Study Abroad, Chapter 2: What’s Up Sydney!?
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It’s Sunday afternoon, and I just landed in Sydney. The plane ride over from Melbourne was a little “dodgy” as the locals would say. Our pilot came on the PA system 45 minutes prior to our scheduled landing time and barked, “Flight attendants prepare for landing IMMEDIATELY.” The word “immediately” coupled with a quick nose dive made everyone in the plane a bit queasy. Regardless, we landed safe and sound.
First thoughts on Sydney: it’s beautiful. In comparison to Melbourne, Sydney is a more beach-oriented town. Sandals, shorts and surfboards are the norm around here.
After packing our luggage into an overcrowded bus we headed to Sydney University Village (SUV), which is where I will be living for the next couple of months. SUV is real nice. Having been built in 2003 it has a “new apartment” feel to it. It is also a rather large complex, boarding 650 tenants. This excessively large size makes for quite a few friends, and a big nightlife scene. SUV’s only real drawback is its lack of air-conditioning. Remember how they banned CFCs from aerosol cans a while back because they were depleting the Ozone Layer. Well as it turns out, that depletion took place right over Australia. That’s right, Australia has little to no Ozone Layer, which all but guarantees consistent 95ºF+ days. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to buy a fan!
Sydney University Village
My roommates are real cool. I’m staying in a 5 bedroom/2 bath unit. All four of my roommates are girls, which I find hilarious. Hopefully they will cook and clean!
Monday roles around, the first real day of Orientation. Due to the University of Sydney’s massive size, Orientation is not mandatory though it is highly recommended. Naturally, I decided to go and check out the first session to get a feel on whether or not it was actually worth attending. It wasn’t.
I ended up skipping out on “Alcohol And Your Body” around 9.30am to head to Global Gossip, the local cell phone service provide. After working out my phone issues I ate lunch and played some tennis with a few friends. The night soon rolled around and I got my first taste of Sydney Uni’s nightlife scene, which involves drinking in friend’s apartments.
Orientation at The Great Hall
After waking up a bit hungover on Tuesday, I decided to get some obligatory shopping done: food, office supplies, etc. Believe it or not, they actually have a Kmart and a Target here. After shopping I headed back to my place to make a quick meal before heading out to Scruffy Murphy’s, my first real Aussie bar. Live band up top, DJ down below. This place was bumping. Word to the wise, cabs in Sydney are twice as expensive as they are in the US. Why I warn you: we didn’t have enough money to afford the full fare home, so our driver kicked us out halfway, forcing us to walk and hitchhike our way home. Eventually we did make it back alive, to which I greeted my bed with a big “I LOVE YOU!”
Wednesday was a lackluster day, consisting of advising sessions and class enrollment. After setting up the internet in my apartment, I headed out for some Thai food. What I find fascinating is that every restaurant in Sydney is BYO (“Bring Your Own”) when it comes to alcohol, so we brought some wine to dinner and had a great time. After dinner I headed back to my place to catch up on some sleep; tomorrow was to be Beach Day.
Coogee Beach
All did go according to plan. We ended up at Coogee Beach for lunch and a swim. In Sydney everyone uses the bus to get around. It works wonders as a $2 fare will take you anywhere you need to go. After the beach, I came back to my room and decided to go for a run. I circled Sydney Uni’s campus twice, jogging through parts I had not yet seen. Our campus is beyond beautiful. You can’t even imagine. It feels as though you are at Jungle Island or a comparable attraction. I can get used to this.
Victoria Park on Sydney Uni's Campus
Friday: Laundry Day. Or should I say, “Friday: The Day Laundry Never Got Done.” Oh well, I ended up heading to Argyle and enjoying Sydney’s nightlife scene a bit more. This was my first real taste of “The Rocks,” one of Sydney’s more hip areas. Got back a bit late and slept through Saturday morning. I did, however, wake up feeling inspired. Inspired to cook and inspired to clean. Sure enough, I cooked my first full, not-microwaved meal. The seasoned chicken and salted rice was plentiful, enough to last a week. Who the hell am I kidding? I burnt the chicken and the rice never opened. Oh well, I’ll live. After my “meal” I showered, got dressed, cleaned my room a bit and headed to the Ivy. A chic nightclub located in Sydney’s Business District. Like last time, I won’t provide you with any details. Rest assured, I had fun!
I pen this entry on Sunday the 21st of February. Today I woke up and to my pleasure SUV was hosting a free Bar-B-Q lunch right outside my door. At the BBQ I made some new friends with whom I decided to go see Martin Scorsese’s new film, Shutter Island, with. Tickets were unfortunately sold out, so instead we did a bit of shopping, passing through an “LGBT Mardi Gras Parade” in the process. Wow, just wow. We ended up grabbing a bite to eat at Guzman Y Gomez (Mexican food of course!). Now it’s 11.30pm and I am back in my room, ready to shower and hit the sack after a long week. Until Chapter 3 my friends…
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