Well I'm sunburned.... It's only the second time it's happened. I've been to the beach twice, so my odds are looking pretty good. Wait, what? Whatever, the beaches here are awesome. The sand is soft and the water is pretty warm. The waves at South Beach were great. They rolled in in sets and as the day went on they kept getting bigger. I'm not the best at estimating their size, but there were some probably around 6 ish feet, maybe? Whatever size they were, I had a blast! Playing in the water and body surfing will never get old. I swear as soon as I step into the water I become a child again... well, more of a child that is. Today we went to North Beach. The weather was a little cooler than the last beach day, so the water had a stronger effect on my body temperature. a.k.a I got cold. The water was kinda choppy so none of the waves were very clean or easy to catch, and any of the big waves would close out almost as soon as they picked up. It was still a fun day, and I will never tire of going to the beach. I have yet to get on any type of board, but there are still many beach days to come. Of course, you can't go to the beach without digging a hole, so on the first day Kieran (Waga Waga, Australia) and I made one large enough to fit me into easily all the way up to my chest. Once I was in, we put the sand back in. It was a little tough to get out, cuz it was kinda pulling my shorts off, but I made it. It's photo documented so you will see it soon.
This past week was Orientation at the Uni (University). There were tons of tents up for different organizations and companies around the area. On Tuesday there was a meeting thing for all the international students at the University of Wollongong. There are people from over 30 different countries. It was crazy. Austria, Canada, Sweden, Korea, and everything in between. They just gave us some basic info on Australia, and what to expect while we're here. It really wasn't that helpful. After the boring talks, we went on a tour of the campus, got our ID photos taken, and were let loose in the chaos of the tents. The tour was slightly helpful at giving me a better idea of where things were, but if I needed to get from one class to another, I would still get lost. When I went up to wait in line for my ID I was standing next to a guy from Mexico and a guy from the Netherlands. We started talking and they were pretty cool guys. Mark (Netherlands) had just gotten to Australia a few days before and was still staying in a Hostel. He was in the process of looking for a house to move into and rent. Eduardo (Mexico) had been here a little longer so he already had a place to stay. He and his friend Hugo had just looked at some of the places Mark was about to. They were able to help him find a few more places to look. Mark likes to surf and skate, but I don't remember what his major is. He's a third year at Uni and is a really funny guy. Eduardo and Hugo are both studying engineering I think, and they knew each other before coming to Australia. They attend the same Uni in Mexico. As it turns out there are only about 6 Mexicans in the city of Wollongong, and I know two of them. Go figure. ...what does go figure mean? whatever. I ended up eating lunch with them and I will hopefully be seeing them around. Since they were not living in the campus housing and going through all the crazy orientation stuff, they weren't really sure where to go to hang out or what to do for fun. We exchanged information and are going to let each other know if we do anything cool.
After lunch I found a few of my friends from here at the college (dorm) Bec (Australia), her friend from home Steph, and Laura (Penn State). We walked around and looked at a few booths. I went to the one for the rock climbing gym here in the city. It's $30 a week for unlimited use. I might get it for a week or two. We went before and it was loads of fun. I signed up for some emergency car pick up thing and got a bunch of free stuff from them and every other booth. I found a church group who I actually ate and played soccer with today. There was live music and people wearing crazy costumes. There was a guy playing bagpipes on like stilt things. They just made it look like he had giant long legs though... and there was a person in a... kinda dog suit. He walked around on all fours but sorta looked like a monkey. He could actually control his, well, male anatomy, and would shoot out water like he was peeing everywhere. It was pretty funny. I went to a bank to open an account, because when you did, you got a free ticket to a MGMT concert in Sydney. I was super excited about it, but it turns out I needed my passport in order to open one. I was bummed, but hoped I could just come back the next day and they would still have some tickets left. As I was waiting for Bec and Steph to finish applying, one of the tellers told Bec that they might be running out soon. Bec explained our situation to the teller and the wonderful lady, Margaret was her name, called me over and said that she would send me one of the tickets! How cool is that! I didn't even have to open an account! I want to now though, just cuz the lady was so nice. That was all pretty awesome.
We headed back to the college and when I got here I was talking to Ashley and Lauren about my day and as it turns out Ashley was friends with Mark on facebook! She had met a guy at a party last summer who was from the Netherlands. She was talking him about her studying abroad and he said that he knew a guy who was doing the same thing. They became friends on facebook, and had talked a little, but seriously, what are the odds that I would hang out with a guy from the Netherlands, that one of my friends from the States kinda knows??? Crazy cool odds! That's what kind.
I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting, but I'll let you know when I remember. We're going on a trip this weekend with ciee, so I'll get to know all those people a little better. It should be fun. OH YA! I have the internet in my room now!!!! Major woot! I've skyped a few friends, and I have a few more calls home to make. This next week should be full of conversations with friends from home. If you all would just come out here, we wouldn't have this problem. Just kidding. No, but seriously
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