This past week (well, Wednesday-Sunday) I had Orientation with The Education Abroad Network. If anyone is interested in studying abroad, I would highly recommend looking them up! Anyway, during orientation, we met people who are staying all over Australia in the program and did lots of fun things!
Day 1: Meet everyone in orientation and ate dinner by Darling Harbour. I tried a bite of KANGAROO. It actually wasn't too bad, and I kind of want to try it again! They cooked it rare, which is the best way to eat it.
Day 2: Walking tour of Sydney and a trip to the Wildlife Reserve. We learned some of the history of Sydney and some popular touristy parts. We also went to the Opera House, and had meat pies for lunch at Harry's! The wildlife reserve was awesome! I got my picture taken with a koala and pet a few kangaroos. We also saw dingoes, a crocodile, an albino kangaroo and saw some tasmanian devils running around! They also had a few calves and goats there, which was very... interesting and reminded me a lot of Iowa. Then we took the bus back to our hotel and had dinner on our own. We all called it an early night after a very fun day.
Day 3: University of New South Wales official enrollment and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge! I was officially enrolled into all my courses and met the lady who helped me plan my schedule. She was very nice and it was great putting a face to an email address/name. Climbing the Harbour Bridge was like a dream come true! The views were amazing and it didn't seem like we were that high up. Come to find out, we were 445ish feet in the air! CRAZY, right?! It was incredible. After the bridge climb we had to navigate ourselves back to our hotel, which was quite an adventure in itself. Once we got back to our hotel, we went to dinner then went out for the night! Drinks are crazy expensive here, so I didn't have that much. It was a great time with everyone to just let loose and have fun!
Day 4: Amazing Race: Sydney style and Harbour Dinner Cruise! We woke up and walked to a park to start the day off doing an Amazing Race around Sydney. They tested our memories on how to get around and do different challenges. 2 girls in my group had to eat Vegemite, which is a yeast/wheat/spice spread. They almost puked and it smelled NASTY. The end point was the Opera House, and my team came in second. It was a very close race and it was so much fun! After we finished we had lunch at the Opera House Cafe. When we were done, we headed back to the hotel for a little bot of rest before a meeting and the dinner cruise. The meeting talked about the Australian education system and how they do grades over here. It also talked about volunteer opportunities and how to potentially get a job. Once we were done, we went to dinner on a HUGE boat! The views were very pretty, but it was a little chilly out on the deck. After the dinner cruise we were all exhausted and went to bed.
Day 5: Moving day! Today we moved into our apartment.. Needless to say, the rooms are TINY but the living room is spacious. I blew a fuse on the first day in mine and my roommates room completely on accident. So we didn't have power for about 24 hours. We went grocery shopping and realized how expensive groceries are here compared to back home. We also walked around and looked at the beach. We live literally 40 steps from the beach. AMAZING! :D I'm loving it so far. We also live about 1.5 miles from campus, which is about a 25-30 minute walk. It's all uphill there and downhill back. Talk about great lookin legs at the end of the semester!!
Well, that's about it so far! Kind of missing everyone back home, but it's been fun so far!
If anyone wants my address or Australian phone number, let me know! I also have Skype and texting on my iPod.
Can't wait to see what else happens and will keep everyone posted!
Laters!
My group on the Harbour Bridge
2nd place in the Amazing Race around Sydney!
It's a KOALA!
We fed kangaroos...
Ended Orientation on a Harbour Dinner Cruise
Where I go to school
WHERE I LIVE! :)
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