Birthdays in Australia are heaps cool!!

Well I must say that my 22^nd birthday was much different from those in the past – not bad, just different; a little hectic and overwhelming but also a lot of excitement.  To be honest, my time spent in Cairns was secretly really just looking forward to getting to Sydney and settling in; the exhaustion of the past few days really began to set in. I hated living out of these massive suitcases that carried everything I possibly own.   Plus, the humidity in Cairns was awful and I was hoping Sydney would bring more comfortable weather.  I woke up a little bit sick on the morning of my birthday and had to scramble to fit everything back into my airtight bags that I was using to fit all my clothes.  We then made our way to the airport and split with the other group heading to Perth.  The twelve of us waited in the airport for our final flight of the week; I just wanted to be in Sydney at this point.  The flight was long and uncomfortable – no food or drinks were offered to us in the last row either!! - but I used the time to begin my journal and get a little more rest.  When we landed in Sydney, I so excited and nervous at the same time.  I was very grateful that all my luggage made it this time though! We went to UTS to meet with the housing people and figure out the living situation.  Little did we know that the driver would leave us to walk the 3 blocks with ALL of our luggage – we must have looked ridiculous coming down the street in a group like that.  Luckily we ran into the Unilodge people (the other half of the group not in student housing) and convinced them to help us out.  I was assigned to live in an 8 share apartment on the 5^th floor, but was ecstatic to find out I had my own room! We were all anxious to get sheets and other necessities so we made our way to the nearest shopping mall of course – about 2 blocks away.  At this point I was a little stressed, hungry, and tired and I honestly just wanted to talk to some people from home.  It didn’t even feel like a birthday anymore.  I kept trying to use a calling card on a payphone but ended up losing like $10 or something like that.  SO I ended up splurging and getting a cell phone.  I called my mom from it and said thanks for the birthday gift.  She knew I was upset and was so happy to hear from me that she didn’t mind me putting it on the credit card - thanks mom :).  I hadn’t decided for sure if I was going to get one before I came, but I soon realized it was going to be necessary. I was then able to get some shopping done, I was thrilled to see they had a target on the top floor, but a little bummed when it wasn’t exactly like the ones I’m used to at home.  Things are different here and it's the beginning to my realization that I am (and will be for 5 months) in a new culture.  After hours spent searching for important items, we finally made our way back to the 9 story residence building.  We had planned to go out to dinner for my birthday but we lost track of time and ended up getting something quick.  It had been a really long day and like I said, it didn’t even feel like my birthday anymore.  Plus, just being in Australia and know I have 5 months here to explore and travel is a great gift - 22 isn’t that exciting anyways.  We went up to the roof of my building – its on the 9^th floor with a nice view of the city and my school building.  We hung out with a few of my roommates and their friends, most were from Australia.  They were fascinated with us from “the states”, asking about differences between there and Australia.  My favorite new word they use is “heaps” like “o that’s heaps cool” or “we have heaps things to do”.  I am now trying to sound like I belong and use it in my vocabulary, although i may sound a little silly in my effort.  We play a few interesting drinking games and teach them a few of ours.  It’s funny to see how they differ.  I was drinking goon – boxed wine.  It’s apparently all the rage here, probably because it’s really cheap. It’s nothing special but I don’t mind it too much.  My roommates and their friends are so friendly, even the girls we meet which isn’t always the case in the states.  All in all, I think I could get used to living here.