Calm and warm on a Sunday.

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon here. All my friend went to the beach but my throat still hurt and I had tons of lectures to watch since I didn’t go to class last week, so I stayed in and took care of that.

I’ve actually been pretty busy since the last post even if I have been feeling under the weather. Thursday my friend Lindsey and I ran errands all over campus and the mall.

Friday, Lindsey, Jen and Cydney (my housemate) and I all went to Manly beach for the day. It was slightly chilly and overcast so we got lunch and poked around in all the little beach stores. Got pad thai at our favorite thai place in Manly (Chad Thai) and came home. Everyone was going to go out at night and I was going to stay in and continue healing, but then it started to pour (when it rains here, it really rains) so we all just stayed in and watched a movie. Saturday, the four of us went downtown and spent the day shopping and checking out Chinatown. We got lunch at one of the many Chinese restaurants and then hit Paddy’s Market. Paddy's Market is a huge market with tons of little stalls where you can buy hats and bags and clothes and jewelry and boomarangs and everything else in the world. We all needed some things (beach bags etc) so we shopped around. Melissa joined us too. The other part of Paddy's Market is a fresh fruit and vegetable market that is just crazy. Of course all the vendors have the same exact products so you can wander around a keep finding cheaper prices. And when I say cheap, I mean cheap. We all bought tons of stuff (fresh lychees!) and headed home. Melissa came back with us and we cooked dinner until it was time to head back downtown to go out. We usually travel in groups with everyone in the Parklands (our buildings) so there’s always about 25 of us or so. People hate us when we get on the bus because we take over and are very loud (hence why people here hate Americans).

Everyone spent the night out together dancing and having fun (I took it easy, no worries) and came back late. Lindsey and I made grilled cheese, we always get really hungry at night. Slept in really late (I’ve been getting up at 9 everyday because I can’t sleep) and listened to lectures all day. Now I have some more reading and homework to do for class tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’re going to sign up for a Hunter Valley vineyard tour. It’s $55 for transportation to the valley, lunch, wine tasting and the trip back to campus. A pretty good deal. Next weekend is my program’s surf trip! We leave Friday morning in a bus and drive up the coast for 7 hours. We have surf instructors waiting for us there to teach us how to surf for 3 days. I think we camp out or stay in beach shacks and just enjoy the last days of summer. Last week was the first day of autumn here, although it’s still been about 70 everyday. In fall it can go down to 50 or so though.

Still fighting this infection, hoping my throat feels better soon. Send me messages or leave a comment, I get homesick over here!