What were you grateful for this week?Music. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?Missing family and friends. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. Spent time on Saturday with the girls so my host parents could catch lunch with friends!

Tell us about your week! I had a beautiful time exploring the city of Brisbane this week! I started my week with my host family’s grandma visiting from the Gold Coast. We got lunch and she showed me some different places to explore that are around my area. I love exploring new places around the city, I wish I had more time because there’s so much to see! 

Around the middle of the week I went to the most visited museum in Australia. They had every single animal that’s existed in Australia all in one building, even prehistoric animals which were very intriguing and make you feel minuscule.

I had a lovely walk through the garden path at South Bank. It seriously felt like I was walking through a rainforest! They have beautiful fluorescent flowers and overgrown trees through this 1.5km walk with multiple streams, ponds and historical monuments; including the Nepalese Peace Pagoda, Memorial Park for fallen soldiers and veterans, and dozens of facts from past events in the area. Little did I know that Brisbane had a bad flood back in 2011 that rose 20 Meters above normal water levels, and it’s been a drought ever since! While on my adventure on the footpath, I found a city garden that had every herb, fruit and vegetable that you could think of. Australian culture seems to do so well with green/clean living. So many people do compost bins and nearly everyone recycles! It’s wild to see so little garbage on the streets compared to the USA.