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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