Sydney and more

G’day my friends! Still hanging in there? I suppose I am. Australia is absolutely incredible and I wish you all could experience it. It’s a bit strange though, that’s for sure. Today it was about 22, which is around 70 F. That’s insane, we’re supposed to be in winter. All the Americans agree that it has sort of seemed like Spring lately though. The grass is growing and really green where there was no grass, everything else is turning green, all due to all this rain we’re getting, it just feels like spring overall. Except for the fact that the temperature is dropping. But then there have been a few days like today when it’s really warm and feels completely like Spring! So strange, even more so than Kansas! It’s crazy just how much your body is used to weather patterns and it throws me off having completely different weather. It is getting colder, but unlike winter back home, the days still appear to be gorgeous and warm with the bright sun out and blue skies, it’s just a colder air. That’s kind of weird. It’s been really windy as well, just about every single day. It has been raining more as well, which is normal for them, winter brings rain. But it only rains really. I’ve only heard a few rumbles of thunder since I’ve been here and only seen lightning once and that was just a week or two ago!! Even the weather is different, how crazy is that. So are the birds and the trees, it’ll be weird to go home to those birds and trees, I haven’t seen a cardinal or bluebird in forever, or an oak tree or anything like that. I like everything here though. It’s crazy how much it seems like a piece of my heart will be left behind here when I leave. I really love it here, there’s just something almost “magical” about it all, I don’t know. You are a mate to everyone and they’re all so happy and fun most all of the time, no worries mate, things are good, or will be soon. It’s nice. A little side note, just to let all of you know, I am completely and totally enjoying myself to the fullest here, every single day. Even if I have a sad day or rough day in some way, it doesn’t hold me back, it doesn’t keep me from taking full advantage of this opportunity of a lifetime I have been given. I could never do that, so I continue to enjoy every day I have here.

Okay, so back to Sydney. Saturday was our second day and we were a little more energized with a decent night’s sleep. We still forced ourselves to get up and around by 9 to make the most of our day. Our hostel had free breakfast of toast and jam so we grabbed some of that on our way out. We decided this day was going to be full of walking just to see all the sites. So we walked from our hostel a little ways to get to the Botanical Gardens. We walked through those and out to the point by the harbour where Mrs. Macquarie’s chair was, although we didn’t see the chair if there actually is one. It was a spectacular view of the Opera House with the Bridge behind it. So we stopped to take some pictures and such. We kept walking along the harbour towards the Opera House. There we took a few more pictures and kept on our walking tour. We walked down to Circular Quay and over to The Rocks area. This was the oldest part of Sydney so the buildings were really old and looked pretty cool. We went to the visitor centre first to grab some more detailed maps of the area and one had a few historic places it talked about so we headed on in that path. We walked under the bridge and back around the area a bit until we came to this old church that I think was the military church of something. It was a gorgeous old stone church with beautiful stained glass and everything. From there we headed up the hill to Observation park with great views of the bridge and the other side of the city. We stopped in at the Observatory while we were there. We only spent a few minutes in there but I could have spent a lot more! It was so awesome, I love the sky, I’m obsessed, so seeing all these big telescopes and different ways to see the sky and measure the stars and whatnot was really interesting to me. I wish we could have been there at night and seen a show they put on and get to look through this huge telescope up in the dome. It was still cool to see it though. So we walked back over to the Rocks area to find somewhere to eat some lunch. We found a good little pizza place and went to sit down. That’s when we met up with Clay!!! He is studying in Wollongong, a little ways south of Sydney, and was nice enough to come up for the day to see me! I was very excited, it was great to see an old friend and get a big hug. Now we’ve been to London, Paris, and Sydney together! How crazy is that, pretty cool. So we got a nice lunch and decided to hunt for some gelato, but failed. This was when we split up. I wanted to walk across the bridge but Jenny and Heather didn’t, so Loretta, Clay and me went in search of the bridge while Jenny and Heather wandered around. It took a little while to figure out how to get up to the bridge since we were right under it, but we got there and walked all the way across. I kind of wanted to go up in the pylon to get a better view, but it cost money and really didn’t look too much taller. We got some great views just walking across the bridge! It was a gorgeous day outside as well which helped make it even more beautiful in the harbour. Rather than walk back, we decided to take the train since the station was right there. So we thought we’d go over towards Hyde Park to explore that. We took the train to Town Hall which led out into the Queen Victoria Building. This was a funny experience. Well, first off the trains are all double decker which is pretty cool so we sat up top. When we got off though we had to validate our ticket to leave, and our ticket was only a one way so it just ate it up as you walked through the open gates. Well Clay was right behind me to tell me this, but Loretta didn’t know what was happening, so she didn’t walk through in time and the gate shut on her. So she hopped over, well you’re not supposed to do that. There was a security guard there who stopped her and asked very intimidating, what did you do that for? We tried to explain to him what happened that we didn’t know it just ate your ticket and it was our first time. He said that was a $200 fine if you hop over the gate thing but we told him again and he let us go with just warning her. It was funny. Anyway, the QVB used to be something else, but now it’s a big mall. It’s an absolutely gorgeous old building though, so that was kind of cool. We found our way out and the direction we needed to be heading and saw the Town Hall which is a nice building as well. We had to walk a few blocks over to get to Hyde Park and ran into a great old man singing some bad songs on the street corner advertising for Dick Smith electronics, interesting. There were some actual good street performers around Circular Quay, some good aboriginal didgeridoo players and some “statue” people you know. Anyway, at Hyde Park we went to see the Reflection Pool and the Anzac War Memorial. That was pretty cool since I’d just written a paper over the Anzacs and we got to go the memorial service on Anzac Day. We walked down the park to some fountain and also we could see the big old Cathedral there, I forget who’s, maybe St. Paul’s? It is an absolutely beautiful cathedral though, I loved it. So from there we walked across the street to see all the old government buildings and such. We basically just walked by all of them, but we saw the old barracks, the mint museum, the Parliament building, Sydney Hospital, and the state Library. There were some cool buildings, and in front of the hospital was a boar that you were supposed to put change into and rub its nose for good luck. There’s one exactly like it in Kansas City down on the plaza!! I was very excited, so of course I put in my 20 cent piece and rubbed its nose and got my picture with him. We came back to the nearest train station from there and that’s where we left Clay. He was a great tour guide and great at teaching us the train system! It was so good to see him and get to talk with him, it was so normal! So I got a great big goodbye hug and we had a movie goodbye as he rode off in the train after the doors shut. Then Loretta and I got on our train back to King’s Cross and our hostel. Jenny and Heather still weren’t back, they had called us to ask if we wanted to go to the IMAX so they bought us tickets for the next night. We just sat around the room and relaxed a little bit before we started getting ready to go to the ballet at the Opera House. We all got ready pretty quickly and headed down the street for some dinner at Roy’s Café nearby. It was actually very delicious, it was a pretty upscale café. We enjoyed a nice glass of wine and some amazing fresh dinner. Then we caught a bus into the city, we looked so nice and were all dolled up to go to the ballet and be all sophisticated, but still had to take the bus. So we got there and walked down to the Opera House and found our seats for the ballet, it was called New Romantics. It was absolutely wonderful, really. I have only been to see the Nutcracker as far as ballets and I didn’t think I was really a huge fan of ballet, but this was amazing. The dance and the music evoked so many emotions. It was very impressive. I’m not sure how to describe it, I guess here are some words that came to mind; power, grace, strength, beauty, emotional, tender, intense, romantic, gentle. Everything about it was really romantic, and I couldn’t believe the way those dancers could move their bodies, it’s insane. The pit was really good as well and cool to be able to watch them playing the music that was so flawless to go with the dance. The talent involved in the whole production was incredible. There were three parts and two intermissions but it was still only a couple hours, totally worth it. Our tickets were only $26 because it was limited view but we could see everything but some of them entering off one side so it was spectacular! I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed the ballet and how moving it was. It was fun to talk between acts as well, we talked about childhood and growing up with all the strange toys and fads for some reason, always entertaining. We took a taxi ride home after it and went to bed fairly quickly as it had been another long day.

Sunday was another packed but fun filled day. We got up early again and grabbed some toast and jam. Then we caught the train over to Bondi Junction where we hopped on a bus to take us to Bondi Beach, a world famous surf beach. It was huge, and very gorgeous! We walked around a little, there was a little path along the cliffs so we went a little ways on that. Then we came back and walked along the beach a little ways. I went on further to get some more views and stick my feet in the water and found all the little shops. The other girls met me there and we looked in some shops and found a good place for some lunch. It was another beautiful day and quite warm really. Lunch was tasty and more food than any of us needed! We walked back to catch the bus and then got on the train and headed to Olympic Park a little further inland and out of Sydney. We had to go back to Central Station though and then catch one to Libscombe where we caught one that went into the park directly. So we walked around the Olympic Park where the 2000 Olympic Games were held. That was pretty awesome. I can remember watching them and now I’ve actually been where all that stuff was I saw! We walked around near Telstra Stadium and all these cool poles they have there with info about the games on them. We walked over to the Cauldron that held the flame where they also had laid in the stone ribbons of plaques with all the medal winners on them for all events. We went over to the skate park as well and saw some little kids on their skate boards which was pretty cool. Then we all got a snack and walked on to see some fountain that looked like it’d be fun to play in. We picked up a 50 cent ice cream cone from Macker’s (McDs) on our way back to the train. So we made our way back on the train, switching lines a few times to get back to Circular Quay. We bought tickets for the ferry to Manly Beach but just missed the one then. So we had to wait a little while to catch the next one. We were a little screwed up with our plans then because we wanted to take that one so we could see the sunset. The sun was finishing setting by the time we left. It was still pretty though to see it on the Opera House. The ferry was about 30 minutes one way, we just enjoyed the views and rode it back. When we got back we got a taxi to take us to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. We had to wait a little while so we went to the bar to get some drinks. The girls all got cocktails, but I decided to get a shot! Mostly just because you got to keep the shot glass with Hard Rock Sydney on it and I wanted one anyway so it was a better deal to get a drink and the glass! It was actually quite tasty and I got it down easily, go me. Then we had dinner and it was absolutely wonderful. Service was good and the food was awesome. I got some gourmet mac and cheese with peppers and stuff in it with a salad, that was actually like the salad I know from home with romaine and real ranch dressing, it was so wonderful!! I miss salad, it’s so different here, so that was a real treat for me. It took us awhile to figure out our ticket because they couldn’t split it at all but we got it worked out. Then I bought a shirt, it’s cute, and we headed on our way. We walked a ways over to get to the IMAX theatre in Darling Harbour. We saw the movie 300 on the huge screen!! I didn’t especially want to see it to begin with, but it was actually pretty good, just really bloody. Being on the big screen didn’t really help with the gore scenes, but it was alright. Afterwards we just got a taxi back to the hostel and relaxed some before bed. It was another full day but really amazing.

Monday was our last day in Sydney. We had to awake early again since check out time was 9am. We grabbed our toast and turned in our sheets and keys. They let us leave our luggage in the common room under the table where reception watched it all day. I headed out a few minutes earlier than the other girls so I could go down the street to the pay phone to call my brother, Matt. He graduated Sunday and had his party that night, which was Monday morning to me. So I was really upset I couldn’t be there for that because it’s a big deal and I’m proud of him and wanted to be there for him. Since I couldn’t I thought I’d call and tell him congrats and all that jazz on his big day. I did, and the first thing he asked was if I’d checked my email which I hadn’t been able to. So he said good because he wanted to tell me something! I gasped right then because I knew what he was going to tell me from the sound of his voice, and he had told me he was looking for rings. So he said, you know how I was looking for rings, well I found one and now someone else has it! Yay!!!! I was so excited and surprised! And I was so happy he got to tell me on the phone, as “in person” as we could get! So that was a very exciting phone call to say the least. I was so happy for him for graduating and becoming a doctor and getting engaged and becoming a fiance to Laura! It made me cry because I was so happy and everything and at the same time upset I couldn’t be there to share in any of it! Then when I went back and told the girls they were just like, oh that’s great with no enthusiasm. I mean that makes sense, they don’t know him and have no reason to necessarily care, but I wanted to share the joy and I so felt like giving someone a hug and had nobody I could! Just like it’s really difficult being depressed with nobody close around you, it’s also really difficult being really happy with nobody to share it with! Anyway, that was my morning! Then we could leave and head off to the bus stop to head into the city again. We went to Circular Quay and walked all the way down to Darling Harbour from there. It was great even though it was a little long because we got to see a whole lot of the city and some pretty cool buildings. We walked around down at Darling Harbour and stopped in the visitor centre. There was a Chinese Friendship Garden we wanted to go in but it cost like $10 to walk through so we didn’t, a little depressing. But we saw a bunch of cool fountains. There were really a lot of fountains all over Sydney, a little like Kansas City which was pretty cool. We headed back over to the other side and walked around to see some ships at the Maritime Museum and around to Star City Casino. We explored there a little to just to see what was there and got a quick bite to eat at Subway before walking back to the main part of Darling Harbour. There was an aboriginal culture centre we went into that had a free didgeridoo show at 1pm so we stopped in to see that. The guy was really good and it was interesting to hear him talk about the instrument a little more than I had heard before and how to play it. It really is one of the most amazing musical instruments I’ve ever seen or heard in my life. I can’t believe it’s made from mother nature and it takes so much work to play, though I’ve never really tried. There is so much involved and the circular breathing is insane. So from there we walked back up to Circular Quay taking a different street to see some more of the city. It was another good walk, the architecture in Sydney was so cool. So many buildings were different than your typical skyscraper and they were so interesting. When we got back to the main Quay we headed up the way along the shops and such to the Minus 5° Ice Bar. This was a little expensive, but I found some coupons because I’m awesome like that. We got 30 minutes in the bar and one cocktail so that was nice. They gave us parkas and gloves and the girls got boots since they were wearing their thongs. We looked so funny. Since it was the middle of the day, there was nobody in there at first and only a couple more people came in, but it was still pretty cool. The entire inside was made of ice, the bar, the tables, the chairs, the walls and the ceiling, even the glasses we drank out of were completely ice. It was pretty cold in there. They had some pretty ice sculptures and weird things from the ceiling as well. The photographer came around and took a couple pictures of us and we bought a couple sets of those to split between us because they wouldn’t let us take any pictures inside the bar. It was a good time, nice to have a cocktail in the middle of the day! Then I made them go to take a couple more pictures with the bridge and Opera House since we were right there and I didn’t have any with me in it. We had some time to spare with nothing left planned so we headed into a couple shops along the way there and looked around. Then we got some ice cream from Baskin Robbins, and they had Chocolate Peanut Butter!! So of course I got that, it was funny though because that’s not very big down here and a lot of Aussies I know haven’t ever heard of that or thought it sounded appetizing at all! So we had a cocktail and some ice cream that afternoon, needless to say it was quite spectacular! We figured it was about time to get back to the hostel and get off to the airport, so we caught the bus back. It was still a little early so we watched a little of 10 Things I Hate About You on TV in the hostel before we went outside to wait for the airport shuttle to pick us up. It was only $10 which was nice and the guy was really nice. At the airport we saw this pretty hilarious, but embarrassing, billboard for some real estate company. It said So easy anyone can do it and there was a picture of George Bush on the internet. Yeah, they don’t really like Bush over here either, I just couldn’t believe that was actually real! We had to wait just a little while for our flight, so I looked around one of the shops and bought a couple magnets, I’ve been doing good of getting a magnet from most everywhere. Loretta and I played some solitaire on our computers, I think we are officially obsessed and it’s a bad thing! The flight back was good, we all got seats together and looked through each others pictures some on out cameras. I took about 1000 I think in total over the 4 days. Surprise! Everyone’s used to it by now and knows that’s just what I do, where’d Alissa go, oh she’s just taking some more pictures! I love it. Overall, since I’ve been in Australia, I’ve taken about 11,300 pictures. Yeah. I can’t even believe that! Jenny’s boyfriend was nice enough to come pick us up from the airport and take us back to uni so that was great. That night was all unpacking and uploading my pictures and such since we didn’t get back until almost 10 I think anyway.

Then I really had to crack down on homework! I had to finish my paper for Australia Today and study for my finance test. I got my paper done by Thursday morning, and I think it was pretty good. I got my first paper back and got a D on it when I thought it was pretty terrible! That’s a distinction, which is good for here. They have HD, high distinction, D, C, credit, and P pass. But it’s not like home, HD is actually pretty difficult to get apparently. I still think I should get those, I did get one on our econ homework assignment. They grade differently though and I’m still not sure what all they expect or anything. It’s okay though. I’m here for way more than the classes! So I got a little bit of studying done through the week, but I did most of it last night and today. I took the test today online, it’s a multiple choice one and worth 15% of our grade. That seems like nothing though because that’s what our one assignment was worth and our final is worth 70%!! We got a D on that assignment too which is great, he said that was above average. My econ final is also 70% of my grade, and my final paper is Australia Today is 50%. I need to get started on that paper. My final exam in Business Communication is only 30% and open book so I’m really not worried about that one. I need to start studying for my other ones though, they’re only a couple weeks away now! It’s crazy. It’s actually a little stressful to have almost all your grade based on this one exam when you haven’t had any all semester. It makes me really think about why I worry about 20% finals back home, they seem like such a huge deal! But I can’t really be too stressed here so that’s good, I’m doing alright.

Yesterday was a really productive day and that was fabulous! I had my last finance class, he did all the review, which they call “revision” for some reason, like they’re revising everything they taught to focus it more on what will be on the exam, I don’t know. Anyway, I actually really enjoyed going to that class because Aiman, our lecturer, was really interesting and enthusiastic about everything. I wanted to video tape him actually, but I forgot it was our last lecture! I’ll miss it. But it’s nice that I don’t have any class at all next Friday and only in the afternoon on Thursday! Anyway, I talked with Mom and Dad, and Mark called me!! I hadn’t talked to him in forever so that was a really great surprise to hear from him and get to talk for awhile, even if he did stay up too late for a work night! Then I went into town in the afternoon for some errands. I’d been meaning to send Mom a CD of all her pictures she put on my computer from her trip for a long time. I had to send it in a package though so I had to get to the Post and I never did, so finally I got that done. Also, from when I was sick and had to get medicine I wanted to see if I could claim that on my overseas insurance and their office is in the mall downtown. I finally went and turns out I can’t because it was less than $30 so I just had to pay but that’s alright. I stopped in a store I really like while I was in the mall just to see if they had any sales. And they did! I ended up spending $55!! But I saved $50 so I think it’s okay. I bought a cute sweater, three simple bright long sleeve shirts, and one cute printed short sleeve shirt. So really some pretty good deals, and it’s all so comfortable, the store is called Cotton On. Anyway, that was a good little side trip. I caught the bus then to the supermarket in Belmont. I stocked up on groceries because it had been a long time! I treated myself to some Tim Tams, and some cinnamon donuts for breakfast. Yum. I love the bakery section, and it’s right at the front so I always have to stop and look, Loretta makes fun of me for it. I got some Clementine tangerines too, yum! So, yeah, trip to the grocery store. I went up the hill to Macker’s (McDonald’s) to grab some dinner as well. Then I got the bus back to uni and put everything away and talked to my housemate a little before he left for home. Once again, another weekend when it’s just me and one other guy in my unit! So sad, it’s depressing when nobody’s here and they all go home for the weekend. They better stay here the next couple weekends when it’s my last times here! I spent a lot of last night studying for finance and then planning all my trips after school as well, I think I’ve got it mostly figured out, I just need to finalise what I want and book stuff. It should be a good time, and I’m saving everything until after school so I can spend more time with all the people here while they’re around. It was good to get done. Then this morning I studied quite a bit more and everything and took the test this afternoon. I watched part of Fight Club hanging out at Wookey 4 with Nick and Joe from South Carolina. It was good, I really want to see the whole thing because I think it was ruined for me since I didn’t watch the beginning, but it looked like a great movie. So now I think it’s time for bed actually. Or at least another movie to fall asleep to. I think that’s a complete update on everything. Should be, it’s long enough! I’ll be impressed if you actually made through all this. If only I could write essays this long this easily! Hope you all continue to be doing well. I miss you even if I have fallen in love with this place! Have a great weekend and I hope to hear from you soon. Here’s some wise words to ponder:

“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” ~Joseph Addison

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ~William Arthur Ward

Love, Alissa

p.s. You know how I said it was 22 today? Well now it’s about 8, which is like 45 F. Crazy weather I tell you, crazy.

p.p.s. I think I’m getting some sort of carpal tunnel or something, my fingers really hurt sometimes and feel really stiff, maybe it’s the laptop? I don’t know but I don’t like it.