it has become customary that i get lost on the streets of sydney at least once a day. its quite eventful. the other day an old man sprayed me with his hose.
target is a clothes store.
lollies are all types of candy.
mackers is McDonalds.
its been great here. the people at flo are awesome. we went night swimming at Bondai beach the other night. obviously i didn't go in. when being mauled to death by a shark becomes painless and/or inevitable, heck I'll go swimming all the time. until then, I'll keep my feet on dry land thank you.
todays the first day of classes. i'm currently sitting in my classroom on my laptop because my professor decided not to come. love it. and it rained for about 5 minutes today.
yesterday i went to my first Australian church. theres a baptist church thats affiliated with Flo Harris that most the kids from flo go to so i went there with them. it was pretty uneventful. definitely going to c3 next week. partyyyyy
I really have nothing to talk about. I guess you can comment on any of these if you want to know anything specific :]
Open a Bottle of Adventure
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
2/24
I am exhausted. it is the end of day tow and we have been going and going non stop. We had to be out the door by 7:30 in order to catch the buses and get to Wesley by 8:45. Then we had Wesley’s orientation all day (like freshman orientation at colleges in the states) with all the first years (thats what they’re called here, first, second, and third years [they only have three years to get their bachelor’s degree]). It was long and monotonous, and I honestly wasn’t really paying attention. I was talking with this Australian girl Kahlia most of the time (well, whispering, I guess).
At about 1:00 we had lunch and then went into the city for a scavenger hunt with all the new Wesley students. It was pretty fun. It was cool to be able to walk around the city and see some of the cool places and all the pubs and cafes.
But at the end of the scavenger hunt, we had a harbor cruise which was pretty cool. It was just like a 3 leveled boat that we all went on and it sailed around the harbor while we ate and danced and talked. It was a fun orientation, but now the ASCers have to go back to Wesley for another orientation tomorrow morning. I’m in desperate need for sleep because not only am I just tired, but jet lag is catching up to me and I’ve only been in Sydney for less than 48 hours.
goodnight.
At about 1:00 we had lunch and then went into the city for a scavenger hunt with all the new Wesley students. It was pretty fun. It was cool to be able to walk around the city and see some of the cool places and all the pubs and cafes.
But at the end of the scavenger hunt, we had a harbor cruise which was pretty cool. It was just like a 3 leveled boat that we all went on and it sailed around the harbor while we ate and danced and talked. It was a fun orientation, but now the ASCers have to go back to Wesley for another orientation tomorrow morning. I’m in desperate need for sleep because not only am I just tired, but jet lag is catching up to me and I’ve only been in Sydney for less than 48 hours.
goodnight.
2/23
so I didn't have internet until now so here are the posts I made and saved on my computer to update later :]
so here I am. I’ve made it to Australia.
one of the first things you should know about flying abroad is that everyone expects you to know what you’re doing. not only was I surprised that our group didn’t have a supervisor (not that we really needed it, but still), I found that later on in the flight I was cumulating so many questions about customs and immigration forms and granola that it was almost stressful. I brought so much food onto this flight it felt strange that I mark the box “no food items to declare” but I figured customs didn’t care that I had brought along Phinneas and Ferb fruit snacks to keep me company. I was waved through the baggage part of customs anyway so it really didn’t matter. I could have brought a bomb for all they knew and I’d still have it. I shouldn’t have thrown away my granola.
When we arrived at Wesley Institute, we dropped all our luggage off and met in a classroom to go through ASC (Australia Studies Program)’s orientation. It was long and semi-monotonous, but we received so many useful things. a public transportation pass (including busses, trains, you name it), an emergency card, $10 prepaid calling card, maps, bus schedules, cell phones, tourist guides. We got everything.
another thing you should know about Australia is that they eat just as much as Americans do, but they set aside time for it. Today I ate 5 meals: breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. And literally as I was typing this, they rang the bell for evening tea. its truly wonderful here.
Today was satisfyingly uneventful. We did play extreme pictionary (which, in all reality, is really just a combination of pictionary and a relay race).
And here I am at Flo Harris Lodge. it is great. The people seem nice, the food is decent (yes mom, we had meat pies and I ate all of the food given to me), and we even had an optional Bible study tonight (which I opted to go to).
However, I have never been in a place at dinner time with so much noise. Its not so much that the people are making the noise as it is that the walls just reflect it perfectly creating a continuous echo of every word muttered within 20 minutes. I could walk in that room, wisper my name and come back in 15 minutes to a chorus of voices singing, or shouting more like it, “PAUL! PAUL!” Needless to say, I could understand maybe every 4th word said during dinner. My poor housemates probably thought I was deaf asking them what they said or even asking questions already answered; and stupid giving awkward smiles back when I had no clue what they were saying and it was actually a question directed at me.
oh how lovely awkwardness can be.
Goodnight. I have to be up at 6:30 to be at school at 8:25. one of the girls here is driving us. how it takes 2 hours to get to a school 20 minutes away in a car I would like to know and I guess will soon find out.
so here I am. I’ve made it to Australia.
one of the first things you should know about flying abroad is that everyone expects you to know what you’re doing. not only was I surprised that our group didn’t have a supervisor (not that we really needed it, but still), I found that later on in the flight I was cumulating so many questions about customs and immigration forms and granola that it was almost stressful. I brought so much food onto this flight it felt strange that I mark the box “no food items to declare” but I figured customs didn’t care that I had brought along Phinneas and Ferb fruit snacks to keep me company. I was waved through the baggage part of customs anyway so it really didn’t matter. I could have brought a bomb for all they knew and I’d still have it. I shouldn’t have thrown away my granola.
When we arrived at Wesley Institute, we dropped all our luggage off and met in a classroom to go through ASC (Australia Studies Program)’s orientation. It was long and semi-monotonous, but we received so many useful things. a public transportation pass (including busses, trains, you name it), an emergency card, $10 prepaid calling card, maps, bus schedules, cell phones, tourist guides. We got everything.
another thing you should know about Australia is that they eat just as much as Americans do, but they set aside time for it. Today I ate 5 meals: breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. And literally as I was typing this, they rang the bell for evening tea. its truly wonderful here.
Today was satisfyingly uneventful. We did play extreme pictionary (which, in all reality, is really just a combination of pictionary and a relay race).
And here I am at Flo Harris Lodge. it is great. The people seem nice, the food is decent (yes mom, we had meat pies and I ate all of the food given to me), and we even had an optional Bible study tonight (which I opted to go to).
However, I have never been in a place at dinner time with so much noise. Its not so much that the people are making the noise as it is that the walls just reflect it perfectly creating a continuous echo of every word muttered within 20 minutes. I could walk in that room, wisper my name and come back in 15 minutes to a chorus of voices singing, or shouting more like it, “PAUL! PAUL!” Needless to say, I could understand maybe every 4th word said during dinner. My poor housemates probably thought I was deaf asking them what they said or even asking questions already answered; and stupid giving awkward smiles back when I had no clue what they were saying and it was actually a question directed at me.
oh how lovely awkwardness can be.
Goodnight. I have to be up at 6:30 to be at school at 8:25. one of the girls here is driving us. how it takes 2 hours to get to a school 20 minutes away in a car I would like to know and I guess will soon find out.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Australia Today
the big day is tomorrow!
anticipation is getting to me. I'm so excited.
in a little more than 24 hours I will be on a plane to Sydney, Australia can you believe it?
who would have known that I would have been blessed with this opportunity.
A little background before my blog lights up with Australian adventures:
Most people when they study abroad take general ed classes since there aren't many major specific programs. When I declared my graphic design major last year, I went over a class schedule for the next couple years with my advisor and I had to be taking at least 3 art classes per semester. I had already taken most all of my gen ed classes while I wasn't sure what I wanted to study. This meant that I couldn't study abroad. I had accepted this fact and just decided that I might to a little bit of traveling after I graduated or even teach english abroad with a good organization or something instead. However, one day I was browsing study abroad programs (who knows why because I knew I wasn't going). When I came across the BestSemester program I looked up what ones had art classes and the Australia one popped up. I researched it more and it actually had some of the classes I needed. I talked with my parents and they said the only way it would work (because I was looking at this other program) was if I could keep my institutional aid. Well I didn't think that was possible but when I met with one of the study abroad people at the office, they said that since BestSemester was part of the CCCUniversities (or something like that) I would be able to keep my institutional aid because I wouldn't actually be taking a leave of absence. CRAZY. I went to apply and realized that the date had already passed. bummer. I was a little upset, but when i went back on the next day, it said that there was an extended application deadline. WHAT. I mean, c'mon how many things could just be perfect? needless to say I applied and a day later was accepted into the program.
So in the end everything worked out in some strange crazy perfect way.
now put your seatbelts on and get ready for sarcastic, hilarious adventures as you get to live vicariously through me in the land of Oz. excited? you should be.
anticipation is getting to me. I'm so excited.
in a little more than 24 hours I will be on a plane to Sydney, Australia can you believe it?
who would have known that I would have been blessed with this opportunity.
A little background before my blog lights up with Australian adventures:
Most people when they study abroad take general ed classes since there aren't many major specific programs. When I declared my graphic design major last year, I went over a class schedule for the next couple years with my advisor and I had to be taking at least 3 art classes per semester. I had already taken most all of my gen ed classes while I wasn't sure what I wanted to study. This meant that I couldn't study abroad. I had accepted this fact and just decided that I might to a little bit of traveling after I graduated or even teach english abroad with a good organization or something instead. However, one day I was browsing study abroad programs (who knows why because I knew I wasn't going). When I came across the BestSemester program I looked up what ones had art classes and the Australia one popped up. I researched it more and it actually had some of the classes I needed. I talked with my parents and they said the only way it would work (because I was looking at this other program) was if I could keep my institutional aid. Well I didn't think that was possible but when I met with one of the study abroad people at the office, they said that since BestSemester was part of the CCCUniversities (or something like that) I would be able to keep my institutional aid because I wouldn't actually be taking a leave of absence. CRAZY. I went to apply and realized that the date had already passed. bummer. I was a little upset, but when i went back on the next day, it said that there was an extended application deadline. WHAT. I mean, c'mon how many things could just be perfect? needless to say I applied and a day later was accepted into the program.
So in the end everything worked out in some strange crazy perfect way.
now put your seatbelts on and get ready for sarcastic, hilarious adventures as you get to live vicariously through me in the land of Oz. excited? you should be.
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