OW Dives and Happy Australia Day!

First of all, Happy Australia Day! Well, if you're in Australia right now...because Australia Day is January 26th:)

This weekend I did my OW certification dives in the Hot Hole in Lake Keowee. I got to move it up because they couldn't go last weekend. Yesterday felt amazing both in and out of the water, but today was a bit chillier...as in 20 degrees chillier air-temp-wise. The water wasn't bad and stayed about 64 F, except for a few cold spots. I'm still warming up from when we got out of the water though! One funny thing was that Coach Martin, one of the coaches/administrators from my high school was there. The dives were okay...the visibility was really low, but it was good to learn. I just can't wait to get out in the open and clear waters at the Great Barrier Reef

Other than diving not much has been going on this week. Still just sitting at home. I did finish The Island of Dr. Moreau, and started The Invisible Man, both by H.G. Wells. Fun stuff. I also visited Josh in Greenville and did a little bit of shopping. I'm thinking about a trip to the Tanger Outlets in Commerce to grab some warm weather clothes!

Only 12 days, 13 hours and 59 minutes left until my first flight!!!
-Jess

SCUBA Diving:)

This weekend I started my SCUBA certification. After reading my book and doing my homework, I was convinced that I was going to die a horrific death from SCUBA. Once I got into actually getting in the water and practicing, I felt much, much better:) It was so much fun to be able to just sit underwater for a couple of hours and not worry about breathing. Compressed air dries out your mouth a bit, but it's all good. There were only three people in my class, so we got a lot of individual attention. It was really cool. I can't wait to get into the lake and do the actual open water dives. The only bad thing is that it will be the beginning of February in a lake in South Carolina. We're going to a hot hole, but I'm worried about freezing my butt off when we get done. We'll see:) And a week after my certification, I'll be headed to warm weather and warm water to dive the reef!

While I'm waiting for Australia, I'm also waiting for my favorite show to come back. LOST. Only 2 more days! Right now, I'm watching seasons 1-4 with my sisters. I'm getting them addicted too:)

18 days, 16 hours and 12 minutes until I board my first flight!
-Jess

I can't wait to find Nemo!

Living Situations...

Today consisted of hunting down department heads (1 down, 2 to go), looking at an apartment for next year (we've, as in Meagan, Cristina and I, pretty much decided on Clemson Place), and getting my housing assignment from JCU.

I've been researching everything about JCU since I was accepted, and I really wanted to live in University Hall. It just looked the most appealing. After deciding that I was going to live there, it was a bit of a disappointment to find out I'd be living in Rotary International. But now that I've had a bit of time to think about it, I think it may be okay. Other than sharing two bathrooms with 7 other students on my floor, many of which may be speaking English as a 2nd or 3rd language...it should be interesting. I'm just going to wait to judge until I meet my future floormates (Julie found out she's in Rotary International at about the same time I did, so I'm hoping we'll be on the same floor).

So what I do know is this: There are 7 people on each floor, sharing 2 bathrooms (one with shower and one with bath), a kitchen and a dining room (it's self-catering... so I'm probably going to either (A) lose a lot of weight or (B) eat way too much junk food and gain a lot of weight). The bedrooms are single, and have: a single bed, table, desk and filing cabinet, study chair, ceiling fan, wardrobe and vanity unit containing a sink with hot and cold water and mirror. Woo fun. I'll take lots of pictures when I get there. And feel free to send me posters and such so I can decorate a bit:)

I think that's about all that's been happening. Tomorrow I start my SCUBA certification course, which is going to be awesome...I hope. I wish I could take pictures tomorrow, but I doubt I'll be able to since I'm learning. I'll let you know how it goes!

-Jess

About Me and Where I'm Headed

Well, this is my first post of what should be a record of one of the best semesters of my life. Hopefully:) I guess I should start by telling you a bit about myself. My name is Jessica and I'm currently a junior at the best university in SC: Clemson University. I bleed orange and love my tigers. Anyway, I've been wanting to study abroad for the longest time; I was supposed to go to Cannes, France last summer, but I tore my ACL and MCL skiing and then I just wasn't up for it. After that, I decided to study abroad for an entire semester, but instead of testing out my limited French skills, I thought it would be best to head to an English speaking country. Since I'm a biological sciences major and love my animals, I figured that the best place to go was Australia (It doesn't hurt that it'll be nice, sunny and warm there during the spring either). So, after a few setbacks (like not getting my exchange spot at Bond Uni), I ended up settled on James Cook University. JCU is located in Townsville, in tropical northern Queensland, near the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforests of the Wet Tropics. It has one of the best marine biology programs in the WORLD, which is pretty amazing.

Over the past few months I've been going through the whole application process, which has been trying at times, but it's getting better now that I'm getting close to departure. (February 7th...only 3 weeks left!). I've got to get a few more signatures from some Clemson professors (who are surprisingly good at hide and seek) and then I'm all set:) I've been talking to some girls who are also going to Australia, which has been really fun. Only one other girl from Clemson is going: Julia S-H. She's a pretty awesome kid, and we've already planned a trip to Fiji on the way home in June. The two girls I've been talking to the most on facebook are Julie F. and Alex R. They're pretty cool kids too, and I can't wait to meet them during my 10 hour layover in LAX (expect a couple of people-watching blogs that day!).

I guess that's about it for now...not much to talk about until I start getting ready to go! 22 days and counting!

-Jess