Hello!!!!
So I am trying to become better at keeping everyone updated on what I have been up to so here is a recap of my life:
Two days ago, it was a rainy day :(and we had a scheduled bus tour to give us a look around Sydney. We took two buses, and I moved to the second bus, which was an excellent move on my half because it was less crowded and gave me room to stretch out.
The tour guide was a really sweet woman who gave us the history of Sydney as we toured the city. An interesting tidbit of information for you to know is that Australia was colonized by the British in 1788. At the time, the British prisons were overflowing and they wanted to weave out their lower class. So they decided to create a penal colony and sent prisoners by boat to Australia. The British found any reason they could to send people over, such as stealing a loaf of bread, to weave out the over populated lower class. This continued until gold was found in Australia. Everyone flocked to Australia to claim gold and the British realized it was no longer a penalty to send people over to Australia. Thus, this country was colonized by prisoners. Ironic, eh?
Anyways, the tour was fun, except for that it was raining. We ended the tour by going to Cargo Bar, which is in Darling Harbor. We were treated to a complimentary drink, where I enjoyed a really good Australian beer called Pure Blonde Ale.
While I was at Cargo Bar, a man passed by our table and he has this great looking tropical drink. My friends and I asked him what drink it was and he said that the bartender made it up for him. He was extremely friendly and happy and told us he had just proposed to his girlfriend (fyi, she said yes!). As I was walking past him, he stopped me and introduced me to his girlfriend and then said, “Wait, she is not my girlfriend… she is my fiancé now!!” He was beaming from ear to ear. They let me try their fruit drink and started up a conversation with me, talking about where we were from and what not. They were the sweetest couple ever and I was so happy for them.
The attitude displayed by the newly engage couple can be seen throughout the country. Australians have to be the nicest and more sincere people I have met. I feel that in the United States, most people have their own personal agenda and use people for what they need out of them. But Australians seem to be more genuine, who are always willing to give advice about where to visit and will strike a friendly conversation with anyone.
After we finished talking to the couple, we sat down to enjoy our drink. Cargo Bar has glass doors that overlook the harbor. If you go outside, you go out onto the deck and you can see the ships entering and leaving the harbor. Luckily, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining so it was absolutely beautiful outside. The Beach Boys song “Don’t Worry Baby” came on and I immediately thought of my dad. For those of you who don’t know, my dad is a Beach Boys fanatic. Before I left, my dad told me how happy he was that I was going there because he had always wanted to visit Australia but never had the chance. My dad grew up in Sweden and he used to sail, so when I heard the beach boys and I was overlooking the harbor with all the boats, I started to tear up and wish that my dad was here with me to see this. I feel so fortunate that my parents were able to provide this trip for me and I wish that they could visit as well.
The next day, I met up with a family friend named Dee. Dee’s father and my grandfather used to do business with each other a long time ago. Dee got to know my family on my mothers side and stayed with them in Amal, Sweden for two weeks when she was around 23 years old. She used to hang out with my mother and aunt when they were younger and remained in touch with my grandparents throughout the years. Thus, when my mom found out that I was living in Sydney, she called up Dee so I could meet her, her husband and her children.
So yesterday, Dee and her husband, David picked me up from the ICMS and we spent the day together. They first took me to Sydney Airport because I was able to be reimbursed $350 for the amount of time that passed before I received my luggage. CHA CHING!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$! I was very excited about that!!
After I received the money, we went shopping (of course) to a shopping mall called Chatswood. It has excellent shopping! We stopped at a café for lunch and I received a smoked salmon melt that was amazingly delicious. I had a list of a bunch of things that I needed to pick up, but I didn’t know where the best place to get it because Sydney is ridiculously expensive. So Dee and David took me around to the good shops to go to and I got to see more of the city.
After lunch, we went to Dee and David’s home and I met their son Lachlan. Not much to my surprise, Lachlan, like most other Australians, was very good looking. They just don’t breed them in the United States like they do down under… Anyways, Lachlan has a 26th birthday celebration coming up on February 23rd and he invited me to come and invite some of my friends as well. I am so excited for this because I have met many people from the University, but I want to meet more people who are from Australia. It should be a good time. It is going to be at David and Dee’s house and they are having 2 kegs, setting up a full bar, food, cake and have invited 100+ people. Dee is insistent on getting a security guard. Haha The theme of the party is to wear your favorite t-shirt, which is a cool theme that I have never been to. I am pretty psyched for this party.
Later on in the day I hung out at their house while Dee prepared dinner. It felt good to be at a home, to chill out and watch TV for a little bit. We don’t have TV in the castle, so it was nice to chilax for a little bit. In Australia, they have a lot of shows that they have in the United States so it was comforting to watch TV shows that I would watch back home.
After a little bit, David told me that there was a cricket match on TV. Cricket is unlike any sport I have ever seen before. There are two games that can be played in cricket. A one- day game or a five day game, yes, that’s right… 5 DAYS!!!!!!!!! Have you ever heard of a sport taking an hour break for tea? It is different from any sport that I have seen, but one thing is for sure, Australians are obsessed with Cricket.
I expressed interest in learning how the game was played. It is somewhat similar to is baseball… but different. Dee has lived in Australia all her life and still doesn’t understand how the game is played but David said that he would try to explain it to me. As I was watching the game, and asking many, many questions, I started to get the hang of it and got into the game. The thing about cricket is that it takes FOREVER but it is not only physically challenging, it is mentally challenging as well. It was cute how David got excited when I asked him questions about cricket. He would get up from the couch and go up to point to the tv screen and show me what meant what. I have to say, by the end of the day, I was into the game and understood why Australians liked it. The cricket game was Australia vs. India and India was most likely to win. I never found out who won because I left at 10:30 pm and the game was still going on. The game started at 2.
Anyways, today is my first day of class but luckily I only have one class on Mondays. Hope everyone is doing well from back home. Miss you all!!!! Talk to you soon!!
Maria
P.S. Many of you have asked me what my address is, so in case you would like to write to me ( hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge), here is address:
151 Darley Rd
Manly, NSW 2095
Australia
P.S.S. More Aussie Lingo:
Bangs = Fringe
Air Conditioning = Chiller
Shrimp = Prawns
Guys = Blokes
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