The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. I was thrown back into “real life” (well as real as it can be while on exchange in Australia J) straight after walking off the plane in Sydney. I made it back to my apartment in time to throw my backpack down, see the amazing sign my roommate had made for me to welcome me home, grab my notebooks, and rush to uni where I frantically did my homework before class. The school week passed by very quickly. I spent my days rushing back and forth between classes, the gym, and rehearsals. I walked into my first Cabaret rehearsal in nearly 3 weeks on Tuesday to find that I had 5 dances and 7 songs to learn! AHHHH! Needless to say I was a little stressed. I sat at rehearsal completely amazed at the transformation that the show had undergone. How in the world had they learned so much? How was I ever going to catch up? The rest of the week was spent freaking out and trying to remember how to be a student.
Despite all the work I had to do, I also made time for some wonderful reunions with all of my friends. It felt like I hadn’t seen them in ages even though it had only been a couple of weeks. I saw Abby on Monday night and was welcomed home with a dinner that she had cooked me. I met up with Steff at our favorite place, T2. It is the cutest place ever. It’s a little teahouse in the middle of the big shopping centre by uni. It is so warm and cozy. They have the prettiest tea pots and cups and you can get a whole pot (they have about 200 different kinds of tea) for $4! We now have an official date each week for T2 Tuesdays. I saw Kim and Carly, as well as all the other Cabaret girls, at rehearsals and caught up there. It was also great just to walk around campus again and run into people and exchange stories about our breaks.
On Friday I went into the city for a much needed dance class before returning home to get ready for the “Secret Event.” The cast of “Johnny the Sperm” and another one of the student written plays, “The Dirty,” were all meeting up in a part of Sydney called King’s Cross for an event that we knew nothing about. Our directors had planned something for us to get to know one another and do a little “research” for our shows. We had NO idea what the night had in store for us. Steff and I went in together since she is playing the giant condom in “Johnny.” We got there early to enjoy some dinner and shop and the British Lolly Shop. English chocolate is even better than Aussie choc – America really needs to improve theirs before I get home! We met everyone under the giant Coca Cola sign, which we couldn’t find for a while. When we asked someone they just laughed at us and pointed in the right direction like we were crazy. When we found it, we realized we were since there was no way you could ever miss it! We started the night in a jazz club since “The Dirty” takes place in one. We had a great time munching on wedges dipped in sour cream and sweet chili sauce, a very Aussie appetizer, while chatting and listening to some great bands. Our next stop was a little less classy. We headed down the road in search of a strip club worthy of our time. We ended up at Show Girls where we had a great time laughing and pretending to “research” for our director’s sake. We actually ended up getting kicked out because we weren’t buying enough drinks and because we were making the girl’s laugh and have a good time too! It was quite the experience and quite a fun night in the city.
Saturday was spent with Kim and Carly. They came over to teach me all the Cabaret dances and as a thank you I had cooked them a massive brekky. We sat down and ate and eventually got started with learning. Once we had made it through all the dances we took a trip to Chatswood, a nearby suburb to find some costume pieces. I spent the night in with Abby since she was leaving on Monday for a 2 week outback adventure catching geckos in the wild for a field work research project.
Sunday I had rehearsal from noon until 10, needless to say it was a very long day! I had two hours of Johnny rehearsal before heading over to run Cabaret and try to figure out exactly what I was meant to do in the show. It was quite frustrating since I had missed so much, but I made it through the day and got home just in time to say goodbye to Abby before she went to bed since she was leaving super early the next morning.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are all a blur. I went to uni and rehearsal. I’m not sure that anything else happened! My life had definitely become a Cabaret! Rehearsals went for 5-7 hours every night so I came home and crashed after each one.
I spent most of Friday cooking. Shocking, I know. I don’t know what has come over me, I think it must have been that year and a half with only a microwave and mini fridge in the dorm, but suddenly I am loving cooking. Carly and Kim were coming over after the show for a girl’s opening night celebration and we were going to have a whole spread of food and watch movies. I made muffins, pizza, guacamole, and peanut butter cookies all from scratch. Really, Mom, I did! After a run in preparation for the high caloric intake approaching that night I got ready and headed over to the theatre for the big show. My costume doesn’t consist of much, a lacy bra, stockings, a garter belt, itty bitty shorts, and heels, so getting dressed was easy, but the makeup is a little more intense. We’re meant to look like whore so we have some crazy hair too. We look pretty ridiculous by the time the show opens. The show was so much fun. We sang and danced our hearts out and had a great crowd. The after party at my house with the girls was great as well. They brought chips, salsa, M&Ms, cheezles (like cheetos but way better), and soy chips (no comparison but they’re amazing). WE ATE SO MUCH! It was a beautiful thing, especially since we were starving after the show. We spent the night watching movies on a palette on the floor before each drifting off to sleep.
I had Johnny rehearsal/filming on Saturday which was heaps of fun as always. We went to a playground to film one of the scenes and we all had a little too much fun with the playground equipment. That night was our second show which went even better than the first. Despite all of the stress of missing SO much rehearsal, I am really happy that I stuck it out and am doing Cabaret because I have met so many amazing people through the show and have gotten to have so much fun in the process.
Sunday was a much needed lazy day, the first I’ve taken in Australia. It was the first day that I haven’t set an alarm and it was so nice just to wake up naturally. I spent the morning watching an episode of Gilmore Girls from the DVD that Kim leant me, ate a nice breakfast, caught up on my journal, and went to the gym before cleaning up to go out to dinner with my friend Marian from camp. We had a wonderful time catching up and eating one of my favorite Aussie desserts, sticky date pudding. It is SO amazing and I am determined to learn how to make it!
It’s been a busy 2 weeks back in Sydney, but 2 great ones. I love how different these weeks have been in comparison from my break. I was just traveling all over the country on a giant adventure and now here I am feeling like I’m back home settled in with my friends. I’m happy to say that I love both. I’m not upset that my traveling has been put on hold for uni. Rather, I’m totally happy to be back with all of my friends. I’ve had the best of both worlds during my time in Australia so far and I couldn’t feel any luckier. I wake up everyday and have to pinch myself, remembering that this isn’t a fantasy but is actually my current reality.
Life is good.
Remember that.
Love to you all.
Anna Banana
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