Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Straya Observations
Despite how nice people are here, they will speed up when you try to cross the road. So be careful, even if you know you've timed it right, you still might get hit.
The Mall will close at 6 or 7pm, and everything will be closed off except for the grocery store. Those usually close at 12am.
There's a Hooters Australia. How do I know this? There's a mini Hooters car parked on my street. Pictures to be posted later.
I saw a kid get handcuffed and searched the other day at Bondi Junction train station. I had been walking into the train station thinking that my Monday was going to suck. After I saw that, I felt a little better.
Spiders are everywhere. Roaches are common too, thankfully we've been able to keep both outside of the house. The roaches here are much smaller and less ugly, but they still need to stay outside.
Dryers don't really exist here.
Turkey doesn't really exist here either and the concept of it seems to bother some people.
I hate ironing, especially since my ironing board only makes it up to groin level.
Every Friday is a barbecue at mi casa, except for last Friday which was Fajita Friday. Maybe next Friday will be StirFriday.
Restaurants and food establishments do not have sanitation grades posted. I don't like that, but I guess they get inspected regularly. Right?
In the Grocery Store:
Eggs are not refrigerated.
Pet food is refrigerated directly next to the beef.
Shout Outs
Before going any further I would just like to say that I'm sorry that this has taken so long. Every time I sit down to write my blog either the internet goes out or one of my mates finds a cool new way to distract me. This section was inspired by Mike Cohen, the other brother down under. He said that many of you enjoyed my blog and deserved a shout out. So let's see who's reading.
Most enthusiastic Blog Follower: Herr Bender, thanks for reading buddy. Every time I got distracted and didn't update my blog I felt I was failing you.
Best at keeping in touch: This one's a tie between Igal and Ian. Igal, you probably shouldn't even be reading this. You should get back to doing homework. Ian, you aren't reading this and that's perfectly fine by me.
Secret Blog Follower: My main man SuperCam, Mike told me you liked my blog and kept up with it this was nuts, miss ya dawg.
Mike Cohen: My Australian American compadre, we haven't been arrested or chased by angry rioters yet. We've got to work on that.
The Aussie Crew: The Dinosaur, Big Leach, AK-47, and The Godfather, if you don't know who you are, it's ok because I just made these up. They're a work in progress.
Good Samaritan Shout Out: Mysterious Asian Woman Lilly, I left my phone on the train a week ago and thought it was a goner for sure, but little old Lilly left it at the station for me. How cool is that? Heaps cool
Most enthusiastic Blog Follower: Herr Bender, thanks for reading buddy. Every time I got distracted and didn't update my blog I felt I was failing you.
Best at keeping in touch: This one's a tie between Igal and Ian. Igal, you probably shouldn't even be reading this. You should get back to doing homework. Ian, you aren't reading this and that's perfectly fine by me.
Secret Blog Follower: My main man SuperCam, Mike told me you liked my blog and kept up with it this was nuts, miss ya dawg.
Mike Cohen: My Australian American compadre, we haven't been arrested or chased by angry rioters yet. We've got to work on that.
The Aussie Crew: The Dinosaur, Big Leach, AK-47, and The Godfather, if you don't know who you are, it's ok because I just made these up. They're a work in progress.
Good Samaritan Shout Out: Mysterious Asian Woman Lilly, I left my phone on the train a week ago and thought it was a goner for sure, but little old Lilly left it at the station for me. How cool is that? Heaps cool
Ready, Weather or Not...GO!
The weather is generally in the upper 60's to mid 70's now. So it's Spring time here?
I'm not sure what to call it, but we're on the cusp of summer and it's great. I'm so excited. I go to the beach (Bondi) semi-frequently and went into the water for the first time the other day. The water was (bad pun warning) cold as I'll get out, but it was refreshing too. I went with my housemates and we had a good time. 90% of the time I go to the beach, I end up passing out in the sand. It's a great feeling. It was really interesting to go with a few of the locals this last time around because I learned a few things about Bondi beach culture. The tourists and backpackers stay on the side closest to Bondi Junction. The attractive people and muscle heads are on the other end. A few French nudist types are in between the backpackers and the middle of the beach. I know now where I should be chilling from here on out. There were also quite a few camera men this time around as they were filming a show called Bondi Rescue. I had to resist the urge to walk behind them and be as awkward as possible, but I was able to successfully repress the urge. TV just isn't ready for it yet. Every time I go to the beach, I meet the most attractive person in Sydney. It's baffling how many of those there are on the beach. I wonder when I'll find "the one." I'll keep you up to date.
(On the right side: Backpackers, Far left: Attractives, Not nearly this crowded yet)
The weather has been nice enough that I've started running again. I woke up at 5:15am the other day and ran to the beach to watch the Sunrise. It was pretty epic. If ever you need something to fibrillate your soul or make you realize how beautiful earth is, there's (almost) nothing better than watching the sunrise over a beach.
I also ran to see the sunset over the beach. It was gorgeous as well, but the sun can't really be seen from the beach. It gets lost behind buildings to the left of the beach. The change in colors are gorgeous, but for the ultimate romantic experience, you need to actually see the sun set over the water.
Pictures to be posted soon!
That's Pretty School
So I get a lot of questions (Well, I imagine I might if it was easier to correspond with me) about what my school is like.
Buildings, style and structure: It looks a lot like Hogwarts, at least the quadrangle (pictured above) does. All of the buildings look very English and, while some of them are quite new and chic (See New Law Building below), I don't find them very attractive. However, I guess it's the same across most universities. Old buildings look old and creepy and new buildings look hospitable.
Campus Life: Walking through Campus at mid-day can be difficult at times. With 50,000 students, the place is always packed and everyone has somewhere to be. Correction, the place is always packed during school hours. On the weekends and at night, it's a ghost town. It's the ultimate commuter school, although there are some on campus "colleges" (a little similar to a Greek house/dormitories). There are pubs on campus. So if you've got time to kill between classes or aren't rushing to get back home, you can grab a brew with some friends and play some pool too. Universities in America should really look into this. Students spend a considerable amount of the cash on beer, why not have some of that money go back into the University.
Teachers: All seem fairly nice, are all interesting at times, and haven't put me to sleep in lecture yet.
Classrooms: Every row in a big lecture hall is graffitied. Students, bored or refusing to pay attention, uses pens and sharpies to write and draw random things on the places where people put their notebook. I find most of them pretty amusing and wonder, if these drawings are made without the intention of garnering fame or fortune, are they not the truest form of art? I guess the same could be made for bathroom art as well. Call memaybe crazy, but I prefer bathroom art and classroom doodles over heaps of modern art.
Assignments + Exams: There are relatively few assignments here. The majority of assessments are put into 1 or 2 exams and 1 or 2 papers plus either a mandatory 80% attendance or fail policy for toots aka recitations or you actually get a participation grade for attending your tutorial. I'm currently getting shalacked by assignments. I have two tests coming up, one next Thursday and then one Friday night (I'm really pissed about this one because I don't have any classes ever on Fridays, it's at night, and it's the only thing holding me back from my Mid-semester break). Friday night exams should be included into the Geneva convention.
Teachers: All seem fairly nice, are all interesting at times, and haven't put me to sleep in lecture yet.
Classrooms: Every row in a big lecture hall is graffitied. Students, bored or refusing to pay attention, uses pens and sharpies to write and draw random things on the places where people put their notebook. I find most of them pretty amusing and wonder, if these drawings are made without the intention of garnering fame or fortune, are they not the truest form of art? I guess the same could be made for bathroom art as well. Call me
Assignments + Exams: There are relatively few assignments here. The majority of assessments are put into 1 or 2 exams and 1 or 2 papers plus either a mandatory 80% attendance or fail policy for toots aka recitations or you actually get a participation grade for attending your tutorial. I'm currently getting shalacked by assignments. I have two tests coming up, one next Thursday and then one Friday night (I'm really pissed about this one because I don't have any classes ever on Fridays, it's at night, and it's the only thing holding me back from my Mid-semester break). Friday night exams should be included into the Geneva convention.
Australian Slang Part Deux
Variations in Pronunciation
Heych- Apparently that is the "correct" way to pronounce H. I'm skeptical.
Pahss- It's Pahss, not pass
Debut- Day boo
Cities you're probably pronouncing wrong:
Melbin- Melbourne
Cairns- Cans
Brisbane- Brisbin
The general rule of Australian slang is to shorten anything and everything.
Slang:
Shout- to buy someone else a round
Serviette- If you thought Napkin, you were right. Neither of those words really make sense to me, but I'll stick with what's familiar and say that napkin is a better word. It sounds much more informal.
Barby- Barbecue
Prawn- Shrimp
Ending things with Prepositions for ex. Me: How was that party last night? Aussie: It was hectic tho Me: Though what? Aussie: ?, sometimes people here end things in prepositions and it totally confuses me. It's something I hope doesn't catch on back home.
Footy- Football
Mueslis- granola bar
Chemist- Pharmacy or Drug Store
Toots- Recitations
Coon- Is a brand of Cheese, not racist slang. Needless to say, I did a discount double check when I walked past the cheese isle.
Flat- Apartment
Thongs- Sandals and also thong thongs
Trainers- Sneakers, tennis shoes
Wog- Post-WWII migrants, particularly darker skinned. I.e. Greeks, lebanese, etc. it's confusing if this is pejorative or not, but I think it depends on circumstance.
Bogan- the Australian version of a redneck
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
RUGBY
Hello Everybody,
It's been in the works for a long time, but I'm back. Let's start off with Rugby. On the 18th of August, I went with two other international students to the Wallabies vs. All Blacks game. It was an incredible event. Initially, I had a hard time deciding who I was going to root for. Being from America, I knew very little about rugby, but I did know about the All Blacks. A friend of mine was especially keen on their pre-game ritual, the Haka so I thought of rooting for the All Blacks. However, while discussing my conundrum with another international student I completely changed my opinion. Paraphrasing of course, he said "Rooting for the All Blacks and not being from New Zealand is like rooting for the Yankees and not living in New York." That statement resonated and shook me to my very core. If my father has taught me anything or Uncle for that matter, it's that the Yankees are not to be rooted for or tolerated under any circumstances. So I went down to the local grocery store and bought some green and yellow for the game (the commonwealth colors worn by the Wallabies and Australian Olympians). The game was held at the Olympic Stadium which was a pretty impressive place, although it wasn't quite as big as it was when it held the Olympics. The atmosphere was intense. I'd say that attendance,76K+, was split 60/40 Wallabies/All Blacks, quite a high turnout for the "away" team. Once they performed both the Australian and the New Zealand national anthem, the game began. The Wallabies never really threatened at any point in the game, although New Zealand squandered plenty of opportunities. The home crowd was shushed for most of the game, but everyone was on their A game for the Wave. We must have done the wave 10 times in a row, a personal sports event record. The crowd was quite rowdy and everyone was having a great time, except perhaps the die hard Wallabies fans, however they knew it was coming. I figured out most of the game the night before watching NRL teams play, but I still ended up clapping for the wrong team at the wrong time on a few occasions. In my defense, it was hard to distinguish who was yelling for joy or out of anger in the stands. All in all, it was a great experience and I'll have to make it to another rugby game. I still won't stand for the argument that rugby players are better athletes than American Football players, but I'll let theAussies Kiwis have their game and I really respect it. It looks way more brutal than Football, I can tell you that, but I guess having free health care comes in handy. The final score: Wallabies 16 All Blacks 24.
p.s. Getting on the train to go home looked and felt a lot like this.
It's been in the works for a long time, but I'm back. Let's start off with Rugby. On the 18th of August, I went with two other international students to the Wallabies vs. All Blacks game. It was an incredible event. Initially, I had a hard time deciding who I was going to root for. Being from America, I knew very little about rugby, but I did know about the All Blacks. A friend of mine was especially keen on their pre-game ritual, the Haka so I thought of rooting for the All Blacks. However, while discussing my conundrum with another international student I completely changed my opinion. Paraphrasing of course, he said "Rooting for the All Blacks and not being from New Zealand is like rooting for the Yankees and not living in New York." That statement resonated and shook me to my very core. If my father has taught me anything or Uncle for that matter, it's that the Yankees are not to be rooted for or tolerated under any circumstances. So I went down to the local grocery store and bought some green and yellow for the game (the commonwealth colors worn by the Wallabies and Australian Olympians). The game was held at the Olympic Stadium which was a pretty impressive place, although it wasn't quite as big as it was when it held the Olympics. The atmosphere was intense. I'd say that attendance,76K+, was split 60/40 Wallabies/All Blacks, quite a high turnout for the "away" team. Once they performed both the Australian and the New Zealand national anthem, the game began. The Wallabies never really threatened at any point in the game, although New Zealand squandered plenty of opportunities. The home crowd was shushed for most of the game, but everyone was on their A game for the Wave. We must have done the wave 10 times in a row, a personal sports event record. The crowd was quite rowdy and everyone was having a great time, except perhaps the die hard Wallabies fans, however they knew it was coming. I figured out most of the game the night before watching NRL teams play, but I still ended up clapping for the wrong team at the wrong time on a few occasions. In my defense, it was hard to distinguish who was yelling for joy or out of anger in the stands. All in all, it was a great experience and I'll have to make it to another rugby game. I still won't stand for the argument that rugby players are better athletes than American Football players, but I'll let the
p.s. Getting on the train to go home looked and felt a lot like this.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Everything's the same, but different. A General Update on Life Down Under
Hey Y'all,
I'm back! I know you guys were like, "damn, what's missing from my day? I just can't figure out why I have this feeling deep down in my soul that I'm incomplete." Well, you were missing me and my blog of course. So sit back, relax, I'm back with a general discussion on all things random and life down under.
ADVANTAGE: MY READERS
Housing:
I'm currently living in bondi junction, about a 10 min walk from the train station. It's a great location, well it will be once it warms up, and I'm living with a bunch of interesting people. I'm living with 10 other people. Two guys from Australia, one Kiwi (New Zealander), two girls from Chile, two Canadians, an Irishman, a girl from Australia and one girl from Taiwan. It's a great mix and, even though I'm sure I don't need to state the obvious, I'm the only American in the house. A few of them are students and the rest are here working. We're all young adults and, so far, we really enjoy each other's company. It only took me a few days, but I've been renamed, nicknamed if you will. I believe it began because the Kiwi couldn't remember my name and it's a reference to something, but he began calling me Americain. One of the Canadian girls loved it, thought he was saying American in his Kiwi accent, and started calling me America. Hence, my new name is America. Probably the second best nickname I've ever gotten. One of the Chilean girls can barely speak English, but if America has anything to do about it she'll learn it. It takes me about 40 min to get from my door to campus, but most of my commute is via train so it's not bad at all.
ADVANTAGE: DIVERSITY
Weather Update: After a miserable weekend, rain+cold+wind, the weather has finally gotten to t-shirt and jeans level (fingers crossed it stays that way). Most of my housemates know how to surf so hopefully they'll start teaching me soon.
ADVANTAGE: MY MOOD
The Aquarium: WAS AWESOME. I really love animals. I've realized this as a lot of my pictures from the Coastal Walk, the walk from Watson's Bay to Bondi Beach, consisted of colorful birds. I've realized that I really love animals, especially when I don't have to clean up after them. I give it an A- only because they had moved the Dugongs and they wouldn't be back until September. I want more Seacow :(.
ADVANTAGE: SHARKS THAT DON'T EAT ME
Electrical Outlets: Being in a different country, I've gotten to notice differences big and, mostly, small that make or don't make a lot of sense. One of the small differences that made a lot of sense to me are the Australian electrical outlets. Every outlet here has a small switch on it. You can actually switch an outlet off. I know sometimes there are light switches in houses that will turn off the power from outlets, but I'm sure it saves a lot of energy having the switch so easily accessible for every outlet. If we had outlets like that back home, I wouldn't have to unplug and replug everything for winter/spring break. I could just flip the switch.
ADVANTAGE: AUSTRALIA
Restrooms: They call them toilets here. I find that disturbing. It's one of those differences in vernacular that I just don't approve of. I don't think anyone from America would regularly say, I'm going to the toilet or I need to use the toilet. Signs here say toilets instead of restrooms. I don't like it, toilet just sounds dirty to me. Unless you're talking about buying a toilet or fixing one, just say bathroom. El ban~o is also acceptable.
ADVANTAGE: AMERICAN NICETIES
Cheese: There are no cats in Australia, at least none that I've seen. Does this have to do with the fact that the cheese tastes all wrong here and therefore it's not a suitable place for rats to live? Probably not, but I'm sure the rats would agree with me. If I were to run a grocery store, I'd put Australian cheese in the weird tasting food aisle.
ADVANTAGE: AMERICA
Internet: This is my biggest issue with Australia to date. The internet here is awful. Campus Wi-Fi failed, not once, but twice on campus during the first week of school. If that happened more than once at UNC people would riot. I know I would be right there flipping cars and burning dook flags in protest of such awful internet. I've recently learned that they don't have fiber optic cables here and so there are no T level internet connections. To most people, that means nothing, but put simply, it's like switching back to dial-up. In my opinion there are very few things more frustrating than moving from something very technologically advanced back to something much less advanced. Off the very top of my head, I can only name three things more frustrating than having to endure said switch: reading entire chapters of a textbook, reading anything virginia woolf, talking politics and, oh yeah, make this number four, trying to figure out what the hell is going on in LOST.
ADVANTAGE: AMERICA
Kebabs: Pronounced Keh-behb and not Keh-Bob. They are everywhere here in Sydney and they aren't those delicious meat sticks you're so used to thinking about. They're more like shwarma. You can choose between some sort of beef concoction or chicken roasted on a vertical spit which is then sliced and put into a pita. It was very odd the first time I went into a Kebab place and ordered one. It was way better than what I was expecting.There are Kebab stands all over Sydney, it seems every Turkish person here owns a Kebab place, and they're open all night long. I've concluded, solely through observations of course, that the Kebab is the drunk food of Sydney.
ADVANTAGE: AUSTRALIA
The British: Left their mark everywhere here in Australia from their dumb way of driving on the wrong side of the road, to the way they like to misspell words like color. It's been really weird to see a statue of the Queen in the heart of downtown and her face all over the currency. Sometimes I just want to pull an Iraqi citizen and topple it over. 'Merica doesn't bow to monarchy.
ADVANTAGE: COLONIZATION
Recitations: They're called Tutorials here aka toots. Basically, a recitation is a regurgitation of lecture material and involves practicing problems. You even get a chance to ask a question, if you so dare, which is never the case in a lecture hall. However, in Australia, all of the tutorials are run by people who speak English which is in stark contrast to the recitations UNC. Back home, I've never come across material from lecture that's been more difficult than it is trying to understand the TAs who try to teach.
ADVANTAGE: TOOTS, NON-ECON MAJORS
Trucks: In Australia, pickup trucks are called "utes". They suck. Well, the majority of them suck. I just don't get it. I'm from the south. We like our trucks big, the bigger, the better. If you have a truck, it's got to look like it can either: A. Run over an Elephant or B. Tow an Elephant. Here? The most popular truck resembles a low-rider. Every time I look at these trucks, I wonder: Are there no speed bumps in this country and how the hell do they stay above ground when they put anything of significant weight in it? Someone told me that they're also popular because they're kind of like "sports cars." That's kind of like stupid. If you want something fast, buy a sports car, not a truck.
ADVANTAGE: THE SOUTH
I'm back! I know you guys were like, "damn, what's missing from my day? I just can't figure out why I have this feeling deep down in my soul that I'm incomplete." Well, you were missing me and my blog of course. So sit back, relax, I'm back with a general discussion on all things random and life down under.
ADVANTAGE: MY READERS
Housing:
I'm currently living in bondi junction, about a 10 min walk from the train station. It's a great location, well it will be once it warms up, and I'm living with a bunch of interesting people. I'm living with 10 other people. Two guys from Australia, one Kiwi (New Zealander), two girls from Chile, two Canadians, an Irishman, a girl from Australia and one girl from Taiwan. It's a great mix and, even though I'm sure I don't need to state the obvious, I'm the only American in the house. A few of them are students and the rest are here working. We're all young adults and, so far, we really enjoy each other's company. It only took me a few days, but I've been renamed, nicknamed if you will. I believe it began because the Kiwi couldn't remember my name and it's a reference to something, but he began calling me Americain. One of the Canadian girls loved it, thought he was saying American in his Kiwi accent, and started calling me America. Hence, my new name is America. Probably the second best nickname I've ever gotten. One of the Chilean girls can barely speak English, but if America has anything to do about it she'll learn it. It takes me about 40 min to get from my door to campus, but most of my commute is via train so it's not bad at all.
ADVANTAGE: DIVERSITY
Weather Update: After a miserable weekend, rain+cold+wind, the weather has finally gotten to t-shirt and jeans level (fingers crossed it stays that way). Most of my housemates know how to surf so hopefully they'll start teaching me soon.
ADVANTAGE: MY MOOD
The Aquarium: WAS AWESOME. I really love animals. I've realized this as a lot of my pictures from the Coastal Walk, the walk from Watson's Bay to Bondi Beach, consisted of colorful birds. I've realized that I really love animals, especially when I don't have to clean up after them. I give it an A- only because they had moved the Dugongs and they wouldn't be back until September. I want more Seacow :(.
ADVANTAGE: SHARKS THAT DON'T EAT ME
Electrical Outlets: Being in a different country, I've gotten to notice differences big and, mostly, small that make or don't make a lot of sense. One of the small differences that made a lot of sense to me are the Australian electrical outlets. Every outlet here has a small switch on it. You can actually switch an outlet off. I know sometimes there are light switches in houses that will turn off the power from outlets, but I'm sure it saves a lot of energy having the switch so easily accessible for every outlet. If we had outlets like that back home, I wouldn't have to unplug and replug everything for winter/spring break. I could just flip the switch.
ADVANTAGE: AUSTRALIA
Restrooms: They call them toilets here. I find that disturbing. It's one of those differences in vernacular that I just don't approve of. I don't think anyone from America would regularly say, I'm going to the toilet or I need to use the toilet. Signs here say toilets instead of restrooms. I don't like it, toilet just sounds dirty to me. Unless you're talking about buying a toilet or fixing one, just say bathroom. El ban~o is also acceptable.
ADVANTAGE: AMERICAN NICETIES
Cheese: There are no cats in Australia, at least none that I've seen. Does this have to do with the fact that the cheese tastes all wrong here and therefore it's not a suitable place for rats to live? Probably not, but I'm sure the rats would agree with me. If I were to run a grocery store, I'd put Australian cheese in the weird tasting food aisle.
ADVANTAGE: AMERICA
Internet: This is my biggest issue with Australia to date. The internet here is awful. Campus Wi-Fi failed, not once, but twice on campus during the first week of school. If that happened more than once at UNC people would riot. I know I would be right there flipping cars and burning dook flags in protest of such awful internet. I've recently learned that they don't have fiber optic cables here and so there are no T level internet connections. To most people, that means nothing, but put simply, it's like switching back to dial-up. In my opinion there are very few things more frustrating than moving from something very technologically advanced back to something much less advanced. Off the very top of my head, I can only name three things more frustrating than having to endure said switch: reading entire chapters of a textbook, reading anything virginia woolf, talking politics and, oh yeah, make this number four, trying to figure out what the hell is going on in LOST.
ADVANTAGE: AMERICA
Kebabs: Pronounced Keh-behb and not Keh-Bob. They are everywhere here in Sydney and they aren't those delicious meat sticks you're so used to thinking about. They're more like shwarma. You can choose between some sort of beef concoction or chicken roasted on a vertical spit which is then sliced and put into a pita. It was very odd the first time I went into a Kebab place and ordered one. It was way better than what I was expecting.There are Kebab stands all over Sydney, it seems every Turkish person here owns a Kebab place, and they're open all night long. I've concluded, solely through observations of course, that the Kebab is the drunk food of Sydney.
ADVANTAGE: AUSTRALIA
The British: Left their mark everywhere here in Australia from their dumb way of driving on the wrong side of the road, to the way they like to misspell words like color. It's been really weird to see a statue of the Queen in the heart of downtown and her face all over the currency. Sometimes I just want to pull an Iraqi citizen and topple it over. 'Merica doesn't bow to monarchy.
ADVANTAGE: COLONIZATION
Recitations: They're called Tutorials here aka toots. Basically, a recitation is a regurgitation of lecture material and involves practicing problems. You even get a chance to ask a question, if you so dare, which is never the case in a lecture hall. However, in Australia, all of the tutorials are run by people who speak English which is in stark contrast to the recitations UNC. Back home, I've never come across material from lecture that's been more difficult than it is trying to understand the TAs who try to teach.
ADVANTAGE: TOOTS, NON-ECON MAJORS
ADVANTAGE: THE SOUTH
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Dumbest Thing I've Heard All Week, Weekly Award
The Runner Up: "Does Wayne Gretzky still play basketball?" Why yes, yes he does and Michael Jordan is killing it in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Andddd Winner for the first annual dumbest thing I've heard all week, weekly award goes to a girl from America, from the OC in particular. The exchange went accordingly: Me: Yea, I'm from North Carolina. Her: Oh that's cool, I just stayed over at my friend's house who's from Connecticut. That's close to North Carolina right?
Why yes, yes it is. It's a little known fact really, but NC is also known as North Connecticut.
Hurray dumb people! Hurray America!
p.s. When people ask me where I'm from, I say The States. A lot of people then get a little tiny bit offended because I'm not specific enough and go, oh cool, where in America and I'm thinking look, if I was from NY or Cali I would have said it, but ok "I'm from North Carolina" and then I get a blank stare and just go, "The South"
Andddd Winner for the first annual dumbest thing I've heard all week, weekly award goes to a girl from America, from the OC in particular. The exchange went accordingly: Me: Yea, I'm from North Carolina. Her: Oh that's cool, I just stayed over at my friend's house who's from Connecticut. That's close to North Carolina right?
Why yes, yes it is. It's a little known fact really, but NC is also known as North Connecticut.
Hurray dumb people! Hurray America!
p.s. When people ask me where I'm from, I say The States. A lot of people then get a little tiny bit offended because I'm not specific enough and go, oh cool, where in America and I'm thinking look, if I was from NY or Cali I would have said it, but ok "I'm from North Carolina" and then I get a blank stare and just go, "The South"
Australian Slang (Will update as I get more)
So here are a few words and phrases I've picked up on. It's not too difficult, but they loooooove to shorten words.
Straya= Australia
Mackers= McDonalds
Heaps= A lot
Hectic=??? It's pretty much the same, just used more frequently and kind of cooler. For instance Me: I have
Friday and Mondays off, Aussie: Hectic!
The States= America of course
Kiwis= New Zealanders, which Australians do not associate themselves with unless quote "They are sports
stars or celebrities."
Brekkie= Breakfast, a word I will never adopt
Sheila= A lady
Rubbish= Trash, waste
Uni (You-knee)= University
Straya= Australia
Mackers= McDonalds
Heaps= A lot
Hectic=??? It's pretty much the same, just used more frequently and kind of cooler. For instance Me: I have
Friday and Mondays off, Aussie: Hectic!
The States= America of course
Kiwis= New Zealanders, which Australians do not associate themselves with unless quote "They are sports
stars or celebrities."
Brekkie= Breakfast, a word I will never adopt
Sheila= A lady
Rubbish= Trash, waste
Uni (You-knee)= University
How to Know if Your Teacher is Israeli
So I got to class a few seconds late*, go figure, and I didn't get one of the Syllabi before I sat down so I had no idea what the name of my teacher was, but as soon as I settled in, I instantly knew she was Israeli. Here are Aaron's top 3 ways to know if your teacher is Israeli.
#3. The-Oh-How-Dare-You-Come-Slightly-Late-to-My-Class-I'm-Going-to-Murder-You-With-My-Eyes-Look
This is a classic Israeli move. If you come late, even if it's just one minute, you're going to get a stare down and that look of Middle Eastern disgust. It's not just your typical how dare you, it's how dare you do this to ME to ME. They're like, my class is the most important thing since sliced bread, what are you thinking? And then they proceed to take off as many points as possible, if you have an attendance/participation policy. Trust me, as a notorious 1-5 minute late to Hebrew class guy, I've seen this over and over again.
#2. Their cell phone rings during lecture
For some reason Israelis haven't mastered the art of silencing their phones. I don't particularly care as it gives me reason to be on my phone, equality in lecture or something, but it's happened with every Israeli teacher I've ever had.
ANDDDDD The number 1 way to know if your teacher is Israeli
#1 If when struggling to find the word, they go Ehh ehh eh. It's a classic Israeli move. Americans go um. Israelis go ehh eh and they'll do it in every conversation.
It's ok though, because it gives me more time to process what they actually mean to say. <3 you Israel, It's all good.
*I thought I was late, but people kept pouring in later and later. This one girl came to class about an hour late. So I guess I wasn't actually late.
#3. The-Oh-How-Dare-You-Come-Slightly-Late-to-My-Class-I'm-Going-to-Murder-You-With-My-Eyes-Look
This is a classic Israeli move. If you come late, even if it's just one minute, you're going to get a stare down and that look of Middle Eastern disgust. It's not just your typical how dare you, it's how dare you do this to ME to ME. They're like, my class is the most important thing since sliced bread, what are you thinking? And then they proceed to take off as many points as possible, if you have an attendance/participation policy. Trust me, as a notorious 1-5 minute late to Hebrew class guy, I've seen this over and over again.
#2. Their cell phone rings during lecture
For some reason Israelis haven't mastered the art of silencing their phones. I don't particularly care as it gives me reason to be on my phone, equality in lecture or something, but it's happened with every Israeli teacher I've ever had.
ANDDDDD The number 1 way to know if your teacher is Israeli
#1 If when struggling to find the word, they go Ehh ehh eh. It's a classic Israeli move. Americans go um. Israelis go ehh eh and they'll do it in every conversation.
It's ok though, because it gives me more time to process what they actually mean to say. <3 you Israel, It's all good.
*I thought I was late, but people kept pouring in later and later. This one girl came to class about an hour late. So I guess I wasn't actually late.
Coins
MONEYYYY..... IT'S A DRAG.... that's what I think every time I'm handed a coin here in Australia. There are way too many damn coins here in Australia. There is a 5 cent coin, which is every bit as useless and annoying as our own penny. Then there is a 10 cent coin which will buy you...drum roll please....NOTHING! Then if a 10 cent coin wasn't enough for you there's a 20 cent coin, hurray! But wait, there's more! There's also a 50 cent, a $1 (which can't really buy you anything either) and a $2 (which can buy you a McChicken or as they call it here a Chicken N Cheese) coin. I hate coins, especially coins like the $1 and $2 coins which are so small and are actually kind of useful. This nonsense is the kind of thing that makes me miss (kind of) the good Ol' OOSA. Back home quarters and, I guess, dimes are the only useful coinage. For as progressive as Australia is, they really need to rethink their coin shenanigans.
The First Few Days and Aussie Mates
Ok, so I've been really awful keeping y'all up to date these past few days. As the locals says, it's been hectic. I had quite a bit of blog filler drafted, but my computer restarted so now I'm going to have to rewrite most of what I had.
The First Few Days:
After I arrived on Sunday and I orientation. It was fun. I met a lot of people from all over the world. It was like being a freshman again, especially because my freshman orientation was with all the international students, everyone was so giddy and excited. Numbers were being swapped left and right. Of course, I was late to the first orientation session. It doesn't matter what country/continent I'm in, I can't get to places on time. Anyhow, they gave a bunch of boring lectures about safety, the social scene, being an academic and learning how to adjust in a foreign country. I fell asleep for part of the safety lecture, but I wasn't the only one. In one of the more interesting segments of orientation, the speaker announced that they were going to perform traditional aboriginal dances for us. It was pretty funny and a great time, but it was a little disappointing. I was expecting to see at least one aboriginal/native Australian in the dancing group, but it was just a bunch of white students. I have to give them props though, I don't think I would have the chutzbah to stand up in front of a huge crowd, in what was basically a loin cloth, and thrash about on stage. After the dancing, the next lecturer called out each country that was represented in the crowd and called upon the students to stand up at the announcement of their home country. It was really exciting to see how people from all over the world came here, to Sydney, but there was a bit of disappointment and embarrasment at the announcement of America. Out of what I believe was 600 or so international students, 250 of them stood up when the orientation leader called out "THE UNITED STATES." I thought I was going to be special, but sadly I'm one of many. However, in the grand scheme of things, I guess 250 students isn't much in comparison to the 50,000 students enrolled here at Uni Sydney. The next day of orientation was less tiring, it was much shorter non-coincidentally, we enrolled in our classes and finalized our schedules. It was really annoying to enroll on paper. Who uses paper anymore? I mean really.
The First Few Nights:
So my first night in Sydney I decided to go Lord of the Rings all over the place (Translation: I got lost and walked for hours and hours with no end in sight). It was great to see the city. My hostel was right in the middle of Chinatown, which is a pretty interesting place, and was right by Darling Harbour which is beautiful and way too cold this time of year. In fact, all of Sydney is way too damn cold. Sydney needs to stop with all this winter non-sense. It's just not cool bro, not cool at all. Anyhow, on the second night I was chilling at MaCkers aka (MickeyD's/McDonald's) trying to use some free internets, but alas it was slower than molasses so I got up and left. I was a little discouraged as it was freezing outside and slow internet can drive any sane person bonkers, but out of the corner of my eye I recognized a bar that I had seen on facebook. Some of the international students had posted on facebook that they were going to a bar named Scubar because there was Crab racing**. So I decided, what the hell, it's legal and I'm thirsty so why not go and buy a jug of beer. SO I BOUGHT A JUG OF BEER and it was pretty cool, but then I realized I didn't recognize anyone at the bar and in what could have been a case of Awkward Aaron drinking Alone awkwardly, I asked a group of guys sitting at a booth if I could drink with them. It's quite amazing how far a jug of beer will go in regards to making friends. They thought it was preposterous that I would have to ask if they wanted to drink let alone if I could sit with them, but they obliged a dumb American and we got to talking and had a great time. The four of them, (I know I didn't mention it, but there were four) were really nice and have become the first new friends that I made down under. I guess that makes them....first mates, BA'ZING!
The next week flew by as I searched for housing, explored the area and went out with my first mates. It's been difficult to find time to write for the blog as I had no internet in the hostel, but no more excuses. I'm back in the game. Comment on these posts if you have any questions or want me to write about anything, or just have some haterade to share as haterade makes the internets go round.
**Crab Racing= Step 1 Bet a dollar on a hermit crab that's numbered Step 2: Give said hermit crab an extremely inappropriate name Step 3: Yell and cheer on your hermit crab as the bucket placing the hermit crabs in the middle of the round table is removed. The winning crab is the one that reaches the end of the table first.
The First Few Days:
After I arrived on Sunday and I orientation. It was fun. I met a lot of people from all over the world. It was like being a freshman again, especially because my freshman orientation was with all the international students, everyone was so giddy and excited. Numbers were being swapped left and right. Of course, I was late to the first orientation session. It doesn't matter what country/continent I'm in, I can't get to places on time. Anyhow, they gave a bunch of boring lectures about safety, the social scene, being an academic and learning how to adjust in a foreign country. I fell asleep for part of the safety lecture, but I wasn't the only one. In one of the more interesting segments of orientation, the speaker announced that they were going to perform traditional aboriginal dances for us. It was pretty funny and a great time, but it was a little disappointing. I was expecting to see at least one aboriginal/native Australian in the dancing group, but it was just a bunch of white students. I have to give them props though, I don't think I would have the chutzbah to stand up in front of a huge crowd, in what was basically a loin cloth, and thrash about on stage. After the dancing, the next lecturer called out each country that was represented in the crowd and called upon the students to stand up at the announcement of their home country. It was really exciting to see how people from all over the world came here, to Sydney, but there was a bit of disappointment and embarrasment at the announcement of America. Out of what I believe was 600 or so international students, 250 of them stood up when the orientation leader called out "THE UNITED STATES." I thought I was going to be special, but sadly I'm one of many. However, in the grand scheme of things, I guess 250 students isn't much in comparison to the 50,000 students enrolled here at Uni Sydney. The next day of orientation was less tiring, it was much shorter non-coincidentally, we enrolled in our classes and finalized our schedules. It was really annoying to enroll on paper. Who uses paper anymore? I mean really.
The First Few Nights:
So my first night in Sydney I decided to go Lord of the Rings all over the place (Translation: I got lost and walked for hours and hours with no end in sight). It was great to see the city. My hostel was right in the middle of Chinatown, which is a pretty interesting place, and was right by Darling Harbour which is beautiful and way too cold this time of year. In fact, all of Sydney is way too damn cold. Sydney needs to stop with all this winter non-sense. It's just not cool bro, not cool at all. Anyhow, on the second night I was chilling at MaCkers aka (MickeyD's/McDonald's) trying to use some free internets, but alas it was slower than molasses so I got up and left. I was a little discouraged as it was freezing outside and slow internet can drive any sane person bonkers, but out of the corner of my eye I recognized a bar that I had seen on facebook. Some of the international students had posted on facebook that they were going to a bar named Scubar because there was Crab racing**. So I decided, what the hell, it's legal and I'm thirsty so why not go and buy a jug of beer. SO I BOUGHT A JUG OF BEER and it was pretty cool, but then I realized I didn't recognize anyone at the bar and in what could have been a case of Awkward Aaron drinking Alone awkwardly, I asked a group of guys sitting at a booth if I could drink with them. It's quite amazing how far a jug of beer will go in regards to making friends. They thought it was preposterous that I would have to ask if they wanted to drink let alone if I could sit with them, but they obliged a dumb American and we got to talking and had a great time. The four of them, (I know I didn't mention it, but there were four) were really nice and have become the first new friends that I made down under. I guess that makes them....first mates, BA'ZING!
The next week flew by as I searched for housing, explored the area and went out with my first mates. It's been difficult to find time to write for the blog as I had no internet in the hostel, but no more excuses. I'm back in the game. Comment on these posts if you have any questions or want me to write about anything, or just have some haterade to share as haterade makes the internets go round.
**Crab Racing= Step 1 Bet a dollar on a hermit crab that's numbered Step 2: Give said hermit crab an extremely inappropriate name Step 3: Yell and cheer on your hermit crab as the bucket placing the hermit crabs in the middle of the round table is removed. The winning crab is the one that reaches the end of the table first.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
First Day in Sydney
Today, yesterday, these past 2? or is it 3? days have been crazy. I'm writing this in my internetless hostel (well it does have internet, but I'm not paying for that nonsense) at 10:14pm local time. However, as Pink Floyd says in their epic song "Time", time is a relative thing. My body is more confused than a bi-curious Butters and my mind is drowning in a tar-pit of jetlag. All in all, this makes for a rough blogpost, but I told y'all and, myself for that matter, that I would blog regularly. So here it goes, after I bested the bawling backseat baby and slept through my flight from Charlotte to San Fran, I hopped on the BART and met up with my father's old friend Aldo. I stopped by his office to drop off my stuff and decided to walk around SF. His office was right by the Warf and I was able to see Alcatraz, albeit from a distance, an d enjoy what I concluded was unusually great weather. SF was a GORGEOUS place and I will have to go back, but I couldn't stay so I ate my final American meal, tacos, and boarded Air New Zealand.
The flight was delayed 30min and I was stuck in the middle seat, but I slept for about 8 hours. The flight was roughly 14hrs and was dark all of the way, so I decided to stick with movies and watched Pitch Black, which was enjoyable and a handful of Sealab 2021 epidsodes. I was seated next to a native coming back for a conference and a newly made aussie coming back from a conference in SF. It was a quiet and uncomfortable ride, but I made it safe and sound (although, I was desperately trying to remember the number sequence from LOST for a good 30 min after the pilot said we were going to experience "extreme turbulence.") Anyhow, I landed in Sydney a little before 7am, met up with a hostel representative, put away my things and then went off to explore. It was drizzling when I first got off the plane, but it cleared up later in the afternoon and I was able to meet up with a few kids in my program. They were really nice and god knows how many miles we walked, but my best estimate is 3billion. One is originally from Chicago, now at GW and the other is from WA and goes to UW. (I made sure to mention how UNC played an awful game and still beat UW 2 years ago). Anyways, my brain is now pudding so I'll stick to bullet points.
Highlights of the day:
- Having my first ever beer, it's like soda for adults, but more toxic and neurologically damaging.
- Being called out by some random guy and posing for a picture while we walked past each other.
- Getting lost around Campus, I didn't know it, but I was right near the damn thing for a good 30 min.
Aussie Observations:
- Everything is muy expensivo, but I did find something, besides healthcare, that is cheaper here: Men's haircuts. Only $10 aussie dollars for a haircut.
- There are a lot of chinese people, but perhaps my perspective is skewed because I'm near chinatown...I think.
- Having the steering wheel on the right hand side of the car looks muchs sillier in-person than it does on tv. It just looks wrong, very very wrong.
- An American medium soda at McDonald's is, in fact, a large internationally.
- They have Fords here, not many, but I haven't seen any other American made cars. Go figure.
- Last observation, there are more KFCs here than McDonald's. I don't get it. If they like cheap chicken, they should at least invest in a Bojangles or a Chic-fila
G'night mates
(This will be posted the next time I get internet, but I'm not going to take the time to revise it. Sorry for all of the punctuation errors Dr. Brown. I,t ca;n b'e tri.cky figurin:g out where to put them some?times")
Friday, July 20, 2012
The Arch Nemesis of a Traveler
Is a crying baby....
I made it to San Fran safe and sound. I even slept most of the way despite thecrying howling baby in a row nearby. There should definitely be an airplane provider that doesn't allow babies on its flights that are >3hrs. I had to put earplugs in and my over ear headphones. Once I got in to San Fran, I walked around a bit and stopped in at a Chinese restaurant where I was the only one who could speak English. Anyhow, I'm off to go walk around San Fran some more. I'll upload pictures of my trip later. Ciao
I made it to San Fran safe and sound. I even slept most of the way despite the
Thursday, July 19, 2012
07/20/2012 12:00AM (EST) Premiere Viewing of Dark Knight Rises (HYFR)
(My Utility Belt)
07/20/2012 9:40AM (EST) Leave from Charlotte, NC to San Francisco, CA
07/20/2012 12:08PM (PST) Land in San Fancisco, CA
07/20/2012 10:45PM (PST) Leave from San Francisco, CA to Sydney, NSW, AUS
07/22/2012 6:25AM (Local Sydney Time, EST +14hrs) Land in Sydney!
Quite an expedition, huh?
Hello Everybody!
Friends, family, Aepi brothers, countrymen, and Romans.....
I've created this blog to help keep y'all up to date with all of my travels. As you all know, I'm going to be studying at the University of Sydney for the fall semester, or semester II as they call it in Australia. While in Sydney, I'll be updating this blog periodically, detailing my dastardly down-under deeds and I'll even upload some of my favorite pictures too! I'm extremely excited and, if you all follow my blog regularly, who knows, maybe you guys will get to live a little vicariously through me. So sit back, favorite the url ausstudentfromunc.blogspot.com and enjoy all of my travels without any of the jetlag or the18 hour flight.
G'dday mates!
p.s. If you didn't see the pun in that url address, let me explain it. It could either be A US Student from UNC or an AUS Student from UNC.
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