Sydney is an expensive place to live. Candy bar: $2. Medium-sized bag of chips: $5. Can of Pringles: $6. I'm very glad that all of my meals are provided by my college so that I don't have to use very much of my "spending money" on food. Like I've said before, people don't tip in Australia - the tip is included in the price and waiters and waitresses are paid well. Unfortunately, that means that the service in restaurants is not so good.

This past week has been insanely busy. All the freshmen in my college arrived on Tuesday and we've been doing orientation activities all week. There are no fraternities and sororities in Australia, but colleges seem to take their place. All week we've been having meals and mixers with the freshmen in other colleges. It's been a great way to get to know Australians.

The colleges all compete against each other in different sports throughout the year and compete for different trophies. Most of the colleges are very old (mine is celebrating its 150th year of existence) and have old, gorgeous buildings. At formal dinners we wear academic robes which are like heavy graduation gowns. Basically, I'm living at Hogwarts.

Last night, I went with several friends to see "As You Like It" at the Sydney Opera House. The opera house has several theaters, so several shows were going on at once. The show was excellent and we ended up going to a restaurant afterward for some desert pancakes (pancakes with ice cream and chocolate syrup).

Classes start tomorrow, and I'm excited to get back into a routine. Several of the third-year students at St. John's are taking some of the same classes as me, so it will be nice to have some familiar faces in my classes. I'm a little nervous about the different education system and hope that my classes won't be too hard. Bachelor's degrees in Australia only take three years, so students do not have general education requirements. Science and engineering students are not required to take humanities and social sciences.

I have planned a spring break trip from Alice Springs to Darwin (the central and northern parts of the country). I'm excited to get out of the city and see wild Australia, though I'm a little worried about the heat and the critters I may come across. I was unable to take the class that included the trip to the Great Barrier Reef, so I plan on going during the break between the end of classes and the beginning of exams. I already have a few other weekend trips planned, and a list of things I want to do around Sydney while I'm here. I really hope to make the most of my time here and see as much of the country and as much of the city as I can!