Joyeux Noël!

Amazing View From Lavender Bay

Merry Christmas to everyone!

It is a little strange going to the beach and being in the heat during december, i'll admit. And Australia definately doesnt celebrate christmas like home. Everywhere you go at home there is christmas music and decorations, but not here. So sad! But we are doing an aussie christmas here with my roommates, and going to a "barbie" then christmas evening having a dinner here. wont be the same!

Well here are some updates here and at home:

This is my new house (the blue one) and my room is the one from the upstairs balcony

This was from Thanksgiving Feast at Rich's

The boys carving the Turkey

This is my french roommate, Margaux, from Paris whom i love!

This is our christmas tree :)

And our "Fairy Lights"

This is from a Christmas Harbour Cruise with the American organization I came over with

Christmas in Oz....

And this is a shirt that Margaux and Elena gave me, it says "you speak french?" i realize that this picture is backwards (i took it with my webcam), so sorry! They gave me this gift because at the moment i am trying to learn french! So far so good, but its getting harder...I have changed my facebook to french and practice daily with Margaux so we'll see :)

and in other news...... LAURA IS ENGAGED TO RYAN MAXWELL! She will be MRS. Maxwell in July of 2010 :) we have talked about our wedding days and what not when we were younger and as we got older and i cant believe her day is finally here! Its hard to believe how fast time goes. She is marrying an amazing man and I am so happy for the two of them. And I have the exciting role of her maid of honor! I cannot express how happy i am for these two love birds and can't wait until july :)

Switching things UP

So its been a crazy couple of weeks lately.

First off, I got a second job for a company called Pinnacle. Its a Hospitality and Tourism company, basically a second job for most that work there. So they are the company that is hired for functions or concerts or events. So its a here and there kind of work, you just pick up whatever work you want when you're available, so perfect! I should start this week :)

Second, I am moving into a cute terrace house! :) You can take a look here

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

My good friend Elena (who used to live in my apartment) moved to perth and last minute decided to come back! So she booked a flight that day and the next day she arrived and we found a place! very last minute. It has a cute balcony on the second floor from our room! :)

So in less than two weeks, elena victoria and I will be sharing a house with 4 other people. And here is my new address for anyone who wants to send anything! :)

69 Rose Street

Chippendale, NSW 2008

Australia

Also, there is a really cool movie that my church here has released and its going to be playing world wide, its a documentary on poverty, and everyone should go see it! I saw it will be playing at the tinsletown in grapevine so go! go! heres the site if anyone wants to read up on it

http://www.i-heart.org/index.php

I hope everyone is having a great time at home and everywhere else and i'm missing everyone this christmas season! ta ta for now!

Blurb

This entry is soley devoted to the lingo I have noticed here.

You can be in an english speaking country and sometimes have NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE SAYING.

But you catch on, and some sticks :)

1. No worries.....this is seriously somehow in every conversation i have with someone out here.

2. Avro ..meaning afternoon such as "i'll see you tomorrow arvo"

3. Lets have a barbie! bring your eskie with stubbies....AKA lets have a barbeque and bring your cooler of beer

4. Bottle'o...meaning liquor store

5. "off his face" meaning very drunk

6. Goon...meaning box wine (not recommended)

7. Notes = paper money

8. fair dinkum = the real deal

9. HEAPS!...or bunches

10. "i reckon" ...which im surprised i hear it more here than in texas

11. Brekkie = breakfast

12. tomato sauce.... NOT ketchup here...and certainly doesnt taste as good

13. "out in the bush"...out in the boondocks

14. cotton candy here is Fairy floss?!

15. you call people from New Zealand a KIWI...still havent figured that one out

16. Prawns are Shrimp

17. Thongs are flip flops

18. and tim tams are the best cookie desert EVER. (not lingo but it MUST be said)

19. "how ya going?"...aka whats up, how are you

20.and one of my least favorite analogies.... "taking the piss out of you"...aka making fun of you or just messin with you

thats all. so to be continued!

BULA!

Hello All!

Well i just got back from Fiji last week and I am definately thinking that its the coolest place i have been to so far. Victoria (my roommate) and I went on an island hopping packing and got to go to a different island every day. It was so cool we got to stay at places a little more humbling, and then also got to stay at some of the nicer resort types. Most places we stayed did not have hot showers, and some places only have electricity for a few hours on a day.

We got to go snorking, scuba diving, parasailing, take kava with locals (a drink that is a tradition there, its made from pepper root), went to the blue lagoon, was taken into the village by locals, and just had an amazing time. one of the best trips ever!

One thing that was a little sad was the trip into the village. We were shown around a boarding school which was a very nice one compared to other islands, and their beds were old rusty hospital beds donated from new zealand, the classes happened to be cancelled that day because of no running water. And most every islander we had met had never made it out of fiji. their primary source of income and life is through tourism and the resorts. The first place we stayed at was family run (as most are) and we were the only two guests besides one other guy. They made us feel as though we were family and visiting them, not like we were paying guests. If i ever had a chance to go back i would definately take it!

Where we slept the first night. our own little bungalo

The boarding school near wayalailai

parasailing with victoria!

The first night we stayed on Nacula island and took a 20 minute boat ride to the blue lagoon for the day, But Lulu forgot to get gas and we were stranded inbetween two islands in cold winds and waves and it was getting dark soon! eek!

dont worry a boat load of students going to boarding school came by and helped us out :)

snorkling in the blue lagoon

the bluest water ive ever seen.

Also, some exciting news...my mom is coming to australia to visit! horray!

and anyone else who would like to visit, definately should :)

Travel Bug

So i am really excited, i bought a last minute ticket to melbourne for 4 days to visit my old roommate elena, from england! she decided to pick up and move there for about a month, so im going to see her while i can :) and then when i fly back to sydney on saturday, i just fly right back out to FIJI! not even going to leave the airport inbetween. i love being able to just pick up and do this.

Someone asked me last night where else i have been since i arrived in australia. and all i could say was blue mountains (a nearby area). I feel like ive seen so much though, but really all i've been in was sydney area. I guess uprooting and being in a new place still makes me feel like its new even after two months. Everytime i work, someone says "oh dont go to those beaches, theyre touristy, you have to check out this one.." or "oh you have to see this place, or go to this neighborhood". so much of this city. its so big! And when you're on foot its seems even BIGGER

I have learned 2 things from working in sydney. 1. i really like this fruit called lychee (sp?) They are almost like pears i think. I dont really know what to compare it to. but those pink things around the bowl are the shells. ive never seen anything like it before

and also, i love how involved they are in supporting the research for breast cancer. I know that its breast cancer awareness month, but ive never seen anything like this. There is a HUGE pink ribbon on the side of a skyscraper in the harbor. Its required as part of our uniform at work to wear a breast cancer bracelet to support the cause. And also, we serve a dessert and cocktail called "pink passion" and every time they are ordered, $2 of it goes to the sydney breast cancer foundation. I think that is seriously so cool.

I am really excited that im getting the ball rolling on all of my travel plans. A few days ago i bought a new zealand tour bus pass (sounds lame but its not!). It is hop on hop off, and a whole bunch of activities are included and the one i got tours around the north and south island :) one of the activities is even llama rides?? we'll see how graceful that one goes.

And hopefully i get to travel with clarice! she is a friend from Tech who is planning on coming out here at the end up march. my ticket back is for april 8th...but im thinking i might just have to extend it. The way my visa works out here, is its 12 months, but you can only work at one employer for 6 months. So i started sept 11 at jordon's seafood, so March 11 is the latest i can work there. I'm thinking im going to do my new zealand trip around then, and then backpack throughout southeast asia for a month and 1/2 or 2! Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam and anywhere else i find along the way. So i may be pushing it back until June. Which is a little weird to think about for weather... i came here when it was going into spring (but fall for home) and when i come back it will be going into summer in texas! So i will not experience winter or cold really from this past winter until November 2010!

Anyways, missing everyone and im excited some of you guys are coming to visit!!! sending my love to tejas :)

Life.

Days off at the Beach :)

I feel like i am finally sorted here.

I know my way around now, i am loving my roommates and coworkers, i have a routine, and love every minute!

I did have a weak moment the other day, i think once i made the realization that i am settled here, it made me miss home a bit. Its hard with the time different. especially starting this next week...tomorrow is daylights savings, but since the seasons are flipped, it is spring FORWARD here, and fall BACK in the states, so instead of the already 15 hour time difference, now its at 17! so we'll see how that affects chatting with home.

I recently got moved up at work! this week is the overlap period though, so im doing shifts for both positions so i am working a lot. BUT one cool thing is labor day is monday and the way wages work out for holidays is double and 1/2, so it basically averages to almost 50 dollars an hour, and i get to work a double monday so i am pretty pleased with that :). its interesting, out here no one tips so you get hourly wages, and the occasional tips, so saturdays and sundays are higher hourly pay.

Oh, here are a couple pictures of my apartment, i just took them and its 1 am so sorry they are not bright! And some pictures of the girls i share my room with (middle one just moved south to melbourne :( and the last night she was here we made cupcakes!

my bed is the one on the right, while my two other roommates are obsessed with twilight, you can probably see their magazine cut outs of robert pattinton above their beds....

Me, Elena (from kent, england), and victoria (from chicago). some really amazing girls i have met here.

So living near china town has its ups. My roommate discovered this sushi place that has a computer screen at the table and you just click and order! its a bit impulsive and dangerous when you get the bill...but so cool! no waiter no huss and fuss, you see the pictures of what you want and it comes to the table right away. loooove it.

kind of a random photo but this is a french canadian that lives downstairs and landed this cool towel in bondi, this basically has all the common australian phrases!

So i have learned a few things out here that i love, and some things that i miss:

Love:

1. walking everywhere, so scenic and relaxing

2. being so in the city but 20 minutes from the beach

3. asian food wherever i turn

4. Cotton on (the most amazing shop ever)

5. I have met more people from all over the world than australians

Things I Miss:

1. when you order a machiatto here or anything else, it is NOT what you would expect, they come in shot glasses?!

2. Walking..in the rain...when you dont have a car

3. My family

4. Mexican food!!!

5. FOOTBALL

6. My best friend laura. (and everyone else too!)

soooo i send my love to texas! miss everyone!

Red Skies.

So yesterday morning...i awoke to a red red sky in sydney. there was a wind storm. it was one of the most interesting thing i have seen. There were tons of people all over the city wearing those dentist masks (mostly asian, maybe they are more healthy than we are). and some people even posted youtube videos declaring it was an omen since it was the first day of spring....i say it was just a dust storm, just like good old lubbock days. The red red picture was actually taken a few blocks down from my apt by someone.

Well, back to updating whats been going on, I went to huntervalley (wine country) last thursday with victoria, shalyn, and russo. So much fun! we went to 5 wineries and had chocolate and cheese tasting as well. Never done wine tasting, definately enjoyed it :) i've discovered i like sparkling wine right now. and i've actually taken a dislike to red wine also lately. i have always liked it, just dont seem to lately. (photos compliments of shalyn and russo)

And in case anyone is wondering, yes i do have a countdown for fiji and it is 4 weeks and 2 days! and in other random news, i got a new camera and my mom sent it and i got it yesterday :) along with ketchup, taco bell sauce, sponges?, and tea. :) that made for a good day!

Long Overdue

So i have officially been in Australia (Sydney) for 1 month and one day. And im loving it!!

just to catch up.....

First two weeks Chris was were and we spent time doing touristy things...Manly beach (rented bikes and rode around the area), Bondi Beach (has some REALLY huge waves!), Tangora zoo (its incredible), Sydney Tower, Walked across the harbor bridge, botanical gardens, SKYDIVING! (an awesome gift from chris), tried emu and kangaroo not bad actually, hiking in the blue mountains, going to on All blacks game vs. sydney (national rugby), went to the aquarium, eating way to much asian food and tons more stuff i cant think of, which is one reason i am starting a blog ha.

I happen to get a job on day 5 out here thanks to chris finding a flyer in our hostel. Tried it out for about two weeks but then discovered it is definately not for me. office job but as boring as can be, calling clients all day (not happy ones at that) and 9-5. Basically what i came to australia to escape from! so thats over with......I was a bit worried because last wednesday when i went into work, i had no intention of quitting. basically i told myself i wouldnt until i found another job, but how am i to do that anyways if i am working 9-5 anyways. So i quit that day, the next day (thursday) i went around Darling Harbor (5 minute walk from my flat) and applied at 3 places, receiving jobs at 2!! So i ended up taking a job at Jordan's Seafood (www.jordonsrestaurant.com.au), which is a very nice seafood restaurant on the water.

So here i am a week in, and bounced back pretty well from quitting my previous job. But since i have been out here i have done what i always do and found even MORE places i want to see:

Fiji

Melbourne

Cairnes

Great Barrier Reef

Tasmania

New Zealand

East coast

outback

Thailand

Cambodia

Laos

Vietnam

Frazer Island

Its incredible how much there is to see out here! I am going to Fiji the last week of october with my roommate Victoria, who is from chicago. We share a room along with another girl from England who actually just left to go in a camper van up and down the east coast with our other roommate Paul.

I live in a flat that has 9 bedspaces. It is 4 rooms (3 beds in my room, but a HUGE room), and 2 bathrooms. I live in the City near china town :) and Darling Harbor (where i work) is also in the city as well. The place i live in is basically like a longer term hostel. Made for people pretty much out here for a year doing what i am doing. So my roommates are from all over and we are all out here to work, play, travel, and have the time of our lives. I also live next to paddy's market which is really amazing and runs through the weekend, i pretty much find myself for one reason or another there every week at least once! That goes for pretty much any markets in the city. they are all amazing!

My flatmates on mexican night

Being silly, It's me our friend Clark and elena and victoria, the two other girls that share my room

So now that i have finally made one of these, i hope to keep up with it so i can keep everyone in the loop! and i am 15 hours ahead here, so if anyone wants to Skype keep that in mind :)

Miss everyone!