Author Archives: jzr141

Living the LIfe

Well, I hate to say it but the semester is halfway done and the work is catching up. I’ve had minimal assignments up until this point and all of a sudden it’s like a rush of papers is flying at me. I also find it especially hard to do any work here at all, because there are just so many things I’d rather be doing. I wrote only a 4 page, 1,000 word essay today and it took me literally 9 hours to complete. Oh well.

Being halfway done is pretty sad for a few reasons. For one, the weather is starting to get colder. And by colder I mean it’s dropped from about the 80’s to the 60’s/70’s. It’s actually pretty funny to look around on campus and see how the students dress for the weather. Lately it’s been around 60-65 and students are seriously BUNDLED UP. It’s the most bizarre sight. I’m sorry but I’m from the northeast, and a little chilliness isn’t going to stop me from wearing my denim shorts, and I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye to them and hello to jeans, so I’ll get plenty of weird looks from the scarf-wearing students.

It’s also pretty sad to think that time here is just flying. There’s still a ton of places that I need to see and it seems that for the whole month of May I’ll be traveling (goodbye money in my bank account). The trips I have planned so far are Cairns for Easter Break (fall break) with IES – which is an amazing deal – 5 days of planned trips including a day of snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef and “jungle surfing” in the Daintree Rainforest, for just $500. Plus a few of us opted to extend our trip for a few more days at our own expense, so that will be pretty fun. I’m also going to Fraser Island, which is a huge sand island where we’ll rent 4WD’s and camp. For our week long break before finals a few friends and I are island hopping around FIJI (VERY excited), and hopefully I’m going to get to book a trip to Melbourne/Tasmania within the week.

So, even though I’m sadly halfway through, I’m getting the feeling that I’m starting to know Sydney very well and I’m getting antsy to step out and see more of Australia. Don’t get me wrong, Sydney is an amazing city and I’m having a blast (we just went to Luna Park and ran around like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen a la Our LIps are Sealed – one of the best days ever), but Australia in itself is such an incredible place, and I’m excited to see what else it has in store.

Location: Sydney, Australia

Byron Bay and Blue Mountains

Wow, so it’s been a busy past couple of weeks. Last weekend a few girls and I went to Byron Bay and the Gold Coast and it was GREAT to get out of the big city (even though Gold Coast is a pretty big city too, but we spent a total of 8 hours there so it doesn’t really count). If you’re thinking about going to Australia at all, then I would definitely recommend staying at Byron Bay for a few days. The vibe is very relaxed and kind of hippy-ish, but it’s amazing. We stayed at Nomad’s Hostel and it was packed with people around our age, mostly from Europe. They had tons of organized events like flip cup tournaments and the hallways were always busy with people. The beach was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and we even went kayaking for most of Saturday afternoon. It was just a very beautiful and relaxing few days. The night before we left we drove back to the Gold Coast/Surfer’s Paradise put our stuff down in the hostel, and literally went straight out until 4 in the morning, a necessary evil considering our flight was at 6 am (since it was by far the cheapest). We figured it would just be easier to stay out and go straight to the airport. Well, the bar we went to was huge and had 3 big rooms that each played a different genre of music. That’s where the cool part ended; the patrons of the club, I swear, came STRAIGHT from the Jersey Shore. I felt like I was home and it was BIZARRE. If you’re going to the Gold Coast, maybe try to stay for longer than I did and check it out a little more because that’s the only impression I got from it.

beach at byron ^^

THIS WEEKEND was an entirely different change of pace. For our CLASS Outdoor Education, we went on a 3 day hiking trip to the Blue Mountains. The whole weekend I couldn’t believe that I was there for a class, it was absolutely amazing. Before we got there we had a little hike around the tourist-y area, which a bunch of us have already done with IES. However, this time at the end we climbed up the “infamous 1,000 steps.” IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT but we pulled through and were rewarded with an amazing view of the whole canyon at the top. That night we sat around a campfire and went around and said what we learned from the treacherous steps or how we felt about the day and the weekend, and it was great to get to know everyone a little better, not to mention the view of the stars was absolutely amazing. I’ve NEVER in my life seen so many. There was actual milky way galaxy and the whole sky seemed to be illuminated with millions of diamonds. I’ve never seen anything that amazing!

The next day we started out the hike at the very top of the canyon and worked our way down a very steep slope. It took in all about an hour. Then we walked along the valley for about an hour and a half and had lunch in the middle of a river and a water fall, again it was absolutely amazing. THEN it was the absolute most hardest journey ever. We pretty much went straight uphill for 3000 feet and 10 km!!! Literally we were scaling cliff edges and climbing up ladders. There were so many waterfalls that we walked under along the way and the views were absolutely incredible and made the whole thing so worth it. It really taught me that you may have a destination in mind, but sometimes the journey is just as important, and you should always remember to stop and have a look around along the way. Also, the feeling at the top of that mountain was the greatest sense of accomplishment I’ve ever felt.

Today we did a shorter hike, but it also involved climbing all the way down the mountain, having lunch at a magnificent waterfall, and then climbing all the way back up. The stairs were much steeper than the first day, but after completing the mega hike the night before, it didn’t seem so bad. The view was just as spectacular, as well.

This weekend was actually amazing. It was so nice being isolated from my phone and the internet and just experiencing the great outdoors. I can now check off “climb a mountain” off my bucket list, and surely it won’t be my last time. I’ll finish this post off with a few pictures from this weekend =)

Halfway up the 1,000 steps on the first day

Some friends at the waterfall, bottom of the valley, right before the ascent.

Boy band poses at the top – pure bliss. Also the woman on the very left in the blue is our professor for this “class.”

Our hike today included scaling this rock cliff and we also crossed over this waterfall a few times. Again, absolutely breathtaking. It concluded at the top of the waterfall.

Location: Byron Bay, Blue Mountains

Weekends

It’s already Wednesday here but I feel like I have to blog about last weekend because we did so much and it was just so much fun.

Ok, so it kicked off on Thursday with St. Patrick’s Day. For some reason, I feel like it should have been more celebrated than it was. I was expecting to see students wearing green all over campus and the pubs on the street filled up by the early afternoon, but maybe that’s just the hopeful American inside of me speaking. It really didn’t differ from any other day. However, at night, we dressed up in our green and went out to the bars by 7, and then I saw that people were starting to celebrate. We went to a backpacker’s bar called Scary Canary which we haven’t been to but have heard a lot about and it was just a really fun time. There we partied the night away with the traditional green beer and a good time was had by all.

Friday we took a 45 minute train ride to the south of Sydney, out into a suburb called Cronulla (kind of sounds like granola). There we stayed at my friend’s roommate Emma’s house. It was so so so so nice leaving the city and being in a real house with a real family and a real mom, in fact it made me miss my

mom a little bit. It was also pretty cool to see what a suburb looked like and where people live and work outside of the city. Cronulla was a very quaint town where the streets are lined with palm trees and it’s right along the beach. It actually reminded me a lot of the the upscale beach towns on the Jersey shore that I drive through a lot. Since the weather wasn’t that good we stayed inside the house and played Disney Trivial Pursuit and made an amazing homemade dinner with her mom. We have plans to go back there in a few weeks to check out the bar scene (the granola bars as my friend and I like to call them) and relax.

On Saturday, the

majority of the IES kids and I made the trek up to Manly Beach to attend a surf lesson set up by IES. It was pouring in the morning, but we really wanted to try it so we decided to go anyway. If the ferry was any indication of how the waves were going to be, I should have known to turn around. The boat was rocking and creaking like those boats on The Deadliest Catch do in a huge storm, and if that was only in the harbour, then I should have only guessed what the surf was going to be like on the actual beach. And oh wow, when we walked up to the surfing club, my heart was pounding, the waves were HUGE and I could see that the rip currents were really strong from where I was standing on the sand. Despite my nervousness though, I strapped on the binding wetsuit and did the lesson with everyone. It started off with us running in the water together, and I have to admit the wet suits made the water feel amazing, and I was officially ready to go. I couldn’t really get my balance quite right and I only was able to get up to a kneeling position, but when I did actually catch a wave, it felt like flying. Gliding over the water was the coolest feeling in the world and I can’t wait to try it again. It was pretty physically taxing trying to get the surfboards through the strong surf, and a few kids in our program got stung by jelly fish (they said it felt like someone held a lighter to their skin for about a minute, eeeeek), but nevertheless, I can see why it’s such a huge part of Australian culture.

On Sunday, the weather was yet again, rainy and cold. However, I had a field trip to the Royal National Park about an hour outside of Sydney with my Outdoor Education class. Despite the rain, it cleared up by the time we got there and we got to enjoy a cloudy and windy day in the wilderness. The hike we went on took us close to cliff top edges overlooking a crashing ocean and through the jungle, it seemed like, and we got to eat lunch on a deserted beach and see an amazing waterfall. The trip was pretty fun and we had to consider it a warmup for our 3 day hiking trip in the Blue Mountains that are coming up in a couple of weeks. At night we went to the harbour to watch the

“YouTube” orchestra. The cool thing was we got to sit in a park that had speakers that played the actual orchestra and we got to watch a light show projected on Opera House. The show not only displayed awesome graphics to the music but also projected the actual orchestra playing their symphony ONTO the Opera House! It made for some crazy pictures and it kind of blew my

mind.

So that was last weekend, and tomorrow we’re going to the Gold Coast and Byron Bay. I’m pretty excited because this will be our first trip and travel experience of many and I can’t wait to see start seeing other parts of Australia. I’ll write about that next time!

Location: Sydney, Cronulla, Manly, Royal National Park

Extra Stuff

Here are also just some pictures from all of the other stuff we’ve been doing:

We went on a boat cruise for international students one night.

There was also Mardi Gras, which was a huge gay pride parade/event. We all dressed up in crazy costumes and took many pictures, none of which are appropriate for this website. Sorry Mom.

We attended the first big rugby league game of the season – Sydney Roosters vs. Southern Rabbitohes (spelling? absolutely no idea). It was very awesome, the stadium was beautiful, and the spirit was very infectious. This definitely won’t be my last game!!

Nippers doing a relay race!! They were honestly the cutest and most well-behaved children I’ve ever seen. A program like this probably would never fly in the US. The entire program is run by parent volunteers.

There was a HUGE surfing competition at Bondi. It made for an amazing day at the beach where we got interviewed by the crew of this really famous Aussie show Bondi Rescue, people watched, got free stuff from the different sponsor booths (I have enough Nature Valley bars for the rest of the semester) and watched some amazing surfers.

Location: Bondi, Maroubra, Circular Quay

Nippers

So I’ve been meaning to update this blog for about 3 days but it’s been so busy here that I haven’t had a spare moment. Time has been moving really fast now that classes have started, and that seems to be taking up a lot of my time. The classes I’m taking are Microbiology; Oceans, Coasts, and Climate Change; Outdoor Education; and Sport and Culture.

Microbiology – I have two lectures a week and a 3 hour “practical” every Wednesday. The lectures are pretty basic standard microbiology and it’s all stuff that I’ve gone over before in other science classes. The practical, on the other hand, is a little different. It’s held in a huge intimidating lab and every student is required to buy an actual lab coat. While these coats make me feel almost like a real scientist, the material they’re made of doesn’t actually breathe and it can get stifling hot. The coordinator who runs the lab is also pretty intimidating so this should make for an interesting time.

Oceans, Coasts, and Climate Change – also consists of 2 lectures and then a 2 hour practical that takes place entirely in a computer lab on a complicated program called ARCGIS, which I’ve never used before. Again, this should be pretty interesting. The course itself seems like it should be interesting, but the lecturer is just extremely boring and I find it really hard to stay awake.

Outdoor Education – This is one of those classes that are made specifically for exchange and abroad students. Everyone is an international student, mostly hailing from the United States or Canada, and it’s only 6 weeks long. We have a field trip next weekend to the Royal National Park and a few weeks after that we spend 3 days hiking and camping in the Blue Mountains. The class honestly feels like a self-improvement workshop and I’m not quite sure how the elements of the outdoors really fit into it but it’s easy so I’m not complaining.

Sport and Culture – This is another one of the classes geared towards international students. We have one lecture a week and a TON of field trips we have to go on that all involve sports events and the sporting culture in Australia. The professor doesn’t want us to take notes and i quote, “no getting wasted at the rugby games, that’s my job.” We actually had a field trip today for this class to Maroubra Beach where we watched the Nippers, which is basically just a community-run program for little kids that are in almost every town on the coast in Australia. It trains them to be strong swimmers and future lifeguards.

I have to say that the culture of uni is very different from the US, as well. Everyone dressed up really nice and the clubs have tons of events that you can go to. For instance, this week I attended the Jewish Org’s “Beers and Bagels” where they basically just gave out free beers and bagels. It was held in the bar that is ON CAMPUS (which would never fly at Penn State). Every Wednesday night there are also really big themed parties in the “colleges” on campus which is the same thing as a glorified fraternity. All of the houses look like castles and everyone is extremely nice and friendly (and good looking). This week we went to a “work out” themed party and a luau and it was probably one of my favorite nights here.

Getting involved in clubs and taking classes with field trips was definitely a wise choice because they let you meet new people and they take you to totally different parts of Sydney that I honestly would have never ventured out to see on my own. Example: I went to Rose Bay which is this gorgeous area by Bondi Beach with the Sailing Club and i saw some of the nicest houses I’ve ever seen. Maroubra was also really gorgeous. I’m excited for Royal National Park, too.

But for now, I have to start getting ready and doing some work for this week. It’s honestly really hard to start when I feel like I’m living in paradise.

Location: Maroubra, Rose Bay, Newtown

Orientation etc etc

Ok, so it’s been a little while since I posted but I’ve just been REALLY BUSY as O-week (orientation) and classes started. First, we had our orientation with all of the IES kids studying in Sydney, which includes UNSW, University of Sydney, and Macquarie University. Last Saturday, we were put into groups and went on this really long scavenger hunt around Darling Harbour and the Sydney Botanical Gardens. The event took up most of the afternoon but it was nice because they brought us to a really cool restaurant and had an open tab for us afterwards, so that was fun

So then the next day we all hopped on a coach bus with this crazy driver to Featherdale Wildlife park and actually got to play around with some baby kangaroos! It was honestly the CUTEST thing I’ve ever seen in my life. We also went to the Blue Mountains (about 2 hours outside of Sydney) and saw some cool views and hiked a little, but I don’t think we nearly had enough time there. Luckily though, for one of my classes I’m going on a three day camping trip there so I’ll get to go back!

So O-week was also an experience. We started it off with an international student orientation where they just went through some really boring stuff, and then we learned how to schedule our classes and set up our “timetables.” First of all, we have no control over them at all. Second of all, if we want to change it or drop/add a class, we have to go through an unbelievably large amount of steps and talk to 20 different people and hope that it all works out for the best. We’re honestly completely on our own here and thankfully, my schedule worked out that I only have one lecture on Thursday and no classes on Friday so that’s great. Then, we walked around and explored all of the clubs and societies that Univeristy of Sydney had to offer. In order to join a club, you have to first purchase a $70 Access Card, and then when you actually join, you normally have to pay a small fee for the actual club as well. To join a sports team, you have to first buy a $50 Sport Membership card and then the additional fee to join the sport as well. Everything here just costs SO MUCH MONEY. However, the variety to pick from here is absolutely amazing. You can find anything for everyone and in a way, this kind of reminds me of Penn State.

Anyway, this is getting kind of long so I’ll leave it here for now. Next time I’ll talk about my actual classes and what all of that is like!

Location: Katoomba, NSW

The People and Other Cultural Differences

So we’ve officially been in Sydney for about a week, and so far I’ve noticed a few cultural differences.

1) The people here are SUPER FRIENDLY. Like so friendly that it’s a little unsettling. Strangers will always stop and ask where you’re going if you look lost or confused, and then they will without fail physically point you in the right direction. A guy on the street bumped into me and turned around and screamed SORRY MATE! Bus drivers will stop their crowded busses and tell you the exact way to get home. I feel like behavior like this would never exist in a place like New York and it’s refreshing.

2) Everyone is super chill and laid back. When we were walking around the business district downtown at around 6, all the outdoor bars and cafes were just packed with people in suits who have probably just gotten off work, all sharing a drink and laughing. I haven’t seen or met one person who looks or is stressed out at all, it’s really quite amazing.

3) Americans always walk on the right side of the sidewalk (aka the WRONG side of the street). Think about it, every Australian walks on the left and will pass on the left, while it’s second nature for us to walk and pass on the right. This leads to serious trip-ups and bumping into random strangers a lot, but it’s ok, because everyone’s is again, really nice and they don’t seem to mind it that much.

4) Sydney loves chocolate. There’s a chocolate store on every corner downtown. Thai food is also everywhere you go.

5) If you’re going out, in order to get into a bar, you must appear to be sober. Otherwise they will NOT let you in. Also in a few bars that we’ve been to, you couldn’t get in if you were wearing flip-flops or shorts, so the dress code is a lot nicer downtown too. That being said, once you’re IN the bar, everyone seems to be having a great time and living up to Australia’s really amazing expectations when it comes to nightlife.

Location: Newtown, Sydney, NSW

The First Few Days

I’m finally in Australia! After 22 hours of traveling on a plane and five days of wandering around aimlessly having no idea where I’m going, I can finally say I’m getting comfortable in Australia. The plane ride(s) weren’t too horrible. We flew Quantas to both LA and Sydney and the flights were both comfortable and the food was amazing. When we got there we met up with Thais, our program coordinator and we took a bus to the Sydney University Village. The apartment complex is made up of buildings that house 5 bedroom apartments and studio apartments. I’m in a studio and I have a huge bed, my own bathroom, and a ceiling fan which is a pretty sweet deal considering it’s sooo hot and humid. The five bedrooms are the same as the studios but they have kitchens and a pretty big living room. My friends in the five bedroom apartments also have roommates who are from other abroad programs like Australearn, international students from places like Africa, or Australians. It’s a nice little community to live in and it’s in a great location. We’re a few seconds away from King’s Street, which is the center of this really Bohemian suburb called Newtown where there are tons of bars cafes, and restaurants.

We’re also across the street from the campus of University of Sydney, which honestly puts Penn State’s campus to shame. It’s HUGE and it’s beautiful, with a perfect balance of old and modern architecture. When we cut through the campus I honestly can’t believe that I”m going to be attending classes here. I just feel really lucky.

One of the most apparent differences between Australia and America that we’ve all taken notice of is how expensive everything is here. I’ve heard that Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world but this is just ridiculous. A tube of mascara costs $18. A regular 5th of Smirnoff at the liquor store runs for about $37.50. A great deal at a restaurant is anything under $10. That being said, the minimum wage here is $17, so a bunch of us are going job hunting in Newtown later. I want to work in a gelato shop or something because scooping ice cream for $17/hour sounds like a pretty great deal to me.

So other than that, life has been pretty easy here so far. University of Sydney kind of messed up and planned our orientation for a week later than it’s supposed to be, so we’ve had this week completely free to do whatever we wanted. So far our group went on this extreme jet boat ride around the harbor and got soaking wet. It was honestly amazing though. We also went to the aquarium and Darling Harbor. Recently the weather has been getting absolutely gorgeous so for the past 3 days we’ve been switching between Bondi and Manly beach. Both are clean, beautiful, and absolutely amazing. On that note, I have to go get my beach towel and sunscreen.

Bondi

we’re here!

Location: Newtown, Sydney, NSW

FINALLY I’m getting out of here!

To quote the famous Bill Bryson, in his book In a Sunburned Country, a tale that documents his travels throughout the vast continent of Australia,

“If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback.”

Normally, a statement like this would scare me from going anywhere near such a place, but after sitting home for almost a month and a half, I’m SO READY to finally begin my abroad adventures. Because Australia’s seasons are completely opposite of our own, it is currently in the middle of its summer break, and the first semester of the academic year doesn’t start until the end of February. This means for all students studying abroad in Australia from the United States, myself included, we have to sit and wait and wait and wait for our time to finally leave. For me, that time is TOMORROW.

For any student reading this who is considering going abroad in Australia, just know that the wait is going to be long and excruciatingly painful unless you keep yourself super occupied. I went to Israel for 10 days while the normal Penn State semester was just getting started, which was great, but for the past 2 and a half weeks I’ve been doing absolutely nothing. All of your friends are at school living their lives and posting it on facebook while you’re stuck at home in your pajamas, unable to get off of facebook, while watching crime shows like Law and Order for hours on end. Normally, this sounds like a dream come true, but if you actually live it out, it gets super old after about 3 days. But this past week has really picked up as I have been running all over town doing errands and buying last minute necessities for the land down under.

I just finished packing and I’m bringing 2 suitcases and a carry-on (probably just a backpack). Since it’s currently the equivalent of our August there, most of my clothes were pretty light and didn’t take up that much room. The only problem I ran into was that they don’t provide any linens or towels in the apartment complex that I’m staying in at all, so we bought large space bags and stuffed them all in there, comforter included. Even though it reduced the size of everything, it still took up a lot of room and that made packing kind of difficult.

Other than that, I’m so ready to get going here. My friend Lauren who also goes to Penn State who is studying abroad with IES as well is coming to my house and then we’re going to leave for JFK International Airport by 1. Our flight takes off at around 6:30 to LAX, where we’ll have a 2 hour layover before a 14 hour (BLAH) flight to SYDNEY! The fun thing is we’re going to take off on Thursday, February 10 and we don’t land until Saturday, February 12. Hopefully I’ll sleep a lot on this flight, because I don’t know how else I’m going to survive.

It’s weird, even though I’m about to embark on this crazy journey, I’m really not that nervous at all. If anything I’m just ready to start! I’ll update again as soon as I get settled in Sydney, but for now goodbye, America!!

Location: New Jersey

G’Day!

Hey everyone! Welcome to my GeoBlog! My name is Jen and I’m from New Jersey, and I’m in the middle of my junior year at Penn State (where it is currently snowing, gross!). I’m a nutrition major and psychology minor, and some pretty exciting things are about to happen in my life.

Next semester (Spring 2011), I will be leaving behind the frigid temperatures of central PA and will be studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. You may ask “why Australia?” Well, while most of my friends were deciding on going to Europe, I decided that I wanted to go to a place that I figured I would never EVER get to see in my life. So, to my parent’s dismay, I decided to study as far away as I could possibly get on the globe and happened to settle on Sydney. I’m pretty nervous, because I’ve never even flown across an ocean before. This is the furthest away from home I’ll ever be for the longest period of time and I’ll be in a completely new surrounding. I’m not too unsettled though because I’m pretty sure that everyone feels this way before going abroad. However, there are a TON of things that I am looking forward to, like experiencing different people in a different culture and seeing all of the beautiful places that make Australia famous and give it its allure. I also am really looking forward to petting a kangaroo, but that is besides the point.

Anyway, as of today I still have a while before I leave (about 2 months and 4 days), so I have plenty of time to plan and get ready. I just really hope the time goes fast, because I’m already so excited to leave! Every morning before I put on my winter jacket, I’ll look up the temperature in Sydney, see it’s usually in the balmy high 70’s/low 80’s, and get a little smile on my face. I can’t wait to share my experiences through this blog with everyone back home in America. Woo!

Location: State College, PA

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