First day in Sydney!

Finally arrived in Sydney yesterday afternoon, and immediately was thrown off by the laid back Aussie ways. Got to buy booze for the first time duty free, and I'm proud to say I kept it classy with a twin case of Jim Bean. haha. I made it through customs very quickly-coming in from honolulu was mostly Australians returning from vacation so it took about 5 minutes to get my bag and head to the Vodaphone store in the airport. I got a really crappy little phone with a rechargeable sim card and a USB mobile internet plug-in that has so far come in handy. The entire process though took me about 2 hours, all the while having a pleasant chat with the sales dude about lady gaga and Jeffery Star...

First person I called was Beanca, who is from U of I business but has been here for a month already. We had plans for me to stay there so I gathered my three bags and booze and headed to the bank to get some au $. The money is a lot different. There are coins for $2, $1, and the bills are really colorful. I like this money a lot better than ours haha.

I got on a bus to Bondi junction, a place famous for the amazing surf. It also has a tv show called Bondi Resucue haha. I found myself in front of a club blasting the loudest bass I've ever heard at 5:00pm broad daylight. I know some kids living in Bondi, so I'm sure I'll be acquainted with that place pretty soon haha. I quickly caught a cab, and the driver had no idea where Beanca's apartment was, but luckily she told me that it's by the famous Coogee Bay Hotel. Got dropped off gave him some money I wasn't really sure about, and got a $2 coin back-they don't tip at all here.

So after my long almost 20 hour journey I was seeing a familiar face and unloaded all my bags into her apartment, got ready, and went out for a drink down the street with Beanca and Eddie, another exchange student. We went to the Coogee Bay Hotel bar/beer garden and i got to use my money again to buy a "jug of cider".

It's a pitcher

of Strongbow, and it hit the spot. I did lose an entire day while flying, so though I left on saturday morning I arrived sunday

afternoon. Therefore the bar closed as soon as we finished our last sips and we headed home to crash by midnight from a long, but extremely exciting day.

Today is going to be pretty hectic, I have registration for classes, signing my lease, getting bus passes, id cards and finally moving into my own place. There isn't a time I'm not within view of the ocean though, so far, and I am already convinced that this is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Love,

Lees