Life In Manly

These past two days have been a little harder than I was anticipating. First, let me say that when I looked up the “springtime” Sydney weather I thought it was going to be in the 70s but it’s not quite that warm and with the ocean breeze it is down right chilly. I did not pack properly! I guess I need to buy a sweatshirt because it’s cold especially at night. I found a couple of cute Australia sweatshirts in Manly, but they cost about $60….for a SWEATSHIRT?! Wow.
I think I am living in like “L.A” of Australia. This has to be the nicest place ever. It is right outside the city and all of the people here must be retired millionaires. Honestly, all anyone does is surf or go out sailing or on their yacht. Then there are the “hot mommies” who I am forced to see on a daily basis as I hike my butt up and down a huge 5 mile hill. I mean these women—not the same women, just all of the women here-- are extremely skinny, wear work out clothes all over and are seen running with their babies (yes, most of them have twins!) in nice little running strollers. I hate them. I huff and puff to get up the hill to this castle and then consider it my exercise for the day.
They suck.
An update on my electrical supplies- I got a hairdryer and hair straightner. I also found the right kind of converter so I can now use my laptop in my room, but I don’t pick up wireless all the time so it’s still down to the computer lab for me. The computer lab where I am forced to wear my business suit because it is considered “front of house.” Did I mention that the business suit requires pantyhose? Well it does.

As far as the school it seems pretty nice so far. I’ve already met some really cool people from all over the world. There is a girl, Natali, across the hall from Germany as well as a lot of other Germans- and let me tell you those boys are cute;) Then there is a really awesome group of Swedish girls. They are drop dead gorgeous. Seriously, if I were a guy looking to do a study abroad I’d hit up Sweden.

In other news, I got to go to the beach today. It was, well, COLD! How do these Austrailians do it? Not even Australians really, because everyone is from all over the world. This has to be one of the most diverse cities in the world. (Okay, maybe Nashville isn’t all that diverse, but Sydney is really rockin!)But yea, the beach is nice and the water is freezin’. I put in my feet and that was good enough for me. I’m supposed to have a surf lesson on Friday. It should be around 60 degrees. Ouch! I wanted to buy a wet suit, but for 3 months, that was out of the question!

Finally, I’ve sat down with some of my fellow US friends and made a list of the things we want to do while we’re here. Now this is the reason why I worked all summer:
Bridge Climb
Blue Mountains/Kyaking package
Surf Camp
Trip to Whitsundry Islands/Barrier Reef
Zoo
OperaJ
Sydney Tower
Wild Life World
Aquarium
Trip to the Outback
And a Dolphin Day Trip including Victoria Falls, Dolphins and breakfast with Koalas.

Surprisingly, if we do this with our student discount cards and have large enough groups then the rates aren’t all that bad. Granted I can’t do all of it, but we’re already buying a Sydney attractions package as well the Bridge Climb. I think we’re going to do it Sun….hopefully I’ll get over that fear of heights in 3 days.