I am heaps more cultured thanks to Canberra.

5/20/08 11:20am

Hey ya’ll! (Believe it or not, I actually said that in casual speech the other day, living with a Texan is rubbing off on me. AND I tease my hair real big on a regular basis.)

How are things back in the States? I heard the weather is kinda crappy on the east coast. Lame for you guys. It’s definitely autumn here but the average is about 65 and it’s sunny 90% of the time. Beautiful weather today, and still almost warm enough at night to wear cute little dresses (we do anyway even if it’s not warm enough).

  Last week was pretty normal, got back into the swing of things after my birthday and no one went out all week except for Thursday. We went to this club/bar (there should be a word for that...blub) in North Sydney that apparently, is known to house all the 18 and 19 year olds who want to party (don’t forget, the drinking age/going out age here is 18). So the 20 something Americans were surrounded by Australian teens for a night. Exciting stuff.

Friday morning my program, CEA, had a trip to Canberra (the capital pronounced "Canbra", Sydney is not the capital of Australia). Canberra is sort of known to be a bit...boring, but we all already paid for it, so most people went. Our group had a small bus and drove down for about four hours. Bus games and merriment occurred the whole way (plus naps since some people were a bit hung over). We got to Canberra in the early afternoon and started at the Australian War Memorial. We saw fighter jets and all sorts of army related things, plus the changing of the guards (called the post). After a few hours there, we headed to our hostel to drop our stuff and get ready for dinner. We all had some before dinner drinks at the local pub and then went to Vietnamese. I love Vietnamese and was very excited.

I’m sort of known here as the resident foodie since a lot of kids are from smaller towns and haven’t been exposed to a lot of different foods. When everyone heard Vietnamese (and I jumped up and down with glee), they rushed over and called dibs on sitting next to Selina. It all wasn’t necessary though because we ordered a banquet of pre-determined food. Overall it was disappointing, I wouldn’t have normally ordered anything I actually ate, but it was an interesting experience.

Some people went out to explore the “Canberra night-life” but I was exhausted and about half of us just crashed. We got up early on Saturday, got a good breakfast and began our incredibly cultural activities. The first stop was the Australia National Museum where we saw lots of Aboriginal history, some dead animals, and made our own virtual 3D spaceships (the best part of the day by far, we all always run to the little kid activities). Next up was the Australia Art Museum where I saw Jackson Pollock’s “Blue Poles”, very exciting, as well as a lot of other art. After that, we headed to Parliament and took a guided tour of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Not the most riveting thing I’ve ever done, but educational nonetheless. We all piled back onto the bus and headed home.

The original plan was to go out on Saturday night but once everyone ate, showered, got dressed and was ready, we were all too tired to make it out. So we stayed in, played some beer pong, watched some movies etc.

 Sunday was homework and relaxation day and then we had a girl’s night at Hugo’s to take advantage of the $5 Sneaky Sundays. This time I had a pumpkin, Gorgonzola, zucchini pizza, it was marvelous.

School finally came about and now it’s Tuesday in between classes. Later today we’re going to have some afternoon tea at the center and then I believe we’re hosting a beer pong tournament since Cyd’s boyfriend came yesterday to stay for 2 weeks. I’m sure very exciting things will be happening all week, and you lucky dogs, will get to read all about them. I suppose I should do some homework now/look for an internship that I still haven’t found/apply for visas that I need to travel. There are some Canberra pics (though not many) in a new album with this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2315087&l=20d35&id=824622

Byebye for now!

So, there was a birthday.

5/12/08 10:24 pm

And it was mine! I finally (finally) turned 21 and it happened in Australia and it was awesome. I will start from the very beginning.

Our friend Jai came and stayed with us this week and his birthday was Tuesday, so Cyd and I went out with him and met up with our Australian friends. Wednesday was well, Wednesday so of course we hit up Epping hotel for another lovely local night.

Thursday I stayed in, took it easy, watched a movie, relaxed a bit before the big weekend. Friday we just had a small group and played some beer pong in our apartment.

 

Then it started. Saturday, my three girls (Lindsey, Jen and Cydney) and I all cooked dinner together and they surprised me with a yummy cake (with 21 candles of course) and a crown (every birthday girl gets a crown). I also got a big wine glass that’s painted with confetti and says ‘21’. So we all got ready and went out. We were a smaller group, but we met up with some people later that night. I had decided on going out in Darling Harbour since I hadn’t done that yet, so we headed off to Cargo. Cargo is right on the water in the harbour and it just a very young and trendy area. A lot of dancing and fun ensued. We stayed out for awhile, made the 2:50 bus home, and went to sleep...a bit later.

 

I woke up Sunday to my lovely roommate and Jen giving me french toast and lots of balloons in bed! I slept in a bit later, and hung around the Parklands. Lindsey gave me some delicious tea and a tea canister. Joanne and Ashley gave me four (4!) Warm Delights. If I get fat, it’s their fault. I had originally wanted to go see a movie or something but...sleeping was a better option.

 

I had also decided to go out on Sunday (my real birthday) as well, and this time we had a different group of girls, all my blondes! There’s this really swanky lounge in King’s Cross (the red light district, which is always super fun) and I love it. If you read reviews of it online it says “When going to Hugo’s, if you own Prada, wear it”. On Sundays they have a $5 special: $5 to get in, $5 huge gourmet pizzas and $5 drinks from 8 to 10. Needless to say, we took full advantage of all three of those things. It started to get busy around 9 and we had a lot of fun. A few of the girls wanted to make the last bus home, which is unfortunately at 11:11, so Joanne, Melissa and I stayed later. We continued the festivities for a bit longer and then also, headed home. Bed pretty quickly after that, and classes this afternoon.

 

Now, for those of you that are curious, no, I did not do 21 shots/drinks. I actually wanted to remember at least part of my 21^st birthday and decided against going completely insane (at least as insane as 21 shots is). It was still an awesome birthday, and now Sundays at Hugo’s will definitely become a regular thing, we all loved it.

 

This weekend is my program’s trip to Canberra, the capital, we come back Saturday, so who knows what the weekend will bring.  Besides all the above-mentioned things, everything here is continuing as normal. Still desperately trying to find an internship and still booking flights/getting vaccinations. My backpack for Asia arrived, it’s really nice, should be very helpful.

And that is all. Here is the link for my random things/birthday album. I pre-warn you, they are all of my friends and other people dancing and drinking. Don’t go looking for any spectacular views or scenery.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2309811&l=cb0e4&id=824622

Taking it down a notch (but +stress other places)

May 7, 2008 8:04pm

So yes, it’s been a few days, and the reason I haven’t updated is not because I’ve been super busy, but because nothing that exciting has happened. School started again and we all got back into our normal routines again, only I think the non-stop going going going caught up to me and I ran out of steam. Luckily, this past weekend was really low key and relaxed. I finally just slept (went out once for an awesome night) and took it easy for a few days, which had yet to happen to in this country. I got over a little cough thing I had going on (if you ask anyone here, I’m always, always sick...which is true anywhere I go) and am now just counting down until my birthday (which is Sunday the 11^th for those that don’t know). You should all probably send me something. Hah. I’m still trying to figure out what to do for it, since it’s a really big one (the big two-one), I think we’ll go out Saturday for dinner and then out on the town. Sunday will be recuperation and probably brunch, I’ve been craving French Toast for weeks now.

Cydney and I have been spending a lot of time together, we’re a really good tag team when it comes to...well, anything. I’m going to miss her so much when we have to go home! We’re such a dynamic duo, every time we go out, people always think we’re trouble (but we’re not, I swear!).

I’ll probably go out tonight, just to Epping, and sleep in tomorrow because tomorrow I have...nothing! It’s so exciting to have no plans and to just take it as it comes. As you can see, I don’t have much to report for once, although after my birthday, we have a week of school and then my program goes to Canberra. I am really busy setting up my Asia and New Zealand tours, which I will now be going on alone, because my friend couldn’t come. I bought a ticket to Bangkok and to Christchurch for now, still have a couple more to buy. I’m also working on visas and vaccinations, it’s all very confusing and I’m a bit overwhelmed. The biggest stressor of all however, is finding a fall internship.

Now, finding an internship is easy, I’ll do anything. Finding a part-time PAID internship is impossible. I would prefer something in the magazine world, but I would do book publishing again in a second. Internet publications are fine too, as well as just office work. I’ve sent my resume to a few places, but it’s hard to find things now since I’m looking so early. I have to do it now though since I’ll be MIA for all of July (the most important month to apply). If anyone has any suggestions, leads, tips or you want to hire me, please let me know! Leave advice in the ‘comments’ below, I will do anything!

I’ll give a link for more pics once I actually put up more than three, which I haven’t yet. Melissa leaves Sydney on Friday, for Fiji and then home. It all seems so soon but she’s been here longer than me and she’s ready for it. Anyway, hopefully more exciting things to come! Miss you all (but I’m not quite ready to come home yet)!