It's been TOO LONG!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated my blog in a LONG TIME! I know being too busy isn't an excuse but I have in fact been very busy!!!!!

Work is still going great! I am now an employee of Hostec and I absolutely love it. I am working in the International Academy. Our school offers Certificate III in Hospitality or an Advanced Diploma in Hospitality. The past few weeks I have been helping out in admissions until our normal admissions person come back. I am dealing with a lot of agents and students and making sure they have all the right documents to get into our school. It is a very interesting job. I get to speak with people from all around the world... although I don't think I would like to do this as a long term job. We have a new enrollment of  students coming on Tuesday so it will be great to put all the names I have been processing to their faces. When I am done with admissions, I will be working in a "Personal Assistant" type role to the Academy General Manager. I am very excited to work side by side with him. There are a lot of projects that I will be working on which I can't wait for! Now that I am a paid employee, I am working longer hours and working a lot harder. I do love the pay checks that are coming in, though! Because of these pay checks, I also get to go out a bit more!

I have done few really cool things in the past few weeks. One of the things I got to do is climb the Sydney Bridge. This was an AMAZING experience. I got to see the entire city from the bridge!!! We went on a perfect, sunny Sunday morning. The weather was GORGEOUS. The views were breath-taking! 

Climbing the bridge was probably the only tourist-type thing I have done in a while. The past few weeks have involved going out for different work events. I had a bbq with our patisserie students the other night. It was their last night before their industry placement session and they wanted to celebrate making it through all the schooling. The kids were so grateful to have the academy staff their so it was a lot of fun. Our academy also launched their first "Master Class- Cook-off." This was SOOO much fun. Our students competed in cooking a 3 course meal for the Hostec staff. We got to enjoy drinks and the best meal I have ever tasted. The started was pork belly (AMAZING) followed by Salmon and Lamb Cutlets for a main meal (for not liking fish, the salmon wasn't bad and the lamb was good as well, then for dessert there were 3 different types of cakes. My absolute favorite was this chocolate-hazelnut cake. All I can say is WOW! The pork belly dish got the people's choice award, voted on by the staff, and the dessert won the competition because of all the effort and design they put into the meal. It was a meal I will never forget!

Besides that, by working in the hospitality industry, we get asked to a whole bunch on lunches and wine parties and stuff like that all over the city. I am lucky enough to get to go to a lot of these... I love that part of my job!!!!!

So I have been quite busy with work, but I am having some fun on the side. I have found a really good group of friends here that always include me!!!! I am very lucky :) It is a long weekend in Sydney this weekend... Labor Day on Monday. I was looking forward to all three days on the beach but it hasn't stopped raining! Oh well...... I am off to a bbq now though with some friends but I thought I would stop by and let you know what I have been up to! Thanks to everyone who has been following my blog! I will put some pictures up soon!!!!!!!

If any of you want to see my work and what I have been up to go to, www.hostec.com. 

I MISS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxxxxxx Amanda :)

Happy Labor Day weekend!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend... can you believe it is the end of summer (for you) and winter for me!?!?! I can't believe how fast the past three months have gone by. If feels like yesterday I was getting ready for graduation at GAC, I even dreamt I was getting ready for final exams! 

My internship in Sydney has been unbelievable. I have learned so much and grateful for the opportunity. I am waiting to find out if my time at Hostec will continue. With my visa I am allowed to work another six months at the same company. I will hope everything pans out and I can stay at Hostec. I have made a lot of great friends and am finding my way around the city quite nicely. It is also starting to warm up, which I love. I spend almost every weekend either at Bondi Beach or Centennial Park. My life here is amazing, except I miss everyone at home so much. I am hoping if I stay a little longer, I will get a few visitors! It would be a perfect time for everyone that hates a MN winter to come and enjoy a Sydney summer!

Anyways I just wanted to check in and let you all know that I am doing well. I will post again soon when I find out if I get a job at my company or what my plans will be if I don't. It is really teaching me patience. I hate not knowing and not having a plan, but I have really had to learn how to "go with the flow" here. Everyone is SOOO laid back and lives life from day to day... a good attitude to live by, I guess. 

Hope everyone is doing well at home... I miss you all!!!!!! Keep me posted on all your news! 

Love you xxxxx

I'm getting really bad at blogging... sorry guys!!!! I have had a pretty slow week I guess. Not a lot going on besides work. I've been working a lot because we are so busy right now. I love working with HRM. We have about 60 staff members so it is great to be able to know everyone and help them all out. I really love my job, like I've said before!!! I only have 2 weeks left of my internship... SOOOO hard to believe! I am hoping to get a position though in the company to stay a little longer. I could stay for another 6 months max so that would be ideal. I guess right now I am going with the flow and praying I can stay a little longer.

I had a bachelorette (or "hens") party last night for one of my co-workers. We had a such a great time! I am lucky to be able to work with such great people!! 

I guess that's all that has really happened in the last week. I have been taking it easy and just enjoying all my time here. The weather has been really nice that past week so I am spending as much of it outside as possible. Life is good!

I still miss everyone back home and am praying for all my loved ones. If you have FB you should check out some of the pictures my fam uploaded. I missed my first Schuette Bowl ever! It was the hardest weekend here because I knew everyone was enjoying my FAVORITE weekend out of the year. My mom and sis created a card board cut-out of me though and I was with them in spirit. They did such a great job!!! 

 

I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please send me an email and let me know how you are all doing! 

:) :)

Holiday in the sun!

Hey everyone! I hope life is treating you well back home! I have had, yet again, another busy week. One of the other interns, Mandy, and I decided we needed a little holiday so we took a long weekend from work and went to the Sunshine Coast. It is just north of Brisbane and the weather was AMAZING! We had 4 solid days of relaxing at the beach and exploring the nice beach town. It was so good to get a little slice of summer. I didn't realize how much I miss wearing shorts and the feeling of it being really hot outside. I can't believe I missed an entire summer. Although it is winter here, it is nothing like an MN winter! I haven't seen any snow so I don't think it really counts as winter. I did get a bit of a tan while I was gone. Everyone at work asked me where I got my fake tan because they did a really good job. I showed them my tan lines then and told them it was real... they couldn't believe a person could get so tan in 4 days. My skin really missed the sun I guess! Don't worry though, I used tons of sunscreen. There is no o-zone layer of Australia, so it is really important to load on the sunscreen.  

Besides my nice little holiday, things are going extremely well at work. I still LOVE my job. I can't imagine working anywhere else. I wish I could either, a) bring all my friends and family to live in Sydney with me or b) move my company to MN. Ideally, everyone would move over here because the weather is so much better and the laid back atmosphere is awesome. I at least now have a better understanding of what I want to do when I grow up! :) 

I have also have had a bit of a tough week. Let me tell you, I have been on an emotional roller coaster the past week. Extreme highs with work and life out here in Sydney and low lows with finding out some of my loved ones aren't doing well at home. If any of you are reading this, I want you to know that I am thinking about you and praying for you! It is SOOOOO hard to go through some of this all alone here but all the emails and fb messages from home really help! I will also be missing my family reunion, Schuette Bowl, this weekend. I think it will be my hardest weekend here to date. I miss all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and the rest of my family SOOO much and Schuette Bowl is my favorite weekend of the year. I know they are going to have a great time and I hope they all have a few drinks for me! I will be there in spirit!

Anyways, that's all for now. Keep in contact. I love hearing from everyone and could use all the letters from home right now I can get.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!! I miss you!

AG :):)

CITY 2 SURF!!

So today was the day of the big race. IT WAS CRAZY! It is the largest foot race in the world. There were over 76,000 people there. Everywhere you looked there were people. It was amazing. It was a 14 km race... mostly up hill. It started in Hyde park, which is in the center of the city and finished at Bondi Beach. It was such a great experience. I didn't have much time to train for it because my company bought my ticket or whatever really last minute. I was surprised how well it went though. We walked the first half of the race, mainly weaving in and out of all the people and jogged the last half. I AM SORE NOW THOUGH!

The morning started off at 6 am... My company had a breakfast for us that our students made. It was some great muffins and other basic breaky foods. It was fun to spend some time out of the office with everyone. There were about 25 of us from work, also my friend Mandy came along. After that we headed out for the 9 am race. Since there were 76,000 people, there were 5 groups, each starting at different times. I was in the last group. Each group had there own gun go off but the finishing times went by the 9 am start. Before the yellow group's gun even went off, the winner of the race finished. It was incredible. He ran the 14 km's in 40 min. Our group didn't really get going until about 10. It was such a great thing to experience. Then after the race, my company also had a big bbq on one of the beaches. It was so great to hang out and feel good of our accomplishments!  

After the race and bbq, I went home and slept most of the afternoon. It was quite warm today so I was exhausted! I have a big week ahead of me. On Tuesday I will be working at a big convention called "Restaurant '09" It is for all the restaurants and food places throughout Sydney. All the top chefs from around the world come to cook at it as well. Hostec's academy was selected to assist the chefs. So a few of our students will be right up there and showing the cooking demo's. I am really excited to go. I guess everyone says it is a great time! Then on Friday, I leave for the Sunshine Coast. It will be a nice long weekend away in the warm weather!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. Anyways, send me an email.... I MISS YOU ALL!

Love,

Amanda :)

Hello all!

So I know I have been pretty bad about blogging lately but I have been quite busy! I feel like I haven't really done anything exciting but I am never home! I have been going out a lot with my work friends and a few of my other intern friends. Sydney is such a great place. 

Last weekend I went to the Blue Mountains. It is the home of the famous Three Sisters. They aren't the kind of mountains you would think... very small and more like rocky hills. We had fabulous weather (everyone said we would freeze up in the mountains). We took a train ride down the mountain side and walked for a while in the national park/forest for a while, then took a tram across the tops of the mountains. It was so beautiful. Then we hung out for a while in the cities of Katumba and Luera. Both nice old fashion mountain towns. It was great to walk around and take in a new scenery. We drove home that night in time to see the movie "My Sister's Keeper." It was one of my favorite books so I couldn't wait to see the movie. I have to say they did a pretty good job on the movie! Then on Sunday I went to Bondi Beach... Couldn't ask for better weather! In fact I even got my first tan lines!!!!!!! I was so excited, I really needed the vitamin D! After that, I was exhausted from the long weekend.

At work this week, I switched departments and am now working side by side with Human Resources Manager. I LOVE THIS! He is really good about letting me work with him on all kinds of projects and really wants me to experience the HR world. Today I even got to sit in on a whole bunch of interviews. Tomorrow we have a whole bunch more. I get to rate each candidate and help decide who would be best for the roles. Sitting in the interviewer seat is such a good feeling. I do have a lot of sympathy though for the people coming in that struggle on questions and are really nervous... I want to tell them I know what it feels like and I am so bad at interviews... I like the power though and I am not going to want to give it up!

I also have really big weekends planned for the next couple of weeks! This weekend on Sunday, I am going to do a 14 km fun run/walk with my company called the City 2 Surf... it will be with 75,000 of my closest friends. I guess it is absolutely crazy and something everyone should experience. They only thing I am really nervous about is the part of the race called "Heartbreak Hill." I guess it is this long curvy hill that is a couple of km long and seems to be never ending. It should be interesting but it will be a fun, light atmosphere... good work bonding time! Then we are having a bbq afterwards at one of our hotel clients. I hope I will be able to walk after it!

If that isn't exciting enough, the following week I am going to the Sunshine Coast with one of the other interns, Mandy. She is also from MN and we have become really good friends. We will be there for 5 days... The weather is a lot nicer there and I am excited for a nice holiday! :) :) 

I'll try to blog more often. I MISS YOU ALL!!!! Please send me an email and update me on all your lives!

LOVE,

AMANDA :):)

Hello again!

So... it's been a long time since I last blogged! Things have been pretty busy around here. I still love my job. Everyone is so much fun and so welcoming. I have gotten to do a few fun projects the past week and am moving departments on Monday. I am excited to see some other aspects of HR. Besides work, I haven't done a whole lot. I am going to the Blue Mountains this weekend and I booked a trip to the Gold Coast in August. 

I have really fallen in love with Sydney. It is such an amazing city. I wish you could all come out and visit. Work life is so laid back and it is very team oriented. I do miss everyone back home! I also miss watching the Twins! I am slowly starting to understand the sports here... still not as good as America's past time though!

I hope everyone is doing well... I'd love to hear from you all! Send me an email and let me know how you are all doing! :):):)

I love this place!

It's been a great week here in Sydney. I have realized how much I love it here!

I had the day off on Friday. I slept in and just took some time to relax. I hadn't really been feeling well all week so my boss told me to catch up on my sleep and take the day to myself. I was really excited for my day off but the whole time, I wished I was at work... I guess that is a sign that I love my job! I went to the city later in the day to meet up with Mandy, one of the other interns. We took a long walk around Darling Harbor and down by Circular Quay. It was a really nice night out... we had dinner outside and then found some ice cream! Then, Saturday the weather was PERFECT! Mandy and I hung out in Hyde Park for the afternoon then went and saw Transformers 2 in the Imax theater. It is the largest Imax in the world... it was GREAT! The movie was really good and it was an awesome experience. After the movie we went back to my place and went out later that night. We went to the World Bar and had a couple of Tea Pots. It was my favorite bar when I was in Australia and New Zealand last time so it was a lot of fun to go back! Today it was another PERFECT day out so went to Bondi Beach. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze. You couldn't have asked for a better day, well maybe it could have been a little warmer. I am becoming a weather whimp... I am starting to think that 60 degrees is freezing. It will be a shock when I come back to MN! 

I hope everyone else is doing well! I wish you could all come here and experience the Sydney lifestyle. Everyone is so laid back, especially in the the business world. I am really getting spoiled with my internship... I want to move the entire office to MN with me when I come back! If you get a chance to come and visit I guarantee you will have the time of your life! Keep sending the emails... I love hearing from you all :):)

G'day Loves

I hope everyone is doing well back home! I miss you all and wish I was spending time on the lake!

Things are going really really well here. I continue to love my job and things with my host family are getting a lot better! Here are my updates for the week...

I met with both the CEO's of my company the other day. They are both really nice guys. We talked for a long time about what I want to get out of the internship and what they can do to help me. They said whatever I want to do  or get out of it, they will work with me to reach those goals. They also said that when it is time for me to go back home, they have connections all around the world  and will get me a job where ever I want to go! That was refreshing to hear! After our meeting they invited me to a corporate dinner for hospitality companies all around Australia. It was a black tie affair type of deal and each plate was ridiculously expensive. There were only 1o spots for our company out of like 80 that work at Hostec. I had the best time there! My whole department went, even my really tough boss. We got there a little early so we went out for a drink before hand. Then at the dinner, it was free alcohol and food. We had Thai food... it was interesting. A lot of sushi type stuff... I didn't like most of it but since I was with my CEO's I figured I shouldn't be picky. We had some of the best/most expensive salmon in Australia (I know my mom would be jealous). My one CEO, Raman didn't like some of the wine they served so he went and bought our table special bottles. They made sure my glass was always full, at one point I had a glass on wine, champaign, and a beer in front of me. They said the best way to get to know someone was by having a few drinks... well I had more than a few, we all did. It was a lot of fun though. We drank and ate expensive food. Then afterwards, we went to another pub to drink more. I was the most drunk I have been in Australia and it was because of the CEO's and my boss. My boss was really layed back and we had really good conversations. It was a great night. My host mom even called my cell phone because I usually don't stay out that late on work nights, she was worried about me! 

Tonight I am staying in and tomorrow we are going out for drinks again after work because it is thirsty thursday. I hope my real job is like this!

Send me an email, ageorge2@gac.edu, to let me know how you are all doing! I MISS YOU! 

:):) AG

g'day mate!

g'day loves
How are you all going? I'm just sitting here in the city at work having scooner, 
maybe I'll get a jug later. I'm going out with the blokes tonight. I haven't met any 
bogans yet but hopefully tonight! The weather is a bit dodgy... it's pissing rain so I 
havent' been able to wear my sunnies. I'll have to get out my jumper like the rest of the locals. Everyone can tell I'm a yank here because I don't think it is freezing! I'm having heaps fun here although, it's a bit lonely, no one ever rings my mobile. Your blood is all worth boiling, none of you are bludgers.

Ok so I really don't talk like that! I wrote that with some of my co-workers the other day. They were teaching my how to talk like a real Australian. Maybe I will master the language by the time I get back! :)

So it's been a while since I last posted but I have been kind of busy. This past week I got to talk to a lot of people from home through emails and skype. It is sooo good to hear from everyone! I know you all thought the world would not revolve without be but it has (haha jk) 

This whole week it has been raining almost everyday, yesterday and today ALL day. It has been some good resting and catching up time! I added some more pictures to facebook.... it takes a really long time to add them here but maybe I will soon! 

Well I hope you are all enjoying the sun... it is the middle of winter here now and won't get much colder which is a good thing. It is only like 60 degrees but I guess that's freezing. August and September will start getting much warmer. I can't wait to go to the beach and actually enjoy the Australian weather!  I MISS YOU ALL :):):)

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a fun, safe week! I really missed being at home for the 4th. It's back to work though. I got a new wireless thing for my computer so I am going to be able to keep updated on the world a lot easier! I am going to fill you in on a few random things now...

First my job. So my company is a human resources/recruitment firm for the hospitality and tourism industry. There are three main parts of the company. The first is our international academy. They teach courses in hospitality and culinary arts and stuff. Their are actually quite a few students in the academy and it is really respected around Sydney. It is doing so well right now that they are also opening academies in Melbourne and Brisbane. Then we have the recruitment part. This department takes a lot of the students from the academy when they graduate and a few other people and places them with top jobs all around the world. Some of the main clients are places like the Sydney Tour restaurant and restaurants at 5 star hotels. Finally there is the training/retail department. This is the department I am working in right now. In Australia, you have to have a licenses to serve alcohol, waitress, work in a place that involves gambling, and in coffee shops. Our company offers these classes to people, mostly backpackers. These classes are called RSA (responsible service of alcohol), RCG (responsible conducting of gambling), then there are green cards for construction and road workers and a coffee culture class. Right now I help booking the courses and finding people to take them. Australia also changed/ inducted a new program called Job Services Australia. I am doing a market research project on it and finding job networks that can use Hostec for their clients. I kind of like this but know that I don't want to do market research for the rest of my life. I am very excited to move to the recruitment department. I will spend a couple weeks in each one that pick one to stay in for the rest of my time. Everyone at my work is really nice. It is a very young atmosphere. I would say the general age is between 20-35. In my main department I work with another girl named Amanda and the person I work with in the recruitment departments name is Georgie... I found that quite funny.

It is also winter here in Australia. Everyone walks around with scarves and mittens and big winter jackets.. It is like 60-70 degrees everyday! I walk around in a t-shirt and everyone thinks I am crazy. I keep telling them how cold it gets in MN and they think I am even crazier for living there. With winter comes flu season... just what I needed. Today about half of the office was out with the flu. My boss wore a mask for about half the day... kind of joking but kind of serious. He said he can't afford to get sick. He also bought us all our own little hand sanitizers to use whenever we could. I hope that I got the flu and all that crap out of the way in the real MN winter. 

Things are going much better with my family. I had had some problems with them. Nothing major. The main thing was that everyone but the 15 yr. old boy smokes in the house. And there is a 20 yr. old daughter I didn't know about. She lived with her bf until they broke up and she moved home. The only thing is I am currently in her room so she has to either stay with her mom or her brothers. It made things kind of awkward there. I didn't really feel a part of the family but we have worked out that the family wont smoke in the house anymore so I can spend more time with them in the family room. Also, Helen's (my host mom) dad comes over every Sunday night for a family meal. (I am included in this) He is the nicest, coolest old guy I have ever met. He loves American baseball and knows all about the Twins. We talk about that a lot when he comes over. He also makes me feel so welcomed which is great! Ashe (the youngest boy) is an amazing soccer player. His team is playing in the semi finals next week for this really tough league and if they end up winning the finals we go to Canbrara which is the Capitol of Australia and the family asked me to go along for a long weekend to watch soccer. I really hope they make it! Oh and one more thing about my family here. I have a new nickname... it is "soft touch." They have 2 dogs and a cat and the boys kind of pick on the animals. Also when they get in trouble they all run to me because they know I can't be mean to them. They will run in my room and on my bed if they get in trouble or are trying to hide! It is small but I am slowly becoming more apart of the family.

I have so much more to tell you about Australia but I will save it for another post. Keep emailing me updates about your life! If you have a time to that I can call you that would be great. It is really cheap for me to call skype to cell/home phone!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Amanda :)

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I really wish I could have been home for it... it's one of my favorite holidays. I spent the 4th wine tasting in hunter valley. It is this really great place. It kind of reminding me of minnesota except for fields of corns and beans there were acres and acres of grapes. I went with a whole bunch of other Americans so we really celebrated! 

I got to talk to my mom and all of my family today which made me sooo happy! I miss them all so much and wish I could have been at the lake with them. I also got a new thing for my computer so I can be online a lot more often. I love hearing from you all so send me an email! 

I hope life is good for everyone. It is beautiful outside today so I am going to go on a walk around town. It is also family night here so I will have supper with my host family which is usually really good! Skype me or email me! I MISS YOU ALL! :):):)

HAPPY 4th!

It's been awhile since I've blogged but I have been quite busy. I hope everyone is doing well in the states... I MISS YOU ALL! I am a little sad I will be missing the 4th of July. I would usually spend it up at the lake with all my family. Since I can't do that I am going wine tasting with a whole bunch of other Americans. 

Work has been good. I really like what I am doing. We deal with a lot of backpackers who want casual work in Australia. You need a license to bar tend and work at restaurants and coffee shops here so we provide the courses for them. THen we help find them jobs. It has been really cool so far. Right now I am working on a big market research project for the company. I don't necessarily like doing the research but they said it will pay off in the end... we'll see how it goes. I move departments next week and I am really excited for that. I really want to work in the HR department!

Not much new besides that. I kind of stayed in and relaxed this week. I am spending too much money :)  

Send me an email. I would love to hear from you all and I am allowed to check my email at work!!!

LOVE, AG :):)

So... I've been in Sydney for a week now. I love the city and my job. Everything has been going really well so far. I have made a lot of friends and have been crazy busy. I am glad the weekend is here though so I can just hang out. I think I am going to see Transformers 2 in the largest IMAX in the world which should be pretty cool! I love all your emails and updates! :) I will add pictures tomorrow. I hope you are all surviving the heat! 

MISS YOU :)

All right... the moment you have all been waiting for! Here are some updates on my life.

So I live with this family in Bondi Junction. It is a two min. walk from one of the most famous beaches in the world. It is great except it is "winter" here now. Winter for Sydney means 65-70 and FREEZING! I laugh and wear like shorts and no jacket everyday while there are people with scarves and mittens on... HAHA seriously!

I have also mastered the train system. I have to walk to the train any time I want to go anywhere and take about a 20 min. ride into the city. I have done some exploring and have been hanging out with a lot of the other interns. We have had a good time so far in our new city. I just started my internship today (wed.) So far I LOVE it! I kind of like wearing a suit and feeling important. Today was the general info sessions and get to know people day... I don't remember anyone's name except the girl I am following... her name is Amanda! :) Everyone at the company is really nice and young and it is a good atmosphere. Oh and today was my first day so I got up early and got into the city to make sure I was there on time. Well my company moved building like a month ago and forgot to notify me about it so I was waiting at this old building wondering why I couldn't get to floor 7. Then I finally got ahold of someone from the states to call my manager/the company to find out that I was on the opposite side of town. (that would happen to me!)

I have a lot planned for the week. Today (wed) I am going back to the city after work to watch a HUGE rugby match. We are going to one of the pubs and it is supposed to be crazy. It should be a good time. Then tomorrow is Thursday drinks with the program I came over with. It will be a good time to meet the interns and have some fun. My company also has a policy called thirsty Thursdays. I am very excited my Thursday. I have no idea what will happen but my boss said I should get ready to "loosen" up and let people get to know me. haha. Then Friday it is one of the other interns bday so I am going to go out with her and her "hot" host brother. I can't wait.

That's it for now... I haven't met the love of my life yet. Maybe soon. I'll also try to post some pics soon... I have some good ones :)

I MISS YOU ALL!

love,
AG :)

Hey everyone... I'm not sure if anyone is reading this but I like documenting my life. 

So It has been quite the adventure so far. I really love Sydney and everything it has to offer. My house is about a 15 min. train ride into town or like a 45 min. ferry ride. I have learned the public transport system well. I have met some really cool people from the states doing internships here as well. Today we are out on Darling Harbor and doing all the touristy stuff. I start my internship on Wed. and I am really excited for that!

Yesterday I spent the day watching my little bro. play soccer in the "pissing" rain... it was kind of fun. Besides that I have just been adjusting and exploring. Everyone here smokes and swears all the time... I fit in perfect! haha!

Anyways I hope everyone back home is good... Email me and let me know how you all are

I MISS YOU! :):):):)

I'm sitting in starbucks right now and I finally have a chance to go on the internet. I just had my orientation session and it went great. My family seems nice... a little crazy. The house is really nice and my room is awesome (I have my own fire place). I only have a 2 min. walk to the beach... too bad it is winter. My family has 3 dogs and a cat. I wont be lonely. The bus ride to the city isn't bad and my building looks cool. There are some cool people here too. We did a walking tour and I think we will have fun. I can't understand anyone here... they talk so fast. I am going to have the coolest accent when I get back!

The plane ride was good... the biggest plane I have ever been on (It had an upstairs). It was a long flight but I had an isle seat and slept most of the time.

More later! LOVE YOU ALL! :):) keep me posted on your life! :)

Hey everyone! 

So I leave today for Australia. I am really excited, nervous, scare, and every other emotion right now! I hope I will be able to keep up with this to keep you posted on my adventure. Keep in touch and thanks for all your continuous support!

Love,

Amanda :)