8:00am
Some Christian Lodging place that the Big Band is staying at..


Well.. I've been lacking. So many interesting thoughts, and I haven't really written down anything. Well- needless to say- I'm back. I think I'm going to definitely write more often.. possibly minimum once a week?

So recently lots of things have happened. We'll start from where I left off:

Sydney: ...it ended up being great. I saw the opera house and Toronga Zoo the next morning from my entry (pictures of Sydney are on the previous entry though). I got to pet a kangaroo at the zoo!! It was pretty cool, I must say. I also got to see an Aborigine playing the didgereedoo. That was pretty cool!

Trip to Brisbane/Toowoomba: interesting. My plane ride was the quickest I had ever taken. It was scheduled as 1 1/2 hours, was 1 hour and 15 minutes, and felt like a mere 15 minutes. I sat next to an old woman that was the sweetest thing. She was just so nice. She gave me random bits of advice, and we discussed the time when Australia used the non-metric system (what's it called?). It was a good plane ride. Even the food was yummy! Good, Good. The trip to Toowoomba was certainly interesting. I learned a lot from the bus driver. I sat up front with him (you do that in cabs here) and we chatted for the whole 2 hour ride. I even tried ginger beer on our stop (it was gross). It was a very good trip.

-I cried when I got to the college. All I had wanted when I was in Sydney was to get to the college and get unpacked. WHen I got there, all I wanted was to hop back on a plane, meet Dave, and cuddle in his arms. My room was desolate. The college was desolate. I couldn't get the internet to work. After looking around and attmpting wireless internet, I say down and cried. I didn't know what else to do, really. It was early enough that I didn't want to sleep, but I didn't have much else to do.
-The next morning I realized how much college is like summer camp. Actually- to me it is almost identical. The only differences are that:
1) It's way too cold to be summer. Temp's here range from 30-70°F during the winter. It is ridiculous.
2) They don't really care where you go or what you do.
Structured activities are rare, but with classes it will probably be identical to summer camp. (****Later edit.. it isn't so much like camp anymore.. but boy did it feel like it then. There are structured activities that are cool.. but they are mostly sports and stuff and are generally during class times for me.****)

The past two weeks have gone by fast. I've done so much that it is hard to get to everything. For starters, I tried Vegemite. I gagged, but somehow managed to swallow it (which was miraculous all in itself). I've made friends, some of which are great, some of which... could be better. I've gotten used to the Australian accent so much that I barely hear it. I slip in and out of hearing it, really, but when I slip out of being used to it, it is like hearing the accent for the first time- I fall in love with it. They love to make fun of my accent here. I say things so different and have different names for everything. Some examples:
(Oz words = US words)
Jelly = Jello
Jam = Jelly
Biscuits = Cookies or Crackers (though they don't seem to have real crackers)
Jumpers = Sweaters, sometimes Jackets, sometimes Hoodies
Singlets = Tank Tops
Thongs or Pluggers = Flip Flops
Tomato Sauce = Ketchup
.....and there are many many many many many more.. these are just ones that I've been affected by most. I think when I come home and are using these terms I'll be made fun of yet again. It's cool.. its all in good fun.
ANYWAY.. back to the list of things I've done..
-fallen in love and out again, which is most likely for the best.
-sat and observed the animal life. It is incredible here, especially the birds. I spotted a pair of wild sun conures yesterday and just stopped to watch them hop around and suck nectar off of flowers. It was so cool!
-gone star gazing. The stars here are different than the ones at home, and there are so many more. It's beautiful.
-legally had alcohol. Expensive, but sweet. I hate to say it, but I completely see the draw towards it.. makes one feel very silly (I like silly!).
-aaaaaand many more things I can't even begin to list. I still have mass anticipations about my experience here.

Currently I'm on a trip with the USQ Big Band. It feels so good to play again with a jazz band, and if there is going to anything that will make me want to stay here, this is it. I love it. I missed playing so much- I forgot how happy it made me. It is so relaxing and wonderful. It is a good mask for the intense loneliness I have been experiencing. More about that later, though. Either way-wicked cool. I need to get ready for rehearsal now though.

Later.