Toga Party

YES, it is as fun as it looks ;)

Rugby

It’s like football, soccer, and wrestling combined. It’s a really intense sport. I really felt like more whistles should have been blowing. Every time I thought "okay its over," both teams would just keep going and charging at people with the ball. There is punting, passing the ball, tackling, charging, dog piling, throwing teammates in the air to catch the ball, and more. One play the Sydney Warratahs (that’s the national flower; kind of odd to name a team after a flower) did was having the whole team band together in arms and pushing through the other team. It was like tug-a-war without the rope.




The game was at Sydney Stadium, right next to Fox Studios Australia. I just kind of cheered when everyone else cheered. The crowd was mellower than I’d expect at a sporting event. Usually, people at a Bears or Blackhawks game go crazy when anything is called or crazy happens. That’s not to say that there were not people going crazy. This is also the first place I had meat pie, and it was AMAZING! I love everything about it. I talk about meat pit in my previous post. Afterwards, Jon took us through the town of Paddington to a local Pub. It’s a more upper-class artsy area. I got lost in the neighborhood looking for a couple other pubs. However, I loved the neighborhood. The houses have so much character in Sydney, but these ones are even nicer. I knew I was in a rich neighborhood because every time I turned the corner I’d run into BMW’s and Masareti’s, etc.



(I liked this mates shirt)

The Powerhouse Museum

This museum is located just south of Darling Harbour. It’s a great museum. The museum was once the powerhouse (electricity source) of Sydney. However, now it’s a pretty sweet and interactive museum. I was encouraged to see this museum by my “Popular Culture since the 50’s” lecturer. She mentioned they are showing an 80’s exhibit. I traveled with a couple people from my program. The museum only cost $5 to get in for students, which is amazing to find something in this city that’s fun and cheap. the 80’s exhibit was pretty cool. I got to see all the different popular artists and styles of the 80’s. The big highlight for 1989 (the year I was born) was the falling of the Berling Wall. I got to see Michael Jackson's famous sequenced glove and jacket, Princess Diana’s wedding dress (which was pretty plain and simple to my surprise), an AIDS quilt, took a 80’s rapid quiz, and I got to solve a life-size touch rubics cube. I didn’t actually solve it. I cheated. Alf and the guitar and drums from INXS were there too. I wish I got there earlier because there was so much to see at the museum, I did not get to see half of the exhibits.



They had a space gravity simulator. Kinda gave you the feeling you were in zero-gravity (sorta). The cool part was they had a replica of what astronauts get to live in. I there living quarters look like a storage cabinet and you sleep head to toe, but since there is no gravity guess it doesn’t matter. I got to sit in an electric hair. One of coolest exhibits was the space exhibit. The infra-red pictures of Saturn, the moon, nebulas, the sun, etc. were so cool. Did you know the sun is half way through its life cycle? The exhibit did not include Pluto since it wasn’t technically a planet anymore. It’s classified as a dwarf planet now. The museum closed at 5pm; actually, everything shuts down at 5pm in Sydeny. It is really annoying sometimes. We caught a coo coo clock show before the museum closed. It was a pretty intricate clock. The clock told the time from several places in the world, a different biblical story everyday at 3pm, told us the position of the planets, and much more all at the same time. Afterwards, we walked to the area Surry Hills to find a restaurant. Couldn’t find many restaurants despite what the RA told us. Guess we were on the wrong street. Ended up at the Hippo Lounge for dinner, I ate some really good salmon over noodles.

And Now, The Answer To All Your Questions

Does the toilet flush counterclockwise in Australia?



(this video dedicated to Rae Joyce and Sarah Rakauskas)

DND Media

For those who did not know. I started my internship today. I know there are a lot of students who are working in the internship program at Macquarie, but none have the AMAZING view and atmosphere as I do. I am working at DND Media right on Bondi Beach. The workplace is small and homey. My desk and computer is right in front of the window. As I do my work I get to hear the waves and feel the cool breezes from Bondi Beach. Today, my bosses Dan and David showed me around the workplace. They are very good at there jobs. They are very friendly too. They said I can use there surf boards anytime. They are flexible with my time schedule so far. Today, I mostly read a manual on my responsibilities and some basic understand of how things are organized at DND media. There is a lot of programing and computer lingo I learned today. It's a bit difficult to understand everything, but I try to figure things out on my own. However, that is not to say I don't ask questions when I need help. I am looking forward to getting my hands into some programing and start learning about what this business in media is all about.

The only thing is the commute is long. Takes about 2 hours between the buses and trains. However, that just encourages me to make a full days worth at work. Today I worked from 8:30am to 5pm. (8.5 hours.

The “Unknown” Foods

It’s a beautiful day in the North Ryde area of Sydney (wear I live). It’s getting a bit cloudy, but I am outside enjoying the 80 degree weather and a “beef pide.” I bought it at our huge campus eating area. A pide looks like a Kolacki, but instead of jelly or a cream cheese filling it’s filled with ground beef, mozzarella (I think), and vegetables. It tastes okay. It’s no Chicago pizza that’s for sure. The dough reminds me of the Italian bread you typically eat with oil at food Italian restaurants.

The best thing I ate, thus far, is a typical treat you would find at a sporting event. I got this delicious snack/meal at my first Rugby match (the Sydney Warrathas vs. the South African Sharks) at Sydney stadium, its called a “hot meat pie.” The pie was so good, I forgot to take a picture of it. I just kept eating the pie bit after bite. Served hot in a plastic wrap, a meat pie reminded me of a chicken pot pie. However, the crust was more like a KFC biscuit. The delicious inside was filled with steamy beef stew. The meat pie was not even a mess as I indulged on it, unlike a Chicago hot dog where I get onion all over the place. Cost is $4.40, which is pretty good for stadium food.



When walking down the Oxford or George Street, the main drags for bars and entertainment, you will find places known as “Five Star Kebabs.” They serve pizzas and of course Kebabs! The kebabs are REALLY GOOD! Although, there probably not what you are thinking. A kebab is a type of grilled wrap. Similar to how gyros are served at Greek food venues. The meat (chicken or beef) is placed on pita bread with lettuce, tomato, and onion. After choosing a sauce like BBQ of chili (which is very common to find), they grill it quickly. The end result is a flavorful delicious meal, which is prefect for those mid-night munchies. Average cost is $9. This is typically cost for a meal excluding drinks!!!!!!

I like to talk about this food rather than eat it because every time I mention it to an Australian a huge smile comes on their face and he or she” uhhhhhs” me with how good it is. I am talking about “Veg-a-mite.” It’s not all it was hyped up to by Jon, our GSE mentor and guide. Veg-a-mite is a spread you commonly put on toast like jelly or butter, but you don’t glob it on. When I bit into it, the texture or feel of it was like Philadelphia cream cheese, but the taste was not so sweet. It’s hard to describe the taste. It is kind of like a salty paste. You must try it if you are ever in Australia. It’s practically a symbol of the country. However, it’s a required taste I’ll never know the cost of this spread because I don’t plan on buying any.
One thing I will defiantly be bringing back to the United States are “Tim Tams.” It’s a chocolate biscuit (aka a cookie). They come in a variety of sweet flavors. Thus far, I like the dark chocolate Tim Tam. It’s like a wafer, but it’s still a cookie with a good mousse like-filling. Once I get in the mood for coffee, I am going to do my first Tim Tam Slam (aka Tim Tam Bomb). You’ll have to ask me in person what its like because I hear it’s AMAZING. It’s roughly $2-3 a box, each box containing 11 biscuits.

Mardi Gras!!!!

NO. NO. It is not what you’re probably thinking of. New Orleans’ Mardi Gras is nothing like Sydney’s Mardi Gras. Sydney’s Mardi Gras is also known as the Gay & Lesbian Pride Festival. IT’S A HUGE EVENT! Almost 700,000 people attend this parade each year. The parade extends across a few streets, but is centered on Oxford Street. I took the train to town hall. When I got off I already saw hundreds of people walking towards Oxford Street and massive crowds in Hyde Park. I and a bunch of others arrived roughly around 3pm to try to find a good spot to see the parade. We were lucky we arrived when we did; we got a spot right up against on of the barricades. The parade did not start till 7:45pm, so we had some time to kill. Amanda, Vegard, and I went walking around. There were a lot of “characters” around (That’s a bit of an understatement, lol). After getting some pride gear, watching Vegard get “hit on,” (which was pretty hilarious), having a bit to eat, running into a guy in the Borat green thong outfit and a sausage vendor selling sausage (yes, I am being serious; he had a sign saying “I love sausage” to match his apron) we all went back to our parade spot. After about an hour of standing around people, the parade officials came out (not literally, lol).





Our area was under supervision of Gavin and Amy. They were lots of fun. They passed out candies, whistles (which I wish I got because after yelling for hours my voice started hurting), more candy, a temporary tattoo, and other “adult stuff.” The parade lasted almost 2 ½ HOURS! It just kept going, and my feet kept killing me. However, there was a lot to see and it was not as raunchy as I was expecting. The theme of the 2010 parade was “Gay History around the World.” The parade started off with the dikes on bikes. Then came some floats with male and female dancers. I remember seeing a person dressed up as a Nav’i person from Avatar and even Laura Croft. As the sun began to set, out came a bunch of the green aliens from Toy Story. You know, “THE CLAWWWW.” Right behind them was Buzz Lightyear.





The lifeguard section of the parade consisting my males and females was fun to look at ;). They did some dancing. Other floats were sponsored by local clubs. One part featured classic super heroes. So I cheered on Batman, Superman, Wonder woman, the Hulk, and Robin. What’s a pride parade without drag queens? Well there were plenty to “check out” (no pun intended).



They had Egyptian dancers, Latino dancers, Geisha cross dressers, and more. In case you did not know, Sydney is home to Fox studios, so they had a part in the parade. Giant letters spelt out FOX and behind that large floating sign were picket signs of famous gay icons in television. For example, Flanders from the Simpsons and Rosie O’Donell.







The parade was full of signs trying to gain support for same-sex marriage in Australia. Other parts of the parade included an Olympic themed float, bi-sexual float, a Sci-fi part (the trans-sexuals strike back; one person had a sign saying “set phrases to stunning [start trek joke lol]), more life guards, Osama Bin Laden, the Sydney Nudist, and much more. Everything was really colorful and just different. I never had been to anything like this. I had a great time. Oxford Street was for one night all about expressing yourself, and living life to the fullest. Everyone just was very happy, in a good mood, and having a good time. I was in awe of the amount of people both heterosexual and homosexual showing their support for the Gay and Lesbian community.

Education

The system of education is very different from the one at home. Keep in mind, going from a small university with a student body of only 5,500 to a large university nearly 30,000 students is one change. The more difficult change is going from an American private university to a public foreign university. The grading system is not A,B,C,D, and F. Australians grading system is “HD” (high distinction) and “DN” (distinction), which is equivalent to an “A” in the American education system. Only 3% of students get “HD” here at Macquarie. “DN” is for students who do exceptional well in their courses. Most students get what is known as “CR” (credit), which is really good and perfectly acceptable. The equivalent to a “C” is a “B” in America. “. Next is “P” for Pass. The equivalent is a low “B” or high “C.” “PC” (Conceded Pass) is a “D” in America. “F” (Fail) is the equivalent to our “F.”


(above is a picture of our University pond and grassland; its like the schools backyard. Pretty nice backyard, right?)

A full boat load is 12 credit hours here at Macquarie, which is something I am really not use to ,and believe me, it is a full boat load. I have always taken 18 credit hours, so this is another change. Most classes base your grade on two essays and a final test. Some classes have a couple more papers or tests. Kinda scary not knowing how well you are doing in a class until you are half way done with it. It’s also scary not knowing how credits will transfer back. Is a “Pass” a B or C back home? After talking to some students, most Australian students seem very happy and pleased to get CR. However, in America that’s only a “B.” I find this very discouraging that if I do quite well in a class I am bound to get “B,” rather than an “A” that I may feel I deserve. This especially concerns me when is comes to GPA. It is possible that my GPA is bound to lower too, which is not good when some students may have scholarships or jobs that require a certain level of GPA. However, this is a difference in our culture. I hope that future employers who look at my transcript take note that a “C” is actually pretty good in Australia.