Vivid Festival

A "Festival of Lights, Music, and Ideas"; this festival is simple yet impressive. The festival lasts roughly a month during which they light up the Opera House and Macquarie street with an array of coloured lights and projections. I thought seeing the Opera House was amazing, but Vivid takes it to another level.





The festival also features musical events and lectures about the creativity industry. The "Bienniale" is taking place throughout the city. This art exhibit expands throughout the city and features many works of art about worldly concerns and issues. I found many of the themes were about westernization, immigration, commercialization, and sexuality. The Museum of Contemporary Art in the area known as "the Rocks" had the most impressive pieces. This was a perfect time for the festival as winter starts in Sydney. The weather in similar to Chicago's autumns. I could still go on the beach to get some sun and it's winter!

America...the catered to Country

The longer I been here, the more and more I realize how advanced and catered to America is. For instance, Australia is still under going the process of going to broadband internet services and transitioning to HD, while America is already in Digital. Television programming is also different, often programs are catered to American Prime Time television even though prime time in America is early morning in Australia. I've experienced these with the 2010 Olympics and now during the FIFA World Cup matches. The matches going on all throughout the late night and break of dawn. My roommate loves watching the games and actually stays up to catch the 4:30am game. Can you imagine waking up to watch a "Chicago Bears" game at that time?




It is also evident how popular Soccer (aka Football or "Footy")is in foreign countries. People go crazy over it. I visited the International FIFA Fan Festival in Darling Harbour. They literally had giant screens playing the game. The street lights were soccer ball lights. Everyone was having drinks and watching the game; and all this is happening before sunrise.