Hi Julie!

Ah, beach culture is pretty big here too in much of Australia.... Surf, sun, and fun, it's a nice lifestyle... :) Because the Australian interior is mostly desert, most Aussies live on the coast.....

I also really enjoy watching the crowd at festivals and huge events like the Olympics.... I took a lot of photos yesterday, especially of the crowd, people draped in flags of their country and "getting in the spirit".... :)

I've been so exhausted.... I had a full day yesterday. I saw some basketball, then in the evening (Aussie time) at my brother's suggestion I caught some of the free entertainment which was associated with the Olympics....

The highlight was -- how do I describe this.... An abseiling acrobatic group, called "Legs on the Wall," which in the evening "walked" down one of the buildings in Sydney (the AMP building near Circular Quay). They "stood" parallel to the ground, as if they were "standing" on the wall.... Then they would "jump" off the wall, and do somersaults in the air and so on.... It's hard to describe, but being held by their cables, their bodies parallel to the ground, gave the illusion that they were in a low-gravity environment, like they were on the moon, jumping high and doing aerial spins.... It was fantastic!

Thank you Julie for sharing your experiences.... I'm very much an "internationalist" at heart too! I LOVE different cultures.... I find them fascinating. I get a real buzz from going to a completely different environment, even if I don't speak the language.... I ought to do more of it.... :)

Okay.... Sydney is partying and we're heading towards the Olympics closing ceremony, but it's time for me to get back to getting things done.... :) (I'll be writing an article on some of my experiences from handball and basketball.... it's already partly written, and soon to be unleashed! :)

Dien