A Broad Abroad

It's Raining (Cats &) Dogs!

2009-11-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy morning followed by what is devolving into a very lazy but good afternoon!

This morning, Megan and I woke up as planned to head to the Newtown Festival. Newtown is an area of Sydney a few blocks away from where we live - kind of like SoHo to Midtown Manhattan, same city different area code. They were having their annual town festival, kicking off a series of them that apparently will continue until we leave. Megan and I wanted to go to this one because it's known for its music presence and its dog show! Both of us are pretty starved for animal attention; she misses her dog Lucy back at home and I miss three furry fat felines. So, we decided that it would be a good outing worth the free admission.

We hopped on the bus and went out there, getting slightly lost for a moment or two but, following the pack of dogs, found the fair grounds right in the middle of Newtown. It was pretty early when we got there so we bought some juice drinks - fresh squeezed juice is huge here, there are smoothie and juice stands on every block, something I'm definitely going to miss when I get home. I led us slightly astray, I should really listen to Megan more often, but we eventually found where the dog show was going on. It was informal but incredibly cute and there were gaggles of dogs everywhere and of every breed. A Dalmatian found my face quite tasty, a Bull Mastiff hopped around in the rain like a lap dog, a Papillion pranced with ribbons in her tail, many Labs and Beagles and Pugs chased each other everywhere, it was amazing. We sat down right up front on the grass despite the rain and watched the agility and costume competitions oohing and aahing at how cute they all were. It made both of us pine for our pets! Australians are incredibly friendly dog owners, letting us pet and kiss their dogs left and right. I was amazed at how well they all got along, too, not a single fight broke out in the entire hour and a half we watched the show. We saw all the winners get treats and pats before heading off to get some lunch. My new favorite fair treat is this Turkish crepe that has spinach and cheese in it before being sprinkled with lemon juice, it's delicious. We also got some baklava and Nutella crepes while wandering the stands filled with skirts, tshirts, purses, and jewelry from local artisans. It rained pretty hard on and off, which did suck and did discourage us from staying too long, but we got to see some really beautiful pieces of art and funky designs. I have decided I'm not nearly hip enough for Newtown after seeing all of the residents! On our way out, I fell in love with a Jack Russel Terrier/Chihuahua mix named Bo, nearly dognapping him from his owner because he was so damn cute. He even smiled! I was smitten and very sad we needed to leave.

The rain and walking really took it out of me so now I'm back in my cool, dry room feeling the effects of my antibiotics. I'm one day away from being done with my first half of my treatment, which makes me very happy, this exhaustion will hopefully go away when I'm done! But, my sinuses are most definitely clearing up and I'm looking forward to a healthy last four weeks here in Sydney! The time has gone by so quickly, I can't believe we only have 30 days left. I'm sad but at the same time am looking forward to heading home to see my new room thanks to Mom and Ray!

This afternoon has been spent catching up on Grey's Anatomy episodes I've been missing while I'm here and I'm totally roped back in. I think it's great this season despite the challenges with Ellen Pompeo's pregnancy and Katherine Heigel's adoption - the story lines have been fantastic! I can't wait to get to LA.

I'm off to watch the last two episodes then maybe start in on How I Met Your Mother, or I might just go watch Lost with Megan. :)

G'night from downunder!

Sick in Sydney: Part Perpetual...

2009-11-05T02:51:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sick again.

But, the kicker is, I guess I was never not sick. How fantastic is that? I'm officially allergic to Australia.

I started to feel kind of gross on Monday but chalked it up to a long weekend after Halloween and the fact that my knee had blown again (that's another story...). I slapped on my knee brace and powered through it, rationalizing that with the changing seasons and old dorm room my allergies were haywire to begin with. I'm pretty good at ignoring things - my knee, my sinuses, etc. Tuesday was the Melbourne Cup - The Race That Stops the Nation - and man, did it ever! Work consisted of actual projects until 1pm and then we all retired to the conference room to eat a beautiful catered lunch and drink champagne while watching the race coverage. Did I mention the race didn't start until 3pm? No? Yeah, two hours of this for a three minute horse race. But it was incredibly fun! A great way to build camaraderie and get to know your coworkers. I won $33 in the BUSC sweeps when my horse Crime Scene placed. It was a lot of fun! Plus, at 3:30pm my boss came up to me and said, "You know, Meggie? Nobody is going to do anymore work today, go on home and enjoy your evening." Sweet, thanks! So I got to wear my pretty flowered hair piece and go home early, score! But Tuesday night I could feel the sickness coming on, so I went to bed early, hoping that sleep and a firm commitment to health (aka, mind over matter...) would miraculously heal me. It did not.

Wednesday morning I woke up and could barely breathe my sinuses were so stuffed up, it was awful. I decided to head to work and power through, getting there early enough to finish my two projects by 11am. When I went over to my boss to tell her I was done she immediately said, "Babe, you're sick, I appreciate you coming in and finishing your work, but go home. Do you need any DVDs?" God, I have the best job in the entire world. So, home I went. I curled up into bed and watched some TV then took a solid three hour nap. I woke up just in time to meet Jennifer Newman, our aboriginal studies professor who's helping me with my religion independent study. We had a great meeting and I'm excited to continue with my project, but by the time I got home around 7:30pm I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I was back to the mouth breathing and wheezing. Thankfully, Megan wasn't feeling great either so we banded together and agreed to stay home from work and head to the doctor together, I don't do the doctor alone. So this morning I slept in, which was beautiful, then woke up and headed over to the physician again. I got right in and the doctor proceeded to poke and prod me for awhile, coming to the startling conclusion that I still had a sinus infection (poking my cheeks and yelping in pain was probably the giveaway). Still being the imperative - it never went away. He said for the past eight weeks, since I started feeling nasty, the bacteria have been throwing a little party up in there and now it's spread to my orbital sinuses and ears. Beautiful. So I'm on a two week cycle of antibiotics to hopefully clear it up once and for all. But for now, I'm stuck in bed watching Dexter and True Blood. No class tonight and no work tomorrow, no going out for two weeks (no drinking on antibiotics), and taking it easy for at least ten days. Well, looks like I have no excuse not to get my papers done this weekend....

34 days until I'm home! As much as I love it here and am pretty much actively planning on coming back for a period of time, I'm really looking forward to stepping off that plane and seeing Mom and going home to my wonderful kitties. Not to mention everybody that comes with them! I'm excited for Los Angeles next semester, too. It's just one good thing leading to another - hopefully once I get rid of this sinus infection!

I'm off to bed to watch a couple more Dexter episodes. Tomorrow - paper writing and more Dexter!

G'night from Down Under!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

Here in Australia, Halloween isn't nearly as big of a deal as it is in the US. While most Australians know about Halloween, it's not a huge deal nor do many of them dress up. Though, all of us being Americans, we had to celebrate, new continent or not.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early for Pilates, which always makes me very energized and happy all day. Afterward, I walked to Paddy's market (not to be confused with the Paddo market from last weekend) and met up with Sam and MJ to shop for our costumes. Paddy's is basically Canal Street in New York on crack - it's huge and sells literally everything you can imagine from batteries to handbags. It's pretty overwhelming but it is a great place to find costume-like clothing, and man, were we successful. Our entire group of friends decided to go as different high school cliches - jock, punk, teacher's pet, prep, band geek, etc. Sam was going to be punk, I was going to be a Literary Cliche (aka, that girl who's obsessed with Virginia Wolff and Sylvia Plath and talks about how awful the US is while embracing European culture), and MJ was really unsure about her initial decision to go as prom queen.

I immediately found a beret and pocket watch necklace - two hallmarks of my character. Sam found a great punk skirt and some fishnet tights while I found a pair of black leggings, a black turtleneck, and a black belt with a big buckle - very Parisian. We kept wandering around picking up pieces of punk paraphernalia for Sam's costume and debating what MJ should be if not a prom queen - and then it came to us when we saw some pretty bunk Baby Phat track suits on major discount. MJ should be ghetto. She's the white girl who wants to be ghetto. It was amazing. She got this brilliant Kanye West skeleton hoodie, a big gold chain, Kanye glasses, and had our friend Nathalie braid her hair in corn rows. She looked AMAZING. It was fantastic. We spent around three hours at Paddy's just exploring all of the stands. Then we headed home, went to the mall so I could get the finishing touch of my costume - a Sylvia Plath book. I hopped in the shower and ran over to Sam's room to start getting ready. It was so much fun. We made Sam completely Punk'd out, MJ got braided, I pained on my cat eyes, and everybody gathered to pregame for the BUSC party. Although we were running about an hour late, we had a fantastic arrival at the party and immediately sat down and started playing trivia. The entire program had some great costumes - Maria as a crocodile, the Dunder Mifflin crew, the Village People, even the program directors got into it - Pascal was Willy Wonka, our director Mark and his family were The Simpson's, and Caroline, Cal, and Adrienne were the three main charactres from Summer Heights High. We had so much fun - we even won the costume contest!

After the BUSC party ended we headed to Argyle, a club where they were having the largest Halloween party in Australian history. It was crowded and sweaty and we only stayed for about an hour before bailing and heading to Pancakes on the Rocks - a 24 hour pancake place near the club. It was delicious. We had an amazing devil's food pancake with strawberries and chocolate and Sam and I split some nachos. It was the perfect cap to the night. After looking for a cab for almost a half an hour we headed home, wiped off the makeup, organized the candy, and fell into bed!

Sunday MJ and I had our usual hangover routine: Thai food and the beach where the Sculpture by the Sea exhibit was going on between Bondi and Tamarama beach. They were gorgeous. We did a bunch of walking, had some fresh watermelon, and got to check out some great art. Dinner was at Wagamama, another one of our favorites.

Now I'm in class, wishing I was out enjoying the weather! The only casualty of my weekend was my knee, which is back in its brace and quite sore. Hopefully another round of Pilates this afternoon will clear that up and I can enjoy Thai and finish some work tonight.

G'day from down under!

Happy Birthday, I'm 21!

2009-10-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, I'm 21.

It's insanity, celebrating what would be such a huge birthday in the States here in Australia. Thousands of miles away from my friends who would be celebrating with me and my family who would be, too. But, thankfully, I have amazing, wonderful, fantastic friends here who made this milestone of a birthday just as brilliant as it would have been if I was in the States. I can't wait to get home and celebrate again, but it was a great day.

Friday, my boss at work came up to me and asked me what I was doing for lunch. I said nothing, that I had actually forgotten my sandwich at home and was planning on grabbing one from the convenience store down the street. She laughed at me and said that I would not be doing that - I would be going with the office to my birthday party at a restaurant in the complex! I was floored. I mean, I'd only been working there for four days and they were throwing me a birthday party? Amazing! So at 12:30pm, me and seven of my wonderful coworkers went to celebrate. It was so fantastic. They all chatted me up and I got to know everybody - they're so friendly and genuine, really interested in who I am and where I want to go with this job. It was great to hear all about their stories of the company and to feel like part of the team. We all split a couple bottles of wine and had some amazing food and then my boss (like my big boss, I mean the director of marketing) whipped out my present. Seriously. PRESENTS. Plural, actually. What company gives an intern who's worked there for three days presents!? I got the Scene It! board game, the first season of their show Satisfaction on DVD, a box of candy in a really cool Tangle (another one of their shows) box, and a Showcase (their series channel) beanbag chair. Seriously. A beanbag chair. It made me feel so welcomed and appreciated. I still can't believe how lucky I am to have an internship like this. Not only do they trust me and give me real work but they give me presents! And the cherry on top of the work day was heading to BUSC in the afternoon and seeing that my bosses from my internship over the summer sent me my Trouble the Water DVD with such a kind note on the inside. It made me feel so good! It was a great start to my birthday!

That night, Megan, MJ, Nathalie, Sam, and I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, the Flying Fajita Sistas for margaritas and a pre-birthday dinner. Sam and Nathalie were going to be gone for the actual day so we decided to celebrate with them beforehand so nobody felt left out. We had queso and margaritas and they bought me a half dozen amazing cupcakes which we promptly devoured after the meal. We laughed and drank and rang in my birthday before heading home to sleep after our first week at work.

Saturday morning I woke up and went to the Paddington markets with Ashleigh and MJ for a little birthday shopping. I got a beautiful hair accessory for the Melbourne Cup that's hand made with beautiful pink flowers and feathers, a small cross-carry clutch made by an Australian designer, a red patent croc travel clutch also made by an Australian designer, a beautiful shirt dress and matching belt, a t-shirt with a unicorn on it (so cute), and a bag of yummy Tasmanian Pepperberry dark chocolate. We also got cupcakes and a delicious lunch at Sloane's Cafe in Paddington and chocolate frappes at Max Brenner's - a must for birthdays. :) I then went and got my nails done, which I needed to do and started getting ready for my birthday dinner.

15 of my amazing friends came out with me to Posh Spice, an amazing Indian restaurant in New Town where they do Bollywood dancing on Saturday nights. We had delicious butter chicken, curry, dosas, naaan, and jasmine rice while we danced with their Bollywood performer. He found out it was my birthday and pulled me up pretty quickly to dance with another woman who was celebrating her bachelorette party. It was incredibly fun. The bachlorette shared her giant blow up penis with me, which was interesting, and then afterward we piled into cabs and headed to King's Cross and SoHo. Our cab dirver didn't really know where it was so we got dropped off blocks away from the club and had to walk there. It was insanely busy in King's Cross and some drunk guys smacked my ass, which angered me quite a bit. I kept screaming, "I am not an object!" until our friend Maria found us and got us into the club - SoHo. The rest of the evening was filled with dancing and drinks, so much fun! We ended up back at home around 3am and I went straight to sleep.

In the morning, we were supposed to go to the beach but it was pouring rain so instead we all got Thai food, my favorite, and watched some DVDs - a perfect post-birthday celebration. It was so fantastic to wake up to tons of birthday messages from Facebook and family, even though I'm on another continent I felt all the love. It was one of the best birthdays I've ever had, fantastic friends, fantastic food, and fantastic fun. I am so lucky to have such amazing people around me all the time on two separate continents and I feel so blessed!

It was an amazing 21st!

Showtime Australia: My Home for the Next Seven Weeks

2009-10-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

I really think I have the best internship in the program. It's amazing, and I love it.

Now I've only worked there for four days, but I'll give you a basic rundown of what I've been up to so far.

I work for Showtime Australia, the television network. They combine programming like Dexter and True Blood from the States with original Australian programming that they produce like Tangle and Satisfaction. I'm working in three key areas: marketing, programming, and executive production. Marketing isn't really my major or interest but they're launching six new channels on November 15th so the marketing department and my main boss are stretched pretty thin. I'm really happy to help because they give me amazing responsibilities like creating two subscriber newsletters on my own, which go to over 50,000 people and creating the newsletter for their media contacts in the industry. It's been great learning about the processes that go into launching these new channels and getting them out there in Australia. Everybody is busy and excited. It's really dynamic and frenetic at times, the energy is amazing. The entire office is filled with friendly, engaging people who are willing to help me and include me in what they're doing, there's no real pretension, everybody is more than happy to hear my questions or explain what's going on.

In programming, I've just been shadowing their main programmer - Derek, who's working on the next year's schedules. My first big job was to catalog and alphabetize their entire DVD screener collection, which was a huge task. It was great, though, because it allowed me to absorb their entire library and see what I want to borrow and also what makes up a comprehensive collection for programming. I'm hoping to get more into acquisitions as well and learn the process of working with distributors to get programs and films on air across the world. It's a great department.

The executive producer, Kim also has quite a bit for me to do. I don't know what it really entails, yet, but I'm excited because she's a woman in a male-dominated industry and one who's fantastic at her job. She's the EP on most of Showtime's original programming, like Tangle, and I'm just really curious as to the specifics of her job and the daily ins and outs of what she does. When I approached her she was incredibly friendly and excited to get me involved, especially when she heard my concentration was on executive production and how really, truly fascinated by her job I was. I'm hoping she can steal me away in the next week or so, especially after the launch when marketing calms down a bit. All three areas are really great for me to have on my resume and the skills I'm learning are invaluable for the future. Not to mention - I get to watch DVDs half of the day. :) I need to familiarize myself with the Australian programs, so half the day is usually spent watching really great shows that I'm going to be super upset will not be available to me when I go home! I'm hoping one of my bosses will keep me in DVDs even when I get back to the States!

It's only been a week at my internship but so far I'm adoring it, I'm happy and ready to get up every morning, even though it's early, because I know the day will fly by with interesting and challenging work. It's such a success. I can't wait to keep learning!

Next up: birthday celebrations!

Spring Break: Southern Hemisphere Style

2009-10-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

First things first: Spring Break!

Sam and I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to fly to Fiji. After an all too expensive cab ride with a cab driver who thought we were ignorant tourists, we got to the airport and through customs, to our gate. The plane was huge, a big double-decker Air Pacific 747. The crowd going to Fiji was incredibly diverse. Most of the Hindus in Sydney were actually heading there because Fiji has a huge Diwali festival that was going on right as we got to Nadi. It was really cool to see all the women in their beautiful saris for the celebration. A great cultural start to our vacation. I immediately whipped out my Kindle and started Middlesex, a book I've been meaning to read for almost two years. Within pages I was engrossed and so happy that I had bought it. A fantastic book makes a four hour plane ride go so fast and by the time we landed in Nadi I was well into it and hooked. It was dark by the time we arrived so there wasn't much to do besides head straight to the hotel, the Sheraton Fiji Denaru Resort. It's on its own island with three other resorts and we got an amazing deal through Travelocity. They upgraded our room and man, was it beautiful. The whole resort was gorgeous, open floor plan with views of the ocean and palm trees. The people were so friendly and kind. In Fiji you say 'Bula' for hello, welcome, and most greetings. So we had to embrace the bula attitude that they were giving us. It was great. I was exhausted and so was Sam so we headed into the room to watch some TV and get room service and sleep - my number one goal of vacation.

We woke up on Monday morning to an unfortunate sight - rain. But, rain in paradise is still paradise so we grabbed breakfast and I made the best of it by making some phone calls since my iPhone was my only calling option. I got to talk to Amanda, Danny, and Ben which made my morning. We then scheduled our spa treatments and decided to wander around the other resorts. I popped a squat on a pool chair under an umbrella to avoid the rain, curling up with my book. That's all I wanted - to read, to enjoy, to relax. Plus, Middlesex was so engaging that any free second I could get to sit down, I would. I got some Christmas shopping done since the exchange rate was so brilliant and then headed over to the spa to get a massage and a pedicure. It was exactly what I needed after all the work and stress of the first half of the semester. The pedicure felt great too, and afterward we headed out for an Indian meal to celebrate Diwali with the country. It was quite tasty but the creeping feeling of being sick was definitely catching up to me and by the end of dinner (and two pitchers of water just to myself...) I couldn't ignore it. I had to go back to the room and sleep, hoping I would wake up feeling better.

I did not. I woke up on Tuesday morning to more rain and the feeling of being hit by a Mack truck. My sinuses were under so much pressure I could feel it throughout my head not to mention a sore throat and an obvious fever. I thought I'd try to make it through breakfast but even that was torture, so thankfully when staying at a nice resort there's always a doctor on call. After breakfast I phoned her and talked for awhile, describing my symptoms. Unfortunately, with the humidity in Fiji she advised me to go immediately back to my room and rest. Her first worry was H1N1 with all the traveling I'd been doing, so she wanted me away from the entirety of the resort and in air conditioning to control my fever. So I (surprisingly happily) went back to the room until she could see me at 2:30pm. I did the one thing I love to do on vacation: read. I devoured Middlesex, absolutely ate it up. It was perfect, despite feeling sick, to lie in the air conditioning, in my giant comfy hotel bed, surrounded by pillows and a down comforter, reading a quality novel by myself. Even the rain and feeling sick couldn't really deter my happiness - this was vacation for me! When she showed up, thankfully my fever had gone down so she was pretty sure it wasn't the Swine Flu but instead a bad sinus infection that had spread throughout my body (I also had a painful rash on my legs and arms). Being viral, she couldn't give me an antibiotic but I got some Sudafed in my body and was able to sleep most of it off in the afternoon. I finished Middlesex right as the sun was coming out of the clouds while setting. I decided to go do the last of my Christmas shopping and try to meet Sam for dinner. We hung out by the pool for awhile then went and had a wonderful fish dinner. I had delicious scallops and Mahi Mahi. Even though it was a day of sickness and exhaustion, I really got to do two things that make a vacation for me - read and eat good food. I was not upset at all.

Wednesday morning we woke up to bright blue skies so we decided to take a charter boat out to one of the other islands for a good beach day. We took a day trip to Beach Comber Island and laid out on the white sandy beaches all morning. It was perfect. Soft sand, clear water, and music to listen to. We had a light lunch, met some new friends from North Carolina and chatted with them, then went snorkeling in the reef. We saw a nurse shark and I followed it as it darted away. The reef life was beautiful - lots of blue starfish and multi colored sea cucumbers not to mention tons of fish and coral. It was a good hour snorkel. Afterward, I planted myself back on the beach for a little more sun, started a new book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), and enjoyed the last hours of the sun. The clouds rolled back in right when we were getting back on the charter boat and the day of sun and sea really took it out of me. My sinuses were back at it so when we got back to the resort I took a long, leisurely shower, reveling in the space to move around knowing I'd be back in the tiny Unilodge shower in mere days, and threw on my PJs. I was feeling too gross and sinusey to eat so I curled up and watched Party of Five, Grey's Anatomy, and Friends, thanking my lucky stars for the prevalence of US content on international TV. I fell asleep quickly, having to get up early to catch my flight back to Australia for the second half of my adventure...

Thursday morning I flew from Fiji to Brisbane, and then Brisbane to Airlie Beach or the Whitsunday coast. I realized when I got to Brisbane that the hotel I was booked in for the night was actually inaccessible from where I was flying into so I quickly canceled it and booked a new room at the Club Crocodile Resort - thank you iPhone and Travelocity! I landed in Airlie Beach just in time to watch the sunset on the bus back. I got to the hotel and crashed almost immediately, I really love sleeping in hotel beds! I did get to watch a couple episodes of Glee and have to recommend it in the highest. It was fantastic! I got a solid night's sleep and woke up early to head into town to check in for my sailboat leaving that afternoon. Unfortunately, I woke up to a bit of a nasty surprise...pink eye. It was not what I wanted before getting on a boat for three days. But, shit happens, so I packed up, got in a cab, and headed to the pharmacy before breakfast. I made the pharmacist put the drops in because I'm a huge baby and can't do it myself and spent the morning reading near the ocean at Airlie Beach. I had a great breakfast and lunch then headed off to the marina for the departure of Silent Night, the boat I'd be spending the next two nights on. It was a beautiful boat and the people were fantastic. I got to spend all afternoon lounging on deck in the sun, finishing The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and starting Never Let Me Go. The sun was beautiful and warm and I love a good sail so by the time we anchored in a small cove in the Whitsunday Islands I was happy to eat and chat with my fellow boat mates. I was pretty exhausted so I turned in early to wake up early - seeing the sunrise on the ocean is one of the best things in the world.

Saturday morning I woke up and we had breakfast then started sailing off to Whitehaven Beach, one of the most photographed places in all of Australia. This is the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen, hands down. It's the largest collection of pure silica sand in the world. Silica sand is perfectly round and soft, like powdered sugar. It's so fine you can polish silver, exfoliate your skin, and brush your teeth with it. I loved it. The water was clear and bright blue and warm like bath water. I spent nearly an hour just sitting in the water swimming around. Then, I laid out and read my book a little more, enjoying the soft sand between my toes. It really was the definition of paradise, I can't think of any other way to describe it. We got back on the boat and had a much-needed lunch then sailed out to snorkel. It was the best snorkeling I've ever seen. The fish were fearless and came right up to you, not to mention the coral was bright, bright colors and so thick that sometimes you were within arms distance away from it. Our guide, Tom, told us that it was that good because it was a younger reef, still part of the Great Barrier but only 10,000 years old compared to the 30,000 years that the reef in Cairns is. There was this HUGE fish that came right up to us, it was so tame you could pet its head. It was as big as me, I loved it. After our snorkel we got back on the boat to an unfortunate plumbing problem which made the afternoon sail a little ripe-smelling but by the time we got to the cove where we would be sleeping it was fixed. Our captain, Brendan, showed us these beautiful eagles that came right next to the boat to swoop up the bread wrapped in bologna he was tossing for them. It was amazing to see them just feet from your face. After a delicious dinner we all had some wine and chatted until the evening when I got to fall asleep again to one of my favorite things in the world - the rocking of a boat. Sunday morning we got up early and had a magnificent sail back to Airlie Beach - the wind was fantastic so we were keeling and speeding along the entire way back. It was a great finish to a great couple days.

After getting off the boat and saying goodbye to my new friends I met up with some of my other friends from BU to get a cab back to the airport and fly back to Sydney. I was happy to see them after a couple days by myself and leaving Sam in Fiji, we had a great trip back. I even got to watch some Alias thanks to my friend Sam who's iPod was stocked with episodes. :) We got back late, unpacked, and went straight to bed (after a long shower, seeing as how we'd all been on boats that morning!).

Even with a sinus infection, pink eye, and rain I still had an amazing vacation. I finished three books, got to sleep in, and relaxed as much as I wanted to. I came home with a nice tan, salt in my hair, and souvenirs for everyone back home. Everybody's Christmas presents are coming from Fiji, so be ready! :) It was a wonderful, relaxing break after the stress and frenetic energy that was the end of the first teaching period. I loved it. Check out more pictures at the bottom of this page - there's a link to my Picasa Web Albums now where all of my pictures from the trip are up!

Next up: Internships!

Apologies!

2009-10-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been more than two weeks since I've posted! That's insanity.

Get ready for three rapid fire posts right....

NOW!

PS - That's my angry at myself face.

Off the Grid

2009-10-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to make a quick post letting everybody know that I will be officially off the grid for the week! From today (Sunday) until Thursday I'll be on the beach in Fiji then Thursday until next Sunday I'll be sailing in the Whitsunday Islands!

I'll definitely write a long, long blog when I get home and internships start!

After eighteen pages of papers and two essay final exams my brain has officially melted and I can't wait to be on the beach, reading my book, with the sun on my face! :)

Have a good week everybody!

Cairns Adventures

2009-10-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weekend. I can't believe I survived!

Megan and I got up bright and early Friday morning to catch our 7am flight to Cairns. After an uneventful but cold (thanks for the no blankets, Jetstar) flight we landed in Cairns around 10am. We hopped in a cab and got dropped off at the wrong hotel, which sucked, but we walked the two blocks to the right one and were really surprised at how beautiful it really was. Unfortunately, we couldn't check in when we got there so we decided to head into town to buy a bus ticket to some of the beaches and have some lunch. After wandering for 20 minutes trying to find the bus ticket agent we decided to get lunch first as a Mexican restaurant was just opening up. It should've been a red flag when they advertised "authentic" Mexican cuisine but we've had good luck here in Sydney with Mexican restaurants so we tried it. After a good but spicy bowl of queso our quesadillas came. But they weren't quesadillas. Seriously, they weren't. I don't know what they were, some kind of tortilla filled with tomato paste and beans, almost no cheese, burned slightly around the edges. It was awful. I couldn't eat mine so I sent it back and they gave me a refund, no questions asked, thank God. Megan chose to eat her concoction and enjoyed it somewhat, though the queso was obviously the highlight of the meal. We, thankfully had a good sense of humor about it and left laughing at the Australian idea of Mexican food. The good thing was there was an amazing gelato place next door where they had TimTam gelato, which was amazing. Best gelato I've ever had. That made up for the psuedo-quesadilla. We got our bus tickets, dropped out stuff off at the hotel, and hopped on the 1X bus out to Palm Cove Beach. It was gorgeous. Just sand and ocean and sun. We laid out for about two hours then decided to check out the little shops around the resort. I bought the most beautiful opal pendant for my M necklace - it's my birthstone and I love it. I'm still obsessed with it and continually ask Megan, "Did I tell you I got a new opal?" We hopped back on the bus around 5pm and headed back into our hotel for some room service and an early night in to prepare ourselves for Saturday...

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning for our day of adventure. The skydive company picked us up at our hotel at 7:30am, both of us were groggy and super nervous at the prospect of jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet. We got to the office, signed our lives away (there was a paragraph in the contract that actually stated that there was an element of "luck" to skydiving, we signed a LEGAL document that talked about luck, were we insane!?), and suited up. I got some sweet parachute pants with purple stars, Megan's had red stars, and then we both did our interviews for our DVDs. After about 45 minutes of waiting for my tandem instructor we finally hopped into the van and headed out to the airport. We all loaded into a tiny little plane - two girls who were jumping at 11,000 fit, our instructors, our videographers, and us - and took off. It was really amazing to watch everything get smaller and smaller, it's hard to determine how high you actually are but all the instructors wore altimeters and kept showing us - at 11,000 the two girls went out and then Megan and I started to get really nervous. Then, 14,000 feet came quickly and the door opened and I got to go first. Slide up to the edge of the plane, relaxed legs over the edge, head back, arms crossed and GO! It was AMAZING. There is no feeling like it, you can't even imagine it. The air rushing around you, the feeling of free fall, the screaming to regulate your breathing, the way your skin flaps, it was like nothing else I've ever done. After a full sixty seconds of free fall the parachute was pulled and we got to glide and soar over the Australian country side for almost five minutes. How beautiful! The mountains, the rainforest, the beach, the haze over it all, I can't even describe it. We were absolutely soaring. I loved it. We even got super close to a pack of hawks over the sugar cane fields and it was so cool to see them up close and in action. We had a nice smooth landing and I was so sad it was over. It was brilliant, breathtaking, and absolutely bizarre but I'm so happy I took the plunge - literally! Afterward, Megan and I were so jazzed we got delicious meat pies and cupcakes at a little restaurant near the office and called home just to make sure everybody knew we were safe. Unfortunately, Megan's DVD didn't work but she got some great photos so while she dealt with her refund I went to Billabong to grab a pair of board shorts for our next adventure then we went back to the hotel and changed. While we were lying by the pool we got a call saying our rafting trip had been canceled. We were really upset but thankfully the kind people at Raging Thunder transferred us to another company - R and R Rafting - which saved our afternoon. So we continued our lounging then headed out to the Barron River to raft. I was way more nervous about rafting than skydiving - come on, drowning is way scarier than going splat on the ground - but it was really fun! We had a great guide - Kendall - and he let us get out of the boat a couple times and float down the rapids ourselves, which was my favorite part. There were some scary ones where he made it pretty crazy and scary but it was an experience I'm glad I took part in. It was beautiful going down the rainforest and it was a good fear to overcome. It's weird that I'm afraid of rafting - I love water! But I think it's the prospect of flipping over and getting trapped under the raft, I have the same fear when I sail little boats. But, whatever. After rafting we headed into the pub with our guide and had a beer, checked out our photos, and then went back to the hotel. After a long shower we decided to hit up Splash, the seafood restaurant on The Esplanade, the main drag of Cairns. We had a great dinner, great drinks, great conversation, and then went to the Night Markets to do some tipsy shopping for souvenirs. I got some boomerangs for some special people, an Australia sweatshirt and a long string of pearls for myself, and a beautiful sarong that I can't wait to use all the time in Fiji and the Whitsundays. We went back to the hotel after our little excursion and crashed right into bed.

After a daylight savings mixup with my phone we woke bright and early to walk down to the dock for our Ocean Free sailing day. The morning started off with a breakfast of muffins and tea and a two hour sail out to the reef. I slept for most of the sail out there, rocking boats put me right to sleep. It was a good nap to start the day as I was still pretty exhausted from the night before. Once we got out onto the reef we snorkeled all morning. It was gorgeous, although overcast. We saw a bunch of fish and some amazing coral formations along with anemones. I love snorkeling and swimming so it was sad after a couple hours that we had to go in for lunch and then went right onto Green Island. On the island we did a little more souvenir shopping and went to the Marine Land where we saw huge HUGE crocodiles, big turtles, and lots of fish that evaded us on our first snorkel. Megan started to feel under the weather so we grabbed some cold drinks and relaxed a bit at the resort after wandering around for awhile. We went back onto the boat and I snorkeled for another half an hour before we started our trek back to the mainland. It was still hazy and overcast, which sucked, but it didn't matter because we enjoyed some nibbles and wine on our sail back in. I even spotted a pod of dolphins, which was amazing to see. You usually have to pay extra for that! :) Back in Cairns our day in the water had exhausted us pretty readily so we ordered Thai delivery and were out pretty early. What else is a holiday about besides catching up on your sleep?! It was great to have a day out on the Great Barrier Reef and just enjoy the ocean and all its glory. I love it.

Monday morning we slept in then checked out of the hotel. We got our pictures developed and had a great, sweet breakfast at the Cairns art gallery then went to the lagoon to lay out. Around noon, I thought we'd head out to Trinity Beach but Megan's cold had definitely caught up with her and her fever was too much to handle. So we went back to the hotel and straight to the airport to sit in the air conditioning and try to get on an earlier flight. Unfortunately, we couldn't, but Meagan got some real Sudafed in her system and took a good, long nap. I finished two books and tried to find a pair of sweatpants with no avail. Our flight was delayed, which sucked, but I read on the plane. Once we got back to Sydney, we had to wait in a 45 minute line for a cab. Finally, we got back home, I watched some How I Met Your Mother, and went to bed!

This week is ALL about work. I have a six page journal due on Friday, a 1500-2000 essay on the ABC vs SBS (basically Sydney vs Melbourne rivalry), and then a final Friday and a final Saturday. But - Sunday I'm off to Fiji and the Whitsundays! So hopefully all the work will get done, I'll pack, and be ready for my real vacation next week! Check out my photos, too - http://picasaweb.google.com/cramermj36, they're all there. :)

G'night from down under!

Melbourne - it's pronounced Mel-Bin, not Mel-Born

2009-10-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post! I'm so sorry for the delay but there was no wireless internet in Melbourne. I'll go day by day again.

Sunday - We left around 9am, piled on buses, and headed to the airport. Flying domestically in Australia is incredibly simple, none of this liquid nonsense we have in the States. You don't even have to take off your shoes. We had an hour to blow at the airport so we got some breakfast and I bought new sunglasses (I left mine at the dorm) then all piled into the plane. Seventy twenty somethings with four guides equals loud, unorganized plane. Some people didn't realize that size restrictions for carry on baggage is different here so they brought on standard US sized rolling bags which are much, much to big for the overheads here. It was kind of chaotic as a lot of people had to check their bags and find their seats. They almost unloaded us, which would've been bad. We arrived in Melbourne with enough time to explore the city for awhile. I, unfortunately, had some bad sushi and was holed up in my room for most of the evening. Thankfully, my friend Ashleigh kept me company and when I was feeling good I got to see some of the city and explore Federation Square.

Monday - Bright and early wake up call for our first lesson about Melbourne from our program director Mark. It's funny because there's a huge rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne and we have all Sydney-ites teaching us but they all seem pretty neutral on the issue (except one professor, Sharon, who is hilarious in her hate of Melbourne). Afterward, I went on a tour of the Australian Center of the Moving Image, which was beautiful, brilliant, and so inspirational. People forget that Australia has a vibrant film and television culture and it was so well represented at ACMI. There was a great exhibit on the history of film, television, video games, and the internet in Australia along with beautiful displays of their most famous stars - from director Baz Lurhman to Cate Blanchette - whose Oscar is on display. They had amazing interactive displays with video games, lighting, camera tricks, and animations. We all felt like big kids. Check out our time splice video! http://www.acmi.net.au/timeslice/Timeslice.htm?file=ts-20090928-6d7f6196c4ce097aa2182e2498258713.flv After ACMI we went to grab lunch - crepes! They were delicious and very filling. We then met up with Taryn, Molly, and Megan and went to the Melbourne Racing Museum, which was interesting for Taryn and I (we both ride) but kind of boring for everybody else. We then decided to do some shopping because Victoria (the state Melbourne is in) is known for its boutique culture and off-beat clothing. We went to the Ugg store where I could get a pair of comfy, warm shoes then I got the most amazing pair of pajama pants from this store called Peter Alexander. I wish we had it in the States! It's so cute. My pants have unicorns on them - or horses with swords on their heads for those Scrubs fans reading. I also got a beautiful hand-made purse, one of only six in the world, that will be perfect for work. It's really classic and I can't wait to beat it up at Showtime and in LA. :) Finally a stop at a beautiful photography studio where I bought a print of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and a little gift for a friend. After a short nap we headed to Little Italy for a feast. It was great pasta, great wine, and great friends. Megan, Ashleigh, and I went to this little churros place for dessert where I had a peanut butter chocolate churro. Healthy it was not, delicious, definitely. I headed home pretty early because Tuesday was an even earlier wake up call.

Tuesday - Started at 7am, bright and early, with Starbucks with MJ. We then proceeded to pile on a bus for our tour of the Great Ocean Road. I can't even begin to describe the absolute beauty we saw. It's akin to driving the Pacific Coast Highway but much more because there's almost no development along the whole road. We stopped in Lorne, a cute resort town where wealthy Melbourne-ites vacation where I got a wonderful piece of banana cake and was almost attacked by an angry duck. We stopped and drove all along, taking pictures and enjoying ourselves in the bus. Our tour guide was fantastic, he was hilarious and let us play our own music the entire way - he even played "Never Have I Ever" with us. Fantastic. Then we stopped in Apollo Bay for some fish and chips for lunch, which were also delicious. I had my obligatory peppermint Magnum, my favorite ice cream bar, and Ashleigh and I wandered around finding post cards and hilarious Australian tabloid magazines. We were all tired and weighed down from lunch so the bus was quiet for awhile on the way to the Twelve Apostles - the most famous sandstone formations on the Great Ocean Road. They were stunning and we got there right at sunset so it was even more beautiful. The bus was lively and happy as Mac (our guide) took us off roading for a bit before heading to one last lookout. We spent some time in a cove, exploring the beach and where there was once a shipwreck with only two survivors. By that time it was getting dark and we were all hungry again so after another hour bus ride we landed in a little town with a great noodle shop and a Macca's (that's what they call McDonald's here) where Megan and I got teryaki noodles and some fantastic McFlurries. By that time we were all exhausted and the two hour bus ride home was quite besides the music playing. Back in Melbourne we all crashed despite best intentions to go out. It was nice to fall asleep with all that splendor on my mind, I think sometimes we forget with all the shit that goes on that the world is really a beautiful place.

Wednesday - Departure day! Thankfully we had time in the morning and afternoon to do some more exploring. I took a photographic Melbourne tour with some people and we shot some beautiful photos around the city. It's a great place to take pictures because they've put an insane amount of modernist architecture and art installations all around the city so there are interesting and fun shots. We walked for about three hours, snapping pictures and playing with our cameras. After a getting on a wrong trolley which doubled our time back into the city (but who cares, the trolley was free and it was fun!) Ashleigh and I broke off from the group and had an amazing, AMAZING Greek meal. Probably the best I've ever had, better than Steve's in Boston. It was absolutely delicious and the restaurant is open twenty four hours! I wish we could've gone back and bottled their hummus and tzatziki, I would live on that and their baklava for all eternity. Unfortunately, at lunch, Ashleigh realized she left her phone in the cab so we spent a couple hours trying to retrieve it but were unsuccessful. So, after the initial panic and then frantic search for it we were both wiped so we decided to decompress in Starbucks for an hour before our bus left to head to the airport. We had an uneventful flight - with dinner and wine for free to boot - and then went back to Unilodge to crash.

It was a great trip, though I really love Sydney the most. Melbourne is too trendy for me, I like the more classic feel Sydney has. Not that Melbourne isn't a fantastic place to visit, I just don't think I'd live there. But, it was an amazing trip and we had a wonderful time. It was good to get out of Sydney for a couple days and experience Melbourne and its "four seasons in one day" (freezing, raining, boiling and sunny, then cold again).

Today was uneventful - Pilates in the morning, which always makes me feel good, then class (where I, yet again, asked all the questions during the guest lecturer's lesson), packing for Cairns, and now Internship Night with some former program participants who can give us the low down on what Sydney is like in terms of the workplace.

Another amazing weekend - Cairns with Megan for skydiving, white water rafting, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, and just plain relaxation on the beach! Next week is hectic with a paper, a six page journal, and two finals so hopefully I can fill you in between academic obligations. But for now...

G'night from down under!

Weekend!

2009-09-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

My paper is finally done, turned in, and I am finished with schoolwork for at least forty eight hours! :)

I thought I'd write a quick post just letting you all know that my laryngitis is a lot better. I have some semblance of a voice and although it's turned into a pretty wicked cold, I don't feel as awful as I did the other day. Now, it's a matter of getting my sinuses cleared up and not coughing every ten seconds! But, I'm sure that'll run its course.

Today, I'm going to go take a long shower then get my nails done with Sam M then go see a play with Megan and a bunch of other people. I figured a nice low key night would be good before waking up early to leave for Melbourne tomorrow morning.

I will blog all about Melbourne as it happens, I'm so excited to get there and see another part of this amazing country. When we get home the crunch starts again as we have another paper due and we need to study for finals, but between Melbourne and that crunch I'm heading to Cairns for some snorkeling, skydiving, and white water rafting with Megan. That will be SO much fun and there will definitely be a long, detailed, and exciting blog about that.

I'll leave you with a picture of the kind of fun we have here. Yes, that's me in a shopping cart being pushed down a hill.

G'day from down under! :)

Sick in Sydney: Part Two

2009-09-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you know by now that there was a massive dust storm here in Sydney. We woke up yesterday morning thinking it was the apocalypse, the end of days had finally come. It was a deep blood red, the entire room was tinted that really creepy color. It was incredibly unsettling - all the pictures you've seen are spot on, they're not Photoshopped, I promise.

I was supposed to go on a filed trip with my Aboriginal Studies class to the Botanical Gardens and then out to one of the smaller islands in Sydney Harbor. Unfortunately, with my allergies and asthma I got a call that I was not permitted out of the building until at least 5pm when the dust would settle. So, I was quarantined in my room all day, watching Gilmore Girls DVDs and starting to study for our exam. It was not fun and really frustrating to be cooped up. But, the winds were pretty terrible - sometimes up to 60 km/per hour and it was way too risky for me to go traipsing around Sydney with that kind of air quality. I was coughing and sneezing all day, but I didn't think much of it. Man, was I wrong.

This morning, I woke up skwaking a bit with a sore, dry throat. I've been fighting a cough for about a week so I didn't really think much of it, nothing exciting, that's for sure. But as the morning wore on and almost immediately as I stepped outside I realized I had little if any voice. I sounded awful by the time I walked to BUSC, not realizing that the air quality was still terrible. Our program director told me that while the "safe" level of dust particles in the air is 200, the air in Sydney today is still 1200, making it six times the appropriate level for good air quality. My voice just got worse and it still is hard to talk beyond a raspy whisper. I have my really low register voice but it hurts to talk that low. So, I decided to head to the doctor with one of our program managers - Caroline. A nice physician saw me and immediately (and obviously) diagnosed me with laryngitis exacerbated by my dust allergy. I got an inhaler and an antibiotic, though I'm not advised to take it unless I start coughing up stuff because of my history of sensitivity to antibiotics. I got a bunch of cough drops and am on complete vocal rest - perfect because today I'm supposed to be giving a presentation on the Aboriginal Creation stories. Fantastic. Thankfully, I have a note from the doctor saying I'm not allowed to speak and my wonderful friend Natan is going to be giving my part of the presentation. I'm upset I won't be able to vocalize my part of our group's presentation, but I did do the research and prepare some slides for it, so hopefully our wonderful professor will understand. I'm sure she will. Especially because I'm going to be continuing to work with her on an independent study on Aboriginal religion for the rest of the semester, I think she knows I do my work, voice or not!

To be slightly political for a second: the health care system here is so far superior to ours it's not even funny. I never really thought about it that much, but then having to experience it, universal health care, is not what people think. I waited for five minutes. I saw the doctor for as long as I needed to. They didn't rush, I wasn't pushed to the end of any line, and even though I'm not a member of their system, even being a foreigner, I was only charged $50 for my entire visit. How is that possible? It was a great experience and really helped me to continue forming my opinion on this health care debate. I was taken care of like a human being, treated with compassion and kindness, and given what I needed right when I needed it, no questions asked. Just something to think about.

The rest of the week is pretty hectic again. Today I have class in the evening and then tomorrow I will be spending all day holed up in my room writing my research paper. Saturday it's due and we're seeing a play, then Sunday we leave for Melbourne! I will definitely be blogging about that as it's going to be a great experience. But for now, send good vibes my way and hopefully I'll be able to speak well in the next couple days. :)

G'day from down under!

Let's Go Outback Tonight!

2009-09-20T01:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, what an adventure. Red desert, big rocks, bright sun! It was a fantastic trip.

After getting chips and queso and margaritas on Thursday night, Megan and I met bright and early on Friday morning to head to Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory. We got to the airport and right off the bat the day started off rocky! Orbitz had never confirmed my ticket change and I was left in a bit of a bind. Thanks to a kind sales agent I was able to get checked in and get a boarding pass but that lead to two hour long phone calls with Orbitz, one before we left and one when we got there. Needless to say I was pretty pissed off. Thankfully after those two long, all on hold phone calls I got my flight change confirmed. Unfortunately, despite all the crap Orbitz only gave me a $20 travel voucher. So, moral of the story - please don't use Orbitz anymore! Travelocity and Expedia are much better so please, after all the hell they put me through in almost ruining my vacation, the least I can do is warn others! Back to the good part.

After working that out we got to our hostel - which was beautiful! Totally not like any other hostel I'd ever seen. We checked in and started exploring the entire resort, made up of three hotels, the hostel, and a camp ground. First we had lunch at the canteen at our hostel. While we were eating it started to downpour, but it was still sunny. So surreal to watch the water absolutely pelt the landscape, creating lots of red mud but then stop as abruptly as it began. Really cool. After lunch we went to the Uluru lookout near our hostel, it was a little hike but great views of Ayers Rock. The mud was crazy, but it was pretty cool how fast all the plants started to flower and turn green even with five-ten minutes of rain. Then, we went shopping for souvenirs and artwork by the Aboriginal people that live around Ayers Rock. I made an ill-advised purchase (impulsively) then returned it, but also got two beautiful books on Aboriginal myth and spirituality that will really help my religion project, not to mention they're so interesting and fun to read. I also got some great post cards, so let me know if you want one! We wandered around for a couple hours then headed back as the sun set. We saw an amazing double rainbow, it was almost perfect. It was quite the welcome to the desert.

By 6pm we were starving so we headed to the buffet at our hostel which had traditional Australian foods - emu, crocodile, barramundi, and kangaroo! It was quite the dinner, not to mention delicious. I was pretty much obsessed with the curry crocodile, it was fantastic. The kangaroo was good, too - but our favorite part was the deserts. Sticky toffee pudding! After a delicious dinner we headed back to our room and got ready for our long day, which meant falling asleep as early as we could!

Saturday morning we got up around 5am to start our day of tours and hikes. It began with a sunrise Uluru excursion, which included breakfast while watching the sunrise over the rock. It was gorgeous, the sun and horizon were filled with color.

Then, we drove/hiked around the rock learning about the Aboriginal people who live there (they still have full ownership of the rock and the lands surrounding it, but they lease it to the Australian parks service, you can't take pictures of certain things because of sacredness of the location) and their history. It was a five hour tour and we learned so much about where we were. Both Megan and I decided not to climb Uluru because the Aboriginals ask that you don't. It's available to but it's incredibly sacred to them as is the path you climb on and neither of us felt it was respectful or right to climb when they so sincerely asked us not to. After the tour we went to the cultural center where more beautiful Aboriginal art was on display. I got a bookmark painted with the symbol for waterhole which I'm going to use in my religion project. Within the cultural center you're not allowed to take any pictures at all and the women will take your camera and smash it if you do. It's not a joke to these people, it's their home and their religious places, we felt very humbled and lucky to be there, learning about a community that has been there more than 50,000 years. We then got dropped off, grabbed some lunch, rode a camel (yup, we went on a camel ride!) then got back on the bus for our hike on Kata Tjuta (that's pronounced ka-ta ju-ta), or the Olgas, an even more sacred site for the male Aboriginals. It was by far my favorite part of our trip. Not only did we get to see vast swaths of different landscape including the beautiful sand dunes and scrub but we hiked right into the Olgas and got to see them from the inside. Unfortunately, the stories surrounding Kata Tjuta are sacred to the Aboriginals and they're not shared with anyone but their boys who are coming of age. The Aboriginals can shut down the tours at the drop of a hat if they need to perform a ceremony, and we're only allowed to tour a certain part of the rocks as others are like a cathedral to them. If nothing else we both developed an even deeper respect and awe for these people who wile assimilating into 21st century existence keep their heritage and history so close. It was a fantastic hike.

Afterward, we got to see and pet some dingoes then went on our last hike and tour of the day - Uluru Sunset. After a short walk/hike with the setting sun we drove out to the lookout point and watched the sunset and the rock turn colors. Unfortunately there was some cloud cover so it didn't change as vividly as it usually does but we sipped some champagne and watched as our day came to a close right where it began - Uluru, Ayers Rock.

We went back to the hostel and had to fantastic Outback burgers, a couple Strongbows, listened to some music, and took long, hot showers. After a day filled with sunscreen and bug spray (the flies are killer in the desert, yuck) we both needed it! By the time our head hit the pillow we were out.

This morning, we slept in but woke up to our cell phones ringing - Qantas had changed our flight! We were originally supposed to go from Ayers Rock to Perth then Perth to Sydney. This is akin to going from Lincoln, Nebraska to San Diego, California, then back to Boston, Massachusetts. They decided to change the flight and send us direct - a god send for Megan who has to give a presentation in class tomorrow at 10am! We woke up happy to have that travel time off our shoulders then took one last hike through the desert. After our hike we grabbed a big breakfast and went to the Visitor's Center just to get a little more information about what we had seen all weekend. Plus, we wanted to explore the nicer hotels in the resort. We walked to the Sails in the Desert, the ultimate luxury hotel and walked through the Mulgara Gallery where I finally found a beautiful piece of Aboriginal art that actually fit my price range! Plus, it was a limited edition painted by an artist who was being featured this month at the gallery. It's beautiful and I'm so happy I bought it. It's something I can carry with me forever - not to mention it symbolizes the birth of womankind, which I think is fitting. :) I'm so happy I bought it. (The one I returned was a lot bigger but I took a picture of it and it's now the background of my computer - I'm kind of obsessed with Aboriginal art now, it's gorgeous) After our wanderings we got back on the shuttle and headed to the airport. I slept and read most of the way, which was nice because I can do a little work tonight and I have the energy to blog for all of you! We got some of our favorite curry at @ Home Thai then parted ways. All in all it was a wonderful weekend - relaxing but a cultural experience of another people and a land so sacred and historical that to this day they cherish it. It was beautiful and I'm so glad I did it.

This week is kind of nuts! Tomorrow I have class, then a break on Tuesday, Wednesday we have a six hour field trip then three hours of class, Thursday I have a quiz and a 20 minute presentation on Aboriginal Australia, then Saturday I have a 2000 word research paper due before we leave for Melbourne as a program on Sunday. It'll go by really fast but I'm excited to get going! :) I hope you all had a good weekend!

G'night from down under!

Australian Adventures

2009-09-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been so lax about my postings this week! It's been relatively uneventful, filled with class, writing a paper, and trying to get over this cold.

Though, I guess something kind of big happened on Wednesday. I got my internship! Fremantle contacted Daryl on Monday and sent their regrets - they couldn't take an intern. Since most of their day to day operations have been relocated to South East Asia there wasn't really anything for me to do in this office. I was thankful for their honesty and consideration, it's still a nice connection to have somewhere down the road. So Daryl emailed his contact at Showtime Monday afternoon and by the end of class I had an interview. It was like lightning! Wednesday morning I got up early, got dressed in my nice professional outfit (which I realized my white, French cuffed shirt had a small stain on the sleeve as I put it on, I covered it awkwardly with my hand most of my interview) and went to my first class before my interview. It went by pretty slowly, the longer I sit the more antsy I get so by the time Daryl came to pick me up at BUSC I was ready to burst. Of course, my interviewer was still on an international conference call when we got there so I had to wait some more. But that was fine because the interview seemed great. They have so much going on at Showtime Australia! Not only do the license and program American-made content but they produce their own as well. That, to me, is the most exciting. I get to be in an environment that is filled with both creative people and business people - the combination I hope to embody. I'll be working with two executives, following their day to day operations in addition to being given some projects of my own. I'm really excited as they seem open to allowing me some independence and a window into pretty much everything. Not to mention the DVD library they have there, I'm going to buy a sleeping bag and just camp out in there! It sounds like a really fantastic opportunity and I'm lucky to be putting it on my resume.

Afterward, Daryl and I went and got a coffee and chatted for awhile. He's a really great mentor and I'm really grateful that he's my adviser. He's so knowledgeable and willing to share all of that knowledge, which is a huge help. It was nice to just kind of sit and listen to his stories - he did a lot of documentary work during his career so he was really interested in my work with Carl and Tia as well. I think I'll eventually do something big with docs, they seem to be popping up everywhere in my life! I'm excited to be able to explore everything at Showtime, their programming lineup is amazing: from Dexter to Grey Gardens to documentaries. I'll be watching the Emmys on Monday (they're on at 10am Monday here!) with my fingers crossed for Showtime programming!

After that I just bummed around all day, finishing a paper about the programming differences and successes between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and PBS/CPB in the States. I love my major. :)

I also love my minor! Since I'm taking an Aboriginal Australia class here, Professor Zank (my religion adviser) said if I wrote my paper in the class on Aboriginal religion I could count that as a religion credit. Well, the professor who's teaching the class here is so awesome she's helping me take it a step further. Not only am I writing a research paper on Aboriginal Christianity she's going to help me create a multimedia presentation on the evolution of Aboriginal spirituality - from the time in the bush to missionaries to where they are now. She's going to take me through the community throughout the semester to give interviews and hear stories, and hopefully I'll be able to go out with her to her people's lands and see a ceremony. If not, I'm sure the information I gather here will satisfy Professor Zank and be a great show of my quest to create a religious studies aspect out of my experience here. I'm very anxious to speak to people about their concept of religion and spirituality, it sounds so interesting and thought-provoking. It'll be a lot of fun.

Tonight we're off to get margaritas and chips and queso as a celebratory dinner for finishing our papers! I've been looking forward to it all week. Seriously. The Flying Fajita Sistas have the best queso I've ever had. I'm stoked. Tomorrow Megan and I are going to the Outback - to Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon, two beautiful natural phenomenons in the desert, dead center of the continent. We're being true backpackers on this one - no luxury resort for us! We're getting their early tomorrow then hiking Kings Canyon, doing a sunset tour, then back to a little hostel to sleep. Then early, early Saturday morning we're getting picked up to do an entire day's worth of hiking, exploring, and climbing on and around Ayers Rock. Then, at sunset we head to an observatory to check out the amazing stars you can see in the middle of the desert. Sunday we don't leave until later so I'm going to hit some of the Aboriginal cultural centers to start my research and check out the artwork. It's going to be a whirlwind but wonderful trip. I'm so excited!

I should probably go start getting ready for dinner and finish packing. I'll be without internet until Monday morning so I'll update then with pictures from the Outback!

G'night from down under!

Sick in Sydney

2009-09-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

Well, the plague of the Sydney Internship Program Fall '09 has finally caught up with me. I thought I could avoid it but I was wrong. Though, as the evening wears on I do think I'm going to be one of the lucky ones who doesn't get it too awfully.

I felt it last night but ignored it, assuming it was just from all the salt water I ingested over the weekend. But this morning, the sore throat, congestion, and sinus headache could not be ignored. I'm sick. I had a fever, too, which I haven't had in ages. I called my mom for immediate motherly reassurance, which she happily provided (sometimes you just need your mom) and fell straight back asleep after talking with her. When I woke up again I knew I needed something to clear my sinuses so I texted MJ and proposed our favorite meal: yellow curry. Man, did it do the trick. I felt a lot better after eating a heaping serving of spicy yellow curry with rice, veggies, and chicken. I think my body was happy, too. Protein, carbs, and vegetables all in one glorious serving. Thank God for MJ for coming with me, it was exactly what I needed, plus we were the first ones at the restaurant when it opened. The waitress asked us if we were eating breakfast or lunch with them! We then trekked to the shopping center where I bought some Sudafed - same brand here, thank God - and, exhausted after my excursion, went back for an epic nap. I woke up to a voicemail from my internship adviser - I got an interview with Showtime Australia! Yay! It's less of an interview and more of a "let's meet you so we can double check you'll fit in with our office culture but you're basically already hired" or so says Daryl. I'm really excited about the job, it has a lot of potential for production, management, and development, which is exactly what I want. Plus, once I finalize my internship here I can repolish my resume and send it out to my boss for second semester so she can also finalize my position in Los Angeles. It'll be nice to get that out of the way. After running to BUSC for class I headed back home to eat another nice spicy food - sushi. I figured after three water bottles, two cups of tea, and the curry, the wasabi would be the icing on the cake. Again, it did the trick. I can definitely breathe easier than I have all day, I'm hoping this means that I am getting over it fast. Though, I did have to postpone my date with Ben for fear of both of our healths. Next week! It'll give me more time to finish my paper, though, since I need to turn it in early before I leave for the Outback on Friday. Tomorrow will be Pilates, paper, and laundry day - if I'm feeling up to that last one. I think with another good night's sleep (this time with the aid of Sudafed PM) and another couple liters of water I should be okay. It just sucks being sick on another continent - thank goodness for Sarah and Abby being on Facebook chat this morning so I had sympathetic ears to whine to. :)

I'm off to watch some Curb Your Enthusiasm before taking my meds, tomorrow will be less eventful still, so stay tuned for a health update.

G'night from downunder!

Belated Update

2009-09-13T03:44:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a few days! It's been insane, but amazing! I'll go day by day.

Thursday: Boring day but fantastic night. It was Megan Jackson's birthday so we went out hardcore. After taking (and acing!) my quiz I showered and got dressed in my new outfit for her birthday dinner and drinks at Cargo. I got a beautiful black banded high-waisted skirt and a gray shirt with gold coin detailing around the collar. I wore black tights, my Tory Burch leather jacket, and my black peep toed heels. I felt really, really good and was so excited to go out. We all left for Cargo around 8:15pm after giving Megan her cake and singing happy birthday. She was so surprised! The lounge was fantastic - they gave us two bottles of free champagne to start us off and were more than willing to take pictures of all us screaming girls. We started off with $5 champagne cocktails and then went to Pimms Lemonade after the promotion ended. It was fantastic just to hang out with all the girls, have some cocktails, and laugh all night. It was so, so much fun. I chatted up the bartender all night, being a big idiot. LoL But towards the end of the night I met a great guy named Ben. We talked for an hour while everybody else was dancing and drinking and we ended up exchanging numbers. It was a fantastic, fun, exciting night that I'm so glad I was a part of. Great friends, great time!

Friday: After all of our excitement we all felt a little under the weather Friday so I laid low, got some yellow curry (my new favorite hangover food)for lunch and then packed for Surf Camp. After some sushi, gelato, and a two hour bus ride we arrived at camp and all crashed pretty hard. It wasn't very eventful except that before I left I finally received my new cell phone which means I can again BBM, text, and receive calls from the US - so call me! Plus my mom sent me a beautiful card and a picture of the two of us from my senior photos. It's old, but I'm glad I have it here.

Saturday: Up bright and early to learn how to surf! After a big breakfast we all got fitted for wet suits and learned how to carry our boards down to the beach. Let me tell you, they are not light! Man, I was tired just from carrying the 9 foot board all the way from our cabins to the beach. We split into groups - our leaders being Shane (Shane-o), John (John-o) and 14-year old Brett (Brett-o) - and started the slow but positive process of learning how to surf. We started on the beach and got the basics down, how to paddle, how to get in the right position, where our feet were supposed to go. It was hard, my hip is really restrictive in some ways, surfing apparently being one of them. It's almost impossible to bend the way it needs to so I can pop up on the board. It was really messing with my position and how I needed to learn to stand. We started mostly with just pushing ourselves up onto our knees - which I proceeded to do most of the day despite learning how to stand in our second lesson. Thankfully, the instructors are really great and recognized my issues pretty fast. Shane-o saw me struggling and showed me a different way to come up, a slight modification for my hip since it was really starting to bug me. After that, I totally was able to get up. Mind you, these are tiny waves and my balance still wasn't perfect but I rode some in! We had a great time in both of our lessons - a total of six hours in the water. It was exhausting! We had a big dinner and some ice cream after much-needed showers. In the evening we got a slide show of our first day and laughed at how ridiculous most of us looked. Seriously, wet suits plus wobbly uni students equals some hilarious faces - guys and girls! Some people went out to the pub after dinner but our group decided to crash, which we totally did.

Sunday: Woke up bright and early again! Another big breakfast, though a little slower this time as we were sooooore. We went out again in the morning and this time I was much more successful! I rode so many! It was so exciting - being in the water, the waves, being with friends. It's amazing. Most people know I'm a total fish - ocean, lake, pool, once I'm in you can't get me out and this was no exception. The water was cold but it was so refreshing, especially because it was about ten degrees hotter today than it was on Saturday. I love the ocean. Even if I hadn't been surfing I would've enjoyed myself just being in such blue, beautiful water on Seven Mile Beach. I know it's not the most intense surf, but it was a great learning experience. We had a great lunch - Australian way to eat burgers = beet, pineapple, and sweet chili sauce, SO GOOD - and afterward we went back out for our last surf. I was really satisfied with my morning surf and the waves were nearly nonexistent so we all just messed around - lined our surfboards up and walked across them in the water, made a fort with the boards and tried to keep people off, and yelled at the instructors to do tricks on the waves that managed to appear every once in awhile. It was so much fun to watch them surf, too. We had one last wave (which I rode then face planted in the shallow water) and sprinted back to camp to get showers in before our second two hour bus ride. I slept most of the way back to Sydney then we went to Scubar with the group for free pizza and beer. Most of us were exhausted so we had a piece of pizza or two, a sip of beer, and bailed. I'm still sore, my shoulders are killing me from paddling and my legs are wobbly from all the work. I'm glad I have Pilates on Tuesday!

All in all it was an amazing, unforgettable weekend. A bunch of us are planning on taking another weekend during our internship to go to Surf Camp again because we had such an amazing time and we want more practice! It was so much fun - going out for Megan's birthday, the day after curry hangover food, surfing all weekend, and just enjoying my time in Australia. This week is pretty low key: laundry, paper writing, dinner with Ben, and then The Outback over the weekend! I'll post as much as I can and if anything exciting happens you'll be the first to know. :)

G'night from down under!

PS - Our group picture looks like that because our team name was the Mighty Hermit Turkeys, don't ask me why.

Sunny Sydney

2009-09-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday! It was a pretty uneventful day. I had an amazing Pilates session with Cynthia Lochard and felt so much better afterward. My body has been killing me lately; hip, knees, shoulder, the whole gambit. With all the traveling everything was just out of whack. Thankfully, Cynthia has a great eye for issues and even after one hour long session I felt a lot better. Good enough to swim for an hour today! I forget how good my whole body feels after a nice long swim. I'm going to keep going now, especially since Abby and I are starting the Game On! diet in a week or so. It's going to be intense, and I love to win! Hopefully my pool pass plus weekly sessions with Cynthia, not to mention surf camp, hiking, and traveling will keep me in good enough shape (and earn me enough points) to compete with Abby.

Today was similarly uneventful. Morning was relaxing, then off to the pool, then some sushi for lunch, then an epic nap, then class! We all got together tonight and had a massive study session as we have an exam tomorrow. The good thing is its open book and open note so I took about six extra pages of notes from all of our readings. I'm hoping that'll serve me well. Tomorrow night we're all going out to Cargo Bar for dinner and drinks for Megan Jackson's birthday. That should be incredibly fun! I'm still debating what to wear, but I know I want to finally wear my peacock feather headband that my mom bought me in New York when she visited. It's going to be a really fun night - $5 pizza, martinis, and champagne drinks! :) I don't go out very often, but I do look forward to it when I do. MJ's birthday will be a celebration for us all.

I'm going to head to bed - tomorrow we're going on a tour of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's studios with my media class and then I'm gonna probably study some more before our exam. I'm sorry I'm not very exciting - but after a small pause in blogging this weekend for surf camp (no computers allowed near the beach!) I'll have lots of stories to tell.

G'night from down under!

Home Again, Home Again

2009-09-07T04:47:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back in Sydney after my whirlwind adventure in the City of Sails. It was fantastic. I couldn't have been happier with the experience, from seeing dolphins to sailing all of Father's Day. It was a wonderful way to honor Dad.

Now that I'm back in Sydney there's not much going on! I was exhausted after my early flight and ill-fated all nighter. It was not a smart idea. But, I literally passed out the second I got on the plane (with Zed faithfully being my soft pillow!) and didn't wake up until we landed. That to me is flying paradise. I got back to the dorm and fell back asleep until the mid afternoon when I showered and went to class. There's a great little cafe next to the BUSC (BU Sydney Center) and I had a great sandwich. They have these tiny mini baklavas that I'm obsessed with. They're delicious. It was a nice boost before a three hour lecture. The current CEO of ASTRA (the Australian pay television conglomerate) came and spoke with us, which was really interesting. She was a fantastic speaker and I got her card so I could ask her some questions and hopefully get to know her a little better. She basically had my dream job - Director of Programming - for the former ABA (Australian Broadcasting Association) here and I would love to pick her brain for advice. She was really engaging and despite being exhausted I was easily awake and took tons of notes. I love the fact that classes here are so geared towards our interests. There's no bullshit here - it's information I know I'll use. After class Sam and I went to the grocery store because eating out so much is quickly tapping me out. So, I got some non-perishable healthy items like tuna and rice cakes along with some produce. I'm going to get a different produce item every week so I never have anything go bad. Plus, I found these tiny Nutella packs that go perfectly with an apple. Heaven! I'm pretty tired and a little sad I haven't been able to get a hold of my mom in the past three days to share my adventures with her. Hopefully I'll get to talk to her in the morning. I'm so anxious to tell her how well everything is going. Mom - if you're reading this, turn your cell phone on! :)

Tomorrow I have my first Pilates session with Cynthia Lochard, Level I instructor. I'm so excited. My body is basically calling out for Pilates and I'm ready to get back on the machines. My joints hurt so bad and my shoulder is still all wonky from traveling, I'm sure Cynthia will straighten me up in no time. I'm also going to go sign up for my gym membership - just getting a pool pass, though. With my body feeling like this the last thing I need to do is get on a treadmill or elliptical and blow my knees. Thankfully, Sydney is known for it's PT (or physiotherapy, as they call it) and my good friend Sam is studying with one of the best here. I have offered to be her test dummy for everything so I'm wicked excited to have her play around with my knees and shoulder. Plus, I get a new theraband out of it! I'm a huge dork. Ha!

It's nice to be settling into a rhythm and schedule here. Hopefully I'll have internship news soon, but for now I'm really enjoying the pace of the week and traveling on the weekends. Surf Camp on Friday - good thing I'm meeting with Cynthia before, I can't wear knee braces in the water! It's good to be home in my little bed with my pictures surrounding me. It might not be fancy, but this place is definitely turning into a home away from home.

G'night from down under!

City of Sails, Day Three

2009-09-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

I repeat my sentiment from yesterday: I would move to Auckland in a heartbeat.

Today started pretty much the same as yesterday - snooze button! I love big hotel beds and I soak up all the time I can spend in them. So after sleeping in I headed out for another day around Auckland. I decided to leave early enough for some exploring before sailing today. So I headed down to Queen's St and walked for awhile, got lost on High St, and found a cute little Maori boutique and bought a tiny little stuffed kiwi that I'm also mildly obsessed with. After walking up and down Queens Street for awhile I decided to head back toward the water for some brunch. I found a little cafe called Sierra and hunkered down for some food. It was amazing. I had French toast with bacon and bananas - not a combination I would've originally chosen but it was perfect. Plus, their portion sizes here are so much smaller so you can finish what's on your plate without feeling like a glutton. I also had the best chai latte I've ever had. I took my time with breakfast, reading my book, savoring my meal, and listening to the Beirut CD on shuffle at the restaurant (Kiwis are Beirut fans, who knew?!). It was the perfect start to the day. I then went and checked into my America's Cup Sailing Experience and read my book on the water before heading out at two. The boat was beautiful, it was raced in the '95 America's Cup by the Japanese and man, she was beautiful. Big, powerful, and smooth. We didn't have crazy winds so there was no keeling, which was sad, but it was a beautiful two hour sail. That boat sure does move. I got to man the helm for about 35 minutes, tacking three times, and supervising while they pulled the jib down and the kite up. It was sunny, warm, and a perfect, brilliant sail. The crew was nice and friendly, really informative and conversational. Being used to smaller boats I was a little out of my element cranking those huge sails up but it was quite the experience and I wish I could do it every day. I think the only other place I'm ever as relaxed as I am on a boat is in a barn around horses. There's just a peace about it - water, wind, winches. It's irreplaceable and definitely in my blood.

After a great two hours we headed back to the mooring and I sat to read my book for the hour and a half between the Cup sail and the dinner cruise. But the crew had another plan for me - they saw me by myself and when the finished taking care of the boat, invited me out for a drink. They were all great and we had a lot of fun laughing over beers. I'm Facebook friends with one of the guys and I hope he'll come visit in Australia when he has time between Uni classes. The dinner cruise was just as great. There were only five people (including me) so it was really intimate and nice, not rushed or too touristy. Dinner was very tasty and I drove the Pride of Auckland for another 45 minutes or so while I talked with Pablo, our captain. All the crew on these boats are fantastic, great sailors and passionate about what they do. We went out until around 8pm, watched the sunset over the largest yacht club in the southern hemisphere, sailed under the harbor bridge, and watched the full moon rise over the water. Beautiful. Afterward, I was freezing so I hopped in a cab and back to the hotel. I should've gone right to bed because a cab is picking me up at 5am to make my flight, but that's so not going to happen. Looks like I'm pulling an all-nighter! I'll nap when I get back to Sydney, I don't even have class until 4pm.

It was a wonderful memorial to my dad and there's something about this city that clicks with me. The people, the boats, the water - all of it just kind of feels like home. I'm so hoping I can come back here one day, maybe even permanently. We'll see. It was a happy father's day, I felt Dad everywhere.

I'm leaving early so I might take a quick nap before the cab comes, back to Sydney I go!

G'night from kiwiland!

City of Sails, Day Two

2009-09-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

I would move to Auckland in a heartbeat.

I've never been to a more beautiful city. Don't get me wrong, I love Sydney already and I'm sure I'll love everywhere else I'm going in the next semester but this place feels like home to me. It's amazing.

The morning started out pretty uneventful. I slept in an extra hour and then headed out to navigate my way to Viaduct Harbor. It wasn't hard at all, everything is mapped out well here and most roads lead right to the water. I grabbed some ice tea and sultana toast (my new favorite thing) then walked along the water for a little while before going on the boat for the Whale and Dolphin Safari. The water here is bright green, almost fluorescent, it sparkles like it has diamonds on the surface. It felt really good to be back on water, the smell of it, the feeling of a rocking boat, I love all of that so much. It was a good hour and a half out of the main harbor until open water and the ride was gorgeous. I sound really redundant here, but I can't really describe it any other way. We passed a dormant volcano, plunging cliffs, and rolling hills. I took so many pictures that look the same, but each one has so much color it's hard not to keep snapping. We got all the way out to an area dotted with islands and into "Whale Pass." Unfortunately, we didn't see any Orcas (it's the tail end of their season out here) but man, did we see dolphins! Tons of them! They're such playful and excited animals, they chased the boat in its wake, dove and jumped around the bow, and leaped around both the starboard and port sides of the boat. I literally was like a ping pong ball back and forth getting pictures of them all around. We also just kind of cruised for awhile, which was really great, too. I sat in the galley, drank hot chocolate, and read my book. I love the rocking feeling of being on a boat, I got my sea legs back really quickly and it just felt like home. I curled up and tried to stay warm (it's the end of winter/beginning of spring so it's cold and windy) while watching the scenery around me. We kept slowing to see dolphins so I'd run out, take pictures, then go back in. We were out for four hours and it went by so quickly. I'm so glad I decided to do it, it was a really breathtaking experience.

After that, I wandered back to the harbor and went to the Maritime Museum, which was really informative and interesting. I love knots and they had a whole section of different nautical knots. Dorky, I know. Then, I wandered up and down Queen's Street for awhile, hopping in souvenir shops. I was enamored by a sheep's skin mat that I couldn't stop petting so I decided that would be my little gift to myself. I love it. I'm going to take it everywhere. I've also named it Zed. (they say zed here instead of just the letter "z") It's nice being an anonymous person in a city like this. It's been nice to just be alone with my thoughts and my book. And not talking! I'm really enjoying the silence. Odd for me, right?

Tomorrow, I'm off for two hours on an America's Cup sailboat to race around the harbor then a dinner cruise on a sail yacht. It's their Father's Day here tomorrow, so I think it's doubly appropriate. Boats, eating, water, lots of things Dad loved.

I'm off to eat some fish and chips and warm up - it's cold here and I did not dress appropriately!

G'night from kiwiland! :)

City of Sails

2009-09-04T01:12:00.000-07:00

I have been up a very long time so this post may be quick!

I started off the day early to catch my plane to Auckland. After a pleasant cab ride and getting through customs and security I headed off to New Zealand. I have to say, that even from the air it's a beautiful country. Absolutely gorgeous. So green and lush. The drive into the city had panoramic views of mountains and the harbor. I can't even describe the shade of green that this country is covered in. It's deeper than emerald and almost fluorescent. My hotel is right next to a beautiful park - St James Park - near Auckland University and off the man drag, Queen Street. I love my hotel room, with my big bed and the view of the water and all the sail boats. I was so exhausted after flying and dealing with customs (and sitting in traffic) I decided I'd do something both Dad and I loved to do: get room service and curl up watching a movie! It sounds simple and pedestrian - especially when in a foreign country - but it's so nice to relax and decompress after a day of traveling. Especially because tomorrow is going to be busy!

I start my morning off with a whale and dolphin watch around the North Island of New Zealand. It's on a big catamaran, which Dad loved. Plus, we did it in Boston when I was little and now I'm doing it again on my own! After whale watching I'm going to explore Auckland a bit, read on the harbor, in the park, possibly get dinner somewhere with a view of the water. I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna have to cut this short. But I guess my usual send off won't work, so G'night from kiwiland! :)

Quick!

2009-09-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

This one will have to be a quick one because I'm off to class soon!

Yesterday was relatively uneventful but did mark the six year anniversary of my dad's death. It was hard to be so far away from my mom but I made the best of it. We started the day with a tour of the historic parts of the city, which was really interesting. The whole morning walking tour exhausted me so I went home, had lunch, then took a really solid nap. Then, shower and off to class.

After class was where the amazingness started. We all went to the Flying Fajita Sistas for Natan's birthday, which was so much fun. We got giant margaritas, quesadillas, queso fundido, and Mexican bread pudding. It was a feast, it was delicious, and Natan, Ariel, Megan, Sam, and I did a nice toast to my dad and his legacy. It felt really good to be around everyone and celebrating something instead of wallowing. Plus, my sail trip this weekend is a huge memorial for him and that'll be just me, my books, and his memory.

Sam and I also officially planned Fiji! Yay! :)

So yesterday, despite it's somber tone, was good. Good food, good friends, good memories. That's what it's about, right?

G'day from down under! (it's morning here!)

Planning!

2009-09-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a planner. I have to plan things out, I'm not very spontaneous and I don't like doing things last minute. Seriously, I hate it.

So, because of this I now have the rest of the first teaching period all planned out - every weekend is booked solid and I couldn't be happier! This coming weekend it's off to Auckland for some sail adventures for my dad. Then the next weekend it's surf camp - it's the following weekends I organized today. Sam and I went to Backpackers World bright and early and waited about an hour until Amanda was done with a client. We met up with my friend Megan who was also planning some stuff and decided Megan and I would do the Outback and Cairns together. When she first started bringing up flight prices I was really discouraged and disappointed. It all seemed way too expensive to even begin to commit to anything, and here in Australia prices only go up, there's no "last minute" deal. It's just a last minute pay through your nose deal. So we were at a slight disadvantage. So after another hour or two of basically being told my travel plans were ruined I left, a bit crestfallen. But, I realized, who's a better travel agent than I am? Who plans trips, finds flights and hotels, and does everything not only for her mother but for others as well? Oh, that's right. ME. So I got really revved up, ate my left over Indian food, and started my search. And boy, was I ever right. I found better flight prices, better excursion deals, and all around cheaper experiences. I need to trust myself more often! By 4:30pm, Megan and I had booked a weekend in the Outback visiting Ayers Rock, King's Canyon, and the Aboriginal Center (for my religion credit) for way less than Amanda quotes us AND a long weekend trip to Cairns (pronounced cans for all you!) for Labor Day. I was so excited, so was Megan! It's going to be an amazing couple days getting to see two parts of Australia we really wanted to experience. I'm also thinking of heading to the Whitsundays just for a couple days during Spring Break after Fiji just to see it, but that's for later. I'm so happy things are settled and I'll have a good, like-minded travel buddy with me for those two trips. Megan and I are going to have so much fun hiking in Uluru and snorkeling in Cairns! I'm so grateful that it all worked out. It's going to be a whirlwind five weeks!

We also had our first day of our required Australian Culture and Society class today, which was interesting. I think I can totally work it towards my religion credit and satisfy my adviser back at BU. Not only is one of our guest lecturers an expert on Aboriginal culture and can help me but I'm going to visit one of their most sacred spots to witness a ceremony. Come on, that has to count! :) Early to bed again tonight, we have an early field trip with one of our professors that I don't want to be groggy for. I'm starting to understand this whole early to bed, early to rise thing! Maybe my mother is onto something!

G'night from down under!

Koalas and Dugongs and Sharks, Oh My!

2009-08-31T03:52:00.000-07:00

There are really, truly not enough hours in the day for Sydney, Australia.

Today began at 9:30am when Nathan, Megan, and I decided we'd head to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife center. If you buy the two tickets together you get a wicked good deal so we thought we could pack them both into one day before class at 4pm. It was amazing! The aquarium has so many fish from all around Australia, it was really great to see them up close and learn about everything from sea horses to box jellyfish (still the scariest thing in the world to me). There were crocodiles, little penguins, dugongs (which are like manatees), and sharks. The aquarium has these oceanariums where you can walk in giant glass tubes through the tanks so the marine life is swimming all around you. It's pretty fantastic, not to mention unsettling when there's a shark seemingly 12 inches above you. But they had that for both the shark and the dugong tank. The three of us spent about two hours wandering around the entire aquarium just soaking in all the marine life. It's definitely a must see attraction. I would go again in a heart beat.

Then, after the aquarium we went right next door to the Wildlife Center. It's not really a zoo, but it gives a really great overview of Australia's animal life. From spiders and insects (where I had to speed through because I swear to God I could feel them crawling on me) to snakes and lizards, the first half is all about creepy crawly things that could or could not be poisonous. Some of the geckos and lizards were so interesting looking, seeing a bearded dragon up close was really awesome and something I was excited about. After all the reptiles and such are the birds and butterflies - both of which are incredibly colorful and dynamic. You not only get to see them behind the glass but you get to walk through the habitat and have them land on you, which is really great for the butterflies, I sped through the birds. There were nocturnal animals and mammals like kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and sugar gliders. There were also baby emus, which were so freaking cute, only before they become big giant mean birds that kick. But, the highlight of the center was the koala interaction, which was fantastic! We got to go into the koala habitat and pet them and get our pictures taken with them. They're really soft and lazy, but the one we took our picture with kept trying to hit us with eucalyptus branches. It was definitely a highlight of the week and the pictures turned out great. I can totally cross that off my bucket list.

Then we had lunch at Wagamama (I'm glad to be spreading the Wagamama gospel to others, Sarah!) and then headed back to BUSC for class. I'm thinking I'm really going to love this media class with Daryl. I'm going with him to a lecture given by Anthony Buckley the Australian film producer on Thursday, which should be really informative and hopefully allow me to pick Daryl's brain more about my internship possibilities. After class a bunch of us went and stuffed ourselves silly on Indian food and now I'm off to bed! Tomorrow is more trip planning and my first Australian Society and Culture class - I'm sure another eye-opener!

G'night from down under!

Bronte to Bondi

2009-08-30T01:09:00.001-07:00

I start class tomorrow, yay! Is that an oxymoron? I'm actually really excited, though, and today was so much fun but so exhausting I'm glad to be curled up in sweats blogging.

We got up early and loaded on the bus to take us to Bronte Beach. It was about an hour bus ride out there but once we arrived it was breathtaking. Bronte is beautiful, the beach was in full swing with people having brunch and parties, kids and dogs everywhere. The beach was amazing, soft sand and gorgeous aqua water. It was chilly but so worth the wind. Then we walked the 2.5 kilometers to Bondi Beach but it wasn't just a quick walk, it was probably the most beautiful 2.5k I've ever seen. First you walk up these cliffs that look down into the crashing surf for a couple meters. Then you hit Tamarama Beach where everybody is playing beach volleyball and there are even more surfers. Did I mention that this is surf paradise? Fearless surfers in wet suits braving "winter" water for big waves. Then, you hit more and more cliffs that look straight down and out over the ocean. I've realized the definition of sea foam - color and occurrence. Then you walk down more and more cliffs until all of a sudden a huge salt water swimming pool juts out from the cliffs - that's The Icebreakers, a huge swim club right on the water. During high tide the waves crash into the pool mingling the waters. But, from the Icebreakers you get a huge, panoramic view of one of the most famous beaches in the world - Bondi Beach. The sand was so soft! Like powdered sugar but not sticky. We had lunch at the Surfish, a fish and chips bar that was delicious. A bunch of us sat on the beach for about an hour, talking and laughing at the couple people who decided to brave the icy water, but with no towels when they got back! I thought they were crazy, but I'll for sure go back to Bondi and swim when it's warmer. It was really great to just relax on the beach. Then we walked up and down the street closest to Bondi looking at all of the little surf shops and cafes. It was a long walk, especially when we decided to head back to Bronte to catch the bus. The walk back was just as gorgeous, especially because the sun was going down over the water, high tide was in, all the rocks were getting beaten with the surf, and it was much less crowded. These beaches are just breathtakingly beautiful, I can't even believe I'm here. I'm going to start posting my actual pictures on Flickr soon, so I'll post the link, but for now I'm going to organize for class, possibly have some dinner (food is expensive here! I've been skipping meals to save money for travel {and my ring} so I'll probably just pop wasabi peas) and then head to bed! :)

G'night from down under!

Saturday in Sydney

2009-08-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

This whole trip keeps getting better!

Today, a bunch of us went to Paddington Markets (not to be confused with Patty's Market, to be explained later) to peruse the beautiful jewelry, clothing, and authentic Australian goods. Wow, it was amazing. Not only were there beautiful handbags (one of which I will be going back to get before my internship!) hand crafted by Australian artisans but there was food, textiles, art, and jewelry - my goodness the jewelry! My mother would've wet her pants in this market the bracelets were so beautiful. Me, I love rings, and I found my absolute dream ring - which I will be buying at the end of program. Right now I'm saving my money for trips, but if after everything I still have the money left over I'm going to get it. It's good for me to have something like that because it'll make me think twice before buying anything else. I'll go, "Hmm...I like this dress but do I like it enough to take x amount away from my ring?" So, kudos Paddo market for being a deterrent for my shopping habit. It was just such a gorgeous marketplace. I bought a tiny cupcake and some delicious apple, carrot, ginger juice and that was it for the day. Everything was so pretty, I'll definitely be going back there for Christmas presents. I already know that what I want to get Mom, Maddy, Ray, and Jenna are all there. I'm super excited. I'm really glad I got my butt out of bed and went.

Then, after Paddo Market we went to Patty's Market which is a HUGE marketplace filled with everything you could imagine from produce to cameras. It's like Canal Street on crack. Seriously. I bought some apples, an avocado, and some wasabi peas for under $10 which should hold me over at least for the week. But this market was seriously overwhelming. So many people, so many aisles, so many men and women screaming at you to check out their wares and that their oranges were cheaper than the other guy's. It was insanity. On our way home from Patty's I stopped over at my favorite place ever - Backpacker's World Travel to have one last sit down with Amanda before booking my trip. We have landed on....(drum roll please)....Auckland! Sail City! I'll be flying out there on Friday morning, then hopping on a beautiful catamaran on Saturday for an eight hour excursion around the Bay of Islands, New Zealand's Whitsundays. I get lunch and snorkeling and sunbathing on the bow - all things Dad loved to do. Then, on Sunday, I am doing a three hour America's Cup boat racing tour around the harbor. Something else Dad loved - big beautiful boats that go fast. I'm really excited to be doing it on my own, too. Dad traveled by himself all the time and although he loved traveling with people it's a skill to go somewhere brand new all alone and learn to enjoy it. I'm really looking forward to exploring the way he did, meeting people and making connections. It was a skill he wanted me to have - independence, adventurousness. So, I'm following in his footsteps, packing light, and hitting the ground running in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm sure if he had known it was Sail City he'd have been planning a trip out there as soon as he could. Now if only there was a Motorcycle City I could go to....or would that be Milwaukee? I'm revved to get out there and spend some time with myself and his memory on the ocean.

After the markets we all took some time to relax then met up for dinner. We found a Mexican Restaurant on Glebe street which was amazing! Margaritas, enchiladas, and tres leches cake! Three of my favorite things. I found a really great group of friends and we had a wonderful time laughing, eating, and drinking outside at the Baja Cafe. It was a perfect day all around. Now, tomorrow we're going to tour some of Sydney's beaches, weather permitting, then get ready for class on Monday! It's all going so fast, I hope I can hold on long enough to soak everything in!

G'night from down under!

Friday Funday

2009-08-28T03:15:00.000-07:00

Today went by so quickly!

I still feel like a huge loser because I'm back in my room by 8pm but for those of you that know me well, you know that the "club" scene isn't really my thing. Maybe I should be experiencing it here in Sydney, and I'm sure I will eventually, but I feel better getting a routine going and figuring out my schedule and then going out than tiring myself to the point of no return. So, I'm being a fuddy duddy and hanging out in my room in the evenings! :) This isn't to say I'm not enjoying some fine Australian wine, but there have been no wet pussy shots (as are so famous here) for me.

Today was mostly business again. It started with an internship meeting, which went well. I'm still hoping to work with Fremantle, but I'm going to be patient and trust Daryl my adviser. Then I ran to Backpackers World to try to finish planning this trip. The Whitsundays are still up in the air, I may be going to Auckland instead, but my fantastic travel agent is working everything out for me. I have faith I will be on a sailboat next weekend in one way or another. We'll see what pans out, I'll also be patient with that. In the afternoon I did some grocery shopping - $15 worth of necessary snacky stuff like granola bars - and grabbed a mirror for my room. I went back to the room, finished my CV and personal statement, then headed out to the Sydney Harbour cruise. It was fantastic. Beautiful, relaxing, perfect weather, good food, good conversation. It's been really great getting to know people and finding individuals who are like me, I'm excited to get started. All in all it was an uneventful day but enjoyable - I'm starting to get into my groove here, meet people, and really enjoy myself. Tomorrow we're going to go to some amazing flea markets, which will be a lot of fun. More of that then!

G'night from down under. :)

Mishaps and Misunderstandings

2009-08-27T03:10:00.000-07:00

So, second day in Sydney has come and gone!

I really do love this city, despite the jet lag getting to me hardcore today.

The morning began with me trying to figure out my stupid T Mobile phone. After an hour on hold with customer service and then technical service trying to figure out why my "international" wireless hot spot plan wasn't working it took one guy to go "Oh, you have an unlocked phone? Yeah, that won't work." Awesome. Thanks T Mobile guy in San Diego for telling me a crock of shit. But, thanks to his mistake T Mobile is sending me a new, wireless hot spot enabled phone for a much reduced rate this week. That means (for those of you who care) I will be able to again BBM and call you (for free!) in a little over a week. Thank goodness. My other Blackberry will work fine with my Virgin Mobile SIM card, which had a hissy fit this afternoon and told me I had no minutes. Then, to top it off, AmEx put a hold on my credit card because even though I called them and told them a week a go I'd be in Sydney and that it was "unnecessary to alert them of my travel plans" they thought it was stolen. Baller. After a stern talking to with AmEx customer service that got handled, too, but it was a day chock full of huffy phone calls and firm tones of voice.

I bought my books and decided on over loading during the second teaching period of the semester. This is very unorthodox. See, our internships are second semester which, for a normal student, would mean one day of class and four days of internship. For me, being insane and probably slightly diluted it means two days and an evening of class and my internship. BUT - it means I get to take the wine class that I really wanted to take for fun (and, you know, awesome party tricks) and the brand marketing and advertising class that will help my career and my internship - which looks like it's going to be at the amazing distribution and acquisition company Fremantle Media. I'm so excited, it's not exactly what I saw myself doing but thanks to the guidance of my amazing adviser he convinced me that it will broaden my horizons and give me a much better view of the business end of executive production/network management/studio management, which is what I'd eventually like to do. It sounds fantastic. So two nights a week I get to drink some wine, and one day a week I study some marketing and advertising junk. It'll balance out. I'm so ready to start class.

I also signed up for surf camp! Gnarly! :) It's a three day surf excursion and I'm so excited to be going. It's going to be amazing. I also decided that next weekend (the 4th-7th) I'm going to go to the Whitsundays, a beautiful beach/island on my own to honor my dad's death with a sailing trip. The two wonderful girls at Backpackers World Travel helped me book an amazing trip for a couple days out there on a beautiful tall ship. I'm going to lay in the sun, read some books, and be on a boat - three of my dad's favorite things. I wish my mom could be with me but she'll be there in spirit - as will Dad. I'm so excited to do that by myself, meeting people and making friends, something else my dad was fantastic at. It'll be a perfect homage to his life and legacy.

Sam and I are also going to start planning some of our trips as well. I think I'm going to head to the Outback by myself as well (or with someone I meet here) because Sam doesn't really wanna go. But, I need to see some Aboriginal religious practices up close to cater to my religion credit here, so I should probably go. Otherwise it looks like Fiji, the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, and I'm thinking Vanuatu are my top destinations while I'm here. And New Zealand, definitely. It'll be a whirlwind first half, but it'll be amazing!

I didn't end up going out with Sam tonight for her birthday. I feel bad but my jet lag is just kicking in and the thought of going out partying kind of makes me wanna cry. Soon enough, I'm sure, I'll want to go, but for right now I need to keep my head on straight and not be hung over for meetings! All in good time.

Well, I'm off to temper that jet lag with a good night's sleep and then more meetings and a Sydney Harbor cruise tomorrow! G'night!

PS - Just so you know - that picture is where I'm going to be sailing next weekend. Jealous? :)

Arrival

2009-08-26T00:08:00.000-07:00

Phew, I've finally arrived! It was an insane trip, seriously, insane.

It started at LAX at 4:30pm - six hours before our flight departed. Thankfully I got there early enough to check in my giant (and heavy) bags and get a slight upgrade to an exit row so I could stretch my sore knees out. I bummed around the airport for awhile, finishing some work and housekeeping stuff before finally getting on the flight at 10pm. With both knee braces on I was the first person on the plane, the flight attendants thought it was hilarious. But, I settled in then switched my seats so I could be closer to Sam, and hunkered down for the 15 hour flight.

The surprising part? It went SO FAST. I literally ate dinner, watched three episodes of How I Met Your Mother (thank you V Australia) and then zonked out. Seriously, I slept from an hour after dinner until breakfast - two hours before the plane landed! No jet lag for me! It was fantastic. We had some issues at the Brisbane airport - getting bags, going through customs and quarantine, transferring our bags (which included a bus with lots of pissed off people who were thankfully willing to help me with my giant suitcases), transferring our tickets, delayed flights, then rescheduled to on-time flights, but we finally made it only an hour behind schedule. Sydney is beautiful! It's such an interesting mix of old architecture and modern buildings, an insane amalgamation. We unpacked in our little Unilodge room, not very exciting. I'm living in the little loft, I have my own pocket person lair, as I'm affectionately calling it. It's small, but it'll do. I wasn't expecting the Ritz. Everybody is so nice, I can't wait to get started with class. We joined a wine club down the street from our apartment - $50 for a lifetime membership and serious discounts on bottles of wine, including $50 worth of wine for free! Plus, I can cancel my membership for a full refund when I leave. I like this city already. After our introduction to the program people we went to KMart (crazy...I know) and got some forgotten essentials. Word to the wise - hair products are much more expensive here! I'm glad I got over my nice shampoo thing and am okay with buying the cheapest brand. I'll save that money for traveling. Things are definitely more expensive here, but I don't think it'll be too hard to live on a budget. After our shopping spree today (which included a hair dryer, hair straightener, wireless router, and ethernet cable, woohoo!) I'm pretty sure I can stick to my $5-7 a day budget.

Tonight we're having a welcome BBQ and tomorrow night (jet lag permitting) we're going to The Ivy for Sam's birthday. I'm not a huge club person so that'll be interesting. I guess if I get too exhausted I can always take a cab back to the UniLodge, no harm no foul.

I must run to the BBQ, have a couple beers, then go to bed! I'm exhausted, but hoping some food, conversation, and Strongbow will keep me awake long enough not to wake up at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning. Beating jet lag one hour at a time. :)

More when orientation ends and classes begin! G'day from down under!

On My Way!

2009-08-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

So, it's 5pm in Los Angeles, 10am Tuesday in Sydney - and that is where I'm headed.

My bags have been checked thanks to a wonderful V Australia representative who was helpful and friendly, thank goodness. Four suitcases, two of which were overweight, cost me less to get to Australia than it did from Boston to San Diego! How does that make sense? But, whatever. I upgraded my seat to an exit row so I can stretch out a big and put my feet up so my knees won't get mangled in the process. The same kind gate agent also told me which side to sit on so I could see the view better. I love flying Virgin. God bless Richard Branson.

I can't believe I'm actually going! It's so exciting, I'm still not nervous at all! I'm just completely revved up. It's going to be an amazing five months and I can't wait to start. I have an awful sunburn from laying out yesterday but even that can't get me down, I'm going to Australia! Every person I've spoken with who's ever been there has adored it, I've heard many "That's my favorite city!"'s. I know it's going to be hard work, too, of course, with school, my internship, and continuing to work for two companies in the States, but it's all totally doable and I'm so excited. Is there a better word than excited? Probably not, but words don't really describe what I'm feeling. Yes, of course, I'm going to miss people - a lot of people - but the beauty of the 21st century is that even on another continent I can keep in touch. So keep in touch with me, too! :)

Well, I'm off now to eat some snacks and get some tea, hopefully I can fall asleep when I get on the plane. G'night - I'm off to the land down under! (Maybe I'll meet Colin Hay while I'm down there...)

And, as promised, a picture of my new tattoo.

New Beginnings!

2009-08-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow I leave for San Diego, my last stop off before Australia! This summer has been an amazing whirlwind and I'm so excited to start this new chapter.

Surprisingly enough, I'm not really that nervous right now. Weird? Possibly. Unlike me? Yeah. I think it's because for the first time in a really long time I have almost complete faith in myself and my abilities. This is going to be such a huge learning experience and I'm ready for it. I can take on classes, internship, going out, traveling, everything. I'm ready for it.

I leave with a new tattoo on my left foot to remind me of who I am, what I'm doing, and who's behind me - "Small but strong." Something my dad used to call me and our family, it just made sense. I may be small, but I'm strong.

Check this blog for updates on my travels, experiences, and adventures - I'm going to try to post as much as I can. Sydney here I come! I hope the land down under is ready for me! :)