Hellllllo Blog World!! It is Becky and Becca giving you updates about our oh so exciting life!
We got to Sydney on the 13th and had orientation with IES (the group we used to study abroad) until today. There was a total of 57 of us from the states traveling to Sydney. However, only three others besides us ended up going to our school we chose in Sydney.
The first day of orientation wasn't very busy since they were taking it easy on all the jet lagged people. We were supposed to do a hike on the beaches but because of the rain (boo!) and flight delays (12 inches of snow in Texas?!?!) we ended up just going over a few things the first day before she let us just have free time to get acquainted with our new city. We had a good time walking the beach and then took advantage of McDonald's free internet. That night we went to get some drinks at the bar next door to our hotel with some of the people we met through IES. It was a fun night and felt like we were out all night even though we were in bed before midnight.
The next day we got to head to Darling Harbor in Sydney to grab lunch, go jetboating along Sydney's coast and visit the Sydney Aquarium. We had fun getting to see the most poisonous fish in the world (it looks like a rock and can kill you!) and sharks. Since it was Valentines day, we decided to get some cute outfits on and find a place to enjoy dinner. We ended up at a place called the Spit and had a delicious meal! We decided we weren't ready to head back to our hotel rooms yet despite the rain and ended up deciding to go back to the bar next to our hotel again. We enjoyed a glass of wine outside on the balcony. Next thing we know, two lonely Australian flatmates who were each others Valentines just like us decided to join us at our table and we had a great time talking about Australia, and America, and adjusting to a new way of life.
Yesterday, we had a bus ride up to the Blue Mountains and on the way we stopped at a wildlife park where we got to see our first kangaroo and koala! We even got to pet both of them and take pictures with them! They are just so cute!! We had an aborigines take us on a hike in the Blue Mountains where we learned lots about their culture and how they use nature in their everyday life. We had a long bus ride back to Sydney and were happy to have a rooftop pizza party at our hotel. After scarfing down pizza, we took showers and were lazy the rest of the night watching the Olympics and packing.
Today, we got up and headed to Bondi Beach since we weren't heading to our school until 2 pm. Bondi Beach is a famous beach in Australia and known for its waves for surfing, which we definitely understood once we got there! MASSIVE WAVES! We attempted to lay out, but there was an insane wind that made the sand hurt when it hit us. We wanted to stay there though because Becky had read that Zac Efron (parents, google him) would be doing an Oakely promotion at Bondi Beach today. As we ate lunch and watched people surf, we saw more and more paparazzi's show up. We heard from girls who had been there since 5 am, that he was supposed to be showing up around 1 pm. BOOOOO! We needed to get back to our hotel by 2 and really needed to head to the bus station by 1 to get there. We stayed as long as we could and as the minutes got closer to one, more and more people were showing up. We sadly had to use all the strength in us to force ourselves to leave to catch our bus back.
The 5 Macquarie girls were then on their way to our new home! We got to our dorm and got our room assignments and got somewhat moved in (not much to unpack). So much easier than the moving in we are used to! We had our first meal at our dorm. We are lucky enough to have a meal plan with 3 meals a day. The style is definitely different than we are used to with specific times for meals.
Our room sizes aren't bad and we have beds, a desk, bookshelf, closet and a sink. We feel fortunate to have free internet and a meal plan (which the other 2 school options did not).
Tomorrow we have a full day of orientation for our new school. We both are definitely looking forward to having a schedule/routine again! We just have too much American in our blood to be carefree and relaxed all the time :)
Becca feeding a Kangaroo
Becky having a moment with her new friend, Austin
Becky & Becca at the Sydney Aquarium
Becky and Becca at the Blue Mountains
What a great urban adventure with wild animals,too! So glad you've met your first koala and kangaroo. And you've got a bed and food. All good! Enjoy hangin' at the dining hall!
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