No such thing as bagels

Today was a bit of an adventure. I went out with Denning and Blair (two other interns) in attempts to find bus passes and how to get to work in the morning. We are all working at different places, but Denning is working close by and we will most likely be taking the same buses. We tried some of the newstands, but were only able to get daily and weekly passes. We got a one way pass and finally caught a bus to central station. After asking the very nice man at the ticket counter what on earth we wanted to get for where we were going, we formed a line of about 10 people behind us. That was probably because we took about 5 minutes each to make a decision and figure it out. I ended up buying a quarterly ticket (which is 3 months) for area 1, which should get me to work and downtown as much as I want (at least that is what I think it should do haha). It cost me about $450, which is $450 more then I was hoping to spend while I was here, but I have to get to work and a 2 hour walk is not exactly my top option. We then attempted to find out way back to the hotel and had to ask about 5 people if we were going the right way.

I was able to skype with Mom and Mackenzie today, which was great. Louie was there too, but he was woken up and did not seem to care that I was on the computer. I should be able to skype with people on most weekends. Weekdays are a little harder because people (including myself) are working and then most of the time that I am awake the US is asleep and vice versa. I also got to skype with Tal for about an hour today, which was very nice. It has been almost a month now since I have actually had the chance to see him and not just talk on the phone.

After skyping everyone I decided to brave the grocery store solo. That was an adventure! I tried to just get some basic stuff, but wandered around like a lost puppy. I was going to get some fresh lunch meat for sandwiches, however I have yet to master the differences between pounds and kilograms, which threw me off and made it too difficult to figure out how much to ask for. I got some fruit, bread, yogurt (which they do not sell in packets of 4), mac and cheese (which is only sold in big boxes). I also had to get some english muffins (since they do not sell bagels!!!), they also do not have Skippy or many Kellogg products. I was really hoping for some honey nut cherrios, but unfortunately Australia has not hopped on that train yet. Something else I noticed at the grocery store was that Kraft produces EVERYTHING here...beans, spagetti in cans, pasta, peanut butter. I have never seen so many Kraft products. I ended up spending about $50 at the grocery store and I am hoping that everything I got should last me through the week.

Tomorrow is my first day of work. I am a little nervous, but also very excited to explore a new area of Sydney and get settled into my job. I think I am more nervous about actually getting to work then being at work. I have a general sense and I have bus numbers and now my bus pass, but I still know there is a high chance of me getting lost. I will definitely let you all know how my first day of work goes tomorrow, in hopes that I actually make it there first haha. Tomorrow is the first day of what I really came here for and a rude awakening to my days of relaxation and no responsibilities since getting here.