Sayonara, Japan!

Today is my last full day here. A bunch of us are going shopping for souvenirs this afternoon and that:s the extent of our plans. Tomorrow I plan on checking out of the hostel at 8am and then taking a train to Tokyo and then another train to the airport. My flight leaves at 3:30 or so and I first fly to Beijing and then to LA. I:m spending the night in LA and will get into Bozeman the evening of the 30th. I have several long days of travel ahead of me. The night I`m back I`m planning on eating a big, fat, juicy burger from The Garage. After that I don`t actually care what I eat, just the convenience of eating will be nice. I would actually like to go out for sushi.

This past week we finally got to see some modern architecture. We also went to a sumo tournament which was really cool! I`ll create a slide show with my best pictures once I get back. It`ll be similar to the Europe slide show with information and stuff like that. I need to get pictures from other people as well. Among the 20 of us there is probably a good 75,000 - 100,000 pictures. Movies too.

Well, I can`t wait to talk to you all! Sayonara, Japan!

More Pictures

Weekend Update

This weekend I went to a flea market with a thousand other people. I was hoping to find some neat souvenirs but there were so many people that sometimes I couldn't even see what was for sale. I did find some postcards that have "Ingrish" on them. "Ingrish" is Japanese English. They say "e" like "i" and "l" like "r". I also went grocery shopping and was able to find what I need to make spaghetti with pancetta. Grocery shopping is always an experience! It takes about 3 times as long to shop and I still wasn't able to find mustard or mayo even though I know they have it. Other people in our group bought it for sandwiches so they showed me the packaging. Mayo comes in a bag. I'd have to say that's why I wasn't able to find it. There's a plastic container in the bag but I definitely wasn't looking for a bag. Some people were very surprised that I was able to make normal spaghetti. I eat Kellogs cornflakes for breakfast every morning and I snack on Ritz and Oreos.

A couple of you have asked about Tokyo and I'm actually in Kyoto. I won't be going to Tokyo. I've heard it's hard to get around and even more expensive than here. I don't know if there are a lot of American's here or if they are European. I definitely see Americans but I've learned not to assume the Caucasion people are Americans. You can usually tell though by how they are dressed. Europeans dress much nicer, but possibly less sensibly.

Surprisingly we hardly ate any rice in China and we don't eat a ton here. In both places it's a lot stickier than the rice I'm used to. The flavor is pretty much the same but it's hard to tell for sure because usually there's something on it. I eat a lot of curry and rice here.

The weather here has been very spring-like. It can get pretty chilly at night but thanks to China I have a warm winter coat. It's supposed to be in the low 60's later this week and I'm really looking forward to it. I usually wear a fleece pullover and a down vest in the morning and the vest comes off by afternoon as long as we're in the sun. It's been raining on and off which makes photography hard.

I'm finally starting to get ready to come home. When I don't get a good nights sleep I want to go home more. There's 4 of us in a tiny room and two of the girls snore. I barely slept last night so today is going to be a long day!

Is That Still Alive?

Last night we stayed at a Japanese inn in Toba and had a traditional Japanese dinner. I didn`t get pictures of that dinner but I did get pictures from another place that we stayed in Nara. Other people got pictures of the dinner in Toba so when I can get copies I will post them. Toba is like the sea food capital of Japan or something like that so when I say it was fresh, I mean it was fresh. The lobster was still moving as we ate it, raw.　I also ate raw red snapper and octopus. We had mussels and oysters (cooked) and squid, I don:t know if it was cooked or not. There are pictures of me gagging but I tried everything! The pictures here are of our 7 course meal in Nara. The only raw fish was tuna and salmon. The tuna was great, the salmon had some skin still on it so it was a little fishy tasting.

Pictures

My Sweet New Ride

I am now the proud owner of 2 bikes; one Treck bike in the US and one "Ex Lady" in Japan. I'll post a picture as soon as I can. There's only one computer here with access to a USB post so it's quite popular.

Our weekends are free so yesterday I just got caught up on things like my journal and laundry. Today I went and bought a bike and then cruised around the city. It's pretty easy to get around on a bike here, occasionally we have to get off and walk because there are so many people.

Tomorrow we're going to Nara for a few days and I have no idea what our accommodations will be like or if we'll have interent access there.

Just to answer a few of your questions- In Japan people don't stare at me because of my blond hair but in China they would grab me to get me in their photos...I don't really know why there was so much garbage in China. I'd imagine they don't have garbage pick up like we're used to and many people in the rural areas couldn't afford it if they did...The Olympic buildings are now just tourist attractions. We were wondering how long that will last and at what point, if ever, will they be used for competitions again. They do charge you around $7 USD to see them inside.

I'm not travel weary yet. I've settled into this routine and wish I could just keep travelling. It just makes me realize that there's so mush more of the world to see and I'm becoming less and less intimidated by it every day.

Back to Civilization

I've been in Kyoto for a few days now. The weather is much warmer here than it was in China and it feels great! The peach trees are also blossoming and at the end of the month the cherry trees should start.

Kar and I landed around noon on the 4th in Tokyo and immediately got on a train to the City where we could catcha bullet train to Kyoto. I think we made it to Kyoto by 5:30 that evening. The train ride was very comfortable but I didn't see a lot of landscape. The window was a little to see out of but it was nice to see blue sky and green mountains! Everything is very orderly here and after being in China we were in the mindset that anything and everything would run us over but that's not the case at all. People don't even jaywalk and they're very polite. The evening we arrived we had a class meeting and then proceeded to catch up with everyone and exchange tales of our independent travel. The next morning we went to a garden and temple and I think I took about 100 pictures of just the gardens. There was also a cemetery that was the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen. I took lots of pictures of that too and I'll post them when I can borrow Alex's computer. Later in the afternoon we went to another temple that was quite as beautiful but still pretty neat. Yesterday we went to 2 more temples and saw more cool gardens but none that compared to the 1st one.

We have a student with us who's from Tokyo but studies at MSU and he's being paid by the school to be our guide. He helps out a lot at restaurants and tells us what to say. I am picking up on the language here and Daisuke (the student guide-pronounced "dice-kay") seems to enjoy teaching us slang and vulgar things to say. There is a particularly immature boy on this trip and he's having a lot of fun telling people he's a boob man. I can say "Thank you", "yes", "Excuse me", "Hello", "smells sweet", "Beautiful butterfly" and "Cheers". In China I also learned "Cheers", "No", and "Thanks".

We haven't seen any fortune cookies anywhere. I was also hoping for Generals Tsao's chicken but I think it's just an American-Chinese thing. So far the food in Japan has been pretty good. I'll be eating a lot of noodle cups. Prices are about equiv lent to the US so as you can imagine eating out needs to be limited. We're staying in a hostel that has a kitchen so we can prepare our own food and pack lunches if we have time. It's really hard to find ATMs that will accept US cards so we all have to be very careful about the amount of cash we have. Stores and restaurants rarely take cards and the ATMs will only let you take out about $100 USD at a time.

There's tragic news out of Bozeman- I don't know how far the news traveled but there was a gas explosion on main street which completely destroyed several building and blew out windows for a 2 block radius. Fortunately it was at 8 am and only one person is missing. It happened in a restaurant so if it had been at night there would have been a lot of deaths.

In China we did see the more affluent side of things. I think that's really just a result of staying in the middle of a city though. I did go a mall one evening and I couldn't afford anything. Girls about my age dress very nicely but we noticed that it doesn't seem like the Chinese age well. I'm wondering if it's just because of pollution, living conditions, lack of money, etc. In Japan they do age well and the girls about my aged are caked in make up. We noticed in China everyone is really only concerned about them self, which is understandable, and in Japan people are definitely concerned for others.

I'm almost of of time and want to get an update on the gas explosion. Internet is pretty cheap here so I'll update as often as I have time for.

More Pictures

Pollution

I knew Beijing had heavy air pollution but I wasn't prepared for just how bad it is. It gets so bad you can literally see it just looking down the street a block. It's so thick I was able to photograph it!

Alex and I spent an entire exploring Olympic stuff. We went in the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. They are really cool designs but you can see just how quickly they were constructed. Also, because of pollution everything is dirty already. Nonetheless, I took a couple hundred pictures. I really hope London is able to produce some even better buildings and that this is just the beginning of architecture becoming important to the games.s

Yesterday we went to Ming's Tomb and the Great Wall. We went with a tour agency because they're both way out of town. Unfortunately they bring you to 2 "government" stores where they just try to sell you stuff. It was kind of a waste of time but our tour guide spoke pretty good English and she was very informative. Ming's tomb was a little boring but the great wall was amazing. I walked to the 8th watchtower and again took tons of pictures.

I'm going to cut this short, the keyboard on this computer doesn't work very well and it's driving me nuts! Today we're going to the silk market, pearl market, snack street and and hopefully and acrobat show.

A few Pictures

Shanghai and Nanjing

Sorry for not updating this more often, I have so mush to say that I don't even know where to start. I'll try to pick up where I left off in Shanghai.

After we went to the old tourist part of Shanghai (which was just one tourist shop after another trying to sell you crap) we walked along the river until we came to the "Bund sightseeing Tunnel". Basically it's a tunnel under the river to the Central Business District, aka The Bund, that is incredibly tacky. It's all lit up and you ride in these little cars and crazy music plays while lights flash. We rode that to the other side of the river and then went up in the Pearl TV tower. I think the Pearl TV tower is just a fancy tv tower that they added tourist attractions to to make money. There's a roller coaster and revolving restaurant in it. The tower it self is pretty cool looking and from the observation level you get nice views over the city. Unfortunately while we were there it was raining so the clouds made it hard to see very far. After the tower we went back to our hotel and I think I fell asleep (on a rock hard bed) immediately.

The next day we took a taxi to the train station and took the train to Nanjing. We didn''t know that we had reserved seats (since we can't read the ticket) but we figured it out eventually. We were some of the last people to get on the train and we got on near the back end of the train. After awhile of looking for open seat (there were none) someone explained the tickets to us. THe train hadn't left yet so we jumped out and ran as fast as we possibly could (we were all carrying our back packs) until we reached the 2nd car. We made it with about a minute to spare and then the train left. Their trains are super modern and comfortable. The ride from Shanghai to Nanjing is 2 hours and it was eye opening. Every square inch of land was farmed/gardened. There were piles of trash (huge-months? years? worth of accumulation) and people just live in shacks or building with no windows left. They just hang a sheet. It's winter here and very wet. Kar and I agreed that it looked like there had just been a war. There were also piles of rubble, mostly brick and concrete everywhere too. We also passed a lot of nuclear plants and to add to the eerie-ness it was so dark out at 2pm that it felt like the sun was down. Imagine the darkest mid-day thunderstorm you have ever been in. It was so creepy!

Once we got to Nanjing Kar realized that she lost her train ticket and they won't let you leave the station with out one. After about a 1/2 an hour or more of her trying to use a translation book to tell the guard what happened she just bought another ticket. While she was doing that I went to the ticket window to bug our night train tickets to Beijing. I asked the lady if she spoke English. She said some thing that was not English and nodded her head. I said "Beijing" and she made a motion to look like she was sleeping. I nodded (Yes, we wanted a sleeper car) and I wrote the date, in the chinese format)on a piece of paper and gave it to her. She still gave me tickets for the wrong day day and as I tried to explain the date people just kept crowding closer and closer. I could barely move my arms. I was getting very frustrated but apparently someone standing on top of me understood the problem and several people must have said "26" because she then showed me a calendar and pointed to the correct date. In the end we got what we needed.

We spent the remainder of that day in our hotel becuase it was pouring rain. We ate really good food in our hotel's restaurant and that was about it. I had black pepper beef.

The next day we split up (Me & Alex and Kar & Erica (her Cousin)) because Kar and Erica had to pick up Erica's little brother at the airport. He's doing an exchange and was in Vladivostok, Russia. Alex and I went to the Confucian temple and then we went to the Nanjing Library because it looked cool. We didn't do anything too exciting. Although, I did buy some souvenirs and I hate haggling over the price. It gets old very quickly. After that Alex and I had an hour to kill before we had to meet the other three so we decided to visit the hair salon near our hotel. We both needed hair cuts. It was a very cool experience. I take it they don't vut American hair very often. We came in and I asked "English?". The receptionist ran to get someone and he spoke broken English, but enough to get by. I asked the price and it would be 60rmb each, which is about $7.50 USD. I don't know if they always do walk ins or if we screwed up other people's appointments (there didn't appear to be anyone waiting) but they got to work on us immediately. A young girl washed my hair twice and then conditioned it. It took about 10 minutes. Another guy cut it while the only person who spoke English tried to figure out what we wanted. I just wanted a trim and so did Alex. Two people combed out my hair while about 5 others watched. Someone brought me black tea (which I like) and I was drinking it when my hairdresser took it away form me, looked at it, and then said something to someone and a girl came out with coffee and took away the tea. The haircut took over an hour but I really like it. They loved Alex's so much that they took a picture with him with their camera. Alex's looks really nice when he doesn't do anything to it but it was cut so he can put it in a fo-hawk and that's exactly what they did. There was so much gel and hairspray in his hair he slept on it and it still held.

That night for dinner the 5 of us went to a place where you order a soup base and then whatever kind of meat you want to cook in it. You also get a dipping a sauce. There was a lot of confusion over how to order but it worked out in the end. The food was pretty good too. I had a curry base with chicken and sesame dipping sauce.

The next day we all took a cab to the Olympic stadium in Nnanjing. We don't know what relation it has or had to the real olympics but it looked cool. It was pretty cold out so we didn't spend much time there. We also looked for Jinao Tower but couldn't find it. It's listed ona map so we went to that place but saw nothing resembling it. We then went back to the area of our hotel to find lunch. After lunch we tried to go to a few temples but it as about 5:00 so things were closing. We had to kill time until our trian left at 11:30 pm and we had checked out of the hotel (but they were holding our luggage). We found a coffee shop and avoided the rain there for about an hour and then decided to go back down to the confucian temple to see it all lit up at night. I shopped for souvenirs (I don't have any room left in my back pack) and we took a lot off pictures. Then Alex and I went off in search of food and wound up eating at a fancy restaurant and were very under dressed. I had these amazing fried potatoes (I took notes so I could try to make them at home) and Alex had hot and sour soup. It's becoming clear that we don't know how to order because they serve everything in the middle of the table and it's in huge portions. The food was still really cheap.

OUr night train was exactly what I expected. It was pretty much the same as when James and I took a night train in Poland. We arrived in Beijing yesterday morning. THey let us check into our hotel at 8am so we napped and then went exploring. Alex and I ate at a restaurant near our hotel and it was amazing but again, we ordered way too much. We both ordered different kinds of chicken and both were good. But they made us order more so he got dumplings (which were amazing) and i got buckwheat noodles and fry sauce. We just wanted but the chicken I guess you have to order sides as well. We then went to Tian'anamen Square and the Forbidden city. It was beautiful but annoying. You couldn't go 20 feet without someone coming up to you and asking if you need a guide. I tried saying in french that I didn't speak English and sure enough, the girl I tried that on spoke french as well. Ike, Kar's other cousin, tried Russian on a guy and he spoke that as well. One we were actually in the forbidden city it was better. I took a lot of pictures but none will ever do justice because the place is just huge! The painting and lacquer work is amazingly detailed and beautiful!

After that we went to dinner as a group and I got some kind of beef with green peppers, onions and garlic. It was really good. Alex's sweet and sour pork was really good too. I could have had bullfrog, brains, preserved intestine, pigeon, sea cucumber, etc. I'm not quite adventurous enough to try most of the things they have on the menu.

Today we're going to go see the Olympic stuff if the kids ever get out of bed. It's 9:40 and they're still sleeping. I get really annoyed about how much time we waste but I don't think my feet could handle a full day of walking anyway. Tomorrow we have a tour scheduled for the Great Wall and Ming's Tombs. In the evening we're going to a concert at the National center for performing arts.

I'll try to keep this more updated if I can. It's one of the advantages of getting up early, I can use the computer.

What am I Eating?

Our flight to Shanghai was uneventful...But if you ever have the option to fly Quantas I would highly recommend them. They offer a lot of amenities for free.

Yesterday we spent the whole day exploring Shanghai. We started in a bakery for breakfast and had some weird milk teas and my bakery selection (something with cheese) wasn't that great. It smelt good though - like garlic, but I didn't taste any. Then we went to Nanjing Road, which is like a big pedestrian mall. Because we're Caucasian, countless people came up to us to sell watches, bags, suitcases, etc. There were also a few relentless ones who wanted us to visit their shop. We finally followed one guy and he was selling t-shirts and other tourist stuff. Kar and Alex wanted shirts so the haggling began. They still didn't get a very good deal but we spent a long time haggling over the price. Having a currency converter with makes a huge difference! We'd be lost without it. Then we continued up Nanjing Road, which really could have been in any city in the world, it's nothing special, just a huge shopping arcade. We got to a major intersection and decided to pull out a map just to see how far we'd walked and two Chinese girls, about our ages, came up to us. They asked if we were lost and we told them we just wanted to find our self on the map. We just started talking too them and they really wanted to practice their English (which was very good) and we wound up going to a traditional government chinese tea tasting ceremony. We thought that maybe they worked for the place we went but after discussing it we're pretty sure they were just super friendly. There english teacher is from Washington, DC I guess. So the tea ceremony was awesome. The 6 of us went into a small room and sat around a table that had all the tea in the middle. The two Chinese girls translated most of the information to us and we learned a lot! We tried 6 different teas; ginseng, jasmine, fruit, green tea, black tea/lychee, and some kind of flower. Different teas are drank in different ways and men and women should hold their cups differently. Also, the pot they are poured out of also has significance. One of the pots symbolizes the sky and earth and then the people so it's considered a peace pot because all of the people of the world should live in peace. One of the girls, "Daisy", suggested it should be given to George Bush! We also learned about what medicinal purposes the teas have. After we tried the teas we all decided to buy our favorites; I bought the fruit tea. The girls also wrote our names in Chinese and taught us words like "thank you" and "Cheers". We exchanged e mail addresses with them as well.
After that we went to the museum of Urban Development. Wow! I think only true architecture nerds can really appreciate what was going on in there but it was 5 large floors with amazing models of the city and it's redevelopment. In 2010 Shanghai will will be hosting the World Expo and they are redoing thier riverfront and putting up some pretty cool buildings. There was even an entire section dedicated to green building. One part I found particularly interesting was how they are going to improve quality of life here. They will put a pitched a pitched roof on flat roofed buildings. They had renderings of what it will look like and it's a very European theme. It was a very simple statement and there really wasn't any explanation about why that would improve quality of life. It will just make building look nicer. So my theory is that they know that Europeans have a higher quality of life and that is what their housing looks likes. So, if they recreate the look, quality of life goes up. Communism is fascinating.

After we finished at the museum we went to a food court for a late lunch. I don't know what I ate, and I doubt I ever will. None of it looked good but I had #8 and it didn't taste too bad. The drink i got with it was awful though! The dish was pretty spicy but I was starving so I ate it, held my breath and drank the stuff anyway. Kar tried to find bottled water but couldn't. It was some kind of noodle with what looked liked beans and rice from a distance. It definitely wasn't but that's about all I can say.

Then we went to an old tourist part of town that has a temple. It was quite a walk and traffic (Cars, bikes and scooters)is beyond insane. Actually, I'm going to leave off here because James is online so we can chat. I'll catch up on my next opportunity.

Did You Just Lick That?!

So I have a lot to you update you on...I was sick for most of the time we were in Brisbane. Almost our entire group had gotten a cold and I got it pretty bad. I was tired of not socializing with everyone so I went out a few times and didn't get enough sleep to be able to fight anything off. As a result I got a really a sore throat, a chest cold and then a head cold. I still have a cold but it's not bad and Afrin is a miracle.

As a result I spent two full days in bed and never got so Koalas or do a watercolor. The last thing I wanted was to be sick when we went to the Great Barrier Reef. After my two days in bed we flew to Cairns and I was feeling better that day. The day after we got to Cairns we went scuba diving and snorkeling at the reef. It was amazing. While I would never really suggest visiting Australia, I would suggest visiting the reef. It's an entirely new world! First we had a 1 hour cruise out to the reef. While the first group dived I snorkeled. My mask kept leaking so I was getting a little frustrated. When it was my time to dive I went with two other people and a guide. It was Joe, Kar and myself. Joe and I had no problems doing the 4 skills (Equalizing air pressure, removing the regulator and blowing bubbles, getting water out of our mask and then removing the regulator and finding it again). Kar kept having problems and Joe and I just hung onto a rope attached to the boat. So basically as the boat bobbed up and down so did we. And I got sick. I was super bummed. I went about half way down and then pressure in my ears just became too bad and I was feeling really queasy so I decided to come up. After that I just snorkeled but it was still amazing!! I rented an underwater camera so at some point I'll post pictures and maybe a video if I can. THe reef is an underwater world I can't even begin to explain. There were so many colors and shapes! The topography was amazing too. I looked for sharks but didn't see one but I did see huge clams and a sea turtle. I'm going to have cut this short becuase Alex needs his computer back soon but hopefully my pictures will give you a better idea.

The next day we went on a rain forest tour and it was neat but not amazing. The reef is going to be hard to beat! In the rain forest we did get to see two crocodiles and there is a green ant that lives in Australia that if you lick its back end it tasted like citrus. So there was a group of 13 of us catching and licking ants.

The next day we flew to Shanghai (yesterday) and today we explored. I will tryy to post another blog in the morning (my morning). Today was amzing as well, but in a completely different way than the reef). Tomorrow we take a train to Nanjing.

Brisbane and Surfers Paradise

Right now I'm just killing time until we leave for the train station. We've been staying in Brisbane and yesterday we took a train to Surfers Paradise and spent the night. We go back to Brisbane in about a 1/2 an hour. Our hotel in Brisbane doesn't have internet access so that's why I haven't posted anything.

Anyway, our 2nd night in Brisbane we went to a reception that one of Henry's (our professor) friends hosted for us and faculty of the school of architecture in Brisbane. The food was awesome! I had prawns, passion fruit, sugar plums and fresh figs. We also had a lot of excellent wine and I even discovered that I don't mind a good, dry Cabernet sauvignon.

It's rained everyday we were in Brisbane so I haven't done much. I really want to go to the Koala sanctuary tomorrow but we still have to do a watercolor so I don't really think I have time. I might just say screw the water color and go anyway, it's more important to me to be able to hold a koala than to paint something I'm going to throw away.

Surfer's paradise is a lot of fun. I didn't surf on a surf board but I did try body surfing, which is really simple. The waves are huge and when comes in you jump at the right time so your with the crest of the wave and you just swim with it. It feels really cool to be at the top of the wave. I also got a really nice sunburn on my back while swimming. I put on sunscreen a couple of times but I guess it wasn't enough. The rest of me is pretty tan so I didn't get a burn.

Our whole group is getting sick, including me. I knew I should have spent yesterday taking it easy but it was our only day here. Now I have a cough and sore throat, which has been going around. I'm hoping I can get out of this afternoon's lecture to stay and rest in the hotel. The next place we go to is Cairns, and I definitely don't want to be sick. Henry's trying to arrange a tour to the great barrier reef which I don't want to miss.

You probably won't hear from me again until we get to Cairns, providing they have internet access. I don't know exactly what day we leave for Cairns, I think it's on the 19th though. Then we leave for Shanghai on the 22nd- and although our hotels are listed as having business centers I don't know what they'll cost to use.

The Answer

Look close. This wasn't even the biggest one I've seen. They're everywhere.

More pictures

We're back in Sydney...there's no smoky haze as predicted. It is hot but there's relief in the forecast starting tomorrow, I think the high is in the low to mid 20's; which will feel wonderful! It might rain though, which might make sketching outside a little difficult. Today, tomorrow and the next day are "Independent study" days, where we have time to sketch and water color. I found an old brick building not far form here that has been turned into a small brewery and cafe.

This morning we took the train back to Sydney from Katoomba and checked into a new hotel...We're right across the street from a place called Paddy's market. I can basically buy anything I need there. I bought some grapes, salted macadamia nuts and a dress. I've noticed a lot of people here wear dresses and at night there's a dress code for a lot of restaurants on bars, even though they're not fancy. Unfortunately it's 100% viscose, which can't be put in the dryer. I even remembered to check the label but I got distracted by my BO (Yeah, it was that bad!) and I spaced it out. I do have a rope so I can hand wash it and hopefully our next hotel will have an iron, our other 2 did (this one is pretty crappy).

I also went to the Chinese gardens today. They were really beautiful! I took some pictures but I forgot to bring that memory card down to the computer with me. Maybe I'll get some up later. I took a few pictures of the reason I will never live here. It wiped the smile right off my face. Can you guess what it was?

I just added a few more random pictures, all from New Zealand. That thing we're jumping on is just a "jumping pillow", pretty much just a giant trampoline that in the shape of a pillow. We had too much fun with it. It was also nice to lay on and look at stars. From down here we can see Orion, but upside down and the Southern cross is pretty easy to find too.

You might not here form me for the next couple of days. I'll pretty much just be sketching and then we fly to Brisbane. McDonald's down the street has free wifi so maybe I'll update my Facebook status or something.

Katoomba

So it's hotter than hell here. I went for a short hike this morning and that's about all I can handle. Our hotel is located in East Jesus Nowhere so even to get to town to eat is a chore. I'm hoping to be able to post more pictures soon. The computer I'm on only recognizes one of my card readers and alot more pictures are on my other memory card (I have two cameras with me).

We left Sydney yesterday and took a 2 hour Train ride to Katoomba. I had two excellent meals yesterday in town, a Greek Salad and then for dinner I ate at a Greek restaurant and had calamari, feta and olives. I guess I was on a Greek kick. Today after my hike I bought a foot long Subway sandwich to cover lunch and dinner today and I bought 2 croissants at a bakery for breakfast on the train tomorrow. We go back to Sydney tomorrow.

I don't really know how distinct the season are here. I don't know how the temps differ in the winter. I don know that it's Typhoon season in North Australia. The last twon we stop in, Cairns (Pronounced something like Cannes), has no food left in the grocery stores becuase there's flooding all the way around it.

We gop back to Sydeny tomorrow for 3 days and then we fly to Brisbane. We then go to Surfers Paradise for a day or two and then back to Brisdane and then onto Cairns. Those are the only places we're going in Australia.

I haven't tried any wine in Australia, I'm too cheap. I did buy a bottle of local chardonnay in New Zealand but it wasn't that great. If I do find any that's good I let you know.

The watecoloring is a reqirement. As are 3 journal entries a week.

The only real Aussie slang I see is written on postcards for tourists. I heard on guy use the word "bloke" quite a few times but that's it. I haven't had a chance to go swimming yet eaither. Maybe when we get back to Sydeny I'll be able to go to Bondi Beach.

My internet time is up.. I love getting your comments!

The Opera House and Blue Mountains

The picture of the blue Mountains was taken this morning.

Wharariki Beach pictures

I finally have access to a USB port that works!!! I have limited time so I"ll just do as many pics as I can...These are from New Zealand. All Wharariki Beach, but form different days.

If you have a Facebook account Kaari put almost 100 pictures so you might be able to see them there.

Cassoways and Kookaburras

#1. Alex sees the comments you post, he gets to decide whether or not they are published for others to see or not.

#2. Sorry, this is a little late - switchbacks are "S" turns or "U" turns up or down a mountain.

#3. I haven't really met any interesting people, I'm with a group of 20, and we pretty much visit the touristy areas. I do always find the fact that Asian (not sure if it's a particular group or all) don't listen. "Don't tap on the aquarium walls" What are they all doing?...Knocking.

Yesterday we started a walking tour at 9:30 am and ended at the Opera House at 7:30pm. My feet still hurt. I spent half the day dripping with sweat. It's hot and humid here. We saw a few cool things but I definitely wouldn't recommend visiting Sydney. You could do much better. I think the Opera House is holding Sydney back because they won't allow anything "Better" than the Opera House to be built. That's just my opinion.

Today we had a watercolor class int he morning and this afternoon 5 other people and I went to the Aquarium and World Wildlife place. We saw kangaroos, koalas, kookaburras, wallabies, sea cows, sharks, Nemo, a GIANT turtle (I could have rode on its back) and the world deadliest bird (Cassoway), worlds deadliest snake, spider, etc. I even held a few lizards. The Cassoway is huge!!!

Tomorrow we're supposed to go to Parramatta as a class but once we get there we're free. Alex, kar and I might wander for an hour or 2 and then come back to Sydney. It's doesn't look interesting to us and we think shopping and I think the Chinese garden sounds better.

Then we go to the Blue Mountains for a few days (Katoomba) and then back to Sydney. When we get back to Sydney we're on our own but we have Independant Study project to do. It's just sketching and water coloring but I'm horrible at both so it's going to take awhile. We also have to have 3 journal entries a week.

Waitomo Caves

There are few of the pictures from Blackwater rafting. I stole them from Kar's blog and it doesn't look like she has all of them up. We bought the CD and I don't know who currently has it.

I"m currently in Sydney waiting for the Super Bowl to be over. All of my classmates and professor are watching it and I have no interest. We have to all meet at the Museum of Modern art at 2:30 so I have about 2 hours and then I'm going to go to the bar where they're all at. So far I haven't really seen much of Sydney. We're staying in the World Square area, which is, as far as I can tell, a shopping mall, "Adult-only" stores and tons of sushi and Asian grocery stores. We got in early yesterday and I laid around all day. I was exhausted and it just felt good to be in a room with my own shower/toilet and AC. This afternoon we'll be in the area of the Opera House and we'll be doing some exploring by the waterfront. Hopefully I'll have more to talk about in the next few days. If you haven't checked out Alex's blog (www.awgamble.net) you should, he gives more detail about the scenery.