Elon Study Abroad

Sydney Adventures

For the first few blogs, I will be talking about my time with my family. Our route in Australia will start in Sydney then we will travel to Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane where they will drop me off about an hour away from the city.

After a 7 hour delay at JFK, my mom, dad, brother and I made it to the beautiful city of Sydney! We stayed in a hotel right near the Sydney Harbor looking at the famous opera house. It was always a beautiful sight when we woke up in the morning. Because we lost a few hours from the delay, our first day consisted of finding a place to eat for dinner so there was no exploring.

For our first FULL day in Sydney, we did a bridge climb which took about 2 hours to the top and back. Though this seems like a typical tourist activity, it really is something I would recommend doing if you ever visit Sydney. You get an amazing view of the harbor and layout of the city. The weather that day however was a mix between sprinkles of rain and clear sky. This though worked to our advantage because a huge rainbow appeared in the sky as we hiked up the bridge. After that large amount of exercise, we took a ferry over to Manly Beach for lunch. Even with the weather being in the mid 50s, there were people surfing and swimming in the beautiful blue water. We sat down at the restaurant and got an amazing view of the beach as we ate our lunch. After, we all headed back to the hotel where the jet lag finally hit us. Getting to dinner at 7:00 pm was a huge challenge but eventually we were able to eat dinner then walk back to the hotel to pass out. 


During our final day in Sydney, I started the morning with dad taking an early jog around the opera house and throughout the Botanical Gardens. Though my legs were giving into the long run, it was a beautiful sight to see the sun come up as we jogged around the park. It was interesting seeing different kinds of birds wandering around freely. After breakfast, we got ready for our sea plane tour which flew us around Sydney and landed at Palm Beach where we had lunch overlooking the ocean. It was so beautiful that we ended up eating dessert outside in the sun. For winter, it was beautiful weather! After lunch, we jumped back on the seaplane and got to see a birds-eye-view of a bunch of humpback whales which were not far from the coast. We even got a beautiful birds-eye-view of the Sydney Harbor. All I can say is that I have plenty of amazing pictures from that adventure. Before dinner, we met with one of our friends Gianna Paganelli who was at her orientation in Sydney before heading down to Melbourne for her study abroad. She told us all about what she had been up to with her group from Emory the past few days and I wish her and her friends the best of luck with her time abroad!

birds-eye-view of the Sydney Harbor

If I can say overall about this city, I could see myself living here! Not only is this city a good size and clean, but it is surrounded by green and water. The main area of the city is actually not residential, which means many people commute to the south side of the city. When you walk around at night, you feel safe no matter how late you are out. I am a bit quick to jump in saying I want to live here but I really enjoyed this city. We did not stay here that long but I would love to come back here and explore more. Next stop, Melbourne!




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Sydney Adventures

For the first few blogs, I will be talking about my time with my family. Our route in Australia will start in Sydney then we will travel to Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane where they will drop me off about an hour away from the city.

After a 7 hour delay at JFK, my mom, dad, brother and I made it to the beautiful city of Sydney! We stayed in a hotel right near the Sydney Harbor looking at the famous opera house. It was always a beautiful sight when we woke up in the morning. Because we lost a few hours from the delay, our first day consisted of finding a place to eat for dinner so there was no exploring.

For our first FULL day in Sydney, we did a bridge climb which took about 2 hours to the top and back. Though this seems like a typical tourist activity, it really is something I would recommend doing if you ever visit Sydney. You get an amazing view of the harbor and layout of the city. The weather that day however was a mix between sprinkles of rain and clear sky. This though worked to our advantage because a huge rainbow appeared in the sky as we hiked up the bridge. After that large amount of exercise, we took a ferry over to Manly Beach for lunch. Even with the weather being in the mid 50s, there were people surfing and swimming in the beautiful blue water. We sat down at the restaurant and got an amazing view of the beach as we ate our lunch. After, we all headed back to the hotel where the jet lag finally hit us. Getting to dinner at 7:00 pm was a huge challenge but eventually we were able to eat dinner then walk back to the hotel to pass out. 


During our final day in Sydney, I started the morning with dad taking an early jog around the opera house and throughout the Botanical Gardens. Though my legs were giving into the long run, it was a beautiful sight to see the sun come up as we jogged around the park. It was interesting seeing different kinds of birds wandering around freely. After breakfast, we got ready for our sea plane tour which flew us around Sydney and landed at Palm Beach where we had lunch overlooking the ocean. It was so beautiful that we ended up eating dessert outside in the sun. For winter, it was beautiful weather! After lunch, we jumped back on the seaplane and got to see a birds-eye-view of a bunch of humpback whales which were not far from the coast. We even got a beautiful birds-eye-view of the Sydney Harbor. All I can say is that I have plenty of amazing pictures from that adventure. Before dinner, we met with one of our friends Gianna Paganelli who was at her orientation in Sydney before heading down to Melbourne for her study abroad. She told us all about what she had been up to with her group from Emory the past few days and I wish her and her friends the best of luck with her time abroad!

birds-eye-view of the Sydney Harbor

If I can say overall about this city, I could see myself living here! Not only is this city a good size and clean, but it is surrounded by green and water. The main area of the city is actually not residential, which means many people commute to the south side of the city. When you walk around at night, you feel safe no matter how late you are out. I am a bit quick to jump in saying I want to live here but I really enjoyed this city. We did not stay here that long but I would love to come back here and explore more. Next stop, Melbourne!




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Dreams Set Sail 2015-07-08 17:27:38

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Test button

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16 Days Interrailing: Zurich & Vienna

After 2 fun days in Paris, we headed to Zurich to spend 9 hours in Switzerland. It was a very short stop – we got in around lunchtime and were leaving on a night train that evening – but we managed to pack a lot into our time there. We had a great time at exploring the city, eating Swiss chocolate, and taking a boat cruise around Lake Zurich. We were lucky that we had great weather in Zurich – it was nice and sunny and didn’t snow. 

   
 Our first, and only night train of the trip was definitely an interesting experience. The sleeper cars were fully booked so we had normal train seats for the night. So, it wasn’t the best sleep we’ve ever had, but did the trick and we pulled into Vienna the next morning. 

Our hostel in Vienna was a bit outside of the city, but came with an amazing view. After dropping our bags off at the hostel, we set out to see the city. First stop: St. Stephen’s cathedral. After finding 3 euro pizza for lunch, we went to see Mozart’s house. Since all of us are band kids, we had a blast! It was amazing to learn more about his life while walking around his old apartment where he wrote the Marriage of Figaro. 

  
  
Since Vienna was a music capital of the world, it was the home to many great composers. In addition to Mozart, we visited Beethoven’s and Haydn’s homes as well. Beethoven’s house was a bit of a bust because the museum only has 2 small rooms and historians aren’t positive that he ever lived in that particular apartment… But, on our way to see the Danube River from the museum, we stumbled upon a bust of Beethoven and I got to take a selfie with him. However, I throughly enjoyed the Haydn apartment – it’s definitely worth taking the time to go see. 

  
Our second day in Vienna, we were wandering around the city and went into a small church. It was a lucky stop because inside was a hidden treasures – one of the most intricate and beautiful organs that I’ve ever seen. We also stopped by the Sigmund Freud museum and learned more about how he influenced the field of Psychology. 

  
Right by St. Stephen’s cathedral, there are a bunch of people selling tickets to classical music concerts around the city. Our last afternoon there, they got us and we bought tickets to a Mozart and Strauss concert. The concert exceeded my expectations. It took place in a beautiful concert hall in the Imperial Palace in downtown Vienna. The music was wonderful and we all had an amazing time. It was the perfect way to end our time in Vienna. 

  
Up next: Bratislava and Budapest. 


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16 Days Interrailing: Paris

Paris is always a blast! I had a great time showing theses two around the city. 😃 

   


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Goodbye

As of today, I've been back in the United States for two weeks and yet I'm just now writing this blog post. I could offer lots of excuses about how I got quite sick immediately upon returning or how I've started my internship and have been very busy, which would be true but not the real reason I haven't written. Writing this final post means that this blog, like my study abroad, is finished which makes me much more sad than I thought it would. 

In any case, I got up quite early the day I left the UK to shower and get some breakfast from the hotel buffet. Then I packed up my things again and caught the shuttle (yes, with my two huge suitcases!) to the airport. I'm immensely grateful to the lovely older Scottish woman who basically held up the rest of the passengers to give me time to get my suitcases off without feeling rushed. Once at the airport, things moved smoothly as I checked my bags and went to hang out in the airport lounge. 

The plane itself was incredibly nice as I was in business class and the flight attendants were lovely. Unfortunately, the TVs weren't working but between eating and reading and watching movies on my laptop, I had plenty to do! 

breakfast was perfect
more breakfast
They eventually found some little tablets for us to watch movies on and I watched a bit of Bonnie and Clyde while eating lunch.


After many many hours on that airport, I got off at JFK...and everything broke down. Customs went very smoothly (much more smoothly than they would've back home, so I'm very glad I got to do them in New York) but then I had to get my suitcases again and bring them to another conveyor belt to be loaded onto my other flight. This was bothersome because 1) I'd been told I wouldn't have to get them until I got home and 2) it took them about 40 minutes before they actually came!

In any case, after that sweaty annoying experience, I got back through security and found my way to the airport lounge where I got a bit of food.

The airplane from JFK to back home was TINY! I think I've been on bigger buses. I was fairly disappointed that I didn't get a view of the city while taking off, but I did listen to Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York!"


Getting home was such a relief and my family plus my good friend, Nupur, were waiting to meet me! It was so good to see everyone after so long...and it was nice that my dad took care of my suitcases from there on out. My parents even stopped at Taco Bell on the way home from the airport...oh, Mexican food, how I'd missed you.

That Sunday, I was actually awake for 25 hours, so I suppose it's no wonder that I got sick immediately after. While it was exhausting and stressful, I'm very thankful that it went as well as it did.


I have to admit, the culture shock coming back to the US is much worse than it was going over. American money still throws me off and I'm in mourning for my access to UK Starbucks. While I don't miss St Andrews, per se, I definitely miss my friends (I've been talking to Lucy every day, but it's not the same) and being in the United Kingdom. I've talked to some of my JSA friends from St Andrews and people from Elon who were also abroad and we've agreed that coming back is strange because in many ways, it feels as though you never left and yet you feel so different.

Going to St Andrews definitely had a large impact on me, as a person, and my outlook on life. But writing this blog has had an almost equally large impact! I feel as though I've actually improved my writing, my photography, and my ability to tell a story. Thank you so much to those of you who read this and kept me company throughout my journey. To anyone considering St Andrews, or studying abroad in general, feel free to get in touch with me via email (nbackman16@gmail.com) or via Twitter (@nicoleackman16) to ask any questions you have.

So, finally, goodbye St Andrews. xx
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Goodbye

As of today, I've been back in the United States for two weeks and yet I'm just now writing this blog post. I could offer lots of excuses about how I got quite sick immediately upon returning or how I've started my internship and have been very busy, which would be true but not the real reason I haven't written. Writing this final post means that this blog, like my study abroad, is finished which makes me much more sad than I thought it would. 

In any case, I got up quite early the day I left the UK to shower and get some breakfast from the hotel buffet. Then I packed up my things again and caught the shuttle (yes, with my two huge suitcases!) to the airport. I'm immensely grateful to the lovely older Scottish woman who basically held up the rest of the passengers to give me time to get my suitcases off without feeling rushed. Once at the airport, things moved smoothly as I checked my bags and went to hang out in the airport lounge. 

The plane itself was incredibly nice as I was in business class and the flight attendants were lovely. Unfortunately, the TVs weren't working but between eating and reading and watching movies on my laptop, I had plenty to do! 

breakfast was perfect
more breakfast
They eventually found some little tablets for us to watch movies on and I watched a bit of Bonnie and Clyde while eating lunch.


After many many hours on that airport, I got off at JFK...and everything broke down. Customs went very smoothly (much more smoothly than they would've back home, so I'm very glad I got to do them in New York) but then I had to get my suitcases again and bring them to another conveyor belt to be loaded onto my other flight. This was bothersome because 1) I'd been told I wouldn't have to get them until I got home and 2) it took them about 40 minutes before they actually came!

In any case, after that sweaty annoying experience, I got back through security and found my way to the airport lounge where I got a bit of food.

The airplane from JFK to back home was TINY! I think I've been on bigger buses. I was fairly disappointed that I didn't get a view of the city while taking off, but I did listen to Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York!"


Getting home was such a relief and my family plus my good friend, Nupur, were waiting to meet me! It was so good to see everyone after so long...and it was nice that my dad took care of my suitcases from there on out. My parents even stopped at Taco Bell on the way home from the airport...oh, Mexican food, how I'd missed you.

That Sunday, I was actually awake for 25 hours, so I suppose it's no wonder that I got sick immediately after. While it was exhausting and stressful, I'm very thankful that it went as well as it did.


I have to admit, the culture shock coming back to the US is much worse than it was going over. American money still throws me off and I'm in mourning for my access to UK Starbucks. While I don't miss St Andrews, per se, I definitely miss my friends (I've been talking to Lucy every day, but it's not the same) and being in the United Kingdom. I've talked to some of my JSA friends from St Andrews and people from Elon who were also abroad and we've agreed that coming back is strange because in many ways, it feels as though you never left and yet you feel so different.

Going to St Andrews definitely had a large impact on me, as a person, and my outlook on life. But writing this blog has had an almost equally large impact! I feel as though I've actually improved my writing, my photography, and my ability to tell a story. Thank you so much to those of you who read this and kept me company throughout my journey. To anyone considering St Andrews, or studying abroad in general, feel free to get in touch with me via email (nbackman16@gmail.com) or via Twitter (@nicoleackman16) to ask any questions you have.

So, finally, goodbye St Andrews. xx
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The Free Time Schedule

This post is the schedule indicating when family and friends can contact me via Skype, iMessage, whatsapp, and FaceTime. Since I will be 14 hours ahead of NY, the schedule has been converted to NY time. Weekends might be more difficult since I do plan on traveling off campus. The weekends  really is the luck of the draw. My first week starts the week of July 27th and I will NOT have class Thursday and Friday for ONLY that week. Thursday and Friday of that week will be the weekend times instead.

Monday: 6am to 12pm
Tuesday: 8am to 12pm
Wednesday: 2am to 5:30am & 8am to 12pm
Thursday: 4am to 12pm
Friday: 1am to 2pm
Weekends: 12am to 2pm

As of now, I will be leaving July 5th with my family to make a few stops in Australia before I am dropped off at University of the Sunshine Coast. 


My class schedule (Australian time)
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The Free Time Schedule

This post is the schedule indicating when family and friends can contact me via Skype, iMessage, whatsapp, and FaceTime. Since I will be 14 hours ahead of NY, the schedule has been converted to NY time. Weekends might be more difficult since I do plan on traveling off campus. The weekends  really is the luck of the draw. My first week starts the week of July 27th and I will NOT have class Thursday and Friday for ONLY that week. Thursday and Friday of that week will be the weekend times instead.

Monday: 6am to 12pm
Tuesday: 8am to 12pm
Wednesday: 2am to 5:30am & 8am to 12pm
Thursday: 4am to 12pm
Friday: 1am to 2pm
Weekends: 12am to 2pm

As of now, I will be leaving July 5th with my family to make a few stops in Australia before I am dropped off at University of the Sunshine Coast. 


My class schedule (Australian time)
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