Togas , Pools, and Snow

This campus is one of the coolest I have been to, besides the lake and cool sculptures all around there is also a bar that throws parties every Thursday night. During the second week of school the theme was toga, Jordan, his friend from the states, Adam, and I used Australian flags, definitely seemed to give us some attention. The next night wave Dave "Sneaky" Siemens birthday. Dave is one of the guys from Hawaii that Jordan and I kick it with every day. We decided to go big for his 21st so we went to Ivy. This club is one of the higher end places here in Sydney, with six floors many of which require membership to enter, and each seeming to get cooler and cooler as you go up. Dave aka Sneakster somehow got the bouncers to let us to the elevator, where we took it to the fourth floor pool. It is like something out of Entourage filled with beautiful women, tons of important looking guys in suits, and a pool to top it off. Since it was Dave's birthday we threw down for a table at one of the poolside cabanas, since there were so many of us we ended up taking two by the end of the night. The next morning Jordan and Adam flew to New Zealand for some snowboarding at Mt. Hutt. I had some trouble with the airline booking my flight and was unable to attend, but the snow sounded awesome

What college kids do in their freetime

The first week in the village has been quite a success, since school has not started yet kids in the village are throwing parties every night. It is a pretty cool thing when you are at a house party and your RA is also there partying with the rest of the students. Its not like back in the states where RA's just want to get you in trouble, to be honest, Im not exactly sure what the RAs do here. Most parties are pretty relaxed, but the guys in 47 are aussies, and they are crazy. On friday they threw a birthday party for this girl from Long Island, MJ, this was actually my first time meeting her, but at least it was a good reason to party. These little house parties are fun and it definitely saves money from going downtown.

Mondays in the Village

The first Monday at Macquarie was a frantic one. Many are realising (Yes in Australia it is spelled "realising") that they have not packed quite everything needed, myself included. Luckily the Macquarie Center, aka the mall, is a 15 minute walk from the village. This place literally has everything, grocery store, food places, clothing stores, electronic stores, salons, movie theater, even the RTA (DMV) is the in mall! And of course to polish off a long day of shopping, Dave, AKA Mr. New York, takes us to his favorite place to eat, Thai Break, this thai food is off the hook. So what is there to do on a Monday night? Well, since its the first night we decide to go downtown to a little joint called scubar. For some reason this place goes off on Mondays, its pretty small inside but I guess thats why it goes off on Mondays; it doesnt take an excessive amount of people to fill this place up.

so.. about that essay

I know I havent touched this thing in weeks, I have been meaning to but its been hard to find time. Since I am supposed to be writing an essay right now, I figure this is the best time to catch up

Macquarie is cold

So after holiday in Cairns, we have come to find that Australia actually does have a real winter, Sydney has been mostly cloudy and gloomy with a few small rain showers. On the brighter side Macquarie is the coolest campus I have ever seen. Lush trees and vegetation surround and invade the large buildings of the campus. The village that we live in is also very cool, students are everywhere and parties are never in short supply. I have been getting to know my room mates Kiki from China, Stephanie from Maine, and Shirlene from Malaysia, Jordan too, but I already know him. A few nights we have ventured into Sydney. Kings cross is a madhouse on Saturday nights, partiers and prostitutes line the streets while clubs bump the bass that vibrates the street. It is easier to party all night and take a train home while most are riding it to work. This system works well, if you don't mind waiting till the morning to get to your bed.

Scuba

Our last day in Cairns may have also been the best day. The only night that 98% of us didn't parade downtown was well worth it because the ship set sail around 8 am. We were on our way to the great barrier reef, the largest living organism on earth. On this trip we were given the chance to snorkel and even scuba dive for the adventurous. I did not bring a underwater camera unfortunately, but the things that I saw down there were incredible. Yeah, "Planet Earth" is cool, but seeing it in person and being down there with the reef and fish is something that every one should experience. Oysters were the size of basketballs (some even bigger), fish were colorful and some also quite hefty. Jordan, Keola, Billy, and I were all in a scuba group together, being able to enjoy this with some of my closer friends from the trip was truly a memorable experience. The ride back to shore in the evening was rough, however, beers and goggles at the bow of the ship aided the few who were crazy enough to stay out there and get drenched by oversplash of the Ocean. The day was topped off by a ridiculous and final night in downtown Cairns... followed by an early flight to Sydney.. I wonder what I left at Bohemia

Kangaroos, cockatoos, and crocs

After destroying Blue Sky Brewery, and Rhino Bar, and somehow trying to scale the side of the hostel (don't even ask), the rowdy lot of us were yanked out of bed bright and early. It was time for our first Australian tourist experience up in the mountains. Although we saw a whole bunch of cool animals and vegetation it did feel annoyingly touristy, I guess the first day we had to knock that kind of stuff out of the way. The kangaroos, cockatoos, and crocs were in so short supply. We learned a bit about Aboriginal culture, and took a river tour through the forest. Also, I got my picture taken with a koala... I know you will enjoy that.