A lesson in Aussie talk

G'day mates! Today's post will be dedicated to my very own limited dictionary that I've been compiling since I've been here:

g'day: hello
sheila: lady
yoghurt: yogurt
or-ah-GAHN-oh: oregano
PRIM-airy: primary
bush fires: forest fires (a HUGE problem all around the country, considering it was 106 deg F yesterday in Sydney...AND our AC in the apartment doesn't work)
air con: A/C
cozi: swimsuit
chemist: pharmacy
woop woop: out in the middle of nowhere
lift: elevator
aluminium: aluminum
lobstered: sunburnt
take-away: to-go
sun cream: sunblock
humid: NOT anything close to Maryland humidity
inexpensive: a fast food meal less than $10, a 6-pack of beer less than $40 -___-
tim-tams: delicious heavenly cookies
vegemite: gross vitamin spread
blowy: windy
sunnies: sunglasses
train: metro

Yesterday we took a tour of the University of New South Wales under the direction of the manager of Photovoltatic Research (who is actually from California).  It was actually really cool to see all of the solar-panel research, although it was 106 degrees outside, which was not ideal for standing next to the panels :P Our guide, Robert, was really funny and even did experiments with us- our very own Bill Nye!

Afterwards, we met with the director of Sydney's New Year's Eve event, which was SO COOL. He told us all about the logistics of planning the fireworks (they start planning 15 months out), all of the exclusive events, and even about cool smart phone apps that can be used during New Year's.

I will say I'm kinda bummed about the night-life here.  Considering it's the city, everything closes SUPER early (like 8 PM) unless you want to go out to a bar, in which case you have to dress up and be prepared to spend $9 on a beer (and as it turns out, I'm not even a fan of beer).  But in terms of the museums, parks, shopping and other public attractions, everything is closed early, so by the time we get out of class there isn't a lot to do.  I guess that's why our instructors have been giving us all the homework that we have, to fill our limited amount of free time!

Today we have our marketing presentations all day, but we get out around 3, so a couple of us girls are gonna hit up the mall and go SHOPPING WOOOO!!!  Tomorrow after our scheduled events a small group of us are taking a train into Katoomba to stay in a hostel overnight and get up early the next morning to hike the Blue Mountains (the Aussie equivalent of the Grand Canyon).  Should be a good time, given that my sunburn goes away by then :P

I'll check in later!