sunset from Shelley walk

The beginning of Easter break was Thursday. I spent the afternoon at the beach with Mary. After dinner, I went on a walk with Mike beyond Shelley Beach to watch the sunset. We took a path up to some cliffs where we climbed a rock for a perfect space to see the sunset, the ocean, Manly Beach, and ICMS. Here are the pictures from the night!

parasailing in Manly cove!!

Easter break started yesterday! Some friends of mine left to go on weekend trips, but I am here at school with a few friends just relaxing and taking advantage of the long weekend. I spent Thursday evening with Mary, Ashley, Mike, and a new friend Corbin playing card games pretty much the whole night. It was really fun and quite relaxing.

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to go parasailing in Manly Cove with Mary!! Mary, Ashley (our photographer for the afternoon), and I arrived at Manly wharf around 11.45 to wait for the parasailing boat. We could see them out in the cove. The sky was incredibly clear, and while it was a little windy, the weather was great! After waiting awhile, the boat came back to the dock and the people who had gone before us got out of the boat. Of course a couple of teenage boys walked by and said "that was the scariest experience of my life" - I'm sure they said that just to scare us! Of course, I was pretty nervous. I really don't like heights at all, but parasailing seemed harmless enough.

We got on the boat with one other couple and quickly we were out in the harbor! The couple went first, and seeing them up there made me really excited to get to go! There time went by really fast, and before I knew it Mary and I were getting strapped in to the parasail. We had to wear life jackets and these harnesses around our waist and thighs that hooked into the parasail, so it kind of seemed like a swing. Also, if anything was to happen to the cord that connected us to the boat, the instructor told us we would just float down to the water with the parasail. That statement alone made me feel a lot safer!!

The cord attaching us to the boat began to lengthen and we were soon high in the air! No words or pictures can describe the amazing views that Mary and I saw while we were up there. The water looked like it sparkled with the sun, and we could see ICMS easily! One of the coolest things was just being able to see all of Manly and the ocean on the other side of the Corso. Because Mary and I had been so anxious and excited to get up to the top, we didn't tell the instructors if we wanted to get wet or not, and I'm really glad we didn't tell them anything because getting dunked in the water was great! At first as we get lower and lower to the water, I was nervous that it would hurt to smack the water and then be lifted up high very quickly, but it was really gentle and fun! That was deceiving for the next time though, because I wasn't nervous at all, and wow did the water hit us!! We both got slapped in the face with the straps, but it was more funny than painful. Overall, we got dunked four different times which made the ride even more exhilarating.

Soon, we were getting lowered back into the boat. Like everything, the ride seemed incredibly fast, but also totally worth it. I am so glad I didn't let my worry of heights hold me back from parasailing with Mary, because it was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and now we can always say that we parasailed in Australia!! It really could not have been better.

Go 'tahs!!

Last night I went to my first Australian sporting event - a rugby union game in Sydney. I left campus with Chelsea, Laura, Alex and Ashley and we grabbed a bite to eat before getting on the ferry to go into the city. We took a quick train ride from Circular Quay to go to Bar Century to meet up with Chelsea's friend Joe and some of his mates. The drinks were cheap and the bar was decorated like an older style sports bar. After about an hour, Laura, Alex, Ashley and I left the bar and walked a few blocks down to Hyde Park where we picked up a bus to Moore Park. Unfortunately, while trying to get off at the right stop by following a man with a Waratah's jersey on, we got off a little early because the man in fact did not get off the bus like we thought he was going to. Whoops! Luckily a couple of nice old men walked by wearing jerseys and Ashley asked them for directions. It turns out we were not far at all rom the stadium.

We walked into the stadium and went to our seats, which were really close considering they were "category C" when we bought them. Laura and I went to the bathroom and to get a beer which was actually reasonably priced considering we were at a sporting venue. When we came back, a man was sitting in our seats next to Alex and Ashley, and it did not take long to realize how incredibly intoxicated he was. He turned out to be a friend of the guys who were sitting in front of us, and they told him to move. He did, but sat down right by Laura and became pretty distracting. The situation was a little uncomfortable, and there were plenty of empty seats in front of us, so we got up and went to the third row. We were a little sad to move because the guys in front of us had been very friendly and were explaining the different rules of rugby union to us.

There are two different types of rugby here: Rugby Union and Rugby League. Rugby union is a little slower paced with 15 men on the field per team whereas rugby league has seven men per team. Rugby union is what most of the world calls "rugby." When a player puts the ball down in the end field, it is called a "try" and the team scores 5 points. The extra points, or conversion play, is when the ball is kicked through the goal posts by the goal kicker (2 points). If a penalty is awarded to a team, they might get to take a kick which is 3 points. Also, during play the ball can be kicked through the posts (called a drop goal) which is also 3 points. Most of the plays are started through "scrums" which is where the two teams arrange themselves and push against each other for the ball. The ball cannot ever be passed forwards, just backwards, and only the player with the ball can be tackled (normally lower on the body). Also, after the ball goes out of bounds, the play where the ball comes back in is called a "lawn out" and the person who throws it back in is the "line hooker." This is pretty much all of the knowledge I picked up while at the game, or a little wikipedia searching beforehand :)

After moving seats, the game became very exciting and the lead kept changing. We were really close to the action! Also, some of our new mates came down to apologize for their friend and take our group picture in front of the field. The Waratahs ended up winning 39 - 32! We left the stadium and found a bus to Circular Quay for half price (game special.) The next ferry wasn't for another 45 minutes, so we ate at Hungry Jack's. A fun night overall!

This morning I got up and went to church with Mary and Heather for Palm Sunday. It was St. Mary's church, right here in Manly. There were a lot of older people attending, and the dress was definitely casual. It was a very pretty church, but like Mary, I wasn't that impressed with the homily. Oh well, that is where we will be going next week for Easter. I can't believe it's next week!! Another short school week of work and then a five day weekend. Cheers!!

another day in Sydney!

Last night Mike and I went to the Manly Italian Restaurant for dinner. It is hidden on the Corso, and it was delicious! The restaurant is BYO, so we bought a bottle of wine before getting there. I ordered the fettuccine alfredo which was actually orange in color and included mushrooms and ham. It seemed like authentic Italian food for sure! Mike had the spaghetti mariana which really was quite the seafood dish to my surprise! On top of his spaghetti noodles was shrimp, calamari, and even octopus! Mike bet me 10 dollars that I wouldn't eat it - so I did! Definitely not my favorite seafood - too chewy. Good meal away for the college overall! Afterwards we had a mini photo shoot in front of ICMS.





Today Mary, Olivia, Mike and I got up bright and early and rode the 8.15 ferry into Sydney. First stop was Starbucks for a delicious banana loaf and coffee. After filling up on food, we walked over to the Opera House for even more beautiful photos (this time the weather was bright, sunny, and 80 degrees!) Then we began the long walk into the Botanical Gardens. Hanging in the trees above our heads were hundreds of bats! They sleep in the trees during the day, and apparently are destroying the trees so the Botanical Gardens are trying to get rid of them. These bats are called "flying foxes," and it definitely didn't sound like they were sleeping - tons of noise was coming from them and some of there were even flying around.

We passed by many flowers and interesting trees, but the highlight of the gardens was the white birds! A group was feeding in the grass as we passed by, so we tried to see how close we could get to them. In fact we got really close to them! Mary picked up a stick to see if the bird would take it from her, and he jumped right onto the stick! Amazing! I was pretty afraid they would try to bite at us - one was really close to biting at my toes (maybe green nail polish isn't a good idea around them). Right after that Mike nearly got bird poop on his head. All of the sudden we saw something from from above and land between his feet - could have turned out a lot differently had he been standing a bit forward!! We sat on Mrs. Macquerie's chair and walked over to the Tropical Centre which is a greenhouse pyramid.

After hours in the gardens, we walked to Hyde Park. On the way we walked along Macquerie Street featuring many famous Sydney landmarks. One of them is right in front of Sydney Hospital - Il Porcellino - a bronze boar that is a copy of a 17th century fountain in Florence. It represents the strong relationship that Australia has with Italy. Apparently anyone who rubs the nose of the boar has good luck, so of course we all rubbed the snout and threw coins into the fountain. The Sydney Hospital was built by convicts and was originally called "Rum Hospital" because the convicts were paid for their work by receiving the rights to the rum import monopoly.

In Hyde Park we saw St. Mary's Cathedral, Archibald fountain, and watched the big game of chess. Mary and Olivia had a lunch date at the Sydney Tower, so Mike and I went to look for a small bistro for lunch. We stopped at the Sydney Mint which is now just offices of the Historic Houses Trust of NSW. We saw old coins, models of the original buildings, original sandstone columns, and a coin press machine. It was opened in the right wing of the "Rum Hospital" in the mid 1800s. Then we walked around Macquerie Street and found a small cafe where I ate a ham melt and Mike had beef stew. It was a good midday pick-me-up. Next up was the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. We did not go into the actual museum since that actually had a price, and we are just poor study abroad students. Walking around the grounds was good enough though! We saw an old fashioned courtroom and a watchguard station. The barracks were used for housing up to 600 convicts who came to Sydney. In the museum store we saw a rat cage - rats were crediting with "preservation" of the barracks and its history because they would steal items and store them in their nests which were later found in archeological digs.

We went back into Hyde Park and walked beyond Archibald Fountain to see Sandringham Garden and the Anzac Memorial. Sandringham Garden has many flowers and a pretty fountain in the middle and was dedicated to the English kings George V and George VI by Queen Elizabeth II. Beyond the garden, we found the Pool of Reflection in front of Anzec Memorial. The pool really did reflect the memorial and the skylike behind it which was pretty cool. We climbed the stairs to Anzec Memorial to see what it was all about. Anzac stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. The Memorial was opened in 1934 commemorating those who lost their lives in WWI. Now it is a memorial for all of those who were ever killed fighting for their country. When you walk in to the Memorial, you can look down and see the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier." Looking up at the ceiling, I saw 120,000 tiny gold stars. These represented each person who enlisted during WWI. The Memorial was constructed during the Great Depression, and they ran out of funds to complete it. To help with the costs, the gold stars were sold for 2 dollars each to the public. It is a very impressive ceiling to say the least. Underneath the memorial was a tiny museum that we stopped in to have a look around that had some nice soldier artifacts such as uniforms and equipment.

It was time for a quick nap on the lawn while we waited for Olivia and Mary to finish their lunch at the Tower. Once we met up, we walked to Chinatown to venture into Paddy's markets. I wasn't sure what to expect, but there was a lot of items to take a look at! I tried to resist spending too much, but I did find a pretty handpainted boomerang for myself. The markets closed at 5, and we made our way back to Circular Quay for a quick frappaccino and the ferry ride home.

The trip into Sydney was full of fun times and lots of learning, as it always seems to be. It was also great exercise since we walked everywhere! The ferry ride had the most amazing view, a sunset behind clouds near the Opera House and Bridge - I couldn't ask for better pictures!!

Cheers!!!

functions department shadowing

This morning I went to the Functions Department to learn what Yvette, the Functions Manager, does on a daily basis. At first I wasn't sure how interesting the 1.5 hours would be, seeing different office work that she does, but Yvette has a lot of interesting work that she does! In Functions you can never be systematic, you always have to be ready for walk-ins and phone calls because those make up most of the revenue. Daily tasks include always checking email and voicemail and responding with wedding or conference packages to give the customer what they could choose from. Those should be sent out 24 hours or less after receiving the first enquiry. The next step is often negotiations (which Yvette said the Americans do the most! not surprising. Although she did say Americans were the best at negotiating as well.) Yvette explained two different event planning programs - Opera and Visio. Opera is where all event details are kept. Visio is a really cool program - it has all of the rooms in the school to scale, and all tables, chairs, dance floors, to scale as well. This is how they do the floor plans, by moving around the pictures of tables and chairs and seeing how it fits before organizing the room before the event. Another important aspect is keeping a functions folder for every event including every correspondence that you have with the client (basically to save yourself from any arguments with the client, because you will have exactly what they agreed to in the folder.) She showed us a recent client who had many "complaints" and yet she has come back to ICMS for events again and again. The morning was much more interesting than I expected, and Yvette told us we can come back to ask questions or shadow again.

Tonight I'm going out to an Italian restaurant in Manly with Mike. Tomorrow I'm going into Sydney to walk around the Botanical Gardens and stop by Chinatown. Saturday I'm going out in Sydney to the Sydney Waratahs Rugby Game (have to brush up on my rugby beforehand.) A lot to look forward to!

Cheers!

exploring the beaches

Yesterday afternoon Mike and I had a "quiz" in Hospitality. A quiz that is worth 20% of my grade! That is not a quiz, Australia, that is what we call a test! Since we got done with class an hour early, we decided to go on a long run/walk to explore the beaches. Looking out from some of the windows from ICMS, you can see not just the famous Manly beach, but also two other beaches beyond that. We ran along Manly beach, and into the town of Warringah. We ran along a path that went behind a neighborhood of houses and along a lagoon. There were many people walking dogs and strollers along the path. We turned back and went over a bridge, and up, up, up many stairs through homes!! I was tired at the top. Then we walked down some stairs and paths to get to a beach in Warringah. I'm not sure what it is called, but it was beautiful! It was pretty small and not very crowded. We walked along the water and watched many surfers out in the waves. From the beach you could see our pretty ICMS school from across the beach. It was a great evening to climb the rocks and take photos. Seeing as it is Wednesday, it is already my weekend! I'm looking forward to going to a Sydney rugby game on Saturday night with Laura, Ashley, and Alex! It should be a blast. :) More to come!!

Blue Mountains trip!

Quick recap of Saturday evening: A group of girls, Olivia, Laura, Mary, Heather, Ashley, Jessie, Ashley and I went to Four Pines Brewery across from the Manly Wharf. I had heard good things about their food and award winning beer (and we even had a coupon for a free beer) so we were really excited for another good dinner off campus. I ordered "Terri's pasta" pretty much in honor of my Aunt. The pasta was delicious with red sauce, sausage, and feta cheese, and it was really filling. I also tried their speciality cider which was very good as well :) After sitting around for a couple hours while sharing stories and laughs, we decided to get ice cream at McDonald's and walk along the beach for a nighttime photo shoot with Laura's camera. When done we walked along the Corso and beach to finish off the fun night.

Sunday: the Blue Mountains trip. A group of about 25 from ICMS went on the Blue Mountains trip. Our bus driver/tour guide picked us up at 8.15 and drove us through Sydney. We passed over not only the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but also the Anzec Bridge, also known as Madonna's Bra. Our first stop was Featherdale Wildlife park. After seeing wildlife a couple times in Cairns, I wasn't sure how exciting it would be, but as always the interesting animals made the visit worthwhile. When we got off of a bus one of the workers was holding a baby wallaby - sweetest little thing ever! We saw koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, dingos, wombats, and many different types of birds and reptiles. We saw bats as well - I'm not sure if I've mentioned this but bats fly over the city at night - kind of creepy to see when you aren't used to it!! Of course my favorite is the Little Penguins - Mike practically had to pull me away from their exhibit! But my favorite moment of the day was this little owl that was sitting by himself on a log. He was so cute and kept nodding his head at me! Adorable.




Our next stop was the village of Leura. Leura is located right outside of the Blue Mountains and really has that little town feel with a one street strip of small restaurants and shops. Most of us stopped at a little takeaway place for lunch. I ate the honey chicken with fried rice which made me crave sweet and sour chicken from home! We had time to walk along the shops for a little bit before getting back on the bus as well.



We arrived at the Three Sisters after lunch. This rock formation in the Blue Mountains has a few different legends behind it apparently. The original legend is that three sisters from the Katoomba tribe fell in love with three brothers of a different tribe. They wanted to marry, but their father, the chief, didn't allow it, so he had the witch doctor turn them into stone. The witch doctor died during a battle, and they couldn't find anyone to change the girls back. It's a nice legend, but those rocks are huge! No way were those rocks ever any ladies. The pictures cannot really describe how vast the area was.



After taking tons of pictures of the same rock formation, we went to Katoomba falls to walk down the mountain. We began at 1000 meters above sea level. The walk was pretty much all down manmade stairs, and at some points I was a little nervous to look below me! It was a beautiful walk though, and we could continuously see the Katoomba falls waterfall. Once at the bottom we learned about the mining that went on in the mountain area in the early 1900's. To get back up the mountain, we had to go on the world's steepest railway that used to carry coal up the mountain. Not only is it the steepest, but that train went pretty fast too! I was pretty nervous seeing as we were not strapped in at all, and it felt like a roller coaster which I am not very fond of.



After leaving Katoomba falls, we went to Wentworth falls. There were three original explorers of the Blue Mountains, and one of them was Wentworth. Lucky guy - got an awesome waterfall named after him! On our walk down to the lookout point at Wentworth falls, you could really look out through the trees and see the "Blue" Mountains. They are called the Blue Mountains not because they are blue, but because the Eucalyptus trees give off a blue vapor - so when you look through them out at the mountains they look blue in color!




Overall, I was incredibly glad I went to the Blue Mountains to learn more about Australia and see some beautiful sights! Now onto a hectic week with actual schoolwork... sometimes I forget that the word "study" is in "study abroad!" Whoops!!

Cheers :)