Australia, Part 3

Ok. So I was trying to post every weekend, but I got a little side-tracked last weekend. For all 5 of you who read it religiously Sunday night before you drift off to sleep thinking about me, I apologize. I have been doing quite well though. I am two for two in completing my homework assignments (on time!) and I haven’t missed a class as of half way in to my third week of classes. I am not just saying this because my parents read this, it’s true. Classes are going fairly well except for my Cross Cultural Perspectives in Cinema class which has a little old lady who likes she could have been a villain in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She has this creepy penetrating stare that makes me feel uncomfortable. But I push on and proceed in the world of academia as any strong-willed person finds themselves doing. However, I have not been a hermit the whole time since school started.

This past weekend I joined some kids from Australearn (The program that I enrolled to Australia with) on a self-guided tour of the Sydney Olympic Park, which was quite a sight to see. We unfortunately arrived too late to go into the stadium where they held the opening ceremony and some events, but we did check out lost of other venues like the volleyball / badminton/ table tennis gymnasium, the baseball stadium, and the aquatic center. People are supposed to pay $3 to get into the aquatic center since there were events going on, but due to the confusion of the aquatic staff, we were “confused” for athletes and entered through the exit for free. It was an amazing place to see, and we even sat down to watch a few events of a random swim meet.

Tuesday night, I went with a few people to the casino in Sydney called Sun City. We originally intended to watch the USA vs. Angola basketball game because the day time manager said that the sports bar ad satellite TV so the game would be no problem, but to our dismay the night manager informed us that this was not the case. So, being savvy Americans, we decided to grab a cold glass of beer and watch some Equestrian! It was quite an impressive showing from the women riders of Germany. However my self-diagnosed ADD kicked in and I decided to see what kind of damage I could do against the $5 video blackjack machine. The beer was starting to kick in and calm the nerves of gambling so I felt nice and relaxed. I played intelligently; hitting, standing, and doubling down on the right times. All in all, I won $55 on a mix of blackjack and roulette. I put $5 on odd, won, and collected my ten dollars in total. I had a good night.

It has been a great first month in Sydney, and I look forward for the weeks to come. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity and hope everyone at home is doing well.

Cheers,
Richard