Ello Mates!

Okay so its 8 a.m. here on Saturday (...5 p.m. Friday for Texas) I dont even know where to start.. So i got here on Monday (your Sunday) the flight was actually so amazing, I was in first class the whole way so it was basically my heaven. I got to lay down the whole time, watch movies, play games and all while someone brought me delicious food whenever i wanted :] so you guys obviously know i enjoyed it wayyy too much! This week Andrew and i have gone all over the place, the first day i got here i went to a Norwegian Independence Party in the park in the middle of Sydney with Andrew's norwegian friend Oyven, and it made me realize how boring I am! Norwegians like to dress up really fancy all the time, so they were all looking super cute, could speak english and norwegian and every single person there was tall, blonde, and had blue gorgeous eyes, it was seriously exactly what you would think. They also thought it was the funniest thing ever when I knew the signs for "west side" and "east side" they think people really throw up gang signs all over America hahahah... We've also been all over the city, to the harbour, chinatown, yesterday we went to the aquarium.. I can go out here because the legal age is 18 so we've tried a few cool pubs and stuff (i still feel like im doing something wrong drinking in public lol) BUT my favorite part was on Wednesday night we went to the original Hillsong Church that's here in Sydney and it obviously had really awesome worship music!

Sydney reminds me so much of New York City the only difference is everywhere you go here people are speaking a different language.. Sydney has such a diverse population of people and so many people live here theres actually only like 30% real aussie's still living here so unfortunately I dont get to hear that cool accent all the time, but I have gotten to meet some of Andrews aussie friends he made at church and they really do say "mates" and so many other weird words here, I decided i'm going to make a list so I dont forget!

The Lingo Around Sydney
aussie word/ our word

chips= french fries
crisps= potato chips
chemist= pharmacy
nappies= diapers
pram = stroller
dooner = blanket
"How are you going" = how are you doing
goon = cheap wine
budgie smugglers= guys swimsuit
no worries = no problem, that's cool, forget about it
cheers= thanks!
bubbler= water fountain
leaves= salad
whacker= idiot

They also use the word "dollar" so it's confusing because they're talking about the australian dollar, which by the way their money is like bright cool colors, so much more fun to spend then ours! I've also had to learn to calculate celcius to fahrenheit and kilometers to miles, that's hard to get used to! Anyways there will be more words coming later, that's all I could think of for right now, I'll keep adding! Also here in Sydney Ugg boots are like uber popular, everything is really really expensive (but their minimum wage is $15).. like i'm talking for a 6 pack of beer its like $35 or more. It's fall so its cold in the evening and the leaves are falling (i feel like football season should be starting). Kids can work at the age of 12! so that's weird when a 12 year old boy is taking your order at a restaurant...And they drive on the other side of the road so its super confusing trying to figure out which direction to look when you're crossing the street, I'm surprised I haven't gotten run over yet. Okay so this is super long, but just a little bit of it. I have taken tons of pictures i'll have to post some on here when I get back to Austin, it is so gorgeous here i dont ever wanna leave. Andrew and I are flying up to northern Australia to a place called Byron Bay next week and it's a lot warmer so I'm gunna get to take surfing lessons and actually enjoy laying out at the beach!

I love you! and I can't wait to hear all about what you're doing!

Kayce :]