Kia Ora everyone!!
That’s the traditional greeting in Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, where I just spent the last nearly three weeks. As I sat down to write this, I couldn’t seem to condense my trip into an email of a reasonable length and still do it justice. So be warned, this is the abridged version. First I took a road trip with a friend from Sydney down to Melbourne. Although it was one of those organized tour trips, there were only three people signed up (plus the guide), so the small group made the trip much more relaxed and flexible. We spent an afternoon in Canberra, capital of Australia, where we saw Parliament in session and heard Prime Minister Kevin Rudd speak- that was really interesting to see their legislature in action. One day we hiked at an alpine ski village and the next day hiked on the beach- it was amazing how fast the landscape changed!
After spending a couple days in Melbourne we met more friends on the south island of New Zealand. We spent the next week on a bus tour exploring. New Zealand is GORGEOUS. Two tectonic plates meet in the center of the island and created the Southern Alps, which are beautiful rocky snow-capped mountains surrounded by lakes with bright blue water. The scenery here always looks… epic, for lack of a better word. It’s also much greener than Australia, which I hadn’t realized I was missing until getting here. Don’t get me wrong- I LOVE Australia. I don’t know which I liked better; they’re so different.
We pretty much did a whirlwind tour of the island. We spent a night on a boat in Milford Sound in the Fjordlands and kayaked with penguins! They were hilarious to watch jump around on the rocks. We hiked/climbed on Fox Glacier and were lucky enough to see an ice cave collapse (don’t worry- not where we were hiking). We spent a night on a sheep farm, watched how the dogs rounded up the sheep with basically no human help, and even got to catch/wrestle sheep, which was hilarious. Of course I was game, and it was a little harder than you would think. They can actually jump really high. We spent two action-packed days in Queenstown, which is pretty much the adrenaline capital of New Zealand. And considering that New Zealand is known for having unique/strange adrenaline-junkie things, that’s saying something. We went jetboating (NZ invention) which feels kind of like a giant jetski with 20 people. Its made to run in really shallow water (4 inches), and the drivers like to see how close they can get to the canyon walls without actually touching them. They also do 360 degree spins (again, in a canyon where you don’t think there’s enough room). It was so much fun! Another cool thing was horseback riding around to various sites movies were filmed in the area. We saw spots from Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Wolverine, and the Lovely Bones. Nothing of the actual set was left of course, but a lot of times you could still recognize it for what it was. Some of the horses we rode were actually used in the movies! But my favorite thing I did here was the canyon swing. It works like bungee jumping, except at the end instead of bouncing around you swing. You’re also strapped in at the waist instead of the feet so you have more interesting ways to jump off the platform. Basically you jump/are released off a platform and freefall for 66 meters. After that it turns into a giant 200 m swing. I LOVED it. Heights don’t bother me, so I had so much fun. The guys running it kept trying to freak me out, pushing me around on the platform, and made sure to thank me for testing the ropes since I was the first person of the day to do it. The first time, I jumped off backwards and the second time I was suspended upside down (so headfirst), and they released me. It was so much fun- such a rush! Don't worry, they talked me into buying the DVD, so you can all see the ridiculousness if you want to. ;)
After that, I said goodbye to my friends and flew up to the north island for some solo traveling. I signed up for a hop on, hop off bus trip, which basically means that I had a ride wherever I wanted to go, but had the freedom to stay there as long/short as I wanted and to do/stay/eat where I wanted. I went to some great beaches (including some really good surf spots- Jack Johnson has a house at one), went to a spa, saw kiwis (the birds), went caving, blackwater rafting, zorbing lugeing, sledging…. Whew those are the highlights. Do you notice how some or most of those things you may not have heard of? I wasn’t kidding when I said that New Zealanders like to invent random sports/crazy things to do. Blackwater rafting is essentially tubing inside a cave (there were eels involved). Zorbing was definitely a favorite- basically you are inside this giant hamster ball that zigzags down a hill. It has a little bit of water so you bounce around, and it is SO MUCH FUN. They opened a second one somewhere in Tennessee, I definitely recommend it and I’m planning on going back sometime in the near future. I also ran into some friends from Sydney there, which was really fun to hang with them for the day. The lugeing I did was different that the kind they do in the Olympics- this was more like go-karts but without motor or any real safety measures, other than a brake. You controlled how fast you went, so naturally there was much racing down the mountain/hill as fast as possible. :) Sledging is kind of like boogie-boarding except you do it down rapids in a river. Our bus stopped there for a couple hours and people had options of what to do- I was the only sledger, so it was just me and the two river guides. But that was perfect, because it was one of the most intense things I’ve ever done. Going through the rapids themselves are crazy and intense and you really have no control in the situation, but then as soon as you’re through (and hopefully still on top of the sledge instead of under it or something) you have to paddle really hard to one side or the other to get out of the current. I loved it, even though I was exhausted by the end. :)
Another fun thing was spending the night in a marae, which is a Maori cultural community center. We ate a traditional meal then the guys learned the haka and the girls learned the poi. The kids who taught us (they were between 12-16 years old) also performed a couple things for us, including the traditional welcome. It starts with two guys threatening the newcomers as a show of strength, then offering a peace token to us, which we accept. They told us not to smile going in, because if we did the two guys doing the ceremony would single us out and try to intimidate us. I thought (and so did most of our group) that the “intimidation” stuff would be cheesy, but they were intimidating- their facial expressions were scary. I have some photos , of course. :)
Now I’m back in Sydney, crashing on a friend’s couch before I fly home early next week! I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone. I’ve learned a lot- about life, people, traveling, myself. I’ve loved Australia and New Zealand, but I’m also really excited to see all of you lovely people. I can definitely see myself coming back for more traveling here. But that is another time. So, armed with some crazy stories, life lessons, and a ridiculous amount of photos (seriously, you don’t want to know how many), I’m wrapping up my semester abroad and heading back. Thank you so much for all of your letters, notes, prayers, and love you sent. They have been such an encouragement to me. I can’t wait to see you all. So for the last time,
Love from down under,
Emma
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
planes, trains, and broomsticks
Hello all!!
Even though I've been here for so long, there are still things that happen here that are so different than back in the states that I'm having trouble getting used to.
One is Halloween, and the celebrating or not celebrating it. Here is the opposite of UNC: its non-existent. Kids don't trick or treat, no one dresses up: its just another day. But not to worry, the international students showed them how its done. :) One of my friends threw a party and we all dressed up, ate candy and generally had a good time. She even carved oranges into mini jack-o-lanterns! Another interesting side note: in the UK, everyone must dress up as something scary. You can be a princess/cat/movie character, so long as you make it scary. This, combined with the wardrobe limitation inherent in studying abroad, meant that along with three friends I was a witch. Complete with the hat. :)
However, the "Australians don't celebrate Halloween" does not apply to my street. :) The suburb I live in is a bit... alternative, for lack of a better word. The street has 4 or 5 goth stores on it, and during the day of Halloween the sidewalk in front of every single one was overflowing with people in costumes, either scary or cute, but dressed in all black. Additionally, the two funeral homes on the street capitalized on the opportunity as well: one seemed to be holding a raffle/ market out front, and the other had a carriage pulled by black horses holding a child-sized coffin on the street in front of it. A bit morbid, but also funny to see everyone all decked out. There was more eyeliner being worn on that street than in a Broadway play. :)
But anyways, another difference is weather. As everyone back in the northern hemisphere is breaking out the jackets and quilts, it has gotten HOT here. Seriously hot. In Sydney it's always in the 80's and 90's, and hotter in other parts of the country. I just got back from a trip to Alice Springs, Uluru, and Adelaide, and it was 118 one day in Alice. Yikes.
To university students here, the first week of November is known as "study vacation" because after classes are over there is a week off before final exams begin. For me, however, I emphasized the vacation part more than the study part. I only have one final and it is on the 16th, so I figured I'd have plenty of time for studying later. :)
Two friends (Jacob and Elyse) and I headed to Alice Springs. The first few days was we spent traveling around the outback visiting sites like Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and King's Canyon. Because these are so spread out (both from each other and from the 30,000 person metropolis that is Alice Springs) we did an organized tour. We slept outside in swags (basically a canvas bag with built in mini-mattress you put your sleeping bag inside) which was really fun. The stars were incredible, and the only light around was the moon. We also got up ridiculously early both days- 5am and 4am- but in the end it made sense, because hiking at 7 sounds pretty good if it means you get to do it in 70 or 80 degree weather instead of 100+.
Let me back up: Uluru (also known as Ayer's Rock) and Kata Tjuta (also called the Olgas, but the lesser known of the two) are monoliths. To call them giant rocks doesn't do them justice. They are MASSIVE. We hiked around the base of Uluru- it was a 10.6km hike, nearly 7 miles. Its about 370 meters high, and the thing about monoliths is most of their mass is actually underground (like icebergs). It was huge and beautiful... I can't really put into words what it was like. But we spent time hiking around all three, which was really fun.
We also learned a lot about the local Indigenous culture: the Arrente nation actually owns Uluru and lease it back to the Australian government. Miles, our guide, knew a lot and told us about the dreaming (their creation stories). It involves animal ancestors whose actions shaped the landscape: stories explain various features of the rock. To the Arrente people, Uluru is a sacred site, and you aren't allowed to take photos of certain parts of it.
We were given the option of climbing Uluru: that is, to climb up to the top of it. However, its really disrespectful to the Aborigines to do it, so I wasn't going to do it (along with most of the group). But then it was closed (too windy), so none of us did.
After that trip, we spent a couple days in Alice. We saw the desert park (which is like a zoo but without fences), the original overland telegraph station (which connected Australia much more effectively with England), the spring Alice Springs was named after, and a base for the Royal Flying Doctor service. The latter exists because of how uninhabited central Australia is- there often aren't doctors located in the various towns (or even smaller cattle stations), so they are flown in or come to fly out the patients. After we went, I thought of a question: if a baby is born in a plane (which does happen, apparently), what do you put on the birth certificate for place of birth? ;)
To mix things up, Elyse and I took the train out instead of flying- Jacob had to go back before us because of exams. The 22-hour trip took us through the outback to Adelaide in South Australia. The train moved surprisingly slowly, but I guess it can't pick up too much speed when it has to make sure there aren't cattle on the track. We only had one afternoon in Adelaide- our flight back to Sydney left the next morning, but it was enough time to check out a cool museum, a chocolate factory, and the main streets of the city. Its a cool city I guess, but not so much a tourist attraction, if you know what I mean.
That was the trip! As is typical of me, I took 700+ pictures throughout the week, which I have yet to begin editing. There are too many! :) Doubtless it will be a procrastination project later this week when I'm avoiding studying.
Another interesting thing I've noticed: here, mall Christmas directions went up before Halloween. Which to me seems way too early: I'm okay with them after Thanksgiving, but late October seems a bit premature. It was only when talking to a couple Australians about this that I realized they don't have the Thanksgiving as a way of ushering in the Christmas season. :) In addition to the decorations going up super early, they don't seem to fit Australia. They have Christmas trees, fir wreaths, and icicles. ICICLES. What? It just blows my mind that in a place like Adelaide, where the weather is regularly over 100 in November/December, they line the streets with light-up snowflakes. :)
This is my last email for the foreseeable future. My final is on Monday, and I move out for good on Wednesday. That day my epic travels begin: first a road trip through Canberra (Australia's capital- bet none of you knew that) to Melbourne, and then two weeks in New Zealand! The first week a group of friends is exploring the south island, but the second week I'm headed to the north island to do some traveling solo, which I'm actually really excited about. :) Then I'll be in Sydney again for 4-ish days before flying home- I can hardly believe it!
Like I say every time, thank you all so much for your encouraging emails/letters/messages. Its so great to hear from you all.
I'll try and send some kind of final update either during or after New Zealand, but even if I don't, know that you've got
Love from down under,
Emma
Even though I've been here for so long, there are still things that happen here that are so different than back in the states that I'm having trouble getting used to.
One is Halloween, and the celebrating or not celebrating it. Here is the opposite of UNC: its non-existent. Kids don't trick or treat, no one dresses up: its just another day. But not to worry, the international students showed them how its done. :) One of my friends threw a party and we all dressed up, ate candy and generally had a good time. She even carved oranges into mini jack-o-lanterns! Another interesting side note: in the UK, everyone must dress up as something scary. You can be a princess/cat/movie character, so long as you make it scary. This, combined with the wardrobe limitation inherent in studying abroad, meant that along with three friends I was a witch. Complete with the hat. :)
However, the "Australians don't celebrate Halloween" does not apply to my street. :) The suburb I live in is a bit... alternative, for lack of a better word. The street has 4 or 5 goth stores on it, and during the day of Halloween the sidewalk in front of every single one was overflowing with people in costumes, either scary or cute, but dressed in all black. Additionally, the two funeral homes on the street capitalized on the opportunity as well: one seemed to be holding a raffle/ market out front, and the other had a carriage pulled by black horses holding a child-sized coffin on the street in front of it. A bit morbid, but also funny to see everyone all decked out. There was more eyeliner being worn on that street than in a Broadway play. :)
But anyways, another difference is weather. As everyone back in the northern hemisphere is breaking out the jackets and quilts, it has gotten HOT here. Seriously hot. In Sydney it's always in the 80's and 90's, and hotter in other parts of the country. I just got back from a trip to Alice Springs, Uluru, and Adelaide, and it was 118 one day in Alice. Yikes.
To university students here, the first week of November is known as "study vacation" because after classes are over there is a week off before final exams begin. For me, however, I emphasized the vacation part more than the study part. I only have one final and it is on the 16th, so I figured I'd have plenty of time for studying later. :)
Two friends (Jacob and Elyse) and I headed to Alice Springs. The first few days was we spent traveling around the outback visiting sites like Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and King's Canyon. Because these are so spread out (both from each other and from the 30,000 person metropolis that is Alice Springs) we did an organized tour. We slept outside in swags (basically a canvas bag with built in mini-mattress you put your sleeping bag inside) which was really fun. The stars were incredible, and the only light around was the moon. We also got up ridiculously early both days- 5am and 4am- but in the end it made sense, because hiking at 7 sounds pretty good if it means you get to do it in 70 or 80 degree weather instead of 100+.
Let me back up: Uluru (also known as Ayer's Rock) and Kata Tjuta (also called the Olgas, but the lesser known of the two) are monoliths. To call them giant rocks doesn't do them justice. They are MASSIVE. We hiked around the base of Uluru- it was a 10.6km hike, nearly 7 miles. Its about 370 meters high, and the thing about monoliths is most of their mass is actually underground (like icebergs). It was huge and beautiful... I can't really put into words what it was like. But we spent time hiking around all three, which was really fun.
We also learned a lot about the local Indigenous culture: the Arrente nation actually owns Uluru and lease it back to the Australian government. Miles, our guide, knew a lot and told us about the dreaming (their creation stories). It involves animal ancestors whose actions shaped the landscape: stories explain various features of the rock. To the Arrente people, Uluru is a sacred site, and you aren't allowed to take photos of certain parts of it.
We were given the option of climbing Uluru: that is, to climb up to the top of it. However, its really disrespectful to the Aborigines to do it, so I wasn't going to do it (along with most of the group). But then it was closed (too windy), so none of us did.
After that trip, we spent a couple days in Alice. We saw the desert park (which is like a zoo but without fences), the original overland telegraph station (which connected Australia much more effectively with England), the spring Alice Springs was named after, and a base for the Royal Flying Doctor service. The latter exists because of how uninhabited central Australia is- there often aren't doctors located in the various towns (or even smaller cattle stations), so they are flown in or come to fly out the patients. After we went, I thought of a question: if a baby is born in a plane (which does happen, apparently), what do you put on the birth certificate for place of birth? ;)
To mix things up, Elyse and I took the train out instead of flying- Jacob had to go back before us because of exams. The 22-hour trip took us through the outback to Adelaide in South Australia. The train moved surprisingly slowly, but I guess it can't pick up too much speed when it has to make sure there aren't cattle on the track. We only had one afternoon in Adelaide- our flight back to Sydney left the next morning, but it was enough time to check out a cool museum, a chocolate factory, and the main streets of the city. Its a cool city I guess, but not so much a tourist attraction, if you know what I mean.
That was the trip! As is typical of me, I took 700+ pictures throughout the week, which I have yet to begin editing. There are too many! :) Doubtless it will be a procrastination project later this week when I'm avoiding studying.
Another interesting thing I've noticed: here, mall Christmas directions went up before Halloween. Which to me seems way too early: I'm okay with them after Thanksgiving, but late October seems a bit premature. It was only when talking to a couple Australians about this that I realized they don't have the Thanksgiving as a way of ushering in the Christmas season. :) In addition to the decorations going up super early, they don't seem to fit Australia. They have Christmas trees, fir wreaths, and icicles. ICICLES. What? It just blows my mind that in a place like Adelaide, where the weather is regularly over 100 in November/December, they line the streets with light-up snowflakes. :)
This is my last email for the foreseeable future. My final is on Monday, and I move out for good on Wednesday. That day my epic travels begin: first a road trip through Canberra (Australia's capital- bet none of you knew that) to Melbourne, and then two weeks in New Zealand! The first week a group of friends is exploring the south island, but the second week I'm headed to the north island to do some traveling solo, which I'm actually really excited about. :) Then I'll be in Sydney again for 4-ish days before flying home- I can hardly believe it!
Like I say every time, thank you all so much for your encouraging emails/letters/messages. Its so great to hear from you all.
I'll try and send some kind of final update either during or after New Zealand, but even if I don't, know that you've got
Love from down under,
Emma
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Papers, being touristy, and the substitute fair
Hey!
I guess it's been a while since my last update. There hasn't been much to update on, though. Since being home from spring break, I've spent most of my time doing work. In 10 days, I wrote almost 10,000 words worth of papers. It was a bit exhausting. I am now pretty much incapable of carrying on an intelligent conversation- I've run out of academia for the foreseeable future.
The good news from all this is that I'm nearly done! Only one paper stands between me and next weekend, and this is the final week of classes. Also, Australian uni's are weird, because some classes end before the final week: I only have 1 class that's still meeting (the others dropped off a week or even 2 ago, sweetness).
Not to worry though, I've still squeezed in some fun. :) Classes ending has reminded my friends and I how much stuff we want to do before heading to our respective countries, so we've been doing a lot of tourist-y things in Sydney during the weekends. I went to the zoo last weekend, lots of fun. They have a baby elephant, Luk Chai, who is really cute! Also a regular fixture on the nightly news. (Australia's news is not what you would hope. Apparently not much happens here, ergo they put things like the newborn elephant on the news almost weekly.)
For those NCer's out there, I hope you're enjoying the fair. I haven't been in a couple years, so I was really missing it. But we found a solution: Luna Park! Luna Park is this amusement park on the north side of the Sydney Harbor bridge (the opposite side of the city), and a bunch of us decided to check it out Friday night. It was really small by US theme park standards, and also nearly empty. But it was exactly what we wanted. It had many of the standard fair rides (no roller coasters, it was more like the fair than a theme park), cotton candy (which they call fairy floss), random people dressed up walking around(Australian take on clowns? maybe), even an arcade. There were also some things uniquely Australian- the creepy/smiling face you walk through in the entrance, meat pies, and some really random rides. There was one where about 8 people sat with their backs to each other on this big circular thing, almost like a really gently-sloped hill, which spun around pretty fast. The goal was to not get spun off, and it was hilarious. While waiting in line for it, I got to watch a group of kids all under 10 do it, and as they tried not to fall off they would make hysterical faces. Additionally the ride operator would make you do stuff to help the sliding off process (pick up your feet, touch your toes, tickle the person next to you,etc). All in all, a good night. The only thing missing was funnel cake. :)
A couple weeks ago I realized that I only have about 2 weeks left in Sydney. After this next week I'm traveling, coming back for a week to take my exam, then heading off to Melbourne, New Zealand and who knows where else before coming back to the states. With this came lots of conflicting emotions: excitement (both for travel and to see all you lovely people), shock, and the feeling of "Aahh! There's so much more I want to do in Sydney!! How did I put it off until the last minute?!" The latter feeling prompted the aforementioned activities, with more in the works.
That's all I've got for now. I'm sure in the coming weeks I'll have lots of adventures to share. Thanks for everyone's emails and love!
Love from down under,
Emma
I guess it's been a while since my last update. There hasn't been much to update on, though. Since being home from spring break, I've spent most of my time doing work. In 10 days, I wrote almost 10,000 words worth of papers. It was a bit exhausting. I am now pretty much incapable of carrying on an intelligent conversation- I've run out of academia for the foreseeable future.
The good news from all this is that I'm nearly done! Only one paper stands between me and next weekend, and this is the final week of classes. Also, Australian uni's are weird, because some classes end before the final week: I only have 1 class that's still meeting (the others dropped off a week or even 2 ago, sweetness).
Not to worry though, I've still squeezed in some fun. :) Classes ending has reminded my friends and I how much stuff we want to do before heading to our respective countries, so we've been doing a lot of tourist-y things in Sydney during the weekends. I went to the zoo last weekend, lots of fun. They have a baby elephant, Luk Chai, who is really cute! Also a regular fixture on the nightly news. (Australia's news is not what you would hope. Apparently not much happens here, ergo they put things like the newborn elephant on the news almost weekly.)
For those NCer's out there, I hope you're enjoying the fair. I haven't been in a couple years, so I was really missing it. But we found a solution: Luna Park! Luna Park is this amusement park on the north side of the Sydney Harbor bridge (the opposite side of the city), and a bunch of us decided to check it out Friday night. It was really small by US theme park standards, and also nearly empty. But it was exactly what we wanted. It had many of the standard fair rides (no roller coasters, it was more like the fair than a theme park), cotton candy (which they call fairy floss), random people dressed up walking around(Australian take on clowns? maybe), even an arcade. There were also some things uniquely Australian- the creepy/smiling face you walk through in the entrance, meat pies, and some really random rides. There was one where about 8 people sat with their backs to each other on this big circular thing, almost like a really gently-sloped hill, which spun around pretty fast. The goal was to not get spun off, and it was hilarious. While waiting in line for it, I got to watch a group of kids all under 10 do it, and as they tried not to fall off they would make hysterical faces. Additionally the ride operator would make you do stuff to help the sliding off process (pick up your feet, touch your toes, tickle the person next to you,etc). All in all, a good night. The only thing missing was funnel cake. :)
A couple weeks ago I realized that I only have about 2 weeks left in Sydney. After this next week I'm traveling, coming back for a week to take my exam, then heading off to Melbourne, New Zealand and who knows where else before coming back to the states. With this came lots of conflicting emotions: excitement (both for travel and to see all you lovely people), shock, and the feeling of "Aahh! There's so much more I want to do in Sydney!! How did I put it off until the last minute?!" The latter feeling prompted the aforementioned activities, with more in the works.
That's all I've got for now. I'm sure in the coming weeks I'll have lots of adventures to share. Thanks for everyone's emails and love!
Love from down under,
Emma
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Spring break in October!
Welcome to October everyone!
I can hardly believe it's here already. While I'm sure you all are getting the first tastes of chilly weather, falling leaves, and the state fair, I have spent the past week alternating between the ocean and the rainforest. Yes that's right, I just had spring break.
And let me tell you, spring break was amazing. My friends and I basically packed as much activity into 11 days as possible. If I were to tell you everything we did, this would be a long email indeed. :) But I'll spare you all the details, and give you the highlights.
My favorite thing definitely was the 3 day sailing trip we went on first. We spent the days sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkeling, scuba diving, and playing on the beaches. It was some of the most incredible stuff I've ever seen- I felt like I was in the Little Mermaid or something. Scuba diving was really fun, and very surreal- it feels so unnatural to just breathe normally underwater. It's also strange to look up and realize that there is 25 feet of water between you and the open air. :) We also went to some of the most beautiful beaches, including Whitehaven beach, which is considered one of the top five in the world. It was made of 98% silica, which means that the sand is really soft and white.
After that trip we jumped on an overnight bus to get up to Cairns. Let me back up: my friend Elyse and I planned this spring break trip and a bunch of our friends came with us, so we were traveling with anywhere between 6 and 9 people at any given time. Which was great fun, but also made agreeing on a restaurant difficult at times. :) But seriously, so worth it. It also meant that we were always "that group." Also because we were all of different nationalities (American, Canadian, British, German, Australian).
The first thing we did in Cairns? Shower. The boat didn't have showers, and then we'd spent the night on a Greyhound, so we were going on about 4 days without showering. I'm sure the other bus passengers loved us. :)
Every day in Cairns we did some amazing/crazy activity: whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, hiking/exploring the rainforest, swimming in waterfalls.... it was amazing. Interestingly, I was the only one of our group who had ever been whitewater rafting, which made it that much more exciting for everyone else. Also, when we stopped for lunch we saw a four-foot eel gliding through the water we'd been swimming in 10 minutes ago, which kind of freaked some people out. This trip was definitely geared to our age group- the tour guides did a lot of crashing into each other, encouraging us to pull our friends in other boats into the water, and at times purposefully tipping our boat. We also jumped off a 30 foot tall rock into the water, which was so much fun, except for the guy who bellyflopped.
Two days we drove into the rainforest. Both days our tour guides were awesome, but they were very different types of trips. One was aimed more at the 20something/student crowd- the guide had a decidedly hippie feel to him, the bus we traveled in was named Wally(and was very sensitive about people talking about his A/C), and while driving down winding mountainous roads played Beach Boys' "Surfing Safari" and we all stood in our seats and "surfed." So much fun. The other trip was on a really fancy bus, we had two teatimes during the day, and the tour guide was just as friendly and knowledgeable but maybe not quiet as.... ridiculous. It was funny to contrast the two. We saw all kinds of wildlife- goannas (Australian name for iguana-type things), sharks, water dragons, turtles, all the fish and coral you can imagine (including humuhumunukunukuapua'a!), parrots, and other things that my sleep-deprived brain cannot remember right now. :)
One day we took a ferry out to Fitzroy Island, which is part of the official Great Barrier Reef National Park. We spent the day sea kayaking, playing on a water trampoline (which is fun, and there's not really any danger of falling off, because if you do you land in the water), snorkeling and exploring the island. It was here that we saw a sea turtle right before we left. We also rented an underwater camera for the day, which made the day even more exciting- although of the 650 pictures we took that day, about 150 of them are just gray, or white. (For the record, I did not take all 650. We shared the camera between 8 of us. But yes, I did take most of them.)
The whole week was sunny and beautiful and warm. We all came back much tanner than before, which I have had to cover up because it's been cold and rainy since coming back to. This week has been mostly catching up on sleep (we got about 5-6 hours of sleep each night all week on break), working on my 3 big papers I have due very soon, and editing photos (as a procrastination tool when I'm supposed to be writing my papers). The weekend is looking low key as well- lots of work to do. The great part about it is that once these three papers are done, basically all I have left is one final paper and one final exams, and I'm home free. :) I love the Australian lack of final exams.
I love you all! Enjoy the fall- I'm loving the spring, but I do miss the falling leaves and such. I miss you all and love your emails- they make me smile.
Love from down under,
Emma
I can hardly believe it's here already. While I'm sure you all are getting the first tastes of chilly weather, falling leaves, and the state fair, I have spent the past week alternating between the ocean and the rainforest. Yes that's right, I just had spring break.
And let me tell you, spring break was amazing. My friends and I basically packed as much activity into 11 days as possible. If I were to tell you everything we did, this would be a long email indeed. :) But I'll spare you all the details, and give you the highlights.
My favorite thing definitely was the 3 day sailing trip we went on first. We spent the days sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkeling, scuba diving, and playing on the beaches. It was some of the most incredible stuff I've ever seen- I felt like I was in the Little Mermaid or something. Scuba diving was really fun, and very surreal- it feels so unnatural to just breathe normally underwater. It's also strange to look up and realize that there is 25 feet of water between you and the open air. :) We also went to some of the most beautiful beaches, including Whitehaven beach, which is considered one of the top five in the world. It was made of 98% silica, which means that the sand is really soft and white.
After that trip we jumped on an overnight bus to get up to Cairns. Let me back up: my friend Elyse and I planned this spring break trip and a bunch of our friends came with us, so we were traveling with anywhere between 6 and 9 people at any given time. Which was great fun, but also made agreeing on a restaurant difficult at times. :) But seriously, so worth it. It also meant that we were always "that group." Also because we were all of different nationalities (American, Canadian, British, German, Australian).
The first thing we did in Cairns? Shower. The boat didn't have showers, and then we'd spent the night on a Greyhound, so we were going on about 4 days without showering. I'm sure the other bus passengers loved us. :)
Every day in Cairns we did some amazing/crazy activity: whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, hiking/exploring the rainforest, swimming in waterfalls.... it was amazing. Interestingly, I was the only one of our group who had ever been whitewater rafting, which made it that much more exciting for everyone else. Also, when we stopped for lunch we saw a four-foot eel gliding through the water we'd been swimming in 10 minutes ago, which kind of freaked some people out. This trip was definitely geared to our age group- the tour guides did a lot of crashing into each other, encouraging us to pull our friends in other boats into the water, and at times purposefully tipping our boat. We also jumped off a 30 foot tall rock into the water, which was so much fun, except for the guy who bellyflopped.
Two days we drove into the rainforest. Both days our tour guides were awesome, but they were very different types of trips. One was aimed more at the 20something/student crowd- the guide had a decidedly hippie feel to him, the bus we traveled in was named Wally(and was very sensitive about people talking about his A/C), and while driving down winding mountainous roads played Beach Boys' "Surfing Safari" and we all stood in our seats and "surfed." So much fun. The other trip was on a really fancy bus, we had two teatimes during the day, and the tour guide was just as friendly and knowledgeable but maybe not quiet as.... ridiculous. It was funny to contrast the two. We saw all kinds of wildlife- goannas (Australian name for iguana-type things), sharks, water dragons, turtles, all the fish and coral you can imagine (including humuhumunukunukuapua'a!), parrots, and other things that my sleep-deprived brain cannot remember right now. :)
One day we took a ferry out to Fitzroy Island, which is part of the official Great Barrier Reef National Park. We spent the day sea kayaking, playing on a water trampoline (which is fun, and there's not really any danger of falling off, because if you do you land in the water), snorkeling and exploring the island. It was here that we saw a sea turtle right before we left. We also rented an underwater camera for the day, which made the day even more exciting- although of the 650 pictures we took that day, about 150 of them are just gray, or white. (For the record, I did not take all 650. We shared the camera between 8 of us. But yes, I did take most of them.)
The whole week was sunny and beautiful and warm. We all came back much tanner than before, which I have had to cover up because it's been cold and rainy since coming back to. This week has been mostly catching up on sleep (we got about 5-6 hours of sleep each night all week on break), working on my 3 big papers I have due very soon, and editing photos (as a procrastination tool when I'm supposed to be writing my papers). The weekend is looking low key as well- lots of work to do. The great part about it is that once these three papers are done, basically all I have left is one final paper and one final exams, and I'm home free. :) I love the Australian lack of final exams.
I love you all! Enjoy the fall- I'm loving the spring, but I do miss the falling leaves and such. I miss you all and love your emails- they make me smile.
Love from down under,
Emma
Sunday, September 20, 2009
surfing, the wizard, and american-girl-on-bus syndrome
Hello everyone!
It’s been a while since my last email! Things have been admittedly less exciting- mostly schoolwork.
I've had a ridiculous amount of papers the past few weeks. There is less day to day work, and fewer tests, so nearly my whole grade is made up of papers.
I have been having fun though! A few weeks back some friends and I instituted a tradition of "Thursday adventures" because a bunch of us finish class at 3 on Thursday and have nothing Friday. These are usually touristy things in Sydney that we haven't done yet. These have included the aquarium, Paddy's Market, and the Sydney Tower. Paddy's Market is a giant flea market type place, with stands selling everything from ultra-touristy stuff to knock off purses to electronics to band tshirts and everything in between. We were laughing because one store had sports jerseys (mostly NFL or NHL) and a couple of them were wrong.
The Sydney tower was pretty cool- you go up an elevator to get a view of the city area and a lot of the surrounding suburbs (which are still considered part of Sydney). From the tower (which offers 360 degree view) we were able to find a friend's room in his apartment complex that's by the university. He was a little freaked out by that. haha.
Another fun thing: this past week, I got to see Wicked!!! I got tickets through my Australian film and theatre class. I'd seen it last fall on Broadway and loved it, so I was really excited to see it again. It didn't disappoint. My friend Elyse is in the class as well, so we went together. Interestingly, all the actors used American accents. Well, to me they just sounded neutral (and therefore American, as my non-American friends are quick to point out) Elyse had seen it before as well in London, and she pointed out an interesting point about the play: in London all the characters had British accents except the Wizard. Which completely changes the interpretation of this one song where the Wizard says "where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it history." The song is just about how things are true from different points of view, which I always thought just applied to all people on earth (and not oz, apparently). But the way the London show interprets it, that's an American thing. Interesting.
Last weekend I also went to the Botanical Gardens, which are beautiful. I guess the only really newsworthy thing to say about them is that they are home to a massive amount of bats. Seriously. We walked in towards a giant tree, and as we got closer I realized that the tree is FULL of bats hanging out. Literally. ;) sorry couldn’t resist. But anyways, there were a lot of bats. And they were the biggest bats I’ve ever seen up close. Pictures on facebook will follow as soon as I get email back in my house.
I've been surfing the past two weekends, which has been so much fun. It had been more than 6 weeks since surf camp, so I was pretty bad, but after two hours I got the hang of it again. The water is also beautiful, it was awesome to just be hanging out in the waves. It’s also fun to go surfing regularly- it takes me a little less time for me to get the hang of it each time. Both times we've gone to Manly Beach, which is fun because you have to take a ferry to get there. We've also managed to time our returns home so that we go as the sun is setting behind the harbor bridge, which is so so so beautiful. I may or may not have taken loads of pictures on the ferry. :)
Speaking of public transportation, I have observed an interesting pattern: people love talking to me en route to places. I call it American-girl-on-the-bus syndrome. This is especially true if I'm with another girl (usually Elyse, who is Canadian and has the same accent as me). But if people either speak to me in passing or overhear Elyse and I talking (basically long enough to recognize that my accent is not Australian), people love to strike up conversations. On one ten minute train ride three separate groups of people talked to us! This morning, a guy sat behind me guessing what part of the US I was from (first Midwest, then California). It happens most on the bus/train/ferry, but occasionally happens at stores, cafes, and even street corners. They are also usually adults (not students). It has to be the accent, because if I’m on the bus reading, then people don’t do it. Also, if there are any guys with me, it doesn’t happen. If you have any better name suggestions, let me know. :)
On Thursday, I fly out to the Whitsunday Islands for spring break! Some friends and I are doing a three-day sailing trip in the Whitsundays, then taking an overnight bus to Cairns to spend the rest of the week there (it has both the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests). I’m very excited!
It’s strange to think how long I’ve been here. The 2+ months have flown by. It has been interesting, because the first half of my semester has been largely Sydney-based. I’ve had papers, and really gotten into life at uni and in the city. But the second half will be much more traveling. Luckily, Australian uni setup is a little different and is conducive to my plan. We have about 4 weeks of class left after spring break (and at least one of my classes ends earlier than that, possibly 2). Then there is another week off (which is technically a “study vacation” but who says you can’t take your studying across the outback with you?) where I am likely going to Alice Springs and Uluru (aka Ayer’s Rock). Then there is 2 1/2 weeks of exams. During this time I only have on and it’s toward the end so more traveling will happen then. After exams end, it will be all travels until I head home in December. Yikes! When I write it out like that, it seems so short. But there is so much left here that I want to do!
That’s all for now folks. I’m sure that my next message will be full of snorkeling and such.
Love from down under,
Emma
It’s been a while since my last email! Things have been admittedly less exciting- mostly schoolwork.
I've had a ridiculous amount of papers the past few weeks. There is less day to day work, and fewer tests, so nearly my whole grade is made up of papers.
I have been having fun though! A few weeks back some friends and I instituted a tradition of "Thursday adventures" because a bunch of us finish class at 3 on Thursday and have nothing Friday. These are usually touristy things in Sydney that we haven't done yet. These have included the aquarium, Paddy's Market, and the Sydney Tower. Paddy's Market is a giant flea market type place, with stands selling everything from ultra-touristy stuff to knock off purses to electronics to band tshirts and everything in between. We were laughing because one store had sports jerseys (mostly NFL or NHL) and a couple of them were wrong.
The Sydney tower was pretty cool- you go up an elevator to get a view of the city area and a lot of the surrounding suburbs (which are still considered part of Sydney). From the tower (which offers 360 degree view) we were able to find a friend's room in his apartment complex that's by the university. He was a little freaked out by that. haha.
Another fun thing: this past week, I got to see Wicked!!! I got tickets through my Australian film and theatre class. I'd seen it last fall on Broadway and loved it, so I was really excited to see it again. It didn't disappoint. My friend Elyse is in the class as well, so we went together. Interestingly, all the actors used American accents. Well, to me they just sounded neutral (and therefore American, as my non-American friends are quick to point out) Elyse had seen it before as well in London, and she pointed out an interesting point about the play: in London all the characters had British accents except the Wizard. Which completely changes the interpretation of this one song where the Wizard says "where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it history." The song is just about how things are true from different points of view, which I always thought just applied to all people on earth (and not oz, apparently). But the way the London show interprets it, that's an American thing. Interesting.
Last weekend I also went to the Botanical Gardens, which are beautiful. I guess the only really newsworthy thing to say about them is that they are home to a massive amount of bats. Seriously. We walked in towards a giant tree, and as we got closer I realized that the tree is FULL of bats hanging out. Literally. ;) sorry couldn’t resist. But anyways, there were a lot of bats. And they were the biggest bats I’ve ever seen up close. Pictures on facebook will follow as soon as I get email back in my house.
I've been surfing the past two weekends, which has been so much fun. It had been more than 6 weeks since surf camp, so I was pretty bad, but after two hours I got the hang of it again. The water is also beautiful, it was awesome to just be hanging out in the waves. It’s also fun to go surfing regularly- it takes me a little less time for me to get the hang of it each time. Both times we've gone to Manly Beach, which is fun because you have to take a ferry to get there. We've also managed to time our returns home so that we go as the sun is setting behind the harbor bridge, which is so so so beautiful. I may or may not have taken loads of pictures on the ferry. :)
Speaking of public transportation, I have observed an interesting pattern: people love talking to me en route to places. I call it American-girl-on-the-bus syndrome. This is especially true if I'm with another girl (usually Elyse, who is Canadian and has the same accent as me). But if people either speak to me in passing or overhear Elyse and I talking (basically long enough to recognize that my accent is not Australian), people love to strike up conversations. On one ten minute train ride three separate groups of people talked to us! This morning, a guy sat behind me guessing what part of the US I was from (first Midwest, then California). It happens most on the bus/train/ferry, but occasionally happens at stores, cafes, and even street corners. They are also usually adults (not students). It has to be the accent, because if I’m on the bus reading, then people don’t do it. Also, if there are any guys with me, it doesn’t happen. If you have any better name suggestions, let me know. :)
On Thursday, I fly out to the Whitsunday Islands for spring break! Some friends and I are doing a three-day sailing trip in the Whitsundays, then taking an overnight bus to Cairns to spend the rest of the week there (it has both the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests). I’m very excited!
It’s strange to think how long I’ve been here. The 2+ months have flown by. It has been interesting, because the first half of my semester has been largely Sydney-based. I’ve had papers, and really gotten into life at uni and in the city. But the second half will be much more traveling. Luckily, Australian uni setup is a little different and is conducive to my plan. We have about 4 weeks of class left after spring break (and at least one of my classes ends earlier than that, possibly 2). Then there is another week off (which is technically a “study vacation” but who says you can’t take your studying across the outback with you?) where I am likely going to Alice Springs and Uluru (aka Ayer’s Rock). Then there is 2 1/2 weeks of exams. During this time I only have on and it’s toward the end so more traveling will happen then. After exams end, it will be all travels until I head home in December. Yikes! When I write it out like that, it seems so short. But there is so much left here that I want to do!
That’s all for now folks. I’m sure that my next message will be full of snorkeling and such.
Love from down under,
Emma
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Hiking, waterfalls, and... dewgongs?
Salutations!
I realized that I ALWAYS begin these with "hey everyone" so I'm trying to mix it up. Any suggestions?
I hope everyone is doing well! I am great. There has been a lot going on the past week. Last Tuesday I went to another play, Norm & Ahmed. It's about the interactions between an Australian guy and Pakistani guy, and it was really thought-provoking especially about race. I don't know if "I liked it" is the right was to say it, but it has really gotten me thinking and I'm getting a lot out of it.
One afternoon we went to the Sydney Aquarium, which was pretty cool. One of their big attractions are dewgongs (which are a lot like manatees)- they're surprisingly graceful. Apparently pirates used to mistake them for mermaids- although how you mistake a big grey animal for a half naked woman is beyond me. :)
This past weekend some friends and I went to the Blue Mountains, and it was an AMAZING trip. We caught the train up to the mountains Friday morning (only took 2 hours, and suprisingly cheap to do) and spent the weekend hiking, exploring, eating, and generally just hanging out. There were six of us, so we had a room to ourselves in the hostel we stayed at, which was really fun. Even though the weather was supposed to be bad on Saturday, it cleared up by 11 and that was when we were just starting to hike.
The Blue mountains are beautiful. The main access point, Echo Point, overlooks a huge canyon- it's kind of life the Grand Canyon on a smaller scale and with lots of trees. There's also a rock formation known as the Three Sisters- I've heard a couple different stories about them, but they all agree on this: three beautiful girls (princesses?) were turned into rocks by a witch doctor (who may have been their father) to protect them (from war, or a beast, or something). But he died before he could turn them back, and they're still giant rock formations. You can't climb on them anymore, but you could hike all along the canyons, which is what we did a lot of. We found a couple waterfalls which were beautiful -and slippery, which we discovered when we climbed up the sides. No one got hurt, but some of us got pretty muddy. :) The forest was closer to rainforest than they are at home- we saw a lot of parrots! Nothing lethal though- no snakes or spiders.
We also discovered the world's steepest railway. It's advertised as such, and journey comes complete with the Indiana Jones theme in the background as you go very fast down a very steep incline. Basically it's a really quick way to get from the top of the canyon to the bottom. There was also an air tram (I think that's what they called it) which gave a great view of the surroundings.
All in all, it was a great trip. There wasn't much to do in the town at night, but we had such a fun group of people that we had a blast just chilling at the hostel. A interesting side note: none of the four guys brought soap on the trip. Luckily I did, so crisis averted. :)
Well I think you're up to date! This week has been really crazy, I have three papers due within two weeks of each other. And here, papers are worth a lot more than they are at home. Also tonight I'm headed to a wine and cheese tasting put on by a couple of clubs at school- there's an arts festival for the next week or so going on, so there's a lot of fun cultural things to do.
I love you all! As always, the emails are amazing and make me smile every time I hear from you. Have a great labor day and do something fun (and slightly crazy) for me!
Love from down under,
Emma
I realized that I ALWAYS begin these with "hey everyone" so I'm trying to mix it up. Any suggestions?
I hope everyone is doing well! I am great. There has been a lot going on the past week. Last Tuesday I went to another play, Norm & Ahmed. It's about the interactions between an Australian guy and Pakistani guy, and it was really thought-provoking especially about race. I don't know if "I liked it" is the right was to say it, but it has really gotten me thinking and I'm getting a lot out of it.
One afternoon we went to the Sydney Aquarium, which was pretty cool. One of their big attractions are dewgongs (which are a lot like manatees)- they're surprisingly graceful. Apparently pirates used to mistake them for mermaids- although how you mistake a big grey animal for a half naked woman is beyond me. :)
This past weekend some friends and I went to the Blue Mountains, and it was an AMAZING trip. We caught the train up to the mountains Friday morning (only took 2 hours, and suprisingly cheap to do) and spent the weekend hiking, exploring, eating, and generally just hanging out. There were six of us, so we had a room to ourselves in the hostel we stayed at, which was really fun. Even though the weather was supposed to be bad on Saturday, it cleared up by 11 and that was when we were just starting to hike.
The Blue mountains are beautiful. The main access point, Echo Point, overlooks a huge canyon- it's kind of life the Grand Canyon on a smaller scale and with lots of trees. There's also a rock formation known as the Three Sisters- I've heard a couple different stories about them, but they all agree on this: three beautiful girls (princesses?) were turned into rocks by a witch doctor (who may have been their father) to protect them (from war, or a beast, or something). But he died before he could turn them back, and they're still giant rock formations. You can't climb on them anymore, but you could hike all along the canyons, which is what we did a lot of. We found a couple waterfalls which were beautiful -and slippery, which we discovered when we climbed up the sides. No one got hurt, but some of us got pretty muddy. :) The forest was closer to rainforest than they are at home- we saw a lot of parrots! Nothing lethal though- no snakes or spiders.
We also discovered the world's steepest railway. It's advertised as such, and journey comes complete with the Indiana Jones theme in the background as you go very fast down a very steep incline. Basically it's a really quick way to get from the top of the canyon to the bottom. There was also an air tram (I think that's what they called it) which gave a great view of the surroundings.
All in all, it was a great trip. There wasn't much to do in the town at night, but we had such a fun group of people that we had a blast just chilling at the hostel. A interesting side note: none of the four guys brought soap on the trip. Luckily I did, so crisis averted. :)
Well I think you're up to date! This week has been really crazy, I have three papers due within two weeks of each other. And here, papers are worth a lot more than they are at home. Also tonight I'm headed to a wine and cheese tasting put on by a couple of clubs at school- there's an arts festival for the next week or so going on, so there's a lot of fun cultural things to do.
I love you all! As always, the emails are amazing and make me smile every time I hear from you. Have a great labor day and do something fun (and slightly crazy) for me!
Love from down under,
Emma
Monday, August 24, 2009
Beaches, rugby, and tacos
Hey everyone!
It has been funny and strange to hear about everyone moving in, going to back to school events, and generally preparing for school while I'm in my 5th week of class. :) I'm a quarter of the way done with my semester already- craziness.
This past weekend was very eventful and fun. It started on Thursday, when Elyse and I went to a play for our film and theatre class called Saturn's Return. After having a bit of trouble finding the place (the theatre is in a wharf on the harbor, and all the wharfs look the same on the outside...) Its an Australian play written specifically for the theatre we saw it in, and it was... bizarre. I liked it, but it was so strange. There were only about 4 scenes, and they didn't go in chronological order, and the three actors played all the characters, so it got confusing who was actually who. It was meant to be that way- one guy would go from being an old school mate of the girl to her baby to that same baby five years older in the same scene. Like I said, weird. We're going to see another one tonight called Norm and Ahmed. It should be a little easier to follow. :)
After the play we went to this restaurant famous for its pancakes, which was amazing! We got some chocolate pancakes, served with cream (not whipped cream, something different that I'm not sure what it was), ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries. We will definitely be going back there soon to try some of their other amazing concoctions.
Friday I was supposed to go surfing, but the waves were nonexistent. But that was okay, because Saturday I went to the beach also! No surfing, but we spent the afternoon playing ultimate frisbee, swimming (yes, we got in the water even though it was freezing), exploring the rock outcroppings off to one side, and just hanging out with friends.
That night some of us went to a rugby game too! There was a group of us going, but by the time we got tickets we could only sit in pairs scattered through the 80,000+ fans in the stadium. It was the Australia Wallabies against the New Zealand Allblacks- those two and South Africa are known as Tri Nations, they're considered some of the best in the world. Rugby is kind of like football, but less stopping. Its a great game- I loved it. Going into the game I knew the basics, and now I feel like I understand it pretty well. The only thing I didn't completely understand was the ref calls and penalties, and neither did Chandos (who I was with), so it was funny to try and predict/understand the different calls. After leading most of the game, the Wallabies lost by one point with 3 minutes to go, which was disappointing. But it was a close game the whole time, and really fun to watch. Also, the Allblacks do this Maori dance-thing before every game called the Haka- go look it up, its the most intimidating thing ever.
Sunday I played it lazy and wrote a paper during the day, and then some friends came over to my place and we had a taco night! Everyone brought something, and we ended up cook 3 kilos of meat. There was a TON of food, and it was so good. Its also funny, because I'm pretty sure its the only time some of these guys get vegetables in the diets. :) We just cooked, hung out, watched British stand-up, relaxed- a really fun night.
That's about it here! Some friends and I are going to the Blue Mountains this weekend, Friday- Sunday. (I LOVE having no class on Fridays. Its amazing.) This will be our first plan-it-ourselves trip, so I'm excited to hang out with everyone.
We've also been looking into plans for semester break (aka spring break- its okay, you northern-hemisphere people can be jealous). We're thinking that we will spend 3-4 days on a sailboat in the Whitsunday islands, snorkeling and such in the Great Barrier Reef, and then head to Cairns, which has more touristy stuff plus the rainforest. It's in less than a month, so we have to figure it out soon so we can book flights and things! (Nothing in Australia is close to anything else- you have to fly to nearly every other major city.)
I love you all- thanks so much for emails and messages. They make me feel connected to everything back home. I miss you all!
Love from down under,
Emma
It has been funny and strange to hear about everyone moving in, going to back to school events, and generally preparing for school while I'm in my 5th week of class. :) I'm a quarter of the way done with my semester already- craziness.
This past weekend was very eventful and fun. It started on Thursday, when Elyse and I went to a play for our film and theatre class called Saturn's Return. After having a bit of trouble finding the place (the theatre is in a wharf on the harbor, and all the wharfs look the same on the outside...) Its an Australian play written specifically for the theatre we saw it in, and it was... bizarre. I liked it, but it was so strange. There were only about 4 scenes, and they didn't go in chronological order, and the three actors played all the characters, so it got confusing who was actually who. It was meant to be that way- one guy would go from being an old school mate of the girl to her baby to that same baby five years older in the same scene. Like I said, weird. We're going to see another one tonight called Norm and Ahmed. It should be a little easier to follow. :)
After the play we went to this restaurant famous for its pancakes, which was amazing! We got some chocolate pancakes, served with cream (not whipped cream, something different that I'm not sure what it was), ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries. We will definitely be going back there soon to try some of their other amazing concoctions.
Friday I was supposed to go surfing, but the waves were nonexistent. But that was okay, because Saturday I went to the beach also! No surfing, but we spent the afternoon playing ultimate frisbee, swimming (yes, we got in the water even though it was freezing), exploring the rock outcroppings off to one side, and just hanging out with friends.
That night some of us went to a rugby game too! There was a group of us going, but by the time we got tickets we could only sit in pairs scattered through the 80,000+ fans in the stadium. It was the Australia Wallabies against the New Zealand Allblacks- those two and South Africa are known as Tri Nations, they're considered some of the best in the world. Rugby is kind of like football, but less stopping. Its a great game- I loved it. Going into the game I knew the basics, and now I feel like I understand it pretty well. The only thing I didn't completely understand was the ref calls and penalties, and neither did Chandos (who I was with), so it was funny to try and predict/understand the different calls. After leading most of the game, the Wallabies lost by one point with 3 minutes to go, which was disappointing. But it was a close game the whole time, and really fun to watch. Also, the Allblacks do this Maori dance-thing before every game called the Haka- go look it up, its the most intimidating thing ever.
Sunday I played it lazy and wrote a paper during the day, and then some friends came over to my place and we had a taco night! Everyone brought something, and we ended up cook 3 kilos of meat. There was a TON of food, and it was so good. Its also funny, because I'm pretty sure its the only time some of these guys get vegetables in the diets. :) We just cooked, hung out, watched British stand-up, relaxed- a really fun night.
That's about it here! Some friends and I are going to the Blue Mountains this weekend, Friday- Sunday. (I LOVE having no class on Fridays. Its amazing.) This will be our first plan-it-ourselves trip, so I'm excited to hang out with everyone.
We've also been looking into plans for semester break (aka spring break- its okay, you northern-hemisphere people can be jealous). We're thinking that we will spend 3-4 days on a sailboat in the Whitsunday islands, snorkeling and such in the Great Barrier Reef, and then head to Cairns, which has more touristy stuff plus the rainforest. It's in less than a month, so we have to figure it out soon so we can book flights and things! (Nothing in Australia is close to anything else- you have to fly to nearly every other major city.)
I love you all- thanks so much for emails and messages. They make me feel connected to everything back home. I miss you all!
Love from down under,
Emma
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