Growing Up? Kind of...

I've started to realize that I'm beginning to feel like I'm growing up... finally.  It's the confusion between only being 21, feeling like I have forever to grow up versus living on my own, studying and working in a city half-way around the world.


I started my internship last week and I love it.  As much as I'm probably going to regret saying this now, having a job is way more interesting than sitting through a few of my classes.  I'm working at International Goalkeepers Academy, which is a training facility for goalkeepers of all ages in Australia; they train young kids, and professional keepers.  I work there twice a week and am doing a little bit of marketing for them.  One of the best, and possibly worst, parts about the job is that it is at the Sydney Olympic Park where the 2000 games were held!  The facilities are awesome and it's so cool working there; it just happens to be an hour train ride away.  For as long as the commute is, I wouldn't pick any other place to work.  The people are awesome and I love the work that I get to do; it's also pretty cool to look out the window and see keepers training and making a few ridiculous saves.

Besides working, I am learning to cook a lot of new and pretty great things.  Considering I don't live on a campus where any food imaginable is available until 3am, I'm realizing there are only so many nights pasta or microwaveable meals still taste good.  I actually just experimented and made baked stuffed greek chicken.  It happened to be delicious, and I have now decided that I will be using the Rachael Ray website a lot more often for dinner.  We've also cooked kangaroo by ourselves, which happens to be about the same price as chicken around here, maybe a little cheaper.  


I thought that living here would be very similar to living at college, being on my own and handling everything myself, but I have to say I was wrong.  We live in a suburb of Sydney, Bondi Junction, but technically it's still a city.  Our apartment is above a train and bus depot and all of the buildings around us are very urban and fairly tall.  There are a ton of people everywhere and anything you could possibly need is within a few blocks.


I've always wanted to live in a city, probably Chicago or New York after college, and this is pretty much reaffirming that plan.  There is always something going on, and getting around is incredibly easy.  The public transportation isn't fantastic, but at least it's there.  The nightlife is also unbelievable; my roommates and I go out a lot because there is always something new going on that we don't want to miss.  There are also so many different cultures in city-life.  We've met people from Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, New Zealand, England, Italy, and a few more I know I'm forgetting.  Apparently everyone loves Sydney as much as I do!


I may not be totally there.. on the growing up part.. but living here is giving me a little taste of my future. I can't say I'm totally ready for it, I do still have all of senior year to look forward to, but right now I'd have to say I'm having a really good time testing the waters.

No Worries Mate.

Class has officially started.. two weeks ago.  It has finally hit all of us, it's time to work.  However, it took two weeks to actually set-up my class schedule, so the work has just begun.  The process of setting up schedules here is much different than at home.  At IU, I have everything planned out nice and neat, about a month before I enroll; Sydney was an entirely different experience.

Due to the laid-back atmosphere, it did not seem to be a big deal to any of the counselors or professors that I was not approved for any of my business classes and only enrolled in electives.  Considering I'm here studying through my business school for credit, I was extremely stressed out; I guess I haven't fully adapted to the care-free, "it will eventually work out" mentality. I finally have everything figured out and am actually getting settled into a regular schedule.

This semester I'm taking advertising, organizational analysis, and a sport and learning class.  So far, everything has been pretty introductory, but all three classes seem like they will be interesting.  

As part of my credit, I'm also going to do an internship.  I will be working at the International Goalkeepers Academy in Blacktown working on different marketing aspects of the business.  I'm really excited because the academy is located in Sydney Olympic Park, where the games were held in 2000.  It's going to be a great experience and I'm looking forward to starting.

I know that the reason I'm here is for school, but it's hard to get back into a study mind-frame.  The weather is still beautiful and warm.  This weekend we were at Bondi Beach (again.. we go as much as possible!) We got to see a surf competition and it was awesome!  The beach was packed; there were a ton of people hanging out and watching some awesome surfers.  With bright blue skies and ninety degree weather, it was a perfect way to spend the weekend.