netball or basketball? eh, i think they're the same thing?

after breakfast today we had a short presentation on sports psychology by amanda palmer. i just recently took a class on sports psychology last semester so it was all really good review. they do pretty much the same things that we do over in the states which was pretty nice. after lunch we were signed up to play some netball, but i think the higher ups got mixed up because we ended up playing basketball for two hours. i still know just as much about netball as i did before our "lesson", which is pretty much nothing at all. i definitely got my work-out in and at five thirty i am pooped and ready for a nap. canberra is a really quiet town, so i feel like i'm always sleepy. tomorrow we have the day off followed by a brumbies game. it should be really exciting! <3

i suppose you gotta study on a study abroad trip

today was our first full day in canberra and it was filled with lectures! (though i suppose on a study abroad trip, we should be learning something ...) our first lecture was given by alicia norris on "fueling your performance". she spoke on topics regarding how nutrition helps an athlete perform, how we fuel our body, types of fules used for certain intensity and duration of exercise, nutritional requirements, energy balance, and hydration. only 2% of body fluid needs to be loss before performance will be affected, so remember to stay hydrated in the summer heat!

our second lecture was given by damian raper on "injury prevention". he spoke on topics regarding injury risk reduction, acute management of injuries, rehabilitation, injury surveillance, injury risk factors, and prevention strategies. one interesting thing that differs between the states and australia is concussion management. both counties seem to follow the zurich protocol for return to play (RTP), but in rugby union they have this thing called the "head bin". this is about a five minute period where a medic must figure out if an athlete actually has a concussion and if they can go in or not. this is dangerous because symptoms can develop over a few hours and if a concussion is not resolved before RTP a life-threatening injury called second impact could occur.

our third lecture was given by nathan versey on "recovery". he spoke on topics regarding different ways to recover such as sleep, nutrition, periodisation, warm down, stretching, massage, hydrotherapy, compression garments, and relxation techniques. after the lecture we had a lab on hydrotherapy. specifically contrast where you are submerged in cold water for a bit and then warm water. we all tried to stay in the warm tub as long as possible because the cold tub was not pleasant to be in at all! you're supposed to always finish in the cold tub after a contrast treatment and an hour later i'm still trying to warm myself up!

anyway, i think i'm gonna go find myself a nice hot cup of tea to warm up to before dinner. there isn't good wifi here (or more so none at all), so don't be alarm if i'm not responding to emails/texts. i'm trying the best i can! missing everyone at home dearly <3

we made it to cleavage!

apparently canberra has two different meanings behind its name. for the more "official" meaning used by the government and people who don't know the aboriginal language, they believe that canberra stands for "meeting place". on the otherhand, for people who do know the langauge. they say that canberra stands for the hills that the city lies within - which resembles a cleavage. haha, i think that was about the only thing i got out of the short ten minute tour the bus driver gave us from the train station to the australian institute of sport which is where we are staying. since it's fall here, the weather is a little chilly. i'm walking around in jeans and a jacket all day. which is a little weird because i left seattle wearing shorts and a tank top. but canberra is a very nice little city. there isn't much to do here so i've been getting lots of much needed sleep. we also get fed three square meals a day so i've been full since i got here! everything is just so much more expensive here. especially the food. a pint of beer is close to 7-9 dollars while a normal entree is almost 20! i'm definitely going broke over here. but the experience is well worth it <3

lions and tigers and ... kangaroos?

on sunday the group took a trip to the taronga zoo. it has been said that the view from the zoo is the same view from p. sherman 42 wallaby way. some of the girls wanted to find the dentist office, but sadly this was the closest we ever got ): this zoo is so cool though! it's like built on the side of a mountain or something because we need to take these sky-lift like contraptions to the top. it was sunny and cloudless when we went so the view on the way up was breath-taking. once in we booked it straight to the kangaroo exhibit. this was a really cool one because there was a path the you could use to walk through the exhibit. you had to stay on it but the kangaroos could come up to you if they wanted to. i think they were enjoying the sun too much though because they were literally just lying there without a care in the world. next we saw exhibits of wombats, koalas, wallabies, tasmanian devils, emus, and so many other animals that are native to australia. one funny thing though is that there were exhibits for deers, chickens, goats, pigs, and cows. definitely was not expecting that! after the zoo a lot of the group went to do the bridge climb, i didn't have enough money to go so me and some others walked around the rocks market and the sydney contemporary museum. there were so much walking needed for both that when i got home my feet went straight up to try to redistribute some of the blood that had probably pooled at the bottom of my feet, haha. for dinner i tried some kangaroo pizza and it actually wasn't that bad! it tastes kind of like beef? i don't know. it wasn't bad at all though. next on my list is some crocodile! <3

kangaroo love <3

 

viva la vivid sydney

even though it wasn't planned, we were at the right place at the right time for vivid sydney. vivid sydney is basically a month were the city lights up the opera house, the bridge and various other places with LED light from about six pm until midnight. if anyone ever visits sydney, i highly encourage you to go during vivid. you won't regret it. it is so beautiful, especially late at night with the stars and moon shining over head. the opera house is amazing too. we weren't able to actually go in because all the doors were locked, but we were right underneath it for vivid and the lights were stunning! on saturday night, our tour guide took us out on a dinner cruise around the harbour. not only was it all you can eat and all you can drink we were able to see vivid from the deck of our ship and the view was spectacular. i wish you all were here to see everything i'm seeing. i feel so bad for writing all these amazing things without being able to show you pictures. ): getting a little homesick and missing home <3

just a little bit of vivid sydney

dinner cruise!

cricket: insect or game?

on saturday we toured the sydney cricket grounds. it has a ton of history in it and was a great place to visit for the day. it's interesting to see the club houses here in sydney. i know that back at home celebrities/professionl athletes kind of have their own place to go to that the general public can't get to. here, on the other hand, the public has rights to any place that professional players go. for a yearly fee, the public can use the same utilies that they professional athletes use. it's ridiculous! another crazy thing though is that to get some of the best seatings in the stadium, there's like a 12 year wait before you can buy a spot and even then the seats are ridiculously expensive! there was also a walk of fame that held the names of the best of the best in cricket, footie, rugby union and rugby league. apparently you can only get nominated when you've been retired for ten years or you were dead, so none of the players were particularly in a rush to get there. we weren't able to play any cricket though ): oh well, this girl can wait to bowl again <3

strapping some studs!

on friday all the athletic trainers took a bus to go watch a strapping session for the sydney bears. for all of you that aren't familiar with the terminology, strapping is another term for taping that is used here for australia. and can i please just say, RUGBY BOYS ARE SO GOREGOUS! jk, but kind of not really ... anyway, it was really interesting to see the differences from here and the states. in the states we use cotton tape. we start of by spraying an adhesive spray on all the athletes followed by prewrap and then the tape. here in australia, they solely use mcconnell tape. which in the states is an expensive brand that is only used periodically. it's also really sticky so it was interesting that the physios applied nothing but the tape onto bare skin. they also have a taping form called a figure 6 and the boot which were interesting to see. i don't think i would ever place mcconnell tape directly on skin, but it would be interesting to see how our rugby/football boys back home would like it (or not). afterwards, we were able to catch a part of the bear's game. they play rugby league which has different rules to rugby union. i think i'm definitely a rugby union girl at heart <3

sorry!

sydney has been so amazing! we have a five hour train ride tomorrow to canberra and i'll try to write about everything tomorrow! love and miss everyone! <3

excuse me?

language has been such a difficult barrier here. it isn't like we don't understand anyone and can't communicate, it's just that a different slang is used here and sometimes we have to ask for clarification. or that usually the case, unless you're in china town. after the olympic center a few girls and i went down to china town and shopped around a flea market known as 'patty's' it's huge and has almost any kind of little trinket you could ever want to buy for family at home. i was able to do a majority of my shopping down there, but need to go back for a few more items because we only had about an hour to shop since the ferry took so long! by the time we were done though everyone was starving so we went to find a restaurant to eat at. china town here is definitely different then the one at home. literally all the servers spoke broken english, someone couldn't speak at all. so you could see our surprise when we ended up with a tab that was almost two hundred bucks for five girls. but the food was good and i guess it was our fault for not double checking. whoops! you learn something new everyday, haha. on our way back it started to rain again so we tried to take the metro home. we struggled a little bit and got lost a few times, but we were definitely cultured! i also found a very nice rose on the metro and that kind of made my night. <3

aussie! aussie! aussie! (oi! oi! oi!)

today, the group toured the olympic national park. we started at the anz stadium and ended at the aquatic center. this place is freaking HUGE! i think the tour guide said that the tallest seat in the stadium sat at like fourteen stories. we went all the way to the top and it was crazy. the jumbotron screens are the largest in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world (the cowboys stadium hold number one, and some nascar place holds second). we then made our way to the coca cola suite and apparently it's like a couple thousand dollars for a seat at one game. absolutely ridiculous! after going up, we went down. underground are were the training rooms are held and they are exactly what you would think they would be. smelly and a very damp feeling ... anyway, we were able to go to the field level and stand on the actually medal podiums which as pretty cool! after what seemed like a bagillion photos we walked over to the aquatic center which was also huge! there's a dive pool, two lap pools and a recreational children's pool. the stadiums were definitely ahead of its time though.  they were like 90% recyclable or something and they were the first stadium to capture rain water to irrigate the grass. then in the aquatic center they were the first to have the water overflow over the edge so that drag and back waves weren't a problem and many athletes pr'd for this reason during the games. they also have a moving wall so that they can change the length of the pool. this was also a first. so even though australia is a pricey place to be, it definitely is a very environmental friendly and future thinking country. there hasn't been one thing here that I haven't fallen in love with yet <3

i found nemo!

today was such a busy day! we began the day at ten with a lecture by dr. jenny mcconnell from mcconnell taping. for those of you who do not know what that is, mcconnell tape is a type of tape that is used in the inhibition, stabilization, and realignment of different joints. she spoke with us about different types of knee pain with a focus on the misdiagnose of fat pad syndrome. we were able to evaluate one of the girls in the program and it was really interesting to see the different exercises that dr. mcconnell had. next we had a talk by rosalba courtney on dysfunctional breathing. she spoke on why there was a correlation between dysfunctional breathing and back pain and different types of dysfunctional breathing. she also touch briefly on how to tell someone has dysfunctional breathing and ways to help fix that. after that a group of us took the ferry to darling harbour to visit the sydney aquarium. i had so much fun! haha. the ferry ride in of itself was pretty amazing. we got a really nice view of the sydney opera house, the sydney bridge, and the luna park. at the aquarium there were a TON of fish (i suppose that makes sense though, haha) we also saw sharks, penguins, crabs, and sea horses. it was actually really surprising how big the whole exhibit was. i think it ended up taking us a few hours to complete. we ended up getting dinner in darling harbour because of that, haha. vivid sydney starts tomorrow and i can't wait! <3

p. sherman, 42 wallaby way

made it to sydney today! and can i once say how in love i am with australia? one of the girls on the trip and i have decided that we are going to misplace our passports so we don't have to leave and work as bartenders or something here. it's uncanny how similar everything else is to home. like i know i'm in a completely different county, but everything reminds me so much of seattle! anyway, we got in today at about two. we took a walking tour down to circular key where we had a really nice view of the sydney opera house with the sydney bridge over looking on our left. we then took a tram to some pretty cool fountain/churches and proceeded to walk downtown into all the shopping areas and i had a little heart attack with all the shoe stores. i feel like i will be spending most of my money here and bringing back a lot of shoes ... whoops. later that night we went to this pub for dinner and i had the most delicious meat pie with some chips and a beer. i sorely miss bar food so that was a nice chance from all the food i ate earlier in the week. but now i'm full, freshly showered, and so ready to pass out. i love and miss everyone. hoping to find nemo soon! <3

bye lennox head!

today is our last day in brisbane. tomorrow we're taking a flight to sydney! the weather was sixty and cloudy unfortunately so i was only able to sit on the beach for a few hours. but i did get some nice sun! a lot of us are just craving a good old american dinner so we're having a bbq tonight! should be a grand time (: i cant believe I've been in australia for a week already. my has time flown by. i just want it to stop so i can stay here forever. byron bay is made for me. I'll miss it sorely <3

the views in byron bay

the reasons i'm never getting on the plane home

<3

my perfect day.

yesterday the whole group went to byron bay for our first day off and it was literally my perfect day. we were dropped off right by the lighthouse which has this AMAZING view. it is the most eastern part of australia so it just over looks miles and miles and miles of deep blue ocean. we followed the trail down to the beach and it was even more beautiful down there. with the warm water underneath my toes and the bright sun overhead i was in paradise. once in town there were a bunch of little shops and I was more in heaven than I was before. byron bay really reminds me of seattle and I absolutely love it. I never want to leave this place. sorry momma and daddy. this girl might never come home <3

laughter adds years to your life

i honestly am in australia with the most amazing group of individuals. they are all so nice, welcoming, funny, and so easy to get along with! if i had to study abroad with any twenty college students through out the states i would choose these twenty. why you may ask? well after an exhausting day we all decided to stay in tonight instead of going out. we all ended up brining our laptops out and watched youtube videos like the one below. enjoy <3

proper cricket etiquette

today we learnt how to play cricket. I've been trying to learn this sport for almost three years now and I STILL don't understand it. I think I'm still lost after the lesson this morning. it was a lot of fun though. the instructor taught us how to bowl and catch the ball in the beginning. after a short scrimmage we suited up, like barney would say, and got in the cages to bat some balls. I've never been good with any hand-eye-stick coordination and today was no different, haha. I still struggled so much. but all in all it was a beautiful sunny day in lennox head and I had a grand time running around with the wonderful people I am with. after the lesson we went to bellana and watched the lennox head trojans play the locals. apparently they've been unbeatable for the past five years ago so it was a really good game to watch. I did what the locals did and got a tin (beer) and sausage roll for lunch and it was delicious. I wish everyone could be here to experience everything I am experiencing. you would love it <3

real life, real problems, real solution.

wsu has prepared me so well for the real world. I know I still have a year left and a lot more to learn, but I feel so competent. one of the girls in the program has been having SI problems for about two days now. we have an athletic training professor here and she was helping her, but they weren't making any process. other girls took a look too and they weren't finding anything. finally I decided to step up and take a look earlier tonight. within ten minutes I had figured out the problem and have began to write a protocol to fix it. I'm really proud of this and wanted to let everyone know that I am learning something here in the land down under <3

touch. pause. engage.

today the group went to a training session with the head coach of the lennox head trojans. we went through some drills including cardio, scrums, tackles and drop kicks. i should probably sign up for the women's team back at home because i made my first conversion and scored a few tries! we were out in the sun for a few hours though, so i definitely think that i'm a little burnt. afterwards a few of the girls made it up to lennox head point and it was so gorgeous! below is a panorama of the end of the trail. if i could describe my perfect day it would be lying down overlooking this beautiful view with a cold brew in hand. I could definitely get used to this life. I wouldn't mind it one bit. also, after dinner we went down to the beach to look at the stars, and the milky way was stunning. there were also a few shooting stars and i definitely made some nice wishes (: hope everyone is enjoying the sun back at home! remember, cheek to cheek <3

 

ice ice baby

I love ice cream. I think i loved it more than my ex boyfriend and that's why I'm currently single. oh well. it makes any day better, so definitely worth it. I just got a flavor called hokey pokey (vanilla and honey combs) at the local shop with some of the girls in my group and it was amazing! my tummy is full and this is a happy girl. earlier today the AT students had a class with marian again through hydrotherapy. the water of the pool was 68 F, but for some reason felt so much colder! it's weird to currently be in australia because it technically is their fall/winter and everywhere you go it's a littler chillier than you would expect. the class was a lot of fun though, I would definitely love to work with her someday with e aboriginals. anyway, it's nine thirty here and after a good day of surfing this girl is pooped. sweet dreams <3

surf's up!

today the group woke up at freaking seven in the morning to go surfing! but i guess i cant complain. the weather was a little cloudy, but with some wet suits on the waves were amazing to surf. i dont really understand any of the lingo that the instructor was trying to teach us, but i guess it didnt matter because i was able to stand up about five different times! it is so much fun! i think a group of us are gonna try and go again in a couple days. surfing is a lot of work though. i am not strong enough for this sport, haha. this girl is gonna go take a nap. hang loose gents and ladies <3

all play and some work.

today was the first day of classes and I so wished that classes at home were like these. my first class was on surfing injuries. we just went over different MOI and the stretches that could help prevent them and I absolutely loved it. I've never gone surfing or seen a surfing competition, but if I were to intern in Australia I would love to cover an event or something. after class, I had a nice four hour break so I made it to town and walked around the shops and bought some grocery. we took the beach route into town and it was absolutely gorgeous. if I could live on the beach for the rest of my life I would. the idea of opening up a to-go bakery on the beaches of so-cal are becoming more and more appealing. the second class of the day was taught by an exercise physiologist named marian. she is this cute little lady with the most colourful personality. she works a lot with the aboriginal population in town and specializes in hydrotherapy. she talked a lot about the culture of the aboriginal people but loved talking about gait patterns and how analyzing them will help therapist diagnosis and plan for certain injuries that individuals may have. it's really interesting to see how different the health care is over here compared to the states. anyway, it's time for dinner here. missing you all <3

tick tock

this time difference is a killer. it is currently ten pm local time and it feels like five am (which makes sense since that's the current time at home, but still.) i am so exhausted. all I want to do is sleep but I know that I can't let the jet lag get the best of me. so here I am, trying not to doze off. my first class is tomorrow though and I'm pretty excited. we're having a physiotherapist come in and talk to us about some evaluation techniques that she has which would be cool to see. just to grasp how different/similar the health care is between Australia and America. I also am thinking of physiotherapy school here in Australia next year, so it would be nice to network a little. WSU has taught me well. no matter where you go, get to know the people you see. for they can be your future employer/peers. anyway, i have some reading to do before tomorrow. so sweet dreams to everyone. I love you and ,is you so much! <3

white beaches to white horses

we finally got into lennox head after a two hour long car ride. it's this cute little cabin right on the beach. the outlets are a little funky and the sink is literally the size of a purse, but i'm in australia and I can't complain. a group of us made it down to the beach earlier and IT IS SO AMAZING! the water is so much warmer than seattle's and the sand is this nice off white color. the sky is this crisp blue broken up with white clouds and there are just birds chirping everywhere. we also drove around town on our way to the cabin and there are so many cute shops and sites that I want to go see. I think we have a day off coming up and I cant wait to just lie in the sun and drink and enjoy the beautiful views of the land down under. <3

it feels like home.

I know it isn't always like this in australia, but I feel like I'm in seattle. the weather is a little muggy and foggy with slight rain. but I don't mind it one bit. there's a few differences. such as driving on the left instead of right. but I can get used to that in no time. we also just drove by a mickey d's, 7/11, and subway. I feel like I never left home, haha. <3

aussie charm

made it to brisbane with no problem at all. customs was a little crazy and long, but i didn't lose my luggage! score! but can i just say that I've already fallen in love with australia? right when I passed the gates this nice old man ask if I was doing okay and needed any help. I told him that I was just waiting for my group to catch up and we ended up having a ten minute conversation on life, marriage, travel, and love. I mean I've only made it to the airport in brisbane, but if people are this nice in the hectic life of an airport terminal, one can only imagine what people would be like in the towns when life is a little bit more relaxed. we're about to take a two hour bus ride to lennox head, just thought i'd let everyone know I got in safely <3

boeing 747

it is currently 3:41 seattle time and i am trying to stay up as late as possible so that i don't get too much jet lag when i get into brisbane. i've watched the green mile (which is an AMAZING movie by the way) and am currently watching the silver lining playbook to pass just a few more hours before I can go  to sleep. though i am so exhausted i just want to shut my eyes and pass out. earlier in the trip i was able to meet some of the other kids that are in my program as we settled into our seats and I really like them. they all seem really fun and laid back. which makes me even more excited because i'm the only one from washington state and was a little worried that I wouldn't get along with anyone. but this doesn't seem to be the case and makes me a little bit more relaxed. though on a completely other note, this plane is HUGE. it has two levels, is about eight seats across and the bottom floor is around 45 rows deep. this is by far the biggest plane i've ever been on and it's kinda cool. I also got some chardonnay with my dinner and that's always a plus! I'm thinking I should do some more traveling because I've also gotten a ton of free food/snacks and food is still the way to my heart. <3

do the electric slide

so there's yet another thing about LAX that confuses me. there isn't a working outlet here. you would think that an airport this big with this many people flowing through it would have better outlets. but nope. there's about three stations with four outlets each in the terminal that i am currently residing in. i cannot tell you how many times i've walked up and down the corridors searching for a place to sit and charge my phone. it's kinda silly. (i'm getting my exercise in though). i really enjoy my group so far. there's about five guys and one girl in the sports management program and thirteen girls in the sports med program. the guys see really chill and hopefully the girls don't get on my nerve. we all know how much thuy-vy likes her on sex ... not much at all. but with all kidding aside. they really aren't that bad. i've actually hit it off really well with about three of them already. the rest seem super nice so i should have no problem at all. i just really needed some alone time before spending every waking moment of the next three weeks with these people. but with that all said and done. I'M SO PUMPED TO BE GOING DOWN UNDER!! <3

this LA heat

just landed in LA and guess what just happened. i got lost. go figure right? i now know LAX like the back of my hand. or sort of, not really. IT'S HUGE! i'll probably get lost again before i meet my group. it's always promising to start a trip abroad with losing your sense of directions. oh well, just putting these cougar calves to work. <3

click your red shoes to LAX

i'm currently sitting on the airplane getting ready to take off to LAX and i am so nervous! as a child, my family didn't do much traveling. we stuck to the states and the farthest i ever got was mexico. and as i sit in my seat in 7C, i can't believe that in nine hours i will be in yet another seat heading to australia. i've been planning this trip for about five months now and it's so crazy that the time has finally arrived. i have mixed feelings of happiness, being worry, being scared, being excited. there is just so much feeling going on. i feel like i'm about to cry just to let all the emotions out but i don't think the old man next to me would handle that too well. whoops. anyway, the plane is about to take off. see you all in california <3

just some jittery business.

in less than 24 hours i will be boarding a plane that will take me half way across the world and into not only a different country; but a different hemisphere, a different time-zone, a different culture, a different world. even though i'm terrified of all the deadly creatures that australia has to hold, i cannot handle my excitement for this experience right now. every day i'm a little more jittery with anticipation of finally going on this adventure. along with 18 other students across the states we'll be visiting major cities such as brisbane, sydney, canberra, and melbourne. we're going surfing, to rugby games, to cricket games, to zoos, touring rainforests, touring cities, and a plethora of new, exciting, and different things. yet the most amazing thing is that i'm going to be able to network with potential colleagues when i graduate next year. networking not only with the professionals i'll be able to meet when i job shadow at various clinics, but networking with the amazing individuals that i will be sharing this experience with. i'm a melting pot of emotions right now, but all i know is that i wish i was sunday already, i wish we were down under. it cannot come soon enough <3