"You want to hear a funny story," PART TWO!!

Hello all! Eeek I know it's been awhile. I've been SUPER busy, as I'm sure you probably already knew.

 So I've been behind on updates. sorry! Now I have to jog my memory to try to tell you of all the crazy stuff that's been happening for the past week! Well to start, last Wednesday, a large group of us from the apartments headed over to the local wed, night hotspot called The Ranch. It was fun, lots of dancing..and sweating...but it's literally right across the street, so no buses, trains or ferries are required, which is really nice! It was fun... but there's been some weird encounters with people this last week or so. Some girl came up to me at The Ranch and told me she LOVED my hair and asked if she could take a picture with me. SO her and this other dude posed for a picture while holding both sides of my hair. Alright, no biggie. So that was wednesday.

Thursday was our international student welcome cruise on the harbour. The theme was 80's and Kelli and I had at first decided against dressing up for the primary reason that we didn't bring anything with us (obviously there was limited space in our suitcases) and that we didn't want to spend the money on it. well we went to the wal-mart equivalent *The Big W* to see if we could snatch anything up real cheap, and jackpot!!! Big tacky colored beaded necklaces marked  down from 13 bucks to 2, some fuschia tights, and bright colored 'hot pants'. It was great... people loved the outfits! Problem was, we were prancing around in them all through the warf to get to the cruise, so that was pretty embarassing. And then a large group of us 80's dressed folk tried to hit a few bars downtown afterwards and some people weren't allowed in because of their attire. They're very picky here. Alot of times, they'll tell someone they can't come in because 'they're too drunk'. It's happened to a couple of my friends already. But usually they aren't drunk, its just that the bouncer doesn't approve of what they're wearing. Other times, they will only let guys in if they have an equal number or more of girls with them. At a certain point in the night, sometimes they won't allow guys in at all. That doesn't make much sense to me... I don't want to dance with a bunch of girls! But I have noticed that it does seem to be more guys than girls wherever we go out. Cool with me! 

Friday Kelli and I decided to make it a beach day. We got kind of a late start and so we decided to pack a night bag and spend the night at Manly beach in a hostel. I was excited because I've never stayed in a hostel before, and also because I thought it would be so much fun to spend the night in a local beach town. The weather was beautiful and as we were just chillin' on the beach, one of the guys I met at the Ranch on Wed. somehow spotted me out of the crowd. He invited Kel and I to our first Barbie in Australia! Later on, our friend from Mizzou, Noel, met us at the warf. He was going to spend the night with us too. We found our way to the hostel and walked in. It was 30 bucks (australian) which was like 20 something bucks US... real cheap. So that was cool.. but as we were signing in and retrieving our bed linens, this 30 something lady comes swiftly into the building screaming, "Do you want to hear a funny story?!" to the reception people. They said hesitantly, "Sure." She replied while still shouting, " Well I went to the ocean to take a swim. I was in there for a long time, and as I came out, I felt a funny feeling in my pubes. So I reached down and found a crab. I have crabs!!!" I was appalled. Then, just as I thought it couldn't go any further, she goes, "Here!! I saved it!!! hahaha SEEE???" AHHHH I was mortified! I was terrified that I would have to spend the night in the same room as Crazy Crab Lady and I wanted to turn around and run out of the place! But luckily, the three of us shared a room with 3 other people, one guy from germany, another guy from IDK where, and I never met the third person. We didn't spend much time in our room.. we made our beds, took showers and headed for the town. 

We stopped into a local pub... called a hotel. Bars here are called hotels. Yep. And then our friend that lives near the beach that we ran into earlier met up with us and took us to the Barbie! We walked up to the house and he said, "Hey guys, I brought some Americans!" I chuckled out loud because it sounded like we were an appetizer at dinner party haha. But we were the only Americans in a crowd of mostly bleach blonde hair, blue eyed people! We were a little nervous, but everyone there was really nice, eager to talk to us, and gorgeous! Girls especially!!! The bbq ended and we headed to a bar. It was fun but then we got to the hostel, and it was a blast too!! When I walked up, there were like 15 people our age just hanging out, having a great time! Turns out, they were from all over the world... Ireland, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland...etc! Some of them invited us up stairs to their balconies, and it was an absolute blast! Yet again, we were the only americans from the crowd and they gave us hell for it. I think the Canadian put it, " We're not making fun of you because you're American. We're just embarrassed for you." Pshhhhh what does he know?! It was all in good fun though. Kel and Noel headed off to bed, I stayed for a bit but lost track of time and before I knew it, it was 5:30 am. I snuck into my bunk bed to get a few hrs of shut eye before we had to get up at 9:30 to check out. Three hours later, we checked out and headed straight to the beach. We didn't stay real long because it started raining off and on. 

So now it's Saturday. We came home and got a couple hours of naptime in and headed to this strip of bars and upscale shops called "The Rocks". The place we went into was called the Argyle. It was a nice place, but really crowded, as usual. We ran into someone that Kel met from The Ranch the other night as well ( I swear, for their being 4 mil ppl in this city, it's pretty dang small bc I keep seeing the same ppl over and over again) so we headed to the Harbour with him and some of his buddies. These guys were funny because they kept insisting I looked like Britney Spears... Riiiight. Then they mentioned the idea to one of their roommates, and he said I actually looked like Jamie Lynn Spears! They all enthusiastically agreed... crazy! But anyway, I digress. Darling Harbour is gorgeous! The bars/clubs are surrounded by water and they're half inside/half outside. It would be a great date spot! I'm pretty sure there's an aquarium there too, but I'll save that for a rainy day. So we all hung out into the morning and then Kel and I explored the streets and sights of Northern Sydney before finding our way to the correct bus Sunday morning. 

Sunday afternoon/night was this thing called Trop Fest. It's the largest short film festival in the world. A nice bloke that Kel and I met at the bus stop the other night offered to take us to it, so we were totally down!!! It was amazing!!! For there being thousands of people there, everyone was so civilized--a huge difference than the US. And we couldn't get over how nice their version of "johnny on the spots" were!!! Each one had a toilet that FLUSHED and instant hand sanitizer in every stall! And a mirror!! GEEEZ I could have hung out there all day! Although, I'm glad I didn't. ;) All in all, I'd say it was a great weekend!!

Classes began on Monday. All the Mizzou kids have a Public Relations class at 3 on Monday. So far, so good. The teacher seems really cool, and there's no final! I'm soldddd! Oh and what's really cool about this place is that most of the teachers record their lectures and put them online, so it isn't even necessary for you to go to class! That's what they told us! I'll still go though ;) You must go to the tutorials (labs)though or you'll fail!!  I had my second class today (Thursday) and it's called contemporary children's literature. Eek it's going to be heaps of writing and reading. And today we watched half of a film called Australian Rules. This was the first time I truly knew I was an international student because I couldn't understand half of what they were saying, because their Australian accents were so thick and they spoke so fast. I wasn't sure what was going on throughout the whole movie! I'm going to have to look up a summary of it online before the next class! But again, there's no final-- just a final paper, which means I will have two spare weeks to explore Australia and wherever else I can get to before I have to head back to the states! I'm thinking Thailand??

Update on the internship... Apparently the way it works is that you preference your top 4 but the university internship team takes your first choice and contacts that host organization to see if they would be interested in interviewing you. If all goes as planned, you go, they love you, you get to work there. If not, they move on to your second  choice and repeat. I didn't really like the idea of that because I wanted to be interviewed by at least two companies so that I could compare them. The university internship team said that I had to choose one and go from there. So I went in to meet with them and we all decided that my top choice is ACP magazines. This is the company that owns various titles and where I would be one of 4 in the marketing team of the men's lifestyle segment. The reason I was skeptical of this job at first was because it seemed like it could be a lot of telemarketing and cold calling, but when I told this to the advisors, they said that there are SO many Australians that would KILL for this position and that they think I'd be a great fit for it. They said that I wouldn't be doing a bunch of calling to potential customers, but would instead be negotiating with external advertisers and suppliers that are trying to get ACP's business amongst other things. They assured me it would be a lot of hands on stuff, but basically I will have to be ready to get instructions once and then just roll with it! They said it will be challenging, but as long as I go for it, and try to engage with the employees there, I should eventually fit in. Another bonus is that it is in downtown sydney in what is supposedly a really cool office. But.... I haven't heard any word yet on if they are agreeing to interview me or not. Wish me luck!! 

Woooo finally... I've caught up! I'm sure I've left out a ton of hilarious/awesome/exciting stuff, but I tried to get in as much as I could! This weekend should be fun... the weather is supposed to be really nice so we might just beach it up...Although, I currently resemble a lobster becase of the beach day we had yesterday. They weren't kidding when they said the sun was stronger here, but oh well.. it will turn into tan right??? ( I know you're cringing right now, Dad!) No worries ;)  Some sightseeing might be in order tomorrow, but we'll see! Love and miss you all!!!

"You want to hear a funny story?!!"

Above was the title to an awesome blog that I have been working on for about 3 hours. But, when I went to publish it, it didn't save and it didn't go through. Therefore, I lost everything. Soo for those of you that are dying to hear about this trip... I feel you. I can't wait to tell you all about it. But for now, I'm have to go to bed because it's 12:30 here and I am frustrated and exhausted. Sorry for the delay, but I'll have to try it again tomorrow. Goodnight.

"....No Worries Mate!"

... the first time I heard the above statement after saying Thank You to someone, I thought- Well, I wasn't worried but ok haha! Oh the differences between Australia and the US are plentiful, but I'll get to that. So Hawaii came and went, and United actually gave me a free voucher worth 400 bucks towards a U.S. to U.S. flight! It's about time they owned up! We didn't get to take the surf trip, and they won't refund us our money, but I'm going to try to get United to reimburse us for that too. Ok... enough about that already, I'm in AUSTRALIA!!!!! 

So the first sign I was here was when I arrived Saturday morning. The shuttle driver loaded my bags onto the trailer behind the van and told me to go sit in front. Naturally, I walked up to the right side of the car and reached for the door. He then shouted, "So you wanna drive huh?" Whoa! Wrong side! I've got it now, they drive on the right side of the car. It was a rainy day, not what I expected for Sydney, Australia. It rained for the next 2 and a half days, and I was really bummed about it. But early afternoon on Monday, I saw the sun for the first time...and it was beautiful!!! 

There was a scheduled  orientation trip to the Zoo for international students, so I and a few other Mizzou students decided to tag along at the last minute. GREAT choice! We bought the all day bus/train/ferry pass for 17 Aus. bucks and took the bus about 30 minutes into the city. When we arrived..(mind you, this is the first time I had seen the city b/c I live in the suburbs) I was amazed. Sky rise buildings everywhere overlooking the ocean, and the harbor bridge, and the Sydney Opera house...I was thinking, Ooooh Ahhhh... the whole bit!! We stepped off the bus, and I got chills. For the first time, I finally realized why I had come here. It just felt so right. So then we walked through the city a bit, and naturally, I was in awe. We then took the ferry to the zoo. I didn't even realize what we were doing until, bam... the Sydney Opera house was right in front of me!!! But.. to my dismay, it's actually smaller than it seems and pretty dirty. Someone should definitely take a power washer to it. I talked to a newlywed couple from Tasmania, and they were great. We asked them about certain gestures that we thought might be offensive to Aussies, and it turns out that the middle finger is pretty universal. However, the backwards peace sign also means F You. 

So at the zoo, you take a Gondola (sp?) up to the top of the zoo and make your way down to the bottom entrance. First sight was... Koalas! Wooo hoo!! We then went to the Kangaroo walk and saw lots of them! I won't bore you with all the details, but basically- the Zoo was amazing. the entire time you walk through it, the backdrop is the Sydney harbor. I loved it. 

We had a day pass for transportation already so we decided that we should all go back to the city that evening and check out the local establishments. It was a Monday night, and most people here actually do work... so there weren't all that many people out at the supposed 'hot spots' of Sydney. A few 'mates' and I eventually found a really hopping place called Scubar. It was so packed that we stood outside for about 30-45 mins waiting to get in at 12:30 at night. But, we got in, no problems, no cover charge (woo hoo!) and it was fun. We made our way back to a 'night rider bus' to get us home. But the one thing I noticed about the city was that it was  SO CLEAN! They have street sweepers/cleaners come through the sidewalks almost every night, and the air I breathe here just feels better! It also felt so safe. There were a few people sitting here and there, but they didn't bother you unless you spoke to them. In that case, they were generally pretty helpful. Oh, and I forgot to mention I went running through the streets of my neighborhood the other day, and with gentle rolling hills and again... clean air, it was great.

I had my internship meeting the other day. They gave me 8 potential positions/job descriptions to look over. To my dismay, there were no huge ad agencies. In fact, there were none at all. They are mostly marketing companies with a mix of advertising in their work. And then there was a non-fiction book publishing company made up of 4 women and a Children's magazine with 5 employess. I immediately eliminated these positions as possibilities. I read through all the proposed internship project information, researched the companies, and the four I narrowed it down to were...

-a place called ACP Magazines. The top magazine publisher in Australia. I would be assisting the marketing team in developing and executing marketing programs for ACP men's lifestyle and sports titles. Its smack dab in the middle of Sydney, on the 24th floor of a sky rise. The location and the prestige of the company were its main appeal. www.acpmagazines.com.au

-the second is a place called 33 interactions. It's a boutique marketing acency whos main purpose is to service larger advertising and marketing agencies. I would be the Online Marketing Intern. I would be mostly responsible for a new website. www.33interactions.com.au

-the third is for the State government in the International Student center... I would work within the marketing team writing and editing media releases, copywriting, etc. www.studyintafe.edu.au

-The fourth is called Marketing Mechanics which is a full service mkting and ad agency, and I would assist the Marketing director. www.marketingmechanics.com.au.

Sooo, I believe the next step is interviewing with all of these companies, provided that they're still interested in receiving an intern. Mind you, these are all really short descriptions and I'll let you know how I really feel about them if and when I get the interviews. Eeeek.

The weather here is absolutely gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky... but of course, I have to register my classes today at one o clock. So my roommate Kelli and I are really bummed because we don't get to go to the beach today like our other two roommates do. But I think this weekend we are going to go to the two main beaches.. Manly and Bondi and perhaps stay in a hostel in a little beach town there. And there's a huge film festival that attracts thousands to Sydney every year that will be taking place on Sunday. I'd like to check it out! Welll that was the first half of the week in a nutshell... more later! I need to put up pictures too, but I'm running late to this little meeting! Gotta goooooo!

New Home Address

Hello, in case you were wondering, my new address is...

Emily Burchwell

13/139 Herring Road

NORTH RYDE, NSW    2113

more later!

*** Sidenote... if for some reason you do send me something, you might also want to put Sydney, Australia or International or something on the envelope!!!

"Never thought I'd be saying this to you folks... but ALOHA!"

.... Surprise! I'm in Hawaii!!! Did I tell you I was going to Australia? Silly me... I meant, Haw...haha Just kidding! Just made an unexpected pit stop! So we got on the plane in LA, scheduled to head straight to Sydney (geeez it was a huge plane! And to my dismay...it was full! At least the row I selected to be in was..ugh.) They said they were having some mechanical problems so there'd be about an hour delay and that we could walk around. I was trapped in the window seat next to some elders..so I didn't have the guts to ask them to move. Another hour later they say that the weight balance was off, so they had to take a few passengers off to make it more balanced. (Really?! Have they never flown a large plane before?!) Then they had to do some paperwork, so we'd be in the air in about 30 mins. Well, the next announcement was that we weren't leaving just yet, that we had to taxi because they overfilled the fuel tanks. COME ON GUYS... WHERE do you come up with this stuff??! So I thought for sure we'd be staying in LA for the night... It was already 1 o clock california time. Well, they finally decided to pursue and after about 4 hours total, we were up in the air!!! 

The next surprise was that about 10 minutes after we got into the air, they brought us out our meals. Mine was first. I was befuddled because according to my body clock, it was 4 in the morning... Why in the heck would I want to eat dinner right now??? And.. evidently I accidently ordered the Vegan option on my reservations, so I stared at my 'specially prepared' meal of amber colored mush, a cous-cous and corn hybrid and sugar free pecan wafers-while homeboy next to me chowed down on lasagna, a buttered roll, and a brownie. Needless to say, I didn't touch mine. I'm sorry for being wasteful... but I don't think it would have been safe to eat!! ;)

So 4 hrs into the flight, pilot comes on and says, "when it rains it pours, it seems the mechanical problem is persisting on and we're going to have to land in Honolulu..." I'm thinking, sweet I've never been to Hawaii before! Surfs up dude!!! And then I realized that surfing it up in Hawaii means that I'm going to miss our surf camp in Sydney that we were scheduled to go on when we got there. Bummer mannnnnn....

So we got off the plane, gathered our bags from baggage claim- Thank gosh! and headed to the bus that was scheduled to come to take us to our next destination... a hotel called Ala Moana. It was 5 in the morning and our new flight isn't scheduled to take off until 11:45 pm tonight. Hence, the reason I'm able to write this right now. So after a lot of hurrying up and waiting, we're in Hawaii, in a sweet free hotel room (I got my own!!!) and a complimentary breakfast buffet under our belts. It was raining buckets for hours but finally stopped around 1 so my friend Kelli and I headed to the beach after having a casual drink at Mai Tai in the mall next door to our hotel. Buuuuuut.... I'm leaving out the most exciting part of this adventure thus far!!

As I was walking onto the flight from Denver to LA, I heard some old 'blokes' talking, and I immediately tuned in because they sounded Australian. They looked at me, said a few lines, and one stepped out of the line to talk to me after I asked if they were from Oz. Apparently his name is Merv and he runs a Country club/golf course about an hr north of Sydney. I'll never call him, but it was nice to catch his business card and it proved my theory that Aussies are so friendly. And in this case, potentially overserved. But who's counting? But then, I got on the plane, went to my seat, and someone was sitting in it. They asked me to sit across the row in the aisle, and I complied. No big. I asked the couple where they were from and guess what.... they're from Australia!!! For the entire 2 and a half hour flight, we talked about my trip and I showed them the Australia books I had, knowing they'd get a good laugh...and they did. They went through the dictionary and pointed out the words that I should NEVER say and the other words that they said will seem really cool and natural if I throw into about every sentence...such as 'mate'. They were great. So cordial and just interesting. We talked about Americans too, I asked them how they felt about us, and they said that we are so quick to jump to judgment. Like they said the difference in us versus them is that we make them earn the 'right to talk to us or for us to give them the time of day'. They said on their vacation, almost everyone they met was quick to ask, "so where do you work, how much do you make, etc." They said that they generally give everyone the benefit of the doubt and if then, they act like an idiot, then they cross them off of their friends list.  So I now have friends. They're from melbourne... they weren't affected by the fires there though. They were in Denver 'on holiday' to ski and snowboard. So we got to LA, parted ways, and we've since met again because they are 'stranded' in Hawaii too. Sooo, thus far... I have a pretty positive view on Aussies. And I like Hawaii too. I'd come back and visit for longer if I had the chance. Especially if it were on United's tab ;). But, after this trip, I'm going to try to avoid flying them... I always say that, but this time--I'm going to try really hard! They are so sketchy!! (in my opinion) Oh and I also forgot to mention another encounter with an Aussie I had. On the way to Sydney, I somehow lost my neck pillow and eye mask, and this woman was in the row in front of me.. said she heard me complaining about it, and gave me a brand new eye mask because "she had a spare." What a life saver!!! I got to get some shut eye while the oldie next to me read his bold print novel under the bright reading light. haha. Alright kiddos...that's about all I've got for now. Gonna start packing up and get ready to begin my scheduled adventure. Wish me luck!