I don't want to leave!

Sorry this has taken so long, 

Broome:

Our trip to Broome was amazing!  It was a very exciting trip and definitely is the highlight of my experience over here.  We left on a Wednesday morning and flew out of Perth at about 12, landing in Broome at about 2.  After landing we went to the Notre Dame campus there and dropped off our luggage and went to the nearby Cable Beach and we got to ride camels!  It wasn't very extreme riding, but it was still really fun and we got a lot of great pictures as the sun was setting.  From there we went back to campus and stayed the night.  The next morning we met our aboriginal hosts Colin and Maria and we drove three hours, on red dirt roads, all they way up north to our camp at One Arm Point.  It was a bumpy ride but it was fascinating to see such a monotonous yet beautiful landscape.  When we arrived we got our tents set up and got settled in, but we didn't do much on the first day because everyone was pretty exhausted.  The second day we went to a small community called Lombadina and we spoke to an elder there, Bundy, and he talked to us about his 'salt-water' people and the customs and beliefs they have.  It was so interesting learning about one of the oldest but still active cultures.  The next day we went to another community to the east called Ardyaloop and we visited a hatchery there as well as spending some time at a beach.  The third day, we spent most of the time at the campsite learning how to make spears and then throwing them!  I really enjoyed this part and I'm pretty sure I would starve if I had to hunt for food with a spear.  We left the next day and it was really sad because while we were there, there was nothing we had to worry about or get distracted by.  We woke up with the sun and went to bed with the sun and it was a very refreshing.  Overall, my favourite parts were our breakfast and campfire talks with Colin, because we talked about important issues like racism and culture, and it made me realise that I don't know that much about different cultural groups even back home.  Another favourite thing was the land itself.  It was so cool to see a land untouched by rubbish and pollution, to see wild animals in their natural habitat, and to learn about how the indigenous people would preserve their land so that it would continue to provide for them.  It was an amazing trip and I would love to back!

Western Exposure:

A couple of days after we got back from Broome, the majority of us journeyed with a tour up north, visiting many popular sites and taking lots of pictures.  We spent a total of 25 hours on a bus over the 4 days, so that was pretty exhausting, but some of the places we visited were really nice.  We saw the Pinnacles, went to a really cool gorge, swam with dolphins at monkey mia, went sandboarding, and visited a wildlife park where I got to hang out with pure bred dingoes!!  This was a really fun trip as well, but by the end of it I was pretty tired.  It would have been fun to spend more time at only a couple of the places, but at the same time it was great to experience more things.

Since then...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty boring, and I've spent most of my time working on papers or doing other sorts of homework.  We did get to visit the Fremantle Prison one night, and that was really cool.  It has been closed since 1991, but they lead day and night tours nearly every day.  It was pretty intense for the convicts there, and it was even pretty spooky walking around with a big group.  Thats about it for now, I have 3 papers due in the next 2 weeks, so that is what I will be focusing on, but this weekend Notre Dame is putting on a Ball for the students, so that should be really fun.  I would love have some distractions from studying, so please feel free to email me or skype me.  

Philip

I wish they didn't give homework in Australia

I have finally settled in to a routine over here and it's making it hard for me to remember the exciting things that I have done.  School the last two weeks has been much harder, with papers due and tests upcoming, so I haven't had as much free time as I would of liked.  However, I still have had the chance to see some amazing things, so here we go...

A couple of weekends ago we visited Rottnest (Rotto) Island, where we biked around checking out all the beaches and then camped for the night.  There were some beautiful beaches and the weather was fantastic.  My favourite beach was Salmon Beach, there wasn't much of a surf and the water was clear.  It felt so good to relax after biking for a while.  The water was shallow, which made it ideal for throwing the Waboba ball!  

Another exciting adventure I had took place last night.  It was about 8 pm our time and I wanted to go for a run, so I mapped it out on google and it was supposed to be about 6.5 miles, which is pushing it for me, but I wanted to go for it.  I took off and I wasnt having trouble finding my way, I was feeling good and just kept running.  I started to get a little confused when I hadn't found a street I was supposed to turn on, but instead of asking someone, I just kept going.  I started to get more worried when it had been 45 minutes and I still hadnt seen my street, but I didnt want to turn around because I thought that eventually I would find somewhere that looked familiar.  Unfortunately, it took a while, but I finally saw a sign that pointed me in the right direction and then I saw a sign for the Fremantle Hospital and I knew that if I could get there I could find my way home.  I arrived back an hour and 15 minutes after leaving and after mapping my actual run, it ended up being 9.5 miles.  I was so tired and I'm still really sore today.  

Yesterday afternoon a group of us went cliff jumping and it was fantastic.  Once again, the weather was amazing and the water was warm.  The cliffs were about 20 and 35 ft high and it was really fun jumping off both of them.  As the picture shows, I successfully (finally) landed a back flip off the 20 ft cliff, I was pretty nervous, but I wanted to give it a try.  

Today we had an early Easter feast because we are all going to be gone next weekend in Broome!  Everyone helped out and made their favourite recipes and it was great.  There was so much good food and we all had a great time.  It was weird not being home for Easter with my family, but fortunately I was with some pretty awesome company.  

Next week we leave for Broome on Wednesday and we dont get back till the following Monday.  I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to meet some aborigines and learn more about their culture.  I won't be able to blog again until I get back, but I should have some great stories!  Thank you for your prayers and support, you all are the best.

Philip

Time is Flying!

I can't believe it's been another week already, it's crazy that I've been here for nearly a month now, and that I've been out of the hospital for 3 weeks!  I have really enjoyed emailing and skyping with several of you this past week, but I've been a little thrown off since you had daylight savings and we didnt.  On a random note, one different thing I've noticed about Freo is that there is no twilight.  It goes from light to dark with very little transition and I think it is why most of us are getting tired earlier. Weird.
    The highlight of my week was definitely our field trips to Caversham park and to Penguin and Seal Islands.  We left Saturday morning for Caversham and it was really hot.  Both days this weekend reached over 40 degrees C, about 104 degrees F!  It was pretty miserable at times, but being able to see the awesome wildlife definitely made up for it.  There was two parts to our tour at Caversham, during the first part we got to feed and pet so kangaroos and joeys(kangaroo babies), we got to see and pet a wambat and several koalas!  It was so cool.  The animals were pretty domesticated, which was slightly unfortunate, but I doubt we would of been able to pet them if they weren't.  Also on the first tour, we saw some other native Australian mammals such as Dingo's, Emu's, and a variety of colorful and loud birds.  We couldn't pet these animals because they were not as tame and they would of loved to nibble on our fingers.  During the second part of the tour, we sat in a barn and watched the Australian sheep dogs bring in the sheep, which was the coolest thing ever.  The dogs are born with natural skills and instincts and they only take about 6 months of training to master it.  After the dogs rounded up the sheep, we watched as one of the guides sheered a sheep.  It was all a really fun experience and despite the ridiculous heat, we all had a great time.  The next day however, was even better.  We had to get up early, again, but this time we headed down south for about an hour to a beautiful bay, which I am forgetting the name of.  After unloading the vans and getting brief lessons on kayaking and safety, we paddled our way over to seal island, where as its name suggests, there are lots of seals chilling on the beach.  We weren't allowed to land on the beach, but since we were in kayaks we were able to get pretty close.  From there we cruised over to Penguin island, where also as the name suggest there are normally little penguins hanging out.  However, due to the extreme heat, they hid in their cool (temperature) homes.  We did get to see a couple of domesticated ones as they were being fed, so that was nice.  While on penguin island we went snorkeling, a first for myself, and unfortunately my high expectations were not met.  I was expecting to see some amazing colors and exotic fish, but none were to be found.  I did see some cool Nemo-like fish, so that was fortunate.  Overall, it was an amazing trip and I was so thankful that we were in the water all day.
    Other than that, nothing much has been going on.  I filled out my bracket for march madness, I did a couple of homework assignments, and explored a bit of Fremantle.  Actually, I did go golfing at one of the public courses and that was pretty fun.  It was a really narrow course and the greens weren't too well kept, but for only $12 it was great, and I'm planning on going back tomorrow.  Well I think that's about it, I would love to hear from more of you, so please feel free to email me or skype me.  Thanks again, for the support, I really appreciate it.

Philip

To The Beach!

Greetings from Down Under,

                Another week and a half has gone by and believe it or not, I still enjoy it here! J  Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support; the recovery is going great and I have been at full strength for the last couple of days.  Congratulations to the Hawks for winning state!  I was able to stream the game from over here and it was so fun cheering along with all the fans.  Unfortunately I can’t watch any U.S. sports and I have been going through NBA and NCAA withdrawals; I don’t know how I am going to survive without March Madness and the NBA Finals. 

The first week of classes went well and despite the unusual schedule, I should have plenty of free time to explore Fremantle and the surrounding cities and beaches.  Mondays and Tuesdays are great because I don’t have class until the afternoon and so I’ve been able to visit places while it’s still relatively cool.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are more filled up for me, but there are still nice gaps where I can head to the beach for a quick cool off. 

                I was able to go exploring a bit this last week and it was great.  I visited Kings Park in Perth, WA, which is the largest park, within city limits, in the world!  There is a fantastic war memorial as well as many kilometres of paths, showing off the colourful and numerous plants and animals that are unique to Australia.  I would have to say that my favourite place that I have been thus far is definitely Cottesloe.  It’s only a 10 minute train ride from Fremantle and the beaches and water are amazing.  It is a very popular beach because it is the beach that Heath Ledger grew up at and where his ashes were spread.  It is by far my favourite beach and I have been there several times already, including a trip earlier today. 

                The next several weeks should be rather busy, with organised trips to Caversham, Penguin Island, and Rottnest Island filling up the weekends.  I am really excited because we are going to be able to see a bunch of wildlife and we get to go snorkelling!  In less than a month our group is travelling up north to Broome, where we will be staying in the outback with Aborigines, learning about their culture and history.  I have only heard amazing things about this trip and I can hardly wait.

                Well that’s about it for now, if you have any questions please feel free to email me or message me on Facebook.  Thanks again for all of your prayers and support, I’m looking forward to talking with you soon.

Philip

Toilets and Theatres

Dear readers,

        This last week has been crazy!  I got off to a good start by making my flight to L.A. by myself.  It was a pretty small plane, just two rows of seating on each side, but the flight didn’t take too long so that was good.  The next flight was a bit miserable though; it took about 15 hours from L.A. to Sydney and I got about 3 hours of sleep.  I was sitting just in front of one of the flight attendants areas, so there was a lot of traffic preventing me from getting some solid sleep.  I was sitting next to an Australian guy who was returning to Sydney from being in Kentucky for 3 months visiting friends and he seemed most excited to be returning home for the Australian beer.  He kept making fun of Bud Light saying that we were trying to make more money by watering it down so much.  He was a nice guy to sit by and he didn’t have to use the toilet (bathroom) to much, so that was nice.  I was the only student from University of Portland to be on the flight, so that was a bit strange and lonely, it would have been nice to see a friendly face, but when I landed I was able to meet up with the two guys from Sacred Heart University and it was great having them to keep me company.  On our connecting flight to Perth we were running a tad late and so we had to sprint through airport to our gate only to find that they bumped back the boarding time, so we were actually 5 minutes early.  Once we got to Perth it was fantastic.  There were no more worries about missed flights and I was able to relax while waiting for the other Portland students, so we could all catch the shuttle together.  The weather here is so nice, it has been so hot, and it gets very warm early, like at 9 in the morning, so I’m going to have to plan my running for earlier in the mornings.  However, as I learned today, I won’t be able to run for the next couple of weeks.  

       Disaster struck my Tuesday evening about 6 o’clock, which is about 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning for most of you, when I started to feel really queezy and my stomach was churning a lot. At about 9 on Tuesday evening was the first time I vomited and throughout the night, I counted 14 trips I made to the toilet, all about 30 minutes apart.  I tried taking some tums and Pepto-Bismol, but neither did the trick and I was in pain all night and morning.  During the morning, in the wee hours, I started noticing an isolated pain in my lower right abdominal area, but it wasn’t too major so I kind of just ignored it.  However, as my vomiting began to decrease, the pain became more prominent.  I attempted to sit through one of my orientation meetings that Wednesday morning but the pain was too great.  At that point I met with my hall supervisor and residential supervisor and we decided to go to the hospital, just in case.  After struggling to fill a urine pot (pee capsule) and vomiting in the hospital toilet, I met with the doctor and they were pretty certain that I had appendicitis and that I would have to have it removed, a process in Australia called appendisectomy, not appendectomy.  They were hoping to have me in to theatre (surgery) by last night, but a couple of emergency cases came up so I got pushed back to this morning.  I feel much better now than I did last night, and I’m really looking forward to the next several months here.  The people are all so friendly and they are making it so easy for me.  I’ve had the chance to visit a couple of beaches and I’ll be posting the pictures on Facebook soon.  I start classes this upcoming Monday, so hopefully I’ll be recovered by then so I don’t fall behind. 

Thank you all for your support, I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Philip

Just A Little Excited

Dear Readers,

With take off just a couple of days away, I wanted to update you once more on the latest news.  In response to several peoples questions, while abroad this next semester I will be taking  classes, unfortunate, I know, but it will be nice to get some of the core classes out of the way.  I am not quite sure on my class schedule yet, but they will most likely include Australian history, Ethics, Philosophy, Theology, and Pathology.  There is going to be a lot of readings, which is definitely not my forte, but I suppose I can always just head down to the beach and read for a couple of hours!

It is still pretty quite here around the house, but  I'm not quite as bored.  I just returned from a trip up to Spokane, where I had a great time hanging out with friends, but now I have to start collecting paperwork and finish packing.  Hopefully after today I should have most of it done, so I can relax for the next couple of days before the long flight.  The flight form LA to Sydney is 15 hours long and its going to suck.  In preparation, I've been loading music on my Ipod and I'm just hoping it doesn't run out of battery.  The flight leaves at 10:30 pm which is good because hopefully I can sleep for part of it.  I'm a bit scared because I can still here Dr. Van Hoomissen warning us that you can get varicose veins on long flights if you don't move around much.

I'm not going to have internet capabilites for about the first week, but I'll try to update you as soon as possible. Here are a few ways that you can contact me:

Facebook
Email: philip.stenberg@gmail.com
Skype:  pstenz91
Mail:  Philip Stenberg
         University of Portland Study Abroad
         University of Notre Dame Australia
         Hotel Cleopatra
         19 Mouat Street
         Fremantle, Western Australia 6160
         Australia

Thank you all for your love and prayers,

Philip

Bored Yet?

Many of you may know by now, but for those of you who I haven't been able to contact yet, this upcoming semester I will be studying abroad, through University of Portland, in Fremantle, Australia.  Several of my friends have also had the opportunity to study abroad, and to keep people updated they maintained a blog while travelling.  It was really fun following along on their many adventures and it was a stress free way to stay updated.  So for the next five months, this will be my goal, to keep you sufficiently updated on my travels, not having to spend many hours responding to emails and Facebook messages.  However, that is not to say that you should not send me emails or Facebook messages, but for general information on my time over here, I'm hoping that this will be the site where I can answer many of your questions.  


For the last month and a half, I have been living in Hood River, working part time at Safeway, and have been getting more and more excited about Australia.  Since midway through January, when nearly all of my brothers went back to school, most of my friends left, and the weather turned for the worse, it has been pretty slow here around the house.  That's not to say I haven't been doing anything; it has been fun playing handball with my brother Michael, watching high school basketball games, and visiting friends around the state, but I've never had so much free time in my life and it feels weird saying this, but I want to be back in school.  


The fact that I will be spending the next chunk of my life in a foreign country away from my family and friends hasn't quite hit me yet, but I'm sure when I'm giving my last good bye hugs and walking through the checkpoints in the airport, I will be freaking out.  I have never done anything like this before and I'm nervous, but I'm also really excited for the fun times and the challenges that I will face.  God has blessed me with this opportunity to serve him in another country and I'm looking forward to making the most of it.  Please be patient with me as I am new to blogging, but I will try my best to keep you all updated during my travels.  


In His Grip,


Philip