Studying abroad in Townsville through IFSA Butler

The reason that I went to study abroad in Townsville, Australia was to follow the path of my older sister who studied abroad there four years ago. Her stories of the people, classes, and weather all easily convinced me to study abroad there. However, while I felt that my experience was far different from hers, it was even better than I imagined. I got to start my trip off in Sydney exploring the city, getting used to the time change and taking some excursions to the blue mountains and aboriginal sites where we could learn about the culture of indigenous australians. Then, going to James Cook University, we were picked up by students at the airport who were able to tell us all about our dorm and we even saw some wild wallabies on our way onto campus. I learned a lot in my classes, which were all centered around Australian culture, health and climate but even the learning style was something that I had to get used to. One of my favorite parts about studying abroad would be working at the culture fest that was hosted on James Cook University's campus. While for volunteering I was only asked to direct traffic, I was able to get a free pass to go through the culture fest which included singers and performers from multiple different cultures as well as food, jewelry, and clothes being sold which I took full advantage of. James Cook University also put on international Cafes for international students where they would have different people come in and talk and different prizes. At one of them I even won tickets to go see the women's basketball game. The school hosted 'free lunch fridays' where they once offered kangaroo sausage as we got to watch a snake handler show us some of the most dangerous snakes in Australia. Pictures of my memories from Townsville are now plastered on the walls of my room and I still keep in contact with the people from my dorm. It was an amazing experience and I would do anything to be able to do it again.