Goodbyes and Welcomes

On November 14th, 2012, the last week of the best semester of my entire college experience, it occurred to me that I wasn't quite done with Australia. After most of my study abroad friends left, after I moved out of my apartment, and after classes were finished, living there was a little eerie. i was still in the same places, but not living my old life anymore. Coogee beach felt a little different and buying gatorades at the convenience store at 3am on Arden street just didn't feel the same. So for about a week i was in a weird in-between stage in my life, which eventually led to my final decision to stay in Australia. I came to the conclusion that since i already had taken the semester off from connecticut college and didn't have any commitments back home, that i would stay where i was and make sure i got the most out of the country that i had grown to love so dearly. And a shout-out and thanks to Alex Haigis for spending that last week with me, the girl who loved this place almost more than me but couldn't stay, I wish you were still here, we wish you were still here!!!

The day we all moved out, from the left: Dana, my roommate; me, and Alex. 

 Our room, farewell you uncomfortable beds!!

Evening walkway in Coogee, one of the last nights. 

New Zealand was spectacular, a few sentences wouldn't even begin to do it justice. Nell and I had such a great time hiking, camping, hitch-hiking, meeting travellers, being in Wellington the day "The Hobbit" premiered, meeting up with my Aussie friends, and overall just feeling ALIVE AND YOUNG! Here's a photo of us in Tongaririo National Park with the Emerald and Blue Lakes in the distance. 

After three and half weeks backpacking, I returned to Australia. And when I walked through the arrivals gate in Sydney, I did feel like I was coming home. 

Final photo of me on Christmas Eve, Santa costume, 6am morning surf! 

And just so that my parents can sleep at night: I will be coming home to the Berkshires, Happy New Year, I love you, and I miss you more than I may let on. xxxx

21 years later...

On the eve of my 21st birthday, with 1.5 hours left of "childhood," I sit in my room alone, more thoughts running through my head than pairs of shoes in my closet. Now that's a lot. 

In the past week (and probably the week to come) I have been so conflicted about what i'm going to do next month, next semester, next year, and the next 50 years. I am blessed to have so many options, and I truly am grateful for this, but it's actually terrifying. Every day I have a new idea for my life, a new perspective, and now i have no clue what to do with all of them! let alone just one… 

it seems that i can't even begin to get started on one idea, because i'm overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with trying to make a real place for myself here among my new Aussie friends, overwhelmed with school work, overwhelmed with thoughts of love, overwhelmed with being completely broke, and overwhelmed with the reality that the semester is coming to an end here and I feel like i've just finally settled in. Part of me wants to come home and tell everyone about my trip, but a much larger part of me looks around Sydney and Coogee and can't believe it has to leave this place - the place that has brought me such happiness in a time when it was so desperately needed. 

But I also have to remind myself that I am Lily Michaels, queen of adapting to change, queen of working things out with humor and grace (Hey i'm allowed to brag, it's almost my birthday here!), able to charm thousands with just a smile… (too far?)

In any event, I venture into the world as a full fledged legally drinking adult, feeling a little alone and scared, and as I tip toe on, I want to push myself out there yelling "GO, DO IT!", so that's what I'm going to do. Done. 

Lots and lots of love to everyone out there! 

"We'll be coming back for you someday, we'll be coming back for you someday." 

Boree Log!

Just had a fantastic weekend. It was the outdoors club's annual weekend adventure trip to the Blue Mountains (North of Sydney) in Boree Log. The weekend was set up with two full days of activities and then a bonfire party on the Saturday night. There were tons of activities planned such as canyoning (think sliding down waterfalls in wetsuits), bushwalking, climbing, abseiling, and the club's favorite - slackling (basically tight rope walking between two trees). I had a field trip for my marine environment class on Saturday morning so I couldn't join until Saturday night. Charlotte took the three hour train ride up to the mountains on Friday night and got to canyon for the whole day! So jealous, she said it was great but the water was pretty freezing since it's still "winter" here.

We joined back up Saturday night for club festivities - helped cook a mexican themed meal for about 50 club members at the campsite. I made a delicious guacamole in the dark with only a spoon and some spices! But then again everything tastes better when you're camping! Such a great night with singing and dancing around the campfire, meeting new people, and hearing about stories from past Boree Log adventures!

On Sunday everyone was pretty tired from the previous day so we decided to take it easy. I joined the slacklining trip which was supposed to be pretty relaxing. There's this guy in the club who loves slackling and wanted to try waterlining so we drove to a remote river spot. There were about 12 of us packed into 3 big trucks. No one really knew how long the drive to the river was going to be, but it turned out taking about two hours down the windiest, roughest road. I swear we drove the entire Blue Mountain ridge...it was crazy off-roading. Charlotte and I were in the backseat with the club president and his friend in the front. Windows down, music blasting, driving into the wilderness. And as much as I love the city and urban areas, I realized I love the outdoors much more. Not a better feeling than an adventure, enthusiastic company, and the wind blowing in my face. Finally we got to the river spot and walked 1 km to a bridge near the river. Slid down some waterfalls, tried waterlining (pretty unsuccessful), and enjoyed the sun with some new friends! "I cry just a little, when I think of letting go."

Perfect weather the entire weekend. Life is GOOD.

(Delicious burgers on the 4 hour drive back to Sydney, wow am I lucky! Yeeha! Pictures below!)

Simon and James slacklining!

   Our sweet ride!

The bridge- one person at a time!

Ridin in the back!

Blue Mountain range!

Sunlight Dripping from my face

Play by Play Spring Break:

Spring break started out with a bang as my name was called over the loudspeaker in the airport because I was at the wrong gate. Charlotte and I sprinted across the airport onto a very packed plane laughing hysterically. We checked into our hostel in Cairns that afternoon and walked around the area. Cairns is CRAZY. Huge tourist spot, not many Americans when we were there but loads of travelers from Europe- Ireland, France, Switzerland, Germany, etc. The whole place was packed with young people, partying every night because half of the hostel is a club. Needless to say it was hard to sleep there.

The first night we got invited on a pub crawl around Cairns and ended up meeting two guys who we spent the next few days with. Of course they were the only two other Americans in the area (from Chicago), and they were just on holiday. Loads of fun this first night - I actually entered a dance competition that night and had to strut my stuff to country music for a minute while the crowd cheered for their favorite dancer. I got pretty into it and kicked off my heels at the start which got me a few hoots!

Day 2: Here is a picture of our boat and where they let us off to snorkel over to a tiny sandbar...
Woke up at 6 am, exhausted from the night before. Charlotte and I walked to the marina for our reef trip! Beautiful boat, really friendly crew. It took about 2 hours to get to the reef and then we suited up for our beginners scuba diving lesson! It was actually more difficult than I thought! The crew kind of threw everyone into the water and then we were told to hold onto the side of the boat for some practice exercises. My mask wasn't fitting that well and I was trying to adjust it while being told to practice breathing, while being smashed into the side of the boat as the waves crashed over my head, while being ushered down a small rope, it was crazy! I started to hyperventilate a little which is probably the worst thing you can do scuba diving since it's all about your breathing, but I got it under control and ended up being fine. Once I started getting deeper my ears hurt a lot trying to adjust but there was SO much to see down there that I was pretty distracted from the pain. Multi-colored coral everywhere, Nemo, it looked pretty much like how I thought the reef would look like- only bigger and more exquisite. We snorkeled in the afternoon, swimming through whole schools of fish because the crew kept throwing bread out. We also hopped off the boat for a little marine animal informational tour on a smaller boat with a glass bottom!

Day 3: Slept in a little this morning and had a great breakfast at a little cafe in Cairns. Then Charlotte and I headed over to meet up with our new friends to go swimming. We spontaneously decided that swimming in the hotel pool was not adventurous enough so we rented a car for the day and drove two hours to the famous Cape Tribulation beach. Our friends had gone on a rainforest trip the day before and told us it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen, truly a hidden jem in the rainforest. So we drove on the left side of the road, in a manual, on the most curvy, bumpy back roads to this beach. So for anyone who has seen the movie "The Beach," this beach we went to has the same allure. It's tucked into this massive forest, you have to cross a drawbridge to get there, and it's stunning. It was the type of drive where we didn't quite know where we were going but that was also the fun part. After about an hour and 50 minutes we started stopping pedestrians we saw along the way asking "is cape trib up here??" everyone kept telling us to just keep on going. Finally we arrived there around dusk, completely deserted from end to end. We set up a little bonfire, had champagne, went swimming, and explored. Truly the highlight of the break. Great experience, wow just reminiscing makes me want to be back there so bad.

 Scenery on the drive there....

Cape Tribulation during the day time...

Me and Charlotte! So happy!!

Day 4: Woke up at 5 am for white water rafting!!!! Took a two hour bus ride down the coast a little to Tully. Tully is famous for the big rapids in the area. We were thrown onto the river with a crazy New Zealand tour guide, two German girls, and two American girls. The rapids were not as intense as I would have liked but still exciting. We stopped halfway down the river for a BBQ, jumped off a giant rock, and passed under a nice waterfall. The girls in our boat weren't very good at paddling nor did the Germans speak any English so they kept paddling in the wrong direction...very amusing. An exhausting day in the sun but well worth it.

Day 5: This was our last day in Cairns and Charlotte and I were ready for one last adventure! We wanted to go for a hike in one of the national parks in the area but they were all pretty difficult to get to. We decided to hitchhike! Truly the student budget here --- it was a little nerve-racking holding your thumb out on the side of a busy highway but I did it (Sorry mom & dad!). Charlotte and I decided that if we didnt' get picked up within half an hour we would stop, so of course 5 minutes later a guy stops for us. Nice guy, told us he had given lots of hitchhikers rides in the last few weeks, we asked him to take us to the Skyrail. Skyrail trips are usually pretty expensive because of transportation there and all the tours included but since we just got there for free and wanted to self-guide our tours, it was a deal! We took a beautiful ride up through the mountains looking out over the whole city, to a tiny little rainforest town called Kuranda. Famous for the Kuranda markets, it's quite touristy. So we had packed some sandwiches and ate them as we walked through the town and then on a few bush walks in the area.

 Skyrail...

Hitch-hiking!! Sandwich in hand...

That night we took an overnight bus down the coast to the Whitsundays. A few days earlier, the travel company for the boat we were supposed to be on in the Whitsundays called and said that not enough people signed up for our boat since it was the off- season. The woman asked if we would like to be upgraded to a boat called New Horizons. This was the boat we originally wanted to go on but it was too expensive. Needless to say we were over ecstatic!! When we finally checked into the marina the boat company told us that New Horizons also got cancelled because not enough people signed up, so we got upgraded AGAIN! Our new boat, the Atlantic Clipper, had a hot spa, a water slide, a diving board, and is known as a "party boat", not a 'booze cruise,' just a loud boat. And oh boy were some of those people rowdy on our boat...About 50 people on board with 7 crew members. Lots of people from Ireland and other parts of Europe. A few too many creepy older European men as well...
We snorkeled a few times and saw a GIANT fish (will upload underwater photos soon), but the true highlight of this trip was Whitehaven Beach. This beach has been called the second most beautiful beach in the world after someplace in Thailand, but let me just say, I was speechless. 360 degree view of paradise. The sand is 98% silica so it shines your silver and exfoliates your skin. Charlotte and I rubbed tons of the sand all over us right before we left and IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!! Never have I ever felt so smooth in my entire life...unfortunately some woman was fined $3000 for trying to take some of the sand onto the plane so if anyone wants to experience it, you'll have to come to Australia. The boat was a lot of fun in the end- especially because the crew was so enthusiastic, not to mention gorgeous! One of the guys just got back from London because he was on the Australian men's water polo team! Drool....
But all in all it was a fantastic, fantastic break and I so desperately wish I was back there already.

Red Dress Mentality

Maybe, it's the ocean air, maybe it's the new environment, but something about this side of the world makes me think about my life in a much broader, brighter way. I have a fair amount of Uni work but I think about it in a very relaxed, realistic manner. I know I will finish it, I know I will study hard when the time calls for it, but I also know that the amount of effort I put into it will dictate it's successfulness. So if I really want something to happen, then it's entirely up to me. I always knew that, but it seems much more apparent to me here.

Actually, I think that's what it is about this place - clarity and independence. That's what I have here. So I can't complain about not having a huge group of friends because I haven't joined a million clubs or gone out every night trying to meet new people. And I'm okay with that because I'm still happy and exerting myself as much as I can. Well that's not exactly true, Charlotte and I made a pact that from now on we would be a little bit more adventurous. And that's not to say I haven't been adventurous (as my other posts show - I have been!) but personally, I know that I could be doing more. Not that there isn't a rush from new experiences any more but I have noticed myself become a little more timid compared to when the plane just landed and I was running around like crazy. But maybe that's just how things are, I'm settled in, I know my role a little more, and I've gotten comfortable.

But I'm ready to get uncomfortable. That might sound wrong, but I think you know what I mean. I'm ready to live up to the plaque I once had in my room at Conn that said, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." I've noticed a lot of people around me not quite doing that, still not taking advantage of everything around them. And I don't like that, and that's not me, so I have to make a change. I'm going to be more proactive because it's already mid-semester break, about half way done!

This realization seems to have come at the perfect timing. Tomorrow I leave for the Great Barrier Reef and my crazy club hostel. I can only hope that I don't take what I'm saying TOO seriously because I just have this horrible image of myself up on a stage, covered in foam, yelling something obnoxious into the crowd - or worse, singing! But no, I will control myself with the utmost dignity! With maybe just a little fun...

But in any event, I must get back to researching doping in Australian cycling (surprisingly interesting!)...and then there's a mid-semester party for the whole campus later tonight which should be a good time. So ta ta for now, I miss you all from home - sending my wishes, xoxo as the summer comes to an end and my summer begins ...hehe.

Cheers!

"I got my red dress on tonight
Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight
Got my hair up real big beauty queen style
High heels off, I'm feeling alive

Oh, my God, I feel it in the air
Telephone wires above all sizzling like your stare
Honey I'm on fire I feel it everywhere
Nothing scares me anymore" 

Quick updates!

After more than 10 trips to the Apple store, most of my computer problems are over. Some quick updates on life down under in the past two weeks: 1. I made a new friend in my Psychology class. She's from Hong Kong and moved to Australia for high school. She is a triplet and very sweet. She was so curious about me and my life once I told her I was adopted. She said, "Wait, so you have white parents? You're so lucky!!" This made me laugh. She told me about her very traditional Chinese parents who make her come home before 12 every night. We chatted for a while and she invited me to her house for dinner! She asked if I ever tried very traditional chinese food and I said..."kind of?," and then she said she already told her mom about me and she wanted to meet me! So maybe I will be heading over to their house for dinner soon...! 2. I LOVE ROCK CLIMBING! The outdoors club goes to Sydney Uni every Thursday night and for the last three weeks I have been going. I'm addicted! It's great, such a thrill. And then there's lots of socializing at the pub afterwards. I surprised myself last night when I tried the "Red" route up, which some of the other beginners attempted (with no success), but after a lot of perseverance (and knowing this new friend was watching me from below) I made it to the top! What a great feeling. Definitely impressed some people. Never have my forearms felt so ripped. Yeeeha! Can't wait for a new challenge next week. Also, Charlotte and I finally made much better friends with the girl who is in charge of the club. Turns out we actually have a lot in common - psych major, interest in climbing, cycling, surfing, etc. She wasn't nearly as intimidating as we first thought - and she even said that most of the Americans that join the club are pretty cool...and we weren't an exception! Awwww 3. As for school work, I've been swamped lately! Just gave a presentation a couple days ago about the World Series Cricket (WSC) in Australia and the related court cases. Just for those of you out there who like history (especially Mom and Andrew), I'll give you some information on the topic: The World Series Cricket was created by a very wealthy businessman, Kerry Packer. It started as a result of many cricket players who felt upset with the previous administration. The players thought that their well-being was cared about by the current cricket associations. So when Packer offered them large sums of money and better contracts, about 35 players joined on. There were a lot of court cases around the WSC due to contract restrictions and around the fact that Packer wanted the exclusive broadcasting rights for Cricket for his TV channel. He inherited channel 9 network from his father and after finally gaining the cricket rights, sports on television became a sensation. Cricket appealed to a broader audience and revenue was good. There's the WSC in a nutshell! 4. I've been cooking a lot lately. My roommate even called me "quite the little chef" (Thanks Dana)! I made stuffed peppers the other night, butternut squash risotto (good ol' Julie Michaels recipe from epicurious.com), homemade BBQ chicken pizza (guilty pleasure), and tonight I made Eggplant rollups stuffed with a mix of veggies! Delicious! I'm having lots of fun playing housewife - minus the husband part... 5. GETTING EXCITED FOR SPRING BREAK NEXT WEEK!!! CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALREADY HERE, HELLLLOOO SUN AND SUNSCREEN! No ozone here! 6. Guilty news update: treated myself to a movie at the largest IMAX in the world (supposedly China is working on a bigger one though, and if it's completed then will the one here have to add a "2nd" to all of their signs???) and saw The Dark Knight Rises. Must say, a pretty epic movie to see on the big screen. Also, treated myself to a certain book, mostly written for women, bestseller right now, for spring break beach time...and Hey - if you know what book I"m talking about then just shhhh..... xxoxoxo from down under!

Just another inspired day

"The skyline is etched in my veins You can never put that out, no matter how hard it rains... Now looking over the city, it's the only thing that keeps me calm/ Scattered thoughts jotted down by this pen in my palm/ It's like my city stands still, the world looks on. If I could only capture its beauty and put it in a song."

A little slow...sorry!

After some more computer trouble, I am back on the wagon! And more so than ever, as I am spending more time in the library because midterms are approaching. I can't believe I've already been here over a month! It's challenging to balance experiences with Uni work but I'm managing pretty well. My friend Charlotte and I are making a bucket list because we are worried time is escaping us! Last week after Mt. Bogong, I was invited to go rock climbing at this indoor gym at Sydney University on Thursday nights. The outdoors club goes there every week and when the president invited me I told him that I would bring pretty girls with me. He laughed. Little did he know that I don't mess around. That Thursday I showed up with three pretty girls ready to climb! He was impressed. The head guy working at "The Ledge" helped us with gear and showing us the ropes (literally). It was packed in there by 7:30! We weren't as bad as we expected! Everyone was having a lot of fun (whew! I was a little worried my friends weren't going to have a good time and then blame me for dragging them along). The president then invited us out to a nearby pub that they go to every night after climbing. We stayed to climb some more and ended up staying until close! By the end of it I was sweating a lot and could barely feel my forearms - I also spontaneously climbed to the ceiling from a rope ladder! We headed over to the pub and found a lively group of guys waiting for us! We had drinks and chatted all night. Going to the ledge again this week and Charlotte and I are going to try to go on the surfing trip coming up! Yippee!!!!

Mt. Bogong Photos!

After 4 hrs of labor this is what the igloo looked like!

Here's what the view from one of our campsites would have looked like without all the fog!

Here's me in all my glory!

No pain, no gain - a risk worth taking.

Finally!! My computer is fixed so I am back on the map! It's horrible how dependent I've become...

Let me start by saying: Fantastic weekend.
So last weekend on my hike through Royal National Park, I met a guy who invited me on a trip up Mt. Bogong the following week. It was kind of up in the air whether he would be going or not since his friend got pretty sick last time when they tried to make it up a few weeks ago. But as the week passed, he emailed me to say that they were in fact going. I debated not going because I just met him, I didn't have all the equipment, etc...Also Mt. Bogong is in Victoria - about a 7 hour drive from Sydney.

...We left on Thursday afternoon. I thought it was going to be just me, and three guys but it turned out that three more guys came- the president of the Outdoors Club, his friend, and another guy. Man was I happy to finally have some male friends! There's that tomboy side of me coming out again...

The drive was pretty long but enjoyable with my two new friends. Stopped for dinner along the way and got to the campsite at about midnight on Thursday. Two of the guys were already there and had started a fire for us. We set up camp and this really sweet guy let me stay in his tent with him. He even made me coffee in the morning! Again, I can't believe how nice everyone is here...lucky me!

Since I didn't come here with the intention of going hiking through snow, I was slightly unprepared equipment wise. But thanks to this guy I met the previous week, he supplied me with everything I needed - super warm sleeping bag, state-of-the-art sleeping pad (some of the guys actually tried to bribe me for the mat on the third night it was so nice), an expensive down jacket, a beanie, gloves, hiking poles, dinner for two nights, waterproof pants, snowshoes, ice axe, and crampons. Need I say again how nice people are!?!

Here's a picture of me at the campsite before the start of our trek!
We started our trek up to 20,000m early on Friday morning. After some coffee and delicious oatmeal I was ready to go! It actually took us about 6 or 7 hours to get to the top because a couple of the guys were cramping up. Surprisingly enough I was in much better shape than I thought, and I ended up leading for most of the way! (Pretty impressive, I must say...)

It was getting dark so we decided not to go all the way to the summit that day. We made camp at the treeline. It was a pretty gray day and so by the time we got to camp it was so foggy I couldn't see anything. There was however plenty of snow. I wasn't quite sure where we were sleeping, but everyone started shoveling snow on the side of this vertical slope so I quickly learned that I was gonna be very, very cold that night. My tentmate and I shoveled a flat platform for our tent and threw our stuff in. We picked the best spot of course - sheltered from the wind!
Here's our tent- a little small but good for cold weather, cozy! (That's my ice axe...I learned how to self arrest too in case of a glacier...)

Saturday morning I woke up to more snow and sleet. All of our stuff was covered in icicles. Needless to say that one glance out of the tent and it took me a long time to get out of my sleeping bag...
But my tentmate made coffee for me again so I was a happy camper. Some of the guys went ice climbing that day, but I opted to hike to the summit and then build an igloo instead. Thought the ice climbing might be a tad intense...but now I kinda wish I had tried! Oh well, next time.

Getting to the summit was crazy - so foggy I couldn't see 5m in front of me. We had our crampons on and were walking on a pretty vertical slope. In retrospect it was probably good it was so foggy because I couldn't see just how steep it was. Following the barely visible pole markers along the way, we finally made it to the summit.

Here are two images, one of what the summit would have looked like on a clear day, another what it kind of looked like - except add tons and tons of fog...

It truly was up there in the clouds...

After deciding that building an igloo up there with winds whipping by burning my cheeks wasn't such a good idea - we headed down following our tracks and built an igloo in a slightly less open area. My friend actually carried an igloo maker all the way up the mountain! After a few mishaps, and four hours later, the igloo was half built and we were wrecked... but it looked awesome!! No photos yet :( but 10x10 igloo was pretty impressive looking!  Three of the guys slept there that night but I wasn't really feeling like bivvying it ... (mountaineering term for no tent, just a tarp-like thing that goes over you, hardcore). I slept in my nice tent again, very warm and dry. Played cards with some of the guys in our tent - whipped their butts of course (thanks mom for all those years of practice).

Smashed it down the mountain the next day in a mere 1 1/2 hrs, falling a few times. Here's a picture of me and Mike right before he caught me as I slipped down the path! (Did I mention he carried 2 packs up because one of the guys was having trouble??! Beast...)

Smelly, dirty, and a few chocolate bars later I was down the mountain and packing up the car. I was sad to leave my new found Aussie friends. But they invited me rockclimbing this Thursday actually!

All in all, great experience. Couldn't believe I was driving through the beautiful countryside with people I barely knew, about to have a completely refreshing experience. It's also remarkable how good food tastes in the wilderness...hello peanut butter and jelly in the same container! Took a risk and it paid off. That's what I came to do anyways, right?! No pain, no gain.

P.S. Shout out to Alice Wislocki- the guys think that your Arcteryx pack is awesome. Thanks a million <3

-"I was enchanted to meet you..."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I MISS YOU

HELP!!!

Currently on a Uni computer in the library, debating whether to cry or not based on my present situation.

 My macbook hard drive has crashed. I took it to the apple store here and was informed that it is dead. Needs a new hard drive and to top it all off, I have not backed up any of my data (not very smart, I know). In any event, I got a good deal on an external hard drive but I need to bring everything to a specialist to have them back up the data and then fix my hardrive completely.

Traveled to many different places for consultations and to check prices - about $350+ for data recovery and then $300 for hardrive. Student here--- no money, horrible luck, horrible timing, the works. Any advice on what I should do??? Desperate here...please comment!!

Just keep swimmin, just keep swimmin...

Ah ha! Finally all those years of being the most persistent little girl (mostly about trying to get clothes) has done some good! I have been researching and researching the outdoors club on campus and around the general Sydney area, but with little to show for it. But finally after emailing the club president on campus and searching for a sign-up booth on the club fair day (both with no success), I managed to find an outdoors club BBQ advertised. 

However, my friend Charlotte who was also interested could not attend and I was nervous to go alone. I thought about just tossing the idea, hoping that it would be a waste anyways - but then my friend Ali said she would go with me.

 After having some trouble finding the venue, we made it and the struggle paid off. Friendly people, lots of manly men, and a club that actually does stuff! Do you know how many clubs on campuses don't actually do anything because no one can get their act together??! Well not this one! We talked to this guy for a while who told us all about the trips they do and that there is usually one a week - from hiking, kayaking, climbing, to white-water kayaking, etc. Thank god! I was a happy Lily to hear all that. 

Another organizer we talked to mentioned that she loved all the study abroad students who joined on last year and she was thrilled to have more! Then two girls, also new members, came up and started talking to us. One of them is a psych major like me! 

Things are looking up, these seem to be just the kind of people I was hoping to meet. Although that one guy did say that the club was more like a drinking club…well as long as it's on top of a mountain I'm ok with that! 

Finally, social commentary!

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted! Each day here seems to have fewer and fewer hours to it, and more and more stuff to do. There is an endless checklist of things I want to do, and things I want to tell the world about! I'll start with some exciting news:

SPRING BREAK PLANS ON ROUTE TO BEING FINALIZED!

I have booked a one-way flight to Cairns (Great Barrier Reef)! Sorry mom and dad, but I will not be going to Uni anymore. Just kidding. Whew! One way flight up the coast, day of scuba diving & snorkeling, one day of whitewater rafting, one day of hiking, all while staying at the youth hostel in the center of Cairns (is there a 1000 person capacity club in the downstairs of the hostel? Why yes.) Then taking an overnight bus (saving time and $$) down to the Whitsundays. If you haven't already looked up photos of these places, I warn you - prepare to be extremely jealous. 2-night, 2 day sailing boat trip around all of the islands, then taking a cheap flight back to Sydney! Let's hope I don't have too many assignments for the week back...eeek.

Traveling with one of my new best friends, Charlotte. She's from Belgium, computer science major at Vanderbilt, family just moved to Singapore, and hilarious. What a great find! She and I are quite keen on doing the adventurous activities, but we are also traveling with my friend from Conn, Shaelah, and another one of our new friends, Ali. We are all starting in Cairns together and then we might do our own things for the second half. Ali is visiting her friends in New Zealand for a few days, and the rest of us want to stay on the Golden Coast.

I realized that I haven't talked about the people I've met that much...maybe because some of them might be reading this? Haha, in any event, I am very happy with the friends I've made so far! Most of my friends are from my program, almost all of them from the US. The orientation program group is made up of mostly Wakeforest and Vanderbilt kids. Just from the universities' reputations you might think I wouldn't be the biggest fan of those type of students, but I've managed to find some great people. Here's a photo of a bunch of us!

From left: Charlotte, Shaelah, Ali, & me.

Photo was taken during our epic "Oz Party Bus" event. We all signed up for this party bus, advertised to all the study abroad students, which bused around 150 Americans to four different bars all around Sydney. Four complimentary drinks, karaoke, bowling, music, the works. You can imagine how crazy it would be to have a giant bus drop off hundreds of drunk Americans...
But it was an experience - not entirely recalled - and I met some nice people!

I definitely have to make quite an effort to meet people though because I am living off campus. There's lots going on on campus but sometimes I hear about it too late or something like that. I'm working hard to stay updated! There are a lot of Americans living in Coogee with me - which is nice - but not great for meeting Australians. Class lectures are over two hundred so that's also hard, but I am happy with the friends I've met so far, and it's still early in the game.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that I was introduced to the love of my life! Fortunately, she is a singer. Here's something to end with:

"Now my life is sweet like cinnamon, like a fucking dream I'm living in." - Lana Del Ray


P.S. COME VISIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Epicurious to Curious

Let's talk food. Any chance I had at losing weight has completely gone out the window. It seems that the main sport here besides surfing is eating. Everywhere you go there are cafes, bars, food stands, upscale restaurants, and some fast food joints. I'd say there are 10 restaurants for every clothing shop. Who wants to go shopping once they've devoured delicious thai food all night? (I do). 

Most of the Asian food here is what I expected- great Thai, Japanese, and Chinese. Of course proximity is what makes it so authentic and even the grungy places have better food than some fancy places in New York. I had lunch at a little Thai place in Surry Hill (very Brooklyn-like) the other day that was out of this world. I got the green curry with beef and  it was perfectly sweet just the way I like it. There were just a few tables in the place so I was skeptical, but it was delicious. 

Today, I wandered over to Chinatown with some friends to explore. It's located in downtown Sydney, about a 25 minute bus ride away from my apartment, and definitely worth it. It just so happened that there was a night market going on so it was fun to wander through the different Hello Kitty paraphernalia stands and street food stands. There was SO MUCH FOOD. Everywhere. Outside of every restaurant on the street there was another food vendor set up. It was packed.

 I was smart enough to ask a sales girl in a Japanese clothing shop where the best food was around there for a decent price. She told me the name of a restaurant but once my friends and i got there, read the menu, started to salivate, we found out that without a reservation there were no spots that night. WOW. We made a plan to come back sometime within our time here. Then, not even a block away we ran into a huge line of people waiting to get into a Thai restaurant so we also made a note to come back there on a Tuesday - for lunch. 

It seems that a huge part of the culture here revolves around food and drinks. Every cafe then turns into a bar around 3pm and you'll see people having drinks during the week in the middle of the day. Sometimes cocktails are harder to find during the week and shots aren't served after a certain hour. This seems like a pretty good idea to control the drinking/party scene, and I wonder what the rates of alcoholism are here compared to other places since the legal drinking age is also 18… 

After observing and gathering everything I can from my surroundings, I have come to this conclusion: Australia is a hyper-country. It's a perfect combination of the best European qualities and the best Western qualities. It's environmentally friendly and tech savvy. There is food everywhere, yet the people are not obese. There is a huge exercise community, constantly encouraging people to be healthy. And lastly - the reason people are so friendly: they are so happy that other people have discovered their country, their little piece of paradise, that they welcome new people and are completely above the idea that they should act territorial and rude to foreigners. So in a nutshell, this place is great. 

Getting organized, first week.

Yesterday i went on the famous Coogee to Bondi beach walk. Similar cliffside path as I ran the other day, going for about 6.4 km passing the most beautiful scenery. Over the past few days, I've noticed myself constantly looking at the architecture - a mix of very modern LA beach house looking places and smaller drab houses. I keep changing my mind from liking the small charming hammock houses and then the cleaner, more angular fancy-patio places….still can't decide. 

                                                                                 ~                     ~                    ~ 

Today was orientation for all study abroad and exchange students at the University of New South Wales. There are approximately 700 international students this semester at the "Uni." We listened for three hours about all the trips we can take during our time here - from weekend surf camps to completely planned out/all inclusive 10-day trips to Bali, Thailand, New Zealand, etc. There are TOO many options. I do not know where to even begin. Prizes were being thrown out like crazy this morning (unfortunately I never got a welcome pack with a raffle entry ticket in it) and serious prizes too - several people won this trip called "One Fish Two fish" ($2000 value) which includes a 10 day trip up the Gold Coast with snorkeling, cruises, scuba diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting, nightclubs, hiking, and much more. Needless to say I was more than pissed I never got to even enter the drawing. Guess that will be showing up on my credit card (thank you/sorry mom. I'll be as wise as I can be)

I got a great sense of the campus this morning as I altered my schedule and walked around to the various places my lectures will be held. I am currently enrolled in Perception and Cognition Psychology, Painting/Drawing, the Marine Environment, and Australian society, law, and culture. I cannot stress enough how friendly and helpful all the Australians I have met are. The study abroad woman had about 50 students waiting in line to tweak their schedules and she still spent a good 15 minutes helping me choose the best possible schedule. She actually said to me that most Australians will not attend some Friday lectures because it is close to the weekend and that all the lectures are recorded and then posted online so there is really no need to go to class…!!! What!? Fine with me…(shhh) The academic system here is very different from the US and will definitely take some getting used to…Instead of starting from 100% the Australians start from 0 and add points, so it is harder to get close to 100. Anything above 75% is considered equivalent to an American A, and here it is called HD (high distinction) and only about 5% of students achieve that mark. 

I am short bus ride away from campus or a 25 minute walk, which is a little inconvenient but once it warms up I'm sure it will be easier...and I will be more willing to put in the walking effort. But I am determined to make friends with lots of Australians and have them show me the best local spots…that is my main goal right now, I have faith. 

Apartment photos!

Love at first sight

One word: speechless. If the next four and a half months didn't get any better than today, it would still be the most delightful time of my life. When I imagined the ideal place to go to college I pictured a beach, an apartment with friends, a city, and of course classes ---- but after today, Coogee has completely blown my dreams out of the water. Not only am I living in a quaint, vintage-like apartment with three nice girls, I am also one block away from an overload of restaurants, bars, fish shacks, the beach, a running path along the cliffs on the beach, and tons of overly friendly and bubbly Australians.

Just a few days ago I arrived in Sydney. Lucky me I slept the entire 14 hour plane ride and woke up on the other side of the world. Downtown Sydney is actually much more European looking than I imagined- cobblestone alleys with cafes and cute shops. The city is incredibly diverse, there are people from all over the world walking down the streets. And every single person I have talked to has been friendly and seems genuinely pleased to talk to me. I can already tell that this is my kind of lifestyle.

The last few days have been spent exploring the city's historical landmarks, hiking in the Blue mountains, taking the steepest railway in the entire world partway down the Blue mountains, feeding kangaroos and koalas, learning how to avoid snakes and cockroaches, trying vegemite on buttered toast (bleugh!), drinking local wine on the revolving 47th floor of a building, shopping in the underground mall, randomly running into a friend from Canada who is vacationing with her family in Australia, and being mesmerized by the Australian accent.

But today, Sunday July 8th, was the first day I felt truly settled in. After moving into my apartment and unpacking my suitcases, I decided to go on a run while my roommates napped. I saw a path running along the beach as we pulled into Coogee this morning and decided to wander around there. Little did I know that this path follows possibly the most beautiful scenic areas in the world. Waves crashed into the high cliffs beside me as I ran for a few miles into complete brisk sunshine (it is the winter season here after all). No words to describe this place would do it justice. All I can think of is that looking around made me want to cry. And as I looked around even more, I finally understood what people meant when they said they've found what they've been searching for all along. So Mom and Dad - sorry, but I don't think I'm ever coming home.

pre-departure

6/27/12
9pm.

Getting nostalgic as the reality of leaving everything familiar is quickly approaching. Thoughts of returning as a completely different person are fumbling around in my head...the excitement is also kicking in as I am bombarded with informational emails. Saying goodbyes have never been so hard.