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Grant Jones

First Month in Sydney

After a fifteen hour flight across the Atlantic I arrived at Sydney International, and went to 43 Australia Street, my apartment for the next four months (I know my address sounds fake).

I spent the first week here (and last week before my Summer—now Winter—was cut short to start school again) exploring the city and its landmarks. You mostly get around Sydney using trains and buses.

Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge:

I cross that bridge every Tuesday and Thursday to get to my classes at the North Sydney ACU campus, which is located right in the middle of the city. One of my classrooms has a pretty cool view of the harbor. Mondays are spent at the more quaint Strathfield campus and the rest of the week I have off.

This was maybe the best seafood I’ve ever had. It’s a small fish and chips place across the road from Bondi Beach.
Kelsey, Kara, Rachel, and I at Bondi. I’ve been twice but it hasn’t been warm enough to actually go in. I might have gone surfing by now if I hadn’t forgot my wetsuit at home—mom’s bringing it in a month though so I’ll be ready to get yelled at by the locals.
Darling Harbour. Pretty sure this is where Dory and Marlin end up when they get to Sydney but that’s just a guess.

My Birthday Happened!

I turned 20 on the 8th and was somewhat worried I still wouldn’t have any friends. These kind strangers agreed to sit with me in exchange for free food.
Michael, Alex, and I (and others) went to a nice Mexican restaurant in Newtown—about a fifteen minute walk up Australia Street, where there’s tons of restaurants, pubs, and shops. Easy and cheap Mexican food is one of the things I miss the most about California, haven’t quite found my authentic tacqueria yet.

I’ve just finished up my fourth week of classes at ACU. Each class has a two hour lecture and a one hour tutorial that meet once a week. None of my courses seem too demanding, so I have a decent amount of free time to get around and explore. Still have not seen a kangaroo yet… so that and visiting some national parks are hopefully things to change in the near future.