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!