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
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