Umm no one told me it was Mardi Gras...

YUUUP! With my head so wrapped in the clouds I completely looked over the fact that its Mardi Gras time here in Sydney, aka tons of parades and events and fun! Ive been so focused on getting all this craziness in order that I overlooked local events going on. So from now on I'm gonna start paying attention!

That's another thing to point out. Being in a whole different country blows my mind when I'm looking for things to do or events to go to; especially since Sydney is the size of New England. Noe for when anyone travels here: if there's an event or party going on in Sydney... that doesn't mean its a block away. It really means its an hour long, $125 cab ride away hah.
On another note, classes started this week - not too shabby. Im taking a few marketing courses, an Australian history class and an Australian literature course.. all of which have anywhere from 75-300 kids in each of them. Everytime I go to class I feel like I'm going to some sort of important speaker series because of all the special mics that the professors have to wear. Its a little tough to keep up with note taking but I'm getting there! I've also learned some interesting things this week too! For instance, did you know that the first Englishmen who settled in colonies like Virginia and Jamestown were actually convicts? Didn't see that in your history textbook did ya? I learned all this from a speaker we had in my history class.. who apparently doesn't have the same love for America that I do. Pretty neat information though!

The bother of buying textbooks is as much of a pain at Macquarie too.. except for the fact that waiting in line to get into the bookstore is like waiting to get into a nightclub (quote: Karee haha).  I needed seven books for my lit class and those came to about $200 alone. One of which is a picture book that cost $30. I mean I was excited about the picture book but really?

This week was also O-Week here at Uni (another note, here people don't refer to school as "going to campus" or "first day of class," instead they say "can't wait to be back at Uni!" or "how was your first day at Uni?"). ANYWAYS. O-Week is this massive club fair on campus where you can sign up for different organizations on campus AND get tons of free food! I ended up signing up for SIFE, the wakeboarding/water skiing/snowboarding club, the Wang club, a baking club, and I got roped into this Marxism club...I'm not entirely sure what they do but I know they are having a rally in May to get gay marriage legalized in Australia so I definitely couldn't resist.

This is turning into a super long post but I've got so much to talk about, so bear with me people!

I also applied for two internships this week! One was through Uni's SIFE program who were looking for Marketing interns. The other was through the international student office for a job as a Marketing Assistant with Accor Darling Harbour Hotels in downtown Sydney! I'll probably hear more about interviews and all that this week, so I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed! I also found out today that I got accepted into the Disney College Program for the fall semester! Even though it was a huge GO ME moment, I have to turn it down and reapply for the program that starts next May because I can't do it until I graduate. Total bummer but if I can get in once, I can get in again! Conquering the world one step at a time :)

OH! I also discovered Australia's equivalent of a Wal-Mart in the shopping centre the other day! Here are some pics!

Big W World!

Look familiar?

It's funny cause The Big W has the same kind of vibe as Wal-Mart does...  as in being a less classy version of Target. Still a treat!

I think that about covers everything that's going on now. Smell ya convict Americans lata!