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.