Tsunamis & Bugs

Well, Australia is under a tsunami warning thanks to the earthquake in Chile. It really is nothing to be concerned about, just have to stay away from the beach. Funny, we were going to go to the beach today too.

My room is becoming infested with bugs. Surprisingly, I am adjusting to it well. There has been a spider on my ceiling for two days. Believe me, I would get him down if I could reach him. And then this morning I woke up with a cockroach on the ceiling too. Bugs & tsunamis, I am living the life!

I can officially say that I have experienced Sydney's Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, while being drunk at 5PM. (Mom & Dad, I wasn't too drunk, just pleasantly happy.)

Angelica apparently met another flat mate named Sharon yesterday. I have yet to see her. We think the mess is from her and her bf, who seems to be living here. It's not an ideal situation, but as long as I can use my kitchen, shower and sleep, I am fine.

The lot of us started watching The OC season 1, and now we all have addictions. I forgot how much I love that show.

CLASSES START TOMORROW!

Move Along

I suppose it has been a few days since I wrote, eh? I haven't been up to too much excitement. Pretty basic travelings around and what not. We still only have one flat mate. I get along with her fine, and she said we can use her pots and pans. Thank goodness. Her friends are having a little get-together here tonight. I just plan on staying in my room (unless they invite me out) and watching the last few episodes of Lost that I have missed.

Wednesday, Angelica and I hung out with some of our "baby" Aussies. Every Aussie boy that I have met thus far has been 18 or 19. They are all so tiny! Later that night, we all tried to go out to a 3D party that a bar on our campus was sponsoring, but it was pretty lame. The night was a bit of a dud.

Thursday night, we grabbed some food. Indian for some, including me. Watched New Moon and swooned over Jacob Black while eating ice cream. Ended the night with funny YouTube videos. It was relaxing considering I was plagued with allergies all day and spent most of my time sleeping in bed.

Today, Friday, we went to Cronulla Beach. The weather was very unpleasant, but we still had a bit of fun sleeping in the sand. I am going to be a beach bum before the end of this trip. Now, if I could only learn how to not get sand E V E R Y W H E R E. Oh, but I did buy my first frivolous items today. I bought 2 dresses while in Cronulla. They are definitely not my usual type, very Aussie looking. I love them. I am wearing one tomorrow night for the Mardi Gras parade! (And I have one on now because I thought we were going out tonight, and I have just been too lazy to change out of it.)

Flat Mate!

We met a flat mate today! Her name is Peony (sp?). And to top it off, Angelica and I are NOT crazy. She said that she had begun moving things in a few days ago, but no one was ever here when she was. There has been someone else in this apartment! Sad thing is, she has no idea who else was living here and made the terrible mess. I am afraid that we may not have gotten off on a good foot with her yet, but she is probably just confused by the large pile of crap on our kitchen table. I hope she is nice.

One down, two more to go.

Epicness of Monday

Let me just clarify- Monday was not epic in a good way. Everything that happened between the hours of midday (or so) and 5 was a catastrophe.

The day started off splendidly. I went to Gloria Jeans to upload photos and was able to Skype with multiple people. The only problems I have with my internet situation is that I cannot upload photos and Skype more regularly. Oh well, I am getting used to it. After GJ, I came home to the apartment. Within a few minutes, the cleaning ladies came to clean our kitchen. We finally have a functional kitchen with a fridge full of food! Granted, we still have yet to meet our flat mates and we just set their dishes and appliances all over the living room. We do not want them in our clean kitchen until they are cleaned! The cleaning ladies were quite fun. They made fun of our flat mates and called them slobs. With a clean kitchen, Angelica and I started to believe things were turning around.

WRONG.

Somewhere in the middle of the kitchen cleaning, I noticed that my computer adapter was no longer charging. (I just realized that I may have gotten mixed up on the order of things. The cleaning ladies may have been after GJ. No idea.) Anyways, I started worrying about why my adapter was not charging. I tried switching outlets in my room because I have about 10 of them. None worked. Then I moved to the living room. Nothing. As soon as Angelica came back, I asked if I could try her adapter since she has a Mac as well. NADA. Of course, I start freaking out because my computer was already dying and I had no way to charge it. Angelica and I then trekked our way to the CBD via the bus to go to the Mac store. (We later found out there is a store closer to us as well.) We get to the Mac store just fine and dandy, taking bus 422. It stops right outside the store as well. Score! We go in and the lady tells me that they do not have any Genius bar openings until SUNDAY. Hello, it was Monday. It was impossible for me to not have my computer working until Sunday. The other suggestion was to drop it off with the Genius bar, which I reluctantly did. I'm very protective of my baby, of course. After all was said and done, we walked around trying to find the bus. Let me just say, I despise the Sydney bus system right about now. We took the 422 to get down to the CBD, but to get back, the 422 does not stop on the road we got off on. We took a couple buses, ended up walking forever, and finally got back.

Once we are back to King Street, we stop at Franklins to buy food. We were both very thrilled to be able to finally buy food and stop going out. I spent way too much money this past week eating out because we didn't have the capability of refrigerating food. We shop as quickly as possible because after our 3 hour trip to the Mac store and back, we are exhausted and hot. (It is unbearably hot right now to the point where you step outside and in minutes you are soaked with sweat. Talk about sexy, right?) We finally get back to our apartment like what 5 hours after we left? I don't really know if it was that long, but it sure did seem like it.

Now, here's where the fun REALLY starts happening. As we begin putting away our groceries, I notice that the fridge is not running. Neither of us understand why and we are not happy at this point. We pull out the fridge. It is plugged in just fine. We thought perhaps the cleaning ladies accidentally unplugged it. Nope, all good and dandy there.

Angelica then comes out and says "Kim. You're computer is fine."

I'm like "What?"

"None of my outlets are working, which would explain why the fridge is not running either!"

"WTF? ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

I was like speech less at this point. We then call Maintenance but it is their off hours, so we have to trek our way over to reception to speak to someone. Maintenance comes back with us and shows us how to work the circuit breaker.

But basically, the whole time our outlets were not working. The reason we did not notice is because our lights worked fine. It was just the outlets. Therefore, I had dropped off a completely functional computer at the Mac store for no reason at all. By the end of the day, we were both just like "WHEN ARE THINGS GOING TO GO RIGHT!!"

Obviously, I went back this morning to get my computer back. Seriously, the Genius bar people probably thought I was insane when I said "We just had a misunderstanding with the outlets in our apartment." Who the fuck has misunderstandings with outlets? All I can do now is laugh about the whole situation. Although, I still don't understand Sydney buses. I even looked up the buses before I left this morning, and there were no bus stops on the street it told me to go to. However, I made my way back in a little less time than we did the previous day. Someday I hope to understand this public transportation thing.

All in all, everything worked out. Clean kitchen and fridge. Food in the fridge. A working computer that can charge. Just a bunch of useless fiascoes for absolutely no reason at all.

Need less to say, Newtown Pub Crawl last night was a success for this ginger right here. My first true night of partying in Australia. :)

PS- Still no flat mates. They must be dead.

Year of the Tiger

Tis Monday morning, I do believe. My days are getting confused. Every day is another adventure, long and tiresome. I would really appreciate some consistency now. Luckily, classes start on Monday! I have never been this excited to go to class before, but almost 3 months off has done this to me. Plus once classes start, I will have more opportunities to meet new people- Aussies and all.

Saturday, Cait, Al, and I traveled to Manly Beach. We took the train for the first time, and of course took pictures like tourists. Manly is a 30 minute ferry ride from Sydney, but the ride is beautiful. I didn't feel like I was standing on a ferry for that long. Manly was just terrific. It was a beautiful day for the beach. I even ventured farther into the ocean and did some wave surfing! What a blast! We also walked around the shops for a little. Souvenir places are most definitely cheaper in Manly than Sydney. I bought some post cards and hope to send them out soon. I just need to figure out the post system still. *writes on to do list*

Yesterday was the beginning of a two week Mardi Gras festival for Australia and Chinese New Year! Lots of things to do. Mardi Gras here is not a religious holiday. It is a GLBT festival- for two weeks. It kicks off with Fair Day. Fair Day was hot. We weren't there for very long. There were lots of dogs and dragqueens. These are the two main things I noticed. I would've enjoyed it a little more if I hadn't been pouring buckets of sweat. For Chinese New Year, we went to the CBD (City Business District). There is no such thing as "downtown" here; it's the CBD. We ate at a Chinese restaurant and caught some of the parade. Then we headed to Darling Harbour for fireworks! Fireworks above Darling Harbour set to a Chinese soundtrack was A M A Z I N G! Although we dealt with way too many crowds yesterday, I am happy that we experienced Chinese New Year.

Today I am taking it easy. The lot of us are making breakfast for dinner, and then there is a Newtown Pub Crawl. That is why I am taking it easy. :)

Angelica and I have yet to meet our mystery flat mates. We have almost been here a week, and school starts next week. Where are these people? This morning we took every thing out of the kitchen cabinets and placed it all around the table and living area. Maintenance is coming to clean the kitchen and fridge. Thank god! We will finally be able to start cooking, but these people are just messy! We found the key to the windows in the sink this morning. WTF? I will be ecstatic when this mess is figured out. I'm beginning to believe Cait- our flat mates were either abducted by aliens or killed by the Sydney Spider.

Bats & Rats

I forgot to mention the awesome bats that fly around our campus at night, and the giant rats too. YES! Actually, the bats are pretty fascinating creatures to watch. Tonight, Cait and I went for a little walk through campus, after grabbing some gelatto of course. First off, everyone should know that parts of our campus look like Harry Potter. We legit have a "Great Hall" which is identical to HP. We decided to take a stroll through campus via a different route than we usually take. I haven't quite had time to explore and take pictures yet, but definitely soon! I'm thinking Sunday or Monday, but next week there are lots of events taking place for "O-Week". I still have one class to switch too, and then I'll have my official schedule. I'm crossing my fingers for Fridays off. Anyways, after we walked through campus, Cait and I watched some bats diving into the pond at Victoria Park. We sat to talk on a bench for awhile as well. Sydney is beautiful at night. The stars were out, and we may have seen a planet. I need to look that up.

As for what else I have been up to.. for the life of me, I cannot remember what I did Wednesday. I'm assuming more exploring and what not. Last night, we rode a bus to Sydney Harbour which is GORGEOUS at night. We were planning on hitting up the bar life, but that fell through. Today during the day, we hit up Coogee Beach for awhile. I'm a little burnt on my back, shoulder, and foot, but they are just splotchy ones that don't hurt. I'm doing well so far! My hair is becoming lighter every minute and my skin is adapting to the sun and gaining a little colour. Who knows maybe I will be black by the time I return to the states. Oh, we also made a little spaghetti dinner tonight at Al's place. It was delicious and cheap. My goodness I cannot wait until I can cook in my own kitchen! Hopefully Tuesday will be the day for that. Angelica and I have yet to meet our "ghost" flatmates. I swear, they come here when we are not around because things seem to be moving! Okay, I realize I am just paranoid but I would really enjoy meeting these people some day.

Tomorrow, the lot of us are heading to Manly Beach for the day. Manly is one of the larger, touristy beaches. It should be a good time. We get to ride a ferry! I hope the ferry doesn't crash and I drown like Meredith from Grey's Anatomy. My life would be messed up after that. Although, if Patrick Dempsey saved me, my life would be complete.(Amber, that part was for you!)

I feel like I had more funny, witty stories to tell such as the one about bats and rats, which wasn't really that funny. But I'm at a loss. I miss tweeting funny things via text messages! It doesn't work- I tried. Boo.

I can't believe I haven't even been here a full week as of this moment. Crazay.

Sassy American Kim

Tonight, a group of 4 of us were sitting on a bridge overlooking Darling Harbour. A man walked by, pulled up his shirt, and said "Hey! Look at these abs, girls!"

My response: "You don't have any!"

Classy American Kim.

First Entry About 5 Days Late

Well, here I am in beautiful Sydney, Australia. I have been here for 5 days, and boy have they been hectic. I can't even begin to settle down yet. There are just too many little things that need to be accomplished. This is probably going to be a very long entry because I would like to catch up on what I have been doing. I finally have an internet connection in my room, but apparently Skype doesn't work on the University internet. I have yet to try it out, so we'll see. Internet is way too expensive here. I won't be on it as much as I am used to. It will take some getting used to.

THURSDAY- I left STL around 6:30PM, spent four hours on a plane to SFO, had a two hour layover, and departed SFO around 10:40PM for Australia. I was on a plane for roughly 19 hours that day. It was insane. The 14 hour plane ride wasn't as horrible as I was expecting. I definitely slept more than I thought I would be able to, and there was an Australia man sitting by me who offered some good conversations. He even gave me his number for if I ever visit Brisbane. Don't get too excited, he was my sister's age with a wife and kids. Oh, there was a very cute Aussie at the airport, but I didn't get to talk to him. Instead a girl named Cait started talking to him. Well, Cait is now my go to girl. Funny how that happens, eh? We roomed together at the hotel for 3 days, and now we are in adjacent buildings. We get along very well.

FRIDAY- Lost in the abyss somewhere. I was above the ocean. February 12, 2010 did not officially exist for me.

SATURDAY- We arrived in Sydney around 9:30AM. We were a little delayed getting off the plane because someone else was in our gate. All I have to say is, do not make people who have been flying for 14 hours stay on a plane even longer!! That was the antsiest (which apparently isn't a word) couple of minutes ever! I was able to find my luggage relatively quickly and then I went through customs without any issues. It was easy peasy for me, thank goodness. After I left the gate, I started looking for a sign that said IES. I had a little trouble at first finding them, but then I migrated towards all the young college people with large suitcases. Smart, eh? We were ushered to buy a Vodafone right away. I still don't know how to use my phone fully. I basically just call my friends here. I would send texts to people in the US, but it will cost you guys more than me. We headed to Coogee Sands Hotel for a 3 day stay during orientation. I roomed with Cait and Chelsea. Saturday was the longest day of everyone's life. By about 3PM, we were dying to fight off the jet lag. AMAZINGLY, we all stayed up until about 10PM and went to bed normally. We had lunch as a big group and just sort of mingled. It was hard to mingle with everyone during orientation because there were large groups of people who already knew each other. That made it harder for us who didn't know people, so we sort of formed our own group. After lunch we had a little bit of orientation and then we were free for the day. A group of us went down to the beach and did some rock climbing. I have awesome pictures, although it was rainy and cloudy. Then we made our way to dinner at an Italian place. We keep having extremely long dinners because here you have to ask for the bill, and we always forget! They won't kick you out or bring it to you. So this night we had a 3 hour dinner, but that was because a crazy couple next to us talked our ears off for 2 of them. They just wanted to keep telling us things to see and do. It was great, but we were exhausted! I thought I was going to die. We got some ice cream as a reward for such an extremely long dinner and then headed back to the hotel for rest.

SUNDAY- Well, this was an informative day. We learned that pash means to make out, root means to have sex, and crack onto is to hit on. My Aussie language is now complete. :) Aside from the language lesson, we headed to Darling Harbour for the day. We got to go to the Sydney Aquarium and took a jet boat ride on the ocean. Unfortunately, I was on the jet boat that broke down so our ride was cut short. However, I was still able to see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I hope to go with Cait to the Conservatorium of Music soon because it is right by the Opera House. I want to take better pictures. At night, we went to Chinese for dinner and brought a box of wine along with us. A bunch of us just hung out a bit and then I went to bed fairly early.

MONDAY- The first sunny day since we had been here! After our orientation in the morning, we headed to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. We saw all the classic Aussie animals and even got to pet them!! The kangaroos wouldn't eat our food though. They are way overfed, but I took some pictures pretending to feed them. I'm sure I will have plenty more opportunities to feed the kangaroos. I just hope to actually see one in its natural habitat sometime soon. Next we headed to the Blue Mountains for a fabulous hike with the cooky Lester. He was a real crazy. The end. We ended the night with pizza on the roof of our hotel. Yet again I was too tired to go out for some night life.

TUESDAY- Move in day! We moved into Sydney University Village, our permanent homes until the end of June. I live in a 5 person suite, with one other girl from the IES program, Angelica. We do not know our other "flat mates" yet. However, when we got here, there was already crap everywhere. The kitchen is a total DISASTER. We talked to reception today to find out the deal, but we are going to need a professional cleaner. I guess you could say that I am less than happy by whoever has been living here/moved in. I don't feel at home at all because I stay in my room. It smells in the lounge areas and we can't cook food in our own kitchen. Oh, and let's not mention all the dead bugs in the freezer. I am very unhappy right now with our apartment situation. A bunch of us took a trip to the closest (or so we think) mall to get needed supplies. Let's just say, things are way more expensive here and I have no idea how this is going to work. I plan to get a job, but I can't until I have a full schedule, which sucks. Oh, and for some reason, no one puts prices on things here!! WHY? I am definitely starting to notice the differences between here and the US. After a crazy day, we all went out!! YES, FINALLY I WENT OUT IN AUSTRALIA! We went to this really awesome "backpackers" club where almost every guy was gay. No joke. I loved it! I had a great time minus the fact that my feet were KILLING me. We walked waaaaaaaaay too much yesterday. I might need a comfortable pair of shoes that aren't tennis shoes. I don't really know what kind of shoes that leaves though. We'll see what I can find.

All in all, I have already gotten to see and do a lot. I'm ready to be comfortable though and have this feeling like home. It's going to be a process. I am unpacked, but not completely organized. I can't wait to finally feel like a local and meet some more Australians. It's been hard being with all Americans right now. I love the IES friends that I have made, but I would really like to branch out now. I am excited to live in a big city, since I never have before. One of the main shopping roads, Kings Street, is right by SUV. It's amazing!

Oh, and I already got sunburnt. It was the day that it rained all day long. Yes, that is how strong the sun is here. My burn isn't/wasn't bad. I don't even know if I still have it. I'm trying to decide if I am getting tan lines or what they are. I'm not red enough for them to be sunburn lines. Although, I can't buy sunscreen any higher than 30 here. Strange. So all my money will be going towards sunscreen. Goody!

Well, I know I am probably forgetting a ton of things to say, but this is long enough. Props to anyone who actually reads all of this. My entries will not be this detailed from now on. Well, they might be. Back when I used to keep a Xanga, I was quite known for extremely long and detailed entries about my life. But I am also keep a journal for myself, so we'll see what ends up on the blog and what's in my journal. Peace out for now. Just know that I am well and alive, just a little overwhelmed and anxious to be settled completely.

TODAY!

THE DAY IS FINALLY HERE! I leave in 2.5 hours for the airport. First plane to San Francisco is at 6:30PM. Plane to Sydney isn't until 10:40PM, SF time, but it is coming from New York.. so that should be interesting considering their weather right now. I get to spend 18+ hours on planes, and that's not counting travel time. It's going to be crazay! AHHHH!

My next update will be the start of my Australian blogs! GET EXCITED! :)

ALMOST HERE!

That's right folks. The time is approaching quite rapidly now for me to say goodbye to the United States and begin my adventure in Australia. It is finally starting to seem real. Ahhhhh! That's really the only sentiment I have as of lately. Tonight my mom came into my room and as she looked around out my various packing piles and luggage she said, "You're going to Australia. That's so far away!" I think it is finally starting to hit everyone else, too. Oh, and one of the most exciting things that I found out this week is that Lost is shown in Australia! They don't have every show that we have, but Lost is one of them. The only catch is that I will be a week behind everyone here, but when I get there I will be a week ahead of them.

I have some Australian money now!

Isn't it pretty?!

Oh, and just for fun, here is one of Marco in my suitcase. That little [bugger], insert bad word here.