The three days of school went smoothly, and a small group of friends and I were able to plan our mid-session break trip through the STA office at uni. We’ll be flying out of Sydney the first Saturday of break and spending a few days relaxing on the beaches and doing some sightseeing around Cairns and maybe Port Douglas. Monday, we’ll take a catamaran out to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef for the day, then take another few days to relax before our next excursion. Thursday, we’ll be up early to get out and do a day trip of white water rafting, then come back to the hostel for one last night in Cairns. Friday, we’ll go on a crocodile cruise through the rain forest and take some time to explore around and stay in a hostel in the rain forest. We’ll get up on Saturday to have a hike and find a quiet beach nearby to relax before heading back to a hostel in Cairns near the airport so we can make our early flight back to Sydney on Sunday. The trip is still seven weeks away, but I’m so excited already! We’ve told I-House about the trip, so hopefully we’ll get a big group together and have an even better time in Cairns than in Wollongong, although that’ll be hard to top.
Last week’s Wednesday night was my quietest so far; instead of going to the club, a small group of us from I-House went to a local friend’s house to hang out and watch movies. Instead of having a movie marathon like I had figured we would, we listened to our host and his friends tell ludicrous stories about growing up together, including ones about near car crashes, friends that kayaked 5k out into the ocean to where the boats sit just for fun, detours during a surf session to chase a group of whales, spearing a shark while on a surf board, drunken misadventures, and much, much more. I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard since I’ve been here! We had such a good time listening to stories that we didn’t manage to start the movie we were meant to until after midnight and only watched half of Inception before heading back home to I-House.
Thursday proved to be a lazy morning despite my best efforts to do homework, and the afternoon was spent at the beach. After the beach, Kathleen and another American friend and I went to Woolworth’s, the grocery store known as Woolie’s, to pick up ingredients for a cake, pizza, and brownies to make. The cake was a difficult, sticky mess, but it was great to have some classic American junk food! There was another dub-step night at Hostage, and for the first time in a while, Elana, Kathleen, and I were all healthy and ready to go out together. We took the party bus and joined into the I-House songs that I’ve now learned and love! Instead of staying at Hostage for the whole night, we bounced to another club, Illawarra, for their retro night where we continued to dance to songs like “I’m Blue” by Eifel-64 and some of the great boy bands of the 90s. Needless to say for anyone that’s seen my iPod, I was in nostalgia heaven and had the best time rocking out. We danced with a group of I-House guys who pulled off impressive shuffle moves, then caught a ride home with them, but not before a Macca’s run. Full of French fries, I went back to my room and crashed, happy as could be.
I woke up on Friday ready to do homework but was again not nearly as productive as I would have liked, so I did the only thing that seemed logical and went to the beach instead with about a dozen people from I-House. We juggled on the beach and lay out, then I broke off with a smaller group to go play pick-up soccer like the house does every Friday and Sunday. We played with five or six on each side for over an hour, and it was great to get back out and just play. It’s been so long, and I’ve really been looking forward to playing since I got here. There are some great players, too, so it should be a good and even somewhat competitive game every time. After soccer, we had dinner and a quiet night back at I-House as we made pizza and brownies. Unfortunately, due to the lack of oven space, one of the pizzas had to sit out for a while longer than we intended and it rose pretty rapidly in the hour of wait time that we had. We ended the night with The Matrix, but – shocker – I fell asleep during the first crucial hour, so I still can’t say I have a clue what happens in that movie. Whoops!
Saturday proved to be one of the most physically taxing days I’ve had since being in Australia. Already a bit sore from soccer the day before, a group got up to climb Mount Keira, the mountain within walking distance from the house that’s partially responsible for the crazy weather changes we get in Wollongong. The easiest way to sum it up would be to say that we climbed a mountain. Like, literally. Steep hills, winding paths, on all fours climbing rocks and finding footing up rocks where a stream ran down, the whole bit. The climb up provided a number of gorgeous views of the city and ocean below, and I kept thinking that it couldn’t get any better at each viewpoint, but I was wrong every time. It was utterly incredible! To the left, the mountain continued and went out of sight at the sharp bend that looks almost like a peninsula jutting out into the ocean at the north end. To the south, the lighthouse is visible on another peninsula-looking bend with the beach and the rest of the city and forest that covers the mountain splayed out before us. Joking, I asked where I-House was, and the Aussie that organized the hike was able to point it out to me! He gave us some fun information about the local wildlife along the way and pointed out some of the indigenous plants as we went, too. The walk down, as he had warned, was more strenuous than I anticipated, and I was dead tired by the time we reached the bottom. Still, the journey was well worth the view, exercise, and company! The rest of Saturday was quiet as well, and I was actually able to sit down and do some much neglected homework. (*I tried to upload a video with a scan of the view, but it didn't work, so it will be up on Picasa instead!)
The dolphin cruise that was meant to happen during O-Week had been rescheduled for Sunday, but between my exhaustion from the day before along with the weight of my homework bearing down on me, I decided to snooze my first alarm and spend the day at uni with Elana. We worked for the morning, and I was able to coordinate the trip we’re planning for the Blue Mountains for the next weekend with Kathleen. After a few hours of work, Elana and I went to the gym for a go on the elliptical and some ab work. On the way back from uni, we ran into some of the boys from I-House on their way to the soccer field for another pick-up game, so I ducked into the house to grab my cleats and got back on the field. There was enough for seven on seven this time, which was even more fun, and I now all I want is to play a full sided game on a proper field! After dinner, I tried to do more homework but was largely unsuccessful and though I had a presentation and workshop for a story draft on Monday, I chose to go out for a few hours with a smaller group of people. When I came back that night, I hung out with a few people from my deck in Rob’s room next door to me before calling it a night.
School this week was a bit more brutal, and I’ll really have to start buckling down in all of my classes if I want to do well while I’m here. Still, I like all my subjects and my professors too, so I have high hopes that I’ll manage to get my head around things and stop myself from going out instead of being responsible and productive! That having been said, instead of doing more homework for Tuesday and Wednesday, I chose to go to Crown Street Mall on Monday night with a friend from my deck to check out the bookstore that was going out of business. I hate to see a bookstore go under, but I do love the $5 for ANY book! Monday night was also the futsal final for the I-House team, basically indoor soccer with four on four plus keepers on a gym floor; since one of the girls was injured, I got asked to fill in for her! It’s been a while since I’ve played anything competitive where there’s something on the line, and it brought back a great rush of excitement that I hadn’t noticed I’d been missing. I think I’m hooked again! We started with the semi-final and won by a reasonable margin, then had a game to wait before we played the finals. The other team played dirty and it was a rough game, but the initial I-House crowd of fifteen or twenty from the semi-finals game had expanded to closer to thirty, I’d say, and the cheering was the best! I had the team’s first assist, and the team pulled off an extraordinary win with some beautiful goals by the guys on the team. My room is starting to fill up with knick-knacks and odds and ends I’ve collected so far, but my one of my newest favorite decorations is the trophy!
This week at the house, there are a number of birthdays, so Wednesday night was such a big night that we filled the first party bus, seats and standing room. The I-House songs were louder than I’ve heard them yet, and everyone was ready to have a good time, which we definitely did. There was more shuffling and dancing on the floor to what’s always good music. One of the Aussie guys brought a few glow sticks this time, which really lit up the floor and everyone had a good time trying to glowstick (if you’ve never seen anyone glowstick, please youtube it!), and a random from the club borrowed a few and pulled off some serious glowsticking moves while shuffling to the music—great entertainment! Our American techno fan got out there with some glowsticks too, making for an even better show. We spent the rest of the night dancing or catching our breath on the patio outside before catching the first bus back to the house with a big group from the house. Back at the house, I went with Kathleen to another friend’s room who was diligently doing homework when I left them before going to chill in the Red Room to watch a movie before bed.
Today, Thursday, I got to Skype with the family for the first time since being here, and even without sound from my somehow buggered speakers/microphone, it was the best to see my parents and Abby, as well as a surprise appearance by Aunt Karen. My pup Emmy licked the computer, completing the call, and I hung up with my family and have plans to reschedule for tomorrow morning. I spent the day doing homework on and off and was most pleasantly surprised to see a letter in my less than frequently checked mailbox from none other than my bestie and roomie BRoy! The letter made me laugh out loud, and my eyes filled with tears at the picture she sent from freshman year, the three of us roomies sitting on the couch under the IPFW flag before the soccer banquet. It’s now my favorite room decoration and the only picture I have here in Wollongong. You’re much loved, roomies! Needless to say, I spent my night not doing homework, but writing a response letter and this post after receiving some kind words about the blog. So for this post, a special shout out to BRoy! Expect your letter soon, friend! Meanwhile, I’ll be expecting Jackie’s arrival in Sydney on Saturday, which will begin a week of what I’m sure will be epic adventures in Australia! Hope all is well in the States, everyone =)
Here and there,
Kiley
No comments:
Post a Comment