Putting on the Big Girl Pants

Campus Green

This week had a lot of ups and downs. They told us that eventually the "Honeymoon" phase would pass, and we'd spend a bit of time adjusting, and I think I'm finally at the adjustment stage. Classes always add extra stress to any situation, but it didn't help being sick for the entire week either. I've spent a lot of time this week talking to my incredible best friends from home. I'm so lucky they are all always there to listen. Even though the people that are abroad with me have the best understanding of what's going on and how it feels to be here, the people who love me back home have the best understanding of who I am and how I deal with situations, and they have been a blessing to talk to.

The first half of the week was mainly homework and sleeping as much as possible to get over whatever I've come down with (I'm notorious for avoiding the doctor as much as possible). A lot of people have been sick in the village: it's like living in the dorms all over again with how quickly sickness spreads. I also met another new roommate: Tina! She's in her last semester and she's from Egypt. It's been nice having another girl around :)

On Thursday I chugged as much water as possible and pushed through two auditions. The first was for the musical society. They are putting on a student written punk/rock/indie musical based on Alice in Wonderland titled Alice. Although I was less nervous than I usually am when auditioning for new people, I think my audition went rather well. I did, however, do the typical "Bethany Audition Move" and forgot the lyrics halfway through my song. I actually stopped, took a breath, and picked up again. It was pretty bad. But it happens :) More often than I'd like to admit! The audition ended with a cold read, and it felt good to leave knowing I gave it my all, and I was happy with whatever came of it.

My second audition was for Mac-apella: a student a capella group on campus. This audition also went fairly well. After singing My Junk from Spring Awakening (the same song I sang for Alice auditions) and NOT forgetting the lyrics this time (second times a charm) they asked me if I could beat box. In high school we had one day where my a capella group spent 10 minutes or so learning how to beat box from a member of another group. I thought that counted, so I said "yeah..a little." I should not have been so positive: their reaction was sheer joy. I thought "oh crap, what have I got myself into" as they asked me to give them an example. I somehow managed to give them a slightly decent 30 seconds of different sounds, and they didn't look too heart broken at the end, so it must not've been too bad!

Thursday ended with a Toga party at the campus bar (Ubar). It was fun to go out with the other villagers and see everyone's crazy outfits!

One of the parts of this experience I was most looking forward too was traveling. This week we started to make the major travel plans for our two week semester break. Normally planning is my forte. I planned all the surprise parties and random get together's growing up, and I've planned my fair share of road trips with friends. I've gained much of my independence growing up working through the logistics of the plans, figuring out the details, the cost, and how I would fund it before pitching it to my parents. Even though it can be long and tedious, the end result is always well worth it, and I usually forget about the struggles at the start. This past week, however, was the first time I started to plan a trip on my own that involved flying. Oh and it was also international. Talk about a headache.

After several days of huddling around computers, trying to figure out the best airline deals and the easiest route to take to get to all our proposed destinations, I finally gave in and took it to the professionals. I'm traveling with my friends Courtney, Mary, and Brooks, and another friend, Ani, is going to be with us for part of the trip. We booked our flights over on STA travel, and they have a way with working out student discounts, so we went in early morning Friday to talk about our options. We ended up planning a 15 day excursion traveling to Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Islands (Australia), flying over to Queenstown NZ, and ending in Auckland NZ. So far we have our flights and accommodations booked as well as a one day excursion in Whitsundays and a three day contiki tour in Auckland. I am ECSTATIC to have this much planned, a month in advance. I know all the stress will be so worth the trip. After a few long nights of studying this week, I'll be ready to book more excursions! If you have an suggestions or recommendations I'm looking for ideas :)

After meeting with STA on Friday we went downtown to walk around. We started at Darling Harbour and took a path way along the water until we made it to Circular Quay.

It was absolutely beautiful outside. I'd been in the city a few times, but it's always raining and gross. This time we soaked in the sunshine and reveld in the opportunity to take pictures! I still can't get over seeing the Opera House, in case you were wondering.

 On our way home we ran into street performers who put on a great show, and one did a flip over 5 people, including Courtney.

Street Performers

What a flip!

On Saturday, 18 of us woke up bright and early and took the three hour train ride to the Blue Mountains. After getting a group deal at the "hop on hop off" bus station, we hopped on the bus with Jimmy, our awesome bus driver and tour guide, and explored the incredible views the Blue Mountains have to offer. I've been having an fun time exploring city life, but I've been missing nature a lot lately. When we're in Sydney it is constant hussel and bussel and constant talking. Although I've loved sight seeing, I forgot how incredible it is to be in the middle of nowhere and hear nothing but birds.

The Three Sisters

 We started out on a nice hike through the woods, and then slowly divided our numbers as people split off to do different things. Courtney, Maxine and I decided to climb down (and then up again) the giant staircase which had around 1000 steps. The steps are down the side of one of the Three Sisters, a famous national landmark (three giant rocks). There was a sign explicitly stating that you were not allowed to rock climb on them, and I knew all my climber friends would be sorely disappointed! By the time we got to the bottom our legs were shaking.

Courtney and Maxine at the bottom!

We rested for a few minutes and bird watched (no koalas, sadly), before starting the upward climb. I didn't think I was going to make it up the first staircase. The higher we climbed, the easier it seemed to get, but we were still panting and dripping with sweat by the top. I found that sprinting up a set of stairs and then resting for awhile on the platform was my best bet to make it all the way to the top. It was a great feeling when we finally reached the top, knowing I'd completed something I wasn't sure I'd be able to do when I first started.

We stopped by the Luna Cascades on the way back to town and I tried a few yoga poses on the waterfall. Once we were back to the train station I bought a meat pie and a Anzac biscuit (the biscuit of australia, apparently) and felt very Australian on the train ride home. Both were delicious! I'm loving all the new foods, words, and places I'm trying while I'm here.

Sunday was a trip to Bondi Beach for the Latin American festival! The festival had TONS of awesome dancing and incredible food. It made me miss my Dancesport family so much. I know they would've all loved it! I also saw someone with an OSU shirt on at the beach. However, when we stopped him to ask him about it, he said he had no idea what it was or where it was... this was after seeing a man with a Cleveland Indians hat who also had no idea what it was or where it was. Unfortunatly the only thing people seem to know about here is Miami Heat. I saw 5 Lebron James Heat jerseys in one day, not to mention a few scUM shirts! Some day I'll find a fellow buckeye out here. We had some issues with trains not running on the way back, and ended up stranded in a suburb somewhere... oh man. But luckily we have some incredible aussie friends who were willing to pick us up and drive us back to the village! And even luckier, Tony, the best head RA ever, saved us tons of ice cream and toppings from the sundae party we'd missed. I took full advantage :)

Till Next Time!

Bethany

ps. I almost forgot! I made Mac-apella, and I got a call back for Alice! I think I only have time for one though, so I'll have in my next update what happens with call backs and what I decide!

Time and Change Will Surely Show How Firm Thy Friendship OHIO