#d2mg

[ppyongmybeautiful]

Too fucking good! #sohappytjisismylife #d2mg #dancebattle

[ppyongmybeautiful]

Haha this move will always amaze me! #d2mg #dancebattle

[andersinoz-blog]

I'm back!

Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated (kind of) but I am still alive! I still don't have internet access at the apartment yet, but hopefully that will be taken care of later today! This past weekend I went on a surfing trip to Crescent Head, which is 6-7 hours north of Sydney, a.k.a. the middle of nowhere. But we got a whole private beach to ourselves to practice our surfing, so that was really nice. The weather was pretty bipolar, which reminded me of La Jolla...ha..ha. It would be sunny for 5 minutes, and then rain for the next half hour. Good thing it did not rain like crazy when we were in the water, which was surprisingly not that cold! Surfing was definitely super challenging! I picked up snowboarding a lot easier, but then again that is a whole different thing. At least I got to say that my first time surfing was in Australia and I stood up 3 times for a second...yeah! I would possibly try it again, but I can't say I am dying for the next time to go surfing. Maybe when the weather is a lot better. Felt super sore after the trip from carrying the surfboards and getting smacked by waves and some girl's board...good stuff!

School has been alright so far. Homework and readings haven't piled up yet, but I already know there will be plenty of papers, assignments, and projects ahead of me for the semester...Anders remember you are on an academic program! My professors have all been pretty boring so far: they lack presence, passion, and talk pretty softly. Well, until I finally had an exciting professor for my "Staging Australia" course. He was older than all of them, but I thought he was so personable and passionate, and that's what kept me awake for the whole two hours of lecture, which only made me excited about the rest of the semester!

I checked out one student org here so far. In Australia, instead of calling them "clubs" they are known as "societies"...fancy, I know. It's a hip hop dance society and the people I've talked to so far are pretty nice and love the fact that I am from LA haha. Went to a free workshop and the style was really different from the workshops I was used to. The president is nice enough to take me to the dance studio he works at in the city, so I that will be fun!

Oh have I mentioned that my new apartmentmate is a local Australian?! His name is Dane and he is from Byron Bay, which is up north, and rocks the surfer blonde hair and a nose ring. He's a pro at surfing and snowboarding and has been experienced since he was a kid, so that's pretty cool. He's also super chill and smiles all the time! Not to brag or anything, but I think I am living the best study abroad experience ever! My apartment is so diverse and most of my friends I have here are some kind of European, with a few from the east coast (who aren't Asian too!). Unlike a lot of programs out there, this is truly an immersion program: I am not stuck with a bunch of UC kids or Americans (not that it's a bad thing...well sort of). I think it's a lot more interesting to go somewhere foreign with an open mind and gain new perspectives by talking to people from all over the world. If I wanted to be surrounded by Americans all the time, I might as well have stayed in California and not embark on this trip. But never did I think I would be interacting and getting along with people from France, Switzerland, Norway, Chile, Denmark, London...the list goes on! It's amazing and I feel so lucky to be in Australia, where so many cultures come together and mingle. It's been cold here lately, so I've accepted the fact that it is officially winter here. Hope you all are keepin' warm!