G'day Mates!
I want to start off this post by saying that being on the other side of the world while last week's events in Boston were happening was one of the most anxiety producing and unsettling things I've experienced in a long time. I am blessed to be able to say that all of my friends are safe, that peace has been restored in my city, and of course, that I am okay. But, I have a bittersweet feeling about not being in Boston last week. I am lucky to have been the furthest away from danger I possibly could have been, and I received many messages along the lines of "I'm so glad you're abroad right now." I am, too. However, it was very hard for me to be so far away from my friends and my city that I love so much, and not physically able to "be there" for them. I definitely don't feel guilty in any way for being abroad and, therefore, not witnessing the tragic events first hand, but I do feel strange for not being able to be a part of the emotion and the community that formed so quickly throughout all of Boston.
The events, of course, made national news, so between Australian news coverage, CBS Boston live streaming online, and hundreds of Facebook statuses, I did my best to keep up with the terrifying events as they unfolded. Prior to last week, all of the BU students here in Sydney were moping about the fact that we would be missing Marathon Monday, only the GREATEST day of the year for a student in Boston. I don't think I've ever been more nervous in my life then the moment I woke up Tuesday morning, flipped open my laptop, and saw Lindsey's Facebook status at the top of my newsfeed, saying that she was safe and her heart was "with everyone affected in today's events." Nothing snaps you awake quicker than reading something like that. I ended up going into work late that morning, after confirming that everyone I love in Boston was safe and back in their rooms.
Wednesday night the staff organized a vigil for us to get together and remember those lost and affected by the bombings. It was a really nice gesture and helped us, however so slightly, to cope with the events even though we are far away. Unfortunately, the staff has had to organize too many of these vigils throughout the years, most recently for the car accident tragedy in New Zealand, so they knew what they were doing. We gathered in a park with candles and listened as our director, Mark, spoke to us about what had happened. We took group photos after arranging our candles to spell "BU" and then all went somberly on our separate ways. As more tragedies unfolded towards the end of the week, I was fixed on the news and cursing the time difference even more, for making it difficult to get in touch with people when I felt like I needed to most. Luckily, again, all of my friends made it safely through that week from hell and, though I'm sure many are shaken and still feeling uneasy, will hopefully start to feel back to normal soon enough. As for me, I'm feeling good knowing that they have the suspect in custody and no more harm can be done. I'm also loving and missing Boston more than ever. What an incredible city.
DEPRESSION PARAGRAPHS OVER. Blogs are weird because if I still had a diary I'd probably write the same kind of thing, but now it's just a public post....LOOK! I HAZ EMOTIONZ!
Nothing all that much (other than internship) has been going on. There have been some quality beach days, which I appreciate more and more as the Sydney weather slowly turns to Autumn. We're all pulling out our jeans and jackets these days, so the days of beachy sunshine are becoming rare.
After the vigil Wednesday night, Steph and I went to see Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret speak at the Enmore Theatre! I have been trying for a few years now to get to one of his events, both in MD and in New England, but to no avail. Luckily for me, he took a trip down under. He's from Germantown, MD which is awesome and has turned into a huuuuuuge success with his addicting website. If you haven't seen it, go now. www.postsecret.com. It was a great night and pretty inspiring; about 20 people got up at the end of his talk and shared their secrets with the audience. They ranged in seriousness, but I have a ton of respect for people who were brave enough to get up and do it!
Friday I went to a dueling piano bar (so fun!) that was inside a casino. After the bar, we gambled. I lost $3.30 on my first slot machines and got scared to keep going....that was the end of my gambling night.
Saturday was a momentous occasion as I saw my first show at the Sydney Opera House! It was my second and final PA event, and 16 other students came with me :) We saw Cirque de la Symphonie, which was basically a show full of circus acts set to music by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was AMAZING, and not just because we were in the Opera House (though, that did have something to do with it...) I can't wait to go back there -- I'm planning on taking a tour in the next week or so!
I also made my way to a new market in Rozelle - I got myself a new blazer, a sweater, and a cute top for $20! There are a ton of markets I'm still trying to make my way to in the coming days -- they are all so great here in and around Sydney. There are also a ton of food establishments I have yet to go to....my wallet is in for a rude awakening pretty soon. I have found a few free activities to do though, including the Sydney Museum of Modern Art, a Sydney Uni Rugby game and the 13 Rooms art exhibit -- all very fun and worthwhile. Free stuff is usually great, even if it really sucks, because its free!
My Brand Advertising class has been....going. Tomorrow is the last day and I am giving my final presentation on the toilet paper company, Who Gives A Crap. If you haven't heard of it, look it up! It's awesome and hilarious. After the class is over, I've just got the final exam to worry about next Tuesday.
Before then, though, we have only 3 more days of internship!! YAY!! Tues, Wed, and Fri. Thursday is Anzac Day, a day to commemorate the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand armies, but really just another excuse for Aussies to have off work and drink heavily. SHOULD BE GREAT! I'm ready to be done with this internship, though I did have a relatively great time doing it. I networked with some great industry professionals and earned myself some references and a solid letter of recommendation.
Beyond all that good stuff, it really is the final countdown here in Aussie. Like I said in my last post when I had a whole month left, I'M FREAKING OUT! Where did the time go? I'm pretty much all settled for my summer in Boston and though I will miss Sydney tremendously, am generally very excited to be back in the States, especially after everything that's been going on.
Just a few days left until the program ends, I head off to New Zealand with my friend Rachel and then meet up with my mom! I hope all is well with everyone in Boston and beyond. Sometimes I wish you all had blogs that you updated about your daily lives because I want to know what's up!! Feel free to start them on my behalf...
Cheers xx
Nikki
Monday, April 22, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Post #10: Dad, Easter, & One Month Left
G'day - sorry it's been a while! Here's what's up:
WARNING: THIS IS REALLY LONG. POTENTIALLY THE LONGEST POST I'VE WRITTEN. SORRY I'M NOT SORRY. DON'T READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO.
WARNING: THIS IS REALLY LONG. POTENTIALLY THE LONGEST POST I'VE WRITTEN. SORRY I'M NOT SORRY. DON'T READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO.
Dad and Karen got to Sydney on the morning of Sat, 16 March.
We walked ALL around the city and I gave them a tour of the most important
places in the neighborhood (Botanical Gardens, Circular Quay, The Rocks,
Darling Harbour, Market City, and the overall CBD). For dinner, we went to the
Taste of Sydney Food Festival (which was amazing) and had a lovely night. Over
the next few days, while working around jetlag, we went to the top of the
Sydney Tower Eye, the Sydney Jewish Museum, the St. Patty’s Day Parade, The
Rocks markets, and ate some excellent food. I had internship a few of the days,
but Dad and Karen had a bunch of fun without me as well, going to Manly Beach,
the Blue Mountains, and taking a few tours of the city! Thursday night I left
internship a bit early and we headed to the airport to start our trip to Cairns
(pronounced Cans) and the Great Barrier Reef!
We arrived to rain and bad
weather, but crossed our fingers for the rest of the weekend. We ate dinner and
then went to sleep in our cool hotel apartment room. We woke up and by 10am had
to be downstairs to leave for the dive. I hadn’t asked Dad too many details and
didn’t know much about the itinerary for the day, though I did notice that 10am
was a late departure time for a two-tank dive at a dive site 1.5 hrs away by
boat. I walk outside to a van plastered with GBR HELICOPTERS and a giant
picture of a helicopter on it. SURPRISE! We took a helicopter ride, instead of
a boat, to our dive site. Though slightly terrifying to be on a 20 minute helicopter
ride above the ocean, it was incredibly beautiful, and a heck of a lot quicker.
THANKS DAD FOR THE COOL SURPRISE! It was so awesome to see the different blues
and greens of the water, along with the coral formations and all. We landed on a helipad in the middle of the ocean and then were boated to a pontoon where all of the day's activities were based out of. Dad and I got set up right away for our first dive (bought an underwater camera), and honestly it wasn't as excellent as I had hoped. I haven't done all that many dives in my lifetime, but the visibility overall was subpar. The GBR is waaay over dived, causing the water to be less than great in terms of visibility. Can't complain though, because I saw a turtle, a bunch of Nemos and a ton of other cool stuffz! Unfortunately, the minute we saw the turtle was the minute Dad realized he lost the camera. Oops. Anyway, the second dive was a whole lot better and clearer. The colors of the fish and coral were outstanding! Great experience. After the dive we took the boat back and walked to dinner in the POURING rain. Thankfully the weather held up for us during the dives, but the nighttime was really bad. Went to a seafood place and got Mud Crab, an ENORMOUS version of the beloved Maryland crab, though it tasted a bit different. NomNomNom.
The next day, we ended up taking the SkyRail up to Kuranda, a rainforest village at the top of a mountain.It was basically a giant gondola above the treetops that was really pretty when the clouds cleared away. Dad was NOT a fan of the SkyRail, especially in the rain and wind. He listened to Katy Perry without shame and got through it. We got to Kuranda (POURING RAIN THE ENTIRE TIME) ate lunch, walked around the shops, and had to get back for our plane home to Sydney. In all, everything was great. I'm so glad Dad and Karen came to visit - it was really nice seeing familiar faces and eating something that wasn't pasta from my own crappy kitchen.
Monday the 25th Erica and I went to a seder a lady's house in Gordon, NSW. We found her through a local synagogue and she was kind enough to invite us over. Not too much to say about it other than we felt extremely welcome and had a good time. Oh also, within the first 5 minutes of being picked up from the train station by the woman's son, we made a mutual connection -- he was on a year long program in Israel with a girl from my high school and in my BBYO chapter at one point. SMALLEST WORLD. The food was yummy and the company was nice. Passover success.
On Tuesday the 26th Steph Andrew and I went to the Jason Mraz concert!! He put on a really great show, as always, but the crowd was pretty lame and the vibe of the whole place was a lot less excited than a usual American show. We're not really sure why, but I think its just because generally, Aussies are a lot less loud and obnoxious than Americans. Who knows. It was great to see a concert, either way - I hadn't been to one in a long time!
Internship internship internship....filing, data entry, lots of Australian candy.
Friday at 6:30AM Anna, Steph Schaffer and I left for our Easter Break trip to Brisbane! We landed there at 7:00AM, Queensland time, picked up our rental car (Anna drove, opposite sides and everything, and did a fantastic job!! You go Ann!) and drove immediately to Byron Bay, stopping on the way for a delish brekkie at a cute cafe in Pottsville called White Jade. We eventually made it to Bryon Bay, laughing the entire way about how early it was. We must've gotten there before 10 AM and had the rest of the day ahead of us. Again, not the greatest weather. Raining here and there, but we made the best of it. The Byron Bay Bluesfest was that weekend, making it the busiest time of year for the city. There were people in from all over the place and there was a constant hustle and bustle of the small area of shops, restaurants, and the beach. The shops were really expensive, and the restaurants that were open had a 'public holiday surcharge' of 10-15%. BLEH. We spent two days and one night in Byron and met a cool English couple in our hostel room! We got to walk to a pretty lighthouse which is the most Eastern point in Australia - pretty cool. Also bought nice jewelry and ate more nommies at the Byron Bay Market! In general, we did whatever the hell we wanted whenever the hell we wanted to do it because we had absolutely no reservations or plans or schedule....and we had our own car. NICE. Left Byron Saturday evening and headed back to Brisbane to finish the rest of the trip there.
We made it to Brisbane (Brizzy, BrisVegas, etc.) Saturday night and ate dinner out before going to our new hostel and crashing. In the morning, Anna went to church for Easter services and Steph and I ate brekkie at the ONLY open establishment - the Marriott's restaurant. After that, Anna scooped us up and we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary WHERE I HELD A KOALA. That's all I have to say about that. If you know anything about me, you know that I think that was one of the greatest experiences of my lifetime. We left Lone Pine and went to the South Bank, which is one of the two 'fun' spots in Brisbane, though with the holiday, again, nothing was really open. We had a quick Mexican lunch and wandered around the markets that were closing because of the impending weather conditions. The South Bank has a WEIRD man made beach right in the middle of the city which is really interesting but definitely awkward. Because most of the shops were closed and it was about to rain, we went to the movies! Cheap tickets! Yay! We saw The Host & Oz the Great and Powerful -- LOL to both. Such questionable choices. After the movies we went back to the hostel and fell asleep.
The next morning we woke up, checked out of the hostel, and walked to the West End, the OTHER 'fun' spot in Brisbane. The cafe we wanted to go to (recommended by my coworkers at InterCon) was closed for the holiday but another one that Anna was recommended to go to was open - The Gunshop Cafe. So, surcharge and all, we had a delisssshh Easter brunch. We walked up and down the street (singular) of the West End, bopping in and out of the few bookstores and boutiques that were open. Eventually, we headed back to the car and drove to the airport. And here I am now, back in Sydney! Initially I was nervous about this trip because we had literally NOTHING planned, but looking back I'm so glad we did it that way because it was the most leisurely vacation I feel like I've been on in a long time. We did what we wanted, when we wanted, for however long we wanted - isn't that what all vacations should be like??
We have internship for the rest of the week and an internship class (including pizza and drinks!) tomorrow night. Nothing else to report other than I'm still doing homework and writing papers in between my travels. I'm starting to freak out that I have just about a month left of this program, and then I'm traveling to Queenstown, NZ and Alice Springs, AUS with my Mom! Nothing huge planned until then but hard to believe how fast everything is moving...
Room selection, Fall 2013 course registration and a whole bunch of other stuff is going on in Boston soon and thats pretty exciting as well - though worrying about all that and working on finalizing summer plans/housing from the other side of the world is a bit stressful.
Hakuna Matata, yes?
Major shout out to some major friends I'm missing back at home, at school, and around the globe. Even if we're not talking a ton, I'm still thinking of you.
Cheers!
Nikki xx
The next day, we ended up taking the SkyRail up to Kuranda, a rainforest village at the top of a mountain.It was basically a giant gondola above the treetops that was really pretty when the clouds cleared away. Dad was NOT a fan of the SkyRail, especially in the rain and wind. He listened to Katy Perry without shame and got through it. We got to Kuranda (POURING RAIN THE ENTIRE TIME) ate lunch, walked around the shops, and had to get back for our plane home to Sydney. In all, everything was great. I'm so glad Dad and Karen came to visit - it was really nice seeing familiar faces and eating something that wasn't pasta from my own crappy kitchen.
Monday the 25th Erica and I went to a seder a lady's house in Gordon, NSW. We found her through a local synagogue and she was kind enough to invite us over. Not too much to say about it other than we felt extremely welcome and had a good time. Oh also, within the first 5 minutes of being picked up from the train station by the woman's son, we made a mutual connection -- he was on a year long program in Israel with a girl from my high school and in my BBYO chapter at one point. SMALLEST WORLD. The food was yummy and the company was nice. Passover success.
On Tuesday the 26th Steph Andrew and I went to the Jason Mraz concert!! He put on a really great show, as always, but the crowd was pretty lame and the vibe of the whole place was a lot less excited than a usual American show. We're not really sure why, but I think its just because generally, Aussies are a lot less loud and obnoxious than Americans. Who knows. It was great to see a concert, either way - I hadn't been to one in a long time!
Internship internship internship....filing, data entry, lots of Australian candy.
Friday at 6:30AM Anna, Steph Schaffer and I left for our Easter Break trip to Brisbane! We landed there at 7:00AM, Queensland time, picked up our rental car (Anna drove, opposite sides and everything, and did a fantastic job!! You go Ann!) and drove immediately to Byron Bay, stopping on the way for a delish brekkie at a cute cafe in Pottsville called White Jade. We eventually made it to Bryon Bay, laughing the entire way about how early it was. We must've gotten there before 10 AM and had the rest of the day ahead of us. Again, not the greatest weather. Raining here and there, but we made the best of it. The Byron Bay Bluesfest was that weekend, making it the busiest time of year for the city. There were people in from all over the place and there was a constant hustle and bustle of the small area of shops, restaurants, and the beach. The shops were really expensive, and the restaurants that were open had a 'public holiday surcharge' of 10-15%. BLEH. We spent two days and one night in Byron and met a cool English couple in our hostel room! We got to walk to a pretty lighthouse which is the most Eastern point in Australia - pretty cool. Also bought nice jewelry and ate more nommies at the Byron Bay Market! In general, we did whatever the hell we wanted whenever the hell we wanted to do it because we had absolutely no reservations or plans or schedule....and we had our own car. NICE. Left Byron Saturday evening and headed back to Brisbane to finish the rest of the trip there.
We made it to Brisbane (Brizzy, BrisVegas, etc.) Saturday night and ate dinner out before going to our new hostel and crashing. In the morning, Anna went to church for Easter services and Steph and I ate brekkie at the ONLY open establishment - the Marriott's restaurant. After that, Anna scooped us up and we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary WHERE I HELD A KOALA. That's all I have to say about that. If you know anything about me, you know that I think that was one of the greatest experiences of my lifetime. We left Lone Pine and went to the South Bank, which is one of the two 'fun' spots in Brisbane, though with the holiday, again, nothing was really open. We had a quick Mexican lunch and wandered around the markets that were closing because of the impending weather conditions. The South Bank has a WEIRD man made beach right in the middle of the city which is really interesting but definitely awkward. Because most of the shops were closed and it was about to rain, we went to the movies! Cheap tickets! Yay! We saw The Host & Oz the Great and Powerful -- LOL to both. Such questionable choices. After the movies we went back to the hostel and fell asleep.
The next morning we woke up, checked out of the hostel, and walked to the West End, the OTHER 'fun' spot in Brisbane. The cafe we wanted to go to (recommended by my coworkers at InterCon) was closed for the holiday but another one that Anna was recommended to go to was open - The Gunshop Cafe. So, surcharge and all, we had a delisssshh Easter brunch. We walked up and down the street (singular) of the West End, bopping in and out of the few bookstores and boutiques that were open. Eventually, we headed back to the car and drove to the airport. And here I am now, back in Sydney! Initially I was nervous about this trip because we had literally NOTHING planned, but looking back I'm so glad we did it that way because it was the most leisurely vacation I feel like I've been on in a long time. We did what we wanted, when we wanted, for however long we wanted - isn't that what all vacations should be like??
We have internship for the rest of the week and an internship class (including pizza and drinks!) tomorrow night. Nothing else to report other than I'm still doing homework and writing papers in between my travels. I'm starting to freak out that I have just about a month left of this program, and then I'm traveling to Queenstown, NZ and Alice Springs, AUS with my Mom! Nothing huge planned until then but hard to believe how fast everything is moving...
Room selection, Fall 2013 course registration and a whole bunch of other stuff is going on in Boston soon and thats pretty exciting as well - though worrying about all that and working on finalizing summer plans/housing from the other side of the world is a bit stressful.
Hakuna Matata, yes?
Major shout out to some major friends I'm missing back at home, at school, and around the globe. Even if we're not talking a ton, I'm still thinking of you.
Cheers!
Nikki xx
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Post #9: Where do I even begin...?
Well, I'm back!
Thailand was incredible. Part of me wants to post a long detailed play by play about it but I don't even know if I can do that/if anyone actually WANTS to read it. I'll try to do a quick summary of each day -- how about that?
Day 1 - 2/3/13
We arrived at night and luckily, there was a driver with Anna's name (though spelled wrong...) on a sign to pick us up and take us to our hotel. GOOD START! We drove through Patong to our hotel, staring in awe all the way saying, "OMG WE'RE IN ASIA!" We got to our hotel which was beautiful and we were given strawberry juice at check-in! We settled in and fell right asleep, which I suppose is a little unfortunate because we didn't get to look around Patong on foot. Oh well....Day One - Success!
Day 2 - 3/3/13
We woke up to gorgeously hot weather and had our first Thai breakfast in the hotel. Rice, noodles, and onion-rings were on the same table as eggs and toast! Very interesting. We were semi-rushed from another driver there to pick us up and take us to a ferry, which then took us to Phi Phi Island. It was a relatively long, but beautiful boat ride. We got to Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee -- LOL) and walked around the island, going in and out of shops buying the CHEAPEST things ever, which was awesome. The water was beautiful and warm and we stopped for fresh fruit smoothies :) After some exploring, we got on the Maya Bay Sleep Aboard boat with a TON of other people...it was concerning at first how we were all going to fit on there to sleep buttttttt we didn't worry about it then. The ride consisted of a few okay snorkling stops and finally docking on Maya Bay! It's a GORGEOUS national park that was used in the filming of the The Beach with Leo DiCap. We had a whole bunch of time on the beach to swim and lay out. As the night went on, all other tourist boats (but ours) left the beach and it was all ours! We had TWO great dinners and drinks (served in buckets!) and sat around a cute little jam sesh put on by some guys from Philadelphia with guitars. It was really nice. When that was all over, it was announced that there were too many people to fit on the boat for the night (overbooking problems...) so whoever wanted to was allowed (however, illegally) to sleep on the beach! My friends and I jumped at the opportunity and spent an incredible night sleeping on the sand under the stars! We met a few other cool people who decided to sleep on the beach too! Overall: awesome night.
Day 3 - 4/3/13
We woke up with the sun and watched it rise over the water. Such an amazing experience -- definitely once in a lifetime. We got back on the boat and were given breakfast as we drove back to Phi Phi island. Upon return, we checked into the hotel (relatively clean...) and I signed up for a scuba dive for the next morning! Very exciting. We went out to lunch at a beachside restaurant and laid out on the beach for many more hours. Anna and I left the beach to go get manicures for a whopping $5, and then back to the rooms to nap! After naps, we all showered and got ready to go out for the night. We went back to the seaside where all the bars had fireshows! There were multiple Thai boys swinging flaming ropes and balls around and hundreds of tourists crowded around. Pretty cool stuff. The coolest part was that the tide on the beach went so far in at night that we could walk out on the sand to a further point than we had even swam earlier that day! We left the beachside area and found our way to a rooftop bar with cool views of the island. Didn't stay out long cause of my upcoming early morning, but fun night :)
Day 4 - 5/3/13
I woke up super early, much to the dismay of my friend Sam who was sharing a room/bed with me, to get to the dive shop at 745. Walking through the maze of the island so early in the morning was really interesting - no tourists, no noise, barely even any shops open. I got to the dive shop, stored my luggage in the back room, and sat down at a random table with other people. My name got called and of course, I was sitting in the wrong spot, so I went over to join my group. I was introduced to Josh and Omar (a Brit and Norwegian) who were also diving with me, and our two dive masters. Nice small group. We chitchatted until heading to the boat and getting ourselves all settled. I was pretty nervous at first to be by myself, especially since I hadn't dived since my certification last August. However, the dive masters were really awesome and set all our equipment up for us and told the group we were gunna take it nice and slowly for a relaxing and fun dive. WOO! They were right. It was awesome. Omar, Josh and I became friends as well, and I'm still waiting on the pictures that Omar took of me underwater! The visibility wasn't as great as I had hoped it to be, but I'm still so glad that I did it and I was proud of myself for being so independent and braveeeeee! Go me! After the first dive, quick lunch, and second dive, we made our way back to the shop where we celebrated at the dive shop's rooftop bar - sweet set up. I bought a Phi Phi Island Dive Shop Crew tshirt, grabbed my luggage, and waited to meet back up with my friends who had gone kayaking for the day. We got on the ferry from Phi Phi Don to go to Ao Nang, where we would spend the rest of the trip. I stayed on the marvelous INDOOR, AIR-CON part of the ferry for that trip, because oops I got a bit burnt on the dive boat. We made it to Ao Nang and found our way to the free Tuk-Tuk that drove us to our hotel - 'P.K. Mansion.' Not EXACTLY a mansion, but my room had 4 walls, a ceiling and a bed so I was fine with it. Ao Nang is part of the mainland and there was definitely less of a touristy, islander feel to it, though we could still get by with english and smiles. We had a solid dinner (still SO cheap), explored the main road our hotel was on, strolled along the beach, partook in the beautiful Thai tradition of wishing lanterns, and then crashed in our rooms.
Day 5 - 6/3/13
Woke up early, grabbed the cheapest breakfast we could find, and were picked up in a van to go to ELEPHANT TREKKING, crystal and thermal pools, and Wat Tham Sua (Tiger Cave Temple), but not in that order. The pools were fresh water, clear blue, gorgeous, and relaxing. One of them was a natural hot tub, over 100 degrees. Not much else to say about them - a pool is a pool, yes? Climbed 1,237 STEEP steps to get to the top of the mountain where the temple and huuuuuge golden Buddha was. I was NOT expecting it to be as hard as it was (too many Tim-Tams...?) I probably could have climbed Masada 4x and had more energy after that than what I struggled through to get to the temple. Making it up there was an accomplishment in itself, and I was very much rewarded with the view and general 'zen' feeling at the top of the mountain. A few selfies with Buddha and meditating "om"s later, we walked down, sweaty and shaky. Got mislead by a cheap icecream bar that I thought was a fudgesicle, though it turned out to be COLA flavored. WHAT IS THAT?! (yes, that detail was important to blog about.) All brown pictures of popsicles are not created equal. Anyway -- I RODE AN ELEPHANT. It was incredible and everything I dreamed it would be. It was definitely harder than riding a camel, but still so much fun. Elephants are the cuuuuuuutest animals and so nice. The trail was pretty and the ride was awesome. I will do my best to upload a video I took while riding on it.... pretty hilarious. Those three activities pretty much summed up the day. Each one of them are once in a lifetime opportunities that I feel so lucky to have been given. Fabulous!
Day 6 - 7/3/13
This morning we woke up, ate at the same brekkie restaurant and then got into a van headed for our 4 Island Speed Boat Tour! It started out super awesome because we thought it was the 6 of us, 2 other friends we had made traveling, and a random old couple on the boat. Unfortunately, we were wrong and 15 minutes into our luxurious boat ride, we picked up 30+ people off a ferry in the middle of the ocean who apparently were signed up for this speed boat day also. The 6 of us and our two friends decided to take over the front of the boat, which worked out for us in the end. We ended up traveling to 5 islands (Buy 4, get one free?), snorkeling, eating lunch, laying out, and exploring. All islands were equally as magnificent and the water stayed crystal clear and warm the entire time. There were, however, little stingy things (not jellies) in the water that made snorkeling less pleasant.... but being on the speed boat as well, was FUN! Quite the change from the ferry rides that inched us from destination to destination. The majority of the day was taken by that and by the time we got back, we showered, changed and headed out for dinner. On our walk to dinner was when the weather got bad, and we had to stay under a shop's awning for about 20 minutes for a storm to pass. Better on the way to dinner than on the boat earlier in the day though, right? We had a good dinner, and an even better dessert of Thai pancakes -- nutella & banana <33333 Thai pancakes are very similar to crepes, but thicker. They are made with a dough, instead of a batter, which makes them fluffier and oh so delish. We food coma-ed our way back to the room and to sleep.
Day 7 - 8/3/13
We are silly and kept our itinerary scheduled to be taken to the airport around 8:30am, when our first flight to Malaysia didn't even leave until 7:30pm. Needless to say, we spent a LOT of time waiting around at the airport. We finally made it back to Sydney 10:45am, 9/3/13, and were glad to smell the deliciously neutral smelling Australian air. Immediately did laundry, took a nap, and began the recuperation process.
____________________________
Since then, I've started my new class - Brand Advertising & Promotion - which, after two classes, seems just okay. I'll have more feelings about it in the coming weeks. I've ALSO started my internship! After only two days I am definitely enjoying it, but I feel like such a classic intern: filing, stuffing envelopes, etc. HR is new to me, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I am enjoying the general idea of the department at this point. I will be assigned more 'legit' tasks, hopefully pretty soon. I think they're impressed with my work so far, which is good. GO ME!
As for now, I'm looking forward to getting some more time in at the hotel and my Dad and Karen coming to Sydney this Saturday! WOOOOOO! Can't wait to see some familiar faces and eat something other than pasta...
Excited to see what the second half of the semester brings!
Miss you Americans -- xx
Nikki
Thailand was incredible. Part of me wants to post a long detailed play by play about it but I don't even know if I can do that/if anyone actually WANTS to read it. I'll try to do a quick summary of each day -- how about that?
Day 1 - 2/3/13
We arrived at night and luckily, there was a driver with Anna's name (though spelled wrong...) on a sign to pick us up and take us to our hotel. GOOD START! We drove through Patong to our hotel, staring in awe all the way saying, "OMG WE'RE IN ASIA!" We got to our hotel which was beautiful and we were given strawberry juice at check-in! We settled in and fell right asleep, which I suppose is a little unfortunate because we didn't get to look around Patong on foot. Oh well....Day One - Success!
Day 2 - 3/3/13
We woke up to gorgeously hot weather and had our first Thai breakfast in the hotel. Rice, noodles, and onion-rings were on the same table as eggs and toast! Very interesting. We were semi-rushed from another driver there to pick us up and take us to a ferry, which then took us to Phi Phi Island. It was a relatively long, but beautiful boat ride. We got to Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee -- LOL) and walked around the island, going in and out of shops buying the CHEAPEST things ever, which was awesome. The water was beautiful and warm and we stopped for fresh fruit smoothies :) After some exploring, we got on the Maya Bay Sleep Aboard boat with a TON of other people...it was concerning at first how we were all going to fit on there to sleep buttttttt we didn't worry about it then. The ride consisted of a few okay snorkling stops and finally docking on Maya Bay! It's a GORGEOUS national park that was used in the filming of the The Beach with Leo DiCap. We had a whole bunch of time on the beach to swim and lay out. As the night went on, all other tourist boats (but ours) left the beach and it was all ours! We had TWO great dinners and drinks (served in buckets!) and sat around a cute little jam sesh put on by some guys from Philadelphia with guitars. It was really nice. When that was all over, it was announced that there were too many people to fit on the boat for the night (overbooking problems...) so whoever wanted to was allowed (however, illegally) to sleep on the beach! My friends and I jumped at the opportunity and spent an incredible night sleeping on the sand under the stars! We met a few other cool people who decided to sleep on the beach too! Overall: awesome night.
Day 3 - 4/3/13
We woke up with the sun and watched it rise over the water. Such an amazing experience -- definitely once in a lifetime. We got back on the boat and were given breakfast as we drove back to Phi Phi island. Upon return, we checked into the hotel (relatively clean...) and I signed up for a scuba dive for the next morning! Very exciting. We went out to lunch at a beachside restaurant and laid out on the beach for many more hours. Anna and I left the beach to go get manicures for a whopping $5, and then back to the rooms to nap! After naps, we all showered and got ready to go out for the night. We went back to the seaside where all the bars had fireshows! There were multiple Thai boys swinging flaming ropes and balls around and hundreds of tourists crowded around. Pretty cool stuff. The coolest part was that the tide on the beach went so far in at night that we could walk out on the sand to a further point than we had even swam earlier that day! We left the beachside area and found our way to a rooftop bar with cool views of the island. Didn't stay out long cause of my upcoming early morning, but fun night :)
Day 4 - 5/3/13
I woke up super early, much to the dismay of my friend Sam who was sharing a room/bed with me, to get to the dive shop at 745. Walking through the maze of the island so early in the morning was really interesting - no tourists, no noise, barely even any shops open. I got to the dive shop, stored my luggage in the back room, and sat down at a random table with other people. My name got called and of course, I was sitting in the wrong spot, so I went over to join my group. I was introduced to Josh and Omar (a Brit and Norwegian) who were also diving with me, and our two dive masters. Nice small group. We chitchatted until heading to the boat and getting ourselves all settled. I was pretty nervous at first to be by myself, especially since I hadn't dived since my certification last August. However, the dive masters were really awesome and set all our equipment up for us and told the group we were gunna take it nice and slowly for a relaxing and fun dive. WOO! They were right. It was awesome. Omar, Josh and I became friends as well, and I'm still waiting on the pictures that Omar took of me underwater! The visibility wasn't as great as I had hoped it to be, but I'm still so glad that I did it and I was proud of myself for being so independent and braveeeeee! Go me! After the first dive, quick lunch, and second dive, we made our way back to the shop where we celebrated at the dive shop's rooftop bar - sweet set up. I bought a Phi Phi Island Dive Shop Crew tshirt, grabbed my luggage, and waited to meet back up with my friends who had gone kayaking for the day. We got on the ferry from Phi Phi Don to go to Ao Nang, where we would spend the rest of the trip. I stayed on the marvelous INDOOR, AIR-CON part of the ferry for that trip, because oops I got a bit burnt on the dive boat. We made it to Ao Nang and found our way to the free Tuk-Tuk that drove us to our hotel - 'P.K. Mansion.' Not EXACTLY a mansion, but my room had 4 walls, a ceiling and a bed so I was fine with it. Ao Nang is part of the mainland and there was definitely less of a touristy, islander feel to it, though we could still get by with english and smiles. We had a solid dinner (still SO cheap), explored the main road our hotel was on, strolled along the beach, partook in the beautiful Thai tradition of wishing lanterns, and then crashed in our rooms.
Day 5 - 6/3/13
Woke up early, grabbed the cheapest breakfast we could find, and were picked up in a van to go to ELEPHANT TREKKING, crystal and thermal pools, and Wat Tham Sua (Tiger Cave Temple), but not in that order. The pools were fresh water, clear blue, gorgeous, and relaxing. One of them was a natural hot tub, over 100 degrees. Not much else to say about them - a pool is a pool, yes? Climbed 1,237 STEEP steps to get to the top of the mountain where the temple and huuuuuge golden Buddha was. I was NOT expecting it to be as hard as it was (too many Tim-Tams...?) I probably could have climbed Masada 4x and had more energy after that than what I struggled through to get to the temple. Making it up there was an accomplishment in itself, and I was very much rewarded with the view and general 'zen' feeling at the top of the mountain. A few selfies with Buddha and meditating "om"s later, we walked down, sweaty and shaky. Got mislead by a cheap icecream bar that I thought was a fudgesicle, though it turned out to be COLA flavored. WHAT IS THAT?! (yes, that detail was important to blog about.) All brown pictures of popsicles are not created equal. Anyway -- I RODE AN ELEPHANT. It was incredible and everything I dreamed it would be. It was definitely harder than riding a camel, but still so much fun. Elephants are the cuuuuuuutest animals and so nice. The trail was pretty and the ride was awesome. I will do my best to upload a video I took while riding on it.... pretty hilarious. Those three activities pretty much summed up the day. Each one of them are once in a lifetime opportunities that I feel so lucky to have been given. Fabulous!
Day 6 - 7/3/13
This morning we woke up, ate at the same brekkie restaurant and then got into a van headed for our 4 Island Speed Boat Tour! It started out super awesome because we thought it was the 6 of us, 2 other friends we had made traveling, and a random old couple on the boat. Unfortunately, we were wrong and 15 minutes into our luxurious boat ride, we picked up 30+ people off a ferry in the middle of the ocean who apparently were signed up for this speed boat day also. The 6 of us and our two friends decided to take over the front of the boat, which worked out for us in the end. We ended up traveling to 5 islands (Buy 4, get one free?), snorkeling, eating lunch, laying out, and exploring. All islands were equally as magnificent and the water stayed crystal clear and warm the entire time. There were, however, little stingy things (not jellies) in the water that made snorkeling less pleasant.... but being on the speed boat as well, was FUN! Quite the change from the ferry rides that inched us from destination to destination. The majority of the day was taken by that and by the time we got back, we showered, changed and headed out for dinner. On our walk to dinner was when the weather got bad, and we had to stay under a shop's awning for about 20 minutes for a storm to pass. Better on the way to dinner than on the boat earlier in the day though, right? We had a good dinner, and an even better dessert of Thai pancakes -- nutella & banana <33333 Thai pancakes are very similar to crepes, but thicker. They are made with a dough, instead of a batter, which makes them fluffier and oh so delish. We food coma-ed our way back to the room and to sleep.
Day 7 - 8/3/13
We are silly and kept our itinerary scheduled to be taken to the airport around 8:30am, when our first flight to Malaysia didn't even leave until 7:30pm. Needless to say, we spent a LOT of time waiting around at the airport. We finally made it back to Sydney 10:45am, 9/3/13, and were glad to smell the deliciously neutral smelling Australian air. Immediately did laundry, took a nap, and began the recuperation process.
____________________________
Since then, I've started my new class - Brand Advertising & Promotion - which, after two classes, seems just okay. I'll have more feelings about it in the coming weeks. I've ALSO started my internship! After only two days I am definitely enjoying it, but I feel like such a classic intern: filing, stuffing envelopes, etc. HR is new to me, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I am enjoying the general idea of the department at this point. I will be assigned more 'legit' tasks, hopefully pretty soon. I think they're impressed with my work so far, which is good. GO ME!
As for now, I'm looking forward to getting some more time in at the hotel and my Dad and Karen coming to Sydney this Saturday! WOOOOOO! Can't wait to see some familiar faces and eat something other than pasta...
Excited to see what the second half of the semester brings!
Miss you Americans -- xx
Nikki
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Post #8: THAILAND!
Hi!
Quick post just a few days before I leave -- I want to share my itinerary for spring break!
Quick post just a few days before I leave -- I want to share my itinerary for spring break!
Hopefully you are all able to see those pages okay...(might need to zoom in a bit.)
I'll be with 5 other friends - Anna, Rachel, Sam, Brenna and Ann. We are sooooooo excited to get there already! This week has been crazy, as expected, and its only Wednesday. Finishing up all the stuff I need to turn in the next two days and starting to study for both final exams ASAP. Getting a little overwhelmed but I know it'll all be okay once we're on the plane to Thailand!!
If any of you have any suggestions/tips about traveling to Thailand, I'd love to hear them.
Leaving Saturday March 2 -- will give a HUGE update upon return to Sydney on the 9th!
Love love love,
Nikki
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Post #7: Melbourne & Finals
G'day!
It definitely has been a while, hasn't it? Since my last post, heres whats happened:
Thursday, I gave my presentation on Rockabillies for my module -- we showed our video and it went well! Still waiting on grades back, but I say my group did a pretty great job! Friday, I turned in my paper on female surfers (yay for studying abroad in Sydney!) and took Erica out for her surprise birthday gift from me -- a dinner cruise around Sydney Harbor! Matt heres your mention you've been asking me for so pay attention: my brother bought me 2 tickets for this cruise for Hannukah this year and it was a great gift - THANKS MATT! Erica and I had a great time and were happy to see the opera house and rest of the city lit up at night from the water. SO pretty! Saturday was Anna's PA event, doing the Bondi to Coogee Cliff Walk which was long, but beautiful! The night was spent pretty much getting ready for Melbourne, and Sunday morning we left!
Preface: the trip to Melbourne was paid for by BU and is considered an 'academic excursion.'
All 122 students and 8 staff members arrived in Melbourne (pronounced 'Mel-bin') Sunday morning on two different flights and checked into two different hotels. I'm used to traveling in big groups from BBYO experiences and such, so I had no issue with these flights/accommodations. Still trying to decide if BU was more or less organized than groups I've traveled with in the past... Everyone made it there safe and sound in the end, so no worries! We got a neighborhood tour, were given time to get groceries (our apt style hotel rooms had kitchenettes!) and settled into our rooms. While my three roommates Anna Steph and Erica shared a hotel room on a different floor than me, I was paired randomly with two girls I had never met before. It was interesting, but I made the best of it. NEW FRIENDS YAY! We had the rest of Sunday night free, and my friends and I went out to a great greek restaurant (BYOB & chicken Souvlaki mmmm) and then wandered around the city trying to find cool spots for the night. After some failed attempts (Sunday night is REALLY quiet there), we split up into smaller groups and I ended up at a 1950's rooftop garden bar called Madame Brussels which was fantastic! We went from there to a James Squire bar and then called it a night, after an interesting conversation with some Aussie cricket team...?
Monday we had to get up and go to a meeting (remember, this is a field trip for school) to talk about our papers that we need to write upon return from Melbourne. We were quickly briefed and then split off into groups for 'academic tours' that we signed up for earlier in the month. Mine for that day was called Laneways to the Soul. Melbourne is known for its unique cobblestone laneways/alleys that are lined with bars, cafes, restaurants, graffiti, cool shops and people galore. Check out Melbourne's site on it... Anyway, my group walked for HOURS around the city, seeing secret lanes and passageways that lead to cooler and cooler pubs and shops, all covered in amazing graffiti. Street art in Melbourne is huge -- thats what I'm writing my next paper on! We ended the tour in Fitzroy, a neighborhood very similar to Newtown in Sydney, with thriftshops, cafes, bookstores, and eclectic little places that was a ton of fun to spend time in. After the academic tour, we were free for the rest of the night. We went down to the beach at St. Kilda for the sunset and had great Mexican food and gelato. It was beautiful weather at night (daytime was mid 90s - too hot) and the perfect time to sit on the sand!
The next morning I woke up bright and early to go on a tour of the Great Ocean Road! There isn't tooooo much to say about it because I spent the entire day on and off of a bus, taking photos of beautiful things. The weather started out awful, which was so classic to my theory that every time we try to do something fun it starts raining, but then it cleared up midday. The scenery was gorgeous and I got a ton of good shots. More about the Great Ocean Road here!We also saw koalas and parrots! The parrots liked me and kept landing on my head :) We made it back late that night and went to dinner in a laneway - we were dragged in by the owner outside who said he would give us a free round of drinks and an appetizer if we sat down. He got us. We were beat from the day but we went over after dinner to the other hotel where a few of our friends were staying and hung out with them before they went out.
Wednesday was the last day and we had one final academic tour (remember, this is STILL a field trip...) This one was called Taking it to the Streets and was very similar to the laneways tour but more focused on street art and graffiti. It was lead by my Unpopular Cultures module teacher, Peter, who knows a ton about this stuff so it was really interesting. The graffiti there was incredible, and even bigger and more elaborate than the stuff in Sydney. So interesting. I'm actually looking forward (I think...) to researching more and writing my paper about it. After the tour OMG I HAD SO MANY DUMPLINGS. Theres a huge Chinatown in the middle of the city and a ton of asian cuisine. We fond this delish dumpling restaurant that had a million dumplings for so cheap. That ended up filling me enough for lunch and dinner. The food on the plane home was nasty anyway soooo thats fine. After lunch we hopped on the free tourist bus that makes stops around the city and just tried to see as many sights as we could. It was a good way to end the trip. Got back to the airport and made it back to BUSAC safe and sound.
In all, Melbourne is very very very cool. People say that Sydney is the body of Australia and Melbourne is the brains. Sydney is amazing and beautiful and has the opera house, the harbors, and a million beaches, but Melbourne has so much character and it just seems like there is so much more to do there that I didn't experience in those few short days. They are two very different cities and we were told the rivalry between the two is similar to the Boston v New York rivalry - very intense. Loved the trip.
Thursday night we had a presentation about our internships that was basically just telling us to work hard at our sites and don't make BU look bad. Friday and Saturday were spent doing work - we have a TON to turn in this week and FINALS to study for OMG. Today was our first floor event, and even though only 5 of us showed up, we went to the aquarium at Darling Harbour! It was fun and got me excited to scuba dive when my dad comes to visit!
The next few days will be extreeeeeeeeemely busy - I'm giving a presentation in my wine class, have a final wine field trip, and have to turn in all my wine tasting notes and weekly writeups I've been doing on wine related articles in the Sydney newspapers. I'm also writing up a 5 course Degustation menu (Thai themed) pairing 5 dishes with Australian wines. It's a really fun assignment, but definitely difficult! It also makes me hungry while doing it.... Friday we are also turning in our Melbourne papers and taking final exams in both classes. Its going to be one hell of a week but I MUST GET THROUGH IT because SATURDAY I'M GOING TO THAILAND!!!!
Will do my best to blog one last time before I leave for spring break - I will post my itinerary so you all will see the cool stuff I'll be doing while I'm in Southeast Asia.
Gunna go make some dinner and get cracking on this homework...wish me luck!
I miss you, Americans!
Cheers!
xx Nikki
It definitely has been a while, hasn't it? Since my last post, heres whats happened:
Thursday, I gave my presentation on Rockabillies for my module -- we showed our video and it went well! Still waiting on grades back, but I say my group did a pretty great job! Friday, I turned in my paper on female surfers (yay for studying abroad in Sydney!) and took Erica out for her surprise birthday gift from me -- a dinner cruise around Sydney Harbor! Matt heres your mention you've been asking me for so pay attention: my brother bought me 2 tickets for this cruise for Hannukah this year and it was a great gift - THANKS MATT! Erica and I had a great time and were happy to see the opera house and rest of the city lit up at night from the water. SO pretty! Saturday was Anna's PA event, doing the Bondi to Coogee Cliff Walk which was long, but beautiful! The night was spent pretty much getting ready for Melbourne, and Sunday morning we left!
Preface: the trip to Melbourne was paid for by BU and is considered an 'academic excursion.'
All 122 students and 8 staff members arrived in Melbourne (pronounced 'Mel-bin') Sunday morning on two different flights and checked into two different hotels. I'm used to traveling in big groups from BBYO experiences and such, so I had no issue with these flights/accommodations. Still trying to decide if BU was more or less organized than groups I've traveled with in the past... Everyone made it there safe and sound in the end, so no worries! We got a neighborhood tour, were given time to get groceries (our apt style hotel rooms had kitchenettes!) and settled into our rooms. While my three roommates Anna Steph and Erica shared a hotel room on a different floor than me, I was paired randomly with two girls I had never met before. It was interesting, but I made the best of it. NEW FRIENDS YAY! We had the rest of Sunday night free, and my friends and I went out to a great greek restaurant (BYOB & chicken Souvlaki mmmm) and then wandered around the city trying to find cool spots for the night. After some failed attempts (Sunday night is REALLY quiet there), we split up into smaller groups and I ended up at a 1950's rooftop garden bar called Madame Brussels which was fantastic! We went from there to a James Squire bar and then called it a night, after an interesting conversation with some Aussie cricket team...?
Monday we had to get up and go to a meeting (remember, this is a field trip for school) to talk about our papers that we need to write upon return from Melbourne. We were quickly briefed and then split off into groups for 'academic tours' that we signed up for earlier in the month. Mine for that day was called Laneways to the Soul. Melbourne is known for its unique cobblestone laneways/alleys that are lined with bars, cafes, restaurants, graffiti, cool shops and people galore. Check out Melbourne's site on it... Anyway, my group walked for HOURS around the city, seeing secret lanes and passageways that lead to cooler and cooler pubs and shops, all covered in amazing graffiti. Street art in Melbourne is huge -- thats what I'm writing my next paper on! We ended the tour in Fitzroy, a neighborhood very similar to Newtown in Sydney, with thriftshops, cafes, bookstores, and eclectic little places that was a ton of fun to spend time in. After the academic tour, we were free for the rest of the night. We went down to the beach at St. Kilda for the sunset and had great Mexican food and gelato. It was beautiful weather at night (daytime was mid 90s - too hot) and the perfect time to sit on the sand!
The next morning I woke up bright and early to go on a tour of the Great Ocean Road! There isn't tooooo much to say about it because I spent the entire day on and off of a bus, taking photos of beautiful things. The weather started out awful, which was so classic to my theory that every time we try to do something fun it starts raining, but then it cleared up midday. The scenery was gorgeous and I got a ton of good shots. More about the Great Ocean Road here!We also saw koalas and parrots! The parrots liked me and kept landing on my head :) We made it back late that night and went to dinner in a laneway - we were dragged in by the owner outside who said he would give us a free round of drinks and an appetizer if we sat down. He got us. We were beat from the day but we went over after dinner to the other hotel where a few of our friends were staying and hung out with them before they went out.
Wednesday was the last day and we had one final academic tour (remember, this is STILL a field trip...) This one was called Taking it to the Streets and was very similar to the laneways tour but more focused on street art and graffiti. It was lead by my Unpopular Cultures module teacher, Peter, who knows a ton about this stuff so it was really interesting. The graffiti there was incredible, and even bigger and more elaborate than the stuff in Sydney. So interesting. I'm actually looking forward (I think...) to researching more and writing my paper about it. After the tour OMG I HAD SO MANY DUMPLINGS. Theres a huge Chinatown in the middle of the city and a ton of asian cuisine. We fond this delish dumpling restaurant that had a million dumplings for so cheap. That ended up filling me enough for lunch and dinner. The food on the plane home was nasty anyway soooo thats fine. After lunch we hopped on the free tourist bus that makes stops around the city and just tried to see as many sights as we could. It was a good way to end the trip. Got back to the airport and made it back to BUSAC safe and sound.
In all, Melbourne is very very very cool. People say that Sydney is the body of Australia and Melbourne is the brains. Sydney is amazing and beautiful and has the opera house, the harbors, and a million beaches, but Melbourne has so much character and it just seems like there is so much more to do there that I didn't experience in those few short days. They are two very different cities and we were told the rivalry between the two is similar to the Boston v New York rivalry - very intense. Loved the trip.
Thursday night we had a presentation about our internships that was basically just telling us to work hard at our sites and don't make BU look bad. Friday and Saturday were spent doing work - we have a TON to turn in this week and FINALS to study for OMG. Today was our first floor event, and even though only 5 of us showed up, we went to the aquarium at Darling Harbour! It was fun and got me excited to scuba dive when my dad comes to visit!
The next few days will be extreeeeeeeeemely busy - I'm giving a presentation in my wine class, have a final wine field trip, and have to turn in all my wine tasting notes and weekly writeups I've been doing on wine related articles in the Sydney newspapers. I'm also writing up a 5 course Degustation menu (Thai themed) pairing 5 dishes with Australian wines. It's a really fun assignment, but definitely difficult! It also makes me hungry while doing it.... Friday we are also turning in our Melbourne papers and taking final exams in both classes. Its going to be one hell of a week but I MUST GET THROUGH IT because SATURDAY I'M GOING TO THAILAND!!!!
Will do my best to blog one last time before I leave for spring break - I will post my itinerary so you all will see the cool stuff I'll be doing while I'm in Southeast Asia.
Gunna go make some dinner and get cracking on this homework...wish me luck!
I miss you, Americans!
Cheers!
xx Nikki
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Post #6: Wine & Cheese
G'day!
It's been quite a few days since the last post, but I've just been so busy! Forgive meh.
We started our Culture class modules last week. Mine is called (Un)Popular Cultures. Me and about 25 other students are in a class with a hipster of a teacher, Peter Barnes. The class is generally pretty interesting - we've been learning about Australian subcultures: Bogans, Yobbos, Rockabillies, Punks, Surfers, Bodgies, Widgies, and MORE! (Google any of those terms if you're interested...) We took a cool field trip to Newtown - a hipster neighborhood with a whole bunch of cool graffiti and record shops and thrift stores. We did a sort of pubcrawl to weird little bars around the area, which was an interesting assignment for a field trip... I mostly just took cool pictures of graffiti. Check them out on the pictures page! We've been listening to old Aboriginal rap music in class and comparing it with old Kylie Minogue videos...kinda awk but mostly just funny. Today we went on a field trip to the Mardi Gras museum and the Sydney museum to look at more aspects of Aussie culture. I'm in the process of writing a paper comparing old Aussie female surfers to todays Aussie female surfers. Its due Friday and I'm not so sure how good it will be. All of our assignments are so closely assigned and due together its actually quite annoying. We have a presentation tomorrow on Rockabillies - my group went to a replica prohibition bar from the 20s called Palmer & Co. to see a band led by Pia Andersen - http://www.piaandersen.com.au/ - a vintage gal into the Rockabilly subculture. It was all pretty interesting and we're putting a video together on iMovie for our presentation. Maybe I'll post it here on the blog once its done....? Anyway, the module class itself is over tomorrow after our presentation and the paper is turned in on Friday. Then its back to regular Culture class with everyone once we return from Melbourne.
I had my first PA event at the Taronga Zoo on Sat and I think it was a hit! The weather was perfect and I had a solid turn out. The zoo was really fun and we saw a seal show and a bird show and a bunch of animals I have actually never seen before which was really exciting. (Check the pictures!) We wanted to feed the giraffes but the giraffe feeding was cancelled for the day because one of them head-butted the giraffe handler and knocked her tooth out...LOL. We were there pretty much allllll day and definitely got our fill of cute animals! Animals are awesome. In all, the zoo was a great time and I'm glad I picked my event to be there. Now I just need to decide what it will be for the next half of the program!
Last, but most definitely not least, I spent Sunday and Monday on a wine class field trip in the Hunter Valley!!!!!! It was the best. We went to 3 wineries each day (Tamburlaine, Tyrrells, Drayton, Petersen's, Brokenwood and McGuigan) and drank approx 48 wines in total. Ridiculousness. Also got my fair share of cheese! We stayed at a nice hotel, got fed a nice dinner on BU, and definitely expanded our wine knowledge/palates. However, I STILL cannot stand red wines. Theres something about them that are just so vile to me. I spit out many of the ones I tried. Oh well. Whites all the way! I picked up a few bottles to bring back to Sydney and am looking forward to drinking them later! Theres not much else to say about the Hunter Valley trip because literally all we did was drink and eat. There was an awesome shop called the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop which more or less life-changing for me, so I suppose thats notable too.
We got back Monday evening and started our new workout regimen (yes, I exercised) called Insanity. A bunch of kids on the program are trying it out so I figured why not. WELL ITS PAINFUL, THATS WHY NOT. But I'm trying it anyway. I'm only on day three soooo we'll see how the rest turns out.
This Sunday we're leaving for Melbourne for our Culture class trip. I believe the next time I'll update is after my return to Sydney on Wednesday so don't get too concerned if you don't hear from me for a few days next week. After Melbourne, its back to paper writing and preparing for internships to start. CANNOT BELIEVE the first half of the program is already halfway done. WAHHHHH :( :( :( :(
That's all for now.
Cheers mates!
xx Nikki
It's been quite a few days since the last post, but I've just been so busy! Forgive meh.
We started our Culture class modules last week. Mine is called (Un)Popular Cultures. Me and about 25 other students are in a class with a hipster of a teacher, Peter Barnes. The class is generally pretty interesting - we've been learning about Australian subcultures: Bogans, Yobbos, Rockabillies, Punks, Surfers, Bodgies, Widgies, and MORE! (Google any of those terms if you're interested...) We took a cool field trip to Newtown - a hipster neighborhood with a whole bunch of cool graffiti and record shops and thrift stores. We did a sort of pubcrawl to weird little bars around the area, which was an interesting assignment for a field trip... I mostly just took cool pictures of graffiti. Check them out on the pictures page! We've been listening to old Aboriginal rap music in class and comparing it with old Kylie Minogue videos...kinda awk but mostly just funny. Today we went on a field trip to the Mardi Gras museum and the Sydney museum to look at more aspects of Aussie culture. I'm in the process of writing a paper comparing old Aussie female surfers to todays Aussie female surfers. Its due Friday and I'm not so sure how good it will be. All of our assignments are so closely assigned and due together its actually quite annoying. We have a presentation tomorrow on Rockabillies - my group went to a replica prohibition bar from the 20s called Palmer & Co. to see a band led by Pia Andersen - http://www.piaandersen.com.au/ - a vintage gal into the Rockabilly subculture. It was all pretty interesting and we're putting a video together on iMovie for our presentation. Maybe I'll post it here on the blog once its done....? Anyway, the module class itself is over tomorrow after our presentation and the paper is turned in on Friday. Then its back to regular Culture class with everyone once we return from Melbourne.
I had my first PA event at the Taronga Zoo on Sat and I think it was a hit! The weather was perfect and I had a solid turn out. The zoo was really fun and we saw a seal show and a bird show and a bunch of animals I have actually never seen before which was really exciting. (Check the pictures!) We wanted to feed the giraffes but the giraffe feeding was cancelled for the day because one of them head-butted the giraffe handler and knocked her tooth out...LOL. We were there pretty much allllll day and definitely got our fill of cute animals! Animals are awesome. In all, the zoo was a great time and I'm glad I picked my event to be there. Now I just need to decide what it will be for the next half of the program!
Last, but most definitely not least, I spent Sunday and Monday on a wine class field trip in the Hunter Valley!!!!!! It was the best. We went to 3 wineries each day (Tamburlaine, Tyrrells, Drayton, Petersen's, Brokenwood and McGuigan) and drank approx 48 wines in total. Ridiculousness. Also got my fair share of cheese! We stayed at a nice hotel, got fed a nice dinner on BU, and definitely expanded our wine knowledge/palates. However, I STILL cannot stand red wines. Theres something about them that are just so vile to me. I spit out many of the ones I tried. Oh well. Whites all the way! I picked up a few bottles to bring back to Sydney and am looking forward to drinking them later! Theres not much else to say about the Hunter Valley trip because literally all we did was drink and eat. There was an awesome shop called the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop which more or less life-changing for me, so I suppose thats notable too.
We got back Monday evening and started our new workout regimen (yes, I exercised) called Insanity. A bunch of kids on the program are trying it out so I figured why not. WELL ITS PAINFUL, THATS WHY NOT. But I'm trying it anyway. I'm only on day three soooo we'll see how the rest turns out.
This Sunday we're leaving for Melbourne for our Culture class trip. I believe the next time I'll update is after my return to Sydney on Wednesday so don't get too concerned if you don't hear from me for a few days next week. After Melbourne, its back to paper writing and preparing for internships to start. CANNOT BELIEVE the first half of the program is already halfway done. WAHHHHH :( :( :( :(
That's all for now.
Cheers mates!
xx Nikki
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Post #5: Surfer Extraordinare!
G'day Maties!
First off, I'd like to remind everyone that I still hate the Baltimore Ravens. It should be noted that I wore my Redskins shirt to the bar this morning to watch the game.
Moving on!
Nothing all that interesting has happened since my last post, other than Surf Camp! Unfortunately, I'm seeing a pattern of horrible weather when I go out to do something fun. 1. Harbour Cruise. 2. Blue Mountains. 3. Surf Camp. WHEN WILL IT END?! This January was the hottest month in Aussie history, and this past weekend was the coldest February weekend in 19 years...WHAT IS GOING ON?!
We got on the bus Friday night in the pouring rain and started heading 2 hours south to Gerroa. The bus broke down on our way there, (which should have been a sign, if the rain wasn't already...) so we got to stop at McDonalds (which, I suppose, made up for it! Nom.) We made it to camp, unpacked our stuff, got a quick briefing, split up into rooms (Me, Anna, Erica, Steph, Andrew and Steph) and went to sleep in our little cabins (which reminded me of camp, so then I was like heheh yaaaay camp!)
The next morning we woke up at 6:30am for a 7am brekkie of toast, canned peaches and weird aussie cereal. Weather was disgusting and cold and wet, but we put on our wetsuits and were split up into surf groups. Cabins 5&6 (mine and another BU cabin) were split off from the rest of the BU group and put with other international people at surf camp which was cool but ended up being kind of lame because we went to a completely separate part of the beach with lower quality surf boards and no photographer :( Looking back, I feel a bit jipped.
We surfed for an hour or so in the rain, came back, ate lunch, put our wetties back on and went back out to the beach for some more surfing in high winds and hail. I have sooo much respect for our coaches and all expert surfers in general - that stuff is HARD. I definitely do not have the upper body strength necessary to pull this sport off. Saturday night everyone was super tired and sore, but we ate dinner, watched a compliation of photos and videos taken throughout the day (there were hardly any of my group, unfortunately) and then went out to the only pub in the town which had 2 man band, dancing, slot machines, and a lot of of old people. It was fun, though! It was Erica 21st birthday at midnight so we stayed there and celebrated with her and she got hot surfer dudes to buy her drinks. Sweet deal.
The next day was similar. Early wakeup, awful weather, very sore, BUT I surfed better than the day before! Its SO much fun, just SO tiring. Surfed, came back, ate lunch, saw more photos/videos, heard a talk about where/how to keep up surfing post-camp, then packed and got on the bus. Literally the minute we started walking to the bus, the sun came out and it was hot. I repeat: WHAT IS GOING ON?!
Got on the bus, stopped for icecream, got back to BUSAC 2 hours later. Dropped our bags, went to Mad Mex and then Max Brenner (mmmmmmm.....CHOCOLATE!!) for Erica's bday, then went home and passed out at 10:30.
Now I'm at work in the library, bummed about the Superbowl, waiting to have Wine class in an hour, and trying to move my body as little as possible because of the overall pain. Coming up this week/weekend is modules for Oz Culture class (I got the one I wanted - it's about music, art, and different cultures in Aus!) , a trip to the Taronga Zoo, and a wine field trip to the Hunter Valley. Good stuff on the way!
Other quick info: took my first quiz, went to Bondi Beach, and continued to eat good food.
That'll do for now - stay tuned for more adventchas!
Cheers!
Nikki
First off, I'd like to remind everyone that I still hate the Baltimore Ravens. It should be noted that I wore my Redskins shirt to the bar this morning to watch the game.
Moving on!
Nothing all that interesting has happened since my last post, other than Surf Camp! Unfortunately, I'm seeing a pattern of horrible weather when I go out to do something fun. 1. Harbour Cruise. 2. Blue Mountains. 3. Surf Camp. WHEN WILL IT END?! This January was the hottest month in Aussie history, and this past weekend was the coldest February weekend in 19 years...WHAT IS GOING ON?!
We got on the bus Friday night in the pouring rain and started heading 2 hours south to Gerroa. The bus broke down on our way there, (which should have been a sign, if the rain wasn't already...) so we got to stop at McDonalds (which, I suppose, made up for it! Nom.) We made it to camp, unpacked our stuff, got a quick briefing, split up into rooms (Me, Anna, Erica, Steph, Andrew and Steph) and went to sleep in our little cabins (which reminded me of camp, so then I was like heheh yaaaay camp!)
The next morning we woke up at 6:30am for a 7am brekkie of toast, canned peaches and weird aussie cereal. Weather was disgusting and cold and wet, but we put on our wetsuits and were split up into surf groups. Cabins 5&6 (mine and another BU cabin) were split off from the rest of the BU group and put with other international people at surf camp which was cool but ended up being kind of lame because we went to a completely separate part of the beach with lower quality surf boards and no photographer :( Looking back, I feel a bit jipped.
We surfed for an hour or so in the rain, came back, ate lunch, put our wetties back on and went back out to the beach for some more surfing in high winds and hail. I have sooo much respect for our coaches and all expert surfers in general - that stuff is HARD. I definitely do not have the upper body strength necessary to pull this sport off. Saturday night everyone was super tired and sore, but we ate dinner, watched a compliation of photos and videos taken throughout the day (there were hardly any of my group, unfortunately) and then went out to the only pub in the town which had 2 man band, dancing, slot machines, and a lot of of old people. It was fun, though! It was Erica 21st birthday at midnight so we stayed there and celebrated with her and she got hot surfer dudes to buy her drinks. Sweet deal.
The next day was similar. Early wakeup, awful weather, very sore, BUT I surfed better than the day before! Its SO much fun, just SO tiring. Surfed, came back, ate lunch, saw more photos/videos, heard a talk about where/how to keep up surfing post-camp, then packed and got on the bus. Literally the minute we started walking to the bus, the sun came out and it was hot. I repeat: WHAT IS GOING ON?!
Got on the bus, stopped for icecream, got back to BUSAC 2 hours later. Dropped our bags, went to Mad Mex and then Max Brenner (mmmmmmm.....CHOCOLATE!!) for Erica's bday, then went home and passed out at 10:30.
Now I'm at work in the library, bummed about the Superbowl, waiting to have Wine class in an hour, and trying to move my body as little as possible because of the overall pain. Coming up this week/weekend is modules for Oz Culture class (I got the one I wanted - it's about music, art, and different cultures in Aus!) , a trip to the Taronga Zoo, and a wine field trip to the Hunter Valley. Good stuff on the way!
Other quick info: took my first quiz, went to Bondi Beach, and continued to eat good food.
That'll do for now - stay tuned for more adventchas!
Cheers!
Nikki
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