downunder

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:55:51 -0400

Aside from traveling and celebrating birthdays, the purpose of the month of June was final exams and then final goodbyes. I had three exams; and a month to study for them. Typically I have about five exams crammed into about eight days with one “reading” day to prepare for the exam period so this UNSW exam schedule failed to induce any levels of the anxiety I usually experience. When I arrived back in Sydney after my trip to Cairns I had about two days until my first exam in Environmental Impact Assessment, which was on June 14^th. The following morning I had my final exam in Polymer Science & Engineering. I prepared well for these two and I’m anticipating my final marks in these classes. The final papers for my Geochemistry class were a field report for our excursion in the Sunny Corner mine and a presentation about “You are what you eat: trace minerals in food.” Both of these I did with this cool Aussie chick, Georgie. We worked well together and she was a focused student as well. The final papers for my International Relations class were my Reflective Portfolio, which I uploaded in this blog earlier, and an additional research paper in which I used media on the war on terror to show that the concept of representation is central to the study and practice of International Relations. My last exam, for Concepts of Physical Fitness & Health, was scheduled to be on June 24^th, leaving me about 8 days to study. I worked about three days a week at the Gaff, now finally bartending and occasionally working on the door. Studying, working, catching up on this blog and exercising were about all the things that I did until my last exam. The day before my exam I studied in this secondhand bookstore with a café on Oxford Street with Christie and Casha. I hadn’t been down to this part of the city before and it was really cool. My last exam was really easy and ended up taking about thirty minutes to complete.

At this point I had less than a week left in Australia and it was really starting to hit me. I tried not to think about it and just enjoy my final days as much as I could. I was supposed to work on Friday night but when I went in they sent me home after an hour because it wasn’t busy. Somewhat disappointed because I need the money but also excited to go out for my last weekend in Sydney, I picked up a box of goon on the way home and hung out with the roommates. We went over to Coogee Bay Hotel for the night.

On Saturday Christie, Casha and I went into the city to the Royal Botanic Gardens, which exist right in the city next to the Opera House. We spent the day walking around and taking pictures of the unique plants and animals, like bamboo, palm trees, fig trees, bats and cockatoos. It was a beautiful part of the city that I had never seen before; lively with people everywhere, locals and tourists, picnicking, running, walking and sightseeing. It borders the harbour and provides a few perfect photo-op locations that a few wedding parties took advantage of. If you’re ever in Sydney, I highly recommend going there for a picnic or a walk or something of that nature.

We went to dinner at Pancakes on the Rocks, which was our second time there and once again, it was amazing. Saturday night was my last night working at The Gaff. I bartended at Party Bar and got out by around 2:30am. I’ve been getting kind of sick of working there, sometimes because of the incompetence of the place, but I was sort of sad to leave. I think because it further set in the notion that I was actually leaving Sydney. At the end of the night I said goodbye to and thanked my manager while bidding farewell to my co-workers, promising that I would be back in Australia one day.

On Sunday, Christie, Casha, Lindsay, and I went to Paddy’s Markets in the city. They are day markets that are inside and run every week, Wednesday to Sunday. It was crowded and there were rows and rows of a random assortment of items. From souvenirs, to nuts and fruit, to clothing and wigs, you could find anything you wanted. We did some shopping until about closing at 5. Our next stop was the Sydney Tower. Standing at 250 meters (820 ft) above street level, it is a true Sydney icon and has been part of its skyline for over thirty years. An elevator shoots you up to the top and opens to a circular room, which is surrounded by windows that provide a 360 degree view of the city. We walked around in circles at awe of the sights. Although surrounded by tourists who were dazzled by the pretty, flickering lights, views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, and miles and miles of skyline bordered by the pink and orange hues of the sun setting over the horizon, we saw it differently. As we precariously hovered 250 meters over Sydney city, we could recognize each degree of the landscape. We recognized every area, from the Opera House in Circular Quay to the boats in Darling Harbour, from the tall buildings in Bondi Junction to the rainbow flags on Oxford Street, from the Botanic Gardens to the infamous Coca-Cola sign in Kings Cross; we knew what we were looking at. And each new view brought back a new memory; experiences that we had within in the past five months and they were countless. This tourist trap became the most emotional activity because of how much Sydney meant to me, and we all lost it when the radio tuned into Elton John’s Rocket Man. I couldn’t wait to share everything my friends and family at home but I truly understood how much I love Sydney. I actually didn’t want to leave and I hope that it isn’t a “long, long time” until I return.

Sunday night was our last night out in Sydney so we decided to spend it in Kings Cross. It was also Alexa’s last night as she left the house early to spend the night at her Australian friend Will’s so he could drive her to the airport early the next morning. After a sad goodbye and some tears, we headed out. Our first stop was Hugo’s, an upscale bar across from World Bar that was really expensive and classy. We stayed there for a little and then ventured out into the street. We were convinced by a promotional guy to go to another place on Darlinghurst for a free drink. After some debate, we decided to go and ended up running into some of our other friends, some of which went to NZ with us. We danced until they stopped the music but then still wanted to stay out. Kings Cross is home to several strip clubs and with free entry, why not cross it off my bucket list? When we walked in we were greeted by a few girls and then sat in seats that were distanced from the stage and curved enough to talk to one another. Christie bought us all gin & tonics and we watched the girls entertain the men who were positioned intimately next to the stage. Music videos were playing on the television screens and actually caught my attention more. The girls danced one by one, walking from pole to pole in skimpy outfits and I couldn’t help but think about how unfortunately degrading the job actually is. I wondered how these girls got themselves into jobs like this and why they hadn’t considered alternatives. We didn’t stay for long and went to the last bar of the night, Goldfish. I ran into a girl I know from Wales that comes into the Gaff every week so it was nice to say goodbye to her. It was a great last night out in the city.

Monday was depressing as it was spent packing, cleaning the house and picking up my final pay at the Gaff and a few final items before heading back to the States. Christie, Casha and I went down to the Palace for potato wedges and a jug of Tooheys New to take a break from cleaning and packing. The Amazing Race Australia was playing on the big screen and it was actually surrounded by the contestants and their friends. It was hectic to watch the show and then look over and see the contestants sitting right there next to us. One of the contestants, Anastasia, was actually a girl that was in one of my tutorials this semester at UNSW! When we got home, we stayed up all night doing last minute cleaning and packing and then took a walk down to the beach around 5:30am. We were surprised when the coastal walk and beach area was actually bustling with people walking their dogs, running and exercising. Who knew that Coogee had this secret life before dawn? We walked to the cliffs and sat to watch the sun rise. It was the perfect way to leave Coogee. We guessed at what various clouds formations were illustrating while also sitting in silence, taking in the beautiful scene of the ocean and rocks situated in front of the horizon and appreciating where we had been living for the past five months. We were accompanied by a few other study abroad students that had the same idea and were also preparing for departure. After the orange ball of blazing light was fully emerged from the edge of the earth, we walked the five minutes back to our house and were greeted by our taxi which was waiting to take us to the airport. Without much time for a drawn out and emotional goodbye to 15 Arcadia, we loaded our bags into the van. As soon as the door of the van shut and the release of the brake shifted the taxi’s tires to motion, tears welled up in my eyes. The tears remained as we passed various suburbs and memorable sites on the way to the airport and I had difficulty answering the taxi driver’s questions about our business in Coogee.

After checking in and paying an absurd amount of money for my overweight bags and surfboard, we made our way to the gate and waited to board the plane where we were entertained by stories from our friend Brendan about his escapades in Thailand. I scored the window seat on the way to LAX and even with a bit of medicinal assistance I failed to sleep much and instead watched Due Date, Hall Pass, Rango, and half of The Fighter. After an easy twelve and a half hours and two meals, we made it to LAX where it took about two hours to go through immigration, collect our baggage, customs and baggage transfers. Christie and I sadly said goodbye to Casha as she had an immediate flight from LAX to Boston, unfortunately with two layovers in between. I later learned that she missed her first flight to Phoenix and she had to get another to Charlotte, NC and then to Boston. We all eventually made it home safe though. I was greeted at the airport by my Dad and it was something I waited so long for. I cried when he hugged me as I was so relieved to finally see him. Then, I was surprised by my best friend Jamie who came along for the ride. After a two and a half hour drive including dropping Christie off at home, making the total travel time between 15 Arcadia and 906 Sarazen about 32 hours, I ran into the house and jumped into my mom’s arms. We were both ecstatic to see each other and I seriously couldn’t be happier to be home. My mom’s best friend Diane and my other best friend KP both came over to welcome me home and we all sat around talking until about 4am, attempting to catch up.

The weirdest part is that it feels as though I never left. Those five months went by really fast but at the same time it felt like ages until I was going to see the people that I loved again. Everything immediately went back to normal though and it was the best feeling in the world. Summer in my hometown has an unmistakable aura and even after seeing some of the most beautiful places in the world, Brigantine is still my favorite place. It’s an aura of entropy just like any other place on this earth. Even as things change ever so slightly, whether it’s a new building erected or torn down, or someone moves away or comes back, through serenity and acceptance the real feeling of home never changes and it is there that I really find my true happiness. After a semester abroad in Australia, with trips up and down its east coast and to New Zealand, I have a new found passion for travelling. Seeing new places, people, and culture is extremely rewarding as it causes you to grow. It shapes your view of the world and also you as a person in ways that you cannot obtain in a stationary setting. I’ve created a bucket list and it’s pretty long so I better start saving up now.

I’m about to leave Australia in about 8 hours. This...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:24:40 -0400

I’m about to leave Australia in about 8 hours. This isn’t real. This whole semester went by so quickly. I will truly miss this place so much and I know that I’ll be coming back. But for now…

Happy Birthday Christie!

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:33:25 -0400

On the eve of Christie’s 21^st, Casha, Alexa and I went with her to the Palace to begin the celebration. We started with a jug and hung out listening to the entertainment of the night, which was a solo guy singing with a guitar.

Considering it was early on a Thursday night the Palace was pretty dead so we (except for Casha who went home to study) went over to Coogee Bay Hotel, or better known as CBH. It has various places in it including a beer garden, sports bar, liquor store, and main bar area. We decided on the beer garden and hung out for a while outside at a table with a heat lamp. Coogee was pretty dead everywhere so Christie and I decided to go into the city to World Bar in Kings Cross. We took a cab to Oxford St. where Christie got a meat pie at Pie Face before heading to the cross. The clock struck midnight on our walk and I sung Happy Birthday in my oh-so-wonderful singing voice.

World Bar was pretty crowded when we got there and we went right to the bar for necessary celebratory shots of vodka. World bar is home to the teapot like the ones we got in New Zealand so we bought one to share and sat in one of the booths. We chatted with some guys who were from a few hours north of Sydney and one of them just got back from living in San Diego for a while. Our friend Isabel walked by and we jumped up to say hi, excited to see her. Shortly after I felt something hit my hair and brushed it over with my hand but found nothing. A few minutes later I touched my head again and discovered a wad of gum stuck in my hair. I turned around to see who threw it but no one looked up to meet my eyes. I ran to the bathroom, furious and attempted to get it out. Christie followed me in with a cup of ice and we eventually got it out after 30 minutes, along with large chunks of my hair. We ended up meeting a bunch of girls who were walking in and out and many were sympathetic because they could relate. After that was over, we made it over to the dance floor where we danced and jumped around to the odd club playlist of alternative rock music. On our way back a few prostitutes, who are prevalent in Kings Cross and also legal in Australia, graced us with their presence on the street corners.

The next morning, on Christie’s official birthday, I went for a run and then Christie, Casha, our other roommate Lindsay and I went to Bondi Ink in Bondi Beach so Christie could get her tattoo. She got ‘cogito ero sum’ on the inside of her left foot, meaning “I think, therefore I am” as quoted by philosopher Descartes. We shopped around in Bondi for a little while falling in love with the many unique and stylish boutiques and surf shops.

To continue the celebration the roommates and our other friend Isabel went to dinner at Churrasco, a Brazilian barbeque restaurant on Coogee Bay Road. Basically, you pay one price and servers walk around all night with a various assortment of barbequed meat, vegetables, cheese and pineapple and ask you if you want more until you literally can’t fit anything else in your stomach. The food was amazing and we were all in pain after the meal. We went back to our house to pre-drink a little and give Christie her present and cake. Casha and Alexa made her a cookie cake and we bought her a wine tour in the Southern Highlands, which we should be going to a few days before we leave.

We went out to Cargo Bar in Darling Harbour and it was our first time there. There were other exchange students there as well and it was a fun night! I hope Christie had a memorable 21^st in oz!

Dory: Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down do you wanna know what you've gotta do?

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:18:00 -0400

Dory: Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…

Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef, was my last travel destination of the semester. It averaged about 25⁰C, (75-80⁰F) and was sunny the entire time. This was much needed because Sydney has been so cold and rainy recently. My classes ended on Friday June 3^rd and I had work on Saturday so I flew up on Sunday morning to meet Christie and Casha who were already there. They spent three days in the rainforest in Cape Tribulation so I was by myself in Cairns until Monday night. I stayed at Gilligan’s Backpackers which is the most popular hostel in Cairns, with a bar/club connected, an outdoor pool and continuously high influx of backpackers.

I couldn’t check in until the late afternoon so I dropped off my bag and walked around the town. Cairns reminded me of Florida with palm trees all around, souvenir shops and vacationers filling the streets. I tried to get familiar with the area since it isn’t very big and you can walk to anywhere within the town. I did some shopping and went to Rusty’s markets next door to Gilligan’s. Hundreds of people browsed the rows full of fresh fruits, vegetables, clothes, books, and even pure sugar cane juice.

I was eager to check in so I could try to nap since I hadn’t slept because I went straight to the airport from work at 4am, flying out at 6am. I got up to my room by 3pm so instead I went down to the pool. It looked like a beach as the water slowly became shallower mixing with sand that led up to a bunch of lounge chairs, already full with students and backpackers. There was a band playing on the deck in between the pool and the bar and everyone was enjoying the sun. An MC tried to entertain the crowd by organizing games for various prizes. Attempting to start my tan, I sat in the sun for a few hours before sunset and then went back to shower.

Gilligan’s offers their guests free dinner at the bar downstairs, which was music to my ears as I was quite low on money. Expectedly the food wasn’t that great, including beef curry and rice or creamy vegetable soup. However, I didn’t really care because I would rather spend my money on activities or other things. After I stood in line and got my food I looked around for a place to sit. There were many open tables, some half filled with groups of friends or sparsely sprinkled with random backpackers. I found an open table, sat to face the large television screen which was showing a footy game, and tried not to feel awkward eating alone. While I was watching the game after I finished my meal a guy who I had seen earlier in the elevator asked to sit at my table. He introduced himself, Shay from Israel, and we talked for a while. He was actually the second backpacker I met from Israel; the other was earlier in February in Byron Bay. He told me about Israel and how everyone has to join the army after school before they can get another job or go to Uni and about his motocross interests. At some point after hinting at being attracted to me, he mentioned trying to find a wife in Australia or America so he could safely race his bike there. He was nice but it was then that I decided to remove myself from the situation. I told him that I hadn’t slept in 2 days, which was true, and avoided him by going to bed around 9pm.

After a much needed and long night of sleep, I put on my bathing suit and went down to the “Lagoon”. The only beaches in Cairns are further north so they have this man-made pool right in town that resembles a lagoon and looks out into the ocean. I awaited Christie’s and Casha’s arrival as I relaxed in the sun all day, reading Life of Pi.

When the sun started to go down I left the lagoon, went back to change and went for a run for about an hour along the boardwalk and shoreline path. Christie and Casha checked in by the time I got back and I was so glad to see them. That night we went out to Woolshed, which was apparently supposed to offer your best night out in Cairns. We had a good time, talking and drinking in a booth and then dancing a little.

We actually ran into Chris King, the kid from Canada who stayed in our hostel room in Surfer’s Paradise in February and when we were leaving I thought I recognized someone else. As I parted through the crowd to get closer to make out who it was, it actually ended up being another Chris I know. This one I worked with at the Cellar 32 in Brigantine and he is a shoobie that comes down every summer! He was on a trip with AustraLearn. We both freaked out about seeing each other and exchanged numbers to meet up again. It is such a small world.

The next day entailed the reason that I came up to Cairns, to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Christie, Casha, and I headed to the terminal for Passions of Paradise at 7:30am. We boarded the boat, about 40 or so people including Tom (from our NZ trip and goes to Boston College with Christie and Casha) and his family, and everyone gathered outside on the front and along the sides, soaking up the morning sun and salty air. As the boat left the port, the mountains surrounding the water grew to be larger and the landscape more impressive. The water was glassy and calm as the sun reflected against it strongly. Heaps of sailboats were scattered about. I allowed a cascade of light and cool breeze run across my face as the wind whipped through my hair until the first announcement instructed us inside for a quick welcome and information session.

After a few briefings about snorkeling and diving, we arrived at our first destination on the reef, a small island and bird sanctuary with a capacity of 50,000 birds that was saturated with squawking, flying creatures and surrounded by a few parked boats and buoys.

At first slight disappointment interrupted the day as dark, gloomy clouds hovered above the island and spots of rain showered the boat. Nevertheless, we geared up in flippers, wetsuits, masks and snorkels and took a small, glass-bottom boat to the island. We started by backing up into the water and then slowly swimming our way back to the boat. The snorkel lasted about 30 minutes as I floated on the surface, face permanently planted in the ocean, staring at and taking pictures of the beautiful reef, its creatures and formations alike.

The sun came out and it was our turn to dive when we climbed back onto the boat so Christie, Casha, Tom and I were then immediately fitted with the required equipment. After a short reminder of hand signals such as “OK”, “go down”, “I have a problem” or “turtle”, we waddled to the exit platform with flippers on our feet, oxygen tanks on our backs and goggles suctioned to our faces. Like penguins jumping one after the other into the sea, I followed and holding onto my mask and “breathy thingy”, took a step off the ledge and into the ocean. The introduction dive started as we held onto a rope side by side facing Russell, our instructor, with our feet dangling towards the ocean floor. Russell was basically Jack Black’s twin from Colorado but he had a slight Australian accent after living here for five years. We started at the surface with our faces in the water, practicing breathing. After a few minutes we lowered to about 1 meter under the surface to a red rope where we became more comfortable with being submerged and practiced getting air out of our goggles. We got the money making question, “Are you OK to go down?” through hand signals and with affirmative responses from all we released our grips from the rope and linked arms. When we got down to the bottom, we shortly unlinked arms and stayed close in a pack, exploring the reef. I felt really comfortable and wanted to stay down there for hours. The reef was more brilliant than I could ever imagine. I saw fish, coral, algae, giant clams, a sting ray and a turtle all breathing with life in the vastness of the ocean. We even got to touch these slimy orange algae. I couldn’t bring my camera because of the pressure at that depth but I know I’ll never forget what I saw. We finished the dive with back-flips and swam back to the surface. Lunch was served on the way to our next reef destination.

Casha dove again here but Christie and I just snorkeled for about 45 minutes and it was just as rewarding. This spot was better than the first. I swam around taking countless pictures, exploring various crevices and parts of creation on the reef. There were fish with the most vibrant colors that swam around extremely intricate and delicate structures.

At the end of the snorkel, everyone loaded back onto the boat and relaxed outside as we made our way back to Cairns. One of the other instructors, Simon, who had memorized everyone’s name on the boat and reminded me of the SCUBA instructor in Along Came Polly, entertained the crowd with a few magic tricks. At night we went to the club/bar downstairs where I saw Chris again as well as a few girls from our NZ trip.

My last day in Cairns was spent at the lagoon again, relaxing and soaking up the sun with Christie while Casha went white water rafting (been there, done that). I finished reading Life of Pi and also discovered that my camera was broken. I think it was from taking it too deep while I was snorkeling. I’m lucky that it happened at the end of the trip as well as at the end of my Australian experience. At night we went out downstairs again and then to Woolshed. When we flew out the next morning, I really wished my camera wasn’t broken because my window seat on the aircraft provided the perfect view of Cairns and its natural surroundings. Cairns is just a small city located on the coast in a valley that is bounded by towering, majestic mountains covered in trees. As the plane increased its altitude you could see the way the mountains perfectly bordered slight strips of sand which leisurely disappeared into the clear, blue ocean. I could see Cairns, the lagoon, the boat harbour, the tops of clouds and the shadows they made on the sea below. At one point the shadow of the plane appeared on a cloud and was surrounded by a circular rainbow spectrum. The scene from my porthole got better when we arrived back in Sydney and I was able to identify every part of it, from the Opera House and bridge, to the eastern beaches, UNSW and the airport. After living here for 5 or so months, although not long, it was the first time I actually felt like I was flying home.

And like a colorful bloom of temporary lights in the sky, you will shine.

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:29:00 -0400

On Friday, May 27^th, Christie, Casha and I decided it was time to visit Sydney’s famous Luna Park. Although nothing like Disney World or even Six Flags, it’s a must-see amusement park with free entry and so we went. It’s located on the other side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge so we took the bus to the Circular Quay and walked across. The views of the city and the Opera House were spectacular from the center of the bridge.

Luna Park was quaint but cute and we walked around, taking pictures and eating “fairy floss” (also known as cotton candy).

The sun had set by the time we made it back to the other side of the bridge so on the way we had a preview of Vivid Sydney, a festival of light, music and ideas that just started and is supposed to last until mid-June. The festival features colorful light projections on the iconic Sydney Opera House sails, performances from local and international musicians as part of Vivid LIVE and a free outdoor exhibition of interactive light sculptures. We bought tickets earlier to the Vivid LIVE show at the Opera House for later this night.

Below is one of the light shows on the Customs house.

After going home to change we headed back to the Circular Quay. The entire area was lit up in bright, fluorescent colors and there were heaps of people all over, appreciating the interesting art and visual manipulation of the wharf at night.

When we entered the Vivid LIVE event, we ran into some of our guy friends that live in an apartment building down the street from us. There were cabanas and classy people all around, drinking Belvedere martinis and wine. We followed the crowd into the studio area whose rave aura matched that of the Circular Quay. Lights changed colors to the pattern of the beat of the various performing DJs, including the Bag Raiders.

A particularly entertaining performance was by Azari III, a pair of gay guys who sang and danced with the blessing of the crowd. At one point they parted the crowed like Moses parted the Red Sea and walked along the narrow space as if it was a catwalk, pulling dance and modeling moves.

We danced all night until the last set of the Bag Raiders.

I worked on Saturday night like usual but a perfect end to the weekend was Sunday night when Christie, Casha and I went back into the city to Pancakes on the Rocks. It started pouring rain as soon as we made it to the Circular Quay so we bought super fashionable ponchos from the convenience store.

On the way to the Rocks (which is a small business district along the harbour), we caught the end of this light show, where synchronized fire bursts jumped about to Katy Perry’s Firework. Pancakes on the Rocks is a famous restaurant in Sydney. We all got pancakes for dinner and were more than satisfied after the meal. I got the Bananarama which was a stack of two pancakes with vanilla ice cream and bananas. Mmm.

Christie wanted to go to a bar after dinner but Casha and I weren’t too keen so we stopped for a drink for thirty minutes or so at the hotel across the street from the restaurant before running to the bus stop to make the last bus back to Coogee.

so aussie.

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:16:00 -0400

This particular week (May 22^nd) inspired a deeper transcendence into the Australian culture, and it was about time. It started when Christie and I decided to have kangaroo for dinner on Sunday night. We heard it was like steak and Christie said that she wanted to cook it so we went to Woolworths and bought a couple filets along with some green beans. The kangaroo was actually really good and cooking it was a lot cheaper than ordering it at a restaurant!

On Tuesday I attended an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) course. I was offered to start as a bartender at the Gaff and so I needed this certificate to be qualified to serve alcohol in the state of New South Wales. The course lasted about five and a half hours and was really easy. It was interesting to learn about the laws of NSW and between this course and my Environmental Impact Assessment course I think I know more about NSW laws than I do for New Jersey or Virginia.

Amid writing a research paper for my IR class during the week, I attempted to find time to make it down to the Palace on Wednesday night for the State of Origin game. This game, or series of games, is kind of the Australian Rugby League equivalent to the NFL’s Super Bowl and was New South Wales versus Queensland. Christie, Casha and I split a jug and watched the game with the other locals in Coogee. New South Wales ended up losing but it was a close and exciting game!

“Road trippin' with my two favorite allies, fully loaded we got snacks and supplies. It's time to leave this town. It's time to steal away. Let's go get lost…”- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:09:00 -0400

The two weeks following NZ were really hectic. While working three nights a week, I had an exam on the Monday after we got back and three assignments due. By the time I finished all of my work, I was off to Melbourne for the weekend. Melbourne is a city in the state of Victoria on the southern coast of Australia. Christie and Casha left on Thursday, May 12^th, but I had class so I met them in the city on Friday night. When I arrived in Melbourne, flying through Tiger Airways, I took the Skybus to Southern Cross Station and found my way to the hostel, Nomads.

Emily, one of the girls from our NZ trip, was also in Melbourne this weekend and got us tickets to the Geelong v. Collingwood AFL (Australian Football League) game. Melbourne’s Cricket grounds are enormous and it was a huge game.

AFL is similar to rugby league and union but a different game. We arrived to the game kind of late because of my late flight arrival and then it took a little while to get to the stadium. We still made it there to see a good portion of the game, however. I miss sporting events so it was really fun to go. We were placed in the nose-bleed section but could still feel the vibe of the atmosphere as we were surrounded by thousands of fans, rowdy as ever and geared up in their favorite team’s colors. On the way out of the stadium, we received free soup which was perfect timing because it starting raining and it was freezing in Melbourne. When we got back to the hostel, I was exhausted and we had a long day ahead of us so I went to sleep early while Christie and Casha played pool in the bar downstairs to the hostel.

In the morning we found our way to the car rental company, Thrifty, to pick up our car for the rest of the weekend. We planned on driving along the Great Ocean Road Saturday and Sunday by ourselves instead of paying for a day-long bus tour. I was legally the only one allowed to drive the rental car because I was the only 21-year-old. Casha has had experience driving in Australia and New Zealand so we suggested the safer option which was that I drive the car out of Melbourne and then Casha could take over for a while. I was really excited to drive on the opposite side of the road.

When we found the car outside, we named it Melvin and put our stuff in the trunk.

I started the car and got comfortable with it. I could tell that Christie and Casha were nervous but I assured them of my driving skills. Although I was anxious myself I felt well rested and confident that I could do this. Another obstacle in Melbourne is their tram system in which trams run up and down the center of the roads so it can be confusing when turning. Amidst the pressure and anxiety, and with a map instead of the modernly necessary GPS, we made it out safely and onto the highway towards the Great Ocean Road. It got much easier quite quickly and I loved the new found freedom that we had. I haven’t driven since February let alone have a car where we could actually go anywhere we wanted to in Australia. Tensions were released and I think Christie and Casha also became more comfortable. We made it to our first destination, Torquay. Too easy.

Torquay is a town at the start of the Great Ocean Road. It’s a typical surf community. A part of the town, also known as Surf City, has a surf shop on every corner; from Ripcurl, Oakley, Billabong, DC, you name it. I obviously wanted to buy everything that I saw and wanted to go in every store but we just stopped for lunch and walked around the shops and beach for a little. Casha took the wheel from here as we made our way to Australia’s most famous surfing beach, Bells Beach, just 4km from Torquay. There wasn’t anyone out when we got there which is probably a good thing since I just would have been even more jealous that I didn’t have my surfboard with me. There was a contest there a few weeks prior to our trip. When we were leaving the car park we also caught a glimpse of the toilet block that is decorated by an Aboriginal mural.

(Bells Beach)

The next stop was the Anglesea Golf Course which has approximately 1000 resident kangaroos. You technically are not permitted onto the course for kangaroo viewing but we drove around the block and saw an opening on the green which was fruitful with lounging and jumping kangaroos. Several other tourists had the same idea as well. We parked the car and ran onto the course with our cameras, sneaking pictures and getting excited that we were so close to them.

Following the golf course was Aireys Inlet Lighthouse, which provided amazing views of the cliffs and ocean below as well as a walking track along the top. We walked around the area taking a million pictures again.

We drove for about another 20km along the road, distracted by the never ending length of beautiful ocean, cliffs, waves and rainbows until we reached the town of Lorne. Its main business district is situated across about 3 blocks facing the ocean. We drove about 10km inland to visit Erskine Falls, which is one of the highest waterfalls in the Otway region. We didn’t spend too much time here but just enough to appreciate its natural, majestic essence. Teddy’s Lookout was also minutes outside of Lorne. We parked Melvin next to a kangaroo crossing sign and headed down the guided path. We passed through forest and vegetation that was burned for the purpose to prevent future fires. The trees were black halfway up from the base of the soil while the branches were empty. A five minute walk led us to several platforms that provided us with a fantastic view of the Great Ocean Road below, towering cliffs above and the sun setting behind the trees.

(Teddy’s Lookout)

When we drove back to Lorne we stopped in a car park to check out the waves and the surfers. I ran down towards the rock jetty and got a few pictures of the people out enjoying the final sets rolling in at dusk.

When I got back to the car, there were a few younger surfer guys surrounding the driver’s side of the car; obviously in Casha fashion. They insisted on us going out to the party that night at a bar in Lorne, celebrating the end of the benefit contest that had been going on all day. However, we booked a hostel in Port Campbell for the night, which was about a two and half hour drive from Lorne. Seeing as it was already about 7:30pm and the rest of the drive was pretty tricky, especially in the dark, we rejected the invitation after much debate. They also informed us about the apparent marathon that was on for the next day that would be closing a portion of the Great Ocean Road. We moved on and stopped about an hour down the road in Apollo Bay to ask about the marathon and the distance to Port Campbell. Luckily for us, the marathon was causing the road to be closed between Lorne and Apollo Bay, which we already drove so we weren’t going to miss out on the places we didn’t get to already.

And so we were off to Port Campbell, about 100km from Apollo Bay and our place to sleep for the night. Port Campbell is at the end of the Great Ocean Road and so upon waking we could drive straight back to Melbourne with necessary stops along the way. Port Campbell is about four blocks in size and was completely desolate upon arrival. There were some backpackers in the main lounge area but that was about it. This older man Tony, the owner of the hostel, greeted us at check-in, surprisingly excited that we were American. He called the guy at the pub down the street and told him to make us some fish & chips and that we would be down in a minute. We threw our bags in our room and went down to the pub. There were about maybe 8 people inside. We grabbed a table and Christie and I got a couple schooners of beer to have with our fish and chips. Upon finishing the meal, Tony showed up, grabbed a beer and pulled a chair over to our table to join us. We spent the rest of the night there, letting Tony talk our ears off for hours. He was really nice and kept us highly entertained with wild stories about his travels and experiences. He provided us with new perspectives about places like Africa or about how a Ford F150 is about $80,000 in Australia or how an Aussie construction worker makes about an annual salary of about $400,000, which is more than Obama.

Apparently against most odds, we got up really early to see the Twelve Apostles, the famous sea stacks of Victoria’s South West, at sunrise which was at about 6:50am. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we didn’t get to see the sun but the Twelve Apostles were still amazing. We were also accompanied by various groups of Asians that simultaneously stared in awe at the jagged masses of rock that sit nobly above the ocean’s crashing current.

(Twelve Apostles)

We decided to get breakfast back in Port Campbell and stopped at the Lock Ard Gorge and Thunder Cave beforehand, as seen below respectively.

I was thankful that Casha could drive us through the dark safely to our destination the night before. However, I decided to drive after breakfast from Port Campbell as I was feeling confident and more comfortable.

We wanted to stop at the Wildlife Park first so we could pet kangaroos, koalas, and snakes, but we discovered that it was closed for the season. The next place was Melba Gully which had a 30 minute circular walk through the sub-temperate rainforest. The trail led us through various different kinds of trees, vegetation and a highly sensitive environment.

The beauty of this area reminded me of how important the rainforest and other natural areas are to Australians and how hard they work to preserve them. On the way to Apollo Bay we detoured through Cape Otway which is known to have koalas in the trees above the road.

They were hard to find but then we ran into a family that was stopped on the side of the road who found a few resting high up in the trees. We were really excited to see them! We took a bunch of pictures and watched a few of them interact, which is rare since they sleep for most of the day.

The final stop was back in Apollo Bay for lunch where we also got to see the marathon finishers.

We had to get back to Melbourne by 4pm so we headed inland which reduces the travel time between Apollo Bay and Melbourne. Unfortunately, because of the traffic from the marathon, we didn’t make it back to Melbourne by 4pm and Thrifty was closed. This minor crisis was solved after we called Thrifty’s main headquarters who instructed us to simply bring the car back to the Thrifty location in the airport by 10am the next morning. How perfect! Instead of dropping the car off in the city, finding transportation to St. Kilda (a suburb of Melbourne and where we were staying for the night), and then getting a cab to the airport at about 3am, we could simply drive the car straight to St. Kilda and then to the airport in the morning.

After getting slightly lost because we didn’t have a map or any idea how to get to St. Kilda from the city, we made our way there and checked in to Base Backpackers. We were immediately greeted by the receptionists and a somewhat permanent resident of Base, Alex, who has been there for about 7 months. Alex showed us around and to our room where we met our other roommates. The people in the room were really friendly, which normally doesn’t happen since people are always in and out of rooms in hostels. St. Kilda was kind of boring and we weren’t really there for long. The weird characters in the hostel were probably the most entertaining part.

We left Base at 3am and said goodbye to Melvin at the airport. We experienced a few obstacles before boarding the plane because Tiger Airways is the worst airline in the world. First we were charged a fee of $30 because apparently our travel agent signed us up for “web check-in” and didn’t tell us so we never printed out our tickets. Second, which was more my fault, they weighed our bags and mine was over. We only had carry-on bags and they didn’t weigh it in Sydney. I ended up layering myself in clothes and filling my pockets with whatever I could, including the battery to my computer! Regardless, I made it onto the flight and departed back to Sydney. I wish I was able to spend more time in Melbourne because it seemed like such a cool city but there’s only so much we can do while we’re here for the semester. The Great Ocean Road was amazing, however, and I think we spent the perfect amount of time on it.

New Zealand: Day 9. So, that's what a sheep is for...

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:58:04 -0400

It was the last day of the trip and you could see the collective exhaustion of the group as we piled onto the bus early in the morning. The air was filled with silence, quiet conversations and a continuous playlist of alternative rock or country music as most people slept the whole way. We stopped at a sheep farm when we were halfway to Christchurch. The family who owns the farm cooked an amazing lunch for all of us and we sat outside in their backyard eating the meal and reminiscing about the past week.

It was such a perfect and comforting ending to the trip. After we ate and enjoyed the landscape surrounding the house, we toured the farm and petted the sheep. They actually felt like a wool carpet.

The farmer taught us about his job, which entails farming the sheep for their meat and wool.

We didn’t see any sheep being sheared because it was too cold out but he showed us how the sheep dog herds the sheep at his command. We were also given whistles so we could try to command the dog as well. The sheep seemed so oblivious to what was going on and would just stand together and move upon the signals of the dog.

The title of the tour was “So that’s what a sheep is for…” Finally, the answer to the question of the trip was discovered. The final leg of the tour was the distance back to Christchurch. When we got there, we stopped at Mackenzie’s to drop off half of the group, meet with the reverse tour for the last time and grab some dinner. Then the other half of us went back to Pointbreak where we spent the night, or half of it, before the flight back to Sydney at 6am.

This trip was the most amazing one I’ve ever been on. Every day was better than the next and it was filled with so much adventure. I also finally got the chance to become friends with more people here. New Zealand is a beautiful country and I would love to go back.

…Thanks Mom & Dad!

New Zealand: Day 8

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:28:18 -0400

It was time to visit the glow worm caves so we made our way into town for a few hours of eating and souvenir shopping beforehand. Our booked tour ended up getting pushed back a few hours so we had some time to kill. The town of Te Anau is about 2 blocks in size so we had to do some brainstorming.

Christie, Oren and I decided to head back to the bus to drop off some things and ran into a few others that were already on the bus. They were having a “dino party” so called because of the dinosaur patterned party hats they were wearing and the “dino bong”, made from a funnel and tube from the hardware store that they were drinking goon out of. We joined the party and after a few drinks, Christie, Oren and I decided that we wanted party hats of our own so we headed to the hardware store. We found cheaper, metallic ones, and then sported them around town.

Christie also got a venison pie. By the way, meat pies are really popular in Australia and NZ but I have yet to have one. I will at least once though.

When it was finally time to go to the glow worm caves, we loaded onto the boat and took a ride across the lake.

The tour through the caves was really cool, although taking pictures was prohibited. We walked across metal platforms and man-made infrastructure that hovered over rapidly flowing water, which causes the limestone and sandstone formations to erode, forming the caves. At one point, we filed onto small boats, similar to the It’s a Small World ride in Disney World. We sat quietly as the boat left the platform and transcended into darkness, floating slowly with the flow of the water beneath us. Above the boat you could see the glow worms securely fastened to the surface of the caves, individually illuminating like stars in the night sky. After the ride we listened to an information session about the caves and the glow worms and then went back to town.

The next destination was Dunedin and it was a few hours away. Gabi suggested several drinking games for the ride there to pre-drink for the night out in Dunedin. She also informed us of some good news. Because we couldn’t go on the hike in Fox Glacier and it would be difficult to refund everyone, we received a $2,000 bar tab at one of the bars in Dunedin. We inevitably had an amazing night out, moving between a few places and then had to find our way back to the hostel. Needless to say that the bus ride all the way back to Christchurch the next day was going to be rough…

New Zealand: Day 7

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 05:55:00 -0400

We departed Queenstown by 9am on the way to Milford Sound, New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination. On the way we stopped for fresh glacial water and to take more pictures in this vast and beautiful field.

Milford Sound is a fjord which is a long, narrow inlet surrounded by steep cliffs that rise 1,200m (3,900ft) or more above the water’s surface and was carved out by glacial activity. Rainforests adhere to the sides of the rocks along with two permanent waterfalls that constantly flow with rushing water plummeting to the bottom. Often after heavy rain, hundreds of temporary waterfalls can be seen streaming down the steep faces of the cliffs. We took a boat cruise through the inlet that lasted about two hours where we were served lunch and had the opportunity to enjoy and take pictures of the “eighth wonder of the world”.

We saw seals lying on the rocks, penguins swimming in the water and dolphins jumping alongside of the boat. Milford Sound was so incredible and beautiful.

From Milford Sound we went to Te Anau, a really small town that is home to the glow worm caves (tomorrow’s activity). Our hostel was a somewhat creepy campground where we had a whole lodge to ourselves. For dinner we went into the town for fish and chips and fried calamari from Mainly Seafood, which was a small trailer parked on the side of the road across from the shore of Lake Te Anau. The food was delicious and one of the workers also smoked a trout for us on the beach where we each got to have a few pieces. When we got back to the hostel a bunch of us spent the rest of the night sharing the pictures and videos from our bungy jumping and sky diving adventures.

New Zealand: Day 6

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 05:25:48 -0400

Adrenaline Day 3 = skydiving! It was an early morning as we were up by 6am to go to nzone, the skydiving headquarters. Casha signed up to come with us so she met us there. My nerves kicked in for the first time when I signed the waiver that of course mentioned the chance of injury or death. I tried not to think about this too much and after paying jumped into the van to take us to the location for take-off. Christie luckily switched with someone after almost having to go on a different plane than Casha and me.

I met my instructor, Sasa (pronounced like Sasha), who actually used to study engineering as well. We suited up and then walked out in pairs when it was time to board the plane. On the way to the aircraft Sasa eased my nerves immensely when he informed me that he’s jumped 21,000 times in his life; and actually 36 in the past 3 days. The plane was pretty small and had no seats but just a large flat area behind the cockpit. About 6 pairs of divers and 3 photographers boarded the plane and got ready for takeoff. About halfway up we realized my scheduled photographer was on holiday so I was instructed to stay on the plane and wait to go back up again. When we reached 12,000ft, Casha was the first one out of the plane. And then Christie. We went up higher to 15,000ft and one by one I watched the rest of the people in the plane jump out until it was just Sasa, me and the pilot in the plane. This free scenic flight was nice and the views were absolutely unreal. The plane landed, loaded up, and took off again. This time I got more nervous and realized that I was actually going to do this. My photographer introduced himself and took a picture of us sitting in the plane.

I watched Sasa’s pressure gage watch display our altitude, slowly increasing as we got higher and higher. At 8,000ft he told me that this was the height at which he would release the parachute. This was pretty freaking high. At about 11,000ft the red standby light turned on and I put on my goggles as Sasa double checked that we were fully connected. At 12,000ft the green exit light illuminated and one of the instructors slid the exit door open. I watched two dive pairs go out before me. Sasa and I inched towards the open door as my photographer stepped out onto the outside of the plane, holding himself to the exterior surface. I held onto my harness and took a deep breath. While looking up and dangling my legs outside, I moved my body into the instructed “banana position”. With a simultaneous rocking motion I heard “3, 2, 1, go!”. Sasa pushed us out of the plane and we tumbled away from the plane, flipping and rolling in free fall.

When I got the two tap signal on my shoulders I released my grip on my harness and my arms whipped up like an eagle. My mouth was permanently open as I was screaming and also attempting to catch my breath. We fell for 45 seconds and it was probably the most amazing 45 seconds of my life. I posed for the photographer who was falling next to us.

The parachute ejected and we slowly floated down to the landing area. The mountains and the sky and the river below were literally breathtaking and I actually wanted to cry. I’ve always wanted to skydive and I’m so happy that I really did it!

Later that evening, after a rejuvenating nap, I went for a 12km run around the lake. The plan for the night was a pub crawl throughout Queenstown. It consisted of a group of about 100 of us moving to and from about 7 bars. It was really fun to see all of the different types of venues the town had to offer and we definitely went out with a bang for our last night in Queenstown.

What a crazy place…

New Zealand: Day 5

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:17:00 -0400

I had been anticipating this day for a while, probably since I decided to come to Australia. Today was Bungy day and also Adrenaline Day 2. AJ Hackett invented bungy jumping in New Zealand, performing his first jump in 1986. I confirmed to myself that this was obviously a necessary activity on this trip and something I’ve always wanted to do. The entire forward tour gathered downstairs in Nomads and headed to the Queenstown Skyline which would take us up to “The Ledge”, situated approximately 400m over Queenstown. It wasn’t until we got closer to the lift when my nerves kicked in. I looked up to the top where you could see this tiny building wedged into the side of the mountain. I took a deep breath as I noticed the perfect view of the platform that I would soon be hurling myself off of.

We took a gondola up to the top and as it slowly raised higher and higher above Queenstown, butterflies began to multiply in my stomach while I lost my breath a few times from the absolutely stunning view of the town, the lake and the surrounding mountains. It didn’t feel real. I kept taking pictures when we got to the top, thinking that the next would be better than the previous.

Everyone signed in, weighed in, and got in line. After watching about half of the group jump, pulling crazy stunts like back flips, swam dives, and hand stands, I got in line as well. When it was my turn I gave my camera to Kara who got videos of Christie and me jumping. [See below.] The instructor put the harness on me and pulled it tight. I sat on the couch waiting to go and was still contemplating whether to do a back flip or a swan dive. At the last minute I decided on the swan dive considering I would get the best view of everything.

I honestly didn’t think much about what was going to happen as I stood up and walked over to the end of the platform for a quick photo-op and a glance at the seemingly never ending distance below. I backed up and took a deep breath. The instructor counted down, “3,2,1…” commencing my running start into a swan dive as soon as I reached the edge. It wasn’t until I was in the air that I realized what I was actually doing. “Holy shit!”, I thought. And after what felt like at least five seconds, but probably only one, the swan dive turned into a head first position and my feet flew towards the sky, flipping me as gravity pulled me towards the earth. My nerves were relieved when I felt the tension of the bungy cord as it caught my 47m fall. I yelled several times and tried to look around as I bounced around several times. The scariest part was hanging under the platform, looking up for the rope to lower and then attaching the clamp to my harness and waiting for the pulley to successfully bring me back up to the ledge.

My pictures turned out to be pretty gnarly so I felt compelled to buy them.

After the jump we took another ski lift to the “luge” track where we rode around the course several times.

The next stop was Fergburger, the most famous burger place in Queenstown and open almost 24/7. They are known for burgers that are absolutely delicious and gigantic, and they were.

Christie and I then relaxed and read in Starbucks with tea and also talked with Meghan, a girl that goes to school with Christie at BC and is on our tour. We napped for a few hours before going out and in the middle of the nap I felt someone tap me. I slowly opened my eyes and once they focused I realized that it was Casha! She found us after we told her where we were staying! She had been travelling throughout the South Island with her boyfriend Mike as well and planned to be in Queenstown at the same time. I finally got the chance to officially meet Mike as well after only seeing him on Skype (he’s studying in NZ for the semester).

The extremeness didn’t stop at night when we started at an ice bar called Minus 5. Everything in the -8⁰C room was made of ice; the tables, the seats, the glasses, the sculptures and was sponsored by Absolut. We were provided with large puffy winter coats, gloves, and UGG boots and enjoyed drinks and took pictures for about thirty minutes. I even did a shot out of the ice luge.

Then we moved to Frasers, the bar across the street where we waiting for the reverse tour to meet up with us and also took shots that were set on fire.

The final stop was the Buffalo Club for “Topless Tuesday” and so some people partied without their shirts on (or in bathing suit tops) for cheaper drinks. We danced for a while and then headed back early again for yet another day of adrenaline.

New Zealand: Day 4

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:40:14 -0400

Adrenaline Day 1. And was the adrenaline flowing quite rapidly? Well the recipe for this day consisted of jet boating, helicopter rides and white water rafting. So, what do you think?

Before the action started I went onto the computer in the hostel in hopes of being able to contact one of my family members or friends. My phone credit ran out and a Vodafone recharge in NZ wasn’t valid for my Australian Vodafone account. I contacted Andrea, one of my friends who was on Skype, and asked her to call my Mom and tell her to go on Skype. Lucky for me, it was still Easter in the States and my whole family, minus my dad, was at my house celebrating so I got to talk with all of them for a little while. It was actually really emotional since I wasn’t able to contact my parents in a few days and I also haven’t really seen or talked to the rest of my family since I left. It was a great start to the day.

Our first activity was jet boating which was riding in these small boats that are powered similarly to jet skis and need only 4 inches of water to move. The boat raced along the surface of the Shotover River as the driver pulled turns and slides close to the walls of the cliffs that enclosed the river. We did 360 degree turns multiple times as well. Everyone in the boat was yelling and screaming with permanent smiles on their faces.

After jet boating we geared up into wetsuits and piled into vans that transported us to an open field on the top of a mountain. While sharing stories from the jet boating the monotonous whipping of blades began to increase in volume and guided our attention to the helicopter in the distance. It neared closer and closer and landed next to the group, signaling for the first few to jump aboard.

Christie and I boarded with a few guys on our trip, Alec, Garrett, Vince, and Jeff. This was my first time in a helicopter.

The ride lasted about ten minutes and was pretty hectic. The pilot actually pulled a few tricks as we dove down through the canyons over the lengths of the river and cliffs until we landed at the top of Shotover River.

Jackets, helmets and paddles were added to our fashionable ensembles as we organized into groups. Heath was our white water rafting instructor. [When we got back I got his address because I promised him that I would mail him a Heath bar from the US since he’s never heard of one before.] I was in a boat with Christie, Vince, Alec, Jeff, and two other girls, Kara and Jordan.

The white water rafting trip in Shotover River initiated in serene waters and flowed through narrow gorges. The journey down the river was expected to last about two hours and started with a short lesson on paddling and teamwork along with learning various commands such as ‘get down’ or ‘hard left’. The most memorable quote of the trip was when after discussing the possibility of the boat turning around and Jordan said, “If we turn the boat around, am I still on the left side?” Needless to say she became the topic of all jokes for the rest of the trip. Most of the ride was leisurely and scenic with bouts of paddling to straighten out the boat.

It was when we were approaching the class 4 rapids named “Toilet” when it all went wrong. There are two rocks situated at the top of these rapids that are separated by a distance just large enough for the raft to fit through. I was nervous enough as we were heading towards the swirling, raging waves but I really started freaking out when the raft conveniently turned sideways and got wedged behind the two rocks. The flowing water accumulated underneath the side of the raft until the upwelling forced one side of the raft to rise. I accepted my fate as I looked up the river to witness Alec, who is about 6’8’’ and maybe 260 pounds and sitting next to me in the raft, about to fall on top of me with the rest of his side of the raft as it became vertical and then toppled over into the rapids. I fell into the water and got caught underneath the raft being forced underwater and into rocks. I tried to get out from underneath and caught a glimpse of Alec floating through the surging water. I finally pushed my way out and then I tried assume the proper position in the water (on your back with your legs pointing downstream) while being wildly tossed around. After widespread panic I heard, “Grab the rope! Grab the rope!” and saw a long rope tossed in front of me. I turned onto my stomach and frantically swam towards the bank of the river praying that I would make it over to the rope. Never have I had to actually grab a rope to save my life. I was pulled onto another raft that was parked on the bank of the river and caught my breath once inside. Over shouts from the instructors, “…five, six… where’s seven?! Ok, we got seven!”, I looked around for the other members of my boat making sure they were safe and saw the other rafts that were parked downstream, witnessing the event.

We were told to get back into the raft to continue on. Slightly traumatized and without much choice, we gathered our paddles and re-entered the boat. I tried to relax while the other instructors passing us called out Heath; making fun of him because that’s the same place he’s flipped a few times before. We were the only raft to flip that day and we swear it was Alec’s paddle which had “The Flippy Stick” written on it that jinxed us to being “flushed down the toilet”.

(Vince, Jeff, & Alec)

We survived the rest of the journey through a few more rapids such as “Rock Garden”, “Sharks Fin”, “Pinball”, “Jaws” and “Sequel” and then through the dark, 170m Oxenbridge Tunnel that finishes at the “Cascade” Rapid. By the time we got back to the bottom of the river I could never be more excited to step a foot onto sturdy ground and later warm up in the headquarters’ sauna.

World Bar, which is also located in Sydney, was the dinner and party venue of the night. World bar is famous for their “teapots” which are filled with various types of drink concoctions and served with multiple colorful shot glasses for sharing. I usually get the Long Island Iced Tea. We danced all night and then headed back early in preparation for Adrenaline Day 2.

New Zealand: Day 3

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 01:57:37 -0400

After sitting on a bus for countless hours in the past few days without much physical activity I was itching to get some exercise. Lake Wanaka is a beautiful town so I got up early and went for a 7km run along the shore of the lake. It gave me an opportunity to explore more than what the central parts of the town have to offer. We checked out around 10am and started towards our next destination. One of the other kids on the trip and also a collegiate cross-country runner, Alex, made a discovery of his own when he also ran in the morning in the opposite direction as me. Mount Iron was what he found and gave Gabi the idea that we should all hike it before leaving Wanaka. The walk up the mountain was really steep and apparently extremely strenuous for many on the trip as you could hear panting and swearing and see beads of sweat dripping from hairlines as we made our way up to the top. I really enjoyed the hike and was very impressed knowing that Alex actually ran it. It was well worth the effort as it provided a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding area; the lake and houses and mountains. It was completely breathtaking and we spent a good amount of time taking pictures and admiring the beauty.

The rest of the day was spent on the bus ride to Queenstown, the ‘Adventure Capital of the World’. We stayed at Nomads in Queenstown which was the nicest hostel I’ve stayed in so far and that was crucial because we stayed there for 4 days.

We had unlimited pizzas at this bar, Revolver, and then pre-drank in the hostel. After a while we went back to Revolver where we met up with some of the people on the reverse tour. A few Kiwi bands played at the bar and we rocked out all night like were at a punk rock show.

New Zealand: Day 2

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 01:31:48 -0400

Fox Glacier is home to one of the glaciers that falls from the Southern Alps down to the west coast. It is one of the few glaciers to end among a rainforest only 300m above sea level. Although retreating throughout most of the last 100 years, it has been advancing since 1985 and recently averaging about one meter a week. A planned activity of the trip was a guided glacier walk. When we arrived at the Fox Glacier office, we were disappointed upon hearing the news that the glacier hike was cancelled due to the overnight rain which caused massive water surges and dangerous areas along the glacier. We were told there was an 85% chance that we could hike it later in the afternoon so we killed time by taking a walk along Lake Matheson which is right outside of the town. The lake was beautiful and so calm that it reflected a perfect mirror image of the forest and landscape that bordered it. The 85% probability ended up failing as we were not permitted onto the glacier. We were all really bummed but could still drive to an area where we could get the best view possible and take pictures. It was amazing to see although I still wish we could have hiked on it.

With a tight schedule to maintain we had to get on the road and head to our next stop, Lake Wanaka. We made a few scenic stops along the way to take pictures that included a waterfall, a beach with written messages on the rocks and a lake.

We arrived in the evening and checked into Base Backpackers, which is a really popular hostel located in various places in Australia and New Zealand. The place next door, Mint Bar, provided us with dinner which ended up being an odd combination of hotdogs and cold rice. We went back and ‘pre-drank’ in the hostel before hitting the town of Lake Wanaka. The night was far from crazy as the bars were filled with older locals who looked at us with perplexed faces as forty plus American college students used to Sydney nightlife crawled between a few. Christie and I shared a ‘jug’ with Rick and got to know more about his life and NZ.

New Zealand: Day 1

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:44:00 -0400

Extreme Adventures offers a trip to New Zealand that specifically caters to UNSW‘s mid-semester break. The title of the company suggests exactly what it is and I was sold after reading the itinerary for the trip. The tour covers New Zealand’s whole South Island in ten days which included extreme activities, long bus rides, crazy nights, and the most magnificent landscape I’ve ever seen. New Zealand is the most gorgeous country I’ve ever been to. It has a population of 4 million ‘Kiwis’ or ‘New Zealanders’ and an even more impressive sheep population of about 39.5 million. Neither my pictures nor my description of the trip can do justice for what I was able to see personally. I also will run out of adjectives to describe the length of the trip. Awesome, amazing, magnificent, breathtaking, indulgent, incredible, spectacular, stunning, mind-blowing, incredible, exciting, impressive, brilliant. And so it begins…

…in Christchurch, New Zealand; also known as NZ (pronounced ‘en zed’ by Aussies and Kiwis). Christie and I signed up to do the trip together while Casha was also in NZ but travelling separately with her boyfriend. Christie and I arrived in Christchurch late on Thursday night (April 21st) with about 10 other Americans that were on our flight. We hired a shuttle to take us to our hostel and the driver provided commentary as we drove through the city. Christchurch was devastated in February by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The central business district was completely collapsed and desolated for safety purposes. Houses had fractures through the middle of their structures or were being held up by make-shift reinforcements. It was sad to see how so many people lost their lives, family members, homes, or businesses in such a short period of time and without warning. The hostel that we were supposed to stay in got destroyed in the earthquake as well so we were placed in Pointbreak Backpackers about 20 minutes outside of the city. An early morning pick-up was on the schedule so everyone went to sleep on arrival to the hostel. Our bus picked us and half of the people on the tour up at Pointbreak by 6:30am and then we headed to Mackenzie’s where the other half of the tour was staying. [I should also mention that Extreme Adventures organized two tours of the South Island, either the ‘forward’ or ‘reverse’ tours. We were on the forward tour and a bus of about 50 more students (also all study abroad) travelled in the opposite direction as us. As will be mentioned later, both tours totaling to about 100 students met in Queenstown for about four days together.]

Some of the students signed up for the trip together in large groups or had already met so it was intimidating because Christie and I initially only recognized a few people. After everyone piled onto the bus, we were officially greeted this Aussie chick, Gabi, who was our tour guide for the whole trip and definitely one of the coolest girls I’ve met since I’ve been here.

(Gabi!)

We met Rick, our faithful bus driver, who is a Kiwi and confidently drove us through the beautiful but often complicated roads of NZ while frequently announcing an endless list of national facts and statistics.

(Rick!)

And last but not least we met our trip mascot, an inflatable sheep dubbed Baa Queesha. The tour was all Americans excluding one girl from Mexico and a guy from Germany.

The bus left Christchurch and headed to a small town called Fox Glacier (often pronounced ‘fox glā´-see-uh) which is on the West Coast of the South Island. It took all day to drive there, making frequent stops for food, ‘toilets’, and photo opportunities. We played a few ice breaker games on the bus as well to meet the 50 or so people that we would be with for the next ten days.

We stayed at Ivory Tower Backpackers. Dinner was served buffet style in one of the restaurants next door to the hostel and although it was Good Friday and selling alcohol was illegal on this day, the owner let us BYO back to his restaurant and play some drinking games for the night.

The black lines indicate the path of my trip during my...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 05:50:51 -0400

The black lines indicate the path of my trip during my mid-semester break at the end of April. I toured the whole South Island of New Zealand starting in Christchurch, then to the west coast, to the south, to the east coast, and then back to Christchurch in ten days.

Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 02:00:02 -0400

The historic and prestigious Royal Randwick horse races were on our Sydney ‘must-do’ list and so we headed there on Saturday, April 16^th for one of the more popular race days. It took a bit of effort for everyone to go since it was raining and the entry fee was $40. Nevertheless, Christie, my other roommate Lindsay, her boyfriend that was visiting, two of our other friends, Isabel and Emily, and I went to Coogee Café on Coogee Bay Road for a quick breakfast and with some umbrellas and rain coats decided to go.

We were immediately greeted by a view of hundreds of classy individuals occupying the scene with drinks in hands, feathery and unique hats on heads, and eyes fixated on the TAB sports betting screens with numbers constantly streaming race results. I’ve never seen so many good looking people in one place before. You could hear conversations, cheering, and laughter behind the rapid-fire second-by-second account of the race echoing through the loud speakers. The Royal Randwick race course has multiple levels with seats for viewing the race, betting areas, bars and fare. I’ve only been to the Foxfield races in Charlottesville, VA before this and it was quite different.

We proceeded to the bar on arrival for some game day beverages and then followed the crowds to the viewing arena. We stayed inside for most of the races because of the rain but here and there the clouds would part and the masses would head through the muddy lawns to the edge of the racetrack and cheer on their chosen horses and jockeys. We also watched a few races from the elevated stands, which provided decent protection from the weather elements as well as a panoramic view of the racetrack with UNSW’s campus buildings visible in the background. Christie placed a bet for one of the races, lucky number 7. Fibrillation was his name. He ended up placing in fourth but he was a strong racer. Having something to cheer for made it more interesting as it gave that particular race purpose; I could see why horse race betting was so popular. We stayed for a few hours instead of making a day out of it but it was still really fun.

That night Isabel, Christie and I took the ferry to Manly and then a bus to Dee Why, one of the suburbs in the Sydney’s Northern Beaches for Tristan’s 21^st birthday celebration. He had the party at the Dee Why RSL which is a private club with various forms of entertainment; almost like a mini-casino. He greeted us as we arrived and introduced us to a bunch of his friends and family. I had met his parents, sister, and grandmother previously so it was great to see them again. They had a picture slideshow of Tristan running on a screen in the back, a dance floor, plenty of food that Christie and Isabel took advantage of, and a generous running bar tab. Tristan’s dad and others made speeches about Tristan, referencing inside jokes and showing heaps of love. It was nice to be a part of the celebration. We made friends and danced all night while making certain that Tristan was appropriately intoxicated for this 21^st.

When it got late and the bar tab ran out we took the Manly ferry back with intentions to meet Tristan’s friends out in the city. The ride back was pretty rocky, particularly when Tristan and I decided to sit outside on the front of the boat. Shortly after we could feel the boat tip back slightly more than before and then with the rising and falling of the swell the front of the boat crashed downwards into the water which was inevitably followed by a wall of water and spray that plastered the whole front of the boat as well as us. Soaked, Christie and Isabel thoroughly enjoyed laughing at us as we ran inside.

That following Wednesday night Tristan’s mum asked me over for dinner. She made a delicious salmon, mashed potato, and salad dinner with sorbet for dessert. Tristan and I chatted with his parents for a while and I got to hear more about his family. I felt so welcome and it was really nice to have a home cooked meal because that’s definitely one of the things that I miss the most. As I said before, Tristan has been a wonderful friend to me since I’ve been in Australia as well as his family and I can’t thank them enough for their generosity.

Portfolio of Reflective Commentary

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 02:51:00 -0400

After writing my final paper for my ‘International Relations of the 20th Century’ course, I though it would be appropriate for my blog considering it is a brief synopsis of my academic and cultural enlightenment from this semester. Enjoy :)

“Animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and the supply of food is low and where territory must be constantly defended and parasites forever endured.” (Martel 2001:16) This condition of living would of course be altered, however, if an animal was living in a zoo, where food and shelter is knowingly provided. Seeking to survive is intrinsic in nature but the priority of this goal is a variable measure. Some are always better off than others and this condition of living shapes an individual’s perception of the world. The inherent circumstances of life in the wild still exist regardless of how well off you are; animal or human. There is still compulsive behavior. There is still social hierarchy. There is still fear of enemy attack. There is still a never-ending list of wants. There is still territoriality. There is always exploitation; parasitic organisms withdrawing resources from those more privileged or skilled. This structure of the world exists at all levels but is perceived in different ways.

My study of international relations is centralized around the transformation of my perception of the world. This started the second the tires of my V Australia flight’s 757 were disconnected from the runway pavement on the 11th of February in Los Angeles. While traveling at about 550mph (900km/h) at an altitude of 30,000ft (9km), the monitor in the seatback in front of me showed our exact position over the Pacific Ocean every minute. This is when I removed myself from my pre-existing understanding of the world, eager for renovation. As a chemical engineering student from the United States, living, traveling and studying in Australia have each contributed to the alteration of my world perspective. Studying the discipline of International Relations has given me the tools to organize my observations. Never before have I been able to stand back and really look at the world, from its structure to the driving force of its international relations, and intellectually interpret it. The only kind of driving force that I have studied might be that which causes mass transfer through a distillation column or transfer of energy in a heat exchanger.

Conditions shape perspective. As an objective rather than abstract thinker, the theory of structuralism grasped my attention. I agree with this theory’s assumption that human nature is conditional and subject to change, to an extent. Karl Marx’s theory focuses on the conflicts between classes within the state. (Devetak et al 2007: 66) Human nature is largely individual and structured according to class identity. Class distinctions are responsible for the conditions in which humans live, their perception of the world, and how they are represented.

There is still a never-ending list of wants. Humans constantly seek comfort derived from what they are accustomed to; never less and usually more. A powerful nation-state, whose interests are driven by its ruling elite according to this structuralist theory, can more easily exercise its power to reach its goals. A superpower has a higher threshold of desires than say a third world nation-state. Even amongst the educated elite of the Western world, who statistically have a higher chance of attaining a tertiary education (Edkins & Zehfuss 2008: 295), there are class distinctions. There are exchange students that are more financially able, capable of traveling to a seemingly unlimited amount of destinations with the swipe of a credit card versus those more related to a frugal backpacker who works for money to eat and also keep up with the pressures to experience everything you “must do” while in Australia. The latter, however, usually have difficulty in justifying such large quantities of indulgence perhaps because of the intrinsic conditioning from their embedded social class. Thus, “wants” still exist but in various levels of worth.

There is always exploitation. Class inequality is also visible and highly exaggerated in the case of the United States where in 2005, the top 1% of the population received 21.2% of total incomes while the bottom 90% individually averaged less than $29,000 annually. (Edkins & Zehfuss 2008: 296-297) This dramatic gap might be why rap artist Notorious B.I.G. can say that he was “born [a] sinner, the opposite of a winner, [and] remember[s] when [he] used to eat sardines for dinner”; or when “birthdays was the worst days, [but] now [he] sip[s] champagne when [he’s] thirst-ay”. (Notorious B.I.G. 1994) He can creatively illustrate his exploitation of the American dream (Sköld & Rehn 2007) and the differentiating lifestyles between a ‘poor’ African American and a successful rap artist making millions because he “went from negative to positive”. However, even Notorious B.I.G. could not appropriately describe the ‘negative’ life of a ‘poor’ citizen in, say Rwanda, whose per capita income in 2009 was reported to be $510. (Bureau of Public Affairs 2011) I have concluded that these class struggles will always exist and the intrinsic nature of an individual will be conditional based upon social, economical, and intellectual status.

There is still compulsive behavior. The battle between the theories of realism and liberalism exists as one of the great debates in the discipline of international relations. This struggle correspondingly exists in the foreign affairs of the United States, particularly in the War on Terror, as some say that it has demonstrated a condition of schizophrenia. (Archibugi 2004) By emphasizing sovereignty, prioritizing security and permitting war, the United States can be viewed as a realist. On the other hand, the liberalist’s Democratic Peace Theory has been attributed to the motivation in the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. I realized that my interpretation of war and even revenge has been schizophrenic, identifying with my domestic roots. Although schizophrenic, I believe that it has still shifted. Goosebumps transcended across my skin when I watched the YouTube video of President Obama delivering the news of the death of Osama bin Laden. (whitehouse 2011) Immediately, I was filled with pride and appreciation of the powerful capabilities of my nation’s government and military. I agree that it was a “momentous achievement [that] mark[ed] a victory for America, for people that seek peace around the world and for all those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11 2001”. (CBSNewsOnline 2011) The United States demonstrated its adherence to Bush’s national security doctrine that declares that “we [the US] fight, as we always fight, for a just peace—a peace that favors liberty”. (Leffler 2003)

There is still fear of enemy attack. Upon hearing the news, I was not on American soil and I was not a part of the crowds filling the streets and celebrating bin Laden’s death. In confession the celebration of this event was inappropriate. Martin Luther King Jr., ironically an American, noted that “through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.” (King 1967) The dilemma that I have witnessed in my interpretation of this event exists because I stand for peace; ‘serenity’ is tattooed in cursive in the inside of my left wrist. Although my serenity lies more in acceptance, it is also in the hope that this peace can be transferred between others. However, how can I not support the efforts of my nation’s military in pursuing Osama bin Laden? A man who said, “To kill Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is proclaimed an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.” (Leffler 2003) As a human whose intrinsic nature is to survive, I am compelled to support the efforts in maintaining my security as an American citizen, even in a contradictory desire for peace. I believe that witnessing this event while living in Australia made my reaction more rational. Taking a course in international relations as an exchange student provoked me to externally analyze Obama’s speech, America’s celebratory reaction, and the reaction of the rest of the world. Frankly, as a narrowly sheltered chemical engineering student at the University of Virginia, I would have not considered alternative viewpoints.

Will disorder always exist as an intrinsic state of life in the wild? According to thermodynamics, yes; entropy will always be greater than zero. Thus, chaos must be the natural state of the world and is validated by the anarchy of the sovereign states described in international relations. The idea of globalization challenges this natural state as it suggests the possibility of international law and order. I have found that the possibility of a successful implementation of international law is questionable. From a liberalist perspective, the Democratic Peace Theory should solve the conflict of war between states as they would all trust each other, assuming a distribution of similar interests. From a realist perspective, international law will not prevail as states will always seek to help themselves and those with power will inevitably seek hegemony. (Devetak 2007: 56) The challenge in this debate is because the current trend toward globalization will find that the laws of nature are difficult to defeat.

“Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they’ve known for a great unknown beyond the horizon?” (Martel 2001: 77) A cliché response suggests that the grass is greener on the other side. But what compelled me to leave the US, my university, my family and friends? I have understood that the circumstances of life in the wild and hence my human endeavors are permanent, but also conditional. My perception of the world and my role in it has been adjusted by the growth of my knowledge and global awareness. This intellectual improvement is what I was seeking; a challenge against my naïve understanding of the world.

References

Archibugi, D. (2004) The Schizophrenia of American Democracy. Peace Review Vol. 16, No.2:181–184.

Bureau of Public Affairs. (2011). Bureau of African Affairs Background Note: Rwanda. US State Department Office of Electronic Information, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm, accessed 30 May 2011.

CBSNewsOnline. (2011) Crowd celebrates Osama bin Laden’s death. [Online Video] 1 May.

Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FmHti8iBQM. [Accessed: 30 May 2011]

Devetak, R., Burke, A. and George, J. (eds) (2007). An Introduction to International Relations:Australian Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Edkins, J. and Zehfuss, M. (eds) (2008). Global Politics: A New Introduction, London and New York, NY: Routledge.

King, M.L. Jr. (1967) Where Do We Go from Here? Speech delivered at 11th Annual SCLC Convention. Atlanta, Georgia. Available from: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/ where_do_we_go_from_here_delivered_at_the_11th_annual_sclc_convention/ [Accessed: 29 May 2011]

Leffler, M.P. (2003). 9/11 and the Past and Future of American Foreign Policy. International Affairs Vol.79, No. 5: 1045-1063.

Martel, Yann. (2001) Life of Pi, Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc.

Notorious B.I.G. (1994) Juicy. On Ready to Die [CD]. New York: Bad Boy.

Sköld, D. & Rehn, A.(2007) Makin’ It, by Keeping It Real: Street Talk, Rap Music, and the Forgotten Entrepreneurship From ”the ‘Hood”. Group & Organization Management, Vol 32, No. 50.

whitehouse. (2011) President Obama on the Death of Osama bin Laden. [Online Video] 1 May. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYmK19-d0U. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

"I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all."

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:34:00 -0400

Why did you decide to come to Australia? I get this question a lot when people find out that I’m from the United States and studying here. Often I see perplexed faces because the United States education system is apparently superior. Others mention how it isn’t often that Americans travel and that they don’t meet many, especially in Australia. Most of the backpackers are from Europe and Canada. I’ve always wanted to come to Australia. Something about this country, whether it’s the culture, the people, the lifestyle, or the landscape, has drawn me to it from the other side of the globe. Studying abroad has become a popular thing to do for third year university students in the US and many decide to study in Europe because of how easy it is to travel to the surrounding nations. Most students that I have met studying in Australia have chosen this country because it is basically a six month vacation and I didn’t realize this until I got here. I decided on Sydney, Australia because I wanted to surf and Australia has some of the best waves in the world. The beach is my home and I miss it so much when I’m at school in Virginia so I saw this semester to be the perfect opportunity to live and go to school by the beach.

The first thing I looked into to buying as soon as I got here was a surfboard and I found a 6’2’’ Warner shortboard for AU$290. Before I found my board I surfed in Byron Bay at Flat Rock near Lennox Head but it was on a 7’9’’ epoxy board. The day I got my board I went out in Bondi Beach, which despite the heavy crowds was really fun. The waves were clean and about chest high. Since then I’ve been going out in Bronte and Maroubra. Bronte is just north of Coogee and where I sometimes run to. It’s a small beach with a reef on its south side. The waves can get pretty big and heavy there and it was kind of scary with the reef. Maroubra is south of Coogee and is the easiest to get to (15 minute bus ride). Maroubra is a larger beach so it has several breaks. I went the other day and it was overhead and clean. These conditions are extremely frequent in comparison to what I’m used to at home so I’m trying to take full advantage of them. It’s getting colder now but the ocean temperature is higher than or equivalent to the air. I only have a wetsuit top so I’m scared that it’ll be too cold to go out by the end of June. However, I don’t have classes in June so I’m going to try to go out all the time. My advice for anyone coming here in the future and wants to surf would be to find a car because that’s the easiest and fastest way to get to all of the beaches and breaks.

Bondi, Bronte, Maroubra [picture order]

I started training in Bikram yoga in Charlottesville around September or October and I fell in love with it. It’s a specific type of yoga (>100⁰F room & the same 26-position sequence) that is known internationally so I also took classes in New Jersey over winter break. I luckily found a Bikram studio here in Bondi Junction so I could continue training and I try to go every week. Dance is another important pursuit of mine that I have been doing my entire life. The only dancing that I have had the opportunity to do is out at nightclubs or when Casha and I do ballet barre in the kitchen. The closest I got to the dance world was when I went to see the Sydney Dance Company perform Shared Frequencies at the Sydney Theatre. It was contemporary choreographed by Rafael Bonachela & Jacopo Godani and one of the most unique performances I’ve ever seen. The dancers were phenomenal, with perfect technique and bodies. The show consisted of two 45 minute pieces with a 15 minute intermission. The second piece of the show was called Landforms and the choreography was based upon the differentiating and prominent landforms of Australia. Although brief, the trailer of the show and the other video here will speak for itself.

I had the opportunity to teach a couple dance classes here. Tristan’s sister has danced with Aussie Bodz and they needed a substitute for a few classes so she referred me to the studio which is located in South Coogee. I got a text message from Emma, the owner, and we set up the dates. I taught 8-12 year olds ballet and stretch/tone/technique. The children were adorable and so sweet. It was a great experience to be able to share my knowledge and love of dance with children on the other side of the world. For now, I’m on call for any other classes that she needs covered.

UNSW is for some reason all about field trips as my roommates have already been on a lot. I had a field trip one Saturday for my Geochemistry class. We went to Sunny Corner, an underground mine and processing plant abandoned a century ago. Runoff from the mine and tailings are highly acidic and has highly elevated concentrations of copper and arsenic. The Department of Primary Industries (Mine Site Remediation) has started to rehabilitate the site and prevent any effects on the local environment. We visited the site and undertook some field analytical work, collecting samples and running tests on them. I met a lot of people in my class and some of them are in my Environmental Impact Assessment class. This was a great opportunity to meet students and actually some Australians. I also found it interesting to learn about the geology of the area and the effects that mining can have on the environment.

I have embraced this study abroad experience with such sincerity and admiration of my environment, opportunities and experiences. Being able to continue the activities that I am passionate about the past few months has truly enhanced my time here. For most study abroad students it’s about traveling and partying. Although I enjoy those things, I have additionally enveloped myself more into the Australian culture by synthesizing my interests with their Australian counterparts. It may be clichéd, but Wilfred Peterson once said, “A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints.” Traveling is about growing. I can confidently reminisce and document the experiences that have contributed to my internal development. As an ‘exchange student’, I hope to own up to the term and not only take pieces of Australia with me but hopefully leave pieces of myself (both my culture and individuality) in Australia.

The world needs a chance to better understand the dynamics of Americans. Externally the United States is viewed as filling a triangle at the top of a pyramid that represents the world’s nation-states. The US is currently the leader in a uni-polar world and being in that position places it in a fatherly position. It is then only natural for the rest of the world to react to its existence with conflicting respect and disobedience. As for the citizens, they are collectively represented by the White House and Hollywood. The existing stereotypes are dreadful and frankly embarrassing. People actually are disappointed when I say that I’m from America and not Canada. Who knew Canada was so cool? Not me, and they share a border with my home country. But this just accuses me of a similar crime in cultural ignorance.

There are 50 states, almost all different in their own. So, you may ask, how is it possible to have one stereotype of the entire country? Obnoxious. Ignorant. Materialistic. Workaholics. These are some of the negative connotations associated with ‘American’ and some of them may be true at various levels. I, on the other hand, do not really want to be associated with these descriptions so I have made an effort to spread the word that not all of America is terrible and that there are actually extraordinary individuals that constitute a large portion of the country.

At the end of the day, it’s nearly impossible to make this globally understood, especially after becoming responsible for demolishing the world’s greatest terrorist leader by operating in ironic violent conduct and responding with massive celebration. It is difficult, however, to place the blame on one party in regards to the world view of the United States. It could be a combination of the actions of the United States with the ignorance of other cultures just accepting the stereotype that is visual in the media. In spite of that, I will continue to positively and proudly represent the United States, perhaps changing even a few minds and twisting some preconceived misperceptions.