Hello!
As I'm sure you all know by reading my previous blog entry, I went to surf camp this past weekend. It was probably one of the best weekends I've ever had. I'll start from the very beginning.
On Friday, March 13 at approximately 5:15 pm, a group of us walked the 2 blocks down to where the Mojo Surf bus was waiting to pick us up. We arrive at our pick up spot, load the bus, and wait until all 50 participants are on board. As soon as everyone was set and ready to go, we departed for our six hour bus ride to Crescent Head.
I sadly did not get to sit next to Gabi. We were, by no surprise, one of the last people to arrive at the pick up spot and almost all the seats were taken. I ended up sitting next to a really nice guy named Mamu. He is from Saudi Arabia, is studying in Sydney for the next 5 years, and was really excited to meet an American, which I thought was so cute...he was seriously the most excited person when I told him I was American. He says he wants to visit American when he's done studying. I asked him where in America he wanted to go, and he said Ohio. I'm not really sure why. He also shared his cookies, chips, and pop with me, showed me pictures of his entire family on his iPhone, and we talked almost the entire way there.
This was not a typical "field trip" bus ride. The bus driver, whose name was Morgan, had a mohawk, and was one of the surf instructors, plugged his iPod into the radio and cranked the volume. Everyone was singing along to the songs, talking loudly, and dancing in their seats. Suddenly, the music stopped and Morgan's voice came over the speakers and told us that we were going to play the "name game," where everyone on the bus has to come up to the front, take the microphone, introduce themselves, and say what they like and dislike about life in general. It took two hours for everyone to have their turn at making their speech on the moving bus, and once the name game was complete, we stopped for dinner at McDonald's - so classy. I'm sure the tiny McDonald's loved having a coach bus full of 50 young, eager, surfers bombarding their "restaurant."
After everyone was full and happy from the delicious, healthy meal, we reloaded the bus and jammed out to some more great, loud music. After two more hours of conversing with neighbors, singing, dancing, and playing card games, we make another stop. This time we stop at a liquor store in a very, very small town. When the bus pulled up, people from inside the bar (which was located right next to the liquor store) ran out to greet everyone that came off the bus. It was as if they had never seen any sort of an outside world before, it was quite bizarre. Everyone ran to the bus with their arms waving above their heads, the guys flocked to the girls asking for hugs and kisses, and we just had to push our way through this crowd of craziness. All 50 of us purchased what we wanted, pushed our way back through the crowd of obsessed fans (what they were fans of...we will never know), and got back on the bus to drive the remaining 2 hours until we reached our final destination. Apparently there isn't a law against open bottles in a motorized vehicles in Australia (well obviously there is for the driver; they are really strict on drunk driving, as they should be) because a lot of the people on the bus started playing drinking games and got pretty drunk. What the purpose of getting drunk on a bus where you can't really move around or do anything? I'm not really sure. It seemed like a waste to me, so I just watched and made fun of people.
When we arrived to our campsite at 12:30 am, we all headed down to the beach. It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen (seriously...in a very uncheesey sort of way). There wasn't a single building around, there were grassy hills surrounding the ocean, large boulders in one area for the waves to crash upon, and the reflection of the moon shining on the water. We all just hung out on the beach until 3 in the morning; it was very peaceful.
At 7:30 am, after getting approximately 4 hours of sleep, the surfers came into the bunk rooms to wake us all up. After eating our delicious breakfast, we all lined up to get our wet suits. Each wet suit had a name on it and that is how you were to remember which one was yours. The majority of the names were rather inappropriate but funny. Mine was far to inappropriate for me to post on the Internet for the whole world to see, so if you really want to know what it was, just ask me and I'll let you know.
After putting on our wet suits and getting all ready to go, we all walked down to the beach for our first surf lesson in the sand. We all made a circle around our surf instructor with our surf boards while he taught us the basic skills of surfing - paddling, standing up, how to keep your balance, etc. After about 20 minutes, the instructor told us it was time to try it in the water. My initial reaction was "oh no! I'm so not ready for the water yet!" But everyone else was already heading toward the ocean, so I nervously followed. It turns out I really wasn't all that bad. I'm not a professional surfer by any means, obviously. But if you give me a giant foam board and a cute surf instructor who will push me, I can stand up. There were a few times I was able to paddle, stand, and surf a wave all by myself, but usually when I tried I would fall off or I would just decide I didn't feel like standing so I would just sit on my board and ride the wave. I did always get a little nervous every time a wave would approach, but I just chose not to really look at it and I would just stand when I heard my instructor yell at me to stand up. I basically just took the lazy route to learning how to surf. When I was exhausted and tired of paddling, I would just walk to my surf instructor, he'd tell me to get on my board, and then he would push me when the wave came and all I would have to do was stand. It was pretty great.
The food at the surf camp was amazing; easily the best food I've had here so far. It was pretty surprising that a bunch of surfer guys could cook such great food for 50 people. At night, everyone would sit around the large campfire, hang out, and play some games (usually drinking games, since that's what Australian surfers are into, which usually got a little out of hand and resulted in at least one of the surf instructors to be running around naked. It was highly entertaining).
Overall, it was a great weekend at a beautiful private beach and I really want to go back. Surfing was a lot of fun and I was really excited that I got to learn. I don't really know if I'll pick it up or not. I'm a little terrified to try at a beach around Sydney since they're all pretty busy and I will most likely run into someone and kill them, but we'll see.
Until next time,
Whit
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The first few weeks of school
Hello loved ones,
So much for being punctual with my updates. My apologies for promising often updates and not following through. I blame school; it's in the way of me being able to take the time and type out my life for all of you lovely people to read. Frustrating, isn't it? I think so too, yet I don't have enough guts to skip class and not do my homework, so I guess I'll have to learn how to manage my time a little better.
While we are on the topic of school, I'll dive right into all the great details of my classes. I'm taking four classes while abroad...four very worthless classes. Actually, one is of importance so I'll rephrase and say three very worthless classes. Here they are:
Varieties of English Grammar - I know you're all thinking "why in the world would you take varieties of English grammar as a fun class while you're in Australia?" Good question. I don't have an answer. Anyway, this class should really be called "The History and Philosophy of English Grammar." Sounds fabulous, doesn't it? In all honesty, it shouldn't be too bad and I find myself to be surprisingly interested in the majority of the material. It's a lot of reading, but it's doable. My professor has a great Australian accent and is very animated, so it keeps the class interesting. I am a little terrified to how my grade will turn out in this class seeing as we are graded on one essay (which is 45% of our grade) and one exam (which is a 2 question exam that will take 2 hours, also worth 45%). Participation makes up the remaining 10%. So if I write a terrible answer for one of the 2 questions on the exam, there goes any chance of doing well. It's a little terrifying.
Australia: Land and Nation - Worthless class number 2. This is a pretty interesting class and it's fun to learn about the place where I'm studying. Right now we are learning about the Aboriginals and I am thoroughly enjoying it. However, my professor is the opposite of my English professor. This guy apparently doesn't understand the concept of voice inflection. Not only is he monotone, but he speaks very softly with a not-so-great Australian accent. It's a struggle to stay awake.
Genres in Cultural Context - Worthless class number 3. I really do not enjoy this class at all. It will probably be the easiest of all my classes, but I care very little about any of the content. One would imagine that a course with such a title would be about learning about different cultures around the world (or something among that line). Oh no, it's not. In fact, I'm not really learning about real life cultures; I'm learning about aliens. I can sense the confusion from halfway across the world and through a computer. Let me explain: yesterday we had a screening session for this class. What did we view? Let me tell you. We watched 3 hours of Star Trek. Laugh it up, people, laugh it up...it was torture. Next week we are watching Star Wars (which is at least better than Star Trek...but really?). While watching these films, I am to be analyzing how the "others (characters who are alienated from the rest of the group)" are being portrayed. Why? I have no idea. So that's that class...a mistake to be enrolled in.
Media Globalisation - This is the only class that is worthwhile to me and also the only class that I actually enjoy in its entirety. It's very comforting to know that I picked the right major. My professor is awesome, brilliant, and has the best Australian accent of them all. He is also very laid back and helpful, which is great. It's very interesting to learn about the material while in Australia because a lot of it is about different arguments as to whether or not America is taking over the world with their culture and media outlets. It was really awkward for me to read the last chapter in our book becuase it was all about "Americanisation" and how the world is doomed because American culture is taking over and making everyone illiterate dumbasses. It was actually very insightful and interesting, but still a little awkward.
So there are the great, wonderful, juicy details of my classes and professors. I successfully did not get lost on my way to classes nor did I go in a wrong classroom (which is always a fear of mine whenever it's the beginning of a semester). I only have class 3 days a week, which I love. Though after enjoying my 4 day weekend, it's hard to get back into the grove of school for the week. There are a couple of times when I have an hour break between my classes, so I go and sit under the archways of campus to act like I'm in Harry Potter while reading my course materials. One day, while sitting under an archway and admiring how the campus looks like Hogwarts, a guy wearing a black cloak walked past me. It made me laugh and slightly confused. Is he also just wishing he was in Harry Potter and therefore wears a cloak around campus or is he actually a wizard? He didn't have a wand, but that could have easily just been in his back pocket.
This past weekend Emma came to visit me! She is studying up in Townsville at James Cook University, so her and her friend, Vivian, came down to escape the cyclone that was hitting them and to enjoy Mardi Gras with me! It was very exciting to have them here.
As I mentioned in the previous sentence, it was Mardi Gras. We went to the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade on Oxford Street Saturday Night and it was absolutely insane. I don't even know how to explain it. There were rows and rows of people on the street all standing on stools, so we couldn't see a thing. We were trying to plot a way to run across the street and make friends with the people watching the parade on their hotel balconies, but that was impossible since we a) couldn't get past the rows of people, b) couldn't run in the middle of a parade, and c) probably wouldn't have been able to make friends with cool balcony people. So after abandoning that plan, we went to a Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King) and went in the upstairs sitting area to watch the parade from the window. There were a lot of amazing costumes and crazy floats. My favorite 2 floats that I could actually see were "My Big Fat Gay Wedding" and "F*ck Homophobic Religions." There were many way more vulger ones, which I also loved. It was just an overall great and fun experience and I must say that the GLBT community knows how to throw a hell of a party. While we were walking around on the street attempting to see the parade, Emma walked up to every person wearing a crazy costume and asked if we could have a picture, in which everyone allowed us to take pictures with them.
After the parade, we went to a club in King's Cross called World Bar. They are famous for their teapots, and they are delicious! A teapot is exactly as it sounds - a cocktail in a teapot and you just drink straight from the spout; it's great. As much as I love drinking straight from a teapot, they were really awkward to dance with. You basically just had to hold the teapot out in front of you and bounce. I did witness one girl who didn't put the top on her teapot and so when she went to drink from the spout, all the contents came out of the top and went all over her face. I laughed at her. Later on in the evening when we were no longer dancing with teapots, we went downstairs (this is a 4 story bar) to go dance on the main dance floor. While dancing, a guy comes up to me and decides that he is going to teach me how to do the running man. He does it in slow motion at first and I'm doing it with him in slow motion, and then he shows me how it looks normal speed. Little does this guy know that I already am a pro at the running man, so when I was able to bust it out right away at normal speed, he thought I was the coolest person ever. I never told him I already knew how to do it, I simply just accepted him praising me all night for "learning the running man so quickly." Apparently it took him days. Then I decided to bust out the side running man, in which the guy was completely amazed. Oh yeah, and I did all of this in heels. I'm a champ.
After wearing my heels for twelve hours, my feet were killing me. Yes, idiot me decided to wear a pair of heels out for mardi gras parade and a nightclub. This was a full twelve hours of walking, standing, and dancing. We leave World Bar and are embarking on our 45 minute walk home and I am dying. I have a rule about heels: if you wear the heels, you commit to them. I hate seeing girls walking on the street holding their heels; you knew what you were getting yourself into..now wear them. Well, I had to break my rule for about 10 minutes. But I hated the fact that I was carrying my heels, so I put them back on. Then Emma gave me a piggy back ride and I think we got hit on more while walking home than we did our entire time at the bar. One guy came up to us and said he has never seen a girl give another girl a piggy back ride. He though Emma was "really sexy" for giving me a piggy back ride and that he "didn't think he could even bench press my weight." I got mad at him and told him to go away.
The next day we went to Darling Harbour, but while we were there, it started pouring outside. We only had one umbrella for the four of us. We tried to all fit under this one tiny umbrella, but it didn't work so well. We all looked like drowning rats. The rain never stopped the entire day, so me, Gabi, Vivian, and Emma all decided to go to a movie. Of course we saw "He's Just Not That Into You" for a second time. It was a good day. The next day was a nice day, no rain and hardly any clouds, so us four went to the Opera House and walked through the gardens. Then Emma and Vivian left very early Tuesday morning. It was great to have them here and very nice to have a little taste of home. I'm planning on going to visit them sometime in May.
And here is a fun little story to end this novel. One day, Gabi, Jeff, Cliff, Evan, Suvir, and I all go down to the hot tub (only Gabi and I read our books becuase Gabi forgot her swim suit...she doesn't live in Unilodge like the rest of the cool kids). After we leave the hot tub, the boys start playing soccer in the lounge area. Gabi and I had to finish our chapter, so we came to the lounge a couple of minutes after the boys...who are already playing soccer at this point. So I open the door to the lounge to go join in the fun, and as I open the door, I get smoked in the face with the soccer ball. Don't worry, I was fine and there was no blood, but it was pretty embarrassing.
This weekend I will be at my surfing camp! I will probably do very poorly and will be extremely sore, but I'm very excited for it nonetheless. I'll tell you all the fun stories from this little adventure.
Thanks for taking the hour out of your day to read this long, but exctiting (I hope) entry.
Much love,
Whitney
So much for being punctual with my updates. My apologies for promising often updates and not following through. I blame school; it's in the way of me being able to take the time and type out my life for all of you lovely people to read. Frustrating, isn't it? I think so too, yet I don't have enough guts to skip class and not do my homework, so I guess I'll have to learn how to manage my time a little better.
While we are on the topic of school, I'll dive right into all the great details of my classes. I'm taking four classes while abroad...four very worthless classes. Actually, one is of importance so I'll rephrase and say three very worthless classes. Here they are:
Varieties of English Grammar - I know you're all thinking "why in the world would you take varieties of English grammar as a fun class while you're in Australia?" Good question. I don't have an answer. Anyway, this class should really be called "The History and Philosophy of English Grammar." Sounds fabulous, doesn't it? In all honesty, it shouldn't be too bad and I find myself to be surprisingly interested in the majority of the material. It's a lot of reading, but it's doable. My professor has a great Australian accent and is very animated, so it keeps the class interesting. I am a little terrified to how my grade will turn out in this class seeing as we are graded on one essay (which is 45% of our grade) and one exam (which is a 2 question exam that will take 2 hours, also worth 45%). Participation makes up the remaining 10%. So if I write a terrible answer for one of the 2 questions on the exam, there goes any chance of doing well. It's a little terrifying.
Australia: Land and Nation - Worthless class number 2. This is a pretty interesting class and it's fun to learn about the place where I'm studying. Right now we are learning about the Aboriginals and I am thoroughly enjoying it. However, my professor is the opposite of my English professor. This guy apparently doesn't understand the concept of voice inflection. Not only is he monotone, but he speaks very softly with a not-so-great Australian accent. It's a struggle to stay awake.
Genres in Cultural Context - Worthless class number 3. I really do not enjoy this class at all. It will probably be the easiest of all my classes, but I care very little about any of the content. One would imagine that a course with such a title would be about learning about different cultures around the world (or something among that line). Oh no, it's not. In fact, I'm not really learning about real life cultures; I'm learning about aliens. I can sense the confusion from halfway across the world and through a computer. Let me explain: yesterday we had a screening session for this class. What did we view? Let me tell you. We watched 3 hours of Star Trek. Laugh it up, people, laugh it up...it was torture. Next week we are watching Star Wars (which is at least better than Star Trek...but really?). While watching these films, I am to be analyzing how the "others (characters who are alienated from the rest of the group)" are being portrayed. Why? I have no idea. So that's that class...a mistake to be enrolled in.
Media Globalisation - This is the only class that is worthwhile to me and also the only class that I actually enjoy in its entirety. It's very comforting to know that I picked the right major. My professor is awesome, brilliant, and has the best Australian accent of them all. He is also very laid back and helpful, which is great. It's very interesting to learn about the material while in Australia because a lot of it is about different arguments as to whether or not America is taking over the world with their culture and media outlets. It was really awkward for me to read the last chapter in our book becuase it was all about "Americanisation" and how the world is doomed because American culture is taking over and making everyone illiterate dumbasses. It was actually very insightful and interesting, but still a little awkward.
So there are the great, wonderful, juicy details of my classes and professors. I successfully did not get lost on my way to classes nor did I go in a wrong classroom (which is always a fear of mine whenever it's the beginning of a semester). I only have class 3 days a week, which I love. Though after enjoying my 4 day weekend, it's hard to get back into the grove of school for the week. There are a couple of times when I have an hour break between my classes, so I go and sit under the archways of campus to act like I'm in Harry Potter while reading my course materials. One day, while sitting under an archway and admiring how the campus looks like Hogwarts, a guy wearing a black cloak walked past me. It made me laugh and slightly confused. Is he also just wishing he was in Harry Potter and therefore wears a cloak around campus or is he actually a wizard? He didn't have a wand, but that could have easily just been in his back pocket.
This past weekend Emma came to visit me! She is studying up in Townsville at James Cook University, so her and her friend, Vivian, came down to escape the cyclone that was hitting them and to enjoy Mardi Gras with me! It was very exciting to have them here.
As I mentioned in the previous sentence, it was Mardi Gras. We went to the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade on Oxford Street Saturday Night and it was absolutely insane. I don't even know how to explain it. There were rows and rows of people on the street all standing on stools, so we couldn't see a thing. We were trying to plot a way to run across the street and make friends with the people watching the parade on their hotel balconies, but that was impossible since we a) couldn't get past the rows of people, b) couldn't run in the middle of a parade, and c) probably wouldn't have been able to make friends with cool balcony people. So after abandoning that plan, we went to a Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King) and went in the upstairs sitting area to watch the parade from the window. There were a lot of amazing costumes and crazy floats. My favorite 2 floats that I could actually see were "My Big Fat Gay Wedding" and "F*ck Homophobic Religions." There were many way more vulger ones, which I also loved. It was just an overall great and fun experience and I must say that the GLBT community knows how to throw a hell of a party. While we were walking around on the street attempting to see the parade, Emma walked up to every person wearing a crazy costume and asked if we could have a picture, in which everyone allowed us to take pictures with them.
After the parade, we went to a club in King's Cross called World Bar. They are famous for their teapots, and they are delicious! A teapot is exactly as it sounds - a cocktail in a teapot and you just drink straight from the spout; it's great. As much as I love drinking straight from a teapot, they were really awkward to dance with. You basically just had to hold the teapot out in front of you and bounce. I did witness one girl who didn't put the top on her teapot and so when she went to drink from the spout, all the contents came out of the top and went all over her face. I laughed at her. Later on in the evening when we were no longer dancing with teapots, we went downstairs (this is a 4 story bar) to go dance on the main dance floor. While dancing, a guy comes up to me and decides that he is going to teach me how to do the running man. He does it in slow motion at first and I'm doing it with him in slow motion, and then he shows me how it looks normal speed. Little does this guy know that I already am a pro at the running man, so when I was able to bust it out right away at normal speed, he thought I was the coolest person ever. I never told him I already knew how to do it, I simply just accepted him praising me all night for "learning the running man so quickly." Apparently it took him days. Then I decided to bust out the side running man, in which the guy was completely amazed. Oh yeah, and I did all of this in heels. I'm a champ.
After wearing my heels for twelve hours, my feet were killing me. Yes, idiot me decided to wear a pair of heels out for mardi gras parade and a nightclub. This was a full twelve hours of walking, standing, and dancing. We leave World Bar and are embarking on our 45 minute walk home and I am dying. I have a rule about heels: if you wear the heels, you commit to them. I hate seeing girls walking on the street holding their heels; you knew what you were getting yourself into..now wear them. Well, I had to break my rule for about 10 minutes. But I hated the fact that I was carrying my heels, so I put them back on. Then Emma gave me a piggy back ride and I think we got hit on more while walking home than we did our entire time at the bar. One guy came up to us and said he has never seen a girl give another girl a piggy back ride. He though Emma was "really sexy" for giving me a piggy back ride and that he "didn't think he could even bench press my weight." I got mad at him and told him to go away.
The next day we went to Darling Harbour, but while we were there, it started pouring outside. We only had one umbrella for the four of us. We tried to all fit under this one tiny umbrella, but it didn't work so well. We all looked like drowning rats. The rain never stopped the entire day, so me, Gabi, Vivian, and Emma all decided to go to a movie. Of course we saw "He's Just Not That Into You" for a second time. It was a good day. The next day was a nice day, no rain and hardly any clouds, so us four went to the Opera House and walked through the gardens. Then Emma and Vivian left very early Tuesday morning. It was great to have them here and very nice to have a little taste of home. I'm planning on going to visit them sometime in May.
And here is a fun little story to end this novel. One day, Gabi, Jeff, Cliff, Evan, Suvir, and I all go down to the hot tub (only Gabi and I read our books becuase Gabi forgot her swim suit...she doesn't live in Unilodge like the rest of the cool kids). After we leave the hot tub, the boys start playing soccer in the lounge area. Gabi and I had to finish our chapter, so we came to the lounge a couple of minutes after the boys...who are already playing soccer at this point. So I open the door to the lounge to go join in the fun, and as I open the door, I get smoked in the face with the soccer ball. Don't worry, I was fine and there was no blood, but it was pretty embarrassing.
This weekend I will be at my surfing camp! I will probably do very poorly and will be extremely sore, but I'm very excited for it nonetheless. I'll tell you all the fun stories from this little adventure.
Thanks for taking the hour out of your day to read this long, but exctiting (I hope) entry.
Much love,
Whitney
Monday, March 2, 2009
I love Sydney
G'day mates,
A lot has happened since my last entry, so this will be, yet again, a long one...brace yourselves.
It was O-Week this week at the University of Sydney, which is basically a large festival filled with live bands, bumper cars, fairy floss (aka cotton candy), popcorn, BBQs, and hundreds of clubs/organizations handing out brochures. I met up with my friend Stefan and he introduced me to a few other Australians. All of us hung out for the majority of the day. Stefan and I did a free hip hop class for about a half an hour; it was pretty funny. I'm not a great dancer to begin with, so trying to hip hop was quite a difficult task. I don't think I did any of the moves correctly and ultimately learned nothing, but at least I had a good time.
I went to Bondi Beach on Thursday...again. I have now gone to the same beach 3 times in one week. I think it's time for us to explore the alternative beaches around the area. There's a popular show in Australia called Bondi Rescue, which is filmed right on Bondi Beach and it's basically a real life "Bay Watch." It's Gabi's goal/dream to be on this show. I'm pretty sure it's because she wants to be saved by an attractive Australian lifeguard, but then again, who wouldn't want to be saved by an attractive Australian lifeguard? It might not be such a bad plan (only I don't really know how to swim and Gabi is an actual good swimmer and could get herself out of the mess if a not-so-attractive lifeguard came to save her...I would just be stuck with the not-so-attractive lifeguard while getting attacked by sharks. Maybe it's not such a great idea for me after all). I'll let you all know if Gabi achieves her goal of starring in this reality show.
This past weekend, Gabi and I were ultimate tourists and went to explore the remaining major areas of Sydney. We went back to Darling Harbour (which has no become my favorite place in the world) and went to the Sydney Aquarium, China Town, and Paddy's Market. We were going to go to the Chinese Garden, but by the time we were done with the other three, it had closed. Looks like we have an excuse to go back! The Sydney Aquarium was amazing and huge. At first we complained for a while about the fact that it cost us $20 to get in, but after about 30 seconds, we got over it. There were many amazing sea creatures, including a platypus, giant stingrays, sharks, and giant sea turtles, amongst other things. China town was pretty fun but it isn't the same as China town in New York. Paddy's Market was insane; I don't even know how many vendors there were. It was very hectic and confusing, but they had a ton of awesome souvenirs in there. I found a stand with authentic aboriginal didgeridoos and found an awesome one for Nate! I had the guy play it for me to make sure it sounded alright; I'm pretty excited for Nate to have it and play it ALL THE TIME for me.
After we were done looking at all the touristy places at Darling Harbour, Gabi and I decided to have a seat on a bench, relax, and look at the water. While we are sitting on a bench, a giant lizard pops up from behind us! For my fellow Rugrats fans - basically Reptar came to chill out with us on this bench (alright, so maybe it wasn't that huge, nor did it walk on two legs, but it was insanely large). I took some pictures of it, so feel free to have a look at Reptar.
Later that night, a bunch of us went to a professional rugby game: Sydney Wartah's vs. New Zealand Hylanders. Sydney won by a landslide. It was a ton of fun and we are all going to go to more rugby games throughout the semester. The fans were hilarious and intense!
The next day Gabi and I ventured to Martin Place where all the shops and malls are. We went into Prada, Armani, and a few malls. It was fun to be able to go into the high-end stores and see everything they had, though it was slightly awkward since the workers followed you around everywhere you went and watched you like a hawk. They were basically your shadow and watched your every move, so it was a little limiting. I found an awesome dress and sunglasses. Too bad I don't have $3000 laying around, shucks. After we went into the stores, we grabbed a Caramel Java Chip Frappachino at Starbucks (very delicious) and went to a park to enjoy the nice day. While we were at the park, a guy starts peeing on the wall that is right next to us. We're a little grossed out, but laugh about it anyway. Then when the guy was done peeing, him and his friends came up to us and introduced themselves. The guy who just peed all over the wall held out his hand for us to shake. I so did not want to shake his hand, but thought it would be rude to turn him down, so I shook it anyway. After talking to them for a little while, they left and shortly thereafter, 4 more guys came to the exact same wall and they all started peeing on it. At this point, Gabi and I are laughing pretty hard and then we started taking pictures...because that's the normal thing to do. Apparently the wall we were sitting next to is the peeing wall, even though there was a bathroom about 10 feet away from it.
Yesterday we went to the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge! It was amazingly beautiful and very exciting to be looking at the two most well-known landmarks in Sydney. We also walked through all the gardens, which were also beautiful...shocking. All of Sydney is beautiful; I absolutely love it here. There were a bunch of huts set up by the Opera House that were selling hand made jewelry. I purchased a pair of earrings and a ring and Gabi also purchased a pair of earrings. Apparently they're one of a kind; we'll see if it's true.
Today I had the worst day ever. Everything seemed to go wrong and I probably should have just stayed in bed all day. At least the weather was beautiful so I could hate the day while enjoying the sun. So the dress I was wearing ripped, then the necklace I wanted to wear broke as I put it on, then I walked to campus to get my schedule figured out but the international office couldn't help me so they sent me to a different building, then the lady in that building who deals with schedules was on her lunch break and wouldn't be back for an hour. Gabi and I decide to go to Paddy's Market to pick up Nate's didgeridoo that I have on hold during this hour period, so we take the long bus ride there to find out that Paddy's Market is closed, so then we have to take the bus all the way back home. While we're on the way home, Gabi realizes she left her folder full of all her important school information at a counter near Paddy's Market, so she gets off the bus to go back while I continue towards campus to meet with the lady that was on her lunch break. I go to the lady's office and she tells me that she is not the person I need to talk to, but she has no idea where I need to go to solve my problem. So I call the international office and they tell me to go back to where I just was (in which I told them that they were wrong), so then they realize that I need to go to a different building which is all the way across campus, so I walk briskly over to the building and when I get there, it's closed. I look at the sign and it says they close at 4:00, I look at my watch and see that it is 4:05. Looks like I'll have to figure out my scheduling questions tomorrow after class. After this frustrating relay of going to wrong buildings all day around campus, I decide to go home to read for a little while. Then Gabi comes back (with her folder..she found it), and we decide that since we had such an awful day that we deserve an awesome night, so we treat ourselves to a very lovely dinner right on the water at Darling Harbour. It really was the perfect ending to a dreadful day.
Tomorrow I have my first day of classes and I'm a little nervous. I feel like I'm a freshman all over again! Luckily I only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so I get to enjoy 5 day weekends. Wish me luck on my first week of school! I'll try to be a little more punctual on updating this blog so you guys don't have to read novels every time I post something.
Love,
Whit
A lot has happened since my last entry, so this will be, yet again, a long one...brace yourselves.
It was O-Week this week at the University of Sydney, which is basically a large festival filled with live bands, bumper cars, fairy floss (aka cotton candy), popcorn, BBQs, and hundreds of clubs/organizations handing out brochures. I met up with my friend Stefan and he introduced me to a few other Australians. All of us hung out for the majority of the day. Stefan and I did a free hip hop class for about a half an hour; it was pretty funny. I'm not a great dancer to begin with, so trying to hip hop was quite a difficult task. I don't think I did any of the moves correctly and ultimately learned nothing, but at least I had a good time.
I went to Bondi Beach on Thursday...again. I have now gone to the same beach 3 times in one week. I think it's time for us to explore the alternative beaches around the area. There's a popular show in Australia called Bondi Rescue, which is filmed right on Bondi Beach and it's basically a real life "Bay Watch." It's Gabi's goal/dream to be on this show. I'm pretty sure it's because she wants to be saved by an attractive Australian lifeguard, but then again, who wouldn't want to be saved by an attractive Australian lifeguard? It might not be such a bad plan (only I don't really know how to swim and Gabi is an actual good swimmer and could get herself out of the mess if a not-so-attractive lifeguard came to save her...I would just be stuck with the not-so-attractive lifeguard while getting attacked by sharks. Maybe it's not such a great idea for me after all). I'll let you all know if Gabi achieves her goal of starring in this reality show.
This past weekend, Gabi and I were ultimate tourists and went to explore the remaining major areas of Sydney. We went back to Darling Harbour (which has no become my favorite place in the world) and went to the Sydney Aquarium, China Town, and Paddy's Market. We were going to go to the Chinese Garden, but by the time we were done with the other three, it had closed. Looks like we have an excuse to go back! The Sydney Aquarium was amazing and huge. At first we complained for a while about the fact that it cost us $20 to get in, but after about 30 seconds, we got over it. There were many amazing sea creatures, including a platypus, giant stingrays, sharks, and giant sea turtles, amongst other things. China town was pretty fun but it isn't the same as China town in New York. Paddy's Market was insane; I don't even know how many vendors there were. It was very hectic and confusing, but they had a ton of awesome souvenirs in there. I found a stand with authentic aboriginal didgeridoos and found an awesome one for Nate! I had the guy play it for me to make sure it sounded alright; I'm pretty excited for Nate to have it and play it ALL THE TIME for me.
After we were done looking at all the touristy places at Darling Harbour, Gabi and I decided to have a seat on a bench, relax, and look at the water. While we are sitting on a bench, a giant lizard pops up from behind us! For my fellow Rugrats fans - basically Reptar came to chill out with us on this bench (alright, so maybe it wasn't that huge, nor did it walk on two legs, but it was insanely large). I took some pictures of it, so feel free to have a look at Reptar.
Later that night, a bunch of us went to a professional rugby game: Sydney Wartah's vs. New Zealand Hylanders. Sydney won by a landslide. It was a ton of fun and we are all going to go to more rugby games throughout the semester. The fans were hilarious and intense!
The next day Gabi and I ventured to Martin Place where all the shops and malls are. We went into Prada, Armani, and a few malls. It was fun to be able to go into the high-end stores and see everything they had, though it was slightly awkward since the workers followed you around everywhere you went and watched you like a hawk. They were basically your shadow and watched your every move, so it was a little limiting. I found an awesome dress and sunglasses. Too bad I don't have $3000 laying around, shucks. After we went into the stores, we grabbed a Caramel Java Chip Frappachino at Starbucks (very delicious) and went to a park to enjoy the nice day. While we were at the park, a guy starts peeing on the wall that is right next to us. We're a little grossed out, but laugh about it anyway. Then when the guy was done peeing, him and his friends came up to us and introduced themselves. The guy who just peed all over the wall held out his hand for us to shake. I so did not want to shake his hand, but thought it would be rude to turn him down, so I shook it anyway. After talking to them for a little while, they left and shortly thereafter, 4 more guys came to the exact same wall and they all started peeing on it. At this point, Gabi and I are laughing pretty hard and then we started taking pictures...because that's the normal thing to do. Apparently the wall we were sitting next to is the peeing wall, even though there was a bathroom about 10 feet away from it.
Yesterday we went to the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge! It was amazingly beautiful and very exciting to be looking at the two most well-known landmarks in Sydney. We also walked through all the gardens, which were also beautiful...shocking. All of Sydney is beautiful; I absolutely love it here. There were a bunch of huts set up by the Opera House that were selling hand made jewelry. I purchased a pair of earrings and a ring and Gabi also purchased a pair of earrings. Apparently they're one of a kind; we'll see if it's true.
Today I had the worst day ever. Everything seemed to go wrong and I probably should have just stayed in bed all day. At least the weather was beautiful so I could hate the day while enjoying the sun. So the dress I was wearing ripped, then the necklace I wanted to wear broke as I put it on, then I walked to campus to get my schedule figured out but the international office couldn't help me so they sent me to a different building, then the lady in that building who deals with schedules was on her lunch break and wouldn't be back for an hour. Gabi and I decide to go to Paddy's Market to pick up Nate's didgeridoo that I have on hold during this hour period, so we take the long bus ride there to find out that Paddy's Market is closed, so then we have to take the bus all the way back home. While we're on the way home, Gabi realizes she left her folder full of all her important school information at a counter near Paddy's Market, so she gets off the bus to go back while I continue towards campus to meet with the lady that was on her lunch break. I go to the lady's office and she tells me that she is not the person I need to talk to, but she has no idea where I need to go to solve my problem. So I call the international office and they tell me to go back to where I just was (in which I told them that they were wrong), so then they realize that I need to go to a different building which is all the way across campus, so I walk briskly over to the building and when I get there, it's closed. I look at the sign and it says they close at 4:00, I look at my watch and see that it is 4:05. Looks like I'll have to figure out my scheduling questions tomorrow after class. After this frustrating relay of going to wrong buildings all day around campus, I decide to go home to read for a little while. Then Gabi comes back (with her folder..she found it), and we decide that since we had such an awful day that we deserve an awesome night, so we treat ourselves to a very lovely dinner right on the water at Darling Harbour. It really was the perfect ending to a dreadful day.
Tomorrow I have my first day of classes and I'm a little nervous. I feel like I'm a freshman all over again! Luckily I only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so I get to enjoy 5 day weekends. Wish me luck on my first week of school! I'll try to be a little more punctual on updating this blog so you guys don't have to read novels every time I post something.
Love,
Whit
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