Two weeks later...

I left Sydney airport exactly two weeks ago today. My three flights were all on time, and managed to land safely between snow storms. I left when it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, I walked off the plane when it was -37 degrees Fahrenheit, dark and snowing. Yes, over 100 degree difference. Life in the States is different, that's for sure. I didn't know what to expect coming back. Turns out I should have expected everything to be just as I left it, for the most part, that would have been correct. There are a few things that have changed, but I think most of that is due to my perception changing. I came back to wonderful people that I love. I have so much to be thankful for here. Celebrating Christmas with family and visiting with high school friends was great, I don't spend a lot of time back home and kept busy for the week I was around. I also spent a lot of time watching movies and hanging out at home.

I suppose I should mention my final day in Manly. We had end of term dinner, except there wasn't a dinner, just free cocktails. Everyone had a final night out together, and no one was too focused on goodbyes, just celebrating a term complete. My camera was broken, but Deb is a great friend and took lots of pictures, Chelsey let me borrow her camera for a bit and I managed to get a picture with McRae. I had someone else ask her, but she accepted and even smiled.


Deb and I also got a picture with Todd, one of the very friendly and helpful advisors at ICMS. One of the few faculty members that seems to understand students and the improvements that could be made.


While I came home to family and friends in the States for Christmas, I left some great people behind. I have this problem with taking people for granted. I don't realize how great of company I am in until I don't have them anymore. I miss Australia, I miss my friends from around the world, I miss traveling. I miss warm weather, I miss sunlight, and I miss the freedom to explore who I am and where I am. Everyone here seems to have a pretty good idea of who they think I should be and what they think I should do. I don't blame anyone, over the past 20 years, I've probably given you more than one reason to think that. I miss having a clean slate though. I feel a bit claustrophobic here, give me some time to get over that. I'm trying really hard to not fall into the same routines I had, but rather create a life here that suits my interests and passions... not the easy way out. We'll see how that works out for me.

For anyone who is wondering, I did get my Chipotle but it was a little delayed. Wendi and I had a sister shopping date and made a lunch stop. It was just as good as I remembered. I found Taco Bell in the Dallas airport too. I missed spicy foods. Next time I live overseas, I'm bringing taco seasoning and a bottle of tabasco. I missed a lot of food actually, Christmas feasts were awesome, and I made some great lasagna at home and with Allison. I love having a kitchen again. Pretty excited to make my own food and never have another meal of rice and bread roll, bland curry, or anything with lamb or veal. My first night in the new apartment (yes I've already moved on to Minneapolis) Kari, Kate and I cooked a nice sit down meal of falafal and couscous. It was pretty awesome. I'm really excited about the new living situation, except that Kate is leaving us for Amsterdam. She'll have a great time... I'm a little jealous.

This is getting long, but a few more things worth mentioning. The snow has bleached my tan. I spent so many hours on the beach and have very little to show for it. I'm not mad about it at all, I've realized those were hours well spent thinking, enjoying music and books, chatting with friends, and soaking up some vitamin D. While the sun is dehydrating, it also makes you a much happier person. I've got some serious seasonal mood swings. I've been enjoying my pedestrian rights in America. Pedestrians don't have right of way in Australia, and its kind of scary. The crosswalks don't beep here though. I've literally missed entire green lights because I'm looking around and not paying attention to the lights. It was so much easier having an audio reminder. I'm not a fan of the cold or being inside. This is a problem during Minnesota winters. I was used to eating outside every day, and taking walks, just sitting around. Being couped up and potential frostbite are not as fun of options. I also left summer which has a lot more daylight than winter. The whole seasonal thing really affects me. Never realized it before.

Long rambling post? Yes. I've been meaning to write for a while. I've been thinking quite a bit since being back. I probably should have journaled. I realize more and more every day, often in conversations with others. Not about Australia and the things I did, but really anything else. My perspective has changed quite a bit. I owe a lot of that to friends who were studying abroad in other parts of the world. We all came from the University of Minnesota, but studied in different locations through different programs. Everyone had such a unique experience. Welcome home to Heejin from London, Chelsey from Kenya, Becca from France, Janae from London, Annie who is still in China, Brooke from Australia, Danielle from Australia. While many friends at ICMS could understand my issues there, there was something about hearing others' experiences and having a common Minnesotan understanding that was very comforting.

Australia is a beautiful country, I had a great experience. I'd recommend anyone check it out, but for studying abroad, I don't know that the location really matters all that much. Living abroad is a rewarding experience in terms of personal growth and independence. I hope to do it again in the near future, hopefully another region of the world. I want to see and explore. There are so many places I would love to go. I've also learned that no matter where I travel, even if for a longer period of time, I will always come home. I have an amazing family... supportive, loving parents and beautiful, intelligent sisters. I am thankful for them; I am also thankful for my opportunities to travel and learn. I really have the best of both worlds.

I've thrown around a lot of New Year's resolutions this year. I've never been very good at keeping them. I think instead of my usual list (I'm kind of a lists freak) I'm going to pick a word of the year.. a theme if you will. This year it is appreciation. I vow to appreciate others, appreciate myself, appreciate the opportunities I have, and appreciate the world around me. I don't know exactly what that entails, but it sounds like a pretty good plan.

Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow is December 19

Since I left in September, December 19 has always been an important date I'd remind myself of frequently. "Don't worry, I'll be back December 19" or "We have so much time before December 19, lets plan something" I always had something else to do before then, even when I packed last week. I was packing to go home, but still had my trip to Melbourne to look forward to. Now I'm back (after another flight cancellation and rebooking)... went to North Head to watch the sunset one last time, sat on the beach looking at the stars one last time (well I guess that might happen again tonight), slept in my bed one last time. Tomorrow is December 19, the day I come home.

A few people from our program are leaving today, most of us are going tomorrow or Sunday. Its unlikely that I'll see most of them again, although its possible. Its going to be hardest leaving people I know realistically I may never see again. I sincerely hope I do, but that'd require a lot of traveling and schedule aligning. I've never had to say goodbye to people and move a continent away knowing that I won't be back in three months. I came home last night to a card and Christmas gift from my roommate Dana. I said goodbye to Jolly last week already, although I believe she is coming back for a few things and I'll say goodbye again. Dana started tearing up when I left for Melbourne already, tomorrow morning is going to be hard.

I've been told that coming home is even harder than leaving...things change and you just aren't the same. I thought they were kidding, but now I'm hearing it first hand from friends that have been abroad this semester. I am really excited to see everyone again, forgive me if I seem a little out of it for the first week or so. Between jet lag, the cold, and anything else that might be different/unexpected... its hard to tell what is going to happen. I'm going to hope for the best. With the holidays around the corner, I'll be seeing lots of people right away. I really am excited about it, but it doesn't leave much time for getting over a 17 hour time difference.

Thanks again to everyone who has kept in touch and helped me through my semester abroad. It was always nice to hear from people back home. I hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to see everyone!

Few more language things:

Row=an argument
Neat= a shot, you can get spirits "mixed" or "neat"
Entree=appetizer
Pissed=drunk, not angry
Arvo=afternoon

Kind of a lame last post, but this is probably it. I might feel compelled to blog about my journey home. We'll see.

I'm done... and in Melbourne!

This won't be the normal book-length posting I swear. My last posting was a little depressing, I'll admit. I got through my last final and made it to Melbourne. Our flight was cancelled last minute, but they found us another flight. We wasted the extra time in the airport playing the longest game of crazy 8s and eating Hungry Jacks. After our flight left (30 minutes after the original delay from the switch) we found out they were compensating us with a dinner and free drinks on a 1.5 hour flight. Definitely a difference between US and Australia domestic flights. Also, I never showed my ID to get on the plane, nor did I have to take out my bag of liquids. Restrictions are so much more relaxed here.

We made it to our hostel by 10pm and went down to the bar to celebrate. It wasn't that exciting and we were much more tired than expected, so we went back to our room to watch TV. That may not sound very exciting, but it is when you've been living TV-less for 3 months. Our room also has a bathroom inside... luxury by hostel standards. This trip is far less planned than Auckland, more of a relaxing and enjoy the last week in Australia sort of trip. Sunday we had breakfast at the hostel, went shopping at the markets, and then went to Witches in Britches, a dinner theatre. I've never been to one before, it was much more entertaining than I expected. We met the cast afterward and went out with them. Good times. I'll have pictures up when I have my cords (they're back in Sydney).

Today we slept in before going on a day tour to Phillips Island. Yes, I was finally going to see my penguins. The day was full with wine tasting, going to a wildlife park (got my final koala, wombat, kangaroo, and wallabie sighting in), sitting on a beach (that never gets old), and seeing some penguins in burrows near the noobies. We then went to the penguin parade which involved penguins coming out of the ocean from a long day of gathering food. We saw a bunch up close, and in a completely natural environment (minus the stadium seating and skybox for watching them... it was seriously set up like a sporting event.) They weren't being held captive and their actions were not set up. They were "little penguins" the only blue species and stand about a foot tall. This means they waddle even more than "regular" penguins and make them all the more cute. After watching a few groups cross the beach, we walked up a board walk and could see them meeting their chicks and partners back at the burrows. Saw some mating, fighting, feeding, you name it... seriously awesome. Unfortunately you can't take pictures because it frightens them to the point of death. Also, my camera broke yesterday (something happened internally so the lighting is all screwed up) so I don't have pictures from today... I'll steal from Brittany and Jenna and post later.

Not much on the agenda for the next few days. We're meeting up with Melissa and maybe going bowling, seeing more of the city, and hanging out before heading back to Sydney on Wednesday night, end of term on Thursday, and flying back to the States on Friday. Time is passing too quickly, I'm going to miss my life here. Its going to be hard adjusting back home. Its going to be great seeing people from back home. I'm excited and sad at the same time... everyone seems to be feeling the same way. I said goodbye to Jolly for possibly the last time before I left. She's done with finals tomorrow and moving out before I get back. It was hard to say goodbye. Dana started crying and I haven't even said goodbye to her yet. I hate goodbyes. Normally I'd consider them "see you laters" but it might not be the case here. Not fun.

I hope everyone has a great week. See you soon!

Two finals down, one left.... one week til home!

I fly home in a week. Next Friday at this time I’ll be on my flight home... study abroad experience complete. Australia has been great, I have really enjoyed my time here. Sydney is a wonderful city to explore, Manly was a great location for three months (I don’t think I could do touristy suburb for life), and I’m happy with my adventures to Cairns, Auckland, and soon to be Melbourne. The weather has been less than desirable most of the time, save a few decent beach days, but you can’t win them all... and with the alternative being subfreezing, wind, and snow... I guess I turned out alright. Big picture at the end of the day, studying abroad was a pretty sweet decision. It broadened my perspective on a lot of things and made me pay attention to the world around me... not just America and the Midwest. I guess that’s what it’s supposed to do, right?

So Australia was a good choice; I got to try a lot of new things... surfing (not that I ever got good at it), scuba diving, sky diving, and canyoning. I entered a safe, but unfamiliar environment. Not knowing anyone coming over, I had a chance to figure out who I was without the influences of family and friends watching my every move. I found out I’m more of an individual than I give myself credit for. Also, I might have more introverted tendencies than people often assume. Thanks to Dr. McRae for pointing that out. I always knew I liked traveling and seeing new places, but seeing the rest of the world has now become a top priority. I’m still not sure exactly what I want to do with my life, but I know there’s going to be lots of traveling involved. I love the ocean and sunlight. I’m never going to live in a climate with consistent rain. I’ve had multiple dreams of being back home and breaking down crying because I can’t see the ocean... I don’t think it’ll actually ever happen, but it might. There are few things more relaxing and calming than looking at the ocean for hours, walking, beaching, thinking, talking... these things are all more enjoyable with an ocean in sight.

That being said, I also found out what I don’t like. I don’t like being forced to wear a uniform especially just to go to lunch. I don’t like systems that are set up to demotivate people. An organization that consistently tells students they’re not good enough and doesn’t offer to help them succeed is nothing I want to be a part of. I’m sick of grading systems that don’t record an individual’s achievement. I thought the Carlson bell curve was bad until I came here. While the grades must average to a certain letter in the end, at least you receive marks for what you do. I have one test left... I don’t have any idea what my grades will be. The few marks I’ve gotten back are comment sheets with a letter grade on them. This is meant to be a “range” grade... no numbers. How do you average letters? Also, the comments are inaccurate... things you were marked down for not including may have been explicitly stated during your presentation. The lecturer of course doesn’t want to hear your opinion or justification, nor do they want to provide theirs. I’ve never in my life been hoping to achieve 65% in a class... now I’m praying I can achieve just that in two of them. There is no rhyme or reason for failure, they must enjoy giving low marks. The people here for three years (most of them with English as their second language) study so hard just to hope for 50% and a pass in the class. If you have a school where everyone is hoping to get 50% you don’t have high enough admission standards, or your lecturers are not properly preparing students for assessments or grading properly. I’m not going to blame the Australian education system... I’m not sure how other schools run... but the academic curriculum and procedure here don’t make any sense to me.

Academics aside... I’m pretty much ready to be done with this place. Again, not Australia, but ICMS. There are pros and cons to the international environment. I feel like I kind of missed out on the true Australian culture but also feel blessed to have met people from around the world with such a variety of perspectives and experiences. I have the best roommates in the world... they keep my lamp on for me at night when I’m out late, give me herbs/medicine when I’m hurt or sick, teach me about Chinese language and culture, make me try authentic Korean food when I want to take the easy way out with teriyaki chicken. I’ve learned so much from them. I was scared at first, and I’ll be the first to admit it, but it turned out so well. I’m really going to miss them when I go home. Luckily they both created facebook accounts so we can keep in touch. I know people from Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, Australia, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, and Brazil... I'm sure there's more. Didn't expect that coming over.

Living on campus was convenient, and at first the castle thing is pretty sweet. Eventually it gets hot and you want to open your windows, but you can’t because there aren’t screens and there are bugs galore. After about two weeks you’re sick of the food... there’s only so long you can last on an all carb and fruit diet. When it gets to finals time and you’re really craving something good to get you through a long day of studying and exams, they quit serving hot food. Breakfast is cereal, bread, fruit, and yogurt... lunch is cold sandwiches and salad. This is the schedule for the rest of the term. Apparently they can just stop serving real meals. I’m glad I’m going to Melbourne this weekend. Also, that its holiday time when I return and there will be plenty of delicious hot food to eat.

For the last week the internet has been worse than normal. Most stuff just won’t load, other sites have certain pages that will load, the idea of uploading pictures is a joke. I actually write my blogs in word now, email them to myself, and wait in the lab for a computer to open so I can post. The school’s email system doesn’t actually work... emails don’t go through, if they do, it takes about 2 days. I’m not sure how a place can operate without functional technology, but this place is pretty good at ignoring the problem. I know some of this stuff seems petty... but its frustrating. I can’t imagine putting up with it for three years. Students and staff complain about being here and the way things are run, but no one does anything about it. Term one is bearable... people are too focused on studying and learning English to care. Term two everyone just looks to get by into industry training. They leave for 9 months and either drop out to keep their industry training job, or come back refreshed from being away for so long. Two more terms and people usually just stop and settle for a diploma. Those that do complete all three years for a bachelor go to school strictly for class and to get a degree... no one enjoys being there. I can’t wait to return to a campus with some enthusiasm and organization. I may be a 7 digit number, but at least in Minnesota I feel in control of what I’m doing. Here I feel pretty helpless, and that even less people care about what is going on.

I know... how can I complain right? I just had the opportunity of a lifetime. You’re right, I did. I think I took advantage of it and learned a whole lot. It feels a lot better writing it down. Not that anyone reading can make it better, nor would anyone at this school care to. I wouldn’t trade the people I’ve met, the places I’ve seen, or the adventures I’ve had for anything else. I think these things would have been equally great in an academic environment where success and achievement is encouraged, students are supported and motivated, and activities or functions have a schedule and format with details available. I guess I got better at dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity? Another lesson learned I suppose.

Tomorrow I take my last final and fly to Melbourne for a four day trip to relax, see penguins, hopefully tour the Great Ocean Road, and celebrate the terms end. For those of you who don’t know, I think penguins are quite possibly the coolest animal around and I am so excited to see a sunset penguin parade. Not a ton planned like my last trip, but I’ve heard Melbourne is a great city to explore by foot. Let’s hope the weather cooperates. I’ll return Wednesday night for a going away party and some wine on the beach, finish packing Thursday morning... then attend end of term dinner and party. Friday morning we’re hoping to watch the sunrise on the beach before checking out of our rooms and heading to the airport. Lots of travelling before I’ll be back home in Minneapolis at 10pm Friday, local time. Should be a good week.

So this turned into kind of a book, congratulations for making it to the end. I’ll probably have one more update on Melbourne? Other than that, my blogging is coming to an end. I appreciate everyone who has followed my journey and sent me messages. Special thanks to my mom who has been sending cards almost weekly. They always seem to come at the right time, whenever I need a little encouragement to keep me going. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone when I return. I’m currently jobless with lots of time for coffee, lunch, etc. if anyone is interested.

Have a great weekend :)

And procrastination sets in...

So I actually did end up at the beach... pretty much from 9-5. I got my case study back, not the grade I wanted, but it’ll transfer back as an “A” anyway. One down, three to go. Deb, Chelsey, and I left college at 9:30, picked up some food from Coles (grocery store), went to Shelley beach and didn’t leave til 4pm! Six solid hours of beautiful sun, water, and friends... and I was actually productive. I brought my studying flashcards with me. It was really my last day to spend at the beach, saying that makes me want to cry, but it was a good one.

We got back and had dinner, studied a bit more, and then headed into the city with PC for more end of term video filming. I’m going to be in that thing so many times. You never really know what to expect when you agree to film, and tonight proved to be just as entertaining as the other times. I found myself playing a trombone in a rock band, jamming with a boom box through traffic in the heart of Sydney, and singing more solos. The first thing he tells us when we get out of the van, “Now let’s be quick about set up... this sort of thing is actually illegal.” Always an adventure, that’s for sure. Also, the city at night is gorgeous. My internet is being awful again so I can’t post pictures with this post, but I’ll try to have them up on flickr. My camera is terrible for night shots but a few worked out. It was really nice to drive around the city at night and see Christmas lights and decorations.

It was after 10 when we got back to Manly and I was sick of studying so I went out with Britt, Candace, and Jenna. Last Tuesday night in Manly... it was a good night out. Not as busy because most people stayed in to study, but still fun. This morning I went for coffee with Kah Mun. We wanted to hang out once more before end of term dinner. The countdown is becoming a reality, finals are here. Three days of finals, four days in Melbourne, end of term dinner/party, and then 30 hours of travelling home. Scary. Crazy. Sad. Exciting. It’s really hard to describe.

I’m going to the gym with Deb before I settle down and study for the night. It’s cram time... tomorrow morning I have my first exam. 33 questions... 22 five line responses, 11 ten line responses, 3 hours. My hand is going to hurt so bad. I think I’m going to go to the gym after each one to relieve stress. I haven’t been able to walk along the beach lately, it’s not as relaxing since it’s summer now and there are so many people. I’ve actually started enjoying the gym (I know, weird) it’s my latest escape from college. I can never bring myself to go alone though, so we’ll see if my gym efforts hold through when I get home.

I’ve been in Australia for three months as of today. I thought I’ve run into almost all the quirks already, but there’s still more...

-Pool balls... they aren’t stripes and solids here, but rather red and yellow. And they don’t have numbers on them either. I actually played pool last night, and surprisingly enough, won!

-Coffee...I’ve been holding off on real coffee because I’m spending too much money anyway, but finals time make it a necessity. When I went out with Kah Mun this morning I wanted just a black coffee... turns out you can’t order that here. Everything is espressos and has foam. Its delicious, but different.

-Bars...they don’t have food at bars here. There is no bar and grill... like the Silver Spur, Sallys, Applebees (I don’t know who is all reading, but you should recognize one of those) not even a short menu with fries or burgers. You have to leave to get food. Also, each establishment has several actual bars in it, and multiple levels/sections.

Procrastination is a beautiful thing. Well kinda, I'll probably regret it during exam time, but I've had a lot of great conversations this week. It's interesting hearing everyone's perspectives as our term comes to an end and we start realistically thinking about home, our term abroad, what we did and didn't do, what we miss and what we will miss. I miss Chipotle, I think I've made that pretty clear, but what I didn't realize I missed until the other day, was hugs. I miss hugging people I love. Get ready, in 9 days you will be hugged.

Ok I've rambled again, now it's time to focus.

Finals...blah

It doesn’t matter where in the world you are... finals week sucks. I’ve been a good student this semester—went to classes, took notes, participated in class—much more than I have in the past and I still feel overwhelmed. I don’t know why I thought classes or even grading would be easier over here, maybe because everything else is so laid back and chill. My finals are worth more here than at the U (50%, 40%, and 50%) which makes them a little more significant and intimidating. I don’t know if I mentioned the grading system here before... its HD, D, P, C, F instead of A ,B, C, D, F and fail only starts at 50% here instead of 60%. This sounds great, you only need 50% to pass... except its 10 times harder to make the mark.

Take for instance, my presentation in Strategic Management, I thought I did reasonably well, maybe not the best in class but above average. I got a 30... out of 50! I found out one American got a 35, but everyone else was between 30 and 32. I’m nearly positive they don’t curve grades here either. This means my assumed GPA boost may not turn out to be one at all. Now if I’ve learned anything this semester, it’s that life is about so much more than classroom instruction and a GPA... and I guess I kind of knew that before, but it’s still frustrating. I don’t even want to argue with the teacher because I’m pretty sure his response will be “you should have prepared more and followed the rubric.” This is the same teacher that gave us the impossible midterm. In my opinion, if you’re going to grade ridiculously hard, you should probably prepare students for the material. His lectures are like story time with lots of real life examples, but nothing relating to what he actually tests on or expects from presentations. I’m a little scared to get our group report back.

Nothing I can do about it now... except study harder for the test, except I don’t know what its going to include. I made it to the beach for 20 minutes on Sunday before it started raining. Monday was overcast and eventually it thunderstormed so no good beach weather there either, maybe that’s for the best. I just have to keep looking forward to my Melbourne trip. My last weekend in Manly/Sydney wasn’t all that crazy, but it was relaxing and enjoyable. It’s weird to think about how little time I have left here. Trying not to focus on it, but the date, finals, and Christmas decorations are all screaming at me. Also, I changed my linen for the last time today. Weird.

Sorry for my rambling, I needed to let my finals frustration out. My week is full of flashcards and jamming to Brittney Spears, Pink, and Lady GaGa. Never thought I’d say that sentence in my life. Its supposed to be nice out today, my plan is beaching 9-5 with my notecards. Okay maybe not actually 9-5, but a good long while. Tonight PC is taking a group into the city to film more end of term video with the city Christmas lights and then its my last Jugs night at Shark Bar. I only started going half way through the term, but Tuesday night has been a great midweek social break for everyone at college. Oh yeah, last night we had pancakes and REAL coffee as a finals study break. SO good. Its been so nice hanging out with people watching movies and just talking this past week. I'm really going to miss some people here. Anyway, I should probably get on to the whole studying thing again. Hope everyone else that is studying right now is having better luck than I am... Happy Finals Week!

See you all in 11 days...

And another week flies by

I hope everyone has had a chance to read though my New Zealand posts.. if not, just look at pictures. They're beautiful.

This week went by so quickly. Tuesday I took some time to relax at the beach during the day. Tuesday night my marketing group met and that was about it. Wednesday Kah Mun and I went to Bondi Beach to do a coastal walk. I've been meaning to make it out there and haven't yet. I'm so glad I did. You think after seeing this much of the ocean it'd get old, but each beach is so incredible. See below!

Bondi Beach

Tamarama Beach... I could look at this forever

Thursday started off with marketing group work.. then dinner... then marketing again. Thursday night was "Auction" at school. Students were auctioned off to raise money for Bear Cottage, our school's partner charity. I was expecting people to go for $50... maybe $100 tops. Needless to say I was shocked when the bidding for the first girl started at $50. She ended up going for $180 and it went up from there. $300, $500, $600, $700... it was ridiculous. I don't know where students came up with this money. The General Manager came to support the event and brought the Mayor of Manly with him. While they were thanking everyone for supporting Bear Cottage someone yelled out "500 dollars!" The DJ started playing a song and all of the sudden the GM and mayor were dancing on stage and the bidding went up to $1000! I don't even know how to describe how shocking everything was this night. It was a lot of fun, but definitely not what I was expecting. Acts ranged from hip hop dancing to drag to stripping santas to Brady Bunch dancing to pole dancing. It was an experience, thats for sure. Lots of fun and it was nice to have everyone at the school together out of uniform. There were buses taking students to town for an afterparty but we still needed to put the finishing touches on our marketing project so it was marketing again for me. We finished at midnight and I was feeling pretty good about what we had done.

Drag routine at Auction

Friday morning we had our presentation at 10:40. After a few mishaps getting our report binded, and someone eating some of our project (fiber chocolate bars... chocolate with metamucil in it, whoever thought they were clever by stealing our chocolate probably paid for it later) we had everything ready and rehearsed our presentation. Our semester long efforts paid off, it all went really well. It was the best group I have ever been a part of. Group projects can really be a drag and cause lots of frustration, but that didn't happen this time around. I took a nap in the afternoon and then went to dinner. PC was asking for volunteers to be in the end of term video. I'm already in it a few times and was ready to go on a walk, but went anyway. We got dressed up as the ICMS choir, I sang Pink, and rocked out with a boombox on my shoulder in my walking clothes. Should be entertaining to see the final result. I'll have a copy so if you want to see it when I get home, that's possible. We also did a scene behind the bar and PC insisted on making us cocktails for props. Its still weird that a school accepts and even encourages drinking at times. After actually taking a walk with Deb, we went out to celebrate being done with school... except for finals. It was a good night.

"Fine Line Marketing" outside the "Trump Boardroom"

Cocktails in hand, ready for more filming

This morning I got up at 8:30 and headed into the city with Dana and Jolly. They wanted to take me to Chinatown before I leave for the term. Since I'll be in Melbourne next weekend, this was our last chance. We took the ferry over and rode the CBD shuttle to Chinatown. I don't remember if I've explained my frustration with Sydney's bus system... I got the ferries and trains figured out, but the bus system is kinda messed up. However, on Wednesday they started a new shuttle system that provides free transportation in a loop from Circular Quay to Central Station from 9:30a-3:30p so they're not losing money from rush hours, but reduce congestion in the city during the day and make the city more convenient for visitors. Melbourne and Auckland both have services like this as well... different than the States, but I guess things are different when the economy runs on tourism.

We found the Korean restaurant Jolly's friend recommended, Seoul-Ria, and went inside. It was my first time eating Korean food and honestly, it went better than I expected. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share... Korean sausage and ox intestine (yes I tried it), noodles in black sauce (no idea what the sauce was but it was good), kimchee pancakes, and my choice, teriyaki chicken with rice. I had to have a safety food. Turns out they also give you a variety of appetizers while you wait. There was soup, vegetables, pasta, kimchee, potatoes, and a few other dishes. Oh yeah, and I ate this all with chopsticks. Those of you who have seen me eat with chopsticks before know it can be pretty entertaining, but I really got the hang out it. The girls helped me out a bit.

Me and Jolly at Seoul-Ria

It was so much fun hanging out with them for the day. Dana is pretty homesick and was really excited to be in Chinatown and eating familiar food. When we finished, Jolly went to her friend's house in the city and Dana and I walked through Hyde Park and went inside St. Mary's Cathedral before catching the shuttle back to the wharf. It was a beautiful day, a little warm (94 degrees) but a great day for the park and looking at Christmas decorations. Side note: the banners here say "Happy Christmas" and have cockatoos on them. Weird, but there are normal Christmas trees throughout the city. We went to St. Mary's just as the service was ending, and looked around. It was enormous and so pretty. I really like old churches.

We eventually made it back to college and drank a ton of water. I was so dehydrated. I took a nap and then went to dinner. My finals don't start til Thursday so I decided I could afford a night off and watched the latest Office episode with Deb. We then watched Princess Diaries 2 (which I was plesantly surprised with) and Mary Poppins. Quality Saturday night if you ask me. So there you are, another week gone. I have 13 days left here and am looking forward to each one of them. As the Christmas holiday draws closer I am really glad I'll be home for the holiday, and hopefully a white Christmas. Traveling around here would be nice, but seeing family and friends will be great.. and I might need some time to snap back to reality. Hope everyone has a great weekend:)