I apologize for not being consistent with my blogs the past few weeks. I've been a bit lost in the land of Oz, but I'm still here and loving life! These next few blog posts will be an attempt to recap the past 6 weeks in Australia.
SYDNEY
Arriving in Sydney was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Even though I had just visited the exotic islands of Fiji, words can not describe how excited I was to finally arrive in the place I had been dreaming of for far too long. And by dreaming I mean an obsession. Lets just say mermaids, dolphins and the ocean have been in my vocabulary for a very.. very long time. I don't think there has been an episode of Life or Planet Earth that I haven't seen that has to do with the ocean. There has only been one other place in the world that I have had an unexplainable passion and interest in and that was Egypt. Arriving in Australia felt more right than any choice I have ever made. I hope you have felt this feeling before because it's truly amazing what it feels like when you listen to your heart and stop listening to your head.
Our closely knit Fiji family was beyond excited to be in Sydney, especially a few of us that took advantage of our free international flight beverages. Next stop was the suburb Manley where we would be staying for the week at the college dorms of ICMS. This college also happened to be the mansion where the filming of the newest remake of the Great Gatsby was... good you? This was also the first time that we would meet the rest of the students from the TEAN program. Our Fiji family of 25 would grow to our Australian family of 45. One big ole pack of tourist americans roaming the streets of Sydney was quite the site with our trip leader "Dad" leading the way.
Day 1-... 6, 7 or however long we were there
(I've stopped keeping track of time)
I woke up pretty early the first morning and decided to go for my first beach run in Oz. 6 am in the morning and my eyes couldn't believe what I saw. Never have I seen so many people up and being active at such an early time. Surfing, wake boarding, cross fit, beach volleyball, running, walking the dog, you name it.. the Austrians were doing it. I also learned my first lesson about the rules of the road.... stay to the left NOT the right. And you do NOT have the right away. (I'm still trying to get used to the cars driving on the other side of the road) After my satisfying run it was back to the Gatsby Mansion for the famous bridge walk. Standing on top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge was when it really hit me where I was. Sydney is by far the greatest city I have ever been to in the world so far. Its a mixture of San Francisco hills, New York City pace, Los Angeles style and then just the Sydney touch that makes it unique. The only downside about the Sydney Harbor walk was our tour guide breaking the news to us that P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney does not exit. Ill just look for Nemo when I get out to the Great Barrier.
Our days were jam packed and after about one day of tour with a group of 45 people, we decided to venture off on our own to explore Sydney. Within 30 minutes we found ourselves stubble upon a hidden restaurant called Frankies. This hidden restaurant that was actually underground, became our first home away from home. It was my first experience with the Australian hospitality. Free food, drinks, new friends and exchanging travel stories was exactly the ideal place for me. Surprisingly Australian actually has more immigrants than the United States. For example a few of the bartenders that we met were from London, Israel, and Paris. I was so grateful to experience this amazing place with 4 amazing girls I had met through my program. I'd get lost in a foreign city with them again any day.
The days were great the nights were hilarious. Huge shout out to the group of guys that literally made me laugh harder than I ever have before in my life and the girls that reminded me how important true friends are.
There were many highlights about Sydney and so much to say about them, but I keep it short and sweet because this blog is just a snapshot of my travels. Going to the Sydney Zoo was like a little kid walking into a candy store; the night life was a dream; australian accents hypnotic; kings cross will never be spoken of...; harbor cruise was classy with a side of booze; but the best part of all was my day trip with my dear friend Cassie. Deciding to adventure off with her was the greatest decision I had made so far. Its amazing the things you can learn about yourself when learning about other people. Just another moment of my life reassuring me that everyone I meet are significant, I just have to be willing to be present and set distractions aside. We ventured to Bondi beach which we both fell absolutely in love with. Stumbled upon our first Aussie Barbie. Everyone sat on a hill where the sun hit last while enjoying food and each others company. Talk about slowing down and being present... this was being present in every shape and form. I remember sending my sister a text message trying to describe how happy I was at that very moment in time and can still remember what it felt like. This was only week two of study abroad.... I could only imagine what was in store for me in the Gold Coast.
Cheers!
Keep it it simple and keep smiling
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