I've Made It!

I have arrived and everything went very smoothly for the most part! I left Aug.10 and arrived Aug. 12, so August 11, 2009 never existed for me...Or rather I did not exist on that day. What did I miss! :-) It is weird how the time difference works, but once you fly over the international date line you either lose or gain a day. So on my flight back I will live a day twice.

I very much enjoyed my trip to San Francisco. It is a great place! I would love to live theresomeday. I spent the day with my friends Robert and Paige who live there. We got fish and chips at a cute restaurant near the port and saw sea lions and visited a pub....Great times! I then took the train from the city back to the airport in order to catch my 9pm flight to New Zealand. It was a 12-hour flight, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was a night flight, so I slept most of it. I met several guys from the US Ski team that was traveling with us....wow, they were extremely good looking! I also met a Kiwi (someone from New Zealand). And on my flight to San Francisco I met someone who gave me a 5-leaf clover for good luck on my trip. How sweet! I've never even seen a 5-leaf clover :-)

It is amazing to me how much Australia is very much like America. The entertainment is very much the same...same popular music, same tv shows, same movies. The boys (Jerome and Julian) are very surprised that I know who Sponge Bob and Buzz Light year are. Even stores are the same for the most part. Just like in America, you have your pricey stores and your cheap stores. I have already found my favorite...it's called Big W. Which is the equivalent to Walmart! I have yet to find a Big T, which would be nice bc we all know Target is better :-)

Yesterday Yas showed me around a bit and then took me to home to get settled in and unpack. I met Silia who is 23 and from Shanghai, China. She studies International Law at the University of Sydney. She is staying here as a homestay as well. The house is gorgeous and I am looking forward to it warming up so that I can enjoy the pool. Yesterday when I got off the plane they said it was 20 degrees and I was shocked! I thought I had severely mis-packed. However the nice kiwi next to me explained that it is in Celsius, which is about 75 degrees. Whew what a relief. Later that day we went to pick up the boys from their private Catholic school (Yas is Catholic, but Brian is not). They were very excited to meet me and show me around. We went to a beautiful park call Camellia Gardens and fed the ducks and then went to a cute downtown area called Cranola. I will probably spend a lot of time there. It is full of coffee shops and cute stores and is right on the beach. I have not yet gotten to see downtown Sydney, but will definitely do that once I get back from my work trip.

Julian & Jerome

I can already tell that I will be eating very well here. Yas is originally from Switzerland and her father was a chef. So she has learned a lot from him and loves to cook. Last night she made Chicken Schnitzel and minced meat wrapped in lettuce with steamed vegetables. Yum! She does not like Vegemite, but Brian and the boys do. I have not yet tried it, but I will!

I leave tomorrow morning for Brisbane to work at the music festival until September 1. Once I get back I will find work here for a bit.

I have got a phone number now and a mailing address, so if you would like either just message me and I'll give it to you. (just don't want to put it on here bc it's rather public)

Miss and love you all! ps. I have more pictures coming...they were just taking forever to upload and I got inpatient. I'll get them on here soon though!

This is Wanda Beach and shows downtown Cranola.