Much delayed post #2

2/22/08 4:30pm

Hi!

So I know that these posts are back to back but I’ve been writing them even though I didn’t have internet, so I just posted them all at once.

As of last time, I said that I was going to have a 2 day orientation is Sydney with my program (CEA), and have orientation we did. My whole group, about 23 kids, met up on campus Tuesday morning and finally met our leader, Murray. He’s in his late twenties I’d say, and is a surfer. He works at a surf shop and works for CEA, and he is really cool. Since he’s so young he knows what we want to do and just hangs out with us like a friend. Anyway, we went from campus to downtown Sydney, basically, where all the action is. We walked down George St. the main street in Sydney, and shopped around (they have amazing gelato here, my friend Jen and I got some for our shopping).  We walked to our hostel and checked in, I stayed in a room with 5 of my friends. The kids in the group are awesome. There’s only about 5 boys and the rest are girls, but we all have so much fun together. Everyone is so nice and we basically just hang out together all day and night. It’s like dorm life all over again, just in a way cooler place.

 After checking into our dorm, we took a bus and then another bus and then another bus to get to Bondi Beach (pronounced bond-eye, not bind-ee, like most Americans do). Didn’t have time to swim, but we grabbed lunch and looked at the beautiful scenery. Australia is so lush with plant and animal life you can just go for a walk for hours and take it all in. It’s like a mix of the tropics and the Mediterranean. A lot of Sydney on the harbor reminded me so much of Greece. We then took another bus to get to a ferry that would take us back to the main part of Sydney, the harbor (we basically went in a big circle, just to see the sights). Unfortunately, we missed our ferry so we had an hour to kill, but I collected some seashells and with such a fun group, an hour went by fast. The ferry was so beautiful I took tons of pictures, which I will post soon. We went right past the Opera house and saw all the prime ocean front real estate of the city. After getting dropped off in the harbor we ran to do the bridge climb. The Sydney harbor bridge is a huge, huge bridge made out of steel that is 75 years old. Most people predicted it would only last for about 60 years...and we climbed it. You get into a huge grey jumpsuit, not attractive (and you’re almost naked underneath, it’s too hot for clothes), and put on a bone-vibrating headset. Instead of the sound going into your ears, it vibrates the bones behind your temples and you hear it that way, creepy if you ask me. Anyway, you get a group leader, ours was Nathan, and you carabineer yourself onto a cable that goes up the bridge. Then you climb...1,467 steps. And it is high. Very high. Once you get to the top you walked to the middle of the bridge on a see-through grate above 7 lanes of traffic. That’s when I cried. I don’t do well with heights, but my group was very supportive, I would do it again in a second. The view was unbelievable. You can see forever and you’re literally right above the opera house and the prime minister’s mansion. You can’t bring your cameras with you (or anything that’s not attached to you) but they do give you a complimentary picture of your group at the top (the climb costs $150, so maybe not so complimentary). Luckily, this was included in my program through CEA, so it was already paid for. Most kids don’t get to do it since it’s so pricey, but I highly, highly suggest it if you can, or are ever in Sydney.

After the bridge climb, we all went out to dinner to this awesome place. You go in and pick your favorite cut of meat, from about 4 different animals and 5 choices for each. I got a huge T-bone steak, and you grill it yourself. Unlimited salad and potatoes. It was perfect for such a long day. And, I bought my first legal drink! I got a Coopers (of course, Australian beer is amazing), and the best part is, you don’t tip in Australia (for anything really) so AU$5 will get you an ice cold beer from tap or a bottle.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel, and some people went out to a local pub, but I was so tired and getting a cold, that I feel asleep instantly until morning. The next day was our free day in Sydney so we got up, had breakfast and headed to Manly beach where Murray has his surf shop. Manly is the less popular beach compared to Bondi, but is gorgeous and not too crowded. Lots of sunblock and some swimming, super fun. I finally got to eat Thai food here. I convinced my friends to go with me and we all got the most amazing Pad Thai I’ve ever had. The ingredients (I went all out and got shrimp) are so fresh and incredible, and Asia is so close that everything is delicious. Back to the beach but...uh oh, jelly fish alert! They have announcements when jellyfish come into the bay and just as we got back the water was full of blue bottles. They are small and clear so you can’t see them but can kill children and the elderly. We would all have survived but the sting hurts more than anything you’ve experienced for a good 2 hours. A kid in front of us got stung and cried (he was a 20 year old boy).

Took the bus home and showered. The guys across the hall from me bought a grill so a lot of us go there every night, bring our own dinner and grab a beer. The nightlife around my uni (university) is pretty dead although the local bar/club is free on Wednesdays so everyone comes out. They have a bar and a dance floor. We went and although I’m not much of a dancer, I had a great time. We all just had fun and got to know each other (and yes, I danced).

Thursday was orientation for the uni, so we learned about classes, homework, homesickness etc. Pretty boring but informative. Up until this point I had been feeling a little under the weather but on Thursday I took a turn for the worst. Everyone went out to this party at a bar that was sponsored by Macquarie, but I could barely talk and swallow, I really thought I had strept, so I went to bed early and missed it. Luckily, I got a doctor’s appointment for today and she doesn’t think it’s strept just a viral infection. So tonight everyone is probably going downtown and I will probably go with them.

I’m going to try to set up internet in a little bit so I’m hoping to be online by tonight, and wireless on campus by next week.

I registered for classes, taking 3, which is normal here, their credits are different. No classes Thursday and only one on Wednesday and Friday. We’ll see how it all pans out.

Sorry these posts are so long but a lot has happened and I have some time to write.

From now on they should be more regular and much shorter. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from each one of you at some point.

Cheers mates!