Erik and Carla in Australia 2019: The students are here, the students are here!

Erik and I returned to Sydney on January 2nd. A friend from Tiona, David Drake, drove us to Newcastle, where we caught the train to Central Station. Thanks David, that was super sweet of you! He and Erik had bonded earlier when performing a duet of sorts to "Satisfaction" for the talent show. We brought an uber to International House, which is a dormitory/college of the University of Sydney. Erik and I have a room with a mini fridge and a bathroom. Sweet! It was about 90 degrees when we arrived and our room was a sauna. Thankfully they found us a fan and we bought a second one.

A friend, Julian, from Tiona, had recommended Camp Cove at Watson's Bay so we went there on the 3rd. It was a gorgeous walk on the South Head of the bay. We shared some fish and chips. On the 4th, Nat and her family arrived. Nat is our wonderful leader. She works for GED, Global Education Design, and has organized all of the details for this trip. We loved seeing her again! Her husband, Ken and 7 year old daughter, Mira, and Ken's Mum, Chris were with Nat. They invited us to dinner on Glebe Street. We ate at a Japanese Ramen restaurant and it was yummy! So great to visit with them!

January 5th-all the students arrived, either on flights at the airport, or at International House if they'd come to Sydney a day or two early. All of the flights were on time and everyone got their luggage. Erik and Nat went to meet them. It's great to be all together.

After settling into their rooms we had an orientation meeting. It's tricky because they are so tired from traveling and there is heaps of new information, but all went well. Then Nat led us down to the Shopping Centre where we could all buy food for lunches. Erik and I also purchased laundry soap and sunscreen and aloe for the students to use. (LC pays for those kinds of items, which are greatly appreciated.)

Sunday, we headed out on a bus tour of Sydney with Moshe. We stopped at several places to look around: The Opera House, Mrs. Macquarie's Chair and Bondi Beach. We actually stayed at Bondi Beach long enough for a swim, if wanted. Unfortunately it was about 70 degrees and a bit rainy so only a handful of students played in the ocean. Erik and I walked around town and went to a market, similar to Saturday Market in Portland, ate our sandwiches and then went to the beach. The rain had stopped by then. During the afternoon/evening, Erik and Nat met with each student to talk to them about the individual research projects that they will do as part of their "Contemporary Australia" course.

Twenty-three students are on the trip with us and they are wonderful people. We are looking forward to spending the next 3+ months with them.

I'd forgotten that the Opera House is made up of many, many tiles. Fun to see it close up.

Hanging out at Bondi Beach, where the first surf lifesaving club started in 1907. The lifeguards are volunteers. They place flags at the parts of the beach which are safest from rip tides and patrol for sharks too.