FrEEE dayzzz

Wednesday and thursday

Basically I just studied and took an exam, so nothing exciting there! Also the wifi is struggling with photos so this one will just be words, sorry!

Friday

First free day in Sydney! Whoop! So on that day many people went off into the wilderness of the blue mountains, but we were planning on doing that on Saturday, so I had a few more things I wanted to tick off my list in Sydney. Off to the opera house we went, but this time we went INSIDE! Which was super cool! So they have a variety of spaces including three smaller theatre venues of which we got to see one. We also learned about the history of the building and how sadly the original designer faced some skirmishes during the end of the building project and never saw his biggest life time creation in person. Now, they are working on rebuilding some of the inside to reflect his original interior design. Then, we proceeded to the big concert hall, where they were preparing for a showing of the matrix accompanied by a live orchestra, which was supposed to be incredible. The inner space was intriguing with ribbed varieties of wood and an expansive ceiling. Funnily enough, though, the builders built a poor acoustic space with up to 2.4 seconds of lag, which seemed a bit of a waste in this modern day and age but you know, it was still pretty!

Then we headed across the harbour bridge which was a nice view and an iconic sydney going activity! The View from the tip would have been cool, but it was a wee bit too expensive AND you don't get to take your own pictures (the blasphemy).

Saturday - blue mountains

We woke in the wee hours of the morning to board the train to kotoomba, which is the closest town to the blue mountains. After a walk down the towns mainstreet and getting a little lost, we found the starting point of the great staircase that walks you past the three sisters. The long was steep as we traversed into the depths of the rainforest at the bottom. The undergrowth was covered in leaves and ferns and wild looking plants. White birds fluttered in the threes and water trickled down the rock faces. It was a nice hour long walk or so before we began to ascend once again. That was when we had the remarkable views of the three sisters and took lots of picturesque shots. Glad to be back at the top, we devoured some delicious pasta and headed home. Submitted our essays so we could enjoy our day trip on Sunday!


Sunday - wine, cheese, vodka, and chocolate, what more could you want?!

So we rolled out of bed bright and early to get on a bus to hunter valley, where many of the australian wines are brewed! It was ridiculously picturesque with rolling hills and vines and of course kangaroos chilling out (which of course we were freaking out about, but the aussies just feel like they are deer). We tried a variety of whites and reds, which were pretty young, and learned about the differences between the grapes and growing and fermentation and all that jazz. we then journeyed to a cheese place, where we had some cheese on a stick, which was quite tasty! We had some brie, goat cheese soaked in chives, and several others which were really yummy! Then we snagged some lunch before hitting up the vodka tasting, which was super cool. WE had everything from chocolate to mango to chili (which was REALLY spicy lol).  then we had a bit of chocolate before heading back to one last wine tasting place. Feeling tired and a little alcohol happy, we headed home and hung out on the roof of the hostel and packed up getting ready for out journey to the wilderness!

So here I am in the middle of no where! I will let you know more about that in my next blog post, coming soon to computers near you ;)

Sept 22nd and 23rd - Art, theatre, and aboriginal face art =)

Hello again dear people who read this blog! Hope you have been enjoying it! Just as a warning I have a test on Thursday and an essay to work on for Friday, so the next few days don't really require a post! But here's the past few....

22nd

Today we wandered all the way to the New South Wales art gallery where we had class in the morning and a tour in the afternoon. The tour was focused on Aboriginal art once again as we learned about the different areas and commissioning projects the museums have made for the representation of native artwork. In addition to the traditional artwork there was some modern artwork as well. One was a poem from an african american talking about the bitterness of the fruit of his land but how it also is his heart. I found it interesting that such a quote could be used for multiple cultures and multiple issues speaking of a same bitterness and longing for what the white man took away. The dualities between US and Australian regimes grow the more we learn about Australian history, and the subtle differences in why they are different. In the same exhibit was a clothes line ( the square kind, with hanging bats of aboriginal design) which could poetically claim the right of the aboriginals to say to the land as well as their Australian counterparts.

We later hurried home to see Macbeth played in the sydney theatre. It was an intriguing performance with a simple set and the seats were on the stage looking out at the audience which was used in their production. Memories of the important lines from those many years ago in 10th grade sprung back as we watched the intense performance. One thing they did was to pour a cup of liquid blood on all those killed in the show, giving a very visceral effect of the bloodiness of the deaths often not captured in theatre to quite that drama. Any one person holds the power to pour and spill the blood in a body and the red liquid never left the stage and was in sight, never to be forgotten as for macbeth.  It was fun to watch theatre as I miss my normal sport backstage at home. =p

23rd

Today we went to a national park to listen to a native aboriginal guide talk about the land that he knows so well. He taught us about leaves that will cure basic illness, berries that will cause sterility, leaves you can wash your hands with, and fuzzy leaves that just tasted like rocket (arugula). Additionally we learned about the culture of that tribal land where they get face painted and their front tooth knocked out as a young adult and scarred with your own tooth. We also were lucky to see the ceremonial grounds and the drawings of the creatures important to that tribe which are killer whales (who used to be in the area until the british colonised) and jelly fish. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a volunteer for the face makeup which was cool! It was incredible to remark upon the knowledge that he and his people had collected over the past 50,000 years and to learn just a little of their vast knowledge of the land.

The rest of the day was devoted to doing research and doing our cultural diaries and getting a head start on our essays.  I will be writing about the differences between Australian and US governments and how their evolution from Britain shaped the styles they have today.

whoo so much to dooo so little timmme (and wifi)

So here's a blast through version of the past 4 days, sorry I have been slacking we have just been awfully busy!

18th Sept

We had class in the morning about sports and white history with regards to the wars and immigration and such australian matters. We also learned about compulsory voting laws and how that creates and increased democratic involvement from the people. For lunch we snuck in some quick noms at a dim sum restaurant and panicked a bit because we were heading to parliament really soon after.

So we arrived at parliament in due time reading to go into the local state's (New South Wales) question time (which is the most fun part of governments of all time. I also think that america should adopt this policy as more stuff would happen if we actually bothered to question our actions in government).  For those who don't know what it is it is a time for the opposition and the party in power to ask the premier and his cabinets any questions which they find important (though this usually ends up being a dissing of the each other). The opposition that day seemed to find great issue with several alleged helicopter rides taken by the minister of health who happily avoided the question whilst promoting her own work and dissing the opposition for asking stupid questions. Of course they were angry and yelled in protests and most people were given strikes for being too loud and obnoxious (which was absolutely hilarious to the rest of us). The party in power even used props at one point to diss the opposition with a credit card with one of their faces on it which was forcibly removed as that is apparently against the rules. To say the least it was fun! I didn't take any pictures so sorry about that.

Then we went on a run and the view was pretty!

19th Sept

Today we had class once more and learned about australian modern culture and perception with sports and figures and music. They seem to adapt and want to be accepting of everything that could possibly come up. Then we found ourselves at the barracks museum again ( I was right in predicting that we would be back. But I already posted about that so no need to bore you again.

We then trekked across the city (we walk SO much) to the rocks which is a cool little sailors town. There were some cool stories about how they shipped someone in liquor (to preserve him) and then drank that liquor in celebration (ew). But it was quaint to walk around the newly decorated yet old style buildings with hte constant mixture of old a new in a cool urban centre. It was then time to walk home and do gelato once again (which has become a favourite activity of ours!)

20th
Today was beach day! So we boarded a bus and headed to bondi, the famous surfing beach! At first, we were given some information on the history of surfing and life guarding and patrolling. Teh beach has lots of riptides (including one call the backpackers one because a lot get stuck in it), which reuqire a lot of safety patrolling. So there are lifeguards and volunteer patrollers who work at the beach for their love of the place and the safety of those of want to join.

Then we went lawn bowling (which is very similar to bocce ball) on the grassy lawns. We were instructed to not dent the grass and to ensure proper bowling technique. The trick with lawn bowling is the fact that the balls are weighted on one side so they curve towards the end of the roll, which requires more strategy and skill than just tossing around the bocce ball.

After that we had free time at the beach, so of course we went into the rough tide! It was exciting waves as we caught and were rumbled by a few. Seeing as spring has only just begun the water was a little on the chilly side, but that's okay! I caught some waves, watched the surfers, inhaled some sea water, and drank some hot chocolate. It was quite the day!

We then headed to a rugby match when we got home. It was the Sea Eagles versus the Bulldogs and as the bulldogs colours were blue (my fav) and they scored the first try, I decided to root for them. After buying my scarf at half time, the Sea Eagles had a major come back and I was beginning to worry that my scarg might be the wrong colour. But after overtime (which is sudden death) the bulldogs scored a drop kick and we were victorious!

21st

Today we had a free day so we went to the zoo! We saw all the cool australian animals including, wombats, wallabies, echidnas, platypuses, koalas, kangaroos, and many other marsupials that are cute and nocturnal! Luckily, we saw a joey in a pouch of a wallaby which was pretty cool. We also got to see elephants doing tricks for a trainer which was cool and he discussed how the elephant understood both thai and english words for the same command, which means he is basically smarter than me! haha. It was a fun day and I thoroughly enjoyed watching and seeing all the unique animals we hardly ever get to see elsewhere in the world! Also, the platypuses were just adorable in the way that they swam around in the dark ( and was nice to see as they are a childhood favourite of mine). Also there was this pretty iconic view of the giraffe against sydney harbour which was pretty stunning!

This is a photo from our run which was pretty gorgeous!

Sept 17- we actually start learning things =)

Sept 17th

So today we began class in a local convention centre place where we could all fit. We began with subjects of Aboriginal culture learning about their dream culture and the way they respect the land to be untouched. I had no conception of how much earlier humans had arrived in Australia versus the Americas. As we progressed through history we learned about the not so talked about violence and skirmishes between the colonists and aboriginals as they landed to form their penal colony. We also just discussed the colonisation of white australians and the tough class system that the penal colony caused class issues later on. The theme seems to be that Australians hung very deeply to their British roots wanting to enforce similar systems and just recreate the country they came from.

We quickly grabbed some yummy noodles in Chinatown and rushed to the Sydney Museum of Natural History. There we found an amazing collection of stuffed mammals unique to australia including some stuffed kangaroos, koalas, and platypi! There was also a vast collection of incredible minerals which can all be found in Australian land and were really pretty. For the second part we had an amazing tour guide who told us all about aboriginal culture explaining everything from dreaming, and stories told to pass on important survival information and learning what the variety of tools they use. More touching was his account of all of the hardships that the native people have faced. They were classified under flora and fauna so essentially animals until 1975, which seems absolutely ridiculous. There was a law in place that allowed for a parent to ask for all aboriginal kids to be removed from a school and then were denied any further education. Looking at apartheid and racial movements in america, this issue seems right up there but gets no attention whatsoever. Luckily, things have improved for native australians, but they still face some problems at times.

After the museum I went on a run with 2 friends through the botanical garden and almost died over the 4 miles run, but the views were indeed gorgeous. We then had some leftover pasta and then went on a mission to find gelato and after going the wrong direction for a while found it and enjoyed the scrumptious delight that was this gelato. Robert Brownie jr was definitely the best flavour ever.

Sept 15th and 16th - Orientation

15th sept

So today we started out going to the botanical gardens in order to do the typical ice breakers as there are 46 students on the trip and it is a lot of new names to learn! So we learned names and interesting facts ranging from a hatred of buttons to having a snail as your high school mascot.  By the end I had a pretty good feeling of most people's names so that was great and (more importantly) we got some more tim tams and lemingtons (which are yummy sponge cake things covered in chocolate and coconut shavings) for tea.

After that we were sent off on a scavenger hunt across some of sydney important landmarks. Starting with the opera house and going to the national are museum, barracks, parliament house, fountain and masonic building we were rather exhausted! Along the way we had some laughs and figured out that we had managed to walk some 7 miles during the day. We came home and wrote a rap to the tune of "fresh prince of bell air" which was fun! And we learned how the city functioned and made some new friends =).

This is my scavenger hunt team (above)! We had chinese food for dinner and shared all our crazy performances ranging from a dramatic reading of a haiku to a song to the tune of raindrops on roses! It was a good first day.

16th Sept

Today we had a bus ride to a beautiful location for some introductory lectures. We covered the basics of each of the classes we will be teaching along with some normal paperwork etc. The pictures of what is coming up look absolutely fabulous and I'm so excited for the rest of the trip and also for the upcoming lectures on australia studies as well. We had lunch on the balcony and spotted a kookaburra in a gum tree! So we all started singing that childhood song and it is still stuck in my head lol. 

Then we went on a boat ride through the Sydney Harbour in order to see thing from a different perspective. We had an old opinionated and funny tour guide who discussed the local housing prices and told stories about funny phrases like "madder than a meat cleaver" and "busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest." There were indeed some gorgeous views of the city and surrounding area and well it's always a good time to be on a boat!

We then headed home and decided to save food money by cooking in the hostel, so 3 friend made some spaghetti with chicken in an olive oil sauce and we have enough for tomorrow too. After that we were frustrated with the wifi in the hostel as too many people were trying to get on in so we headed to the bar next door to have some better access. So I'm currently sitting sipping a sydney sider (cider) with like 8 friends all on our laptops scrambling to do tomorrow's reading. And with that I will see you another day!

Sept 14th - I'm no longer alone! YAY!

So today I ended my stint of loneliness today as all the other Stanford people arrived today! I woke up early (probably due to that jetlag) and found one of the programme coordinators eating breakfast as she was attempting to learn all our names. We quickly began chatting about exciting things in the upcoming activities like a senate simulation and a scavenger hunt (which will happen tomorrow! =)  Soon enough, students arrived from their early red eye flights awfully tired and disoriented. Its was so exciting to see familiar faces of my freshman and sophomore dorm mates and to have people to chat with after a few days of solitude.

As we couldn't check into our room until 2 everyone wanted to walk to keep themselves awake. So my group headed to the botanical gardens, where one member avidly looked up the many birds spotted. Australia wildlife even in the city is strange as there are egrets that wander around like pigeons and eels that live in bonds.  We had some more pretty views of the harbour again and got close up to the opera house for some better views.

We wandered back for lunch, but found that nearly all shops were closed on sundays so stopped in at a local chain called pie face and sat in the quad watching a wedding couple take their photos. On our way back we managed to loose Steph briefly but found her again somehow in the mayhem of Westfield mall.

At the end of the day we had a barbecue on the roof where everything was served from burgers and chicken to some kangaroo loin. A few of us ended the day with some card games and enjoyed the comfort of the hostel lounge before they head off in their travel exhaustion to bed. It is fun to be with friends and ti begin to get to know some of my unfamiliar fellow classmates on our exiting journey tomorrow!

Sept 13th - rain, fishies and some nice views

Hello again, and I would like to note that this is two blogs in one day, which for anyone who knows me, is quite impressive! So as I packed for this trip, my vision of Australian weather was a tad more hot than it currently was when I woke up to pouring rain. Instead I stayed inside and interwebbed and grabbed some breakfast and waited for the rain to stop. I always pack a rain jacket for rain when I travel, but it hardly ever gets worn. But, due to the fact that I live in San Diego (where it NEVER rains) and grew up in London (where it always rains) it was quite nice to sip tea and stare out the window.

Once the rain let up I began my wander stopping first at St Mary's Cathedral, which was quite beautiful with typical gothic architectural styles. They did quite well to capture an old look for a church that was only finished some 19 years ago as it took 130 years to complete. Apparently only something as grand as the olympics could serve as motivation.

After that I found myself in the old Barracks museum, a place where many of the original penal colonists passed through or resided in order to serve their time.  It was just a regular brick building with three floors that would have contained so many men who were essentially slaves to the state for the beginning period of the growing colony. While I have learned about indentured servitude and slavery with regards to United States history, I never realised the extent of the cruelty that many of the people faced who were shipped off to Australia for relatively small crimes such as burglary or fraud. In fact, according to the guide yesterday one of the most used architects was brought to Australia for forgery charges.  There were rather gruesome accounts of whippings that I thought would be unique to places with slavery (not that those were any less immoral) and not the treatment of criminal of ones own nation. Being hit so many times that it requires a 12 day recovery is something that no living creature deserves, let alone a fellow citizen. Thankfully, after a while in 1840 the people protested this form of treatment and Britain was forced to stop sending criminals to Australia. Unsurprisingly, the stigma lasted in that people removed criminals from their family trees and denied their existence. Recently, though, they said that movements were made to stop this and they had a search for your ancestors option in one of the exhibits. If only I had some cool aussie relatives to look up!

Next I took a wander through the shopping areas to look for some lunch and ended up near the sydney opera house once again. But first I stopped into a building with a cool model of sydney and had a cool exhibit on the Australian effort to fight apartheid in South Africa. Having studied the history of apartheid in school, it was cool to see the Australian perspective on the situation and what power they had to stop it.  So many things such as sports and embassy power and being a part of the commonwealth are unique to the Australian story and served as an interesting contrast to just learning the internal struggle in the country. Additionally, I just thought it was cool that the exhibit existed at all, since I've never seen something like that anywhere else that I have travelled.  

So then I found myself near the harbour going into the aquarium where the first exhibit had one of my all time favourites: the platypus! Surprisingly small (and awesome) it swam around in its odd little way and brought a smile to my face for the one time I did a presentation as a platypus in a platypus costume (hehe). There were some other cool turtles, fish, shark eggs, real sharks, a touch tank, saw nose fish, and jellies.  All of these made me happy! I was also mightily impressed with the amount that the aquarium really integrated learning about conservation and protection of many of the unique animals that reside there. The appreciation of animal before profit was moving and I felt more appreciative of the efforts after discussions of animal captivity in my recent dolphin internship.  Also random FUN FACT: sharks have to upheave their entire stomach to get rid of bones, which is why they prefer less bony things (HOW COOL)!

Then I had a nice dinner with a harbour view and headed home after a busy day. Everyone was walking in the other direction, clearly out to enjoy the nice saturday evening!

And that's a wrap. Stanford peeps come tomorrow! Whoo. Catch you all later! Peace

Travel and day 1 (10th sept - 12sept)

So after some 15 hours on wonderful Air New Zealand crafts and pacing myself through several movies and endless reruns of the Big Bang Theory, I found myself cruising over Sydney (which was a wonderful alternative to 15 hours of ocean. The pacific ocean is HUGE). As we landed I took note of the increased amount of rugby pitches (whoo) and the British driving style =) (which makes my british side very happy). Soon enough we were on the ground and I whizzed through customs with zero problems using the fancy epassport lane and was set free into the world down under.

The day was dismally grey, reminding me of what London should be and not this Australian wonder, but they are just finishing winter so it is not wholly unreasonable (just a little unexpected!) As I began to ride through the city the further british street names both made me happy but also confused  as many of those names already hold geographical locations in my brain. But the city had a much newer and tropical vibe and other than the names hold no resemblance to the ancient city.

Next I found my hostel where the Stanford group will be staying! I am 2 days early so had the whole day to myself to keep myself awake because it was only noon( If you think normal redeyes are bad try 15 hour ones that where you miss an entire day along the way). I figured if I kept walking I would be forced to stay awake so I grabbed a quick lunch of a chicken sandwich (for my hunger), Ribena (for my childhood), and tim tams (for the aussie and because they are delicious) and sat in Hyde Park which is only a few blocks away. I watched multiple groups of school children as they puttered along enjoying the outdoors and old couples taking a refreshing walk. It seemed to be a major crossing point as many people hummed across in suit and tie, yet also a place for fun as I watched some people play pickup rugby.

To keep up the walking idea, I decided to go on a walking tour of the city. We started near town hall and wandered past building such as the Victoria building (a forum for shops), and through the parks where we learned about the history of sydney (as a penal colony) and the significance of some older building such as the old hospital and barracks.  Most of these are now museums or converted for some other governmental use but still use the same foundations.  It seemed from the tour that Australia's current state depended greatly on timing as it very nearly could have been a french speaking colony! It also occurred to me how new the civilization is as it seemed to coincide roughly with american timelines leaving not a lot of western history there. However, not much was discussed of aboriginal people aside from the fact that they were sadly pushed out of the city boundaries and a very small population remains. We ended up around the rock, which is an area by the harbour with a lovely view of the opera house and the famous bridge which is also known as the coat hanger!

I grabbed a meat pie on the way home and pretty much hopped into bed as I was absolutely exhausted and woke up 12 hours later! Now I get to decide what to do today with the pouring rain outside.

Until next time, Peace!

G'day everyone! So as probably know I will be heading off to the land down under for study abroad this coming fall. We will be going to 5 different locations to study some of the amazing ecosystems that Australia has to offer, including the Great Barrier Reef (where I will most definitely be SCUBA diving and studying sea cucumbers)! Though my internet access may be sporadic, I hope to keep you all up to date with what will be going on during my trip. For now, I must pack so thus the countdown begins to Sept 10 where my journey begins at the wonderful LAX airport. Woohooo! Aussie Aussie Ausssie! Oi Oi Oi!