April-March

Well it seems that I have totally forgotten that I had a blog. As soon as Spring Break ended, my Professors decided to make sure that I had no life by giving me assignments and tests every other day—thus I had to time or space in my memory to remember that I had a blog I was supposed to be writing. However, despite the insane amount of school work I’ve had the past month and a half, I’ve still made time for a bit of fun down under.

I finally made it to the a show at the Opera House. I saw Cirque de la Symphonie which was basically Cirque du Soleil but with the Sydney Orchestra playing right behind them. The show was incredible--my back hurt just watching the performers. 

My 21^st Birthday was a few days later and my friends made sure that I had an absolute blast. They got all of my friends over the night before and surprised me with cake at midnight. The next morning they woke me up with pancakes in bed, decorated my room, took me to the beach, and made sure I celebrated being 21 even though it's not quite such a big deal here in Australia. They also made a scrapbook for me full of pictures throughout the day, and happy birthday messages from all of my friends. It truly was the greatest birthday ever.

The next day, instead of being able to recover from all of the fun, my friends and I hoped on a plane and headed off to Melbourne for the weekend. We drove along the Great Ocean Road our first day there and saw famous sights such as the 12 Apostles and London Bridge. We also stopped in a eucalyptus forest and got to see koalas out in the wild! 

The second day we drove up to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. We sat patiently on the beach that night waiting to be the first to spot a fairy penguin pop out of the water. Suddenly a whole group of penguins was visible in the water and slowly they made their way onto the beach and up into the hillside to sleep for the night. It was such an incredible experience seeing hundreds of little penguins waddling on the beach only meters away from us! They were so cute and I was very tempted to take one home with me. During our last day in Melbourne we decided to wander the city until we had to head to the airport that night. The city reminded me somewhat of San Francisco—it had a very low key vibe compared to the constant hustle and bustle of Sydney. I’m sad I didn’t get to spend more time in the city, but now I have a reason to return one day!

The next week, was full of birthdays so not much studying got done. Three of my good friends had birthdays on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday so we all celebrated and ate way too much cake! I also spent Cinco de mayo at an AFL (American League Football) game that weekend! It appeared to be a mixture of rugby, American football, and regular football (soccer). The Sydney Swans destroyed the Brisbane Lions and we all cheered despite our lack of understanding for any of the rules.

The following week was spent in the library until one morning when I decided it would be fun to wake up at 5 am and jump out of a plane. I’ve always wanted to go skydiving but never really thought I had the guts to do it. However my friends here convinced me that I could do it, so that morning we drove in a bus down to Wollongong and got in a plane that soared to 14,000 feet above the ocean. My tandem instructor knew I was the most nervous of all my friends so he made me jump out first! I’m not sure I’ve ever been so scared in my life as the plane got higher and higher, but around 10,000 feet I told myself that I just had to do it and not look back. The scariest part is definitely swinging your legs over the edge of the plane and waiting for the instructor to push you out, but after that all of my fear was gone and it was just pure excitement. Falling through the air above the beautiful ocean on a sunny day without a cloud in the sky was one of the most thrilling and amazing experiences of my life. I have to say it’s probably my favorite thing I’ve done since I’ve arrived in Australia. As soon as I landed I wanted to go again and for the rest of the day I felt completely invincible. I am definitely going to skydive again when I get back home.

Since that thrill of a lifetime, I’ve been spending the majority of my time in the library writing papers and studying for tests. I even had my first final today! I cannot believe I only have 6 more weeks here. Where did the time go? My time in Sydney thus far has been the greatest of my life and I can’t imagine leaving. The only thing that makes leaving sound ok is knowing that I will get to have Mexican food when I go home!