"The Great Grape Escape. It rhymes. And it's sexy."

Wow how time has flown by...it's been almost 3 weeks since the last posting. Mi mal...

So a few weeks ago (Saturday I believe) the ankle was finally behaving so I headed to the Cross with everyone as planned. We ended up going to pretty much all of the same places that we went to last time-strange because there are heaps of other places to go. The most memorable place was called the Sugar Mill where I spotted a sign advertising "Sketchy Sundays." Hmm so sad I missed it.

Kel and I and a couple others ended up staying out pretty late (per usual) so we decided to head to the harbour to watch the sun rise. We hailed a cab probably around 4 am to take us to the harbour. The cabby was pretty rude...he wouldn't accept the change we were trying to pay him with. He screamed, "Notes only!" My thinking is, buddy, in these tough economic times, you should take what you can get. Paper or metal- Moolah is moolah, my friend. Anyway...we hit up Maccas to grab an eggmcmuffin for energy and made our way to the Sydney Opera House. We talked for hours in the darkness of early morning, and then suddenly, dawn broke. It was an absolutely beautiful sight to be able to directly watch Sydney and all of its landmarks wake up and begin the day. But man o man it was windy and chilly! After awhile, we sent the boys on their way back to the Parklands and Kelli and I made our way to a place called Pancakes on the Rocks. It was time to grub...again. Our bad. After filling our bellies with delight, we hopped the train to get home and finally go to bed. success.

Before I knew it, it was Monday..and the last week of my internship. It was a great feeling. I felt like I wasn't able to contribute to the company as much anymore and it was just time for me to be done. On my last day, the marketing team and I went to lunch to this dumpling place by work that I have been dying to visit! It certainly was delicious. But it was really weird because when you eat the dumplings, you're supposed to take this spoon type thing, fill it with soy sauce and ginger, then place the dumpling on top of it and basically take it like a shot.. this juice stuff squirts out of the dumpling and rushes your whole mouth. I can't really explain it, but it's weird. But also tasty.

When close of day came on Wednesday, I realized that I may never see the people I work with again. I actually got pretty sad about it. It's like I spent the whole week thinking about how I couldn't wait to be free from work, but when it came down to it and we were saying our goodbyes while exchanging cards and hugs...it hit me. This was my first of many goodbyes to come, and it wasn't a good feeling. I'm really going to miss those people...especially Bianca and Heidi. Great Aussies I tell you. I plan to keep in touch with them via Facebook still though, so no worries. They bought me my favorite Aussie cookies in addition to tim tams and some Australia memorabilia..a koozie (stubby holder) and kangaroo and koala stuffed animals. It was really sweet. Overall, working at ACP Magazines was a good experience and one I won't forget.

The Parklands People hosted a beer pong tournament at their apartments on Thursday. After much contemplation on whether or not I should stay home and do something productive or attend...we ended up choosing the latter of the two. I knew if I stayed home while everyone went out, I would be so frustrated that I had to stay in, so I wouldn't get anything accomplished anyway. I went for it. Glad I did..it was a pretty good time. Apparently the cops came to 'break it up' four times due to noise complaints. I love how they handle situations like that here. 'No worries mate, just keep it down'...right.

So the weekend came and we had a trip planned, woo hoo! We took the train a couple hours up to Newcastle where we were to visit some of our friends from the Spring Break trip and go on a wine tour in the Hunter Valley Region...something I had been wanting to do for some time now. 

We arrived in Newcastle to pouring down rain and as we were walking to Lauren's house...you'll never guess what I spotted way down one of the side streets! MY CAR FROM HOME!! yes, the sunburst gold (booger) kia rio! It was amazing. I took several pictures, naturally. Can't believe I haven't driven in 3 and a half months.

Later on we went out and I tell ya, Newcastle is crazy! It's just funny because the local crowd seems a lot older than general college age. I gather that there are a lot of middle aged blue collar workers people living there, which is cool, but it was funny to me because they were all stumbling around as hammered as I would expect younger kids to be. Richie and Zach met us at The Brewery which was awesome because we really wanted to see them but we just kept missing each other at each of the bars we went to. Glad it ended up working out.

Early morning on Sunday it was time for the wine tour! Ten of us hopped in a van with our guide, Tex. Funny guy. The ten of us together made for a great dynamic because of everyone's different personalities. Richie said the most random things, so he cracked me up all day. (see the title quote-yes, that was from him.)

The night before, we used this book that one of the guys had that had a bunch of 'Would you rather scenarios' that were just hilarious! One scenario posed to Kevin was, "Would you rather start every sentence for the rest of your life with 'Legend Has it' or end every sentence for the rest of your life with 'According to the Prophecies'". Our friend Julie wasn't in attendance when this question was posed so we decided that at the wineries Kevin would randomly throw in a 'legend has it' or 'according to the prophecies' in about every other sentence he spoke to Julie to see how long he could do it before she would catch on and shut him up. We all laughed silently the whole day as we watched her huff and roll her eyes every time he said it, but she didn't crack until the very last winery when she said, "Kevin, if you say that one more time I swear I'm going to..." and we all basically died. It was just hilarious, I'm telling you. Good on ya, Kevin, for providing us with some great laughs. 

We attended five different wineries and tried all different types of red and white wines. I wasn't really crazy about any of them. I've figured out what red wine tastes like...it starts with nothing, then I sense a buttery taste and it ends with a wood flavored aftertaste. No thanks. We also attended a cheese and dip tasting place where we tried variations of brie, cheddar, bleu, etc. They were all surprisingly delicious. Personal favorite: marinated feta. But the goat cheese was NOT good. Steer clear.

The fourth place we went to that day actually specialized in schnapps and they were famous for their Chilli Schnapps. We all had to take a shot of it and if we liked it, we could have another shot to sip. We took them all on the count of three and it was hilarious because almost everyone was coughing and choking after they took it, but I must admit, I quite liked it. I had another glass. And I finished someone else's glass for them. Feel the burn...

That evening we made our way back to Sydney. A drunk irish guy that we ran into earlier in the evening came and sat next to me on the train. I was not happy about it because our first encounter with him was outside of the train station when he asked how to get to sydney but could barely get the question out because he was almost too wasted to speak. Then I'm sitting on the train trying to read, and he sits next to me. Swell. He asked my name three times. He also asked my age and said I looked younger than 21. He told me he was 23. Ten minutes later he asked my age again and told me he was 24. This guy was nuts. He also tried to get my number but his phone was dead and I certainly didn't offer to put his in my phone. Then he wrote his number in chicken scratch in my book...i couldn't read what the numbers were but I told him it was clear as day. He wanted to go catch a movie. I think he needed to catch a break-from drinking. But as beligerent as he was, and as much as I couldn't understand this irish man that his friends termed 'foxy', most of the time, he wasn't that bad of a guy I guess. I kept trying to fall asleep bc I was tired and every time I did he would ask if I was okay.  We talked about a lot of random things (our favorite actors, movies, colors..his family, etc.) The train ride was like 3 hours ok, you can cover a lot of ground. Ha, what a character.

This past week was not enjoyable...I had two final papers due on Friday. Thursday evening my friends Kevin and Noel and I pulled our first Aussie paper writing all-nighter. Noel brought over snacks to keep us going: mandarins, gobstoppers and sea salt chips. And every hour at the top of the hour, we would stop typing and get up and dance to a nineties dance hit of Kevin's choice to loosen up...one of the songs was Baby Got Back. Yes, this is the lameness that engulfed our lives this week that proved our studiousness. We finally finished the paper at about 9 am and turned them in around ten. What a great feeling that was. I still have one more huge paper (3000 words) due at the end of this week. Ugh I don't want to talk about it.

So we're finally up to last night. After much debate, the roommates and I hosted the third and final 'party in the palace'. It was supposed to be graffiti themed but due to my catch-up sleep that took place most of the day, I didn't have time to go pick up a shirt, so most of us didn't abide by the theme. But some people still did. It was a good time...the cops came once, but they basically laughed it off, told us to have a good night and drove off, because it wasn't loud at all by the time they got there. I love the crowd control system here.

Today was a day of rest and relaxation, and the weather was gorgeous.. for the first time in awhile! The first day of winter was about three days ago, but it really felt like Spring with not a single cloud in the sky! 

Tomorrow's plan is to day drink at King's Cross to mask the harsh realization that is setting in...I leave Australia in three weeks. UGH I shiver with sheer anxiety. 

CHEERS. 

Let's Have A Look...

Pictures: Top Left-Everyone at the amazing hostel we stayed at: The Chill House. Top Right:Kelli, Katie and me waiting an eternity for the bus to King's Cross.

Mid Right-the Amazing 12 apostles..do you see the rainbow?

Third Row Left:"Sisters":Kelli and I. next row right: Cassie and I at the Nobbies in Phillip Island. The seals weren't there; probably bc it might have been too windy? Bottom right: My roomates:Katie, Kelli, Ashley and I at Ivy.

(Let's have a look)... at what I can remember from the last 2 weeks or so... 

So it has been awhile since we had ventured out into the city..aside from work. We had wanted to go to this place called Ivy several times but for some reason we never got around to it, so this time we went. The club/bar/whatever you want to call it was absolutely beautiful. It had a running fountain inside of it and an open-air rooftop. I met some nice people...2 of which were in the advertising field. I'm thinking, "Hello, I'm listening..let's chat." So we did a little bit of networking and went on our way. 

The following Monday at work, we gained a new member to our marketing team so we went out for lunch...sushi. I've never had it before, and my co-worker's reactions were basically utter shock and disbelief. SO we went to this place that had a 'sushi train'. You sit at the bar and little plates of sushi are just sitting on a track that breezes past you and you pick and choose what you want. The prices are based on whatever color the plates are. I had no idea what to get..it was greek to me...or japanese I should say...so Heidi picked for me. She said she would start me off slow with chicken (cooked) and avocado. Later I had tuna and even salmon! (too slimy). I couldn't remember how to use chopsticks so I used a spoon like a fool. And what I thought were pretty little transluscent orange sprinkles all over the sushi roll were actually salmon eggs. GREAT! Well, I ate it anyway. All in all, it was a good experience..and I am now a fan of sushi.

Speaking of this new guy at work...you ladies from home will like this- One of his 'mates' is that guy from "The Hills" that's dating Whitney. You know, the hot guy in a band?!! I couldn't believe it...but he told me how this guy dropped out of uni and changed his name for modeling or something. Basically, I need to be introduced to all of his friends. And a rhetorical question- So why are the gorgeous Aussies in the US while I'm here?? Anyway...

This past weekend we flew to Melbourne.. the other major city in Australia. When we arrived we had a few hours to kill before hitting the bus to meet up with the Parklands gang who were in Phillip Island. The feel of the city is completely different than that of Sydney. It seems a bit slower paced, more artistic, and the people are generally friendlier. I didn't feel like I was playing chicken with the people facing me while I was crossing the street, and a very nice lady overheard Kelli and I pondering getting a bite of sushi to eat and recommended us to a place across the street that was, "the best sushi, so fresh and so cheap! Only 2 dollars a roll!" So we took her advice. I played it safe and got a fried chicken roll haha, but it was delicious! It's funny because a lot of the sushi here is shaped similar to a burrito unlike the small rolls that you would expect. Nice for sushi on the run though!

On one of the streets, there was a Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary display in the windows of a department store. 18 of the world's top designers (ex: Jimmy Choo) recreated the Ruby Red slipper according to their designing style. I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

So we made our way to Phillip Island via a 3 hr. bus ride and Kevin kindly picked us up in the van they rented. The hostel we stayed at was called the Chill House and it was so sweet! It was actually someone's house that they converted into a 10 bed hostel. It was very quaint, and the guy who owned it actually made a fire for us (because it's freezing in melbourne) and sat and hung out with us. I would have stayed there for several days if we had the chance. 

In the morning we drove to a famous landmark at Phillip Island called the Nobbies. There are seals there, but we didn't see them... but there were the largest waves I had ever seen!

We drove back to Melbourne and walked around the city a bit more...then we went out in the evening. First stop was a place called Cookie, where we stood on the turfed rooftop for a bit. It got too chilly after awhile so Kel and I decided to move on.  We were trying to meet up with some people who were also visiting Melbourne from Wollongong. We ended up getting lost and exploring the city. As the alley that we were heading down began to narrow and the graffiti on the walls started getting thicker, we decided to duck into any place that showed signs of civilization. So there it was, an irish pub called Puggs. It looked crowded so I figured it would be a good spot. I never said I was good with first impressions. I think we were the only 2 that weren't regulars...and it was awkward. A 40 year lady in the bathroom was hitting on Kelli. She tried to tell me the reason she got turned down from the last bar she went to was because she couldn't walk in her heeled boots. I responded with, "or were you too drunk?" She said, "Well that, but..." haha it was hilarious. It was time to move on.

We then wandered around and found a place called Young & Jackson's. It was cool because it had a live band. A man that kindly bought us our drinks (the whole time, thanks buddy) asked us if we were sisters.  I responded 'no' and Kel responded 'yes' simultaneously. He caught on at first but I then decided to have some fun with it and quickly backtracked. I told him I didn't hear him correctly or something and we went with this whole sister idea for awhile. He ate it up. This guy was a riot...and he introduced us to his old (and by old I mean he was literally at least 70) friend Kenny, who we chatted it up with for awhile. The Sister Act went on for some time but then things got weird so we "went to the bathroom" but actually slipped out of the place without notice. ;)

As we were navigating the city looking for another stopping point, we directed a couple of guys to 'Cookie', where we had been earlier. They were surprised at how knowledgeable we seemed about the city and as they asked how long we had been there, we responded with "a day." Basically, we circled the city several times that night. We ended up at one more place, a night club called "Billboard". We ran into some people from our Spring Break trip, not the ones we were looking for, but it's crazy how small of a world it is anyway. After awhile, we found our way to some pizza (not even good) and began our long trek back to the hostel. We calculated that we were out for 8 hours that night...we got in at 4 am and took a 2 hour nap because we had to head to the airport a little after 6 to go rent a van for the Great Ocean Road-Roadtrip. 

After a few hours of rental car company drama we finally secured our van and the 8 of us headed on our way. We made it to the 12 apostles, a famous landmark in Australia. They are these gigantic rock structures made out of limestone that stick out of the water...words and pictures really don't do it justice. It truly was an amazing sight. We made stir fry as a group back at the hostel and headed back to the city in the morning.

Back in Sydney: back to work. I only have one more week left (insert fist pump here). I interpreted this past week as a break from class/school to get ready for the hellish weeks ahead. I enjoyed it.

A couple of our friends from the Parklands have a basketball team and they play every wednesday evening. After weeks of hassling, we finally made it to a game to watch. Team America is awesome!! They played the supposed best team but dominated them! Do I hear a championship calling?

Later on that evening, we all headed to a local hotel (bar) and where I found out that I wasn't invincible. Without going into too much dignity diminishing details, let's just say I participated in a faux dance off and rolled my ankle. Heard the pop, excruciating pain but too embarrassed to tell anyone...until I got home. (Thanks Kel for being awesome through that) Anyway... it swelled up, and it was difficult to walk but it's not broken, just sprained. I expect there to be a full recovery by the end of this weekend...or by tomorrow-well that had better be the case, because I've got stuff to do!! Kings Cross here I come again!!!! 

What's up next: Newcastle to visit the Spring Break gang and do the Hunter Valley Wine Tour (next weekend)

Hopefully a trip to Western Australia the last week we're here...details on that coming soon.

How about an update on Aussie lingo? It's been awhile...

Terms and phrases:

"Swayt"- pronunciation for Sweet

"Wicked"

"Fah Out!"- Far out

"Bloind"- dragged out pronunciation for Blind...referencing getting really drunk. "We were absolutely bloind last night!"

"Ta"- Thank you...only heard that in Melbourne though.

"Bloody"-as in What the bloody hell are you doing?

"oy kay"- pronunciation for O.K.

"Wanka" a derogatory term generally used to describe guys

"Good on ya!"- Way to go.

 

"We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it..."

Above: Top left: Stopping for a quick snapshot amidst our wrestling shenanigans. Top Right: The gang from our trip up the coast- visiting our house from The Parklands and Newcastle

(... words from a GREAT song I hear in Sydney all the time; I'd consider it one of the theme songs from our trip)

Since the return of my epic trip, I must say its been quite an adjustment. I missed all of the great people that we spent so much time with, and it was back to work and classes. Work (besides the people I work with) has become less enjoyable and school is, well, it was always less than ideal. I have four more large papers to write and then the semester is over!

Anyway, let's get to the past week's events! Last Sunday was Anzac Day. It's a HUGE Australian holiday, and the premise of it is that it is a memorial/remembrance of fallen war veterans and a celebration of what was actually a defeat for the Australian military. BUT from what I gathered from the locals is that it is a day where Australians drink heavily from the morning and into the night and play a gambling game that is illegal every day except Anzac, called "Two-Up." I was really excited to see what this 'forbidden' game was all about. So we headed to the Australian Hotel late afternoon and saw the crowd outside playing Two-Up. To my surprise, it was actually one of the simplest and lamest games I had ever seen. Someone stands on a stage and flips two coins; while you stand in the crowd and bet with someone that has the same amount of cash as you. For example, I had 5 dollars so I grabbed someone else with 5 bucks and betted with them. You call heads or tails and the other person calls what you didn't. And yes, it's as simple as it seems. If its heads and you called heads, you win. And vice versa. I guess when everyone's drunk, you don't want to make things much more complex than that. I'm pretty sure I won at least 2 times. yesss. But then we asked someone why it was illegal, and he just responded that the government doesn't make any profit off of it. hilarious.

So the evening went well, and we actually randomly ran into some of our friends from the trip that live a couple hours away, they decided to stop into Sydney for the day. So that was refreshing.

The other day I stepped out onto the balcony and the maintenance/landscaping man struck up a conversation with me. He asked how I was enjoying Australia and living in our new townhome. Of course, I love it! And I told him of how it was a million times nicer than our former mold infested apartment. He was shocked. But we covered a lot of ground in our chat; such as the economy in Australia and how its following the lead of America. He's mad that they are being issued stimulus checks, because he knows how it didn't boost America's economy at all. We talked about the job market, and I expressed my concern with finding a job in either the US or Oz. He advised that if I were to come back to Australia, I should switch fields from journalism to personal fitness. He said that this area was here to stay... that there is no shortage in job opps in fitness clubs or PE teachers...he said Australia has surpassed America as the fattest country (I find that hard to believe), and they're obsessed with the show 'The Biggest Loser'. He said I could just go back to school and be done in about 2 years... hmmm interesting. Is it too late to consider a career change? His name was Sam. Nice guy.

So this might come as a surprise to most, especially myself, but I've picked up a little bit of cooking!!! I used to hardly make bagels correctly, and I constantly eat lean cuisines, but this semester I've learned to cook ground beef for tacos, grilled chicken on the skillet, AMAZING wraps (Roly Poly better watch out) and eggs (scrambled and omelets)! I laugh because I don't really know why I never cooked, I just always had it in my head that I couldn't. And now that I've started... I really enjoy it! When you finish a dish correctly (and it's delicious) you get such a sense of satisfaction! AND I've grown a strong liking for tuna. It's SO cheap... so that's what I bring to lunch pretty much every day.

The highlight of this weekend was that we had some of our guy pals from our trip come down from Newcastle on Friday night! We decided to have a party at our 'palace' and it was a real hit!!! I love house parties because you're guaranteed to know most, if not all the people, it's cheap and just easier! I got to wear my slippers, so I was pumped!!! 

However, I got in a bit of a wrestling match because one of my friends, Kevin, made fun of Arnold! He said something about how all the people carry muskets and rifles, so for some reason or another, I tackled him!!! It got pretty intense that we flipped over the couch! No serious injuries though...just a bit of a sore arm haha. But I had to defend where I grew up! And Barack Obama just went there, so clearly it's a pretty established place!

Last night we stayed around and watched American Gangster with a couple of the guys from the Parklands. It was a pretty chill night...which I needed.

Today (sunday) it's supposed to be back to work... Kelli and I have a presentation in our PR class tomorrow. It's about technology and how its used in PR...bleh. I think I'll just bribe the class with candy (Caramel Koalas--they are the BEST) and hopefully it'll get us the grade. :)

That's all for now! 

Extreme Adventures East Coast Australia Trip= LEGEND

Pictures Explained: top: exploring a new island and trying to get a coconut open with no success. Middle left: white water rafting in the Tully River; oldest rainforest in the world. middle middle: last day-chilling on Trinity beach. middle right: LaGOON bay day; lots of drinking and rain in the Whitsundays. Bottom left: Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin at the croc show. Bottom Right: me hand feeding an elephant at the Australia Zoo-my dream.

Right before I left for Spring Break (it's actually Fall here) I was listening to my ipod on the train and wanted to bust a move out loud to practically every song I heard. It was then that I decided that something was missing from my life- DANCE. Not the lame-o 'hip-hop' fitness class I took through my student rec center, but real, challenging dance! So I googled the Sydney Dance Company, which offered 60 different walk-in classes. I decided to do the contemporary at 6:30 on Thursday and the Jazz Funk and Hip-Hop at 8:30. I wasn't the biggest fan of the first class, mainly because the teacher was rude, but I really enjoyed the second class. The instructor was great and we learned the fastest dance EVER, but it was still fun. I would definitely pay the 18 bucks to do another class-good work out.

So I had two weeks off from Uni and work. I spent most of the ten day trip through a company called Extreme Adventures where we travel up the coast of Australia starting in Brisbane, Australia and ending in Cairns, Australia. I must begin with saying that it was absolutely amazing and that I can't believe that I accomplished several life dreams in just a little over one week. Read on and you'll see what I mean...

We flew to Brisbane the night before the tour was to leave. Kelli and I stayed in a hostel called Tinbilly backpackers with two other roommates, a guy from England (can't recall his name) and another guy from Brazil (think his name was Cruz.) More about them in a second. The hostel was on top of a bar, and it looked really fun..a ton of people our age. When we checked in, they asked me to join a KY Jelly Wrestling match. I naturally declined...the guy was persistent about it, but I still refused and he said, "You must be American, they're so boring." I laughed out loud at that one. Anyway, when we got to our room, Cruz came back from downstairs, covered in the Jelly. Apparently he had participated in the wrestling match and won a trip out of it. He was pretty excited about it. I knew that this trip was going to be crazy from that very moment. 

'England' was a great guy, very talkative and had a great story. He took 7 weeks off from work and decided to travel around the world. He had already been to New Zealand and Thailand(he talked it up and really made me want to go to thailand, esp. since it's apparently so inexpensive), and was traveling up the coast of Australia, just as we were, but without the organized tour. He made fun of English people and pointed out anyone acting ridiculous in the bar and automatically labeling them as English

So we checked out in the morning and headed to the bus station to meet our group and tour guides. We got on the bus and made our way to our first point of attraction. The Australia Zoo- home of (the late) Steve Irwin and family. As we were doing so, one of the tour guides, Matt, came over the intercom and made an introductory speech. He told us the trip was going to be absolutely insane and he was just hilarious. He introduced the other tourguide as Mouse and told him that he was our 'counselor'. He told us that if we had any issues...and he provided some pretty vulgar examples, that we can could go to him to try to resolve them. Our tourguides, Matt and Mouse, literally made the trip everything it was. They are some of the craziest, most out of their head, guys I have ever met. But they are so awesome, and naturally hilarious! I'll be referencing them a lot because they were a HUGE part of the trip. They are also lifeguards at Sydney's most famous beach, Bondi. There is a show called Bondi Rescue that is really popular here.. it's a reality show about the lifeguards and the day to day duties they do at the beach, and Matt and Mouse are two of the stars. We watched one episode starring Matt on the bus one night, and it was hilarious. 

Matt also introduced to us the Roo. It was a large inflatable Kangaroo that we told us we would take everywhere we go, and it would do everything we did, and that we had to protect it with our life! There were other groups that did the same tour but days earlier, and they were going to try to 'kill our roo' he said. So this roo became one of us. 

Anyway, we got to the Zoo, and Matt said that there's a good chance that we could see Bindi Irwin at the Crocodile feeding show since it was Easter Sunday. But he also through in some of his humour and said she was drunk so we probably wouldn't. ha. 

So I got to hand feed an elephant at the Zoo! That was one of my dreams in life! It ate about half of a banana, peel and all. 

We then went to the croc show and grabbed a seat. Shortly after it began, out came Terri, Bindi, and Robert Irwin!!! Kelli and I screamed, we were so excited!!! Terri said that it was a special day because it was the second time ever that Bindi was going to feed a crocodile. I felt so lucky to be a part of that!! When we left the zoo, Matt told us that he had been to that show about 10 times, and that was the first time EVER that he had seen Bindi. So we REALLY lucked out. 

We then drove a few hours to our hostel. We showered and got ready for our first night; a booze cruise on the ocean (free beer and wine included-SCORE!) to get to know each other and what not. The first people I met on the boat were a couple guys from South Carolina that went to Clemson...Zach and Richie. They were cool, and I knew from the start that we'd be hanging with them a lot. I also met 2 guys  from KU, our rival!! One was from St.Louis too! Of course, we asked each other the typical question that St.Louisans commonly ask... "What high school did you go to?" He went to Parkway South, knows my friend Handlan. We are in Australia, and we are meeting people that live so close to us at home! More ironic meetings later... So later that night, we went back to the hostel to socialize and what not. On the bus there, was the first time we saw Matt, our tourguide in his drunken madness... He came over the intercom, told us to calm down and "Be serious, come on, serious guys... listen up you drunk muthafuckers!" He was the drunkest of everyone though and then proceeded to do a backflip. It was hilarious, I'm telling you. 

Next day: early morning, we were heading to Fraser Island. We boarded a barge that would sail about an hr. to reach the island. From there we boarded a huge bus with all terrain wheels...it took us through the rainforest, and we had a crazy tour guide (different from matt and mouse) narrating the journey. The best way to describe this guy (never caught his name) was dramatic. He told us about the Dingos that we might see on the island. He gave us gruesome details of how people were mauled because they didn't realize how wild dingoes actually are. He told us that three of the four world's deadliest snakes were on the island, and he once was bitten by the most poisonous one and is now living to tell about it. (yeah right, we thought.) But the most amazing part of the day was when he took us to a giant rainwater lake, called McKenzie. It was beautiful because the sand was perfectly white and pure...made of crystal silica (same thing glass is made from) and the water was the clearest I've ever seen...it was like being in a bathtub. If you rub the sand all over you, it will exfoliate your skin and make it as smooth as a baby's bum! It was hilarious to see all the guys rubbing heaps of it all over their skin and hair... I think they enjoyed the exfoliating effect more than the girls did. Zach from South Carolina had the same Olympus waterproof camera as me and as we were swimming through the lake, it fell out of his pocket and sank to the bottom of the lake. We couldn't find it because when the lake was real deep, it was dark dark blue, so there was no hope. He took it like a champ, but I felt bad for him. And it was ironic that he lost his camera in basically the clearest water in the world.

We went to a second rainwater lake, and it poured down rain the entire time. I think this was also the place where we saw the beginning of the end of the kangaroo, as the guys were playing volleyball with it and put a hole in it. We eventually made our way back to solid land and then to the hostel for dinner and a shower. 

That evening we spent the night on the bus traveling to South Molle Island. It was a 12 hr. bus ride- I took a Dramamine and slept for most of the evening. When we arrived early that morning, we had to put all of our big suitcases into a storage unit and packed a 3 day bag for the island. We split up into three groups and took 3 speed boats through the Whitsundays! It was awesome because our boat drivers were crazy dudes, one with a mullet, and they were able to soak the other boats with our boat several times! It was fun! We then stopped somewhere where we were able to snorkel. I've never snorkelled before, and it took me awhile to grasp the concept of breathing, so I accidently swallowed about 3 gallons of saltwater. But the fish were so cool, I saw a lot of zebra striped ones. And the coral was neat too (and also slimy if you stepped on it.) I saw a jellyfish that was right in front of my face, feared for my life, and booked it back to the boat. We then went to another island to take a dip. The weather quickly turned from sunny skies to shady rain clouds... and then it started pouring.

Instead of being all bummed about it, our group embraced it. We all already had wet suits on, and most of us were armed with GOON, a really cheap bagged wine, so pretty much all 60 of us jumped right in! We scared away a family or two, but we all had a great time just swimming and drinking in the pouring rain! It was a pretty extreme time! Since my camera is waterproof, I took lots of pics to document the madness. We adoringly renamed the little island LaGoon Bay. We then headed back to land. 

We checked into our new hostel where we would be staying for 2 nights, took a shower and passed out for a couple hours. Then we all gathered for a buffet dinner of about 4 diff. types of pastas (weird) and socialized for the night. Later on that evening, Kelli and I were standing by the pool just chatting, and some idiot pushed her in with her camera and all. He then pushed me in, but I didn't have my purse on me. I was so mad that he would do that to her because she clearly had her clutch in her hand.. and the worst part about it was that we didn't even know who this guy was... he wasn't in our group, and he ran off right after it happened. Kel's camera is a goner, but the battery and memory card still works.

The next day was a free day, so we took a walk through the woods to a secluded beach. Kelli and I got ready to go out and laid down for a few minutes, ended up sleeping through the night. Yes, we were Lame-Os that went to bed about 8 or 9 o clock at night. Oh well, it felt good. We had breakfast in the morning and then checked out of the hostel. 

The next day we went sailing on a big ship. We snorkeled again, and it was a pretty nice day overall. Earlier that day though ( I think), Kelli and I were walking on the pier and we saw a shark!!! We found out later that it was just a reef shark and that it wouldn't hurt anyone, but it was so cool to see! And we also saw a huge stingray. We headed back to the storage unit where our suitcases were to gather them and start making our way to cairns. This is where I discovered my ipod was missing. It had been stolen out of my suitcase from the storage unit. So had Kelli's and about 4 other people's. One girl had her laptop there and got that stolen along with her credit cards. I felt real bad for her... I purchased travel insurance separately from the trip before I left, because I know how my luck tends to be, so luckily I can claim it on that after I show them the police report. It's still annoying though because I won't have an Ipod for the rest of the time I'm here most likely. There was no sign of forced entry to the storage unit, and it was locked when we arrived so there's a possibility that the staff could have taken them. Or maybe someone from the other group that left the day before us and had their stuff stored in there too did. Either way, we'll never know.. but it still didn't ruin the trip! 

We grabbed a bite to eat and waited around a bit and then made our way to a town called Tully. We arrived at about 2am, crashed in the hostel and got up about 6:30am to go white water rafting. I was so nervous because one of the rafting guides gave us a chat about it and mentioned us getting thrown off the raft, hitting rocks, etc. We split up into groups of 7 and our group was with Baza from New Zealand. We rafted in what I think is the oldest rainforest in the world. It was beautiful. Our tour guide was really cool (and cute) and definitely knew what he was doing. But he made me sit next to him on the raft, so in doing that I was the lucky one who he plucked off of the raft and pushed me into the water. But I have virtually no arm strength so he also had to yank me back into the raft from the water pretty much every time. ha that's what he gets! He was also a fan of sex jokes apparently, because  he threw out lots of them. The guys loved them. Kelli and I, the only girls on the raft, often just shook our heads and cringed. Rafting was awesome.... that's all I can really say about that. I would absolutely do it again.

We then headed to our final hostel... Gilligans in Cairns. We heard that it was awesome, and for a hostel.. it certainly was! No shower shoes required... bonus!! I shared a room with 5 other people, including Kelli, Alli and Alex from Canada, Ben from Germany and Ari from Beverly Hills. We stayed there for 4 days. The first night we went to this popular bar called the Woolshed. We were fed pretty well (finally! I had Chicken Parm) and then just hung out. Kel and I decided not to drink much because we had to get up early for Skydiving!!

April 18th: Skydiving day. We were to meet at 7:30 to drive to hours away to Mission beach. We were signed up for the jump at 11,000 feet. The lady told us that everyone that does the 11,000 ft wishes that they could go to 14,000 ft so that they have a longer free fall and also that we were the only ones signed up for 11,000. So upgraded for like 30 bucks. I was hesitant about it for sure. I was mentally prepared for 11,000 but not for that extra 3000. So after awhile, I met my tandem master, Igor, and he strapped me up in the harness. We had a quick lesson on how to position ourselves while free falling and landing, and believe me, it was literally about 20 seconds. I was freaking about it! We headed to the plane... and it was tiny. I asked Igor if he had been doing this awhile, and he said, "no, not really. I used to be a gigolo, but I wasn't making any money, so I decided to do skydiving." I nervously laughed, but I knew he was trying to scare me. We took a quick group pic and boarded the plane. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I was excited. But I was also nervous... what was really weird was that as I was stepping up onto this plane, I had the urge to cry. I can't explain why though. My best guess was that I may have just purposely selected to die-if something were to go completely wrong. I quickly took a deep breath and suppressed it. I told myself this is not something to cry about, so don't be a baby. 

The plane took off, and Igor said it would be about a 20 minute ride to our jumping location. I watched out the window as we went over the trees and eventually above the clouds. Igor looked at his watch and said, "We're only at 2000 feet. We have 12,000 more to go!" From that point, I was officially freaking out inside. I couldn't believe that we weren't even close to our jumping spot. He told me again when we reached 11,000 and I then knew the jumping time was coming up fast. Suddenly, I saw someone jump out... it happened so fast! And then it was my turn! We scooted up to the door, and he told me to put my feet out of the plane. I didn't want to do it.. he told me to again, so I complied. And then BAM! he pushed us out and we were flying through the air at like 200 miles an hour!!! The initial free fall was the scariest part, but after that, I really don't remember it... I just no it was fast and crazy. When I watch the video I see my reaction (which is really hilarious) but I honestly don't remember most of the free fall. But then he pulled the parachute up, which was when we just glided down to the beach for about 5 minutes. It was absolutely the most amazing feeling I've ever experienced. I was literally on top of the world! As I was over the ocean and reefs, I felt so comfortable and wanted to stay up there forever. I actually asked him if we could. He gave me the parachute to steer and told me to pull down the right side real hard, which made us do spirals really fast towards the beach! I then handed back the chute and as instructed, lifted up my knees to land smoothly onto the beach. I was in shock... basically speechless and breathless. I shook his hand and thanked him. He contributed to one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. 

That night we had dinner and went to A.J Hackett's Bungy Place. We had the option to go bungy jumping. It was already included in the trip, but I still opted out of doing it. I thought that maybe after experiencing skydiving that I'd be fearless, but when it comes to bungying, I just have no desire. It looked painful, even though I heard it wasn't... and I could never force myself off of a platform like that... the difference in that and skydiving was that I had no choice...my tandem master was connected to me and pushed me out of the plane. 

Later that night, one of the guides, Mouse, and I went to the Woolshed for a drink. But everyone there was blackout drunk and the music sucked. We weren't feeling it, so we just had a drink and headed back.

The following day's plans were scuba diving around the Great Barrier Reef. I had been looking forward to this since day 1! The group hopped on board to a huge yacht-type ocean cruiser to take us 2 hours to the reef. During the ride on the open sea, we were briefed on how to scuba dive. I have never done it before, and there was a ton of information to absorb. The signals to use if you're ok, signals for if you're in trouble, how to clear your mask if it leaks, and how to blow out the water from your mouth piece should it get in there. I was extremely nervous to dive. One of my biggest fears is drowning and it was really unsettling to know that I would be 15 feet below the surface with weights keeping me down. Before I knew it, it was our group's turn to take the plunge. 

It was beautiful. The fish were SO colorful! Whatever color the reef was, the fish often matched it or was at least as colorful it. I specifically remember some of the reef that was brown with fluorescent blue tips. I also saw the same type of fish that Nemo was in the movie! I was surprised at how tiny they were!!! And, I saw one of the other fish that was in the movie... Gill, the one that basically saved Nemo. My camera didn't take the best pictures of the experience, so I wish I could see it again. We were only down there for about 30 minutes... I wish I could have spent the entire day down there. We ate a delicious buffet lunch (where I tried prawns, aka gigantic shrimp with eyes and everything, someone had to teach me how to peel them apart to get the meat) and I headed back to the ocean to snorkel throughout the reef soonafter. Before I knew it, it was time to head back. Bummer.

In just 24 hours I went from being at the top of the world to the bottom of the ocean. It truly is a mystifying thought.

That night, we had a pub crawl. We took a double decker bus to each of the four bars. They provided us with pizza and some pretty good drink specials at each of the places. And again, we ended back at the Woolshed. Night 3 at that place... I was really getting sick of it.  But all in all, it was a pretty good time.

The next day was our final day. We had the chance to sleep in a little bit and then we went to a place called Trinity Beach to chill for the day. It was a really nice location, not many people were there. There were a lot of beachside resorts there, a refreshing change from the party towns and hostels we were used to. When we got back to the resort we freshened up and relaxed a bit and then headed to yet again...The Woolshed for our final night party. The back room was reserved for our group, and we walked into tables place marked with our names and a frozen drink for us to enjoy. Matt and Mouse had compiled a list of superlatives for the trip. There was an award for Most Dramatic, Best Care Taker of the Roo, Biggest Overreactor, Biggest Drunk, etc. Thankfully, I didn't win any of the awards because those that did had to do a Tequila suicide. This consists of snorting a line of salt, taking a tequila shot and squirting a lemon into your eye. haha everyone that had to do it took it like a champ. We drank and danced through the night. A lot of the group had to leave for the airport at around 4 or 5 in the morning, and a couple of the guys and I were still up to see them leave. We hugged them and sent them on their way... what a great way to end this trip!!! 

So there you have it... I know it was lengthy. But there were still so many comments and conversations that I can't even begin to convey how hilarious they were and how much this trip meant to me.

I also have pictures, but my computer doesn't have enough memory for me to upload them all. I'll have to figure out some stuff to delete to get them on here. Also, a girl, Amanda, from the trip took about 1500 pictures so I'll try to snag some of hers and get them on here at some point.

I've just reached my halfway mark of being here... it's been 2 and a half months, and I have 2 more left! 

Wooooo hoooooo

Doing the whole Sydney Touristy Thing...

Hello! Soo since my last post, I did heaps of things in Sydney! On Thursday we had some of the gang from our former Parklands come over for a bit, and they loved our new townhouse. Good times. 

Let's get to the big stuff! On Friday, Kelli and I went to a ballet called Firebird and Other Legends at the Sydney Opera house. We had great seats, right in the middle! (I got in trouble for taking pictures with a flash camera before the show started though...oops.)

Saturday morning we got up and went to a wildlife park that we heard we could interact with real animals, and they weren't kidding! The park we went to had little kangaroos running (or actually hopping ha) all over the place! The roos were kind, some of them stopped to let us pet them. We even got to pet and pose for pics with kangas that had baby joeys in their pouches! IT was so awesome! We found a favorite though... he had an injured hand :( and a scar on his back. We fed him leaves that we found on the ground (mmm delicious) and we took pics with him. 

We also got to pet a koala, and we saw lots of other animals indigenous to Australia. It was a good day. 

Saturday night we went to our first Australian Football Game! It was the Sydney Swans (interesting mascot huh?) versus the Hawthorn Hawks from Tasmania. We won!  We had no idea what was going on and how the game was played, but we followed the lead of the drunk blokes around us, and when they cheered, we cheered! We even threw in a couple, "Aww come on, what was that?!!!" hahaha. We went down to grab some beer and ended up getting lost in the Olympic stadium. It was set up really strangely, and it was just a pain to get anywhere... you couldn't access any floor besides the first and 6th...after you climbed to the top of the stadium for about 10 minutes. Just when we thought we got to the right location, we ended up being completely opposite of where we started in a section with hundreds of seats that were COMPLETELY empty! I guess the barricades that we just walked through on our way up weren't enough of an indication that this side wasn't open. Anyway, it worked out... because we got to go to the vip levels and just play dumb. We ended up touring the whole stadium pretty much. It was fun!

I had a midterm on Monday, hopefully I passed. There was a question or five I didn't know, and it was short answer... my teacher advised that if we didn't know an answer, we shouldn't leave it blank, so just write what you do know or a joke or anything... it still might earn us some points. So I decided to throw in as one of my responses something I read on a sign I saw on display at a bookshop on my way home the other day; It said,

" Television is called a MEDIUM because it is neither RARE nor WELL-DONE. "

That should earn me something in my public relations class, don't you think? 

I recently noticed something I've been missing in my life... dancing. Real dancing, NOT shuffling to techno in the night clubs- there's been plenty of that. So I found the Sydney Dance Company, that offers over 60 types of adult dance classes that you don't have to enroll in for a period of time, you can just come and pay the night of the class and join in! I am SO excited because tomorrow night I'm going to take an Intermediate Contemporary class and then a JFH (Jazz-Funk-hip hop) class! I CANNOT WAIT!!!

The seasons are changing from Summer to Autumn here. I don't want to admit it, but it's cooling off... yes, at some point in the near future, it will be warmer in Missouri than in Sydney, Australia. But if you ask me, I won't admit it.

We're getting excited for our Fall Break trip coming up. We're going to the Gold coast, traveling up from Brisbane and ending in Cairns. It's about 10 days, and we leave this Saturday. We will be snorkeling, scuba diving, we have the option of night bungy jumping (but I don't want to), exploring the Whitsundays, and what we just booked last night.... SKY DIVING over the great barrier reef and landing on Mission Beach. I CAN'T  believe I've opted to do this, but once I get over peeing my pants from pure fear, the view should be amazing. I've paid for a dvd of the event too, so you should be seeing it in the future! 

Today at work was pretty rough. We have a marketing team of 3 ( plus me and the marketing director), and just a year ago there was a team of 6. Last night the company decided that one of the marketing positions needed to be cut (made redundant) so they had to give one of my beloved co-workers the sack today. I couldn't believe it. None of us, including her had any idea. Her and I were supposed to have a meeting today to catch-up on projects! And now I'll never see her again!!! The worst part about it is that she's from California... and if she doesn't find a job within 28 days, she gets deported back to the US. I feel bad for her! And now there are only 2 left (plus me and my boss). Ridiculous.

But now the reality has set in... I knew the job market is basically hopeless in the US but it didn't seem nearly as bad here. But Australia's following America's lead... and it's tough times here too. Why am I investing so much into obtaining a college degree when I will most likely see nothing but disappointment after not securing a job?! THIS IS SO SCARY. I'm terrified for my future (and my generation's as a whole)... regardless of which continent I'm in. Maybe I'll follow my sis's lead and join the national guard after obtaining a bachelor's degree.... they get benefits and have more security than I might find! We'll see what she says about boot camp after she goes, and then I'll look into it more closely.

But Kelli came home today and brought me a surprise... the latest issue of the magazine she interns for- Outdoor Australia. She sent in to her editor some pictures from abseiling and they published two of them of me on page 16 of the mag!!! I'm going to try to pinch some mags and then maybe send a couple of them home! SO exciting to be published in one of Australia's national magazines!

This week, we booked a cheap flight  (only 90 bucks round trip) to go to the other major city in Australia, Melbourne in mid-May. I'm looking forward to comparing the cultures of the two cities because I hear they are vastly different. 

Well that's the latest... I'm sure I will have heaps to report about after this upcoming trip to the coast, but after Saturday I won't have internet access until I return April 22nd. 

The internet at my new place is pretty weak, so I've been having trouble uploading any pics to the blog. I'll try again tonight, but I'm not too optimistic that it will work.

Cheers mates!

From the Projects to the Palace...

Above ^: The poster I bought that is now displayed in my room. I think it's fitting.

Hey guys... wooo what a long week it has been! Still have Max's tragedy on my mind, but am reliving good memories of us, so that helps a bit. 

Work's getting busier now... for example, today (monday) I got to work, opened my e-mail and had 26 messages of things waiting for action and requests from my co-workers for me to do something... geez. They weren't kidding when they said I was going to take someone's old job. Oh well, I like it because it makes the day go by faster. And when I accomplish things and actually do it right, they seem to really appreciate it. 

So let's go back to last week. I had my first big assignment... a 1500 word paper for Australian Children's literature. I procrastinated the whole week and ended up staying up until 6:45 the day it was due to finish it. I then went to sleep for 2 and a half hours and got up at 9:30 to finish the reference page.  But.. I got it done, and in my defense, I was a little distracted this week. But like they say, "No worries. She'll be right."

On wednesday when I got off  work, my roommate informed me that it had been a crazy day back at our Parklands apartment. For a few days now, there has been a terrible odor in our apartment. We thought we needed to take the trash out more frequently... so we did. Then, Katie said that when she got home from class, she found mushrooms growing from our kitchen floor underneath the dishwasher. She had the cleaning people come right away. They found a leak under the sink coming from the pipes. They then called the plumber. The plumber said that our pipes were actually never connected and that there was water running down our walls our something like that. (I wasn't there). The plumber also went into the crawl space underneath our unit and found something like a foot of standing water. Hence the reason our floor was so warped. 

Later on that evening after I got home from work and was eating dinner as the cleaning man came back. He ripped up the linoleum flooring and exposed a horrid sight and smell! Black mold between the ground and the flooring...everywhere! He mopped over it with something that made it smell even worse, put a fan on it, and told us not to roll the floor back down until it was completely dry.. ha, like it would ever dry!!! That's why it was so moldy in the first place!

The next morning, the housing director came to our apartment. They informed us that we were moving.. that we weren't allowed to live in conditions like that. The cleaning man exposed whatever mold particles there were into the air we breathe whenever he mopped it. Apparently that's unhealthy? News to me. They gave us keys to about 5 separate units all scattered within the Parklands Apartments and told us to start packing. It was early, a lot to handle and we didn't know what to do! We were all like, ok- so let me get this straight... we can't live here. we have to move out TODAY, and we can't live together anymore? Sweet. 

Later on, the housing director came back and we talked about other options since we really didn't want to split up. We have all been here a month and a half and had the roommate situation down pat. The lady said that there was another option... there was a 3 bedroom apt that they could make into 4 up the street. Katie and Ashley checked it out while I went to class... they said it was amazing.

They told us that we had to stay there at least for the night and then we could make a decision if we wanted to live their permanently together, or split up and go back to the parklands.

The dilemma was that we were concerned for our health.. if our apt was like that, I'm sure other units were too or were heading that way... and we didn't want to split up. But, yes, this new apartment (which is actually a townhouse) is amazing and really nice, but it is SO far from the friends that we have all gotten pretty close to over this past month and a half. In the end, we chose as a group health over social life... figuring that we weren't anti-social and could make new friends too, ones that lived closer to us. Plus, we decided that there would be no waiting list to get back into the Parklands aka The Projects, so if we hated it in the new place (Palace) then we can demand to go back.. even if it meant splitting up.

SO here I am now... we live in a completely different town, opposite of Parklands and on the other side of campus. It's closer to the Rec center than our old apt was, so maybe that will motivate me to get to the gym more. And I have a sweet huge room with a full size bed instead of a twin, and the house itself has a ton of just breathing room in general. 

And... there's a 24 hr. gas station/convenience store right across the street. Wish I never would have known that... but it's real hard to miss a bright yellow Shell sign glaring through your living room window when you have no food and you're considering eating your arm for sustinence. ;) 

The commute time to and from work is less than ideal, for we have to take a bus to the train station, 2 more trains and then a 10 min. walk to work. Such is life.

Here is my new address....

3/94-116 Culloden Rd.

Marsfield, NSW   2122

                                AUS

Friday night was a much needed night out. We went to the beautiful darling harbour. In the midst of the evening I lost my cell phone... oops, could've been worse.

Saturday was fairly uneventful.. a day of recovery. However, Kelli and I did manage to plan an eventful upcoming weekend! We are going to the world famous Sydney Opera House this Friday for a ballet.. it's called Firebird and Other Legends. I'm quite excited actually.

On Saturday we are going to an Australian Football League (AFL) or footy game! We are seeing the Sydney Swans play the Hawthorn Hawks at ANZ Olympic Stadium! We have also planned to go to a wildlife sanctuary saturday so we can hold and feed Koalas and such! YAY!!!

So needless to say, this week needs to move quickly so we can get to our exciting weekend ahead!

But before I get too ahead of myself, I'll tell you about this past Sunday. We ventured to the northern coast of sydney to a beach called Palm Beach. It took about 2 and half hours to get there, but boy was it worth it! It wasn't crowded AT all and it was just so gorgeous! We climbed these awesome rocks/cliffs where the ocean waves splashed onto us at rapid force! I enjoyed sitting on the edge of some of the rocks, waiting with my camera for the next big wave to splash onto me so I could capture it! (dont worry, the cam's waterproof). But it was quite an adrenaline rush. Sunday was a nice closing to a week that was considered less than ideal. When I was sitting on the rocks I felt like there wasn't a care in the world...

Hope all of you are well. That's about all I've got for now... I'll try to upload some pics to go along with this.

Always in my heart...

... I am dedicating this post to a special person. Some of you reading this already know and are friends with him, but his name is Max Vogl...a great guy, friend, and person all around. We've been buds since high school, and even though we went to different colleges and had different schedules, we'd still make an effort to catch up every now and then. 

Today while I was at my internship, I received a message from one of my best girl friends telling me that Max had died today. He has had epilepsy for a few years now, and apparently he had been found after having a seizure, one which proved to be fatal.

I couldn't believe what I was reading, my heart dropped to my stomach and my chin fell to my keyboard. I ran outside of my building and tried desperately to call Jamie, then my mom. It didn't work. I couldn't respond to her message because it was through facebook, which I can't access at work. And I didn't have her e-mail address handy.

For the first time since I've been here, I felt so isolated... like I was in a bubble as the city whizzed all around me. I feel absolutely horrible and guilty for being a world away from everyone at home. I don't want to laugh, explore, go to work, attend class, take trips, or anything right now... because I know that he can't anymore.  I wondered when the last time was that I talked to him, tried to recall exactly what was said, etc. I can't believe I'll never see his smiling face again. 

I held it together through the rest of the work day, for I don't really know my co-workers, didn't want to cause a scene, and still had a glimpse of hope that the message was all a lie. 

When I got off work, I finally got through and reached my mom via cell phone. I told her about it and lost it. The first time I've cried in the month and a half since I've been here.. the people at the train station probably thought I was nuts.. but I didn't care. I will never see Max again. And I can't go to his funeral to see him one last time. Australia isn't so appealing anymore.

I just want to tell any of my A-town friends that are reading this that I am really sorry that I can't be home with you guys. I want to grab you all and hold you for days. This loss is HUGE. He was SUCH an awesome guy, all around! And I hate the fact that I am talking about him in past tense. I will think about him, his family, Briana, and all of you every day, no matter how far away I am. I am just as shocked as all of you... and most importantly, I love you.

To my other friends and family that are reading this, I cannot stress enough how great Max was. And also, I love you. I should tell you that more often. One of my worst fears was to lose someone I loved while being here, knowing that I would never be able to afford to make it back to see them one last time. I would recommend being careful, cautious, taking care of yourself, etc... but clearly that doesn't matter. By the sounds of it, Max couldn't avoid the fate that became of him. But even still, I do want you all to be happy, healthy and prosperous for as long as you are able. Because I suppose that is the best you can do with the uncertain amount of time you have been given. 

My best excursion yet!

Yes, the posts are getting fewer and further in between. Super busy... but I'd rather write this than a paper I have due in a few days so here ya go!

Last weekend we finally had the chance to get out of Sydney and explore a bit. Since Kelli works at Outdoor Australia, she has the chance to sift through the magazine pages and be exposed to a lot of outdoorsy adventure-type activities. She found this abseiling program so we grabbed a couple of mates and headed to the Blue Mountains in Katoomba, Australia. It took exactly 2 hrs by train from the city. We booked in advance a random hotel which was conveniently right across the street from the train station. It was only 27 bucks a person.. and it was an old building that had a bar downstairs. We actually had to check in at the bar with the bartender...odd. We grabbed lunch and headed to the mtns to see the sights. The rain clouds came in and soaked the town for about 10 mins. We hopped a bus anyway. Once we got to the mounatins, the view was gorgeous! We heard about this deal where you go across the mountain by a lift.. then down a steep roller coaster type thing through the rainforest and then take a trolley back up the mtn to where you can then hike to this place called Echo point for 25 bucks. We were stoked, but it turns out it was a major tourist trap! The thing across the mtn was sweet, but the rainforest ride lasted all of about 5 seconds and it was SO dumb! The lift back up the mountain smelled like decaying bodies, and you couldn't see a thing.

The hike across the mtns was actually the best part. we found the waterfall and climbed up and played for awhile. As Kelli and I were climbing off the mtn, I slipped on a wet rock and busted it. My rumpus was soaked, but it was a humbling experience and it made us laugh. We got so caught up in all of this hiking fun that we lot track of time and missed the last bus to the hotel. So we had a long few miles of trekking back to the hotel. Conveniently, the rain gods decided to open up their clouds on us, and we got soaked. We chilled for a little while and then decided to grab dinner. We ate at this DELICIOUS thai place.. the first time I've had anything of the sort since Ive gotten here. Sweet and sour chicken stir fry, mmm!

We hit the hay relatively early since we had to rise and shine real early the next morning. I laid half awake/half asleep for awhile as the middle aged mountaineers raged on through the morning below us. I vaguely remember some dude freaking out about something and then a glass shattering across the sidewalk. Someone must have cut him off...

Next morning: headed to the abseiling company, got prepped and went to the mountain. It was a beautiful day so I didn't mind the monsoon the day before. They told us how to put on out harness and helmets and and had us abseil down a 20 ft cliff. They demonstrated how to walk down the cliff backwards (which is what abseiling is) and they said, keep feet shoulder width apart, knees straight, lead with your butt, or you could slip off and bash your face into the cliff or flip over backwards. What did I sign up for again?

We moved onto a larger cliff... after doing that once, I felt more at ease. We then went to a 100 foot cliff and that was terrifying! But it was my favorite cliff. Then came lunch time and afterwards we went to the main attraction... The 100 foot cliff with a waterfall! We canyoned through the rainforest, and it was awesome!!! We had to climb, crawl through crevices, jump off of cliff like rocks into water, slide down them, etc. It was really fun! Once we got to the waterfall, I was petrified. I immediately regretted my decision. I was the 4th one to go down and it was nuts! The water was intensely pouring all over me... it was so loud as it was pounding my helmet, and I thought I might drown. I edged down the cliff, the entire time fearing that my feet would slip off the rocks and I would fall upside down. The guides said that it happens alot. Well, it didn't and I made it down. Basically... it was one of the scariest situations I've put myself in, but SO worth it.

It was back to work on Monday. I got to go to an event for one of the girl magazines.. Australia's most eligible bachelors at Pitt Street mall. Sure didn't mind that... I got a pic with one of the blokes and a free clinique gift bag. Did I mention that I love my job?

I did a lot of fun stuff at work this week, like selecting winners for a promotion we did, went to an audio studio where they do voiceovers for this week's ZOO commercial, and I re-wrote the letter that they send out to subscribers, where I had to pretend like I was one of the cover girls named Rachel. She has a 30 HH breast size that are apparently au naturale...so that's what the boys like here.

On Tuesday I met a friend for a few drinks downtown for St. Pats.. went to some of the local pubs like Scruffy Murphys and what not.  They celebrate the holiday pretty hardcore here, which is probably why I didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. Still made it to work the next morning though... thank you Starbucks. 

On Friday we got to go to the beach... it was a gorgeous day! They say the season is changing to Fall here, so there probably won't be a lot of beachin' it going on in the coming months :( 

We booked our Fall Break trip this week. We leave in about a month, and we're going to the East Coast of Australia for 9 days.. we start in Brisbane where the Steve Irwin zoo is, then head to the Great Barrier Reef and Frasier Island, and end in Cairns. Included in the trip is white water rafting, bungy jumping (although I really don't think I want to participate in that) sailing, etc. We also want to plan a sky diving excursion because we want to do it over the great barrier reef... I think the view would be phenomenal!

Today we had a picnic downtown at a park in a place called The Rocks. The park was set up really high and we had a full view of the harbour, and we also watched a wedding take place. It was cool. We also went to a weekend market where we got to sample lots of stuff.. my fave was the macadamian chocolate fudge. We also had bread with oil, tea, licorice, jam (disgusting), and some really good spicy salsa. 

Well... I'm sure I left out a lot, but it's time to hit the hay! Keep commenting... :)

Little Girl in the Big City...

Ello! "How are you going?" (That's the typical greeting you'll receive at a restaurant, shop,etc.)

To start, this week has been a bit more tame than weeks previous, partly because I needed to get school stuff worked out, and partly because of my internship interview. But don't worry, there's still the weekend... I'll tell you all about it!

My interview was arranged for Tuesday morning... Kelli and I took the trains to the location the night before so I could feel at ease about getting lost. On Tuesday morning, I still left super early for it...I didn't sleep well because I kept dreaming about showing up late or getting completely turned around and lost in the city! Well arrived at my location about an hour to an hr and fifteen early.. thats ok, better early than late! I peered through the glass sky rise a bit and then decided to head to a local cafe next door to have a tea and collect my thoughts a bit. I reviewed my resume and eventually made my way up to the 18th floor to check in with reception. After a little bit, my interviewer, Andy came to retrieve me and brought me to his office on the 28th floor. What I was interviewing for was the Marketing internship position in the men's lifestyle and sports department at ACP magazines. This department is responsible for boosting circulation, managing promotions, budgets, etc. for 16 titles. Andy told me that their top selling title is called The Zoo, so they spend most of their effort on this one to maintain its popularity. He spoke of things called covermounts, which are extra little gifts that they put on magazines sometimes. Things like Koozies (stubby holders), flip-flops (thongs) or in a issue coming out very soon, 3d glasses so the girls' huge breasts pop off the page, or so a kebab sticks out so much you feel like it it's going to pop right into your mouth. ( you guys out there know you would love this stuff). Sometimes they give away free cash... in 20 or 50 dollar increments. They must plan it thoroughly, however, because they can't afford to just throw away money by people stealing the magazines or something like that. He talked of what I would be doing... things such as revamping their renewal letters to make them seem more personable, which would ultimately boost subscription rates. Also, I basically would be taking over someone's real position in their marketing team that has only 3 plus him left, so I would be rather busy. Everyone is taking off more than they can probably chew, but at the same time, they're all there for a common purpose so they always pitch in with each other to help out. He warned me that they are a department based on analytics, not on creativity, simply because they are audited and they don't want to lose money that is given to them for promotions and such. Therefore, I will be doing a ton of excel spreadsheets to keep track of everything. I'm ok with that, but I'm not a pro at excel. (should've paid more attention in strat comm research) He warned that as the intern I would be expected to do some administrative tasks (not getting coffee) but packaging and mailing products to be sent to subscribers. For example, there's this movie mag called Empire that is giving away free Star Wars action figures that can't be purchased in stores to subscribers. I need to mail them out. We sat and flipped through an entire Zoo magazine, so he could show me what readers of this mag are into: basically... girls, booze, sports, some cars, blood, gore, and oh, did I mention girls? He said that some people have to edit pictures and that things could get a bit 'fleshy' on computer screens and what not. I don't mind it... it's part of the business. He says he tries to keep things tasteful in the zoo, ralph, and FHM magazines. He asked me questions such as what I thought of the position when I heard of it: My answer: my internship lady told me that it is such a reputable company that tons of Aussies would kill for this position, so I knew it had to be good. and also, that it seemed fast pace, which is something I was looking for. If I have to be at work, I like to be kept busy so that the day goes by faster. Another question he asked: "So, what do you want to do? Like with your life?" DREADED QUESTION.... I told him honestly.. I have no idea. I said I've dabbled in corporate.. liked it fine. Toyed with broadcast media... hated it. Would like to check out an ad agency, considering it is my current chosen field. He said he wasn't too keen on the ad agency world (naturally) just because he's had to work with some advertisers that seemed really cocky. Plus, the field isn't exactly booming. Who knows... maybe I'll like the magazine industry. It's struggling too, but I wouldn't cross it off the list just yet. He said that once a week we would try to get together to discuss my progress and any questions I had saved up. He asked if I had any fears about the job.. my answer: sometimes interns can just get lost in a company because everyone else is too jaded and stuck in their jobs to explain things or give them worthwhile tasks. I sometimes get afraid to bother people with questions, so I just take everything I can on for myself. But with this internship, I would try not to be so introverted, and he claimed that would be a good idea so we don't waste time cleaning up the even bigger mess afterwards. He introduced me to the three girls that would be my team, and sent me on my way! 

Fast forward to present time: I got the internship! My first day was yesterday, and I loved it. I work half days on monday (9-1) and full 9-5s on tues and wed. I felt super cool taking the trains to downtown Sydney.. but the commute does take awhile. I have to get up at 6:15 to shower and be there on time or a tad bit early..kind of a drag. But I have my own desk/cubicle that faces the girls in my team and I can see the other sky rise buildings just out the window catty corner from me. When I got there yesterday, there was a packet that told me the basics of ACP and privileges I have.. such as the kitchen, free coffee and tea, the health and wellness center, and a 1 hr. lunch break (woo hoo). And another packet that said, "Welcome Emily, we appreciate you coming to help us out." or something like that. I felt great about it. It briefed me on the audiences of some of the magazines, and they told me to just take a look at a bunch of different magazines they put on my desk to get a feel for it. Ex: zoo, Ralph, Rolling Stone, FHM, Australasian Dirtbikes, outdoor Australia, etc. I did that for about two hours and then went to a brainstorming meeting to discuss the plan for Zoo magazine in years 09-10. I actually contributed a couple of ideas for promotions that they said they liked, and they even wrote them down! I was pumped!!! I stayed until 2 so I could be a part of that meeting and then the day was over. Today I had more work, but the great thing is that the people in my team actually come over to my desk, sit down with me, and explain to me what I'm doing and most importantly... WHY and WHAT it means. This is sooo helpful to me, I don't think these people know how much I appreciate them! I went to a meeting with one of the girls to watch her discuss price quotes on stuff, and it was crazy how fast paced it all was. these two girls talked a mile a minute. loved it. One of the girls in my team is American, supposedly from San Francisco, so I can't wait to talk to her about how she got here and STAYED here. (don't want to speak to soon though)

So going back to the weekend... this weekend was the Sydney Gay/Lesbian Mardi Gras. It is a BIG deal here. I think this was the 26th running year of the parade. A group of us from the apartments headed to this place in Kings Cross for 6 dollar pitchers (such a deal for this place!!) and we headed to the parade. I had a prime location, but we got there like 2 hours in advance. The parade didn't start til 7:30. While Kelli ran to the restroom, a camera man came up to me and filmed me and put me on the big screen! It was fun, but I was trying to get the ppl around me to be in it too, but they all shyed away. He stuck around for what seemed like forever, but when he realized I wasn't going to do anything scandalous, he moved on. I was ok with that! A few small acts came by the parade route and we saw what they call "dikes on bikes" but then there was another break in the parade. I had to urinate so bad, I couldn't hold it anymore. Kelli was hungry so we decided to head out of there. We knew we'd never get our spot back, but it wasn't worth it to stick around anymore. We saw some crrrrrrazy sites! It was fun! A few of us headed back to this area called Kings Cross after the parade and it was so much fun! there were TONS of people everywhere just partying and having a great time. They all seemed pretty young too. Kelli and I stopped at this random pizza place called Rocko's and I ordered a Mexicana pizza... green peppers, onions, cheese, minus the pepperoni, plus pineapple.... SOOOO good! Honestly, probably the best meal I've eaten since I've been here. Needless to say I inhaled it. We couldn't hail a cab later on that night (or morning actually) because it was around 3 and thats when the cabbies switch shifts. So we walked for what seems like miles, actually pretty sure it was, to the Town Hall. We caught a night rider bus with a bunch of super young drunk kids and FINALLY we made it home around 4:30. I was so glad! 

Oh I forgot to mention earlier that week we went to a Toga party. Kel and I had some pretty sweet togas. They were actually these dress things that you can wear a 100 different ways. The lady at the kiosk in Town hall was so convincing, she sold us. The party was pretty lame, one of our friends got kicked out for no reason at all. He's like 7 ft. tall so he gets spotted so easily! I didn't want to be at a place that treats people poorly for no reason at all, so we left within a short time. But I plan on wearing my 'toga' again.

We tried to hit the beach on Sunday as our last hurrah before we became working girls, but of course... it was raining. So we decided to do some grocery shopping  and much needed cleaning instead. 

Last night I took a class at the rec center called Fat Burner... sounds intense. It kind of was I guess... well it just killed my legs. The instructor was all about the lunges and yelled at me for not going lower.. sorry I'm like 6 ft tall dude!

Updates on Australian life and culture:

I'm trying to pick up the accent.. it's not working well. I can hear how they say things in my head, but I can't spit them out the same. I don't really try in public. People that meet me ask if I'm canadian because they know if we are American we won't get offended. It doesn't work the other way around.. why so stubborn, Canada?

Tim-Tams are SO good. I heard about them a lot before I got here... they are this delicious cookie that can be filled with whatever. My favorite is the chocolate covered cookie with caramel inside. I try not to buy them much though because I can eat the entire package in one day, sadly.

The mcdonalds (they call it MACCA's) pretty much tastes the same... a small is the size of a happy meal though.

They love their coke products here... just coke, diet coke, sprite, coke zero and fanta orange are pretty much all you can get. I would LOVE a dr. pepper once in awhile, but it's not going to happen!! 

They LOVE to honk here... it's way worse than NYC in my opinion. Even in the suburbs... it's lovely when it wakes me up in the morn. 

There's a cyclone heading towards Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Stage 5...looks pretty nasty. Actually may have already hit, but I havent been able to stay current on the news.

So you think you can dance is pretty big here... I'm desperately trying to get tickets to a taping. 

The biggest loser is also a big show here.. I don't know why.

People NEVER move when you're walking. It's like chicken... I'm usually the one moving over, sheesh. And they walk really freaking slowly if you're behind them.

Apparently people don't eat here... unless it's at a bakery. Or if at the beach its ice cream. It's really annoying when you're looking for a hearty meal. 

The burger king equivalent is Hungry Jack's.

Oh big one... they don't make frozen drinks here. When you're on the beach and you're craving a strawberry daiquiri or pina colada, or even a frozen Marg... get over it. You won't find it. 

there have been several shark sightings on the beach lately. Last week a 15 yr old surfing boy got his leg mauled. but... he was also in the ocean at dawn. NEVER A GOOD IDEA. I've only been in the water 2xs. the waves were rough and took me and my top down... I'm not equipped for it.

I'm still dying to go surfing. ugh.

This weekend is the Blue Mountains if all goes as planned. We are going to repel off cliffs into canyons or something. Sounds cool to me!!

Alrightyyyyyy that's it for now mates! Comment as you will!