The Last Supper

As you may know, I fly out of the Sydney airport at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Sydney time. I will arrive at LAX around 6ish in the morning west coast time, and at PDX at 2:55 in the afternoon! I have had that nervous butterflies in the stomach feeling allll day. I'm sad to leave, but excited to be home and start my official summer break. It's definitely bittersweet.

Basically, the last few days have been spent doing things for the last time. On Wednesday we went into the city one last time. I will NOT miss the train. We took pictures of the city, went to the Opera House, and did some last minute souvenir shopping. T'was grand.

Goodbye, city!

Packing and clearing out my room has been a process...a yet to be completed process...and as I'm writing this I have 12.5 hours until the shuttle picks me up for the airport. I'm really not looking forward to that 13-hour flight...or Customs in LA...or the 7 hours I get to spend in LAX.

Today I had to say goodbye to my friend Sara, who I met on my very first day here. She was in the same study abroad program as me, and we stayed in the same room at the hostel for orientation. I was not too happy about that. This evening, Abby and I went on a dinner date...and it basically actually turned out to be a date. First of all, we ordered the same thing--for dinner and dessert. She poured my water for me and ordered dinner for me. And I ordered dessert for both of us. So yeah, date.

We plan on staying up alllll night so we can sleep on our flights tomorrow and try to beat the horrendous jet lag that I expect to have. Except it is 6:38 p.m. and I feel like I could fall asleep standing up at this point. I don't know what's happening.

It's been an emotional roller coaster the past few days. It's hard to see this, the greatest experience of my life to date, come to an end. I can't believe I almost didn't study abroad. I am so thankful that I was able to and that I took advantage of it. But now it is time to come home to my family and friends, and I can't wait to see alllll of you!

Melbourne!

After staying up all night the night before our departure to Melbourne, we left the Village at about 4:30 a.m., caught a train at 5ish, and our plane left at 7. We arrived at this little tiny airport in the middle of nowhere (there are two airports in Melbourne, one near the city, and Avalon...way far away). We took a bus to the city and that took about an hour. Check-in time at our hotel wasn't until 2 p.m., but luckily when we went there at 10:30 they happened to have one room ready for us.

After dropping off our bags, we went out to explore the city. We went to the art museum, walked along the river and took our first pictures. Because Abby and I stayed up all night, we were ready to go back to the room by like 2. Sara decided to walk around the city more. Abby and I watched some episodes of Boy Meets World on my computer but eventually couldn't keep our eyes open. Soo, we took a nap for about an hour until Sara got back at 4ish. We ended up going to sleep at 8 that night...and woke up at 8 the next day.

And that brings us to our bike tour. We had booked a 4-hour bike tour of Melbourne from 10-2 on Friday. We got there early and sat around, and then all of a sudden this tall, Australian man comes over to us. We thought he was on the tour with us, but it turns out he was our tour guide, and we were the only three on the tour. The beautiful tour guide was named Ross, and we were smitten with him. You know how they say, "It's like riding a bike, you never forget"? Well you don't forget, but if you're me, you really suck at it after being out of practice for a few years. It also hurts the next day.

Me being out of my element.

So back to the important thing:  Ross. We were really curious how old he was...we guessed around 26 or 27. At the lunch part of the tour at Queen Victoria Market, Ross was buying us food, and I was literally saying, "He's soooo beautiful" and then Abby and Sara informed me that he was right behind me. So, he may or may not have heard me. Oh wellz. While we were all eating lunch, he asked how old we were, so we pounced and Abby asked how old he was. "I'm 30." And then 20 seconds of painful awkward silence. Wow. If you know who Ryan Kwanten is, (he's an Australian actor on True Blood and some other things) Ross reminds me of him. After our terribly awkward lingering goodbye from Ross, we walked back to our hotel and got ready.

Friday night was our scheduled go-out-and-get-drunk-in-a-bar night. We ended up leaving for dinner at like 5...we're old ladies, it's fine. We were going to go to a place with tapas, but we got there and they all had weird things in them. Like anchovies and sheep's milk cheese. So we just found a place and got sandwiches, and I started off my drinking with white wine at dinner. After dinner we had to find a bar. There were a bunch of the trendy, young bars that were super packed with the $15 drinks and such...not my scene. We found an Irish pub full of 60-year-old men...apparently more our scene. We found a table and ordered drinks. We got there at about 7. At 9, a band started playing. After their first song, no one was clapping and they said something about it, so of course we couldn't resist. After that, we clapped louder than anyone after every song. At one point they said they were going to give us free drink coupons because we were such a wonderful table. I didn't think they were actually going to, but...

FREE DRINKS YAAAAAAY

They also asked if anyone had any requests, but they specifically asked us first. We told them we had to think about it, and we almost requested Don't Stop Believin', but then I realized there was only one song we could request...DOWN UNDER. I heard it on my first night out in Australia and I figured we should end on the same note. I'm really eloquent though, so here's how I worded our request:  "Down Under...is that what it's called?" I didn't want to be wrong... Anyway, they performed it and it was glorious. And before we left, we got a picture with them.

BFF

Saturday we had free. We went to the home of the Australian Open and walked around, and then we went to the Queen Victoria Market (it reminded me of Pike Place, for all you Seattle-ites) and met a girl named Michelle from our program who was going to uni in Melbourne. After lunch, we shopped for a looong time. I finally found some new sunglasses since I cracked mine a while back. We got dinner near our hotel and then went back for the night.

Sunday was the GREAT OCEAN ROAD day tour! We were hoping we'd have another hot tour guide, so when we were picked up from the hotel and met Brad, we all decided 'we could work with that.' He was no Ross, though. We later found out he smoked and then it was over. He was 29. Enough about that. Our first stop on the Great Ocean Road was Bells Beach. We stopped again in a little town for coffee and biscuits (aka cookies). We went to the Great Ocean Road arch and then THE BEST PART.

OMG BIRDS!

Yeah, basically I'm a crazy bird lady (penguins are my favorite animal, and pelicans are up there too) and this made me so happy. We also saw a wild koala, but that's old news, since Sara and I saw a wild koala that actually wasn't up in a tree sleeping, and it was in an area where it's really rare to see them. Next we went on a rainforest walk, and after that to the Twelve Apostles, which looks like this:

Annnnd then we went to the Gorge (that I don't remember the name of). I do know it was named after a ship that wrecked there. One deckhand survived and he heard a woman screaming so he went back out into the sea and saved her and they went back to the Gorge. Then he had to climb up and get help. That's the short version.

On Monday, our last full day, we went to Old Melbourne Gaol, which is a prison from way back when. It's where Ned Kelly, who is infamous in Australia, was hanged. It was really interesting, and kind of creepy. Then we went on to the Melbourne Museum, which, as we learned from Beautiful Ross, had a really popular attraction...a stuffed racehorse. Phar Lap (which means lightning) was an Australian racehorse. After winning like...7854302 races, he was sent to the States to compete in a race, which he won after being behind most of the race. He mysteriously died shortly after, and it is thought that the American mafia had something to do with it. So some famous New York taxidermists stuffed Phar Lap as a gift to Australia. Their names were the Jonas Brothers. No joke. When Ross told us we thought he was joking...I definitely laughed. There was other stuff in the museum too, obviously...but that was the most interesting story I had.

On our last (short) day, we got breakfast and took the free tram that circles the city to do some last sightseeing. I was happy to get back 'home' to my own bed and all that. I have my only final during finals period tomorrow... Geology. 45% of my grade. I hate everything. BUT 10 days until AMMURICA.

My ears are ringing.

So I've had a pretty busy week this week, all y'all.

Monday I went to a rugby game with my program. It was the Sydney Roosters vs. the Newcastle Bulldogs. I was pretty happy I got to root for (in Australian slang, 'root for' means something inappropriate, but I can't change habit) the wuss mascot. Anyway, in the end they were losing by quite a large margin, which is fine. We left early to beat the crowds and such. I also thought Monday was going to be my last day working at Sumo Salad, but I ended up taking a shift on Friday.

On Tuesday, Abby and I got our hurr did. While we were waiting around for our appointments, Abby asked if we could go look at hair dye for her, and I obviously didn't want to be left out...soo we ended up dyeing our hair later that day. Between haircuts and hair dyeing, we went in to the city for Pancakes on the Rocks (even though we had just been there about a week ago) and then to Vivid Sydney. Vivid Sydney is this festival thing going on where they project 3D images onto the Opera House and the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was cool to see. I would post pictures, but the photo uploader on this blog post is being a bitch, so it won't work. Awesome.

Wednesday was the farewell dinner for our program. We went to a place called La Cita in Darling Harbour. Katie and I shared a pitcher of sangria and I got nice and tipsy while I waited for my food to come out. I GOT FAJITAS. So good. I didn't think I would have those until I was back in the States. There was also a slideshow with pictures from the semester. I sent in the most embarrassing pictures I had of my friends and I.

Thursday I had a presentation, which was 25% of my grade for Aboriginal Studies. I was so annoyed that I had that happening the same week that all of this other stuff was going on, but it gets better (worse). I also had a paper due for Aboriginal Studies on Friday. It was 40% of my grade. 65% of my grade for one class down in two days. Anyway, I'm done with that class now, for good.

Friday was the day I've been waiting for for a month and a half (or 10 years, if we're gonna be real about it). S CLUB IN CONCERT! It was fantastic. It was actually more like S Club 3 (Jo, Bradley, and Paul) than S Club 7, but it was still amazing. The opening act was Big Brovaz, which is some 90s rap-ish group from the UK? Everyone else at the concert seemed to know who they were, but Abby and I had no idea what was going on. OH AND WE ALMOST GOT A PICTURE WITH BRADLEY! We were sooo close to him, and he took a picture with these girls right next to us so we tried to be next...buuut he left. So upsetting. Oh and about the title...my ears are definitely still ringing. We were standing awfully close to where the speakers were...the consequences are not pleasant.

I probably won't blog again for a few weeks because my life is going to switch back to uneventful again, until my trip to Melbourne (June 14th-19th). Cheers!

Bridge Climb

As you may know, I did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb on Monday. And it was amazing. We did the night climb, so we got to see the sunset from the bridge, and later see the city all lit up. I actually have a fear of heights, but it wasn't scary at all. The only semi-scary part was climbing down the ladders on our way back. I've always hated climbing down ladders. BUT ANYWAY. It was glorious. Probably one of my favorite things that I've done while I've been here.

WE DID IT! (Even though this picture isn't from the top...)

There was even a proposal on our climb! It was adorable. I somehow missed the whole thing, and there was one person behind me, and then the couple. I think everyone was oblivious, until our climb leader said he had good news, and then said, "____ just asked ____ to marry him and she said yes!" (Yeah, I forgot their names.) It really made me wish the hot guy behind me would decide to propose to me...no such luck.

I kind of thought I'd have more to write about this...anyway...here are the bridge stats:

Yeah...that's the back of the sweatshirt I bought. For those of you who don't understand meters, the bridge is 400+ FEET tall. And the length...well you can convert that yourself.

Sooooo.

Yeah, yeah it's been forever since I blogged last. But that's only because I have done nothing. Buuut on Friday afternoon I went to Wollongong, where there is another university. I went with Abby so she could see her friend Jess from her school at home and we stayed with her. Alexis came up Saturday morning and I went back with her Saturday night.

Anyway, Friday night we got dinner and then went out. Saturday morning we had planned to hike up Mount Keira, which Jess said takes about 3 hours to the top and back. So, after a slow start to the morning...we ended up taking the hike. I know I mentioned before that I went bushwalking VERY hungover one day a couple of months ago, and it cured my hangover. Basically, same situation yesterday. I couldn't believe we actually made it to the top. I was so proud. Oh and we saw a guy hiking down the mountain barefoot...I was creeped out. So on the way down, Alexis and I went ahead of Abby and Jess. Bad idea. We ended up getting lost. We took this trail that was all steep hills all the way down. It was a little terrifying. And Alexis lost her keys somewhere along the way...yikes. I did see a herd of deer in the wild though, which I didn't think I'd ever see in this country. When we got to the bottom, we were on some farm, and went to a house and asked them to direct us to Wollongong University. Luckily we were close, and once we got to campus we were extra lost again. We finally found the bus stop that we arrived at and Jess and Abby were there waiting for us. They had waited for 45 minutes, apparently, and I felt awful.

After that whole debacle, we had delicious fish and chips and walked around Wollongong and saw the lighthouse and the beach and such. It is a really pretty area. Alexis and I had planned on taking a train at 8 or 9 o'clock back to school, but we were basically out of things to do by 5ish, so we took the 6 o'clock train instead. I was so anxious throughout the whooole ride to just get home and shower and pass out. And that's exactly what I did. I slept until about 10:30 this morning...which is freakishly late for me lately.

Today I am holed up in the library writing a paper, and tomorrow evening I am going to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, so I'm really excited about that.

Should've been a farm girl.

As you may or may not know, this weekend I returned to the alpaca farm where I had my country life weekend in early March. I will get that next, but first I suppose I should fill you in on my life since my last blog post. Basically...nothing happened. Except Anzac Day. I went in to the city for the parade with Abby, Sara, and my mother. It really made me realize how little we do for Veteran's Day at home...kind of sad. There were groups of different veterans and soldiers marching, and also bands and such. For some reason there were about 43802 groups of bagpipers...I didn't know bagpipes were so big in Australia. But anyway, bagpipes always make my mom cry, so she had an emotional day. Aside from that, my parents went back to the 'homeland' or 'old country,' as my dad wouldn't stop referring to it. I also went out for the first night in basically two weeks...but there are no fun stories there.

SO. The farm. I have decided that I should've been a farm girl. Actually, I always wanted to live on a farm when I was little. Man, would I be in good shape. But seriously. Fiona picked us up from the train at about 6 pm on Friday and it was already dark, so we didn't go see the alpacas. We had delicious dinner and dessert, as usual, and then Ian got back from being in Queensland for work. We chatted a bit by the fire and went to bed. The next morning we accompanied Fiona on the morning feedings, and also learned to drive the Gator! It was so fun. I'm terrified to go home and start driving again, since it's been so long and I'm used to seeing cars drive on the left side of the road now, but driving the Gator may have helped ease my nerves a little. The steering wheel was on the left side, so that also made it easier for Sara and I to comprehend. Obviously, it is a lot simpler to drive than an actual car...

We got to witness more spit-offs (or the alpaca pregnancy test that I described in my previous blog about the farm). Saturday afternoon we went up on the hill and literally picked up rocks. We were finding rocks for Fiona and Ian's rock wall that is being built in their front yard. Somehow, it was fun. Everything we do on the farm is fun. We did the evening feeding of the alpacas as well. After that, Ian drove us around in search of wildlife. We still had not seen a wombat in the wild, so we were hoping to see one. We ended up seeing two, and some kangaroos and rock wallabies. There was also an owl, but I just barely saw it. We went back for dinner, and after dinner, Ian took us out again. That's when the best thing ever happened. We were driving along and then an animal was on the road in front of us. We all thought it was a wombat at first, but it turned out to be a KOALA. Koalas are endangered, so it's rare to see them in the wild. Ian has lived there for 10 years and seen 3. Sara and I were there for two weekends and saw one...soo, I'd say we were pretty lucky. We ended up seeing another wombat and some more roos/wallabies, but they paled in comparison. That was my Cinco de Mayo. I even went to bed at 10 pm. I'm quite the party animal, but it was an exhausting day.

Sunday we got to see Fiona and Ian trim some nails, and also trim the fighting teeth that male alpacas grow. It was interesting. Oh, and the last time we were on the farm, there were two very pregnant alpacas...this time we got to see their babies. (Baby alpacas are called cria, actually.) One of them was only a week old! The other was three or four weeks old. They were adorable, and we even got to hold the smaller one. I can't believe I actually won't be going back to the farm again before I leave...it makes me all emotional! I will miss Ian and Fiona, and Trema (the dog) and the alpacas.

It's quite nice.

Today I finally had to return to classes after seventeen glorious days of break. Lucky for me though, I still haven't started back at work, so I didn't have to work after class today as usual. Also lucky for me, I basically don't have class on Tuesdays because I always skip the one lecture I have. And once again lucky for me, there is no class on Wednesday because it is a public holiday. And Wednesday is my least favorite day of classes. In the past week I have done a lot of chillin' with the parents.

Last Sunday I met my parents with two of my friends at a shopping centre near where my parents are staying, then went back to their apartment and hung out a while. We went out to dinner and then watched some Australian TV. (For all you Americans that watch The Voice...the Australian version is much better. Even though I've watched like half an episode at home.)

Last Monday my parents came to the Village and got to see my place. As I expected (and even with warning from me) they thought it was disgusting. At least only downstairs is disgusting, though, so we hung out in my room upstairs for a little bit and they got to meet more of my friends. After they left in the afternoon I think we just hung out. I think I also Skyped my wonderful little for at least an hour and a half...it was much needed.

On Tuesday my parents, Abby, and I all went to the Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour and then had lunch. The Aquarium was really crowded which made me hate everything at times...but somehow I made it through alive/without punching anyone. We took a water taxi from there to the Opera House and I bought the print that I hadn't stopped thinking about since we toured the Opera House in March. It was a very solid purchase. My room senior year is going to be decked out with Australian things.

On Wednesday I went shopping in Hornsby again with Katie and my mum. I was trying to find a bridesmaid's dress for my brother's wedding in August...which I all of a sudden got really stoked for. I had no luck though. After shopping, I went back to Normanhurst with my mother and Sara and Abby came up to the apartment later. We got Chinese food from a place there and then...watched more Australian TV. (The TV in our flat is really fuzzy and gets like five channels...so all we ever watch is Friends.)

On Thursday I went to the city with both of my parents. We shopped a little, and I found the dress that I will possibly be wearing to the wedding! Annnnd now I'm even more excited. We walked to the Museum of Contemporary Art after shopping. It was fairly small, and some of the art was just weird...you know, because it's contemporary. But some of it was cool. The best part was probably the view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from the roof...even though I've seen those approximately 437289 times now. They never get old.

Friday was the celebration of my friend Sara's 21st birthday! During the day, Abby and I bought some necessary supplies, such as mixers, two cakes, frosting, candles, and a boa for Sara to wear, of course. We decorated the cakes and brought them to Sara's. We ended up going in to the city to Scubar, which is the place where we went out the very first night we were in Sydney! And Friday was the first time I've been back since. It was pretty fun. When we were in the city we saw a flyer for S Club 7's upcoming Australian tour and just about had a panic attack. So of course, when we got back we purchased tickets for their June 1st show in Sydney. I am sooo excited for that.

On Saturday I went in to the city with my mum. We did some souvenir shopping, walked through the Botanical Gardens, had lunch, did more souvenir shopping, and had Starbucks. Australians hate Starbucks coffee (the ones I've talked to about it, anyway) and this is the second time I've had it while I've been here. If you know me, that may surprise you.

On Sunday, Abby and I woke up horribly early to go on a trip down the Hawkesbury River with my parents (Ron & Jan) and the people whose apartment they are staying in (Ron & Jan). There was a long drive with sightseeing along the way, and history and such. We were driving along the Convict Trail. We stopped at a small village with an Inn and basically nothing else...and there were SO MANY CARS. Ron (not my dad) said that there are usually about two cars there when they stop there. Turns out, there was a folk music festival happening. There were cars with Western Australia license plates. For you Americans, the distance from Western Australia to New South Wales is basically the distance from our West coast to East coast. After that short stop, we went to Jan & Ron's cabin on the river (that I don't know the name of). Abby and I went tubing! It was so much fun...but girls are required to wear wet suit bottoms in the water there...that was an interesting experience. I wasn't expecting to get to go tubing, so that was definitely a wonderful surprise. And of course, we went back to my parents' and watched The Voice.

That's about it...later today I am going to see The Lucky One, since I read the book and it was amazing and made me cry... And then dinner at my parents' place and...watching The Voice. Standard.

I fell down a sand dune.

So, I have just returned to Sydney from a week-long vacation in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It was absolutely amazing. The adventure started at the Sydney airport. I went with my friends Abby and Alexis, and we decided to see if we could get three seats together. They told us there was an exit row available, and then followed it up with, "Are you all over 15?" Thank you, ma'am, I am definitely over 15. Then we get on the plane, a flight attendant walks us through the exit row procedure, and another flight attendant comes over and says, "Excuse me, but did someone ask how old you guys are?" Really? We actually look 14 or younger? We did the same thing on the way back and were put in an exit row and no one said a word about our age.

We took a bus from the airport to the hostel and it was a struggle trying to figure out where we were going, but we eventually made it. Our room was basically one giant bed...there was a queen-size bed and a fold-out couch, and the ends of both beds met in the middle of the room. We didn't do much the first night because it was late and we were exhausted from traveling. The first day we went to the beach and laid out and played in the waves for a couple hours. After that, we walked to Surfers Paradise to look at the shops and such. That evening, we went on the Backpackers Big Night Out, which included free entry to four clubs and a free drink at each place. The best club was the second, where there was a live band. We actually went home after the third club. As I've said, clubbing is not my scene. I prefer smaller bars.

Our second full day was Easter Sunday. We got a pass to Dreamworld & Whitewater World (Gold Coast is known for its theme parks). We were there from opening to closing. Afterwards, we had planned to go out, but we were just exhausted...again. We ended up finding a delicious kebab place close to our hostel and that was our Easter dinner. We liked it so much that we went there for dinner the next night too...

Monday we went horseback riding! When I was little horses were my absolute favorite animal, and I wanted one of my own more than anything. I even went to horse camp one summer. I haven't ridden a horse in a while but I was sooo excited. My horse was named Zane, and he was just lovely. He walked a little slowly...and he also didn't like mud. Most of the ride was walking...but when we tried trotting, things got interesting. My feet would not stay in the stirrups and it was pretty terrifying. In the middle of the ride, we stopped at the river and had tea and bread with jam.

Zane and I were obviously compatible.

The ride back from horseback riding was interesting. The owner of our hostel had driven us, and he brought his wife and daughter. On the way back his daughter thought it would be a good idea to sit in the back with us...and look at alllll the pictures we had taken that day. Every time there was a picture with one of us in it she would say, "Is that you?!" She did this about 17,000 times with each picture. Kids are tiring and I never want one ever.

Tuesday was our day trip to Moreton Island! The trip left from Brisbane, which is about an hour from where we were, so we had to wake up at 5 am, leave at 5:30, and meet our guide at 7. There were only six of us, plus the guide, so it was pretty laid back. We took an SUV, and the seats in the back weren't like normal car seats, they were up against the side. Anyway, the ferry took an hour and a half, and we got to Moreton Island and went snorkeling around the shipwreck off the beach. We got to feed the fish bread, which was a little terrifying. You would drop pieces in front of you and they would just come right up and splash you in the face and such. There was also a bird that apparently follows all of the snorkeling groups to get the fish that come up to the top for bread. It caught two fish right next to us. Alexis decided to put her hand in the water with bread in it, and 3 or 4 fish bit her fingers and she lets out this terrified scream and then looks like she's crying, and then starts laughing. And then the bird came right up to her and she freaked out a little more. It was pretty fantastic. After snorkeling, we took a drive to the other side of the island. Moreton Island is all sand, with no paved roads...so it was pretty bumpy. We would fly out of our seats on some of the bumps. Next we decided to drive to the freshwater lake on the island, Blue Lagoon, but there was a portion of the road that was covered in water. Our guide, Andrew, got out to see how deep it was. It went to his waist in some places soo we decided we would have to walk there. The water was really brown, and he told us it is because of tea tree oil, from leaves that fall onto the ground. After Blue Lagoon, we ate lunch on the beach. We were starving. After lunch, it was sand toboggan-ing time. We went to "The Desert", which has a reeeeeally steep hill of sand in it.

You can't tell how steep it is from the picture, but the hill is in the background. Anyway, sand toboggans pretty much look like snowboards, but you have to go down the hill on your stomach or sitting down. Andrew told us sitting down was faster, and we're wimps, so of course we started on our stomachs. I was the fifth to go (out of six) and my two friends were already at the bottom. I start down the hill and I'm doing fine, and all of a sudden I'm just rolling down the hill. Once I stopped tumbling, I started cracking up. I wanted to just lay there and laugh for a good five minutes, but I figured I should probably get up so our guide knew I wasn't dead. I was COVERED in sand for the rest of the day. My whole face was like a sand mask. It was not ideal, but the story is great. Walking back up the steep hill was awful, but my second time down the hill I decided to sit down, because I didn't really want to roll down the hill again... Turns out my shorts were too slippery to stay on the board without me slipping off, sooo I had to remove those suckers and go in my swimsuit bottoms. But I didn't fall the second time! And then I stopped. Andrew told us he would buy a drink for anyone who broke the record, which was walking up the hill ELEVEN times. It was achieved by a 10-year-old girl, so basically, it wouldn't be humanly possible for me. After sand toboggan-ing, we had a bumpy drive back to the beach where the ferry would be departing from. We were already getting a longer tour than usual, because the ferry normally picks up at 3:30, but ours wasn't set to arrive until 5. That was fine, because we weren't getting picked up in Brisbane until 9. But...it turns out, the ferry didn't leave Brisbane until 4:50ish...and it takes and hour and a half to get to Moreton Island. And then all the cars had to be loaded on. We had planned to explore Brisbane when we got back, but we didn't have time. It was after 8:30 when we found a place in Chinatown to order food to-go...and then our ride showed up. He had seven other passengers, and they were all complaining about waiting...but we were not about to go without food...it had been nine hours since lunch already. When we got back to the hostel, we were pretty beat...but I had to muster the energy to shower because...you know...I was caked in sand.

On Wednesday during the day, we took the boogie boards provided by the hostel and headed to the beach. When we got there, though, it was cold, cloudy, and really windy. It even started raining. So we decided to get pancakes at Pancakes in Paradise...and we sat there for a good two hours. Then we did some shopping. It was a little rough carrying our boogie boards around with us everywhere we went, and I'm pretty sure one of my friends whacked a kid with theirs, but we handled it. Wednesday night was Dracula's! It was sooo much fun. The night started off with us standing in line, extremely cold. One of the ushers came over to us and said we looked cold. We proceeded to have a very interesting conversation with him. When I told him I was from Oregon he said, "Portland?" which was a shock because most Australians have no idea what/where Oregon is. He decided to give us all nicknames, and he looks and me and says, "Redwood. There are those trees in Oregon, right?" I had to inform him that he was incorrect. He told us we were the first Americans he had ever met aside from one lady who was an illegal immigrant to the States from Panama. He said that she told him she came over on a raft and that the Coast Guard shot at her. He also told us he was born in California and moved to Australia when he was six. He said, "I was excited because of the kangaroos...but I still haven't seen one." Then he went on to say, "I saw one dead on the side of the road once...that was sad." This really doesn't sound as amusing as it was because you can't hear Cat's whiney, soft voice. It was perfect. He told us his dad moved to Sydney with his whore of a girlfriend... He also told us he was the valet (he pronounced the 't') but that he didn't know how to drive a stick...and told us not to tell his boss. "Do you know what a Mercedes is?" We said yes, of course. "Well, one day I had to park one, and it was really nice. It had the cow seats and everything...and it was a stick. I didn't know what to do and then there was smoke coming from under the hood, so I went up to the guy and said, 'Sir, there's something wrong with your Mercedes-Benz...' Now I have been subpoena'd and I don't think that's a good thing..." Later on, when we were inside eating dinner on the lower level, Cat was waiting tables upstairs. Every once in a while we would hear this loud meowing, and look up and he'd be there. Once when he did that he yelled, "Hey, Portland! I'm a Trailblazer!" I was so proud of him. He must've Google'd it or something. He also brought us a 'dead crow'. Anyway, aside from Cat, the food was delicious, and the show was great. There were dirty jokes, good songs (including a Michael Jackson tribute) and weird illusions. I don't really know how to describe it...and pictures weren't allowed. Anyway, when we left Dracula's, Cat was at the door and he said, "Bye America, love you!" And then he started crying as we walked away. He was probably the best part of the night.

Us with Cat! Don't mind that spot on my face...I don't know why that's there.

Thursday and Friday were both pretty much walk around Surfers Paradise and shop days... The weather wasn't the greatest. Plus we were really into the shopping there. But Thursday night we decided to try out this Mexican restaurant chain (Mexican restaurants are really hard to come by here). Abby and I got margaritas, which were delicious. The food was so-so. I decided I will probably hold off on Mexican food until I come home...which will be a struggle.

At least I finally got a marg.

Also, my mom and step-dad arrived on Friday morning! So, from the Sydney airport, Abby and I took the train to where they are staying. We chatted with them and ate cheese and crackers and made plans to go out to dinner tomorrow night and go to the Sydney Aquarium this week! I'mmmm soooo exciiiitedddddd.

Oh, and another thing. Abby and I took a cab back to the Village (aka where we live, if you don't know) from the train station. Right after we started driving, we heard this loud noise. Abby and I were convinced we had hit a bird. We then realized the cab had been egged. The whole ride back the driver kept questioning us! He asked if we knew anything about it, if we had seen anyone, and then asked again if we knew anything about it. He told us they follow girls... What? So these people that egged the cab were in a car and then followed us? I don't think so... He wasn't making sense. I think he was accusing us of being involved in some way...

Well...I suppose I should wrap it up. That's THE FIRST WEEK of my vacation! One more to go, this one with the parentals!

Pre-Gold Coast!

So today is my first day off for mid-semester break! I have seventeen glorious days off, and tonight I am leavin' on a jet plane to the Gold Coast with Abby and Alexis! We have a rockin' itinerary set up, so basically it's gonna be great. But I thought I'd fill y'all in on the random things that have occurred since my previous post.

Sunday was April Fool's Day, and Abby and I were being super studious in the library, when we get a text from our housemate Katie that said, "Did you leave your doors open because I didn't and now mine is open," and one from Alexis saying, "I just went to your place and Katie was outside talking to an RA...apparently someone broke in." So Abby and I were just trying to process this information, and being really relieved that we both had our laptops and wallets and cameras with us. I also had my iPhone with me so that was good. Anyway, we go back and there's a chair tipped over in our living room (real discreet...) and the shoe rack that is randomly on the landing upstairs was disassembled (random?). My passport was not missing, thankfully. The only things gone were my purse (which had a mirror and some chap stick in it at the time and nothing else) and a bottle and a half of alcohol. So the RA who was there turns to Abby and I and said we would have to make a statement to the police when they arrived. He said that Alexis would tell us how to make a report. She said, "All right, first, you write April....and then you write Fool's." We DIED. They totally got us...it was embarrassing, and I was a liiittle angry at first but then I was just proud of them for pulling off such a grand scheme. Oh, and after that debacle, Abby and I were attempting to do homework again in the admin building (didn't work...our concentration was killed after that) and I realized that my phone time and my computer time didn't match. Turns out it was Australian Daylight Savings Time...and we realized TWELVE HOURS LATER. Fail. When I got here, the time difference was 19 hours...but since, it has changed to 18, and then 17. The time difference is smaller, but for communicating with people, it's bigger. It used to be that I knew it was 5 hours later at home, but the day before...and now it's 7. And I hate it.

Wednesday was a superhero themed party at the Ranch. Obviously I wore a cape and leggings with swimsuit bottoms over them. I also taped a sign that said, "Super Mattie" to my shirt. It was kind of a letdown though...it was way too crowded and I just wasn't feelin' it.

Thursday (last night) was a traffic light party, annnnnd GREEN MEANS GO. Oh and pink apparently means, "back off, please" according to Alexis...red is too mean or something. Haha. When we got to Ubar, we danced a little, and then Abby and I went to get pizza. We were sitting there eating and this guy (with crazy hair) came and asked if he could sit at our table. We said sure. His friend came over a little later... But anyway, he was telling us how he owns a KFC franchise... (Uh, good for you?) And then we were talking about our ages...we were failing at guessing his, so we made him guess ours. He guessed 21 for both of us, which is correct. He then told us the secret to guessing a woman's age is to look at her knuckles... Um, okay... Anyway, turns out his friend is 27 and KFC guy is...drumroll...35 years old. Like, what? Just because you live close to the university bar doesn't mean you should come. "He doesn't even go here!" Mean Girls reference. Okay, I'm being ridiculous now. I think it's because I'm so excited for this break! Wooooo!

All right, that's it for now. Expect a loooong blog about Gold Coast in about a week.

"Sexymite"

Sooo, it's been quite some time since I posted last. Mostly because the memory card reader and the USB ports on my laptop decided to stop working so I was without my own computer for about four days. Thank goodness for three year warranties. But that's not important right now.

A week ago Wednesday this group called Bombs Away was performing at the Ranch. The party was pirate themed. I was sooo excited for this because when I first got to Australia I kept hearing this song at all the clubs and it became my jam. Turns out it is by Bombs Away, and then I found out they were coming! So that was great.

Last Saturday, we finally made it to Bondi Beach! I loved it. It was gorgeous, had a lot of cool shops and stands, and it was a really nice day over all. I bought myself some souvenirs and got my tan on.

The following Monday, we went to the Hunger Games. (Monday night is $8 movies for students...so that's our movie night.) Here's the thing:  I didn't read the book, and in the beginning of the movie my friend Abby and I--we made commentary throughout the ENTIRE movie--were talking about how messed up the premise of the movie was. Anyway, about 20 minutes into the movie we finally got reeeeally into it. We were also confused about the whole Katniss thing...I thought her name was Candace for a while and people just sucked at talking. And then I just wanted to call her "Cat-ness" or "Catnip." Also...Peeta? Definitely thought it was "Peter" the whole time. I don't know why I'm going into so much detail about this...sorry.

Tuesday I laid by the pool and got my tan on again. I feel like I had been losing my tan for a while so I really wanted to do something about it. Haha.

Wednesday we went to the Ranch. Obviously. We do that every Wednesday.

Thursday we went to Ubar. Not much going on...Abby and I were among about six people on the dance floor for a while. Awk.

This Friday was our friend Alexis's 21st birthday partaaay! It was pretty fantastic. I didn't feel quite as fantastic about it the next day...but luckily Alexis, Abby, and I discovered the hangover cure of champions:  bushwalking.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Lane Cove National Park (hangovers and all) and hiked for three hours. We saw countless lizards, and when we had finished our hike we ended up all the way at the other side of the park. We definitely had to take a bus back. We had also planned on camping at Lane Cove, so we had bought a bunch of hot dogs and decided we should eat those and pretend we were camping when we got back. Because we are cool. In the evening we went to Luna Park! If you have seen Our Lips Are Sealed, (the Mary Kate & Ashley classic) Luna Park is the amusement park that the girls go to with their surfer men. Oddly enough, the girls in that movie are named Abby and Maddie, so Abby and I decided we really need to find dates to take us there so we can reenact the movie. Luna Park was so much fun! We rode a bunch of rides...the unlimited ride bracelet is normally $40 but last night it was buy one get one free! There were three in our group, but another girl who was in a group of five asked if we wanted to pair up to get the cheaper price. Obviously we did. When we got back from Luna Park, we made s'mores (also with the supplies he had bought for camping). Australia doesn't have graham crackers, apparently...so we had to buy these plain cookie things...and their marshmallows come in bags like candy comes in, and they were pink and white. They also tasted strawberry-ish...it was bizarre.

Today...I work on homework. My last assignment due before TWO WEEKS OFF is due on Tuesday, so I need to get that done. Friday I leave for the Gold Coast! Yeeeeesssssss.

Shit ay!

I have been doing some thinking lately (mostly, during lectures when I'm spacing out). And this blog is the result, so here we go...

Things I miss from home:
1. Friends & family, of course
2. Pets
3. Hair straightener (the one I bought here doesn't work...at all)
4. Being able to afford alcohol
5. Ben & Jerry's (for less than $10 a carton)
6. The...inappropriate dancing that is the norm at home.

Things I will miss when I go home:
1. Friends
2. The people--even the ones that aren't my friends. Everyone is so much friendlier here.
3. The accent
4. The weather
5. The beach
6. How everything I eat is delicious, no matter what it is
7. The gym
8. The entire campus, actually
9. Having my own bathroom
10. Being able to/being forced to walk everywhere
11. The Australian sayings/words
12. Constantly taking pictures (without feeling annoying)
13. The level of independence
14. Not having class on Fridays
15. Visiting tourist attractions all the time
16. Goon
17. Having a bar on campus
18. All the themed parties
19. The birds
20. Kangaroos and koalas, of course...but I don't see those on a regular basis.
21. All the random uni events with free food...

Things I haven't mentioned:
Time goes by soooo quickly here. I seriously can't believe March is already more than half over.
I put ketchup on everything. Well, not everything. But I'm REALLY into it here.
I'm also pretty into chili sauce here. Most of my meals contain either ketchup or chili sauce.
I also eat a lot of peanut butter.
You may have noticed I didn't mention missing my iPhone, car, or TV (there are like 5 fuzzy channels on our TV here). And that's because I don't. I missed my iPhone for about the first week or two, but I just don't mind anymore.
Annnd I think I'm forgetting some things.

Time flies when you're serving salad...

I have had quite a splendid week. On Monday I finally got myself a gym membership to the Macquarie Uni gym (yes you have to pay for it, but it isn't too expensive and it blows the UPS 'gym' out of the water). I went to step aerobics on Monday night, then ab blast followed by Zumba on Tuesday! I felt very productive. Tuesday I also bought some postcards and postage...so...a few of you may have made it into the first round of postcards that I sent out on Wednesday morning. Be excited for that. Wednesday & Thursday night were reserved for going out. No theme nights this week, so my outfits were a little bit less ridiculous, as Facebook pictures will show.
Thursday and Friday afternoon were spent by the pool. I had planned on spending much more time at the pool on Friday, but on Thursday night I got a text that I got the position at Sumo Salad and my first shift was Friday 11-2. It was reeeeally busy...I had the lunch rush shift. It went by very quickly, though! And I need the money. Friday night was a girls' night in...we watched Bridget Jones's Diary and Wimbledon, and ate far too much.
Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and we were fortunate enough to get four free tickets to a rugby game when we were at the gym on Friday. We had already reserved an Opera House tour at noon, so we started our day there. I don't think I've mentioned that there is a play on at the Opera House this month called This is Our Youth starring MICHAEL CERA and Kieran Culkin... Well, my friends and I were dying to see it, but by the time we tried to buy tickets, it was sold out. On our tour, the guide kept talking about how it was on and I was deeply depressed. We also got to go backstage (which apparently isn't the norm for the tour we were on) and our guide told us we may run into one of them, and that if we did we had to leave them alone because the show was going on. I was reeeeally hoping to see one of them, but it didn't happen.
After the tour, we went to this market in the city and tried to find stuff to deck ourselves out for St. Patrick's Day. We ended up getting matching green tank tops, but they weren't related to the holiday at all. We took the bus to the park where the rugby stadium was, and we were there about an hour and a half before the doors opened, so we took shelter at a bus stop and played games. So...rugby was fun! My friends and I were all in agreement that we would much rather be at a rugby match than clubbing... Clubbing (in big clubs in the city) is not really our thing. There was the little issue that we know NOTHING about rugby. Actually, that's a lie. I know that you can't throw the ball forward. And no, I didn't learn that yesterday. I don't think I learned anything about rugby yesterday... The match was between the HSBC Waratahs and the Western Force. We decided we should cheer for the Waratahs, since they were the home team. They ended up losing 20-21, but that's fine. Oh yeah, I did learn a Waratah is a flower... Really? They are essentially the Flowers. Anyway...it's Sunday now and I haven't decided what I am going to do today. I'm not ready for the weekend to be over! Time goes by so quickly here.

Alpaca Pregnancy Test

As I mentioned on Friday, I spent the weekend in the country. I had absolutely no idea where I would be going in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, just that I was paired with my friend Sara. We arrived at the train station, and there was a representative from each farm to pick up their students. It seemed like everyone had already found their ride, and finally Sara and I were approached. The man was named Ian, and the ride was about 30 minutes. I don't think he told us exactly what their farm entailed right away. It turns out, he and his wife, Fiona, are Alpaca farmers! We pulled up to their house and I was shocked. It was HUGE, and very modern. It was amazing inside as well. (I took pictures throughout the house...they'll be on Facebook.) We put our stuff down, met Fiona, and then went out to feed some Alpacas. They were adorable, and some would eat out of your hand. They're pretty skittish, especially around people they don't know. The farm is 100 acres, and we did a lot of walking over the course of the weekend. It had also been raining consistently there for about 2 weeks, so the ground was waterlogged, and their ponds were all flooded. The good news is they had extra rubber boots (gum boots, as they are called here) for Sara and I to wear. Luckily, the few days that we were there were beautiful.

After feeding the Alpacas, we sat on the deck and talked for a while. And then...the first meal. Dinner was amazing. Fiona made honey and lemon chicken, potatoes, and peas and carrots, and Ian made some sort of non-alcoholic mixed drink with bitters and apple juice and various other ingredients. Dessert was an apple tart. Some of you may know that I'm not a big fan of 'cooked fruit.' Especially apples. I may be one of the minority of Americans who don't like apple pie. But I thought it would be rude not to eat it, and I figured I should try it anyway. Best move ever. It was AMAZING. After dinner, Ian and Fiona took us for a drive to see if we could find any kangaroos! Yes, over the weekend I saw my first (and second, and third, and fortieth...) kangaroo in the wild! We saw a lot of them that night.

Sara and I are early risers, so we were up at about 7:45 on Saturday, to Ian and Fiona's surprise/delight. We had told them the night before that we usually get up early, but they told us there was no pressure. Since we were up early enough, we got to go around for the morning feedings (after our morning feeding, of course). We also got to watch Ian and Fiona cut the nails of some Alpacas, and then, most interestingly, the Alpaca pregnancy test. So, one male escaped from his paddock and managed to get out and all the way across the road into a paddock with some females. There were three that he may have mated, and they were all past their prime...aka it would've been a pain if they were pregnant. Anyway, a female Alpaca knows she's pregnant about two weeks after mating. So to find out, you put a female with a male (any male, not just the one that mated her) in a closed space, and if she spits at him and fights with him, she's pregnant. It's as if she's telling him to stay away because it's no use trying to mate with her. If she isn't pregnant, she will lay down, giving him permission. It turns out that the three older females were not pregnant, but we also got to witness a positive pregnancy test of a female who they were trying to get pregnant. After all of that, we had a cuppa. (Cup of tea/coffee...Australians have the best words/sayings.)

After our cuppa, we got to do some halter training. One young female, Beba, is very well-trained already, so Sara led her and Fiona switched between two that she was training for the first time. They were very stubborn and would just lie down and not move. Beba is VERY talkative. It was adorable. The Alpaca sound is very low, it kind of sounds like saying, "Hmmm," from your throat. Anyway, she would "Hmmm" at us and Sara and I would have conversations with her. She was a funny one. After halter training, we had lunch. There was homemade bread, brie cheese, cheddar cheese, various meats, Indian wedding chutney, peach relish, and extra delicious cherry tomatoes. I believe we did a little more halter training after that, maybe... And at 4:30 there was a farm tour, with people from our program who were staying at farms without animals. Dinner that night was a barbecue at another 'farm' there. We brought salad and lamb, and when I was dishing myself up, Ian says, "Would you like to try the Alpaca meat?" I said there's no way, but then he had almost convinced me, and says, "It tastes a lot like lamb." Fiona laughed and said, "That's because it is." Oh yeah, I also don't normally like lamb... Once again, I figured I would try it. I actually enjoyed it! My family is going to be so proud of me. On the way home from the barbecue, we saw more kangaroos.

Sunday morning, Sara and I were up around 8 again, ate breakfast, and fed the Alpacas. We did more halter training, and this time I lead Beba and she lead Russlana, another who was already halter trained. We would lead them ahead of whichever stubborn one Fiona was working with, but it still didn't encourage them much. We had another cuppa, and then went on a hiking/slight rock-climbing expedition on the steep hills/cliffs of their property. We found some caves that animals live in, but didn't see any animals. We had the same lunch, then put some Alpacas back in their paddock. And then it was time to go... We were SO sad to leave. We are hoping to plan a weekend later in the semester to go back. Fiona and Ian were like our parents for the weekend, and they were great. Working with the Alpacas was also really fun, and being away from my computer (and also having no cell phone service...they're in a valley) was nice. They also have an adorable, sweet, and crazy intelligent Border Collie named Trema. I MISS DOGS. It was great to have one around.

Other things:
Their locality (sort of like a town...) is called Canyonleigh. There isn't a hospital there, and ambulances can't access the area easily. The solution to this problem: there are four trained and certified couples, and one emergency vehicle that rotates between them. Each week, starting on Friday, one of the couples has the vehicle and all the equipment, including a pager and a phone. It was their week, so it was possible that Fiona and Ian would get a page and have to leave us at any time, but no calls came in.
We got to see kangaroos, as I said... We didn't see any wombats, koalas, goannas, or (thankfully) snakes, though all of them are present in the area. We saw some lizards (skinks), and another lizard...I forget the name, but it's the type that runs on its back legs...and terrapins (like turtles). We saw lots of birds, and got to hear the kookaburras, which sort of sound like crazy laughter and/or monkey noises.
I probably forgot a lot of things...but I'm exhausted so that's that. And now I will be uploading the pictures from the weekend to Facebook. Good night!

Just some stuff...

So, not much worth telling has happened lately. I mentioned in an earlier post that I would be going to Fiji for spring break. Well, it was a little spendy, so my friends and I decided to go to the Gold Coast (in Australia, for those of you who don't know) instead. We plan on seeing the Great Barrier Reef and possibly diving with sharks. We already booked our flight and hostel.

This weekend I will be living on a farm... Apparently we do chores and help out in exchange for a place to stay and, best of all, free home-cooked meals! That's worth it to us poor, unemployed college students in this expensive country. (Seriously...their minimum wage is $15.15 or so. I NEED a job.)

Speaking of jobs, I handed out my resume to a bunch of places in the mall the other day, and one of them interviewed my friend and I on the spot. It's just a salad place in the food court, but today I go in for a two-hour trial shift and I should know if I actually have a job in a week or so.

Oh yeah, and my friend was nice enough to post this on my wall:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/thousands-spiders-blanket-australian-farm-escaping-flood-165958059.html

Things you need to know:  1. I HATE spiders. 2. This happened on a farm in New South Wales. I live in New South Wales, and I'm going to be living on a farm this weekend... 3. It has rained a lot in the past week.

Yesterday I walked to class in boots (first time I've worn those in a while) that I wear all the time at home, including in the rain. They were absolutely SOAKED by the time I got there. That doesn't even happen at home. And of course I was dressed for cold and rain and the uphill walk back was really sunny and hot. Bipolar weather just like at home!

Annnd, this is my life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhMucFYi4Hw

1. Coffee (and everything...even ketchup) is actually better here. I don't know what it is.
2. We get lost constantly.
3. They know we're American because: we're loud, our accents, and we don't know what we're doing. Among other things.
4. They do call 'fries' 'chips.'
5. Yes, we can drink the water.
6. Yes, this has changed my life.
7. We do not have to tip.
8. The kids ARE adorable. On the flight here there was a baby across the aisle from me that wouldn't stop staring at me, so I'd make ridiculous faces at him. His mom said he was flirting with me. Flattered.

I'll stop there...but my friends and I have said/thought so many of the things in that video, or variations of them. Sorry this is long and probably terribly boring to read. I'm just bored at 8:30 am. Anyway, anything worthy of sharing (or maybe not) from the past week has been documented via my Facebook pictures.

Small World

Thursday night was my first experience at UBar (yeah, they have bars on campus here). It was a pretty fun night, and since UBar is the place to be for students on Thursday, you run into a lot of people you know. It was also free entry until 10 pm, but we left before 10 and went back...but my friends and I had the hook-up, sooo that was pretty exciting.

Last night there was a free party bus to King's Cross with free entry to The Club. After eating a delicious dinner made by our housemate (it is Abby & I's turn to make dinner tomorrow), we headed for the East Village. We met up with Abby's friend from home who is studying abroad at Wollongong and was visiting for the weekend. The weirdest thing though was running into a girl who knows where Rainier, Oregon is! For those of you who don't realize, I'm from Rainier. It has a population of about 2000...smaller than the number of students at UPS. Actually, here is what Rainier, Oregon is all about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier,_Oregon

P.S. We don't even have a grocery store.

Anyway, the girl's grandparents live there, and she's been there multiple times. She has even been to Rainier Days, which is a carnival thing we have every summer. Basically, my mind was blown.

So after all that, we were the first ones to get on the party bus. It was actually just a bus. But anyway, we got to the club, waited in line, and then got inside only to stay a little while. We just weren't that into it. So we took a cab back.

Tonight are the Mardi Gras festivities in the city, so that's where we'll be later. Oh and to clear things up, it is Saturday here. My blog posts are on US time still, and I don't know how to change it.

O-Week

Sooo it's O-Week (orientation week) at Macquarie. For all of you UPS students, it's kind of like LogJam for 5 days straight, annnd a lot bigger. Anyway, I signed up for two clubs.  The first is the WANG club. It is the largest club on campus, and it stands for We All Need Grub. Some students (one of whom is the person who informed me of this club) decided they should make a club that just holds barbecues all the time. Basically, the university subsidizes their food and alcohol purchases and members (it was $10 to join) just get to come party. Genius. I don't think it'd fly at UPS though, sadly. I also signed up for the dance academy...we'll see how that goes. I think it starts next week. In other news, I picked up an on-campus job application and turned it in today...hopefully I get something. It's expensive here, in case you didn't know. Annnd I'm almost done with my first week of classes! Tomorrow I have three hours in the morning and then I'm freeeeee! Oh and if you didn't know...I'm making travel plans with two of my friends to go to Fiji for the first week of our two-week break in April. Stoked.

First day of class!

So I finished my first day of class. I was really nervous because my first class in this country was a 300-level Spanish class, and apparently classes here are more difficult. It wasn't too bad, even though I haven't spoken Spanish for about two months. My class is really small, only 9 students. It's based a lot on watching Spanish language films, which is what my class at home last semester was like too, so I don't think it will too bad. Except that all the Australians have really good accents when speaking Spanish, and I have no accent. The professor did remark that most Americans that come to Australia that she has taught can't really speak Spanish, so apparently I was doing all right. (As I should be...it is my minor, after all.) Anyway, enough about that. I posted a picture of my schedule on Facebook the other day, but I will put it here as well.

I also got a gift while walking around today...

I'm gonna keep it, just because Australia is on the front.

And last but not least, I will show everyone at home how pretty the Macquarie campus is.

This is the lake on campus. It's quite lovely.

Random

There are a few little things that I haven't written in my previous blog posts, so I will write them here.

For one, the housing that I'm living in--Macquarie University Village, West Side--was built to accommodate the athletes for the Sydney Olympics, apparently.

Also, Australia is under a hole in the ozone layer, and it's the middle of summer. My pasty self pretty much has to reapply sunscreen every two hours, or less. Oh, and my freckles are back...all over my face and arms.

It is very common here to say "heaps" as in "very" or "a lot." Also, "keen" instead of "interested" or "excited" or whatever. So, if I come back to the States and tell you, "I'm heaps keen," it means, "I'm totally down."

Goon, the boxed wine that I have previously mentioned, gets its name from homeless people (often called goons) using the bags as pillows...or so I have been told.

On that note, Australians really like to trick Americans (or people in general?). "Taking the piss," means to make fun of someone. They do that a lot. I was worried my sassiness would be offensive to people here, but it turns out it fits right in.

Lastly I just wanted to mention that while we were waiting for our dolphin cruise, a little boy was pushing his bike around on the dock (with no railing) and pushed it right into the water. His dad went in and got it, but it was pretty adorable/funny.

Anyway, sorry all my posts are boring. I admit that I don't write very well. Oh, and my T9 texting...not getting much better yet.

Catch Up

My last post was a week ago...so I will try to recreate the past week. I think on Saturday we tried to go to Manly Beach again, but got to Sydney and it was already around 2 or 3 and we thought taking the ferry wouldn't be worth it.

Sunday we went to Sydney again for Tropfest, a short film festival. We ended up getting lost and walking all over the place. At one point on our walk, a chubby shirtless guy yelled "WHOA!" right as he passed our group of 5 girls, and he proceeded to rub his nipples and say, "I get a good feeling." We started cracking up, as did the group of people sitting outside of the restaurant across the street. Anyway, we made it to Tropfest at about 1 or 2. All we knew about Tropfest was that it apparently ran from 11 am to 11 pm. What we didn't realize was that the films didn't screen until 7 pm. So basically we got to lay there and sunbathe and watch ads on the screen.

Monday I sat at the pool all day. Rough life.

Tuesday I believe our lovely flatmate Leigh was nice enough to drive us to the store. Later that day, the goon garden happened. In case you're wondering what a goon garden is:

If you're still confused...those are bags of wine. Like Franzia. This started at about 2 pm, a few houses down from ours.

Wednesday was orientation for abroad students...10 am until about 3:30. It was a little rough. Wednesday night is also the big night for students at The Ranch, but my experience there wasn't as good as the experiences I've had just hanging around the village.

Yesterday we had to be up and ready at the admin building at 7:20 am. We went to a buffet lunch, which was delicious, especially when basically all you eat at home is toast, sandwiches, and frozen pizza. After that we went on a dolphin watching cruise. We saw dolphins at the very end of our cruise. After the cruise, we stopped at a winery and had a wine tasting. I have been trying to develop a taste for wine for a few months now, as you may know, and I think I've got it! So proud of myself. We went to a blowhole after the wine tasting, but the waves weren't big enough, so nothing really happened. We didn't get back home until 8:30. I went to bed at around 11 last night...I think that's the earliest I've gone to bed the entire time I've been here.

Domestic Life

The only unfortunate thing about being here is our DISGUSTING kitchen. We explored it yesterday to see if we had pots and pans and dishes, which we do. I open a cupboard and there is a carton of eggs. The best by date was from August. Apparently in Australia they don't make you throw away your food or take it with you when you move out... Our stove and fridge were disgusting as well. There were dishes everywhere. Oh and when we turned on the vacuum, it smelled awful...so there goes clean carpets. Anyway, we put on gloves and scrubbed EVERYTHING. And now it's still gross...but as good as it'll ever get. Tonight we cook our first meal! Spaghetti--the cheapest thing you can buy at the grocery store here! We also eventually got to meet our last flatmate, he's Australian. The apartment is great other than the kitchen. There is one bedroom downstairs and four upstairs. We each have our own private bathroom, which is really nice. And now...I will post pictures of my room.

 The desk/my view

 Half of the closet...

 ...and the other half.

 Bathroom

 Bathroom

My bed. I bought children's bedsheets because they were the cheapest...don't judge me.

Last but not least...my super fancy cell phone for the next 4 months! I'm learning ABC and T9 texting alllll over again.

The First Few Days

I am finally settled in in Macquarie University housing! So much has happened in the last four days...I feel like I've been here for a month already (in a good way).

Day 1:
Arrived at the airport in Sydney after about 36 hours of travel time total (including sitting in LAX for 9 hours). It was SO hot. We went to a hostel in Sydney at The Rocks (basically it's built on top of old architectural ruins). We had lunch on the deck and then took a three-hour walking tour of the city. We had dinner at the pizza place next to our hostel, The Australian Hotel, and I ate kangaroo pizza. It actually tasted exactly like chicken. And of course, we had to end the night with clubbing.

Day 2:
We left at 8 to go hiking in the Blue Mountains. On the way there we stopped at a wildlife center and got to pet koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies. I felt a little bad about eating kangaroo the night before at that point... The Blue Mountains has the steepest railway ride in the world (52 degrees...it was terrifying) and we rode that down, then hiked back up. One portion of our walk is called the "1000 Stair Walk." Pretty intense. After that we went to an aboriginal center and saw some aboriginal dancing, painted boomerangs, and got our faces painted. The rest of the day was free, and we ate dinner and went out. It was probably the best Valentine's Day of my life.

Day 3:
We had some informational sessions, then the middle of our day was free. Most of us in the program took the ferry to Manly Beach, where a surf competition was taking place. It was gorgeous and soo nice. The water was ridiculously warm. After Manly, we had a dinner cruise, which was so much fun.

Day 4:
We left at about 9 for Macquarie, got our accommodations--I'm rooming with my friend from UPS, another girl in our program, and an Egyptian guy...we still don't know who the fifth roommate is--went shopping for the essentials, unpacked, and ate dinner. Later tonight we will go to The Ranch, which is the most popular pub in the area.

I cannot express how amazing these past few days have been...this post doesn't even begin to cover it. I love it here. Oh...and if you want to see pictures...they're all on Facebook.

Saturday, February 11th I am off to Sydney for four and a half months! This blog is to keep everyone updated on my life down under, if I remember not to neglect it. Currently I am just bouncing back and forth from excited to terrified, so there's not much to say yet. Hopefully it gets more interesting from here!