Amazing Pictures Follow....

It seems that a lot of the peer advisers have recently gone on spring break. Their stories and pictures are amazing. I wish I could have gone with them! However, not to toot my own horn, but, I must say that no one had a more outrageously awesome spring break than I did. Did I go to the pyramids of Egypt?


Did I see the Statue of Liberty in New York City?


Did I see the Eiffel Tower in Paris?


Yes. Yes. Yes. Now, before you start thinking I have my own plane that takes me around the world, let me tell you where I actually went. Las Vegas. Even though "technically" the pyramid is fake, the Statue of Liberty is fake, and the Eiffel Tower is a fake 1/2 size model of the original, they are all surprisingly realistic. I went to Las Vegas as a little kid with my family when I was only seven years old, and after turning 21 this year, I knew what my spring break destination would be. I was lucky enough to travel with my older sister, which made my experience even more unforgettable. Vegas is the ultimate playground for adults. The energy was so high, the lights were so shiny, some of the hotels were so... tacky, but that is what gives Las Vegas its charm. The weather was wonderful, it was in the high 70s every day, the food was great, I wish I had stayed there longer! On our last night, we saw "Mystere" a Cirque du Soleil show at Treasure Island and that was amazing too. All in all, I even won $100 playing blackjack, so I probably did better than most people when it comes time to leave Vegas. I had a 5-Star time and I can't wait to go back sometime in the near future. So... if you want to see Egypt, Paris, and New York all in one trip, the choice is easy. (They also have indoor and outdoor gondola canals at the Venetian if anyone wants to get a little Italian culture as well.) You know what they say, "What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

Posted by Matt: University of New South Wales: Sydney, Australia Fall 2007

Sydney- I LOVE this city!

It's a little over two months since I was in Sydney and I am definitely missing it.  Sydney had so many amazing things that Penn State doesn't have, I am finding it is the small things that I am missing most.  After a night out with friends I always took time to walk barefoot across the beach back to my apartment.  I miss people telling me that I'm Canadian, or, at least that I have a "very strong Canadian accent" which I always gave me a good laugh.  I also miss trivia night.  Every Wednesday, my friends and I visited the Randwick Rugby Club for weekly trivia.  The first week we were there, it was a little funny that we were the only team under the age of forty.  We were loud, we laughed, we asked all the teams next to us for help when there was some question about Australian history that we were clueless about.  Before I knew it, our team became a regular fixture of trivia night and the host always came over to us as soon as we entered.  He helped get tables for us to push together or extra chairs.  I truly felt like a local and no longer an international student.  The host and the other teams always looked forward to our team name of the week, with my personal favorite being "Hillary Clinton '08"  (As if they couldn't tell that we were Americans before that, haha.)  Now back at Penn State, I have to say, that is one of the things I miss most.  Wednesday night trivia at the Randwick Rugby Club.  Our team even won a few times, but it was the time spent together with my friends that was truly the best.

Matt Shiskowski, Fall 2007, University of New South Wales: Sydney, Australia