Plane rides, buses, Sydney, near drownings, harbor cruises, scavenger hunts and more!

My first couple days in Australia have passed in such a whirl I feel like they have been fastforwarded.

After I met up with my group in the LA airport we boarded our Qantas flight and woke up in Sydney 3 movies, 2 tv episodes, 2 snacks, and 2 meals later with several naps in between. My first interaction with Australians was with the stewards on the flight and they were DELIGHTFUL! Most stewards on planes are polite but not beyond that, the Australian stewards were so funny! They joked around and everything was "lovely" and they were so happy to see us "mates". This escalated the excitement level by like a thousand!

When we landed in Sydney, my fabulous impression of the Australian people was improved even more by the genuine kindness of the people in customs. After I finally tracked down my guitar and met up with my ASC group (Australian Studies Centre) we were boarded onto a bus and filled with funny Australian lingo and pretend animals that would attack us called drop downs or something (similar to Americans taking kids snipe hunting). From the second we got off the airport we were introduced to Wesley students, filled with TONS of information in orientation, and made to run around in a game of Pictionary relays. The Wesley students who are on their type of student council are called Wibblies (Wesley Institute Buddies) because they help out the first years and ASC kids. They are really outgoing and willing to answer any of our questions about their funny words!

During the three days I have been here it's been jam packed with Orientation events and meetings. The second day of Orientation we spent half the day here and experienced their version of chapel called, The Gathering. I liked it a lot. One of the classes I am taking here, a small contemporary Christian ensemble, actually does the worship for The Gathering which I think is going to be an awesome experience that stretches me. Other classes I am taking are "Music and Leading Worship", two classes dealing with the Indigeneous Australia and its views, a New Testament class, and Visual Communication in Culture which will go towards my communications major back home. I am quite excited for classes to start because I think they're going to be pretty different from back home.

The second half of Orientation was a huge scavenger hunt in Sydney! The catergories were "Snap it, Grab it, and Work it". We had to take pictures with different things and people, find or get someone to buy us things, and work things. Examples? Snap a picture of the group in front of a fountain posing like the statues, grab a bus schedule, and work it included getting strangers to play a game of basketball with us at the Rock court and getting strangers to trade clothes with us to take a picture. It helped us get a glimpse of Sydney and tour the city in a really fun interactive way. I saw the Opera House up close and the bridge :) My group didn't win but it was fun asking a random stranger to change shirts with me!

After the scavenger hunt we went on a Harbor dinner cruise and got to see Sydney from the water. This was a lot of fun and quite the adventure. There was a live band that played music and we danced for hours!! The cruise was not only just ASC students, but the Wibblies and some Wesley first years too so we all broke out of our shells and boogied together! When we were pulling back into the harbor and passing the Sydney Opera house we noticed a man in the water. One of the boys in our group actually saw him fall from the side of the Opera house into the water. Everyone started yelling and finally our boat cruised over and one of the waiters had to jump in and save him. It turned out to be an older man and the ambulance was called and the coast guard (or whatever their equivilant of that is) came and pulled our waiter and the gentleman out of the bay. Kimberly (ASC program director) told us today that part of the harbor is generally where the sharks like to hang out. SCARY! I just thanked God that that little old man and the waiter were alright!

The last part of my crazy first days includes meeting my host family and finding my roommates. My roommates names are Emily, Courtney, and Natalie and are all great! We are living with the Rastall family which includes my host dad Wayne (ironic, huh?), mom Gerry, and new brother Conor who is fourteen. The family is so nice and the dinners Gerry makes us are AMAZING. We live in our own wing of the house which has 2 bedrooms, an office, a living room, and our own bathroom. I share a room with Emily and we get to rock bunkbeds. So far the trip has been amazing!! It's a little hard to keep in contact with back home because we only have internet access at our college. I got a cell phone so that I can stay in contact with fellow students and friends that I meet.

The weather is amazing and I love Australia!!!! :)

Love, Caitlin :)