May 11, 2005

"Wow", it is still hard for me to believe that I am in Australia!! I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun I am having touring around Sydney. The city is beautiful, the weather is awesome and the ice cream, or should I say gelato, is pretty tasteful!

I woke up around 6:30 am this morning (which is totally not normal for me), made a few phone calls and after breakfast Nicole, Jenni, Jevay, Amanda, Bianca, Rachael, Coach and I went to explore parts of the city. We ventured off to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful, Saint Mary's Cathedral, which was huge, took pictures of the Sydney Tower, and lastly went inside of Australia's First Parliament House. Our visit to the Parliament house was the most memorable event of the day. We got to witness first hand a group of 5th graders reenacting the Parliament by trying to pass a law that would allow children to get paid for attending school. It was so cute watching the little kids debate this issue with their "Australian" accents. As these little kids were entertaining us, I will never forget the look on their faces when we were introduced to them as female basketball players from California. They stood up with excitement and had astonished looks on their faces that made me feel as if I was a big time celebrity. That experience alone was truly amazing!

After our morning adventure, we traveled to Bankstown Stadium for our first game against Australia Institute of Sport (AIS). As a team we struggled with adjusting to their rules and style of play. I would say that turnovers and a bad-shooting night explain our loss. They played an up-tempo, fast pace game full of aggressiveness, pressure and a positive attitude! AIS is a very fundamentally sound and smart team who seems to play without a care in the world. Their attitude towards the game made me realize that every time you step out onto the court your ultimate goal should be to have fun. Otherwise we tend to take all the joy out of basketball because you waste time worrying about your mistakes and turnovers that are only destined to happen.

Two highlights of the game would have to be Ashlee's intense block that came out of nowhere and Sara's three pointer that was made far beyond the three point line. Although, they beat us pretty badly I am looking forward to playing them again tonight because now we have had taste of what Australian basketball is all about.

Shortly after the game we washed up and went to Darling Harbor for dinner. Now, I said I would try to experience different things while I am out here in another country but I never had in mind tasting kangaroo, which is exactly what a few of my teammates ate. For some odd reason, that thought of eating kangaroo for dinner just did not appeal to me! After dinner we walked around the harbor a bit and were entertained by some guy who decided to juggle fire sticks.

By the time we got back to the hotel we all were exhausted and definitely ready for bed!

This experience so far has been unbelievable and I cannot express to anyone how thankful I really am for this opportunity. Well, See yas later!

- Mandy #13