April 27

I MOVED!!!! I’m so excited about being in my new place! It’s in Bondi Junction which I am quickly becoming obsessed with. And it’s so close to Jenna, that now it only takes me 20 minutes to get to her rather than an hour and 20 minutes! The only downside is that it will take a little longer to get to school but that’s it. I have my own room and my own BIG bed; I love it! The woman I live with is really cool. I think she’s a party girl on the weekends because she doesn’t get up before noon! I’M not even that bad anymore!! But she’s sooo sweet and so nice, and a very eccentric and dynamic person. The guy who lives here is the same age as her and he describes himself as “a little flamboyant.” I have yet to meet him but I’m very excited about it. This sounds like it’s going to be a fun house!!

For mommy and anyone else who might want it, here's the address:
131 Ebley St
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
Australia

Living over here is so convenient. Jenna and I went out last night for a friend’s birthday, we took the train back to the Junction and we were so tired that she was able to just crash at my place. (She is currently still sleeping). It’s really nice to be able to do that. Saves money on transportation too!

Yesterday was the first day in 2 weeks that it didn’t rain! Ya right Australia is in a drought! They say this is the weird year of weather they have ever had… GREAT!! So on this one last day of summer Jenna, Liz and I went to….. THE HORSE RACES!!! It was such a crazy experience. We had to get dressed up in fancy attire at noon. I’m talking high heels, hair-do’s and all. When we got there, they had complementary Clinique makeovers! So we all got our hair done. I felt like a princess. When we finally made our way inside, there were crowds of people placing bets. So the 3 of us, who knew nothing about what we were doing, bet on some horses to make sure we got the full experience! Of course we all lost, but at least we had fun doing it! It was kind of weird to be surrounded by such fancy people at a horse race. I felt like I was in the 1920’s or something. All the women had these huge feathers and hats on their heads and the men were in ridiculous looking striped suits. It was quite the scene. Anyway, I really enjoyed that!

Friday was a national holiday called ANZAC day. It’s kind of like our Memorial or Veterans Day except with a lot more drinking and gambling. It’s the one day out of the year that it is legal to play a gambling game called 2 Up. It’s basically like flipping coins and calling heads or tails but with money. I was too busy moving to see this extravaganza but I hear it’s really crazy. Then they have all different kind of sporting matches throughout the day which is some big tribute to the Army. I had to watch a game for one of my classes but I didn’t find it much different than any other game.

So I got my first paper back the other day… and for the first time in my college career, I got a D!!! If you don’t remember me telling you how impossible it is to get good grades, here is a perfect example coming from a straight A student. Australian universities are highly competitive and only 4% receive high distinction. So the good news is that it would transfer back to UT as only a B but it was still a slap to the face none the less.

I can’t think of anything else noteworthy right now so I should probably go wake Jenna up. I’ll be posting more pictures soon!!!

XOXO