BU organized a boat cruise for the program tonight at the Sydney Harbour. At 4:15 pm, everyone gathered outside our apartment building, dressed to the nines. We began our walk to the harbor (what was thought to be about ten minutes) and showed up 20 minutes later sweaty, dripping messes. It's only 113 degrees out, don't forget. A natural sauna.
We boarded the boat and departed. Instead of taking advantage of my drink tickets, I downed water immediately. After taking a minute to collect myself, I looked around at the awe-striking beauty surrounding me. The cityscape was absolutely breathtaking.
It finally hit me -- i'm in Australia. Any reservations I had and inklings of homesickness were released and I was able to soak it all in. Being here makes me feel extremely fortunate. I celebrated this realization by turning in my drink tickets in exchange for Newton's Cider Beer.
We cruised around the harbor, over to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and then to the Sydney Opera House. I've only ever seen pictures online of heavily edited views of Sydney that were meant to be used as desktop screen savers. This was real life...and that was hard to wrap my head around. It was even more incredible to see in person.
It reminded me of a boat cruise my dad took me on of the New York Harbor a couple summers ago. We went because, although we've lived near NYC my whole life (and my dad commutes there for work every day), I've never done anything really touristy there. For me, seeing the Opera House was like seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time. You see pictures of it and recognize it as an important landmark, but don't process it all until you see it in person.
Dinner was served on the boat. After we docked, some friends and I walked around the harbor and considered going to a few bars. I have always loved cities in the nighttime more than daytime, and Sydney certainly applies.
In the end, my friend Nina and I walked home because we weren't feelin the bars (truth: our feet were blistered by poor shoe decisions and we're broke). Finding our way home was a test, but fun and a great way to get to know the city. Nina and I passed by Chinatown, several bars, and restaurants that we took note to return to.
Several blisters and back pains later, we made our way home. I love the feeling of being exhausted by fun and busy days. Being here makes me want to stay up as long as I can to take advantage of every minute I have here. Sydney is the type of city that makes it difficult to want to go to sleep.
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