Its been a month... i think.

So What have I been up to so far?

People are probably thinking, oh she's been so busy she's gone around and made all these new friends and gimmicked and gone to the beach and done all these things. Well, yes and no.

What I have done so far:
1. Started school - or uni, as they call it here. School is for little kids in little uniforms with matching ties. I have three classes, Integrated Business Strategy (250 people, mostly Chinese), Business Information Systems (110 people, a bit more white people in this one) and Marketing (about 80 people, mixed). So far I have learned that I think my major is going to be a bit different. Ive made a few friends, mostly from my postgraduate mentoring group, and a few nice Chinese girls. We're on a 1 week break for easter right now but otherwise my life would revolve around this. I have not studied as much as I would like, though I usually read a chapter or handouts or something almost everyday, and I never studied this much in college. You are really left to your own devices and since most of you really dont know each other you have to go at it on your own. You can't cheat or copy stuff, theyre very strict about that. (Had to take an Academic Honesty - as in what is plaguiarism and how not to do it - exam the moment we started) It has its hard moments and its easy moments but most of the time its both challenging and interesting. I like it so far.

2. Attempted to become athletic/more involved in university activities - I have tried to join debate, but I can never find where they are meeting. I am seriously considering a kickboxing class every 715 on wednesdays starting two weeks from now, unfortunately this all depends on whether or not I can switch my lab class back to Tuesdays. I have joined the Sydney Uni Wine Society. (More on that later. ) I also walk the dog for at least a block almost every night with my Auntie - who has of late introduced running into our walking program - and walk around a lot, most recently from Town Hall to Glebe Point Road with Sacha in search of an open Indian restaurant (there were none as it was the holidays).

3. Gotten a Work Permit - Im about to begin looking for a job. To make more opportunities for myself I'm going to be taking a class for the "Responsible Service of Alcohol" which is a government requirement so that I can work in a bar. I may also take Food and Beverage classes so that I can learn to be a good waitress. (Yes, you may picture me dropping glasses and laugh right now)

4. Done the tourist thing - I have gone to the Power House Museum to see the actual costumes used in Lord of the Rings. (Legooolaaaas! Aaaaraaagoooorn!) Unfortunately no pictures are allowed and all the souveniers are toys. The exhibit was... precioooous. The actual One Ring was there, plus sketches by the artists, and various costumes, weapons, creature masks, it was great. Ive also been to the Sydney Aquarium, where every other tourist seems to be obsessed with Nemo (say it with me now, Graecia) who is just a fish in my nice Malapascua backyard to me. The sharks and rays in the see through glass aquarium - where you walk right through and its as if they surround you - were amazing. The penguins were cute, too. Have also been to Coogee, Manly and Maroubra but strangely enough, not Bondi yet, though was there the last time.

5. Gone to the Blue Mountains - The most famous tourist attraction in New South Wales. (see bluemountains.com.au) I forgot my camera, so I'll have to get the pictures from Sacha. We met up at the Sydney Central Youth Hostel (YHA) and we thought the bus had missed us. There are two YHAs at Central, one at the station called the Railway Square YHA and the Sydney Central one a few meters away. I was on time at Railway Square - Sacha told me that was where it was initially- in fact I was 5 minutes early when she called to say that there was another YHA, so I quickly made my way there. We stood there for about 20 minutes, and after consulting the YHA guy and another friendly tour operator we concluded that we had been left behind! Fortunately that was not the case and our tour group came back for us as they apparently had left early, at 8:05 instead of 8:10 which was the appointed meeting time.

So what was involved in the tour? First we went to Featherdale national park, where we petted koalas and kangaroos and wombats and all these other animals that Ryan would love to eat. Then we went to Wentworth Falls. We hiked down a tiny bit just to see the view, which was well and good because the steps were so wide I did 2 steps for every one. Then we had to walk back uphill. Not a good idea. Then we had lunch at Leura, one of the towns in the Blue Mountains and it was great. It was like one of those picturesque little country towns. We had lunch at this really great restaurant that is featured in the Sydney Cheap Eats Guide (www.sydneycheapeats.com) which is practically my bible for food here. (Every week Jojo and I go and eat in a restaurant in that guide.) Then off we were to see the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are the landmark that everyone comes to see, so much so that there are several viewing points from where you can come and get a view. The Aboriginal origin legend is that there was a man who was hunting with his daughters, and suddenly they were sort of ambushed by a neighboring tribe. To protect his daughters he turned them into mountains. Originally there were seven but four of them have eroded (see pictures later). We hiked down the cliff side face and then on the way up took the scenic railway, which is the steepest railway in the world. Its like an almost straight drop rollercoaster backwards - imagine what its like for the people going down - without any seatbelts. Sacha and I sat right in the front. After that, we went home, driving around the Olympic Park for a bit.

6. Eaten Kangaroo - Andee and I went to the Sydney Wine Society dinner. It was raining really hard and I got to wear my trenchcoat. Most of the people were very dressed up despite the fact that it was "smart casual" (anyone who went to work with me knows what that means for me). I wore my new boots and a printed shirt because I had nothing else to wear. This slightly upset me and sent me on a rant asking for more clothes (thank you sanya and jenny). We were late because we went around Broadway Shopping Center (filipinos, this is not like broadway centrum the place where they make noontime shows okay, its Broadway as in the New York Broadway except its a shopping center near where the theaters are) in search of the perfect sweater for me, although that was done in vain. The dinner was at the Little Snail, a french restaurant and it was $30. Andee got a bottle of really cheap ($7) wine to bring along as everyone was supposed to bring one. We joined the next available table and made conversation. Turns out everyone had brought white, so we were stuck with that for most of the night. We had several selections to choose from in a 3 course meal. Andee and I ordered different things so that we could try everything. I had this tomato based pasta thingy for an appetizer, this wonderful veal cutlet for an entree and profiteroles for dessert. She had garlic snails (sooo yummy), trout (as in the whole fish was on the plate, it was huge) and chocolate mousse. I managed to taste the kangaroo off Alex, our new russian friend's plate. It had cranberry sauce and was rather good. I had to leave early since I wanted to catch the train home but Andee stayed until about two or four. On the way out we met several drunken people, like Anders who was Swedish and kept arguing with Andee over which one of them was really Andy, as that was his name too. I also met someone who was 18 and shocked to find out I was 26, which lead me to realize - although I did know in my heart that this was true - that I was one of the oldest people there. Sigh.

7. Discovered how to pick up stuff from customs - Last Tuesday I accompanied Sacha to Port Botany (see picture) to get the 5 boxes her parents had shipped her from Holland. Met up with her in Redfern, where the bus was supposed to stop. Now Redfern is infamous for being a seedy area. As I sat in the bus stop eating my banana, I noticed that all the things they said about it being dodgy (our theory for the tagalog translation of this word: nakapagdududa) were true. First, right behind the bus stop was this seedy Aborigine guy lighting a joint and drinking from a bottle. Then a bit to my right was a whole group of Aborigines and white people dressed in hobo like clothing, doing exactly the same thing. So I pulled my head up, and true to form, since I was dark, they didnt pay any attention to me. At which point it occured to me that I had travelled over an ocean just to go to Cubao (or something) all over again. Now to be honest, Sydney's dodgiest areas are nothing compared to the seediest Ermitas in Manila. King's Cross doesn't even closely resemble Quezon Ave but Australians are slightly panicky anyway. Being Asian and dark is actually pretty helpful, that and keeping your head down and using common sense is always best. It also helps that you know what real seedy areas look like. Redfern was one of them. Honestly I thought all the hype was just hype but it wasn't. It was really dodgy and cubao like. Except there were no throngs of people and pirated cds.

After Sacha and I met we got on the bus and we went on the long ride to Port Botany on the 300 bus. Now Port Botany is the last stop. To give you an idea as to how long we travelled you can check out the map at the sydney transport guide. When we got to the end there was nothing there but ship containers and trucks and the port and the sea that we didnt see. We got off at the very very last stop on Bumborah Point Road (Please do not ask what a Bumborah is. We do not know.). It was raining. We had to ask for directions straight away. The Logistics group that had done it told Sacha to go to see them first, then customs then back to the port to pick up the stuff. We had left at 1130 and were there by around 1230. In fairness the Logistics people were pretty fast, although Im sure the front security guard at the gate (as in the kind with the bar that lifts to let the car in) did not expect to see two small little girls with umbrellas knocking on the window to be let in when everyone else comes by car. To get to customs after we waited at the Sydney Bus Depot while it was storming and my cargos were soaked through except for my butt area - everything from neck to butt was dry, everything else, forget it. Technically we were supposed to wait at a marked bus stop but we were the only ones there and when we went to ask when the bus was coming they felt sorry for us and let us wait inside where it was dry. At which point I reintroduced myself to the joy of smoking in the rain. (On a sidenote: I smoked a lot this week because it was storming a lot and all I can say is I have not smoked this much or this regularly in a long time. I dont plan to continue, hopefully.)

After getting through customs, which was quick, we rode a cab with a russian taxi driver who had difficulty understanding us back to the port. By this time Sacha was getting upset because she had paid so much already at the different ports of call: $248 at the logistics firm $80 at customs and since everything was supposed to close by 230, we didnt think we were going to make it. We called the logistics firm and we were told they would be open till 310 so we went ahead and went back just in case we would make it. After checking with customs and paying, the quarantine officer onsite would check the packages and then Sacha could take them home. This usually takes an hour. When we got to the port, we had the driver drop us off on the main road bec he couldnt figure out where we were going. We trekked down it and to the right to find Friendship road where the actual warehouse was. This involved crossing a road that only trucks drive through, getting soaked for the nth time and having truck drivers peer queerly at us in surprise at two little girls with umbrellas walking down the road. Not a normal occurence, i presume. When we got to the warehouse it turned out they were closed for the day and Sacha had to go back the next day, and pay a $50 storage fee. Needless to say she was not happy.

We made our way back and the wonderful people at the Sydney Bus Depot let us wait again, plus take the next bus into the city. We were the only people on it for at least 30 minutes and I had a nice chat with the driver who was going to Davao in two weeks to pick up some stuff for his Filipino aunt. We got off near David Jones in the city and parted ways, Sacha off to her Hindi class and me to possibly buy jeans as my clothes were so soaked. I ended up drying off and just buying socks - my jason twin football shoes were soaked through - at the train station. I spent my class drying off my shoes stuffed with paper and walking around barefoot. I got home pretty late and was very tired. Sacha went back the next day while i was in class and managed, thankfully, to get the boxes home.

8. Been to the Royal Easter Show - www.eastershow.com.au, this is mostly a giant fair at the Olympic Park, in Homebush, which features several things including: Rides for kids and grown ups alike, Exhibits featuring livestock (like cows, pigs, chickens and sheep) including a petting zoo, a competition featuring the best and biggest produce from the different states (4H club, anyone?) as in like big pumpkins and squash and stuff, shows featuring stock racing, car racing, rodeos, and the famous racing and diving pigs, several halls promoting agriculture including shopping halls and showbags, which are basically bags that are sold at promo prices including several items from a particular brand or sponsor, for example: Sacha and I shared the Darell Lea Chocolate Bag that had several items of licorice, chocolate and rocky road. There was also a Finding Nemo bag (which I didnt get, how can I walk into a postgraduate class and maintain my dignity with a Finding Nemo backpack!) which included a backpack, a plate, saucer and cup set, stickers, a stuff toy and a bunch of other stuff. Its designed mostly for kids (hey there's a Mary Kate and Ashley show bag) but I did manage to get a few good things out of it. In case you're wondering what showbags I got: Lifestyle mag showbag (included a bag and a singlet), the Girl showbag (which had 3 nice bags in it), Smiths PotatoChips bag, and oh yeah, I got some TimTams too.

9. Met Many Different Nationalities - There are Germans everywhere, to begin with. There are two in my mentoring group who I keep seeing everywhere (Philip and Alexander) they speak very good English with the accent, but none of the stereotypical Ya, yas that you see in the movies. On the trip to the Blue Mountains we sat behind two German girls and a Belgian girl who were studying English. The German girls would not speak in English, just German. Sacha actually reprimanded them in the end saying, "Maybe she (the Belgian girl) would go out with you if you spoke English more. You are here to learn English." Which was true.

There are Chinese everywhere. I have met several, including Carol, my Cantonese speaking Business Info Sys seatmate who tells people she is Vietnamese, raised on the border of Vietnam and China and only speaks Cantonese because she doesnt want the other Chinese students to speak to her in Chinese. Why? Because last semester that's all they did and she found that her English did not improve and so this semester she resolved to speak in English always. You go, girl!

There's Ainoa, my Spanish/Basque/English/Australian groupmate in two classes who looks Spanish straight off, lived here for 10 years, went back to Spain for awhile to study law (apparently 5 year degree in Spain) and is back here. Very friendly, cultured and well travelled and at last, a smoker as well. She has gluten intolerance, which is a disease to beat all the ones ive ever heard off, she's allergic to wheat and barley and oats and as a consequence cant eat a lot of things, because most stuff uses glucose to stick things together. She has to eat special pasta though she can eat rice, she can't have chocolate (aaaaa!) or else she can get very weak. She is possibly the one classmate I have who is older than me.

I met an Ethiopian guy on the bus today, from Maroubra. He is the first black African I have ever met and is in his first year of engineering undergraduate at UNSW. I cannot for the life of me pronounce his name. He asked me if I knew where Ethiopia was (do you know how much of a geography nerd I am, boy?) and I impressed him by mentioning the capital, the exact geographic location and the next nearest state (Eritrea). We also talked a bit about the famous churches carved into the rocks and he mentioned that each church is carved out of one rock. Some of them are carved out of cliffs, but generally you take a big rock, and you carve it, and its a church. Pretty cool. I learned a lot of things from that conversation, including how transportation is so rare in Ethiopia that people run 5KM a day to get to school, which is why they are such good runners. We also talked about football and it was nice to find someone who liked soccer in this rugby mad country, who knew my team (Real Madrid Rules!) even if his team is Barsa. I computed his probable age, which is 18-20 being a first year student and it occured to me that he wouldve been born around the time of the "We are the World We are the Children" phenomenon when Michael Jackson was still considered a decent bloke. I did not, however, think it was polite to ask if he was, uhm, involved in that somehow, to put it mildly.

During the Wine Soc party, Andee and I also met Alex, a Russian whose family moved to America when he was young and was taking his masters in engineering. He was almost done but planned to stick around for awhile. He ordered the kangaroo and made it his chief responsibility to go to the other tables and bargain for red wines for us. He lamented on the fact that there are so few girls in engineering, (Sacha laments the same thing for physics, except she adds the part where there are 30 men and that they are all old) so we said he should throw a party and we'd bring some friends along. (Sounds like a soiree...) He was rather drunk by the end and he got our numbers for the next drunken party.

I have met several very friendly Malaysians and Indonesians, and they've all mistaken me for either, but I know they're not Filipino because I know that Andee and I are the only ones out there for now.

10. Gotten myself winter clothes - I just really needed warm stuff. Still missing one thick wooly full on sweater and a pair of jeans (I only brought three, you know.) . I also miss my doc martens even if Oliv and Debbie think theyre funny looking because they are 11 years old this year as they are the only things that can keep my feet warm in this weather. Ugg boots are next on the list, plan to get them in around June.

11. Eaten so many Tim Tams it is not funny. - This is obviously self explanatory.

What I'm Doing Next!

1. Planning to go on a road trip with Jojo and Sacha, possibly around the Central Coast (Gosford, Newcastle, etc.) weekend before uni starts again.
2. Watching a Bebel Gilberto concert this Tuesday. (Bossa Nova Rules!)
3. Finding a job - This week is the target to find something that can fund me and enable me to save enough money to do more things, like find an apartment.
4. Study, study, study!!!! - enough said. Must morph into nerd mode.
5. Going to do more walking! - Am planning to check out little walks around the area, like the Bondi to Coogee trail, the Manly Beach Walk, Some walks around Kuringai and the Barren Joey Lighthouse. Or whatever would be best for a Virgin Bushwalker like me.
6. Set up my computer!!! - My new baby, an Inspiron 600m is finally arriving, with a bunch of tshirts and possibly a pair of high heels in the bag along with it (sorry jo!). Time to set up and get unwired!
7. Planning a trip to Tassie - yup, that's Tasmania. That "little" island down south. The only state in Australia that's not attached to the main continent. Sometime in Winter. Good Luck to me and my cold feet.