Study Abroad Blog

If I could get away with living life in my room, I probably would do just that... my introverted nature keeps me from enjoying my surroundings sometimes. Luckily, I have two roommates who  made it their goal to make sure I do not lock myself into my room for the remainder of the trip. This week, even though I really just wanted to stay home and do homework (or sleep), they insisted I get out and actually enjoy Sydney.

Wednesday, we celebrated Cinco De Mayo! There are very few Mexican restaurants in Sydney (about 3 in the entire city... now remember that Sydney is the size of NYC and you should be surprised). We found one in Newtown... the hip- trendy- really awesome suburb of Sydney that had $5 burritos on Cinco De Mayo! So of course, almost all 37 students in our program had to go get one! Now in Sydney, any meal less than $10 is incredible. Even subway $5 footlongs are $7 here! So, for us to find a good Mexican restaurant was amazing and the fact that they had huge burritos for less than a Subway footlong is just like icing on the cake!

Thursday morning, I met 3 friends for lunch at a cute little Italian shop. It is the kind of place where you look at the selection of desserts and realize that if you got one of everything that looks good, you will probably spend your entire life savings... so we decided to get the much advertised ricotta cheesecake (it even has a facebook fan page!) I must say, I was a little disappointed in the cheesecake consistency, but the flavour and the crust were both fabulous.

 We went on a 5 hour hike in the Blue Mountains for class on Friday. It was a nice change of pace from learning about aboriginal history in the classroom. We went with an aboriginal guide to a few sacred sites and painted our faces with homemade Ochre (rocks mixed with water to make a pasty paint). It was so much fun and totally worth the 1 ½ hour ride to and from Sydney.  

After such an intense day, I really just wanted to go to sleep.... but of course, my roommate Amy would not let me stay home. She says we can sleep when we are dead (what she doesn't realize is that without sleep, I'm as good as dead!) After the fact, I was very glad she convinced me to go out. We ended up going to karaoke, which is what I usually do in my living room every night, so it was refreshing to do it for the first time in 3 months.

I finally fulfilled my goal to see a show at the Opera House on Saturday. There was a special Rodgers and Hammerstein show on and when I found out about it, I could not resist it. It was a conglomeration of highlights from 6 musicals played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. I almost had to watch the show by myself. I was supposed to meet my friend in front of one of the ferry entrances, but the place we decided to meet was numbered wrong, so we both walked around the area for about half an hour wondering what to do. Eventually... right before the show started, we found each other. At the end of the performance, the conductor recognized a special guest in the audience. I was surprised to hear that one of the original cast members (Fredrick Von Trap) in The Sound of Music was in the audience (with me!!!!) It was certainly the highlight of the night.

I must say that I am very glad my roommates have been persistently encouraging me to take every opportunity to experience Sydney- just from this week I have so many memories that I would not have if I had stayed in my room every night. 

I cannot conjure up words powerful enough to describe my experience in the Australian outback. It was probably the most amazing place I have ever been IN MY LIFE! However, it did not start out that way.

At first, the outback adventure was not too kind to us. It rained the first day on the road as we sat in a bus filled with 40 people. The countryside was gorgeous and I could not ignore the thought of getting out of the bus and running up and down the hills. Unfortunately, it is not easy to do in a bus... so I just let my mind wonder. When we arrived in Dubbo (our stay for the night), I expected a very grungy, nasty hotel. Instead I was met with a nice family motel. In Australia, the term motor lodge or motel means a place that families can stay. There are large and small rooms depending on the size of the family. We had a nice meal at the hotel and I stayed up talking with Joi (the girl I roomed with). We ended up staying up way too late, but it was worth it to get to know her.

On our second day, we got stuck in a town called "Cobar". It is an old mining town that has been almost abandoned. The reason we were stuck is because there was so much rain that the dirt road we were supposed to use to get to Trilby Station (our final destination) was flooded. Instead of risking being stuck in the middle of a dirt road in the middle of the outback, we opted to stay in this small town. Again, we had a wonderful time despite the circumstances. Even if a little terrier JUMPED the fence and chased me and a friend when we went for a run! At night, we told life stories, ate a fabulous meal, and danced. I even got to do a little swing dancing, which I love!

We finally arrived at Mount Burrathumble at around 3 on Wednesday. Although there was much rain, there was still limited water. Our group decided to challenge ourselves to go without showers for the entire trip. Although it was only a few nights, we ended up getting extremely dirty.

Our time in the outback was incredible. We went on the back of trucks and chased Kangaroos and Emus through the fields. It was very muddy, so we got very dirty. In the evenings, we sat around a campfire sharing stories about ourselves. We ended up forming a deep bond through roughing it in the outback.

Nights in the outback were my favorite. The beauty and stillness cannot be matched by any place in the world. I slept outside both nights. The sky was filled with stars. I could see the Milky Way galaxy from where I was laying. I felt so small amongst the giant sky in the outback. Although there were many locusts, I didn't really care. It was such a wonderful place that the millions of bugs did not bother me.

I continue to learn so much about myself through every experience I encounter in Australia. There is something about separating from normal routine that catapults you into discovering unexplored areas of your life. I HIGHLY recommend any other Judson student to look into this program... or any other Best Semester program (though I'm partial to Australia).

-Christina Lee

P.S. I used the color orange because it reminded me of the outback!!!! I miss it already!

Although Sydney is the largest city in Australia, it is not the capitol. The capital of Australia is Canberra. I lost count of how many people I have explained this to... so for future reference, NO, Sydney is NOT the capitol!

This weekend, my study abroad group went to Canberra. We had to be at school bright and early on Friday morning (6 a.m. if you were wondering). All 37 of us loaded into a van and we were off to a weekend of learning and fun. Little did I know how amazing it would be! (YES, I am a nerd!)

When we arrived in Canberra, we had a day full ahead of us. Friday was spent at Embassies. First, we went to the Indonesian Embassy and learned about their relations to Australia. Indonesia is considered to be Australia's greatest threat, although Australia is very peaceful and really does not fear being attacked. The motto of Indonesia is "Millions of friends- zero enemies". HAHA ! I thought it was super cute and maybe not actually true, but what do I know. The New Zealand High Commission was our next stop. I was blown away by the honesty presented by the New Zealand politician.  I thought the man speaking was lying or at least sugar coating everything he was saying, but I asked one of our leaders from New Zealand and she said it is true. New Zealanders will not tolerate a politician who lies. New Zealand upholds what it stands for even if their stance hurts the country economically. Our last stop was at the Aboriginal Australian Embassy. Yes, you did read it correctly, but it is not what you are imagining. The Aboriginal Embassy is actually a protest. A group of Aboriginals camp outside the capital trying to get rights to the land taken from them- or even compensation for their hardships.

If you do not know the history of Australia, Aboriginal people were treated in horrible ways by the Europeans who arrived in the 1700s. Even up to the 1960s, Aboriginal children were ripped from their mothers and given to white families. It was not until Kevin Rudd became Prime Minister that Aboriginals got a public apology for their treatment, but the Aboriginal people are still suffering today.

You might notice that we did not go to the AMERICAN EMBASSY. This is simply because we were not allowed to go. First, it was because President Obama was coming, but then he postponed his trip. Our own embassy denied us access to the grounds! In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "how rude!"

Friday night, I went out for coffee with some friends, but we were unsuccessful. The entire town closes down at 10 P.M. EVEN THE COFFEE SHOPS! The capitol of Australia does not have coffee after 10 at night! CRAZY!

Saturday we went to museums and art galleries. I fell in love with an Australian painter: Arthur Boyd. I encourage you to look him up! His work is fascinating and left me with so many questions. We went to the second largest war memorial in the world. (The first is in Britain.) Did you know that there were 11 Australians in the world trade center on 9/11? Or that during the first battle of WWI, the American soldiers were technically under an Australian general? OR that every war America has fought in, Australia has too!?! Yes, Australia is our most faithful friend! The weekend was so packed, I cannot even begin to explain everything I learned, but hopefully my blog has given you a taste of Canberra! For anyone who enjoys history and art, it is a fabulous place to visit!