I have not mentioned this in my blog yet, but I am pretty good at sleeping anywhere. And since I was EXHAUSTED from the Great Ocean Road Tour, seeing Melbourne, and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, I figured that the boat ride back from the Great Barrier Reef would be the perfect opportunity to sleep- especially since it was raining on the way back!
The chairs on the boat did not have a head rest, so I slumped in my seat and rested my head on the very top of the back of the seat. I don't know how long I slept for- but I do know that I was in deep sleep. It was lovely until I woke up to find my mouth really dry and my friend laughing at me. I knew pretty quickly that I had either snored, slept talked, or slept with a very funny expression on my face. And the truth is that the expression on my face must have been a little funny because I was told that a girl (THAT I DID NOT KNOW) was taking pictures of me. Sleeping. With my mouth wide open. And honestly, probably drooling.
I wonder if I am going to find these pictures anywhere. You never know, the pictures that she took of me could be one of those pictures on Facebook that people tag other people in as a joke and kind of to point out that they should consider themselves lucky that they do not look like this girl when she sleeps!
Now, when sleeping on the ferries, trains, or buses, I will be sure to sleep with a smile on my face!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Melbourne Here I Come!
It was early in the morning and FREEZING in Melbourne. (Well, freezing to us Sydney people!) We were waking up early to go on the Great Ocean Road tour, which is the largest war memorial in Australia. The Great Ocean road is west of Melbourne and it is absolutely gorgeous- and even pretty on the days when it is raining! The bus picked us up at the hostel, and I don't really remember much of this part because I was so distracted by a guy sitting in front of me who had the WORST B.O. ever!!! I mean, I could not breathe. Maybe he had just run a marathon, or gone biking or swimming (or some hard-core exercise) or maybe it was too early and he did not feel like taking a shower. I personally think it is the latter reason, but anywho, it sure stank in that small bus.
I endured the smell for 4.5 minutes and then moved to the front seat of the bus, right beside the driver and my friends moved from our original spot to sit behind me. Truth is, I made a good life decision because the bus driver (and tour-guide) said that it was the best seat in the house!. . .or bus I guess. So, it worked out for the best- I had the best view of everything- all the pretty beaches, beautiful scenery, and cute towns- all because Mr. Stinky Man caused me to move. I would take this trade any day! The first beach that we passed was Bells Beach. There was a movie filmed where one scene was on "Bells Beach," but it was a FAKE Bells Beach. I can't remember the movie's name, but the one scene is on a beach in California that is disguised as Bells Beach. Don't believe the movie- it is lying to you! :)
Next we passed a town that totally burned down in a bushfire. Only 3 buildings remained. After, we came to the town of Lorne. All of the houses in Lorne are over $1,000,000! It seemed like a prime spot to be for the beach! The next town, Apollo Bay was the lunch stop and I ate the most delicious gyro EVER!
It would take me forrreeevvvver to tell about every beach and town that we went to on the tour, so I have decided to tell you about something way more exciting: A Hairy Tree Fern. Yes, a hairy tree fern. My tour group and I went on a short hike through the rainforest and saw a variety of trees and plants, but the hairy tree fern is the most memorable. This plant was 1,000 years old and what is even cooler than its old age is the fact that the tree does not use the in-ground roots as the main water supply- it has "roots" surrounding the trunk of the tree. How. Cool. Is. This???
Further along the way, we came to stunning rocks in the middle of the ocean. The main attraction, the Twelve Apostles, were HUGE (even bigger than the pictures!) Here is the thing though: each "apostle" is a rock and one of the rocks fell in a large wave two years ago so now there are 8 rock structures. This confused me a bit because that would mean that there used to be 9 rock structures. . .which does not equal 12! But the "Eight Apostles" were amazing, and many tourists travel the Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles- which oddly enough used to be called Sow and Piglets! 
Our last destination was London Bridge! The formation used to have two arches, but one fell a couple of years ago. People used to be able to walk across the rock structure to the very end and have a beautiful view, until of course, it fell. On the day that "London Bridge Fell Down," (corny, I know!) a couple was walking across the bridge and made it to the very end. Then, they heard a loud noise and realized that it might be a little difficult to get back. Once they were finally rescued, the story about them was all over the news. Unfortunately, the bridge broke on a week day and the couple was "Taking a Sickie" (aka taking a sick day) from work. So, as you can imagine, their bosses were not that thrilled about them taking a vacation day and calling in sick. I could keep on going about this amazing day, we saw so much during the 14 hours that we were traveling down the Great Ocean Road, and it was all so different than anything I have seen before. So, the lessons of the day are this: 1. Don't take a sick day if you are going to be on National Television. 2. Naming landmarks really does matter, even if you name it the wrong number- I do not think many travellers would want to go to "Sow and Piglets." And #3: If someone near you smells SUPER bad, move to the front row seat where the vision is perfect- and you can always open the windows :)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Pronunciation. Pronunciation.
I realize that I still need to talk all about seeing the Great Barrier Reef and Melbourne, which was absolutely amazing (except for the plane ride home of course, haha!) But I am going to take a moment to talk about class today!
I had my marketing tutorial class this afternoon and we were learning about diffusion of new products into the market. Innovators are the people who buy new gadgets, like the new ipad right away, then the early adapters buy the product, and finally the majority. The last group buys past-years models (if they buy any new technology at all) and they are called LAGGARDS.
When we got to this part of this story, my professor thought it would be funny to call on me to pronounce laggard for the class, "The American Way." You would have thought that I just said the funniest joke ever because he started laughing and fellow classmates giggled. And, as if this was not enough, they asked if I could say it again. "That is the funniest word" he said, overemphasizing the GAAAARRRD part of the word.
So here is a question that I should pose to the class next week: HOW IS LAGGARD SPELLED? Is it spelled lageeeeeeer'ds? I DON'T THINK SO! Therefore I am correct and all Australians are wrong. End of story, haha!
I had my marketing tutorial class this afternoon and we were learning about diffusion of new products into the market. Innovators are the people who buy new gadgets, like the new ipad right away, then the early adapters buy the product, and finally the majority. The last group buys past-years models (if they buy any new technology at all) and they are called LAGGARDS.
When we got to this part of this story, my professor thought it would be funny to call on me to pronounce laggard for the class, "The American Way." You would have thought that I just said the funniest joke ever because he started laughing and fellow classmates giggled. And, as if this was not enough, they asked if I could say it again. "That is the funniest word" he said, overemphasizing the GAAAARRRD part of the word.
So here is a question that I should pose to the class next week: HOW IS LAGGARD SPELLED? Is it spelled lageeeeeeer'ds? I DON'T THINK SO! Therefore I am correct and all Australians are wrong. End of story, haha!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Jamz of the Great Ocean Road
During the time that I have been at Australia, I have been on many tours. Tours to Hunter Valley, the Northern Beaches, and 6 hours up the coast for the surf camp. But none of these tours had the unique and umm. . .interesting music as my tour last week of the Great Ocean Road.
The type of songs that were played on this tour were the kind that have a catchy chorus. They are the songs that STAY IN YOUR HEAD FOREVER and ever and ever (even though you have only listened to the song 1 time). But one thing is for sure, one time is all that it takes to memorize the repetitive lyrics, even if you really do not want to learn the song.Some examples of these songs are "Circus", "We Are Who We Are", "Whip My Hair Back And Forth," "Whip My Hair Back And Forth" (this one deserves to be written twice because it gets the repetitive award!), and "Womanizer." But, here is the difference between these songs and the songs that I listened to on the-oh ya- 12 hour tour: the ones played on the tour were sooo bad that they were funny! And of course I have the YouTube links to the actual songs played on the tour! But keep in mind that if you listen to them, you will probably be humming them all day!
*** "Deadly Animals" by the Scared Weird Little Guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNEeq5qGh8I
*** "Volvo Man" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-rFfTyVwtQ
*Background on this is that Volvo drivers in Australia are sooooo slow. The tour guide told me that if you get behind a volvo, then double the amount of time that it usually takes to get to your destination. This video shows a scene from Twilight to go with the music.
Have a great, singin' day!
A Day at the Airport. . .
Before I begin to explain my day of flight cancellations and delays, let me first advise everyone that they should never book flights with an airline company whose mascot can't even fly. A tiger is a land animal. If I would have thought about this BEFORE booking my flights back to Sydney from the Great Barrier Reef, I would have been back like 10 hours earlier! I don't know why I did not analyze the importance of the mascot before booking the flight. My bad!
Tiger Airways is the cheapest airline in Australia. The other airlines are Virgin Blue, Qantas, and JetStar. Qantas is the airline that most people fly to get to Australia and they serve the best hot chocolate! Virgin Blue and JetStar are about mid-range. . .and Tiger Airways, oh ya, is the cheepest airline provider. Though my friends and I had heard some stories about Tiger Airways from our marketing teacher, we decided to fly with them because the price difference seemed worth it. And we actually had 2 pleasant flights with Tiger Airways- from Sydney to Melbourne and from Melbourne to Mackay (near the Great Barrier Reef). I will admit- after these flights, I was a big fan of Tiger Airways. . .
Until the flight back from Mackay. The planned route back was a flight with Tiger Airways from Mackay to Melbourne and Melbourne back to Sydney. The first flight was scheduled to leave at 8:20AM, so we needed to check in at 6:20AM. (To make a long story short, we took a night bus the previous night that dropped us off at 2:30AM in a city near the airport, so we took a taxi to the airport instead of paying for a hotel or hostel for an extremely short stay.) So, we arrived at the airport at 4:30AM and waited (aka slept) until we checked in at 6:20AM.
To our surprise, the flight was cancelled and the next flight that we could take was the following day. Though we wanted to stay, I had to get back for a class presentation and the other girls had to get back for exams the next day. So, we frantically called all of the other airlines trying to find a flight back to Sydney.After reviewing all of our options, Virgin Blue offered a flight directly to Sydney at 1:30PM that we decided to take! By the time we found this flight, we had 6.5 hours left to wait, but we were happy that we would get back in the early evening on Sunday afternoon.
Let me just say this- Sunday was not our lucky day because at 1:30, an announcement was made that the flight was delayed because the airplane needed windshield wipers that had to be shipped in from Brisbane. 5:30PM was the new departure time. At 5:30, the departure time moved back to 6:00, and at 6:00, the departure time moved back to 6:30PM. AND WE FINALLY LEFT THE MACKAY AIRPORT!!! After 47928 games of cards, 27 naps on the airport sofas, and 5 trips to the airport store to look at the magazines, WE LEFT!!! I don't think I have ever been so relieved or excited to see the Sydney Airport when we finally arrived back!
14 hours in the Airport + 2.5 hours on plane + 30 minutes on train + 30 minutes on ferry + 5 minute taxi ride = Arrival back at school! (and a very long day!)
Conclusion: Tiger Airways should change their mascot and everything will be better. Some amazing options are Eagle Airways, Magic Flying Parrot Flights, Australian Magpie Airways, or my all-time favorite option: Kookaburra Airways. Not only will the airline have a totally new and improved brand name and image, but people would know that they were reliable and could fly. . .like birds!
Me with the Flight sign for Sydney before we loaded the plane after 14 hours at the Airport
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
TOP 10 ways to SPOT A TOURIST
I am going to borrow David Letterman's Top 10 format for the all-important topic of How to Spot a Tourist in Manly:
da. . .da.. . .dum. . .
10. If they have a camera. And are taking a million pictures of the same scene.
8. This should be pretty obvious, but just walk into a souvenir shop. I guarantee that 99.9% of the people (aside from the employees) will be tourists.7. Tourists wear Australian paraphernalia. (Australian Day does not count for this rule!)
6. If they don't have an Australian accent. *I find that I look more like an Australian if I don't talk, haha.*
5. If they take pictures of water dragons along the beach. Sure, water dragons are cool but they are so typical by the beach that Australians do not pay much attention to them.
1. If they are sporting an AUSTRALIAN FLAG swimsuit. (Unless you want to scream tourist, do Not, I repeat, do not wear an Australian flag swimsuit. It is embarrasing for you and the bottom line is that flags are not made to wear, they are made to hang on flag poles which is where I would rather view them!)
da. . .da.. . .dum. . .
10. If they have a camera. And are taking a million pictures of the same scene.9. Tourists wear tennis shoes. Unless Australians are working out, they wear "thongs" aka flip flops.
8. This should be pretty obvious, but just walk into a souvenir shop. I guarantee that 99.9% of the people (aside from the employees) will be tourists.6. If they don't have an Australian accent. *I find that I look more like an Australian if I don't talk, haha.*
5. If they take pictures of water dragons along the beach. Sure, water dragons are cool but they are so typical by the beach that Australians do not pay much attention to them.4. Tourists carry maps. Some tourists even take this a step further- they walk with their maps open.
3. Tourists walk on the right side and sometimes don't notice that people walking from the other direction are walking on the same side of the sidewalk ("footpath" here as I learned today!) Tourists walk on the right-hand side of the footpath.
2. If they are pointing at something that is typical. Like if they are pointing at a boat. Or at the ferry. Or at the flags on the beach where the swimming area is. Or if they are pointing at a sign that says "Mate." Or if they are pointing at a "weird" spelling like Colour instead of Color. The list goes on and on :)
1. If they are sporting an AUSTRALIAN FLAG swimsuit. (Unless you want to scream tourist, do Not, I repeat, do not wear an Australian flag swimsuit. It is embarrasing for you and the bottom line is that flags are not made to wear, they are made to hang on flag poles which is where I would rather view them!)Mr. Bus Driver likes to Talk!
I have some facts for you!!!
How do I know ALL of these facts? Because I, being the lucky person that I am, was assigned seat 1A for the bus ride from Canberra to Sydney. I was excited about the extra leg room until I realized that it was beside the driver. Actually, let me rephrase this: I was excited about the extra leg room until I realized that the driver COULD TALK FOR A VERY LONG TIME!!!
The bus ride from Canberra to Sydney takes 3.5 hours. About halfway through, I took a 30 minute nap, but the rest of the time I was talking (more so listening) to the bus driver. Do you want to know the history of Australia? Just ask me. Do you want to know about movies filmed in Sydney? Ask me! I feel like I was well-informed about Australia, but now I pretty much know a ton of useless facts about Australia.
And I happened to have my folder and a pen out during the conversation so I have decided to list for you the topics of our conversation. I think the fact that I was taking notes encouraged the bus driver to continue talking, and I was actually really enjoying it. (It only made me nervouse when he took his eyes off the road during our conversation to make sure that I understood!) Here is a list of the diverse topics that came up in conversation:
1. Koalas eat 11 of the 634 varieties of Eucalyptus trees.
2. 688 Different Dialects of the Aboriginal language
3. Mount Kosciuszko is great- it is the highest mountain in Australia and located in New South Wales
4. Sydney is like San Francisco because both cities are at lower elevation than the surrounding land.
5. Lord Sydney was the Lord of British Admiral (I don't know what else he said about him. . .the bus driver was talking so fast and going over a ton of information!)
6. Manly was discovered by Governor Philip. Governor Philip ROCKS!!! (I added that part!)
7. Camel Racing
8. The kangaroo population is 21 MILLION in Australia. To give you a relative idea, 22 million people live in Australia!
9. Kangaroo meat is shipped to Holland and Germany
10. Australia has two natural enemies: Cyclones and Bushfires
11. The northern hemisphere is involved with conflict and Australia stays out of conflict most of the time
12. There is sugar cane and pineapple near Brisbane (HOW DID WE GET ON THIS TOPIC? I don't know how we jumped from wars to pineapple!)
13. Climate Change
14. Lake George is on the top of the largest volcano in Australia. The volcano was active, but now it is totally extinct. We were passing Lake George when he said that!
15. There is volcanic rock
16. Story about the volcanic rock. It was a dramatic story. Volcanic Rock fell on a car when a woman was driving by and she died.
17. The bus driver thinks that, "Queen Victoria was either on drugs or an alcoholic" because Australia is a pretty nice place to send convicts!
18. Australia is a south Pacific Paradise
19. We passed Nicole Kidman's vacation home (actually, we passed the town that it is in!)
20. There are 28 beaches in Sydney
21. Macquarie Place
22. Mission Impossible 2 was shot in The Rocks (Sydney)
23. Titanic was shot in Bondi (Sydney)
24. There are two police: state police and commonwealth police
25. There are 2 territories and 5 states in Australia.
*Though I am not a history major, I feel like I should be now! Thank you, Mr. Bus Driver!*
How do I know ALL of these facts? Because I, being the lucky person that I am, was assigned seat 1A for the bus ride from Canberra to Sydney. I was excited about the extra leg room until I realized that it was beside the driver. Actually, let me rephrase this: I was excited about the extra leg room until I realized that the driver COULD TALK FOR A VERY LONG TIME!!!
The bus ride from Canberra to Sydney takes 3.5 hours. About halfway through, I took a 30 minute nap, but the rest of the time I was talking (more so listening) to the bus driver. Do you want to know the history of Australia? Just ask me. Do you want to know about movies filmed in Sydney? Ask me! I feel like I was well-informed about Australia, but now I pretty much know a ton of useless facts about Australia.
And I happened to have my folder and a pen out during the conversation so I have decided to list for you the topics of our conversation. I think the fact that I was taking notes encouraged the bus driver to continue talking, and I was actually really enjoying it. (It only made me nervouse when he took his eyes off the road during our conversation to make sure that I understood!) Here is a list of the diverse topics that came up in conversation:
1. Koalas eat 11 of the 634 varieties of Eucalyptus trees.
2. 688 Different Dialects of the Aboriginal language
3. Mount Kosciuszko is great- it is the highest mountain in Australia and located in New South Wales
4. Sydney is like San Francisco because both cities are at lower elevation than the surrounding land.
5. Lord Sydney was the Lord of British Admiral (I don't know what else he said about him. . .the bus driver was talking so fast and going over a ton of information!)
6. Manly was discovered by Governor Philip. Governor Philip ROCKS!!! (I added that part!)
7. Camel Racing
8. The kangaroo population is 21 MILLION in Australia. To give you a relative idea, 22 million people live in Australia!
9. Kangaroo meat is shipped to Holland and Germany
10. Australia has two natural enemies: Cyclones and Bushfires
11. The northern hemisphere is involved with conflict and Australia stays out of conflict most of the time
12. There is sugar cane and pineapple near Brisbane (HOW DID WE GET ON THIS TOPIC? I don't know how we jumped from wars to pineapple!)
13. Climate Change
14. Lake George is on the top of the largest volcano in Australia. The volcano was active, but now it is totally extinct. We were passing Lake George when he said that!
15. There is volcanic rock
16. Story about the volcanic rock. It was a dramatic story. Volcanic Rock fell on a car when a woman was driving by and she died.
17. The bus driver thinks that, "Queen Victoria was either on drugs or an alcoholic" because Australia is a pretty nice place to send convicts!
18. Australia is a south Pacific Paradise
19. We passed Nicole Kidman's vacation home (actually, we passed the town that it is in!)
20. There are 28 beaches in Sydney
21. Macquarie Place
22. Mission Impossible 2 was shot in The Rocks (Sydney)
23. Titanic was shot in Bondi (Sydney)
24. There are two police: state police and commonwealth police
25. There are 2 territories and 5 states in Australia.
*Though I am not a history major, I feel like I should be now! Thank you, Mr. Bus Driver!*
Day in the Capitol City
of CANBERRA!
Canberra is a 3.5 hour drive from Sydney, yet it is not a popular destination for study abroad students. Why? I have no idea- who doesn't want to see Parliament and many museums??? Haha! But it ended up being an amazing trip and I am glad that I had the opportunity to see this town filled with parks and beautiful white buildings.
I learned about the government and found out that many Australians do not pay attention to politics. BUT, they are all REQUIRED to vote. Voting is compulsory. This is so different from the U.S. because Australians are actually fined if they don't vote (I saw on the Sydney Morning Herald website that voting is this weekend!)
This is my opinion, but I don't like the fact that voting is manditory. Many people don't know anything about who is running for the elections but still have to vote. I guess when this happens, they just pick a name that sounds good! Anyway, it is just a different system than the U.S. and there are benefits and drawbacks to both systems.
In Canberra, everything is called "National" something like the National Gallery of Australia, the National Capitol Exhibition, National Museum of Australia, Australian National Botanic Gardens, and Australian National University. I liked this because it is pretty cool to say that I have been to the National Gallery of Australia- it sounds way better than "The Art Gallery" or something like that!
Since Canberra is spread out, we walked to the different attractions and pheeew- it was a lot of walking! I will talk about the bus rides to and from Canberra in the next blog (it needs a blog of itself to tell the story!)
Parliament
Canberra is a 3.5 hour drive from Sydney, yet it is not a popular destination for study abroad students. Why? I have no idea- who doesn't want to see Parliament and many museums??? Haha! But it ended up being an amazing trip and I am glad that I had the opportunity to see this town filled with parks and beautiful white buildings.
I learned about the government and found out that many Australians do not pay attention to politics. BUT, they are all REQUIRED to vote. Voting is compulsory. This is so different from the U.S. because Australians are actually fined if they don't vote (I saw on the Sydney Morning Herald website that voting is this weekend!)
This is my opinion, but I don't like the fact that voting is manditory. Many people don't know anything about who is running for the elections but still have to vote. I guess when this happens, they just pick a name that sounds good! Anyway, it is just a different system than the U.S. and there are benefits and drawbacks to both systems.
In Canberra, everything is called "National" something like the National Gallery of Australia, the National Capitol Exhibition, National Museum of Australia, Australian National Botanic Gardens, and Australian National University. I liked this because it is pretty cool to say that I have been to the National Gallery of Australia- it sounds way better than "The Art Gallery" or something like that!
Since Canberra is spread out, we walked to the different attractions and pheeew- it was a lot of walking! I will talk about the bus rides to and from Canberra in the next blog (it needs a blog of itself to tell the story!)
How to Jam Your 4th Toe With Style!
My toe hurts (how embarrasing to complain about my toe) because on Sunday, March 20th, I jammed my 4th toe.
It at night when I was walking in my room, in the dark. And, I probably should admit that my room was not the cleanest-just for a little back up. With shoes, books, and clothes scattered everywhere, it was kind of hard to tip-toe through my dorm room. (Even though I am in a triple-share room, I try to contain my stuff in my alloted 1/3 of the dorm room, so it just builds up!) But I stubbed my toe on my tennis shoe. Yes, my tennis shoe- what an anti-climatic way to stub a toe.
And it hurt when I stubbed it, I started hopping around on one foot, but what REALLY hurt was the next day. It was bruised and it was so painful trying to walk in high heels. I was limping around the school and if anyone asked, I had a story ready: I jammed my toe getting caught in the rip tide, saving someone in the ocean this weekend. I thought it was a better story than my toe-stubbing story.
It at night when I was walking in my room, in the dark. And, I probably should admit that my room was not the cleanest-just for a little back up. With shoes, books, and clothes scattered everywhere, it was kind of hard to tip-toe through my dorm room. (Even though I am in a triple-share room, I try to contain my stuff in my alloted 1/3 of the dorm room, so it just builds up!) But I stubbed my toe on my tennis shoe. Yes, my tennis shoe- what an anti-climatic way to stub a toe.
And it hurt when I stubbed it, I started hopping around on one foot, but what REALLY hurt was the next day. It was bruised and it was so painful trying to walk in high heels. I was limping around the school and if anyone asked, I had a story ready: I jammed my toe getting caught in the rip tide, saving someone in the ocean this weekend. I thought it was a better story than my toe-stubbing story.
Yesterday there was a beautiful array of shades of black and blue on my one toe and let me just say: LESSON LEARNED! I will try to keep my room clean now (we will have to see how long this lasts!) But here are some pictures of the inside of my dorm room. I have two roomates and I am so lucky because the view of the ocean from my window is gorgeous!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Seeing Sydney by Bike
I was nervous about the weather report. Rain and thunderstorms were expected the day that I was signed up to go on a bike tour through Sydney. I, of course, was hoping for sunshine and no rain because the roads and bike paths would be slippery (and I would be a little MORE nervous about biking over the Harbour Bridge if it was wet!) And when Sunday finally arrived, it was a perfect day!
The bike trip started at Darling Harbour and we biked over the bridge and to the street. Within the last 6 months, Sydney put in bike paths on the street that are really nice so it is easier to bike through the busy city. Here is a picture of the bike path:
The bikes that we rode were hybrids (and a lot easier to ride than my Walmart mountain bike at home, haha, so the flat parts were relatively easy!)
The main sites that we saw on the bikes were Darling Harbour, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens, and Hyde Park. After Hyde Park, we started to go back to Darling Harbour, where we started. This is where it got interesting: there was no bike path along this section of Sydney yet, so we had to "pretend" that our bikes were cars and "drive" on the road. So, I biked in the middle of the road in downtown Sydney. The eight of us got in pairs and followed each other. I was gripping my handles sooo tight because I did not want to swerve into the cars beside me. One thing that I thought about while biking on the road is if there is a car -vs- bike, the car normally wins!!! But it was exciting and I could hear some people on the streets saying "Look at those bikers!"
Bike. Bike. Bike!
The bike trip started at Darling Harbour and we biked over the bridge and to the street. Within the last 6 months, Sydney put in bike paths on the street that are really nice so it is easier to bike through the busy city. Here is a picture of the bike path:
The main sites that we saw on the bikes were Darling Harbour, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens, and Hyde Park. After Hyde Park, we started to go back to Darling Harbour, where we started. This is where it got interesting: there was no bike path along this section of Sydney yet, so we had to "pretend" that our bikes were cars and "drive" on the road. So, I biked in the middle of the road in downtown Sydney. The eight of us got in pairs and followed each other. I was gripping my handles sooo tight because I did not want to swerve into the cars beside me. One thing that I thought about while biking on the road is if there is a car -vs- bike, the car normally wins!!! But it was exciting and I could hear some people on the streets saying "Look at those bikers!"
Bike. Bike. Bike!
On the trail by the Harbour Bridge
Jamzzz and Television
I wrote this blog for the P&W at Millsaps and doing the last blog made me think about the cultural differences between the two countries! Here is a comparison between college life in both America and Australia:
Abroad in Australia: Music and TV
I was humoured and a little surprised when my new friend from Sydney asked if, before coming to study abroad, I thought that they rode kangaroos to class. I wish that I would have responded that I was shocked that they also did not have dingos and pythons as pets too!
That question, as ridiculous as it was, caused me to think about the Australian perception of America the cultural differences between our two countries: similar in size, but completely different in culture. What I have found is that Australians form many impressions of America from the movies. They know about the different accents from the regions of the U.S. (I have been asked many times to say “ya’ll” and they try to imitate!) Australians also think that they have an idea of what college life is like in America. Many students at ICMS ask if we party with red, plastic cups back in Mississippi! They also have asked if college students play “Beer Bong” at parties.
The music in Australia is similar to music played in the U.S.; actually, at least half of the songs are from popular artists like Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, and Rihanna. Songs like “Airplanes” by B.O.B. and “I’m Coming Home” are played during meal times in the dining area and recently became popular in Australia. So, the new, hit songs now in Australia have been playing for at least 6 months in the United States!
Like music, TV shows are also behind in The Land Down Under. Most of the girls love to watch Gossip Girl- the third season just ended, unlike America, which is almost an entire season ahead! As you can imagine, everyone asks the American students what happens next in the season. Other popular shows are Jersey Shore and Grey’s Anatomy. I have been asked a couple of times if I lived in Jersey Shore. Then I was asked if I had been to Jersey Shore. No, I go to school in Mississippi and unfortunately don’t make it up to Jersey that often!
My Australian classmates, professors, and friends and generally easy-going and have a good sense of humour. And though I will joke with them about being a season behind in many shows, they give it right back to me like my friend did by joking that they rode Kanga’s to class!
On the way to Class:
PB & J
What do these Two things + bread make???
A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY (literally) SANDWICH!
This blog is just for the Australians who are so confused by the fact that Americans do not use real "jelly" to make PB & J sandwiches. Since some American shows and movies are popular here in Australia, they have heard about Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches since childhood. Here is the catch though: here, jelly is jam and jam is jelly and jelly is the stuff that is jiggly and served for dessert sometimes! Make sense? Basically, they eat Peanut Butter and jam sandwiches.
So, many of them have asked if I eat PB and J's, and since I do not like (American) jelly, I tell them no. And the response is hilarious- they say that it is great because Peanut Butter and Jelly sound disguisting together! The jelly that they visualize is similar to jello, so I do agree that is would be a not-so-delicious sandwich.
Australians form a lot of ideas about America from the movies, and it is hard to tell when different words refer to different things in the two countries! But it is so funny to see the reaction when they realize that we are actually eating the same sandwich. . .it probably makes Australians think that we are not as weird :)
Australians form a lot of ideas about America from the movies, and it is hard to tell when different words refer to different things in the two countries! But it is so funny to see the reaction when they realize that we are actually eating the same sandwich. . .it probably makes Australians think that we are not as weird :)
Similarities of Cross and Crutch
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend Hillsong Church, city location! The service was great and the two subjects of the pastor's sermon were the Cross and a crutch. Note: the words are similar and it is hard to talk fast and use both without messing up the sentence (like Sally sold seashells on the seashore). I did not think about the possibility of combining both of the words and how. . .uh. . .awkward that would be until the pastor did combine both when speaking quickly midway through the sermon.
The pastor said, "And we all use a crutch to lean on when we are hurting. We also use the CROTCH for. . ." His little word-switch up was not as noticeable because of his strong Australian accent, but the audience still died out laughing! What a sermon to remember. . .
The pastor said, "And we all use a crutch to lean on when we are hurting. We also use the CROTCH for. . ." His little word-switch up was not as noticeable because of his strong Australian accent, but the audience still died out laughing! What a sermon to remember. . .
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Half Sunburn at Bondi
Have you ever been at a sporting event and the sun was only on one side of you the whole time???
This is exactly what happened to me when I went to watch the surf competition today at Bondi Beach! I did not even notice that the sun was on my left side the whole time (possibly because I was watching the stud-muffin surfers) but my sunburn was not pretty. Actually, I should say that my sunburn on my left arm, shoulder, and left side of my face is not pretty! The contrast between my bright red left side and normal right side is actually pretty hilarious. My hopes is that this is not an awkward tan :)
Anyway, other than the crazy half-sunburn, Bondi was amazing. It is a beautiful beach, the sand is so fine and the water was clear. Today was a surf competition (and tomorrow is the finals!) and surfers did flips and other tricks in the waves. The surfers were great to watch, and on top of that, they were giving away free t-shirts and hats for coming to the event.
This is exactly what happened to me when I went to watch the surf competition today at Bondi Beach! I did not even notice that the sun was on my left side the whole time (possibly because I was watching the stud-muffin surfers) but my sunburn was not pretty. Actually, I should say that my sunburn on my left arm, shoulder, and left side of my face is not pretty! The contrast between my bright red left side and normal right side is actually pretty hilarious. My hopes is that this is not an awkward tan :)
Anyway, other than the crazy half-sunburn, Bondi was amazing. It is a beautiful beach, the sand is so fine and the water was clear. Today was a surf competition (and tomorrow is the finals!) and surfers did flips and other tricks in the waves. The surfers were great to watch, and on top of that, they were giving away free t-shirts and hats for coming to the event.
And random thing of the day: I tried to stay on this mechanical surfboard. The key word is TRY. It did not help that all these little boys made it look easy up there, because I barely made it on the surfboard for 20 seconds! Then I not-so-gracefully landed (aka "Got thrown off") against the side of the inflatable. After this beautiful performance, my friends decided not to ride the mechanical surfboard. Smart Decision :)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
My Timetable
The class structure here at ICMS is different than what I am used to in the U.S. Here, every class, regardless of what day of the week, is 2 hours.
When I received my class "Timetable" (do not call it a schedule here!), I was nervous about my Mondays because I had four classes, from 8:00-10, 10-12, 12-2, and 2-4:00. My first thought was about fitting lunch into my schedule. (Of course I thought of food first!) But then I was wondering how I was going to make it from class to class on time in less than 1 second!
After the first day, I realized that classes do not really last the entire two hours because most professors start 15 minutes late and end 15 minutes early because the culture is a little more laid back than in America! So, I was able to eat a quick lunch and make it to the next class. So, the 15 minute rule means that I have no 8AM's- just 8:15AM's which can make a difference! :)
Here is my class timetable:
Extra activities during the week-
Monday nights are yoga, Tuesday nights are Communications Team meetings, every other Wed is a student representative meeting, and Thursday nights are Bible study!
There is also a lot of group work and projects here at ICMS so the groups meet in spare time during the week as well!
When I received my class "Timetable" (do not call it a schedule here!), I was nervous about my Mondays because I had four classes, from 8:00-10, 10-12, 12-2, and 2-4:00. My first thought was about fitting lunch into my schedule. (Of course I thought of food first!) But then I was wondering how I was going to make it from class to class on time in less than 1 second!
After the first day, I realized that classes do not really last the entire two hours because most professors start 15 minutes late and end 15 minutes early because the culture is a little more laid back than in America! So, I was able to eat a quick lunch and make it to the next class. So, the 15 minute rule means that I have no 8AM's- just 8:15AM's which can make a difference! :)
Here is my class timetable:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| 8:00-10:00 | Distribution Decisions | Event Management Project | Operations Management | ||
| 10:00-12:00 | Principles of MKTNG | Event Management Project | |||
| 12:00-2:00 | Distribution Decisions | Principles of Marketing | Operations Management | ||
| 2:00-4:00 | Operations Management |
Extra activities during the week-
Monday nights are yoga, Tuesday nights are Communications Team meetings, every other Wed is a student representative meeting, and Thursday nights are Bible study!
There is also a lot of group work and projects here at ICMS so the groups meet in spare time during the week as well!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Northern Beaches
Before coming, I read many guidebooks about what the key attractions are in Sydney. Most, if not all, said that you should definitely see the Northern Beaches. Since I am in Manly, it was convenient to see all of the beaches up the coast. I went on a tour with 10 people from the school and we were gone ALL DAY! It was a lot of driving (and I felt car sick when we got there because the drive definitely was not straight!) Here is a map of the northern beaches and Manly is at the bottom:
All of the Yellow boxes are where we went. The national park at the top had beautiful views and nearby is Palm Beach, which has a pretty lighthouse. Each beach has a different character and unique scenery. The people who live at the beaches are also steriotyped. For example, Dee Why is where many different nationalities live and not many Australians, but Palm Beach is home to wealthy Australians who bring home the big bucks! Here is a picture of the Palm Beach lighthouse:
Oh my, Oh my, VEGEMITE
I don't think this blog is going to be very long because I can explain this quite simply!
Vegemite = Disguisting.
Just look at the progression of pictures from my Vegemite experience at school:
1. Smiling BEFORE I tried Vegemite
2. Trying it on Toast for Breakfast
3. Ummm. . . I had a bad taste in my mouth
Vegemite tasted very salty, but apparently "I did not eat it right." My friends said that I should try it again and they will prepare it for me on toast. We will see. . .
Going 2 Taronga
What an amazing experience!
Megan and I went to the Taronga Zoo on Sunday and spent 4 hours seeing the huge zoo in Sydney! And let me tell you, the Seal Show was FABULOUS!!! I had no idea how smart seals are, but they are trained to do a variety of activities on cue. Seals and Sea Lions waved, played dead, jumped into the water from about 10 feet high, balanced a ball on their nose, and even "barked" (I don't really know what to call the noise that they make) when the director of the show would say a certain phrase or do hand motions. And they certainly were rewarded- I think they ate at least 15 whole fish each for doing their tricks! It really was a wonderful show and at the end, I wondered how long this must have taken for the seals to learn all of the tricks!!!
The animals were all very active and we joked that the Taronga Zoo must have them on some type of drug because they all were moving around and very active. (Except for the Kanga's which were sleeping in a sprawled out position!) I saw my first Emu, which I recognized because it is on the Australian Government's seal. The emu and kangaroo were both selected to be on the seal because they are the only two animals that can't walk backwards. I like the meaning behind that- always going forward.
And I don't know how the giraffe's got so lucky, because the giraffe area overlooked the Harbour Bridge! I am jealous of their "Home" :) The giraffes were eating carrots when Megan and I got there, so I got to see their super long tongue that is half of a meter grab the carrots. I learned that giraffes only need 20 minutes of sleep every night and that they run super fast!
Other animals that we saw were lions, tigers, bears. . .oh my (just had to do that!), elephants, baby elephant, turtle, zebra, birds, GORilla, crocs, penguins, and zebras. It was neat to see the different species of birds and reptiles that live in Australia. I think that Australians are particularly proud of their snakes because all of the text beside the snakes told how poisonous the snakes were and how Australia has the top 3 most venomous snakes IN THE WORLD! I hope I don't come in contact with one of those any time soon!
Here is a picture of two Samatran Tigers:
Megan and I went to the Taronga Zoo on Sunday and spent 4 hours seeing the huge zoo in Sydney! And let me tell you, the Seal Show was FABULOUS!!! I had no idea how smart seals are, but they are trained to do a variety of activities on cue. Seals and Sea Lions waved, played dead, jumped into the water from about 10 feet high, balanced a ball on their nose, and even "barked" (I don't really know what to call the noise that they make) when the director of the show would say a certain phrase or do hand motions. And they certainly were rewarded- I think they ate at least 15 whole fish each for doing their tricks! It really was a wonderful show and at the end, I wondered how long this must have taken for the seals to learn all of the tricks!!!
The animals were all very active and we joked that the Taronga Zoo must have them on some type of drug because they all were moving around and very active. (Except for the Kanga's which were sleeping in a sprawled out position!) I saw my first Emu, which I recognized because it is on the Australian Government's seal. The emu and kangaroo were both selected to be on the seal because they are the only two animals that can't walk backwards. I like the meaning behind that- always going forward.
And I don't know how the giraffe's got so lucky, because the giraffe area overlooked the Harbour Bridge! I am jealous of their "Home" :) The giraffes were eating carrots when Megan and I got there, so I got to see their super long tongue that is half of a meter grab the carrots. I learned that giraffes only need 20 minutes of sleep every night and that they run super fast!
Here is a picture of two Samatran Tigers:
Tomatoes and Cucumbers
I would make a bet with you before every meal that I know at least two foods that they will serve: Tomatos and Cucumbers!
(Confession- I have never liked either one a lot but am trying to expand my horizons and eat them while I am here in Australia, since they are fresh!)
Tomatoes are served in scrambled eggs for breakfast, as an option in the breakfast line, and of course for lunch and dinner. There are tomato salads with bacon and mayo, many main course options that use tomatoes, and many garden salads served with. . .you guessed it. . .TOMATOES!!! So, as you can imagine, I gradually started eating tomatoes. I would eat them when they were in the main course and worked up to eating the tomato, bacon, and mayo salad. But the other day I felt surprisingly daring- I decided to eat a plain tomato (a small one) and I quickly decided that I was better off mixing them with other foods so I could not taste them!
Cucumbers are also served almost every meal, and it is typical to put them on a sandwich and mix cucumbers in salads. Also, sandwich meats, cucumbers, bread, and tomatoes are served in the breakfast line. Some people make sandwiches for breakfast, but I prefer corn flakes- yuuuuuum!
With this said, I am now off to lunch to perhaps make a tomato and cucumber sandwich, have a tomato and bacon side-dish, or just eat plain Tomaters and Cucumbas!!!
(ooooh and I forgot to say that My roomate, LoLo was correct about the floors. The first floor is the ground floor, the second floor is the "first floor" and the third floor (my floor) is the "second floor." I found this out from another friend so I am not going to say anything about it so she hopefully won't remember about the chocolate that I owe her! :)
(Confession- I have never liked either one a lot but am trying to expand my horizons and eat them while I am here in Australia, since they are fresh!)
Tomatoes are served in scrambled eggs for breakfast, as an option in the breakfast line, and of course for lunch and dinner. There are tomato salads with bacon and mayo, many main course options that use tomatoes, and many garden salads served with. . .you guessed it. . .TOMATOES!!! So, as you can imagine, I gradually started eating tomatoes. I would eat them when they were in the main course and worked up to eating the tomato, bacon, and mayo salad. But the other day I felt surprisingly daring- I decided to eat a plain tomato (a small one) and I quickly decided that I was better off mixing them with other foods so I could not taste them!
Cucumbers are also served almost every meal, and it is typical to put them on a sandwich and mix cucumbers in salads. Also, sandwich meats, cucumbers, bread, and tomatoes are served in the breakfast line. Some people make sandwiches for breakfast, but I prefer corn flakes- yuuuuuum!
With this said, I am now off to lunch to perhaps make a tomato and cucumber sandwich, have a tomato and bacon side-dish, or just eat plain Tomaters and Cucumbas!!!
(ooooh and I forgot to say that My roomate, LoLo was correct about the floors. The first floor is the ground floor, the second floor is the "first floor" and the third floor (my floor) is the "second floor." I found this out from another friend so I am not going to say anything about it so she hopefully won't remember about the chocolate that I owe her! :)
Friday, March 4, 2011
Early in the Morning
I set my alarm for 3:50AM last night. Despite how early the race started, I somehow convinced my friend from Sydney, Rach, to volunteer with me at a 50k/100k race near her house. I helped coordinate volunteers and find sponsors for the race as part of my class assignment and we decided to spend the night (aka take a nap) at her house last night so we could be close to where the race started.
It was an incredible experience. Registering 600+ people for this event was hectic at times, but everyone is so positive and encouraging! The 50k race had 5 different checkpoints for the participants- it started at Palm Beach and went through the northern beaches to south of Sydney. Each participant was given a map and a sheet of paper with the checkpoint numbers to have each one stamped at the checkpoints! It is important to have both to stay in the race. I bet you can see where this is going. . .this is where I come in da-da-da-duuuum.
One of the participants dropped their paper at the starting line. I was helping to take down everything, so I did not notice until the organizer of the walk came up to me and asked if I could find the participant who lost their sheet. (This really meant "Hi, I know that the runners and walkers started 5 minutes ago, but wouldn't it be fun to jog to the very front of the "heaps" of racers?") I must admit, I was wishing that I had done the walk, but I had a pretty good, long sprint to find the racer. After I returned successfully, one of the women said that I should be an honorary member of their organization that organized the race, Wild Women on Top. Did I mension that Wild Women on Top is like an old women workout group (don't tell them I said that)? Therefore, I can't decide if that is a compliment or not!
After volunteering, Rach and I went on a hike to a lighthouse at Palm Beach. We went through spider webs and narrow paths to find a beautiful view that she told me that we HAD to see! Of course we took a photo:
It was an incredible experience. Registering 600+ people for this event was hectic at times, but everyone is so positive and encouraging! The 50k race had 5 different checkpoints for the participants- it started at Palm Beach and went through the northern beaches to south of Sydney. Each participant was given a map and a sheet of paper with the checkpoint numbers to have each one stamped at the checkpoints! It is important to have both to stay in the race. I bet you can see where this is going. . .this is where I come in da-da-da-duuuum.
One of the participants dropped their paper at the starting line. I was helping to take down everything, so I did not notice until the organizer of the walk came up to me and asked if I could find the participant who lost their sheet. (This really meant "Hi, I know that the runners and walkers started 5 minutes ago, but wouldn't it be fun to jog to the very front of the "heaps" of racers?") I must admit, I was wishing that I had done the walk, but I had a pretty good, long sprint to find the racer. After I returned successfully, one of the women said that I should be an honorary member of their organization that organized the race, Wild Women on Top. Did I mension that Wild Women on Top is like an old women workout group (don't tell them I said that)? Therefore, I can't decide if that is a compliment or not!
After volunteering, Rach and I went on a hike to a lighthouse at Palm Beach. We went through spider webs and narrow paths to find a beautiful view that she told me that we HAD to see! Of course we took a photo:
Stairs to the Third/second floor
Upon arriving at ICMS, I was told that I would be living on the second floor! Initially, I thought walking up one floor of stairs would be easy, even if most of the time I am wearing heels. Umm, lets just say that I was wrong. WAY wrong. I have to walk up 58 stairs to get to my dorm room and it hurts my legs so much, which is what I was initially going to complain about until I realized something extremely vital that ICMS needs to fix. Before I start to explain, look at the picture. A line is drawn to my room and PLEASE tell me that you see the same thing that I do- THE DORM IS ON THE THIRD FLOOR! I just want to point out that I would hate to be the person who messed up counting the number of floors at ICMS. Anyone could look at this picture and see that there are at least 4 floors and that my dorm is not, I repeat, not on the second floor.
So, partly because of the number of stairs that I have to walk up and down everyday and partly because IT IS THE THIRD FLOOR, I have decided to forever call my "second floor hall" the The Third Floor.
You might be wondering how the floors are labeled. The first floor is called "The First Floor," they got that right!!! Here is where the problem occurs. The second floor is neglected, and overlooked. . .it is forgotten. Even though there are classrooms, administration offices on this floor, it is the forgotten floor from how I see it!
Lo Lo, my roomate and I have been laughing about this little situation and she thinks that it is messed up. Lo Lo thinks she knows the solution: that the first floor is un-named and the second floor is the first floor. I think she is wrong and I just wagered Dove Dark Chocolate on the deal. I will definitely keep you posted on the confusing floor-naming at ICMS (and hopefully next time I will be eating delicious chocolate while I type!!! :)
In conclusion, I think that myself and other, fellow second-floorers should get some recognition for really walking up 3 flights of stairs and our floor should be called the third floor. (Though it would require changing all of the room numbers and signs!)
random fact that I just realized: My college dorm floors: 2nd floor Sanderson, 2nd floor New South Hall, 2nd floor New South Atrium, and 2nd (3rd) floor ICMS! Lots of 2s :)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Church on Sunday night. . .
AT HILLSONG!!!!!!!!
What an amazing experience! Hillsong is located in Sydney, so I had to take the ferry and bus to get there (and I took the train and ferry to get back to Manly). Since it required a little bit of travel, my friends and I decided to spend the day in Sydney, then head to Hillsong. The music was, of course, awesome- the lead guitarist was really good and the music was so loud!
Hillsong has several churches and the one that I went to was mainly for college students. Hillsong has a college for people that are interested in ministry and many of them go to the services each week. Actually, I had the opportunity to talk to some of the students and they are required to be at all of the services on the weekends. The Hillsong branch that I went to was large, but it is not the one that seats thousands that people can see on television. The other Hillsong church is located about 40 minutes by car from Sydney (a lot longer if I take public transportation) and I really, really, really want to go one soon!
I am looking at my "timetable," as it is called here, and I have almost every weekend booked. I bought plane tickets to go to Melbourne, The Whit Sundays (to see the Great Barrier Reef), and New Zealand!!! Other weekend trips near to Sydney that I want to take are to the Blue Mountains and Canberra. We will see :) I hear that there is nothing to do in Canberra but it is the capital of Australia and only 3 hours away so I feel like it is a necessity to see the museums and government buildings in Canberra! Yay!!!!!! I'm so excited!
Anyway, Bear Grylls (on Man vs Wild) is speaking at Hillsong on Sunday, so I am planning to go back and I will definitely write about it in my blog!
The Hillsong bus that took us from Central Station to Hillsong!
What an amazing experience! Hillsong is located in Sydney, so I had to take the ferry and bus to get there (and I took the train and ferry to get back to Manly). Since it required a little bit of travel, my friends and I decided to spend the day in Sydney, then head to Hillsong. The music was, of course, awesome- the lead guitarist was really good and the music was so loud!
Hillsong has several churches and the one that I went to was mainly for college students. Hillsong has a college for people that are interested in ministry and many of them go to the services each week. Actually, I had the opportunity to talk to some of the students and they are required to be at all of the services on the weekends. The Hillsong branch that I went to was large, but it is not the one that seats thousands that people can see on television. The other Hillsong church is located about 40 minutes by car from Sydney (a lot longer if I take public transportation) and I really, really, really want to go one soon!
I am looking at my "timetable," as it is called here, and I have almost every weekend booked. I bought plane tickets to go to Melbourne, The Whit Sundays (to see the Great Barrier Reef), and New Zealand!!! Other weekend trips near to Sydney that I want to take are to the Blue Mountains and Canberra. We will see :) I hear that there is nothing to do in Canberra but it is the capital of Australia and only 3 hours away so I feel like it is a necessity to see the museums and government buildings in Canberra! Yay!!!!!! I'm so excited!
Anyway, Bear Grylls (on Man vs Wild) is speaking at Hillsong on Sunday, so I am planning to go back and I will definitely write about it in my blog!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
To-Do List!!!
Rach, one of my friends from Sydney, and I have put together a "To-Do List" of everything that we want to do near College. It is our Bucket List and they all are close to the "uni" (what everyone calls colleges here.) So, here is our list:
1. Volleyball on the beach (become as good as Misty May and Kerri Walsh. . .okay- just kidding!) But we do want to play volleyball because there are some amazing sand volleyball courts.
2. Running Trails
-Manly to Spit Bridge
-Mona to Narrabeen
-Dee Why to Manly
3. Go Sailing
4. Volunteer at a 50k race
5. Have a slumber party and then go to the Palm Beach lighthouse
6. Hole in the Wall Queenscliff (I don't remember what this was)
7. Watch wales in April
8. Grand Dining Hall for dinner
9. Swim from Manly beach to Shelly Beach
Woohoo! Looks like I am going to stay busy!
1. Volleyball on the beach (become as good as Misty May and Kerri Walsh. . .okay- just kidding!) But we do want to play volleyball because there are some amazing sand volleyball courts.
2. Running Trails
-Manly to Spit Bridge
-Mona to Narrabeen
-Dee Why to Manly
3. Go Sailing
4. Volunteer at a 50k race
5. Have a slumber party and then go to the Palm Beach lighthouse
6. Hole in the Wall Queenscliff (I don't remember what this was)
7. Watch wales in April
8. Grand Dining Hall for dinner
9. Swim from Manly beach to Shelly Beach
Woohoo! Looks like I am going to stay busy!
The City from the Sydney Tower
. . .(Please note, even though it is called the Sydney Tower on maps, I have been corrected by one of my friends at school. "Australians call it the Central Tower." Okay, I will call it the Central tower!)
This is like today when I used the name of the restaurant, McDonalds, to refer to McDonalds. DO NOT SAY MCDONALDS IN AUSTRALIA!!! Australians call it "Macca's" and if you say McDonalds, they will laugh at you for a long time. Some other words that are different here is jelly and jam- they are reversed. Would you like a peanut butter and jam sandwich? How about some jelly on your toast? (This rule does not really bother me that much because I never really eat jelly or jam). And it absolutely cracks me up when Australians say the words Tuesday, Tuna, and Almonds. I would attempt to explain how to say them in my blog, but it is really hard to type the Australian accent!
Anyway, back to the "Central Tower" of Sydney! The elevator ride to the top made my ears pop a lot but the view was totally worth it. I walked in constant circles by the windows, amazed at how far I could see in all directions. Okay, I will admit this- the pretty view was half of the reason that I kept walking around in circles because the other reason is that I realized that I did not have my camera case. So, my camera case was somewhere in the 304 meter tall building. Good luck to me.
After asking everyone if there was a lost and found in the Sydney Tower and asking if anyone had seen a black camera case, I realized that my little black camera case was lost forever.
Negative for this story: I lost my camera case :(
Positive for this story: Whenever I see the Central Tower, I will always know that my little, black, camera case is in there. (And I am so glad that it was just my camera case that I lost and not my camera!)
What to do next time at the Sydney Tower: you can pay extra and climb even higher outside of the glassed-in area. It looks pretty neat and I think that I am going to get a group together to do that!!!
This is like today when I used the name of the restaurant, McDonalds, to refer to McDonalds. DO NOT SAY MCDONALDS IN AUSTRALIA!!! Australians call it "Macca's" and if you say McDonalds, they will laugh at you for a long time. Some other words that are different here is jelly and jam- they are reversed. Would you like a peanut butter and jam sandwich? How about some jelly on your toast? (This rule does not really bother me that much because I never really eat jelly or jam). And it absolutely cracks me up when Australians say the words Tuesday, Tuna, and Almonds. I would attempt to explain how to say them in my blog, but it is really hard to type the Australian accent!
Anyway, back to the "Central Tower" of Sydney! The elevator ride to the top made my ears pop a lot but the view was totally worth it. I walked in constant circles by the windows, amazed at how far I could see in all directions. Okay, I will admit this- the pretty view was half of the reason that I kept walking around in circles because the other reason is that I realized that I did not have my camera case. So, my camera case was somewhere in the 304 meter tall building. Good luck to me.
After asking everyone if there was a lost and found in the Sydney Tower and asking if anyone had seen a black camera case, I realized that my little black camera case was lost forever.
Negative for this story: I lost my camera case :(
Positive for this story: Whenever I see the Central Tower, I will always know that my little, black, camera case is in there. (And I am so glad that it was just my camera case that I lost and not my camera!)
What to do next time at the Sydney Tower: you can pay extra and climb even higher outside of the glassed-in area. It looks pretty neat and I think that I am going to get a group together to do that!!!
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