Before I left, I was really excited to come to Australia. I spent forever planning my trip. I took a detour before arriving at University. That detour took months of planning, but it was well worth it. I traveled along the east coast of Australia for about 10 days with my dad. I will get into my awesome trip in my next blog. The feeling of leaving the United States for longer than a few hours by myself was interesting. It wasn’t scary or nervous, but a weird feeling of the unknown. I didn’t know how I was going to like it, if I would make friends, if my classes would be hard, if I would just sit in my room all day, or if I would love it and want to stay there. But the unknown is what made it exciting. If I didn’t know how it was going to be, then how could I think it was going to be bad.As cliche as this sounds, the hardest part of leaving, was saying, “See you in 8 months” to my friends at New Paltz and “See you in 6 months” to my friends and family back home. I would see my family and friends often, but my summer was cut in half. I didn’t see some friends as much as I wanted to, but I know we will still remain friends. Hugging my immediate family bye was the hardest, especially my Mom; I didn’t want to see her cry because of me. But I knew the experience would be worth it. Anybody even slightly thinking about Studying abroad for any amount of time, I say go for it! Or at least look into it, because it could change your life.

So my “Spring Break” is over but it wasn’t as fun as I hoped it to be. First I don’t know why everyone considers it a spring break because I still had classes, review sessions and exams during the time period. I also decided to stay during my break because I found a job. After I worked there for two weeks I got to work and there was a sign on the door stating” This Property has been seized by the leasing agent for not following the terms of the lease. If anyone tries to enter this property without direct supervision of someone from the leasing agency they will be arrested and charged with trespassing”. AKA They didn’t pay the rent so the place got closed. Not only did I not have a job the owner owed me 400 dollars and he nor his wife is answering any employee calls. I not only did not get paid but I gave up traveling for spring break. I did how ever go kayaking in the Sydney Harbor, and spent time with friends, which was fun. I am currently in the process of getting another job in Moore Park as waiter. It is a high class restaurant and since I haven’t really done any waiting  before It will be hard to keep the job. But I’m sure I will be able to manage. I only have two months before I go back to the states so I have to appreciate the rest of my time here! Check out the photos that I took on the way to Kayaking!

I have been in Australia for about two months now and I am already preparing for mid semester exams. I have one next week, and then one when I return. I am very happy to say that I finally got a job at a Brazilian restaurant. But the funny thing is, is that I am the only Brazilian there! hahaha It’s in double bay so not to close but all I have to to is walk to the train station, and take a train then walk 10 minutes. So it is pretty much a half and hour commute but the money is good, so I can’t complain. The Rugby season has officially started and we started off with a win over Petersham. I didn’t get to score but I played pretty well so I am happy with myself. I went to Manly Beach the other day and made a Chuurasco. Check out the photos and enjoy!

Not Much new has happened this week, but I had a job interview a wine bar that is opening up at two weeks that went pretty well. I also have two interviews next week at a hotel and another at a shopping center. Hopefully I am able to land a job soon. We won all of our Rugby games and I got a lot of playing time. My next game is tomorrow vs epping, hopefully we can get another win. I went to Bondi beach today with Kasey and Megan, and here are the photos.

Last weekend I had my first Rugby tournament at Orange, which is a 4 hour drive from Sydney. On our way there I wasn’t really able to see much of the country because it night. Once you leave about an hour outside of Sydney its pretty much all farmland. There weren’t even lampposts on the highway so we had to drive with our high beams on pretty much the whole ride over. We stayed in one my teammates houses and played six games on Saturday. It was only a 10’s tournament so halves are only ten minutes long. It was probably one of the funnest weekends I have had here so far because I was able to get know and become friends with some of the boys on the team. During the week I didn’t do much just went to class, studied, cooked, and looked for a job. Yesterday we had our first trial match at home against St Ives at our home ground in Parramatta. Our home ground is at the Kings School. The Kings School is one of the richest and best k-12 school in Australia. Tuition to the school costs 25000 AUD a year and the school grounds are bigger than SUNY New Paltz. The game was so much fun, I was able to play three full games. Check out some of the photos!

I haven’t really had time to post anything cause I have been so busy! Week three of school has started and there has already been so much work! All I do is study, play rugby and look for a job. Hopefully I can find a job here cause everything is so expensive. I have tried to put up photos but it’s a pain in the butt. I will try to upload them after this weekend, after this weekend!

So the school has finally put up my blog online. I haven’t really been up to much, just going to orientation and a bit of site seeing. I stayed in Manly Beach for the first week and have finally moved into an apartment. I haven’t done all the paper work yet, but hopefully everything goes smoothly. I am going to go see the opera house today and see some other tourist points. I have uploaded some photos that I took from my phone while I was on the ferry that runs from Manly to the city.

I arrived here in Sydney at 8 am on Friday morning local time. I haven’t been on my computer since the plane ride. The ride over wasn’t to bad, there were two babies crying the whole flight over but somehow I managed to sleep a little on the plane. Robbie my Australian friend that i met last semester while he was on exchange at New Paltz,  picked me up at the airport and took me to some scenic routes around Sydney. The first night we went out in Manly Beach with Robbie and Jason. Jason is another friend that I made last semester through New Paltz. We went around town and met some of there friends. Apparently the weather hasn’t been to good here, but ever since I have arrived it has been warm and sunny. Yesterday I hung out with Jason and some of his friends. We stayed at his house for most of the day and then went out in the city to watch the Manchester and Liverpool game.  Today I’m planning to visit some apartments and then go watch a cricket game. Since I haven’t used my computer I haven’t been able to put up photos. I will try and do some tonight.

I couldn’t ask for a better week in the U.S. The Giants won the Super Bowl,  I went shopping for clothes, a new camera,  and new Ray Bands. I finished of working at radio shack with a 1800 dollar phone sale! and got to see my friends and family. It has finally hit me that I will be leaving for six months and will not be able to see my family and friends until I get back, but I’m sure that I will be able to make new friends and adapt to the Australian culture. I am currently doing some last minute packing and loading new music and movies for my flight tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I don’t forget anything here, and will be ready to start my new adventure in on the opposite side of the world.

As Americans celebrate Easter, Australians mourn and remember our fallen on ANZAC day.

“They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
……And in the morning
We will remember them.”