It's hilarious, because wherever we go, our friends will yell out "America!" And start trying to sing our national anthem, which always fails miserably and ends up being: "America, America!" (To the tune of "America the Beautiful" which is NOT our national anthem) and ending with "God save the Queen!" (Which is funny because we don't actually have a Queen.)
The other day we walked into the cafeteria - Jenna, Amanda, and I - they call us the three Americans cuz we're always together and we're all from New York - and this guy goes, "Oh you're Tiffany!" to me, and then "And you're American number 2, and you're American number 3" to other girls. (Hey as long as they know my name, that's all that matters! :)) So now we tell everyone that we're known as Americans 1, 2, and 3.
So since everyone refers to us simply as "America," I'm just going to start calling all these silly dags "Australia." :)

So I have two stories for you all today. This past week we got to experience Australian culture in two new ways. 1) We got to climb Tabletop Mountain here in Toowoomba, and 2) We got to see the River Fire, part of the RiverFest in Brisbane.

1) Tabletop Mountain. (My near death experience)
Jenna, Amanda, and I went with some guys from church (who I will just call Australia to make it simple) to climb Tabletop. We were on our way driving down into the valley when this car comes flying up along the wrong side of the road and smashes into us! So the guys pull our van off to the side of the road, which of course is facing the edge of a huge drop (probably 100-200 feet I would say), and they jump out of the car to talk to the guys driving the car that hit us. ALL OF A SUDDEN, the van starts ROLLING toward the cliff!!! It just rolled for a foot or two and stopped, so we were okay, but then it started rolling again! And it didn't stop! Jenna and I started screaming bloody murder, and Amanda was like, "Jenna, pull the hand brake, pull the hand brake!" But Jenna didn't know what she was looking for, and was pulling everything! She was even pulling the seatbelt. I'm serious! (That didn't help much.) Meanwhile, I was trying to get up and open the door, but I couldn't figure out how to open it, since it was an old van and opened differently!
The guys look up and we're rolling and they instinctively jump to grab the van and stop it, but they're pretty much twigs (no offense), so that wasn't going to help much. Jenna eventually did somehow put the van in gear (still don't know how she did it) and then one of the guys reached in the van and pulled the hand brake, which for some reason had not been put on. I got out of the car and was shaking like a leaf in the wind, I was so scared! I seriously almost died.
But the rest of the day was great! We hiked up the mountain and it was a great work out, took lots of pictures.

2) And now to the RiverFest.
Let me tell you, Australia sure knows how to put on a great celebration with fireworks, music, food, and even jets streaking across the sky with a flame coming out behind them.
I went to Brisbane with Jenna, Amanda, and Hilde to watch The River Fire festival. The main river through Brisbane is a huge part of the culture, since Brisbane is known as The River City, and so during September the city spends a week celebrating its existence. Especially in the midst of this 10-year drought, while people must conserve water, the river has perhaps taken on a new significance.
We took a bus to Brisbane that was provided by USQ (our university) for the international students, and started shopping as soon as we got to Brisbane. I got some amazing outfits! Can I just say, on a random side note, that I LOVE the fashion here?! It's so laid back and adorable. I have been buying so many clothes. I think I'm going to go home with a new wardrobe! It's so bad. I really need to save money. But I just love the clothes! They wear a LOT of long shirts and sweaters with leggings or skinny jeans. Lots of flats and converse shoes. But oh I just love their clothes.
Sorry for that side note, but I just had to get that out there. Now back to River Fest.
After shopping we wormed our way through the thousands of people crowding the bridge and grass on the south bank of the river. Honestly I wasn't expecting much, because I've been to fourth of July celebrations my whole life and they do a nice little fireworks display and then you go home. The set up of this celebration reminded me a lot of that. Everyone spread out on their blankets with their girlfriends or their boyfriend or their kids, swinging those glowing bands through the night air, buying food at the concession stands...
But let me tell you - this was spectacular. I am not easily impressed by fireworks, but I was impressed! They opened up the presentation with two jets zooming across the night sky with what looked like streams of fire behind them. Then they let off fireworks all down the river, from the tops of buildings, from a lighted barge in the river, and they even showered some fireworks down from the bridge, making it look like an actual waterfall. So beautiful! Their finale was gorgeous, and ended with the two jets coming back across the sky. Through the whole thing the skyline of Brisbane was right in the backdrop, with the lighted buildings directly across the river. It was absolutely spectacular!
I've put up some of the many pictures I took that night so you can get just the smallest idea of how beautiful it was.
If you want more information on the River Fest and River Fire, you can go to http://www.riverfestival.com.au/riverfire/ and check it out. :-)

As far as our future plans go, in just a couple weeks we have break from Uni, and so Jenna, Amanda, and I are heading out to Sydney, the Sunshine Coast, and Fraser Island. We hope to also hit up New Zealand and Melbourne in October. I'll keep you posted on our further adventures. :)