on a separate note...

I went exploring today! :D Mariah basically had to pull me away from campus tho Xp and I didn't have time to grab the Nikon from home either! but we ended up going exploring anyway. and it was FUN! :D

First we found Aubrey waiting across the road, and so we invited her to join us. Then we got a 504 bus to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"), took the ferry across to Milson's Point, and walked to Luna Park, which was closed, but they still had the gates open.. so we went in and poked around a bit, took pictures, and got outta there before security came haha.. then we walked down the boardwalk basically till we came to a VERY old train station that was no longer in service. And Aubrey saw some cool rocks, and decided to climb them. so Mariah and I naturally followed, taking pictures along the way.

but we didn't know how to get home... so I asked this Middle-Eastern man who was walking by when the train came by (this was before we learned that the train was out of service Xp) and he said to take the train from Milson Station. we thanked him, and he went on his way. About half an hour later, we decide to head back towards wherever it was we came from haha.. and the same Middle-Easter guy catches up with us! lol.. he asks if we know where we're going, and since we didn't know, he offered to take us there. So we had our own personal tour guide from the remote boardwalk we were at all the way to Milson's Station.

So ya, it wasn't all that exciting, but it was still great to just.. idk.. get OUT of the city, and yet still see it. we ALSO caught the sunset, so that was just BEAUTIFUL to watch. but my camera was low on battery, so i didn't get many pictures of that. or any... and plus, it was just too beautiful. I couldn't capture it with any camera.. so far ALL of Australia has been like that tho. which could be part of why I haven't as of yet posted any pictures XP (still meaning to do that!)

So all in all.. My day was made complete. :)

thanks for reading! See you Sunday evening, Central time ;)

Vocal Ensemble

Ok, so it appears that I either have too much free time on my hands, or I'm slacking off and not doing the things that I probably should be doing. Nevertheless! I had an amazing day today :) which was actually surprising, since I left a little late, and forgot my water bottle at home, and left my iPod in the student centre throughout all of my class..

Good news tho, I made it to class on time! AND was able to buy a bottle of water in the Student Centre--where I ended up leaving my iPod--before running to class, and my iPod was STILL right where I had left it. SO! that was quite amazing ^_^ Iol...

Class today was, as you can guess from the title, Vocal Ensemble. It. Was. AMAZING! lol.. Although I don't know if I can have a bad class day on Wednesdays. I'm still.. idk.. in this weird yet excited state of mind, finally being in a singing group for myself, to make myself happy, and not to make anyone else proud or happy or to gain their approval. And... for the first time I feel as if I am singing among equals. I don't know what it really is, but I just have so much more confidence than I did in high school, and I think that that is part of what is making this class SO enjoyable for me.

One of the things that I think is really cool is that Clare, our teacher, wants to help us learn to and be comfortable with leading each other. The ensemble is much more of a peer-guided ensemble than a choir. if that makes any sense... So today we started off with rounds, (which I had forgotten/didn't take the time to learn before class), and she had the person on the end start it off.. which just happened to be me today Xp so.. lol.. ya! it was.. kinda funny starting off at first, but Clare gave me some pointers, and.. ya :) we all sounded so pretty! ^o^ and i'm getting really used to singing mezzo, instead of just alto. It's almost as if I'm not letting the category of "alto" bind me or bar me from singing the high parts. So... idk lol.. I see high notes on the page, and I'm not scared of them. I'm belting them out! And if they're wrong I'm fixing them lol.. and I think another thing is that I'm not afraid to laugh at myself anymore. And I was VERY self-conscious and had zero confidence in high school. So again.. the simple difference in choir/music group experiences is just... flooring me! totally cool :)

Public Transportaion...

is a pain!!! especially when it is 3:18, you had a Production meeting from 3-4 at Wesley for the graduate play, and you are at home in Lewisham, which is at least half an hour from there... it's even WORSE when you can't find the FRICKING BUS STOP!!! that is because you usually take the train, and the only times you have taken a bus from Lewisham were on weekends when the trains weren't running, and there were "city rail buses" which took the same routes as the trains. or basically from station to station.

BUT THAT WASN'T THE NORMAL BUS STATION! that was from the TRAIN station. So... you spend 10 minutes looking for this elusive bus stop, which apparently is in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION, iow: back the way you came Xp and by this time, you have missed said bus which would take you the quickest way back to Drummoyne, so you call 131500 to get travel help. only they keep putting you through a loop.. and you can't get ANY information or help from the said-to-be-most-helpful travel guide...

so... you know that taking the train to Town Hall, and then the bus from Druitt Street to Victoria/Lyons and then a 15-20 min walk will not get you there before 4:00, so you decide to backtrack a different route which you've taken only just yesterday. Train to Burwood, then bus from Burwood to Lyons and Barney, which is JUST down the road from St. Mary's street, where Wesley resides..

well.. first, you don't know where the stupid bus stop is.. you know where you got off the day before, but not quite sure where to get on the same bus.. so.. you cross a few streets, walk up and down a couple times, see your bus leave, before you've even found the stop! and then you walk AROUND THE MALL, and ask an off-duty bus driver where to get on a bus to Drummoyne. Then you find the bus stop, and discover you have 15 more mins to wait before your bus gets there..

and it is now 4:00. the meeting is officially over, and you are screwed.

so that was my afternoon! it wasn't all that bad actually. I'm VERY lucky that Australians are so laid-back about things tho. Like I'm not in any major trouble for missing the first meeting. I mainly just felt really bad about it Xp but it's all good. no worries.. just get the minutes from the Student Director, figure out how to make it up. make sure you don't miss it next week. pencil it in to your schedule..

other than that fiasco this evening, my morning was pretty great! we meet at the St. James church off of MacQuarie Road, (there was a cafe outside the church! :D bonus points there..) we went inside and had fun discussions about Myths and Histories and cultural identities and personal identities.. (I actually hadn't done the homework.. or finished the reading Xp i know, i'm a terrible student. it was our first homework assignment too. but i guess i "partied" too much over the weekend and just kinda crashed Monday night instead of doing my reading and worksheet Xp that's what i get for going out of my comfort zone and hanging out in large groups of people whom i don't really know!)

that homework i hadn't done was also the reason i forgot my meeting today.. cuz i knew i had to finish up that, and then i also had music to review for tomorrow's class, so i was thinking about THAT homework i knew i had, and totally forgot about the meeting.. although i DID remember about dinner @ 5:00 with people at the Thai restaurant down the street from the school. I WAS ON TIME FOR THAT! and it was DElicious, i must say. i just came from there actually to the school, where i am now typing this up in the computer lab of the library, with a now-empty cappuccino..

anyways! so this morning after our discussion in the church, (St. James, which was in fact the very first Anglican church IN Australia..) we walked across MacQuarie to the Hype Parks Barracks Museum. where convicts were housed. and lots of other things went on too.. it was SO much fun going around there! and i got LOTS of pictures. they will be up in the (hopefully) near future. (no promises guys!) and the gift shop was fun too.. :) more on that later ;) i plan to go back actually before leaving Aussieland and get more pictures and see the rest of the stuff that i missed b/c i was taking pictures haha. and since admission is only AU$5 with a student id card, it's not a bad idea!

so ya.. that was my day so far.. and i think now i'm going to head back home, alone,-- because Mariah is going over to Lauren's for a taste-testing thing.. but I have homework to do, and I'm getting tired, despite the cappuccino, so i shall post this, and then tottle off home. :)

later, mates!

Sydney

First off, I apologize for being so TERRIBLY late in posting this. I know I said that this blogwould be the best way to keep in touch with me, but of course that is only if I can remember to make time to actually WORK on the blog Xp so please forgive me for my laxity.

Now that apologies are out of the way... OMGILOVESYDNEY!!!!! it is SUCH a beautiful Sydney! my favorite part has GOT to be my commute from my student housing in Lewisham to Wesley in Drummoyne. I walk 5 mins to the train stop, take the train to Town Hall. Walk down the street to the bus stop and take any 500bus (EXCEPT 501) to Victoria and Lyons, and then walk about 20 mins to school. ^_^ yes, this is the longer of quite a few different routes I could take.. but I like this route because it's PRETTY. well.. at least I think it's pretty haha.. first off, we go over the ANZAC Bridge (aka: Lady Gaga's bra), and I love being able to look out into Darling Harbour and see the Harbour Bridge each time. (heart!) i feel like i'm actually living in Sydney and not just passing through.

I guess I should tell you some of my trip though.. Well.. it was probably the shortest trans-Pacific trip I've ever taken. And, to my GREAT delight, the 33 of us didn't have to go through security together.. We all checked in our bags separately, checked in with Khris, who was checking us off her list, and then could go through the security whenever we wanted to. Which made it very convenient, cuz then we didn't have to wait on everybody for everything. Definitely a good thing lol... it was great to finally meet the rest of the group and to finally put a proper face and audible voice to all of the names that i'd heard and tried to become familiar with over the past month, but I must admit that I was not at my best. I was tired, cranky, and all to much a snob about international travel xp but since getting to Sydney, I've been able to spend some time with people on a 1-on-1 basis, which is my preference. So that's been good.

Mariah Jensen and I are rooming together at the Flo Harris Lodge, and the place is GORGEOUS!! Morton House, which is adjacent to Flo, and where Mariah and I and about 10 other students from Austrlia are staying, is a Victorian Heritage House, so it's very old, very COLD sometimes, but oh so beautiful. :) I fell in love with it immediately! The other students staying in Morton and in Flo (Flobians, as we're called haha...) are a LOT of fun. I FOUND A DND GROUP!!! (just about ALL of the guys actually haha! SO awesome! haven't played with them yet tho..) the girls are very sweet, understanding, open, and great fun. the guys are hilarious! remind me SO much of my boys on Penn2 and my guy friends at letu haha.. sooo many similarities, I'm really feeling at home here. ^_^

so... we arrived on Wednesday around 9am (flight was delayed in NYC before it picked us up in LAX, so we ended up getting to Sydney around 2-3 hours later than planned). And Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we had ASC (Australia Studies Centre) Orientation.

just to clarify... when i say ASC, i am referring to the 33 group of students who came from America to study at the Wesley Institute. the two ASC classes are two classes on Australian history and culture, and on Aboriginal History, and those two are taught by Kimberly, who is in charge of us. She works for the CCCU (Community of Christian Colleges and Universities), which runs the BestSemester study abroad program, which is where i found this opportunity to go to Australia... i think that about covers the lingo.. so there are Wesley students, and there are ASC students, (ASCers being the 33 of us). and all of us ASCers except Mariah and I are in a homestay, living in with a family. Flo is not a dorm, it is a student housing. (think like one of the Faith Academy dorms if you're a Faith Alum/Staff/Student)

enjoy the rest of the blog! please ask me if you need any more clarification on anything.

on Thursday, we had a Scavenger Hunt throughout Circular Quay (pronounced KEY! don't ask me why...) and the Rocks, and Darling Harbour. it was a LOT of fun running around and getting acquainted with that part of the city. and we had some REALLY hilarious times too! OH!!! I PLAYED A DIDGERIDOO!!! it was really cool! and technically, girls are not allowed to play them.. it's reserved for Aboriginal males only, culturally anyway, but the guy was really nice and let us all give it a try :) out of the 7 of us in my group, i (according to Mariah) was the only one who actually made didgeridoo-like sounds come out haha.. so I felt very accomplished about that haha.. OH! i will have pictures of all of this posted up on FB, when i have time Xp and i will post a link to this entry or to another blog post or something so everyone can find the pictures ^_^ until then, PLEASE BE PATIENT! thank you

Sunday, Mariah and I went to Hillsong church! it was VERY cool. :) God is CLEARLY evident and present in that church and doing LOTS of good in and through the people there. His presence was literally overwhelming. :) and coming from me, that is saying a LOT. I was unsure at first if I would like Hillsong. and actually until coming to Australia, i DID NOT LIKE Hillsong, because it was so big, and my only impressions of Hillsong were of this big mega and impersonal church. but I was TOTALLY wrong. well.. it IS a very big church, but you just have to find where to get plugged in and connected like in any church in America. which can be hard a lot of times, especially when you're used to small house churches... but it's going well! after a week of school, Mariah and went to Sunday Night Live at Hillsong church tonight, and I talked to some people and maybe I'll be working on the SOUND TEAM for them.. (#excited!)

my first week of classes was very.. interesting.. and LONG.. in Australia, they have each class only once a week. sometimes three times, but very rarely. and each class is 2-3 hours. or more. so my schedule is as follows:

Monday: Photography II - 1:00pm-4:00pm

Production Practice - 6:00pm-9:00pm

Tuesday: The View from Australia (ASC class on Australian history, culture, and politics) - 8:15am-12:15pm

Production Practice - 6:00pm-9:00pm

Wednesday: Vocal (small) Ensemble - 10:45am-12:45pm (my SHORTEST class!)

and then there is "The Gathering," equivalent to Chapel at letu, but NOT required, no card readers, COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY, but they do notice when you're there or not. (It's kinda hard to miss 33 new students at a school where the student populations is about 300-500...) but anyways, the Gathering is VERY cool, and from 1:00-2:00

Thursday: Drawing IV (Life Art) - 1:00pm-4:00pm

Production Practice - 6:00pm-9:00pm

Friday: Indigenous History, Culture, etc etc etc.. (class on Aborigines) - ALL DAY. basically... split up into lectures in the morning and excursions in the afternoon. which are always fun ^_^

so ya.. that's my schedule.. Photo II was such a large class that it was split into two sections.. Wesley Students from 1-4, and ASCers from 4:30-7:30. but b/c of my 6-9 class, i'm with the Wesley students. who are cool/nice/interesting, but the 2nd year graphic design students are a little... anti-social? idk.. they kinda keep to themselves and i'm having a little trouble connecting with them, but it's alright. we had fun last week lol..

Production Practice is the most work.. uhm.. (except for the ASC classes). basically, I'm the Sound Designer haha.. I'll be making the sound track, getting the sound effects, setting up sound, setting up LIGHTS, RUNNING SOUND, and on the Production team.. which has weekly meetings or something.. and i only need to go to ONE rehearsal a week, but as we get closer to performance date, i'll probably be going to all of the rehearsals.. so ya.. oh, the performance is in like week 12 or 13 i think? and it's the graduate show, so only three Wesley students, and three graduates (i think) who came back to help with the performance. and the play is "The Bald Prima Dona." VERY much Theatre of the Absurd, so i've been reading up on that so i know what kind of effects and music to get..

Vocal Ensemble is BY FAR one of my favorite classes so far ^_^ my FIRST choir class in 2 1/2 YEARS!!! and i'm LOVING it! I was a little shaky at first, trying to remember how to breathe, and then how to sing.. and then when i figured that out, i just had fun! :D there's 16 in the class, (i think), and they're all lots of fun :) (i hope/think.. haven't met them all yet, but it should be good!) we're doing various music pieces, and b/c there's only 16 of us, we will ALL have solo parts during the semester. speaking of which... I SANG A SOLO IN CLASS!!!! that is BIG for me. cuz i physically COULD NOT do that in high school. i had ZERO confidence in my own singing ability, and I was EXTREMELY self-conscious of myself in front of the other choir members (whom i knew and they were my good friends...) so.. lol.. ya.. it was funny cuz, first i got put with the METZOS!!! b/c i raised my hand and said i was a metzo/alto.. and she put me with the metzos.. so YA! that's gonna be interesting haha.. since i've sung Alto for about my whole life... haha... but anyway, back to the solo story haha.. one of the songs we're doing is skid town (or downtown) from Little Shop of Horrors, and my prof Clare had the second verse be a solo, and said metzos could try for the second (sops had first verse). she wanted someone with a bronks accent tho, and i volunteered cuz I was american and could maybe try for it. so she started playing, and i started singing.. and.. ya.. i sang a solo. ^_^ made me very happy, cuz there's a bit of a high note/jump that I had to get, and wasn't sure I could reach on my own, but apparently I can! :D so ya.. ^_^ VERY happy about that.

and another thing.. for the first time in my life, i'm in a choir for MYSELF. to make MYSELF happy, not to make anyone else happy or to gain anyone else's approval. this semester is for ME, and i'm going to ENJOY myself! ^o^

Life Drawing is... FUN! so far haha.. we just drew each other on the first day, and we'll do the same this week too.. but next week our nude model is coming in. so THAT'S going to be interesting.. cuz when i signed up for the class i did NOT know it was going to be drawing a nude model, but i'm ok with that. it'll be interesting. i feel a little bad for David tho haha.. the ONLY guy taking the class.. the rest of us are all ASC students, and girls.. and our model is a female as well.. so ya.. but i'm glad i'm taking the class. b/c it's going to help me get to where I want to go in life. and i'll save that for another blog post for another time...

and that's about all i can think of for right now.. i know it's a lot, but believe me, it's not even HALF of what i've done! haha.. oh ya, this past Friday night was a Flobian's 21st birthday party, and it was on the roof of a bar! which was VERY cool. and then Saturday night was another Flobian's 18th birthday party in NEWCASTLE. so Mariah and I went to that and ended up staying the night there at his house. GORGEOUS place, right on the water. and ANDREW!! I BROUGHT YOUR CAMERA AND GOT LOTS OF PICTURES! i just need to go thru them all now haha.. (i used Wall-e's lens tho) Mariah and i got back this afternoon around 2 i think... it was a GREAT trip. i made friends with some of Mitch's (the birthday boy) childhood/family friends, and I have an open invitation to return actually! lol.. :) good times.. good times.. looking forward to warmer days when i can go swimming! ^o^

ok, now that's REALLY everything haha... uhm, since my first class on Monday isn't until 1pm, i'm going to TRY to be online and available for chatting/skype/msn/etc on Monday mornings Sydney time, which would be Sunday night in America. I'm 2 hours ahead of the PI, and 15 hours ahead of Texas time.. so you do the math Xp i have enough of a headache of it already!

oh.. and please pray for me, cuz i hit my knee on the bus Friday on the way home from school. :( I was moving to sit down in the seat just up from the stairs, and the bus started moving again right as i was going to sit down, and so i was literally thrown into the seat. the corner of the chair hit my knee just above the kneecap, and i was almost in tears.. :'( it hurt SO bad! there's now a VERY pretty purple bruise.. not very big, but VERY tender.. i can hardly touch my knee actually. oh, my knee is also swollen to about twice it's normal size >.<>winter here Xp really wishing i had brought my boots, or another jacket/hoody/jumper, but oh well.. won't be much longer before it's warm weather again. and i'm borrowing Mitch's for now.

so i think that's all for now folks! i'm probably forgetting a lot of things, of just not bothering with them, b/c this post is already insanely long (sorry about that mates) and if i tried to squeeze everything in, they just wouldn't receive the justice due to them.. c'est la vie...

Love you guys! don't forget SUNDAY NIGHTS! TALK WITH MELODY!