It's been less a week, but I'm slowly becoming comfortable with my surroundings. I'm getting used to walking on the left side of the street and looking the other way before I cross. Having no regular coffee was a little rough at first. An iced coffee is essentially a chocolate milk with an espresso shot. There is no standard drip coffee. It's either instant or an espresso shot/drink. The TV and radio is also interesting. It's a lot of 90s and early 2000s in the US. Some of the TV programming includes: The Simpsons, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, That 70s Show with some "newer" shows mixed in on weeknights. The radio and music played at bars and clubs gets me every time. I heard the classic tune Mesmerize by Ja Rule and Ashanti last Saturday along with some Blu Cantrell. It was great. The weather is still beautiful and I'm going to make it to the beach one of these days!
On the 21st, we had a day filled with excursions. We visited Sydney Olympic Park where the 2000 Olympics were held. They already had London 2012 monuments around, which were cool to see. I love the Olympics! The architecture of every building was amazing and some of the buildings are now used for concerts and big events. After the Olympic park, the group headed to Featherdale Wildlife Park outside of Sydney. At the park, I had the chance to feed kangaroos, pet koalas, and see other cool wildlife.
The crocodile the park had was a rogue. He was brought into captivity and attacked and ate his sister crocodiles. Whoops. I have also decided to start learning crocodile facts to add to my repertoire of shark facts.
Our group then headed to the Blue Mountains, which were gorgeous!! It had been raining all day so when we got to the first lookout, the mountains were being overtaken by fog. We hiked through the mountains and rainforest that included many sets of slippery stairs. At one point, it started pouring, but no one really cared because the views were worth it and it was a great experience. It's awesome to say that I hiked through rainforest in the rain and I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything! The views of the mountains, waterfalls, and rainforest were unreal! My legs were shaking by the end of it and everyone was soaking wet, but it was worth it.
After the mountains, I slept almost the entire bus ride back. We finally had a day to sleep on Sunday so we were determined to go out. We went to a couple local bars and totally stuck out, but it was still fun to see different parts of Sydney. The downside is that everything here is more expensive including drinks. A standard beer or cocktail is $6 and up. We decided to venture out to Kings Cross, which was insane. It reminded me of a mini Times Square with people everywhere (most of them drunk), lights, food stands, and a lot of clubs. It was a little overwhelming, but even with terrible cab drivers we made it home and had a good night out.
I spent Sunday using the free Internet at the local cafe for awhile and getting some skyping done. Then ventured out to the Chinese New Year celebration by Central Station. Chinatown was close by and inside is a huge market with cheap clothing, food, accessories, etc. I got some gear for Australia day this Thursday ( a day similar to the 4th of July). I also plan on going back there to get some presents and postcards so get ready :).
We started classes yesterday and it's weird to be in school here. Everyone is required to take an internship course and I am also taking international marketing and intercultural communication. I just want to go explore everyday! The work culture is very different here. Everyone is very laid back and there isn't really any emphasis on customer service, which is so strange with my years of serving experience. My internship interview/first day was strange. I had a little freak out, but talked to the CAPA leaders and I'm sure everything will get straightened out. No worries as the Australians say. Many of our classes this week are cancelled due to Australia day. I'm really excited to go out for the big celebration and experience an Australian holiday.
I'm looking into going to the Great Barrier Reef and the Outback for our spring break time in early March. It's an expensive trip, but I think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I would have to pay the $2,000 plane ticket to get back here again so I've decided to just go for it! It looks like rain today, but I'm determined to go to the beach with a free day from classes. It's been almost a week and no beach time yet. Time to change that!
