Australia/Survival Day

Australia Day was amazing! It was pretty hot- up to about 31 degrees (92/3 F) and 100% humidity! Other than sweating like crazy I had a blast! For those of you that don't know, Australia Day is kind of like the fourth of July in America, with a bit of Columbus day thrown in. It commemorates the day that the First Fleet, or the first group of convicts who were sent to Australia, landed in Botany Bay in Sydney and began the first settlement. This caused a bit of turmoil, however, with the indigenous Aboriginal group that lived here, because that meant the beginning of the day that their home began to be invaded by outsiders. So that's why many people of Aboriginal descent protest "Australia Day" and call it "Survival Day"- the day that their ancestors had to begin to fight to survive in their homeland.

So there's your history lesson for today, and now more for what I actually did during Australia day... around the city there were festivals and markets and concerts going on. I walked through the Rocks, which is the historical/old section of the city. The markets were interesting, but not as interesting as the people, who were all dressed in Red, White, and Blue (which are also Australian colors :D ) My roommates and I had found "I Heart Aus" shirts and also dressed for the occasion. Through a beer garden overlooking the Sydney Harbor, to a mile long car show, to fiddling Australians on stage, we finally found our way to Darling Harbor for the fireworks show. We sat at Cargo Bar and shared a bottle of red wine and a small bbq pizza while watching fireworks explode over the harbor and off of the rooftops of nearby skyscrapers. It was simply amazing- we were all in awe.

That was wednesday- yesterday, everyone was tired from a long day of walking, however we did have to meet for a class field trip. We met on the other side of the city in groups to tour "Old Sydney". The first place we visited was definitely the most interesting and worth mentioning was the Hyde Park Barracks, which were the original "home" of the first group of male convicts. They showed us orginal artifacts that the convicts had carved from bone, including chess pieces that they used to rid themselves of boredom. We also saw places where convicts had signed the wall, and their sleeping barracks- where we were able (forced) to get into the hammocks that they used to sleep in. 200 or more men sleep in the room which had no air ventilation, and where there were only about 100 hammocks for them to sleep in. They said the rest- usually the new or younger convicts- found a corner or shared a hammock with another person. It was a great, historical week- I learned loads and aced my quiz yesterday! Next weekend is my trip to the Hunter Valley wine region- which I am particularly excited for!! Love you all!

Flying Foxes and Sandy Cheeks :)

The past few days have been just crazy! Yesterday started as a lazy day. My roommates were sleeping in so I decided to make my own day. I packed a bag full of clothes and supplies and ventured out. I first visited my gym- the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Center- and had a nice workout. After a shower, and around 2pm, I ventured out into the city. I walked around casually, first finding Hyde Park near the center of the city and relaxing there. I watched skateboarders for a bit and hung out with an Ibis (weird bird found here) who was hanging out in the bushes near me. From there, I went into St. Mary's Cathedral, a huge catholic church on the west side of the park. The church itself was amazing and huge, and looks like a European style cathedral with gothic influences. The inside was enormous and spacious, with beautiful painted glass windows and paintings of the Resurrection hung on the walls. It was a nice escape from the busy city.


Afterwards, I wandered on towards the Botanical Gardens, which are one of the coolest places I've been to so far. At first, the gardens were calm and beautiful. Flowers here and there, a few pidgeons and Ibises. After a few minutes into the garden, however, I could've sworn I was in the middle of the Jungle. There were birds running like chickens on the ground in front of me. Tens of different kinds of trees towered over me, and I lost sight of other people. The paths were still well defined, however I lost track of where I was very easily. Above me there were cockatoos and birds of all shapes and sizes. Corners of pathways were hidden under palms, and I heard animal calls that I'd never heard before- some sounded like monkeys, I swear! There were things rustling in the bushes as I passed, and I was worried a few times! My favorite site in the gardens, which were the flying foxes. These huge bats covered the treetops, and occasionally I saw them flying- they had a wingspan of about 4-5 feet! Eventually I moved on through the jungle. I found a small cafe, as I hadn't had anything more than a few crackers before the gym. I had a scoop of chocolate ice cream for my walk and bought an apple danish for later. I walked along the path which had amazing views of the city skyline, Opera House, and Harbor bridge. I found my way to a nice spot overlooking the Harbor and sat to study with a great view! It was pretty hard to concentrate with the amazing views, however! I studied there for an hour or so, then made my way back to the apartment for a late dinner and a glass of wine with my roommates!



Today was also a great, busy day. The roommates and I woke up late and found our way down to the harbor- Circular Quay. We hopped on a ferry which took us through the harbor and towards the Ocean. We landed on the north side of Sydney, and visited Manly Beach, which is the second most well-known beach in Sydney- next to Bondi Beach! The beach was enormous, however super crowded. I'm currently still on the mend from an awful sunburn on my belly! I fell asleep at Coogee beach the other day and ended up with a lobster red stomach. I reapplied at least 5 times today, and thankfully, I don't think I burned! Tonight, my roomates and I made dinner. I just finished eating, and we're waiting on dessert to be ready. We each made a little something to contribute. I made brie on toasted baguette with cranberry sauce, Catie made bruschetta, Keri made eggplant parmesan, and Sam made the dessert- Apricot-honey crisp! We'll have the dessert with a glass of wine while we're watching Australia the movie on TV tonight and taking it easy! I have a presentation and a quiz this week in classes, so it'll be a good week to finish up January in Oz! Love you all! :)

Market City!

Today was a good, laid back day :) Slept in until around 9:30, had some breakfast, played on Skype, and ventured out. I used a coupon to get a free 7 day trial at a nearby gym and aquatic center that's named after Ian Thorpe, the US equivalent of Michael Phelps. Anyways, I packed what I needed to visit the gym, but first I decided to check out Paddy's Market.

In an amazing book, given to me by my wonderful cousin Tyson(and his fiancee Beth), called "Free and Dirt Cheap Sydney", I've been finding some very interesting places and events that I'd love to visit. One was Paddy's Market. The book boasts that this market, which has since moved into the basement floor of a mall and is much more metropolitan, has been at this site since 1834 and hosts nearly 1000 stalls- the book doesn't lie! I could've spent hours wandering amongst the aisles upon aisles. There is an entire section devoted to fresh fruits and produce, while the rest has stalls that are devoted to toys, books, movies, jewelry, souveniers and trinkets, belts, dresses, hats, tools, hello kitty items, chinese food, dried nuts and fruits, and so much more! Definitely a must see for any trip to Sydney, and definitely one place that I'll be spending both time and money for gifts to bring back home!

Also, had a milkshake inside the actual mall- and it's not much of a shake- just milk. I swear it was just vanilla flavored cream, because it was just as liquidy as a regular glass of milk, but it filled me up pretty quickly. I guess it could've been just the place that I went to, but I'm not entirely sure. I guess that gives me a good excuse to try another milkshake somewhere else :)

And for anyone who's wondering, there is a McDonalds about 100 yards from my building, and their big macs taste exactly like american big macs :) Although they don't have a dollar menu...

Anyways, should have some great stories from this coming weekend- we're hopefully going to visit another beach that isn't far away- Bronte Beach! Love you all!

SHOUT!

Just to keep everyone at ease, I am eating fairly well for myself- the food here is pretty good, and I'm sure I'll mention that a lot throughout the semester. BUT since I can't go out to eat every night, I've been having fun keep myself full with homemade meals. The food prices here can get pricey but if you can find a good deal- either meat in the price cut section or things on sale- it can occasionally be less expensive than in America. Thankfully, I like fruit, which is less expensive (generally) than in the US. They have a great deal of fruits and foods that I've never tried before and I'm pretty curious as to what they are/how they taste. There's a little reddish ball fruit called a Lychee that I've never seen before that I'm curious to try! Also, they keep their eggs in the aisle with the shelved food- not with the dairy products? I understand it's not really different, it was just strange to see for the first time. Healthly products are abundent- whether it's fat free or low fat. This morning I'm having toast with jam and an egg over hard with low fat chedder and few strawberries on the side! Last night for dinner I made myself a small cut of steak, grilled and marinated with a teriyaki and bbq sauce mix with rice on the side and a glass of Riesling! :) The last part was homework for my wine class, of course :)

So I've been eating well- I still want to try Kangaroo meat of course- I've heard that it's tougher than normal beef but it tastes similar. I'd love to try to visit some of the local markets- there are a few nearby that just sell crafts and clothes, but I've heard of the occasional Farmer's Market!

Anyways, last night I went out with the girls that I live with, and a few friends from around the building. We first visited a bar that was plainly titled "Aussie Bar" and was completely empty. We played a round of pool (which was just like in America save the balls were a little bit smaller) and had a few pitchers of beer among us. I also chatted with the bartender and taught him how to make a kamikazee, which they apparently don't have here. One thing that we've learned about Oz culture is that they aren't particularly hard drinkers, although they are consistent. We've been told that wine is much more commonly drunk than beer, although both are drunk frequently. They stray away from hard liquor, party just due to culture and party because it's ridiculously expensive here- The cheapest bottle of vodka I've found was a litre of Smirnoff for $35!! Wine is fairly inexpensive, and although beer is slightly more expensive than home, it still is more affordable than liquor.

My Oz word of the day is "shout" which means a round. So when you're at a bar or club it is common to hear "I've got this shout", or they have this round. It is apparently bad taste, or so our program director says, to partake in a "shout" without buying the next or another shout later on. I think that's just common manners though! :)

Class from 5:30-8:30 tonight- I have some Wine HW that I should work on at some point this afternoon, and the sun is starting to come out! Think I may check out Paddy's market this afternoon, which is one of the most common craft and artisan markets in my area that happens weekly. Love you all!

Back to School, Back to School

Oz word of the day: Prawn

I'm not sure why Americans think they're cool when they say "shrimp on the barbie", thinking that they're using cool Aussie slang, because shrimp is rarely used in general convo. As spoken by the Aussie guy we met at the grills at Coogee beach last night, "what's shrimp?"

Instead, we should be saying, "throw some more prawns on the barbie", because prawns are shrimp!

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Had my first day of class today, and it didn't even start until 4:30 pm! We have two classes this short, 7 week semester, and my class today was Australian Wine Industry- from 4:30-8:30pm!
It wasn't bad, and it seems like it's going to be a great, informative, and interesting class! Tomorrow we're going to visit some local wine cellars to taste test a few wines and speak with a few wine experts!

Before class today, since I had time to spare, my roommates and I walked around Chinatown and found a garden called the "Chinese Garden of Friendship", which was created to celebrate the friendship between China and New South Wales, Aus. The garden was great, and there were huge ponds with gigantic Coy fish. I also saw a few huge lizards that scared me half to death! The largest crawled up to the gazebo we had stopped for photo ops. on and just sat on a rock watching us. I think he was about 2 feet long! I've never seen a Lizard outside of a zoo- I am from VT :)

We ended the day with Jasmine tea in the tea garden with a plate of Scones and Jam and another plate of Dim-Sums, which reminded me of dumplings. Very delicious.

All in all it was a good day- wonderful to see the contrasting city and garden environments. I look forward to experiencing that more as I'll hopefully spend some time in Vineyards this semester!
Lots of Love!

The 5 Day Run Down

Since this is my first entry, and I've been here for nearly 5 days already, I'll try to sum everything that I've done quickly.....

airplane at 8 am then airport try to find baggage find BU ride bus and see Sydney unpack a little meet roommates meet everyone talk talk talk a lot walk around have burger and beer sleep wake listen to people talk talk talk sign up for trips to surf and great barrier reef eat pizza go grocery shopping sleep wake listen to people talk talk talk get gussied up ride cruise boat in Sydney harbor see the Opera House! Harbor Bridge! eat amazing food take tons of pictures go out to a bar expensive drinks nearly fall asleep at bar walk home sleep wake walk run sprint across Sydney in the "Drop Bear Cup" amazing race for BU literally travel 5-10 miles end at Bondi beach buy $25 bathing suit RUN into the pacific ocean for the first time get back apply aloe vera for first Sydney sun burn sleep wake go running stretch exercise in park that overlooks skyline shower breakfast pack Coogee Beach (Cootchie Beach? Cookie Beach?) bake in sun swim nearly drown in huge waves climb rocks watch water break beautifully against rocky cliff ledges bake in sun more grill burgers and hotdogs chat with Aussies about Americans dance sing bus home

AND here I am now :)

Hope that was a good enough run down!

In further depth, yes, that's what my past few days have been. Sydney has been absolutely amazing so far, and my building and living situation is incredible. I have my own room in a 4 person suite, with 1.5 baths, a small kitchenette, and living room! We're about 5 miles from the nearest beach, and it's about a 20 minute bus ride to get there. The beaches are incredibly beautiful. I've been across Sydney already- albeit it was quickly in some places due to the fact that we were there in a race- and I love every inch of it. There are plenty of things I miss about home- nearly everything is more expensive here, for one thing- but there is so much to do here I have plenty to keep me busy and satisfied. I'll post pictures soon to coincide with my adventures, but I just wanted to update everyone! Tomorrow we begin classes. Hopefully (since they had to mix up some classes), I'll be taking Australian Culture and Australian Wine Industry! I've already signed up for a Surf Camp which will hopefully take place later this month, and a Spring Break trip to Cairns in northern Australia, which includes a trip to a 10,000 year old rainforest and scuba diving on the great barrier reef! We also have a trip to Melbourne planned at the beginning of next month, and my Wine Industry class will take us to the Hunter Valley wine region just outside of Sydney! With so much planned and so much here to do, I know that the next few months will fly by! Pictures to come! I love and miss everyone!