[Day 40] Fri. March 25th

Its been almost a week since Mom and Kody left. That Friday we had to go to class, so Mom and Kody took the ferry around the city. Then on Saturday I took them back to the airport. 😦 Thankfully, they made it home safely.

Since then I have been focusing on my classwork. We pitch our project ideas for Real-Time Graphics in a 2 minute presentation next Thursday so there is a lot of preparation to still be done.  The pitch alone is worth 50% of our grade.

Hopefully I’ll have something more exciting to share soon.

Fun fact: The Whitsundays are a cluster of islands in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. The sand there is so pure that NASA used it to create the lenses for the Hubble Telescope. Hopefully we can visit them on our mid-semester break!

[Day 32] Thurs. March 17th

Thursday we woke up at 5:30am so we could catch the sunrise. With sleepy eyes we all made our way to the beach. The view was wonderful! It was surprising how fast the sun appeared. After breakfast we took the 4wd to the west side of the island. One of our favorite parts of the trip was cruising down the beach blasting some 80’s tunes. Simply riding in the back of the land rover was pretty exhilarating.

On the west side of the island is where the Tangalooma Shipwrecks sit. This is where we got to snorkel. Graham warned us that the channel created between the wrecks and the beach made a strong current and that we needed to be careful. He took the four boys out first and then after a while he came back to swim over with me and Mom. When we got over to the wrecks Kody had already cut his hand and everyone warned us that everything was really sharp. I wasn’t there long before I cut myself too. After a tough swim back to shore we found that everyone had gotten a torn up, except for Mike who escaped with a small scratch. After the swim, Stephen felt a little woozy and had to sit in the front seat.

We picked up 4 new additions to our group, 3 girls from Brazil and 1 from the UK, and headed over to the sand dunes to go tobogganing. We climbed the highest dune and by the time we made it to the top everyone was breathing hard. Graham sent Mike down first and we were all surprised by his speed. Next, Stephen and I went together and we got sand everywhere. By the end you had sand everywhere. It was very hard to open my eyes because the sand was interfering with my contacts. Of course on my mom’s turn she lost her hat about halfway down and from then on it was a competition to see who could grab it. It was so hard to make it back up the dune that three rides was more than enough. Luckily, Stephen was able to grab Mom’s hat on his second turn, and then Kody’s on his third because, of course, he lost his too.

Both snorkeling and sandboarding were extremely exhausting. We all took one more dip in the beach to try to rid ourselves of the sand (not very successfully) and then had lunch on the beach. Here we had a good talk with Graham. We amazed him stories of the dollar menu at McDonald’s and other things that we miss back home. After a final swim in the Blue Lagoon, we packed up  our campsite and made it back to the ferry. By that time everyone was ready to get back to a cool shower and a nice warm bed. At the train station we said our farewells to Graham and went home to take showers.

Because it was St. Patrick’s day we all decided to go to South Bank for dinner. We were all too tired to do anything else that night so we parted ways with Mom and Kody and went straight to bed.

Fun fact: Moreton Island is the second largest sand island in the world.

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[Day 31] Wed. March 16th

On Wednesday morning Michael, Mike, Stephen, Mom, Kody, and I all set out on a two day tour of Moreton Island. We left from the transit center at 7am and took a ferry over to the island. After leaving we found out that our group and one couple were the only people on the tour which was very exciting. Our tour guide’s name was Graham and he was everything you think an Aussie would be. We all really liked him a lot. His nickname was “Ginny” because he had red hair. Anyways, when we arrived at the island we took a Land Rover over to the east side. It was fun to drive through the island and see all the wildlife. A couple times Graham stopped and picked some berries for us to eat. Most of them were pretty bland but one tasted like a salty strawberry. When we got to the eastern side of the island we sped down the beach. We were practically the only people there. It was gorgeous! Our first stop was at a spring that had risen up through the sand. Graham explain to us that this was the water table under the island pushing through the surface and it was fresh water that we could drink. He told us to step in it and when we did we immediately began to sink! It was like quicksand! So we all played in it for a while. You’d be surprised how much fun it was.

Next we all climbed to the top of a ridge where there was a lighthouse. The view was spectacular. You could see all down the coastline and over the edge to the ocean. After finishing our walk around the lighthouse we got to swim in the ocean for a while. The waves were a lot stronger than I have experienced before. I think our tour guide was a little nervous about us… It was great though. We had a few boogie boards to use and took turns with them. We literally had the beach to ourselves.

After our swim we went to the campsite for lunch. We were all surprised by how good the food was. They were just simple sandwiches but for some reason they tasted amazing, probably because we had low expectations haha. After lunch Graham had to take the other couple from our group back to the ferry, so we went for another swim. This time instead of the beach we went to the Blue Lagoon. It was great because it was calm, fresh water to relax in. We had it all to ourselves for a couple ours until a group of students came and we left.

Before dinner Graham took us fishin’ out on the beach. We brought some chairs and snacks and kicked back while everyone took turns fishing. Unfortunately, Graham snapped his rod on his first cast which really bummed him out and none of us caught anything… That night we brought the table out from under the tent and had a candlelit dinner under the moon. 🙂 We feasted on burgers, Graham’s special fries, and garlic bread. After fighting to stay up for a couple more hours we all went to our tents and sacked out.

Fun fact: The Blue Lagoon is a freshwater lake infused with tea tree oil. Australians use this oil as a natural antiseptic and antibacterial treatment for cuts and scrapes, so a dip in this lake felt really refreshing for our skin.

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[Day 29] Mon. March 14th

My mom and brother came over to spend their Spring Break with me!!! We had an awesome week. On Sunday morning Stephen and I woke up early and met them at the airport. The rest of the day was spent looking for a hotel and walking around Queen St. Mall. I was glad to find out that I wasn’t the only one turned off by Australian food. My brother didn’t seem to like it much either.

Monday morning I woke up early and took Mom and Kody to the Australia Zoo. It was still exciting the second time around. The animals were much more active this time and we saw a few more exhibits that I had missed my first time. This time I got the see the elephants, tigers, and the red pandas. At one point the tiger put his paws up against the glass. It was crazy how close he was. Unfortunately Mom and Kody were still suffering from jet lag so I was the most excited to pet the kangaroos again…

It was a long day of traveling. I felt like I was on the train forever. But I got to see the Glass House Mountains again and they were beautiful.

I had to go to class Tuesday morning so my mom and Kody went to Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast on their own. We met up that night to hear about their day, walked around, and had dinner in South Bank. I wanted them to see it all lit up at night.

Fun fact: A red panda is an Asian animal that looks similar to a raccoon. They actually have two thumbs on each forepaw. One thumb is a true thumb that is actually used like a finger. The other thumb is really a special bone on the wrist of each forepaw. This “false” thumb helps in climbing and grasping bamboo. This unusual bone is also found on the giant panda.

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[Day 25] Thurs. March 10th

Yesterday morning we were connected to the internet again but unfortunately our excitement was short-lived. When we returned from class we found the internet to be out again. So I apologize about the lack of posts….but to be honest we haven’t done anything too crazy lately.

Back in the States, Stephen met a couple from this area who started an outreach program in the West End. So on Sunday night Stephen and I went and helped out. Right when we got there we served everyone dinner and then we had a short lesson from the Bible. There were about 5 men and 1 women. Brad, the man Stephen had previously met, told us that most of them were in boarding houses and some were living on the streets. In addition to Stephen and I, there were about 4 other volunteers. After the lesson, we went to dinner with Brad and 2 of the other volunteers, Keith and Jim. It was a lot of fun. Keith and Jim are just a bit older than us and are in the army. They like to surf and go rock climbing, so we exchanged numbers so that we can go out with them next time. Brad also invited us to his house for a weekend. They live very close to the shore and would take us around to see some neat places. All in all it was a good night.

Since then we’ve mainly just focused on school. Now that its week 2 we are starting to go to our tutorials as well as the lectures. I’m very excited about my choice of classes.

Fun fact: The Tasmanian devil isn’t just a cartoon. They’re real and they have the strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal. They have the jaw strength of a crocodile.

[Day 20] Sat. March 5th

Saturday we found out some disappointing news. In Australia the internet plans place a limit on the amount of data you can download per month. When our internet went out Friday night we simply thought we had lost the connection and it would be back in the morning. Turns out our house had used up all the downloads for the month. Our roommates said we should expect it to happen pretty much every month. Its frustrating when you are used to having unlimited internet access all the time. But our internet should be restored in by Tuesday or so. For now we’re just heading up to campus to get online.

That night Michael invited us to the church he’s started to attend here. Hillsong is a large church here. The main one is in Sydney, but there is also one in Brisbane and a few other places. They have a pretty famous band that actually sold out the Staples Center is LA recently. Anyways, Bear Grylls visited the church in Sydney and they linked us in too! It was very interesting. He seems like a really cool guy. I really enjoyed listening to him and experiencing what Hillsong Church is like.

Fun fact: Bear has three sons: Jesse, Marmaduke, and Huckleberry. Some interesting name choices..

Bear Grylls came to Hillsong

[Day 18] Thurs. March 3rd

Woke up early today and went to my Real-Time 3D Graphics class for the first time. Stephen and I are the only international students in the class, probably because it is a higher level course. Everyone is Australian which is pretty cool but they all seem to know each other already. The class was kinda different than what I expected. Not that I knew what to expect anyways. The course is based around one project. The assignment is to create any production you’d like that uses real time graphics. Therefore it constantly updates the screen depending on the user’s actions, such as a game, augmented reality, or some other interactive program. The rest of the students will continue working on their projects next semester, but since we are only here for one semester we just need to make it to the prototype stage. We got to watch a lot of cool videos that showed how this technology has been applied in different industries, not only entertainment and gaming but also in the medical field and so on. I’m a little intimidated but I think it will be a great learning opportunity.

Next we went to Animation Production. This class didn’t go so well. Turns out the whole semester is spent on creating motion comics. The teacher showed a lot of examples and none of them got us very excited. They were basically graphic novels that moved around by using After Effects. So immediately after class we went to our exchange adviser and switched into Introduction to Computer Graphics. Technically the animation staff said that we could skip this course but I think it will be helpful to go ahead and take it. Its actually the class I’m most excited for now because it will give me more time to work on modeling and texturing. I’ve heard that they teach you step by step here, which should be more thorough than my experience at A&M. I finally feel content with my course choices!

[Day 17] Wed. March 2nd

It was back to school today. ….Only one class though 🙂 At 1pm all of us had our first Drawing for Design class. Its in a pretty open studio with no air conditioning which is not quite ideal but we’ll live. I really liked our teacher. He is an older man who made his living doing hand drawn animations. This is perfect because our assignments already have a bit of animation in them. We have to draw 7 frames of a hand closing into a fist and then make an animated .gif file out of our sequence. This class is going to take us back to the basics of drawing. For the first time I appreciate taking the step back. I really want to improve my skills this semester instead of just working to get a good grade. Oh and we got a free pack of art supplies because we’re international students! I was very excited because I didn’t bring any with me.

After class Stephen and I hung around to take some pictures of the campus. The rest of the day has been very peaceful. After a stop by the grocery store I made myself a wonderful dinner and painted my toenails. Now I’m going to work on my drawing assignment. Don’t want to fall behind.

Fun fact: At A&M all the buildings have names such as “Langford” and “Koldus”. Here the buildings are simply lettered. For example I have classes in N block, B block, W block, etc.

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[Day 16] Tues. March 1st

It worked out that I didn’t have school today seeing as there are no tutorials the first week. So Stephen, Michael, and I decided to find some free fun. We chose to go to the museum. To be totally honest I was extremely excited about our plan but I figured I might as well give it a try. It turned out to be pretty awesome! The museum here is so much more interactive and fun than any of the ones I’ve visited back home.

We started off in the art museum which seemed pretty typical. It had some cool modern art, but there wasn’t anything I was blown away by. Then we headed over to the 21st Century gallery of modern art and it had some fun surprises. Right when we entered there was a massive wall of stock market stats, which doesn’t seem very cool, but standing next to it was pretty neat. Next we saw 2 huge slides that ran from the 2nd floor all the way down to the first. We all got a chance to slide down. They were actually kinda steep. Continuing further into the museum we found a wall of touchscreen monitors that displayed all sorts of videos. You sat down at one of the larger monitors and chose which video you’d like to watch. The majority of them were viral videos from Youtube. Of course we spent a while there….

Next, there was a long table full of legos that you could build with. There were some impressive buildings already made. Across from that was a large wall filled with ribbons. When you came closer you could read what was on the ribbons. Each of them had a wish written on them. You are supposed to take a wish for yourself and then replace it by writing your own wish on a piece of paper and putting it in the ribbon’s spot on the wall. Then the artist will consider if he will add it to the wall of ribbons. Stephen pulled “I wish I lived in Australia” and I took “I wish my life was an animation”. I thought it was a really cool idea.

Another interesting thing we saw was this thing called the “black box”. We waited in line for a bit because only 4 people were allowed in a time. You didn’t really know what was going to be inside because they only open the door when you’re entering or leaving. When it was our turn we were all pleasantly surprised. It turned out to be a room with black lights, mirrors, and little balls hanging from the ceiling. You stood on a small platform because there was about 6in of water on the floor to help reflect all the little lights. Hopefully my pictures can help you figure out what I’m trying to explain… When they closed the door behind you, the little balls glowed and you were surrounded by mirrors that reflected in all directions. Very cool.

There was a spot with big drawing paper for visitors to come sit and illustrate the words that were provided. Our paper said “aeroplanes-lizards”. You could draw whatever you wanted. Most people drew a mixture of the two. My drawing ended up just a lizard holding a little airplane haha. It was a nice break to sit down and draw. I haven’t done enough of that lately.

Finally, the most fun we had was in a room filled with balloons!! Halfway down the wall all the way down to the floor was packed will balloons. We had about 5min in there to dive and run around. I never thought I would have the chance to swim in balloons! It was amazing! My hair was full of static by the end.

After walking throughout the gallery we went to science museum but only had about 20min before we had to leave because they were closing. They had some cool things to do in there too. Michael and Stephen tried on some bat wings and flapped a couple times to see how heavy they were. The most fun was in the gallery though. I’m very happy we decided to go today. I never expected to have so much fun. Back to school tomorrow though…

Fun fact: A French artist created a version of The Jungle Book where each character spoke a different language. It began as a gift to his granddaughter until he realized that it didn’t matter if she understood the language. People will still be able to get the concept of the movie without knowing the exact words that are spoken.

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[Day 15] Mon. February 28th

Today was my first day of school at QUT. I had Digital Media at 9am. My class consisted of an interesting group of people. There were a lot of people with dyed hair and strange haircuts. The lecture was pretty normal for the first day. We simply went over what the class would be about. I didn’t really like the teachers explanation of the course. It seemed to be based more on real life footage than I thought. When I got home I decided that taking Drawing for Design might be more beneficial to me. Its always good to improve your drawing skills. I emailed my exchange adviser and was switched in about an hour.

Next I had my first Web Design lecture at 5pm. Again, we just went over what the course would be about, but this time I was much more excited about what I was hearing. I have taught my self a basic knowledge of HTML and feel like this class will expand my skills tremendously. I get to start building my CSS skills as well. So far I like my schedule, except I’m going to try to get my Web Design tutorial switched from Friday so that I can travel more.

Because we don’t go to our tutorials and workshops this week, only lectures, I don’t have school tomorrow. Stephen, Michael, and I are going to try to find something fun to do!

Fun fact: It seems like it is more common to find people that have tattoos here as opposed to people who don’t.