I arrived in OZ on July 12th 2010. I've been here for over a month now so I'll try to catch you up on everything that's been going on in my life. I'll try to get better at this as I go...
I was supposed to get in on the 11th so I could watch the world cup final but because of some yucky weather in Dallas, I ended up staying overnight in LA and didn't in til one hour after the final ended. So I missed the biggest game in sports that only comes around every 4 years...no biggie.
I arranged for a homestay through a company called Global Experiences. A homestay is where students live in a house or apartment with a local family, ranging from a single woman or a large family with 4 kids and 5 pets. You can ask for a homestay which provides cooked meals for you--usually 7 breakfasts and 7 dinners. My family has 4 people living in the house with 3 dogs.
The mother, Debra Honeyman, has been really nice to me so far. She's the one who cooks me dinner while I make breakfast and buy lunch every day. Debra is a full time housewife so she stays around the house most of the day. Every single day we eat dinner at 6pm, which conflicts with my 3 night classes, so I end up eating at different times every day.
Greg, the father has a lively personality and will always start a conversation with me when I run into him. He is a car technician for a company like AAA back in the US. He usually works long and periodic shifts, but I usually seem him every day. He took me to a 'club' a couple weeks ago, which is like a bar and mini casino with raffle. I met some of his childhood friend and their families there.
Greg and Debra have four kids altogether. Melissa and Clint(I think) are in their mid-30's and have their own places. Skye is 31 and still lives here with us, but she is moving into her own apartment in a year. She works in a pharmacy during the day. Blake is 19 and lives here too. He currently works at a mechanic shop, but he applied last week to be a bartender at a hotel. Both Skye and Blake and Skye are really shy and don't talk very much to me. Whenever we pass in the house, we'll say hi but that's it.
There are three little dogs. One is 7ish named Jay and he is pretty lazy, but well-tempered. Barney is 1 and half ish and has a lot of energy. He is very friendly but I think he has ADD or something because he'll be happy to sit next to me, but then 5 minutes later get up and go check something else out. Tad is 2ish and in between the others' personalities. Tad and Barney playfight all day, but usually greet me when I come home so they're pretty good dogs.
The house is two stories and located in a pretty good neighborhood. To go to the university campus, I walk about 3min to a busstop and then catch the bus for a 25min ish ride. It's only a pain when the bus leaves early or decides not to come altogether...which has happened several times....c'est la vie
I've really been enjoying my classes so far. I'm taking 'Principles of International Law', 'Politics of International Law', 'Politics of the Middle East', and 'International Law and the Use of Force'. My professors seem to know what they're talking about, which helps me respect the material as well as understand it. I find myself discussing the topics outside of class, which tells me I'm doing something I really enjoy. I gave presentation last week over Arab regimes and regime change in the Middle East and did pretty well, so I'm confident about comprehending the material. I'm only worried about the law classes because the material is extremely dense.
Last week I ran in an event called "City2Surf" which is a 14km fundraising event in downtown Sydney. It starts in park in the CBD and goes mostly along the bay, with some gorgeous views. Halfway through is the 2km "heartbreak hill" which seems to go forever. The race finishes at Bondi Beach, the most famous beach in Sydney, and one of the most gorgeous as well. My friend Cesar, who I met during college, came up from Melbourne with several of his mates from work. He ran in the race but he started in a group ahead of me so I didn't see him 'til the end. This year there were over 80,000 entrants. I finished in 34,194th place out of 67,000 finishers with a time of 1:37 hrs.
Later that day I hung out with Cesar and his friends at the birthday party for the winner of the Australian Apprentice. He was a funny guy. He had a masseuse near the entrance giving massages throughout the party. Later that night we went out to King's Cross, a popular area of bars in Sydney but deemed Sydney's "red district" due to drug/prostitute problems which used to dominate the area. For the first time in my life I got thrown out of a bar because I was 'too drunk'. I wasn't belligerent, breaking anything, bothering anybody, or doing anything possible for them to have grounds to throw me out. But they did, and I wish I had done something worthy of being thrown out. Stupid Maori ginormous bouncers.
Last week I slipped on my driveway and managed to break my laptop. To fully repair it would cost a little less than buying a new laptop...so another laptop has been ordered and is on the way. Over the past several weeks I've been setting stuff up like overseas health insurance, Aussie bank account, and getting a student visa. The visa has been a pain in the ass because I had to get medical testing done. My Dad sent me a check 3 weeks ago that I need to cash and pay my tuition but the banks still haven't cleared it. Lesson: next time we will arrange some kind of electronic transaction.
I have gotten to see some of my old friend who I worked with at Amnesty International last year. I definitely missed my in-depth conversations with Rebekah, Alice, and Tara. We had dumplings at this amazing Chinese place really close to my university. The four of us went to an Australian Rules Football game (if you've never seen it, youtube it. NOW) with the Sydney Swans at the Olympic Stadium. It wasn't quite full but I love watching that game--I wish the US had it in some way. This coming weekend we are all meeting at Rebekah's place for an Australian movie night where they will introduce me to the amazingness of Aussie film.
That's a lot and definitely enough for now...
