The Beach and My House

                So classes technically started today, but for some reason two of my classes aren’t starting until next week!  So I had today off, and get tomorrow off, too!  Honestly, I’m ready to get started with classes.  All this free time is kind of getting to my head.

                Today I headed back to the beach in search of calmer waters and good snorkeling spots.  I’ve been kind of obsessed with the beach since I’ve been here, which is a little concerning.  It means I have to shower away ocean water and sand (so much sand) every day, and I’m tanning at an alarming rate.  I feel like I’m at a July level of tan right now, and I’ve only been here just over a week.  I reapply sunscreen every few hours, don’t worry mom, but the sun here is very aggressive.  I hope people will still be able to recognize me when I come back!

                Anyway, I walked from Coogee to Clovelly, which is a little beach about a 20 minute walk down the coast.  I’ve heard so much about Clovelly, so I was really excited to try it out!  It’s a sandy beach that gives way to rocks about 10 meters away from shore.  Rocks means lots of plants, and lots of plants means lots of fish!  The beach is also protected from waves on either side by big rocky cliffs, so the water is pretty calm there.  It’s perfect for snorkeling!

 I was lucky enough to see a ton of colorful fish today, and even followed a school of gars for awhile.  Honestly, I could have stayed down there all day with my face in the water, but towards the afternoon it started getting really cold and windy, and I had a long way to walk back.

                Tonight was also the Master’s open house at International House.  The masters of the house, Bob and Susan, live in a little apartment just down the hall from me.  Tonight they opened up their home for residents to visit and socialize!  Bob and Susan are beautiful people; such goodhearted and pure souls.  They love this house with all their hearts.  They have made it their life’s work to bring nations together under this roof by housing and feeding students from all over the world, and do it all while keeping the rent amazingly affordable.

                However, tonight they announced that the University wants to take over International House, which is currently an independent organization.  Because UNSW is currently in debt, Bob and Susan fear that if they took over, they would raise prices dramatically, and break up the beautiful little community we have.  So far, no lawyers have been hired and nobody has initiated a fight, but both of them said that they would be willing to do anything to protect this house.  And sitting there in their little, outdated apartment, looking around at an entire globe of faces, I could see why. 

                International House is far from state-of-the-art, but the community within it is the most amazing thing I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of.  The people here are so exceptionally kind an open, in a way that I’ve never experienced before.  Everyone accepts and cares for each other, whether they’ve been living here for 6 years or 6 days.  I am so so so blessed to have gotten a chance to live here, because it’s made my transition to a new life abroad so much easier.  Everyone says hello to each other in the hallways, regardless of if they even know their names.  Meals are eaten at huge tables, with different people at each one every day.  Everyone is just so happy to get to know each other and learn from one another.  Even from the first day, I could feel that I would have a home here, without judgment or.  Honestly, without International House, I would probably still be the anxious mess I was on day one. 

                Okay, so I got a little emotional tonight.  I love this community and the people who run it, and even the worn down old house that it lives in.  I haven’t been here very long, but even I would stand up for this community if necessary.  I’m not sure if or when we might have to fight, but if it comes down to it, I know without a doubt that this community would band together to keep our house safe from the University’s hands. 

                So I’m going to bed happy and grateful tonight, for all the people I’ve met so far and will continue to meet.  Goodnight!

Waves and Cricket

                Today, it was very sunny and very hot.  I was planning on going to the zoo with some other house people, but by the time we got everyone together, it was already midday and the zoo closed at 5.  So, we decided to go to the beach instead to enjoy the weather!  This was my third time at Coogee in the past week, which I am definitely not complaining about.

                The waves today were incredible!  Apparently beach conditions were downright dangerous all across the coast.  And at Coogee—known as one of the calmest beaches—waves still reached over 2 meters high!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen waves that big in my life.  I wasn’t able to capture any good pictures, but this video kind of gives you an idea. Long story short, they were big ass waves and I was way too scared to go swim in them.

                Yesterday was a more interesting day, though!  We went on a house picnic in Centennial Park, which is huge and beautiful.  

I got to try some other Australian foods like fairy bread and weirdly flavored potato chips.  (Apparently “honey roasted chicken” is a really popular chip flavor???)  We also kicked a soccer ball around and hit around a volleyball, until the whole group got together to play cricket.

                Again, the only thing I know about cricket (from Downton Abbey) is that the pitches look funny and you have to wear white, but that’s it.  Truth is, it’s actually a really fun game!  It involves minimal sprinting and a lot of throwing a ball around, so I was all about that.  We probably played for 2 hours under the sun until we got too tired and sweaty to continue.

                Not much else has happened recently!  Classes start in two days, which will be odd, since it feels like I’m on vacation or at summer camp here.  But I’m excited to actually have a schedule!  There really is such a thing as too much free time. 

                And with that, I’m off to bed.  Goodnight!

Coastal Walk

                I was too tired to write last night, but yesterday was definitely worth writing about, so I’ll give a little summary tonight!  I went on a long walk with people from my house yesterday, on what they call the “coastal walk.”  It’s a popular trail that runs 3km (like 2 miles) up the coast, weaving around rock faces and beaches as it goes.  We walked from Coogee to Bondi beach, which took about 2 hours.  It was a beautiful day, and the tide was high, meaning there was a lot of good wave action to see!

                There was literally not one dull sight on the length of this trail.  On one side, the bluest ocean washed up against the shore rocks, and on the other, beautiful houses overlooked the sea.  Honestly, you could take a photo from any angle at any point on this walk, and it would be pretty enough for a postcard.

                Along the way, we scoped out some great snorkeling spots, and I can’t wait to go back there and try them out!  Pretty much every beach along this coast is part of a bay or cove, meaning at least part of it will be relatively protected from the waves.  As someone who’s not experienced with the ocean, that means I can actually swim without fear in these places!

                The rest of the day yesterday was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a tea party held in the house, where everyone did icebreaker activities.  You would think these little get-to-know-you games would be simple, which is how it started.  Questions like “if you could be any animal, what would you be?” and stuff like that.  However, somehow the questions started getting more and more morbid, which was actually pretty funny.  Things like “would you rather die before or after your spouse?” and “would you rather nobody attended your wedding or funeral?”  I’m not sure how those questions got in there, but it was pretty funny every time one came up.

                Today was also pretty chill. I did make some little accomplishments, such as washing my first load of laundry and not getting sunburned, so I guess it counts as a productive day!

                We did go to a welcome ceremony for exchange students today, which actually wasn’t as boring as it sounds.  The openers were a group of Aboriginal dancers, who showed off some of Australia’s traditionalnative dances, and gave some of the history and meaning behind them as well.  It was a really cool and really Australian experience! 

                The only other thing worth writing about today was that I went for a walk around campus in the late afternoon, and around dusk I was treated with the sight of Sydney’s nocturnal residents—flying foxes!  They honestly looked like huge birds up in the trees, flying against the dusk sky.  It was really cool to see!

                It was also 101 degrees today, and I live in a place with no air conditioning.  That’s about it for interesting stuff going on!  Tomorrow will be cooler (hopefully.)  Goodnight!

Sydney!

                Pretty much the first thing I did today was head back to the beach.  (Okay, that’s a lie.  I lied in bed for awhile, ate breakfast, played around on my phone, THEN went to the beach.)  Because I don’t have much time until classes start, and Coogee is just too beautiful to pass up on a day like today.  I swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time today!  That was pretty exciting.  The ocean doesn’t taste too good when it gets all up in your nose and mouth, but the water was the perfect temperature today, so I didn’t mind a bit.

                I also took my snorkel along today, so I could take a look underwater at Giles Baths, the rock pool next to the beach.  It’s just incredible down there!  The fish there are so used to people that you can swim right up to them and they don’t care until you’re just about touching them.  Giles Baths is a small area, but I think I circled it three times before I got tired of watching all the fish and other sea life below the surface.  I wish I could’ve taken pictures!

                For lunch I ate at one of the many small restaurants in Coogee, where I had probably the best veggie burger I’ve ever eaten, and a healthy portion of fries.  Like all the other shops, this place was locally owned and open-air.  I watched a few pigeons even fly in and peck around at the ground before being chased out by the owner.

                But anyway, enough about what I had for lunch.  You don’t care. The most interesting part of the day today was when a group at International House took a trip downtown for a walking tour of Sydney.  The city is actually a lot closer than I thought—about a 30 minute bus ride—and costs just $3.50 to get there.  And honestly, the city was more than I expected it to be.

                The trend of open-air restaurants continues even in the city, where the sidewalks are wide and cute local places are plentiful.  We mostly walked around historic parts of the city, but even those were beautiful in their own right.  The oldest buildings are all made of sandstone, which was the building material of choice back in the colonial days, apparently.  Thus, the old buildings were very recognizeable.

                We also walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens, which is situated right in the center of the bustling city.  The gardens are free for all to walk through, and provide a quiet natural sanctuary in the middle of Sydney.

                Both plant and animal life were really fun to see there.  I was unable to get a picture, but we saw a few wild lorikeets (basically large parakeets) fly by in all their rainbow glory.  The wild birds around here are so colorful; it’s honestly like being in the jungle.

                Our next stop was the Sydney Opera House!  Of course I took a million pictures, because it’s the most iconic landmark in Sydney, and I was kind of amazed that I was seeing it with my own eyes.

                I guess everything kind of hit me in that moment.  It had been slowly sinking in that I was now across the world in a totally new hemisphere, but now I think I fully realized that I was here.  In Sydney.   I was seeing this landmark with my own eyes; it wasn’t just a picture on a screen anymore!  So seeing this building for the first time, I had a bit of a Moment.  A very happy, giddy moment.

                When our walking tour was over, we went to this restaurant called Pancakes on the Rocks, which is right off the main harbor.  Apparently it’s famous for their steaks and pancakes, which is an odd combination, but they did not disappoint.  I ordered a stack of pancakes with grilled bananas, walnuts, and chocolate ice cream on top, all drizzled with their house chocolate sauce.  It looked more like a dessert than a meal, but it was just heavenly.

                I also ate it way too fast.

                The dish behind mine was called Devil’s Delight, which was chocolate pancakes with chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream, and strawberries.  I tried a bite, and the pancakes tasted like brownies.  It was all so rich, I’m not sure how he finished his whole plate.

                And now I’m back in my room, thoroughly exhausted from today.  During dinner I learned about some other snorkeling spots I can’t wait to check out, but tomorrow’s temperature is going to be in the upper 90s, so I don’t think I’ll be heading over there tomorrow.  I also got sunburned a ton today, despite my best sunscreen efforts.  The ozone here is kind of incomplete, so the sun is much more intense here than anywhere else.  In simpler terms, the only sunscreen they sell here is SPF 50+, because anything else simply doesn’t work.  So, I might give myself a rest tomorrow and stay out of the sun for awhile.

                Anyway, goodnight!  Message me, people!  I love and miss you all!

Solo Adventure

                Today was a nice slow start.  I hung out in my room for awhile, while it absolutely poured outside.  This led to the sound of the rain and birds lulling me to sleep for an unintended 2 hour nap soon after I woke up. Whoops.

                After it stopped raining though, I decided to get some exercise and take a walk to Coogee, which is the next town over, and home to the local beach.  It was about a half hour walk, but it was very manageable since the rain cooled down the air.  I took the main road the whole way there, so I passed all kinds of of beach shops, restaurants, juice bars, and convenient stores, all open-air.  (For some reason there are a TON of open-air convenience stores here.  I’m not sure why, but they’re everywhere.)

                The first thing I did when I got there, of course, was head straight for the beach.  I could tell you about how beautiful it is, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking first.

                Even on a hot weekend, the beach really wasn’t that crowded.  (At least, not compared to the touristy beaches I’m used to.) The people-watching was also awesome.  While hanging out on the beach for about an hour and a half I saw a lot of interesting people.  Some of the most memorable highlights were

• A dude with crazy hair and a metal detector
• A very old, very hairy man in a speedo
• A dad running while pulling his two daughters on a boogie board across the beach
• Two very tan, very naked kids
• Some kids in some very professional-looking wetsuits with mini surfboards
• A family throwing sand at each other and screaming
• A little boy who said “I reckon” about 5 times, which sounded hilarious
• The best dressed kid on the beach, in a dinosaur swimsuit onesie

• 
  

                Next to the beach, there’s a whole park filled with people picnicking and barbecuing and just hanging out in general.  The park is on a huge hill and full of walking trails, so I tried some out.  On the trail, I found a shrine to the Virgin Mary.  I’m not really sure why it’s there, but it was pretty.

                While wandering along the trail I stumbled across Giles Baths, which is a natural tide pool right alongside of the beach.  It was a complete surprise, because it’s so well hidden from the main beach, and yet it’s so beautiful!

                The water in the pool is wonderfully clear and perfectly calm.  It’s also apparently full of sea life, but sadly I didn’t get a chance to explore it much, since I didn’t bring a bathing suit on this expedition. L The whole place is just a beautiful little area, and one I can’t wait to explore further.  Below is a short video I took of the waves crashing against the rocks, so you can kind of get the whole vibe of it!

                After awhile spent hanging out there, I decided it was time to go back to the house so I wouldn’t miss dinner.  But before I did that, I decided to walk around and explore the town a little bit.

                I was not disappointed.

                Coogee is a beautiful little beach town; all hilly streets lined with beautiful houses and apartments.  Though the main road is packed with beachgoers and shoppers, the residential streets are so quiet I could’ve sworn the beach was miles away.  (It’s not.  The beach is literally right there.)  While wandering the roads I caught myself fantasizing about living in one of those houses right on the beach…I even took a few pictures of my favorites…just in case.

                Okay, maybe it was a little creepy that I was taking pictures of people’s balconies, but this one in particular just caught my attention with the surfboard and the bike.  This kind of outdoor, beachside life is sort of my dream lifestyle, so I was getting a little excited.

                I got pretty tired from walking up and down all the hills, so I decided to take a bus back to campus.  It only took about 10 minutes and cost $1.30!  Well worth it.

               

                The social event tonight at International house was a board game night!  A bunch of people met up in one of the common rooms, and we played an intense game of Jenga, Uno, and Settlers of Catan.  If there’s one thing that’s universal, it’s that college students love Settlers of Catan.  It was a fun time!  I also got the chance to try a few native Australian foods, like TimTams (delicious candy bars) and Milo (hot chocolate that's not meant to be hot, nor is it meant to dissolve in anything.)  So far, I'm really digging what this country has to offer!

               

                Wow, this is the latest I’ve been awake since coming here!  I guess I’m finally starting to adjust to the time change and dramatic life shift.  Goodnight for now!  Talk to me on Facebook, or text me anytime!

Day One

                Though this is technically my second day here, I’m going to call it day 1.  Yesterday was such a hectic mess, so I want to get off on the right foot.  Yesterday can be like day 0 or something.

                Most of the day today was spend with my new bff Mayuko, learning to navigate the bus system and doing some shopping in the process.  Our goal was to get to Bondi Beach at first, which is about 5 miles away from campus.  We got on the bus right outside of campus, then got off too early.  Twice.  The second time, we decided we would just give up on the beach for today and hang out in Bondi Junction where we ended up.  (Bondi Beach is a mile away from Bondi Junction, which seems just wrong to me.)  Turns out, Bondi Junction was a destination all its own!  It’s a big “suburban” shopping district that feels nothing like the suburbs. 

                The streets are lined with all kinds of open-air restaurants and shops.  My favorite thing about them was that so many restaurants just had no doors or windows.  Everything was completely open air.  It gives the whole place such a nice, open vibe.  And I’m sure they save a ton of money on air conditioning, too.

                I wish we had nice enough weather in Illinois to have places like these!

                We ended up eating lunch at the Cosmopolitan Café, which had a ton of outdoor seating and was relatively cheap.  I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich for $6, which was scarily cheap for the area we were in.  I joked that the sandwich would just be some white bread with grilled chicken on it.

                Turns out, that’s exactly what it was.

                I thought longingly of $5 foot-longs at Subway while eating my cobbled-together sandwich.  Money doesn’t go very far in Australia, as I’m learning little by little.

                Mayuko and I also split a bowl of “chips,” which I called French fries, and Mayuko informed me that they’re called “potato” in Japan.  I laughed a disproportionate amount at this.  (Apparently potato chips are called “pota-chi,” which is also adorable.)

               

                The restaurant was situated on a pedestrian road, which is just adorable, and we don’t have nearly enough of them in the Midwest.

                After lunch we went to Westfield Mall to do our dorm and food shopping.  This mall is absolutely gargantuan, even by American standards.  On the ground floor alone, it housed two grocery stores, along with a sprawling maze of restaurants and stores that we couldn’t make it to the end of.

                We went through the grocery store to get all of our toiletries and snacks and school supplies, which were luckily pretty cheap by Australian standards.  However, buying all this also meant we had to take it all back.

                I’m actually amazed at how we managed to fit 10 bags of groceries into 6, but we did it.  They were heavy and I was sure they would rip at any time, but by some act of God they held up.  At this point we were exhausted, so we got back on the bus we took there, and rode it all the way back with our 6 huge bags.

                After that I took a really long rest, spent mostly on Facebook.  Then tonight was our first orientation event at International House!  It was more of a meet-and-greet than an orientation, but it was really fun!  Everyone met down in the central courtyard (which is beautiful; pictures will come later,) to eat weird spicy chips and drink handmade sangria and just hang out. 

                So far, I haven’t disliked anyone I met here, which is actually really amazing for me.  Everyone is very open and eager to learn about everyone else, not to mention very mature.  (The average age is probably 22 here, so I’m a little baby!)  Back at MSU, I could see this night turning very loud and weird, simply because alcohol was involved.  However, everyone just hung out and talked and we all had a really good time!  Once again, I’m really happy I ended up in International House. 

                I was literally just about to type that I was sad I didn’t hear any screaming cockatoos tonight, but I just heard a kookaburra’s laugh out my window.  This place sounds crazy at all hours of the day.

                In other news, my room is finally set up and clean enough to take pictures of!  My favorite part is the wall of fame, where all my friends’ goofy art and posters are hung up.  It’s really starting to feel like home, now.

                I’m going to bed now, but I wanted to include some last gems that I discovered on my camera, taken the day I was supposed to leave.  I’ll just leave these here.  Goodnight!