New Blog!

G’day Mates!!

So it is the end of week 3 and I have finished my second week of class. Classes have been going okay, but they have been really hard to get through. In class, I try to avoid sitting by the window because you get easily distracted looking out at the Pacific Ocean and all you can think about is how much longer until you get out of class so you can enjoy the beautiful weather.

On Wednesday, some girls and I went to our favorite spot in Manly, Insitu. On Wednesdays, they usually have Happy Hour all day, but when we arrived, we noticed that it was closed from 5 – 9 for a private function. So we decided to kill time and walk over to Shark Bar for a drink. Much to our surprise, we found out that the lower level was about to start up a game of Bingo. We all decided to play, but noticed that Australians play Bingo much differently. They give you a piece of paper containing 3 boxes, each box containing 30 boxes within each larger box. The 3 boxes have numbers in each of them, located sporadically while the empty boxes are free spaces. When the guy calls out numbers, the first person to have 1 of their 3 boxes full wins the game. My friend Samantha won and what was her prize? A package containing 6 sausages and 6 pieces of beef. Australia is a pleasant country, yet a strange one as well.

After our Bingo experience, we headed over to Insitu for a little bit. We partook in their Happy Hour and ordered potato wedges. It is common to find potato wedges on an Australian menu and it is not hard to see why because they are simply delicious. On the side, they bring you sweet chili sauce and sour cream. Their sour cream is different here… they whip it, making in lighter and fluffier. Potato wedges + sour cream + sweet chili sauce = DELICIOUSNESS

Anyhoo, after Insitu we headed over to a bar called Stain. Every Wednesday nights it is Karaoke night. I have heard other students telling me about it but I have never been there before. As we headed in, I was surprised by how crowded it became for Karaoke. I had imagined a few tables around the stage listening to people sing, but it was so crowded that you could barely move.

We found some of our friends and were enjoying the night. I start talking to Chad and he told me that he is going to be singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” from Queen. I told him that I love that song, which is when he replies, “Do you want to sing it with us?” Not giving it a moments thought, I respond with “Of course!” This is when I find out that one of the guys had backed out and they need someone to sing. Now let me state, I have never done Karaoke before in my life. When I saw how crowded it was, I began to second guess my decision but decided that it was too late to back down. About twenty minutes later, I find up that we are about to be on stage. It was Chad, Adriel, Chris and I. As our names were called to come up on stage I started to wonder what I was getting myself into to. However, once we began to sing, all nerves went away. There were at least 40 ICMS students there cheering us on and singing along. I got REALLY into the song and we managed to get the crowd into it as well. It was awesome having everyone cheer us on. Overall, it was a great night.

On Friday night was the Backstreet Boys concert. Let me give you a little bit of information regarding my adolescence. I was that girl who had her bedroom wall covered with BSB posters that you could get from the teeny bopper magazines. Therefore, I was highly anticipating this concert and couldn’t wait for it to start! We had made a sign saying “Flew 2 days, 27 hours from the USA to see BSB in concert!” So… we may have told a little white lie but we wanted to get backstage.

The concert started at 7:30 and we made it to the Acer Arena by 7:00. (Quick fact: The Acer Arena was built in Olympic Park when Sydney was nominated to host the Olympics in 2000). We wanted to get there earlier and tail gate all day because 3 of us had class until 4:30, and then we had to take a ferry and take 2 trains to get to the venue. The venue was crowded by the time we arrived and we were waving our sign above our heads. I noticed that there were no longer any young girls crowding the stage, but women around my age and up. It was a strange sight to see and I felt old.

I went up to numerous security guards asking them if they could get us backstage, but everyone I talked to didn’t have the authority to do so. I asked them if they could get somebody who could… but they basically laughed in my face. But what they didn’t understand was that although we wanted to meet the BSB… they would want to meet us too!! If I know my BSB like I know I do, they love their fans and if they knew we “flew across the world to see them in concert” they would want to meet us. They just didn’t know about us yet. But… no such luck.

So we end up going to find our seats and as we sit down, we notice that we are located on the side of the stage so we are not even able to see the screen! At concerts in the US, if you have bad seats, you can sometimes pay extra money to upgrade your seats. So we talked to a woman and she said that our best option was go back to the ticket window outside the venue and ask if they had any tickets available for upgrade. Much to our dismay, they said that the only tickets available were the ones around where we were seated. So we went back to our seats and tried to make the best out of it. I wasn’t going to let my seating ruin my BSB experience. 5 minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder and it was the woman I had talked to earlier. She motioned for my friends and I to gather up our stuff. As we were quickly following her around the arena, she said that she had found some empty seating that nobody has sat at yet, but if they were to come to the seats, we had to return to where we were originally. We told her that was fine and just greatly appreciate her for doing this for us. So we arrived to our new seating area and it was excellent!!!! That woman had hooked it up for us. We were much closer and had an excellent view. It was so nice of her to remember us and help us out.

They started off the concert with “Larger than Life” and “Everyone” which are songs to their fans stating how much they appreciate their fans. We were going nuts and dancing throughout the entire show. They were absolutely amazing in concert. They played all of their hits and their new songs as well! AND they each sang a solo song as well. I never thought I would say this but Howie D got goooood looking. If you don’t believe me, GOOGLE it! They ended the show with “Shape of My Heart”. That concert was pure bliss from the beginning to the end. It was definitely the best pop concert I have ever been to.

Anyways, that it all I will write for now but I will try to write again as soon as possible.

Cheers

Picture Time!!!

So here's whats going on with me...

On Monday’s I only have one class at 2:30 in the afternoon, which was nice because one would think that you could sleep in. Oh no, not here in Australia. Because in Australia, they have a bird called a Cookaburra. The Cookaburra bird is the never failing wake up call for all ICMS students. It emits a loud high-pitched piercing sound over and over again. I have placed my fan right next to my bed so hopefully it will help drown out the noise of those damn birds.

My venue operations class today was, to put it lightly, boring and tedious. We were taught what to look for when you are in charge of picking a venue for an event. This is when we were learned to use our five senses, were explained what our five senses are, and then went tediously through each one to show us how we can use our senses to choose an appropriate venue. I understand that I am taking a 100 level class and it is the second week of class, but really, give me a break.

Now let me state that I love living in Australia, but for the business school I am attending, ICMS is extremely unorganized and is not run properly. So I am going to go off on a little rant:

We were led to believe that we had unlimited Internet during our stay here. What led us to believe this was that they literally put on ICMS advertisements: “Unlimited access to Internet.” Well, much to our dismay, we learned that we have a $40 credit of Internet per month. If you go over $40, then you have to pay money to the school to access the Internet. Their reason for putting up a restriction is because they don’t want students clogging up the Internet by going on Facebook, MySpace, or YouTube. That is why no one has seen pictures from Australia yet because it takes up a lot of credit to download pictures. For instance, if you want to merely 5 pictures, it would take over 20 minutes to download those pictures. Skype also takes up a lot of credit, but that is everyone’s main communication towards home to talk to family and friends. Why would they want to take that away from us when we are so far away?

So Katie, Michelle and I felt it necessary to talk to someone about this. We brought forth the paper that said that we were able to have unlimited access to the Internet. When presented with the paper, they responded that you have access to the Internet at all times, which basically means you can go into the computer lab whenever you want and went further on to tell us we were informed of limited Internet when we were sent out papers informing us about ICMS.

I told them that it was false advertisement to put a statement saying “unlimited access” because no one in the right mind would think of it as accessing a computer lab 24/7. AND we weren’t even informed about the limited internet until after we had been accepted into the college. After much complaining, we were able to receive an extra $20 credit that we can use if we run low any month. I guess that it is better than nothing but I have never heard of a university limiting the amount of time you are able to use the Internet.

On a happier note, the day took a turn for the better when I was informed that I had a package. I went down to receive it and noticed that it was from my brother. I opened the package to find myself with a video camcorder!! I have the best brother ever!! It made me so happy, I can’t wait to record things happening in Australia and show everyone from back home.

That’s about all for now… 3 more days until BSB concert!!!

Cheers

First Week of Class

Hello!!!!

After having an extended winter break (two months) and spending a week in Australia, I am back to class, Monday – Friday. My schedule isn’t that bad, with the exception of an 8 am class on Friday. But I figure I would rather be in class with warm weather than freezing my butt off of Michigan. The only downside to that is that when I am in class, I have a view of the ocean and it just makes me want to be outside enjoying the beach.

I think I am going to enjoy the classes I am in for this semester. I have Events Operations & Logistics, Business Communication, Introduction to the Event Industry and Venue Hospitality Operations. I like all of my professors, which is always good. They seem fun and enthusiastic about the event industry. At ICMS, they don’t really assign homework or exams here, it just seems like it is a bunch of projects in every class and then a final exam at the very end. So if I manage my time well, I don’t see this semester being too difficult.

For instance, for one of my classes, I have a project when I need to source a venue in Sydney and coordinate their end of year Christmas party. Because of the experience I have had at Abbington (Miss you guys!!!) I don’t think this or other projects will be hard, just a little bit time consuming.

After class on Friday, a few girls and I ordered tickets for a Maroon 5 concert, with One Republic opening up for them. It’s on April 4 and I’m extremely psyched for that concert! Going to concerts is one of my favorite thing to do and I can’t wait for all the concerts I am attending while I am here!!

Last on that night, the University hosted an Ice Breaker party for all University students which was held in the Courtyard. They had good drink specials a DJ and most importantly… a dance floor! I got my groove on.

During the Ice Breaker party, I wanted to make the most of this experience and branch out to meet people from different countries of the world. Given that it was an Ice Breaker party, I pulled out a fantastic line to random people to start a conversation. I would go up to someone and ask them: “How much does a polar bear weigh?” After a much puzzled look they would give me, they would ask “How much” in which I would respond with “Enough to break the ice. Hi, I’m Maria.” Clever, eh??? I thought it was witty. (**Props to Caitlin & Sarah**)

I met a group of people from France and sat down with them for a little while. I told them that I wanted them to be completely honest with me, but I wanted to know why the French hate Americans so much. They said that they had nothing against Americans in particular, but they do not like or support our President. I guess they had the notion that every American supports Bush and what he was doing, and I made it quite clear to them that that is not the case and we were looking forward to having someone else in office.

Throughout the night, I kept meeting people from all around the world and had the time of my life. It seems that people from other countries know so much about the States but we know so little about the world because we are so caught up with ourselves. When people from Australia or other countries find out that I am from America, I have been asked numerous times who I am going to vote for. They ask what I feel about possibly having a female President or a African- American President which surprises me that they know about what is going on in politics in America. However, if you were to ask Americans about an election going on in another country, the majority of Americans wouldn’t have the slightest idea about who was running. I like having these conversations with people from outside of the country because they make me realize the biases I once held and changes the way how I view the world.

Anyways, after the Ice Breaker party was over, everyone headed down to the Corso to keep the night going. Everyone headed over to Shark Bar and I had the TIME OF MY LIFE!! They were playing songs from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Best moment of the night was when they played “Like A Prayer” by Madonna and watching Sean get down on his knees and rock it out to Madonna. They kept playing one good song after another, such as: “I just want to dance with somebody” “Like a Virgin” “Baby Got Back” “Love Shack” “Ice Ice Baby”. No one left the dance floor because they kept playing the hits and we danced the night away. It was a great bonding experience with my fellow students.

On Saturday, we woke up for brunch and headed out to the beach for a few hours. It was so relaxing laying out in the sun while listening to Dave Matthews. We went out in the ocean and were goofing around with each other with the waves crashing around us. I loved swimming in the ocean, it is so beautiful and serene, I could spend all day out there.

Later on that night, we freshened up from the beach and went out to Ivanhoe to enjoy happy hour. At around 10:30, I called it an early night because I burned at the beach and was freezing, so I deemed it best to go home.

On Sunday, we had a boat cruise that took us throughout Sydney Harbor. It lasted for a few hours and everyone had a great time. It was just for the study abroad students so it gave us all a good chance to chat with one another. We had an intense game of flippy cup and quarters on the lower lever of the ship, which is always fun to play.

The view of the harbor was just simply breathtaking. We had great photo opportunity’s to take with friends with the background consisting of the bridge and Sydney Opera House. It was exceptionally beautiful when day turned to night and you were able to see the Opera House lit up with the city in the background.

Anyhoo, that is my life up to date. I hope everyone is doing well… Miss you all!!! Ta ta!

Little Update...

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 26^th birthday celebration coming up on February 23^rd 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

G'Day Mates!!!

Haha... alright, I'm a dork. So Australia thus far has simply been amazing - minus the rain. Australia has been suffering from a ten year drought and of course, when I arrive, the rain starts. It is supposed to be going on for the week. It isn't too bad because it rains but sometimes it clears up and you are able to lay outside.

Last night me and a few girls went out bar hopping in Manly. All I have to say is that I have never seen prices so high for booze, it is ridiculous. For instance, my friend MJ got a martini and it was $17!!!! The cheapest think you can drink is beer for $6, which actually isn't that bad because it has higher alcohol content than the US. The other day, I met a guy who is from Sydney and I was asking him where the hot spots were. He said that there are plenty of bars, the only downside to Sydney is that it is much more expensive than Manly. I don't want to even think about how expensive drinks are going to be out there. Even if you go to a liquor store, the prices are extremely high. For a fifth of Jack Daniels, it costs $44. Australia has a high liquor tax to support their infrastructure, since it was built in the 1960s and grew rapidly, they need high tax dollars to support their economy.

Last night, after many bars and many drinks, the bartender was making last call and me and some friends decided to shots. I started talking to the bartender, Oliver, and told him how high the prices were for liquor compared to the United States. Oliver, let me add, is gorgeous. He was easy going and friendly to talk to and gave us our last drinks for free and took a celebration shot with us. I think I may have a crush. Haha

The next day we had a few more classes of orientation giving us a background of the college of what we were to prepare for. After dinner, me and the girls started drinking at 6 during happy hour. At a bar called Insitu, they have these "Apple Pie" shots that taste exactly like apple pie. You can't taste the booze and it is the most delicious shot in the world. After spending two hours enjoying happy hour, we went over to Shark Bar and sat down, while Kelley pulled out a deck of cards and we started to play drinking games and drink some beers. By ten o'clock, we were starting to get a little loud and rowdy when we noticed that they have a juke box where you can pick a song, and the video would come on throughout the lounge. If you put in $1, you got one video but if you put in $3, you got 3 videos. We got so into the videos that some of us, I won't mention who, started getting up and dancing drunkenly at only 10 o'clock. We were told that we needed to take it down a notch or else we couldn't stay. Lame.

After a few hours of drinking, we came back to the campus and decided to buy Backstreet Boys tickets. Yes, thats right, Backstreet Boys. Let me inform you a little bit about my childhood for those of you who don't know. I was that girl who plastered her bedroom walls with posters from Teen Bop of the Backstreet Boys. When I found out that they were going to be in Sydney when I was here, I HAD to go! So we stumbled into the computer lab and bought tickets online. I can't wait. It's going to be a good time and I am going to try my hardest to work my way backstage. I think I am going to tell people I traveled all the way from the States to see them in concert.

Anyways, sorry that it took me so long to make another post but I will try to get better at keeping you updated! Cheers

My Luggage Has Arrived

Hello!!

So the past few days have been busy/ chaotic but at the same time wonderful. Last night, I finally received my luggage. I was so happy, words could not express. I went three days without having anything on me, which made it hard to get by but it feels great to have all of my belongings with me again.

Two nights ago we had a cocktail party for the new students at ICMS. It was awesome. Free champagne, wine, beer, mimosas and awesome hors d'oeuvres. You can never go wrong with free booze. The best thing about the campus is that there are students from all over the world. Everyone is so nice and friendly and it is easy to meet new people. After the cocktail party, we all headed out to Shark Bar, which was awesome. There were about 200 students from ICMS who went there and we drank, danced, had a good time and got to know each other.

Yesterday, I had to get my suit fitted. It took forever to wait in line. We are supposed to get our business suits the second week of class so once classes start up, we are supposed to wear "business casual" until we get our suits. Blah :(

The weather outside was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't have time to go down to the beach (also, let me note, at the time I didn't have to swim suit to lay out in the sun) but I was out in the court yard for about an hour and I already got some sun!!! I can't believe I am going to be living in paradise for 3 months... I feel like I'm in a dream and I am about to wake up.

Last night, we had a man who was similar to Steve Irwin come in and show us exoctic animals that exist in Australia. He showed us several snakes, a lethal spider!! and an alligator!! I took plently of pictures so I will post them in a few days.

Oh, and I will you guys up to date on the Aussie lingo:

Pitcher of Beer = Jug of Beer
You're welcome = No worries
Sunglasses = Sunnies
Rooting = Sleeping with ( in a sexual conantation) *I learned this the hard way after I said I root for the Chicago Bears
Good times = Happy days
Breakfast = Breakie
Sidewalk = Foot walk

To my Grand Valley friends:
I heard Grand Valley closed school today because of the school... I'm sorry, I feel for you! If it makes you feel any better, it rained today.

Love you all and miss you!

Happy days! Cheers!

Boycott American Airlines!!!!!

Hello everyone!!

I am finally in Australia and it is surreal that I am finally here. The past three day of my life have been crazy so let me backtrack and tell you what hell I have recently been through.

The night before I left, my mom wanted to have a going away dinner for me with family and friends. Initially, it was supposed to be something small because I didn't want to make a big deal about it but a lot of friends stopped by to say good- bye and wish me good luck. With my friends and family under one roof, I realized how lucky I was to have such a loving family and such good friends by my side. It made me realize how much I am truly going to miss everyone from back home.

The next day I woke up, to my pleasant surprise, without a hangover! It was hectic putting everything together at the last minute but I managed to get it done with time to spare. As we headed out to the airport, (3 hours before my flight, thanks Dad), my brother was flying into O'Hare from California to surprise my family and I was the only one who knew about the plan. As I was checking in, I was trying to secretively talk to my brother and let him know where we were. There was miscommunication, and he was at a different terminal but said he would be there in 10 minutes. Myy sister insisted that they leave immediately because she had to be back in time for work. I didn't know how to stall them any further, so I had to end up saying to them: "How about you wait just 5 more minutes to see your son?" My parents were extremely shocked/ happy to see him and it felt great to have my family by me right before I left. Saying good bye was tough, and I managed to hold off the tears until I saw my mom tearing up. I was so excited for Australia, but saying good bye to my family was the hardest part.

Now this is where my travels begin to take a turn for the worst.

My flight was initially scheduled to leave at 4:40, but it turned to continually be delayed until I wasn't able to board the airport until 7:50!! I was flying into LA and my flight left from LA to go to Sydney at 10:30. I realized that it was going to be extremely close and I might miss my flight to Sydney. As we we departing Chicago, the pilot said that the estimated arrival time to LA was 10:35. I talked to the flight attendant and told her my situation, and she said there were about 30 people on the flight who were connecting to Sydney, and since it was in the same terminal, she thought that they were going to wait for land. I was hoping the plane would because I really wanted to be on that flight because 3 girls who I am traveling with were on that flight.

When I finally land in LA, I find out that I missed my flight by 5 minutes! They closed the door but the plane didn't get off the runway for another hour, so I looked onto the plane that I should have been on. Luckily, there was another plane leaving for Sydney an hour later and I managed to get a seat on that flight. I called AustraLearn and told them that I didn't get on that flight, but I informed them of my new flight, when I would be arriving, etc.

Then I had to endure a 14 1/2 hour flight to Sydney. It was a tight fit and you could barely move. I downed two Tylonel PM I managed to sleep for some of the flight, which helped take away some of the time and also watched two movies, Across the Universe (two thumbs way up!!) and The Nanny Diaries.

When I finally arrived in Sydney, I was so happy to get off the plane and get to the University. Once I got through security and customs, I find out that American Airlines lost my luggage and it never made the plane to Sydney! Turns out, about 8 other people lost their luggage who were going to ICMS, and it may be about 48 hours until we get our luggage.

SO.... after we file our luggage claim, we walk out to find the shuttle from ICMS to take us to Manly. We waited for about 40 minutes, and after calling them, find out that they are not coming back to get us and told us we needed to find out own means of transportation to get to the University. Our group took a shuttle, which cost about $110 AUD to get to the University.

The ride was about 45 minutes and we were able to see Sydney as we drove by. Everything they say about how beautiful this city is, is true. It was raining when we arrived, but that didn't take away our excitement. We all knew that we were in for a trip of a lifetime.

Once we arrived to our Castle, we were checked in and I was taken to my room. I am on the top floor, and my muscles already ache by going up and down four flights of stairs at least ten times. What makes up for it is my bedroom view. It overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is breathtaking. I still can't believe that I am here. During the day, we headed down by the beach to a shopping area to get basic toiletries and clothes to hold us over until our luggage arrived. After suffering such a long and exhausting day, Katie and I hit a local bar. I ordered lemonade and vokda only to realize that I got Sprite and vodka. I guess they call lemonade "lemon soda" down under. Also, instead of saying "your welcome" they respond with "no worries."

It has been a hectic few days, but once I get my luggage, everything should be fine. I miss everyone greatly but will post again in a few days!

Welcome!

G'Day mates!! This is my first time having a blog, but I figured this is the easiest way to keep in touch with friends and family. If you are curious to what I am up to, or just extremely bored, I am going to perpetually be updating this, keeping you updated on my experience here in Sydney, and then my travels to New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaii.
If you want to contact me personally, I would love to hear from all of you!!! My e-mail address is Ariam1123@yahoo.com. Ta ta for now!