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!