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.