Tag Archives: Fun

Greetings From Down Unda!

I’ll be starting this long overdue blogpost with two memes that capture what my 7 weeks in Melbourne, Australia have been like: Melbourne is Amazing! I’ve been struggling to find a word to describe what this city feels like, and the one word that constantly comes to mind is “home”. There’s an aura about Melbourne that just grabs you, and makes everything feel…easy. It’s unexplainable to be honest, but if you can think of that one happy place in your mind, Melbourne is the one…to me at least. You could blame it on bias, but all of the wonderful friends I have made here share the same sentiments. In Aussie time, it’s been exactly 7 weeks since I arrived here, and it’s terrifying to think how quickly time flies. I’m trying to grab as many memories as I can, and writing this blog helps keep them all in perspective. I don’t want to forget anything; this feeling of home, it’s something I haven’t felt in a long time. But before I get into that, I want to properly introduce myself. About Me: My name is Lynn Onyambu, I am 19 years old (20 next month!), and a senior in Penn State/University of Melbourne. I was born in Nairobi, Kenya, but i’ve lived in the US for 12 years of my life. My father is Kenyan, and my mother is Zambian. So even though i’m half blood (Harry Potter PUN-DEFINITELY-INTENDED), i’m still 100%, all around African. I speak Swahili fluently, and a bit of Spanish (barely, but definitely more than the casual “Hola, Yo Quiero -insert name of restaurant chain- “). I am majoring in Media Studies, International Communications, and minoring in International Studies. I’m not a Pennsylvanian native, but I’ve lived there longer than I have lived anywhere else, so I guess you could call me an adopted native. I bleed blue and white, but that’s a given cause PENN STATE, DUH! Why I Chose Melbourne: I honestly ask myself the same question. I always had dreams of doing an exchange program in London, but one day Australia just popped into my mind, and I ran with it (Chris Hemsworth may have been a slight motivation). I researched the best communication schools in the world, and the University of Melbourne was one of them (and also the top university in Australia!). I was hooked before I even clicked on the website, and my Google search became even better once I noticed their school colors were similar to Penn State’s. I found out that Penn State did in fact have an exchange program with Unimelb (gotta use the nickname to up my street cred), and it was all set from there. Months later, here I am, in the greatest city in Australia (sorry Sydney!), possibly even the world. I am studying in a university where I don’t feel overwhelmed, doubtful, or even scared. I’m in an environment where everything reminds me of home, and Penn State, and that’s more than I could have ever asked for. Goals: I only have two goals that I want to accomplish while I’m here.

To be the very best version of myself, morally and academically.
To live. I sometimes get stuck in keeping myself in a comfortable routine of complacency where I don’t challenge myself to see more than what’s beyond the surface. But i’ve got my night goggles, telescope, and binoculars this time around, so let’s do this!

Pic of Advice: I have found my happiness here in Melbourne, and for those of you who will read this, I challenge you to do the same. It’s certainly not that easy, different trials and tribulations will factor in, but it’s also not impossible. Every journey begins with the first step. Ps. Here’s a picture of some of the friends i’ve made in Melbourne. No worries though, more pictures are coming soon. I have so much to share with you all! Stay lovely, Lynn

Location: Melbourne, Australia

The End of First Session

This was the last week of classes. With the expectation of a new baby from Prince Williams and Princess Kate, the class took another field trip on Tuesday to Buckingham Palace to see the baby. Unfortunately when the class reached the palace, the gates were surrounded by people; it was difficult for anyone to get a shot of the gate even. Therefore, it was even more difficult to get a glimpse of the queen or the princess and her new baby. Nevertheless, I managed to take pictures of the gate and the surrounding beauty of the area. The class also walked to St. James’ Park which was nearby and I snapped some photos. I especially enjoyed the birdlife at St. James’ Park. The park was filled with types of birds most prevalent throughout Britain, and for the first time, I saw a swan! Other than the amazing birdlife, I saw the London’s Eye at a distance from the park.

The main reason for the field trip was to go to the National Art Gallery at Trafalgar Square which is what the class later attended to. The gallery was very educational with paintings of fashion/style from 1500’s to recent times! The paintings mostly brought the clothes we studied to life, showing more context along with hairstyles and societal statuses of the wearers. The class explored the royal way of dress, the scholar, and middle/working class ways of dress of London. It was very educational seeing how outfits can be elaborated and decorated to express high status, but torn-down and humbled to express poverty or lack of money. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the National Art Gallery.

At the end of the class (Thursday), the class had to turn in final essays on whatever essay topic chosen. The essay was a lot of work, but I realized I learned a whole lot in the class. I had so much fun learning about fashion in these four weeks(to my surprise)! Too bad the fun is over for now until I begin my next class. Also, the class was not as rigorous as the Americans stereotype the British classes; it was surprisingly relaxing and fun!

Location: Buckingham Palace, London; Trafalgar Square, London

1 week down

I’ve been here a few days and it has definitely been a really interesting transition. Not too many massive differences but enough to make it so weird so I’m going to share some of them and the flow of the last couple days.

I live in Stevens hall and my flat (like an apartment/ floor) consist of only 5 people including myself. 4 girls and 1 boy. There was supposed to be another boy moving in but he never showed up. Oddly enough everyone in this flat ended up being Americans even though the rest of the whole building is either kiwi’s (natives) or Europeans. This school does not do roommates which is a little different from Penn State where you have to request a single. So there are a little over 2,000 students here about 50% being international and everyone has a single room. Each room has one power outlet which I thought was rather interesting, I ended up needing to buy a power strip, and it has its own switch that is supposed to be turned over when not being so used so power stops flowing to it entirely.

Lincoln is also really big on recycling and composting used materials and food. There are recycling bins everywhere you look and at meals all food and drinks go into a bucket and is then carted off to be composted.

Public transit is really big around here so as soon as we got here the RA (Claire) suggested we get a pass to get into town. There aren’t even school buses around here, either kids ride bikes or they get onto the public bus in large groups. It’s well-known that the school kids all sit in the back all together and adults sit in the front when school is let out. It’s also not uncommon for the driver to let kids off right at their driveway.

I have always considered myself a big environmentalist and want to improve the way people treat the world around them so to see that in New Zealand that so many environmentally positive things are a norm is really refreshing.

I’ve spent the past couple of days attending events on campus that the school organizes so people can get to know each other (one of the benefits to a small school.) The one I enjoyed the most had to be the “Silly Sports Day” yesterday where all the halls made up teams and played football (soccer), ultimate frisbee and volleyball. My hall did really well and we managed to take 3^rd in ultimate frisbee, 2^nd in volleyball and 1^st in football.

I also managed to find myself in a rugby tournament this week with another girl from my hall. We ended up being the only girls there and because of us they had to change it to be a touch rugby game. It turned out not to be that hard to figure out how to play but hard to be good. Thus, the boys ended up playing around us more than with us and I still ended up getting hit pretty hard a few times by boys twice my size and will be feeling it for days.

(Don’t worry I did catch the ball)

It’s also rather common for people to walk around barefoot. Kids get on the bus barefoot, go to meals, stores, class and play sports all without shoes or socks. I’ve tried it a few times but without built up callouses it can get a little painful walking along the sidewalks or gravel.

The school also organized a little bus tour around Christchurch and some of the neighboring towns to help us understand more of the layout of the area. We got a chance to see one of the beaches where they give surfing lessons, which I plan on doing very soon, downtown Christchurch and some of the damage that took place last year.

Flowers in the cones in honor of those lost in the earthquake a year ago.

This area sustained the most damage from the quake last year. It caused the cliffs to fall apart along the edges and thus brought the backs of houses down with it.

Classes start tomorrow so the hope is that it will be a great chance to meet some more people and make some good friends. Oddly enough I’m considered a sociology and tourism major here since they don’t have Community, Environment and Development. I must say I do enjoy the way their schedule is set up because Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are the only days I have all my classes, Wednesday I only have one and Friday I’m free which I have learned is not abnormal.

So I will be sure to post soon and talk about classes and meeting more people here.

Till then stay beautiful everyone.

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

A Week in My Life as a Visiting Student

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To better understand this blog entry and also merely for the fun of learning, I will introduce you to some of the vocabulary I found commonly used around college:

For the record, breakfast is from 8:15-8:45 every morning except Saturdays and Lunch is from 12:45-1:30 everyday.

Scaf is an informal canteen-style dinner every night from 6:00-6:45 before formal hall, which will be referred to as simply hall in this entry

Kip– Nap ex: I am going to take a kip

x– Kiss They tend to sign their texts with one or several of these X’s that startled me at first, but now I think I will adopt the habit! X

ATS– Alternative Tuck Shop

Hassan’s– A food truck on the Broad Street. Apparently, it is Catz tradition to grab food from here upon return from a night out

JCR– Junior Common Room. A lounge area with a bar and a mini game room on one side, as well as a TV on the other. Usually the meeting spot for crews to head out for the night.

Lodge– Porter’s lodge. It’s like a front desk to the college. The people are very nice and helpful inside and students usually meet outside to head to events located outside the college.

Pigeon Hole– Mailbox. At any given moment Hedwig does indeed fly in with a letter from Hogwarts.
Tramp– A bum or homeless person Question: If Ross tells Hilary he never made it in the club because he was talking to some tramps outside, should Hilary get upset, splash her glass of wine at him and never talk to him again? Answer: Nope. He was doing a good deed and talking to homeless people, as opposed to women working the streets, as we Americans would think.

Essay Crisis– The birth child of procrastination and Facebook. It’s the last minute preparation for an essay due in a few hours, or minutes in some cases.

Blunder– Mistake/error

Sub Fusc– Gowns worn on very formal occasions

Quid– Pounds, how we say “bucks” instead of dollars. Funny story, for the longest time, I thought they were saying squid and I wondered silently why in the world these people had so many squids!

Fag– Slang for cigarette ex: Can I bum a fag. Translation: Could I borrow a cigarette?

Staircase– Synonymous for US dorm. Not literally the staircase, but the entire building. Staircases are numbered as opposed to ex: at UP where the dorms have names: ex: Brill Hal of Eastview Terrace.

MONDAYS

1) Breakfast – 8 items for 2 quid (About 3 bucks) is not bad at all

2) Essay crisis

3) Lunch

4) Essay Crisis

5) Secondary tutorial every other week for an hour at St. Hugh’s college (It was such a hike!)

6) Usually go for a Law or any other society event at another college

7) Hall or Scaf depending on the menu

8) Evening visits to Friends’ staircases

9) Try to catch people online on Skype

10) Somehow fall asleep

TUESDAYS

1) Wake Up

2) Library

3) Repeat act #2 for Acts number 4,5 and 6

7) Lunch

8) 3-5PM Attend an optional lecture for PIL (Public International Law)

9) Hall

10) Repeat Monday’s activities after hall

WEDNESDAYS

1) Library all day. Literally

THURSDAYS

1) Wake up at 6: ESSAY CRISIS

2) Breakfast

3) ESSAY CRISIS

4) Submit Essay for primary tutorial

5) Lay there with the weight of the world lifted form my shoulders

6) Skype

7) Lunch

8)Return library books and get new ones for the next essay

9) Linger around till hall

10) Eat and linger some more

FRIDAY

1) Lunch

2) Library

3) Run errands

4) Choir Practice

5)Hall

6) Find out what everyone’s doing and join them. (Usually going to the club: WAHOO, which I hate)

Between Saturday and Sunday, I would go to church, go to basketball practice, go out, study and work on Monday’s essay, catch up with news back home, etc. During most of the free time I had, I was able to attend a few events hosted by my subject’s societies. I also seized the opportunity to make use of the Career Services by attending career fairs and having my resume looked over.

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen; a quick and broad look into a week in my life at Oxford. Let me know if there are any vocab words I left out or misunderstood or anything of that sort. Till next time,

Cheers!

PS: Special thanks George for the vocab tips! Xx

Random pic of Cornmarket St. Oxford.

Location: Oxford, England

Mini Flash Mob at LFK?!

HOWDY!?

:)… So another great night at LFK was kicked off by some jokes and acting. By the end of the night, group dancing was the way to go! We thought at first a flash mob was forming in HONG KONG!!! But it ended up being a couple of young dancers that all know each other, giving us some good entertainment and showing off their skills! It was a great time and very inspiring to watch! I have a couple of videos below so you can see the fun that took place!

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Sorry for flipping the camera a couple times!!! LOL

Location: Hard Rock Cafe, LKF Tower 55 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central Hong Kong

What is LKF?!

THIS IS AN EARLY POST!!! I already posted one for this week but I didn’t want to leave you guys on the edge of your seats! LAN KWAI FONG…LKF

For those who don’t know, LKF is located in Central of Hong Kong. It is a major tourist attraction. Mainly for the savvy business workers who are tired of work and want to let loose after 5p.m.; then when they are starting to clear out, it is for the wild after 11p.m.

LFK pretty hilarious actually. It is a normal street area where the bars may not be open, taxis are driving through, and the streets are clean. When 11p.m. rolls around, cars don’t even dare to drive down this road, glass bottles broken every where, bars thriving with business, drunk and SOME sober people every where. You would think the 2011 “Planet of the Apes” Movie took place on this very road. Let alone all this is happening on this semi steep hill that may feel like a mountain once you have gotten a few drinks in ya! I’m not condoning this behavior, but whether you’re a drinker, recovering alcoholic, just there to observe, want to experience something new, or stumbled on this street shopping in the areas near by, this is a great place to experience!

I can go on and on about this place, but you should check the pictures out below and the videos I will post on the next blog right after this named, MINI FLASH MOB of LFK?!?

Location: Wyndham street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong

Up til’ Dawn, but No Sunrise

So it seemed to be our 3^rd or 4^th time going to LKF a.k.a. Lan Kwai Fung. We had such a great time!! We were so pumped up for some reason and sleep was no longer an option. Even when things were closed down, the mtr trains stop running, and the night slowly turned into the day – we felt the need to keep moving. This was so fun an exciting!!!! It was definitely and night to remember, even though I forgot to blog about it weeks go.

We stayed up all night because it was hard to catch a taxi and we also didn’t want to pay for it. Two friends of mine, who wants to remain nameless, passed out on concrete and a cardboard box (sober) awaiting the ferry to the closest MTR station, then we caught the train back home. Leaving out the previous night around 6 or 7 p.m., we were out 24hrs straight. I ended up in my hostel, the next morning around 8 am!!! What a night to remember!!!

I will explain what LFK is in my next blog!!

Talk to ya soon!

Location: Lan Kwai Fung, Central Hong Kong

The BIG Bargain

YAY!!! So listen… Or read… You know what I mean!!

I got a chance to go to the Lady’s Market in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. It was amazing! I loved the atmosphere and the thrill of bargaining. I try to ignore the scorching heat sickle of an area because the trip and experience is worth it!! There are so many things I wanted to buy! I have to spend wisely of course because it is better to save money. BUT that’s the beauty of it!! You get what you want, and it is because you have more power over what is leaving your pockets!!

What is very ironic is that I thought about myself last looking at everything they are ready to sell. My mother quickly came to mind, as well as my brother, sister, and boyfriend Jason. That is all I wanted to buy for. So far I got two silk Chinese dresses for my mother. Im looking to get her pearls, and shoes to match. They have a lot of counterfeit things, but if you don’t mind or would like nameless brands to be safe, you will be just fine. There are a couple other gifts I am planning on getting, but I don’t want my family to read this blog and find out!!! J Yes I already told my mom about the Chinese silk dress, so it is okay! LOL

Shopping is so exciting, but at a bargain – it is every woman’s dream! For instance, one of the silk dresses cost $180 HK dollars ($23 US dollars). I bargained my way down to get two of them for around the same price ($180). I shopped for a purse today, and they didn’t have the one I wanted. The woman offered me the bag for $360 HK dollars ($46 US dollars) for being “pretty” because it was initially $680 HK dollars – about $87 US (sweet talking doesn’t work when it comes to money, especially with a bad pitch). Long story short – walking away does something to them, which makes them lower the price. Don’t let them bully you or make you get less of what you want! It is your money and always go with YOUR price. I got my bag with the help of my good friend Shanttel for $120 HK dollars!!! That’s about $ 15 US dollars. I already put my stuff in it to wear it tomorrow… LOL

Location: Lady's Market, Tung Choi Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

London/Ring of Kerry/Sweden/21st Birthday

I have been hardcore slacking on the blog train lately. Sorry about that!

Quick captions:

LONDON

^Our hostel was based out of a bar…aka reception was at the bar…which I had never seen before. Thus, making this 11am drink well worth it. Cool place.

^The London Eye!

^Outside of the Buckingham Palace

^Just found this wandering around. Thought it was neat :]

^Harry Potter tour = awesome. Ended at Platform 9 3/4 (though the real one is under construction, so we had to deal with the makeshift one. Sigh).

^The shop was CLOSED or I would have def bought the HP money set. haha

^DUCK TOUR DUCK TOUR DUCK TOUR! (Seriously, though. Coolest thing ever.)

^Finishing with the generic Big Ben pic!

ON TO RING OF KERRY!

(The reason I am studying in Ireland, of all these beautiful places in Europe.)

^Hello ocean. Hello beautiful blue sky. Hello Ireland :]

^Again, Ireland is just gorgeous.

^My friend, Danielle, checkin’ out the view.

^Meagan making her way down to the beach.

^Beach!

^Looks like a fairy tale.

^YES! Baby lambbb!

^Not sure who this chick is. But I liked the photo!

OFF TO SWEDEN!

Went to visit one of my best friends, Claire, in Sweden. She moved there last year and is living in Uppsala. All I wanted to do was spend time with her and see the ice bar in Stockholm. Mission accomplished.

^Ice bar in Stockholm! Me + jellyfish ice sculpture + drink = wonderful.

^Friends :]

BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY!

Both Erin and my birthday was over our Spring break, so we decided to celebrate beforehand, while everyone was still around. We were VIP at the one club here, Angel Lane, which landed us free champagne and the club to ourselves for the first two hours. What a wonderful night with wonderful people! :]

^Erin and myself! The birthday girls! Woohoo!

^The ladies at the club :]

So there is that mad update. Sincerely sorry I haven’t written in ages, but with essays and finals all around me, other things have trumped blogging.

I spent the past 10 days in Italy for spring break…and that calls for a blog of its own (hopefully it will go up within the next two days).

That is all for now!

Cheers,

Melanie

Location: Stockholm, Sweden

DownUnder

Well, after being in the air for 20+ hours I am in Sydney, Australia and It is awesome. The weather beats state college by far its currently 88 and sunny. The life style is amazing. I have been here for about a week so this is the vibe thus far. I love scales so my posts will have scales. These are my gut instincts:

Food: A lot of asian influences, really starting to get into Thai. Pretty much every genre for the most part. (7.5/10)

City: Best city I have ever been in by far, its clean, great public transportation, and extremely friendly people. (9/10)

Language: Aussie slang is farout and killa 8/10)

University: I haven’t started classes yet so I’ll get back to this one

I have been to 2 beaches so far, before classes start.

Manly – Great downtown shops, foods pretty good, beach is beautiful, decent for surfing.

(8.5/10)

Bondi – It was very cool, kinda a hike to get there but well worth the trip, huge waves, and Australian beaches have “optional” for wearing bathing suit tops for the ladies so that was a bit of “culture shock”. (9/10)

Location: Sydney, Australia

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