The Story of the Week I was a Bookworm in Australia!

Hello Again!

I'm writing this entry at 9:00pm on a Thursday night because I need a break from the paper I've been working on for the past three days! Yes, that's right...instead of going to the beach with my friends, sipping iced coffees at outdoor cafes, hanging out on the roof deck, etc...I've been sitting at my desk working on this stupid paper! Why?! Because I'm being a loser bookworm who cares way too much about her grades!

The paper I am currently working on is an analysis of an exchange between a leading Palestinian scholar and two of his pro-Israeli critics. The topic is incredibly interesting and I am really happy that I'm becomming so educated on this issue, but man is it cutting into my FUN time!! I would be a really happy camper if I could go to the lectures and participate in the discussions...but then not have to write such a time consuming paper!

Okay and now I'm done ranting and I can move on! Before I started on my week of lameness, I spent all of Sunday at Manly Beach. This was a great way to relax and rest my legs after having played a lot of ultimate frisbee the day before! I have had some requests for more scenery pictures in my blog, so here are a couple pictures that I took from the ferry trip to get to the beach!

I've been here for over a month now and this bridge still hasn't ceased to take my breath away!

I've probably taken 100 pictures of every different angle of the opera house...but just like the bridge, it never gets old!

And here is my attempt to capture the beauty of Manly Beach. Pictures obviously don't do it any justice at all, but at least I tried! When I went for a run here, I ran down to that peak you can see in the right hand corner and the view from there was breathtaking! Too bad I don't run with a camera around my neck!

And here's Becca and Me relaxing in the sand. Check out my sweet towel by the way! (It's an aboriginal design and says "AUSTRALIA" down the side...not touristy at all!)

This was where my fun pretty much ended for the week! Emily and I spent all of Monday in Starbucks getting lots of reading done for all of our classes this week. It was a great working environment except that they didn't have a bathroom which is a real problem when you're drinking lots of coffee!! Also, we get funny looks when we ask to use a "bathroom" because here they just call them "toilets." I guess it makes more sense...I don't want to take a bath, I want to use the toilet so why not call it that! Anyways, enough toilet talk...

Tuesday was my busy day of classes which I followed up with a busy night of reading and starting my paper! The rest of my week has been more of the same thing. The reason I'm working so hard on my papers now (oh right I forgot to mention I have another paper for another class due on Monday too) is because I have big plans for the weekend! Emily, Laura, Becca and I are going on a day long wine and cheese tour of Hunter Valley on Saturday. Hunter Valley is about 2 hours north of Sydney and has 80 different wineries...of which I believe our tour takes us to about four or five. I'm really excited to experience my first wine tasting!! I'll let you know how many samples it takes me before I'm drunk...my guess is about 2.

Then Sunday I was invited by one of the frisbee players on my team to play in an all women's tournament! Apparently a bunch of the women on the team I'll be playing with are on the Australian national team...so needless to say I'm intimidated!! But it should definitely be a great learning experience and opportunity to play some really competitive games! Hopefully I won't beat myself up so badly this time (you may have noticed the large gash on my knee in the beach photo...)

Then that would bring me to Monday, when both of my papers are due, both of which are worth 25% of my grade! And that's the story of why I've been a bookworm this week! But never fear, once Monday is over, I'll have a bit of a break from any major assignments for a while. I guess if there wasn't any studying involved, it wouldn't be called study abroad. It's just so hard to get work done when its 80 degrees and sunny every day! Oh well...now that I've taken this little break, I can refocus, finish my papers, and get ready for an exciting weekend ahead!!

I LOVE YOU ALL and hope you're able to get a little sense of what my life is like down here through this silly blog!

Hugs and Kisses,

Lauren

P.S. I want updates on all of YOUR lives! Send me emails...tell me what's going on with you...this is a two way street you know!

Another week full of fun!

Hi Everybody!

I know you’re all waiting on the edges of your seats for my next blog post…so here it is! Last I wrote I had just ended my second week of classes. This week went about the same as far as school goes. I took all of Monday to catch up on work that I should have done over the weekend (I’m so grateful for the extra day off!) Then Tuesday was my busy day with 4 classes pretty much all back to back. Then a bunch of people went out for St. Patrick’s Day but since I hadn’t been feeling well I decided it was best to stay in and get some rest instead! That ended up being a good decision because the next day I woke up refreshed and felt much better!

Wednesday I had classes in the morning and then Brian and I played a round of tennis. It was really fun and definitely different because the courts are grass!! I think the ones we played on were actually fake grass though and they had sand on top which made it pretty slippery. It was a little hard to get used to at first but toward the end we had some great volleys and it was a lot of fun. After that I went to the gym and then came home and cooked a little chicken dinner with the girls.

Thursday I had classes in the morning and then Frisbee practice in the afternoon. Practice is really fun and I meet new people every time which is great! During a scrimmage I was playing defense on a guy and all of a sudden I realized he was wearing a red sox hat! He said he had done a semester in California and had gone to visit Boston and became a red sox fan…how cool! All the other Aussies that I’ve met through Frisbee have been so nice and welcoming and I’m really glad I joined the team. After practice we all went to a local pub right across the street from UniLodge and ate $5 pizzas! Then a bunch of us from Northeastern just hung out in UniLodge for the rest of the night.

Friday I had my one class in the morning and then the girls and I went to the campus pool for a while to get some sun (the weather this week has been unbelievable…sunny and high 70s every day!) After the pool we all went to the library to get some work done before the weekend started. Friday night we met up with a bunch of different groups that we have come to know here. We all started the night by hanging out on the roof of our building which was really fun. Then we headed out as a big group to the rocks and went back to the Argyle which is the same bar we went to last weekend. It was a great time and we saw so many people we knew!! Here are a couple pictures:

And that brings us to today (Saturday) which was my first day-long Australian ultimate Frisbee tournament! I had such a blast and met so many new people from all over Sydney. The games were co-ed and that was VERY different for me and took a while to get used to so I didn’t feel like I played as well as I would have liked, but toward the end I started to get the hang of playing with the guys on the field too. I ended up playing in six 45 minute games. My team made it to the semi finals but lost by one point. Then I played in an exhibition game with a bunch of really experienced players which was a little intimidating but definitely fun. Then one of the teams that was in the finals lost two of their female players and asked me to play in the finals…which we also lost by one point! After the final game, they provided us with pizza and beer and gave out prizes (our team got the spirit award!) It was a great day full of LOTS of running and lots of throwing my body around which has left me slightly crippled and potentially too sore to go out tonight…but the night is still young so we’ll see!!

And that about sums up my week! Tomorrow we plan on spending the day at Manly beach which is very necessary because I got some pretty crazy tan lines from my shorts and sports bra today (not cute!) So hopefully I’ll be able to fill in those tan lines, get a little studying done in the sun, and maybe go for a little surfing lesson!! I’ll try and do another one of these in the middle of the week next time so it doesn’t have to be so long!

I bet you can’t guess what I’m going to say now…I love you all and miss you all!!! (big surprise huh?) I’ll be checking in soon!

Love you HEAPS,

Lauren

Second Week of Classes and lots more...

G’day Mates!

So I know it’s been a little while since the last time I wrote (sorry!!) but now that I’m taking classes, I’m not having quite as many new and exciting adventures every single day! But don’t fret, I’m still having the time of my life and enjoying every second of my time in Australia.

This past week was our second week of classes and things are definitely starting to get harder as far as school work goes! My “Approaches to the Arab-Israeli Conflict” class has LOTS of reading as does my “Gender and Human Rights” class. I am definitely happy that I dropped Ancient Greece and switched into my Sports and Learning class because BOY is it a lot more fun and a lot less work!! I know I’m not usually the type to run away from a heavy workload, but I figure I’m in Australia and I gotta leave some time for fun!

I have two papers due on March 30 which both count for 25% of my grade so things are getting started pretty quickly. Since I don’t have classes on Mondays, I’m dedicating every Monday to reading and writing papers and getting as much work done as possible!

Today (Sunday) we had a field trip in my Sports and Learning class. The only assignments in the class are to go on these field trips to different sporting events and write 1000 word reflection essays on our experiences (sounds pretty tough I know!) So today our trip was to a lawn bowling field where we actually got put into teams and had a lawn bowling tournament! Lawn bowling is basically like bocce ball except that instead of throwing the balls to try and get it as close to the little while ball, you roll it. The balls are also heavier on one side, so you have to be strategic about which way the ball is facing when you release and it about where you release it because it curves. Now I know you all know how good I am at regular bowling right...okay maybe not… but I found out that I’m actually really good at lawn bowling!! My team ended up losing in the finals, but it was such a good time!

Now I guess I’ll back track to the rest of my week and weekend. Thursday I had my second Frisbee practice which is so much fun and I am getting really excited to play in my first tournament this coming Saturday! Thursday night after Frisbee Becca, Laura and I met up with a group of guys we’ve been hanging out with (the ones with the penthouse apartment on the harbor) and we all went out to a couple new bars in Darling Harbor. The second bar we went to had a live band playing salsa music and we had SO much fun salsa dancing the night away!! It was great practice for the 8-week salsa dancing course I’m taking here starting this Tuesday. Yes, I’m taking salsa dancing classes…don’t laugh! Anyways it was a great night, but I ended up leaving a little early because I had been feeling sick and probably shouldn’t have gone out in the first place becaaaause now I’m sicker!

Friday night our friends Martin, Ying and Peter had us over for a barbeque at Peter’s apartment. They all go to Sydney Uni but live off-campus (as do most local students.) The barbeque was AWESOME!! We had sausages, chicken kabobs, and most importantly…I TRIED KANGAROO MEAT!!! I was definitely skeptical at first…but it was actually pretty tasty! We spent the beginning of the night eating and talking on Peter’s balcony. It was a beautiful night and perfect for my first outdoor barbeque in Australia!

This is me and Becca on Peter's porch

After the barbeque I decided to stay in and take it easy while they all went out because I still wasn’t feeling 100%. Saturday night, however, I wasn’t so successful in resisting the peer pressure to go out, so I went with a big group out to a bar called Argile which is on the Rocks (another part of Sydney). It was definitely my favorite bar we’ve been to so far and we had another awesome night there! Laura, Becca, Emily and I decided to all wear each other’s clothes which was fun because it was like having a whole new wardrobe!! Here are a few pictures from the night.

Emily, Becca, me and Laura at Argile

Me showing off my great dance moves...

Laura, me and Emily in our black and white!

Aaaand here is a picture of the unfortunate event that took place after the bar…

Yes that’s right…at 3am we went to a place called “Pancakes on the Rocks” which is a 24 hour pancake house. I’m sure it seemed like a great idea at the time…but man do I regret it now!! Needless to say, I’ll be putting in a little extra time at the gym this week for sure!

And I think that just about brings us up to speed! This morning I slept the latest that I have since I’ve been here (I woke up at 11:30!) I still feel a little sick and look forward to going to bed early tonight! Tomorrow morning I am getting up early and Brian and I are renting out a tennis court for an hour…great way to start the new week! Then I’m going to spend the rest of the day studying, reading and being productive! Love you all and miss you as always!!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Dinner Party, Mardi Gas, and more

Hi Everybody!

Sorry these posts are becoming more and more infrequent. I've just been so busy lately that I barely have the time to sit down at my computer for more than 5 minutes! It's tuesday morning and I have my first class very soon so this might be a little short but I'll try to get everything in!

So Friday night, Aunty Karen's friend and former piano teacher Zuzana invited me over for a dinner party. It was a lot of fun...she had so many people there, most of whom were in the same position as me and only knew one or two other people at the party which made it easy to meet people. She is from Slyvakia and had other guests from all over the world which made for a very diverse and interesting group! The night was full of wine, great food, and some dancing. Towards the end of the party, I went into the bathroom to pee, and all of a sudden my bra broke!!! I kinda freaked out and threw on my sweater and told everyone I had to leave, grabbed a taxi and got myself home! It's funny now, but at the time I was totally frazzled!!

Once I got home and changed my bra, I met up with all my friends at Cargo Bar which is a bar we've frequented a few times while we've been here - it's on the harbor and has an outdoor seating area which is really nice.

Saturday, Becca, Emily, Laura and I went to this little outdoor pool that's on campus and sat out on the grass, read our books, had a dip in the pool, and relaxed and got ready for a crazy night of Mardi Gras! We started our mardi gras adventure at a friend of Becca's penthouse apartment right on the harbor (unbelievable 3 story place with a hot tub on the roof and porches on each level...crazy!) There were lots of people there and we all walked together down to see the parade. Unfortunately, we really couldn't see much because the streets and sidewalks were SO crowded that we had to watch the majority of the parade on a big screen that was off to the side. After a while of trying to see, we sort of gave up and went back to the penthouse apartment and spent the rest of the night meeting lots of new people and making lots of new friends!

Here are a few pictures of us during our mardi gras festivities:

The four girls on our way to the parade!

And this crowd was the reason we couldn't see anything!!

me, laura and emily held hands while walking down the street...it was gay and lesbian mardi gras so anything goes!

This was at Cargo Bar where we finished off the night...Amy had an amazing head dress on that she wore all night and Caitlyn had angels wings!

After Cargo Bar we went home and got a great night sleep! We had planned on going to the beach on Sunday but the weather ended up being kind of cloudy so instead we went down to the Rocks which is a really cool shopping area and they had a market with so much authentic australian jewelery and clothing and art. It was really cool and we spent the whole day walking around and exploring another new area of Sydney. That night we went back to our room and made another home cooked meal which we have done every night since we got back from the Great Barrier Reef. We basically rotate three meals: The first night we'll cook a big batch of chicken and spice it with lemon pepper, garlic and basil, then we'll cook a big thing of broccoli and either sweet potatoes in the microwave or rice. Then the next night we'll use some of the left over chicken and do the same veggies. Then on the third night we use up the end of the chicken by making mini pesto pizzas on wheat tortillas with spinach and mozzarella! I know it sounds pretty boring...but its definitely better than eating out every night...and it gets more and more delicious the more we perfect it!

Today is Tuesday and I just got back from a delicious lunch with the girls after a full day of classes. I had three tutorials and one lecture...all for an hour each. My classes are all really interesting and I'm excited to start reading and learning a lot of new things!

That's about all that I have to update you all on! Here are a couple pictures from the frisbee "social" that I talked about in my last blog:

This is me and brett - he's the coach of the frisbee team and he made me buy this enormous drink!! Let's just say I had to pee about 4 times before I actually finished it!!

Okay well that's all for now! I'll write more in a couple days to let you know how classes are going and such. Love you all and miss you LOTS!

Love,

Lauren

Finishing up the first week of classes

Hello Again!

Well it's Friday morning and I'm getting ready to go to my last class for the week...Gender and Human rights from 11am to 1pm. My roommate Emily and my friend Becca are both in the class with me so that should be fun! It's a bummer we have a Friday class because most people have Fridays off and are going to the beach...but we're going to meet up with them right after class.



The first week of classes wasn't too bad. I think some of them are going to be pretty hard...but hey I'm always up for a challenge :) I still have to get a bunch of books and class packets so I can actually start studying...I think I might put it off until after this weekend (it's mardi gras!!)



Yesterday I didn't have to go to any classes because I have 2 tutorials on thursdays and they don't start until next week. So instead Laura and I went to Manly beach for the day which was once again beautiful and amazing and all those adjectives I've been using over and over again! Then after the beach, I came back just in time to make it to my first Ultimate Frisbee practice!! I was so excited to be playing again and it felt great to run around outside and do something athletic...I had definitely been missing that! After the practice, it's a weekly tradition that everyone on the team goes to what they call a "social" which last night ended up being a bar hop all around campus. It was SO fun and I met heaps of Australian students who were all really nice and welcoming. (p.s. "heaps" is my new favorite word...the Aussies use it all the time and I think it's great!)

I didn't bring my camera to the Frisbee social, but I'm sure there will be plenty of photos put up on facebook! Wednesday night was a big back to school bash at the Cargo Bar which is a place right on the water where we went once before. Almost everyone from our Northeastern group went along with some other friends we've met along the way. Here's a picture from that night:


So needless to say, this week has been filled with a few classes, and a lot of nights out! You all know that I'm not the biggest drinker in the world...so it's certainly been tough haha. But I'm hanging in there and things are going to calm down once classes really get going.

I've got to get off to class now...then to the beach...then to a barbeque at Aunty Karen's friend Zuzana's place! It should be another amazing day in Australia :)

Love you and miss you all so so so so much!!

Lauren

...I have to take classes while I'm here?! Bummer!

G'day everybody :)

Well, today my vacation is officially over and classes have begun. Not to worry though, only 5 weeks until spring break!!

Early this morning I went down to the international advisor's office thinking if I got there by 8am I would beat the crowds...wrong! There were hundreds of international students who all looked as confused as me about where to go, what classes they were supposed to take, etc. Luckily the advisors here were really on top of things and moved through all the students pretty quickly. By 10am I had gotten into all the classes I needed to be in, and even found out that I have Mondays completely free...and so my vacation continued for one more day!

The classes I'm enrolled in are: "Australia: Land and Nation," "Approaches to the Arab Israeli Conflict," "Gender and Human Rights" and "Foundations for Ancient Greece."

They all fulfill different core requirements for my major and they all sound really interesting! The way they set up classes here is to have 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of tutorial per week. This week they aren't holding any tutorials because it's a trial week to make sure that you are in the right classes, so the teachers are just lecturing about what the class will be like and then you can decide if you want to stay in it or switch. It's a pretty good system because it puts less pressure on you to get your schedule exactly right the first day. Although so far, mine looks like it's going to work out great. If everything stays the same, this will be my schedule for the next 4 months:

Monday: Day off
Tuesday: classes from 11am-5pm with a break from 1-2
Wendesday: classes from 10am-3pm with a break from 1-2
Thursday: class at 11am and class at 4pm
Friday: class at 11am

So now if you want to reach me you can know when I definitely won't be available!

I'm getting really excited to start classes and get into a routine here. I'm meeting with the coach from the ultimate frisbee team sometime this week to see about joining the team which should be awesome! I also have a free fitness assessment at the gym tomorrow which I think will be pretty funny seeing as I was doing them for other people at home!

Other than that, there's nothing too new. I can't wait to meet new people in my classes, start challenging my mind and studying, and continue tanning on the beach (classes have started but I'm still in Australia after all!)

I hope you're all surviving the snow storm and trying to stay warm. I'll try to send some sun your way!!

LOVE YOU ALL,

Lauren