quick update

The first picture is from a walk I took with Mary over Easter. :)

This past Friday I went into the city with Mike and Mary to see our friend Matt who we met in Cairns. He is studying in Perth, but his parents were visiting so they travelled to Sydney together. It was fun catching up and showing Matt the places we had been the week before! Also, we got to see his really cool hotel - the Westin right in downtown Sydney. It was beautiful and really high tech.

Yesterday afternoon I walked into Manly and met up with my friend Taylor and her mom who was visiting her. Taylor and I played soccer together at Benet, and it has been awhile since I have seen her so it was great to catch up. She is studying in Sydney and living right by Bondi Beach. I showed them around Manly - part of the Spit Bridge walk, the Corso, Manly Beach, and Shelly Beach. After tiring them out from all of the walking, we went to Four Pines Brewery for lunch and a pint. We ended up staying a couple of hours talking about all sorts of things, including their recent trips to Darwin and Cairns. It was fun having the chance to catch up and also really nice seeing familiar faces from home!

The grading system here worried me at first! Something as low as a 75% is a 4.0, but that is split between getting a "distinction" or a "high distinction." I am just getting credit for taking these classes as long as I pass (which is a 50% here) so I didn't think about it too much, but of course the nerves always hit when you are about to get a paper or test back. So far I've gotten 3 grades, my hospitality quiz which I got 30 out of 40 on (75% - distinction), my health issues paper (high distinction), and my most recent grade I received, intro to sport management (distinction.) I am very happy with the grades I have received, especially because I found the assignments interesting, but I have not spent them same about of time here studying as I normally do in Albion.

Tomorrow in Service Management I am giving an individual presentation on a service leader from my home country. I have chosen Herb Kelleher (founder of Southwest Airlines.) I am also turning in my hospitality report which is describing a conference venue that we have to plan out. Hospitality itself is very interesting, but this assignment is tedious and not exciting in the least bit.

There is not much going on this week, but I am looking forward to Saturday. The school is sponsoring a trip to Hunter Valley - Australia's wine capital for wine and cheese tasting! Can't wait. :)