Okay, so I’ll warn you now, this blog update is going to be a MUCH longer than the past ones, so only start reading this when you actually have time to…or if you’re just bored. BUT PLEASE READ IT EVENTUALLY!
So, yeah! Once again, I am sorry to say that it has taken me forever to give you guys some updates. However, that just means that I’ve been keeping busy and time has been flying by. Right now, we’re past the half way point and the countdown to come home has begun! So let me start from where I left off…
So, SURF CAMP was AWESOME! We went out four times for 2 hours sessions and yes, I surfed. It was surprisingly not as hard as some people say. Granted I wasn’t absolutely incredible, I was pretty proud of myself because not only could I stand up, but I could also ride the wave almost all the way to the shore and turn as well. As you may have seen on my facebook, there is proof that I did indeed stand up.
A week or two after that, our whole program took a trip (all teachers and 125 students) to Melbourne from February 15th-18th. It was a great time and it was awesome to see exactly how different the two biggest cities in Australia are. I even had to do a report on exactly how different the two cities are. Sydney, if had to be compared to a city in the US, would probably be like an LA, with maybe the fashion of New York. The clubs are right out on the big streets and if you go out, you go to a pretty popular bar with a big dance floor. In Melbourne, although SOME of those places existed, the main place to party was in down in the alleys, or as they call them, the laneways. These are darker alleys that connect the big streets, but hold smaller bars where a whole bunch of people go. For example, we went one night to this small bar called St. Jeromes. All it was was a small one room bar and then a back patio that was about 4x the size of the bar where a DJ just played very chill, reggae dance music and everyone either just hung out or danced. It was so different from the normal clubs for a number of reasons, one being that guys and girls shared the same dirty 4-stall bathroom and another being that the smell of marijuana was constantly in the air. Another night, me and a few friends went to a small, very relaxing jazz club where a 3-person jazz band was putting on a small performance. It was so different compared to anything we usually do in Sydney, let alone the U.S. One final thing that I made sure that I did while I was there was go to the ACMI, the Australian Center for the Moving Image. They had a whole bunch of different exhibits from different movie sets, from the Shining to the Matrix and from the Terminal to the newly released Australia. They had a million different miniature models from the different sets of movies, especially The Terminal and Australia. Did you know that for the movie the Terminal, they actually built an airport to film the movie?? Impressive, huh? That was just one of a hundred things I learned that day and was EXTREMELY satisfied upon leaving the museum, completely inspired to continue my pursuit to Hollywood.
Then a week or 2 went by with just the usual schedule. One week was very relaxing, just heading to the beach with not much work to do. However, the last week was hell with 1 project, 1 big paper, and 2 finals. On a good note though, the final project for my film production class was to make a short film, so my partner, James, and I went out for lunch one day a few weeks earlier and discussed exactly what we wanted to do, and ultimately agreed upon a short drama/romance film. After a few days of filming and a good 3 or 4 days of editing, we finalized are 8 minute film and debuted it to about 75 of the students in the program along with the 6 other students in our class and their films. Needless to say, I was very happy with the final project and if anyone would like to see it, just let me know and I’ll make sure I can somehow get you a copy or just let you view it.
Then, the day after that viewing, we had our last final exam and then went straight from there to pick up our bags in our rooms and head out for spring break. I went to Cairns for 6 days and then sailing on the Whitsundays over the Great Barrier Reef for a night with my roommate Mike and my two friends Adam and Bo. Needless to say, it was the most awesome, yet extreme and intense week of my life (not to mention expensive). However, it was worth every penny. The day after we got there, we went on a cruise of the Great Barrier Reef and snorkeled. Some people were deciding to scuba dive, and considering it wasn’t that much extra, I decided that there would be no other opportunity in my life (most likely) to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef, so I did and do not regret it at all. We swam alongside sea turtles and so many different fish. There were stingrays at the bottom covered by sand and eventually started moving towards us, which kinda scared me but I still enjoyed it. I even saw Nemo and the little section of the coral that he lived in! It was incredible. The next day we went White Water Rafting on the Tully River which was awesome. The rapids were much more intense than I was expecting but so much fun. At some points our raft was completely underwater as we went down different rapids. We were even able to go cliff jumping into the water at some points (which I’ve been dying to do) and the highest point that we jumped from was 30 feet (much higher than it sounds) but I loved it. The next 2 days we had an overnight trip in the rain forest at this place called Cape Tribulation. I didn’t do much there, but I did walk to beach, feed flies to HUGE spiders, and sat by the pool reading a book a drinking a pina colada. Talk about living the dream. The day after we got back from that was THE extreme day. I finally did what I’ve been dying to do for the past 4 years of my life- Skydive. Needless to say, I do believe it may’ve been the best experience of my life and highly, HIGHLY recommend that anyone who even considers doing it should definitely try it. 2 hours after that, I was bungy-jumping from 164 feet in the air, which although the skydive was the best experience of my life, bungy-jumping was WITHOUT A DOUBT the scariest (besides a car accident 4 years ago). But anyways, yeah, it was insane, and I had the opportunity to buy the video, but I didn’t because I watched it and was way too embarrassed because I seriously looked like I was going to crap myself I looked so terrified.
Then we were scheduled to spend 2 days sailing on the Whitsundays. We went out for one night on the boat, sharing stories with the other people on the boat and drinking wine while watching an incredible sunset. Strangely enough, I met someone on the boat who knew a good friend of mine, Kevin Smart, and also was best friends with kids who I was best friends with when I was 5 years old. Small world, right? Then we hung out on the beach for a little the next day, but had to come back into shore due to a Category 5 Cyclone. For those of you who don’t really know, cyclones are basically the same exact thing as hurricanes. So yeah, it was supposed to hit exactly where we were…meaning it could’ve been disastrous and quite possibly fatal, but for some reason we were never hit by it, so we just hopped on the airplane as quick as possible and came back to Sydney. I do not believe I will have a better spring break in my life (especially considering I really only have one more left). Anyways, so I’m back here now, counting the days down. My internship starts tomorrow at a place called Core3 Productions. They’re working on a new show which is somewhat like Entourage so I’m going to be helping them with the whole production process. They mentioned that they would want me to travel to Perth in Western Australia with them, so if possible, I definitely will. I started my last class today as well- The Australian Wine Industry. I’ll update you guys on how that’s going.
On a final note, I’m very very upset that I could not have been home these past 2 weeks for a number of reasons, but one especially in particular. Sometimes I feel very guilty being all the way out here and having no way to be with anyone at home, especially when they need it. Just know that I AM counting the days down to return home and see all of you soon again. But for now, take care, and there is no way I’m going to let myself ignore this blog any longer. I will update you more often….hopefully.
Cheers from the other side of the world, Skippy
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