Tonight I had a royal feast. I've been in contact with Katrina, an Aussie woman who Mom knows through work, and she invited my friends and I over for food on the 'barbie' tonight. Karen, another lady Mom works with, picked us up and drove us to Katrina's house where we had the feast. Wine, lamb chops, fresh salad, cheese and 'bikkies' (biscuits), and corn on the cob. For dessert we had this dish called pavlova, which is basically whipped sugar that looks a bit like merengue, topped with tons of fresh fruit. It was amazing. Katrina's kids are not shy- Terase,6, Dominic,8, and James, 20 months. They kept us entertained. Even the downpour during our dinner on the porch couldn't ruin the night. Their yard looks like a little rainforest or something you might see in Fern Gully. It would definitely be a great magical playground for kids.

Karen lives up by Cresent Head, where we had our surf trip, and invited us to stay at her house anytime. Might have to take her up on that.

Great evening.

The internship

I now have an internship! I wasn't happy with the options that Macquarie provided me, so I went searching for ad agencies on my own. There were several in the area and the first place I called was Designstreet. They are located about a 20min walk from my house and asked me in for an interview. The agency is small, only about 13 employees, but it has a very open office and contemporary feel. I will get to work directly with the account directors and managers, so I think I'll get some practical experience. I couldn't have found a better fit.

The Blue Mountains

Yesterday we started out our day at 5:15 to catch the bus to Sydney. Yet again I was floored by another random act of kindness by our city bus driver. Sam and I didn't know how to get to central station by bus, so when the driver let everyone off at a stop he quickly turned off the bus and took us down a block to show us the way. He actually left his bus for us! Anyway, we first visited Sydney Olympic Park. I was able to take a picture under the site of the Olympic flame. Then we made our way to the mountains where we saw several waterfalls, climbed well over 1000 steps, rode the world's steepest rail car (that had no seatbelts by the way), and saw the Three Sisters rock formation. It was a tremendous amount of walking, but well worth it.

If you asked me what Kangaroo means I'd now have to say 'I don't know.' Our tour guide said that the English asked the Aboriginees what they called this new animal and they said 'Kangara'. So they eventually turned the word into what we know as kangaroo. Many years later we discovered that 'kangara' in Aboriginee means 'I don't know' so technically the kangaroo's name is 'I don't know'. Did you get all that?

Today I talked to the internship department about options and was a little disappointed. Only one of them was any good, so I'm looking into other ad agencies on my own in case it doesn't work out.

So yesterday we had our orientation for Macquarie Uni. During the morning session they welcomed us and presented several extra curricular opportunities like seeing leadership speakers, going to rugby games and more weekend trips like the surf camp. During lunch Sam Running and I (there are two Sams, one is my roomie and the other is Sam Running) went to the travel agency on campus and booked a trip to the Blue Mountains for this Sunday. After lunch was the academic orientation. At Mizzou getting registered for classes is stressful enough, so doing it in another country with two advisors at different schools is a pain. But fortunately I got my classes approved before I got here. We also found out that since we are study abroad and not exchange students we are not eligible for a lower student priced bus fare. Sorry Mom and Dad.

This morning I went to campus to get my student card and take money out of the ATM. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no fee charged when I got my money! Then Sam R, Kevin, and I went to Sydney and caught the ferry to Manly Beach. I've always pictured a ferry as a little dingy, but obviously a dingy couldn't hold many people so it looked more like a very small cruise ship. Along the way, we got a beautiful view of the opera house and bridge, as well as the architecture on the cliffs and several sail boats. After a short walk past surf shops and food stands, we made it to the beach, only to find that it was closed due to a dangerous under current and huge waves. We couldn't swim, but it was still nice to lay out and watch the waves. I have much more appreciation for the waves and the surfers now that I have tried. I think I'll go on one or two more surfing day trips.

Unfortunately, Sam got pretty sick today. My feet aren't used to flip flops yet, so I have huge blisters. We were a sad looking pair walking from the bus stop- I was hobbling and she was holding a trash bag... haha.

Good news about the apartment. We get a cleaning lady every other week!

Despite the few complaints I've had, I can't describe how much I love this atmosphere. Maybe I'll move here. Just kidding Mom, but it is paradise. The Aussies are unbelievably kind- today a guy that saw us get off the bus when Sam got sick came back with his wife to give us a ride. They brought water and a bucket for Sam, and took us to our apartment so we didn't have to wait for the next bus. This is not the first random act of kindness we've received.

Tomorrow- Bondi Beach and Darling Harbor

Hi again,

I posted pictures on my photo album- kristineballensky.myphotoalbum.com- if you want to have a look. They reminded me that I forgot to write about the reptile zoo we visited. On our way to the surf camp the bus stopped to visit the zoo, where I was able to pet a koala, feed baby kangaroos and see bird-eating spiders, a tasmanian devil, and some crocs. The roos were by far the most entertaining, as they were just roaming free around the park greedily begging for our roo food.

More to come...

Yes, I've decided to blog

I've never thought blogs were cool. I thought they were for people to share entirely too much about themselves to other nosy people. But here I am. This is much easier than sending mass emails that take so long to write that my webmail times me out. So, if you are interested in my travel tales in Australia, read on.

Just to get things up to speed... my flight was delayed 4 hours in LA so I ended up having to stay awake until 4 am to board the plane. This actually minimized my jet lag, so I guess in a way it was a blessing. I flew with four other girls from Mizzou and am lucky to be living with one of them, Sam Aiossa. She's a saucy little Italian from Chicage and I think we'll be fun for each other. My other roomie, Shayna, is sweet as well and we're waiting for the fourth.

I just returned from the orientation surfing trip with 61 other international kiddies. To sum up the experience, we partied at night at the campfire and tiki hut, called Humpy, surfed during the day, ate, and surfed some more. The instructors are outrageous and I hope their accent and totally laid back attitude rubs off on me. I've also now met a surfing dog. Grommet, meaning 'the little surfer', can stand on the board with the dudes while they surf! Anyway, I've just emailed some of you who might be reading this with details on the trip, so if not just ask me.

The toilets here have two flushes- one is a shorter, water saving flush for pee and the other is a full flush for poopie. I think it's a solid idea.

Here they shorten most words to end in an 'ie' sound. For instance, people have been calling sunglasses 'sunnies' and breakfast 'brekkie', university is called 'Uni' and I've even been shortened to Krissie. I love it.

Orientation for Uni is on Thursday, so I really am going to have to use my brain while I'm here. I'm still not sure about the internship, which is bugging me.