Living Abroad

Looking back over old photos of myself, I realized I've had the same hairstyle for most of my life: long, straight, light brown mixed with dirty blonde pieces that I dyed all different shades in high school, with bangs either cut straight across, swooped to the side, or (God forbid, why did I think this was cute?) parted down the middle.

Over spring break, after tying my hair into yet another high ponytail, I decided this just wasn't going to fly anymore. I anticipated it would be too hot and humid this summer to keep my long strands, so when I got back from Brisbane, I took the plunge: I chopped it off.

This was the October result...

...and yesterday's summer touch-up:

Much better. Helloooo summer!

In terms of celebration, Halloween appears to be exclusively an American holiday. I asked my friend Dylan, who grew up in the country a few hours south of Sydney, if he went trick-or-treating as a kid - something I cannot fathom a childhood without - and he remembered going once. He and his friend went door-to-door and apparently his neighbors, disgruntled about being bothered, would simply hand out a few dollar coins or bags of chips from the kitchen. Doesn't sound quite like the traditional group outing around Blackhawk or Greenbrook I remember, where we'd stake out the houses with the king size Hershey bars and haunted houses, filling our pillowcases with enough sweets to last us until Valentine's Day.

This year, my Halloween was a bit different. After getting off work at 10:30 p.m. (oh PS, I got a job. More on that later.) I had planned to watch The Shining with Bonnie and make pumpkin spice lattes (yeah, we're having autumn Starbucks drink withdrawls.) However, since I got off an hour before her, I ended up meeting up with my friends Alex (from LA/San Diego State) and John (from Manchester, England) at a bar near our university. I wasn't dressed up, but they certainly were: Alex donned a cardboard Rubix cube with red spandex leggings, and John was a very realistic-looking iPod. Needless to say, they were fun to walk around with! After Bar Broadway, we headed over to Purple Sneakers, a dance club down the street that was full of other UTS students. John and Alex attracted a lot of attention and had to pose in several girls' photos on the way in...haha.

So, my new job. Just before spring break, I interviewed to be a waitress at Cafe Otto, a restaurant set in the trendy Glebe neighborhood just 10 minutes from my house. Besides one day of catering at a wedding, I've never worked in hospitality, so I was a bit shocked when the owner, Neil, told me I got the job. In no way is it easy; you're under constant pressure from managers, cooks, and customers to run food to tables, greet and seat patrons, take orders, clear dishes, and handle bills. Quickly. I've been working for three weeks now and at times I still take wine to the wrong tables or forget to set tables up with cutlery, but I'm lucky in that my fellow coworkers are all extremely patient and willing to help me out when I have questions. I like the customers too, and I can tell they enjoy guessing where my accent is from (I've gotten Canadian, Irish, Australian, southern Californian, and American in general.) The pay isn't bad ($16/hour) and while tipping isn't customary in Australia, people often just round up their bill (say, giving a $50 bill for a $48 meal.) We combine all our tips and receive a percentage of the total based on the amount of hours we work, so I end up with 5-20 extra bucks depending on the night. Not too bad! I like that I'll be able to use this money to help fund my future travel plans. Nothing's been decided, but there's been talk about a trip to Western Australia (between Perth and Broome) this summer.

In other news, I have officially voted in my first presidential election! Since my absentee ballot got lost in the mail, I was able to get another one sent to my email and I faxed it from UTS yesterday. People keep asking me how likely I think it is that Obama will be victorious, and all I can do is cross my fingers. If the world could vote, he would win by a landslide. I hope that's the case with the red and blue "United" States of America.

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I have set up a separate photo site that I plan to update continuously. Check it out!
http://bubbles21.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

First of all, I'd like to point out that I'm writing this outside in the Geegal courtyard, at a picnic table, in the shade of the trees, and it's about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I just remembered why I came to Sydney...

I've been an Aussie uni student for eight weeks now and so far, I'm happy with my decision to study abroad here. Sydney life is much more relaxed than what I'm used to, so it's been a bit of an adjustment. In SF, I was used to balancing work, classes, interviews for journalism assignments, Alpha Phi, the occasional internship, family gatherings and outings with friends; here, I have only three classes, a once-a-week internship and no job (yet, hopefully), so the amount of free time I have has been a foreign concept. Still, I'm enjoying it!

The classes here are structured very differently compared to SF State. The humanities courses consist of two major assignments and a final paper, wrapping up at the end of October, while my business class has weekly assignments, a major paper, and a final exam in mid-November. It certainly puts a lot of pressure on the big assignments! My online journalism class is a bit different than I was expecting: it's pretty much centered around creating a blog site, crafting two well-researched blogs per week, and ending with a final 1,400 word feature story. It's been fascinating to learn about the medium and I've gained a whole new respect for it, and as a bonus, I've found that I reflect more deeply on my experiences when I write about them. What a concept.

My Aboriginal representation class has been very eye-opening, showing me a whole new side to Australian history that I probably wouldn't have been nearly as aware of had I not taken the class. The case studies we've read, movies we've watched, and class presentations we've listened to have made me realize how unfairly Indigenous Australians have been portrayed and how, even under current government regulations, their situation has not improved much. For my final paper, I'm thinking about writing about the Stolen Generation - the period during which white settlers kidnapped Aboriginal children from their families and set them up in Christian camps in order to "purify" the race and instill white values within them. (The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, publicly apologized to all Aboriginal families for this earlier this year.)

My international business class has been great, but I just spent a week writing a 3,200 word paper about importing water-saving bathroom technology into Japan from my hypothetical Australian company, citing the political risks and business opportunities available there, and creating a four-year financial forecast. It was fascinating to learn about Japan's water conservation policies and the country in general. Consider this passage from my paper: "Statistics in 2007 show that 91.5 percent of households are equipped with a flushing toilet, and 95.8 percent have a bath or shower. Toilets alone account for 28 percent of household water use, but by using a water-efficient toilet, a family of four can save the equivalent of a bathtub of water every two days, totaling approximately $115 per year." (I know you're intrigued.) Fascinating as it was, putting the paper together took forever and I'm more ready than ever for some solid beach time.

I'm officially on spring break for the next two weeks and am heading to Cairns on Monday for some Great Barrier Reef snorkeling and (careful) sunbathing, then we're working our way down the coast towards Brisbane/the Gold Coast, Byron Bay, and back down to Sydney. Bonnie and I have booked some places to stay, researched the sightseeing opportunities available, and just need to throw our bikinis and sunscreen in our suitcases and hit the road!

You know me - I'll bring back stories.

I spent the last week participating in all sorts of activities; some very Aussie, and others that only the international students cared to do. The easiest way to talk about everything is to simply recap my week, so here we go!

SUNDAY: Went to my first ever rugby game!! My friend Charlie gets free tickets from work, so he took Matt, Nizam, Bonnie, Mo (a new German friend) and I to the Parramatta Eels v. Sydney Roosters game. I'm still surprised how much I enjoyed it considering I'm not a big American football fan, but the way it's played is fascinating. It's much more fast-paced than football (they don't stop the clock every time there's a tackle or the ball changes possession, so you know the game is only going to last 80 minutes) and more nerve-wracking because the players don't wear ANY helmets or protective gear. I've watched a few games over at Bonnie's (because Matt and Charlie live there too and they're really into it) so I understood most of the plays, but luckily Matt sat next to me and answered all my questions. The game was close, but because the Roosters' last "try" (touchdown) didn't count, the Eels took the win 28-24.

MONDAY: Today I battled the morning train commute and started my internship at Eventful Management, a company who plans annual conferences for big corporate companies (similar to what my cousin Tara does). The conferences usually center around different aspects of the SAP-technology program and how to best utilize it within the company, but they also address "hot topics" within the office and provide opportunities for businesses to network with each other. To be honest, I arrived thinking I was going to be planning some company's Christmas party on a yacht in Sydney Harbour (to which I'd be invited, of course) but instead I spent my first day writing birthday cards for conference-goers (EM is all about the personal touches - so cute) and arranging accommodation for the upcoming conference in October. On my lunch break, I walked around the neighborhood - cute shops and small beachy houses with a killer view of the harbour (the office is in McMahons Point in North Sydney, just over the Harbour Bridge. Awesome location.)

TUESDAY: Went to Manly. See previous post for extensive details.

WEDNESDAY: Had class from 2-5 (nothing noteworthy happened before then) and then attended the screening of an Aboriginal film called "This Is Our Country Too" with Mo. The 80-minute film was a documentary shot in Alice Springs (in the country, towards the outback), Darwin and the Northern Territory (NT), detailing the lives of the Aboriginal people (Australia's first inhabitants wayyy before the English settlers; they make up 5% or so of the country's total population) who live there. The footage was incredible - the dispossession (small tin shacks for 16 people, kitchens with no walls, and whole families crammed into one bedroom), the government regulations (signs banning liquor and pornography in Aboriginal camps, and half of the support money they receive comes in the form of vouchers they can only spend at two grocery stores or Kmart) and the discrimination they face (a lot of the information non-indigenous Australians receive about Aborigines comes from the media, who often portray them as helpless drunks.) Probably the most cogent interview was with a two-time Vietnam war vet named Geoff Shaw (at this point, I was so moved by the film I grabbed a little notebook from my purse and started jotting down notes and quotes - hello, dorky journo student): "The quarantine law gives me the shits - I can't even do what I want in my own country. I can't even have a beer." It was shocking to see that this is happening in a country as progressive and friendly as Australia, but it's not the case with all Aboriginal people: many live and work in the cities too. I'm glad to be taking a class about Aboriginal people and their representation this semester so I can learn more about it.

On a lighter note, a group of us went out to a pub near campus for the UTS European Society's kickoff party that night and had a great time meeting all sorts of new people!

THURSDAY: Before my business tutorial, I met up with my friend Aimee at a coffee shop. Aimee is a UTS journalism student who studied at SF State last fall and was in my Magazine Writing class, so we had a grand time comparing the journo departments and cities over our flat whites. Similar to the response I've gotten from other Sydneysiders, Aimee loooved SF and wants to go back after she graduates in December (ahhhh!) She also told me about some fabulous magazine internships she's pursued and that I should try for in Sydney, so there's my next project!

FRIDAY: Hung out with Anja and discovered a hidden grocery store under the Broadway Shopping Centre. Not particularly noteworthy, but it was fun! That night, my SF friend Paul and I went out and joined a pub crawl around Surry Hills, an artsy neighborhood that's been likened to the Haight in SF.

SATURDAY: Went to Matt's soccer game (he plays for UTS) and finally saw the Kuring-gai campus (there's only about 500 students there studying sports management, business, nursing, etc. It's far removed from North Sydney and looks like it's set in a jungle.) The uni sports here are very different from the US: practices aren't mandatory (or at least Matt doesn't go, and he's a starter), the referees are players from the reserve teams (I think it's like the JV team), and the players aren't all UTS students (some are, but others are graduates with families, and one guy apparently goes to the Univ. of Sydney!) I'm not sure this is the case with all sports (my other friend plays volleyball for UTS and practices every day...) but it still seems way less competitive than American uni sports. Anyway, UTS lost 2-1, but Matt played great.

That night, I met up with fellow San Franciscans Bonnie and Paul to talk about American politics (haha) before heading out to the Ladyhawke/Van She concert! The music was cool - a techno/electronic dance-type I didn't really listen to in the states - and there were DJs spinning between sets. The crowd was pretty chill and everyone was dancing, so the atmosphere made it even better. Afterwards, we headed to the Wallaby Bar in Darling Harbour to meet up with our friends...at 2 a.m. Sydney has certainly turned me into a night owl!

Aaaand now that it's Sunday, I'm going to dive head first into my essay.

After checking out of my hotel on Friday, I caught a cab to UTS and lugged my bags (yes, there were a lot of them) to the Housing office to find out which apartment I'd been assigned to. My complex, a 58-student brick building in Chippendale called Geegal (an Aboriginal word for "shelter") is a 10 minute walk from the main downtown UTS campus (fortunately, one of the RN's - residential networkers - had a car and offered to drive me and my suitcases to my place. Thank goodness.) The building's great - there are several one- to three-story flats surrounding a BBQ patio area, a rec room with a tv and pool table, laundry facilities, and just about everyone has their own room. My flat, a third-floor, six-bedroom place on the corner, has a balcony that overlooks the BBQ area. My room (which has to be one of the biggest, I love it) is towards the back, so it's very quiet and overlooks the street next to Geegal. The surrounding flats are so cute, very artsy-San Francisco and a great view to wake up to every morning.

The outside of my building - I live at the top, above the rec room.

So far, my roommates seem great. There's Awa, the RN who is an Aussie but spent six months interning in Ethiopia before enrolling at UTS; Ethan, a Chinese guy I just met yesterday; Will, another Aussie native from the country (inland, basically); Melissa, who I met briefly but seems nice; and Ronald, the last guy I have yet to meet (I think he's still home in Zimbabwe). Our flat's pretty big, so I doubt it'll ever feel too crowded.

Awa and I on top of the Univ. of Sydney parking structure at sunset - the Univ. of Technology Sydney is the eyesore in the background

Moving into an apartment with absolutely nothing (besides sundresses, a few jackets, and 14 pairs of shoes) is a bizarre experience: all I had was a desk and chair, a closet, a shelf, a set of filing drawers, and a bed (a king single, which are wayyy better than the narrow extra-long beds I remember from the dorms). I had no towels, no sheets, no alarm clock or hangers - everything was bare. Fortunately, my downstairs neighbors Janett (a girl from Germany who'd lived in Geegal for a semester already) and Zach (an Aussie from Manly Beach), the sweethearts they are, took me to Target (!!!) and the grocery store. This was a completely normal experience except for four key differences: 1) Both Target and Coles, the grocery store, are located in the same mall - a mall that also includes a K-Mart, a movie theater, and a liquor store; 2) Instead of escalator stairs, they have ramps between levels - and apparently you're not supposed to take your shopping cart up them. Whoops; 3) You cannot order "a house coffee" here - it has to be "a flat white" (coffee and milk), a "tall black" (straight coffee), or some sort of flavored coffee - and it all costs at least $3 (a mocha at Starbucks is $4.25!!); and 4) We loaded up our shopping cart AND TOOK IT HOME WITH US. Yes, people take shopping carts from the mall, wheel their purchases back to their apartments, and leave the cart outside their complex to be picked up and taken back to the mall. Now this is a country that caters to the needs of college students!

We had a BBQ in Geegal that night in honor of a guy named Mune (I think that's how you spell it), who was moving back to Japan the following day. A "typical" Aussie BBQ, as they called it, consisted of sausage and grilled onions on slices of white bread, potato chips and beer. I shared some wine with a guy from Paris, swapped stories with a guy from southern Italy, chatted with a girl from South Korea, and couldn't believe how at home I felt.

I spent the weekend between Target (where the manager, a UTS postgrad student, now knows my name, major and home country because I've visited so many times) and various apartments. Geegal reminds me of the dorms: people are always milling around each others' places or hanging out in the downstairs common room, and everyone's eager to meet everyone else. Dylan and James, two Aussie flatmates, introduced me to some great Aussie music (Silverchair, the Potbellies, and of course ACDC) and gave Bonnie (a friend from SF State who also happens to live in Geegal) and I our first tastes of Vegemite. It's served on a piece of toast spread with marmalade and to be honest, it tastes a lot like soy sauce...but one bite was enough.

Orientation Week, or O-Week, was actually kind of fun: we spent the morning/afternoon listening to presentations on campus, then had BBQs and pub crawls with the other international students at night. Because the drinking age is 18 here, everyone from the residences and O-Week is able to meet up at the bars and night clubs, making it a great way to meet people. Most of the European students I've met, namely from Germany and Denmark, have perfect English; the Spanish speakers seem to struggle a bit more, but they're still loads of fun to talk to.

Since the rain has finally stopped (it's been pouring for the past three days - hello, winter), some of us are going to spend the weekend exploring Paddy's Market (a kind of farmers' market upstairs and compacted Canal Street downstairs) and walking the famous path between Coogee and Bondi Beach. Classes start next week, so we need to fit in as much as possible this weekend!