First week of classes

Hello followers,

I would first like to say sorry for not blogging earlier.  I have been pretty busy with getting ready with school and surfing.  What have I done since the last blog?  Well, I have gone surfing, which is awesome and hard, tried the local pubs and food, and started classes.

Newcastle:
The city of Newcastle is located in the NSW, the heart of coal country.  Newcastle is the largest port for coal ships.  Everything is EXPENSIVE!  Food, drinks, tickets, everything is expensive.  I spent $18 dollars for breakfast one day, for french toast and coffee.  I guess minimum wage is around $16/hr.  There are many other factors that lead to high prices, but you can't count out the high minimum wage.  One more thing, houses are ridiculously expensive.  A small one like my sisters in Marshfield would cost 300k, minimum!

Surfing:
I went last Saturday at 10 in the morning.  I went with three other guys, Jared, Elouen, and Ulrich, the same order as the picture.  Elouen is from Switzerland, Jared is from Platteville, and Ulrich is from Austria.  We paid $35 for 2.5 hrs of surfing and I can tell you it was worth it.

I was able to stand up, the very first time, funny thing is though I flew right into Jared.  Surfing is fun and a great workout.  I will be purchasing a wet suit and surf board in the coming weeks and plan on going as much as I can.  I'm only 15 mins away from most of the beaches in Newcastle.  Speaking of beaches,

This picture here is Bar Beach.  There are 4 beaches in Newcastle and I'm 15 mins from three of them. Nobby's Beach, Newcastle Beach, and Bar Beach.  The fourth one I always get wrong so I'm not going to spell it.

School:

Classes this week are pretty much like any other University in America.  We get introduced and leave early, for the most part.  My classes are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Each class has a lecture and tutorial.  Tutorials are canceled the first week of classes but lectures are still on.  I hope to get pictures of the campus for everybody to see.  The campus is BIG!  There are roughly 35k students.  For me, I have to take a 10 min train ride then I have a 10-15 min walk to my classes.  I am very excited for my Business Venturing Class and International Finance Class.  I am not excited for Intro to Aboriginal Studies, that's just stuff I can learn on the damn internet, but it was required.  I have meet some pretty awesome people since I've been here.  I have meet a lot of Germans, a few English, and not to many Australians yet.

I need your help,
Comment on how I'm doing and what changes I should make to improve my blog, if needed :)

2nd Day in Newcastle

I finally have my phone working.  I had to buy a new sim card and I buy minutes to add to my phone every 28 days.  My Australian phone number is 0401 591 020.  I have 250 minutes to call back to the U.S with unlimited calling to anybody OZ, or Australia.  Right now, everybody is signing up for classes.  Lucky for me, I'm done :).  With the time I figured I would post for my followers. 

To get to campus, I have to take a train, which is around 25 mins to campus.  The campus itself is awesome.  It's right in the middle of the bush, or country.   It is nothing like walking on an American campus, where you can see buildings left and right.  The UNI, or University of Newcastle, is spread out.  After arriving on campus by train, I have to walk through the bush to find buildings.  There is not a building insite for a good 5 minute walk.  Its really something.  With my phone working, I hope to take pictures of campus.  Tonight we have a group diner with our coordinater and later we should be going to a pub. 

Thanks for following,

Cheers mate.

First Day in Australia

Well after close to 20 hours of flying, I am finally settled in to Australia.  At first look, Newcastle looks beautiful with amazing beaches.  The 14 hour flight from SF to Sydney was just like any other flight.  I do recommend that you fly economy plus, the extra leg room is really nice.  I was surprised that we were offered three meals.  They were not exciting, but they did the job.  I was able to sleep about half way then had to watch movies to pass the rest of the time.  I seen The Croods, The Great OZ, and Beautiful Creatures.  Once we arrived in Sydney, our driver from Happy Cabby picked us up.  After a short 2 hour drive to Newcastle, I finally was able to see the city and my living arrangements.  I have to two roommates, the apartment is small but has a kitchen, living room, a small bathroom, and to rooms.  Which means I have a a roommate.  I still need to unpack and get some supplies.  See you next time

Class Schedule

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:00AM
9:00AM				ABOR 1110 - TU3 Tutorial 9:00AM - 11:00AM Birabahn Building SAS207
10:00AM			ACFI 3140 - TU6 Tutorial 10:00AM - 11:00AM General Purpose Building GP218
11:00AM
12:00PM
1:00PM		ABOR 1110 - LE1 Lecture 1:00PM - 2:00PM Mathematics Building V107	ACFI 3140 - LE1 Lecture 1:00PM - 3:00PM Social Sciences Building SRLT2
2:00PM
3:00PM		MNGT 2002 - LE1 Lecture 3:00PM - 5:00PM General Purpose Building GP201
4:00PM				MNGT 2002 - TU3 Tutorial 4:00PM - 5:00PM Mathematics Building V111
5:00PM

Last Night in America

Hello everyone,

I would like to thank everybody for coming out to my moms for the going away party.  It really means a lot to see everybody their, from family to friends.  I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.  Special thanks to Nikki for taking the photos, the Kleifgens for the poor mans golf and washers, and especially to my mom, dad, Larry, and Lori for putting this on.

Every thing is packed and I'm ready to go.  I finally have my classes and in a following post, I will put up my schedule for everyone to see.  Sunday nights will be the best time to Skype.  If you are interested, follow along with me through my itinerary:

Depart - Mon, Jul 15 - 3:18pm Wausau-Mosinee/Cent. WI (CWA) Arrive - Mon, Jul 15 - 4:24pm Chicago (ORD) United Airlines 6167 Class: W Opt by: /expressjet airlines dba united express Seats:11A Miles: 230 Aircraft: ER4 Airline Ref: O9LVNH Elapsed: 1.06 hours ... connection time: 2 hours ... Depart - Mon, Jul 15 - 6:24pm Chicago (ORD) Arrive - Mon, Jul 15 - 9:05pm San Francisco (SFO) United Airlines 681 Class: W Seats:24C Miles: 1847 Aircraft: 320 Airline Ref: O9LVNH Elapsed: 4.41 hours ... connection time: 1 hour 40 minutes ... Depart - Mon, Jul 15 - 10:45pm San Francisco (SFO) Arrive - Wed, Jul 17 - 6:25am Sydney (SYD) United Airlines 863 Class: W Seats:39A Miles: 7426 Aircraft: 744 Airline Ref: O9LVNH Elapsed: 14.40 hours

Hello everyone,

This is my first blog and as of right now on July 10, 2013,  I still have unpacking and packing to do.  I haven't really thought about Australia, since having four summer classes took up most of my time in Platteville.  I hope to blog at least once a week.