Life after the infamous term paper.

Yesterday (Thursday) was great in every way. It was a full day of doing nothing even remotely stressful, and just hanging out with friends. I slept in, and then met up with Anne to do some exploring in Newtown, a suburb south-west of Sydney CBD. There were lots of interesting shops there. Trinkets, books, funky things you didn't think you need until you saw it, and most importantly: secondhand clothes store. 

I had to get my OCD fix for the day before we began browsing

Such a shame that Anne didn't buy this beautiful hat. 

Is this a good hat for my brother's wedding, perhaps? 

I was so tempted to get a DIY Lamb for Isabelle. 

My cousin, Jessica, studied in Sydney a while back. I was obsessed with cats when I was younger, and I remember she sent me a kitty sticker. I absolutely loved that sticker. It was a kitty AND it was pink. It didn't get much better than that. As Anne and I were walking around, we found a store with the exact same pink kitty. I wonder if this is where she got it? 

Anne, being the cool cat she is, was wearing an oh-so-cool pair of secondhand Levi's shorts. I've been wanting a pair of cool shorts myself, so that became our mission for the day. We passed all the stores that only sold new clothing; they weren't of any interest. We were looking for old treasures. After rummaging through a few stores with heaps of jeans from the 90's, trying on quite a few hideous pairs, and having lots of laughs, we finally found a pair of Levi's 501s for me. Mission accomplished! 

After walking around for a few hours, we needed something to eat. We went to Janets's Pies on King Street for lunch. There I had my first ever meat pie. Nothing fancy; it's a common meal on the go. They're cheap, too! Only about $5. These hand-sized pies of goodness consist of lots of pie crust and largely diced or minced meat and gravy. I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that they aren't too healthy... It was delicious though! 

Walking around Newtown was so relaxing. There was nothing else we were supposed to be doing or had to get done. We didn't have a care in the world! Now that we only have three finals left, Anne and I have decided that we're going to spend more time exploring the city by just walking around different neighborhoods. 

Later in the evening we met up with Anita, Isabelle, and Isabelle's friend who's visiting from Norway, Guro, at the Shangri La Hotel. This is a beautiful hotel located in the historic Rocks district that has a bar on the 36th floor, Blu Bar. Isabelle found it by chance while looking through pictures on Instagram. The view was breathtaking! We got a table right by the window, and had an unbelievable view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and Darling Harbour. As we sat there, sipping our exetremely overpriced white wine, I again got a rush of gratitude that I am studying abroad in such a gorgeous city. 

The Blu Bar opens at 5pm. If you want to see the sunset, and get good seats, you need to be there a little before it opens. I can't believe we hadn't been there before. We will definitely be going back!

This morning (Friday) was pretty uneventful. Just did some last few things before heading to the airport. I looked like a little pack-rat with my overstuffed 55L big backpack, another overstuffed smaller backpack, and my somewhat overstuffed purse. It was a pain getting to the airport with all of this, but it was worth it. In addition to all the gifts for the family, I brought everything I won't be needing for the remaining time of the semester so my dad can bring it directly to Norway for me. Sweet! 

I was (obviously) not looking forward to spending over half a day up in the air, but the 14 hour and 40 minute flight went surprisingly well. We did have a good 2 hours of massive turbulence, where everyone (even the flight attendants) had to be seated. But guess what? We survived! Everything went well. Fear of flying is so irrational. 

I watched Finding Nemo for the billionth time to make the time go by. It's one of those movies I can watch again, and again, and again. I must say, it was a lot more fun watching it after visiting the Great Barrier Reef. I've seen lots of the coral and sea life in real life! 

My favorite part of that movie is when Marlin and Dory are near Sydney, but are a little lost. Dory insists on asking a little fellow off in the distance for directions. The "little fellow" turns out to be a whale. "Didn't that sound a little orca-ish?" Hilarious! 

My Mumsy came and picked me up at LAX. For some reason, I was feeling unusually awake and alert. I think I was just so excited about being off the plane, on solid ground, and to finally be in California. I haven't driven in about 5 months (aside from New Zealand), I drove back to her house. Felt good to be behind the wheel again - especially on the correct side of the road! 

I've managed to stay awake since I got here. Sooo tired and jetlagged. It's 9:11pm right now. That's a good time to go to bed, right? Oh, yes, it definitely is.

Goodnight from California! 

Love, 
Suzy