Post-Vacation Slump

This week has consisted of dragging myself out of the post-vacation slump, as I like to call it. I am so spoiled, that returning to Sydney, Australia can put me into a grumpy mood, but it has. All of the excitement of seeing new places, eating at new restaurants, seeing beautiful views, is gone. Also, I have quite a lot of work to do (nothing compared to if I was at Marist right now, but compared to the rest of the semester, a lot) that I just can't seem to start. The earliest deadline is Friday, May 8 (which is really May 9 for me because it's on Eastern time), but it is a 10-12 page paper that I could potentially do a really thorough job on, if I leave enough time, so I really need to get started on that one. Following that, I have a 4 page paper due for my culture class due on May 10, a proposal for my honors project due on May 20, and my 8-10 page internship paper (pass/fail -- how am I going to find motivation for that one?!) that I want to finish before Alex gets here. I also need to be working on my cover letter for the internship I am applying for for the fall semester. Slightly overwhelmed. More frustrating is that I have had all week to start all of these, and I have found thousands of ways to procrastinate instead... some of these ended up being great though. On Thursday night, I dragged myself out of bed, into the shower, and into the city to meet up with Isabel and all of her friends from her English-language school. I talked with people from Brazil, Germany, France, Korea, Japan, Spain... I think that's it. It was such an eye-opening night, and I got to learn about so many different cultures. Then, Friday, for some reason I was motivated to exercise when I woke up and decided to go on a run. I mapped out where I would go, my destination: the Sugarloaf Bay. The map was somewhat unclear on how close I would actually be able to get to the bay, but I decided to try. I ran/power walked to the head of the trail and then ventured in. On the trail, I saw beautiful wildflowers (some that I have not encountered before -- and I didn't bring my camera :-(), huge spiders and big rock outcroppings. I almost gave up before I made it to the bay, but I decided to power on to the place that was marked by a lookout icon on the map. It was a beautiful spot and I decided to stop to take a rest. On my way back, I happened to look into one of the trees, and saw a bird that I thought looked like an owl. I was pretty sure it couldn't be, because it was daytime, but I asked my hostdad when I got back, and he named the owl he thought it was (which of course, I can't remember now...). I just stopped and watched it for about 3 minutes, and it didn't fly away. So cool. I made my way back to the house, ate, showered, and then went into the city to meet Isabel and Hiroko - the Japanese girl who is living in the homestay too. We walked to Circular Quay and the Opera House, trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to get some pictures of the bridge, opera house and city at night.

Then, we walked across the bridge and took in the brightly-lit skyline.
Petra had made us dinner that we had when we finally got home (we HATE the 208 bus which takes us far out of the way, making it take forever to get home) - pasta with mushrooms and ham - very yummy!