So this week has been crazy trying to get work done. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have papers and stuff due as well....haha. I think I have been doing a pretty decent job though considering. I have gotten an A- as my first grade so far. I don't think this is going to be a problem. Derek and I went to the beach yesterday. It was so nice but windy...I can't wait for it to get really warm here though. I'm getting tired of it being 50's one week and then 70's the next. It's throwing me off!
Next weekend were going to the Outback so that should be a trek! It's going to take us 8 hours to get there. I don't know if I can be cooped up on a bus with 36 other people for that long. I hope it goes well!
I have been having an awesome time this week getting to know other people in my group! It's been AMAZING! Oh I can't wait to see what else is in store for me!
Ok I have to head off to class...
love
Krystin
Friday, August 31, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
EMAIL UPDATE....
Here is an email I wrote to a bunch of people earlier today I just wanted to post it.....
I hope you all have been having a great summer! I know I have been having a life changing time here in Australia. It has been pushing my limits more than I could have imagined. Not the same as if I was in a third world country but at times it almost seems like I'm not on earth anymore. No matter how much people say that Australia is Americanized I would never, ever compare it to America in any way shape or form.
Right before I left I thought to myself, "you know what at least they speak english and it seems like america." Boy was I wrong, you could say they speak english here but half the time it's a shortened version of all of the words that we use and all of their aussie sayings. And it definitly does not seem like america, sure they have McDonalds (not the same by the way) and Subway but they also don't have a lot of things. Like Ketchup, mexican food, Graham Crackers, and a bus system that actually comes on time. Oh do I miss Ketchup!
But in a way I have come to love it here, because they have so many things that America doesn't have like sweet chili sauce, nutri grain, wheat bix, the most amazingly beautiful people I have ever come to meet. Australian's don't only go out of there way to say G'day they also go out of their way to make you feel more at home than you ever thought possibe, especially when you are missing home the most. My hostmum when I came home the other day, after having probably the worst day here so far, proceeded to tell me that she had gotten me a sushi roll. Now this may not seem like much to you but to me sushi is one of my favorites and I had quickly mentioned this in my delirious, jet lagged, had just been on the plane for 20+ hours and up for two days straight state. It just goes to show my how much she wanted to make me feel at home. Which I do here because my hostmum and roomates are just so wonderful to me.
So even though I have been having this life-changing wonderful experience half way across the world, I miss home more than anything: I miss my parents and my brothers, I want to hug my best friends right now, I miss buses that actually come on time instead of 45 min late or 15 min early, and I miss driving...but more than that its a feeling that I just can't place. I have only been here a little over a month but time is flying...I know that when it comes time to leave this place just as I was when I was leaving the states I will be moved beyond words.
I miss each and every one of you! Keep me updated...I love the emails I have been getting, because I am so badly trying to stay in the loop.
Love,
Krystin
ps. if you want to send me anything I know i would love it! =] Oh but nothing that can't go through customs ;)
For Packages:
Krystin Lay
ASC - Wesley Institute
5 Mary Street
Drummoyne, NSW 2047
Australia
and for Letters its:
Krystin Lay
Unit 3 "Maquarie"
247 J Burwood Road
Concord, NSW 2137
Australia
xoxo
I hope you all have been having a great summer! I know I have been having a life changing time here in Australia. It has been pushing my limits more than I could have imagined. Not the same as if I was in a third world country but at times it almost seems like I'm not on earth anymore. No matter how much people say that Australia is Americanized I would never, ever compare it to America in any way shape or form.
Right before I left I thought to myself, "you know what at least they speak english and it seems like america." Boy was I wrong, you could say they speak english here but half the time it's a shortened version of all of the words that we use and all of their aussie sayings. And it definitly does not seem like america, sure they have McDonalds (not the same by the way) and Subway but they also don't have a lot of things. Like Ketchup, mexican food, Graham Crackers, and a bus system that actually comes on time. Oh do I miss Ketchup!
But in a way I have come to love it here, because they have so many things that America doesn't have like sweet chili sauce, nutri grain, wheat bix, the most amazingly beautiful people I have ever come to meet. Australian's don't only go out of there way to say G'day they also go out of their way to make you feel more at home than you ever thought possibe, especially when you are missing home the most. My hostmum when I came home the other day, after having probably the worst day here so far, proceeded to tell me that she had gotten me a sushi roll. Now this may not seem like much to you but to me sushi is one of my favorites and I had quickly mentioned this in my delirious, jet lagged, had just been on the plane for 20+ hours and up for two days straight state. It just goes to show my how much she wanted to make me feel at home. Which I do here because my hostmum and roomates are just so wonderful to me.
So even though I have been having this life-changing wonderful experience half way across the world, I miss home more than anything: I miss my parents and my brothers, I want to hug my best friends right now, I miss buses that actually come on time instead of 45 min late or 15 min early, and I miss driving...but more than that its a feeling that I just can't place. I have only been here a little over a month but time is flying...I know that when it comes time to leave this place just as I was when I was leaving the states I will be moved beyond words.
I miss each and every one of you! Keep me updated...I love the emails I have been getting, because I am so badly trying to stay in the loop.
Love,
Krystin
ps. if you want to send me anything I know i would love it! =] Oh but nothing that can't go through customs ;)
For Packages:
Krystin Lay
ASC - Wesley Institute
5 Mary Street
Drummoyne, NSW 2047
Australia
and for Letters its:
Krystin Lay
Unit 3 "Maquarie"
247 J Burwood Road
Concord, NSW 2137
Australia
xoxo
You call it madness, but I call it Love...
Hey all....omgoodness this week has been so busy!
So first of all we had my roomates Haylee's 21st Suprise Birthday Party on Tuesday! It was super fun and she had no idea! It was the best time. Gail was going to be out for the night because her birthday is on Wednesday so she told Kara, Stacey and I that we could have the house and a bunch of people over for Haylee's Birthday. It ended up being about 25 people, ASCers and Australians. It was just so much fun to be hanging out with all of them outside of school. Sometimes I really miss the dorm life. I posted pictures on my photo website from her birthday and all of the other pictures that I have taken here in Australia. The website is at the end of this post.
Then this Friday I had a Oral Presentation with my group so we were gettting ready for that all week. It ended up going really well but I was still nervous because our teacher Kim is a really hard grader and everyone else that had gone so far had gotten C's (american grading) on their presentation. But everyone said that we were the best yet even though I didn't think that we did that amazing. Although you can never really tell, especially when I'm up there shaking the whole time...hahaha. Oh well I guess we'll see in a week or so.
Oh I got my first assignment back in Old Testament and I got a D-! haha You're probably wondering why I'm excited that I got a D- right? Well here they grade differently, a D- means a distinction which in the American Grading System would be an A-! YAY my first grade was an A-, let's just see if I can keep that up! =]
Well this weekend is going to include a lot of work because not only did I have to do all of the above this week I also had to be working on a 7-10 page position paper along with all of my other classes work! AHHHHHHH! I actually need to start working on that right now.... boo =[
Check out my PHOTO Website: http://web.mac.com/k.lay/iWeb/asheilanamedkrystin/KLays%20Photo%20Albums.html
xoxo
Krystin
So first of all we had my roomates Haylee's 21st Suprise Birthday Party on Tuesday! It was super fun and she had no idea! It was the best time. Gail was going to be out for the night because her birthday is on Wednesday so she told Kara, Stacey and I that we could have the house and a bunch of people over for Haylee's Birthday. It ended up being about 25 people, ASCers and Australians. It was just so much fun to be hanging out with all of them outside of school. Sometimes I really miss the dorm life. I posted pictures on my photo website from her birthday and all of the other pictures that I have taken here in Australia. The website is at the end of this post.
Then this Friday I had a Oral Presentation with my group so we were gettting ready for that all week. It ended up going really well but I was still nervous because our teacher Kim is a really hard grader and everyone else that had gone so far had gotten C's (american grading) on their presentation. But everyone said that we were the best yet even though I didn't think that we did that amazing. Although you can never really tell, especially when I'm up there shaking the whole time...hahaha. Oh well I guess we'll see in a week or so.
Oh I got my first assignment back in Old Testament and I got a D-! haha You're probably wondering why I'm excited that I got a D- right? Well here they grade differently, a D- means a distinction which in the American Grading System would be an A-! YAY my first grade was an A-, let's just see if I can keep that up! =]
Well this weekend is going to include a lot of work because not only did I have to do all of the above this week I also had to be working on a 7-10 page position paper along with all of my other classes work! AHHHHHHH! I actually need to start working on that right now.... boo =[
Check out my PHOTO Website: http://web.mac.com/k.lay/iWeb/asheilanamedkrystin/KLays%20Photo%20Albums.html
xoxo
Krystin
Monday, August 20, 2007
Canberra, the coldest place on earth.....or at least in Australia
Well I'm back from Canberra (pronounced Can-bra) as of Sunday afternoon. We left on Friday morning at 6:30 for a 3 hour bus ride to Canberra. It was filled with catching up on lots of sleep because I had been up late finishing packing and getting homework done. When we got there we immediately went to the Papau New Guinea High Commission. It was a very short visit but he treated us right and gave us morning tea which is something that we have come to love here in Australia.
The Group at the Papau New Guinea High Commission
Apparently they love morning tea and afternoon tea here, which is something that I have come to love dearly...Then we were off to lunch which was SUBWAY! (haha it tasted just like home) and we ate it at a park. A bunch of us ended up finishing early and going off exploring....guess what we found? a playground that we acted like we were 5 on and a huge hill that we decided to roll down. We have a video that I have to get and I will show you all because it's super funny. We kept rolling down the hill and runing into eachother.
Then we were off to the US Embassy and it looked so much like home. As soon as we walked in they said "welcome to US soil." Everyone smiled, it was funny to be on US soil in Australia. We had a tour and we talked about what they do on a day to day basis. On the 7th of September we have the APEC summit here in Sydney which is a huge deal for Sydney. We happen to be going out of town on our Outback trip that weekend which is good because it will be crazy here. President Bush is coming as well as all of the major leaders of the world.
After dinner we went to the hostel that we were staying at, had a group presentation and then we had a commissioning service for the group. Then we hung out for most of the night, playing games and going in the hot tub and pool. It was nice to just hang out with all of the ASCers in the group. We played dutch blitz which is one of my favorite games now, I'm addicted to it =]
Saturday we went to the Old Parliment House which had a Portrait Gallery there we went to look at, then we went to the National Gallery of Australia and the Australia War Memorial last. It was really nice to be able to see all of these sites. I just wish that they gave us more time to go through all of them.
Eternal Fire in the War Memorial
War Memorial
Poppies at the War Memorial...
We had the end of the commissioning service on Saturday night and talked about our reading that we had to do for the weekend...We also talked about our paintings that we made the night before. My painting if you can tell is the one with the yellow sun and the blue ocean and sunset/sky.
All of our paintings from the commision service...
On Sunday we left for home and it was raining the whole day. We went to the National Museum which was really sweet and I really wish that we had more time there. I have some pictures of cartoons that they had on display there with Australian Phrases, I'll post them later in its own post.
A sweet window in the Museum...
Well it was a tiring but fun weekend...It ended up not being that cold and it was ok because we had a hot tub anyway =]
Haylee's birthday is tomorrow! So I will post when I get pictures from that too! =]
xoxo
Krystin
The Group at the Papau New Guinea High Commission
Apparently they love morning tea and afternoon tea here, which is something that I have come to love dearly...Then we were off to lunch which was SUBWAY! (haha it tasted just like home) and we ate it at a park. A bunch of us ended up finishing early and going off exploring....guess what we found? a playground that we acted like we were 5 on and a huge hill that we decided to roll down. We have a video that I have to get and I will show you all because it's super funny. We kept rolling down the hill and runing into eachother.
Then we were off to the US Embassy and it looked so much like home. As soon as we walked in they said "welcome to US soil." Everyone smiled, it was funny to be on US soil in Australia. We had a tour and we talked about what they do on a day to day basis. On the 7th of September we have the APEC summit here in Sydney which is a huge deal for Sydney. We happen to be going out of town on our Outback trip that weekend which is good because it will be crazy here. President Bush is coming as well as all of the major leaders of the world.
After dinner we went to the hostel that we were staying at, had a group presentation and then we had a commissioning service for the group. Then we hung out for most of the night, playing games and going in the hot tub and pool. It was nice to just hang out with all of the ASCers in the group. We played dutch blitz which is one of my favorite games now, I'm addicted to it =]
Saturday we went to the Old Parliment House which had a Portrait Gallery there we went to look at, then we went to the National Gallery of Australia and the Australia War Memorial last. It was really nice to be able to see all of these sites. I just wish that they gave us more time to go through all of them.
Eternal Fire in the War Memorial
War Memorial
Poppies at the War Memorial...
We had the end of the commissioning service on Saturday night and talked about our reading that we had to do for the weekend...We also talked about our paintings that we made the night before. My painting if you can tell is the one with the yellow sun and the blue ocean and sunset/sky.
All of our paintings from the commision service...
On Sunday we left for home and it was raining the whole day. We went to the National Museum which was really sweet and I really wish that we had more time there. I have some pictures of cartoons that they had on display there with Australian Phrases, I'll post them later in its own post.
A sweet window in the Museum...
Well it was a tiring but fun weekend...It ended up not being that cold and it was ok because we had a hot tub anyway =]
Haylee's birthday is tomorrow! So I will post when I get pictures from that too! =]
xoxo
Krystin
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Australian clothes are Awkward and the Bus system is not the Best....
So this past weekend I got to talk to my brother and sister-in-law, my grams and my parents. It was great to talk to all of them and just hear what was going on in their lives. I really miss my family, sometimes you just take for granted how much you interact with your family on a day to day basis and when thats missing you realize just how important they are to you. Someitmes I just can't wait for Thanksgiving! =]
Well, on Sunday we went to Toranga Zoo for FAMILY DAY! It was a lot of fun. We headed to the train station and met Derek there. We all took the train in and caught the Ferry over to the Zoo. Gail bought us Ice Cream while we were waiting for the Ferry, it was my first Ice Cream bar since I've been here...and thats a big thing in my family haha, cause you all know we love our ice cream =] The ferry ride over was gorgeous but cold! The wind was blowing every which way. But when we got there it was so beautiful. We took the bus up to the top of the Zoo because the Gondala that you usually take up had a really long line. Once we got there we split up for a little bit and Haylee, Derek and I went off to start exploring. It was so much fun to see all of the animals. We walked into this part of the Zoo that was called "Wild Australia" and the Kangaroos were literally a foot away from you. Most of them were resting because it was a hot day.
The Kangaroos!
Koalas....
Then we met up with Gail, Tinga, Stacey and Kara. We decided to go the the Seal Show but the first time at 1:15 was really crowded so we decided we would come back for the next show. But before we came back for the show we walked around a bit more and saw a bunch more animals. It was fun to just hang out and see something new in the city with the Fam. So then we went back to see the seal show, because they are always my favorite =] I even got a seal stuffed animal at the gift shop, it's so cute! The show was really awesome. I got a video of it to show you guys when I get back.
Pretending to be Seals before the Seal Show!
Stacey, Haylee and I (roomies!
Alex the Seal
Gail left before the seal show because she has been to the Zoo so many times with her other students. So we just met her at home for dinner. After the show we went to see the Asia and Africa Exhibit. They had an amazing exhibit with huge elephants! It was so amazing =]
Giraffes (Mom I know these are your favorite, this picture is for you!)
The Frilled Lizard like in "Rescuers Down Under"
Meerkat catching some rays...
The view fo the harbour from the Zoo...
All of the Roomates minus Gail on an Elephant...
Ok well before I left so many people told me that the Sydney Transportation system is the BEST! ummm not really. Ok ok maybe the trains only because they are always on time and I love that about them because that means that they make up for the buses that come whenver they want. You think I'm exagerating? haha listen to these stories that I think will make you laugh:
So the other day my roomates (Haylee and Stacey) and I were in the computer lab right before were about to head home and Stacey headed down to the bus stop, but Haylee and I stayed and talked to one of the other ASCers (the people in my study abroad group as I would like to call them) Max. So we were talking and I said to Haylee that we should go meet Stacey for the bus because it was supposed to be coming soon. Were in the process of walking down to the bus, taking our time and talking. When I look down the road and see our bus go by. So I said to Haylee, "Oh I think we can take that one (because we can take a lot of buses to our apartment) and Haylee was like yeah I think so too." and we kept talking with Max. Max stared at us and was like "you guys should run for the bus because it's at the bus stop." So Haylee and I start running and I uncontrollably was screaming "STOP WAIT FOR US, STACEYYYYYYY, STOP, WAIT, STACEY WAIT FOR US" and ran up to the bus door. It was the funniest thing because when we got to the bus everyone was staring at us because the bus had been about to pull away...but they heard this garbled voice screaming at the top of her lungs. So when I got on the bus I was hysterical laughing and Stacey hadn't heard a word I had said.....
Another time Haylee, Derek and I were heading back to the apartment after school and we were waiting for the 502 which takes us straight to the park right down from our apartment building. So we watch bus after bus go by and Derek keeps asking Haylee and I if we can take them, and of course we're partial to the 502 bus because it stops so close to our apartment and we don't have to walk as far, and we keep telling him "don't worry its going to come, we can just wait for it" So finally we see the 502 bus and I signal for it (because here you have to hold your hand out to signal the driver to stop because a lot of buses stop at one bus stop) and he starts to slow down, puts his blinker on and goes in the left lane to stop at the bus stop. So I turn around to say something to Derek and Haylee while I'm getting my bus pass out and he speeds up and drives right by us. We ended up walking home from Burwood Mall because the bus didn't come for 45 min.
A couple of other funny things about the buses here...if you don't get to the bus stop 10 min early you can miss the bus because sometimes they come 15 min early, sometimes they come 15 min late and sometimes the don't come at all. It's so funny because they never come at a regular time. Well, This is Australia...
I went shopping with Derek this morning and didn't get anything because I have realized that I am either too short or actually have hips because it is so obvious by there clothes that Australians have neither of those. The clothes that are oh so popular in Australia right now are leggings, dresses to go over leggings, shirts to go over leggings, long and I mean long dresses and boots that leggings go under, oh and did I mention that they like leggings. Which I am so sad to say none of which looks good on me. Ahhhhhh...It's only a little bit frustrating haha, because I want to get into their style but at the same time, I would look like a crazy person if I walked around in these things in the states.
Were going to Canberra this weekend to visit the Capital. It's supposed to be 1 degree celsius to 13 degrees celsius this whole weekend, which is about 33 degrees to 55 degrees. I have a feeling were going to freeze! It's been pretty decent here since we have gotten here the range from 55-75 degrees fareignheit. So hope that this is a good weekend and we have a lot of fun. The up side is that there is a Hot Tub, the downside is that there is 35 of us. AHHH! Let's hope we don't freeze to death. Well I have to go pack because we leave tomorrow morning at 6:30.
xoxo
Krystin
Well, on Sunday we went to Toranga Zoo for FAMILY DAY! It was a lot of fun. We headed to the train station and met Derek there. We all took the train in and caught the Ferry over to the Zoo. Gail bought us Ice Cream while we were waiting for the Ferry, it was my first Ice Cream bar since I've been here...and thats a big thing in my family haha, cause you all know we love our ice cream =] The ferry ride over was gorgeous but cold! The wind was blowing every which way. But when we got there it was so beautiful. We took the bus up to the top of the Zoo because the Gondala that you usually take up had a really long line. Once we got there we split up for a little bit and Haylee, Derek and I went off to start exploring. It was so much fun to see all of the animals. We walked into this part of the Zoo that was called "Wild Australia" and the Kangaroos were literally a foot away from you. Most of them were resting because it was a hot day.
The Kangaroos!
Koalas....
Then we met up with Gail, Tinga, Stacey and Kara. We decided to go the the Seal Show but the first time at 1:15 was really crowded so we decided we would come back for the next show. But before we came back for the show we walked around a bit more and saw a bunch more animals. It was fun to just hang out and see something new in the city with the Fam. So then we went back to see the seal show, because they are always my favorite =] I even got a seal stuffed animal at the gift shop, it's so cute! The show was really awesome. I got a video of it to show you guys when I get back.
Pretending to be Seals before the Seal Show!
Stacey, Haylee and I (roomies!
Alex the Seal
Gail left before the seal show because she has been to the Zoo so many times with her other students. So we just met her at home for dinner. After the show we went to see the Asia and Africa Exhibit. They had an amazing exhibit with huge elephants! It was so amazing =]
Giraffes (Mom I know these are your favorite, this picture is for you!)
The Frilled Lizard like in "Rescuers Down Under"
Meerkat catching some rays...
The view fo the harbour from the Zoo...
All of the Roomates minus Gail on an Elephant...
Ok well before I left so many people told me that the Sydney Transportation system is the BEST! ummm not really. Ok ok maybe the trains only because they are always on time and I love that about them because that means that they make up for the buses that come whenver they want. You think I'm exagerating? haha listen to these stories that I think will make you laugh:
So the other day my roomates (Haylee and Stacey) and I were in the computer lab right before were about to head home and Stacey headed down to the bus stop, but Haylee and I stayed and talked to one of the other ASCers (the people in my study abroad group as I would like to call them) Max. So we were talking and I said to Haylee that we should go meet Stacey for the bus because it was supposed to be coming soon. Were in the process of walking down to the bus, taking our time and talking. When I look down the road and see our bus go by. So I said to Haylee, "Oh I think we can take that one (because we can take a lot of buses to our apartment) and Haylee was like yeah I think so too." and we kept talking with Max. Max stared at us and was like "you guys should run for the bus because it's at the bus stop." So Haylee and I start running and I uncontrollably was screaming "STOP WAIT FOR US, STACEYYYYYYY, STOP, WAIT, STACEY WAIT FOR US" and ran up to the bus door. It was the funniest thing because when we got to the bus everyone was staring at us because the bus had been about to pull away...but they heard this garbled voice screaming at the top of her lungs. So when I got on the bus I was hysterical laughing and Stacey hadn't heard a word I had said.....
Another time Haylee, Derek and I were heading back to the apartment after school and we were waiting for the 502 which takes us straight to the park right down from our apartment building. So we watch bus after bus go by and Derek keeps asking Haylee and I if we can take them, and of course we're partial to the 502 bus because it stops so close to our apartment and we don't have to walk as far, and we keep telling him "don't worry its going to come, we can just wait for it" So finally we see the 502 bus and I signal for it (because here you have to hold your hand out to signal the driver to stop because a lot of buses stop at one bus stop) and he starts to slow down, puts his blinker on and goes in the left lane to stop at the bus stop. So I turn around to say something to Derek and Haylee while I'm getting my bus pass out and he speeds up and drives right by us. We ended up walking home from Burwood Mall because the bus didn't come for 45 min.
A couple of other funny things about the buses here...if you don't get to the bus stop 10 min early you can miss the bus because sometimes they come 15 min early, sometimes they come 15 min late and sometimes the don't come at all. It's so funny because they never come at a regular time. Well, This is Australia...
I went shopping with Derek this morning and didn't get anything because I have realized that I am either too short or actually have hips because it is so obvious by there clothes that Australians have neither of those. The clothes that are oh so popular in Australia right now are leggings, dresses to go over leggings, shirts to go over leggings, long and I mean long dresses and boots that leggings go under, oh and did I mention that they like leggings. Which I am so sad to say none of which looks good on me. Ahhhhhh...It's only a little bit frustrating haha, because I want to get into their style but at the same time, I would look like a crazy person if I walked around in these things in the states.
Were going to Canberra this weekend to visit the Capital. It's supposed to be 1 degree celsius to 13 degrees celsius this whole weekend, which is about 33 degrees to 55 degrees. I have a feeling were going to freeze! It's been pretty decent here since we have gotten here the range from 55-75 degrees fareignheit. So hope that this is a good weekend and we have a lot of fun. The up side is that there is a Hot Tub, the downside is that there is 35 of us. AHHH! Let's hope we don't freeze to death. Well I have to go pack because we leave tomorrow morning at 6:30.
xoxo
Krystin
Saturday, August 11, 2007
I'm wide awake, It's morning...
So I tried to sleep in, I finally got a day where I could sleep in and I couldn't. I woke up at 8 am and then 9 am so I finally got up and ate breakfast. Oh well, let's see what has happened since I last posted...
Derek and I went to the Chinese Friendship garden on Thursday our day off and it was so beautiful! I loved it... The Chinese gave the garden to NSW in honor of their friendship. There were so many coi fish in the pond it was crazy. I made Chili for my host family +derek and it went over really well. Gail was so surprised it was fun!
On Friday we went to Parliment and we had to dress up and be all snazzy....It was cool to see how the Australian government works. It's a lot like ours but they use different names. We had a tour around the parliment building and this man decided to join ours it was so funny because I think he thought that we were just a tour and not here for a special tour because he completely just joined us and was walking around with us. He even sat in on one of our talks, it was so funny! He finally got the hint when we went in for morning tea and one of the students got up to give our presentations. He got up and walked out....haha.
Derek, Sarah, Haylee, Stacy, Jami and I all went to Bondi beach after the Parliment tour was over. It was really nice there. We just walked around and hung out. Then Derek and Haylee and I came home and watched a movie. Derek and I played Scrabble, he won...booo =]
Oooo we watched Rugby for a while on TV it was so funny to watch and Derek and Haylee got really into it. I kind of fell asleep because I was really tired...haha. It was cool to see how different it is from football or even soccer. We might go and see an actual game sometime. I hear we can get decent tickets for a good price =]
Well I'm about to head off to Bondi again today and go watch Derek and Kory (another ASCer that lives with Derek in Concord housing) go surfing. I think I'm going to bring my homework and read for a while. Then tonight were going out to eat and then to the IP's at school, the IP's are where all of the Drama kids do their major performance, it should be really fun! I heard it's really funny =]
Well thats all for now!
peace
Krystin
Oh here are some pics:
A Wall in Manly Beach, it reads " Manly, seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care..."
a picture I took for photography class
Derek and I in the Chinese Gardens...
The street into our apartment building complex
The pool outside our apartment building, its too cold to use it yet =[
Derek and I went to the Chinese Friendship garden on Thursday our day off and it was so beautiful! I loved it... The Chinese gave the garden to NSW in honor of their friendship. There were so many coi fish in the pond it was crazy. I made Chili for my host family +derek and it went over really well. Gail was so surprised it was fun!
On Friday we went to Parliment and we had to dress up and be all snazzy....It was cool to see how the Australian government works. It's a lot like ours but they use different names. We had a tour around the parliment building and this man decided to join ours it was so funny because I think he thought that we were just a tour and not here for a special tour because he completely just joined us and was walking around with us. He even sat in on one of our talks, it was so funny! He finally got the hint when we went in for morning tea and one of the students got up to give our presentations. He got up and walked out....haha.
Derek, Sarah, Haylee, Stacy, Jami and I all went to Bondi beach after the Parliment tour was over. It was really nice there. We just walked around and hung out. Then Derek and Haylee and I came home and watched a movie. Derek and I played Scrabble, he won...booo =]
Oooo we watched Rugby for a while on TV it was so funny to watch and Derek and Haylee got really into it. I kind of fell asleep because I was really tired...haha. It was cool to see how different it is from football or even soccer. We might go and see an actual game sometime. I hear we can get decent tickets for a good price =]
Well I'm about to head off to Bondi again today and go watch Derek and Kory (another ASCer that lives with Derek in Concord housing) go surfing. I think I'm going to bring my homework and read for a while. Then tonight were going out to eat and then to the IP's at school, the IP's are where all of the Drama kids do their major performance, it should be really fun! I heard it's really funny =]
Well thats all for now!
peace
Krystin
Oh here are some pics:
A Wall in Manly Beach, it reads " Manly, seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care..."
a picture I took for photography class
Derek and I in the Chinese Gardens...
The street into our apartment building complex
The pool outside our apartment building, its too cold to use it yet =[
Monday, August 6, 2007
Truth, Bitter Truth
So it has been a hard past week. Really hard, I don't know what else to say other than that. I miss home a lot. More than I ever thought possible. I miss my parents really bad, my brothers and my friends. I wish that I could be there right now actually. I guess just adjusting has been hard for me here because it's not like I can just go somewhere. I really have to make sure that I have a plan because of the transportation.
I have also been sick for the past week so that hasn't been helping. Sleeping has been far and few between, but luckily it seems like I might be coming to an end. I am feeling a little bit better but not fully up to par.
Another thing that has been happening is that Derek and I have had two meetings with the one of the directors of the program about us dating. Apparently they don't have a problem with us but I some people have been feeling uncomfortable around us. Which my roomate Haylee says is ridiculous because she feels like we are completely approachable. She was saying that we never make her feel uncomfortable and that we are very considerate. It's so hard though because they make me feel like we are being attacked just for dating when two weeks ago they said it was totally fine. Its hard because I try to be so considerate of people and make sure that they don't feel uncomfortable but I guess you can't always please someone. So many people have different views and its not like I will be able to please every person that believes something different. It has been really hard because of that, I don't really know what they want us to do because even my hostmum is always like you and Derek are so considerate.
On a better note, I had an good weekend. On Thursday we went to the beach, Manly beach, it was gorgeous. It was nice to just relax for a day. Then on Friday we went to the New South Wales Library and the Art Gallery of NSW. It was so nice there, I loved all of the artwork. It was fun to look at all of the Australian artwork and see how it was different from other kind of art.
On Saturday I went to my service project, I work with IMPACT kids and its a Saturday program for Aboriginal children in the community, lets just say that there was only one word for it: CHAOS, complete and utter chaos. I was so tired after that morning. I got to read that afternoon though and just relax...then Haylee, Stacy, Derek and I all went to the BBQ at the Townsends. It was alot of fun and the food was so good =] Sunday we went to this Anglican Church in Manly. It was really nice but not one that I would go to all the time. We have to try out 4 different types of churches while were here: Anglican, Catholic, Uniting and Pentecostal.
Australian Idol started last night! It was so much fun and a lot like American Idol but I thought they had better singer/songwriters. They let them take a guitar in the Audition. I'll let you know who my favorite is soon.
peace
Krystin
ps. I will post some pictures on soon, I have to go do some homework now...
pss. Please pray for the situation with everyone here and Derek and I. Thanks in advance...
psss. Oh if you ever want to leave comments click on the link below, I would love to hear who is reading this! =]
I have also been sick for the past week so that hasn't been helping. Sleeping has been far and few between, but luckily it seems like I might be coming to an end. I am feeling a little bit better but not fully up to par.
Another thing that has been happening is that Derek and I have had two meetings with the one of the directors of the program about us dating. Apparently they don't have a problem with us but I some people have been feeling uncomfortable around us. Which my roomate Haylee says is ridiculous because she feels like we are completely approachable. She was saying that we never make her feel uncomfortable and that we are very considerate. It's so hard though because they make me feel like we are being attacked just for dating when two weeks ago they said it was totally fine. Its hard because I try to be so considerate of people and make sure that they don't feel uncomfortable but I guess you can't always please someone. So many people have different views and its not like I will be able to please every person that believes something different. It has been really hard because of that, I don't really know what they want us to do because even my hostmum is always like you and Derek are so considerate.
On a better note, I had an good weekend. On Thursday we went to the beach, Manly beach, it was gorgeous. It was nice to just relax for a day. Then on Friday we went to the New South Wales Library and the Art Gallery of NSW. It was so nice there, I loved all of the artwork. It was fun to look at all of the Australian artwork and see how it was different from other kind of art.
On Saturday I went to my service project, I work with IMPACT kids and its a Saturday program for Aboriginal children in the community, lets just say that there was only one word for it: CHAOS, complete and utter chaos. I was so tired after that morning. I got to read that afternoon though and just relax...then Haylee, Stacy, Derek and I all went to the BBQ at the Townsends. It was alot of fun and the food was so good =] Sunday we went to this Anglican Church in Manly. It was really nice but not one that I would go to all the time. We have to try out 4 different types of churches while were here: Anglican, Catholic, Uniting and Pentecostal.
Australian Idol started last night! It was so much fun and a lot like American Idol but I thought they had better singer/songwriters. They let them take a guitar in the Audition. I'll let you know who my favorite is soon.
peace
Krystin
ps. I will post some pictures on soon, I have to go do some homework now...
pss. Please pray for the situation with everyone here and Derek and I. Thanks in advance...
psss. Oh if you ever want to leave comments click on the link below, I would love to hear who is reading this! =]
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