Bondi Beach Trip!

The girls and I took a bus, then a train, then another bus to Bondi Beach today. Apparently, Bondi Beach is one of the most popular beaches around. The beach and its surroundings are absolutely beautiful. We were lucky to have such a beautiful day - it was 20 degrees (about 70 degrees Fahrenheit) and the sun was shining! We didn't go in at all but we of course dipped our feet in! It definitely wasn't much colder than the Jersey Shore in mid-summer! We saw a lot of surfers in their wet suits just waiting for decent waves but it wasn't the best day for that! We also saw a lot of men in speedos; still something I will have to get used to!

Many of the beaches around Sydney they have pools in the ocean which are man made pools but filled by the ocean! The one we saw today didn't look like the waves would be high enough to fill it but I've heard some of the others are like that! I would be very interested in going and swimming in one of those!

We met up with Brianna and her friend from University of New South Wales and we just walked around Bondi. Bondi Road has some cute shops and at the other end is one of the best shopping centers I have ever seen! Obviously I need a million more dollars to shop there but it was awesome! I splurged and got a hot fudge sundae from Macdonals (aka Mackers or Mackys). Overall the trip was fun! We will definitely be going more often when the weather is warmer especially because now we've figured out our way there! Today was a make-up day for our past two be-lazy-and-do-nothing days and it was totally worth it!

University of Sydney

We finally arrived to Wesley (WEZ-LEE) College! Just 4 American girls with not a clue in the world what we were getting ourselves into! Ashley, Alyson and Makenzie all moved into the dungeon and now live in the American Room! I moved into the basement on the complete opposite side to live with Addie! She's awesome! If your eyes are young you may be able to see a guy standing in the doorway! He greeted us with a cut up t-shirt and no shoes!

This is our building and now the background of my computer! You can't see my room from this picture ^ but if you look to all the way to the right at the last two windows on the bottom floor of the building, you can see my neighbor's room across from me! That's Chris O'Shea (aka DOG) and Rex's (I'm not sure if that's his real name or nickname) rom. I'll have to post pictures of my room and, of course, Addie my roommate!

Wesley College is just one of the amazingly beautiful buildings on campus! This big one is the building in the front of campus so is one of the most beautiful. Too bad its under construction!

Behind the big building is the Quadrangle! Gorgeous courtyard as you can see!

And here are just some other pretty pictures of some buildings that we pass everyday walking to and from classes!

This campus is absolutely beautiful. Too beautiful for words or pictures to describe!

The Taronga Zoo!

Here are some pictures of the Australian Animals at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney!

Here is the Koala Bear! So cute!

Me with a Wallaby!

This lazy Kangaroo came so close to us! Some people got to pet it!

This was the really awesome display for the Tasmanian Devils! However, my pictures of the actual animal are pretty bad!

The Bush Walk

They go on hikes called "Bush Walks". They have beautiful scenery here so they are a ton of fun!

This is the group going to University of Sydney that decided to go through IFSA-Butler! See you all around campus guys!

The bush walk was a lot of fun! If you're my friend on Facebook you can see some more of the Bush walk!

Studying Abroad

My college is crazy! If you read my last post you would have seen that my college plans activities for the whole week! This means that they all skip class to either attend the activity or because they're too hungover from the night before!! I think us American girls were the only ones who attended classes this week. Its a good thing I did because attendance is mandatory for most of mine in order to get credit for the class!

Most of my lecture classes are huge! 100-200 students! I have three tutorials that are about 15-20 students. Those are more interactive and more important to really understand what is going on in the class. My art class is one day a week for three hours. There are only about 10 students in the class but its pretty fun! We did some drypoint etching yesterday and I definitely will need some more practice. We have a project coming up where we have three A5 plates that we will etch into, paint and print on one mounting. We were given three words ( a country, an animal, and an adjective) to help us come up with a theme for our piece. My three words were: Danish, Sheep and Intimate! I have to relate those three words and also relate the three plates into one piece! It's going to be pretty tough so I'll take suggestions. I don't have to actually use the words or the exact definitions so that leaves a lot of room for interpretation!

My Indigenous Australia class had its tutorial today - lots of reading! We had an Aboriginal actually come in today and speak to us.... I didn't really understand what he was saying but he was pretty funny! He actually saw one of the students reading for the class on the bus and he asked if he could come into the class with her and speak to us! I thought that was hilarious!

Overall the classes are a bit boring but hopefully they'll pick up soon! Life in Wesley definitely makes up for the boring lectures. Some boys took my hall-mate's entire room and moved it outside into the rain! Including the mattress! These people are crazy! This is definitely the ultimate Frat House!

They all want things from America! I've already asked Mom for tootsie rolls, flaming hot cheetos and red solo cups! If you think of anything you think that I'll need over here from America you can either tell my Mom or send it to me! I have a mailing address!

Sydney Foreman-Gerbino

Wesley College

Western Avenue

University of Sydney, NSW 2006 AU

I am posting some pictures and some posts from my two weeks of being here! Go check them out!

Sydney Uni

Each college here (like the houses in Hogwarts - the buildings look just like it anyway!) compete against each other in sports. I live in Wesley College with three other American girls - Ashley, Makenzie and Alyson. The three of them live in a triple room in what the college calls the "American Room" because thats where they always put exchange students. I live in the basement on the other side of the building with a girl named Addie! Her real name is Adelaide which is funny because that's the capital of Southern Australia and Sydney is the capital of New South Wales! She hasn't arrived yet but I've learned so much about her already from the people that have moved in. I hear she's "top" which means the best and she's the nicest person in the whole college!
Also, since the Americans are new here we are called "Freshers" - first years. Even though we're technically 2nd years. Our college has its own Orientation which is more like initiation for the Freshers into the college -but that was last semester. This semester it is called Silly Season and they have fun things planned every night of the week! Even though there are classes going on! Tomorrow we are having a Christmas in July dinner and I have to dress up like an angel! That wont be too hard for me 0:). Did I mention we have a dining hall like Hogwarts as well? or the part where we wear black robes to formal dinners every Monday and Wednesday?! I can't wait to show you pictures!
Today Ashley and I joined the softball team for Wesley! The Australian girls told us that they were "horrific" so we didn't know what to expect but they were actually pretty good! Australians have amazing hand-eye coordination! Hopefully we'll win the cup for our college and have a big party for the victory! Our first game is in about a week so I'll let you know how we do! Tomorrow there is a Rugby match against St. Paul's College so we are very excited about that - 1. because we have only seen one match since we've been here, 2. we finally understand the game, and 3. because everyone here LOVES sports and everyone from each college comes out to watch the game and screams at the other team the whole time. Bantering is all part of the intercol sports here!
But there is some studying that has to be done when you Study Abroad. I wish someone had warned me about that! Classes begin tomorrow! However, I don't have classes Monday or Friday!!! I like having my weekend be longer than my week! This is also a good chance to tell my parents what classes I'm taking! I have to take one Engineering class - Controls, one Math class- Partial Differential Equations, one Australian studies class - Indigenous Australia, and one art class - Printmaking! I wanted to take photography but it was full so I had to settle for printmaking! Let's hope its not TOO hard!
So that's my school life so far! I have been taking pictures but definitely not enough. As soon as I get the internet working on my laptop I will post pictures of all that I am seeing here in Sydney! Makenzie and I take a photo everyday together so I'll have to post those as well!
Talk to ya lata mates!
-Nemo
P.S. My Australian accent is coming along quite well!

Sydney in Sydney

"Hey, how ya goin'?"

This is how we are greeted by everyone in our college! We've learned that it means "how's it goin'?" or "how are you doing?" and not "how are you getting to where you need to be?".

There are so many new phrases that Makenzie and I have adopted and think that everyone around the world should know about:

"how'd you find it?" = "how did you like it?"
"footie" = "soccer"
"jumper" = "sweater"
"mozzie" = "mosquito"
"bewdy" = "beautiful"

and plenty of others. I would like to stay and write however I am paying for every megabyte I use on the internet so I will write a full blog post on my computer and then post it to my blog!!

Can't wait for all of you to be involved in my new life here in my city!