Weeks 7 & 8: 3/16-29
Week 7:
Week 7 started in a hurry and two weeks went by in a flash. I began planning a trip for Fall Break (Spring in the US) Thursday of Week 6 and am now able to officially announce that I (along with four others [Julia, Jocelyn - another in Sydney and NY college friends with Julia], Chuck, and Evan from Indiana U) will be traveling to Thailand. The flights have been arranged – I am leaving on April 11th and returning April 19th, spending four days in Bangkok, followed by 3 nights in Phuket, and then another night in Bangkok before flying back to Sydney. We will be spending next week (Week 9) confirming dates; booking hotels, tours, etc; and making any necessary final payments. Our flights will be on British Airways (the cheap alternative to Qantas, the major airline of Australia), and quite fortunately I should add, because over the weekend several Qantas employees went on strike in an effort to keep their jobs in lieu of recent events, which have forced the airlines to outsource their security operations. As a result, there have been massive delays and heaps of mishandled &/or late luggage due to the baggage handlers and laborers now on strike who were previously responsible for many of the security duties as well. The event by which this strike emerged (as I heard on the news – something I’ve been making an added attempt to do recently) was the death of a Hell’s Angels ‘bikie’ (slang for a bike gang member, of which there are many here) in the Sydney Airport during the week. It turns out he was beaten to death by a large group of an opposing gang (The Comancheros) who were on the same flight as him from Melbourne and apparently attacked him with fists, boots, and even stanchion poles after de-boarding. The scene sounded horrendous and somehow almost all of the opposing gang got away before police could apprehend them. The result of the incident was criticism over Qantas Airport security and forced the airlines to respond with further preventative security measures, hence the outsourcing and impeding lay-offs. There has been growing tension and violence emerging amongst the numerous bike gangs throughout Australia in the past weeks and has spurred a movement amongst many bikies to ride to Canberra, Australia (the national capital) in an effort to form a truce that could end a lot of the violence. In the mean time, there have been more and more reports of shootings and attacks even spreading to Sydney suburban areas, including the attempted murder of the brother of the bikie who was beaten to death in the airport. He was shot at eight times and suffered three bullet wounds, but survived the attack. Anyways, the trip for Thailand is set and I am growing very excited to experience another culture that is so different from my own. A few things we will be doing are taking a city tour of Bangkok, riding elephants, and visiting the floating markets and grand palace, all during the hottest days of the year and an annual event known as the “Water Festival”, which was originally the Thai New Year celebration. Basically everybody runs the streets soaking each other with water and young people offer respect to their elders or parents by pouring scented water into their hands. Dave, a Thai person who happens to live in our hall, has offered several ideas and facts about the country and I hope to find some more time to talk to him more before leaving.
Another major announcement from Week 7 was the events that transpired during St. Patrick’s Day, 2009. Many of us signed up for a multiple-university affiliated evening cruise through Sydney Harbour. For AUD$59, we were taken on a three-hour cruise with all-you-can-eat Dominos Pizza (for 1 hour) and all-you-can-drink Heinekens, white wine, and some funky pink concoction of what tasted like champagne and some kind of juice. We all got our fill and fortunately for me, my first class didn’t start until 1pm the following day. It was a beautiful night, but I forgot to bring my camera so I’ll have to settle for the mental memories, although I think many of the tourists here make the mistake of taking too many pictures rather than savoring the moment. Regardless, I would like to take more pictures and will be making a greater effort to lug my bulky camera around in the future to digitally capture more of my experiences. I also hope to return to areas in Sydney I have yet to photograph and get some more pictures (despite my measly 3.2 megapixels). The only other happening of the week was a day spent at Manly Beach followed by a night back at ANZ Stadium in Olympic Park for my very first rugby game. This one was an NRL matchup between our local South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Pirtek Parramatta Eels. I bought a replica of last year’s jerseys (on sale) across the street at Rebel Sports as a souvenir which I wore to the game. NRL is the National Rugby League and one of two rugby organizations in Australia, the other being Rugby Union. The difference between the two was described to me as Union being a gentlemen’s game and league being for thugs. League is an ‘updated version’ of Rugby Union with faster play and Union is more internationally recognized, especially in England and throughout Europe. Anyways, the Rabbitohs lost, but it was interesting and fun to watch and we had decent seats about 15 rows back in the corner. The next day was spent at a NEW beach called Coogee Beach. Danielle, an old friend I’ve known since Junior High, is living in a house near the beach for her semester in Sydney, so she came down with her roommates to say hi and hang out. Some friends of hers living in the area came out a little later and we all played some team bocce ball on the beach. Chuck bought the bocce ball set when he found it somewhere on sale…great purchase. Danielle and I of course won in a controversial decision. The sun was hot today, and by the time we were ready to go, I noticed I was beginning to gleam a healthy red glow. I wasn’t as responsible as I usually am with the sun screen and paid for it with my first real burn of the trip. I made sure to aloe up plenty when I got back and it turned out alright. It never was bad enough to hurt or even peel, and so it actually turned into a decent tan, but close call.
Week 8:
Almost nothing interesting to speak of – I spent some time with my friends from the surf trip on Wednesday and Thursday and stayed in for the remainder of the weekend. I’d be lying if I said I’m not growing a bit stressed out. School keeps getting tougher as I continue to try and catch up in my Math Statistics class. After some introspection and thought, I have determined the root of my problems. I am behaving a bit too manically as I persist to assimilate to my new situation and I burn it a little too hard at both ends trying to establish a social life and experience the country I came to study in. Subsequently, in some sense, I have lost track of why I’m REALLY here. According to the University of Minnesota Study Abroad “Culture Shock” diagram, I am currently experiencing the “critical low point” that follows the “emotional high point” that comes with entering the country. The next step is “initial adjustment”, and I am already prepared for the challenge. By placing more emphasis on the ‘cultural experience’ end of things and detracting from the ‘social’ end, (as well as adapt to the different school structure) things should become less complicated and it will create some extra study time. I’m excited to get Week 9 started.
Week 7 started in a hurry and two weeks went by in a flash. I began planning a trip for Fall Break (Spring in the US) Thursday of Week 6 and am now able to officially announce that I (along with four others [Julia, Jocelyn - another in Sydney and NY college friends with Julia], Chuck, and Evan from Indiana U) will be traveling to Thailand. The flights have been arranged – I am leaving on April 11th and returning April 19th, spending four days in Bangkok, followed by 3 nights in Phuket, and then another night in Bangkok before flying back to Sydney. We will be spending next week (Week 9) confirming dates; booking hotels, tours, etc; and making any necessary final payments. Our flights will be on British Airways (the cheap alternative to Qantas, the major airline of Australia), and quite fortunately I should add, because over the weekend several Qantas employees went on strike in an effort to keep their jobs in lieu of recent events, which have forced the airlines to outsource their security operations. As a result, there have been massive delays and heaps of mishandled &/or late luggage due to the baggage handlers and laborers now on strike who were previously responsible for many of the security duties as well. The event by which this strike emerged (as I heard on the news – something I’ve been making an added attempt to do recently) was the death of a Hell’s Angels ‘bikie’ (slang for a bike gang member, of which there are many here) in the Sydney Airport during the week. It turns out he was beaten to death by a large group of an opposing gang (The Comancheros) who were on the same flight as him from Melbourne and apparently attacked him with fists, boots, and even stanchion poles after de-boarding. The scene sounded horrendous and somehow almost all of the opposing gang got away before police could apprehend them. The result of the incident was criticism over Qantas Airport security and forced the airlines to respond with further preventative security measures, hence the outsourcing and impeding lay-offs. There has been growing tension and violence emerging amongst the numerous bike gangs throughout Australia in the past weeks and has spurred a movement amongst many bikies to ride to Canberra, Australia (the national capital) in an effort to form a truce that could end a lot of the violence. In the mean time, there have been more and more reports of shootings and attacks even spreading to Sydney suburban areas, including the attempted murder of the brother of the bikie who was beaten to death in the airport. He was shot at eight times and suffered three bullet wounds, but survived the attack. Anyways, the trip for Thailand is set and I am growing very excited to experience another culture that is so different from my own. A few things we will be doing are taking a city tour of Bangkok, riding elephants, and visiting the floating markets and grand palace, all during the hottest days of the year and an annual event known as the “Water Festival”, which was originally the Thai New Year celebration. Basically everybody runs the streets soaking each other with water and young people offer respect to their elders or parents by pouring scented water into their hands. Dave, a Thai person who happens to live in our hall, has offered several ideas and facts about the country and I hope to find some more time to talk to him more before leaving.
Another major announcement from Week 7 was the events that transpired during St. Patrick’s Day, 2009. Many of us signed up for a multiple-university affiliated evening cruise through Sydney Harbour. For AUD$59, we were taken on a three-hour cruise with all-you-can-eat Dominos Pizza (for 1 hour) and all-you-can-drink Heinekens, white wine, and some funky pink concoction of what tasted like champagne and some kind of juice. We all got our fill and fortunately for me, my first class didn’t start until 1pm the following day. It was a beautiful night, but I forgot to bring my camera so I’ll have to settle for the mental memories, although I think many of the tourists here make the mistake of taking too many pictures rather than savoring the moment. Regardless, I would like to take more pictures and will be making a greater effort to lug my bulky camera around in the future to digitally capture more of my experiences. I also hope to return to areas in Sydney I have yet to photograph and get some more pictures (despite my measly 3.2 megapixels). The only other happening of the week was a day spent at Manly Beach followed by a night back at ANZ Stadium in Olympic Park for my very first rugby game. This one was an NRL matchup between our local South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Pirtek Parramatta Eels. I bought a replica of last year’s jerseys (on sale) across the street at Rebel Sports as a souvenir which I wore to the game. NRL is the National Rugby League and one of two rugby organizations in Australia, the other being Rugby Union. The difference between the two was described to me as Union being a gentlemen’s game and league being for thugs. League is an ‘updated version’ of Rugby Union with faster play and Union is more internationally recognized, especially in England and throughout Europe. Anyways, the Rabbitohs lost, but it was interesting and fun to watch and we had decent seats about 15 rows back in the corner. The next day was spent at a NEW beach called Coogee Beach. Danielle, an old friend I’ve known since Junior High, is living in a house near the beach for her semester in Sydney, so she came down with her roommates to say hi and hang out. Some friends of hers living in the area came out a little later and we all played some team bocce ball on the beach. Chuck bought the bocce ball set when he found it somewhere on sale…great purchase. Danielle and I of course won in a controversial decision. The sun was hot today, and by the time we were ready to go, I noticed I was beginning to gleam a healthy red glow. I wasn’t as responsible as I usually am with the sun screen and paid for it with my first real burn of the trip. I made sure to aloe up plenty when I got back and it turned out alright. It never was bad enough to hurt or even peel, and so it actually turned into a decent tan, but close call.
Week 8:
Almost nothing interesting to speak of – I spent some time with my friends from the surf trip on Wednesday and Thursday and stayed in for the remainder of the weekend. I’d be lying if I said I’m not growing a bit stressed out. School keeps getting tougher as I continue to try and catch up in my Math Statistics class. After some introspection and thought, I have determined the root of my problems. I am behaving a bit too manically as I persist to assimilate to my new situation and I burn it a little too hard at both ends trying to establish a social life and experience the country I came to study in. Subsequently, in some sense, I have lost track of why I’m REALLY here. According to the University of Minnesota Study Abroad “Culture Shock” diagram, I am currently experiencing the “critical low point” that follows the “emotional high point” that comes with entering the country. The next step is “initial adjustment”, and I am already prepared for the challenge. By placing more emphasis on the ‘cultural experience’ end of things and detracting from the ‘social’ end, (as well as adapt to the different school structure) things should become less complicated and it will create some extra study time. I’m excited to get Week 9 started.
Cheers!
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