Don't Forget To Believe. .

Believe is the one word I will always carry with me. I think it is extremely important to believe that you have the strength to get through anything and achieve anything you set your mind to. No-one but yourself can prevent you from making your dreams come true. So next time your feeling low or cant see how it could possibly get any better, believe in yourself and you'll find the strength to survive. 

The End Of The Beginning.

Exams are over and every assignment handed in, but not only is it the end of the semester, it is the end of my degree. I have done it, I have completed three years of university and am now walking away to begin the next chapter of my life. 

it is so weird to think that three years ago I was finishing my year 12 exams and deciding how I was going to spend the next three years studying. These three years have gone by so fast, I can not believe that I have finished all my education and am now about to enter the work force and create a career for myself. 

This is it, this is where life begins! 

Strikes and Spares. .

Do you ever find that the good things in life are often the simplest and most traditional of things! Bowling is a past time for so many people but its such a great opportunity for a group of people to come together and have some laughs! 

I had the most amazing time bowling last night and now I can't wait to go again! - any one up for bowling??

That One Person Who Can Make Me Crumble.

Do you ever get that feeling where as much as you don't understand something you can't get it off your mind? I mean i don't understand why or what was to come of my ex contacting me but now that he has the conversation is just left hanging. Maybe it would have been better if i didn't reply, but wouldn't that have been rude? As much as I'm okay with it i have this lingering feeling that just wants to prove something to myself. I want to be the one that is in control, the one who comes across strong and independent and okay. Thats not unreasonable right? But he is and always will be that one person that can make me crumble. I am determined to not let that happen this time because I'm a different person and have moved on but just this time i want the control. Ive got this feeling deep in my gut though, that its just not going to turn out like that. 

Day Five On My Travels- No Such Luck

Talk about having bad luck in a foreign city. Today was no different to the start of our trip! 

We decided to have a sleep in and pack, after i had sorted everything out with the girls- not a fun start to the day! After we checked out we went to the markets once again and had shopped around for a few hours. After this we ventured to the Emirates Palace and had gold cake and a camelchino- cappuccino made of camels milk!! It was so humid today that walking outside made my camera lens fog up, despite this we ran around taking photos for an hour in every possible combination we could think of! After the palace we went to the mall and had a look around and then we made our way back to the mosque to see it at night. We just made the time cut but it was so worth it- it was beautiful! Like nothing you would have ever seen before. One of the girls was heading back so we rushed through the mosque and then made our way back to the hotel just in time for her to leave for her flight- the only thing is she left her wallet in the taxi. We did everything we could but it was gone, to tope it off the travel agent had messed up her booking and her name wasn't on the flight list so we had to rush there with as much money as we could find so that she wouldn't miss her flight. I swear it wasn't our day!! But i admire her because there is no way i could have coped with that much stress! The taxi driver was a champ and we were all so shaken up we couldn't even count the bill out so he found it quite entertaining. At least we made people laugh right! 

We finished the night with tv and room service and then we just crashed ready to start the second part of our holiday! 

Day Four On My Travels- A Once In A Lifetime Opportunity

After last night i was amazed we got all got up and ready in time to make breakie! We ate all we could then rushed to get to the buses in time for the tour day. Turns out people skipped buses and there was no room for us! So we had to get a private lift with the organiser to the lift and then had a private tour of the Mosque. The Mosque was amazing, like nothing I've ever seen before. We had an amazing tour guide who was great at explaining the history of the mosque while also making the tour entertaining and full of laughs. It amazed me how much there was to learn about the building and the culture. I mean its one thing entering another culture and respecting it but understanding it and hearing about it from an inside point of view is very different. 

Now this is where my stupid mind got the better of me and i managed to make the rest of the day crap for everyone- but I'm angry enough at myself for that so i don't want to dwell on it, I'm just lucky enough to have amazing friends who looked past it! I don't know i just started to feel left out and unwanted but looking back i think i made myself feel like that because I'm so used to being made to feel like that that i just assumed everything was too good to be true! 

The next stop was the media station. We were originally meant to go on tourism tour but people took our places so we changed to the media tour. Turns out this was the best decision we could have made. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was amazing seeing everything! They were the nicest people and true to their motto of doing something and doing it well, they took us to the filing room, the broadcast room where they were doing a live broadcast, to the studios and to the news room, they even gave us a gift bag at the end! To top it all off the whole tour was filmed on camera and was later covered on the Abu Dhabi News!! I can't wait to see it! 

Before heading back we stopped at the mall for lunch and a quick look around and then we made our way back to the hotel and quickly napped ready to leave for the desert safari. Turns out the bus left half an hour before we thought, not leaving me anytime to change but oh well. So we ran down stairs to the bus and sat next to two tutors for the 2 hour bus ride. Oh and our bus driver had no idea what he was doing!!

No-one knew what to expect heading into the safari so what we saw was even more amazing. We got dropped in the middle of no where to a group of only six 4WD's. Me and Karen ended up in the bosses car meaning we got the 'VIP Experience'. We had no idea what was happening as the rest of the crew on the buses followed but eventually we were four wheel driving in the sand dunes. The dunes were amazing, flawless! The drive was insane! Turns out because there was only two of us that we got two turns, another after we picked up 4 more people. We were driving all over the desert, in and out of sand dunes until suddenly we came to a stop and we were in a desert oasis. It was just at the bottom of the hill, a brick wall lit up with lights and a banquet area, camel rides and quad bike rides. It was like nothing I've ever seen before and it was one of this things you never expect to see, a real once in a lifetime experience. We spent the night taking photos on the sand dune, sand boarding, taking camel rides, riding quad bikes and listening to music while a belly dancer performed. The dinner was a traditional BBQ followed by henna and shish.

Tired as anything we went back to bus and made our way back to the hotel to rest. On the way back i couldn't sleep so i joined in on a conversation with the girls from the university. It was so interesting to see how surprised they were at the way we all saw and believed their lifestyle to be. They said that the religion is being modernised but people aren't aware of this and view their life to be very different to how it actually is. Its definitely been awakening culturally and made me intrigued in the rest of the world- i want to see it all! 

Day Three On My Travels- Taking Chances & Making New Friends

Today was presentation day at the university. Not being in the final two groups we figured we were out of the woods presentation wise. Well in fact it turned out we were wrong! Each of the remaining groups was divided into pairs and each was to redesign the presentation in 45 minutes and then present to another group and a lecturer. It was a great experience getting to work with everyone in a group and not through online platforms! I was not planning on presenting but last minute everyone hooked me into it and encouraged me to. I guess i thought I've challenged myself this much already its better to present than to have any regrets, right? So i presented. I have to say it was an amazing experience! We did an amazing job and the feedback was excellent. The lecturer said our ideas were really creative, cohesive and clearly linked to our objectives. It was great to hear this after not being sure about the presentation the whole time. I found that presenting helped me to understand the ideas and how they worked so much better and if i don't say so myself, our proposal sounded amazing! 

The rest of the afternoon included lunch in the cafeteria, a presentation by media students at the university, the finalists presentations, industry professional panel Q & A and presentations by lecturers from different countries.  It was a long day and so hard to stay awake but after it finished we left the university and made our way back to the hotel to get ready for the gala dinner. The ride back was the beginning of us making friends with the rest of the group. We all sat up the front and got to know each other. Apparently i look like Kate Nash! haha.

We literally had 20 minutes to get ready for the dinner and i still had to wash my hair and everything! Needless to say i didn't look how i wanted to but we were only a little late compared to what we thought we would be! The night was nice but quite quick, the only thing that was done was the announcement of the winning team and the awards for each sector. Our team won the most creative award which was great news! There was a little bit of conflict though as we had been in such a rush we hadn't called the other girls or taken our phone! But luckily we managed to sort that out before the rest of the night!

We went to the bar for drinks first- Free cocktails for ladies! However weirdly they let us in the first time and not the second as the legal age was 21. . so after some sweet talking and showing that i wasn't impressed we managed to get in! It was really great spending more time getting to know everyone. The girls from Aus even invited us to the Russian Vodka party and out to the club after. We went to the vodka party and squeezed in with everyone else to drink vodka and get to know everyone. We were about to head off to the club when we realised that we weren't old enough, however everyone  thought i was in my twenties and not still a teenager so it was funny seeing the shock when i told them i was only nineteen so couldn't get in! We headed back to the Vodka party though and spent the rest of the night there dancing, laughing and learning italian and russian. It was amazing how well everyone got on and we made some really good friends and met some lovely people!

Lets just hope its not too hard to get up in the morning. . 

Day Two On My Travels- Often What We Are Scared Of Is Simply What We Don't Understand

Now i know these are late but the trip went so quick and we were all so tired the rest of the holiday just flew by before i could write this. But now exams are over and i can finally relax and catch up on everything i have to get done!

The second day of our trip started with a sleep in and a slow morning, i even had my hair curled for the first time with it short and i loved the change!

We went up to the shops and had a look around in the morning and stocked up on food for the rooms. It was so deserted! I mean here the shops are buzzing all the time but it was empty which made the staring we got a little more obvious at times.

This night was the first night of the Globcom experience and it started by having my named called out by numerous people in the foyer and car park of the hotel. It was so weird everyone recognised me and i felt terrible because i wouldn't have been able to recognise them all- i said this to Sarah and she pointed out it was probably because i was the only one with bright red hair! A lot of them said that i have a unique style too which stands out- i pride myself on being different so its always nice to hear that people like them your style and it stands out! it was so good to meet the team we had been working with online for months with. Everyone got along really well too!

We started the evening with a tour of the university in Abu Dhabi. Its amazing. The architecture was so unique and they have two of everything, one for the female students (approx 2,000 students) and one for the make students (approximately 300 students). There was a mini shopping mall including a flower shop, two libraries, a room of PC's with the plastic still on! and a gym. It was amazing and its all funded by the Government. It was an amazing experience to have a tour by a student from the uni to and get to ask them all about the culture and lifestyle. We got to speak to one of the art students on our walk through and she explained the purpose of their work; there is a large amount of misconnection of the area and its culture and religion. The purpose of the project was to explain the real culture and move away from the association of camels and sand dunes with the area. It was inspirational and it taught me a lot about other cultures and misunderstandings. I mean i am normally a cautious person and don't like stepping out of my comfort zone but this experience was very out of my comfort zone and while i was away not nice did i get worried because i learnt most the time what we are scared of is simply what we don't understand. Our tour guide was so sweet and adorable! We truly met the nicest people while we were away!

The tour and the dinner was a chance for us all to get to know each other and spend time as a group. Surprisingly i found out that my accent isn't that Australian and i was commonly mistaken for being from the UK! It was a long night though and we all collapsed in bed after!

The rest of the trip to come. . .

Checking In From The Desert.

After a day of travelling me and the girls have arrived in Abu Dhabi! The last few days have been such a blur, i can't remember anything! All i did was rush through each day making sure uni and everything for the trip was organised- i have to say, without my dad doing so much for me it wouldn't have been possible! He looks after me! 

I can't usually sleep on planes but after days on end with no sleep i slept the whole trip, plus a ten hour sleep last night! I was so exhausted i don't even remember falling asleep or the plane flight itself! The flight was not drama free though! As soon as i walked through the gates the security checkers removed my bag and asked who's it was, asking me to return through the gate. The man said there was something really serious in my bag in a voice that scared the crap out of me! I mean i have huge anxiety about going through those machines at the worse of times, i even check my luggage ten times to make sure I'm clear, so as you can imagine this gave me a heart attack! He proceeded to tell me how serious it was and that i had a aerosol can in my bag- from this i removed a small zip lock bag (as required) with mini toiletries and a sealed, never been used deodorant can. "Oh thats ok, no worries" he said. I was pin shock i was like, "thats it? so I'm all good? everything else is ok?". To this he laughed and said "yeah, now you can relax". Clearly he doesn't know me because that sick, anxious feeling lasted an hour! My friends think he may have been joking after hearing the conversation but in my books - so not funny! The first flight we all ate then slept and then used our six hour lay over to shop, look at all the chocolate, eat and buy new carry on bags, new shoes and medication, you know the usual! After a coffee- bad idea might i say! We got on the next flight and rather than doing what i planned and writing all my corporate study notes, i got a blood nose and then a migraine and had to close my eyes the whole trip- it was horrible! The steward looked after me though, checking up on me and getting me Pandadol for the flight and afterwards! I don't think you often fine stewards like that! 

We arrived after eating all our amazing snacks and with some of us doing study. The view was all desert, it amazed me. I mean yeah we had planned on coming here and knew what the country was like but arriving was completely different. The last 3 weeks, packing, assignments and flights were a complete blur but this was real. The airport has glass doors protecting the flights in, minimal windows unlike western airports where the walls are glass and men were sitting around in groups, some in customary clothes and others in casual clothing. The Airport was a globe. It had all the shops and desks in little semi-circles that surrounded a large circle and mosaic tiling on the roof. It was absolutely amazing and made me want to travel the world and see everything else! Being obsessed with photos i really wish i could have taken some but its not respected and i didn't fancy getting in trouble before i even left the airport- first stop jail! I think we all expected the customs process to take at least forty five minutes and to be very strict, however it took us ten minutes to get through with one bag scan. once we got through customs we met up with the other girls and headed back to the hotel. We almost skipped the taxi line- once again risking getting in trouble before we even stepped off the curb of the airport! We got two taxis and got them to follow one another. As we headed to the car a man intercepted the trolley and proceeded to unpack our bags into the car, we then closed the door and behind Sarah i could see the man glaring at us, not happy at all- we forgot to tip him! Having only money from the exchange the smallest we had 20 dirhums- a little too lucky for that man if you ask me!  The taxi ride was interesting to say the least, dry desert skys and construction bridges that looked - interesting. I was so out of it it took me 20 minutes to work out he was driving on the opposite side of the road! Were staying out of the city so we drove away from the excitement to a island area with 5 hotels in a circle. The taxi driver decided to test us in our first hour here - we gave him 50 dirhums and he gave us 10 change for 23.75 cab ride- i dont think so! It was nice though the other girls sent over their belle boy and he watched us and stayed by our side until we got our change. That taxi driver picked the wrong girls to mess with! 

After the drama we went up to our rooms, showered to remove the plane smell from us, changed and had room service for dinner. It was so good! Then we changed into our pj's and drifted off to sleep. Abu Dhabi is amazing, coming was the best decision I've made this year. Now day two begins with the hard task of deciding what to order for breakfast. .