bondi beach

bondi (bonDIE, not bonDY)

yesterday i became an official tourist of australia. i went to bondi beach with one of my new aussie friends. yes that's right, i went to the beach in the middle of winter and it was beautiful and really not that cold. bondi beach is a very famous beach where all the tourists go. in the summer, i was told, that the beach is packed. it is absolutely amazing! so gorgeous. and the water temperature was unbelievable...... so warm! i think it's warmer than the jersey shore in the summer. but i didn't go in because i knew that when i got out that i would be freezing because there was a slight breeze. so after getting my toes wet we went on this coastal path around the beach. the beach is set up in a semi circle with the land sprouting out into the sea and you can walk all around it. it was amazing. the ocean was such a deep blue with all these wonderful rock formations that have been eroded for years. well enough of me talking, take a look for yourself.

i'm on a boat

so silly season is almost over here. i think i talked about silly season a little. basically it's a party every night that's themed differently for all the people in john's to have fun and get to know everyone. so far there has been a toga party, a christmas in july themed cruise, and a county shindig. all very fun. the toga night was a lot of fun (and no togas are not very flattering). in the toga picture, the girl in the middle is my roommate, chini (pronounced like chinny, she's originally from nigeria but has been living in sydney for a while). for the christmas in july cruise, i didn't really dress up as anything, i just wore red with a scarf and some holly in my hair. but as you can see from the pictures there were presents, coal, and yes that guy in the background of one of the pictures was painted from head to toe in green to be the grinch. that cruise was so much fun because the cruise was in sydney harbor right where the opera house and the harbor bridge are. so beautiful. i stood out on the bow (and froze my butt off) for so long just taking it all in while all the aussies were like yeah whatever, and i was like no come on, that's the opera house. so amazing. all the pictures stunk though because my camera isn't great. but the one pic of the opera house is actually taken from land, and that's probably my best one. well i hope you enjoy all those pictures, i'll keep 'em coming!

rah rah rah?

while at sydney uni (some more aussie lingo) i will be participating on my college's softball team. they stink.....no they suck. they are very bad. but i think it'll be a lot of fun. more relaxed than what i'm used to and i think that will be really refreshing for me. all the girls are great. so outgoing and friendly and when i see them out and about they are so super nice. so i think it'll be a great way to at least throw the ball around and get to know some other girls. the girls love the americans on the team because we actually know what we're doing. like these girls don't even know all the rules. it's crazy. and they think it's so cool that we play all the time and got recruited to play. so we'll definitely be able to help them along. and at john's when a sports team wins a championship the entire college gets a HUGE dinner and celebration at the end of the semester. john's, in all it's history (not sure how long exactly that is but it's definitely quite a long time!), has only ever gotten to hold one of these dinners. so we're out for blood on the softball team so we can have that dinner. i will definitely keep everyone updated. i'm sure it'll be a lot of fun.

are you sh**ing me????

there are some more great australian terms that i'd like to share with all of you now. in john's all the americans are collectively called seppos. got any idea? i'll give you a minute to think about it......give up? it's actually short for septic tank. awesome. so there are two theories on this one. one is that we are full of crap and that's how we got the nickname. the second belief is the fact that we can be called yanks and tank and yank rhyme. australians like to shorten things and give out nicknames and they using rhyming a lot of the time. now while this might seem offensive it's really a term of endearment. australians like to poke fun at and tease people, but it's only their way of showing they care. all the americans have even started to use it. it's kinda cute. lol.

but a word that i really like is 'heaps'. they say 'oh yeah i had heaps of fun last night'. or that class was heaps hard or that music is heaps good or there are heaps and heaps of people in here. it's great. they use it for anything and everything. i've started to sort of pick up on it already but i love the way it sounds. it's heaps cool. see? it just sounds better. you should try it.

pics of me

some more pictures of me and friends (this is mostly for my mother since i know she wants to see how i look and what not).

the girl is jackie, she also lives in nj, in short hills. such a nice girl. the guy is sean. he's from california and goes to ucla.

enjoy!

st. johns 2

these are of john's and of my view from my window. it's a great view of the city of sydney, the pictures barely do it justice

st. john's

as i have mentioned, at the university i am staying in what is called st.john's college, just john's for short. it's not really a college, it's just our version of a dorm room. but here the colleges all are very close like one community or like a big frat. there's a few americans and other international kids and mostly americans so i'm able to mingle with all the aussies which is a lot of fun. since i'm american, i'm what is known as a fresher, which is our freshman. at john's freshers basically hang out with freshers. at universities in australia, most degrees are only three years so there are freshers, sophomores, and seniors. sophs and seniors hang out together. there are a lot of rules and traditions here sort of like a frat. like the freshers sit on one side of the dining hall while the other upperclassman sit on the other. there's rules for this drink, which is like our koolaid, and if you mess up the rules you could get the whole jug of koolaid poured on your head. so most of the americans stick to water! also other rules are not hats, no cell phones, you must be wearing shoes, no pajamas. so some of the rules are intimidating but i'm just trying to roll with the flow. there are also some chants and songs they sing that i don't quite know yet but i'm sure i'll learn to love it. it's really a great place and i'm meeting so many people. most of the people on my orientation are staying some where different and it's all americans. so i'm happy to be able to experience living with the australians to really soak in their culture. next week is silly season for us which are themed parties every night so i'll definitely be meeting even more people which i'm really looking forward to. i'm trying to post some pictures of john's but it's not working....stay with me though!

some aussie fun

afternoon=arvo

breakfast=breakie

sweatpants=trackies

bathingsuit=swimmers

sunglasses=sunnies

comforter(like for your bed)=duner

making fun of=paying out

ketchup=tomato sauce

parking lot=car park

bathroom/restroom=toilet

napkin=serviete

practice=training

just some lingo i can think of off the top of my head. sometimes it can be quite confusing to talk to an aussie but it's fun to find out about all their slang. everyone here is soooo nice and friendly. and sort of oddly, they are all very funny. they are just as intrigued by us and want to learn about us just as much as we do about them. it's all still a lot of fun and i'm having a blast!

pics!!!!

here are some pics from my hotel and the zoo (yes i know the one with the kangaroo mom and joey is kind of gross that that's what it really looks like!)

australia!!!!!!

i have arrived!!!!!!!!! i know it's taken me some time to put this post up but the internet in australia is ages behind the internet in the states. so it took me a while to even get the internet set up in my room. but i have arrived safely and i'm settled into my dorm room. before i got to the university i had an orientation in a town called caloundra which is like an hour north of brisbane. the hotel we stayed at was amazing, a great view of the ocean. and we also went to the steve irwin zoo where i got to pet a koala and a kangaroo. so cute. then after three days we came to the university of sydney. here i'm staying in a college called st.johns. there are 185 people in the building. americans and aussies, mostly aussies. since i'm an american i'm condsidered a freshman, or fresher as they say. so most of the people i know are freshers. everyone is soooooo super nice. making a lot of new friends, both american and australian. i still can't believe i'm really here. i'll definitely be blogging more now that my internet is working. keep reading and comment so i know you're out there. feel free to email too: katherine.stoltenberg@trincoll.edu. miss everyone!!!!

a good read

the recent release of the movie my sister's keeper made me want to rush out and go read the book. so i did. it was incredible! i'm not a fast reader and i was even able to read it in two weeks. it was so good. i didn't want to put it down. one of the best books i've read. unfortunately, then i tried the movie. after reading the book, the movie was pretty bad. even my parents who haven't read the book said the movie was ok. so if you want to enjoy my sister's keeper to the fullest, you definitely have to read the book. AMAZING. if you don't come away with a great feeling after reading the book then made you skipped a few chapters or something. so go and read it, you'll love it, i promise!

countdown.....

less than a week. 6 days. i can't believe july 14th is approaching so rapidly. july 14th. the day i leave for australia. for 4 months. i'm excited, nervous, anxious, scared, happy. it's weird. and i still have so much to do. my biggest thing is to pack. not my forte. 6 days. wow.

VACAAAA

the past week was spent down the shore. family, friends, bike riding, puzzles, trivial pursuit, muckers, frisbee, tanning, swimming, good food, good talks, ahhhh what could be better? it truly was a great vacation. and it seemed like such a long time. i ended my vacation with my sister and mike and my cousin amy in nyc for the fireworks. even though i was the only one who really wanted to stand there for 2 hours to watch the fireworks, everyone stood right next to me without complaining. what good sports. the fireworks ended up being sooo cool. i will say that it's definitely a good experience but not something to do more than once. i was soooo exhausted when i got home all i could do was pass out. anyways.... the whole 9 days i was on vacation was amazing. i loved being with my family, being able to eat and sit on the porch for breakfast. i loved it all. now back to reality, back to working camp, and back to worrying about packing for my long trip. oh how fast it has all gone by.

countdown to australia: 8 days!!!!!!