My First week In Australia (July 15-22)

G'Day Mate!

So I arrived in Sydney, Australia last Friday, July 17, after being in airports and airplanes for a little over 30 hours! Let me tell you... if you ever plan on coming over to the outback be prepared for feeling greasy, tired of airports, crapped up legs, falling asleep by 7pm, and for everything to be completely opposite of the US! Friday I met the other two people in the study abroad program with me (Jenna Wolf and Desmond Littles). We walked around Sydney during the morning and then in the afternoon we went up into the skyline tower. From the tower we had a great view of the city. By 7:30pm though that night I was fast asleep! Saturday we went 2 hours west of Sydney by train to get to the Blue Mountains. It was a gorgeous National reserve that extends really far within Australia. It was a lot like the Grand Canyon except that it had lots of trees. Sunday we went to Taronga Zoo in Sydney. I was able to see kangaroos (even was able to pet one!), platypuses, koalas, and lots of other animals. I enjoyed the zoo. Then we took a cab ride up to Newcastle and were dropped off at the university. I was able to unpack a little bit before we had to go and do some icebreakers with all the international students that had just moved onto campus.

So far this week has been orientation on campus. Including a bunch of things I had to go through my freshman year in college. Some things have been helpful but most of it has been a waste of time. It has really been a challenge because basically I have had to figure out everything on my own, like how to get a student id, how to sign up for courses, get my Internet working, figure out bus schedules, my way around campus, where my classes are, so basically everything. It has been killing my nerves and my body is pretty much shot... although I am slowly recovering a little bit at a time each day. Campus is huge too by the way... much bigger than Eureka. About 30,000 students total and I feel like I am in a forest when I am going through it.

Today I finally got to see Newcastle through a tour they had for international students. It is a pretty big city of about 360,000 people. Lots of different sections to it. I also got to see the beach!Then the rest of the day I have spent organizing my room finally, going through all the information I have received this week, cleaning my desk, and understanding the computer network for my classes. I will eventually post pictures but in the meantime you can check out my facebook profile to see the pictures.

My mailing address is

Natalie Wetterauer
Edwards Hall
The University of Newcastle
CALLAGHAN NSW 2308

And you can also get a hold of me through email nwetterauer@eureka.edu or skype natalie.wetterauer

I want to ask one thing from you if you don't mind me asking. I would love it if you can all continue to pray and think of me. This week has been one of the most challenging weeks of my life and it is slowly starting to get better. I know though that I wouldn't be here though if God didn't have a plan for it to impact my life or someone else's in some way or form. So for now I will just Psalm 62 in my heart and mind.