Aquarium and Surfing

Hi everyone,

Hope all is well. Last weekend we went to the Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour. Check out some of the sea animals we saw!

Cool stingray
SHAAARK! It was afraid of me and trying to run away...
A turtle at the very corner of the tank
Touching a starfish
Fast fish in action!
A seal getting fed
Big stingray and fish
Darling Harbour/Downtown Sydney in the day
Longhorns having lunch in the harbour
More cool fish...

This past weekend we went to the famous Bondi Beach and they were filming an episode of "Bondi Rescue"...

These are the lifeguards getting filmed for the show

Katie and I took a surfing lesson. Here's us with our instructor, BIG WAVE DAVE...and yes, you must pronounce his name that intensely

Until next time, cheers!

Jesse

Sydney Life

G'day!

Last week we went out several times to check out downtown Sydney since it was the last free week I had before exams kicked in. On Wednesday night I went and hung out with some Germans here studying abroad. They're in my group for one of my finance classes so they invited me out for a birthday.

These are the Germans: Shahram and Thomas...they like beer. We went to the Coogee Beach Palace and then the Coogee Bay Hotel to listen to a band.
We went to Star City Casino on Thursday night. This is Darling Harbor with the casino in the background, a very touristy area. I split one hand of blackjack with Marty and ended up winning 9 hands in row. We came out with $125 each but I spent it all already on groceries and rent!
Friday night we went out to several clubs in downtown Sydney. They were called....Star Bar and Tank? Not sure, but here's us at a pub called 3 Monkeys.
Here's the band in the background at 3 Monkeys.
Saturday night we went to watch a rugby game. Here's the opposing team (the Sharks) who ended up beating the home team (Sydney Roosters).
This is the container of my first Cuban cigar, a Romeo y Julieta. Didn't have the actual cigar since I smoked it all, but it was good and spicy...

It is now time for exams to kick in before mid session break :(

Cheers!
Jesse

Blue Mountains

Hey mates,
This past weekend we took a trip up to the Blue Mountains. We got to see wildlife and the natural landscape of Aussie land. Check it out...

Here's me and a koala... These things sleep forever!













PENGUINS

I know everybody loves penguins

Kangaroo...just chillin
There were so many kangaroos just laying around. Apparently there are 32 types and this is one of the smaller ones.








Dingo pups











Blue Mountains with the "Three Sisters" on the left












The rain forest









Waterfall from the Blue Moutains

Longhorns in Oz...

HOOKEM!

Thats all for now, check back in soon!

Cheers!
Jesse

Down Under

Hey y'all,

I got into Sydney about 2 weeks ago but I just now got internet in our apartment. I'm gonna try and do my best to keep this blog going while I'm here but no promises.

Everbody's really friendly here and refer to us as "mates". The toilet does flush the other way, they drive on the left side of the road, and it's winter here so I was freezing my balls off for awhile until it warmed up last week.

I was couped up in a lodge for about a week until I found an apartment to live in for the semester.

Here's our living room of our apartment. We have two bedrooms, and I live with two girls from UT and a guy from Singapore that I met while I was searching for housing. That couch is where I sleep for now until we get another bed to put in the sun room.


Our apartment is right in between Coogee Beach (about a 15 minute walk) and campus (20 minute walk).

This is Coogee Beach. Once it warms up, I'll be there everyday.

Last Saturday, we went on a ferry to Manly Bay. Here are some pictures we took on the way:










This is me with some indigenous Australians right before the ferry ride.

The Sydney bridge in the background













The Opera House from the ferry

Another picture of the bridge from the ferry








Plenty of good times to come...Stay posted!
PEACE,
Jesse