I made it to Sydney!

Friday night we had an Australian Wildlife Party where they brought in spiders, snakes, lizards, and a kookaburra. Afterward I went dancing with some friends. The bars and clubs play 80s and 90s dance music and you get kicked out for grinding so its actually pretty fun... and my inability to dance is accepted! Two of the many creatures I saw on Friday night.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for surf lessons... again, the waves were brutal. With the help of our instructors I was able to ride in on my knees and plant one foot, but every time I tried to actually stand up I fell off. Its a work in progress, I'm pretty beat up from the waves/board right now... going to give it a rest for a few days. After my efforts in the water and long trek up the hill to campus (I'm seriously going to have the best legs ever when I get home) I needed a nap.

So with the right gear I can look the part... but I'm definitely not a surfer girl.

On Sunday I finally made it to Sydney!! It takes 30 minutes by ferry to get into the city. Its not so bad on a nice day, and the view is great. Seriously, this place is so beautiful. I went to the Sydney Aquarium with Alex, AJ, Laura, and Won. There are lots of underwater tunnels in the oceanariums so you are surrounded by the fish/sharks/turtles. There are 12,000 species, all native to Australia. We were there around lunch time and saw a shark take a huge bite out of a fish... I was a little horrified until I realized it was feeding time and that was suppose to happen. Still pretty awesome though. They also have touch pools where we could touch starfish, sea urchin, and coral.

Biggest turtle I've ever seen... and been close to, underwater tubes are awesome.

We split up after the aquarium and Won and I got some subway and went to the markets at The Rocks which is right next to the ferry. Unfortunately Saturday is the big day for markets and we ended up watching a crazy contortionist performer until the next ferry came. It was a beautiful day and I found out just how easy it is to navigate Sydney. I was also able to take some pictures of the skyline and opera house which is huge! A lot bigger than I would have imagined. After a ferry ride back and another walk up the hill (honestly I've got to take a picture of this hill sometime its ridiculous) and 3 flights of stairs... the old joke of going to school uphill both ways, I really feel thats how it is here, I took another nice long nap before dinner.

This woman is a little nuts... super flexible though
Opera House! I have tickets there!!

I don't know if I've metioned how great the food is here, but hospitality school was really the way to go. We get fresh fruit with every meal, sandwiches, pasta and mixed greens salads, and a different entree every day... we've only had fried food once, and I haven't seen a burger yet. We did have pizza last night, but it was pineapple and grease free. I've gotten used to drinking instant coffee but only once in a while, and I haven't had a soda since I've been here. I had my first diet coke craving last night, which I could get here but I'm really trying to kick my habit and switch to water. Its really not too hard since they only have water, tea, and instant coffee at meals... except apple and orange juice at breakfast.

Slowly but surely I'm already knocking things off my list to do before I leave in December... I have tickets to an opera, went to the aquarium, have plans to go to a rugby game (should be finalizing details in the next few days) and have a weekend picked out for Canberra. This week I will look for a casual job and next weekend meet up with a friend coming into Sydney and go to the tower, maybe a museum, and more markets! The job thing will be very important since I'm spending money SO quickly here.

New goal... learn a few sentences in Swedish, Chinese, German, and Finish.

Some of you may already know this, but my school is actually a division of Touraust Corporation (we got to learn all about the CEO, mission, and were welcomed to "the family") and therefore has a professional dress code. This is actually very normal for Australia as their primary and secondary schools also have uniforms. Well last night I ironed for the first time in years (I get professional conduct points taken away if my uniform isn't worn correctly) and learned how to tie a cravat. The result:

This is required dress 8-5:30 anywhere in the school. In order to go to the beach I must use side stairwells and leave through the parking lot. My legs are pretty beat up from surfing/team building but I'll post a picture with my skirt uni as well once I actually put it on.

They're definitely not flattering... its ok to laugh, I do too. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I'm doing well but missing people back home as well... let me know what's going on:)

Cheers!
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