I'm interning at International Goalkeepers Academy and I was lucky enough to be invited to the Johnny Warren Football Foundation Gala Dinner. I was excited for the invite because I thought I would be able to learn a lot from the experience; I'm planning an event for The Academy so I was hoping to get a few tips on the evening. However, with as much as I learned, I also happened to have a blast throughout the night; we were down in Darling Harbour so the restaurant over-looked the water and it was incredible. When we first arrived, there was a cocktail hour and everyone was able to socialize and talk. There were quite a few big names in soccer that I was able to meet, including the men's Socceroo's coach, Holger Osieck, and Marcos Flores, one of the best players in Australia. Everyone was really friendly, and we were luckily able to snap a few pictures with them. One of my favorite parts of the evening was the actual dinner; considering I am a college student in a city with a VERY high cost of living, I haven't exactly been eating anything spectacular, but we actually enjoyed a fantastic three-course meal. We had a great night and it was nice change to feel like an adult in the business world instead of just a student!
A few days after my first gala, I had my first-ever business trip. One of my bosses had a colleague of mine and me take a train up to Newcastle for a couple days. It's about three hours north of Sydney and the whole place is gorgeous. When we first arrived we were shown around the city, which is right on the water. There are stretches of some of the most beautiful beaches for miles up the coast and fantastic views from every hilltop. One of my favorite parts about Australia is the terrain; there is a combination of either hills, cliffs, ocean, or water inlets visible in almost any city. Every time I think I've seen an unbelievable view, I turn around and there is something that tops it.
After a tour of Newcastle, we went to dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant. I never really ate Thai back in the States, but I've come to appreciate it a lot more and it will most likely become one of my take-out usuals when I get back. We called it an early night and went back to our hotel rooms in preparation for an early morning. The next day, we had a meeting all morning in order to get us all better acquainted with a new marketing website that has recently been launched. It was incredibly interesting to hear about the business ideas and concepts from the people that developed the site. There was another college student besides myself, and we were there to give our opinions and hopefully some new insight into the business; it was exciting to be able to contribute ideas and have them valued and incorporated into an actual project. I learned so much throughout my trip that I'll actually be able to use in real situations; I'd say my first business trip was a success.
When I first got to Sydney, my program had an orientation and we participated in Study Australia's Amazing Race in order to get better acquainted with the city. The prize of winning was a dinner at the Opera House, and my team happened to get the dinner. With all of our busy schedules, we hadn't gotten the chance to go yet, but this past week we finally made the reservation. The restaurant is one of the best in the city. Just the atmosphere of the place is phenomenal because of the location; it is in one of the "sails" right up the front steps, directly over-looking the skyline. It was so incredible to be able to eat in one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. As a group, we wanted to play the part, so we all got really dressed up and enjoyed an unbelievable meal; I had scallops for the entree and snapper for the main. This evening will definitely go down as one of the top nights in all of my time here.
We were really fortunate that we had to wait so long to go to dinner because our timing was perfect with Sydney's light show: Vivid. The city has a spectacular display of lights throughout the harbour and they are designed as a show over the city buildings and the Opera House. The lights create designs on all of the buildings which are so cool; across the Opera House sails there were rainbow effects, jellyfish swimming, and bright colors splashed all over. Tons of people were there to see the show, listening to live music and enjoying the beautiful weather. Seeing all of the people and the environment made me realize that I'm really going to miss Sydney. I've loved my time here so far and all I can hope is that I'll be able to make it back here someday!
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