I FINALLY have internet in my room...a recap

Ok, so I am a little behind…never quite been good at journaling/blogging.

I’ll start with Sunday, the 17th….

I woke up and had breakfast around 8ish with Sarah. A couple hours later we begin our 10 ten mile (no joke) journey around the city with Britney and Becca. Our first stop was Darling Harbour to watch the Dragon Boat Races that were a part of the Chinese New Year Celebration.

Then, we decided some shade would be nice, so we made a stop at the Maritime Museum and learned all about the Ice Man. The Ice Man is the oldest, intact, person ever found. The highlight was probably the lovely BBC documentary detailing the theories of his death. After the film, we ventured onward in our journey. The next stop was the Sydney Opera House (it was official…we were in Sydney)! And, of course there was a wonderful view of the bridge. Currently, we are working on getting photos of the Opera House from every angle…and Sunday was an excellent start to this endeavor. While at the Opera House, we checked out what was playing and currently have tickets to see “As You Like It” on Monday (more to come on that next week).

From the Opera House, we went into the Botanical Gardens. Absolutely gorgeous. I took a ridiculous amount of photos of the place. While there, we saw hundreds of bats, just chilling in the trees. It was like nothing I have ever seen. They are grey-headed flying foxes. Unfortunately, some of the gardens were closed by the time we made our way to them (but, fear not, we made it there on Wednesday).

Around 5ish, we started to venture over to The Domain, were a short-film festival was being held. After being there, for about 30 minutes, it started to sprinkle and the skies looked pretty grim. Of course, no one had an umbrella, so we eventually found a Starbucks downtown to hold out in until the start of the films. We ended up watching about five or so films before it began to rain again. This was our cue to leave. We hopped in a cab and headed to King Street, a popular street on the edge of campus with lots of cheap (a relative term) restaurants. The lucky winner of our business on this night was a Turkish pizza joint. I couldn’t tell you the name of it, but it was quite delightful.

Monday, the 18th and Tuesday, the 19th…

International Student Orientation…nothing too exciting, besides the fact that over two-thirds of the international students are American…YAY AMERICA!


Wednesday, the 20th

Today, was another big walking in the city day.

The day kind of got off to a late start around 11:30 when I met Becca, Sarah, Britney, and Nicole in the Queen Victoria Park (which is right off campus). The first stop we made was something we stumbled upon, actually. Another school, Sydney Tech, was having their big orientation day for the entire student population. We wondered in, acted like we went there, and got some free stuff.

The next stop for the day was Hyde Park. Turns out we walked through it on Sunday and didn’t even realize it. Here, we met the first not so nice Aussie. This man just refused to take a quick photo for us (even I, have never refused to take a tourist’s photo….that is saying something). Turns out it was for the better though, a real photographer took it for us, and got everything we wanted in the shot (there was a really tall building that we wanted in the background that was difficult to get, but he managed to fit it in). He was a champ about it.

After a short lunch in The Domain, we went back to the Botanical Gardens to visit some of the things we missed on Sunday. First, we went to the Succulent Garden.

Then, we headed up to a point where there is an awesome view of the Bridge and the Opera House. Of course, we took a TON of photos. Probably an unnecessary amount.

After, we walked through the gardens to find the Government House, only to find out that it was closed, again.

At this point, we were pretty tired and hot. The sun was really beating down, so we headed back to campus and called it a day.

Thursday, the 21st

Not so exciting of a day either. First, headed down to Gloria Jeans to pick up some free internet to catch up on emails and what not. After hanging out there for a couple hours, I determined it was probably time to set up a bank account, something that I have been putting off for a few days by this point. Then, to top of the day I finally made it back to Kmart and Target to pick up a few essentials. That was actually a really exciting point to my day as I usually get free time after they close. See, the Australians…not big on the whole working thing. Businesses (including stores) close around 6. The shopping center near campus is actually an exception and…gasp…stays open until 7. And, to be really crazy they stay open until 9 on Thursdays (yes, only Thursdays).