Day 127: Sydney + Kathryn = LOVE.

I have my last final tomorrow! Naturally I'm blogging instead of studying. So much has been going on, its made my head spin a little bit. So remember that Buddhist philosophy final essay I had to crank out? I was really afraid of it and I started working on it last Monday when it wasn't even due until today (Thursday a week later). Aren't you so impressed? I can't study in my room, I get way too distracted, and this poses a problem for me here as I prefer to study late into the night. The libraries are a bit of hike and they close at 10pm anyway, the study rooms in SUV were a free for all during finals, and the Well was full of people playing poker, so I didn't know where to go study. My solution was to turn my living room into The Lair. I borrowed a friend's lamp so I wouldn't have to use the florescent awful lights, pulled the arm chair up to the kitchen table which now doubles as my giant desk, and proceeded to litter the room with books, papers, energy drink cans, tea cups, pizza boxes, etc. Ta-dah! The Lair was born: the best study environment in all of Newtown. So basically I lived there last week and worked on that paper day in and day out. The only day I took a break was Tuesday which I dedicated to the Saints and watching them play their Monday night football game. It was really fun to watch the game, see the dome, and ads for JC Penny and other such American things. Coincidentally that day we had a massive heat wave which was intense because most people don't have a/c, including us here at the village. After the game was over I went with some of the boys to play a pick up game of basketball down at Camperdown park. It was really fun, but I almost had a heat stroke afterwards because I just couldn't cool off. Anyway, back to the paper. So I straight tortured myself because I just had to get it out of the way to study for my other exams. Honestly, I've never worked on a paper so hard in my entire life. The weather was total crap after the heat wave, rainy and the like, so at least I wasn't tempted to be outside enjoying the weather. Miraculously, I finished it Saturday! Then I proceeded to dance around and giggle before going to BWS to get a celebratory bottle of wine.

Amber and I put on fancy long dresses and went down to the rocks that night since I hadn't gone out or had any trace of fun in my life for over a week. First stop was Fortune of War, Sydney's oldest pub. Its pretty small with an older crowd packed in tight. There was a sweet dude playing oldie jams on his guitar by the door. We had a beer there and chatted up some old folks, mostly middle aged/older couples we thought were cute. They thought we were cute too haha. Next we went to the Argyle for a bit, but it was a bit stuffy/prententious/not entertaining. We heard cool music coming from next door and went there to check it out. And that's how we ended up at the Lowenbrau again and had a fabulous night. We met this German guy who was 7 feet tall (no lie) and named Casper (also not lying) who hung out with us and ended up splitting the cab home with us. Amber and I make a legendary team, I can't imagine leaving her.

Sunday was the Newtown Festival which had heaps of food, clothing/goods stalls, and live music. They had it in Camperdown Memorial Park and it was HUGE. I bought a shirt with a picture of Australia on it and it says Straya, she'll be right. That is one of my all-time favorite Aussie sayings. That night Amber, Jackie, their friend Cameron, and I went to the Hillsong album recording. They have it in the Sydney Entertainment Center which is this arena in Darling Harbour. It was an awesome super awesome duper night of prayer and worship which was so nice to go to. Aaaand, I'm going to be on the next album (along with several thousand other people haha).

Monday I goofed off and hung out with housemate Lindsey in the Lair as we both had the Aussie history exam in the morning. And I got the greatest news ever: I emailed my internship coordinator and asked if I could submit to her the materials I used for my BMRI presentation in place of doing the 2500 word final reflection (which I certainly was not looking forward to writing). She replied with a yes! and I was ECSTATIC. That lightened my work load exponentially and all I had left to do was my social work exam Friday, woohoo!

Tuesday was GORGEOUS. We got up and we to take the exam. Our legendary professor gave us the questions ahead of time (it was all essay) so it was a pretty stress-free exam and I felt great about it after finishing. Liam came over when I got back to the village and we went for 6 dolla Thai (one of the things I will miss most about Straya). I proposed we go for a swim after as it was warm and spring and wonderful. He brought his bike over which posed a problem for us getting back to Petersham; we solved it however, by me riding on the handlebars until we came to an uphill section part of road where I would hop off and run up alongside the bike. That way I didn't have to go to the gym that night haha. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, it was grand. Then Lindsey and I got Eagle Boys (as they have large pizzas for $5.50 on Tuesdays, aww yea) and hung out in the Lair for a bit more study action. Then I went with some friends to the Establishment which is this swanky bar in the CBD that has a renowned salsa night on Tuesdays. Tim came along and has a fabulous time salsa-ing the night away, well until midnight anyway. Then I came back to the Lair and did a bit more studying for my social work exam on Friday.

Wednesday was another gorgeous day and Liam took Amber and I to Bronte beach. The area around Bronte is really Jewish and subsequently I was beyond delighted that there were an abundance of bagel shops! I haven't seen proper bagels since I've been in Sydney, and I've been looking. We went in the morning on the way and I got a cream cheese and jam bagel. Then we went in the afternoon on the way home and I got a veggie sandwhich bagel. So good. The beach was wonderful too; it wasn't crowded and the water was clear, cold, and refreshing. I spent most of the time swimming. The surf is really big, relative to the Gulf and Carribean anyway, so I have a blast every time I go out in the waves here. I have a pretty mean tan now too as you can imagine! I meant to study when I got home, but was really sun-tired and ended up crashing for two hours. Lindsey had her last final that day, and we've bonded quite a lot in the Lair, so I agreed to go out with her and have a big night. That's exactly what we did. It was really fun until later when things got a little hectic and I had to try and creatively ditch the boy that lives upstairs who I had been dancing with all night. He thought I liked him, I don't, um, yea.

So today I haven't left my apartment except to get a burrito because basically, I'm afraid that if I do I'll run into the boy upstairs and/or one of his friends. It was that magnitude of awkward. Lonely times in the Lair today attempting to study, but getting a lot of nothing done. Luckily Amber has been here since the late afternoon keeping me company. I really don't know what I would do without Amber Wilmshurst. Honestly, a friend like her is a rarity and I can't believe I've made a once-in-a-lifetime friend like that over a few short months.

Everything here is so unspeakably good. Its so near the end now and occasionally it will hit me. I'll be thinking, "Wow, salsa Tuesdays are so fun! I have to do this every Tuesday!" And then I realize I only have one Tuesday left and it feels like getting punched in the stomach. And what's life going to be like when Amber isn't constantly at my apartment or me at her's? Or I think about wonderful 6 dolla Thai lunches and beach days at Bronte, Coogee, and Bondi and nights in the rocks, or my social work class and it kills me to think all that is about to be gone. I'm not upset about going home because I'll get to see so many people I love and miss; I'm upset because I'll never get an experience like this ever again. People tell me not to worry because I can always come back to Australia, which is true. However, I'll never get to live at the village with all my friends, go to Sydney uni, and just get to do life here as a student. It has been beyond anything I could've imagined or hoped for.

After I finish my exam tomorrow I am going to eat, drink, breathe, and bathe in Sydney. I am going to have the week of my life.