Tellus » Australia http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus Tellus: (tel’us), n. 1. [Latin] earth, soil, and the land; a country; the world. 2. a collection of Willamette University student’s insights, stories, photos and thoughts from their experiences studying abroad. Sat, 11 May 2013 04:39:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Koala http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/2011/09/15/kola/ http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/2011/09/15/kola/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:43:02 +0000 rpalmer http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/?p=378

At the University of Western Australia there is a week of study before finals even begin and, coming from Willamette, this felt like an eternity.  Lets be realistic here, I wasn’t going to be productive during this time, so I flew across the country to Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, with a few international friends and an Australian friend.  We explored the city and went on the scenic great ocean road.  Whilst on the coastal drive we were passing through a grove of eucalyptus when suddenly I spotted them: wild koalas!  While I was beyond excited the first time I saw some Aussie wildlife in zoos, nothing compared to stumbling upon them unexpectedly on my various adventures.   I, of course, made my friend stop the car immediately, so that we could admire their awesomeness.

What’s the point here?  Well, for starters, I am pro at spotting cute, fuzzy animals and secondly, that one should take every opportunity presented in life that will add to ones happiness.  I did this often while abroad and from it learned a great deal about myself and saw some pretty amazing things.  The only times I ever regretted while in Australia were instances when I decided I couldn’t do something do to time or stress.  To not doing something that will add joy to your life is never the right choice.  Oh, and my exams?  No worries, they went just fine.

]]> http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/2011/09/15/kola/feed/ 0 http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/2011/09/09/369/ http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/2011/09/09/369/#comments Sat, 10 Sep 2011 04:14:12 +0000 abower http://blog.willamette.edu/~llc_tellus/?p=369

This is one of several Quokkas (Setonix brachyurus), a species of marsupial, that I encountered on Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth. They previously lived on the mainland but now are mostly confined to a few small islands after the introduction of foxes and feral cats. This picture reminds me of all the strange animals (mostly with pouches) and plants that I observed in Australia. It often felt like I was on a different planet.

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During our Easter Break the other Willamette students and I went on a road trip with a group of friends we had made during the semester. We travelled up the north coast of Australia for over a week. This picture remind me of the friends I’ve made and what an amazing time I had!

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