So I thought that I posted again a few days ago, but I guess it didn't go up...weird.
Well, I just finished the busiest week of my life, I started my work on Saturday, March 28th, and worked non-stop every day until Sunday, April 5th...yeah, not fun. Literally, all I did that week was go to class, the gym, and sit in my room (or the library) and do work; not too much fun. But, now all my work is done for a while and in four days I get to go on a 13 day vacation along the Eastern coast of Australia, which should be a great time.
Hmm...what else...I'm trying to figure out where I should travel after my semester ends. I just picked up a few brochures from the travel agency on campus, so I'll take a look at those and see what looks good.
I would like to thank my Grandma, Niki Berg once again for sending the package. I really appreciate it; it was very nice to receive a package from some family :-)
Last night my housemate Ali (the guy from Lebanon) and I went out to this really nice pub with some Aussie girls, so that was a good time. Ali and I are getting along very well, the other day he actually said that he has never met someone as much like him as I am. I thought that was funny, but it's true; we have a lot of similarities.
I miss everyone from home, but I am very glad I came here. I am having a great time and meeting a lot of cool people. I am very content with my life right now, and every morning I wake up very happy. It's not just that I wake up happy, but it's actually a combination of things. Every morning I wake up and make myself breakfast, usually eggs, raisin toast, and some tea. The smell of the raisin bread fills the kitchen with this marvelous smell and mixes with the cool morning air to create this mixture that brings back some good memories. It reminds me of being with family, and makes me feel like I am in a cabin in the woods somewhere. I don't know why, but I like it; the feeling is very pleasant. So I have been having very relaxing mornings, and it has been a great way to unwind after a busy week like the one I just had.
So yeah, that's all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading :-)
P.S. Buy some raisin bread for making toast! You won't regret it.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Frisbee Tournament, Rugby, other stuff.
Yeah, yeah...it's a late post, but I didn't lie when I said I would post again sooner than I did the previous time :-)
So I had my ultimate frisbee tournament last weekend, and that was great. So if you read my last post then you would know that it was a "hat" tournament, unfortunately at the time of the tournament I thought it meant something other than what it actually does. So I thought that the "hat" in hat tournament meant that each team gets a different hat. Unfortunately this name only came to be because the team captains used to throw all the names in a hat and pick the teams randomly. So I was very upset when I showed up and found out that we were not getting hats...damn! haha. But the tournament was fun, my team was alright, we went 2-1-1. It didn't really matter though, it was a relatively relaxed tournament.
After the tournament ended I met my housemates at a rugby game. I understood about half of what was going on, which unfortunately was just about as much as the drunk New Zealanders next to me knew. So it was a group of about seven, fifty-year old, really drunk men. My neighbor slurred a lot and had an unfortunate habit of spitting constantly as he talked, and of course he felt the need to talk to me about everything that happened in the game. To answer your question: yes, it was absolutely terrifying...I think I gagged a few times. Just kidding...but really, it happened. Fortunately for me though, his friend had got cut off at the bar and when my neighbor brought the next round of beers down to the seats they were caught by security. But of course something else had to go wrong: since my New Zealand neighbor was also super drunk he decided it would be a good idea to start a huge scene and yell at the security officers (all the while I am sitting between this drunk, New Zealand spitter and the irritated security officer, with roughly 2 inches between them and myself on either side). So I'm sitting here between two shouting men, getting showered by foreign spit and wondering when I am going to be hit by a misguided punch. After several minutes of this excitement the officers finally removed three of the men from the grounds. So yeah, I didn't have to deal with the spitting anymore, but I'm pretty sure there is a direct correlation between how much spit this man released and how angry he was. But it was...an experience, and at least it was exciting, haha.
Since then I've actually been pretty busy. I had my first paper due this week and I had an obnoxious amount of reading to do for my classes. The weather has been gorgeous, this week has been in the low to mid 80's...it's like a constant vacation.
Other than that there's not too much new going on. I am loving Skype right now because of the video feature. It's nice to be able to see people from home.
Alrighty, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading.
So I had my ultimate frisbee tournament last weekend, and that was great. So if you read my last post then you would know that it was a "hat" tournament, unfortunately at the time of the tournament I thought it meant something other than what it actually does. So I thought that the "hat" in hat tournament meant that each team gets a different hat. Unfortunately this name only came to be because the team captains used to throw all the names in a hat and pick the teams randomly. So I was very upset when I showed up and found out that we were not getting hats...damn! haha. But the tournament was fun, my team was alright, we went 2-1-1. It didn't really matter though, it was a relatively relaxed tournament.
After the tournament ended I met my housemates at a rugby game. I understood about half of what was going on, which unfortunately was just about as much as the drunk New Zealanders next to me knew. So it was a group of about seven, fifty-year old, really drunk men. My neighbor slurred a lot and had an unfortunate habit of spitting constantly as he talked, and of course he felt the need to talk to me about everything that happened in the game. To answer your question: yes, it was absolutely terrifying...I think I gagged a few times. Just kidding...but really, it happened. Fortunately for me though, his friend had got cut off at the bar and when my neighbor brought the next round of beers down to the seats they were caught by security. But of course something else had to go wrong: since my New Zealand neighbor was also super drunk he decided it would be a good idea to start a huge scene and yell at the security officers (all the while I am sitting between this drunk, New Zealand spitter and the irritated security officer, with roughly 2 inches between them and myself on either side). So I'm sitting here between two shouting men, getting showered by foreign spit and wondering when I am going to be hit by a misguided punch. After several minutes of this excitement the officers finally removed three of the men from the grounds. So yeah, I didn't have to deal with the spitting anymore, but I'm pretty sure there is a direct correlation between how much spit this man released and how angry he was. But it was...an experience, and at least it was exciting, haha.
Since then I've actually been pretty busy. I had my first paper due this week and I had an obnoxious amount of reading to do for my classes. The weather has been gorgeous, this week has been in the low to mid 80's...it's like a constant vacation.
Other than that there's not too much new going on. I am loving Skype right now because of the video feature. It's nice to be able to see people from home.
Alrighty, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Awww Crap...
Well yeah, awww crap...it's been a while since I've posted a new blog, my bad. I actually had to look back at my previous blog to see what I wrote because I don't remember when I last posted, haha, yay me!
Alright, so I'm really settling in here quite well: I really like my housemates, I'm having fun with my frisbee team, classes are good, I feel like I'm really experiencing Sydney.
So St. Patty's Day was a good time, I went out with the girls and some of our neighbors. We went to a few bars (both of which had an awesome party going on), some people got kissed, some people got pissed (Aussie slang for drunk), and most people got both, lol.
So I have my first Ultimate Frisbee tournament tomorrow, which I am very excited about. It's a hat tournament (throw names in a hat and pick random teams) for the local Uni students. It's basically grouped into three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Based on whatever level you are you will then be put onto a random team in that category.
But these tournaments are really relaxed and not too competitive, so I guess it's just a fun relaxed day of frisbee with beer and pizza at the end, and did I mention that it's in Sydney? Yeah, I'm in Sydney...cool.
So it's really hitting me that I'm here in Sydney, it's so cool. I'm really getting a feel for the city, and I feel like I am finding a place in it. The weather is maybe the best part, for example today was 30 degrees Celsius, which is equal to about...86 Fahrenheit degrees off the top of my head. Just kidding...but really.
So we go to the beach basically every weekend, last weekend we went to Cooji Beach, which is beautiful. And there is also a huge swimming pool outside the fitness center, which is only a 5 minute walk, so everyone goes there a lot. It's so cool to be able to go study by the pool on a really nice day. Or maybe not study...But really, I feel like I am on a constant vacation. The weather is pretty much always gorgeous, we do a ton of fun stuff, and I'm experiencing so many new things; I am very glad that I came.
We go to the city roughly twice a week, beach another day, and then we usually watch movies at night if we don't go out. I can't say how much better my living situation is now, I am very thankful that I could get moved here. Anyways, it's actually really hard to do work and be productive here, all the things I described above and in past blogs create a terrible work environment. It seems like there is so much going on that I just don't want to do work. I think that the words of my housemate Lauren Lawson, sums it up: "my school is getting in the way of my drinking". Haha.
Anywhoo...today I went to Paddy's Market, which is basically an indoor version of china town. So needless to say, I got a lot of souveneirs (which may either be for me or for you...depending on how much stuff you send me :-) lol). Just kidding again...but really.
Alright, well thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to post again sooner than I did last time.
Alright, so I'm really settling in here quite well: I really like my housemates, I'm having fun with my frisbee team, classes are good, I feel like I'm really experiencing Sydney.
So St. Patty's Day was a good time, I went out with the girls and some of our neighbors. We went to a few bars (both of which had an awesome party going on), some people got kissed, some people got pissed (Aussie slang for drunk), and most people got both, lol.
So I have my first Ultimate Frisbee tournament tomorrow, which I am very excited about. It's a hat tournament (throw names in a hat and pick random teams) for the local Uni students. It's basically grouped into three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Based on whatever level you are you will then be put onto a random team in that category.
But these tournaments are really relaxed and not too competitive, so I guess it's just a fun relaxed day of frisbee with beer and pizza at the end, and did I mention that it's in Sydney? Yeah, I'm in Sydney...cool.
So it's really hitting me that I'm here in Sydney, it's so cool. I'm really getting a feel for the city, and I feel like I am finding a place in it. The weather is maybe the best part, for example today was 30 degrees Celsius, which is equal to about...86 Fahrenheit degrees off the top of my head. Just kidding...but really.
So we go to the beach basically every weekend, last weekend we went to Cooji Beach, which is beautiful. And there is also a huge swimming pool outside the fitness center, which is only a 5 minute walk, so everyone goes there a lot. It's so cool to be able to go study by the pool on a really nice day. Or maybe not study...But really, I feel like I am on a constant vacation. The weather is pretty much always gorgeous, we do a ton of fun stuff, and I'm experiencing so many new things; I am very glad that I came.
We go to the city roughly twice a week, beach another day, and then we usually watch movies at night if we don't go out. I can't say how much better my living situation is now, I am very thankful that I could get moved here. Anyways, it's actually really hard to do work and be productive here, all the things I described above and in past blogs create a terrible work environment. It seems like there is so much going on that I just don't want to do work. I think that the words of my housemate Lauren Lawson, sums it up: "my school is getting in the way of my drinking". Haha.
Anywhoo...today I went to Paddy's Market, which is basically an indoor version of china town. So needless to say, I got a lot of souveneirs (which may either be for me or for you...depending on how much stuff you send me :-) lol). Just kidding again...but really.
Alright, well thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to post again sooner than I did last time.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Events, plans, and fun times.
So now it has been almost a week since I moved into the new apartment. I am so glad that I moved, I am enjoying living here a lot more than I was in my old place. All of my housemates are really cool and a lot of fun. It's nice having other people around just to hang out with, and whats even better is that they are into a lot of the same stuff that I am. Julie is obsessed with family guy and everyone else likes it too, we also all like a lot of the same movies, and Julie brought a bunch of movies from home, so that's pretty awesome. On Saturday Lindsay, Lauren, Julie, some girls from next door and myself all went down to the Mardi Gras (and if you were wondering...yes, I did feel like a pimp being with all those girls, haha).
So Mardi Gras was a lot of fun, it was actually the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras, so it was very interesting and quite amusing. I may not do it justice, so check out the pictures on my facebook. Although my camera did die about half way through the parade...grrr. The parade was very colorful, obviously, and some people had very elaborate costumes, while other had nothing but a thong and nipple stars (unfortunately, this of course was the case with the people that you would hope would have the most clothes on!) Moving on...haha. So there were all types of groups in the parade, from the "big bears" club, to the "leather lovers" club...there should have been an age minimum to attend this parade! Haha. But, overall the parade was very entertaining and we all had lots of fun. After the parade we went to this awesome, 4-story bar, which was a lot of fun.
So staying on the housemate oriented path...we just planned out our spring break trip. So here is our plan:
Day 1: Flight from Sydeny to Gold Coast, and depending on what time we get there we will figure out what we do that day
Day 2: Dreamworld (it's a really cool theme park with tons of roller coasters and rides
Day 3: White Water World (water park)
Day 4-5: Beach time, basically do whatever we want
Day 6: Bus from the Gold Coast to Brisbane
Day 7: Crocodile Zoo
Day 8: Flight from Brisbane to Cairns
Day 9: Rain forest
Day 10: Reef (snorkeling, scuba diving)
Day 11: White Water Rafting
Day 12: Skydiving
Day 13: Flight back to Sydney
So these are the events that we have planned, and obviously something like "flight from Brisbane to Cairns" doesn't take all day, so we will be checking out the local areas and find cool stuff to do.
We went to the travel agency on campus and they help us set up the whole trip. They helped us plan out what events we wanted to do, found us housing, arranged all travel, and also gave tips on cool places to go. So we are all very excited about the trip; it should be awesome. So it is going to be Lauren, Lindsay, Julie, and myself on the trip. Ali apparently doesn't really like Australia (I know, ridiculous!), so I'm not sure what he is doing for spring break. Some girls two houses down were talking about going maybe, but I don't think they will. But, either way I will be the only guy again, haha. I have no problem with it, haha. I have an awesome time with them and it's cool being in that situation...more attention, haha.
So anyways...I actually also planned another skydiving trip for this weekend (the 14th). I didn't know we were going to be doing skydiving on the spring break trip, so I guess I'll be able to do something awesome twice on the same trip.
So school here is very different than in the US. Grades are made up of only a handful of grades, whereas in the US grades are made up of many different types of assessment. For example: in the US, we will have several small tests, papers, projects, a mid-term, and a final exam, whereas here there is maybe only one test, two papers, and one project. I don't have any exams this semester, but I do have a few papers that are worth 40 or 50% or my overall grade for that course. Another large difference is that there is a lot more reading here. For my Intro to World History course I just had to read about 100 pages for homework, in addition to the other 40-70 pages for each other class. So yeah, I have to read a lot. I guess it's a good thing that the courses I enrolled in are very interesting to me.
Two of my courses are especially interesting: during the lectures all we do is watch videos on music/dance/art, and then during the tutorials all we do is talk about the demonstration we watched; it's pretty awesome. Last week during my lecture for Contemporary Australian Arts we actually had a performer come in and talk about how he gets his ideas for music and then he performed two songs. He was really good, and many people agreed that his music had a striking resemblance to Jack Johnson (who, if you don't know, is a very popular rock/alternative musician in the US), so that was really cool.
I am having a lot of fun here and I like it a lot. I am very happy about my housing situation now and I will be taking a video of my apartment soon. I would love to hear from you...or get a package :-)
Thanks for reading!
So Mardi Gras was a lot of fun, it was actually the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras, so it was very interesting and quite amusing. I may not do it justice, so check out the pictures on my facebook. Although my camera did die about half way through the parade...grrr. The parade was very colorful, obviously, and some people had very elaborate costumes, while other had nothing but a thong and nipple stars (unfortunately, this of course was the case with the people that you would hope would have the most clothes on!) Moving on...haha. So there were all types of groups in the parade, from the "big bears" club, to the "leather lovers" club...there should have been an age minimum to attend this parade! Haha. But, overall the parade was very entertaining and we all had lots of fun. After the parade we went to this awesome, 4-story bar, which was a lot of fun.
So staying on the housemate oriented path...we just planned out our spring break trip. So here is our plan:
Day 1: Flight from Sydeny to Gold Coast, and depending on what time we get there we will figure out what we do that day
Day 2: Dreamworld (it's a really cool theme park with tons of roller coasters and rides
Day 3: White Water World (water park)
Day 4-5: Beach time, basically do whatever we want
Day 6: Bus from the Gold Coast to Brisbane
Day 7: Crocodile Zoo
Day 8: Flight from Brisbane to Cairns
Day 9: Rain forest
Day 10: Reef (snorkeling, scuba diving)
Day 11: White Water Rafting
Day 12: Skydiving
Day 13: Flight back to Sydney
So these are the events that we have planned, and obviously something like "flight from Brisbane to Cairns" doesn't take all day, so we will be checking out the local areas and find cool stuff to do.
We went to the travel agency on campus and they help us set up the whole trip. They helped us plan out what events we wanted to do, found us housing, arranged all travel, and also gave tips on cool places to go. So we are all very excited about the trip; it should be awesome. So it is going to be Lauren, Lindsay, Julie, and myself on the trip. Ali apparently doesn't really like Australia (I know, ridiculous!), so I'm not sure what he is doing for spring break. Some girls two houses down were talking about going maybe, but I don't think they will. But, either way I will be the only guy again, haha. I have no problem with it, haha. I have an awesome time with them and it's cool being in that situation...more attention, haha.
So anyways...I actually also planned another skydiving trip for this weekend (the 14th). I didn't know we were going to be doing skydiving on the spring break trip, so I guess I'll be able to do something awesome twice on the same trip.
So school here is very different than in the US. Grades are made up of only a handful of grades, whereas in the US grades are made up of many different types of assessment. For example: in the US, we will have several small tests, papers, projects, a mid-term, and a final exam, whereas here there is maybe only one test, two papers, and one project. I don't have any exams this semester, but I do have a few papers that are worth 40 or 50% or my overall grade for that course. Another large difference is that there is a lot more reading here. For my Intro to World History course I just had to read about 100 pages for homework, in addition to the other 40-70 pages for each other class. So yeah, I have to read a lot. I guess it's a good thing that the courses I enrolled in are very interesting to me.
Two of my courses are especially interesting: during the lectures all we do is watch videos on music/dance/art, and then during the tutorials all we do is talk about the demonstration we watched; it's pretty awesome. Last week during my lecture for Contemporary Australian Arts we actually had a performer come in and talk about how he gets his ideas for music and then he performed two songs. He was really good, and many people agreed that his music had a striking resemblance to Jack Johnson (who, if you don't know, is a very popular rock/alternative musician in the US), so that was really cool.
I am having a lot of fun here and I like it a lot. I am very happy about my housing situation now and I will be taking a video of my apartment soon. I would love to hear from you...or get a package :-)
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Changes...
So I finally moved into a new apartment, and it is much better. I now live in what is called "Macquarie University Village", which is made up of about 200 houses. Each house has two floors and five bedrooms. I am living with Lindsey (US), Lauren (US), Julie (US), and Ali (uhh....crap. somewhere near Turkey, I just can't think of it right now, but he's cool). Every room has it's own bathroom, which is nice. Everything else in the apartment is shared. But, we do have to pay for laundry, which I guess is $3/load and the washers are tiny...mom...money...lol. Also, I finally got internet set up, which is $40/month...mom. lol.
I will shoot a video of the apartment soon so you can see what it's like. My room isn't as big as my last one, but it is still nice. So some other nice things about this apartment is that it is much closer to campus, the gym, and the frisbee field. It used to take me maybe 20 minutes to walk to the gym, now it takes 5. It would take me 30 minutes to walk to the frisbee field, now it takes about 10. Also, the "village" plans events for resident students, so that should be a good way to meet more people, and a good way to have some fun!
So I have a bit of a dilemma right now...to go to frisbee practice, or to go on a cruise. Here it is:
Frisbee practice is from 4:30-6:30 and we only meet once a week right now and I really love playing, and I also want to meet people from the team. I also had a lot of fun at last weeks' practice. I bought cleats for about $60 or something like that, and a jersey for $35 I think.
The cruise leaves the harbour at 7 pm sharp, but they said to arrive by 6:30. It takes roughly an hour and 15 minutes to get to the wharf, and the cruise was $20. This includes the ride around Sydney harbour, food, beer, and wine. (This is the same area that the 80's cruise was on, which was free, but the drinks were $7-8, ridiculous!) But, I would also have to pay for transportation, which would be $5 each way, and then if we went out after, that would be more.
So I have already invested in each event (cleats, and ticket). You might be saying, why not go to part of practice and then go to the cruise? Well, I thought of that, but really all I would be going to practice for would be jogging, stretching, and a few throws, and MAYBE a drill. Because I would still have to shower afterwards, and get changed. I really want to go to practice, but I also want to go to the cruise because I know a bunch of people that are going and it seems like a lot of fun. Arg....I don't know! I only have a few more hours to decide...hmm...maybe I will flip a coin (Ali's suggestion, no not my roommate Ali, the guy, but Ali the girl from back home).
Hmm...not too much else going on at this moment. My classes are very interesting and I like them a lot. I think I will go take the video of the apartment now.
Thanks for reading!
I will shoot a video of the apartment soon so you can see what it's like. My room isn't as big as my last one, but it is still nice. So some other nice things about this apartment is that it is much closer to campus, the gym, and the frisbee field. It used to take me maybe 20 minutes to walk to the gym, now it takes 5. It would take me 30 minutes to walk to the frisbee field, now it takes about 10. Also, the "village" plans events for resident students, so that should be a good way to meet more people, and a good way to have some fun!
So I have a bit of a dilemma right now...to go to frisbee practice, or to go on a cruise. Here it is:
Frisbee practice is from 4:30-6:30 and we only meet once a week right now and I really love playing, and I also want to meet people from the team. I also had a lot of fun at last weeks' practice. I bought cleats for about $60 or something like that, and a jersey for $35 I think.
The cruise leaves the harbour at 7 pm sharp, but they said to arrive by 6:30. It takes roughly an hour and 15 minutes to get to the wharf, and the cruise was $20. This includes the ride around Sydney harbour, food, beer, and wine. (This is the same area that the 80's cruise was on, which was free, but the drinks were $7-8, ridiculous!) But, I would also have to pay for transportation, which would be $5 each way, and then if we went out after, that would be more.
So I have already invested in each event (cleats, and ticket). You might be saying, why not go to part of practice and then go to the cruise? Well, I thought of that, but really all I would be going to practice for would be jogging, stretching, and a few throws, and MAYBE a drill. Because I would still have to shower afterwards, and get changed. I really want to go to practice, but I also want to go to the cruise because I know a bunch of people that are going and it seems like a lot of fun. Arg....I don't know! I only have a few more hours to decide...hmm...maybe I will flip a coin (Ali's suggestion, no not my roommate Ali, the guy, but Ali the girl from back home).
Hmm...not too much else going on at this moment. My classes are very interesting and I like them a lot. I think I will go take the video of the apartment now.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 2, 2009
random things...
So I just got some great news! I just got the course reader for my final class and...no exam! This means that I do not have exams for any of my classes, which means I will be able to leave around mid June, instead of mid July.
Yes, I do like it here a lot, but I would also like to see my friends and family, and there is no point in staying any longer here if I am done with all my classes and if I have traveled around.
So there is something that I have realized in the past few days...I don't care if it sounds corny or sappy. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, if you around the ones you love you will find happiness.
Why am I saying this? Well, because I am in Australia, and the people I love are in the U.S. Being here is weird for me; a very new experience. It isn't the same as being away at school. Coming here alone has lead to me experiencing many new things. I am forced to deal with not having any familiar faces to look at. I do not have the comfort of knowing anybody prior to coming here. I cannot visit home for a weekend, and I can hardly even talk to the people back home because of the 16 hour time difference. Not that I am unhappy here, it is just a lot to adjust to. But, I am glad that I came, and I feel that I will experience a lot of changes due to the circumstances. I am forced to meet new people, because if I don't then I won't know anybody here. I am enjoying the process, and I am meeting a lot of cool people along the way. It feels like I have been gone for longer that two weeks, I guess just because I have been pretty busy. But I do miss everyone from home, and I would love to hear from you (email, blog comments, facebook messages, Skype).
Enough of that...
So I will be booking my surfing trip pretty soon I think, and I am very excited about that. I'm not totally sure what I will be doing for spring break yet, but I will be booking something soon I think.
So I had my first serious lecture today (last week was all orientation/class info stuff), and woweee was my hand tired! I swear this lady never stopped talking. Slide after slide after slide! And no I'm not a slow writer, messy yes, but not slow; everyone else around me kept groaning just as I did as the lecturer would change slides before we could get everything down. And it's not like she's even reading from the slides, she is talking about something to do with the topic on the slide. So apparently we are supposed to be able to process everything on the slide, write it down with extreme precision and speed, while simultaniously listening to her example/story. I think I might need a second brain for these lectures!
This big school thing is a dramatic change for me; Niagara only has about 3,200 students, and Macquarie has 30,000. I like certain things about this school being so big: lots of cool people, amazing facilities, beautiful women, good sports teams, lot of clubs/organizations, a great education, and people from all over the world (8,000 international students). But, I am definitely used to talking to the professors more and actually having them know my name (actually during last semester one of my grades was based on if the professor knew my name or not, lol). But, I am saying this before attending any tutorials, which are supposed to be smaller groups, so I will have to see how that goes.
I feel somewhat disconnected from the U.S. right now, so keep me updated!
I would like to take a moment of silence for the loss of Brian Dawkins...
No he isn't dead, but he did get signed by the Denver Broncos, and that's big enough of a loss for me. What a great player and a great person, he will be missed by Philadelphia and all Philadelphia Eagles fans.
Well, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading. :-)
Yes, I do like it here a lot, but I would also like to see my friends and family, and there is no point in staying any longer here if I am done with all my classes and if I have traveled around.
So there is something that I have realized in the past few days...I don't care if it sounds corny or sappy. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, if you around the ones you love you will find happiness.
Why am I saying this? Well, because I am in Australia, and the people I love are in the U.S. Being here is weird for me; a very new experience. It isn't the same as being away at school. Coming here alone has lead to me experiencing many new things. I am forced to deal with not having any familiar faces to look at. I do not have the comfort of knowing anybody prior to coming here. I cannot visit home for a weekend, and I can hardly even talk to the people back home because of the 16 hour time difference. Not that I am unhappy here, it is just a lot to adjust to. But, I am glad that I came, and I feel that I will experience a lot of changes due to the circumstances. I am forced to meet new people, because if I don't then I won't know anybody here. I am enjoying the process, and I am meeting a lot of cool people along the way. It feels like I have been gone for longer that two weeks, I guess just because I have been pretty busy. But I do miss everyone from home, and I would love to hear from you (email, blog comments, facebook messages, Skype).
Enough of that...
So I will be booking my surfing trip pretty soon I think, and I am very excited about that. I'm not totally sure what I will be doing for spring break yet, but I will be booking something soon I think.
So I had my first serious lecture today (last week was all orientation/class info stuff), and woweee was my hand tired! I swear this lady never stopped talking. Slide after slide after slide! And no I'm not a slow writer, messy yes, but not slow; everyone else around me kept groaning just as I did as the lecturer would change slides before we could get everything down. And it's not like she's even reading from the slides, she is talking about something to do with the topic on the slide. So apparently we are supposed to be able to process everything on the slide, write it down with extreme precision and speed, while simultaniously listening to her example/story. I think I might need a second brain for these lectures!
This big school thing is a dramatic change for me; Niagara only has about 3,200 students, and Macquarie has 30,000. I like certain things about this school being so big: lots of cool people, amazing facilities, beautiful women, good sports teams, lot of clubs/organizations, a great education, and people from all over the world (8,000 international students). But, I am definitely used to talking to the professors more and actually having them know my name (actually during last semester one of my grades was based on if the professor knew my name or not, lol). But, I am saying this before attending any tutorials, which are supposed to be smaller groups, so I will have to see how that goes.
I feel somewhat disconnected from the U.S. right now, so keep me updated!
I would like to take a moment of silence for the loss of Brian Dawkins...
No he isn't dead, but he did get signed by the Denver Broncos, and that's big enough of a loss for me. What a great player and a great person, he will be missed by Philadelphia and all Philadelphia Eagles fans.
Well, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading. :-)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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. :-)
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