And the Beachy Life Continues

I'm now heading in to my second week of school.  It's all fun and games until the real work starts!  During Orientation Week, there was not a care in the world... and no one seems to have any cares still as uni drives forward.  I'm not sure if I'm too tightly wound or OCD about completing my work, but everyone here seems to be unconcerned with the work that is slowly starting to pile up.  It's not uncommon to hear a fellow student explain how they're probably going to miss a lecture or two this upcoming week, and the next, and the next... I'm not saying it's wrong; people here seem to do pretty well.  It's just much different than Colgate.  Another weird thing about uni is the age demographic of the student population.  I have several classes with older students (as in older than 25).  In my Indigenous Studies course, there are about 150 students.  However, that's only in the lecture.  In the tutorial, which occurs during a separate two hours of the week, I am accompanied by 20 other students in a small classroom.  Of those 20 students, about 4 are over the age of 40.  Strange, right?  Having the older crowd as part of my academic experience may be a good thing actually.  They can relate to the subject matter from an older time period than any of us young adults can. 

Contrary to popular belief, you can get in trouble for drinking in Australia (despite being over 18 years old).  Campus East has instilled several policies in hopes of alleviating excessive intoxication, such as:  no drinking games, no drinking parties that have more than nine people, and no carrying open glass containers around campus.  I would hate to be on the other end of the RA's pen and writing pad.  Which, speaking of RA's, it is a strange thing to be a resident now (instead of an RA).  My RA, Neil, is really great--outgoing, personable, and generally interested in the welfare of his residents.  Tonight, my roommates and I met with him to go over our room contract.  The contract included items such as when to turn the lights off, when it should be quite in the room, who takes out the trash when, etc.  I'm so used to having my residents fill these forms out; I felt almost juvenile filling out the forms with my RA.  I guess coming to Australia is a reality check... I'm not always going to be the boss, or rather, the mentor (who should know everything about uni life). 

I finally found a Catholic church in Fairy Meadow, which is the town I live in.  I was reminded by an e-mail from the Colgate Chaplain that Lent begins tomorrow--I need to put some serious thought in to how I would like to improve myself and my spiritual life.

When I first heard Colgate had a snow day today, I was disappointed that I wasn't there for the first snow day in approximately 40 years.  Almost a split-second later, I was slapped back into reality as I thought about how I went to the beach yesterday and swam in the ocean.  Yes, I do miss Colgate.. but a beach in walking distance?  warm weather daily?  access to a different culture and attractions?  I'll take Australia any day.  Speaking of Colgate, I've been thinking a lot about the services Colgate provides, in relation to UOW (University of Wollongong).  I've come up with a short list so far of pros and cons:

Pros:  Colgate gives you everything for free (seemingly).  Yes, we do pay $52,000 a year, which is the going rate for a private liberal arts institution.  However, you're not reminded every single second of how much money you're spending, like here at UOW.  Literally everything costs money.  You want a gym membership?  That's $58/month.  You want to get a towel at the gym (which is required for entry)?  That's $2.50 to hire (or rent as we say in the U.S.)  You want Internet (which is a limited amount)?  That's $150.  You want to copy or print a sheet of paper?  That's $0.11 a page.  You go through a full day at uni feeling like you're spending your savings away!  Thank God at Colgate you're not reminded all the time of how much money you're spending to go to school there.

Cons:  Colgate babies its students, even the upperclassmen.  At UOW, it's every man for himself.  For example, you have to arrange your own class schedule so that classes don't overlap.  At Colgate, the class registration system won't even let you register for two classes if it detects they overlap.  At UOW, you have to find books teachers' assign yourself and copy them.  At Colgate, professors scan the articles for you, transpose them as PDF's, and post them to a website.  All you have to do is click print.  At UOW, professors don't care if you're late because the bus didn't come on it's regularly scheduled time--everyone rides the bus to school.  At Colgate, it literally takes no more than 15 minutes to walk to any building on campus.

This is the list I've generated so far, but I'm sure I'll think of more.  I actually try not to think about Colgate because this is my time to grow as an individual outside the walls of Hamilton.  I'm growing, as lame at that sounds, but it's more like the "real world" in Wollongong.  I have to be sensible about the money I spend, I have to schedule my arrivals to school, I don't have three advisers holding my hand throughout my college years, and there's no one telling me what's right/wrong to do. 

Wow that was a really long tangent... but all things I've been thinking about lately.

I'll be sure to update more soon!

Mardi Gras: Sydney Style

Yesterday, Saturday the 5th, my friends and I went to Mardi Gras in Sydney, also known as "Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras."  The main event of the day:  watching  a three hour parade showcasing Sydney's supporters of gay and lesbian rights and those who identify has gay, lesbian, transsexual, bisexual, or queer. 


http://www.mardigras.org.au/


We took an hour and a half train ride from Fairy Meadow to Sydney at 10:30 in the morning.  After arriving in Sydney, we went to a market place to eat and shop.  Following this, we walked to Sydney Harbor and toured around the botanic gardens and the Sydney Opera House.  I WILL be going to an opera or symphony at the opera house while I am in Australia!  After exploring the harbor, my friends and I dressed in our Mardi Gras garb, which included all things glittery, shiny, and flashy.  My camera broke recently so I'll be putting up pictures soon from the parade (from one of my friend's cameras)!  We all colored our hair green and red and the girls had on butterfly wings.  I wore silver fake eyelashes and a red lei.  Surprisingly, we fit right in with the rest of the crowd.  I'm guessing there were several thousand people at the parade.  I saw people wearing everything from butt-less chaps to Halloween-looking costumes.  For the first time in my life, I saw a male to female transvestite, who had obviously undergone surgery to look more female.  Actually there was a whole group of them, probably 6 or 7 taking pictures with people on the streets.  As for the parade, it was very interesting as well!  There was floats for everything:  LGBTQ support groups, sports clubs who support gay and lesbian rights, political parties who support their rights, and even religious groups who support gay and lesbian groups (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Evangelical Christian).  I think my favorite float in the parade was a support group called, "Parents, Families, and Friends of Gay and Lesbian."  Several older people walking with that float had signs that read "I support my homosexual son/daughter."  On the other hand, I was quite offended when I saw a sign that read "Pope Benedict XVI--The Worst Homophobic."  Yes, the Catholic Church does not endorse homosexuality or same-sex marriage, but I thought it was disrespectful, nonetheless.  Below are photos from the parade (they are from previous Mardi Gras parades... but perfectly represent what I saw yesterday).

I also saw several men kissing throughout the parade.  Because I've never seen two men kissing before, at first I was surprised and didn't know what to make of the situation.  But, men and women kiss in the streets all the time and no one says anything... so shouldn't it be okay for two men, or two women, to kiss in public?  It may not be something most of us are used to, but I think society should be more accepting of it (regardless of your views on same-sex marriage or gay rights).


The video below is a shout out to all those who identify as LGBTQ, especially those closest to me who identify as such : )  Gotta love Lady Gaga.

Life at Uni

Classes started today!  I am taking a 200-level Spanish subject, a 300-level cognitive psychology subject, a 100-level subject on aboriginal people, and a course about non-linear physics (which I'm required by Colgate to take).  For each subject, you're required to go to either one or two lectures.  In addition to these lectures, I had to sign up for a tutorial time for each subject.  For example, for my Psyc 345 subject, there are two required lectures and four tutorial times I could choose from.  Therefore, I go to my psychology subject three times a week--twice with everyone registered for the subject and once with a smaller group of students.  I think I'm going to enjoy my tutorial times much better than the lectures because during the tutorials we can have discussions.  During the lectures, since there are so many students in each class, you just listen to the professor speak and take notes.  I'll rather engage with my UOW peers through intelligent discussion.  I've had a few classes with older students (above the age of 30), which was surprising to see at first. 

The UOW campus is quite large and each building in labeled with a number.  Students here don't refer to buildings by their name, they refer to buildings by their number.  Also, there are many places to eat and sit outside around campus, which I will be taking full advantage of! 

There is a strange student demographic at UOW; there are about as many Asians as there are Caucasians and there are hardly any black or people of Hispanic descent.  I was hoping that going to a more international university would provide exposure to a greater diversity of students, in terms of ethnic background.  Also strange is the relationship between the Asians and non-Asians.  Each group tends to stick within themselves; I've only seen Asians with other Asians and non-Asians with other non-Asians.  This actually saddens me--why do people separate themselves so much from people of other nationalities and backgrounds?

A Word on Aussie Lingo

Despite speaking the same language, I've experienced unexpected difficulty communicating with Aussies.  The combination of fast talking and use of words not used in the U.S. makes for very confusing conversations with some people.  Below are commonly used words, which I am attempting to work in to my vocabulary:

Bloke - man, dude
Sheila - girlie
Prawn - shrimp
Barbie - barbecue
Heaps - a lot
Keen - eager (to do something)
Brekky - breakfast
No worries - Don't worry about it (seems obvious, but used in different contexts)
Holiday - break, vacation 
Schedule - timetable 
Semester - session 
Course - subject 
Wanker - idiot (or something like that)
Takeaway - take out (food) 

Visit to the Nation's Capital

This past week, on February 16th, our study group visited Australia's capital, Canberra (pronounced "Canbra" by the native Australian).  The layout of the city was planned; a design competition was held to produce the best,  most efficient organization of the city.  Surprisingly, the winning designer was from Chicago, Illinois.


First, we visited the Australia War Memorial.  The inner walls of the memorial were garnished with red poppies, dedicated to those lives lost in battle.  To my surprise, Australia has taken part in every major world war, as well as many others (again, the U.S. education system fails to provide adequate information about other countries histories').

The inside of the Ware Memorial was purposefully constructed to contain no religious symbols. This was surprising, seeing as how one of the halls within the memorial appeared to be religious at first glance.  These stained glass windows contained pictures of war heroes and the dome on the roof contained intricate designs.

After this, we visited the Australian Parliament.  The decor inside and outside the Parliament building was all very symbolic--colored stones which comprised the veranda made an aboriginal design, the colored stone surrounding the veranda represented dessert, mountains, and ocean, and the stone decorating the inside of the building all represented geographical features.  The House of Representatives room is all shades of pink, which represents the eucalyptus flower and the Senate room is green, which symbolizes eucalyptus leaves. 

First Few Days in Oz

As of today, I've been in Australia for nine days (and loving every minute of it).  The University of Wollongong, or "uni" as the Aussie's say, is about a ten minute bus ride from where I live.  Different than Colgate, no uni students live on campus; most people live in residential colleges several minutes away from campus.  I live in Campus East (CE), which is home to approximately 600 UOW students, ranging from first years to seniors (althouhg it's mostly first and second years).  Aussie students refer to themselves as "first years," "second years," etc. because not everyone stays for four years.  There are several programs at UOW that require five years of study.  Within CE, there are six different areas:  Hospital, the Yard, Alcatraz, Slums, Trenchtown, and self-catered (I don't know if this area has an actual name).  I live in the Yard; each suite (or flat) has five single rooms connected by a common room, which has a table with wrap-around seating, a sink, a mini-fridge, and cupboard space.  Currently, I only have three roommates because one hasn't arrived.  Their names are Ehsan, Carly, and Pat--Carly and Pat are from Australia and Ehsan is from Iran.  Each building has an RA and my RA's name is Neil; he's absolutely wonderful (although it's weird to be a resident instead of an RA!).  As for my Colgate study group, thirteen of us are living in Campus East and two people are living in Weerona College (a residential college similar to Campus East but in a different part of Wollonong).  Colgate students are not roommates, but we may live in the same buildings as one another. 


Each building has its own laundry facility, including two washers, two dryers, a sink, and a clothesline to line-dry clothes.  Each and dry costs $1 each--a better price than Colgate!  Regarding costs here, the basic rule of thumb is that EVERYTHING is more expensive than comparative products in the U.S.  We have to pay for internet ($150 for six months), gym memberships ($58 per month), and printing on campus.  Hygiene products, such as shampoo, conditioner, etc. is generally around the same price, as well as most clothes. 


Within Campus East, there is a large main building, which is home to the main office, the dining hall, and a game room, and a projector room.  The dining facilities are much different than the all-you-can-eat Frank dining hall at Colgate.  We all have meal cards with $1500 for the semester.  Each meal costs a different amount, depending on what/how much food you get.  Breakfast is usually around $3, lunch is usually around $4, and dinner usually costs $4.50 or $5.  The food is very similar to food found in the states.  Breakfast usually consists of pancakes, hard boiled eggs, home fries, bacon, cereal, toast, apples, etc.  For lunch, salads and sandwiches are served, in addition to several hot food items, such as lasagna, nachos, fish, chicken schnitzel (basically a huge chicken pattie), spaghetti, or fries.  Dinner usually consists of salad, rice (accompanied by a liquid-based substance to put on top, such as curry chicken), fruit salad, fish (again), chicken, garlic bread, meatballs, etc. 


Because CE is more than walking distance from uni and Wollonong, I have to take a (free!) shuttle bus everywhere.  There are two buses:  55A (runs anti-clockwise in the route loop) and 55C (runs clockwise).  From CE, Bus A goes to uni and Bus C runs to Wollongong.  Earlier this week I had to purchase basic living necessities, such as a blanket, sheets, a mirror, clothes hangers, tape, etc. so I took the bus in to Wollongong to the outdoor shopping center.  Five full bags later, I had to make the treck back to Campus East.  Speaking on buying things for my room, I will never take for granted again living one hour away from school!  I now realize how difficult it is to be an international student--I felt like a lone traveler with only two suitcases to my name as I walked in to my flat.  I had nothing to sleep with the first night, so I used a sweatshirt as a pillow and slept under the mattress cover that was provided by UOW.  Rough life.  I've been slowly building up free posters and other objects to put on my brick walls so they don't look so bare!


CE is literally a three-minute walk to the beach--miles of golden sand and the blue Pacific Ocean.  I've gone there three times now.  Yesterday I inadvertently forgot to put sun block on the back of my legs and they got really burned--I will never forget again.  Since being here, I've learned there is a hole in the ozone above Australia, so those UVA and UVB rays come down full force!  People generally go to the beach for about two or three hours at a time.  Going to the beach is not an all-day event like it is back in CNY.  I guess this is because the beach is so close and students usually have gaps of a few hours between classes to hit up the beach.

First Stop: New Zealand

Prior to my arrival in Australia, I toured the South Island of New Zealand with eight of my friends from Colgate.  For ten days, my friends and I visited numerous mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, and other beautiful sites.  It was truly an amazing trip!


I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand (yes, the place where there was just a huge earthquake) on February 6th around 11:30 p.m.  We stayed in a hostel with about 25 other people from around the world; everyone was very friendly.  However, it was a strange thing to be living in a room for two days with total strangers.  Almost immediately, I realized that every non-American could recognize that my friends and I were Americans right away, sometimes before even speaking with one of us.  At one point a man sitting next to me on the Christchurch shuttle asked where I was from; I responded "I'm from the United States."  He responded, "Yes, I know. I mean what part of the U.S."  I don't know if it was the accent, the clothes, the hair, the loud/emphatic speaking, or something else. 


After our group of nine got together during my second day in Christchurch, we picked our rental car and headed out toward Hokitika, NZ.  Below is a picture of the route we took through NZ.







Before Hokitika, we drove through Arthur's Pass and went on a hike to "Devil's Punchbowl" waterfall.

After arriving in Hokitika, we checked in to our hostel, which was situated right on the beach!  At night, we went to a glow worm dell.  The dell looked like a cave without a roof (semi-circular walls of vegetation); there were tiny worms that glowed a neon blue color.  Very cool!

While in NZ, we picked up on many interesting phrases.  Everyone said "cool," which was similar to saying "okay" in the U.S.  People said "ring" instead of "call," "good on ya" was like "good for you," and "thanks for popping in" was a popular phrase.  After leaving Hokitika the next day, we visited Franz Josef glacier, one of the only glaciers located in the middle of a rain forest.

Before visiting Franz Josef, however, we stopped at Pakihi Walk in Okarito.  The walk took about 25 minutes down and back (or a 25 minutes return as the Kiwi's say) and we ate lunch at the top of the mountain, overlooking the Tasman Sea.  After visiting the glacier up close and personal, we went on the Sentinal Rock Walk and the Lake Wombat Track, both walks located around the glacier.

After leaving Franz Josef, we drove to Lake Matheson, had breakfast in a cafe there, and walked around the lake.  This is one of the more famous lakes in NZ because when the dark water is absolutely calm, there is a perfect reflection of Mt. Cook (the highest mountain in NZ) in the lake.  When we were there, the water was semi-still, but you could still see a reflection of the mountains in the water.

We left Lake Matheson and continued on to Queenstown, which was my favorite destination in our ten day tour.  All nine of us stayed in a flat together; we cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner together--what a happy family.  There were three young Norwegians staying in the flat below ours; they were between the ages of 20 and 24, on "holiday" (or vacation) from school.  They knew an incredible amount about American culture, politics, and history; we knew nothing about Norway.  This was the first time I realized the world knows a lot about America, but America doesn't know a lot about the world (or at least the American primary and secondary school system does a poor job educating young students about world cultures). 

The next day I went on a run through Queenstown, past all the shops and stores, next to the beach and Pacific Ocean.  We went to the beach, which actually turned out to be a lake in the middle of mountains.  We had to drive through several kilometers of grazing sheep to find the lake!  This was our first day of actual relaxation, void of driving several hours and taking walks through the forest.  That night, we went on a pub crawl, which took us to various pubs throughout Queenstown.  Everyone loved the Americans!  Following this, on Saturday the 12th, our group went white water rafting .  The forty-five minute drive from the raft stop point to the beginning of the river was through mountains on a ledge, leading to sometimes 300 foot vertical drops.  Needless to say, the drive was almost more scary than rafting itself.  Our raft guide, Andy, was an Aussie, originally from the UK.  You find that a lot here-- Aussie's who traveled from Britain (either to vacation or to stay). 

After leaving Queenstown, we headed to Lake Tekapo, which was about halfway between Queenstown and Christchurch.  The next day we left Tekapo and arrived back in Christchurch.  We checked in to our hostel and walked around Cathedral Square. 

The following day, our group went to Hanmer Springs, a hot spring formed by the separation of the Hanmer fault.  There were several hot pools, each one degree hotter than the next (ranging from 30 degrees Celsius to 41 degrees Celsius). 

The next day we headed on to Sydney, Australia!  We left our hostels at 4:30 a.m. to catch our 7:00 a.m. flight.  In my next post I'll provide updates about life in Oz!