Wow, it’s been quite the week so far.
I arrived in Sydney on Thursday, Feb. 6 and it’s been a whirlwind since then
(hence why I have yet to write a blog entry…). I won’t bore you with all the
technical details but long story short, we’re apartment hunting around the area
and it’s turned out to be quite difficult. The living conditions are very
different from back home too – much smaller and lots of shared accommodation –
and for instance, they don’t use dryers here. Or A/C. They just put their
clothes out on the line to dry, which makes sense because it’s really windy
here, and leave the windows open for a breeze.
I’m finally starting to figure out my
bearings and how to get around. It’s a good thing I’m used to walking from
living in Austin, because that’s all I’ve done around here. Walk half an hour
to the “uni” (what the Aussies call a university), forty minutes to different
apartments, x minutes to restaurants, etc. It’s nice though. I enjoy walking and
seeing different neighborhoods and things. Plus the weather is great!
I’ve made lots of friends in my
hostel here on the beach. Lots of them from Germany, an Irish guy, a guy from
England, and a couple Canadians. They’ve all asked me stereotypical questions
about Texans such as, “Does everybody shoot guns there?” and “So, you have a
banjo, right?” And of course they get a crack out of me saying “y’all.” (Sidenote:
You don’t realize how much you say ‘y’all’ until you go to another country (or
even state) where they don’t say that. It’s great though, the foreigners love
it.) The English guy obsessed over the way I said “Do y’all have pasta here?”
at a restaurant we went to the other night. First, because I said “y’all,” but
secondly because apparently they say pasta with the ‘a’ sound we use in “hat,”
and he thought it was hilarious how I said “pahsta.” Another one of the guys,
from Holland, was talking about how everyone rides bikes there and he said, “There
are more bikes in Holland than people.” I asked how that even made sense, and
why someone would need multiple bikes, to which he said: “Bikes in Holland are
like guns in Texas.” To which I say, touche….
We’ve been spending time on the
beautiful Coogee Beach. It’s so wonderful here; the water is blue, the
temperature is hot, the sand is white…. Yesterday I spent the whole day in the
sun and got quite burned. I can’t imagine the tan I will have after five months
here! I went lawn bowling yesterday with some friends who live in Australia,
and that was a different experience…. It’s like bocce ball, but you’re on teams
and you roll the balls rather than throw them. It was fun, and it’s cool to see
Australian culture and the things they do to entertain themselves! I also
learned a new drinking game from a Canadian guy in the hostel. It’s called
Beersby and is apparently a real thing in Canada… You basically have a cupholder
on the end of a stick you put into the ground, and try to knock a can out of
the cupholder by throwing a Frisbee at it. The Canadian guy (named Josh) broke
a broom in half he found at the hostel to make the poles and put some janky
makeshift cupholders on them and the guys spent hours playing that game on the
lawn next to the beach. It was pretty entertaining, haha.
Coogee Beach
Barefoot Lawn Bowling
Been up to campus a few times now. It’s
beautiful and green, actually reminds me a bit of UT in some places. I’m
excited for classes to start and to meet some more people. It seems like a really
cool uni!
That’s all I have for now, and I’ll
end with this: I’m quite disappointed that no one has said “g’day” to me yet,
nor have they called me mate. (Unfortunately) it looks like the Australian
stereotypes aren’t very true either.
