Right  now I am sitting in the classroom, watching "Yellow Submarine", and doing my last duty weekend EVER!  In case you can't tell, I am a little excited about that.  As always, the job has its ups and downs, but lately I am just tired of it all.  And then I feel bad because I don't want to turn into "a Kris."  I think I just need to readjust my attitude...overall.

So, I got an internship this summer working in Internal Audit.  It is at KPMG, which is the biggest accounting firm in Portland.  I have mixed emotions about it.  I am really excited because the people are really great and it will be a wonderful experience.  I am really nervous that I won't be able to do what they expect me to do.  I hate to fail.  And depending on how the summer goes, I may get an offer to work there when I graduate...and that makes me even more nervous.  I am not sure that Audit is what I really want to do "when I grow up."  I still think about maybe going to law school, or trying to study Cultural Anthropology.  Everything just seems to be coming to an end, and I don't know what I really want to do next.  Hopefully by the end of the summer I will have a clearer picture.

Spring Break was a blast!  Jessica, Chelsea, Andrea and I went up to Vancouver B.C. for two days.  It was the perfect amount of time.  It was enough time to have fun, but not too much time so we got on each others nerves.  We even got to go out and sing karaoke!  Oh my goodness, it was so much fun.  There were all these Asian business men and women there and they were really friendly and encouraging when we sang.  I sang "Help" (Beatles) all by myself and then I sang "California Dreamin" with Chels.  We even got special hats to commemorate the trip. 

This term has been pretty busy with classes and meetings.  I have meetings every night from Monday to Thursday.  And now I am going to try and run for College of Business Senator.  I think it would be a great opportunity and I have some ideas for next year, but I haven't been campaigning too much.  There are something like 12 other candidates (for 4 spots).  I guess I figure that if I get it, that's cool, if not, then oh well!

My classes are better than last term, which is nice.  I have two classes with Professor Jonathan King which, to say the least, are interesting.  Even though Chris thinks he is a really cool guy, I am just not seeing it yet.  I have him every day at 10 am and I hear the same stories and examples over, and over, and over again.  At least they will stick eventually (I hope). Organizational Behavior is pretty cool so far and I have some really funny people in my group.  My accounting professor, who I feared would be really scary, isn't bad at all and after I have my first midterm on Monday, I will find out for sure!  I am a little disappointed by my "Environmental Impacts of War" class.  I was hoping that the professor would teach a little more, but instead we are doing group research and presentation....and that is about it.  And lastly there is my thesis class which, by the end of the term, I have to have a signed thesis proposal.  So, what is my thesis, you may ask.  No freaking clue!  But I will tell you in 7 weeks!

I am also trying to find a place to live for next year.  I know where I want to live, but I don't think it is going to happen.  So, I am still looking for a 4 bedroom apartment that is close to campus, not trashy and not too expensive.  Anyone know of such a place?  Me neither, or should I say, not yet.

I think that is about it for now.  Take care!

Okay, so everyone keeps telling me to upgrade my xanga, but I am such a slacker and really haven't gotten around to it.  But I will try to write at least a
little bit.

I MISS AUSTRALIA!!!

Yeah, the last few weeks here in Oregon have really made me miss Australia.
First of all the weather has been really cold.  I really don't remember it
being this cold before I went to Oz, but now it seems absolutely freezing.  I
know I am just complaining, but my goodness!  School has also been a bit of a bummer.  Classes in Australia weren't really great or anything, but at least
there were a lot less of them.  Currently, I like my accounting class pretty
well.  Marketing and Operations Management are suppose to be easy, but I'm not doing so hot in them.  And I absolutely hate BA 378!  The class is stupid and my teacher is terrible.  Ahhhh!!!

I have been interviewing for summer internships at some of the big accounting firms.  It has been a very good experience, but it takes a lot of time.  Right now I just want to go to bed for a few weeks and wake up when it is Spring Break!

I'm back home!!!  Woo Hoo!!!

It is so nice to have my comfy bed to sleep in and a fridge stocked with food that I didn't have to pay for.  I have basically been unpacking, sleeping and catching up on all the TV I missed since I was gone.

I'm going to try and catch up on everything since I haven't really written since I left for New Zealand.  So, here we go!

NEW ZEALAND… is soooo beautiful!  It was absolutely amazing!  The only thing I didn’t like was that I couldn’t stay longer (I was only there a week).  We (My mom, dad, aunt and I) traveled around to the thermal hot springs, glowworm caves, crystal clear waterfalls and much more.  My favorite was probably Hot Water Beach.  There is this hot spring that is right next to the ocean and when the tide is low, people dig a hole in the sand and can sit in burning hot water.  Even if you just stand in the water (which is about as cold as the Pacific in Oregon) and let your feet get buried in the sand a little ways, they will all of a sudden feel like they are on fire.  It was really cool!  I also went to this farm where I got to milk a cow and feed a lamb (I know that you can do this in Oregon, but it just seemed cooler since it was a different country).  A little fact:  there are about 4 million people in New Zealand and over 45 million sheep!

So, New Zealand was a blast, but I returned to Sydney on a Thursday night and I had my first final on Saturday morning (I think I have already complained numerous times about the whole test on a weekend thing, but here is one more gripe!)  It was an okay test, although it took me almost the entire three hours.  My roommates Jen and Lorna moved out on that Saturday and the next day Becky and Becky moved in.  So, I was then referred to as “old Becky” (because I had lived there the longest, not cause I was older than either of them) or “American Becky” and the other two were blonde and brunette Becky.  It was a bit confusing, but oh well!  The next few days was spent studying and sightseeing with my parents.  We went down south about 3 hours to go dolphin watching and despite wasting all of my film on shots of partial dolphins 80 meters away, they ended up coming right up to our boat in the end.  That Wednesday we had a Thanksgiving dinner with my family, all my roommates and Chris and Rusty (the guys from OSU).  It was a lot of fun and the food was really good, but they don’t exactly sell big Turkeys like they do here.  So, after much searching, the biggest one we could find was 9.5 lbs. and that isn’t exactly enough for 12 people…so we improvised.

My next test was okay and the rest of the week and weekend was spent packing and studying for my horrible Accounting final.  After I finished the test I was literally shaking because it was so intense.  I knew for sure that I had failed; however, I didn’t really have time to worry, because that evening Christina and I left to go up to Cairns (The Great Barrier Reef). It was absolutely amazing!  We spent three days on a live aboard boat and did 11 dives (including 2 night dives).  It was so beautiful!  There were tons of fish, sharks, stingrays and even an eel.  And supposedly there were also turtles, however, we didn’t see any (something that Christina is still upset about).  We also met lots of really cool people, including a guy from Seattle who has done thousands of dives all over the world and two guys who have been working on The Lord of the Rings trilogy the last few years.  After we got off the boat, we spent two more nights in Cairns and got to watch the Rugby World Cup game.  Most of you probably didn’t even know that such and event existed, and that it was taking place in Sydney.  However, the rest of the world was glued to the TV to watch England face off against Australia after weeks of elimination (the U.S. actually had a team in the competition, but we totally sucked).  It was a really good game and with minutes left the game was tied.  At the last minute, hottie Jonny Wilkinson kicked a field goal (they call it something else in Rugby) and won the game.  It was good, even though after 5 months I was still clueless about what was actually going on in the game.

Our next stop was Fiji.  It was really great.  It was really hot, but there was usually a nice breeze.  In our first week, we traveled around the main island on a bus.  We got to go to villages, go hiking in the hills, go out to a club and drink Kava.  The best way to describe Kava is that it looks like muddy water and tastes like it too.  But, it is a big thing in Fijian culture and we were expected to drink it when we visited villages.  Supposedly if you drink enough, you can hallucinate or at least get a buzz.  However, the most I ever had was 4 cups (not that much) and the only side effect was that my lips and tongue would go numb for a few minutes.  I brought a little back, so if anyone is up for it, let me know. J  We met a lot of fun people from the bus and had a couple of fun nights at the bar.

The next week was spent island hopping on the Yasawa and Mamanuca Island chains.  I learned to appreciate several things such as hot water, fresh water and electricity.  On most of the islands, there was not electricity so lights out was usually around 11 pm when they turned the generator off.  They usually had some kind of fresh water tanks, but the water still smelled and felt like it had salt water in it.  And I guess hoping for hot water was a bit optimistic on my part.  One thing that was nice at most of the places, however, was the food and hospitality.  And of course there were lots of really fun people to get to know.

We flew back to Sydney for just two days before we came home.  However, in that time we did a lot of shopping (I got a didgeridoo that has echidnas painted on it and as soon as I learn to play it I will show it off), had a BBQ and Beach with friends from school and went to The Lion King musical.  Going back for a few days made me miss Sydney even more when we left.  But, despite the freezing cold weather, it is really good to be home.

Well, I snuck back into school to check my email and give a quick update.  I just returned to Sydney from Fiji and I had an awesome past two weeks there!  The first week I spent travelling around the main island hiking, going to villages, eating lots of curry and just having fun with the people on the tour.  The second week I spent island hopping, laying in the sun, sitting in the the incredibly warm Pacific Ocean and chillin with some more fun people.  Every once in a while I would just sit back and think, I can't believe I am really in Fiji.  Although, I learned that hot water, sheets and even toilet paper are all luxuries that are not necessarily guaranteed on a backpacker's vacation.

I will be in Sydney for two more days.  Most of the time will be spent doing last minute shopping, but I am also going to see The Lion King at the local theater.  So, I will be home on December 10th and I can't wait to see everybody.  I have tons of pictures, some crappy videos and plenty of stories to share.  Until then, I love you all and take care!