Today was reportedly the "coldest day in Sydney in 25 years," and my heater broke a few days ago...I'm freezing my patookie off! It's strangely nice to be freezing though; I haven't felt freezing in quite some time. Winter time means blankets which means cozy, and I love cozy! :) I'm trying to find a good recipe for hot apple cider, so if anyone has one I'd love it if you shared.
I'm really glad I'm enjoying the cold weather though, because pretty much anywhere I wind up for grad school is likely to be much colder than New Orleans. Speaking of grad school, I accomplished a huge feat today: I finished going through all 306 American Psychological Association accredited PhD programs today! I've narrowed it down to 13 definite's, 15 maybe's, and 9 in-between (what I have coined "very maybe's").
Since the last time I wrote, I've done a few pretty cool day trips. I took a ferry from Darling Harbour out to a section of Sydney called Manly. There were beautiful beaches, incredibly high cliffs, Darling Harbour National Park's gorgeous foliage, and historical military sites. I went with one of my friend's, Katy, after our tour guide to the Blue Mountains abandoned us (I'll explain more in a bit). It was a spontaneous decision of mine to go there for the day, and it was quite possibly the best site-seeing day I've had since I've been here. I got some beautiful jewelry from a local artist, and stopped at an office supply store called Smiggle!! At smiggle, I bought a water bottle (I lost my camelbak somewhere in the airport, so I desperately needed a new one) and some highlighters that smell fruity! When I went down to the beach, Katy and I met some extremely tan, 50 or 60-somethin year old men in speedos who asked us to go for a run and swim with them, and then they'd take us to brekkie. Haha! We politely declined, and began our hike up the cliffs and through the national park. It was such a beautiful day.
I had signed up for a guided tour to the Blue Mountains the day I wound up in Manly, but somehow the tourguide didn't get our names (there was six of us) on his roll call. So, after waiting at our pickup location for an hour and fifteen minutes, we finally gave up. When we called the travel agency, they repeatedly apologized, and we told them we could go the next day. So, we finally made it up to the Blue Mountains! There are these three long, vertical boulders directly next to one another, called The Three Sisters. The legend is that these three sisters were the daughters of an Aboriginal equivalent of a medicine man. He had discovered how to siphon the energy of the universe into magic, which he used to encapsulate his daughters in stone to protect them from an invading enemy who wanted to take them as his wives. The medicine man then turned himself into a bird, a bird which like a mockingbird can imitate the noises around him. He is trying to listen to enough human language to be able to re-learn the words that will free his daughters from the stone. (Technically, there are several variations to the story, but that one's my favorite!) I took a skyrail down the mountains into the rainforest, where I walked around a boardwalk amongst the most amazing trees I've ever seen. The branches formed these long, skinny vines that were in tangled bunches everywhere. Being the treehugger that I am, I never wanted to leave that forested boardwalk. There were far too many people down there with me though, chattering away about unrelated, unimportant things, and it broke my heart. However, rather than having a hissy fit that not everyone is so tree-obsessed or that they weren't sharing in my religious moment with nature, I just blasted Mazzy Star from my ipod and did my best to tune everyone else out. And you know what, it worked! I think I have too many hissy fits; I'm going to chill out more often.
The train I took back up the mountain was at a 52 degree angle. They pulled us up backwards, and I was terrified that when I got to the top they were going to drop us like on rollercoasters. It was soo steep!! Immediately after, we went to another area in the mountains, where there was some great hiking and lookout spots. There were several waterfalls and mountains as far as you could see. On the way home, we drove past some protected land, and we happened to see some wild kangaroos and emus!
I've had amazing weekends since I've been here, but last week I realized that my fatigue has been preventing from enjoying weeknights. So last week, I went to dinner with my coworkers twice and out with my housemates to see Toy Story 3D in the biggest IMAX theater in the world! By the way, if you haven't seen the final chapter of Toy Story yet, go immediately! It was the perfect ending, and all of us literally had to choke back tears.
We, meaning the Americans in the house, are planning on having a big party for the 4th of July to show all our new international friends what it's all about. Oh, and I'm going on a wine tour through Hunter Valley, and going to a big birthday extravaganza. So, I should have lots of fun stories after this weekend. Everyone, shoot off some fireworks for me on the 4th, because although we're going to celebrate, I highly doubt we'll be able to get our hands on any of those.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Excuse My Absence
Oh, my poor, sad little blog!! I know I have been neglecting it, but honestly I don't see how people find the time to live a full life AND have the energy to chronicle it. I have tons to write about, but I'm always too worn out when I get home. I finally feel like writing now, but it's 1 AM. My writing-brain only turns on at inappropriate, late times, and only when I have something to do early the next morning. So, I am going to put off the next post for just a LITTLE longer, in hopes of putting an end to my chronic fatigue and the accompanying writer's block.
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