Hi Everyone!  I was just looking at the calendar and I come home in a month and a half.. Quite insane if you ask me, and I can't believe that I've already been here for almost three months.  The past week was another relatively laid back week where I did a lot of attempting to do homework during the week (with a little success) as well as a bunch of running as the half marathon is getting much closer!  The weather was decent and was in the mid 60's most days, though as soon as the sun goes down it is freezing now.  I sleep in sweats every night, and cocoon myself up in my blanket to stay warm... I'm not enjoying that there are no heaters in the dorms here!!  Tuesday night Kelly, Katie and I attempted to get Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo, but were very disappointed after getting there and finding out that you needed reservations (though the place was at least half empty).  We ended up getting pizza at this place called Napoli that looked pretty sketchy but ended up being good.  

The first out of the ordinary day of the week was Friday, as there was a event called the Casino Royale Ball at Uni.  Tickets sold out really quick so a lot of the people we hang out with at Campus East didn't get them, but Katie, Kelly, Siggy, Drew and I all went so we had a really good group.  It was fun getting all dressed up, and the place we went to was nicely decorated and had a red carpet and all!  We sat down for a delicious two course meal, and it was followed by dancing and gambling.  It was a blast and reminded me a bit of high school dances which were always a good time.  With our ticket we got fake gambling money, and they had tons of different things set up as if you were actually at a casino.  I spent the majority of my time playing blackjack with much success.  It was an awesome night and one of the best times I've had in Wollongong so far.  

After a late night out, Katie and I had an early wake up on Saturday as we were doing a day trip of the Jenolan Caves, which are in the Blue Mountains.  It took about 4.5 hours to get out there by bus, which I spent reading and attempting to sleep.  Though a very long drive, it was well worth it after getting there, as the caves were amazing.  There are tons of different caves that you can hike through, and we did a 90 minute guided tour of the most famous one, the Lucas Cave.  It was really incredible and walking through there and thinking about how old everything is makes you feel really microscopic.  We were told that the fastest growing stalactite grows at a rate of 1 centimeter every 100 to 1000 years.. That's pretty remarkable if you ask me.  The cave we walked through was huge and very extensive, and we saw all sorts of things, from tons of stalactites and stalagmites, to a gigantic part of the cave called the cathedral, to lots of crystals, to bones of a wombat, and much more.  It was a really unique experience and much like anything else I've seen on this trip.  Though a long ride back, it was really relaxing and nice to just sit back.

This is definitely the shortest post that I've had so far.  This week is going to be spent doing all sorts of schoolwork before Thursday and then heading out to Melbourne for the weekend to see the city, visit Austin and Justin, and run a half marathon on the Great Ocean Road.  I'm really excited for it and it should be an awesome time.  I hope everything is going well with everyone at home and Happy Mother's Day!   I miss you guys!

Random Notes:

1.  They pronounced the letter 'z' as 'zed'.  Apparently many other places do this too.

2.  Aussies as a whole are chronically late for everything.  All my lectures are scheduled to start 30 minutes after the hour and rarely start till at least 45 after.  Similarly, people just show up to class an hour into the lecture and it's completely normal.

3.  It is very common for kids to go to boarding schools far away from home in years 7 and up.  A good portion of my friends that I've made here went to boarding schools at least a couple of hours away from home

4.  Gas is called petrol, which I suppose is actually more logical

5.  Mother's Day is the same here as it is at home, though their Father's Day isn't until September.