As an exchange student at W&J I am allowed to work on campus during my semester here. I have been working in the Study Abroad Office. This has been good as I have gotten to talk about and promote Australia. This week I will be doing a presentation to encourage people here to go to Flinders. As part of this my boss ordered some Aussie treats from Amazon. I was very excited to walk into the office and see a box filled with Tim-tams, Vegemite, shapes, tiny teddies and chocolates like Caromello Koalas. As part of the promotion I have gotten to encourage American students to try some of the Vegemite on a spoon and some of their reactions were brilliant.

Since I have been here I have also gotten to go to the Laurel Caverns in the Appalachian Mountains. There was a lookout above the caves and the view was fantastic. Unfortunately the photos I took don’t do it justice 🙁 We have also gotten to go to a place called Kennywood which is a well-known amusement park in Pennsylvania. There was an old fashioned diner a bit like the ones you see in the movies.

Next week is Thanksgiving and we have a weeks break. I will be going to Seattle for the week. I am very excited as I have always wanted to see the space needle and I hear the Farmers markets are some of the best in the world in Washington. I also really want to see the gum wall.

Mikayla Ashleigh Aldridge, a Bachelor of Arts student, currently on Semester 2 2015 exchange at the Washington & Jefferson College, United States