Next Stop.. New Zealand!

I can't believe that my trip to New Zealand is already here. I leave in less than two days and I must say that I am really looking forward to this trip. I also can't believe that today is the last day of April!!! It is SO cold in Sydney, it sure does not feel like May. I only have 2 months left until I am back home!

Charity and I fly out Saturday morning May 2 and return Sunday night May 10. We are flying in and out of Christchurch. We are flying in a day before since the tour starts early Sunday morning on May 3. That will give us time to explore Christchurch and prepare for the week ahead.

For those of you who want to follow along with what I am doing, here is a link to the tour:

http://www.connections.travel/content.asp?Document_ID=63041

The website shows a good outline of the major things we will be doing, but obviously there will be a ton more other than what's written. We will be taking the 7 day southern explorer tour of the south island. Sadly, it is very cold there, so we will be bundled up, but it will be amazing none the less. I know and have talked to a couple people who have been on the tour and they said it was awesome.

Unfortunately, with this swine flu hysteria the airports are going to be unpleasant. I know that Sydney has started checking people's body temperatures on all international flights, so I am sure it will be hectic trying to get back into the country.

On Tuesday I got my first international hair cut! I was a little nervous at first, but it turned out really well. It looks just like it did when I left, which is just what I wanted!

In other news, my cooking class was canceled tonight. I am bummed because I was looking forward to it! I guess that happens when the class is taught by a busy chef. They are trying to schedule it for next week but I will be in NZ! As they say, you win some, you lose some.

Check back the week of the 10th for photos and stories!!!

Love,
Becky

Relay for Life

This year I am participating in Relay for Life in Sydney! Relay is put on by the Cancer Council of New South Wales and is happening May 16 and 17. It is my first time participating in the event, and I am excited to be doing it.

I joined this year's Relay in memory of Dana Care. As some of you may or may not know, Justin Care is one of my very best friends. We have known each other since 9th grade at Holy Name and he has become one of my closest friends. He and I both go to Case and some of my favorite memories involve him! He has been one of the most supportive people in my life and I couldn't picture what college or life would be like without him. His young sister Dana was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in April 2007 and passed away in January of this year.

Even though I did not know Dana very well her story touched me. She was always positive despite her illness and that is something I do not know if I myself would have the courage to do. She always had a smile on her face - which was beautiful! Dana was a Sr. at St. Joseph Academy and was loved by so many people. She passed away right before I left for Sydney and I have been doing my best to be a supportive friend to Justin while being 10,000 miles away.

By participating in Relay this year I hope to honor Dana and her incredible strength. She touched the lives of literally thousands of people and she has forever impacted my life.

I joined a Relay group with other people from IES. Below is a link to my page. Please help me raise money! I know that times are tough, but a small donation would go a long way!

http://www.relay.cancercouncil.com.au/?2009/eastern_suburbs_2009/9,775_miles_of_hope/157446

If you have questions please e-mail me at rdio7151@usyd.edu.au I will be in New Zealand from May 2-10 so I will not be able to reply to your e-mail during that time.

I appreciate your generosity and support! I am looking forward to this event and will post all about it.

Thanks again.
Love,
Becky

Anzac Day and Joel Mchale

On Saturday, Sydney was busy celebrating Anzac day. Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on April 25th every year to honor members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for the country. (Thank you Wikipedia)

As I may have mentioned before, Australians love war memorials - no matter how small the town, there will be one. And so Anzac day beings with a dawn service. After the more solemn dawn service the rest of the day is celebratory. It usually involves going to pubs, playing two up, and having a few drinks. Two up is a game that is only supposed to be played on Anzac day. It involves a designated 'Spinner' throwing two coins into the air. Players gamble on whether the coins will fall with both heads up, both tails up, or with one coin a head, and one a tail.

I went to a barbecue in the afternoon but Charity and I did not venture out to the pubs because we went to see Joel Mchale!! For those of you who do not know, he hosts The Soup on E!

Joel performed in Sydney at the Factory Theater as a part of Sydney's comedy festival. When my friend Maya told me that he was coming to Sydney I knew I just had to go! Tickets were only $27 AUD which is such a great deal. And, we bought our tickets early enough and sat in the 3rd row! The picture is the only one I have from the night - its blurry but you can still tell how close we were.

As might be expected, Joel is tall and skinny in person. He is also hilarious. It was actually better than I had expected because some of his show was taylored to the Australian audience.. so not only did I understand the jokes he made about Australia/Australians since I have been here long enough to know the culture well, but I also understood a lot of the jokes/parts of jokes about America that most of the Australians did not know. It was a very unique show in that sense and I am so lucky to have seen it. I swear I have never laughed so hard in my life before! He made a lot of jokes about celebrities, but also used a lot of material about his family, specifically his dad and son. It was all in all a great show and I'd go see him again in a heart beat!

Thats all for now. New Zealand on Saturday!

Love,
Becky

"Ohhh, We're Half Way There.."

Per the Bon Jovi lyric used in the title, I am officially half way through my time in Sydney! I have been here for 67 days, and have 67 left! It feels good to know that I have made it this far. I picture it like climbing up a hill. It was a struggle at times to get to this point, to the top... but now I feel like the rest of my time will be a more enjoyable climb down the hill as I head closer and closer to going home.

The weather has been goofy since I have been back from the Outback. It is similar to Florida in that it rains/pours for 10 minutes then the next minute its blue skies and sunny. It has been a constant cycle of cold and rainy and clear and sunny for the last couple of days. I wish it would stay clear and sunny.. but I heard that May is the wettest month in Sydney, so I am gearing up for more rain. It is sad to see summer go, but I like the fall too. As I was typing this post I looked up out of my window and saw a rainbow! It looks a lot bigger in real life than in this picture, and is really pretty :) I guess that's the one good thing about rain.

Today I had a meeting with my boss Tim. We met to talk about what direction we were going to go in with my internship. As I previously mentioned the original project he had me work on turned out to be a dead end so we had to drop it. It was not my fault, and I still learned a few helpful things in the process.

Tim decided that it would be best use of my time if I did sort of an independent study on an intro Epidemiology course. Since it is too late for me to actually take the class I am going to listen to a few of the lectures online, complete some of the tutorial exercises, and have private tutorial sessions with Tim and a couple other professors. I will get to work at my own pace, and it won't be for a grade or anything but will simply give me a great head start to grad school. I am not interested in pursuing Epidemiology as a career, but no matter which school I go to I will have to take at least 1 Epidemiology course in order to complete a Masters of Public Health degree, so this will definitely help me succeed later on. It is slightly disappointing because I will no long technically be a research assistant, but Tim did say he would write me a recommendation for grad school, so I suppose that it all works out! I have gotten some relevant experience and contacts in the field so far, and I shouldn't complain since it has not been a lot of work. I will let you know how the course goes once I get started with it.

Just to reiterate the crazy weather, in the course of me writing this blog, it has been sunny, rained, there was a rainbow, briefly sunny, and now raining, again. I hope the weather makes up its mind sometime soon! I should have listened to Dad and packed those rain boots after all!

Love,
Becky

The Outback (No.. not the steakhouse!)

This past week I have been exploring The Outback with our IES study abroad group. It was an incredible experience and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to see all of the things that I did. Here is how my week went:

Day 1: We flew into Uluru. The first thing I noticed was all of the red sand- its everywhere! Central Australia is called 'The Red Center' and now I know why. Once we got settled into our accommodation Charity and I walked up to a lookout point that overlooked Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Both are immense rock formations in the middle of the desert that hold deep spiritual significance for the Aboriginal people. We were able to get some good pictures of Uluru, but Kata Tjuta was a little further away. We had some free time in the afternoon and we lounged by the pool. It was so hot! Probably in the mid-high 90s, which is definitely a change from Sydney.

After we lounged for a while our group headed to the "Sounds of Silence" dinner. We arrived and had champagne on a little hill that overlooked Uluru at sunset. Then we had a 3 course dinner. The ground was sand, and there were no lights except for candles on each table. It was beautiful- there were so many stars! Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy and the moon was almost full, so there were not as many stars. The northern and southern hemispheres do not share all of the same stars, so I saw some stars and constellations for the first time in my life. I especially like the Southern Cross constellation. After dinner we were told some of the Aboriginal stories about the constellations, and we were even able to look through a telescope at the craters of the moon and Saturn. I could see the rings around Saturn which was really amazing.

Day 2: On Monday we explored Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We went to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and arrived at the Aboriginal Culture Center. For most of the morning we went on a tour of Uluru with two Aboriginals and translators. They told us stories about the land and shared their Dreamtime stories about Uluru. One part of the morning was spent learning the art of fire making. There was also spear throwing, and the girls tried on some of the traditional womens' items which include a digging stick and a bowl that rests on the head which carries fruit. The cool thing about seeing Uluru is learning how diverse the rock is. Most pictures you see online or in travel books is only of one side. The side often shown is pretty flat and uniform. However, the rest of the rock is incredible- there is a lot of erosion, making holes and hills all over. I was glad that I was able to see all sides of Uluru. Because of the iron content the rock is red, but the color changes shades all throughout the day, so that was cool to see too.

After lunch we headed to Kata Tjuta, where we did the Valley of the Winds hike. It was very hot so the hike was a bit rough at times, but it was very beautiful. There were just so many different rocks, most of which were red, and the scenery was very beautiful. By the end of the hike my legs/socks/shoes were all red!

From Kata Tjuta we went to the Mount Connor Bush Camp located on a huge cattle ranch. Mount Connor is similar to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, but is a less popular tourist spot. That night we had dinner, sat around a fire, and slept under the stars! Literally, we had a mat and a sleeping bag- no tent, no covering, just us and the stars. It was the first time I had ever done something like that, and it was incredible. It was a little scary because of the scorpions, centipedes, and snakes.... but luckily I woke up alive :) The stars were beautiful and I saw a few shooting stars as well. Something about the experience was so peaceful and something I probably would have never done otherwise, so I am glad we had the chance to do that.

Day 3: We woke up early and watched the sun rise. After breakfast Uncle (owner of the camp) took us around his land and showed us some bush plants that are safe for humans to eat and some fossils of algae from millions of years ago. The middle of Australia used to be an inland sea and so there are a ton of fossils all around.

Then we went to Kings Creek station where we would be staying in safari tents (small cabin with 2 beds). We were able to relax a little and have lunch, then we headed off for another hike. Some IES kids stayed behind but Charity and I thought it would be a great experience. We went on the Rim Walk hike in Kings Canyon. Overall it was easier than the hike from the day before, except for the first part of the hike which was an extremely steep climb up a tall hill. After that, though, it was pretty easy. The hike was probably 3-4 hours long, but very pretty. We stopped at a water hole called the Garden of Eden. Near the end of the trip I slipped and fell, and got a few good scrapes and bruises! Falling on rock hurts... but I got up and gladly kept going. I felt very accomplished afterward, despite my embarrassment.

Later that night we had an Australia version of s'mores around the camp fire, which were delicious. There are no graham crackers in Australia so we had to use another kid of cracker, but they were still good!

Day 4: On Wednesday we had a long drive from Kings Creek Station to Alice Springs. We stayed in the Desert Palms Resort, which was a nice change from the ground and safari tents! That night we took a camel ride. It was actually a ton of fun- it was slightly scary when the camel stood up and sat down, but the ride was fun and the camel was well behaved. Truly a unique experience. We had dinner at the camel station and I even got to try camel. It tastes just like salami.

Day 5: Thursday was our free day. I got up very early in the morning to go on a hot air balloon ride, but because of the wind it was canceled. So me and a few friends went and explored Alice Springs. We walked around town, climbed Anzac Hill and Billie Goat Hill, and got a couple souvenirs. Charity and I relaxed by the pool for a bit in the afternoon. That night our group had a nice meal (I ate a kangaroo fillet!) and went to a didgeridoo concert. It was more of a contemporary didgeridoo show, but it was fun. That night we went to the casino in Alice Springs for a little while. It was nice, but definitely no Soaring Eagle :)

Day 6: On Friday morning I tried again for the hot air balloon ride and this time it was safe to fly! I was really looking forward to it and it was a great experience. Watching the balloon fill with air was really cool. I got to watch the sun rise over the outback with was breathtaking. Luckily I did not feel sick or dizzy or anything during the ride- it was very smooth. The view of the McDonell Ranges was awesome. Afterward I helped put away the balloon and had a nice breakfast. Then our group left and headed back to Sydney.

This trip was unlike anything I have experienced before. I am certainly not a camper but I had such a good time. It was hot, dusty, and there were a ton of flies, but it was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. I am glad I got to see a side of Australia that most people never get to see (even many Australians never make it to the Outback).

Here are pictures from the trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063236&id=15508583&l=d2738f40b5

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063237&id=15508583&l=e5715550ab

I am now adjusting to life back in the big city. On Saturday Charity and I went to the Surry Hills Festival which was fun. There were a lot of booths selling clothing, art, jewelry, etc. and there was also a lot of live music, so it was a nice Saturday afternoon.

Next weekend I am going to see Joel Mchale from The Soup on E! and I am very excited :) Then, Charity and I leave four our 9 day New Zealand Trip on May 2. Green and cool New Zealand will be a sharp contrast from the hot and red Outback, but I am really looking forward to the trip.

Love,
Becky

Luna Park / Two Month Reflection

On Friday night, Charity and I walked across the Harbor Bridge to North Sydney and went to Luna Park. From Circular Quay you can see Luna Park, especially the creepy clown-face entrance, and we have been wanting to venture over there for a while. It is a very small amusement park (not Cedar Point..) with only a few rides and games. The design for Luna Park was based on Coney Island, and it has an older feel to it. We did not ride any rides but we got some ice cream and sat along the edge of the harbor. It was finally a nice night- not too cool, not very windy, just a beautiful fall evening. We even got a picture with the goofy Luna Park mascot! Kinda creepy if you ask me.

We walked back across the bridge and hung out at Circular Quay. There is a walk way over by the Opera House with seating along the edge. There was a full moon out, and we sat and just looked up at the sky and talked. Since it was Good Friday there were not many people around, and it was nice to just sit and talk and enjoy the views of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge.

As I mentioned before, I wanted to share a two month reflection. It is good for me to look back on the last month and kind of summarize my feelings.

I think that this past month has been a mixture of both fun times and normal, even boring times. The Melbourne trip was a ton of fun, but it already seems like forever ago! I got to see the Zoo, get a ghost tour of The Rocks, see a show at the Opera House, went to a cooking class, enjoy Coogee beach before the weather changed, and walked across the bridge to Luna Park. In between these events, though, I went to class, did homework, wrote papers, worked, did my laundry, washed some dishes, ran errands, etc... much like I would be doing at home. This past month has definitely been less novel, and more real life. It is nice to have a routine with classes and work, and I really feel like I live here now.

There are a ton of differences between home and here as far as culture goes. I'll share just a few.
First, restaurant eating is much different here. Unlike the US, waiters/waitresses do not come up to your table every five minutes. A lot of times you have to call them over when you are ready to order and when you are ready to leave. Since the atmosphere is much more laid back, people usually go to eat and spend a lot of time just sitting and talking, so there is no rush of the servers to push people out so that new people can come in. This is also because there are so many different places to eat that you never really have to wait. Additionally, since people who work at cafes/restaurants make anywhere between $15-20 an hour, it is not a custom to tip. It was hard at first to get used to having to call over the waiter/waitress to order, but I'm sure when I get back home I will feel bombarded the first time I go out to eat. But, I would kill for an Outback burger right now! (how ironic..)

Another thing I learned is that milkshakes here are not like milkshakes at home. They put an emphasis on the milk part... If you want a shake like the ones at home, you have to ask for a thick shake, and even then it is still not the same!

Of course, there are also a ton of language differences, but I am used to them. Though, I really do not think I'll ever ask someone "How you going?" like they say here instead of "How are you?" Some things are just too ingrained.

That's about it for now. This last month has been good, and I know the next one will go by qucikly. I will be in the Outback from Sunday 12th-Friday the 17th. After that I have two weeks in Sydney, then I am going to New Zealand for 9 days.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter! When you travel so far away for so long, you realize how much you appreciate the little things in life.

Look for some stories and photos sometime next weekend!

Love,
Becky

Random updates

As you may or may not be able to tell, the week tends to be a little slower than the weekend. So while I do not have any major or exciting updates, I wanted to share how my week has been.

I had two papers due this past Monday and Tuesday. Talk about stress!! The structure of classes and assessments is much different here, and it has been difficult adjusting. I had to do a lot of library work for the papers, something I am not used to doing at Case. Last Friday I had a 'feed-back session' for one of my papers, and I was pretty bummed when my professor told me that what I had written was basically wrong and that I would have to re-write it (said with a smile on her face, no less). I re-wrote it, but I can't say I enjoyed doing so.

The thing that is difficult about classes here is knowing that no matter how hard you try, you will not get a good grade. Since they grade on the bell curve the majority receive grades at or below average, and that's just how it is. Knowing that makes it difficult to produce quality work.

Additionally, the material of these courses is much more theoretical and abstract. I am used to assignments that force me to apply what I know to real world situations, and I really enjoy problem solving. That is not what it is like here. I know that I am intelligent but these last few weeks have made me question that! Who would have thought that CASE would be the 'easy' school?!?

In good news though, I only need a 50% to get a 'C' grade at home, which gives me some relief. Still, I would prefer not to get a 50%...

Fall is here in full swing! The weather has gotten much cooler, and it gets dark at 6pm! Can you believe it? I guess everyone's image of Australia is that its hot and sunny all year round- clearly not the case. Some of my other friends from IES neglected to bring warm clothes even, so now they have to go buy some. Luckily I came with a good amount of jeans and hoodies, which will come in handy over the next two months.

Charity and I went and played Bingo on Tuesday. It turned out to be quite fun actually. They use a different type of 'bingo' card here, but it was still the same premise. Sadly neither of us won, but we had a few good laughs!

My internship is going slow, and not very much work (not complaining...). My boss was in Africa for a couple weeks and I worked on an assignment from home. Unfortunately it turned out that there was not enough information out there for what we wanted to do, so we had to scrap the project. He told me to start my vacation early (Easter Holiday break is next week) and that he'll give me a new project when we meet on the 22nd. It is somewhat disappointing but at the same time I'm glad that it is not consuming my time.

I think that's about it. I will post again this weekend before I head to the Outback with a 2 month reflection.

Hope the snow stops at home!!!!!

Love,
Becky

Ghost Tour of The Rocks

On Friday, the international student Buddy Club hosted a ghost tour of The Rocks. The company Ghost Tours (www.ghosttours.com.au if you are curious) holds daily tours of The Rocks area - of both the North and the South. We took the 'Dark North' tour and heard stories of murder, suicide, ghost hauntings, and other strange happenings in the area.

Our tour guide was Ghost Host James(pictured above), and he was great! He was a fabulous story teller, which really made the night fun! It was not completely dark for the first part of the tour, which made it a little less scary. The owner of the company traces his ancestry back to the first settlers of The Rocks, and a lot of the ghost hosts have lived or currently live in The Rocks, so all of the stories (we were told that all of them are true) have been handed down for generations and have an authentic feel.

As part of the tour everyone had to play a role. There were silly props- like toy rats, socks, hats, etc. that we had to wear. At each spot ghost host James called on a person or group to recreate the story! It was interactive which made it fun. Charity and I both had to wear socks around our neck and when the time came we played the role of famous Sydney gang members who used to rob and then kill people with sand filled socks! True story!

Overall, it wasn't terribly scary and I did not have any creepy experiences, but it was interesting to learn the history of The Rocks- it is a very old and mysterious part of the city. It was especially cool to stand in the actual spots where these events occured, though they were so long ago! A few of the sites have been preserved and the city has maintained a few really old houses, and since most of them are off limits to the general public it was nice to get the chance to see a part of the city I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

After the ghost tour Charity, our friend Meg, and I went to the famous Pancakes on The Rocks. We split some potato wedges and each got pancakes. Mine had bananas, walnuts, chocolate syrup and chocolate ice cream - talk about a healthy dinner! It was delicious. We are actually going back for Nate's birthday on Sunday... meaning 2 out of 3 nights this weekend my dinner will be pancakes. But that's life in Sydney :)

On Saturday night Charity and I went to eat at a nice cafe called UrbanBites. As I mentioned in the past there are a ton of little cafes all along King St. so we made a list and are trying to get to them all!

This week has been especially challenging for me as far as being homesick. At Case this week is Greek Week and so all of the sororities and fraternities are competing in events. It is always a fun part of the year and I was sad to miss out on it this year! But, DG is doing really well and I am proud of them. One of the bigger events is Variety Show where each chapter creates and performs a 5-7 minute show at the Ohio Theater. Here is a link to DG's variety show this year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjLNJc2K8zI We placed 2nd!!!

But, I have a busy 3 months ahead. I leave for the Outback in ONE week! I can't believe it is almost already here. Then 2 weeks after that I go to New Zealand, then the week I get back from NZ my friend Maya is coming to visit, which will be a ton of fun! Then I finish classes, go to the Great Barrier Reef, then back to Cleveland! Like I said, a very busy 3 months ahead :)

Love,
Becky