Mardi Gras in Sydney!

As I sit in my room right now, I look out of my window and see the ocean. I haven't been too pleased about the long walk up the hill to our campus throughout the last few weeks, but right now it is a comforting thought that I live up on the hill. An earthquake with the magnitude of 8.8 in Chile, so there is a tsunami warning here. So far, nothing but a couple hours of rain!

A group of us spent this weekend in Sydney. We took the ferry into the city after dinner and rode a bus to Jake's dorms. Mary, Mike and I know Jake from Albion and he is studying at the University of Sydney this semester. We hung out with him and his friends and they showed us the nightlife they have in Newtown. It was quite the night to say the least!!

Saturday was the main reason the the excursion into the city - Mardi Gras celebration!! The girls got ready in our sparkly outfits and we took a bus over to Darling Harbour. Mary and I met up with our friend Lisa Dorr who we played soccer with our freshman year at Albion. She is also our Delta Gamma sister :) It was good catching up!

There was a group of 10 of us from ICMS who signed up for a harbor cruise before the parade. We started at a bar where everyone met and got a free drink. To me, the best part was the HD TVs playing the Olympic speed skating. At school, there are very few TVs around, and I really miss watching the Olympic competitions. There were a couple of really thrilling races we watched before we boarded our Harbour cruise. Even though this Mardi Gras boat was organized by a party company called "Oz Party" the whole thing seemed very unorganized. We had to wait awhile to get on the boat, and while on the boat not everyone could be on the different levels. This became a problem when some of our friends were on the top level, and the rest of us wanted to join so we got in line to go up the stairs. They began to make people come downstairs so everyone could go upstairs, and this actually became a giant push fest. Being the claustrophobic person I am, this was probably one of the worst feelings ever!! Not soon enough we were able to go up on the third floor and see the view of the harbour. Overall, there were a lot of great views from the boat, and a lot of interesting people on it. After our boat tour, we had to wait to take buses to the bar where we could watch the Mardi Gras parade from. Once again, the buses were incredibly unorganized, and I ended up waiting a good 45 minutes with Mike and Alex before we got on the third and final bus. However, the bus ride was quite fun - they played music really loud as everyone sang the songs loudly, and people on the streets seemed to think we were quite the sight! The bus couldn't take us right to the bar because streets were blocked off, so we had to walk a couple of crowded blocks to the bar.

The walk to the bar reminded me of how much I hate really crowded events. We were able to find the bar "the Gaff" without too many problems. We couldn't find anyone else from our group, so we ended up getting drinks that came with a "free meal coupon" so we could eat dinner. It was a good deal - $7 dollars for cider, fish, and chips!! After we finished eating we went out to the street to see some of the parade. The streets were packed!! Many people had come hours beforehand to claim their spots at the front. There were a few vendors along the streets selling cheap plastic stools for $8 - 10 dollars for people to stand on in the back of the crowds. I'm certainly glad I didn't buy one of those, at one point we saw a group of three people fall to the ground because their stools broke! (My last picture is of the group prior to their stools breaking.) Mike told me he heard about 1 million people come out to this parade. Even though I was in the back I could see the tops of different floats, all very different from any parade I had ever seen before!

Soon we met up with the rest of our group and went back into the Gaff. They had the parade playing on their TVs, and I could see first hand that this parade was one of a kind. The most interesting and disturbing part was "Hardcore Heaven" which I am not going to describe here. Some of our friends decided to go home, but Mike, Mary, Heather and I went back to Jake's to hang out with his friends and go out. We met up with Jeremy Greene, another student from Albion who is studying in Sydney. It's amazing that five Albion friends could all be hanging out in Australia together!

This morning Mary, Heather, Mike and I came back to Manly on the ferry. I had a coffee and banana loaf for breakfast - Starbucks had never tasted so good! After a fun and adventure filled weekend, it was good to be back home at ICMS, safe on top of the hill! On to week four of classes!

went on a walk to the beach.

Walking from ICMS to Manly Beach - these are the things i see!! :)

Cost of living

It's been a typical week here at ICMS. Classes most of the time, yoga Monday night, soccer Wednesday night. It's been cloudy these past couple of days as well, and only in the 70's. (I know what you are thinking U.S midwesterners.. brrrr!)

Yesterday I went to the Manly Corso with some of the girls to get off of campus for awhile. I stopped at the post and sent a three postcards and bought 10 postcard stamps ($14.) Then we went to Hungry Jack's for a quick bite to eat - lunch was less than good to be honest. I had a cheeseburger, fries, drink and sundae ($4.95.) Afterward's we stopped in a shop with stationary, newspapers, and school supplies. I bought 10 postcards ($4.) Mardi Gras is this weekend in Sydney so we stopped at a clothing store called ICE to look around. Mary, Jackie and Heather found some sequin dresses, and I found a little dress on a sale rack ($10.) The group then went to a pharmacy with me. In Australia, pharmacies are sometimes called "chemist shops." I have been having a toothache on and off, so I bought some medicine for that ($12.) Soon after that we made our way to Cole's for some snacks. Occasionally, lunch and/or dinner leave me still feeling hungry - especially when they serve something they call "asian dish of pork" or "Scandinavian cold buffet" so I bought a value pac of easy mac, and a couple of packs of ramen noodles as well as some bowls to make them in ($14.80.)

Today I bought my textbook for Intro to Sport ($86) which is the only class I need a textbook in. Same story as the US, I pay 86 dollars for a new but small and paperback textbook. Hopefully I can see it at the end of the term to a local student.

The exchange rate currently is one US dollar to 1.12 Australian dollars. A little in my favor, but not by much!

I just got back from the beach - today is beautiful! :) G'day!

Into the city!

Yesterday I went into the city with a group of friends. I was really excited to see Sydney, such a famous city! After brunch in the CYC we trekked down the hill to catch the ferry. I bought the 10 ride ferry pass, a better deal than just buying individual tickets for every trip. We ran to get good seats at the front of the ferry. The entire 30 min ferry ride was beautiful. Scenery of Manly, houses on the water's edge. hundreds of sailboats, and of course, the Sydney skyline plus the famous Opera House and Sydney Bridge! The sights were amazing, and I took probably 100 or so pictures.

Once we exited the ferry, our first stop was.... Starbucks! Easy to spot the Americans I suppose. The Starbucks is right outside of Circular Quay (the harbor.) After being refreshed with iced coffees, we walked to the markets at "the Rocks." The Rocks are older buildings that are really pretty and house different shopping stores. The markets are open on the weekends - a couple of blocks full of tents with different items for purchase such as dresses, clothes, souvenirs, food, and a lot of jewelry and crafts as well.

Following the markets, we walked to the aquarium. The group had six girls and Mike, so much to his dismay the walk to the aquarium was very long - full of stops in different shops. What can you expect when you are with a group of girls?? After awhile, Mary, Mike and I walked ahead of the group to arrive at Darling Harbour. It's really open, there is a strip that has heaps of restaurants and tourist attractions, as well as an event venue, the National Maritime Museum, Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium. We met with the group and got student discounts for our aquarium tickets. The aquarium was full of different marine life - so much to see! My favorites were the penguins (so cute and playful) and the clown fish in the anemone. A couple of exhibits they had featured glass walkways where fish, sharks, manta rays, and sea turtles were surrounding us.

After exploring the aquarium, we went along Darling Harbour to a restaurant on one of the balconies called BlackBird. I had "fish n chips." I'm very proud of myself for trying a lot of different foods while I am here. Normally, fish is not my thing. However, I found the fish and chips delicious. I figure living near the ocean is a good reason to try different seafood, and I think I actually like some of it!

We walked back to the ferry. It was right around sunset, so we got some pretty pictures of the sun setting over the harbor, opera house, and bridge. Then, a crew member came up to us and asked if we would like to take some pictures from the crew only top deck! It was an exciting experience, and we got to go in the captain's cabin and talk to the crew members and the man who was steering the ferry. They talked about Sydney and some cool things to do in Manly and pretty much made my night!

At night, there was a bonfire at Collins Beach. A group from ICMS went down to the beach to hang out and party a little. It was a great set up, but I was pretty tired so I didn't stay too long.

Normally on Mondays I have four classes, but my class from 4 to 6 was cancelled due to lecturer illness. I've been learning a lot of different things in my hospitality class - many things I didn't think I would ever know! The class I seem to learn the most about Australian culture in is Service Management. Today I learned that in the state of New South Wales, you can only write with pencils until year 4 of school which is when you get your "pen license." Crazy Australians!! Today at lunch we had "beef pie and mash" which is a little bread pie with beef filling and mashed potatoes. It was really good, plus I was really hungry!

Tonight: dinner, contemporary health issues from 6 to 8, and yoga 830 to 930. Yoga typically isn't my thing, but I should probably work on my arm muscles at some point in my life! Plus, I'm hoping it helps strengthen my back for soccer.

Cheers!!

"we've done this before - just like you!"

Yesterday morning I went on a walk with Olivia and Mary to some trails in North Head that have great look out points. Here are just two of many great photos I have. In the afternoon I went to the beach, first time getting burned since I arrived - my back is pretty tender today!

This morning I woke up to get ready for my first day helping out the functions department. I had not idea what to expect except that I was helping out at a lunch for an art club function. Mike was there as well as two experienced hospitality students Rebecca and Phong. I had to wear a white button up shirt and black pants for the function - the department supplied the black vest and tie. I had Mike tie it for me, I had no idea how. We started by making the Grand Dining Room (GDR) ready for the lunch by rearranging tables, placing table cloths, getting the buffet ready, preparing the cash bar, etc. Soon, the guests started arriving (almost all older women) and Tim (the supervisor - quite young though, from Sweden) asked if I had any experience (hahaha - NO!) So he had Mike and I practice how to carry dirty plates to the kitchen and trays of drinks. We didn't get much time to practice. Soon, I was paired up with Rebecca (a very nice girl from South Korea) who was telling me what to do. "Refill their glasses with sparkling wine! Carry this tray and ask if they need any more beverages." At one point one of the older ladies asked if everything was coming along. I just nodded and said yes, and she responded "we've done this before, just like you!" I had to hid my smirk when I was thinking no I've never done this before. Plus, at one point, Nina, the other supervisor (who still can't tell the difference between Mary and I) said "why are the table cloths this way?! we are 5 star, not 3 star." Well if they are really 5 star, I don't think they should have me serving with no experience - but that's besides the point I guess. I learned how to pour champagne, take away multiple plates, serve coffee and tea simultaneously, among other things. One of the guys from soccer Wednesdays, Yumas, was working as well. He is older, he has been a chef for 8 years and is from Turkey. He has complimented me on my defending skills a number of times, which I'm flattered by. He taught me a few things throughout the day and was very helpful and cheery which made the day seem quicker. I was unaware I'd be working from 9 am to 5 pm. At least after the ladies left we got a free meal which was prepared for the lunch, and then we were able to take some wine that was left over from the function. Overall, a successful but tiring day.

At one point Mike and I were asked to polish cutlery for later, and while we were doing that one of the ladies fainted and an ambulance had to be called. Everyone acted so calm about it - a little different from the U.S. Another thing I noticed was when Rebecca and I were looking for table cloths in a closet and she couldn't find them and started saying "Nina is going to kill me!" I mentioned that we could ask where they are, and Rebecca said "see that is the thing with Asians, if we don't know something, we don't say anything and just keeping working." Much different than my attitude of asking TONS of questions when I don't know how to do something. I'd rather ask than do it the wrong way. Very different cultures!!

Tonight I am just relaxing around campus - I can hear music downstairs from a wedding reception that is going on. Mary is working there tonight, apparently wedding work goes from 5 pm to at least 1 am! Tomorrow a group is going into Sydney. I am excited to finally explore the city! We might go to the botanical gardens, the aquarium, chinatown, or the markets - or all of the above! :)

Sunset over Sydney

There is a lookout point not far from ICMS where you can see Sydney and watch the sunset. It's beautiful and these are a few pictures from the walk that a group of us took last night.

it's definitely international here.

First piece of mail came today!! How very exciting it is to get a valentine's day card from your dogs. Especially one that sings!

Two days ago I had my first presentation at ICMS. It wasn't graded and we only had one day to prepare. Mike was in my group, along with one other student who turned out to be not very helpful, seeing as he showed up late to our one group meeting and then didn't show up for the presentation. However, thanks to already taking business communications last summer and being a little bit older than everyone, Mike and I had a great presentation (or so everyone said!) Apparently we set the standards high for everyone since we went first. A couple of the groups were made up of Asians. I can't imagine coming to a country where you have to take classes in your second language and try to give presentations, but they are working really hard. Still, I had to laugh to myself when one slide read "Why Four seasons is so successful?"

Another funny encounter I had was when I met another Asian, Ryan. He asked my name and I said "Steph." Then he said "oh, so are you an RA or GA?" And I laughed and said no. Later he said (again) "I'm Ryan." And I thinking okay, okay I know what your name is. Later, I realized "Steph" to him was "staff" and he thought I worked there and that I never told him my name. They don't call this school international for nothin!

The other day I met one of my neighbors. My door was open, and a girl knocked and said hi. It was nice but another hard to understand situation because she was trying to ask me where I got my fan, but did not know the word for fan. Later, I sat with her at breakfast and found out her name is Alexandria, and she is from Sweden - a graduate student studying here for the next year.

Yesterday in Intro to Sport we did an activity where we made up a worldwide sporting event in Sydney and planned a four day itinerary for the athletes. It was a very fun activity and my group made a "Champions of Champions" soccer tournament. One of my group members heard I was from Chicago and asked if I knew "Naperville." I was so surprised that this Australian boy was asking me about Naperville!! Turns out he played basketball there for three months at Naperville North. So crazy having this connection all the way across the globe.

For my sport class our assignment is to write a report on a sports team or athlete. Because of having a couple connections through my dad, I am going to be able to interview a Sydney FC player on the phone! We need an interview as one of our resources for the paper, and so far this has worked out well. I am excited to research an Australian soccer team (or football as they call it here.)

In my Health Issues class yesterday we talked about health care systems. Needless to say, I'll be glad when this topic is over. We watched the "documentary" Sicko by Michael Moore in class. All of these young Australian university students only have that view of our healthcare. It's frustrating especially when I took business ethics this summer and wrote a 10 page paper on private vs government hospitals and have seen plenty of research on "government run hospitals" and how they are so poorly run in comparison to private hospitals. Although hospitals and healthcare are a bit different, I still wouldn't want the government running my healthcare. I'm looking forward to talking about sports related health issues in that class though, because our lecturer is very experienced in the health science field.

It's a beautiful day out, 75 degrees Fahrenheit and just partly cloudy - so I'm heading to the beach in a little bit!! Cheers!

you can still get "the mondays" in australia

Today was the "longest" day I have had in Australia so far. I know there are more to come as well.. it's just the beginning! It is a tough transition to have basically a 4.5 day weekend and go into a day with 8 hours of class. Not that I can really complain, but boy was I tired today!!

There was a Chinese New Year celebration at the CYC during lunch today, and the line to eat was incredibly long (and hot, since half the time we had to stand in the sun in our uniforms.) There was a group of Chinese students banging on their drums and parading around in dragon costumes which was entertaining for a little while, but it's hard to have a conversation when drums are banging in your ears and hard to get your food when dragons are running through the food line! Many times the meals are something Asian, and I don't eat too much so I get hungry a few hours later. Luckily, yesterday I picked up some snacks including biscuits and nutella and a couple packs of "easy mac." Here in Australia they sell not only cheese easy mac, but also nacho cheese flavor and chicken flavor. Strange.

Today I was assigned a group presentation for tomorrow. We have to meet tonight to put together a 10 or so minute presentation about the Hilton hotels. It is not graded, but I just don't feel like doing a presentation so quickly! We shall see how it turns out.

I bought a new bathing suit (swimmers) this weekend. Of course the whole weekend it rained, but today while sitting in class I looked out the window to see a perfectly sunny beach. It is hard to concentrate on schoolwork when the surroundings here are beautiful. I don't think I would get much done if Albion was on a beach in great weather...

One last thing - the time difference is really tough sometimes. Getting done with my day, I came back and thought about skyping my mom to tell her some things about my different classes. That's when I realized it's 2 am back in Naperville. However, I'm already at week 2 of my 13 week term, so I really can't complain - it's all going by so quickly!!

Stay tuned to see how my first presentation goes!

"resered"

Tonight, Mike and I went out for our first date in Australia. Even though I am not much into celebrating Valentine's Day, it's still a good excuse to explore the town we live in! We walked down along the beach before getting to the restaurant of our choice - Si Am Bay. It is on the third level and faces Manly Beach. We sat on the balcony so that we could watch the surfers out in the ocean. I had never been to a Thai restaurant before - I ordered the stir fry chicken with sweet and sour sauce, and Mike had the Masamaan curry. Both meals were delicious! A lot of restaurants are "byob" here in Australia which I find very interesting. We brought our own bottle of wine. Mike made reservations for 5:30 but was unaware that he rented out the place! (haha, we were alone in the restaurant for awhile, but got great service!) The second picture is how one of the Thai waitresses wrote out the word "reserved." I found that quite funny!

After dinner we walked along the Corso and stopped at an ice cream shop. Cappuccino ice cream was my choice, and Mike had swiss chocolate. Overall, it was a successful night even though it was cloudy and rainy!

Back to the daily grind tomorrow...

Rain rain rain rain

That is me in my uniform. Laugh all you want - but please look at that view behind me!!!

Yesterday I ventured to Collins Beach with Olivia and Mary. It is smaller than Shelly Beach and Manly Beach, and the water is super clear! We could see the fish at the bottom as we walked out into the water and also, no jelly fish! At one point a little boat came to the shore selling fresh juice - I hadn't seen anything like that before. We left right as the rain clouds rolled in.

Last night was the Icebreaker party. It was fun dancing with the group in the cafe area, but it began to rain heavily right before we were supposed to take the bus down to Steyne Hotel. The bus couldn't come right to the school, so they told us to just run out to where the bus was. Surprise! We ran to the road and there was no bus.. so we had to wait in the pouring rain. For being a school that produces high class event management majors - you would think they would plan that better. Once the bus arrived, we took it to the Styne which had an area just for ICMS students. The rain had dampened my mood, and it was very loud - so soon, Mike and I took a taxi back up the hill in the rain. The taxi driver didn't know what ICMS was at first.. I couldn't believe it! It seriously was right up the road from where we were. Crazy taxis!

This morning I took the RSA (responsible service of alcohol) course so that I can help at functions on campus. Our instructor was a really nice woman who told stories from her experiences in the industry and made the course super easy - even let us out two hours before we were supposed to! I didn't realize exactly what went into working at a bar, so the course was a little more interesting than I had expected.

This whole weekend is forecasted for rain, not that I really mind. I am actually taking the time to organize things such as class work!! (Oh yeah... I am here to take classes right?!) Just living the good life and trying not to get too wet in the rain!

the life!

I am up at 8.23 am this morning, and I have no classes to attend. It's hard to sleep in here - mostly because I'm so tired at night from all the activities that I fall asleep so quickly and earlier than I do at home. My body has become used to waking up around 7.30 am it seems. Another reason for this is the birds that are outside of my window. I think one is called the yellow-tailed black cockatoo. Another one sounds like a kookaburra, but kind of like a sheep as well. They are very loud. There are around 80 species of birds just in Manly alone!

Once a week we have to take our sheets and towel down to housekeeping where we are given clean ones to put on our beds. It is interesting how they make their beds here - there is a sheet for your bed (but it isn't fitted like at home.) There is no "top sheet" only a duvet blanket with its cover, and your pillowcase. It's harder to make my bed when the sheet isn't fitted.

Yesterday after laying at the beach I walked around the Corso, which is the strip of Manly that has most of the shops. They have many "surf clothing" shops such as Roxy, Billabong, Hurley, and Quiksilver, but also many souvenir shops and clothing shops. I found a deal on a cute skirt and swim cover up for 20 dollars (I knew my father would be proud.)

Last night I went on a run with Mike. I had yet to explore the rest of the top of the hill, so we ran the other way from Manly. There is a road that takes you to one of Sydney's national parks - so we ran along there. At one stop it is perfect to see the sunset over Manly, and we made it just in time to watch. The site was beautiful, and I can't wait to go back with my camera! I don't think any of these postcard-perfect sights will ever get old!!

Tonight is the famous "Icebreaker" party at ICMS. It starts at the CYC (court yard cafe) and at 1030 they have a bus to take us down the the Sheyne Hotel on the Corso for the after party. Should be a blast!!

G'day mates!

It's Thursday morning and already the weekend for me! Today, I am going to lunch with friends Jessie and Ashley, and then we are going to the beach and into the town for awhile.

Yesterday, I skyped with my parents for the first time. After about 20 minutes they actually got the web cam to work and being able to see them was great!! Oh, the joys of technology. I can't imagine studying abroad years ago before computers and cell phones, just sending letters back and forth. Being able to see people from home while chatting makes it much easier when it comes to missing everyone - this way I know nothing has really changed!

Obviously it's a tough life when your weekend begins at noon on Wednesday. After lunch and skyping, I went down to the beach with friends to lay out and enjoy the sun. It was a beautiful day out! Around five I came back for dinner. The meals here are made and served by hospitality students, and since it's the beginning of the term it's either a hit or miss it seems. Most of the recipes are good, but sometimes I don't know if the meal is made the correct way - ex: we had steak sandwiches for lunch a few days ago, and you had to kind of bite, rip, and tear to eat it... needless to say I ate a lot of fruit and salad at that meal.

Every Wednesday night there is pick up soccer on the tennis courts, so I went out last night to play. It is set up so the tennis net is taken down, and hockey net sized goals are on each far end of the court. The court is also very sandy, so it was a bit slippery at first. I went with Mary and Jessa, and we were the only girls that were playing. A game of 4 on 4 had already started, so we watched until they called another team onto the field. I hoped on with three guys, and you could tell that at first they didn't think I would be any good, since I'm a girl. I was very happy to prove them wrong. Soon the older men that were there were putting one girl on each team, which wasn't really necessary since we could hold our own against the guys. By the end most of the guys knew my name and realized that they couldn't score on me very easily when I was playing defense or blocking the goal. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to go back every Wednesday.

It is interesting going to class here in Australia; obviously, it is a lot easier than going to a country that speaks a different language and trying to take classes in that language. However, there are still words are phrases that my Australian lecturers say and I have no idea what they are talking about. For instance, in my service management class, Juliet held up two different bags (which honestly seemed very similar to me) and said which one would you carry? And everyone was like "oh yes the country road one - everyone has one of those!" But I am the only American, so I just smiled and nodded. Later I googled "country road" and it is indeed a popular bag company. Who knew? Apparently all of the Australians. Another example of the culture barrier in class is when Mike and I were working on an exercise in class for Hospitality. There was a list of all different kinds of places you would get hospitality and we had to give examples of what they would have. Who knew there was a wine bar and an alcohol bar? What is a "takeaway shop?" And a "canteen" here is a cafeteria. So many things to learn!!

When we were in Cairns they gave us a presentation on "culture shock." Here a couple of interesting facts: it is not uncommon for Australians to be "partnered" instead of married. People could have been "partnered" for 20 years, have a couple of kids, and not be married. So strange.. but I think it goes along with their "no worries" philosophy. You don't really date here, you just become partnered. So a girl could be like "oh he is my partner" but then when you ask how long they have been together "oh three weeks." Again, weird. One other thing, Australians take their studies very seriously, but they never talk about it. Unlike in America when we say "I stayed up all night studying and all weekend!" They would just be like "really? I was at the beach all weekend." When in fact they were studying as well.

And yet again, I've written another very long post, but once you start blogging it's hard to stop!!

First Day of Classes

I have just completed my first day of classes and I'm looking forward to learning a lot this semester!

My first class was Service Management from 10 am to noon. My lecturer's name is Juliet, and she had us introduce ourselves and tell about a time when we had bad service. Of course, I told about my awful broken ankle/flight home from Spain story. I made a friend in the class, and it was interesting because I am the only American in the group. The class is going to be about service culture, and we will be telling stories of real life experiences of service and look at different people who have made empires that are focused on great customer service. In that class I will have two presentations - one group presentation on a reading, and one on my own about a leader from my home country - an essay, and my final. I have found that here almost all of the final exams are worth 50 percent which is a little overwhelming right now, but I'm sure it will be fine!

At lunch I watched the Super Bowl in our cafe with other American Students. It was a very different Superbowl experience. We were all wearing our business suits, eating lunch of burgers and "chips" (fries.) I was able to see the halftime show and the second half (obviously the Colt's downfall.) It was being played on the Australian network "ten" so there were not many superbowl commercials played, only a select few they picked out. Also, during time outs Australian Sport announcers talked about the game... it was strange hearing football terms in Australian accents!!

After lunch I went to my next class, Intro to Hospitality from 2 to 4. I have two lecturers for that class, one on Monday (Chef Alex) and one on Tuesday (Chris Harris.) It is a general intro course on how hotels, restaurants, bars, and casinos are run. Next Tuesday we have a group presentation that we only have one day to prepare for - luckily it isn't graded! We played two truths and a lie for an "icebreaker" because people in hospitality "need to know how to tell small lies to appease customers." In this class I will have a report to write, an online quiz midway through the course, and my final exam.

My next class was Intro to Sport Management from 4 - 6. This class is taught by Elizabeth - she seems to really like Americans/study abroad students! We only have two assessments in this class, a paper and a final exam. Mary is in the class with me, but besides us and a few other girls the class is mostly boys.

My final class on Mondays is Contemporary Health Issues from 6 to 8 pm; the lecturer is Kristen Beck who has quite a few degrees in Health Science and Human Nutrition. The class is rather small, and both Olivia and Mary are in the class with me. It will be some biology and current health issues relevant to sport management. It sounds really interesting! Again, only a paper and a final exam- which is 60% of my grade! are the assessments.

Overall, I've noticed that classes here seem much more practical than the ones in the U.S. They don't really worry about the whole "liberal arts" aspect or taking classes in different subjects. The school focuses you right from the start on your area of study. This is why everyone here will graduate with their degree within three years, as well as getting 1200 hours of paid industry training for two of the terms. Another thing I've noticed is that most of the "lecturers" are younger than in the US, and they have all worked/or are working in those fields. For instance, Juliet, my hospitality lecturer, is working at a hotel in the area as well as teaching. Chef Alex has prepared food for all sorts of celebrities including Madonna, Elton John, and Michael Jackson, and mentioned he may bring food in for us! He has worked all over the place in different 5 star hotels. Kristin, my health issues lecturer, writes for health magazines and runs a health website. They are all very knowledgeable and experienced in the fields they teach.

Right now I'm still in the "yay first day of classes" stage. Let's see how I feel in a few weeks... =)

Mojo Surf Trip

We just got back from the Mojo Surf Trip! It was a blast, and I am super sore. After our day of orientation stuff on Friday we left on the Mojo Surf bus for a seven hour bus ride. We stopped at McDonald's for a snack and one more time to get "goon." (boxed wine - classy people!!) We got to the camp site at 1 am and we didn't know what to expect. It was dark as we walked to the "bunks." 20 girls stayed in the room I was sleeping in. They showed us the bathrooms which had "bore water" or well water that was "unfit to drink." It also kind of smelled. yum! The leaders of Mojo Surf are the typical surfer bums and pretty funny. Friday night there was a small bonfire but I was exhausted and went straight to bed.

Saturday was an early morning - 7 am wakeup call. Had a small breakfast and a surfing brief before going down to the beach. There were two separate groups going at different times, and I was in the first group. We carried the surf boards down the road, down a hill, and to the beach. There the instructors taught us how to catch a wave and stand on the board. They would come out into the water and help us when we needed it. At first it was frustrating, getting on the board and falling off over and over. The waves were really rough to walk out to - but we only walked to about waist deep for surfing. After many tries the rain began pouring. But that's when it happened! I stood on my board and rode a wave!! It was exhilarating. Sadly, right after that I felt a stinging on my leg. I looked around and saw other people getting out of the ocean, and noticed the blue bottle jelly fish all around. With the rain and storm in the distance, the wind had brought in a huge wave of jellies. Almost everyone got stung in our group. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would though, and I have a pretty cool scar at the moment from it! We stayed out of the water for awhile then got back in once the majority of them had cleared. Once the other group came down to the beach, we went up and played cards, had lunch, then went back out at 2 for more surfing! I did really well in the afternoon session, standing on the board a good amount. I came into the trip not having high expectations for my surfing abilities and I definitely exceeded my thoughts! At night we drank a good amount of wine while having a "barbie" (BBQ) and partied hard. =)

Sunday morning was an early wake up call again for one more time down at the beach. Surfing this morning went pretty well, but I was tired and sore so I wasn't as successful as Saturday's afternoon session. I did stand a few more times though, so overall a very successful weekend! The bus ride back was kind of brutal - all I wanted was to lay down and sleep but I couldn't get comfortable. Now, I'm back at school getting caught up.

Fun Fact: While everyone is watching the Super Bowl, I will be at my first study abroad classes. Sadly, I won't be able to watch because here the Super Bowl is 9 am Monday morning. There is a pub in town that is playing it which is basically the only reason I remembered that the Super Bowl existed!! Go Bears! oh.. wait.. sigh. Go Colts?

O Week at ICMS

Hi everyone!! I figured I would post about orientation week before I go on the surf trip this weekend!!

On Sunday we flew from Cairns to Sydney. It was a quick flight in comparison to the previous ones - plus I slept almost the entire time. We took a coach bus from the Sydney airport to the ICMS campus in Manly. It was an amazing drive - went past the Sydney Opera House and crossed over the Sydney Bridge for the first time!! Absolutely wonderful. We arrived at ICMS, and just like the the pictures show - it truly is a castle! Our first stop was getting our room assignments. I am in in the 200's - but that is actually on the third floor. My view is gorgeous! It is the town of Manly, and then on the one side the harbor, and the other side it is Manly Beach. I could not ask for anything more! Right now in fact I can see some big waves hitting the beach.

That night I explored the town of Manly for the first time. The ICMS campus sits on top of a giant hill. We walked down to the beach, and walked along the shore (staying away from the jellyfish of course!). Then we explored the little shops of Manly, and bought TimTams at Cole's (not to be confused with Kohl's at home.. this Cole's is a grocery market.) Walking up the hill is quite the hike! We are all going to have ridiculous calves by the end of the term.

On Monday we didn't have anything planned. I got my uniform that morning - boy is it snazzy!! (sarcasm) The options for girls are either skirt or pants, jacket, short or long sleeved white button down shirts, and a cravat (a tie for girls). I opted for the short sleeve shirts because it's summer! And the skirt as well.. but that is mainly because the pants were too long (surprised?) and I don't want to pay 16.50 to have them hemmed. I went up and down the hill a few times that day to go into Manly, it's always worth the trip up the hill, but boy is it tiring!!

Tuesday there was not much planned for us either. We had a quick USA study abroad meeting, and then Mary, Olivia, Mike and I went down into Manly to take the bus for our first trip the Warringah Mall. We went to Target which seems more like a department store than the Target back home. I bought a new pair of flip flops and some sale pantyhose to go with the uniform. I stopped at the Camerahouse because my camera battery charger wasn't working.. buying one was pricy but it's worth having all the photos!! I also got a fan (which is now making funny noises, lovely) and a hair dryer from Myer (like a Macy's). That evening we had a College Welcome Ceremony at the Chapel on campus. It's got really pretty stained glass - no wonder there are so many weddings here with the great chapel and beautiful view! After that there was a cocktail party out on the front lawn, and many people went to the Shark Bar in Manly afterwards - fun night!

Wednesday I had Official Enrollment which just consisted of paperwork, and then a group of girls went down to the beach. It was incredibly hot just laying out, so we would go into the water to cool down. I wasn't even out for two hours, put sunscreen on twice, and still have some random sunburns on my body! Just shows how strong the Australian sun is and how often suncream (as it's called here) needs to be applied! We had a floor meeting that night which took way longer than any other floor meeting I have had. Afterwards, our class schedules were online, so a bunch of us tried to figure out those! I have the best schedule ever! I am taking Service Management, Intro to Hospitality, Intro to Sport Management, and Contemporary Health Issues. I start Monday at 10 and my week is done Wednesday at noon. =)

Thursday was a packed day! We had a meeting in the morning, and then went to a surf safety session! There we learned about the different types of waves, how to get out of rip currents, and the dangerous animals in the ocean - also how to treat jellyfish stings! The most dangerous animal is the blue ringed octopus, it can be fatal if they get you, but they always live in the rocky areas so I'll definitely be far from any rocks!! We then went out to the beach and learned how to paddle on surf boards. At first it was hard to stay balanced, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. It was good practice before we go out this weekend on the surf trip! That afternoon we had team building - my group was the ducks and we were undefeated in all the events - tug of war, an inflated obstacle course, and volleyball using a giant blow up ball. It was pretty fun. That evening we had an "Aussie Party." There was trivia and prizes, and also a couple of trainers came with some dangerous animals. There was a spider, some snakes, a couple of different lizards, and a baby alligator. I even held a snake!! (I know.. right?!) But really it was tiny in comparison to the big snake and baby alligator.

Today I met with the Functions Department. I will be volunteer interning there to get some experience and see how functions are run. There are many weddings here at ICMS, so I will be helping out at those, and seeing the behind the scenes work at the functions office. Later this afternoon we have a Professional Performance session, and then we are going up the coast for our surf trip!

Surf's up!

Cairns!!

Well I've already started to fail at keeping this blog. But here goes nothing!!

Cairns was an amazing experience and it went by so quickly!! A quick recap: I stayed in a room with three girls. The room was basically koala mania including a giant stuffed koala. The first day many of us got our australian cell phones - always exciting! The day we arrived was Australia Day, so when we went out for dinner at the Blue Sky Brewery, we were quickly immersed into the culture. My first Australian beer was a Cairns Gold. Woohoo! The night ended at Gilligan's while we danced in the rain. And of course, it ended quite early because 11 pm in Cairns was about 7 am in Chicago.
The following day we went to a place called rainforestation where we got to feed kangaroos, and hold a koala for a picture. Also, we were taught out to throw a boomerang by the aboriginal people, who also did a dance show for us and showed up how to play the didgeridoo. There was also an Army Duck tour that took us through the rain forest, where the guide pointed out different trees, plants, and animals. One of my favorites was a tree that the Aboriginies used to grind up and get high off of. Apparently that no longer works. That afternoon our AustraLearn leaders taught us how to play cricket. It was fun but tough trying to play a sport when you aren't very good at it. At least I can understand the rules now!
Thursday was our "free day." I went on a jungle tour with Mike and six other people from our group. Our tour guide was Scotty, and he was quite a witty Australian. We went to the rain forest habitat to see more animals - my favorite is the kookaburra! They make this hysterical cackling noise - maybe I like it because it sounds like me when I'm hyper. After that we went to a rainforest to walk around, ironically, in the rain. it was beautiful though. At one point we stopped at a lookout and Scotty pointed out the area where Steve Irwin died. We went on a boat tour looking for crocs, but unfortunately (??) didn't find any. We found a frog instead. I wasn't too sad - the boat was so peaceful that I definitely could have napped. We ended the day at Cape Tribulation where we spent an hour on the beach. It was a beautiful sight. Something that wasn't beautiful were the toilets there. Bathroom is called "toilets" in Aussie, btw. Anyway, as I was about to go in Scotty said "spiders like to hang out in toilets. oh and you think i'm kidding!" and he walked away. Quickest bathroom stop EVER!
Friday we did some volunteering at the Community Nursey where we helped plant trees to save the endangered cassowary bird. Learned about worms and how to make soil (by using koala poo). This is where I tried the green ant - if you lick its butt it tastes like sour apple.. it was pretty crazy!! Went shopping and got TimTam gelato that night. TimTams are this crazy Australian chocolate covered biscuit that I'm pretty much addicted to. and if I come back fat they are the reason.
Saturday we went to the Great Barrier Reef. What an experience!! It was crazy rain and waves for the two hour boat ride out there. We went snorkeling to the reef - at first I didn't think my claustrophobic self could do it - but I made it out there with a member from the crew. Saw big clams, coral, and fish. Made a jellyfish friend - luckily I had the wet suit on because the tentacle was wrapped around my arm! That night we went on a pub crawl - great last night!

On Sunday we journeyed to Manly by a three hour plane ride. I will talk more about O week in a later post. This one is way too long already!!