It didn't rain in the rainforest...

Our little nook!

When I first heard the program I came to Australia with organized a group trip to the rainforest in Binna Burra for the weekend, I pictured giant trees with monkeys and parrots and tigers everywhere. Looking back on that now..why would I think there would be tigers roaming around Australia..BUT this weekend was just as amazing and, don't worry, I saw just the animal I wanted to see:]

I also thought we were going to be sleeping in dirty bug-infested log cabins, but I was very pleasantly surprised! Claire and I had this cute little nook complete with coffee and tea and shampoos and things. Reading that now it doesn't seem that cool but if you've spent the last couple weekends in hostels you would understand. In fact...even our dirty apartment at uni is no where near as nice as these cabins.

Claire and I

After settling in, we realized how completely starving we were. It was about 4:30 and dinner wasn't until 6:30. We started joking around that they better have a feast for us...and if all they had was "American style hot dogs" (these weird red hot dogs that they try to pass off as American) than we would slap them in the face with it and say "NO". Well..be careful what you wish for, because by the end of it we were begging them to stop bringing out the pizzas. We were a little skeptical at first because there were only three tiny pizzas for both large tables of hungry Americans, but once those were gone they brought out more...and more...and more..until our program advisor literally asked them to stop. Just when we thought we couldn't eat another bite, though, they brought out the ice cream. Ok, us poor uni kids aren't gonna pass up free ice cream, so naturally we ate that too.

Just hanging around

The next morning, I still wasn't even hungry, but forced myself to eat because I knew I would regret it if I didn't with the activities that were to come. We were split up into two groups, one going to the high ropes course and the other on a guided hike through the rainforest. My group did the high ropes course first. Luckily I'm not afraid of heights, but the first course we did was a lot more difficult than I expected it to be. We had to walk across a wobbly wire, reaching for ropes hanging down along the way. The next one I enjoyed much more because I could actually stop and look around and appreciate the view, because it was basically a horizontal ladder you could easily walk across. As we were being belayed back down, each member of my group did spider-man poses in the air. It was so much fun!

Molly and I doing the flying fox:]

Next, the groups switched and it was time to do the rainforest hike. The group who did the hike before us said they didn't see any koalas on the hike, so I wasn't really expecting anything, although I certainly had my hopes (it is actually very rare to see koalas in the day time, they typically only come out at night). So, we are walking along and our guide is telling us about all the poisonous insects, plants and animals in Australia (if you're wondering what they are it's EVERYTHING..literally don't touch anything in Australia, it WILL kill you)--and our guide stops for a moment and says "Ok, three free Tim Tams to the first person who spots it". Everyone looks around and there it is...you guessed it...a cute little furry nugget of a koala taking a nap in a tree!! My time in Australia was made. We also got to see a huge black python just a bit off the hiking trail. I can now say I'm not really phased by insects or snakes considering what I've come into contact with here. Just the other day there was a huge green python in a bush about 10 feet outside of my apartment...the snake guy had to come get rid of it. Just you're typical Aussie day.

Black python

That night, we had a bush dancing lesson. When I pictured bush dancing, I thought we were going to be painted and dancing around a fire with bongos playing...again, my expectations were way off. Bush dancing is basically just line dancing. We learned the different steps and danced to the upbeat music and it was SO much fun! We also played a game called knights, mount, cavaliers, where you have a partner who you dance with as the music plays and once the controller of the game stops the music and calls out one of those three positions, you and your partner have to get in that position and if you are the last couple than you are out. My partner Hailey and I along with Claire and Cierra made it to the finals--so of course we had to have a dance battle. The controller of the game was impressed by Claire and Cierra's synchronization but equally impressed by mine and Hailey's hair flipping and robot, so he called it a tie (we still won though, obviously). The rest of the night was spent sipping on wine in a cabin with some of the greatest friends I've ever had:]

Koala!!

Claire and I on a vine swing

The next day was zip lining, or flying fox as they call it here. I've never zip lined before and I loved it! We went right over some trees and a pond. We also had the option to go a second time, and we could do two people at a time if we wanted, so my friend Molly and I went. When you go with two people, you have much more momentum so you go even faster and you hit the stopper that moves you back in the other direction even harder. As we rapidly approached the stopper we screamed and laughed and grabbed onto each other to brace ourselves and SMACK! Back we go. I wish I could have done it even more times! The rest of the afternoon was spent taking in the amazing view of the overlook back at the lodge. It was so clear that we could see all the way to the Gold Coast.

As we were driving back, we spotted some people paragliding over these gorgeous mountainous views, and now we are determined to do it! I can't wait!

Cheers!

Brizzy

Seeing as it's only an hour away and only costs $5 to get to, Gracie, Cierra and I decided to take a little day trip to Brisbane. I never expected that I would completely fall in love with it. You see, I've never considered myself a city person...but I've realized that's because my only reference of a city I've ever known growing up is New York, which really isn't like most cities. I'm not a fan of New York because it's dirty, smelly, loud, and the people aren't so nice. When we first got to Australia, we were in Sydney, which I definitely liked much better than New York but Sydney was very business-ey and uptight (compared to Surfer's Paradise, where almost no one wears shoes and I've never cared less about what I look like in public). Brisbane was the perfect mixture of a clean, friendly city and could satisfy my nature-loving needs. 

Pink bunny symbolizing the music festival

Walking along the bike path at the gardens

When we first arrived, we were on a desperate search for coffee. We found some in a crepe shop in the suburb just outside the city (Gracie had never heard of a crepe which I found horrifying and saddening). We found a spot to sit and enjoy our coffee with the view of the river right in front of us and the city just across the river. We were having a nice chat and I casually revealed that I used to eat wood as a child. In fact, my parents had to throw away my bed because there were so many bite marks. On our way to the bridge to cross over the river to get to the city, we passed some kind of wooden sculpture and Gracie asked if I wanted to eat it to which I replied, "I could definitely go for some mahogany for lunch!"

Little lizard friend!

Anyway, our first stop in the city was the botanical gardens which were GORGEOUS. I don't think I can express how happy I am when I am in a park like this. I began to mentally plan my wedding in this exact spot. There were all sorts of flowers and trees--some very interesting trees in fact called "African Sausage Trees", which really do look like they have wooden sausages growing from them. There are also some lilly ponds, where we kept seeing these giant lizard things! The best part is they basically didn't move at all so it wasn't scary--in fact they let us basically shove cameras in their face and they didn't move a muscle. However, when there was sudden movement, they would stand up on their hind legs and run which was hilarious.

Waterfall in the gardens

We then decided to take a peek in an art gallery just across the street from the gardens. One exhibit featured an artist who took broken or damaged figurines and put them back together, with a few extra touches. One I remember in particular was a couple delicate girl figurines with the corsets and big dresses and hats that the artist then painted camouflage and glued some plastic guns and knives in their hands--very funny and ironic! We then went into another exhibit that I believe was supposed to be a commentary on society's relationship with food. You walk in and on a big video screen is a super close-up of a strawberry, with gloved hands using tweezers to carefully pick off each individual seed on the strawberry. Then, there is another video of a watermelon being cut open, and gloved hands using tweezers to pick around until they pull out a tumor (a passionfruit). It was so closeup that you forget you are looking at a watermelon and not actual brain surgery. It was crazy!

African sausage trees

After that somewhat off-putting experience, we made our way to the music festival. There was an aboriginal performance that was really cool to see, as well as a choral performance and some acoustics. When it got dark, the lazer show began. I had never seen anything like this before! Across the water the buildings had lazer lights on them that went along to the beat of the music playing. There was also a structure that water came down from, creating a screen where lights were projected onto it in all sorts of patterns and colors. 

I definitely can't wait to visit Brisbane again. This weekend I am going with the IFSA-Butler group to our adventure weekend in Binna Burra! 

Cheers!

Lazer light show

Progress on Research Paper

For my New Communication Technologies class, I chose to write my essay on the topic:

Does the extensive use of social media have a positive or negative impact on the health of young people. What are the most recent academic papers on this topic? Clarify what all sides of the argument claim and only then offer your reasoned opinion based on facts.

To write this essay, I researched several journal articles and books written on the topic of social media and the impact it has on children and adolescents, with differing viewpoints on whether it is a more positive or negative feedback. I also used my survey on the impact of social media on youth created on SurveyMonkey to bring in my own findings. After evaluating the information and pulling in my own experiences with social media, I form my own opinion based on these facts.

Some of my research:

• 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half log on once a day. (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011)

• Some positive effects of social media-staying connected with friends and family, opportunities for community engagement such as raising money for charities, enhancement of individual and collective creativity, dialogue with others from diverse backgrounds and the sharing of ideas and knowledge. (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011)
•           A Survey of teens ages 12-17 found that 62% of online teens get news about current events and politics online. 31% get health, dieting or physical fitness information from the internet. 17% use the internet to gather information about topics that are hard to discuss like drugs or sexual health. (Lenhart, A et al. 2010).

• Some negative effects of social media-cyberbullying, sexting (20% of teens have sent or posted nude or seminude photos or videos of themselves online), Facebook depression, and privacy issues (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011).
• Studies have attempted to use personality as a potential predictor of use of social networking sites. Three of five personality factors were found to be typical of those who use social media: extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to new experiences. 
•          Those who were extraverted had many connections online as well as in the 'real world' and had higher self-esteem
•           A study of college students found that people who used Facebook less frequently felt less satisfied with their lives (Correa, T et al. 2010).

In my survey, I asked the question "Has the use of social media ever effected the way you feel about yourself (e.g looks, social status, economic status, etc)? and 88% of respondents said yes.

I also asked, "How accurately do you believe a person's Facebook profile depicts their personality and their life?" No one said "completely accurate", and 75% said "somewhat accurate".


References

Correa, T, Hinsley, A, & de Zuniga, H 2010, ‘Who Interacts on the Web?: The Intersection of Users’ Personality and Social Media Use’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 26, issue 2, pp. 247-253, viewed 26 August 2013, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563209001472.

Lenhart, A, Purcell, K, Smith, A, & Zickuhr, K 2010, ‘Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults’, Pew Research Center, viewed 25 August 2013, http://web.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Social_Media_and_Young_Adults_Report_Final_with_toplines.pdf.

Livingstone, S 2002, Young People and New Media: Childhood and the Changing Media Environment, SAGE Publications, viewed 30 August 2013, http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=e4AHeRPLs0oC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=social+media+impact+on+young+people&ots=myiQwM0sIC&sig=VciCLnprTIsb5hvCCE-tSJEU0zs#v=onepage&q=social%20media%20impact%20on%20young%20people&f=false

Livingstone, S 2008, ‘Taking Risky Opportunities in Youthful Content Creation: Teenagers’ Use of Social Networking Sites for Intimacy, Privacy and Self-expression’, New Media & Society, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 393-411, viewed 30 August 2013, http://nms.sagepub.com/content/10/3/393.short.

O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011, ‘The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families’, Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, vol. 127, no. 4, pp. 800-804, April 1, viewed 26 August 2013, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short.

My Library on Diigolet: https://www.diigo.com/user/danadrahos