Class and Rain, Rainy Class

So apparently the end of August in Australia means non-stop rain with spontaneous bursts of sunshine. But don't mistake those spurts of sunshine for times when the rain stops, because it doesn't. It just keeps right on raining. Seems like the weather was mimicking my feelings about the fact that class started on Tuesday. So it goes. (catch my Vonnegut reference?)

My semester here in Sydney is basically broken up into two halves. During the first half I am taking two classes and during the second half I will have an internship (at a location that is yet to be determined) and take one more class.  Right now I am taking Australian Literature and Australian Culture and Society (which the entire program is required to take). Both classes basically consist of billions of pages of reading that I am currently buried under. Go learning! 

Now that I've finished talking about the boring class stuff, I'll get to the good part. After class on Tuesday, Sidra, Natalie, and I ventured out to go get hot dogs at a bar called the Soda Factory which has $1 hot dogs every Tuesday night. Sounds like a great night, right? Too bad it was a complete failure. By the time we got out of class and made it to the bar (we got lost, took a bus the wrong way, and then ended up taking a cab), THE BAR WAS OUT OF $1 HOT DOGS. Literally so sad. Defeated and hungry, we somehow found our way back to our apartment and decided to get hot dogs at a stand nearby. The cravings were real. Sidra and I also got meat pies because apparently they are a big thing here but that was kind of a mistake. I got a chicken meat pie which was pretty good but Sidra got a beef one and it was pretty vile. Here's a picture so you all can relish in the grossness of it.

 Gross beef pie

My wicked healthy meal. Hot dogs are NOT as good here as they are in the States. Not even close. Such a bummer.

On Wednesday, our Culture and Society class took us on a field trip to see the buildings and landmarks that are representative of the foundations of not only Sydney, but Australia as a whole. My favorite stop on the trip was the Hyde Park Barracks, a building that once housed some of the convicts that essentially created Australia. Quick backstory. Before British settlement, the land now known as Australia was used as a place of exile for British convicts. The convicts were basically allowed to live a normal life given that they reported for work on time everyday. The presence and overpopulation of these convict facilities was one of the main reasons that the British decided to colonize Australia and establish their first penal colony in the area. This convict background still plays a large part in Australian society and identity today. History is cool. 

Hyde Park Barracks

Thursday night we went to a bar/club that has pool on the top level! The night was pretty boring but I just really wanted to share this picture of a pool bar with you all. 

Alright well that's about all I've done with my life since I last blogged. Be sure to check out my "Aussies Do It Better" post to read about some of the things I've learned/observed since I've been in Sydney!!

Aussies Do It Better

The parents of the boy I babysat this summer told me that Australia was like Wisconsin. This is false. So here are some things that I have learned and observed about Australian culture. I will hopefully keep updating this post as I do more things and travel to more places, so try to check back here once in a while!

Aussie Slang
-Goon = cheap boxed wine, therefore goon bag = slappin' the bag
-Flying fox = zip line
-Maccas = McDonald's
-Sunnies = sunglasses
-Brekkie = breakfast
-Lemonade = Sprite-ish type drink (We found this out the hard way when Sidra bought lemonade and we almost choked on it because we didn't expect it to be so fizzy)
-Agro = aggressive (definitely the Aussie word I use most)
-Take away = to go (like take your food to go at a restaurant)
-Rubbish bin = trash can

Way of Life
-All stores and businesses close around 5 or 6 pm because Australians value time for relaxation and play
-Australians are WAY quieter than Americans. Our advisor warned us of this but it is amazing how loud Americans really are
-Travel is highly regarded in Australian society and almost everyone, adults and children, travel frequently. It is expected of students to take a gap year between high school and college to travel domestically and internationally
-Everyone in Sydney is very fit, probably because their portion sizes are way smaller than in the US
-When dancing in clubs, everyone kind of does their own thing and jumps around; there is not a lot of partner dancing like there is in the States
-People are very relaxed and laid back in Australia. They never seem pressed for time or in a rush to get somewhere
-The TV channels here are named after the number of the channel that they are on. For instance, instead of channel 21 being called the Discovery Channel, it would just be called Twenty-One in Aussie
-People here are very obedient of the crosswalk signs (probably because their cars drive on the wrong side of the road) and it is rare to see someone cross the street when the little green man is not illuminated

Fun Facts that I Learned in Class That I Thought You Might Want to Know
-The two animals on the Australian Coat of Arms are a kangaroo and an emu. Both of these animals are incapable of backwards movement, symbolizing Australia as a country that never backs down
-Australia's land mass is almost equivalent to that of the US, but Australia only houses a population of 22 million, equal to the amount of people that work in New York City everyday
-The construction of the Opera House was funded by public money from the lottery and took 10 years to complete
-Some of the oldest proof of human life outside of Africa has been found in Australia
-The word "koala" means an animal that doesn't drink water. It is estimated that there are only 2,000-8,000 koalas left in the world :(
-A group of kangaroos is called a troop
-A baby platypus is called a puggle. Also male platypuses (platypi?) have a poisonous spike on their hind legs. I have to include a picture because they're too cute

Life's A Beach

Hi guys! Thanks for coming back despite what you had to suffer through last blog post. Y'all are champs.

So after our wonderful scavenger hunt on Saturday, Sidra, Natalie, and I came home and pretty much died.  I don't think any of us did more than shuffle over to the fridge for about 4 hours. Finally I manned up and made dinner.  Quick story about food/cooking: Sidra and Natalie don't know how to do it. Sidra tried making popcorn the other day and completely failed. POPCORN. Finally, per her mom's instructions (s/o to Janine!), she made some that was semi edible.  And both of them were about to eat cereal for dinner on Saturday because that's about all their cooking skills allow them to eat.  And fruit salad. They can make fruit salad. Looks like I'll be doing a lot of cooking this semester which I don't mind at all.  You can just call me Chef Becca :)  Anyways, I made some chicken, pasta, and broccoli for dinner and we were all much happier campers after that.  

Saturday night, despite our sore legs and broken spirits, we decided to head out for our first night on the town.  We went to a bar/club (horray for being legal here!) called Scary Canary with a couple of our other friends.  The club was basically a giant mosh pit with a bar so we "danced" all night.  I use the term dancing loosely because what I was doing was probably not dancing at all considering my complete lack of body coordination/rhythm.  They played super good music including Hollaback Girl, Jump Around, and apparently after we left they even played the Lion King theme song, but like dubstep version. Totally #throwbackthursday.

When we woke up on Sunday morning, we officially declared it a shopping day. We needed food, and kitchen supplies, and pretty much everything essential to being a functional human. So off to K-Mart and Wooly's (the grocery store) we went. And let me tell you, carrying everything needed to start an apartment/kitchen around Sydney is not an easy task. I'm pretty sure I lost feeling in my arms and fingers for at least 4 minutes. But now we have food! Yay for our fridge containing more than broccoli and alcohol!

After our shopping binge, we had about 15 minutes to put everything away and get ready for a walk along the beach that was planned by some of the RA's.  I know I gave you guys a preview of the beach in my last post but that was when it was rainy and gross so it definitely did not do it justice. As most of you know, I LOVE THE BEACH so I was pretty excited to finally get to go on a day where the weather was cooperative. As soon as we got off the bus, the view was breathtaking. 

You can never go wrong with the pano

We then embarked on our 6 km journey from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach (which we were told was only 5 km), making for a solid 4 mile walk. But this wasn't just any walk. It was more of a double black diamond challenge course including uphill climbs, stairs, twists and turns, and rock ledges. Let's just say that if our legs didn't feel good before this walk, they really didn't after. I basically don't think I have legs and/or feet right now. Nonetheless, the walk was wicked beautiful (happy Sid and Nat?). Since words could never do these beaches justice, I'll just show you some pictures. 

 Coogee Beach

 Roomies!

 There are tons of these saltwater pools that are filled with ocean water. Lots of people swim laps in them or bring their children there to avoid the waves.

 Awesome beachside cemetery (this one's for you Maddie Weber if you're reading this, I know you love a good cemetery) 

 First steps in the Pacific!

So yeah that was our beach walk!

Observation about Australian culture: Kids run around unsupervised everywhere! We saw so many kids just doing their own thing without their parents anywhere in sight. Here's some examples

 This girl was screaming for a solid 5 minutes at her dad who was surfing in the water. Newsflash, he can't hear you

 Chillin' with a ladel

I suppose Australian's are just super trusting!

After the walk we ate dinner at Pompei, a little Italian restaurant along the beach.  I got a pizza followed by gelato at a local gelateria. Maybe I should have gone to Italy instead? We then hopped on the train (which is AMAZING, by far the coolest public transportation I've ever been on) and went home to fall asleep on the couch while watching Modern Family. 

Here's a picture of the train because I'm literally obsessed with it. It's two levels of transportation heaven.

I'll leave you guys with this fun fact: Bondi Beach is one of Australia's most popular beaches and is featured on more postcards and more television shows and films than any other in Australia. It has also become tradition for Australian families to meet and celebrate Christmas on Bondi Beach. If that's not heaven I don't know what is.

Let's Give This Blogging Thing A Try

G'day avid blog readers! (of which I'm sure there are thousands). Let's get this blog on the road.

Quick disclaimer: I am a HORRIBLE story teller and basically very few people think I'm funny so bear with me. At least my parents will read this.

Alright here we go!

So I have safely arrived in Sydney, Australia! I flew from Chicago to LA where I met up with my two friends from school, Natalie and Sidra. We then flew a grueling 14.5 hour flight to the land down under in which I slept through everything except for this amazing sunset,

 this amazing sunrise,

 and this killer view of Sydney from the sky.

After going through customs, drug searches, and more customs, I was able to step foot on Aussie soil at last.  We hopped on some busses that were going to take us to the BU Sydney Academic Center which is where we would be living for the next 3.5 months.  Our bus driver was apparently set on trying to get us to get right back on the plane that we just got off because for the entire 30 minute drive, he gave us a detailed description of all of the deadly wildlife in Sydney/Australia.  But it didn't scare us! Who cares if a microscopic spider can kill you in 30 minutes right?

We finally got to our apartment after not so gracefully carrying 100 lbs of luggage across the street (aka I dropped all my luggage in the intersection, shocker). Sidra, Natalie and I are all living together along with our 4th roommate, Ruthie.  We all have our own rooms as well as a kitchen, a living/lounge area, and 2 bathrooms. Yay for being independent grown ups!

My first couple of days in Sydney were pretty boring to tell y'all the truth.  In addition to adjusting to the 15 hour time change, the first 3 days were filled with orientation sessions and shopping for food/apartment necessities.  But on a more exciting note, I signed up for Surf Camp, whoop whoop! (more to come in a later blog post).

Orientation ended Friday afternoon so that the entire program could go on a boat cruise of the Sydney Harbor.  We got lost on the walk there so a 20 minute trip ended up being a 45 minute trail of tears.  But alas, we made it to Darling Harbor and boarded this beauty:

Despite it being a little chilly (keep in mind it's still "winter" here), the cruise was super fun! The boat took us all around the harbor, right under the Harbor Bridge and alongside the Opera House. We were served a grand ol' dinner and had a grand ol' time :)

After the cruise, we were all pretty beat so we headed back to our apartment and watched So You Think You Can Dance until we passed out. Side note: did you guys know that there is an Australian version of The Bachelor? It's exactly like American bachelor but way better because everyone has accents and every date looks like it's a destination vacation date.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, it was rainy and cold which did not make good weather for the Drop Bear Cup, a scavenger hunt that the BU team put together for us.  In case you were wondering, a drop bear is a fictitious carnivorous koala that sits in the tops of trees and attacks passing tourists by dropping onto their heads from above. Yeah, I just learned about them today too.  Thankfully the weather cleared up in time for the hunt and we were sent off into the city in search of checkpoints, photo spots, and local grub as well as a page of trivia questions that local Aussies had to answer.  All in all, as all scavenger hunts are, it was fun but semi-miserable (my roomies Meredith, Caroline, and Sanya can all attest to this; sorry again guyz).  We basically walked all over Sydney which is HUGE, something I did not realize until today.  5 hours (which felt like 5 days) and later, we ended the scavenger hunt on Bondi Beach which made the aching feet and partial dehydration totally worth it.  

We won't find out who won the scavenger hunt for a few days but it definitely won't be my team so that information isn't super relevant to you readers.  I'm going to go take a super long nap now to prepare for a beach walk tomorrow!