Sydney, Surfing, and more!

Hello from Down Unda! So a lot has taken place in the past 72 hours, so this post may be a little on the long side.

So I flew in to Singapore first, and was luckily sitting on the side of the plane where we could see the sunrise (the picture here). Amazing. So beautiful. I slept most of the way there to try and get on Sydney time, which kind of worked in the short run. Then it was off to Sydney, which was another nice flight around 8 hours and this time I happened to sit on the side of the plane with the sunset (same plane, same row, just from one window seat to another).

So I landed in Sydney, and here were some of the first things I noticed:

--First thing I saw were McDonalds golden arches.

--The first song I heard was a Coldplay song.

--A saw a sign for curb spelled kerb

It was almost like I hadn't left home, and that Sydney spelled things almost as poorly as I do. Also, when going through customs, the guy in front of me was this scraggly teenage-looking kid, who said he had no idea where he was staying that night when they asked him. They mentioned how in America if you say that you get deported, and then I was right there to say "Go America." They gave this extremely awkward laugh. Welcome to Australia!

So I got to the hotel and crashed, and spent the next day walking around the harbour and enjoying the sunshine. I saw the Opera House, and noticed that it's not really as white as it always seemed to me on tv and movies. It's more of a tan/beige color. But still a remarkable piece of architecture. The rest of the harbour was nice as well, lots of people out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and I just wandered around, getting lost, just seeing if I could eventually make my way back to the hotel.

The next morning, yesterday for me, was the first day of my adventures. Surf school! I got up extra early to make my way to the meeting place to make sure I could find it, and ended up walking too quickly and being 40 minutes early. And then the bus/van came 20 minutes late. So I was super early, but we all piled into the van and headed down the coast for two hours to Gerroa. To show how small a world it really is, the makeup of our group of 8 people (which includes me) is:

--Two guys from Belgium, who didn't know each other before the trip

--Two sisters from the UK

--One guy from Austin, TX (we bonded over how Austin is a liberal paradise amongst a state of dumb hooligans)

--One girl originally from Singapore, grew up in DC and went to Washington International School (WIS) and her brother went to Sidwell friends) and then Duke (but she hated it) so now she lives in Melbourne

--One guy from Luxemberg

--And one of the surfing instructors used to live in Frederick, MD!

Crazy how small a world it really is. Anyway, surf school is amazing. It's in this tiny town where mainly people who have retired have come. We surf twice a day for four days, which is plenty because surfing is so physically demanding. I can already stand up on my board after one day, and we are learning how to turn this afternoon. The food is great, every stereotype you can think of about a surfer seems to be true, and we just relax and chill and watch surinf videos in our free time. Should be a great next couple of days.

Ok, thats the main update. A couple of little things. First, phone stuff. If you happen to text me (for free, on the +44 number) and then I respond, the number it will show up as is a 213 area code. That is my US number. You can respond to that number as well and it should still be free and I will get it.

Also, I've decided that it is easiest for me to just put pictures on facebook instead of trying to do everything through flickr. I think basically everyone has a fb account (except my parents). If you're not friends with me, friend me. I can also email photos to people as well.

Ok, that's all for now. I'll send an update in a couple days when I'm back up the coast. Until then, hang loose!