A Night out on Town

Once again we were off to class, but this time it was to the second class that we shared, Sport Learning in Australia Culture. We had very little knowledge about the class or what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. We sat down in a lecture hall that had about 20 other students and then this really Australian professor started leading the class. He was shocked to see how little the class size was since this was usually one of the largest classes for the international students. However, with the lecture being on a Friday afternoon, we quickly let him know this was the reason. Riley and I did not mind the small class size, especially since everybody got to introduce themselves and state where they were from. Almost everyone was from the United States, but we’ve come to expect that. Then the professor went on to explain that if we wanted, we could come to class for a little bit longer on Fridays and then complete the course in 8 weeks instead of 12 weeks! We were all for that, especially since we have another 8 week course of Tuesdays. That means that later in the semester we will have Tuesday, Thursday AND Friday off from school. I mean really, are we even going to school here?! With that settled, the professor went on to discuss some of the class field trips that we would be partaking in. We would complete two of the seven required field trips on the first weekend of the semester which was great also! Friday night we will be attending our first rugby game called Super 15 Match which will be New South Wales vs. South Africa! We are definitely excited to see how rugby compares to American football since a lot of people say it is just as aggressive but without all the pads which seems crazy. Then on Sunday morning we will be heading to a nearby beach to see a Nippers Competition which is where young teens compete in life saving and water rescue competitions. This is apparently a big deal in the Australian culture since teens are highly encouraged to participate in these types of activities. It is actually a requirement here that you know how to swim by the time you are eight or nine years old! The professor discussed a couple of other field trips that we will participate in as well as the 400 word reflection essays that we will have to write afterwards. With just one final essay at the end of the semester we both think that this class will be a breeze to get through, but a fun and culturally educational class at the same time. After class we enjoyed our packed lunch on the lawns outside the education building. Afterwards we headed for the computer lab to research a couple of things as well as get organized with a few of our classes. We are still in the search for a bike and/or maybe a job. Time got away from us, especially since we had to complete a few blogs doing that time. With both of us getting hungry, and it being past five o’clock, we headed back to our apartments to get ready for our date night. We had decided early on in the week that we wanted to enjoy some seafood on the Sydney Harbor! A girl from one of our other classes had shared with us how easy and inexpensive riding the buses were so first we headed to Central Park to get a MyTen bus pass for 8 dollars. This is give us 10 bus rides all throughout the city, so that’s not bad at all! We quickly caught a bus that took us all the way down George Street, past a ton of shops and malls, (and the first Starbucks that we have seen here!) before dropping us off at the Harbor. We took a stroll around the harbor to look at the outside menus that all the restaurants displayed. It didn’t take us long to realize that this was going to be an expensive night. Most of the places advertised $30 - $40 plates, which we figured wouldn’t fill our starving stomachs. A little discouraged we kept looking, but finally decided on a place that had tuna sandwiches. Riley had wanted to taste real tuna, so that seemed like the best choice. The food thankfully came very quickly and we enjoyed it with a nice view of the Sydney bridge and Harbor. Afterwards we went to take another look at the Sydney Opera House at night and enjoy some ice cream overlooking the water. It was exactly the perfect night to enjoy each other’s company in Sydney Australia!

 

Pictures of that view will come soon :)