A Week in the Life of a Study Abroad Student

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone has been enjoying fall for me because I miss it deeply. Sydney had it's first summer-y day today at 96 degrees, it was VERY hot. Last week was a long one but I will give you the highlights!

Last Monday, a girl in our program, Sasha, organized a potluck dinner. There is a big kitchen and eating area up on the roof, so we rented it (its free but you have to sign up to use it), and everyone brought food. I ate so much, everything was delicious. I brought tomato & cucumber salad with basil and balsamic. I was pretty proud of it but you'll have to ask someone else if they thought it was good.

Tuesday was my third day at my internship. Emily and I went into work an hour early to help with an assessment center. We were responsible for giving office tours to the candidates which was a lot of fun. Since we had only just gotten our own office tour a few days ago, it was a little nerve-wracking but once we did the first one, we got the hang of it and were able to sail through the next one. Now when people need office tours we are usually the go-to people for the job. I enjoyed giving the office tours and having the opportunity to both learn more about the space I am working in and get to know some of the candidates a little better.

Wednesday and Thursday were more of the same, calling people who attended academies and providing feedback and getting ready for future events. We were really excited when Friday finally came around since it was Halloweekend! On Friday night I dressed up as a domino (sorry there is no evidence of this lame, no effort costume), and we had planned on going to the Argyle, but we got there a bit late and the cover charge was $40, so we ended up just going home. A bit disappointing but I had fun getting ready and hanging out with people before we left.

Saturday was a lot of fun though. Em Wills' mom was here for the weekend and she took Em Langan and I out to brunch with them at The Grounds of Alexandria. It is kind of like a restaurant but its also markets and a small farm area as well. Our food was incredible and we had so much fun looking at all of the markets and seeing what they had. We also bought some lemonade from one of the stands and it was phenomenal. It was fresh and it tasted amazing.

Later that night, I volunteered for the Feather Ball. Caroline is interning at a non-profit organization called Dreams 2 Live 4. Its essentially Make a Wish but for adults, so they handle dreams like a second honeymoon, or bringing families together for the holidays. This Ball was a fundraiser to make those dreams happen, so the volunteers sold raffle tickets and helped to raise money. James, Wafaa, and I had a lot of fun doing it, and we got some really yummy food and a free t-shirt out of the deal (as if I needed ANOTHER t-shirt to add to my huge collection). There was also a point in the night when people were dancing, and our internship advisor was there and made us all dance with her which was a lot of fun. After the Ball, I met up with some friends to celebrate a birthday and it was the perfect end to a great day.

On Sunday, I had to deal with the grocery shopping that I had been putting off for a couple of days, so I got up in the morning and did that. Afterwards, MG and I went to Sculpture by the Sea. It's an art installation along the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk that runs from October 19th through November 5th. It was crazy crowded and pretty hot for a coastal walk but the ocean breeze was beautiful and we stopped along the way for a popsicle as well. It was really cool to see all the cool art that people had made for the event and the view of the water was also beautiful so it was a win-win for us.

Coming up I have a program-wide halloween party tomorrow and then a paper to write, and who knows what I will be up to next weekend, I guess you'll just have to keep reading my blogs to find out ;)