A Windy Skywalk and Trees That Talk

It seems as though every time I finally get caught up with my thoughts and am able to sit down and write about my day's adventures, I'm up and running with the next one! This weekend was my big sightseeing weekend and my host family made sure I saw all of Sydney- from every angle! Elizabeth, Rachel, Sarah and I made our way into the city on Saturday morning for the impressive city "skywalk" at Sydney tower for a birds-eye view of the city. It wasn't until we were strapped into our harnesses that our tour guide asked if we were scared of heights- this was not for the faint of heart! Sydney tower is the largest freestanding building in the city, over 80 stories tall and from the observation deck, you can see miles and miles in every direction. As we donned our sexy blue "smurf" suits that would help with the wind, our tour guide told us about the famous Sydney Tower "run-up," where runners raced up the 1,504 stairs to the top (record: 6 minutes and 52 seconds, which is 3 steps every second...the whole way up! whew!). Once strapping our harnesses to the track, he lead us out onto the starting platform, asking "Are you ready for your jump?!...Er, I mean tour?" scaring a few members of our group in the process. As I walked out onto the clear glass platform, I could see all of Sydney both under my feet and expanding out for miles before me. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Our tour guide gave me a little bit more of a historic background behind Sydney Harbor, as most of my knowledge was based on a lovely little film called "Finding Nemo." Little known fact: Sydney Harbor is actually the name of a harbor in Canada- the official name of the one here is Port Jackson. Leaning over the railing, we shouted down into the streets, hearing our echo bounce back and confusing the pedestrians below us!

Sarah, Rachel and me with the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House behind us

After sadly handing back our fashionable jumpsuits, we continued to make our way towards the harbor to get a closer view of Sydney's iconic sights.

Harbor Bridge

The Sydney Opera House is called the "copera" house by the Solomon Island people, after the coconut shells that it looks like. It's also self-cleaning; the building material is washed every time it rains. Not a bad deal. 

Didgeridoo player

My host family took me out for an amazing dinner in a revolving restaurant that looked out over the city, now lit up for the evening. We were even surprised with a firework show set off in Darling Harbor, supposedly a weekly event, but even more special this week for marking South Sudan's independence.

Rachel and Sarah took me out for the rest of the evening, showing me the city nightlife in true local fashion. I met 'heaps' of their friends (as they would say) and was educated in the rules of rugby while watching an Australian Rugby League (ARL) match.

Now those of you who are expecting me to return with an Aussie accent will be sorely disappointed, because besides the occasional 'G'day mate' or 'No worries,' I've managed to stick out with my very American speech. Much like the different regions in the U.S., there are also slight variations in speech in Australia, depending on where you've grown up. Speaking with the Aboriginal women last week, I can detect more of an outback drawl, while others have more of a British sounding speech. No matter how many times I've attempted it, I can't seem to make it sound authentic. Yesterday during morning mass, however, as we were reciting the Our Father aloud together, I subconsciously found myself dropping r's and softening a's- mimicking everyone's Australian accent!
The girls and I went into the city again on Sunday to explore Sydney's chinatown and to experience the traditional Chinese 'yum cha' lunch. Yum cha literally is translated as "drinking tea" and the meal is quick, chaotic and fun! Elizabeth described it as "eating heaps of food, served by fast-talking Chinese servers in a short amount of time!" Servers push around carts of food which you can select as they pass by to share for the table. They move fast and the hungry diners waiting in line after you want you to move even faster! I tried a little bit of everything: spring rolls, fried pork balls, prawn pockets, pork dumplings, rice noodles, sweet pork buns (my new favorite!) and of course cups and cups of tea.

To recover from our food coma, we took a walk to the Sydney Museum to see the new exhibit honoring of "Trees that Talk," honoring the Aboriginal culture. Outside of the building were wooden tree trunks, each carved with Aboriginal words and fitted with speakers so that it sounded like they were singing traditional Aboriginal music. Once inside, I toured exhibits about Sydney's beginnings and was interested to find just how closely its formation, growth and expansion followed the general pattern of America's beginning.
I finished off the evening by going to watch Sarah's water polo match for her university club. After all the walking and sightseeing the past few days, I was exhausted just watching the match!
As I'm writing this, it's already been a week since I've arrived and the people I've met and my experiences with them have been incredible! Another busy week coming up- I'll keep you posted!