Hello Hello Hello!
I realize that it has once again been far too long since I've blogged, but at this point I'm doing it purposely. I just have a hard time justifying spending the time necessary to write a good post. I have less than a week less in Australia and I would like to make the most of that time! But I promise, shortly after I return I will write the most extensive blog yet.
Love, Em.
P.S. I had the BEST time on my tour of Central Australia and I can't wait to post pictures!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Where has the time gone?
This is it! The beginning of the end. It's hard to believe, but in just over 5 weeks I will be making my way back to the United States! As usual, I have been a very busy girl. I'm so glad I've been writing everything down because I would not have remembered a thing! I'm going to try and keep this relatively short.. I'd rather not spend an hour and a half updating like last time!
So a few weeks after we got here, the t.v. show Australia's Next Top Model started a new season and we watched just about every week. For the last episode, they had a live finale at this amusement park, Luna Park, in Sydney. My roommate Hannah and I thought we'd go and try to get tickets, thinking it would be basically impossible. We waiting around for a while before the show started, seeing if anyone was selling tickets. Finally we went up to the ticket window and Hannah asked if there were any extras we could buy. We were told no, but if we stuck around they might need people to fill seats. Well, an hour later there we were, sitting in the front row of Australia's Next Top Model live finale! It was unbelievably lucky. Our seats were better than the majority of people who won tickets through contests or from companies associated with the show.
Now if that isn't amazing enough, this happened to be the most monumental live t.v. moment in Australia. I'm not sure if you saw anything about the show - it made international news! At the end of the show when it was down to the final two contestants, the host Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner. It was terribly embarrassing for her and you could tell she was mortified! Click here to see a video clip of what actually happened. It was incredible to be in the audience for that. How lucky were we?? After the show was over, Hannah and I stuck around and got to meet and take pictures with the models, the host, the judges, and anyone else we could ever want to see. We stuck around even LONGER and were interviewed by the local news! haha How crazy is all of that?
Hannah and I with the stage in the background
Host Sarah Murdoch and I
The next day Hannah and I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was quite the experience being up there! It was a very well organized trip. We had jumpsuits, harnesses, gloves, hats, radios, handkerchiefs, and headlamps all provided for us. It was about a 3 hour journey from the time you suit up to the time you get back down. We were lucky enough to catch some of the sunset while we were up there. Very pretty!
Hannah and I with the Sydney Opera House in the background
Hannah and I at the peak of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
This past weekend all of my roommates and I took a nice little weekend trip up to the Gold Coast in Queensland. Kind of reminiscent of Florida, especially since they have towns called Palm Beach and Miami right next to each other! We stayed with friends that are also in Study Australia. Only downside to the weekend was that it rained the ENTIRE time we were there =( Kind of put a damper on everything, but we still had a good time. While we were there, we went to a wildlife park where we held koalas! Soooo adorable! I don't have any pictures because my camera decided to malfunction, but maybe I'll borrow some from my roommates and update this later.
From here on out, it's a downward slope! I had a quiz this past Monday and a test Wednesday. Next week, I have a presentation Monday, a major essay due Friday, and also a group project due Friday. I am officially done on October 22. The week after that is "study break" so clearly I will be doing lots of studying. The two and a half weeks after that are the examination period. I'm lucky enough to only have one exam on November 11, and I'm home free! That leaves me with quite a bit of spare time, so Hannah and I are taking a 3 day, 2 night camping trip in the outback! I'm really excited to see Uluru and Ayers Rock on this trip. Once all that business is over, I'll be hopping on a plane on November 17th! Until next time...
Love, Em.
So a few weeks after we got here, the t.v. show Australia's Next Top Model started a new season and we watched just about every week. For the last episode, they had a live finale at this amusement park, Luna Park, in Sydney. My roommate Hannah and I thought we'd go and try to get tickets, thinking it would be basically impossible. We waiting around for a while before the show started, seeing if anyone was selling tickets. Finally we went up to the ticket window and Hannah asked if there were any extras we could buy. We were told no, but if we stuck around they might need people to fill seats. Well, an hour later there we were, sitting in the front row of Australia's Next Top Model live finale! It was unbelievably lucky. Our seats were better than the majority of people who won tickets through contests or from companies associated with the show.
Now if that isn't amazing enough, this happened to be the most monumental live t.v. moment in Australia. I'm not sure if you saw anything about the show - it made international news! At the end of the show when it was down to the final two contestants, the host Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner. It was terribly embarrassing for her and you could tell she was mortified! Click here to see a video clip of what actually happened. It was incredible to be in the audience for that. How lucky were we?? After the show was over, Hannah and I stuck around and got to meet and take pictures with the models, the host, the judges, and anyone else we could ever want to see. We stuck around even LONGER and were interviewed by the local news! haha How crazy is all of that?
Hannah and I with the stage in the background
Host Sarah Murdoch and I
The next day Hannah and I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was quite the experience being up there! It was a very well organized trip. We had jumpsuits, harnesses, gloves, hats, radios, handkerchiefs, and headlamps all provided for us. It was about a 3 hour journey from the time you suit up to the time you get back down. We were lucky enough to catch some of the sunset while we were up there. Very pretty!
Hannah and I with the Sydney Opera House in the background
This past weekend all of my roommates and I took a nice little weekend trip up to the Gold Coast in Queensland. Kind of reminiscent of Florida, especially since they have towns called Palm Beach and Miami right next to each other! We stayed with friends that are also in Study Australia. Only downside to the weekend was that it rained the ENTIRE time we were there =( Kind of put a damper on everything, but we still had a good time. While we were there, we went to a wildlife park where we held koalas! Soooo adorable! I don't have any pictures because my camera decided to malfunction, but maybe I'll borrow some from my roommates and update this later.
From here on out, it's a downward slope! I had a quiz this past Monday and a test Wednesday. Next week, I have a presentation Monday, a major essay due Friday, and also a group project due Friday. I am officially done on October 22. The week after that is "study break" so clearly I will be doing lots of studying. The two and a half weeks after that are the examination period. I'm lucky enough to only have one exam on November 11, and I'm home free! That leaves me with quite a bit of spare time, so Hannah and I are taking a 3 day, 2 night camping trip in the outback! I'm really excited to see Uluru and Ayers Rock on this trip. Once all that business is over, I'll be hopping on a plane on November 17th! Until next time...
Love, Em.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Geez, it's about time, right??
Hello blog world!
I have returned =) I know you have anxiously been awaiting a new post. I realize that it has almost been an entire month since I last updated (embarrassing on my part), but the good news for you is that I've been writing down what I do everyday in a journal. I won't quote it word for word, but here's a general idea of what I've been up to.
Tuesday, August 31: I went to see the musical Wicked at Capitol Theater with my friends Lyndsy and Gwen. I had never seen it before and was amazed!! The scenery was like nothing I've ever seen and the costuming was so detailed! It was a completely Australian cast, which surprised me - definitely couldn't tell from their speaking parts. We weren't allowed to take pictures once in the theater, but here's a picture of the girls and I during Intermission. We bought our souvenir cups that lit up =)
Next, September 4 - 12 was my Spring Break! For the beginning part of the week, I didn't do too much. I went to the beach a few days, got my hair cut, worked on a paper that was due the following week, and anticipated Luke's arrival!!!
Saturday, September 11: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go to the airport to pick up Luke! I can get to their airport either by bus or train, but if you take the train you have to pay a fee (around $20)to get in to the airport. It's a lot faster than the bus, but I wanted to save my money so I took the bus! Luke's flight got in 20 minutes early, around 6:20 a.m. Finally got to see him around 7:00 a.m! It was really strange seeing him for the first time after 2 1/2 months. It was like I didn't know him!
We made our way back to my apartment to get him unpacked, settled in, and to meet the roommates! It's funny, they said they felt like they already knew him before he arrived because of talking to him on Skype. Once all that was finished, we took a bus into the city for a little tour! (Click here for a map of Sydney and trace our path!) We started at Hyde Park, walked through the Domain, and stopped for lunch at Harry's Cafe de Wheels. From there, we walked up Mrs. Macquaries Road, past Mrs. Macquaries Chair, through the Royal Botanical Gardens, and to the Opera House! Quite a bit of walking, but totally worth it! It was a beautiful day, and I even managed to get some sun on my face.
When we got to the Opera House, there was some kind of mat laid out and there were people sitting on the steps. We asked someone (with not very good English) what was going on, and he said "Man dance with machine. Stay! Stay! Only 13 minute." So, pretty confused, we took a seat and not a minute later this big excavator pull up. And I kid you not, this man literally starts dancing with it! It was the strangest thing either of us had ever seen and we thought it was hilarious! But we were the only ones laughing. Everyone else was pretty serious! We stopped by a few of the bars near the Opera House for a glass of wine, since it's legal for me here! That night we went to dinner at The Blackbird Cafe and here began our bruschetta obsession! Seriously, all but one night Luke was here, we ate bruschetta! We had some great ones, and we had some okay ones, but overall the Blackbird took top honors for best bruschetta. For dinner, Luke had Kangaroo and I had a crocodile burger! A very adventurous evening.
Luke and I at the Opera House!
Literally... man dancing with machine.
Sunday, August 12: We spent the day at Tamarama Beach attempting to have a barbeque. We didn't realize there was only one barbeque at that location, so we ended up waiting for over an hour to use it. The people using it were actually having their wedding/wedding reception which was 60's themed! Really funny, friendly group. After lunch, some of us went swimming in the ocean and, oh my gosh!, it was freeeeeeezzzzzzzziiiiinnnngggg! Definitely glad I went in though. Had a pretty quiet night - made pizza for dinner with the amazing Nicholson family marinara sauce ;)
Swimming in the Pacific!
Monday, September 13: We woke up early, around 5:00, to go to Bondi beach to watch the sun rise! We made it in time for sunrise, but unfortunately it was pretty cloudy. Still cool to sit out on the rocks and watch the waves come in! Very relaxing. Came back and Luke made big skillets for breakfast! After taking a short nap, we hopped on the ferry and went to Taronga Zoo. It was a pretty neat zoo with an amazing view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and downtown Sydney (lucky animals!). I think we both agreed that we're pretty spoiled with the Indianapolis Zoo (we like it better). Had dinner at a neat place called The Rocks Cafe. More bruschetta =) Met with some friends at a bar called Scubar after stopping a few other places along the way. They have hermit crab racing every Monday and usually have some pretty awesome prizes, but we didn't make it in time for that.
"Sunrise" on the rocks at Bondi Beach
View of Sydney from the Taronga Zoo
A mama wallaby with a joey in her pouch
Have to include a picture of koalas - surprised they're awake!
This tiger was not happy to have people watching him
Tuesday, September 14: Went to Bondi Beach in search of renting a surf board, but the waves were a bit too strong. Instead he ran into the cold Pacific for about 3 minutes and we left. Ran a few errands around Bondi Junction - Luke got a few souvenirs. Pretty calm day and night. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and told them it was Luke's birthday. They brought out sopapillas with a sparkler in it, gave us all sombreros, turned down the lights and played some birthday music! Quite a show! Fun night, but really really rainy!
Luke enjoying the frigid waters
Wednesday, September 15: Woke up early to go skydiving! My roommates Vessie and Hannah joined us for this trip. Had a few complications with being picked up, but eventually made it to the site. Once we got there, we suited up, got about a 2 - 3 minute lesson and headed to the plane! I don't think any of us were very nervous, more excited! We all had to go tandem (with someone attached). I was the last to jump out of the plane and it was crazy the noise it made when everyone else went out! It sounded like they were being sucked into a vacuum. Waited around for a while for others to finish jumping and headed back to the city. Luke and I went to Paddy's market where he did the rest of his souvenir shopping. Had a quick bruschetta lunch =) and got ready for our dinner cruise! Went down to Circular Quay (check the map again) to board our boat. The cruise lasted for about an hour and a half. Perfect timing to watch the sun set! Had a surprisingly nice 3 course meal while on board. Afterwards, we went to the Sydney Tower (pretty famous building in the Sydney skyline!) and went up to the 360 restaurant/bar for a drink. The restaurant rotates so you can see all views of the city from up there! Much like the Eagle's Nest for those of you from Indy. Very cool! Made a few stops on our way back to my apartment.
The Skydiving team
Our lovely window seat
The two of us after sunset with the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Thursday, September 16: Slept in for a bit this morning and packed for our trip to Cairns! Our flight left at 3:40 and we made it up to Cairns (pronounced 'cans') around 6:30. We stayed at the Calypso Inn hostel, and they picked us up from the airport. We walked along the beach before going to dinner at a seafood restaurant. Went back to the hostel with the intention of going to bed early, but we met a really nice couple from Sweden, Sophia and Martin, and hung out with them all night! Really interesting to hear about their lives and the differences between Sweden and the U.S.
The beach in Cairns
Friday, September 17: Possibly the best day of our trip! We were picked up at 6:45 a.m. to go on our scuba diving trip! We were transported to Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns. We got on the boat and drove for about an hour before arriving at our first of three dive sites. Luke and I both signed up for 2 introductory dives meaning that we're not certified so we went with an instructor. The first time in we were pretty nervous! It was interesting adjusting to breathing only through your mouth. We had 3 skills to master before we were allowed to venture out: switch from main respirator to back up and back, clear water out of our masks, and very importantly - equalizing our ears! We went out for probably 30 to 40 minutes at the first site. The Great Barrier Reef is AMAZING!! The pictures do not do it justice at all. Seriously the most colorful fish I have ever seen, most unique surroundings. It was incredible!
We drove on the boat for another 30 minutes or so to the second site. This time Luke and I felt like pros and were much more comfortable with scuba! We were down for another 30 minutes and we were able to be on our own this time out. (The first time, we had to hold on to the instructor for the majority of the dive.) Another 15-30 minute drive and we were at the third and final site! We could've paid an extra $40 each to dive a third time, but we decided to stick with snorkeling for the third spot (big mistake!). In hindsight it definitely would have been worth the extra money to dive again. At this site there was this massive resident fish named Gregg. He was really friendly and liked to be pet like a big puppy dog! He was just about as big as Luke was!
We were taken back to Cairns and we took another short walk on the beach. We met up with Sophia and Martin for dinner and hung out with them all night! We went to a pizza place in Cairns and then went to a bar afterwards.
Our boat, the Silversonic
We're real scuba divers!
Nemo!! It's actually pretty rare to see a true nemo fish.
Giant Clam
Coral in the Great Barrier Reef
Saturday, September 18: Happy Birthday to my big brother Alex!! Sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you =( Luke and I woke up around 3:30 to catch a transfer to the airport =/ we were a little miserable trying to sleep on the seats in the airport and on the plane. We made it back to my apartment around noon and tried to catch up on some sleep. Went to the mall and bought the movie "Finding Nemo" and watched it when we got home. Couldn't resist after just having been at the Great Barrier Reef! We celebrated Luke's last night in Sydney with a night out on the town!
Saturday night fun!
Sunday, September 19: Well, I knew it was coming... Luke's trip would have to end at some point =( I wish he could've stayed for another month! It was hard to say goodbye, especially knowing it was going to be another 2 1/2 months until I see him again and especially after having such a fun filled week!! We got him to the airport just on time and he had to go =( I spent the rest of my day drowning my sorrows with chocolate and crying haha! Don't worry, I'm fine now!
Since then, I have had one research paper consuming my life and it is finally DONE! Can't wait to turn it in tomorrow morning and have it completely off my chest. All of my roommates are on Spring Break now and I'm pretty jealous of the things they're doing! Hali and Halana are basically touring the east coast of Australia - hitting up the Whitsunday Islands and all sorts of other places. Vessie is off to New Zealand with two of our other friends, Julian and Mike. That leaves the apartment to Hannah and myself for the next week and a half! Hopefully I'll be able to get all sorts of work done this next week. That's the aim anyway! Hope you all have enjoyed this post - hopefully it's been worth the wait! Love, Em.
I have returned =) I know you have anxiously been awaiting a new post. I realize that it has almost been an entire month since I last updated (embarrassing on my part), but the good news for you is that I've been writing down what I do everyday in a journal. I won't quote it word for word, but here's a general idea of what I've been up to.
Tuesday, August 31: I went to see the musical Wicked at Capitol Theater with my friends Lyndsy and Gwen. I had never seen it before and was amazed!! The scenery was like nothing I've ever seen and the costuming was so detailed! It was a completely Australian cast, which surprised me - definitely couldn't tell from their speaking parts. We weren't allowed to take pictures once in the theater, but here's a picture of the girls and I during Intermission. We bought our souvenir cups that lit up =)
Next, September 4 - 12 was my Spring Break! For the beginning part of the week, I didn't do too much. I went to the beach a few days, got my hair cut, worked on a paper that was due the following week, and anticipated Luke's arrival!!!
Saturday, September 11: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go to the airport to pick up Luke! I can get to their airport either by bus or train, but if you take the train you have to pay a fee (around $20)to get in to the airport. It's a lot faster than the bus, but I wanted to save my money so I took the bus! Luke's flight got in 20 minutes early, around 6:20 a.m. Finally got to see him around 7:00 a.m! It was really strange seeing him for the first time after 2 1/2 months. It was like I didn't know him!
We made our way back to my apartment to get him unpacked, settled in, and to meet the roommates! It's funny, they said they felt like they already knew him before he arrived because of talking to him on Skype. Once all that was finished, we took a bus into the city for a little tour! (Click here for a map of Sydney and trace our path!) We started at Hyde Park, walked through the Domain, and stopped for lunch at Harry's Cafe de Wheels. From there, we walked up Mrs. Macquaries Road, past Mrs. Macquaries Chair, through the Royal Botanical Gardens, and to the Opera House! Quite a bit of walking, but totally worth it! It was a beautiful day, and I even managed to get some sun on my face.
When we got to the Opera House, there was some kind of mat laid out and there were people sitting on the steps. We asked someone (with not very good English) what was going on, and he said "Man dance with machine. Stay! Stay! Only 13 minute." So, pretty confused, we took a seat and not a minute later this big excavator pull up. And I kid you not, this man literally starts dancing with it! It was the strangest thing either of us had ever seen and we thought it was hilarious! But we were the only ones laughing. Everyone else was pretty serious! We stopped by a few of the bars near the Opera House for a glass of wine, since it's legal for me here! That night we went to dinner at The Blackbird Cafe and here began our bruschetta obsession! Seriously, all but one night Luke was here, we ate bruschetta! We had some great ones, and we had some okay ones, but overall the Blackbird took top honors for best bruschetta. For dinner, Luke had Kangaroo and I had a crocodile burger! A very adventurous evening.
Luke and I at the Opera House!
Literally... man dancing with machine.
Sunday, August 12: We spent the day at Tamarama Beach attempting to have a barbeque. We didn't realize there was only one barbeque at that location, so we ended up waiting for over an hour to use it. The people using it were actually having their wedding/wedding reception which was 60's themed! Really funny, friendly group. After lunch, some of us went swimming in the ocean and, oh my gosh!, it was freeeeeeezzzzzzzziiiiinnnngggg! Definitely glad I went in though. Had a pretty quiet night - made pizza for dinner with the amazing Nicholson family marinara sauce ;)
Swimming in the Pacific!
Monday, September 13: We woke up early, around 5:00, to go to Bondi beach to watch the sun rise! We made it in time for sunrise, but unfortunately it was pretty cloudy. Still cool to sit out on the rocks and watch the waves come in! Very relaxing. Came back and Luke made big skillets for breakfast! After taking a short nap, we hopped on the ferry and went to Taronga Zoo. It was a pretty neat zoo with an amazing view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and downtown Sydney (lucky animals!). I think we both agreed that we're pretty spoiled with the Indianapolis Zoo (we like it better). Had dinner at a neat place called The Rocks Cafe. More bruschetta =) Met with some friends at a bar called Scubar after stopping a few other places along the way. They have hermit crab racing every Monday and usually have some pretty awesome prizes, but we didn't make it in time for that.
"Sunrise" on the rocks at Bondi Beach
View of Sydney from the Taronga Zoo
A mama wallaby with a joey in her pouch
Have to include a picture of koalas - surprised they're awake!
This tiger was not happy to have people watching him
Tuesday, September 14: Went to Bondi Beach in search of renting a surf board, but the waves were a bit too strong. Instead he ran into the cold Pacific for about 3 minutes and we left. Ran a few errands around Bondi Junction - Luke got a few souvenirs. Pretty calm day and night. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and told them it was Luke's birthday. They brought out sopapillas with a sparkler in it, gave us all sombreros, turned down the lights and played some birthday music! Quite a show! Fun night, but really really rainy!
Luke enjoying the frigid waters
Wednesday, September 15: Woke up early to go skydiving! My roommates Vessie and Hannah joined us for this trip. Had a few complications with being picked up, but eventually made it to the site. Once we got there, we suited up, got about a 2 - 3 minute lesson and headed to the plane! I don't think any of us were very nervous, more excited! We all had to go tandem (with someone attached). I was the last to jump out of the plane and it was crazy the noise it made when everyone else went out! It sounded like they were being sucked into a vacuum. Waited around for a while for others to finish jumping and headed back to the city. Luke and I went to Paddy's market where he did the rest of his souvenir shopping. Had a quick bruschetta lunch =) and got ready for our dinner cruise! Went down to Circular Quay (check the map again) to board our boat. The cruise lasted for about an hour and a half. Perfect timing to watch the sun set! Had a surprisingly nice 3 course meal while on board. Afterwards, we went to the Sydney Tower (pretty famous building in the Sydney skyline!) and went up to the 360 restaurant/bar for a drink. The restaurant rotates so you can see all views of the city from up there! Much like the Eagle's Nest for those of you from Indy. Very cool! Made a few stops on our way back to my apartment.
The Skydiving team
Our lovely window seat
The two of us after sunset with the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Thursday, September 16: Slept in for a bit this morning and packed for our trip to Cairns! Our flight left at 3:40 and we made it up to Cairns (pronounced 'cans') around 6:30. We stayed at the Calypso Inn hostel, and they picked us up from the airport. We walked along the beach before going to dinner at a seafood restaurant. Went back to the hostel with the intention of going to bed early, but we met a really nice couple from Sweden, Sophia and Martin, and hung out with them all night! Really interesting to hear about their lives and the differences between Sweden and the U.S.
The beach in Cairns
Friday, September 17: Possibly the best day of our trip! We were picked up at 6:45 a.m. to go on our scuba diving trip! We were transported to Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns. We got on the boat and drove for about an hour before arriving at our first of three dive sites. Luke and I both signed up for 2 introductory dives meaning that we're not certified so we went with an instructor. The first time in we were pretty nervous! It was interesting adjusting to breathing only through your mouth. We had 3 skills to master before we were allowed to venture out: switch from main respirator to back up and back, clear water out of our masks, and very importantly - equalizing our ears! We went out for probably 30 to 40 minutes at the first site. The Great Barrier Reef is AMAZING!! The pictures do not do it justice at all. Seriously the most colorful fish I have ever seen, most unique surroundings. It was incredible!
We drove on the boat for another 30 minutes or so to the second site. This time Luke and I felt like pros and were much more comfortable with scuba! We were down for another 30 minutes and we were able to be on our own this time out. (The first time, we had to hold on to the instructor for the majority of the dive.) Another 15-30 minute drive and we were at the third and final site! We could've paid an extra $40 each to dive a third time, but we decided to stick with snorkeling for the third spot (big mistake!). In hindsight it definitely would have been worth the extra money to dive again. At this site there was this massive resident fish named Gregg. He was really friendly and liked to be pet like a big puppy dog! He was just about as big as Luke was!
We were taken back to Cairns and we took another short walk on the beach. We met up with Sophia and Martin for dinner and hung out with them all night! We went to a pizza place in Cairns and then went to a bar afterwards.
Our boat, the Silversonic
We're real scuba divers!
Nemo!! It's actually pretty rare to see a true nemo fish.
Giant Clam
Coral in the Great Barrier Reef
Saturday, September 18: Happy Birthday to my big brother Alex!! Sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you =( Luke and I woke up around 3:30 to catch a transfer to the airport =/ we were a little miserable trying to sleep on the seats in the airport and on the plane. We made it back to my apartment around noon and tried to catch up on some sleep. Went to the mall and bought the movie "Finding Nemo" and watched it when we got home. Couldn't resist after just having been at the Great Barrier Reef! We celebrated Luke's last night in Sydney with a night out on the town!
Saturday night fun!
Sunday, September 19: Well, I knew it was coming... Luke's trip would have to end at some point =( I wish he could've stayed for another month! It was hard to say goodbye, especially knowing it was going to be another 2 1/2 months until I see him again and especially after having such a fun filled week!! We got him to the airport just on time and he had to go =( I spent the rest of my day drowning my sorrows with chocolate and crying haha! Don't worry, I'm fine now!
Since then, I have had one research paper consuming my life and it is finally DONE! Can't wait to turn it in tomorrow morning and have it completely off my chest. All of my roommates are on Spring Break now and I'm pretty jealous of the things they're doing! Hali and Halana are basically touring the east coast of Australia - hitting up the Whitsunday Islands and all sorts of other places. Vessie is off to New Zealand with two of our other friends, Julian and Mike. That leaves the apartment to Hannah and myself for the next week and a half! Hopefully I'll be able to get all sorts of work done this next week. That's the aim anyway! Hope you all have enjoyed this post - hopefully it's been worth the wait! Love, Em.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sorry!
I realize it has been almost an entire month since I have updated, and I apologize!!!! I have a paper due Friday which I really need to work on right now, so I can't do the update that I want. So please bear with me this next week, and I PROMISE to have a wonderful full update for you SOON!
Love, Em.
Love, Em.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Hurry Up Summer!
I thought it would be a lot easier to keep this updated. I'd like to do it every week, but whenever the time comes, I feel like I don't have anything to say.
The weather has been pretty constant the past couple of weeks. I check the weather every morning before I go to class and everyday, never fail, it's always 57 degrees Fahrenheit. It doesn't feel quite that cold usually though, especially in the sun! Temperatures usually get up to the mid-60's, and it's not too bad. It seems like every day it gets above 65, then it's super windy so you can't even tell that it's warmer! The news always gives the temperature in Celsius. A quick way to approximate the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit is to double the temperature in Celsius and add 30. So if the temperature is 18 degrees Celsius, which it frequently is, that's approximately 66 degrees Fahrenheit. So there you go! There's your "science" lesson for the day.
If you're wondering what the time difference is, I'm 14 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, 15 ahead of Central Time. Another quick conversion (I'm all about the quick conversions today I guess) if you're in EST is to take whatever time it is, add 2 hours, and flip the a.m./p.m. (Central - add 3) Pretty crazy to think of how different that actually is! When you're getting ready for bed at 10 p.m. Thursday, I'll be eating lunch at 12 noon Friday! Makes it a bit challenging when trying to Skype with friends and family. It usually ends up being either really late here and early at home or vice versa. We still manage to make it work though! I believe I changed the timestamp on my blog so that it show when I post it in my local time, not what time it is at home.
This past weekend I went on a wine tour to Hunter Valley, about 2 hours outside of Sydney. (Pictures below) The legal drinking age in Australia is 18, so nothing illegal was going on =) We were picked up in a nice, about 21 passenger bus at 7 a.m. Made some stops to pick others up, and made it to the Valley around 10:45. Throughout the day we went to 4 wineries and 1 brewery and had tastings at all! It was really interesting to try all the different types of wine. I'm not an extremely experienced wine drinker, so some of the flavors really surprised me! I thought I would like the sweeter wines, but for the most part they were too much for me. We had a couple that tasted like straight maple syrup. Yuck! Not exactly what I'm looking for in a wine. I ended up buying a bottle at the last winery and got one free with my purchase! What a deal!
The rest of the weekend I was pretty useless. I was exhausted from a long day, and I had a lot of work to do! Thankfully I've gotten everything done I've needed to do so far. Lots of reading to keep up on though! I usually spend at least 2 hours reading (or trying to read) every day. You know, sometimes it's just really hard to stay awake!
I went to my first footy game on Monday! (Picture below) We saw the Sydney Roosters play against the Gold Coast Titans. Feel free to look them up to figure out what league they're in, because I'm not sure. It's kind of a long story, but I'll tell it anyway. I'm in a class called Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and for this class we are building our own businesses in groups. My group is manufacturing a product called "ComfyBag." It is a backpack that folds out into a seat cushion to fit over those uncomfortable stadium seats. (If you weren't sure, I'm practicing my pitch on you!) It has plenty of room for snacks and drinks and can be designed in support of your favorite team! I know in the States there are plenty of seat cushions you can buy, but in Australia there isn't any sort product like this in existence, that we've found. So, we needed to do some market research to see how the public would respond to the ComfyBag. The whole team went to the game after class Monday, and (I think) had a great time! There are 3 of us that are not from Australia (one from Denmark, one from South Korea, and me) and 3 from Australia. Quite a diverse group! The three of us from overseas had never attended a rugby game though, so it was very interesting to see. One of our group members, Dave, was a professional Cricket player for 8 years, so he was quite familiar with sport of all kind and was helpful in explaining the rules.
Round 2 of postcards went out the other day. Check your mailboxes sometime next week! I was pleasantly surprised with a letter from my Uncle Bob on Monday. As I told him in an e-mail, it's nice to receive some "snail mail" every now and then! Hopefully I will be sending even more letters out over the next week or two.
That's about all I have for the time being! Hope everyone who's reading is doing well.
A quick view from inside our bus.
Inside the first winery, my favorite, Savannah Estates.
Actual vineyard!
My group of girls minus a few!
This is the only picture that turned out halfway decent from the footy game.
Love, Em.
The weather has been pretty constant the past couple of weeks. I check the weather every morning before I go to class and everyday, never fail, it's always 57 degrees Fahrenheit. It doesn't feel quite that cold usually though, especially in the sun! Temperatures usually get up to the mid-60's, and it's not too bad. It seems like every day it gets above 65, then it's super windy so you can't even tell that it's warmer! The news always gives the temperature in Celsius. A quick way to approximate the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit is to double the temperature in Celsius and add 30. So if the temperature is 18 degrees Celsius, which it frequently is, that's approximately 66 degrees Fahrenheit. So there you go! There's your "science" lesson for the day.
If you're wondering what the time difference is, I'm 14 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, 15 ahead of Central Time. Another quick conversion (I'm all about the quick conversions today I guess) if you're in EST is to take whatever time it is, add 2 hours, and flip the a.m./p.m. (Central - add 3) Pretty crazy to think of how different that actually is! When you're getting ready for bed at 10 p.m. Thursday, I'll be eating lunch at 12 noon Friday! Makes it a bit challenging when trying to Skype with friends and family. It usually ends up being either really late here and early at home or vice versa. We still manage to make it work though! I believe I changed the timestamp on my blog so that it show when I post it in my local time, not what time it is at home.
This past weekend I went on a wine tour to Hunter Valley, about 2 hours outside of Sydney. (Pictures below) The legal drinking age in Australia is 18, so nothing illegal was going on =) We were picked up in a nice, about 21 passenger bus at 7 a.m. Made some stops to pick others up, and made it to the Valley around 10:45. Throughout the day we went to 4 wineries and 1 brewery and had tastings at all! It was really interesting to try all the different types of wine. I'm not an extremely experienced wine drinker, so some of the flavors really surprised me! I thought I would like the sweeter wines, but for the most part they were too much for me. We had a couple that tasted like straight maple syrup. Yuck! Not exactly what I'm looking for in a wine. I ended up buying a bottle at the last winery and got one free with my purchase! What a deal!
The rest of the weekend I was pretty useless. I was exhausted from a long day, and I had a lot of work to do! Thankfully I've gotten everything done I've needed to do so far. Lots of reading to keep up on though! I usually spend at least 2 hours reading (or trying to read) every day. You know, sometimes it's just really hard to stay awake!
I went to my first footy game on Monday! (Picture below) We saw the Sydney Roosters play against the Gold Coast Titans. Feel free to look them up to figure out what league they're in, because I'm not sure. It's kind of a long story, but I'll tell it anyway. I'm in a class called Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and for this class we are building our own businesses in groups. My group is manufacturing a product called "ComfyBag." It is a backpack that folds out into a seat cushion to fit over those uncomfortable stadium seats. (If you weren't sure, I'm practicing my pitch on you!) It has plenty of room for snacks and drinks and can be designed in support of your favorite team! I know in the States there are plenty of seat cushions you can buy, but in Australia there isn't any sort product like this in existence, that we've found. So, we needed to do some market research to see how the public would respond to the ComfyBag. The whole team went to the game after class Monday, and (I think) had a great time! There are 3 of us that are not from Australia (one from Denmark, one from South Korea, and me) and 3 from Australia. Quite a diverse group! The three of us from overseas had never attended a rugby game though, so it was very interesting to see. One of our group members, Dave, was a professional Cricket player for 8 years, so he was quite familiar with sport of all kind and was helpful in explaining the rules.
Round 2 of postcards went out the other day. Check your mailboxes sometime next week! I was pleasantly surprised with a letter from my Uncle Bob on Monday. As I told him in an e-mail, it's nice to receive some "snail mail" every now and then! Hopefully I will be sending even more letters out over the next week or two.
That's about all I have for the time being! Hope everyone who's reading is doing well.
A quick view from inside our bus.
Inside the first winery, my favorite, Savannah Estates.
Actual vineyard!
My group of girls minus a few!
This is the only picture that turned out halfway decent from the footy game.
Love, Em.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Everything Australian
Sorry for the delay in posting! It's been a busy week - I had my first assignment due Thursday. 500 word essay and using the library catalogue to find 5 sources relating to the topic at hand. Not too much, right? Right! But that's 15% of my grade right there! YIKES! Hopefully I was on the right track with my essay. I can't really afford to be wrong here.
Besides writing about my daily activities, I thought I might enlighten you to some (not so huge) differences between Australia and the U.S. First rule of thumb: it's not wrong, it's just different.
We'll start with driving.
It's not just the sides of the road which are different, speed limits are much lower here. It's not uncommon to see 40 km/h which is just about 25 mph. When I've been on the highway, the max speed limit I've seen so far is 80 km/h, a conservative 50 mph.
Australians also seem to be quite tolerant of pedestrians. Everyone will wait for you to cross the road and not seem pushy. It's kind of a nice change not to feel like you're going to get run over when you cross the street.
Despite all that, Australians are big fans of using their horns. Frequently.
Next up, money money money!!
When you take $100 out of the bank, it's given in 2 $50 bills, not $20's.
With this system, you really realize how important keeping the change is! Those $2 coins are quite handy.
By the way, the man on the $50 bill is David Unaipon, a notable Aboriginal writer and inventor.
Now for how cool the money is! The notes are made of a plastic polymer, so they are very durable. They don't tear easily, and you can take them swimming!! (Way to be practical, Australia!) They have quite a few security features, the most notable being the plastic window seen on the right hand side.
Also, the higher the value of the bill, the bigger it is in size.
Next, electrical outlets!
I don't have as much to say about them. They run at 240 volts, compared to our 120. There is an on/off switch at the outlet itself (see pictures below), so even if something is plugged in it doesn't necessarily have power running to it.
Off.
For any of my American appliances to work (mainly my laptop), I have to have my handy dandy converter.
I plug my laptop into the front and the back plugs into the wall. Super exciting, I know.
Last but not least for the pictures are the light switches.
When button is down, light is on. Kind of opposite from home!
Now for your Australian language lesson. Just a few random words and phrases that I've noticed since being here.
straight away = right away (Not that big of a difference, and maybe some American say this too, but Australians say it all. the. time.)
How ya goin'? = How are you?
capsicum = peppers (like green and red bell peppers)
Maccas = McDonald's
tyres = tires (said the same, just spelled differently)
petrol = gasoline
Uni = college
school = high school (So I can't tell people I'm here for school or else they think I'm in high school. I have to tell them I'm here for Uni!)
brekkie = breakfast
heaps = lots
chemist = pharmacy
So there you have it! Should you ever visit Australia, these are things you are quite likely to encounter. Hope this was at least semi-interesting! and hopefully next time I update, it won't be so far from now.
Love, Em.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Almost a month under my belt!
It' hard to believe, but I've been Australia for almost a month! I also can't believe that it's already August! I'm really pleased with how everything has been so far. I feel very welcome and comfortable here. I haven't met too many Australians yet, just talked to a few in class. Hopefully the more I'm in my tutorials (see last blog if you're not sure what this is), the more I'll be able to get to know them!
I'm not too sure what to write about since I'm settling into a routine. I have class Monday through Friday, but usually only one or two classes a day. I've visited the gym a couple times and it's pretty nice! The equipment is pretty limited, but for the most part it's all functioning, so that's all I need. This past weekend we visited the pool, hot tub, and sauna. I didn't even know we had a sauna! Definitely enjoyed putting those amenities to use. I stepped outside for a bit to see if it would be warm enough to lay out, but it was just a little too chilly to stay outside. I also went to the beach Sunday in hopes of working on my tan, but again too cold! I was able to wear shorts, but I had to keep my sweatshirt on and still I was covered in goosebumps.
Saturday a group from our apartment walked down Oxford Street to Paddington to visit the market. They have one set up every weekend featuring mainly boutique clothing and jewelry, but there were also a few food stands, as well as some specialty/trinket items. It was really nice just to walk around and check everything out! I ended up buying a bracelet and 2 pairs of earring at a bargain of $20 all together! Since everything was so specialized, much of it was pretty pricey. Also on Saturday, I was surprised by flowers arriving at my door! My boyfriend, Luke, sent me a massive, beeeaaaauuuutiful vase of flowers - light pink and orange roses, gerbera daisies, and lilies (my favorite)!! The lilies just opened up today and they are HUUGE! What a nice surprise that was =)
So! Not much else to say. If you have anything you want me to answer, just let me know! Also, if any of you have Skype and want to talk, just search for me. I'm pretty sure I'm the only Emily Nicholson in Indianapolis. Hope you all are well! (Oh, and postcards are being sent soon!)
Love, Em.
I'm not too sure what to write about since I'm settling into a routine. I have class Monday through Friday, but usually only one or two classes a day. I've visited the gym a couple times and it's pretty nice! The equipment is pretty limited, but for the most part it's all functioning, so that's all I need. This past weekend we visited the pool, hot tub, and sauna. I didn't even know we had a sauna! Definitely enjoyed putting those amenities to use. I stepped outside for a bit to see if it would be warm enough to lay out, but it was just a little too chilly to stay outside. I also went to the beach Sunday in hopes of working on my tan, but again too cold! I was able to wear shorts, but I had to keep my sweatshirt on and still I was covered in goosebumps.
Saturday a group from our apartment walked down Oxford Street to Paddington to visit the market. They have one set up every weekend featuring mainly boutique clothing and jewelry, but there were also a few food stands, as well as some specialty/trinket items. It was really nice just to walk around and check everything out! I ended up buying a bracelet and 2 pairs of earring at a bargain of $20 all together! Since everything was so specialized, much of it was pretty pricey. Also on Saturday, I was surprised by flowers arriving at my door! My boyfriend, Luke, sent me a massive, beeeaaaauuuutiful vase of flowers - light pink and orange roses, gerbera daisies, and lilies (my favorite)!! The lilies just opened up today and they are HUUGE! What a nice surprise that was =)
So! Not much else to say. If you have anything you want me to answer, just let me know! Also, if any of you have Skype and want to talk, just search for me. I'm pretty sure I'm the only Emily Nicholson in Indianapolis. Hope you all are well! (Oh, and postcards are being sent soon!)
Love, Em.
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