Cribs: Sunshine Plaza Residence Edition

Hello HopeTV, and welcome to my crib *cue slow motion shots* Many of my fellow international students were forced to find affordable hostels in sketchy parts of Chinatown. Meanwhile the TEAN program ensured its programees a three-bed, three-bath in the illustrious multi-purpose complex that is Sunshine Plaza. The moment I entered the room, I knew I had …

The Flight

Twenty hours. That’s fourteen hours from San Francisco to Taipei, about an hour at the terminal, then another five till Singapore. If you’re like me and haven’t ever flown for this long, then twenty hours seems impossible. I’ve been flying back and forth from California to Michigan and can’t even stomach four-hour flights. This is …

Arrival in Sydney

The first taste of Sydney that I received was as the plane was touching down from Dallas, the pilot who came on the overhead speaker greeted us with “Welcome to Sydney, Australia, the most beautiful city on earth, although I may be a little biased.” Unfortunately, I needed to get on my flight to Cairns …

Arrive Down Under

One week has past since I have arrived in Cairns, Australia and it has been busier than I possibly could have imagined. Cairns is known as the “Adventure Capital of Australia,” and the city lives up to its reputation. The city itself is a northern coastal town surrounded by beaches, marinas, and water on one …

World’s Best Cup of Coffee

So…. Maybe I haven’t found the world’s best cup of coffee, but I have been on the hunt for Manly’s best cup of coffee! My goal for this term has been to try every little cafe, and there are a ton, and see which one had the best latte. I have been spoiled since being …

Life in the Castle

After a few months of living in our beautiful ICMS castle, I still haven’t been able to get used to the fact that I am in Australia. Yes, I am going to school, studying, hanging out with friends, watching Netflix, drinking an absurd amount of coffee – the usual things that college students do! But …

I Am Thankful For…

This Thanksgiving obviously has been a strange one – being in a foreign country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving is a new one for me for sure! No one is yelling at you to stop playing Christmas music until after Thanksgiving (so for all you Christmas music lovers out there, come to Australia) which has been …

Aussie Quirks

Since arriving in Australia, I haven’t had much of a culture shock necessarily since it is an English-speaking, developed country. However, Australia does have its quirks – some commonly known to the rest of the world, others not so much! One of my favorite things about Australia is the laid back surfer lifestyle. “Shirts and …

Melbourne Cup

A couple of friends and I decided to spend the weekend hard at work… on vacation… in Melbourne! How could we not go when there is an opportunity to go to the Melbourne Cup? For those of you who don’t know (I was one of those people if I’m being honest), the Melbourne Cup is the …

Opera House Adventures

One of Sydney’s greatest treasures is it’s Opera House. Lucky for me it is just a hop, skip, and a ferry ride away from my beautiful campus. A few weeks ago, my program,TEAN Australia, hosted an event for all study abroad students in NSW that was a tour of the Opera House. I was THRILLED …