14,000 ft.

Week 5 of uni: actually had real assignments due for the first time this week. Realized I forgot to change my papers to "Australian English," so hopefully I won't get marked off for writing 'behavior' instead of 'behaviour.' I'm sorry, but I just can't write like that without getting distracted or thinking I am a complete idiot who can't spell. So guess we'll see how that works out for me. Successfully got all my assignments turned in on time, discovered $5 steak night at the beach palace, got asked out to dinner by an Aussie boy my friend met surfing, absolutely gorgeous weather... I would say overall, a pretty good damn week.

Oh yeah, and I jumped out of a plane Friday morning. 

Yes, I went SKYDIVING! And OH MY GOD was it incredible!! Words truly cannot describe. By far the best thing I have done in Sydney thus far. As our skydive instructors put it so well, it really is a life-changing experience. 

We woke up at 5:00 am to catch the bus to the city where we met our van driver, Marz (M-A-R-zed... 'z' in Australian is pronounced 'zed'-fun fact.). I don't think I have ever seen six kids more out of it in my life. 5 am is not our friend. Marz blasted house club music on the radio the whole two hour drive, but we all still managed to pass out and sleep. Once we were getting close to our destination, we all woke up a bit and the adrenaline started pumping. We arrived at Wollongong around 9:00 am. We had all already been up for so long that we were pretty wide awake. We had to weigh ourselves (not awkward at all...), pay a ridiculous amount of money for the video/picture package (worth every penny), and sign the release forms warning us about all the dangerous things that could happen to us that they won't be responsible for. Fun. We were in group 4, so we got to watch the other groups before us land in the field, which was so exciting. The parachutes floating down in the bright blue sky were gorgeous. Then it was our turn!!

our van

the parachutes landing from the group before us

We got in a line and suited up. We put on sexy blue jump pants (what is it with all these unattractive outfits you are forced to wear during extreme activities?) and a harness. All the sudden a man named Rob came up and yelled out, "Which one of you is Michelle?!" We were all pretty taken aback, and I raised my hand. Immediately his camera turned on to start making the video I ordered, and then we realized that this was real. We were about to go skydive. Rob was fantastic and got us all really pumped up. Soon afterward the rest of my friends met their tandem partners, and we were given a short tutorial about the head position when you jump, how to hold your arms in the sky, how to hold your legs up during the landing, etc. Essentially things we all knew we would immediately forget once it was time to use them. We were a bit distracted. It was time to go, so we all got in the van with our tandem partners (16 of us total-the 6 of us and our partners and another couple and their partners) and drove to the airport. Actually, airport is an overstatement. More like a plane in a field. Everyone's tandem partners were videoing the skydivers and getting us excited to jump! We boarded the plane all facing backwards from the pilot. We were in two long columns, almost like a banana boat. We sat on a log type seat with our legs on either side. We each hopped up to sit on our tandem partner's lap and they strapped themselves to us. Take off time!

me meeting Rob

boarding the plane

the inside of the plane

It was weird riding up into the sky facing backwards. The ground got small real fast... My friend in the back yelled out, "We're only at 4,000 ft! 10,000 more ft. to go." I think all of our mouths dropped at that point. Um, wow, we aren't even half way up yet?? The ride up took a while, maybe 20 minutes or so, so it was pretty calm. No one's nerves had really kicked in quite yet. The view of the beach was absolutely phenomenal. I was in my zone, having a grand old time, totally calm, when all the sudden the door opened. We were all told to put on our safety glasses. My friend Chris had volunteered to go first (I picked a smart position of 6 out of 8 to jump). Literally within seconds of the door opening Chris was out of the plane. Seeing the first person jump was a bit TERRIFYING. Panic level rose FAST. Chris literally was just falling out of a plane into the sky. I needed like at least a minute to get ahold of my bearings and figure out what was going on and calm down. Rob thought otherwise. All the sudden everyone started scooting forward on the row, and one by one everyone just fell out. I tried to scoot back and Rob just pushed me on forward and about 3 seconds later, BOOM, out of the plane. We were THREE MILES high. 3 miles!!! Unreal. 

right before we fell out

there we go...

AHHH!

We were instructed earlier on to assume the banana position as we left the plane. Head back, feet tucked under the belly of the plane, arched back. We grabbed onto our harness with our hands until we felt a tap on our shoulder to let go and let our arms fly out. I assumed Rob would like let me sit on the edge of the plane, look out for a second, count to three, then jump. Wrong. He scooted me up to the door and I barely had a chance to look out before we literally just fell out sideways. I don't know why I didn't think it would be cold at 14,000 ft. in the sky, but it definitely was. About 20 degrees Fahrenheit in a light t-shirt is pretty damn chilly, but I only noticed for about one second. I was a bit more concentrated on the fact that my body was moving at 120 mph out of a plane three miles off the ground. The wind was so strong against my face that I literally couldn't to open or move my mouth to scream or say anything. It was such a rush of adrenaline that I can't even describe. We spun around a bit and I was so disoriented. I finally calmed down and got ahold of myself, figured out how to open my mouth to get some screams out, and realized how absolutely amazing this was. My body just fell out of the sky  at the highest speed a human body can travel at for an entire minute. We bombed through the cloud layer and ended up in the gorgeous bright blue sky. Rob's camera was on his wrist taking pictures and videoing the whole thing, but I wish he had moved my head up because I am looking down in almost every picture. Oh well, guess I was loving the view too much to care about the pictures. I had thought all morning about the cool hand symbols and such I would make in my pictures. Such a joke. No one tells you that your mind goes completely blank when you are free falling. *Cue Tom Petty.

incredible view

Rob pulled the parachute and we shifted from a horizontal to a vertical body position. My ears popped and my harness went up real tight in the crotchal-region. It was probably the coolest experience of my life. Just ask Rob. I couldn't stop telling him that for the entire time we floated down, for about 7 minutes or so. Apparently they let you take the reins on the parachute usually and help steer down, but only if you appear capable, as I learned after landing. I was the only person in my group that didn't get to do this, so I guess I did not 'appear capable'... awkward... I'm guessing it was the fact that I went with a bunch of guys who outweighed my by a lot of kilos. Runt of the group as usual. Anyways, Rob let me take in the view for a bit longer than everyone else on the ride down and let me land last. So guess you win some and you lose some. We landed in a big circle in the middle of a field. You put your feet up and just glide on in and end up sitting down on your partner's lap (also awkward, but guess we were so far past that point). The six of us were all jumping and running around and screaming and high-fiving and hugging each other. So much adrenaline from all of us. So much happiness. Such disbelief. Seriously, the coolest thing I have ever done. 

after he pulled the parachute

floating down to the ground

just landed!

so stoked

high on life

We un-harnessed and went into the main office to pick up our backpacks. We were told the videos wouldn't be finished until another hour, so we walked to grab lunch. We were all ravenous since we got up at the crack of dawn, so it didn't matter that we shoved pizza and pasta into our mouths at 11 am. BEST. MEAL. EVER. So badly needed. We all talked about how crazy that was and laughed and looked at some pictures. Jumping out of a plane really bonds you together, I always say. We went back to grab our videos, but they took much longer than we expected, so we ended up just playing in the field for another hour like little kids. Cartwheels, naming each other as members of the 7 dwarves, photoshoots, etc. Really mature things. We were all in such strange crazy hyper moods that not one of us cared how ridiculous we were being. Gorgeous weather, great friends, best day so far in Sydney. We eventually got back in the van, then the bus, and made it home around 4:00 pm. We had all been up for so long and were so tired, we decided to shower and nap and then reconvene for a video watching and dinner party later. Watching each other's videos was probably the highlight of the day. Chris looked absolutely hilarious-his mouth was open the entire time, since he couldn't close it against the wind when he fell out, and his curly hair went straight up into the air about a foot high. He looked straight out of a cartoon. Learned one of our friend's parachutes didn't open at first and he just fell past Chris-I would have freaked out seeing my friend just bomb past me with a struggling parachute, oh my god. It eventually opened, so no worries. Everyone's reactions were so different and just priceless. Tried grilled kangaroo meat that the boys made for us. It was not my favorite, but guess now I can say at least I tried it. Ended up going out into the city for dancing that night with the crew. Realized I had been up for almost 24 hours and my body hated me. It told me to go home, so I did, and I crashed real hard. 

motto of the day: YOLO-you only live once! 

Here is the link to the video for y'all to watch!

http://www.skydivethebeach.com.au/customer-videos?videoID=nvkq1hf7rfhxjpji

See if you can find the moment when my emotions shift from totally excited to totally terrified. I promise you won't miss it... 

I still can't believe I went skydiving! It has been on my life bucket list forever, so I am glad I finally accomplished it! It was so worth the money. Best memory of Sydney so far. I couldn't have picked a better group of friends to go with or a better weather day to go. I can't stop watching the video or looking at the pictures. It was an experience that I will never forget!

Hang Loose

Another wonderful weekend, as always. The rain has stopped, and the weather has been unbelievable.

After class got out on Thursday, I went to the opening night of The Hunger Games movie with about 30 other study abroad kids. It was kinda funny how the entire theater was Americans. We all got there super early too, assuming the line would be really long for a premiere. We even bought our tickets online in case it was sold out. Turns out the theater was half empty... whoops. Guess The Hunger Games phenomenon hasn't hit Australia yet. It was cool to see the movie before it came out in America though. The book was so much better, but the movie was still great! Can't wait to read the next two books at some point. Also, bonus-the soundtrack is amazing!

The weather was SO nice on Friday that I couldn't stay inside. I went for a run along the coast and then laid out on the beach for the remainder of the afternoon. I think my body has finally adapted to the intense UV rays because I no longer burn, just tan. Love it. Sunscreen-goodbye! I took a bus to Bondi Junction to meet some friends to go shopping that night. Oh how I have missed the mall... Got some great clothes-can't wait to show off my Aussie style back home. Best purchase-high waisted, distressed denim shorts. I have been looking for a pair for so long. Not sure how well I'll fit in in Dallas... but who cares! We also made up a game on the way home that we are going to play from now until we leave Australia, based on one of my friend's family friend's game. Every time you have a drink in your hand and you touch/twirl/whatever your hair, someone can yell "Tamarama" and you have to chug (skull in Australian lingo) your drink. It could be water (if you're lucky), milk, beer, hot tea, diet coke, anything. We are teaching all our friends, so should turn out to be pretty entertaining. Ended the great day with dinner at a Thai cafe and dancing at the Coogee Bay Hotel. Finally met some Aussies instead of just hanging out with Americans. Fun night for sure. Also, booked a trip to Melbourne mid-April with some friends! I realized I am going to be gone for 16 days in the month of April... Can't wait to keep on exploring Aussie land.

Catchin some rays.

My purchases. 

Greatest sign ever outside of the mall.

Went to Manly Beach on Saturday morning to surf! Manly is pretty far away (a bus and a ferry-over an hours worth of traveling), but it was so worth the trek. The beach town was so cute-tons of shops and restaurants. I purchased an Australian flag to hang up in my room, so I am pretty excited about that. We were given wetsuits and rash guards to wear and handed a surfboard. Surfs up? The surf instructors had us all gather in a circle and lay on our boards to practice the paddle/stand up method. The instructors decided to make me the model-oh god. Two guys picked up either end of my surfboard on the beach with me on it and brought me to the center of the circle and made me practice paddling and perfect my pop up stance in front of everyone. That would happen to me. Hilarious nonetheless. It took some time to pick it up in the water, but I ended up figuring it out somewhat! Proud moment of the day-catching a wave and riding it in all the way to the shore! Shred some gnar, dude. I only had one good one, but hey, that's all you need! My neck, triceps, and back are already SO sore, I can barely move without pain. Guess I don't use those muscles, um, ever. I am also a bit beat up-underarm chafing and a huge bruise on my hip. Bad ass battle wounds, I suppose you could call them. Although I wish I could say I was an actual bad ass. The black bikini-hot bod-Demi Moore-wet hair flip-sexy run out of the ocean while holding a surf board in Charlie's Angels- image in my mind was about the opposite of what I actually looked like. More like unflattering wetsuit, attempting to hold a board that was too large and heavy for me to actually carry, wet ponytail stuck to my face, one contact rolled up in the corner of my eye... so basically I looked like a pro surfer, yeah? See picture below... Easily could have been cast for Rip Girls. I hope you all remember that fabulous Disney movie. At least the outfit I picked to wear on the beach made up for my lack of surfing ability. Roxy flip flops, the distressed denim shorts, crop top, frat shades... I rocked the surfer chick look like it was my job. Just pretend you didn't see me in the water. We walked around Manly for a bit after our lesson and grabbed lunch and ice cream. After a long day, we sat on the deck and enjoyed the gorgeous ferry ride back home in the sun. Watched Harry Potter on TV (on the one channel that we have) that night and crashed early. 

Me looking like an idiot on my board.

Hang loose!

               

           

Discovered it the easiest way to hold the board.

Loving life!

Post-surfing.

Monday: 

After a whole lazy day of doing absolutely nothing, it was time to be productive... Went to campus for the first time since I've been here on a Monday (since I don't have classes on Monday). Apparently no one else does either because man was it quiet. Found a quiet spot in the library and actually got some work done. Couldn't manage to figure out the printing system, so I had to walk to the study abroad office like the American that I am and printed all my papers out there. I thought I deserved a little reward after forcing myself to do work on a gorgeous Monday afternoon, so I met some friends at the White House on lower campus before my walk home. Enjoyed a dip trio of hummus, pesto, and guac. YUM. Fun fact: bell peppers are called capsicum here. Not a clue in hell why, of course. Enjoyed my beautiful walk home and dinner with the roomies. Back to the grind tomorrow...

Huh?

1. CATS. Centrally Allocated Teaching Spaces. AKA their name for classrooms...

2. There are graduations EVERY DAY on campus. And for some reason 99% of the graduates are Asian... We think maybe since the school is so big that you graduate by last name? Or at least take photos in groups based on your last name. So it must be on Y or Z I'm guessing... Regardless, there are at least a hundred Asian students in their caps and gowns and their families taking pictures all over campus every. single. day. This is the beginning of first semester... shouldn't y'all have graduated last year?

3. The date is backwards. As in today is 21/03/12. Just finally starting to get used to that.

4. Just discovered I have to write my papers in "English English." Recognized=recognised, behavior=behaviour, etc. Not going to get used to that. Definitely going to get marked off.

5. "Early mark"=ending class early. Learned that one today. Loved it.

6. Weighed myself for the first time yesterday... Somehow lost 2 pounds since I got here? That has to be the biggest "huh?" moment. It must be all that walking uphill for miles a day because it sure isn't all the nutella and tim-tams I've been eating.

7. Speaking of walking uphill... Note to self: don't walk to school. ever. Only walk home (downhill). I made the mistake of wearing a purple shirt and it was pretty much black by the time I arrived at class... gross.

8. $50 AUD does not equal $50 USD. And there is a 3% conversion charge. DUH. My bad. So that was a fun notice I got from my bank telling me I had $6 left in my account (whoops). I may come home a poor woman, but at least I will be rich in experiences! Right?

9. "Chewing the fat." = "We're just talking/having a conversation."

10. Australia doesn't have the penny. Everything is rounded to a nice even number here. Like $9.50 or $20.10, etc. Those of us with OCD appreciate that (who, me? of course not!).

11. Not a "huh?" moment.. BUT I just booked a trip to Uluru!! Going hiking/camping in the Australian outback and seeing the famous Ayers Rock for a weekend next month! Can't wait for yet another incredible trip!

This isn't real life.

Probably the best weekend I have had so far in Australia. Haven't slept much or really even sat down, but so worth it.

Thursday: After my 9-10 hour day on campus, I am always SO ready to do anything but school. I don't usually get home from school until around 7, which is a bummer. But I mean, I guess I'll suffer during the 3 days a week I have class in order to have a 4 day weekend every weekend. Best decision ever. As I have said before, the best way to meet people is to walk home from school. I never end up walking alone as I always make friends along the way. I was crossing the street next to a guy who was wearing no shoes and pushing a grocery cart home from the store, and he asked me which school I went to in the states after seeing my Jesuit backpack (which broke and is currently being held together by safety pins... I know, super classy). Turns out he is an American as well but is studying abroad here for the year. I guess if you are here for long enough then you really adopt their ways because I was 100% sure he was an Aussie based on his appearance. It's always that darn accent that gives you away. He has been here for like 6 months already so he knows his way around pretty well and knows all the fun things to do, so he asked if I was "keen to go to a rugby game with him and some mates" that weekend. Why yes, I would love to. Said goodbye to my new friend and stopped at the beach to watch the sun go down and watch the waves for a while. Made dinner with my roommates (pasta, as usual. We use our mad skills to alternate between that and chicken every other night) and then went out to the Coogee Bay Hotel with a big group. Ended up with different people than I got there with and made some great new friends.

There is something about:
     A) being a psych major that makes people feel comfortable unleashing their entire life story to you. I swear, as soon as you say "I'm a psych major" (the first question asked when meeting someone new: "where are you from?" the second: "what do you study?" always.) people just want to tell you their problems, something difficult they are going through, traumatic childhood stories, their entire life story, etc. Not that I mind whatsoever. In fact, that is what I thrive on. It's the reason I love my major. I love meeting new people and finding out what makes them unique.
     B) studying abroad that makes people who have never met before become best friends over night. I honestly feel like I know some of these people better than I know people back at SMU. I have only known them for a month, some for a week or even days... But being in a completely foreign country where you don't know anyone else forces people to bond and find ways to connect. It so facto, you become a little family and learn to depend on each other since that's all you've got. You tell people things you normally wouldn't until you really trust them and know them. You hear other people's life stories and learn what makes them who they are. There is just something about being abroad that makes everyone open up and really be themselves. It is so refreshing. No one has any shame or anything to lose or anyone to judge them. I love it. I love every single person I have met so far. So many interesting people with such interesting stories and lives.

Essentially the night ended with a deep chat with new friends on the beach looking at the stars. It really doesn't get much better than that.

Friday:
Cleaned the house-vacuumed for the first time (gross), did the dishes, wiped down the counters... man it really needed it. Worked out, skyped my parents, had lunch. Then headed out to the beach. Truly a gorgeous afternoon. Ended up at five o's and ate chips (fries) and laughed and just enjoyed the company of great friends. At a really healthy and gourmet dinner with my roommates consisting of white rice and a baked potato.... carbs much? My roommates went to the Blue Mountains earlier that day and rock climbed. They repelled down the mountain and went through waterfalls and all that. Sounded so awesome! I had a great time hearing their stories (Kristin got tangled and ended up upside down on the mountain and had to figure out how to make herself right side up before continuing to repel down the mountain) while eating dinner. Crashed pretty early that night.

Saturday:
Happy St. Patty's Day! Our original plan was to go to the Paddington Saturday Market, but it was pouring. So we went over to a friend's apartment instead to celebrate. Listened to Irish music and escaped the rain for a while. Had dinner at five o's (again... they really need to get some other cheap places to eat around here). Headed to the Rocks that night with a big group. I represented the west coast well and wore my flannel out. It was great. First went to the Mercantile Hotel pub and met lots of Irish people. There was a live band playing such American music-it was hilarious. Highlights were probably Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana and Time Of Your Life by Green Day. Went to Bar100 after that to dance. Once again, all American music. Can't say I didn't love it! All my favorite upbeat popular songs were played and I had the time of my life. You all know how much I love dancing! I am so short so I found a stool to stand on for a while so I could see everyone and was dancing on it and I got asked by security to come down... embarrassing... Oh well! It got so hot in there that I ended up having to tie my flannel up like a cowgirl. Guess I had to represent Texas a little bit too. A few people from our group went to Pancakes at the Rocks to get breakfast for dinner-heard it was pretty delicious. I walked to the bus stop with some other friends and ended up meeting every other kid studying abroad in Australia there. Must have been the last bus home for the night. We saw the opera house, which was lit up green in honor of the holiday on the walk to the bus-so gorgeous. Such a fun day, but sooo long. I was definitely exhausted and ready to sleep by the time I got home.

Sunday:
Went to the Sydney Roosters v. Canberra Raiders rugby game this afternoon with the shopping cart boy, his roommate, and my neighbor. My neighbor and the guy's roommate ended up getting free tickets-this lady just went up to them and said she had two extra tickets she couldn't use. I, unfortunately, had to pay for my ticket. It was only $20 at least. I have never been one to have good luck like that... Oh well! It took a little bit of time to understand the rules (thank you freshman year of high school P.E. and Mr. Nicholas for giving me a little bit of background), but it was so much fun. The legs on the men that play are HUGE. Both of my legs together are easily smaller than one of their thighs. The game was really fast paced-there are never any time outs or points where the game stops-it just keeps on moving. The Sydney Roosters won-yay! I'm now a bandwagon fan and almost bought some gear. It was a gorgeous day. It was great to relax and sit in the sun and enjoy some authentic Australian culture. I went to my favorite thai restaurant for dinner with my girls when I got home and got 30 cent ice cream cones at Macca's (McDonald's). Ended the night by jamming to 90's music with my roommates once we discovered S Club 7 is coming to UNSW to perform in June. I loved watching that show as a kid so this is basically my childhood DREAM come true (I hope you catch the reference to one of their songs from that..).

I am absolutely exhausted, so thankfully I don't have classes tomorrow. I can't wait to sleep in. It was such an amazing weekend, but it went by so fast! I absolutely love it here... This really isn't real life. I'm in Sydney, Australia right now!? I have to take a step back sometimes and thank God for this incredible opportunity.

I apologize for the length of some of these posts-this is serving as a journal for me, in a sort of way... I can't wait to reread them all when I get back home.

I've been outed.

So my U.S. History professor found out I'm American... I tried so hard to blend in. But as I have said multiple times before, I stick out like a sore thumb, so it was only a matter of time before I was outed. At UNSW each class consists of lectures and tutorials. The lectures are huge and the professors write out an entire lecture and then essentially just read it out to us and you scramble to write down notes and its awful. I have finally had to switch from hand writing my notes to typing them.

Tutorials, on the other hand, consist of about 20 people from your huge lecture and are basically really intellectual discussions. I have never felt more stupid than in my U.S. History tutorial. The kids in my class, Arthur, Johannes, Adelaide, Oscar, etc. are history geniuses and whip out all these random people and facts and dates and sound really impressive... Sorry I was laying out on the beach instead of reading about Andrew Jackson in my spare time... History is my least favorite subject. I was an all star in high school at not paying attention whatsoever and then just cramming for exams and doing really well and then forgetting everything right after. My professor unfortunately thinks I am an expert. He called on me in the first tutorial to answer a discussion question (which I had no idea how to answer) and heard my American accent and got super excited. Now after every question, he says, "let's hear what the American has to say about this!" Well Ian, my response is always going to be, "Although I am American, I don't remember anything from high school, so sorry. I hate history and have no idea how to contribute to this intellectual conversation, so please stop calling on me" I just am going to keep smiling and chat with him after class about life in America, which makes him sooo happy. Gotta love someone who loves Americans. Hopefully that will keep me afloat in that class...

My History of Sexuality tutorial I can at least keep up with. It is fairly similar to my other Women's Studies classes (my minor) I have taken back at SMU. I have to give a sexual knowledge presentation next week so that should be interesting... But you basically get 100% as long as you have prepared and then present it. Sounds great to me.

My Psych and Law tutorial is pretty fun so far as well. We learned about deception last week and basically just played two truths and a lie the entire time and learned how to discover if people are lying or not. Thank god I didn't have to go first for the presentation in this class though... the poor girl who got switched with me and had to go... Didn't go so well to be honest. Glad I have like 6 more weeks to prepare for that.

My Indigenous Australian tutorial is a lot of fun too. We played the name game for the entire first tutorial. And last tutorial we talked about the Indigenous peoples and learned about their culture. The kids in my class are all really lively, so the discussion was great.

Students in Australia don't take those crap classes that you are forced to take in America (gen ed's). They only take classes for their major-they are at uni to start their career, so every person in every one of your classes is super into it. Every student in my U.S. History class is a U.S. History major-History is their passion and they really do read about it for fun in their spare time. I am taking this for a gen ed and hate history, which is why it is very apparent I am not on their level. Having people so interested in the subject makes the discussions great. It honestly makes the tutorials go by so fast and seem really interesting. You are learning so much without it even really feeling like school. It is such a difference from America where no one really seems to care in the gen ed classes since they are just trying to fulfill a requirement. I kinda like it... I'm not sure if I will ever truly get in school mode though. It seems like I am on an incredible vacation that is occasionally interrupted by classes and work!

From Goon to Semillon

Friday:

Spent the beautiful day on the beach. I could easily spend every day laying on the beach if only school didn't get in the way... I started reading The Hunger Games to see what the hype is all about, and it is excellent so far! Stopped reading for a bit to watch the sun go down on the beach. Cooked dinner with my roomies and then went out to the infamous Coogee Bay Hotel. Drank cider and enjoyed making some Aussie friends! Flip flops + walking up the giant hill home = blood blister number two so far.

Saturday:

Bars in Australia are open until 7 am. Saturday was the huge music festival Future (similar to Sasquatch or ACL) here, which means Australians started partying at around 7 am for this. Which means that they never stopped. My party-hardy neighbor's music was pretty loud when I went to bed, but I was so tired that it didn't really bother me. What did really bother me was waking up to Skrillex at 6 am outside my window. Not the most fun way to start your morning... Didn't get much sleep to say the least. At one point, I felt like I was at a club and it almost made me want to go dance. Then I remembered it was 7 am and all I wanted to do was sleep some more... But I got up and went to the aquarium with some friends! I met up with a girl who went to my high school who now lives in Sydney. It is always so nice to see a friendly face from home. She is an au-pair for a family in the city and is having a great time so far. We walked through the shark tank tunnel, saw great-whites, stingrays, turtles, jellyfish, octopi, sea horses, giant crabs, sea snakes, etc. It was awesome. Then we had lunch at Blackbird again at Darling Harbor and enjoyed some delicious food overlooking the water. When I got back home, I did the Coogee to Bondi walk by myself at sunset-couldn't think of a more peaceful and beautiful walk. What a great way to end the day.

Sunday:

Actually had to wake up at 6 am for the Hunter Valley Wine Tour! Except it wasn't that hard because Skrillex was still bumping outside my window. For all those who know me, I do struggle to function earlier than noon. So the bus left at 6:50 and my roommates and I walked out the door at 6:46, saw the bus arrive at the very bottom of the hill, and sprinted to make it. Seems to be a common theme in Australia. Constantly running around, always about to be late and miss something (bridge climb anyone?). Side note: other common theme in Australia-always finding the thing you just bought for way cheaper at the place next door. Anyways, the sprint to the bus definitely woke me up. We met our driver Brian in the city at 7:30 to begin our day! The Mercedes-Benz silver bus held 13 people plus Brian, so this poor family got stuck with the 10 of us.. They warmed up to us by the end though, no worries! They were wonderful and a ton of fun. Roland was 24 and working for Microsoft in the city, and his parents had come to visit him from London for the weekend. The bus ride was about two hours long, so we were all pretty tired by the time we arrived in Hunter Valley at 10 am. Time to drink some wine!

If you are from America and you want to drink cheaply in Australia, you buy Goon. Australians will make fun of you and compare it to drinking urine, but it is very, very cheap. Goon is boxed wine, aka Franzia. And really gross. So we were all laughing at how delicious the wine we were tasting was compared to the goon we had tried. The white wine Australia is known for is Semillon, and the red wine they are known for is Shiraz. We went to five wineries, LambLoch, McGuigan, First Creek, Tempus Two, and The Hunter Resort. The Hunter Resort also had a Brewery Cafe, where we did a beer tasting. We also went to the Smelly Cheese Shop and did a cheese tasting and olive oil tasting. The best part may have been the chocolate shop at the end where we did a chocolate tasting. They served us a delicious pizza lunch that we all definitely needed before we headed home.

We tasted about five wines at each winery. I loved the white wines-I bought a bottle of the Classic Semillon from LambLoch (for you guys to try when you come visit, mom and dad!). I also loved the sparkling wine we tried at McGuigan. The red wines were not my thing, and the dessert wines could have been good as they suggested drizzling them over fruit or a dessert, but they were way too sweet, even for me, just to drink as a companion to the dessert. An interesting one we tried at First Creek was Raspberry Wine. We were told you are supposed to mix it with champagne for a special occasion or a "fun evening." Anyways, it was really good.

The cheeses were actually delicious. We tried a pesto goat cheese, a lemon feta, a sun dried tomato cheese... all so good. The garlic olive oil was also amazing. Best I have had probably so far. The balsamic was incredible too-still kicking myself for not buying them! The chocolate tasting was interesting-I tried chili chocolate. Chocolate is not supposed to be spicy...so this was the only time in my life I will say I did not like the chocolate. But the fudge was to die for.

Beautiful sunny day, wine, friends, food, gorgeous scenery... truly a spectacular day. I will say it was funny to watch a bunch of 21 year olds being "classy"-describing how the wine tasted and deciding which ones we liked and why.

LambLoch Vineyards

Our first tasting

Yum!

So gorgeous!! My favorite place of the day.

Friends and sunshine!

The whole group!

The McGuigan wine selection list

Matt-one of our wine tasting guides.
Not sure if we liked him or the wine better...

Pizza and beer to end the tour.

The wine I purchased!

Roomies

I love these girls so much I decided they deserved a blog post about them. 4/178 Beach Street is where it's at.

First we have Kristin from Philly. Who is so incredibly photogenic, it was hard to pick just one picture for her. So ridiculous... love her to death. She came home one night in the wee hours after making friends with the entire bar and woke up early in the morning to inform us she was leaving for a surf lesson on the beach with her new surfer friends. Typical.

Next is her friend Kelsey from Boston. Both go to Manhattan College in NY. This is Kelsey sleeping on the way home from the Wine Tour. (I obviously tried to pick the most attractive pictures I could find)..

Last but not least is our Canadian Jaclyn. I found her swimming by herself in our awkward pool in front of our building one morning before school...

I don't really think I need to show y'all an embarrassing picture of myself... I'm sure you have all seen enough of those. So here is an actual picture of the four of us one night at Coogee Bay Hotel!

We are all slowly learning to cook and it's great. And by that, I mean they usually cook while I watch and then eat, and then clean. So it actually works out great. We walk to the grocery store and pick out food for the week, split the cost, and make roomie dinners every night. We've done burritos, grilled chicken and mashed potatoes, pasta, mmm. It's quite impressive, really, for four girls who have never cooked before. Gotta learn somewhere I guess! Dinner is usually followed by our new tradition of dipping tim tam's into tea after dinner. Delicious! 

Kristin and Kelsey are functional in the mornings, unlike me, so they got up at 6 am one morning to watch the sunrise. I'm SO jealous. I mean, seriously, look at this picture. Maybe one morning I will drag myself out of bed to watch it because it truly is unbelievable.






We named our Internet "Phil" after our Plumber. Phil never works, so our nights often consist of the four of us sitting around Phil in a circle in order to get the best connection possible complaining about how incapable he is. We also don't have a vacuum, dishwasher, we broke the DVD player... but who needs those anyways, right?

 Kristin and Kelsey's birthday present to Jaclyn. A nutella sandwich, a tim-tam, and an oreo. What a lucky girl to wake up to this!!! Jaclyn often forgets her key and just waits outside for hours until someone can let her in. Kristin pronounces "water" as "wooder" with her great East Coast accent. Kelsey  steals napkins, salt, and pepper at restaurants for us so we don't have to pay ridiculous sums of money for small things like that.

I would say, all in all, we are a pretty fun bunch! I am so thankful that I moved from campus to the beach-best decision I ever made. I am loving it here more and more everyday. It is not going to be easy to leave! Sorry for the inside jokes and ridiculous pictures of the roomies... This was at the Hunter Valley Wine Tour today, which was GORGEOUS! A more interesting blog post about that to follow soon...

Bridge Climb

Wow, what a day. What a day.

It started off innocently enough. I slept in, laid out on the beach in the perfect 80 degree weather, read a book for fun not school, got gelato... 

First I got an email from my Psych and Law professor informing me that "due to the lack of volunteers," I was randomly selected to go first (next week) for our huge legal report/presentation that is like 20% of our grade. Uhhh, I don't think so. My heart actually might have skipped a beat when I read that. I think I had a mild panic attack, realizing that school is actually going on. I quickly emailed my professor back, informing him that I am American, have no idea what is going on, and will need my presentation to be moved to a much, much later date. Thank GOD he responded today with good news. My report and presentation is now May 1st. Phew. Let's delay that stress a little bit longer, thank you very much.

Then we got on the bus at 4:00 for our 5:05 Bridge Climb departure. Plentyyyy of time to kill. Oh, that was until our bus broke down half way there. The AC went off, the bus got really quiet, and the driver attempted to turn it on and off a few times... Heard some weird noises, the doors wouldn't shut, everyone was looking around in complete confusion. I feel like it happened so quickly. Then, just like that, we were all ushered off the bus and forced to wait for a new one to come pick us all up. Great. If our bus was full, well then you can imagine how full the one we got on was. Their bus was full PLUS our full bus. It was super cozy. And it had to make double to stops (both bus routes). Needless to say, we were NOT going to make it to the 5:05 Bridge Climb. My friend's dad called us to let us know that they were not allowed to wait for anyone and were required to leave at the scheduled time, and essentially if we didn't make it, then we were screwed. $200 screwed. I made the executive decision at 4:50 to get off the bus and hail a taxi. I seriously felt like I was on the Amazing Race (a secret dream of mine)-"Sir-we will pay you extra! Go as fast as you can!" We made it at 5:02 or something ridiculous. Anyways, point is, we MADE IT! But my stress level was pretty high. Perfect to go climb a bridge!

We met our group of 12-FILLED with characters. We were handed sexy gray jumpsuits, belts, hats, cords to hold your sunglasses, cords to attach your body to the cable, walkie talkies, headphones, handkerchiefs, rain coats... I didn't think I could have anything else attached to my body. We all looked like window painters or ghostbusters or some complete ridiculous group. See below, me in my hot outfit (before the belt and other additions). You really can't get the full picture without all the accessories, but this was the last spot cameras were allowed. We had to do a simulator to prove that we were able climbers before we left.

Anyways, then we embarked on the 3.5 hour Bridge Climb! It was AWESOME! It wasn't scary at all until I realize we were only less than 1/4 of the way to the top. At one point, you have to climb up 4 flights of completely vertical ladders by yourself, and it's kind of dark and you can't see anyone else, and cars from the highway are going right beneath you... Yeah that part kinda freaked me out. But once you arrive out of the scary ladder world, you are basically at the top of the Bridge! The 12 of us walked up the wooden platform at a steady increase all the way to the very top/half way point of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was one of those, "Wow, I'm in Sydney" moments. The view was seriously incredible. We chose the best possible day/time to go. It was the only clear and dry day all week, and the sunset was gorgeous. It's funny how completely and utterly lost I felt in the enormous city of Sydney when I first got here. Looking around at the city from the top of the Bridge, I could actually point out where everything was. I was impressed at my knowledge of the lay of the land. Definitely took some time though! Our guide, Dave, took tons of pictures of everyone with the Opera House in the background and the skyline and all that-simply amazing. I don't think I have ever looked less attractive in my life though, but its all for the memories! It was really windy and super cold by the time we went down. We went across the half way point to the other side of the bridge and made our way back down. We each wore headphones and listened to our guide give us the historical background of the bridge the whole time. It was an awesome tour to say the least. I didn't realize how nervous I must have been until we got back to the ground when I noticed my legs were really shaky. It was bizarre looking up and seeing that THAT was how high I just was. Such an awesome day though-definitely worth the money and the stress.

We obviously weren't allowed to bring our cameras, but I took a picture of the free picture they gave us of the whole group at the top.

It was about 8:30 when we finished, so we were STARVING. My friend's dad had heard about a "delicious Chinese restaurant" from a local, and was determined to find it. One hour later... we arrived in China Town. I think I would have eaten just about anything at that point. My god, a human, literally anything. We were all pretty disappointed in the quality of this "delicious Chinese food," but not one of us cared. I don't think I have ever eaten so fast/much in my life. Highlight of the meal was when I asked for a side of sweet and sour sauce and the waitress responded with, "no... hahaha." Mmmmk... That's fine I didn't really want it anyways, just checking. 

We said goodbye to our friend's dad and made it to the bus stop to head home, finally. Never have I ever been on a worse bus ride in my life. Even worse than the hour long break-down one on the way there. About two stops in, this woman gets on the bus. From the looks of her, she was drunk, on multiple drugs, maybe mentally ill... Just very unstable. She was swearing and everyone, falling, crawling down the aisle way. And she makes her way right back to... us. Sits down literally next to us. I am terrified. She keeps hitting us and I am trying to look down and not make eye contact and think of what do to. The bus was silent, except for her screaming. Her "friends" were more at the front of the bus, but at the next stop she yelled for them to come sit next to her. So they all moved to the row behind us. I was gripping the handle bar for dear life. I have gotten so comfortable with public transportation that I forgot it can be incredibly sketchy. Thank god I wasn't by myself, that's all I have to say. I was ready to get up and get off and find a cab or something when the man (one of her friends) slapped me on the back. "Mam-push the stop button for me-we're getting off." I jumped when he touched me because I was startled. Wrong move. He said, "Oh, you're afraid of me? Well guess what, I am afraid of you too. I'm more afraid of you than you are of me." Sir, I HIGHLY doubt that. I just tried to not respond and keep my head down until they all got off. The woman got in a huge fight with the bus driver and was cursing more than she was saying real words and was basically picked up and thrown off the bus. As soon as the doors closed, the entire bus took a breath. That was not a good situation to be in, wow. It's hard to describe through words but it was terrifying. Note to self: take a cab home at night, not the bus. You live, you learn!

I was so stressed out by the whole day that I had to go buy 2 boxes of Tim Tams at the connivence store when we got back. Remember-Australian calories don't count because they are in stupid kilojoules or something, so it's fine. Homework? Yeah forget that. I was bombarded with SMU emails-housing for next year, registering for classes for next year (I just started school here-I can't even begin to think about senior year classes!), voting for some election, initiation info for my sorority, honor society apps... wow. I didn't realize how far removed I am from real life/SMU life until last night. It's weird trying to balance both lives in a sort of way... Not that I would trade this experience for anything in the world!

Sooo... when's that wine tour? I think I could use that right about now... :) 

Sydney Tower Eye

Another thing to check off the bucket list! Went up to the Sydney Tower Eye today. It is 1,000 ft above ground and gives you a gorgeous view of the city. You start off with a 5 minute "4-D" movie introducing the great city of Sydney. I have absolutely no idea what makes 4-D different than 3-D, but it was awesome. You put on those ridiculous glasses and get a birds eye view of the city. It takes you over the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, through the ocean, where they actually sprinkle water on the audience, where you pass by sharks and jellyfish, etc. Then you get in the elevator and go all the way to the top to see the awesome view. You can do the Skywalk, which is where you get to walk around the outside of the top of the Tower, but we decided that wouldn't be worth it since we are about to embark on the insane bridge climb tomorrow (slightly anxious for that... considering the amount of rain that has been dumped on Sydney lately-but still so excited). The tower has a post office at the top, which is the highest working post office in the Southern Hemisphere. Our friend mailed a postcard to her family just for fun from up top. Hope it works! Naturally I was craving sweets (I am my father's daughter), so I bought an Australian candy bar to try. It was a grosser version than Twix... Guess I'll stick to the Nutella and Tim-Tam's. Honestly, what else would a girl ever need?

The Tower is in Westfield, which I soon discovered is the fancy shopping part of Sydney. Gucci, Prada, Mui Mui... Everything was GORGEOUS. We somehow made our way past the shops without going in any of them and wasting our money to Circular Quay. We were going to meet our friend's dad for dinner, since he is in town, but we had about an hour to kill. We walked around Hyde Park for a bit, which I think is Sydney's version of NYC's Central Park. It had a gorgeous fountain, church, walkway, etc.

We walked all the way around to the front of the Opera House, and I was SO excited to finally be up close and personal and go take a tour, when it started to POUR. So we all had to purchase umbrellas at the connivence store and go hide under a covering until her dad arrived. A man on the street was playing my family's favorite travel song, Botechelli's "Time to Say Goodbye," as we walked around the famous fancy district called The Rocks in the rain looking for a place to have dinner. We ate at a nice little Italian restaurant and had a great time exploring a new part of the city. I think I could be here for months and still not have done everything there is to do in Sydney-I can't believe how huge it is!

Other fun facts:

McDonald's, known as Macka's in Australia, is the COOL place to hang out and get late night food. I don't think I have eaten at a McDonald's since I was like 7... But a 50 cent ice cream cone? You can't get cheaper than that here.

Everything is measured using the Metric System. As in calories are in kilojoules. So forget that. I will be eating whatever I want, thank you very much. And the treadmill speed is measured in kilometers per hour. So I just have to guess which seems about right. All I could tell you is if I was walking or running. The dumbbells at the gym are in kilograms, so I am just not bothering to even deal with those and embarrass myself. Of course I could just learn the conversions... Or I could just be the stupid American and stick to my measurement system. Yeah, I'm going to do that.

Classes run a full hour. At SMU, if you have a class at 9:00, it ends at 9:50, giving you ten minutes to get to your next class, if need be. At UNSW, if you have a class at 9:00, it ends at 10:00, and your next class starts at 10:00. So yes, I SPRINT from one end of campus to the other to get to my classes. It makes no sense whatsoever and I look like such an idiot. Kids walk in late to class up till 30 minutes past when it starts, I swear. And some kids leave class up to a half hour early, just to make it to their next class on time. So people are constantly getting up and coming in and slamming the door and making more distractions than I can handle at one time, and the professors don't seem to mind one bit.

People think it is hip in Australia to wear old school NBA basketball jerseys... Not sure why. Can't quite figure that one out yet.

You are allowed to take the shopping cart home with you. I'm sorry, WHAT? You consistently see people rolling their grocery cart full of food down/up the hill to their house or apartment. You also see tons of barefoot people in the stores. Um, gross. My old flat mate, who is from Australia, described it to me like, "Well, if I am just running to the grocery store, why would I put on shoes?" I really don't even know how to respond to that one. Multiple reasons, actually. 

Ohhh Australia.... how I will never quite understand you, but oh how I love you. So so much.