Next on the list are my thank yous. Thank you to: all Rotary Clubs of District 5910, Rotary Club of Beaumont, Rotary Club of Spindletop, Rotary Club of Bridge City, Second Baptist Baytown, Calvary, Lamar and Freedom, Teresa Simpson, Sandra Urban, Werner Rose, RITS, Chuck and Becky Mason. Thank you for your financial and emotional assistance before and during my departure! Thank you to Mom for continuing to sacrifice time and time again! To my family and friends for their excitement and encouragement. Thank you to the love of my life, Brian. I miss you.
So, I did land last Friday at 7:30pm-ish at the Sydney Airport. I had had quite a long journey, since RITS decided to send me around the world...literally! I flew from IAH to London, then to Singapore and finally to Sydney. I can say that London is a beautiful city, as is Singapore. After all, I got to see tiny slivers of their sky as I walked to my terminals. What a way to see a city! On the plane to London, I was asked to move seats because the flight attendant's seat was messed up. Where did they put me, you ask? CLUB SEATING!! That's right, I have now experienced the luxury of paying a couple hundred extra dollars for free! I played with the reclining chair/bed, had a complimentary bottle of wine, fruits, all the entertainment I could want, and best of all, a hot towel! Now, I didn't really know what to do with the hot towel, so I just nodded politely to the attendant as I sneaked a look at what everyone else was doing. It was okay, I guess, but the towels smell funny. A similar thing occured on the way from Singapore to Sydney! I was to be in the very last seat of the very last row and got to switch to a seat with plenty of leg room because a boyfriend and his girlfriend got seperated. Honestly, I think God just added these little things to make my trip even more exciting! He's just loving like that. :D
Anyway, Sydney... So I got my baggage and felt my heart race just a bit as I neared the area where everyone's waiting for their loved ones/friends/what-not. Here I was, where I never thought I would be. A new country, for a year. What in the world was I doing!?!
As I turned the corner, I strained to find the familiar face I had etched into my memory. My host counselor in Sydney, John D'Alessandri, and I had exchanged photos for this very purpose. Finally, I saw him, a man of medium stature with a crown of white hair and a friendly smile, holding up a piece of paper with the name "Josemary" written on it. I chuckled as I thought, "Mom, I don't think anyone will ever spell my name correctly the first time. Thank you!"
John's wife, Marie, had accompanied him, and as we approached each other, we all had huge smiles on our faces. John and I shook hands, yet when I turned to Marie, she semi-slapped my hand out of the way and reached out to give me a big, warm hug. "Oh yeah," I thought. "We're going to get along just fine!"
After getting lost in the parking lot (thanks, John! ;)), we drove through the city that would become my new home, the night sky illumined by fantastic buildings and the famous edifices of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Now, keep in mind I had been traveling thousands of miles above the earth for roughly 3 days, sleeping only about eight hours in sporadic fits of exhaustion. Yet, somehow, I was wide awake as I attempted to tell Marie and John everything about my 22 years of existence on this planet, asking questions every now and again about their own lives. We arrived at the house, a stately residence in a lovely neighborhood of avenues and winding paths, and I was shown my room and bathroom. One way to describe the D'Alessandri abode: sweet! It's very comfortable, and although it is much, MUCH larger than any house I've ever lived in, it reminds me of home somehow.
Going into detail about each day will cause this entry to be far too long, so I'll just give one paragraph about the entire experience. Here goes!
I've visited the Conservatorium (affectionately dubbed "the Con") and have enrolled and taken care of all the nitty-gritty details. My voice teacher is in Brisbane doing the opera Fidelio and won't be back until next week. In the meantime, I've had the privilege of taking a few lessons with the Chair of the vocal department, Maree Ryan. She is fabulous and although straightforward, very encouraging. She's really made my entry into the vocal department a delight. I've met a few people: Laura and Kayla D'Alessandri, John and Marie's daughters. Kayla's 19 and Laura is 23. Both are very nice girls. I've also met Faeron, who is from Canada. She and I met through the international coordinator of the Con, Elaine. Faeron and I were to be roommates in case I couldn't find residence on my own. She's studying flute and may be dealing with music education in an administrative sense one day. I've told her about my vision for the future and she finds it interesting -- perhaps I've made my first recruitment! Speaking of... John's been great about getting me plugged into various Rotary organizations in the area. I've already met with the Rotaract Club of Sydney and plan on presenting for them. I will also be presenting to my Host Club, the Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour (the "Darlings") this next Wednesday, and then to the Presidents' Meeting for District 9750 that Friday. John and I came to a concensus that in August I won't be presenting at all so that I can really get a bearing for my schooling, something which I look forward to. Marie's cooking is da bomb diggaty and I believe I'm starting to gain a few pounds!! (that's a good thing)
So, I did land last Friday at 7:30pm-ish at the Sydney Airport. I had had quite a long journey, since RITS decided to send me around the world...literally! I flew from IAH to London, then to Singapore and finally to Sydney. I can say that London is a beautiful city, as is Singapore. After all, I got to see tiny slivers of their sky as I walked to my terminals. What a way to see a city! On the plane to London, I was asked to move seats because the flight attendant's seat was messed up. Where did they put me, you ask? CLUB SEATING!! That's right, I have now experienced the luxury of paying a couple hundred extra dollars for free! I played with the reclining chair/bed, had a complimentary bottle of wine, fruits, all the entertainment I could want, and best of all, a hot towel! Now, I didn't really know what to do with the hot towel, so I just nodded politely to the attendant as I sneaked a look at what everyone else was doing. It was okay, I guess, but the towels smell funny. A similar thing occured on the way from Singapore to Sydney! I was to be in the very last seat of the very last row and got to switch to a seat with plenty of leg room because a boyfriend and his girlfriend got seperated. Honestly, I think God just added these little things to make my trip even more exciting! He's just loving like that. :D
Anyway, Sydney... So I got my baggage and felt my heart race just a bit as I neared the area where everyone's waiting for their loved ones/friends/what-not. Here I was, where I never thought I would be. A new country, for a year. What in the world was I doing!?!
As I turned the corner, I strained to find the familiar face I had etched into my memory. My host counselor in Sydney, John D'Alessandri, and I had exchanged photos for this very purpose. Finally, I saw him, a man of medium stature with a crown of white hair and a friendly smile, holding up a piece of paper with the name "Josemary" written on it. I chuckled as I thought, "Mom, I don't think anyone will ever spell my name correctly the first time. Thank you!"
John's wife, Marie, had accompanied him, and as we approached each other, we all had huge smiles on our faces. John and I shook hands, yet when I turned to Marie, she semi-slapped my hand out of the way and reached out to give me a big, warm hug. "Oh yeah," I thought. "We're going to get along just fine!"
After getting lost in the parking lot (thanks, John! ;)), we drove through the city that would become my new home, the night sky illumined by fantastic buildings and the famous edifices of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Now, keep in mind I had been traveling thousands of miles above the earth for roughly 3 days, sleeping only about eight hours in sporadic fits of exhaustion. Yet, somehow, I was wide awake as I attempted to tell Marie and John everything about my 22 years of existence on this planet, asking questions every now and again about their own lives. We arrived at the house, a stately residence in a lovely neighborhood of avenues and winding paths, and I was shown my room and bathroom. One way to describe the D'Alessandri abode: sweet! It's very comfortable, and although it is much, MUCH larger than any house I've ever lived in, it reminds me of home somehow.
Going into detail about each day will cause this entry to be far too long, so I'll just give one paragraph about the entire experience. Here goes!
I've visited the Conservatorium (affectionately dubbed "the Con") and have enrolled and taken care of all the nitty-gritty details. My voice teacher is in Brisbane doing the opera Fidelio and won't be back until next week. In the meantime, I've had the privilege of taking a few lessons with the Chair of the vocal department, Maree Ryan. She is fabulous and although straightforward, very encouraging. She's really made my entry into the vocal department a delight. I've met a few people: Laura and Kayla D'Alessandri, John and Marie's daughters. Kayla's 19 and Laura is 23. Both are very nice girls. I've also met Faeron, who is from Canada. She and I met through the international coordinator of the Con, Elaine. Faeron and I were to be roommates in case I couldn't find residence on my own. She's studying flute and may be dealing with music education in an administrative sense one day. I've told her about my vision for the future and she finds it interesting -- perhaps I've made my first recruitment! Speaking of... John's been great about getting me plugged into various Rotary organizations in the area. I've already met with the Rotaract Club of Sydney and plan on presenting for them. I will also be presenting to my Host Club, the Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour (the "Darlings") this next Wednesday, and then to the Presidents' Meeting for District 9750 that Friday. John and I came to a concensus that in August I won't be presenting at all so that I can really get a bearing for my schooling, something which I look forward to. Marie's cooking is da bomb diggaty and I believe I'm starting to gain a few pounds!! (that's a good thing)
I officially start school today, although my classes don't really have a "set schedule". I'll explain more in my next entry. Ta ta!
