I really can’t describe to you in this post how much I LOVE the city of Sydney. I had somewhat forgot how great it was from my first weekend, or just credited it to the fact that it was the first place I’d been in AUS, so naturally I would have loved it. But seriously, it is a fantastic place and my weekend there was SO fun.
I left everyone in Toowoomba and started my travels down there. There were some bumps along the way; such as the fact that I lost my boarding pass in the airport. But luckily, security in domestic flights here is nothing like over in the States. I’m pretty sure that was the only time I ever had to show my ID all weekend. So I arrived in the Sydney airport and caught a train (how convenient that a public transportation system would run past 5 PM) to Macquarie University where some of my friends are studying abroad at. I stayed at my friend Rachel’s apartment and we went to this party her friends were having. It was so cool because their whole apartment complex was filled with Americans that were in the exact same boat that we were, so it was all really fun. The next morning, she had an internship to go to downtown, so we both caught the train down there, where she left for work and I left to check into my hostel and explore the city. I didn’t do anything too eventful that day but I remember feeling slightly overwhelmed at all the places I wanted to go and all the restaurants I wanted to eat in and that I only had slightly less than 2 days to do it all in.
If you can recall all the way back to my first AUS post, the group I studied abroad with was CIS. There were about 8 of us students, our leader, Kym, and her son Scott and we all stayed in Sydney our first weekend. Kym was down for the weekend guiding another group, and Scott and his friend Andrew came down as well. One of the CIS guys who studies in Melbourne came up too, with some of his friends who were visiting him from Boston, so it was a mix of totally random strangers that made up for a really fun reunion. So anyways, Rachel and I wanted to see Kym while she was in town, so we went with Scott and Andrew and met up with Kym for dinner. After that, we went and had drinks with some of Rachel’s friends from the night before at Darling Harbour, but because it was so rainy and cold, the night ended short.
This probably worked out for the best, seeing as how I wanted to get up early to see all of Sydney. Now, I hate being touristy, but I pretty much did every tourist thing you could do in Sydney. I started the day walking through Hyde Park (after eating breakfast at this awesome French bakery) and made my way through the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House. The views of the bridge from the Opera House were awesome and so I walked along Circular Quay to get the starting point of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The weather forecast for the weekend was rainy, but it held off for most of the day and would only drizzle off and on, which made my walk along the bridge much more enjoyable. I didn’t actually walk up over top of the bridge (that costs major bucks and time, neither of which I had) but walking across it as a pedestrian was still SO cool. On the other side at Milson Point, there isn’t much to do, but I did get to see Luna Park (which couldn’t help remind me of ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’) and just as I was waiting for the ferry, a rainbow appeared right over the Opera House. Awesome.
After taking the ferry boat back (McDreamy?), I walked through Circular Quay to get to the Rocks, which is this cool district near the bridge with all these little shops and a weekend market with awesome stuff for souvenirs. I took a detour on the way back to the hostel, so that I was able to see Darling Harbour in the daylight without the pouring rain. After basically walking for 6 hours, I was tired and wet so I chilled out at the hostel until I was supposed to meet up with everyone for dinner.
Eight of us ended up going out to dinner at this Irish pub which was really close to both Scott and my hostels, before finishing the night at Scubar. It was awesome because Scubar (this funky little bar in Sydney if you ever get to go) was where we all hung out our first weekend there, so it was only natural that our Sydney reunion would end there as well. It was sad to leave everyone that night knowing I probably wouldn’t see most of them again, but unfortunately, I had to go back to Toowoomba.
The next day brought Sunday and a bunch of people had told me that while I’m in Australia, I should check out Hillsong church. So I got up the next morning and took the free shuttle over there. Definitely not a decision I regret. It kind of reminded me of EPIC at Northridge and was a good way to end my whirlwind trip of Sydney. After taking the train back to Sydney (public transportation running on Sunday was also a new concept compared to Toowoomba), I caught my flight back up to Brisbane to take the TT coaches back. And who should I meet at the shuttle station besides Michelle and Casey, some friends from Student Village! I guess I should’ve known… we all try and get out of Toowoomba on the weekends as much as possible… so we rode TT coaches back and arrived here at last.
Sydney was a blast and if I could come back and visit anywhere in Australia, it would be that magical city. The people are awesome, the views are amazing, and it’s just so iconic, that everywhere you go, it feels special. So now, I have 5 days of classes left and then 2 weeks of exams. It’s all pretty spread out, so I’m not feeling too overwhelmed (yet). Two of my friends, Daniel and Lauren are doing their nursing clinical in Mitchell (this small town about 5 hours west) so Trina and I are making plans to bake/watch movies while she does hers here at the Toowoomba hospital.
I’m still working (only 3 more weeks of it left though!) and counting down the 27 days until I get to arrive back in the good ole USA. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather (I’m super jealous) and awaiting my arrival… hahaha….
5.31.2009
5.25.2009
Time Turned Fragile
So it has been far too long since I’ve last updated; I don’t even know where to begin. It might be a bit jumbled, but I believe I left off at the semi…
Semi-Formal was a few weekends ago, and so everyone from my dorm got dressed up in “Fairy Tale” theme and went. I arrived and felt like I was at a Halloween party, seeing as how everyone got really into it. I guess Halloween isn’t big down here, so this is their excuse to get all dressed up. I went as a fairy and enjoyed a nice meal with all the people from my dorm; they had an after party later that night in the dining hall with dancing, and by midnight, I was out. But the whole thing was really fun.
Classes have been…. Meh. But I was thinking about it, and after this week, I have roughly 7 more days of class and then finals! Finals stretch out for 2 weeks here so I’m planning on studying my butt off to make up for…. Well, I don’t want to say “lack of work” that I’ve done here, but…
In other news, Trina, Lauren, and I decided that it would be a good idea to go on a cleanse detox. Whether it WAS a good idea, I have yet to decide. Basically, the Master Cleanse involves drinking a bunch of salt water in the AM, this lemon juice/water/syrup/cayenne pepper mixture throughout the day, and tea at night. With no food. We started on Tuesday, and the cleanse is supposed to last for 10 days. Now, I know myself well enough that 10 days without food was just not going to happen, so I shortened it to 5. We were all going pretty strong… until Day 4. And then we crashed. But I will tell you: my mood has never changed so fast as when I first ate that sandwich after 4 days of nothing but this mixture that basically tasted like sour lemonade sweetened with syrup. I was elated. It was definitely… an experience, I will say that.
Work has been going well- nothing new to report there. But it is slowly starting to hit me that I will be home in less than 5 weeks. And that thought excites me. Don’t get me wrong, AUS (and NZ) have been awesome, but it will be so good to be home again. Also, the fact that everyone from home is out of school and tanning by the pool, while I am here with my heater turned on as it gets perpetually colder, kind of makes me jealous. I was so excited that I was leaving the snow for sun that I didn’t even think about the way home. Last week, it rained for most of the week. Now, I love rainy days, but when you can’t eat and you’re supposed to be in the sunniest place on earth, getting up to walk through the wind to class is not appealing.
This past weekend was basically spent living at my friends’ apartment. Daniel was scubadiving in Cairns for the weekend so the girls pushed the mattresses together and we had OC watching marathons (with our rediscovered love of food). The girls also could have had a bake sale with how much food they baked one night. But now, I have to do work and get everything organized before I leave for Sydney. I leave on Thursday and I have no idea what I’m going to be doing there once my plane arrives. But I’m sure I will have a blast catching up with people from the CIS (the study abroad program I went through).
I will be putting up pictures of my life recently soon and will update about the wonderful city of Sydney when I get back. I’m sure I forgot a lot of things to write on this blog, but that will just give you another post to look forward to… :)
Semi-Formal was a few weekends ago, and so everyone from my dorm got dressed up in “Fairy Tale” theme and went. I arrived and felt like I was at a Halloween party, seeing as how everyone got really into it. I guess Halloween isn’t big down here, so this is their excuse to get all dressed up. I went as a fairy and enjoyed a nice meal with all the people from my dorm; they had an after party later that night in the dining hall with dancing, and by midnight, I was out. But the whole thing was really fun.
Classes have been…. Meh. But I was thinking about it, and after this week, I have roughly 7 more days of class and then finals! Finals stretch out for 2 weeks here so I’m planning on studying my butt off to make up for…. Well, I don’t want to say “lack of work” that I’ve done here, but…
In other news, Trina, Lauren, and I decided that it would be a good idea to go on a cleanse detox. Whether it WAS a good idea, I have yet to decide. Basically, the Master Cleanse involves drinking a bunch of salt water in the AM, this lemon juice/water/syrup/cayenne pepper mixture throughout the day, and tea at night. With no food. We started on Tuesday, and the cleanse is supposed to last for 10 days. Now, I know myself well enough that 10 days without food was just not going to happen, so I shortened it to 5. We were all going pretty strong… until Day 4. And then we crashed. But I will tell you: my mood has never changed so fast as when I first ate that sandwich after 4 days of nothing but this mixture that basically tasted like sour lemonade sweetened with syrup. I was elated. It was definitely… an experience, I will say that.
Work has been going well- nothing new to report there. But it is slowly starting to hit me that I will be home in less than 5 weeks. And that thought excites me. Don’t get me wrong, AUS (and NZ) have been awesome, but it will be so good to be home again. Also, the fact that everyone from home is out of school and tanning by the pool, while I am here with my heater turned on as it gets perpetually colder, kind of makes me jealous. I was so excited that I was leaving the snow for sun that I didn’t even think about the way home. Last week, it rained for most of the week. Now, I love rainy days, but when you can’t eat and you’re supposed to be in the sunniest place on earth, getting up to walk through the wind to class is not appealing.
This past weekend was basically spent living at my friends’ apartment. Daniel was scubadiving in Cairns for the weekend so the girls pushed the mattresses together and we had OC watching marathons (with our rediscovered love of food). The girls also could have had a bake sale with how much food they baked one night. But now, I have to do work and get everything organized before I leave for Sydney. I leave on Thursday and I have no idea what I’m going to be doing there once my plane arrives. But I’m sure I will have a blast catching up with people from the CIS (the study abroad program I went through).
I will be putting up pictures of my life recently soon and will update about the wonderful city of Sydney when I get back. I’m sure I forgot a lot of things to write on this blog, but that will just give you another post to look forward to… :)
5.10.2009
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
I figured I’d provide another update with life here in the ‘not-quite-Outback-not-quite-beach’ parts of Australia. Everything feels so normal now, from walking to class in flops (or shall I say thongs?) and seeing tons of starts every night when I walk home, but there are definitely things I miss about home, like when I think of my kangaroo shirt that I didn’t pack or my own sheets or GCC blueberry muffins. There’s also still lots of subtleties that makes Australia different from the US like the fact that they don’t have lemonade like we do here. It’s all carbonated and goes by the name of Sprite. I would love a can of Countrytime right about now. Also, no one eats PB & J sandwiches (I’m shocked) and when I ate banana with peanut butter the other day, the whole table looked at me like I was crazy. I also just discovered that they don’t celebrate Halloween here. Seeing as how Halloween is my second favorite holiday, I could not imagine growing up without trick or treating.
But all in all, it’s going well. I worked like crazy this past weekend, seeing as how it was Mother’s Day. Down here, Mother’s Day is a WAY bigger deal than it is in the States. It’s similar to our Thanksgiving where everyone gets their extended families together, and a ton of people go home from uni over the weekend. Needless to say, the Breath was packed and all I can say is that I realized how grateful I am that my mom is not super high strung like some of the mothers I witnessed at the restaurant. But work is keeping me busy: occasionally people will ask about my accent, but usually they just look at me like I've sprouted 3 heads as soon as I open my mouth. Cool.
Classes are… well, classes. Not too much else is going on in that area, seeing as how most of my assignments this semester are finished. Steele Rudd (my dorm) is having their semi-formal next weekend and everyone has to dress up in theme (Fairy Tale) so I am in the process of putting together a fairy costume. Also, next week is their blood drive which I am pretty excited about (as you know, I love donating blood!) Other than that, the nights I’m not working, I just spend hanging out with friends, playing cards or watching movies. (I think you all think my life down here is a lot more glamorous and exciting than it actually is…) :)
Sydney is in a couple weeks and then it’s nearly finals! Crazy. I love hearing from all of you and miss you all dearly! For all you Grovers, I hope all your finals go well and enjoy the first half of summer for me!
P.S. I fixed this blog so that anyone can leave comments- I love hearing from you!
5.04.2009
Golden Afternoon (Melbourne Part Two)
We woke up the next morning (Daniel’s birthday) and headed to Krispy Kreme for breakfast (love love love) before going to Melbourne 360 which is this giant tower that overlooks the whole city. It was a beautiful day and it was awesome to see all the buildings and the ocean from so high. For lunch, we headed down to the Greek Precinct which was delicious. The whole afternoon was pretty much spent meandering downtown, walking into various shops down by the waterfront. We came full circle to our hostel and walked about a block to DFO which are these outlets (not really outlets, more of a small mall, but…) We didn’t have much time in there because they were closing, so we had plans to come back the next day.
For dinner we headed out to this great place called BBNT (Burgers, Burritos, Nachos, Tacos) which was open late and absolutely delicious. By our hostel, there was a casino which we went to. Now, I’ve never been in a casino before but I have to say, it was pretty cool. I didn’t gamble much (unless you count the dollar or two I spent on the slots) and it took Lauren and I awhile to figure out any of the games anyway, but the atmosphere was really fun. After more celebrating of Daniel’s birthday, we went to this really trendy club downtown. I was exhausted from the whole day so I couldn’t wait to get into my bed, but it was still a blast.
The next morning brought us back to the DFO where we spent the morning shopping (I’ve missed shopping so much!) Some of the stores were really expensive and boutique-y, but we managed to find a lot of things for some great prices. We came back in the afternoon, Daniel and I slept while the others went to the aquarium and then we donned our new clothes because we had tickets to see Wicked! We saw that Wicked was playing in Melbourne and I’ve always wanted to see it, but never have had the opportunity to, so we splurged on tickets and went Sunday night. All I can say is that I loved it just as much as I imagined I would. The cast was great, the costumes were exquisite and it made a perfect ending to a great weekend in Melbourne. We ate a late dinner at BBNT again, made one last stop at the casino, and I feel asleep catching up on Grey’s Anatomy and the Office on Daniel’s iPod. Could life be any better? I think not.
Monday was our travel day, so after we made fruit salad from all of our left over fruit, we took the Skybus to the airport. From the plane, we took 2 busses to the train back to the TT coaches, only to arrive home to find that Trina, Casey and Michelle had made us dinner. Such great friends. :) The weekend was whirlwind was absolutely perfect. I’m paying for it now by working at the Breath constantly but I’ve got to save up for Sydney (and my jobless summer) somehow!
For dinner we headed out to this great place called BBNT (Burgers, Burritos, Nachos, Tacos) which was open late and absolutely delicious. By our hostel, there was a casino which we went to. Now, I’ve never been in a casino before but I have to say, it was pretty cool. I didn’t gamble much (unless you count the dollar or two I spent on the slots) and it took Lauren and I awhile to figure out any of the games anyway, but the atmosphere was really fun. After more celebrating of Daniel’s birthday, we went to this really trendy club downtown. I was exhausted from the whole day so I couldn’t wait to get into my bed, but it was still a blast.
The next morning brought us back to the DFO where we spent the morning shopping (I’ve missed shopping so much!) Some of the stores were really expensive and boutique-y, but we managed to find a lot of things for some great prices. We came back in the afternoon, Daniel and I slept while the others went to the aquarium and then we donned our new clothes because we had tickets to see Wicked! We saw that Wicked was playing in Melbourne and I’ve always wanted to see it, but never have had the opportunity to, so we splurged on tickets and went Sunday night. All I can say is that I loved it just as much as I imagined I would. The cast was great, the costumes were exquisite and it made a perfect ending to a great weekend in Melbourne. We ate a late dinner at BBNT again, made one last stop at the casino, and I feel asleep catching up on Grey’s Anatomy and the Office on Daniel’s iPod. Could life be any better? I think not.
Monday was our travel day, so after we made fruit salad from all of our left over fruit, we took the Skybus to the airport. From the plane, we took 2 busses to the train back to the TT coaches, only to arrive home to find that Trina, Casey and Michelle had made us dinner. Such great friends. :) The weekend was whirlwind was absolutely perfect. I’m paying for it now by working at the Breath constantly but I’ve got to save up for Sydney (and my jobless summer) somehow!
Here's to the Night (Melbourne Part One)
So I’m back from Melbourne and I already miss it. Melbourne is a beautiful city and I think that if I could live anywhere in Australia, that I would live there. The weather is great, the city is big without being overwhelming and it’s just so full of culture. But now, I’m starting to sound like a brochure, so I’ll just tell you what we did…
5 of us (Daniel, Lauren, Steffan, and Alex- who all happen to share an apartment) left Thursday afternoon, catching TT coaches to Brisbane, where we took a train from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast to catch our flight. Let’s just say it was not the most enjoyable plane ride I’ve ever had seeing as how I was seated next to the crying baby. Great. We landed in Melbourne that night and rode the bus into the city where we checked into our hostel.
The rate we had been told for the hostel was that we paid $26 one night and get the other 3 nights for one penny. I was skeptical at first, but we called to double check these prices and they were right so when we got there and they told us that it should have been $26 per night for all of us, we protested. Luckily, they let it slide and even didn’t charge us for the one night, which left each of us paying our $2.50 deposit for our 4 night stay. However, I will say that the hostel quality matched the price we paid. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cleanest place I’ve been, the bunk beds caved in enough so that I was scared for my life every time Steffan got into his top bunk and “free breakfast” means that the staff puts out white bread and jelly every morning. AWESOME. But it just meant that we were more motivated to get out and see the city.
Friday morning we got up and walked around downtown, seeing Federation Square and all the main streets that we were close to. Daniel even bought us flowers from the street in honor of May Day! (which is an unheard of holiday down here) We went to China town and had lunch before walking down to the Queen Victoria Market where they had crafts and fruits and veggies and pretty much anything you could ever want to buy. We bought a lot of cheap fruit and I got a lot of gifts for you all back home.
Melbourne (supposedly) has the biggest AFL (Australian Football League) stadium and we were able to get tickets for Friday night’s game for about ten bucks so we all went and sat in the nosebleeds watching Aussie Football, which to me looked like a mix between NFL and Rugby. I’m sure to anyone sports-inclined, they will say that it is completely different, but whatever. We had no idea who to cheer for (Melbourne Roos vs. the Collingwood Pies) but our team (we eventually decided on the Roos) ended up winning and that’s what matters anyway, right?
We left the game, making a quick stop at Mackers and went to this British pub where Daniel had his first legal (in the States) drink at midnight in honor of his birthday. After that, we headed up to the Fitzroy District where we had heard there were a lot of great bars and clubs. We stopped at a few, ending at one that heralded “90’s Night” where we danced the night away to Ace of Base, Counting Crows and B*Witched. Perfect. At the last place, I ran into James, who I had met while I was in Sydney the first weekend for CIS which was really exciting and we talked about how we’re both going down there soon during the same weekend so we will have another reunion. All in all, it was a fun night and I was already in love with Melbourne.
5 of us (Daniel, Lauren, Steffan, and Alex- who all happen to share an apartment) left Thursday afternoon, catching TT coaches to Brisbane, where we took a train from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast to catch our flight. Let’s just say it was not the most enjoyable plane ride I’ve ever had seeing as how I was seated next to the crying baby. Great. We landed in Melbourne that night and rode the bus into the city where we checked into our hostel.
The rate we had been told for the hostel was that we paid $26 one night and get the other 3 nights for one penny. I was skeptical at first, but we called to double check these prices and they were right so when we got there and they told us that it should have been $26 per night for all of us, we protested. Luckily, they let it slide and even didn’t charge us for the one night, which left each of us paying our $2.50 deposit for our 4 night stay. However, I will say that the hostel quality matched the price we paid. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cleanest place I’ve been, the bunk beds caved in enough so that I was scared for my life every time Steffan got into his top bunk and “free breakfast” means that the staff puts out white bread and jelly every morning. AWESOME. But it just meant that we were more motivated to get out and see the city.
Friday morning we got up and walked around downtown, seeing Federation Square and all the main streets that we were close to. Daniel even bought us flowers from the street in honor of May Day! (which is an unheard of holiday down here) We went to China town and had lunch before walking down to the Queen Victoria Market where they had crafts and fruits and veggies and pretty much anything you could ever want to buy. We bought a lot of cheap fruit and I got a lot of gifts for you all back home.
Melbourne (supposedly) has the biggest AFL (Australian Football League) stadium and we were able to get tickets for Friday night’s game for about ten bucks so we all went and sat in the nosebleeds watching Aussie Football, which to me looked like a mix between NFL and Rugby. I’m sure to anyone sports-inclined, they will say that it is completely different, but whatever. We had no idea who to cheer for (Melbourne Roos vs. the Collingwood Pies) but our team (we eventually decided on the Roos) ended up winning and that’s what matters anyway, right?
We left the game, making a quick stop at Mackers and went to this British pub where Daniel had his first legal (in the States) drink at midnight in honor of his birthday. After that, we headed up to the Fitzroy District where we had heard there were a lot of great bars and clubs. We stopped at a few, ending at one that heralded “90’s Night” where we danced the night away to Ace of Base, Counting Crows and B*Witched. Perfect. At the last place, I ran into James, who I had met while I was in Sydney the first weekend for CIS which was really exciting and we talked about how we’re both going down there soon during the same weekend so we will have another reunion. All in all, it was a fun night and I was already in love with Melbourne.
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