Back to School

Back to School! Wow. I feel like it had been forever since I sat in a classroom. Class was much different than at MSU. All the students are very respectful and pay attention the whole time! Much different than at State. Being in a uniform isn’t all that bad. It isn’t like I have to spend much time thinking about what I will wear to class, but it definitely is something I would prefer we didn’t have to do.

I actually got into this class that I am really excited about. It is called the Event Management Project and our assignment is to put on a charity golf outing. We plan and execute the event for our grade. I am looking forward to that. My other classes shouldn’t be too bad. One of my profs (aka lecturer) is like Hitler. She hates the world and wants everyone to worship her and her achievements. She kinda makes me want to shoot myself, but hopefully she loosens up later into the term.

All of our classes are 2 hour blocks, twice a week. The cafeteria is only open for breakfast from 6:50-7:30am, which sucks big time if your morning class isn’t just after that. So, we will see how many breakfasts I make it to! Things are just so much different at a school of only 1,500 students versus the 50,000 students that go to MSU. At times, we almost feel like they are babying us, and it gets annoying. For example, we have to turn in our bedding on a certain day of the week, or else we lose PC (professional conduct) points. It can be obnoxious.

As many of you know, Tuesday my nephew, Jacob Preston was born, but it was Wednesday for me… and Wednesday is Karaoke night, so I celebrated down at The Steyne! Jacob Preston 7lbs. 9oz. 21in

Thursday was Valentine’s Day, so we headed into the city to get dinner and explore a little. We ate at a Chinese restaurant called Chinta Ria and it was WONDERFUL! We all split our dishes, so we got to try a variety of things. After dinner, we walked around Darling Harbour, which is where MTV’s Real World was last season. We actually saw the house, and people definitely thought we were strange because we were so excited about it. Couples were EVERYWHERE. I wanted to scream! … I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day! Hugs and Kisses!

Friday, after class, we headed to the beach. About an hour into our tanning session, a siren starts going off and a voice comes over the loud speaker… “A small shark has been spotted at the southern end of Manly Beach. We advise you to leave the water immediately.” Wow… Kinda scary.

That night ICMS threw a party to kick off the term, “Icebreaker”. It was fun to mingle with all the students and there were nice drink specials, so that was a plus! At 10:30 when they kicked us out of the party, the party moved itself down to the Shark Bar, where we proceeded to take over the place with ICMS students. It was hilarious. We always seem to travel in packs.

Saturday we headed down to the wharf to go out on the Epic Boat trip that had been cancelled last weekend. This boat was a riot! No seat belts. It was kinda like being on a big jetski. The waves were HUGE and we would go airborne almost every few seconds. It was a little history lesson, too. The driver stopped the boat to show us the old tunnels that the Australian navy used to watch for the Japanese. It was interesting. He also showed us the ladders and ropes that rock fishermen use to get out to the rocks. Those people are fricken nuts! Now I see why more people die rock fishing every year than any other sport. Crazy!

We spent the evening planning our adventures, day trips and overnight trips. I am going to a Jack Johnson concert in a few weeks. We are going to La Boheme at the Opera House on March 5th. We booked our flights and hotel for our trip up to the Great Barrier Reef (the weekend after Easter). On March 1st, it’s the Gay Pride Parade/Mardi Gras in Sydney, so we will definitely be heading into the city for that. Over Easter weekend, we are going to Katoomba to see the Blue Mountains and visit the Jenolan Caves. We are considering a trip to Melbourne, maybe Brisbane (to Steve Irwin’s zoo), and possibly the Gold Coast. We are also going to set aside a day to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I would also like to go to the Botanical Gardens, which is where the bats are insanely big and everywhere! I have a lot to do in the next three months. Ahh!

Today was long, very long. We had our surf lessons this afternoon. It is SO hard! Nothing like snowboarding. It kicks your butt and it is exhausting! A little too much work to ride a wave. They need to invest in something like a chair lift to take you back out after you ride the waves into the beach. Ugh! After our surf lesson, we had a Harbor Cruise just for the study abroad students. There are 80 of us and we all seem to get along alright, so it was actually a great time. We played flip cup and taught the non-americans all the American drinking games! Sydney is absolutely beautiful at night. We danced, and mingled, and ate (not very good food), and enjoyed the view.

I am exhausted! The sun has drained every ounce of energy I had left. No class tomorrow.  Amazing 3 day weekends. Hope everyone had a good weekend. I am heading to bed… 12:13am Monday here. 8:13am Sunday at home. Good Night.

Love&Miss.
xoxo