School stinks! =P

Hey friends and family!

Today I mailed mailed my dads birthday card. What an intense process! I had to fill out this custom form with a detailed description of what is inside (like they couldn't just xray it..?) and say how much it cost. Then I had to pay a tax on the item and send it. And I got questioned about it like 50 times! I hope it actually gets to my dad lol.

I'm already sick of school (haha). It's been a week. I'm always tired and I never want to study. I just want to sleep or go to downtown Sydney. I feel like it's normal because I've only been here like two weeks and I want to explore. I wish this was just a vacation and there was no school aspect of it.

Today was free train day. The cashiers all went on strike so everyone could ride for free. The only problem is that I had school from 10:00 until 5:00. And all stores besides bars close at 5:00. I'm not really a drinker. Dang it! I really could have used a free ride to Sydney! I still might go just to walk around. I bet the trains are crowded lol.

I like Australia a lot, and if I didn't have a family I would probably live here. But I could never leave my family. I love the familiarity of the U.S. and I like that I can own a gun in the U.S. but I like the way of life better in Australia. Their saying is "no worries" and literally, they don't have any. They don't get stressed out about everything here. It's okay to be relaxed. It's okay to be comfortable. It's okay to ask questions. It's okay to have fun. They are active people. I seriously haven't seen any people bigger than me here. People walk or bike instead of drive- even to get groceries. And let me tell you that you MUST be fit in order to carry your groceries miles back to your apartment!!

I like that Australia has so much too. It has desert, rainforest, tundra, grassland, and every kind of geography you can think of. I can't wait to see more of it.

Australias minimum wage is $16. Yeah, things are expensive here, but not THAT expensive. You would still be better off here with getting $16 an hour compared to the U.S. $7.50 or whatever it is now. Things are only slightly more expensive. Except nail polish. That's insane here. $30 or more for a small bottle!! But most people here don't even get minimum wage. Philip makes $26 an hour with no education in the field he is working in. Australias economy is so much better because they make their own crap. You won't find hardly anything made in any other country. Even little trinkets usually made in China. No wonder they're not affected by this global economic crisis. I wish the U.S. was more like that.

I joined the campus gym today. It was kind of expensive for my college student self, but it's really nice and I want to change my ways. I want to be more active and I want to take care of myself. My goal has always been to live to be 100, so I have to work for it!

This coming weekend is Philips birthday. I'm taking him to the Blue Mountains on the weekend of the 27th. The Blue Mountains are on the edge of Sydney. We're staying at some fancy lodge right on the edge of the mountain overlooking the valley. I'm really excited! I can't wait to go. We were going to New Zealand, but we are going to save our money and wait and go later on this semester.

Tonight I'm finally going to see the movie Inception. I'm excited! My friends and I have wanted to see it for a while. Last time we were on our way to go but it was too cold to walk there lol. So we ate cookies instead lol. This time we are going even if it's cold lol.

I need to quickly get ready and get some homework before the movie, but I will update this again soon. I miss you all!

Brittaney

P.S. Everyone in my apartment besides me and Montana have gotten mail now! What the crap people! Get on that =P