These days go by so fast! I can’t believe I have been here
for a month already! I am thankful my program is one of the longer ones,
because if it was only three months, I would not be wanting to go so soon!
There is still so much to do!
This past week, I spent more time on campus and made a
conscious effort to meet other international or Australian students. I have an
hour between my classes on Tuesday where I went to the Quad Food Court and
grabbed some Chinese food. I walked around to look for a seat and ended up
sitting with a nice girl. I soon learned her name was Stephanie and she was
also studying accounting and finance! It was fun to talk with her and learn
more about Maroubra Bay (where she lives) and she also suggested some fun
places to go in the city! I have learned that when you go up to anyone and
start talking to them, they are always interested and eager to find out more
about America and what it’s like. Another thing I have appreciated since being
in Australia is how great of a country the United States is. Everyone is so
interested in learning more about America and what it is like. On a side note,
when I say I am from Colorado some people say “oh, like where that massacre
was?”. Unfortunately bad people can taint a perception of a state or country
but I share with them how beautiful and fun Colorado is. When that happened a
few weeks ago, it was all over the news here and on the front page of most of
the papers – making international news.
Anyways, this past Tuesday I went to Aida at the Opera House! I have never been to an opera before and I didn't really go in with any expectations and I had a great time! It was so cool just being in the Opera House and seeing an opera was awesome. It was a love story in italian with english subtitles. Boy those men and women can sing! It was a long show, three hours, so after a full day of classes I was ready to go home by the end. It was an experience I will always remember! The view from inside the Opera House of the Harbor Bridge was absolutely beautiful!
Jen and I went to a
fundraiser one of the clubs on campus was holding. It was at the Kensington
Bowling Club and it costs $10, that’s about all I knew. So I made sure I was wearing
socks under my boots and hoping I would break 100. Haha when we showed up, I
quickly realized it was not the bowling I was thinking of. It was more like bocce
ball. We met some students that we ended up hanging out with and talking to
most of the night. They taught us how to bowl and it was a lot of fun! The
first time I rolled the ball I rolled it way to hard and it went well past the
small white ball we were trying to get close too. They kept telling me it was “too
much weight” or “too tight” (meaning I didn’t angle it out enough). It was a
fun night filled with lots of laughs and new adventures. One of the guys in
this group was from Steamboat, CO. He had come over to do his whole degree at
UNSW and it was fun to talk with another Coloradan and here about how much he
loves this place.
Classes are starting to get harder and I have finally
cracked open my books. I really like my international finance and global
business environment classes. Both are focused on the global scale and I am
learning a lot of different currencies and how different countries do business.
At DU I have not had a class focused on international business so I enjoy the
new challenge. I start presentations and papers are due next week!
We are lucky to have a working TV in our apartment and a
channel where the Olympics are broadcasted so that has been a fun bonding
activity for all of us. The network here obviously are all focuses on the
Australians so it has been hard to keep with the US athletes. However they did
interview Phelps after he won his 19th medal which was pretty sweet.
This weekend was so much fun! I can’t believe it is already
Monday! Saturday morning Jen, Jesse, Carolyn, Nicole, and I went to Paddy’s
Markets in the city. It was a shopping center that was four levels with the
bottom floor being the markets. So the top three levels were stores you would
find in Park Meadows but the bottom floor was a huge area where vendors were
set up and selling their goods. There were a lot of trinkets and tourist
items/gifts for cheap! They had everything from watches to phone cases to NFL
jerseys to Australia scarfs and shirts to hair wigs. It was fun to walk around
and see everything they had. Jesse and I tried on a wig or two and it’s safe to
say I would not look good with short brown hair! Too bad she would not let us
take a picture…
Towards the back of the markets there is a produce and
meat/fish area! I ended up buying some really good cherries and a few oranges!
After the markets in the morning we went over to the Sydney Museum to meet our
group for a chocolate tour! We walked through Sydney and went to five different
places where we learned about chocolate and got to have some samples! It was a
lot of fun but by the end of the three hours or so I was so sick of chocolate.
I don’t think I am going to have more chocolate for another two weeks! But I
had a great time!
Sunday I woke up early to meet at campus at 7am where a
group of us were headed to the Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife Park. It
was a beautiful day as we went on “bush walks” and saw the Three Sisters and
some beautiful waterfalls in the Blue Mountains! By the way, these are not
mountains – nothing like the Rocky Mountains, more like hills, but it was nice
to get out of the city and see another part of Australia! After the Blue
Mountains we went to Featherdale Wildlife Park where I saw my first Koala and
Kangaroo!! It was so much fun! The Koala is my new favorite animal, they are so
soft, but apparently they sleep for 20 hours in the day so we were REALLY lucky
to have one of them up when we visited!! The kangaroos were not as exciting as
I thought they would be, we did see one hop but all the others were not moving
at all.
As you have seen, I have been running around doing all fun
things non-stop and my body is starting to notice. Friday night I started to
lose my voice and I still can’t talk normal yet. I didn’t really have time to
rest this weekend until last night but I went to the store and got some
medicine and mint chocolate chip ice cream so hopefully that will help! Today I
only have one class so I have been able to stay in bed longer and rest!
Lots of love,
Stephanie
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