42 Wallaby Way, Sydney

     Even though I left for Australia on Sunday, we didn't actually arrive there until Tuesday morning.  Everyone studying abroad through IFSA-Butler (a study abroad coordination program) was picked up at the airport and brought to Sydney Sports Academy for a 3-day orientation.  There were about 60 of us in total, mostly from the United States, who were all studying at different schools throughout the country for the semester.  When we arrived at the Sports Academy, which looked and felt a lot like a summer camp, we were given our room assignments and found that all of our roommates were going to our same Uni.  I roomed with Meadbh (of course), Maddy, and Emily aka Savannah ;) 

    

     We spent our first day in Sydney relaxing and attempting to adjust to the time change.  Although, later on in the afternoon, my roommates and I felt ambitious enough to set out on the scheduled 4 pm bush walk.  Unfortunately, we had already adopted the no-worries Aussie time schedule and missed the bush walk departure when we arrived at 4:05.  This is when the better half of G-Unit (a collective term for the 12 of us studying at Griffith University) decided to self-guide their own bush tour through the brush.  About an hour later, we emerged: laughing, jet-lagged, and convinced that kangaroos are an Aussie myth.

     The next morning we woke up and went to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney.  Among others, we saw koala bears, wallabys, a komodo dragon, and kangaroos.  Needless to say, the highlight of my day was when the kangaroo hopped across the exhibit.  The zoo was bigger than any zoo i've ever been to in the States and had SO many different animals.  We even got to watch a bird show in a little theater overlooking the opera house where they had trained all different types of birds to fly in patterns above the audience...very cool!   

   

     We left the zoo on a ferry which took us into the city.  Here, we had the rest of the afternoon to explore and do whatever we wanted.  Meadbh, the G-Unit boys, and I headed over to the Opera House to take a look inside.  I really hope to be able to see a performance there while I am here.  It was so neat to actually see it, somewhat of a confirmation that I am actually in Australia. 

     After the Opera House, Meadbh and I set out to find the Sydney Tower, which is the tallest building in the city.  After walking block after block and crashing into countless pedestrians, we finally noticed that we were walking on the wrong side of the side-walk.  American Alert!  Note to self: Not only do Aussies drive on the other side of the road, they walk on it as well.  When we finally found the tower, we decided to pay and take the elevator to the very top.  The walk-about provided a 360 degree view of the city.  The view was amazing and would definately be worth going back to see a sunset.  Before we left the city, we stopped at McDonalds, got attacked by a killer segull (Australia's pigeon), and came dangerously close to being plowed over by a bus.  Excellent end to the day, wouldn't ya say?  That night, when we were all back at camp, a band played and taught us all how to dance.  The dancing reminded me a lot of the dance hall that I went to in Texas, fun and upbeat, kind of like glorified square-dancing.  We all had a lot of fun tripping over eachother's feet and making it up as we went along.

 

     The next day was my favorite part of orientation.  We got to go on a guided tour of the Sydney coastline!  We walked along the ocean for miles, weaving on and off of beaches and up into the hills to different look-out destinations.  There were so many surfers out in the water, even though it's still the middle of winter.  I can't wait to try surfing here, although i'm a bit nervous because the waves are about 12 feet high! At night, we watched a performance by Aboriginal dancers.  They played the didgeridoo and danced to traditional music.  We were all just happy that someone else was doing the dancing tonight.

    
     On Friday, it was time to say goodbye to Sydney, as we made our way to the airport (not another plane!) to fly to the Gold Coast.  Watch out GUV, here comes G-Unit!