Day Five: Top 3 foods, growing?, day's reflection

1. Vegemite, although my initial though was that this is one of the most disgusting foods I've ever tasted, it's my number one top food. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Then, I learned the secret of putting on loads of butter and a thin layer of Vegemite, so the second day I had a round two. The next time it wasn't too bad. Australia and New Zealand's Vegemite is an experience in itself.

2. Pavlova, honestly I was looking forward to trying this famous cake. Although it had the texture and taste similar to marshmallows, pavlova is way better than them. I learned that pavlova is really only eaten at Christmas. We were lucky to be able to eat it two nights in a row.

3. L&P Soda, It tasted similar to sprite, but minus the lime and with even more lemon. I heard of this through our Rangitoto exchange friends. I tried it the first day we were in New Zealand and fell in love with it, and now that we're in Australia they don't have it! I miss drinking L&P already.

I know I'm growing when I don't complain about the pouring rain because I want to make the best of my time here because I don't know if I'll ever be here again. I know I'm growing when I've fully accepted the culture. I know I've accepted the culture when things stop seeming weird, or I don't compare things to home. Making the best of this trip has become my specialty. So far this trip I haven't missed out on any opportunities, and I don't plan to. I am not going to come home regretting I didn't do something for the rest of my life. I am living a dream, a dream that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Today we got to sleep in a little...until 8. We got on the bus and took a bus tour of the city. There was a GREAT view of the Opera House and the Bridge together also some rock that you could climb on, it was really fun. Then, we went by the ocean where we saw a seal swimming in the water! Our next stop was Bondi beach. Reilly and I jumped into the water, we got soaking wet but it was fun. Also we wrote in the sand, and just had a good time. We got to see dried up blue jellyfish on the shore which was pretty cool. Then, we drove back to the opera house and we went inside. Sadly we didn't get to go inside the concert hall because there was a band playing. Unfortunately it was pouring rain again. For the first time I realized how massive it really is. What an astounding piece of architecture. Then, we went on a harbor cruise. We were able to see sailboat sailing by and get different views of the Opera House and the Bridge. The harbor cruise dropped us off at the Wild life Center where we got to see all kinds of Australian animals like wallabies, wombats, kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles, poisonous spiders and snakes, and cassowaries. Finally we went back to our hotel, and we had a bunch of people hangout in our room, so we played games. Today was really awesome.