Tim Tams are delicious.

August 29, 2013

Tim Tams, a product of Australia, is a delicious chocolate wafer covered in a layer of chocolate. I understand now why people mention Tim Tams when speaking of their travels to Oz. I definitely plan on bringing some back home, yum!

Anyway, over the last couple days, I have started my classes: The Australian Wine Industry and Australian Culture and Society. Combined, I feel like I have days and days worth of reading. My wine class seems like it will be a lot of fun. My two teachers seem so friendly and knowledgeable--they owned a winery together for 12 years! The reading is a bit dry right now because it's about the climate and soil, though I think it'll get better. One of our assignments requires us to drink a glass of wine every week (for 6 weeks) and write about our experience. This should be interesting; I hope I'll be able to taste a difference. Oh and I found out, to my relief, we are not tested on tasting (phew!).

My other class is Australian Culture and Society. Everyone is required to take this class to learn about Australia. I can't say that I'm enjoying this class right now because we are currently focusing on history, which I've never been a big fan of. However, the Aboriginal people are actually an interesting, and ever present group, to learn about. That said, I did not enjoy our first reading which was essentially 15 pages (with two book pages to a sheet) about their skulls.

In terms of exploring my new home, I had a field trip today, where we briefly saw the Sydney panorama in the Customs House, the outside of the Museum of Sydney, and the outside of Macquarie Stables. We walked into then out of the NSW State Library and received a tour of Hyde Park Barracks. It was pretty interesting, but I definitely want to go inside the Museum of Sydney and explore the library.

During the week I've been here, one of my biggest struggles has been walking down the sidewalk and crossing the street. Here, people keep to the left. When you are walking toward someone on the sidewalk, veer toward the left. When you trying to cross the street, look right first, then left. I never thought it would be so disorienting. To top it all off, there is little street parking near our campus and the outermost lanes are for buses, who drive extremely close to the sidewalk. Apparently people have gotten hit by the side mirrors on a bus before. If you should ever visit Sydney, don't walk like a New Yorker/Bostonian because you will probably get hit.

That is about it for now. This weekend should be more exciting, but I'll update you on that when the time comes! Thanks for reading!

Exploring Sydney and a Bout of Homesickness

August 24, 2013

I can't believe it's Saturday and I've only been in Sydney for four days. Over the last few days, we have heard a lot about the program and Sydney from the various staff members. We have also participated in a few bonding activities throughout the week. Still, the excitement is starting to wear off and I am starting to feel homesick.

These days have surprisingly not passed by particularly quickly, though I honestly cannot remember what we did for most of the last couple days. I believe Tuesday's orientation consisted mostly of staff members introducing us to the program and telling us what to expect. We also heard about a few travel options for spring break and other weekends. After hearing story after story about how great Surf Camp was, I knew I definitely had to sign up for this one. I can't wait until I can finally learn how to surf stand on the board. After the travel sales pitches, we had Pizza & Bevvies. The pizza was DELICIOUS and I can't believe it was from Dominos. It tasted very different from the one in the states. Also, there was a fantastic shrimp pizza which I would love to eat again. I don't even like pizza much, so it was that good.

Yesterday, we started the day learning about keeping ourselves healthy along with other random Sydney/Australia facts. Caroline, one of our main contacts for this program, talked about the W curve, which basically depicts typical feelings during study abroad. People usually start off very excited about their adventures to come, then experience some sort of culture shock and are lonely/homesick/etc., followed by acclimation to the new environment, then feelings when you go home and have to readjust. When I first went to college, I had bouts of homesickness during my first couple weeks, so I guess I just feel it early on. It was highlighted even more because the WiFi in my room is terrible and I can't video chat or sometimes just message people from home. It is alright though. I'm not going to let it keep me inside and away from learning about what Sydney has to offer.

After the health discussion, we learned some interesting Australian slang. Basically, if you want to blend in, you drop a (couple) syllables and add an -ie or -e to the end of the word. Chocolate = chocky; biscuit = bickie. So what is a chocky bickie? Tim Tams! These are absolutely delicious, by the way. I plan on buying more and bringing some home. They also refer to butternut squash as pumpkin, an appetizer as an entree, and a bar as a hotel. While they speak English, the Aussie slang is really throwing me off! This day concluded with a (rocky) harbour cruise with dinner and drinks. We had spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge aka Coat Hanger and the Sydney Opera House.

Today was designated as the Drop Bear Cup, which was essentially a scavenger hunt throughout the city. We had 4 different lists: photos to take, trivia questions, food to eat, and checkpoints. Each team had roughly 6-8 people and were sent out to gain as many points as they could. My team started off pretty well, mapping out our route and figuring out which way to walk. However, once we reached the first checkpoint, the Rocks market, we didn't want to go any further. It was essentially a street fair that had food, clothes, trinkets, souvenirs, among other things. We tried to progress a bit farther, but quickly decided that we wanted to enjoy our explorations instead of rush through them. Later, we journeyed out to Bondi Beach, which was freezing, but stunning! The water is so blue and the sand so clean. Many people were out surfing the waves. I can't wait to go back on a warmer day to enjoy the sun. Hopefully, I'll make it out early enough to see the sunrise too!

Anyway, that's about it for my journey thus far. I'm exhausted, but I still have a Color Run bright and early tomorrow! What did I get myself into?

Jet Lag and a Full Schedule

August 21, 2013

Sitting on my bed on my first evening of experiencing Sydney, I cannot believe I'm actually on a whole other continent. Walking around outside, you would never be able to tell you are in a different country except for the fact that everyone is driving on the opposite side of the road. I should mention, by the way, every time I cross the street, I feel like I'm going to get hit by a car. They do not really stop for pedestrians and they're coming from a direction I am not accustomed to. I feel safer in Boston crosswalks! Anyway, here's a recap on my journey westward (though I think Australia is technically an eastern continent).

I departed from JFK International Airport around 7:30 on Monday night, arriving at LAX at around 11pm. After boarding the flight from LAX to Sydney, I finally let myself get some sleep, though I always wonder why airplane air is so dry. The plane was actually not so bad, since the seats reclined well and the headrests could be folded to give your head support. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food provided. On my flight to LAX, I had penne pasta with some sort of mushroom sauce, and on my flight here, I had braised beef with mashed potatoes. I actually enjoyed the meals.

When I arrived at the BU Sydney Academic Centre (BUSAC), I received my room assignment and keys. So far, I'm living with Denise, who I know from volunteering at Kevin Kim's campaign four years ago (wow!) and Michelle, who is another student at BU. There is still one empty bedroom, but we don't know if we will have a fourth roommate, though at this point, it seems unlikely. After traveling for twenty-something hours, going through customs, finding our luggage, taking a trip to BUSAC, and even having time to unpack my bags, it was only 11am and time to start orientation.

This afternoon/evening was spent learning a bit about the program, taking a walk to the nearby mall, and having a welcome BBQ at Freda's. Denise, Inez, and I ended up near Chinatown during our hunt for lunch and found a Chatime! I'm happy to report that I can get bubble tea within a five minute walk from my building. While buying lunch and purchasing various groceries, I noticed that prices in Sydney are a bit steeper than what I am accustomed to in NYC. However, many of the items must be imported and the prices are inclusive of tax and gratuity, if applicable, so it is understandable--I'm just not thrilled about it. The evening at Freda's was quite nice. We were each provided two drink tickets and a few small bites. I liked the calm and friendly atmosphere of my peers and the BUSAC staff.

Now, it's 8pm and I am ready for a good night's sleep. I have a packed orientation schedule for the next three days, a Color Run on Sunday, and classes starting on Monday. I'm sure it'll be terribly exhausting, but I bet it will also be a lot of fun and I can't wait!

Getting ready for Sydney

August 17, 2013

In less than 48 hours, I will be on a plane on my way to LAX, final destination: Sydney, Australia. I can't believe the time has finally come for me to study abroad in a beautiful city that I've only heard wonderful stories about--well, except for the giant spiders, but that's besides the point. For the next (almost) four months, I'll be studying in, exploring, learning about, and experiencing the Harbour City.

I have so many emotions leading up to this new journey. The longest trip I've taken out of the country was about two and a half weeks to various cities in China with People to People. During that trip, everything was taken care of--hotels, meals, transportation, sightseeing, etc. All we thought about were what we were experiencing and what to bring home as souvenirs. Obviously, this semester will not play out the same way, which is a good thing. Our living and learning situation is already set for us, and thank goodness they speak English in Sydney. This will be an opportunity to mature more by cooking for myself, living in an apartment style dorm with a few other girls, interning at a company-yet-to-be-determined, and essentially learning as much as I can about this brand new city. It's a very exciting opportunity and I'm glad that I have the chance to go.

One of the things I'm most anxious about is making new friends. You might think, "Come on, Emily. You're going into your third year of college," which is true, but I always feel like such an awkward person, especially in the early stages of meeting people. This week I'll be meeting around 70 peers in addition to the BU Sydney staff, which is a bit nerve-wracking. I'm sure everything will work out, because as far as I know, I'm not a complete psycho (right??), but I still wonder if I'll be liked and accepted. During the next couple months, I want to push myself to step a bit out of my comfort zone by being more friendly, socializing, and developing networking skills. I know I'm an introvert, which makes it quite a difficult task sometimes. I want to make the most of my Sydney experience and grow as much as I can.

Well, time will tell. About a day and a half until I start my trip down under. I'll try to document my trip here at least a couple times a week, so feel free to follow along. Also, I welcome any comments or suggestions for what I should do while I'm there!

Begging for Sponsors and Giving Back

Here is a blog post I wrote for the New York Cares blog before I finished my internship. I figure I would include it here with the rest of my writing collection. I didn't come up with the title, but read the post if you'd like. Here's the first paragraph:

Community service has been a crucial part of my life since I was ten years old when I first joined Girl Scouts. While dozens of Samoas and Thin Mints were a perk, it was always important to participate in projects and activities that would “make the world a better place,” as expressed by the Girl Scout Law. Then, when I entered Townsend Harris High School, our mentors and faculty stressed the importance of scholarship and community service. In fact, to be fully matriculated, we recited the Ephebic Oath which concluded with the line “I shall not leave my city any less, but rather greater than I found it.” My father likes to tell me that I was brainwashed, and maybe I was, but once I graduated from both high school and Girl Scouts, the only logical step was to find a new way to help my beloved city and there is no better match than New York Cares.

Read more: http://blog.newyorkcares.org/?p=5539

When parents stress education

August 5, 2013

Over the course of my internship at New York Cares, I've taken part in several corporate projects. As I mentioned in my previous post, these projects are funded by corporations who also send their volunteers to do something together to improve the community. A couple of my projects have been with children and I have recently seen the difference between certain neighborhoods and their view of education. Before I start, this is not meant to be all encompassing to certain groups of people (or even all the those in the agencies), because while I notice a trend, it is never absolute and there are always exceptions on all sides.

A couple weeks ago, I was on a project with an agency in Uptown/Midtown Manhattan. We were going to the Bronx Zoo with the corporate company. The adults in the agency asked some of the children why they were there that day as they should have been in summer school, catching up on work they fell behind in during the normal school year. Apparently, there are only 5 weeks for these students to make up for lost time during the year. Their parents let them attend the trip--completely understandable given the trip was free for the children (admission, all the extras, food, and transportation). This agency caters to those who are learning to living independently, where many families barely make ends meet. However, a few of the children still sounded like they were entitled to certain things (gift shop souvenirs, for example). I found it somewhat unsettling that the same children who should have been in class anyway were so particular about what they wanted. Of course, you could always say, "Well, they are children, what do you expect?" or "Well, they don't normally get special things, so it's okay." What I saw bothered me, but the situation could have been the way it was for a variety of reasons.

More recently, I was on a different project with an agency Downtown. This activity was much different as it focused on dreams and aspirations of the children, encouraging them to imagine where they will be in five, ten, and twenty years. Surprisingly, many of these children, most of whom were 7-9 years old, had very realistic goals. Of course some wanted to be famous singers or soccer players, but the majority of them pictured themselves going to college and becoming a professional, whether it be an economist, an engineer, or a doctor. They generally had the idea that if they work hard, they will be successful. After speaking with the agency contact, we learned that most of their parents are very involved in their academics and stressed the importance of studying and working hard to become successful later in their lives. None of these students had to be in summer school, yet it was summer and they followed a day structured similarly to one between September through June. Yes, I realize this is not the only way to become successful, but it is still the most practical way to become successful. For clarification, by successful I mean that they will be able to provide the basic necessities and maybe a bit more for themselves and their families.

I believe that parental attitude and influence make a huge impact in how children view success. Certain children can be more greatly influenced by teachers or other community leaders, but most are most affected by their family and how they act.  Of course, I know I'm biased because of my own experiences. I'm sure some of you can guess exactly which downtown area I am referring to and would think, "Well obviously they would study more," but it doesn't discount the effect of a parent's view toward education.