As I sit here and scroll through my past blog entries, I realized that I think my life in Oz is very misconceived through my blog. I’ve been updating in much detail about all of my exciting weekend adventures and travels, but have seemed to have left out what I do the other 4 days of the week. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying my time in Australia very much; however, it is not all the fun and glamor that the blog makes it appear. There is that whole “study” part of Study Abroad, remember that?
The education system in Australia is much different from the US. Students typically take 4 classes, which is about the same as home; however, they’re set up much differently. Instead of having the same class for about 1- 1.5 hours a day for 2 or 3 days a week, you have a 2 hour lecture one day a week and a 1 hour tutorial one day a week. The lecture is typically about 200 students (depending on the class) and there is a lot of info thrown at you in the 2 hours. Luckily, all the professors put the PowerPoint slides on Blackboard so you don’t have to furiously jot down notes. Another major difference is that instead of having numerous assignments throughout the semester to turn in, you typically have one small paper and one large research paper which make up almost your entire grade for the semester. You still have A LOT of readings and homework to do for class each week, however nothing is collected or graded. Your corresponding tutorial is for one hour, once a week and is typically the same day as that class’s lecture. Most tutorials have a max of 22 people and either a different professor or a student teacher runs them. In your tutorial you can ask questions and it is much more discussion based. For most classes about 10-15% of your grade is based on tutorial attendance and participation. I much prefer the tutorials because its more like what I’m use to at Elmhurst! Finally, one more difference in the education system is the grading scale. If you receive a 50% on a paper, then you just got the US equivalent of a C. And if you received an 85% then you got the US equivalent of an A+. I’ve heard that the professors here grade much more difficult than in the US, but I guess I’ll have to update you on that once I get my first paper back….
Like I mentioned, typically most students take 4 classes a semester here. However, I chose to do a program that AustraLearn offered called the “Study/Internship Combo.” This means that I only take 2 classes instead of 4, and I spend 120 hours of my semester working at an internship which transfers back as credit equivalent to 2 classes. I’ll explain that more in a little bit. The first class that I’m taking is an English course called “Australian Popular Culture.” This is my favorite of the two classes. In general, we study how Australia is portrayed in various forms of popular culture such as TV shows, movies, commercials, books, literature, etc. This class is actually an exception to the format I described above because this is what they call a “session class.” That means that this class caps off at 50 students and there is no tutorial because discussions and questions can be asked during the class. The second class that I’m taking is a history class, “Australia in the 20th Century.” I never enjoyed studying history in the states, and that hasn’t changed much over here either. I’ve actually been having some trouble with this class because most of the information is common knowledge to the Australian students because they have been learning it since 3rd grade, whereas I’m hearing everything for the first time. In addition, the professor who runs the lecture has an extremely thick accent that I find difficult to follow for 2 hours. Luckily, the tutorial has been helping me understand the information a little bit better.
For my internship, I work in The University of Newcastle’s International Education Office. I intern for about 8 hours a week, so I just decided to do one full day on Thursdays. The first few weeks I worked in the office in downtown Newcastle, which was kinda inconvenient because I had to take the train into town (and pay for the train!). When I was there I was learning about how Newcastle markets themselves to international students like me who want to study at Newcastle (whether that be for a semester, year, full degree, or grad school). I worked on updating information about Newcastle which was sent to websites such as AustraLearn. However, the past few weeks I’ve been working at the office on campus, which I’ve been enjoying much more. This office designed for outgoing exchange or Australian students who want to study abroad. It’s actually very interesting that Newcastle receives approximately 5,000 international students each year but only about 200 Newcastle students study abroad each year. So in this office I’ve been working on redesigning brochures and websites to better promote study abroad as an option to Australians.
So there ya have it. Monday through Thursdays in Australia typically consist of lectures, tutorials, reading, researching, paper writing, interning, laundry, grocery shopping, and all those other boring things students must do. In addition, a lot of people don’t realize how much research and planning has to happen BEFORE my weekend travels, especially on a budget. Between different bus companies, trains, and airports, sometimes simply researching the cheapest way to GET somewhere can take a few hours out of my night. And we all know that after my Sydney hostel experience, I will happily take the time to read almost every hostel in the city’s reviews before choosing the best option.
While Monday is the first day of class for most colleges back home, it is the beginning of Week 6 of class for me. That means that the first week of November is the last week of class for the semester. Unlike the states where there is a week of finals, in Australia finals are spread out over the entire month of November. Our mid-semester holiday (spring break) is in exactly one month, so I’ll be busy until then writing 2 large research papers before I scurry up the east coast for 2 weeks.
I just uploaded heaps of pictures onto my Photobucket. Check it out! More updates soon to come :)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
TIM TAM SLAM!
I feel like this video really doesn't even do the TIM TAM SLAM complete justice. The cookie just melts in your mouth and it is heavenly. Like I said, these WILL be coming back in my suitcase with me!
I FINALLY finished my research paper, so I have some more time to catch up on blog writing. Be sure to read my last few newest posts, and check back again soon because I'll have another post or two in the next few days.
Cheers!
Since I've been in Australia...Part 2
Back by popular demand!
1. I’ve realized that seeing guys wear short shorts and Ugg boots is not an uncommon thing.
2. I’ve found that if you go to McDonalds and ask for tomato sauce (ketchup) you’ll get 1 packet. If you ask for extra you’ll get 2...and an evil glare.
3. 3 words: TIM TAM SLAM
4. I’ve seen 13 cockroaches in my room…2 in my bed.
5. I’ve noticed the libraries on campus are a ghost town. Aussies like to pretend they don’t study. But they secretly do.
6. I’ve found that ice is nearly nonexistent.
7. I’ve noticed that no one says “bless you” when you sneeze.
8. I’ve unwillingly turned into a Vegetarian.
9. I’m now annoyed with the stupid tourists who can’t walk on the left side of the sidewalk!
10. I’ve learned that if you go into a coffee shop and ask for a small coffee they will stare at you blankly. If you want a coffee with cream you order a “flat white,” if you want a black coffee you order a “tall black,” and if you want a shot of espresso you order a “short black.” And Splenda, Equal, and Sweet-n-Low also doesn’t exist.
11. I’ve realized that although I dearly miss heaps of American food, I know that there will be some Australian food that I’ll dearly miss when I’m back in the states (i.e. Milo, Tasty cheese, Lift, Tim Tams, etc). I’m still trying to figure out a way to bring Tim Tams back in my suitcase.
12. I’ve found that the “h” is pronounced “haytch” and “z” is pronounced “zed.” So if you live in International House (IH) then you live in I-HAYTCH and the alphabet ends is x, y, zed.
13. I’ve picked up heaps of Aussie lingo. And Australians will compliment you if you correctly use the lingo in everyday talk. Still working on the accent.
14. I’m amazed at how many Australians want to go to the states.
15. I've noticed that Australian’s use a fork and knife to eat EVERYTHING. Even french fries (er… I mean chips).
16. I’ve found that there are no free refills in any restaurants. I learned that one the hard way.
17. I’ve found that when your server asks you “would you like bread and butter while you wait” it’s also not free. I learned that one the hard way.
18. I’ve learned that there’s a hole in the ozone directly over Australia. So you can wear 30spf sunscreen and still get tan :).
19. I’ve realized that I now end my sentences in “but.” (i.e. “This burger is good, but.”)
20. I’ve only been here for 6 weeks and I’ve traveled more than I have in 19 years of my life in the states.
21. I don’t even hear the Australian accent anymore.
22. I’ve discovered McCafe, the greatest place on earth. I’m still trying to figure why America doesn’t have this.
23. I think I’ve seen 3 overweight people. I think they were Americans.
24. I’ve become a big fan of morning tea, afternoon tea, and night tea.
25. I’ve become an expert at packing. Last year I would have never guessed that I could go on a weekend trip with only a small backpack (which half is taken up by my very large camera!).
26. I’ve decided that it still feels weird to ride shotgun and not be driving.
27. I’ve found that the big question everyone wants to know about American culture: “IS IT LIKE THE MOVIES??!”
28. Australians don’t have prom or high school graduation. But they know all about them from American movies.
29. I’ve noticed that Australians are much less involved and much less busy at Uni then Americans. Only about 1 in 10 have jobs and are only involved in 1 sport or activity…if that.
30. I realized that the US basically dominates the world. Everyone seems to know everything about the US….much more than I know about any country.
31. I’ve found that heaps of places don’t accept credit cards, so you almost always need cash on you. And most will not let you use your credit card unless the purchase is over $10. Also, every cashier is required to hold on to your credit card until after you sign because they have to check to make sure your signature matchs up with the one on the back of your card.
32. I’ve found that you have to pay $299 for a gym membership, and 15 cents for every piece of paper to print at the library, but laundry is free. How does that work?
33. I’ve finally accepted the fact that everything here is ridiculously expensive and that I’ll be lucky if I come home with a penny to my name.
34. I’ve found that having a cell phone is more of a hassle and I hardly use it. Turns out you really don’t need to text every second of the day. Who knew?
35. I’ve eaten chicken flavored chips. I reckon they taste like ramen noodles.
36. I’ve found that beetroot comes on all burgers. Strangely, I actually like it.
37. I learned that voting in Australia is compulsory.
38. I now pronounce Australia as "Stralya.”
39. If you order a large coffee, it’s the size of a small coffee in the states. If you order a small coffee, it’s basically a kiddie cup.
40. I've noticed that unlike the US, there are very few public holidays. However, when they do come around they are taken quite seriously.
41. I gave up saying hi to people, and just skip straight to “How ya going?”
42. I’ve learned some more Aussie lingo:
• Good onya = good job
• Smoko = break
• Arvo = afternoon
• Righteo = alright
• Biscuits = cookies
• Jello = jelly
• Jelly = jam
43. I've found that Australians talk in the formula "have a ___" constantly. For example, let's have a chat, go have a look, you should have a think, we'll have a go, etc.
44. I've learned that in Australia it's illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving. HUGE fines.
45. I've found that pop tastes different. It doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup...it's not as good.
46. I’ve already taken over 1,000 pictures. And I still have over 3 months left here.
1. I’ve realized that seeing guys wear short shorts and Ugg boots is not an uncommon thing.
2. I’ve found that if you go to McDonalds and ask for tomato sauce (ketchup) you’ll get 1 packet. If you ask for extra you’ll get 2...and an evil glare.
3. 3 words: TIM TAM SLAM
4. I’ve seen 13 cockroaches in my room…2 in my bed.
5. I’ve noticed the libraries on campus are a ghost town. Aussies like to pretend they don’t study. But they secretly do.
6. I’ve found that ice is nearly nonexistent.
7. I’ve noticed that no one says “bless you” when you sneeze.
8. I’ve unwillingly turned into a Vegetarian.
9. I’m now annoyed with the stupid tourists who can’t walk on the left side of the sidewalk!
10. I’ve learned that if you go into a coffee shop and ask for a small coffee they will stare at you blankly. If you want a coffee with cream you order a “flat white,” if you want a black coffee you order a “tall black,” and if you want a shot of espresso you order a “short black.” And Splenda, Equal, and Sweet-n-Low also doesn’t exist.
11. I’ve realized that although I dearly miss heaps of American food, I know that there will be some Australian food that I’ll dearly miss when I’m back in the states (i.e. Milo, Tasty cheese, Lift, Tim Tams, etc). I’m still trying to figure out a way to bring Tim Tams back in my suitcase.
12. I’ve found that the “h” is pronounced “haytch” and “z” is pronounced “zed.” So if you live in International House (IH) then you live in I-HAYTCH and the alphabet ends is x, y, zed.
13. I’ve picked up heaps of Aussie lingo. And Australians will compliment you if you correctly use the lingo in everyday talk. Still working on the accent.
14. I’m amazed at how many Australians want to go to the states.
15. I've noticed that Australian’s use a fork and knife to eat EVERYTHING. Even french fries (er… I mean chips).
16. I’ve found that there are no free refills in any restaurants. I learned that one the hard way.
17. I’ve found that when your server asks you “would you like bread and butter while you wait” it’s also not free. I learned that one the hard way.
18. I’ve learned that there’s a hole in the ozone directly over Australia. So you can wear 30spf sunscreen and still get tan :).
19. I’ve realized that I now end my sentences in “but.” (i.e. “This burger is good, but.”)
20. I’ve only been here for 6 weeks and I’ve traveled more than I have in 19 years of my life in the states.
21. I don’t even hear the Australian accent anymore.
22. I’ve discovered McCafe, the greatest place on earth. I’m still trying to figure why America doesn’t have this.
23. I think I’ve seen 3 overweight people. I think they were Americans.
24. I’ve become a big fan of morning tea, afternoon tea, and night tea.
25. I’ve become an expert at packing. Last year I would have never guessed that I could go on a weekend trip with only a small backpack (which half is taken up by my very large camera!).
26. I’ve decided that it still feels weird to ride shotgun and not be driving.
27. I’ve found that the big question everyone wants to know about American culture: “IS IT LIKE THE MOVIES??!”
28. Australians don’t have prom or high school graduation. But they know all about them from American movies.
29. I’ve noticed that Australians are much less involved and much less busy at Uni then Americans. Only about 1 in 10 have jobs and are only involved in 1 sport or activity…if that.
30. I realized that the US basically dominates the world. Everyone seems to know everything about the US….much more than I know about any country.
31. I’ve found that heaps of places don’t accept credit cards, so you almost always need cash on you. And most will not let you use your credit card unless the purchase is over $10. Also, every cashier is required to hold on to your credit card until after you sign because they have to check to make sure your signature matchs up with the one on the back of your card.
32. I’ve found that you have to pay $299 for a gym membership, and 15 cents for every piece of paper to print at the library, but laundry is free. How does that work?
33. I’ve finally accepted the fact that everything here is ridiculously expensive and that I’ll be lucky if I come home with a penny to my name.
34. I’ve found that having a cell phone is more of a hassle and I hardly use it. Turns out you really don’t need to text every second of the day. Who knew?
35. I’ve eaten chicken flavored chips. I reckon they taste like ramen noodles.
36. I’ve found that beetroot comes on all burgers. Strangely, I actually like it.
37. I learned that voting in Australia is compulsory.
38. I now pronounce Australia as "Stralya.”
39. If you order a large coffee, it’s the size of a small coffee in the states. If you order a small coffee, it’s basically a kiddie cup.
40. I've noticed that unlike the US, there are very few public holidays. However, when they do come around they are taken quite seriously.
41. I gave up saying hi to people, and just skip straight to “How ya going?”
42. I’ve learned some more Aussie lingo:
• Good onya = good job
• Smoko = break
• Arvo = afternoon
• Righteo = alright
• Biscuits = cookies
• Jello = jelly
• Jelly = jam
43. I've found that Australians talk in the formula "have a ___" constantly. For example, let's have a chat, go have a look, you should have a think, we'll have a go, etc.
44. I've learned that in Australia it's illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving. HUGE fines.
45. I've found that pop tastes different. It doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup...it's not as good.
46. I’ve already taken over 1,000 pictures. And I still have over 3 months left here.
Monday, August 24, 2009
What it Feels Like to Skydive
Yep, you read that one correctly. I’ve always said that when I went to Australia, I wanted to skydive. I don’t think anyone actually believed I would though.Well after doing some research and comparing prices and companies, I decided that I would finally do it this weekend while I was in Byron Bay with 2 of my friends. I even managed to keep my life threatening adventure plans a secret from almost everyone. However, after coming back to Newcastle all of my friends at Uni all asked the same question: what does it actually fell like to skydive? So I thought I would write about it so all of my faithful blog readers could also know.
Only 45 minutes after we stepped off of our 11-hour bus ride, we were picked up at our hostel by a Skydive Byron Bay van. It was about 75 degrees and sunny, so I don’t think we could have picked a more beautiful day to skydive. It only took about 15 minutes to get out to the site, and I spent those 15 minutes filling out a few short forms and signing my life away so that if I died they wouldn’t be held responsible…
So after we arrived we first paid (ouch!) and then got suited up. They gave us these funny looking clown pants that we had to wear and then strapped us into all the skydiving gear. We then met 3 other backpackers who were going to be going up in the plane with us. The two girls were from Scotland and the guy was from England. They were all 18 years old and traveling for 6 months before starting Uni. They actually all met each other while they were traveling in Thailand and decided to travel Australia together. So they were cool to talk with while we were waiting and it was good to have other people our age going with us.
We then each got paired up with our skydive leaders (aka the guy on my back). My guy was BJ and he was super fu
n and really nice. Then finally we got our skydiving “training.” I really was expecting training to be like half an hour but in actuality it was only about 3 minutes long. Really all they had to tell us what to do right before jumping out of the plane and what to do during the landing, so there wasn’t too much to remember because BJ would take care of the rest.Within a few minutes all 12 of us were crammed into a tiny plane and bouncing towards the runway. I can’t say I was too nervous. I was expecting to be heaps nervous, but I really wasn’t at all. I think it helped that none of my fellow 5 skydivers were nervous or freaking out in the plane. The plane ride up was extremely peaceful. They took us out over the ocean and then turned around and went back to the coast. It took about 15 minutes until we were at the right height and ready to go. The peace was broken in the last minute in the plane when abruptly all the skydive leaders were strapping onto us and throwing goggles over our eyes.
At that point everything was happening so fast that I had no time to think. Then suddenly I heard the words “DOOR OPEN!” and I got a huge gust of wind in my face as they slid open the side door. I was third in line to go. We didn’t plan it out, it all just depended on the order we got into the plane. Within seconds of the door opening the first girl just wasn’t in the plane any more. Then within the next 5 seconds my friend Amber wasn’t in the plane anymore. I gotta say, it’s a weird thing to see your friend fall out of a plane. Then finally it was my turn. Me and BJ edged to the door and before I knew it my feet were dangling 14,00 feet from the ground. About 2 seconds later BJ slid us out of the airplane and we started to fall to the ground.
The sensation of first falling out of the airplane was completely unexpected. I can’t really compare it to anything because I’ve never felt anything like it before. It was much different from any rollercoaster, because you truly are weightless. Your stomach leaves you f
or a second. We reached terminal velocity within seconds and I was falling at about 120 miles per hour. The one thing that was completely unexpected for me was actually how cold the incredible amount of wind was. I was pretty warm before we got into the plane and thought about not wearing my jumper, but decided to just keep it on, and thank God I did because the wind was freezing. The sensation of wind in my face was like nothing else. Wind was forced into every part of my body and face. You can tell by looking at my pictures just how ridiculous my hair looks sticking straight up (even thought I pinned it down before!!).
From 14,000 feet you freefall for about 60 seconds, but it literally felt like maybe 10 seconds. Originally I wanted to jump from 8,000 feet because it was cheaper, but then I figured go big or go home, right? After the experience, I’m really glad I choose to do the 14,000. At about 5,000 feet BJ pulled the parachute, which really jerked me and actually kinda hurt a little bit. After 60 seconds of extreme freefalling, the parachute ride down to the earth was extremely peaceful. I had the time of my life just taking in the beautiful scenery. Byron Bay has the most easterly point of land in Australia, so that was awesome to see as well. The landing was soft; the whole experience was incredible. It truly is the ultimate adrenaline rush. I really don’t think I could have picked a better location to skydive.
So to anyone who’s ever thought about skydiving, my advice: DO IT! Yeah, it costs a lot of money, and yeah it’s kinda scary and life threatening, but it honesty is a once in a lifetime experience and I guarantee you won’t regret it. I’m currently trying to figure out my next extreme adventure…maybe bunjee jumping or white water rafting? We’ll see…..
I have much more to share about my epic weekend in Byron Bay; however, I must finish a paper before. Check back soon. Skydiving pictures soon to come.
Cheers!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
"Holy Shit, I'm in Sydney!"
Yep, that’s exactly how I felt all weekend.
Because of Autonomy Day last Friday, I wasn’t able to take a long weekend trip, so last minute on Friday evening me and 2 other friends decided that we’d go to Sydney for the remainder of the weekend. So I woke up around 4:45 A.M. on Saturday morning to shower and pack my backpack for the weekend. We caught the 6:00 train into town and then we caught the 6:30 train into Sydney. Sydney is only about a 2-hour drive south of Newcastle, but it takes a little bit longer on the train depending on how many stops it makes along the way. We made it into Sydney around 9:00 A.M. and the adventures began.
Since we spontaneously decided to go on this trip, we really weren’t as planned and prepared as we could have been. After stepping out of the train station, we soon realized that a map of Sydney might be kinda helpful. So after picking up a map, we were off and determined to see as much of Sydney in two days as humanly possible.
Sydney actually reminded me of Chicago in heaps of ways, but much less fast paced. I never knew this before, but Sydney has a public transportation train essentially exactly the same as the L in Chicago called the Monorail. However, the Monorail really only covers a small portion of the city, only has 2 lines, and doesn’t run past 10 P.M. Also, as opposed to the $2 fare of the L, this bad boy costs you a whopping $5. I’d rather walk… Sydney also has numerous different areas and neighborhoods each with a different look and feel to them. For the most part I thought that the city was very clean and I never once felt unsafe, even at night. Interestingly, I only saw 2 homeless people over the span of the entire weekend. I thought that was kinda odd. Like any big city, everything is extremely overpriced and expensive. I have to say, I think it was a low point in my life when I purchased a $10 foot long sub from the Subway in Darling Harbor. Also, much to my surprise, there are actually not very many Australians in Sydney. At least I didn’t see or meet many. One of the Aussies from my floor mentioned to me before I left how he and his mates like to play the game “Spot the Aussie” when their in Sydney. I now know exactly what he means… and maybe I’ll play next time? Anyway, for these reasons I’m actually really glad that I decided not to go to Uni there and I can just visit Sydney instead.
We began our day by taking a walk through the Hyde Park area (basically Sydney’s version of NYC’s Central Park ) which was absolutely gorgeous. We actually got to see the making of a car commercial being shot on the street right next to us, which I thought was pretty cool. Then we took a quick stop into the Art Gallery of New South Wales, but didn’t stay too long. Next we took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens and I couldn’t believe that there were just heaps of bats hanging in the trees. I had never seen a bat before and couldn’t get over how many were there. As we continued walking, from a distance across the water, I finally saw the site I’ve been waiting 19 years of my life to see: The Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. Now up until this point I was obviously aware that I was in Australia but it was at that exact moment that I saw the bridge and Opera House, 2 huge iconic landmarks, that it just clicked in my mind….I AM IN AUSTRALIA.
So we made our way closer to the Opera House and I think I took a picture of it from every single angle humanly possible. We didn’t get to actually go into the Opera House, but I heard that they do $50 student rush tickets, so that might be something I would consider doing when I go back another time. So we continued to walk around the Rocks area and the Circular Quay, continuing to snap a ridiculous number of pictures of the Opera House and bridge. When we made it under the bridge we went to this cool outdoor flea market and then grabbed lunch nearby. I didn’t know this prior, but you can actually go up and walk along the Sydney Harbor Bridge, so we decided to do that. The bridge is about a mile long, so we walked all the way to the end and then had to turn around and walk back. Along the way we stopped at the Pylon Lookout which takes you up a bunch of steps and lets you view the city from a
little bit higher and the views were absolutely amazing. I managed to talk my way into receiving the senior citizen discount for that one haha. As we were walking along the bridge on the way back, someone walking in the opposite direction suddenly grabbed my arm and yelled, “KIM!?” I didn’t see who the person was yet, and the first thought going through by head was, “Who the hell do I know in Sydney, Australia?” Well as I turned around to see, it turned out to be Alex, my supervisor for my internship in Newcastle. Nether of us mentioned to each other that we’d be in Sydney that weekend and even if we had, the chances of us running into each other are pretty slim to none. Once again… small world huh?Next we decided to make out way over to the Darling Harbor area. This is the area where the Real World Sydney House is located, and I was actually really bummed that I didn’t get to see it. The area is heaps nice, with lots of restaurants and cafes along the water and also where the Sydney ferry cruises leave. It also has the largest movie theatre in the world! Next we walked back and explored the streets of the Central Business District around where the Sydney Central Train Station is. After walking all around that area, it was about mid afternoon so we decided to find a hostel to stay in for the night.
And so I will explain the hostel saga. Now a few friends of mine went to Sydney the weekend before and recommended that we stay at the Wake Up Hostel right next to the train station because it was super nice, clean, and they had a blast staying there. However, it cost about $38 to stay there a night for a 4-share dorm. Now I had my Australia travel book with me and we saw that there was another hostel right down the street that only cost $27 per person for a 4-share dorm. So in our minds, it was a clear choice that we would obviously go for the cheaper of the two. I mean a hostel is a hostel, right? WRONG.
The Maze Backpackers Hostel may quite possibly be the dodgiest place on earth. I now realize that there were numerous signs that should have sent us running out
the door. However, after my experience at the Maze, I now feel that I can more intelligently choose hostels in the future, and I learned that sometimes the $10 extra is more than worth it.You know you stayed at a dodgy hostel when….
1. The lobby is shitty. If the lobby is shitty, chances are your room WILL be shitty.
2. The couple standing in front of you in line requests to see a room before they pay and the person at the desk says, “we don’t do that….”
3. There are about 33 phones and cameras charging behind the front desk because the rooms don’t have outlets.
4. “NO REFUNDS” is posted about 100 times around the front desk.
5. Walking up the stairs to the room, there are signs around every corner reading, “BEWARE: There are thieves among us!!!!!”
6. The blanket-thing on your bed has numerous colored stains and looks like it hasn’t been washed in 30 years.
7. 2 of the 3 beds don’t even have sheets.
8. Your pillow feels like it has 10 cotton balls in it, if that.
9. The view from your rooms looks like this.
10. When you sit down on your bed, you can feel the springs of the mattress piecing into your ass.11. Your 4th roommate in your 4-share dorm has actually been LIVING in that room for 3 months. And her stuff is scattered across the entire room. And smells bad.
After we actually got into our room and looked around, it was so gross that I actually turned to Natalie and said, “Do you wanna leave and go to Wake Up?” Well since I neglected to notice the 100+ signs reading “NO REFUNDS” it wasn’t really an option at that point. We decided to just suck it up and stay. Well since we really didn’t want to spend any more time at Maze then we had to, we quickly got ready and left for the night. First we went to a restaurant nearby named Shark Hotel (restaurants and bars in Oz are often called Hotels…kinda confusing). They had a Saturday deal where had $2 steaks, so for me to get a steak, mashed potatoes, and a drink it only cost me about $10 – an absolute steal in Sydney. I think that may have been my only GOOD meal since I’ve been in Oz.
Saturday night, as I lay in my gross, extremely uncomfortable bed, and listened to the sounds of our Swedish roommate snoring/moaning and the sound of about 50 Asian people wrestling in the room above us, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. But then I just thought, "I'm in Sydney right now... who cares." After I got back to Newcastle, I decided to look up the Maze Backpackers online to see what the reviews were like, just for shits and giggles. Well after searching, I immediately stumbled upon numerous reviews with headlines reading things such as: “DUMP,” “Don’t ever stay here!” “Never stay here, it’s horrible!,” and “Please do not stay here unless you are absolutely desperate.” New lesson: ALWAYS search hostel reviews online prior to staying in them….these were all quite accurate.
On Sunday morning, we woke up around 7, showered, and ran out of that hostel/hell hole as fast as possible. We decided to start our morning by walking back to the Darling Harbor area and going to the Sydney Aquarium because we heard it was awesome. They had a pretty decent student discount and we really enjoyed it. It was the last day for this SpongeBob Squarepants exhibit so there were heaps of kids running around everywhere. There were 2 different areas where you could walk in an underwater tunnel to look at everything which was pretty cool and great for photo ops. We didn’t do it, but for $10 extra you could actually feed sharks from a glass bottom boat. Anyway, we spent about 2 hours at the Aquarium, and then began our journey to Bondi Beach.
Bondi Beach is in Bondi (pronounced bond-eye), a suburb of Sydney, and is Sydney’s most famous beach and well known for its amazing waves and surfing. And sure
enough, while I was walking around freezing in my NorthFace, there were probably about 50 some guys out there surfing away. Somehow we managed to choose the one day out of the entire year to visit Bondi Beach to be the exact same day as The City 2 Surf Run in Sydney. The City 2 Surf Run is a 14km (8.5 miles) fun run sponsored by the Sun Herald newspaper, and is held in Sydney, Australia each year. Basically it is what it sounds like….participants start the run in the city’s central business district and end at Bondi Beach where they celebrate with barbie dinners. The race is one of the biggest running races in the world and attracts over 70,000 participants. So by the time we made it to Bondi, a good majority of runners were already there and the beach was basically just a huge party and there were heaps of people hanging out.So after we scoped out Bondi Beaach for a little bit, we decided to spend the rest of our afternoon walking the coast of Sydney. The coast
al walk is a self-guided walk along a path right along the coast of the beaches. It’s VERY popular among local joggers. The walk goes from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach (another popular beach south of Sydney) and you pass about 6 other small beaches along the way. It’s 6 kms long (almost 4 miles) and takes about 2 hours, that is if you don’t stop or take pictures. A girl who I sit next to in one of my classes is originally from Bondi and she told me that she use to have to do the walk for PE class every week in high school, which I thought was kinda funny. Now when Natalie originally mentioned that she wanted to do this walk, all she told me was that it was a walk along the beaches, was about 6km long, and it was suppose to be heaps gorgeous. Now to be honest, I really had no idea how far 6 kms was, and I thought to myself “well, gorgeous beaches are cool…let’s do it!” Well what Natalie neglected to tell me that this walk could almost sorta be called a hike. I was picturing in my mind walking along a level and straigh
t path along the beach for a little bit. However, the walk is up a lot of cliffs, steps, uphill incline, twists, turns, and dips. At one point the path even takes you right through a huge cemetery, which was actually pretty cool and unexpected. Now don’t get me wrong, I genuinely loved the coastal walk and have never experienced anything like it before in my life; however, the combination of about 20+miles of walking the city of Sydney in 2 days not to mention the absolutely dreadful nights sleep I received the night before, about 2 miles or so into the walk everything kinda hit me at once and I was pretty exhausted. But I kept on trekking, and passed out on the beach for about half an hour when we finally made it to Coogee. Man, I say screw the gym, traveling is the way to get you in shape. Especially if you’re a cheapo like me and would prefer to walk 7 miles to Bondi than pay $4.80 for a bus fare. Needless to say, we did splurge and take the bus back…haha.After grabbing dinner, we made out way back to the train station around 6:05, and were able to quickly buy our tickets and catch the 6:10 train back to Newcastle. At this point, we were all completely exhausted and looking forward to finally getting back to our own rooms. But you know how my life rolls, and the excitement of the weekend just couldn’t be over quite yet. We had only been on the train for about 30 minutes and we were still technically in the Sydney suburbs when the conductor came over the announcements and said, “The train will be stopping at the nearest train station in approximately 2 minutes. There has been a train fatality and everyone MUST evacuate the train immediately.” Train fatality? What?! So the train stopped and everyone got off and started walking up the platform looked extremely pissed off. I was so confused and had no idea what on earth was going on…so I just followed the crowed. The train station workers instructed us that we had to go up the platform and catch a bus which would transport us to another train station. Now a train from Sydney to Newcastle on a Sunday night probably has about 700+ people on it. So once we were finally able to get on a bus, it took about 25 minutes till it dropped us off at another train station where we had to wait outside for about another 30 minutes. It was here that we learned that apparently someone committed suicide and jumped in front of a train to kill themselves. It wasn’t actually the train that I was on, but one on the same line. So that’s why we had to get off and get bussed to the train station past the accident. So once we were finally able to board the train, it was completely packed and there was absolutely nowhere to sit. I was not too keen on the thought that we would have to stand in the train vestibule for the next 2 or 3 hours. Luckily a lady felt bad for us and asked another passenger to move her luggage off the seat so we could sit down. Thank God for nice people, aye? Well as we were almost home, we realized that we should check out the train schedule to get us from the Hamilton stop back to Uni. The conductor estimated that we’d arrive at Hamilton at approximately 10:00 p.m. Well the only trains going back to Warrabrooke (Uni) picked up at Hamilton at either 10:01 p.m. or 11:35 p.m. Now after all this commotion, there was no way on earth I was about to sit in the cold for another hour and half if we missed the 10:01 p.m. train. Well our train rolled into Hamilton at exactly 10:03 p.m. Now thankfully, as I mentioned in a previous post, train and bus timetables in Australia are a work of fiction. So as we stepped onto the platform, I could hear our 10:01 train rolling into the station 4 minutes late. So we SPRINTED, and I mean SPRINTED across the bridge to the other side of the tracks and got onto the train literally seconds before the door closed. Phew.
That pretty much concludes my weekend in Sydney. Sorry I’m a little bit behind on blog posts, but I’m catching up. I’ll update soon on my volunteer project from this past weekend as well as a few other things I’ve been up to. I’ll also post new pictures from Sydney ASAP.
Cheers!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Get Happy, Not Hammered
That was the slogan for Autonomy Day 2009. Autonomy Day is the day each yea
r that The University of Newcastle takes to honor and celebrate when they split from the University of New South Wales and become their own separate Uni or "autonomous". Autonomy Day is one insane holiday here and students take it very seriously. Auto Day is essentially the biggest campus event of the year, and the Aussie students told us we were lucky to be here during semester 2 so we could experience it. Since the first day that I moved in I had heard all about Auto Day this and Auto Day that, so I was very anxious to see what all the hype was about. The night before we were told that everyone makes random, crazy, weird Auto Day t-shirts that they wear throughout the day. So a few friends and I got together and made our shirts and we were ready for Auto Day!
My Autonomy Day began a
t approximately 2:30 A.M. when I was woken by a fog horn, pots and pans, and people screaming down the hallway “AUTO DAYYYYY!!!!!” So I stumbled out of bed, showered, and met up with my friends. I couldn’t believe that by 3:00 A.M. EVERYONE was up and blasting techno music from their rooms. At 4:00 A.M. we all moved down to the cellar where Teds was hosting an Auto Day breakfast which everyone basically devoured. Then at 6:00 A.M. Bar on the Hill opened and that was the official start to Autonomy Day. Bar on the Hill is where all the main events of the day were happening, as well as the games and activities, and where all the bands were playing. Some of the highlights of the day include the Billy Cart Races, the Iron Man Competition, Human Foosball, and a jumping castle. The Iron Man Competitions is basically a competition similar to Fear Factor and the winner is the last person to spew. This year, for the first time in Autonomy Day history, a girl won the Iron Man competition!
I had never seen so many students on campus as I did this day. As you can see from my picture, there were heaps of people there, and that was just that line to get IN (which took about an hour!). Once you were in, you were given a wristband, which allowed you 1 “pass out.” This basically meant that you were allowed to leave Bar on the Hill and come back in one time throughout the day. I used by pass out to come back to my room and well… pass out. I couldn’t believe how unbelievable tired I was by 8:00 A.M. So I took a nap for a few hours and went back to Bar on the Hill a little bit later in the day. I’m not sure if I’d say Autonomy Day was all it was talked up to be (don’t tell the Aussies I said that!), but it was still a great day full of lots of fun and lots of techno music.
r that The University of Newcastle takes to honor and celebrate when they split from the University of New South Wales and become their own separate Uni or "autonomous". Autonomy Day is one insane holiday here and students take it very seriously. Auto Day is essentially the biggest campus event of the year, and the Aussie students told us we were lucky to be here during semester 2 so we could experience it. Since the first day that I moved in I had heard all about Auto Day this and Auto Day that, so I was very anxious to see what all the hype was about. The night before we were told that everyone makes random, crazy, weird Auto Day t-shirts that they wear throughout the day. So a few friends and I got together and made our shirts and we were ready for Auto Day!My Autonomy Day began a
t approximately 2:30 A.M. when I was woken by a fog horn, pots and pans, and people screaming down the hallway “AUTO DAYYYYY!!!!!” So I stumbled out of bed, showered, and met up with my friends. I couldn’t believe that by 3:00 A.M. EVERYONE was up and blasting techno music from their rooms. At 4:00 A.M. we all moved down to the cellar where Teds was hosting an Auto Day breakfast which everyone basically devoured. Then at 6:00 A.M. Bar on the Hill opened and that was the official start to Autonomy Day. Bar on the Hill is where all the main events of the day were happening, as well as the games and activities, and where all the bands were playing. Some of the highlights of the day include the Billy Cart Races, the Iron Man Competition, Human Foosball, and a jumping castle. The Iron Man Competitions is basically a competition similar to Fear Factor and the winner is the last person to spew. This year, for the first time in Autonomy Day history, a girl won the Iron Man competition!
I had never seen so many students on campus as I did this day. As you can see from my picture, there were heaps of people there, and that was just that line to get IN (which took about an hour!). Once you were in, you were given a wristband, which allowed you 1 “pass out.” This basically meant that you were allowed to leave Bar on the Hill and come back in one time throughout the day. I used by pass out to come back to my room and well… pass out. I couldn’t believe how unbelievable tired I was by 8:00 A.M. So I took a nap for a few hours and went back to Bar on the Hill a little bit later in the day. I’m not sure if I’d say Autonomy Day was all it was talked up to be (don’t tell the Aussies I said that!), but it was still a great day full of lots of fun and lots of techno music.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Newfound Love: Sandboarding
This past weekend I organized a day trip to go about an hour north of Newcastle to go sandboarding at the Port Stephens sand dunes. I went with 4 other Americans that I met in Teds and our friend Calum from England. Luckily I found a Port Stephens bus that went to Anna Bay, where we needed to go and the bus picks up from the Newcastle train station downtown. However, because of the time schedule of the train to get us into town, we had to leave around 6:45 in the morning, but we all still did it because we were really excited to go. So we stopped for breakfast at our favorite café in Newcastle and then we caught our bus and were on our way.
The bus driver dropped us off at the end of the street where the tours left from, but we were in a completely residential area. Ryan skeptically turned to me and said, “Kim…there’s no sand here.” I knew we were on the right street so we kept walking and about 15 minutes later we suddenly saw the beach and the sand dunes and we knew we were in the right place
.
We checked in, paid, and then got into a huge 4WD truck that took us up to the top of the sand dunes. That was quite a ride. Our driver Bill was excited to hear that we were Americans because he’s traveled to 37 of the 50 states so he enjoyed chatting it up with us and trying to guess which states we were from. When we got to the top and got out of the truck I was completely blown away. I honestly felt like I was in the middle of a desert because I could only see sand in every single angle.
"The wind-blown sand dunes of Stockton Beach comprise the largest continuous mobile sand mass in New South Wales. The yellow grains have been washed in from the sea and blown ashore to form dunes up to forty metres high. Most of the sand was deposited about six thousand years ago. Despite the stabilising effects of plants such as spinifex, pigface and bitou bush, the wind-driven dunes move about four metres a year. The lee side of a dune is steep and loosely packed, making a perfect surface for sliding down.”
So after we got out, we grabbed our boards and were able to "have a go." We were met by our instructor Michael who just gave us some basic information about how to sit/stand on the board and where to walk back up the hill. He also pulled a candle out of his pocket and told us that if we wanted to “have a little bit more fun” to come see him and he’d put some wax on our board to make us go faster. I think throughout the day the 6 of us probably used up about 5
candles haha.
So I went down my first time and it was heaps of fun. The dune was about 40 metres high (about 130 feet) and also pretty steep. The best comparison I can make it that it’s sorta similar to sledding, but much better because you’re not wearing 30 layers of clothes and you’re not freezing your ass off. However, muc
h similar to sledding, the worst about how going down is the walking back up part. As anyone who’s attempted to run on a beach will know, plodding through sand is extremely strenuous work. Let me tell you, trudging uphill on a large sand dune is absolutely murderous. Even more so after you’ve just wiped out and face-planted at the bottom of the dune and you’re still spitting out sand like a hyperactive llama. A few times I actually had to just sit down half way up and rest. Yet, despite how much we dreaded walking back up, we were all having the time of our lives and kept going down. Unfortunately, Calum got hurt within the first 5 minutes that we were there. He was going down standing up on the board and he was doing really well till he hit a bump and had an awesome wipeout. We were all standing up at the hill laughing hysterically for a few seconds until we realized that he was hurt. So we went down to check on him and he wasn’t seriously hurt but his knee hurt him bad enough that he decided he was gonna be done for the day.
Probably at least a 100 or so people came and went when we were there and most only went down about 1 or 2 times. However, we were having an absolute blast so we got our moneys worth and stayed for about 4 hours. Once we got bored with the basic ways to go down, we sat around brainstorming with the instructor various other crazy ways to go down as well. If you check out my pictures you’ll see that some of our genius ideas failed miserably, but we had fun anyway.
When we left, Bill offered to drop us off at the bus station and he took us an awesome ride in the 4WD where we were basically driving on Stockton Beach which was absolutely amazing and a great conclusion to our trip. When I got back to Uni I couldn’t believe how much sand I was still finding all over my body, even after I showered haha. Sandboarding was a huge success and we’d all really like to go back another time because we all had the time of our lives and it was a fairly cheap and easy trip to make (and quite a good workout!!).
On a sadder note, I went to the doctor yesterday and found out that I have strep throat. I got my prescription last night so I’m feeling a little better today, but I’m still contagious until tomorrow morning. So I’ve just been hanging out and trying to keep a safe distance from my friends. It’s kinda funny because when I told Australians that I had strep throat everyone responded, “What’s that?” I guess it’s not common here….but someone how I still managed to get it. Weird. Anyway, I’m currently planning a weekend trip for this weekend so keep checking back for updates on that and Autonomy Day this Friday. Be sure to checkout my Photobucket if you wanna see more pictures!
Cheers,
Kim
The bus driver dropped us off at the end of the street where the tours left from, but we were in a completely residential area. Ryan skeptically turned to me and said, “Kim…there’s no sand here.” I knew we were on the right street so we kept walking and about 15 minutes later we suddenly saw the beach and the sand dunes and we knew we were in the right place
.We checked in, paid, and then got into a huge 4WD truck that took us up to the top of the sand dunes. That was quite a ride. Our driver Bill was excited to hear that we were Americans because he’s traveled to 37 of the 50 states so he enjoyed chatting it up with us and trying to guess which states we were from. When we got to the top and got out of the truck I was completely blown away. I honestly felt like I was in the middle of a desert because I could only see sand in every single angle.
"The wind-blown sand dunes of Stockton Beach comprise the largest continuous mobile sand mass in New South Wales. The yellow grains have been washed in from the sea and blown ashore to form dunes up to forty metres high. Most of the sand was deposited about six thousand years ago. Despite the stabilising effects of plants such as spinifex, pigface and bitou bush, the wind-driven dunes move about four metres a year. The lee side of a dune is steep and loosely packed, making a perfect surface for sliding down.”
So after we got out, we grabbed our boards and were able to "have a go." We were met by our instructor Michael who just gave us some basic information about how to sit/stand on the board and where to walk back up the hill. He also pulled a candle out of his pocket and told us that if we wanted to “have a little bit more fun” to come see him and he’d put some wax on our board to make us go faster. I think throughout the day the 6 of us probably used up about 5
candles haha.So I went down my first time and it was heaps of fun. The dune was about 40 metres high (about 130 feet) and also pretty steep. The best comparison I can make it that it’s sorta similar to sledding, but much better because you’re not wearing 30 layers of clothes and you’re not freezing your ass off. However, muc
h similar to sledding, the worst about how going down is the walking back up part. As anyone who’s attempted to run on a beach will know, plodding through sand is extremely strenuous work. Let me tell you, trudging uphill on a large sand dune is absolutely murderous. Even more so after you’ve just wiped out and face-planted at the bottom of the dune and you’re still spitting out sand like a hyperactive llama. A few times I actually had to just sit down half way up and rest. Yet, despite how much we dreaded walking back up, we were all having the time of our lives and kept going down. Unfortunately, Calum got hurt within the first 5 minutes that we were there. He was going down standing up on the board and he was doing really well till he hit a bump and had an awesome wipeout. We were all standing up at the hill laughing hysterically for a few seconds until we realized that he was hurt. So we went down to check on him and he wasn’t seriously hurt but his knee hurt him bad enough that he decided he was gonna be done for the day.Probably at least a 100 or so people came and went when we were there and most only went down about 1 or 2 times. However, we were having an absolute blast so we got our moneys worth and stayed for about 4 hours. Once we got bored with the basic ways to go down, we sat around brainstorming with the instructor various other crazy ways to go down as well. If you check out my pictures you’ll see that some of our genius ideas failed miserably, but we had fun anyway.
When we left, Bill offered to drop us off at the bus station and he took us an awesome ride in the 4WD where we were basically driving on Stockton Beach which was absolutely amazing and a great conclusion to our trip. When I got back to Uni I couldn’t believe how much sand I was still finding all over my body, even after I showered haha. Sandboarding was a huge success and we’d all really like to go back another time because we all had the time of our lives and it was a fairly cheap and easy trip to make (and quite a good workout!!).
On a sadder note, I went to the doctor yesterday and found out that I have strep throat. I got my prescription last night so I’m feeling a little better today, but I’m still contagious until tomorrow morning. So I’ve just been hanging out and trying to keep a safe distance from my friends. It’s kinda funny because when I told Australians that I had strep throat everyone responded, “What’s that?” I guess it’s not common here….but someone how I still managed to get it. Weird. Anyway, I’m currently planning a weekend trip for this weekend so keep checking back for updates on that and Autonomy Day this Friday. Be sure to checkout my Photobucket if you wanna see more pictures!
Cheers,
Kim
Sunday, August 2, 2009
School Has Begun, But Not Before a Little Fun
Hey everyone…hope everything in the states is going well. Sorry for my delays with posting, I’ve been pretty busy over here lately.
So I’ll start off with a little bit of background of my Uni. The University of Newcastle is a large public university ranked 9th in the country. Unlike the US, Australia only has 38 universities with only 2 of those being private. So going to a public university with 30,000 students is in stark contrast to the 3,000 students at Elmhurst. Although I love that Elmhurst is a small school, I’m really enjoying being able to experience what it’s like to go to a big university for a semester. I think the biggest difference so far is that it takes me about 20 minutes to my classes or the train station, compared to the 3-5 minute walk to classes and the train that I was use to at Elmhurst.
On Friday the 17th, we were finally able to move into our places for the next 5 months. After living out of our suitcase for almost a week, we were all very excited to get settled in. About half of the people in our group choose to live off-campus about 20 min from Uni and right in the heart of downtown Newcastle. The other half of us (including myself) decided to live on campus in the “colleges.” In Australia it is not nearly as common for students to “go away to Uni” as it is in the states and most students commute. So the spots on campus are mostly reserved for Aussies who live too far to commute and international students.
I live in Edwards Hall (a.k.a. Teds). Teds is approximately 75% Aussie students and 25% international students. The set up of Teds gets kind of confusing because Edwards Hall is divided up into 4 separate buildings. The main office and dining hall are in the first building. This building also has a large basement called the cellar which is where we host lots of activates or where people meet before going out. The two main houses are Bernett House and Cutler House (where I live) and then there’s also a third building across the street (Tunra House), which is self-catered. Bernett and Cutler house get 16 meals a week; however, we only get breakfast and dinner and then lunch on the weekends. And by breakfast I mean cereal and toast. I miss Elmhurst’s cafeteria food. By the way, when I say “House” don’t think house, think dorm, it’s just what they’re called here. Then each house has 3 floors, the first floor is ground floor, the second floor is the first floor, and the 3rd floor is the 2nd floor (confusing!). But people here just say ground, mid, or top. Then each floor is divided into 3 different corridors or hallways: North, West, and East. So when someone asks me where I live I would respond, “Teds, Culter, Ground, West.” Each corridor is co-ed and is your basic communal bathroom, traditional dorm style hallway. We also share a tea room (kitchen), but you gotta be careful what you put in the fridge or it might not be there the next day. The only huge difference is tha
t all bedrooms in all of the colleges on campus are single and you’d never have a roommate here. This picture of my room is from the first night that I moved in. It kinda looks like a jail cell huh? (I’ve decorated a little bit since then). Even though the room seems pretty small, I actually feel like I have a lot more personal space then I did sharing a slightly bigger room with a roommate. Teds also has a swimming pool behind it, but that doesn’t open till spring, so not for about another month.
This past Monday marked the beginning of Semester 2 at the University of Newcastle. While in the US everyone is still in the middle of their summer vacation, in Australia everyone is returning for second semester from their “holiday” (winter break). However, the entire week before classes started was dedicated to O-week (Orientation Week). Since it’s the middle of the school year and there aren’t very many new students, O-week was mostly devoted to the international students. The week was VERY fun with numerous activities planned for everyday, but it was also very tiring and I’m happy to settle into somewhat of a routine now.
Sunday night started off O-Week where we all met in the cellar for meet and greet type games and lots of lollies. Then Monday we had a formal uni orientation session for all new international students, which we were warned would be “bloody boring.” And oh it was. However, we were also given the hot tip that STA Travel would raffle a free 16-day Spring Break Trip worth about $2000 but you had to stay till the very end of orientation to get it. So I sat through the entire boring day in hopes of winning the trip and some other American girl named Kimberly won…go figure. At least with got a free barbie lunch. Then Monday night Teds hosted a nibbles/drinks meet and greet at a local pub and that was a cool way to meet some more international and local students from my college.
Tuesday morning started off bright and early with a free pancake brekie. I guess that sometimes they do put syrup on their pancakes but another traditional way to have them is with lemon juice on top. I had never heard of this before, but I tried it and it wasn’t half bad. Then we were off to some more orientation sessions, another free barbie lunch, and we also went to the Hub (basically the student union
) where we got our student ID’s and were finally able to register for classes. Then Tuesday night Bar on the Hill (yes, there’s a bar on campus…werid right?) hosted a Welcome Party for all the new and returning students and that was also pretty fun. Bar on the Hill is a pretty cool place to hang out between classes and they also have pretty cheap food for lunch as well.
Wednesday afternoon I went on a bus tour of the city of Newcastle. The Uni is actually located in the suburb Callaghan, and is abo
ut a 20-minute train ride from downtown Newcastle. This was the first time that I had been into town and I was really excited that we stopped to get off and check out two of Newcastle’s beaches which were absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to go back and and hang out there when it’s a little bit warmer. I was amazed that even though it was pretty cold there were still people surfing and playing volleyball in the sand. Then Wednesday night Teds hosted a Trivia night, but I didn’t go to that because I was still showering and getting ready to go into town for the night. Like I mentioned earlier, Wednesday night is the big night to go out here because it’s student night everywhere and basically everyone goes into town.
Thursday morning I woke up early again because Teds was taking us on a little field trip up to Nelson Bay. Nelson Bay is about an hour north of Newcastle and is a really nice area on the beach with a lot of restaurants, cafés, and shops. After about an hour of walking around town, we went on a dolphin cruise. I wasn’t able to get any good pictures of them, but I was able to see a few swimming around the boat which was a pretty cool sight. When we got back to campus, Teds was hosting a Pancakes and Popcorn Move Night where they played the movie Castle, a classic Australian movie.
Friday morning was another early one because Teds took another field trip abou
t an hour north to the Hunter Valley Region for a Winery Tour. We went to three different wineries throughout the day. The first one we went to was Lindeman’s and that was my favorite. They taught us the proper way to actually taste wine and let us sample a few white wines, red wines, and dessert wines and gave us some cheese and crackers in between. The third winery we went to was really fun because we got to try some unique things like this one liquor called Chili Schnapps or “Dragon’s Breath.” The lady told us that we all had to try it at the same time as a shot and it basically tasted like hot peppers in liquid form and burned your throat as it went down. Luckily the lady gave us some chocolate afterward to help the burning. A few people in our group were lovers of hot, spicy things actually really, really liked it and some even bought it.
Then Saturday night concluded the O-Week activities with Ted’s Rockstar Party. One thing that I’ve quickly noticed is that Australians love to have themed parties and dress up in crazy costumes. This past Wednesday night Ted’s also hosted a Uniform Party. Maybe I should have brought more costumes to Australia and less normal clothes? A lot of people went shopping at the op-shop (thrift store) to buy some things, but I didn’t wanna spend any money so I just made do with what I had for the Rockstar Party and I borrowed an AFL (Australian Rules Football) jersey from an Aussie for the Uniform Party.
Well, I’m off to do some homework for class tomorrow. After a few more classes, I’ll update again and tell you all about those. Also stay posted to hear all about my amazing day trip to Port Stephens from this weekend. Finally, feel free to leave comments on any of my posts; you don’t need to have an account or anything.
Cheers!
So I’ll start off with a little bit of background of my Uni. The University of Newcastle is a large public university ranked 9th in the country. Unlike the US, Australia only has 38 universities with only 2 of those being private. So going to a public university with 30,000 students is in stark contrast to the 3,000 students at Elmhurst. Although I love that Elmhurst is a small school, I’m really enjoying being able to experience what it’s like to go to a big university for a semester. I think the biggest difference so far is that it takes me about 20 minutes to my classes or the train station, compared to the 3-5 minute walk to classes and the train that I was use to at Elmhurst.
On Friday the 17th, we were finally able to move into our places for the next 5 months. After living out of our suitcase for almost a week, we were all very excited to get settled in. About half of the people in our group choose to live off-campus about 20 min from Uni and right in the heart of downtown Newcastle. The other half of us (including myself) decided to live on campus in the “colleges.” In Australia it is not nearly as common for students to “go away to Uni” as it is in the states and most students commute. So the spots on campus are mostly reserved for Aussies who live too far to commute and international students.
I live in Edwards Hall (a.k.a. Teds). Teds is approximately 75% Aussie students and 25% international students. The set up of Teds gets kind of confusing because Edwards Hall is divided up into 4 separate buildings. The main office and dining hall are in the first building. This building also has a large basement called the cellar which is where we host lots of activates or where people meet before going out. The two main houses are Bernett House and Cutler House (where I live) and then there’s also a third building across the street (Tunra House), which is self-catered. Bernett and Cutler house get 16 meals a week; however, we only get breakfast and dinner and then lunch on the weekends. And by breakfast I mean cereal and toast. I miss Elmhurst’s cafeteria food. By the way, when I say “House” don’t think house, think dorm, it’s just what they’re called here. Then each house has 3 floors, the first floor is ground floor, the second floor is the first floor, and the 3rd floor is the 2nd floor (confusing!). But people here just say ground, mid, or top. Then each floor is divided into 3 different corridors or hallways: North, West, and East. So when someone asks me where I live I would respond, “Teds, Culter, Ground, West.” Each corridor is co-ed and is your basic communal bathroom, traditional dorm style hallway. We also share a tea room (kitchen), but you gotta be careful what you put in the fridge or it might not be there the next day. The only huge difference is tha
t all bedrooms in all of the colleges on campus are single and you’d never have a roommate here. This picture of my room is from the first night that I moved in. It kinda looks like a jail cell huh? (I’ve decorated a little bit since then). Even though the room seems pretty small, I actually feel like I have a lot more personal space then I did sharing a slightly bigger room with a roommate. Teds also has a swimming pool behind it, but that doesn’t open till spring, so not for about another month.This past Monday marked the beginning of Semester 2 at the University of Newcastle. While in the US everyone is still in the middle of their summer vacation, in Australia everyone is returning for second semester from their “holiday” (winter break). However, the entire week before classes started was dedicated to O-week (Orientation Week). Since it’s the middle of the school year and there aren’t very many new students, O-week was mostly devoted to the international students. The week was VERY fun with numerous activities planned for everyday, but it was also very tiring and I’m happy to settle into somewhat of a routine now.
Sunday night started off O-Week where we all met in the cellar for meet and greet type games and lots of lollies. Then Monday we had a formal uni orientation session for all new international students, which we were warned would be “bloody boring.” And oh it was. However, we were also given the hot tip that STA Travel would raffle a free 16-day Spring Break Trip worth about $2000 but you had to stay till the very end of orientation to get it. So I sat through the entire boring day in hopes of winning the trip and some other American girl named Kimberly won…go figure. At least with got a free barbie lunch. Then Monday night Teds hosted a nibbles/drinks meet and greet at a local pub and that was a cool way to meet some more international and local students from my college.
Tuesday morning started off bright and early with a free pancake brekie. I guess that sometimes they do put syrup on their pancakes but another traditional way to have them is with lemon juice on top. I had never heard of this before, but I tried it and it wasn’t half bad. Then we were off to some more orientation sessions, another free barbie lunch, and we also went to the Hub (basically the student union
) where we got our student ID’s and were finally able to register for classes. Then Tuesday night Bar on the Hill (yes, there’s a bar on campus…werid right?) hosted a Welcome Party for all the new and returning students and that was also pretty fun. Bar on the Hill is a pretty cool place to hang out between classes and they also have pretty cheap food for lunch as well.Wednesday afternoon I went on a bus tour of the city of Newcastle. The Uni is actually located in the suburb Callaghan, and is abo
ut a 20-minute train ride from downtown Newcastle. This was the first time that I had been into town and I was really excited that we stopped to get off and check out two of Newcastle’s beaches which were absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to go back and and hang out there when it’s a little bit warmer. I was amazed that even though it was pretty cold there were still people surfing and playing volleyball in the sand. Then Wednesday night Teds hosted a Trivia night, but I didn’t go to that because I was still showering and getting ready to go into town for the night. Like I mentioned earlier, Wednesday night is the big night to go out here because it’s student night everywhere and basically everyone goes into town.Thursday morning I woke up early again because Teds was taking us on a little field trip up to Nelson Bay. Nelson Bay is about an hour north of Newcastle and is a really nice area on the beach with a lot of restaurants, cafés, and shops. After about an hour of walking around town, we went on a dolphin cruise. I wasn’t able to get any good pictures of them, but I was able to see a few swimming around the boat which was a pretty cool sight. When we got back to campus, Teds was hosting a Pancakes and Popcorn Move Night where they played the movie Castle, a classic Australian movie.
Friday morning was another early one because Teds took another field trip abou
t an hour north to the Hunter Valley Region for a Winery Tour. We went to three different wineries throughout the day. The first one we went to was Lindeman’s and that was my favorite. They taught us the proper way to actually taste wine and let us sample a few white wines, red wines, and dessert wines and gave us some cheese and crackers in between. The third winery we went to was really fun because we got to try some unique things like this one liquor called Chili Schnapps or “Dragon’s Breath.” The lady told us that we all had to try it at the same time as a shot and it basically tasted like hot peppers in liquid form and burned your throat as it went down. Luckily the lady gave us some chocolate afterward to help the burning. A few people in our group were lovers of hot, spicy things actually really, really liked it and some even bought it.Then Saturday night concluded the O-Week activities with Ted’s Rockstar Party. One thing that I’ve quickly noticed is that Australians love to have themed parties and dress up in crazy costumes. This past Wednesday night Ted’s also hosted a Uniform Party. Maybe I should have brought more costumes to Australia and less normal clothes? A lot of people went shopping at the op-shop (thrift store) to buy some things, but I didn’t wanna spend any money so I just made do with what I had for the Rockstar Party and I borrowed an AFL (Australian Rules Football) jersey from an Aussie for the Uniform Party.
Well, I’m off to do some homework for class tomorrow. After a few more classes, I’ll update again and tell you all about those. Also stay posted to hear all about my amazing day trip to Port Stephens from this weekend. Finally, feel free to leave comments on any of my posts; you don’t need to have an account or anything.
Cheers!
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