Week 14: Final Days! Santa is in Town

My flight out of Sydney is less than one week! How crazy is that?! Like I knew it would, this semester abroad has been unforgettable and far to fast. I know I will be dreaming of the sunny beaches and busy weekend markets while I’m crammed in a corner in Bartley Hall (the home of the Villanova business student).

My last weekend in Sydney has been spent in some of my favorite spots. Friday night after a late gym session with Chelsea, a few of us girls went to a cool Mexican-styled bar called Tio’s and I splurged on a recommended passionfruit margarita. It was good, but the cheap margeritas back home in our authentic Groveland restaurants definitely win.

Saturday I had the most amazing brunch at a place called Jed’s near Bondi Beach. Chelsea convinced me that I would love (and in fact, did) their vegetarian Japanese-inspired brunch option. This brunch bowl was served with chopsticks and made with red quinoa, eggs, and teriyaki tofu, then topped with seaweed, avocado, and teriyaki sauce – YUM!! My two loves of Asian food and brunch combined – what more can a girl ask for? Afterwards, I explored the Paddington markets and nearby thrift stores and shops. I’m really going to miss all of the weekend markets here – literally every Sydney suburb has one! My favorite for cheap items is the Glebe market, but I love the more touristy Rocks market too because they have the best Turkish gozelme. I also stopped this Saturday by my most frequented market, Paddy’s, for some produce and spices to bring home.

Sunday started bright and early with the Santa Fun Run 5K with my roommate Julie and a small group from the BU program. 4000 Sydney siders and tourists ran/walked side by side in identical red santa costumes from Darling Harbour to the Opera House. Seeing the steps of the Opera House covered in Santas was fantastic and so festive. It truly was a fun run, but it makes me more and more excited to head home for the holidays here in a few weeks! Yay holiday cheer!!!

I’m wrapping up my final Sydney Sunday in my favorite book café Berkelouw near Surry Hills. This place is great – the first floor is new books and cool, kitchy items like teapots and old-fashioned board games; the second floor, where I am now sipping my flat white coffee on an old leather couch, has a cute café and tables/chairs for reading with a nice view overlooking Oxford Street; the third floor is filled with shelves of secondhand books.

Tentative plans for this week: Zoo (Monday), Final Exam (Tuesday), Brunch/Beach (Wednesday), fly out to Melbourne on Thursday!!

Week 12/13: Rain Hits Sydney

Thank God for moms who remind you that "You're behind on your blog..." Or even better, "I like you friends' blogs better." Sherri 2 - Lyndsay 0.

The past two weeks have been unfortunately rainy here, though my 21st birthday was last week! Not quite as exciting overseas when you can already drink, but still a milestone I suppose... I'm not a huge fan of people making a huge deal out of my own birthday, though I was thrilled with all of the suprises. My mom managed to have miniature cupcakes sent to my internship office, and my Big Chelsea and Little Mandy sent me flowers to my apartment in downtown Sydney. My birthday evening after work was spent atop the Sydney Habour Bridge overlooking the city and surrouding harbours with my roommates Chelsea and Julie. The rain fortunately subsided that evening, and we watched the sunset from the top of the bridge. It was truly beautiful, though we couldn't bring cameras up for liability purposes and you'll just have to take my word for it. I was nervous for my interview of Yahoo Australia's CFO the next morning, so it was a fairly uneventful night, but Chelsea brought the roommates together at Baxter's for more cupcakes (FACT: I love cupcakes) and some champagne before heading home.

Last weekend was pretty rainy, so there were a fair amount of hours spent at Starbucks getting work done (aka pretending to work and singing along to the Michael Buble Christmas songs playing). Actually though, it was spent loooking for Spring/Summer work and internships. While I might not be ready to leave yet, my wallet most definitely is!

Looking forward this weekend to a Saturday brunch and hopefully some beach time if the weather clears up :)

Week 11: Markets, Festivals, and the Melbourne Cup

Last Tuesday was the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops the nation" here in Australia. For those that can't be in Melbourne to celebrate the horse race, it's an excuse for a short day at the office and drinking festivities. Many of my friends had office parties with their coworkers or the day off entirely. Since my office isn't really "Australian" though, our staff being from all over the world, we didn't have too much excitement in our building. At the end of the day however we drank wine and spontaneously bet amongst ourselves on one of the races, and I won $20! Woo!

Friday night, Nikita and I went down to the Rocks for what was supposed to be a Night Bazaar. It wasn't as big as we thought it would be, but we watched an entertaining colonial storyteller for a bit and split some vegetarian dumplings before exploring the Hole in the Sky bar. As part of the event, we received bird masks to put on when entering the venue. The bar was small, but three stories tall, and everything was white (floor, chairs, tables, etc.) Everyone sat on the floor. In one small corner was a black birds nest that a few people were sitting in too.... so strange. We stayed maybe 5 minutes before leaving for a bar we had been wanting to try near the Quay called Palmer & Co. We ended up meeting a guy getting married on Sunday and being entertained by his extremely drunk best man, who was trying to find somewhere to dance. Great bar, especially compared to the bird bar.... eek.

Saturday I took a personal day to explore the Glebe markets and check out Watsons Bay. The Glebe markets have an ecletic mix of stalls, many of the clothing tents being what looks like rich girls selling their closets to make money (rows of hangers with cute clothes for $10 from brands like Top Shop, Zara, etc.) I also had some AMAZING lemonade... there's something about fresh squeezed lemonade on a hot day that never fails to delight. Watsons Bay was a ferry ride away, and boasts fresh fish n' chips by the dock. The ferry ride was beautiful (still a Florida girl at heart I guess - I love being on the water), and I managed to find Camp Cove, which is a small beach area away from the touristy dock area. The water was perfectly clear, and felt great on such a hot day. Watson's Bay is great because it definitely has a small ocean villlage feel, but in the distance you an see the outline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Sunday was rainy and a bit dreary. The Newtown Festival was still on, and even though I missed out on the dog show in the morning on account of the rain, I went for a few hours in the afternoon with Chelsea for some good food, live music, and shopping. We even got a free smoothie from a lady making them on the back of her bike (when she peddaled, it blended the drink. So cool!!).  In the monring I killed a few hours at Starbucks to get some work done and get of the apartment. Even though it's out of my way, I've made my way over there a couple times this past week because they have Chrsitmas music playing and I just love it! Australian Starbucks coffee is pretty crap, but the atmosphere is still great and I usually get my favorite seat in a window seat over looking Darling Harbour and the boats.


Also a S/O to my mom and family for the birthday package! I was mentioning to Chelsea last week how I haven't gotten any mail in Australia (understandably). My favorite part of the box were handmade cards from Eric and Michael though, that looked like two year olds drew them. I showed them to my roommates, and they were like "Oh cute! How old is you brother, like 4 or 5?" HA!

Week 11: Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Re:Savage Advice

This past weekend, I headed to the Sydney Opera house to hear a few dangerous ideas. FODI is relatively new annual event in Sydney that brings speakers from all over the world to discuss some pretty controversial and unconventtonal topics. I attended two talks: "Savage Advice" by Dan Savage and "End of Men" by Hanna Rosin.

While the talk is still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd write down my opinion of Dan Savage's speech:

First off, Dan Savage is an excellent entertainer. His honest vulgarity is entertaining and relateable. Here Savage discussed his belief in and concept of monogomish relationships. As a married gay man in an open relationship, Savage relayed his idea that fully monogomous relationships are unnatural and oftentimes dangerous to long term partnership. Based on the truth that we are innately sexual creatures and are physically attracted to other people (Savage: "We all want to f*** other people!"), Savage explains that monogomish relationships are oftentimes more practical, happy, and healthy (in some sense of the word). He does acknowledge however that these types of relationships are not for everyone, and he doesn't recommend everyone goes out now to cheat on their partners. This is a pretty simplified summary of course, and you'd have to read more of his work to get a better idea of his arguements.

Still not entirely sure how I feel about all of this monogomous vs. monogomish talk, but here are my immediate thoughts: 1) I can see why conservative religious people fundamentally disagree with and  hate Savage and his ideas. 2) Religion aside, there are definitely some ideas I agree with here. I don't think anyone can debate Savage's claim that we are all attracted to other people regardless of your current relationship status, age, beliefs, etc. I can also understnad and support the claim that many open relationships may in fact be stronger, healthier, and longer lasting then purely monogmous relationships. 3) The whole talk, however, I seemed to be caught up on this opinion - Even though this idea of monogomoish relationships satisfies some of our innate human desires and tendences and may make us happier, does that mean it's necessarily a good idea? Just because I desire chocoloate and it makes me happy, does indulging in it make it a good idea? I don't know... food for thought.

Week 10: Wildcats to Kiwis: Weekend in Auckland

My spontaneous trip to visit Xenia in Auckland last weekend was just what I needed. After going Friday night to a new place called Mojo Record Bar with Chelsea (really cool bar with fantastic beer - my new Aussie favorite is Stone & Wood's Pacific Ale), I was exhuasted by the time I made it into Auckland Saturday at 12pm NZ time. I was running on a few hours of sleep, but seeing one of my best friends on the other side of the world - "Is this real life?" - was beyond worth it. We started off the afternoon by walking through the main shopping street of the city and grabbing some coffee and cookies. We then met up with Xenia's friend Kelsie and walked along the harbour looking at the ships. Xenia and Kelsie that week had meet some of the crew members for one of the largest boats docked there, so we were on the hunt to find it (which we did!). We grabbed a couple happy hour drinks then before meeting up with Tommy (another fellow Villanovan) and heading towards Mount Eden for a beautiful view of the city. We rounded off the night with pizza and beers at a little Italian restaurant in the city in an outdoor seating area.

Sunday, Xenia, Tommy, and I spent most of the day a ferry ride away at Waiheke Island. We did a few hours of hiking along the coast of the island, and finished in a little beach town where we found fresh fish and chips. We stumbled upon this little nugget of insight too. Love it.

Seeing Xenia reminded me that even though I'll miss my life in Sydney, I'm excited to get back to the Villanova bubble to see all of my friends again. And make some money... I'm sure I'll be complaining about it a a few weeks in, but until then - SEE YOU SOON CATS<3

Week 9: Work Week, Social Weekend

We officially started our program internships this week. Tuesday through Thursday, 10-4pm (prime hours, I know) I intern at an online startup that "connects aspirational women to inspirational mentors" - PropellHer. The office (by office of course I mean apartment... startup, remember?) is located in Waterloo, about a 30 minute walk from my building in central city. I'm technically titled the Relationship Management intern, but as we know in startups, titles are very loose - a more accurate title would be: general assistant/social media helper/tea lady/grassroots spokesperson/cat walker. The last one is especially important. Frankie is our office cat, and if I feel like grabbing a coffee during the day, I have to hook him up to his leash and bring him with me - it's fantastic.

Also, you may know that the Blue Mountains near us here in Sydney are in a state of emergency due to massive brush fires. We've had a few days of intensely smoke-filled skies, and I took this picture above walking home from work last week. The sun is the little red circle on the top right. Freaky, huh?

On Saturday, a few of my roommates and I headed over to the outdoor Rocks market before heading accross the harbour to Manly. I indulged in a spinach, mushroom, and cheese gozelme for lunch (like a turkish crepe; see picture on the left) YUM and bought some post cards. At Manly, my roommate Nikita and I spent the afternoon at the annual Cider Festival at Hotel Steyne on the beach. I had 10 taster tickets and couldn't even manage to use them all since they filled the glasses so high! Anyways, it was an adorable fall festival type setup with hay bushels, candy apples, and wooden stands. Besides all of the usual apple and pear ciders, they had some other interesting flavors that I loved like Stassen's Eldenflower and Lime - delicious. I love that cider is so big on this side of the world, because it doesn't seem so popular in the States.

On Sunday, Chelsea and I used our Groupon on a small group wine tour in Hunter Valley. Small is somewhat of an overstatment actually - there were only four of us total, the other two guests being a young Irish couple living in Surry Hills. We went to four wineries of varying sizes, a cheese shop, chocolate shop, and sparking wine shop (aka champagne). The Irish girl Michelle and I tended towards sweeter wines, usually white, while Chelsea and the Irish boyfriend prefered bolder red wines - merlots and shirazs. Hunter Valley is known for its semillon wines and a uniqe type of wine called Verdelho, a white wine made from a Portuguese grape that thrives in the Australian climate.

Week 8: Backpacking New Zealand

For my semester break, I spent a week backpacking the south island of New Zealand with my roommate Chelsea. We literally walked straight out of our exams to the train station around the corner to catch our plane on Friday afternoon, October 4th (a little behind on my blog updates, I know). Our adventure then really began the following morning on an 8-hour bus ride to Queenstown on Saturday, from where we would jump on the Stray Travel bus for the remainder of the trip.

Our week was too long and jam packed to write about, so here are the notes I kept during my travels:

Friday

• Straight from finals to flight
• Stayed in the Christchurch airport lounge after landing at 1am until 7:30am bus
• Lounge had beanbags and backpackers sleeping everywhere 

 

Saturday

• 8.5 hour bus ride to Queenstown
• Stopped in local town farmers market - oat & caramel bar - yum!!
• Checked into 12 person dorm room at Nomads Hostel
• Dinner at local fish and chips stand down the street - fries and spring rolls
• Hot chocolate/wifi at local chocolate shop
• Teapot drinks at The Find with 3 roommates from Brisbane

Sunday 

• Nevis bungy and tandem canyon
• AWESOME tempura tofu burger lunch at Fergburger
• 3.5 hour bike ride to Jack's Point along the lake
• Ciders and dinner at Longhorn pub
• Reading and cards night with the Brisbane boys at the hostel

Monday 

• "Good old New Zealand - its the way the world used to be" - tour guide Kerrry
• First day of Stray tour - hilarious tour guide and group of only 6 travelers (Kerry calls himself Uncle F*** F***)
• Mirror Lake, Milford Sound Cruise, Valley of Disappearing Trees, Mnkey's Creek (filled up water bottle with pure glacier runoff water)
• Staying in single rooms at Te Anau motel - huge kitchen to make dinner, comfy lounge area, beautiful outdoor cabin feel 

Tuesday

• Late 10am start from Te Anau towards Invercargill
• First stop, controversial windmills - locals think it takes away from the natural landscape
• Cool public restroom stop with automated door/paper dispenser and 10min limit. Also, cued elevator music when lock activated
• Invercargill museum stop to see Burt Monro motorcycle and documentary then lunch at Noodle Canteen
• 5pm ferry to Stewart Island. Best commentary of the day from Kerry: "Yeh I went snorkeling with hump back wales! Did ya know they have five foot penises?! Far out huh?!" Haha!!!
• 4 bed backpackers hostel with big kitchen and comfy couches/puzzles but SO COLD
• Quick walk after dinner to bay then ciders with Chelsea and Kerry at the southern most pub in the world - South Sea Hotel  (picture below)

Wednesday

• Stewart Island: Sunrise jog to Fishmen's Point. Brekkie at hostel. Then hiking from Observation Rock to Dead Man's Cove and Horseshoe Bay. Intense trails! 3.5 hour trip
• Beer batter mussels and chips at South Sea Hotel. Delicious!
• Stop at Park n Save in Invercargill on bus ride back to Queenstown for the night
• Upgraded to 10 person room at Nomads w/bathroom  

Thursday

• Bus to Mt.Cook
• Rainy day in the valleys, so stuck in the converted hotel for the afternoon... watched Love Potion #9 and later played Quiz Night at the hotel bar
• Quiz team name: "2 Americans..." - last place.... Free pitcher of lager for participating though!

Friday

• Weet Bix challenge on the bus since we were late. 2 min to eat one bar - eek! Kind of like saltine challenge
• Rangitata Rafting day! Awesome 2.5 hour trip with 5-stage rapids. Guide Mike was HYSTERICAL! At the end of river, cliff jumping.
• Group games in the hostel: Scrabble, UK version of taboo, Box challenge
• Super nice hostel with three level bunk beds!!

Saturday

• Re:Start coffee cafe and shopping in Christchurch
• Christchurch botanical gardens and rebuild bus tour
  • Hurricanes on 2010/11 leave the city in a major state of construction and rebuilding
  • Beautiful reconstruction so far! Very quaint artsy feel being established... quesidillas @ Mexican food stand in contruction park
• Burlesque show in Hornby - really weird
• Walked 5 miles to the airport on a highway

And just a couple other great pictures...

 

Week 7: Melbourne

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday here in Sydney, and I'm settled into a corner at one of my favorite study spots in Glebe called Digi Kaf. Even though most shops here have "free wifi", it only lasts for 30 minutes typically, so this is my place. I get five hours of internet for $2 AUD, and always splurge on a nice cup of coffee (or two).

Most of this past week was spent in Melbourne on our BU program trip - Sunday through Wednesday. In Australia, this is the city most often compared to Sydney. In the Sydney v. Melbourne debate, most of my program has decided that they prefer the smaller feel of Melbourne with its quaint laneways, impressive grafitti, passion for sports, and great shopping. I have decided that I'm more pro-Sydney because of its better weather, beaches, and unique neighborhoods, but Melbourne has a few wins over Sydney for sure.

A couple things that Melbourne is doing right:

• Coffee
• Grafitti and street art
• Bike-friendly
• Coffee (repeated for emphasis)
• Chinatown
• Going green

 

My first fantastic Melbourne coffee was found in the dirty underground paths of a subway station at a place called Cup of Honesty. Thank goodness I had looked it up before hand, because this place looks like exactly the kind of hole in the wall business you walk by without a glance... or maybe one you stick your gum under the counter or find infested with cockroaches. I had a great cappucino though, and chatted with the barista a bit about exploring the city since most of my program was gone on a day trip on the Great Ocean Road tour (too pricey for me though).

On Tuesday, my first tour was called "Green is the New Gold" and was led by an ex-BU abroad student named Cal who showed us the many ways that Melbourne was on the cutting edge of green initiatives and energy conservation. He started the tour by treating us all to coffees at a cafe called Silo by Joost, completely waste-free and featuring recylced tables, chairs, cups, etc. We continued through the city to see other eco-friendly city buildings and city structures, ending at a pop up patch where restaurants and individuals can rent out patches to grow fruits and veggies with the advice and care of the patch's staff.

On Wednesday, I elected to take Cal's other tour to St.Kilda - a picturesque Melbourne neighborhood on the water featuring the historic Luna Park and Palias Theater. Fortunately for us Cal was dating the event manager of the Palais Theater, and somehow managed to set up a private tour by the theater's owner (tours do not exist here for the public, so very cool). The owner was extremely passionate about the theater's history, and toured us all through the venue from the catwalk to the old storage areas that still housed the orginal sounds boards used by the theatre in the early 1900s.

Back in Sydney for the rest of the week, I spent Thursday night seeing a fantastic play at the Belvoir Theatre called Miss Julie with my roommate. I had never been in a theater like this before. There were only about 200-250 seats that framed around a small corner stage with perfect white walls and minimal set pieces. Chelsea introduced my to her theatre tradition of writing down three bullet points after both the first and second half of the play describing how we feel about the show. We don't show eachother our words until we get drinks afterwords, and then have two sentences on each point to explain what we meant by our words or phrases. My words after the second half were "intense, tragedy, life". We of course ended up at our favorite bar Baxters Inn for this dicussion, and met up with some friends there too.

Friday night was my roommate Nikita's birthday, so we had Nepalese food and AMAZING gelato (salted caramel and white chocolate flavored for me) before heading out to a night on the town. We went to a speakeasy called Eau De Vie first, then to Lobo Plantation, Baxters, and Side Bar. Apparently we started off classy and ended up at a wild backpackers bar for dancing. Spent too much money of course, but it was well worth it and Nikita had a great time. We lounged around Saturday at Bondi Beach for a little recovery, and nearly got buried alive by the sand since it was so windy. A perfect day all around though ending with a spin class at Sydney Uni and early night in.

Guess I should work on my brand campaign analysis now. Finals are coming up Friday and then Chelsea and I leave for our backpacking trip to New Zealand! WOO!

Week4/5: Surf Camp and Espresso Machines

Last weekend, 87 students embarked on a two-hour ride south of Sydney to the Seven Mile Beach for an epic weekend at Surf Camp. This is their story.... Saturday morning was a rough 7am wake up call as we trudged to the beach in the cold rain, but once we start paddling out and catching our first waves, it was SO WORTH IT! In our morning lesson, most of us managed to get up only once or twince. By the afternoon lesson though, the rain cleared out and I was getting up almost every ride. Even though I was on a humungous foam beginners board, I'd say I was definitely shredding the knar. So ya, I do autographs, thanks for asking...

Being at surf camp really brought me back to childhood days - bunk bed cabins, long picnic tables, no shoes, and Uno. I loved every second of it. There's just something about eating crappy camp food and walking around barefoot all day that feels so right. After our day's lessons too, we all huddled around to watch the videos/slideshow pictures of our surfing "accomplishments" - hysterical. Our awkward stances and goofy smiles were just the right mix of pathetic and entertaining... twas a perfect weekend.

On Monday, I decided to combat exhaustion with caffeine at a 3-hour barista basics class. Since Australians only drink espresso-based drinks, the whole class was seperated into pairs and assigned an espresso machine. My teammate was a Sydney local taking time off from work before trying to get back in the job market (I have to say, Australians have an incredible love for travel and vacations - so admirable). Her best drink was defintely cappucino, YUM! Mine was the babycino... so easy, so simple, so delicious. It's not even coffee actually, just milk foam with chocolate sprinkled on top. It's means for kids who come to the coffee shop with their parents but want a treat too, but clearly sells well to tall American girls who like chocolate and miniature-sized anythings.

 

 The rest of my week was spent mostly at the gym and writing my paper for my Sporting Traditions class. Even though the paper sucked, our field trip to Olympic Park and the Aquatic Centre there were so fun. We toured the Sydney Olympic grounds and spent a few hours in the kiddie area by the historic Olympic pool racing eachother down the water slides. Such an insightful and rewarding field trip, if I do say so myself.

Week 3: Bar Wanderers & Kite Fliers Unite

A beautiful Monday here in Sydney. Enjoying my “flat white” morning coffee outdoors at the café next to my apartment and doing a spectacular job at putting off my paper due Friday, if I may say so myself.

Last week, Chelsea and I made immense progress in the search for our favorite bars in Sydney. On a slow Wednesday night, in search of a quick drink and early night, we ended up staying hours past the 12AM closing time at a place called Lobo Plantation after befriending the bar manager and staff. Amusingly enough, for the first hour there we thought we were in a bar called Shady Pines that we had been looking for. “Isn’t this 156 Clarence Street?” Chelsea asked our new friend Louis having written the address down on her hand, who was also stopping by Lobo for a quick drink on his break. “Uh, no, that would be my bar, Baxter Inn... and this guy here next to us would be one of the bartenders from the actual Shady Pines. HA! Fortunately for us, we now have friends at three of the top bars in Sydney. Couldn't have planned that better if we tried.

The weekend was more wholesome and relaxing. Friday I spent the day exploring Circular Quay and walking through the Museum of Sydney – one of the smaller museums in the city that sits where the Governor’s House once was. There was a cool “Public Spaces Sydney” exhibit on site and a viewing tower (see panorama above) that sits where the  front door of the Governor's House used to be , so you can see the view of the harbor that the governors' woke up to every morning.

A big group of us in our program spent Saturday one-ferry ride away at Manly beach, jumping in the cold water for a bit and soaking up the sun. Surf camp is coming up this next weekend, so next time I visit Manly hopefully I'll have some skills to show off!! (Like you, I am also smirking at the thought... I can dream, can't I?) Sunday was then spent mostly cleaning since all of my roommates were gone on a field trip, but my friend Lea and I also stopped by the Bondi Beach “Festival of the Winds” for a bit. This annual kite festival brings people from all over Sydney to the shores to fly their own kites or see some of the massive one’s brought in for the event, like these huge not-so-beached whales pictured above.

Rounded off the night with a little Bachelor Australia premiere party. It's a horrible show, but I could stare at Tim all day so it's bearable. I mean, come on, look at him...

Week 2: Books, Bondi, and Blue (+ Igor)

BOOKS. My two classes started this week - Brand Promotions and Australian Culture . Even though our classes are taught in 3-4 hour blocks (totally foreign concept to me), it's not too bad. I actually think branding is fascinating, and I'm excited to explore it more on a professional level later... plus, major points to my professor who is taking us on a field trip to North Sydney for a company presentation and drinks afterwards at a local pub tomorrow. My Australian Culture class, on the other hand, has so far only taught me how to sleep with my eyes open (it's a special skill that my koala friends are helping me with... I'll keep you posted on the progress).

BONDI. Saturday we made our way to Bondi Beach for the famous walk to Coogee Beach. If I had one word to describe it, you ask? StunningBeautifulAmazingIncredible . Or for you grammar natzis, I'll just go with perfect. That picture above explains it better I think .

BLUE. #FunFact our awesome guide Jim explained to us today on our Blue Mountain tour that the range's name comes from the blue mist that appears in the valleys on account of the eucalyptus trees. #FunnerFact we rode the steepest railray in the world during our trip! After taking the 1000 steps down the scenic walking route, my legs were especially excited about this world-renowned ride back up the mountain. #NotSoFunFact I could barely move after all of the naan and Indian desserts that we had for dinner after getting back to Sydney... no regrets though. I love vegetable dosas and coconut chutney.

+ IGOR. My roommate Chelsea and I bought memberships to the Sydney University fitness center, and our obession with the group fitness classes introduced us to the highly amusing body combat teacher, Igor. You really have to meet him to understand the fascination, but he is a Ukranian fireball with an excellent cat impersonation - that's all you need to know.

OTHER. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. Oh, and my October backpacking trip to New Zealand is booked! My itinerary so far says "Wine . Zorbing . Bungee . Tandem Canyon Swing ." More legitimate details will come later.

Lynz

Week 1: Orientation

Orientation: a period of introduction and assimilation. See also: jetlag, overpriced coffee, and "g'day mate". Sydney is amazing.

Though jetlag is still in full swing, I've barely had a moment to sit down and take a breath since I've been here. After three days of information sessions and free dinners at local bars (cherished moments for my starving stomach... and wallet), yesterday we broke into teams for a full on scavenger hunt accross the city. By scavenger hunt of course I mean a cardio-intensive trek featuring oddities like chanting with local aussies, eating gozelme, rubbing a boar statue, and sprinting through the Royal Gardens. It was an exhausting but surreal day. After ending our day on Bondi Beach, we even retreated to a local hot-spot called Bucket List and we're fortunate to meet a young couple that treated eleven of us to our first real "shout" (free round of drinks). Four bottles of champagne later, I can happily relay that we've made our first real Australian friends - conveniently, rich ones at that.

Rounding out our first weekend in the city, a group of us went to see an Australian football game at the Olympic park stadium. Though it took us half of the game to realize we weren't watching a rugby game (typical yanks, we are), we had the best time afterwards charging onto the field with the rest of the crowd to run around and play some football of our own! Oh, and we stopped by a playground on the way back to the train... the kid in me is loving this city.

Updates to come.

Lyndsay

Countdown

T-minus ten days until my semester in Sydney officially begins! I figured I'd get this blog up and running before I go to keep track of my adventures and inform my parents that I have not run away and eloped with an Australian model been abducted.

Naturally, I have a lot of questions on my mind:

• Where's the nearest gym?
• Since I am a vegetarian, am I required to love and purchase Vegemite?
• Will I come home with an Australian model boyfriend an accent?
• How many shoes can I fit in my suitcase?
• What is zorbing, and is alcohol involved?
• What makes a better house pet - a kangaroo or koala?

How WILL I sleep at night? Keep me in your prayers, friends...

Really though, I'm stoked to study abroad and can't wait to see what this semester holds. Thank you mom and dad for providing me with this opportunity - it will definitely be an unforgettable one.

Also, a S/O to my good friend Xenia in Auckland, NZ who has inspired me to start a blog while I'm away! She's so adventurous. See for yourself --> http://xeniainnewzealand.blogspot.com/

Lyndsay