Goodday mate! (Imagine that being said in an Australian accent and you will have a pretty good idea of why I am enjoying Australia so much). I am sorry it took me so long to get this blog started up. Considering that the program I am in has attempted to take over our lives to prevent a forever lasting jetlag, I did not have time to get my internet set up. But finally, now that I have this blog I will try to update everyone as frequently as possible on my semester here in oz. Just to remind/warn everyone, I will try my hardest to keep my stories and life interesting and my spelling not embarrassingly awful.
So here it goes: Luckily, I survived through my million hour flight without too much pain and suffering. I slept a lot and watched more movies than the typical person can sit through. We arrived and I met my roommate. Her name is Nathalie and is in Sargent. She is chill and I can see us rooming together working out which is good. Similar to the beginning of Freshman year everyone is pairing into groupings or cliques of people. Not really based upon personality, but i would say looks or if they are in a sorority. The funniest thing is it seems like the blonde girls on the program only hang out with each other, i don't think they even talk to other people ( good news for you Laur it is not like that at home- so it is acceptable for us to be friends). Last night, we got our first real taste of Sydney and we went to the opera house and explored the area. Let me just say there is nothing like it. Above the huge white opera house there are bats flying everywhere (which is just terrifying but breathtaking). We then headed back on Australias bus system which I would probably say is the most confusing transportation I have to this point in my life encountered. They have a million buses all going to different places that stop at the same stops, and they dont announce what stop you are at most of the time. So if it is dark out and you cannnot see the street signs, you basically have to purely figure out where to get off by the surrounding stores and area. However, we did manage to make it home safe. There was more orientation today (Friday), and then we went on a boat cruise of Darling Harbor. Darling Harbor is amazing, to the extent that if I had to pick a place to move to and live for the rest of my like I would pick there in a second. I will put up pictures as soon as possible to try to express how amazing it is. But basically it is like a whole town on the water and is filled with boats and really cool looking restaurants and bars on the water. In that area is also the aquarium and wildlife museum. The boat cruise really gave us to chance to see Australia from a bit of a removed point of view. It is easier to see how amazing the skylines are from a boat then standing just underneath them. We then hung out at this bar/lounge place for a while and with the jet lag still getting the best out of many of us,we headed back.
Some general observations and things I have learned about Australia so far:
1. They seem to have way more fun than Americans and are always happy.
2. When girls are going out here they where the shortest dresses and tallest shoes ( dresses shorter than Paris Hilton Short)
3. The guys are far more pulled together than guys at home. They also where pointy toe shoes.
4. Most bars won't let people in if they are wearing open toed shoes.
5. The accents are beyond amazing.
6. The escalators are different and are just like an inclined moving ramp. Basically like the escalator things in airports that are flat, but just inclined.
7. Cars are always speeding here and will not hesitate to hit you if you are in the way. I have to this point already gotten a lot of angry glares from people of walking at the wrong time.
8. Even though until people hear us talk they would not know we are Americans, the second we do it is very apparent. The other day for instance these guys in a truck yelled, "O shit, there Americans". To this point I am unsure of what they meant by that, but we found it funny.
9. I have yet to see one Australian talking on their mobile (as they call it here) when walking on the street, which is extremely surprising considering the 90% of new yorkers (including my self) that are constantly on the phone while walking.
Also and probably most important I want to give you all my contact information.
To call my cell phone the # is : +61435486945. You guys should check with your cell phone companies to check prices just so you know how fast you should be talking when you call or I call you. I have heard that most likely the way to make the cost the cheapest is to get a calling card.
If you guys want to send me anything ( which would be more than highly appreciated and reciprocated) there are 2 address choices.
If you are sending mail to me that does not need to be signed for such as a letter or package that does not require any signature upon arrival use:
Boston University Sydney Centre
PO Box 946
Broadway, NSW 2007
Australia
If you are sending something that needs to be signed for such as (fed-ex or dsl):
Boston university Sydney centre
22-36 mountain street
ultimo, NSW 2007
Australia
As confusing as this all is try really hard to get it right, because most of the time if the mail is sent to teh wrong address I will not get it.
Anyways, I miss you all so much and will try to give frequent updates of my hopefully extremely exciting life throughout my time here.
Ps. here are some pictures:
Me on the boat cruise with Ashleigh, Matt, and my roommate Nathalie
The Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera house
Close up of opera house
Darling Harbor
Darling Harbor--I tried my best with the pictures but let me just say they do not capture the scenery there in the least.
