TOP TEN

1. New Zealand- Because it was like Jurassic park. Also I like the natives there they make new Zealand what it is.
2. Maori people- I love there culture and everything about them. At first I didn't think I would like them that much but as is got to know there culture I fell in love with them more and more. <3
3. The Great Barrier Reef aka my birthday- Was very emotionally touching. I am a very enviormentaly concise person and to see before my eyes corral bleaching as a result of climate change just made me more passionate about becoming more enviormentaly aware.
4. Sydney Bridge- That was amazing just because of the thrill effect of it. Being that high up made me feel like I was on top of the world.
5. The Town Of Cairns- At first I had low expectations of this town but when I got there I found that cairns is one of the best places that we went. Yes it is touristy but it is also very natural and beautiful.
6. Aboriginal boomerang/spear throwing- This was one of my favorite things to do because first of all personally I was good at the spear throwing and second of all I actually got to throw a boomerang! Not allot of people could say they did that and plus that was one of the only native cultural things we did in Australia.
7. Ate Thai Food On My Birth Day- I'm not saying to anybody that whenever its your birthday to go eat Thai food , its nothing like that. this was just one of the best and most memorable birthdays Ive ever had. In cairns I went to a Thai restaurant on my birthday and it was the best Thai food I have ever had in my life!
8. Luging- In New Zealand we did this thing called luging and it where you go in a little go cart thingy down a mountain. It was so fun and I would do it again in a hear beat.
9. SHOPPING!!!- If your gonna do something in Australia shopping is one thing you should definitely do. In Sydney they have so many markets you can spend hundreds of dollars there alone.
10. Gelatos- These are things that you have to have while your in Australia because while we were in cans there were gelato stands everywhere. I have to say that they were one of the best things I have ever tasted ice creem wise. You need to eat one!!!

GREAT BARTIER RIEF

The great barrier reef was so amazing and there was so many things to say about it I feel as if I don't know where to start. In that moment it was like nothing else mattered and all that mattered was you the ocean and the waves. When I try to look back on it I feel this euphoric feeling that I was actually at the great barrier reef! While I was there it was perfect, there were no worries the weather was amazing and the coral was beautiful. What made me sad was that there were parts of the coral that I could tell was bleached or dead. But other than that it was amazing to see all the fish swimming around me because I felt like I was in another world under the sea. The water was okay temperature and they served us food on the boat which was cool. On the way back was when I started to realize the day and how meaning full it was to me. Seeing the sun set and the great barrier reef was the moment when I really realized how influential this whole trip is to me. I don't know why but when I look back at the great barrier reef  it feels like it was a dream.

traveling alone

Through all the thing that i am scared of in life, traveling has never been something that really scares me. Traveling just happens to be one of my life long dream and it is one of most favorite things in the world to do. The whole idea of seeing new places and living with different cultures is the best feeling in the world to me. For while traveling this positive open minded attitude is essential to actually experiencing the culture that surrounds you. The immersing yourself in other cultures part I'm totally fine with but its the organization part I might need a little work on. Within this particular traveling experience its hard to say that I would be good or bad because all the planing and organization was done by the teachers not us but in that area I am guessing that I would be decent. But other than that I know that I would have the guts to do it alone because I'm not scared to do something extreme like traveling. I admit it would be scary but if I got a job first of all and had enough money  to actually had enough money to travel to new places I would. That is also one thing I have learned on this trip is that money is everything when it comes to traveling. It comes only second to your passport, without money it is hard to even take the first step as a traveler.

MY TRIP SO FAR

Since the beginning of this trip I have fallen head over heals in love with New Zealand and Australia but especially New Zealand. It has become one of thous places I will never forget and as long as I live it will always have a special place in my heart the friendly openness of them all made America look like the grouch in a garbage can. Compared to New Zealand or even Australia, Americans are sooo unsocial, I feel like people here are very open and accepting and that is what I like about them. Through out this trip I find that it has become easier to understand what they are talking about when I hear some of the sangs I know now what they mean. also I can understand in general what they are saying because when I first got here it was hard to understand there accents but now its normal. The thing I didn't like about this trip is that I got sick the first three days in New Zealand. Getting sick to me is whatever but thous are three days wasted and three days I cannot get back. In the past four days we have done what most people do in a week. It is exciting but it also meant more rushing and less time to do the things that are planed for the day. But other than that I have no complaints at all. I would rather do all thous things than have to stay in Grayslake with my parents. So full heatedly I can say that these couple days have been the best days of my life.

SYDNEY

Arriving in Sydney city I was kind of surprised that it looked allot like Chicago. All the tall buildings with a bunch of taxes  and traffic. This was my impression at first but as we spent more time in the city I noticed that even though the streets were crowded there wasn't nearly as much traffic as Chicago and also compared to Chicago seems so much more spacious. It was roomy to walk around in and the water also made it seem so much more refreshing compared to the polluted lake Michigan in Chicago. I also noticed that there are allot of Asians in Sydney. Instead of everything being either put in Spanish or English, in Australia things are put in either English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc. and like in every large city they have a china town. But other than that it was everything you would expect of a large city. Its everything you hear about or read about in books there is the harbor the opera house and the Sydney bridge during the day, but at night its a different story. At night is when all they party people come out and go clubbing and to my surprise Sydney knows how to party! Another thing that was very subtle but very different was the homeless people. I know that this might sound weird but it seemed like the homeless people were nicer and more civilized. In Chicago the homeless always look like they are gonna tackle you for money or kill you and eat you for dinner. But in Sydney they are very chill and relaxed like they love life and I don't blame them for being happy because if I was living in Sydney I would love my life too, even if i was homeless. I'm starting to see that there are many things that compared to America look way more amazing.

rangitoto coledge

Firs of all id like to Say that meeting the people from the college was AMAZING! when we first got there we walked in to a bunch of Maori doing a welcoming dance which was more scary that welcoming. But they did the dance then gave a speech and then ended with a song. This being there tradition , we were required to sing a song and give a speech also, so we sang the star spangle banner to them and had our chief a.k.a Steven, give a speech. After that we ate food and socialised and I had thought I didn't have a buddy so I just hung out with a bunch of people which wasn't bad. It gave me an opportunity to get to know more than one person there. I am secretly in love with the Maori people tho so meeting them and actually talking to them was such an honor. I learned that at there school they call elementary primary, middle school intermediate, high school college, and college university. Also instead of starting grades in school at first grade, for smoke reason they start school grades at second grade. Though American and New Zealand schools are different they are also very similar. With the exception that they wear uniforms and are ten times more social accepting and friendly than any American school. At the end Mrs. Mac Night gave her ending speech and then after that we got to say our good byes. I was so sad about leaving that I asked her about becoming a transfer student there so now that is one thing that I'm looking into. The students there really touched my heart and the time we spent together, however short the time might have been, will forever be in my memories.

CULTURAL EXPERIENCES

When we first woke up in the morning we went on the duck tour. While driving us around in it the the tour guide and driver told us about the history of  volcano's, lakes, and about the famous Maori love story. I especially liked the story about the green lake and how it is haunted so nobody is allowed to go on the lake. With the superstition still strong and enforced today, with the exception of stupid Americans, nobody dares to go on the lake. After that we went to visit the Whaka and learned about how they used the geysers within the village for things like cooking food. It was hard to live around geysers because they move so much  if they built a house they could wake up the next morning with a geyser in there kitchen. So what they did to prevent this from happening was they built there houses on big stones so the geysers didn't end up invading there homes. personally I didn't learn much more after that because i got sick and had to sit down but what i did learn was that the Maori religion is very close to Christianity which is probably why them and the Europeans got along so well. That and the fact that the Maori warriors are so scary! I also learned about how they have meeting houses that they build to represent the body of an ancestor.The building were used for celebrations like birthdays, funerals, marriages, or just plain meetings. After the tour we went to the agradome to watch sheep sheering, which to be honest was kind of gruesome. While the guy was shaving the sheep, it looked like it was in pain the whole time and it was trying to get away because it was so scared. I couldn't look because I felt so bad for it but I wasn't the only one who thought that, I'm pretty sure the whole audience felt the same way. I also got to milk a cow which I think was pretty cool because there are cows everywhere in New Zealand but to actually touch one was awesome. At the end of the day  we had a big traditional Maori dinner and at the end of the dinner were traditional Maori dances. This day showed me allot about the culture of New Zealand as well as the history background from which it was built upon.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.....

My first impression of New Zealand was that it is much more green than America. Its way more beautiful than anything in the USA and I knew right away that we weren't in America any more when I herd the Australian accents over the intercom on the plain. I love the fresh, clean feeling of the country, seeing all the green grass and trees, and all the cows and sheep give off a feeling of nature.What shocked me the most about New Zealand was how easily I could distinguish  the natives from the other surrounding culture. The natives are surprisingly well integrated with others, unlike in America where the natives are pushed off to reserves that are isolated from everyone else. Another thing that was different was how they used the two dollar coins. In America we have silver dollars or two dollar bills  but it is rare that we use them. In New Zealand it is very normal and confusing to me to pay two dollars with a single coin. There is also the fact that there is a never ending supply of cows and sheep wherever you go. Driving down the road I would either see a cow or a sheep within seconds of each other if not less. The thing I'm looking forward to the most is meeting students from the Rangitoto college. I want to meet actual people that live in New Zealand so that I can understand them more in depth. And just a warning for anyone who's planing to go to New Zealand and getting a milk shake, don't! if your used to American milk shakes then I promise you will be very disappointed.