uploadr program isn't.) Oh well.

It's videos you want? Well then, be sure to check the following:

From Fiji...
Sand crab that blends in with the sand...
Video blog from Fiji

From Newcastle...
Mardo describing the rules of our trip to Shorty pub (for reference, "skull" means "chug")
Walking to Shorty pub
Karaoke at Shorty pub
Mardo singing "Backseat of the bus"
Lockdown Restaurant show

Today all the returning Australian students are moving back in so I've finally got roommates! Lauren is from Arizona, and my other roommates Carl, Lauren and Sabrina are from Australia. There's a big party on the quad tonight for everyone, so we're all stocked up with VB (beer) and goon (cheap wine).

Tomorrow (Monday) marks the start of classes and the end of the wonderful week of debauchery that they call O-Week. I've got lectures on Thursday (large lectures) and tutorials on Tuesday and Wednesday (smaller classes). This week we only have lectures, so I'll be hangin out until then. My roommate Carl turns 21 on Wednesday so we'll probably have a shindig for that. Other than that, I think I'm gonna join the gym on campus tomorrow. It's not free like in the States - it costs about AU$200 for 6 months, but at least that will motivate me to go!

The party starts in about an hour, so I'm off to get ready. More to come...

Newcastle

**UPDATED LINK - it should work now.**

Check out my latest video blog entry here. It may take a while to download, so be patient. As for pictures, I will be posting them soon -- I'm having problems with the program I use.

Bula!

(This is my first in a series of postings I'll be making over the next few days as I have time, so check back soon for more stuff!)

Where do I start? It's been an action packed last few weeks. So I'll start with my departure. The plane trips were long and uneventful, and we had an 8 hour layover while in LA. Once we finally arrived in Fiji, it was about 5AM local time. I travelled with a friend from school named Jillian so we headed off to the bus stop. We met two Fijians there named Smith and Ily who talked with us for an hour while we waited for the bus. We asked where they were headed and they said into town, but they wanted to make sure we got on the right bus first. This was just the first example of how nice the Fijian people are! So we left and cracked open a beer on the way to the marina (we had to buy some at the duty free shop of course!)

Along our way, we met up with three other travellers - Meghan from Iowa State who was on her way to Melbourne, Robert from Czech and Chris from Austria who were travelling the world for a few months. We travelled to a different island in Fiji each day we were there, and let me tell you, Fiji is a beautiful place. We went scuba diving and saw an awesome shipwreck with some very cool tropical fish and coral. We also went to see a Fijian village, learned how to husk and eat/drink coconuts, went snorkeling, watched amazing sunsets, and drank a lot of kava. Kava is a Fijian cultural drink that's made with water and ground up plant roots. It doesn't taste the best (sort of an earthy taste) and it numbed your tongue and lips slightly, but it was a cool ceremony to participate in. By the way, "bula" is Fijian for "life," and it's used as a greeting. "Vinaka" means "thank you." We spent our days on the beach reading, hanging out in the water, basically just relaxing. It was really great overall. More pictures coming soon....

P.S. Sorry for the lack of communication. I still haven't gotten to talk to a lot of you, but O-Week (orientation week) is packed with activities, and I'm still getting settled in here. Give me a few more days and I promise I'll talk to you all!!

I'm finally leaving!

After seemingly forever, I'm finally heading out to Australia. I sent an email out to everyone on my list with contact information for when I'm Down Unda, so be sure to check that out. If you didn't get it, let me know and I'll add you.

Here's my first video blog post. Once I get settled in Australia, I'm going to try and make a better system of viewing these files, but for now, just click on the link and download it.

It's past midnight and I'm leaving in a few hours so I'm gonna get some sleep. Peace out.