I know I haven't written in a few days, but there really hasn't been much going on. It's been tough the last few days, but somehow I've managed. Here is what I did....

Monday- Went to the beach with Alec and Beth. There's an funny story with Beth- we met her in the LA airport during our five hour layover and, by the end, felt like we'd known her our whole lives. She is studying in Brisbane so we invited her to stay with us any time she wanted to see Sydney. Welp, she called and said she was coming so she stayed with us for about 4 days. Anyway, we laid out at Manly for awhile, and then I decided to look at surf boards again. A half hour later I waltzed out of the shop with a board. Yep, I purchased one. It is white with a lime green logo and I chose hot pink board wax, so it looks pretty cool. Then I realized quickly that traveling during rush hour on the buses and trains with a surf board is difficult and you make enemies with everyone around you. I stood in the middle of the train holding onto my board for dear life.

Tuesday- Went to the beach with Raychel and Sam (roomie). We just sunned ourselves and found some pretty great gelato for the ride home. Gelato is a virtually fat free ice cream type of thing, and its texture is in between sorbet and ice cream. It's pretty popular here. Everyone is so health conscious here, and everywhere you go they have vegetarian options. Even when we went to Katrina's for the barbeque she asked if any of us were veggos. After the beach we just went home and I actually did a bit of reading for my history class. Oh, and we made a late night trip to the grocery store for brownie mix...

Wednesday- I decided I ought to have one more surf lesson with my new board so I wouldn't over-estimate my skill and kill myself. So Shayna, Shannon, and I (two of my roommates) scheduled a lesson from 9-11 am. Shayna also has her own board. We left the house at 7 am... what do most people do at 7 am? Go to work! Yes, yet again we were in rush hour on a bus with two surf boards and a bunch of people who clearly hated that we were in swimsuits while they were in work suits. We put the boards in the back and slowly the bus filled to capacity. Of course none of them were getting off at our stop so we had to try not to impale everyone on the way out. We missed the ferry, so we had to pay extra to ride the Manly Jet Cat, which is a very large speed boat that goes twice as fast as the ferry. Arriving at our lesson, we could tell the instructors doubted our ablility since we are beginners with our own boards. We just had to rip it up and prove them wrong. Shayna and I got pretty comfortable with our boards. I was able to learn to turn and ride the wave before it broke. I'm by no means a pro, but I definitely got over my buyer's remorse.

Today- So today was disappointing: I had class. Boo. No, actually I'm enjoying my classes so far. History is interesting, but I have several adults in my class taking continuing education, and they dominate the conversation. In my child psychology class we talked about corporal punishment today. Apparently, since I was spanked as a child I am probably aggressive and have a strained, if not non-existent, relationship with my parents. I can't wait to write my paper.

A few notes- Dad is coming to visit over spring break (April 21-26.) We will be touring Sydney for a few days and flying to the Whitsunday Islands up north. We have decided to definitely do the bridge climb and probably go skydiving. Yes, we will jump from a plane and freefall for 30 seconds before, hopefully, a parachute releases to save us. Nuts. Now that I have written that, Dad, you have to do it. He has always said he wanted to do it, so what better place.

Also- My internship officially starts next Monday at 8:30 am. I get to wear jeans to work, which is both pleasing and upsetting. I packed a TON of work clothes to now find that it was wasted space.

Oh, and if anyone wondered, the water does drain counterclockwise.