updates...

So just a few things before I start my second blog... if anyone has any questions or wants to know about anything you can post comments to my blogs and I will be able to reply to them. Also, you can "follow" my blogs, which I think will send you an email every time I post a new blog, which will save unnecessary blog checking. Also, I just got a Skype account, so feel free to look me up on there.

So to the left is a picture of Manly (terrible name) Beach. It is very nice there, but not so easy to get to. We have to take either a bus or three trains and then a ferry, which all-in-all takes about an hour and a half to get there, but I would say it's worth it. I went there yesterday (Friday) with a bunch of friends, and tonight we are going to the CBD (Central Business District) and will most likely go to a pub or two.

This whole week has been "O-Week" (Orientation Week), and there were tents set up all over campus with tons of clubs and teams to join. I joined the Ultimate Frisbee team and we had our first practice on Thursday. It felt really good to play again, and I had a lot of fun. Here is a picture of one of our tournament jerseys, I think the are awesome.



I also joined the Global Leadership Program (GLP) . Since I don't feel like typing it up, here is a quick explanation of what the GLP is:

"Stand up for global issues – and stand out from the pack

Graduates able to demonstrate an understanding of cross-cultural concepts through their own international experience will have a strong competitive edge in today's global marketplace. Employers will look beyond your academic transcript for the additional skills you have developed including communication, creativity, leadership and initiative. Industry demands graduates who have proven their potential for a leadership position.

As part of Macquarie's commitment to internationalisation and innovation, the Global Leadership Program (GLP) allows students to enhance their Macquarie degree and develop their potential to become a global leader.

Macquarie's Global Leadership Program can equip you with the leadership potential, professional skills and international experiences to pursue a truly international career."

To complete this program I will have to attend ten 3-hour colloquium in which I will learn about topics such as: Cross Cultural Understanding, Leadership, Beyond Borders: the responsibilities of a global citizen, Me Inc. - Tools for Powerful Self-Promotion, Group Dynamics, Business Etiquette, Service Leadership, Negotiating in cross-cultural environments, Getting the Message Across: the fundamentals of effective public speaking, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Leadership, and Effective writing: respecting & reshaping professional cultures. There is a list of about 25 different colloquium you can choose to attend, and I was most interested in these, and thought that these ten would help me the most in the future. Another great thing about this program is that it is one of the few programs other than college courses that will actually show up on your transcript. So I figured that that would look really good to potential employers, and hopefully set me apart from other applicants.

OK, enough about that.

So I just finished the first week of classes, and I am actually really excited about that courses that I am taking. Intro to World History covers everything from the Big Bang to the present time, and actually we will be looking into the future as well. The way the course is run is very interesting to me, and I feel like I will learn a lot. The main lecturer is also the Author of the textbook, which can't hurt! Haha. World Musics covers all types of World Music, and we learn about the origins/meanings/evolution of the music, and we also have some famous performer coming in (can't remember his name). Contemporary Australian Arts explores all different types of art, and we will explore arts such as: poetry, sculpture, music, painting, dance, etc. So that should also be very interesting. And Intercultural Relations should also be interesting as it covers the way different social groups interact. And I know that the first three classes don't have any exams, and I haven't gotten the course outline for Intercultural Relations yet, but I really hope that I don't have an exam for that course because that would mean that I would get done with school much earlier. They have two weeks of exams here, so the last day of classes is June 12th, and exams end June 28th. My flight home is supposed to be July 15th, because I wanted to travel a bit while I'm already here. But if I were to be done on July 12th then I would be able to travel and still come home sooner. Which would allow me to spend more time with friends, family, and I would be able to make more money working, woohoo!

I think that I will be going to New Zealand over spring break with some friends, we are not totally sure what we will be doing yet, but we have some ideas. I am also going to be booking a weekend surf trip soon, which I am really excited about. The package includes basically everything you could want on a surfing trip, and it seems like a really fun time.

Hmm...some things about Australia/Sydney: There are ants everywhere, I don't know why, but they are all over the place, it's kind of weird. There is also the occasional hand-sized spider (ahhh!), which I am not too thrilled about, lol. These spiders are so big that you cannot squish them, you have to stab them! So yeah...I will be carrying a knife with me at all times, jk...but not really, haha. There are tons of lizards, which is pretty cool. They are all over my apartment complex (no, not inside the buildings). There are also lots of bunnies and cool birds. There are cockatoos everywhere, and a few other really cool birds that I don't know the name of, but I will take pictures. Yes the birds are very pretty, but unfortunately they can be very loud/annoying. There are some crow-looking birds that honestly sound like screaming children; not the best thing to wake up to! Haha.

Hmm...I think I will be getting a job soon once things settle down. I won't be working too much, just about 10-12 hours a week. I entered my information in the school website for some on-campus jobs, but if I don't like any of those then I might check out the shopping center. The shopping center is about a 15-minute walk, and it is absolutely massive. It is four stories, and has a huge number of stores, so I might be able to work somewhere cool, who knows.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I will blog again when I have something interesting to say, lol. Thanks for reading. :-)

Australia Week 1

So here is my first blog...EVER! Woohoo. Mom I know you hate blogs, but there is no way that I have time to email everybody and let them know what is going on. Alright...here we go!

So all traveling went well, no problems there. I actually sat next to a girl on the plane who is doing study abroad at Macquarie as well.

My apartment is very nice, I am in a single room with a double bed, a porch, a huge closet, and a personal bathroom. Next to my room is a double room where Johannes (23 yrs old, German) and Selman (23 yrs old, Turkish) share a room. They have to share a bathroom, haha! So we all share a kitchen, laundry room, dining area, living room, and another larger porch and a small backyard. The apartment is pretty big, and we also have a pool, hot tub, sauna, and tennis court in our complex, so that's pretty cool. I have finally started to decorate my room (it was so blank is was depressing), so now it is livable. A little description on the roommies....Johannes is from Frankfurt and he is a real cool guy. He loves beer (I mean, he is German...haha) and he is easy to get along with. Selman is...uhh...you know...difficult. You want to know what the first thing he said to us was? "Do you party a lot? Because I am here to study." Yeahhhhh, awesome way to introduce yourself Selman. Gahhhh! Haha. So he is a neat freak and cleans everything every day, which I guess is OK since the apartment is staying relatively clean, or at least disinfected, haha. He doesn't really interact with people, and he is kind of hard o get along with. Johannes and I are actually both trying to move out. Not just because of Selman, but for a few other reasons. Our apartment complex is a regular apartment complex, so there are families living there, which is sort of weird. There aren't too many other students living there, and I would definitely like to live somewhere where there are more students. I don't mind cooking for myself, I actually like it, but we do not get internet. I have tried two different providers and neither gets a signal in out apartment, so I have been coming to campus every day to use the wireless. My apartment is about a ten minute walk from campus, and I go there at least twice daily, and then to the gym also which is a 15-20 minute walk, and then I usually go to my friends' apartment, which is a 12 minute walk, and if I go to the shopping center, thats another 20 minute walk. So I walk all the time! I feel bad for my feet. Good thing the weather is so nice, otherwise it would be a real pain.

OK, next topic...the people...The women here are GORGEOUS! Not kidding, there are soo many hot girls here, and from all over the world. This school is huge (30,000 students, 8,000 of which are international students) so there is plenty of opportunity to meet people from really cool places.

The campus is gorgeous, I will be posting pictures of it soon, it actually used to be a national park. So you know that it's a nice place. My classes so far have been really interesting. I am taking Intercultural relations, Intro to world history, World Musics, and Contemporary Australian Arts. All of the classes are very interesting and I can tell that I will learn a lot of interesting things. Each class is made up of lectures and tutorials. Lectures are huge (so far they have been 150, 150, and 250 students in my classes so far), and the tutorials are made up of smaller groups, and that is where the discussions go on.

The gym here is very nice, and everything is very new. It was constructed less than two years ago, so the facilities are amazing. It is sort of expensive, but there is a lot included in the membership. There is a full gym and aerobic center, they offer a variety of classes (basically any class you could think of, from martial arts, to spinning classes, and pilates classes, to salsa classes). There is also two pools, one indoor and one outdoor.

So last weekend I went on an island trip with other international students. It was an hour bus ride and then an hour boat ride. There were 75 of us, and we stayed in cabins. Everything was included in the package, and it was a really good deal. It was $110 AUD, which is just over $70 USD, and this included transportation there and back, all meals, all activities, and accommodation. The food was really good and there was plenty of it. The activities we did included archery (which I won, haha), boomerang throwing, a ropes course, a giant swing (which I have a video of and will be posting on facebook), bushwalking, canoeing (and canoeing games...for example: all the people lined up in their canoes and grabbed onto the canoe next to them and then the instructor would pick two or more people and they would have to switch places by running across the canoes as fast as they could, which was very fun and very funny). There was also a pool, tennis and basketball courts, and a fire pit. I met some really cool people there, and they were from all over the world (20 different countries). I posted some pictures of it on facebook, so check them out.

The weather is really nice here, it is great to get out of the snow. Most people are very friendly, and good looking, haha. So the drinking age is 18, but beer is very expensive because the government taxes it heavily because they know that younger people will want to buy it. So the route that most people go is boxed wine. You can get boxed wine for $10 AUD, and they call it "goon". A common phrase here is "slap the goon", which means to drink the boxed wine, lol. There are many funny terms here and they are pretty easy to pick up. They really like to abbreviate everything, and add an "E" sound at the end of the word. For example: University is Uni, mosquito is mossie. A guy is a bloke, and a girl is a sheila. My favorite is "dodgy", which is another word for sketchy, but they use it very often, and I laugh every time! My friends and I also made up two other funny terms "half-flush, and full-flush". Can you guess what these mean? Well, I will tell you anyways...on the toilets there are two flush buttons, one that is a half-flush, for number one, and a full-flush that is for number two. So, to bring some comedy to the bathroom situation we call it either a "full-flush" or a "half-flush", which is much more fun to say! And I will do my best to bring those terms back to the US.

There was an international student 80's themed cruise on the Sydney Harbour, which was very fun, and I got some great pictures. I also went on a bus tour, which stopped at Sydney Harbour National Park, Darling Harbour, and some other great photo opp spots. After the cruise we went to a pub in Sydney, and that was a lot of fun. The CBD (Central Business District, instead of downtown) is roughly a 30 minute bus ride from campus, and it only costs $5 AUD, so it's pretty cheap.

I will be joining the ultimate frisbee team here. Practice starts tomorrow and I am very excited. We are the Macquarie Warriors, and they are the sickest (that's a good thing) jerseys I have ever seen. Once I get my jersey I will be sure to take a picture of it and allow everyone to see the sickness (still a good thing) of them. I plan on joining some other groups, I checked out the debate club, the green party, the Model UN, and some other various clubs.

That's enough for now, I hope you enjoyed my first blog. I would love to hear from you, and feel free to write me an email (danbme@gmail.com), post a comment about my blog, or send me stuff! haha. For now my address is:

Daniel Brault
29/122 Culloden Rd.
Marsfield, NSW 2122

I look forward to hearing from you. Have a good day :-)