WHOA- It's been a little over a week since my last post- and I'm sorry for it. School has been crazy (when is it not?), but 'Uni' here in Australia has proven to be much more stressful than I could have imagined. Not only have I been absolutely swamped with papers and projects, presentations and postings, most of these determine 20-40% of my grade. And the way they grade here, you're lucky if you get above an 85 (which constitutes "HD" or "High Distinction")- maybe a handful of people in all my classes get above an 85. So I have to work hard and not only get my work done, but try to get it done good, and not just good, but GREAT!
BUT- back to recounting the past few weeks, ummmm...
The one event that comes to mind: the Full Moon Party.
Some hippies and new-agey folk host this party down on the beach every time there's a new full moon, and there's a drum circle and fire-dancer/twirlers, and it's all done under the light of the full moon, which is pretty darn bright here in Australia. I took my camera and got some cool photos of the fire-people at a slow shutter speed:
I've been cooking for myself since I've been here (and no oven!). Trying to keep it simple, as I've been busy- couscous, tuna fish, salad (Mom and Dad, I'm sure you'll love that), ground beef (mexican, indian, etc.), chicken, chili, etc. And, of course, THANK GOODNESS THEY HAVE TORTILLAS HERE. I'm not sure that my life is possible with those round, flat, and oh-so-delicious mexican bread-substitutes. The one thing I found I was missing, though, was bagels. The Aussies love their breakfast, but they just don't know what bagels are- like they haven't been introduced, see?
Wandering the aisles of the local Woolworth's, I happened upon a particular aisle I hadn't been down before. 'Well, let's see what bounty lies within these metal shelves,' I thought to myself. And, lo and behold, on the very bottom, mashed between naan and some sort of Aussie bread, two packages of bagels. REAL bagels! Now this was cause for celebration- and I grabbed the two bags and held them up in both hands, threw my head back, and laughed a hearty laugh, hugging the two bags to my chest. People stared. But I didn't care- I had found my bagel babies. Oddly enough, despite having some sort of bagel drought here, Woolworth's carries cream cheese, and not just any cream cheese, but Philadelphia cream cheese. I've seen the commercials! Why the hell do they have cream cheese and no bagels? This makes no sense to me, but why question it, I thought, grabbing the cream cheese off the shelf. As soon as I got home, a bagel went into the toaster and into my mouth (with cream cheese on it), and it was the best bagel I've EVER tasted. Actually, it wasn't, but the fact that I had been so bagel-less for so long made it seem that way. I cried, real tears, and then ripped my shirt off as I yelled to the heavens "BAAAAAYYYY-GAAAALLSSSSSSS!!!!" It was a beautiful moment.
ANYWAY- I met the United States Consul-General from Sydney. I was one of about 10 students 'chosen' to meet her, and ask her some questions about her job and U.S.-Australian relations (we're apparently super-tight). In fact, she told us that Australia and the U.S. actually have one the best relationships, if not the best, of all other U.S. relations. A fact put sadly in perspective when two American girls asked her why no one in the U.S. has ever heard of anything in Australia besides Kangaroos, Aborigines, and boomerangs. But it was a cool experience, and I must say, the Consul-General was extremely smart and she really knows what she's talking about.
OKAY- That's enough for today, I think. I'll end with another anecdote about food- this time, completely true: I find myself calling "fries" (freedom- or french-, they're still fries) 'chips,' as they call them here. Which is a bit confusing, as potato "chips" are also called 'chips,' and the ones that go well with ketchup are just called 'hot chips' when one feels they must be more specific. (Sadly, they only have ONE brand of tortilla chips and they're basically Doritos with no cheese powder stuff)I guess I do it as an effort to make it easier for others to understand what I'm saying- if I say "anyone want some fries?" I get blank stares and odd looks. But when I say "let's have some chips!" everyone gets excited at the prospect of some hot, delicious, and lightly salted fried potatoes. To be honest, who cares what they're called- they're amazing, and the Aussies have like 6 different condiments, at least, to put on these things! (see if you can name them...*) Let's end with a cool photo of an Australian tree! Yes!
*Hot Chili (a weird kind of hot sauce), Sweet Chili (a weird kind of sweet-and-sour sauce), Barbeque Sauce, Tomato Sauce (i.e. Ketchup), Sour Cream, Gravy, etc.
Considering a lot has happened since I got here, I've decided to just try and write about random events that pop into my brain. Hopefully this will filter my life here so far into significant events, though I'm sure I'll leave something out. Anyhow, I will now attempt to start summarizing some of the 'highlights' of the last two months:
The day before classes started, I got sick- coughing, sneezing, runny nose, fever, the whole bit. My Australian roommate told me I looked 'a bit ordinary.' We joked that it might be 'swine flu.' Well, half-joked. I went into Wollongong (which is more of a town than a 'city,' despite being Australia's 9th largest) to find some medicine- the center of town, "Wollongong Central," is filled with shops, bars, a Woolworths ('Woolies') and an indoor-outdoor mall. I took a free shuttle bus which goes everywhere here in Wollongong- the hours can sometimes be limiting, but it's great that it doesn't cost anything! The "Chemist" (what they call a pharmacy here) had just what I needed and within a few hours, I was already feeling a lot better. I stayed sick for a few more weeks after that, but still made it to all my classes.
The awesome-sauce that is the shuttle bus
The day before the day before my classes started, I went on a hike on Mt. Keira, the mountain overlooking the University of Wollongong campus and my accomodation, Kooloobong. The weather wasn't great (dark, rainy) but the hike was fun. Some of the parts we walked through looked very tropical, with palm trees and similar vegetation. When we got to the top, we had a nice view and barbequed on an outdoor grill.
The view
The peeps
The grillin'
Now, barbeque is pretty big in America during the summer months, but it still can't compare to the importance in Australian cooking. Every week there are 2 or 3 barbeques right on campus, selling sausages or burgers for a few dollars. Often, grilled onions will accompany a sausage, as well as BBQ sauce or 'tomato sauce,' which is the same thing as ketchup. They have 'hot chips' here (fries) and 'pies' (meat pies), and a lot of alcohol. People drink a lot in the states, but because the drinking age here is 18, people drink all the time! I don't really drink, and this is how I've gotten to be the 'designated driver.'
After a party at someone's unit here at Kooloobong, my roomates and a few friends went back to our unit. It was like 2 in the morning, and none of us had had anything to eat yet, so we were all hungry. Someone brought up "Mackers" (McDonalds) and before long, I found myself with my roommate's car keys in hand, as everyone piled into his small car. I was a little nervous about driving on 'the wrong side of the road,' but it turned out to be absolutely fine- thank goodness the steering wheel is mirrored, too! I still have no clue WHAT a kilometer is (or any other metric measurement, for that matter- I'm so glad I downloaded a converter for my iPod!). I did keep grabbing at the side of the door to shift gears, and putting the wipers on to put the blinkers on, but we made it to and from McDonalds without a hitch. And let me tell you- McDonalds in the wee hours of the morning is THE BEST!!
Mickey Dees with some of the homies
Kooloobong has been good, despite being old and a little run down (they had to replace out water heater two weeks after I got here because all the hot water was coming out brown). My room looks 'heaps' better than it did when I first got here, since I've put up some decorations, but you can still see the paint chips on the wall, and the carpet seems to be 'shedding' into little balls of fuzz. I wish the faucets wouldn't leak, and that we had an oven, but what can you do! There are a lot of International students living here, especially because most Australians commute from home or have an apartment of their own. My roommates are from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Australia, and I've met others from France, Germany, Iran, China, Korea, Dubai, etc.- it's been great to discuss the differences between cultures and get to know people from all over the world!
I took part in an event called "Global Highway" here on campus. A few Americans from Kooloobong, including myself, put together a booth to represent the United States. The event also had booths from all over the world, each telling students and visitors about their respective countries. I drew a map of the Unites States by hand (from a reference, at least) and it actually turned out NOT HALF BAD. During the event, we had an elementary school visit, and all the kids mobbed us for candy, and learned some about the United States (one girl, when asked what 'big bird is the national bird of America answered, "Is it an Albatross?"). Most people who came to out booth, young or old, did not know a whole lot about America, but I realized, after taking a quick look at some of the other booths, that they knew more about America than I did about any of these other countries.
The U.S. booth at Global Highway- represent!
Kooloobong has hosted a few formal events (as opposed to the weekly 'there's a party at unit X'), one of them being the "KB Commencement Dinner." What exactly is was commencing, since it was 3 weeks or so after classes started, I don't know, but it was great. You had to go dressed up as either a "K" or a "B" thing- so I went as a "King," and made a crown and some 'jewelry' out of construction paper. They had a buffet with asian-style food, and a dance floor with a DJ- all in all, it was a great night!
On our way back from the commencement dinner
I think that's enough summarizing for today- I will try and finish summing up events in my next post. But for now, I am signing off.
July 17th 2009 - I made it!
Wow, my journey was extremely long. It started in Phila, where I almost didn't get on the plane since it was overbooked (even though my flight itinerary stated that I was "guaranteed" to be on the flight). A girl sitting across from me told me she had studied abroad in Australia in Gold Coast and, of course, she loved it. When I got to L.A. I had an overpriced sandwich (Ham and Gruyere) which, although expensive, was probably one the best I've ever had and, along with the announcements from Air France and multiple French speakers, reminded me of the wonderful Croque-Monsieur I had while in Paris.
Next was the extremely long flight from LAX to Sydney International- about 13 hours, to be exact. The plane was huge- a double-decker- and when I got to my seat, I realized that there was an LCD screen in the seat in front of me. Cool! I checked it out further and learned that not only was there a screen, oh no, this screen had a corded remote that popped out of the armrest and allowed you to browse through something like 200 movies and television programs, and choose what you wanted to watch. I started watching Speed Racer, which I had been interested in, since it was the Wachowskis doing both an Anime adaptation and a more kid-oriented film. Quickly after having a second dinner however (free! with complimentary wine- which I didn't have) I grew tired and decided it would be best to sleep. Not the most comfortable thing to do on a plane, but nevertheless, I got some shut eye.
When I woke up, they announced that they would be serving breakfast soon. I finished Speed Racer just as they were coming around with the cart- breakfast was some fresh fruit, which was deliciously crisp and juicy, depending on the particular fruit. Plus, again, it was complimentary! I read my book some and waited as we slowly descended towards Auckland, watching here and again on the screen in front of me the "Airwatch" channel, where you could chart your plane's progress along its prescribed route via a slideshow of screens.
Once in NZ, those who were continuing on had to go through a security checkpoint (totally lax compared to the US- but then again. who the heck is gonna try and terrorize NZ?) Once in the terminal, I found I had a good 3 hours to waste before my next flight. I took the time to try and phone home, but no matter what I tried, I could not get my phone to connect. So I did the next best thing- I headed over to an internet kiosk. Just as I arrived, a couple stood up and left. I realized they still have a few minutes left on their rent and I hopped on when I was sure they weren't coming back and quickly rattled off an email to my father, letting him know my phone wasn't really working. Afterwards, I settled back in with my book, In A Sunburnt Country by Bill Bryson, which is quite a delightful read, though maybe a bit overstated (although maybe not!). My plane didn't get a gate until about 10 minutes before boarding for some reason, so when it did, I rushed down and then boarded the plane when it was ready to go.
As I got on the plane, the flight attendant took one look at my large carry-on bag and said Ohhh no. That bag is much too big. That's definitely over 7 kilos. She hefted it- probably like 9 or 10 kilos. I told her that I had brought on the plane with me since Phila, but she would have none of that (I also told her, truthfully, that I have no clue how much 7 kilos is, but I don't think she quite understood). I had to check the bag right there before I could go to my seat.
Despite this minor setback, I was ecstatic to find that each seat was again equipped with this viewing station in the seat in front, something I was not expecting for a 3-hour flight. I also learned that I would be getting a second free breakfast- sweet! Man, flying with Air NZ is apparently awesome! I watched Appaloosa, the Ed Harris film with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger. It was okay- the set design was off the chain. I also saw a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords, a show about two NZ musicians who go to NYC to find fortune there- Erika, my next-door neighbor, had shown me a few episodes in America, but it was neat to see them before arriving in Sydney and just after leaving Auckland.
Once I arrived in Sydney, I quickly headed to customs. The guy asked for my passport, looked at the picture, looked at me, asked if I was studying (I said "Yeah.") and then handed me back my info and let me know I was alright to go. How can this be so easy? I wondered, remembering the hassle that was customs in Canada when coming back from France. I looked around afterwards for another "real" customs desk, but that was it. I walked into Baggage and picked up my bags (my guitar, I found, was separately taken off in the "oversized luggage" area). I headed out of the airport and into an atrium of sorts where, after a few minutes of looking around and consulting my information, I found my driver. He said, right off, "G'day mate!" and I would've thought he was just saying this to please me, except that he said it everytime he either called someone or was called during our ride. I sat in the front passenger seat of the limo, as this seemed the best place to take in all the sights. I was quiet for most of the ride, as was my driver, as I took everything in. Before I had gotten in I had walked to the right side only to remember, mid-stride, the steering wheel was on the right. Sitting on the left side was an extremely odd experience, as I kept thing I should be driving, and turns were always into the wrong side of the road (not to mention we were DRIVING on the 'wrong' side of the road!) The trees here are extremely different, reminding me of something you'd find in Africa maybe.
After about an hour, hour and a half, we made it to Wollongong, as a sign proclaimed "Welcome to Wollongong." Once we got to Unit 6, where I was to meet an RA (or SR-senior resident, as they apparently call them here) my driver called a certain number to dispatch the SR and waited with me until the SR got there. The SR introduced himself and lead me to my room, 32.5. I'm not gonna lie, my first impression was, "Do I get keys, or are you just gonna lock me in here?" It looks like a prison- white-painted cinderblock walls, white metal bed, white built-in shelving. I'm sure after putting up some decorations it'll be nicer (thank goodness I brought a couple things) but geez!
As I sat down to take it all in after the SR had left, I suddenly got a pit in my gut. I was a gazillion miles away from home, in a very different land, it was cold instead of warm. I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself down- I just need some time to get myself settled. It still feels weird to be such an outsider in a strange place, but I've only been here like 10 minutes! I played a few songs on my guitar and then started reading a few papers that had been given me. I quickly started to get tired, but wanted to use a campus map to at least see the campus a little. So I headed out, and, as I was leaving, I bumped into the SR and one of my new roommates. I said Hi, but I was already on a mission and I told him I'd see him later (plus, if he was anything like me. he'd need a few minutes to himself, too as he moved in). Immediately after walking outside, I was reminded of how cold it was again. Even with a long-sleeved shirt and light hoodie, I was cold. Well it is the middle of winter here, I reminded myself. I struck on, seeing strange, but interesting birds as I walked along, with foreign shapes and calls. The map was extremely confusing and it took me awhile to find the library, but I finally made it. It's a very nice one.
I made my way back and was planning on trying to stay up until 10 or so, but at about 5 or 6, I just had to get some rest. Before I did, I plugged in my computer (the adapter didn't explode or anything, so I guess it's fine :) ) and connected to the UoW network, the only sites I could access. Thankfully, this included email, and I sent one off to Dad just to let him know I had made it before conking out. I slept until 5 in the morning and then got up to greet the new day!
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Australia is a really different place, and I've had some great experiences thus far, but I'll leave it at that for today- I just finished a week in assignment hell (6 MAJOR assignments all due during the week). I AM extremely glad that my roommates and I FINALLY got our internet set up- ISPs and phone companies here are a NIGHTMARE!!!
Cheers!
Zach
