Friday morning is my 'early' start for uni during the week, where I'm faced with the unenviable task of getting up and taking the short walk to campus for my class which begins at 10am. It's a hard life. Since my timetable doesn't change from week to week, I still only had the one class - 4 hours of Commercial Dispute Resolution. After being a little shocked at just how much I enjoyed the first seminar of this particular course, my fingers were crossed that it wasn't simply the lecturer filling the first class with all the interesting, fun content, which would then be followed by drab legislation and power-point slides. However, I wasn't dissapointed and the class was once again one of the most engaging and enjoyable of the week. During this particular class we had an hour long talk from Derek Minus, a barrister who also practices in the fields of mediation and arbitration - his expertise and knowledge were vast and it was really interesting listening to his real life applications of the theories we were learning. Another good day at uni done and dusted.
The rest of Friday was pretty much my ideal day - totally football orientated. I went home after class, made some lunch and fired up Football Manager on my laptop. This was just a little stop-gap before I got changed and headed back up to the uni campus for the now weekly game of football with a collection of truly mixed students - guys, a couple of girls, people from Europe, Brazil, Australia and several countries in Asia too. It was another really enjoyable game and we played until the light forced us to call the next goal the winner, and I headed home. Shattered. Friday night meant that it was time for Rio Ferdinand's testimonial match, which would be kicking off at 7.30pm back home in the UK - I had the pleasure of setting the alarm on my phone for 4.25am in order to get up and watch the game. By the time the full time whistle was blown I was half wishing that I hadn't bothered since my team lost 3-1 and we didn't play very well either. Back to bed and I slept in till around 12 noon on Saturday before I got up, made some 'breakfast' and had a shower. I didn't really do very much on Saturday afternoon, except go to the shops for some groceries, and a look in some clothes shops which I hadn't been in before, and finally to go into the post office to find the prices for sending things home. Turns out it's quite expensive, so I may have to rethink my plans to send anything back until I get a job!
The weather forecast for Sunday was for wall to wall sunshine and warm temperatures - granted, it is often like that here, but we're moving towards the real nice weather now! Jessica, Alex and I made plans to go and visit the Royal Botanical Gardens, near the harbour front and enjoy a day in the sunshine. We caught the train at Central which took us down to Circular Quay, taking in another stunning view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - we commented that we didn't think the novelty of seeing that view would ever wear off! The Botanic Gardens are literally right next to the Opera House in Sydney, so we took the opportunity to walk around the famous wave-shaped building before wandering around the gardens for a while. Most of the gardens aren't even in proper bloom yet, and they're still spectacular - it's quite amazing that I'm actually living and studying in such a nice place right now. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, once more.
In order: from the gardens looking back towards the skyscrapers of the CBD; a very brave duck who wanted some bread whilst we were eating lunch; and a whole load of people enjoying food, drink and music in the sunshine by the harour-side.
Almost every day I have to sort of remind myself that I'm actually on the other side of the world. The other thing is that the time is simply flying by - I've been here almost a month already, and we're into our third week of classes at uni! Unbelievable! Karin told me before I left that I had to make sure to try and be aware of all the things I was doing, take everything in, and appreciate it whilst it lasts and I'm certainly trying to stick to her advice.
After returning home, a few of us in the flat decided to cook dinner together - we overestimated things a bit and ended up with considerably more food than required, but it was a strong effort for Sunday dinner. Below there's photographic proof that I'm eating well, for the benefit of my mum! Sunday night brought another football match, this time the season curtain raiser as Man Utd took on Wigan in the Community Shield. This time since it was only a 2pm kick off back home, it meant a much more respectable 11pm kick off over here. I can tell it's going to be a season of long nights and tired days in pursuit of supporting my team this year!
Today is now Monday and I've had another full day of classes at uni. Afterwards I came home, chilled out for a little while and made some dinner for myself. Stuck the TV on when I was cooking to see that there was an episode of Top Gear on; it's really strange watching it here because it seems lasts for much longer given the inclusion of adverts! I've also just not long finished watching the first episode of the new series of Breaking Bad and it was even better than expected! Anyone who doesn't watch it, then start from the beginning and you'll be hooked in no time at all. Great show!
A quick mention of things which are happening at home right now; good luck to Cameron on his sailing trip - it'll be mega, but you'll probably be sea sick at some stage! Hope Andy and Hayley have a brilliant holiday in Tunisia; and lastly the same for Jason, Dean, Jack and Gareth in Cancun. Definitely missing my pals!
Also, I forgot to mention in my last post a massive well done to my sister, Kerry, on doing superbly in her Standard Grades. I hope if you haven't pestered mum and dad into buying you an iPhone by now, that it's definitely on your to-do list!
Until next time,
Jamie
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