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