Hey Guys!
As I had mentioned, my mother and grandmother left right before my birthday. Feels quite strange being across the world, with a 14-hour time difference for my birthday. I have to say as my birthday approached I felt extremely sad. My birthday hit in Sydney long before it did in America, which was also rather odd. Although I was quite sad about being away from friends and family on my birthday, my roommates tried their best to make my birthday special. Birthdays have always been a big celebration for me, as a child, as a teen, and still to this day.
My Birthday Celebration
My roommates went out and purchased a cake, as well as a piñata for the night of my birthday. They sang to me, and we proceeded to use a broom to knock the piñata down. The whole night was just full of laughter and happiness. Despite the fact that I was away from home, and my usual celebration, my birthday still felt special due to the fact that they made it that way.
My direct roommate, Nina, and one of my other roommates, Joshua brought me out to dinner at a very fancy restaurant. This was the moment my true American self completely stood out. Apparently, us Americans eat in such a way that we switch the hands we sue when eating, which I have honestly never noticed! Yet, it was the two of their goals that night to teach me how to properly eat! It’s been quite difficult since, since every time I eat now they insist I eat the right way but I am sure that with time I can adapt to it.
Human Body Exhibit
A few days after my birthday, Joshua and I saw that this human body exhibit was coming to Sydney. Basically, scientists preserve dead Chinese prisoners and use them as science. They cut the bodies open different ways to show how different muscles contract, how smokers lungs look, how fetuses look at different stages, etc. As gruesome as it may sound to some, the exhibit was absolutely amazing. Being a health science student, pursuing a career as a nurse practitioner, this was right up my alley. Unfortunately, I have never seen anything like this around me back at home. This is because these types of exhibits are actually quite controversial due to the fact that they are cutting open actual bodies without consent, as they are prisoners.
This day was followed by my favorite treat; gelato. The good part about Sydney is that everything around the city is accessible by the train and/or buses therefore exploring is quite simple. Upon completion of this astonishing exhibit, and gelato, we went to the pop-up theater which is much like the theater in London. They perform many Shakespeare shows such as Macbeth. One was actually going on at the time, so we snuck around and sat there watching it!
I’m lucky to have a roommate who is willing to get up and go on an adventure whenever we feel. This type of adventure is particularly nice because not only is it educational in the fact that its 100% in my line of future work, but it’s also nice to just walk around the area and see what else is around as the kids just getting out of school, or the soccer games happening, or rugby practice finishing up. Walking around this city is just so different than walking around my city back home.