It started off on Sunday night where we arrived at the airport. Went into the computerised check in point just to find out that MY NAME WASN'T THERE! At this point I was still calm because I was told to manually check in and it work :) Then I had to check in my bass and it had to go through a drug screening thing o.O Why though? Me? Hold drugs? I don't think so.
Anyway, went upstairs to find out our flight was delayed 30 mins? That was alright. So we were waiting and waiting, then BAM! It was delayed again. I actually fell asleep for 20 mins in the airport and then woke up. After I learnt to play this awesome game. It is very much like a verbal snap. It is quite intense but I'm too lazy to explain it here. Our plane got delayed again but luckily it didn't get delayed any longer. All up, we were waiting for our plane for 2 hours extra. I couldn't believe our plane was a Jumbo! I didn't care that I was sitting the furthest back >.<
Left to right: Some guy in PJ pants at the airport, Photo of the coach, Sydney Airport sign
Anyway, this is about Sydney not the flight. Arrived in Sydney and got driven to our destination. I actually slept most of the trip but that isn't important. We stayed a primary school called St. Michaels. They couldn't have catered for us any better! We stayed in a demountable and it was room 8! We had a piano and it was our change room! For people who were part of the catachesis animation team, we had practice, for the rest of them, they went site seeing! Well that night, we were welcomed by a HUGE dinner prepared by the community, which I think was very kind of them. Everyone was so friendly and not afraid to talk to us. At the dinner, I met these American twins. I was amazed because they were AMERICAN! My first taste of the international people at WYD! After dinner, we found out wat our showers were. They were wooden boxes with shower heads. Luckily they had a gas heating system in it. 3 people were able to fit in at the same time! LOL! So we showered and went to our rooms. More happened but long story made short, we went to sleep.
It was now 6.45am Sydney time, which is 4.45am Perth time, and we were woken up to be told about the fire drill. I think a lot of people were cranky. Anyway, after breakfast, went along with Dan, Christine, my sister and some other various people to Darling Harbour. I admit we were pretty random to some other pilgrims. We would be hell friendly and keep asking them for a picture if they had a flag.
Darling Harbour
Americans we saw
OH MY GOSH! FRENCH PEOPLE!
Multiculturalism :)
Pretty cool Americans I met, unfortunately I can't remember their names
I think everyone was feeling the same way we did, which was, Oh my gosh! So many international people. We HAVE to talk to them! It was my first time seeing SO many people from all over the world. After talking and stuff, I decided to visit my awesome cousin with my sister, Barry, Alvin and Nick. Met up with her, and we went to a steakhouse with $7 steak! Went inside, and found out it was a scam! You were required to buy a drink. I was hell cheap and about a lemon lime bitters. After our meal, my sister was stressing a lot, worried about not making it to the opening mass on time. I kept reassuring her that I walk hell fast and we would make it on time but she just walked off to make her own way to Barangaroo. I said bye, and did my pilgrimage walk to Barangaroo :) I was totally alone! I took a train from Town Hall to a station called Wynyard, with a few hundred other people. For some reason, I wasn't scared one bit!
Navigate through this!
I have no idea why I wasn't scared, maybe it was because I was so amazed by the whole thing. People around me were just singing and dancing, I couldn't help but to join in! It is hard to explain what it was like. Try to imagine water, but each water drop was a person, and the water was going down a hill. Think of that but slow it down by about 100. Eventually I arrived at the entrance and saw my sister waiting there. My gosh, it took me about one and a half hours to get from the train station to Barangaroo!
At Barangaroo, I met up with my brother an the others. We went to a different section where we made settlement! Me and Adrian were standing around, when two American girls bumped into us. They apologised and we actually started to have a conversation! I was surprised, they actually wanted to talk to us! Their names were Megan and Hope! We talked about hell random stuff as if we had known each other for YEARS!
Megan, Hope, Me and Adrian
I was still amazed by the number of people there. It was like everywhere you looked were people! The mass began and I was REALLY impressed how it was done. Kevin Rudd spoke and the Cardinal of Sydney celebrated the mass. So World Youth Day official started and everyone was celebrating. On stage, various things happened. Guy Sebastian and Paulini were on stage and at the end, These tap dancing dudes came on and started tap dancing. I wasn't THAT impressed but then they jumped down from the stage to the first level (there were two levels) and they put on these things over their faces. We were all wondering what was happening. Suddenly sparks shot out in every direction! They were sparking to the beat! I was stunned. I thought that was the greatest thing I had ever seen!
SPARKS!
Anyway, that was pretty much the first official day of World Youth Day
to be continued...
