I want to be a bird!

This last week has been rather exciting…

Last Saturday, a group of us went and checked out the Sydney Aquarium. It didn’t quite have the effect it would normally of had if we hadn’t just returned from scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. It was still nice to see some of the more exotic fish, seals, and great white sharks. So, no complaints. After the aquarium, we headed back to the Rocks Markets where we did a little souvenir shopping and picked up a few things. I always find interesting things there.

Once the markets closed, we ventured into Pancakes on the Rocks. The menu is mostly breakfast food with a twist. Like I had Mexican crepes with chips and guacamole and Annie had a breakfast pizza. Sean and I split a dessert… two pancakes topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, walnuts, and bananas. Wonderfully delicious!

At ICMS, I have two “sick” days that don’t count against me at all… Annie and I both have our longest days of class on Tuesdays, so we decided to do a very Australian thing and have a “sickie” (aka play hookie). We went to the mall and explored a little. It was a nice four day weekend since I hadn’t had class since the Friday before.

Nothing really exciting on Wednesday.

On Thursdays, most of us don’t have class anymore, so Annie, Stephanie and myself made the trip to Bondi Beach. It was Beautiful! It wasn’t as long as Manly Beach, but it was like over three times as wide as Manly. Bondi is where the beach volleyball games were held during the 2000 Olympic Games. There were a lot more surfers and it was a younger crowd than Manly’s normal family scene. We grabbed lunch at a small café and just layed in the sun all day. We headed back to Manly and went down to Shark Bar for our late night festivities. Good stuff… Always a good time.

Friday evening, a group of us headed into Sydney. We were meeting up with some friends from college down on Oxford St at The Columbian Hotel. Oxford Street is the road that the Gay Pride Mardi Gras Parade goes down. So, you get the picture. We were hitting up some gay bars… All I knew was that I wanted some crazy lasers and smoke machines. While we were at the Columbian, Annie happened to ask a drag queen where the bathrooms were and the drag queen pointed her in the right direction, but then asked her where she was from. Annie said Michigan and the drag queen looked excited. Apparently, this drag queen studied abroad from Australia at Michigan State!! How bizarre!!

After meeting for some drinks at the Columbian Hotel, we headed down to the Midnight Shift Club. It was so cool. Crazy colored lights all over with smoke machines going off everywhere. It was a riot. About an hour after getting there, a group of drag queens come out onto the stage and perform a couple dances for the crowd. It was hilarious and I loved it! We took a cab home from the city at about 3:00am. Not too shabby of an evening.

Saturday was very unproductive in preparation for Sunday…

At 4:30amon Sunday morning, 17 students from the school met in the courtyard to head to a small town called Picton, about an hour and a half from Sydney. Once we arrived at Syndey Skydivers, I knew there was no turning back. We all got signed in and my group of 6 (Sean, Annie, Caitlin, Stephanie, Brett, and Me) got called to suit up for the first plane. I was not very stable at this point. I was slightly spazzing out. My instructor, Mick, was great. He started videotaping and immediately started making jokes about the parachute not working and he was doing a damn good job of freaking me out.

We started loading into the plan about 7:30am and Annie and I were in the back of the plane. Once the other jumpers and their instructors were piled in, the door closed and we were on our way up to 14,000 feet! After about 20 minutes and no turbulence, the red light turned on. This signaled that we had approximately 3 minutes until jumping. Yellow light switched on, 1 minute until jumping. Mick was bust checking all the hooks and straps and gauges that were connecting us together for our tandem freefall jump. Green Light… GO! Door opens and within seconds, out goes Brett… Then Stephanie, and Caitlin, and Sean. Oh Shit, I’m next. I crawled to the door, crossed my arms, head back…

The view was INCREDIBLE. Supposedly it is really cold up there, but I definitely wasn’t paying attention to that. You could see for miles and miles. Over 50 seconds of freefalling for 9,000 feet. It was still a bit surreal and the feeling wasn’t like falling. I don’t know quite how to explain the it, but I recommend it to everyone.

At 5,000 feet, Mick pulled the parachute cord. Once it caught wind, we were floating. The world was quite and everything was beautiful. It took about 5 or 6 minutes to get into position for landing. While up there, he let me steer the parachute and spin us around. It was really fun. We definitely landed going much faster than I thought we would, but I was still happy to be back on land. I will DEFINITELY be skydiving again.

Thursday morning we are doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. That will take a couple hours, but should be a good time. Heard it’s a great view?!

Today, we spent the day planning our 5 days in New Zealand after our term ends. We are going white water rafting, bungy jumping, and swimming with dolpihins… All with the help of our rented 4-person campervan… and yes, the driver sits on the opposite side of the car than we are used to. This should be exciting.

Hopefully everyone is doing well. I can’t believe I am home in 33 days! WOW! Time has flown by. Talk to you again soon. xoxo.

Love&Miss.
Erica Jo






Annie and I at Bondi Beach



Steph, Sean, Annie, and I at The Columbian



Us with our MSU Drag Queen!



My Australian friend, Matt, and I



I got my Lasers!! Yay!



The Drag Show at the Midnight Shift Club



Walking to the plane! Ah!



On the plane right before jumping...



NO TURNING BACK NOW!



Let the FREE FALLING BEGIN! Dropped 9,000 feet in about 50 or 60 seconds.



Check out the view!!



There's my parachute... It's a beautiful thing!!


My instructor, Mick, let me steer the parachute.

>

Back on the Ground... I survived!



The MSU group that made the jump! :)

I want to be a fish!

What an amazing week I have had!!

Last Friday, the 28th, we left for Cairns. Cairns is a tourist destination for the Great Barrier Reef. It is also the strangest town I have ever been to in my life. On one corner there was Louis Vuitton and across the street there was graffiti and boarded up windows. Things just didn’t make much sense. But we weren’t there for the town, so it didn’t matter much.

We had to be up early Saturday morning to make it down to the dock to catch the boat for our first day trip. There were about 100 other people on this boat with us. Once we got out to the reef, we had time to go snorkeling. We rented an underwater digital camera for the day, so we all took turns with it. The reef is GORGEOUS! It is absolutely amazing to be in the water at the reef with all the fish. 1500 types of coral. 1800 types of fish. So many colors and designs and the pictures don’t do it any justice.

With our day trip, we paid for an introductory dive for the people who aren’t scuba certified. After about half an hour of snorkeling, it was time for Sean, Annie, and I to dive with our instructor. I was a bit nervous at first because breathing with an oxygen tank was rather awkward, but you get used to it quick when it’s your lifeline. The coral was beautiful and the fish were everywhere. It doesn’t bother them at all to have people diving with them. They swim under and over and all around you. It is so cool.

Our introductory dive lasted about 20 minutes and our instructor was nice about taking pictures for us. As soon as I got back on the boat, I knew I had to do a second dive. So we had lunch and moved to a different area of the reef. There we got to do a second dive for about 30 minutes with a little more freedom to go at our own pace and check out the things we wanted to see. There was a sting ray hanging out right by us for a couple minutes. We were also able to touch a clam, but when you touch it’s “mouth” it closes shut. Kinda fun. Diving was such a relaxing experience.

The weather started to suck just as we started to head back to land, which wasn’t a big deal because we could all fit inside the boat. Atleast the rain held out for us until the end of the day.

We got back to land and headed to a bar that had free meals for people staying in hostels. We called it a night pretty early because we had to be up early again on Sunday.

Sunday was a completely different experience out on the water. We were on a small sail boat with about 30 people. It took two hours to get out to the reef and I was kinda worried about how the day was going to be. Once we anchored we were given time to snorkel. But with the rougher water it was very difficult and sorta made you seasick. Not cool. So Sean, Annie, and I decided to pay the extra money to dive again! This instructor was really good and took us around to different things we could touch and feel. First she handed us a sea cucumber that felt really strange. Sea cucumbers are “animals” that lay on the floor of the ocean and eat/clean the sand. Not really much to them. Then she had us feel spaghetti coral, which looks like wet spaghetti noodles swaying in the water. It was really silky. There was an area of the reef that was like a bed of spaghetti coral and she had us lay down in it. SO cool! When I was sitting up from the spaghetti coral, I realized I was in the middle of a school of fish. Intense. Fish surrounded me!

While we were diving, we saw some Nemo fish (yes, I know they are really called clown fish), another sting ray, and some other types of coral that weren’t at our first dive sites. Then, just as our time was ending, our instructor lead us back to the boat and signaled for us to watch for sharks. They had told us about black tip reef sharks that hang out in the area. So we were watching for them under the boat. Just as we are getting ready to climb back in the boat, we see one! It was swimming on the other side of the boat! It didn’t stay where we could see it for long, but still… We saw a shark. I was very pleased with that dive. Then just as we finish lunch, the crew starts throwing the leftover chicken into the water. Four sharks came to the boat and were fighting over the chicken! SO cool to see! They weren’t huge, but they were big enough to not want to mess with them.

After our little shark session, we get a little boat ride over to Green Island. This is a small island that is owned by a 5-star resort. We got to hang out on the beach and swim in the water. Damn near paradise! We were on the island for about 2 hours before boarding the boat again. Then we were on our way back to land. On the trip back, we were given cheese and wine, fresh fruit, and desserts. I was in heaven! After a while, the captain had the crew put up the sails and turn off the motor. So we were actually sailing home. It was very calming. Loved it.

Monday morning we caught a bus to Cairns Tropical Zoo. The first thing on our agenda: hold a koala! Adorable. They are so damn cute! They sleep like 19 hours a day! I would love that! There was a koala maternity ward area with baby koalas by their mothers. Too precious! Then we checked out the red pandas, the dingoes, the wombats, the wallabies, the cotton topped monkeys, and a handful of other animals. There was a crocodile show that we went to that was crazy to see. They were like taunting them and feeding them. Not a job I would ask for. There was also an area that you could go in to hand feed the kangaroos. Too cute. They would eat right out of your hand and gather in a line in front of you. Loved it! We flew home on Monday night, but had to be up for my 8am class Tuesday morning. Yuck!

Last night (Thursday) was Auction Night at the college. People volunteer to auction themselves off with the profit going to Bear Cottage, a donation based children’s hospital here in Manly. Caitlin was being auctioned off. She did such a good job and brought in $350. Impressive. But the best act was two guys from New York. Two very beautiful and ripped guys, all oiled up in nothing but pants and a tie. No complaints here. They were hilarious and did I mention beautiful?! They went for $650. Not too shabby. Overall, the auction raised $5000. When the auction ended, we all headed down to the bar. We went to a bar that I had never been to, Henry Afrikas. Thursday nights are salsa dancing there. So much fun! I suck, but it’s still fun.

Few things I am learning about myself:
-If I find a good book, I LOVE to read. I have read 3 books since I have been here and I have two going at once right now!!
-I can talk myself into doing just about anything, even if I know it’s something I wouldn’t normally do back home… ex. Skydiving, spending too much money too often, etc.
-My mouth waters thinking about Cadbury chocolate… Hershey’s sucks.
-I LOVE tartar sauce.
-Champagne is my weakness. $20 a bottle and my night is set!
-I love how big Michigan State is. Whatever happens in Manly, everyone at ICMS knows. It’s like high school.
-Thumb drives are amazing. There is one on my key ring at all times.
-Hmm… I know there is more…

School is no fun. Dr. McRae is still a psycho. I love my events teachers. And hopefully I pass all my classes. Mom and Dad will kick my @$$ if I don’t. Classes here are harder though. The teachers are very vague and expect you to read their minds about assignments. It’s funny, but it sucks. Lots of group projects and assignments. 70% is passing here, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

Heard it got up to like 60 degrees one day this week back home?! Nice! Spring is finally there.

Hope things are going good for everyone. I can’t believe I am home in 43 days. So weird! I don’t know if it is like, wow I am going to be back home in 43 days, or if it is like, dang I have already been here for 66 days.

Tomorrow we are going to the aquarium and The Rock Markets. Then on Sunday, I have class from 9:30am-5pm. We learn EventsPro, an event management computer program. Not excited to sit in class ALL day for that.

Love&Miss.
Erica Jo




Red Fish. :)

Yellow Fish. :)

Annie, Me, and Sean on our introductory dive. <3

Me checking out a "small" clam... There were many MUCH larger than this one.

Two of the black tip reef sharks by our boat.




Nemo! :)

The first sting ray that we saw.

Sean, Stephanie (Texas), Caitlin, Me, and Annie with the koala.

Adorable! <3 I wanted to take it home with me!

This was the small crocodile, the female. The male was HUGE, like 15 feet long.

This was amazing. The kangaroos were too cute!

Pictures!

Cross Dress Party! Hilarious!

Annie and I with our $5.50 bottle of Champagne! Woot Woot!

Annie riding her fat horse through the trails.

Rugby Match: We were cheering for the blue team, the Warratahs!

Jack Johnson. <3

Me and the Girls on the beach pregamin'... :)

Brett, Me, Andrew, and Annie at Shark Bar.

Stephanie and I before the Opera. <3 Her.

Me and Nate on his 21st!

Sam, Annie, and I at Jack Johnson.

MSU Love. Always.

It's Been a While...

It’s been a while since my last update, a little over two weeks. Sorry about that! I wish I could tell you the reason for that was being tied up with school work, but I would be lying.

These last two weeks have started my jam packed weeks ahead.

March 5: The Opera. A group of us headed into Sydney and grabbed dinner before catching a show at the Opera House. We saw La Boheme, which is the opera that Rent is based off. It was in Italian which made comprehension a tad difficult. During intermission, Steph and I split some champagne and a wine & cheese platter. Wonderful! What am I going to do when I get back to the States?! The show lasted just over two hours. I really enjoyed La Boheme, but seeing another Opera isn’t at the top of my list. It was a great opportunity while I was here and I am glad I did it, but it really isn’t my thing. Maybe when I get older I will appreciate it, like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman?!

March 6: One of the guys that I have really gotten to know here is Nate. He is from Wisconsin and is also studying abroad here. The 6th of March was his 21st birthday, which is apparently a HUGE deal here, even though the legal drinking age is 18. We all found that out the hard way. Nate, and all of us, definitely enjoyed that night… I enjoyed it so much, I didn’t make it to class on Friday! Oops! Rest assured though, I did call-in “sick” just in time to not lose any PC points!

March 7: After not making it to class, I was hesitant to head into the city and sit through a Rugby game (one that I don’t understand). But my group talked me into it and I am glad they did. Even though it began to down pour, it was still a great time. We were in the sixth row right by the goal line. Not too shabby. That game is definitely intense and I don’t understand how those people survive through it. We would like to go to another game, so we are trying to figure out one that would work with our schedules again.

March 8: BEACH DAY! Yay! Many of the students here have to make up the classes they are missing for Easter weekend. I got lucky! My teachers don’t want to come in on a Saturday to do that. So, instead of being in a classroom all Saturday, I was at the beach! Soaked up some sun and all that good stuff. After a nice day at the beach, the MSU and GVSU crew headed down to the Manly Italian Restaurant for a quality meal. It was wonderful! Of course after a legit meal, we can’t afford to go to the bar and buy drinks. So we definitely went old school, bought a bottle of champagne, and headed to the beach. Hung out and then made our way into The Steyne. Danced the night away!

March 11: Classes all day and then 4 of us had a reservation in the Grand Dining Room (GDR). With Hospitality students here needing practice, on campus students are allowed to make reservations and eat in the GDR free of charge. It is definitely a nice change from the AWFUL cafeteria food. Danny (a RA), Caitlin, Sean, and I were in heaven! We had soup, rump steak & potatoes, ice cream with fresh berries, and to end the meal, a hot latte. It was AMAZING! And FREE! Yay! After a wonderful dinner, we headed down to Shark Bar for $9 Jugs (aka pitchers). With the balcony doors open, it is nice there. But as soon as the doors close, it turns into a sauna. So what do we decide to do after a night of dancing? Swimming, of course! Well, when we aren’t prepared with swim attire, some people get pretty crazy! The police came to check it out, but had no problem with it and just told us to be careful swimming at night! Definitely not the reaction police in the states would have had.

March 13: Stephanie’s boyfriend, Felipe, flew in Thursday morning. All he wanted to do was eat Kangaroo. So that’s exactly what we did. We found a place in Manly, Ribs and Rumps, that serves kangaroo for dinner. I can’t say I ordered it, but I did try a bite. It tasted almost like a sweet steak, but smoky, too. It was good, but I don’t like the idea of eating a kangaroo. They tell me it’s like eating deer back home, but I don’t feel that way. We bar hopped around to show Felipe all the places we hang out. It was a good night and Felipe got a little taste of what Manly is like for us.

March 14: We didn’t do much. Wasn’t a really exciting day. We did, however, attend a cross-dressing party at the bar here at ICMS. I rocked a tie. Nothing too festive, but the guys, I think they really enjoyed wearing the skirts/dresses!! When the party ended, Andrew convinced Caitlin, Annie, and I to stay up until 6am and watch the sunrise. So we did. Didn’t take much convincing. We headed up to the headlands on campus and waited. And waited. And waited. Then it was over in like 15 minutes. Yippee! Wasn’t the best view of the sunrise, but it was nice to chill out for a night.

March 15: The New St. Patty’s Day… and the JACK JOHNSON CONCERT! Woot Woot! We slept in and ate lunch at the school before heading into Sydney for the concert at Centennial Park. It was an outdoor concert and there were between 26,000-30,0000 people there. Mayhem. It was so much fun. We bought a t-shirt, but only because it says Australia & New Zealand Tour. It was an AMAZING concert and I know he will be at DTE this summer. You should ALL go! When we arrived back to Manly after the show, we wanted some good quality green beer. Wasn’t happening, until Katie from GVSU whipped out her own bottle of food coloring and dished it out to the Americans! We had ONE beer and went home. Australians don’t rock St. Patrick’s Day like the Americans do!

March 16: Sunday morning we had to grab brunch and get ready to leave for horseback riding. We went to a ranch that was about an hour and a half away to ride. There were 15 of us in the group and only about 4 experienced riders. That made things a bit interesting at times. These horses were definitely trail riding horses. They knew where they were headed and stayed in a line for the majority of the time. This wasn’t SO exciting, but it was nice to be out riding. It had been a while for me. The trail took two hours and then we headed back home. Grabbed dinner in the Corso and headed back to school. At about 8:30pm, the guy RA’s, Caitlin, and I headed down to Shelly Beach. Every Sunday there is a group of people that get together and “play with fire.” I don’t know what it’s called, but they twirl long sticks, batons, and ropes around with the ends on set fire. In the one corner there is also a group of people with a variety of different percussion instruments playing tribal music. There were bongos, tambourines, cowbells, maracas, and even a saxophone. It was intense, and really interesting to see. I will for sure be heading down there again.

March 17: Today was kinda lame, but that’s not a bad thing. I slept in until lunch time. We had made a reservation in the GDR again. Yum! We had soup and ice cream again, but instead of rump steak, we had grilled cod and mashed potatoes with mango salsa. Again, delicious. With our bellies full, Annie, Sean, and I sat down and busted out two hours worth of work on our Events 121 project. We got a lot done and I can honestly say it’s been a LONG time since I put that much time, consecutively, into a project. I was pretty impressed. Dinner was terrible, of course. Rice and a roll for me. Not a fan of anything curry. Yuck.

Now class all ‘til Thursday! Then up EARLY, like 5am, Friday to head up to the Blue Mountains. We are staying over night and visiting the Jenolan Caves on Saturday before we leave. Easter will be weird not being at home… But I will survive.

Hopefully everyone had a fun St. Patty’s Day and I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. I love and miss you all. Can’t believe how fast time is flying by!

Love&Miss.
Erica Jo
xoxo

Pictures, Finally!

Michelle, Stephanie, Annie, Michael, Caitlin, Rachel, Steph, Nate, Sean and I at Mardi Gras- Gay Pride Parade!!

Annie, Stephanie (Texas Tech), Cait, Me, Steph, Sean, and Kristen in Darling Harbor after dinner at Chinta Ria on Valentine's Day.

Me at North Head after watching Queen Victoria leave the harbor. That's the city in the distance at sunset.

Stephanie, Annie and I at the Real World: Sydney house in Darling Harbor. :)

Queen Victoria leaving Sydney Harbor last weekend.

This is The Corso. Small shops and take-away restaurants, and such along the left. Bars and restaurants line the right side. The guy in the picture would be walking toward the beach. The benchs glow blue at night and the umbrellas toward the center have tables under them during the day and it is party of various restaurants. So now if I talk about The Corso, you have an idea of what I am talking about! :)

Exhausted!!

Wednesday’s Happy Hour at In Situ is now a must-go! There were 11 girls that headed out with the intention to “have a drink or two” and $226 later, we here heading to our next bar! At In Situ, you can order Happy Hour Punch Bowls, which are HUGE bowls filled with your favorite cocktail! We had so much fun just gossiping with the girls. After Happy Hour, we headed to Shark Bar for $3.50 champagne and then, of course, we made our way to The Steyne for Karaoke. About 2am, we left the bar and headed down to the beach!! Yay! Late night drunken swims in the ocean probably aren’t the smartest idea, but it sounded fun at the time... and it was definitely something that was on my To-Do list here. I am very lucky that I don’t have class until 12:30 on Thursday mornings because Wednesdays are just too fun!

Thursday night I stayed in and got some things done before Mardi Gras weekend. Sean talked me into buying a ticket to see Kathy Griffin’s stand up on Friday night in the city. It took a lot of convincing, but it was well worth the money! We took the ferry into the city and barely caught a taxi in time to make it to the theatre. Before the show started, I was discussing with Sean his taste in men, so he was looking around scoping out some boys... This one guy caught his eye... and he asked me if I recognized him... Sorta did, sorta didn’t. Then it clicked... It was Lance Bass, former N*SYNC member. He was in town for Mardi Gras- Gay Pride Parade and is apparently good friends with Kathy Griffin. He was sitting across the aisle from me and was probably in arms’ reach. The show was HILARIOUS! So glad I went... Kathy Griffin was one of the Grand Marshals for the Parade Saturday. Oh yeah, she was taping her reality TV show, Life on the D-List, during her stand up, and that will be aired during the 4th season. Hopefully I can see that when it is on.

Saturday morning started out early. We grabbed breakfast before catching the ferry. At the restaurant, I sucked at life. I spilt an elderly woman’s cappuccino all over her breakfast, then I proceeded to insult the waitor about his service. Ouch. Not a good start. Then we lose track of time and we have to run to the Wharf to catch the ferry. The ferry’s horn blows, which means it’s ready to leave. Everyone gets through the gates with their prepay tickets, except the machine proceeds to jam when I put my ticket through. I start FREAKING OUT about it leaving me. My ticket was still worth like $30, so I didn’t want to leave without it. The young guy in the ticket booth is uncontrollably laughing at me. I was pounding on the ticket reader and I was so scared the boat was going to take off without me, and my friends that waited. The guy radioed the boat and they waited to pull away for us. It was definately a highlight of the morning.

Once we arrived in Sydney, we spent the morning making our way through the city and the parks on the way to Oxford Street. Oxford Street (Darlinghurst) is the area of Sydney that is predominantly gay. Everything is aimed at the gay community. Thai Me Up is a thai restaurant. Lick-Her Shop is a liquor store. Burgalicous, where the “o” in the logo was a lip print. Daly Male was a mail/shipping place. It was crazy! Drag queens walking the streets. A man in JUST a purple g-string. A 4-year old with a rainbow Mohawk matching his lesbian mothers hair-do. Craziness everywhere. Anything goes on Oxford Street. We had all day to check out the area. At about 2pm, we blocked off our spot on the curb. The parade wasn’t starting until 7:45pm, but the curbs were full by 3pm. Wall to wall people. We sang and danced and drank the day away to pass the time. About 6 o’clock, the “foreplay” started... this was a couple groups/floats/bands would pass every now and then in preparation for the big parade.

It got dark. It got crazy! Crowds of people EVERYWHERE! The parade started and it was mayhem for the next 3 ½ hours!! Beautiful gay men in barely any clothes. “Dykes on Bikes” were intense lesbians on motorcycles. Drag queens galore. Rainbows on everything! I can’t even explain the atmosphere in words. I took SO many pictures that my camera died. My throat is so sore from yelling and I won’t have a voice for days!

After the parade, we went to Side Bar. Apparently it’s a gay bar, but with it being Mardi Gras, there were a lot of straight people too. That wasn’t as fun as we hoped... I think we were all drained and exhausted. A day of glitter can do that to you... We grabbed a cab back to Manly about 2:30am.

It’s almost 10:30pm and I have yet to recover from last night. It was an experience of a lifetime and such a blast!! Can’t believe I would have to come back to Sydney to do that again next year. :(

No class tomorrow. So nice. Hopefully I can upload some pictures tomorrow for you guys. I get all my internet credit reset tomorrow! Thank God! I have been going crazy!

Hope everyone is doing well. I miss and love you all!
Love&Miss.
Erica Jo
xoxo

It's like a really long vacation... with homework.

This week wasn't all that eventful.

Monday: No class. Caught up on some homework/quizzes/reading.

Tuesday: Class all day. Nothing too exciting.

Wednesday: I was supposed to have class in the morning, but instead we headed to Elanora Country Club, one of the top 5 courses in New South Wales, which is the location for my Events Management Project Golf Day. It was a beautiful course, but I haven't seen many to compare it to! More class after I returned to school. That night, we headed downtown for Karaoke Night at the Steyne. Sean, another MSU student here, won free drinks for his version of Lou Bega's Mambo #5. It was amazing (and hilarious)! :)

Thursday: Supposed to be my day to sleep in, but I have to have my bedding turned in to housekeeping by 11:00am. Not cool. Us girls decided to watch a movie for Nazi lady's class Thursday morning before class. "Lean on Me" with Morgan Freeman, wasn't too bad. Better that film than most class documentaries.

Friday: Beautiful day! After my noon class, Sean and I headed to the beach to enjoy the sun. We were laying out for WAY too long, and I definately wasn't wearing enough sun screen. Got a little tender, but that didn't stop me from enjoying my weekend. Friday night, the school put on a Wine and Cheese party (not complimentary this time) on the front lawn area of the school. It was a gorgeous night and the wine wasn't horrible this time. We headed down to the Corso, but it ended up being a short night, home just after midnight.

Saturday: Productive day for me. Got a lot of things done and even made myself ignore the beautiful weather outside. I even went a little souvenir shopping, which I have found is rather difficult. Once everyone returned from the beach, we headed back down to get some dinner at Ivanhoe, bar/restaurant in the Corso. I had a Grilled Chicken Burger with avacado. I have found that many dishes are served in much healthier ways down here. -- We planned on going to The Steyne after dinner, but Nate, a guy from Wisconsin, got turned away because he wasn't meeting the dress code requirements. He had on Khaki shorts (not cargo style), leather sandals, and a collared button-up shirt tucked in... I couldn't believe it! So we all left with him when he got turned away. It ended up being a pretty chill night at The Shark Bar. :)

Sunday: Another beautiful day at the beach!! It was PACKED! After a long day at the beach, and an awful lunch and dinner, a group of us headed up to North Head. North Head is a Australian National Park just up the road from the college. It is a series of lookout points over the water along the coast. On this particular weekend, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth 2 were both in the Harbor at the same time. Sunday evening though, the Queen Victoria left the Harbor to finish its journey. I didn't realize it was going to be such a big ordeal, but apparently it was. People were everywhere and it actually ended up being pretty cool. I was hoping to see firewroks, but they got moved to Saturday night and I didn't know that. After the ship left, we walked around the park and explored all the paths. It was an amazing view of the city and the open water.

Today: My day off. Loved it! Had lots of homework to do and spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing prodcutive, just like back home at MSU. Back to reality again tomorrow. :(

Hopefully this week flies by... The Gay Pride Parade- Mardi Gras in Sydney is this weekend. It is going to be out of control! Sean is definately ready to show off his stuff!! It will be an unforgettable experience, I'm sure.

Hope everyone is doing well back home. Keep the updates coming. It's nice to hear how things are going.

Love&Miss.
xoxo