Going Off the Grid!

So I really shouldn't be awake right now, because I'm leaving at 4:30AM tomorrow (in 5 hours) to get on a plane to Tasmania!  So this is going to be very short!
Me and 8 other girls are using our week long semester break to take a 9-day road trip around the beautiful island of Tasmania, stopping to hike, swim, go to museums, etc.  We'll be camping for almost the entire time there, and basically living out of our backpacks in our rental cars.  It'll be awesome!
Because Tasmania is such a rural place, and we're aiming to be in the most rural areas most of the time, this means I probably won't have signal.  So don't worry if you're trying to reach me and I don't respond for 9 days--I'm alright!  I'll be deep in nature.
Hopefully I'll have tons of pictures and stories to share when we get back on April 4th!  See you then!

Schoolday

                I had another anatomy lab today!  This time we dissected spiny dogfish, which are like mini sharks!  I haven’t done a full dissection since sophomore year of high school, so it was awesome to nerd out like this!  The fish was injected with all kinds of brightly-colored dyes too, so it looked awesome.  I took some pictures, both for study reference and because I’m a nerd, so if you’re squeamish about fish body parts, maybe skip past the next 2 pictures.

                Okay, you're good, the fish guts are gone.  This dissection was actually really fun, especially since I have a great partner.  I randomly sat next to this Australian girl on the first day, and we partnered up again today to work on the dogfish. We work together really well, which makes this class so much easier.

                I also remembered to take pictures of my lab this time!  Believe it or not, I didn’t even cover every skeleton they have on display there.

                

                So all of my morning was spent in lab.  The 3 hours went by really fast, because what we're doing is actually interesting and fun!  After lab I was starving and so excited for lunch, until I saw what lunch was.

                Yes, this is real food.  It’s apparently taro cake that somehow had shrimp in it…?  I’m not sure.  It didn’t taste particularly awful, but the look and the squishy potatoey texture made it hard to stomach.  Only two people at my table finished the whole thing off of willpower, and with the use of a lot of ketchup and barbecue sauce.  I wasn't so brave, so after a few bites ended up having toast.

                Since toast is such a traditional Australian thing, I decided to be adventurous today and try a tiiiiny bit of vegemite.

                That's it.  That little brown streak at the top.  Yeah, I’m a baby, but you gotta start small with these things.  I’m also a white girl, so I took a selfie while eating it.

                I didn’t have much on the bread, but turns out it’s actually not that bad!  I couldn’t taste too much of it, but I might actually kind of like it!  Maybe I’ll try more next time.

                After a bunch of homework and video chatting with some nerds from home, there was also a little party in International House tonight!  My first friend I made here, Mayuko, had her birthday today!  We blew up a ton of balloons, threw them into her room (which is always open, because people trust each other that much here,) then hid in there and surprised her with cake and champagne!  The rest of the night was spent playing games, eating cake, and drinking bad boxed wine (called “goon” in Australia.)

                Then, of course, was the International House tradition of “ponding.”  Remember the pictures I posted of the inside of my building?  There’s a shallow, square pond in the middle of the courtyard with a couple fish and a lot of murky goo in it.  It’s a tradition at this house on someone’s birthday to dunk them in that pond.  Mayuko was really not keen on it at first, but we finally convinced her.

                She then chased everyone around giving them slimy hugs for the next half hour.

                So I had a pretty good day today.  Tomorrow I’ll be in class from 9am to 5pm, so that will be just great.  Please message me so I don’t die in class.

                Goodnight!

Weekend Shenannigans

                I guess this post can be considered part 2 of my last one, because it’s still just covering little adventures I had over the weekend.  (Today was nothing to speak of, other than class and a bag of crispy M&Ms, so let’s flash back for a second.)

                On Saturday I realized I had no plans for the weekend, which was a simultaneously disappointing and exhilarating realization.  All my friends seemed to have something already planned, so I decided to make it another solo adventure day.  I headed downtown to the Australian Museum downtown in Sydney, which I heard was really cool and really cheap.

                I didn’t take too many pictures, (so I found some stock ones online,) but it was a cool place to run around for a few hours for $8.  It’s a natural history museum, so most of it was taxidermied animals and fossils from all over Australia.  Though I’ve already been to 2 zoos, it was still cool to see Australia’s weird past and present wildlife up close.  There was even a life-size model of a giant wombat, which apparently coexisted with humans thousands of years ago!  (Ok, to me this is interesting.)

                There was also a dinosaur fossil exhibit and a whole section on indigenous peoples of Australia, both of which were super cool!

                After I exhausted the museum, I got on the train to go across the Harbour Bridge and to a place I always wanted to visit: the North Sydney Olympic Pool!

                This place is just gorgeous from every angle, and the best part is it’s a public pool open year round!  I got in for $10 and ended up swimming back and forth for probably 3 hours.  It was a perfect day, and swimming is excellent exercise, which I really needed after a few days of being on my bum. 

                And yes, because I know you’re wondering, this is the place where one of the final scenes of that anime about competitive swimming takes place.

                So I stayed downtown until it was almost dark, and then headed home on the train, then the bus.  Public transport here is so convenient and really easy to use.  Chicago’s bus system has always been so intimidating to me, but somehow Sydney makes it so easy to hop from bus to train to ferry to bus without so much as a second thought.  They’re also much cleaner than Chicago, so that helps, too.

                On Sunday I still had no plans, but ended up joining a group that headed down to Maroubra Beach to play beach volleyball and hang out in the water on a hot day.  Believe it or not, this is a beach I haven’t been to yet. 

                We played a few games of beach volleyball, which nobody was much good at, but was still really fun.  The sand makes it so hard to move, but also cushions you when you inevitably fall on your butt a few times trying to make a save.  And of course, the best part is always getting in the water after sweating through a game!

                So even with no plans to begin with, I found some great ways to fill my time this weekend.  This week, it’s back to homework and studying.  The workload is picking up, so now I need to cut down my leisure time to make room for study time. 

                As always, text me and Facebook message me!  It’s always appreciated!  I miss everyone at home! 

                Goodnight!

The Opera Adventure

                Wow, I haven’t written in quite awhile, but there’s a lot to talk about!  I’ll maybe split this up into two posts, and today start with a little downtown adventure from Friday!

                On Friday, I took the bus to Sydney with two friends to get dinner and hopefully catch some discounted last-minute tickets to a play at the Opera House!  (It’s not an opera, but to our knowledge, it was the only show playing tonight, so it looked cool.)  We left really early so we were sure to have time to get the tickets, but it ended up not being so easy.

                First we went to Darling Harbour, which is a beautiful town center full of restaurants and shops and all kinds of activities.  It’s apparently a very touristy area, but it was pretty calm when we were there.  We walked along the harbor where all the restaurants were lined up, and took a look at each of the menus (posted outside) to figure out which was the cheapest.  The answer was none of them, because they were all hip places in a hip spot, so we settled for one that was mid-priced and looked delicious.

                The three of us had a lovely Italian dinner, which even included some fancy drinks!  Sarah ordered some sangria, so I ended up having quite a bit.  It was really yummy!  We all felt very adult and very fancy having a nice dinner out in the city.

                By the time we got the check, though, we realized there was an hour until the show we wanted to see started, and we were nowhere near the Opera House.  So we paid really quickly and booked it to the nearest bus station.

                With 30 minutes remaining until the show started, of course the bus was late, and Google maps was telling us it would take 30 minutes to get to the Opera House.  Luckily, the bus was relatively empty when we got on, and continued to empty as we hit each stop.  Eventually, we were left with the bus all to ourselves, so we were whispering encouragement to the bus driver to skip stops and get us there on time.

                We made it to the Opera House with 15 minutes to go!  We ran as classily as we could up the grand steps in our dresses, and found our way to the box office (which was not nearly as clearly marked as it should have been,) where we stood in line and waited.

                And waited.

                And waited until there were 5 minutes left before the show started.

                While we were standing in line mumbling for people to move faster and praying they still had tickets, a wonderful lady in front of us turned around and asked if we would like to go ahead of her and her family, since they were buying tickets for the next day.  Of course we thanked her and took her up on the offer.

                At the counter with 2 minutes to go, we asked the guy behind the counter if there were any rush tickets left for the show we wanted to see; Romeo and Juliet.  He said yes, there were 4 all the way in the back corner with a limited view for $70.  We were advertised a much cheaper price, so we asked why it was so expensive.

                “Ohhh, you’re talking about the opera rush tickets,” the guy said.  “Yeah, we have those for $44.  There’s three I can give you for La Bohème which starts in one minute.”  He then showed us a map of the theatre and circled three seats in the smack middle of the front section.

                We all looked at each other, giggled, and nodded.  La Bohème was the premier opera showing right now, which only ran for two weeks, and sold out of $400 tickets every night.  We got very, very lucky!

                So he printed our tickets, and we booked it to the stage door, where the doorman informed us that it was 7:30, and we replied “we know.”  We got to our seats, giddy and giggling that we somehow actually made it here, and wow our seats were incredible.

                Right there in the front.  Perfect view of the stage.  We could see the performer’s faces perfectly.  It was so incredible!  Upon looking up our exact seats online, I also found out they usually go for $330 dollars.  Again, we got them for $44 two minutes before it started.  Emphasis on very lucky.

                The show was a beautiful performance of crazy-intense singing, a live orchestra, and costumes and sets to die for.  I’d never been to an opera before, but it was really cool!  I was unable to take pictures of the performance for obvious reasons, but there are some promotional photos online.

                During the intermission, we got up, still giggling, and wandered off in search of bathrooms and some water.  What we found was a full bar, free water pitchers, and a beautiful balcony that looked out on the ocean and the city.

                Around us were all kinds of fancy people dressed up in dresses and suits and holding glasses of champagne.  The air was still balmy and warm from the hot day earlier, and everything smelled of the sea.  We stood there in awe of what we were seeing and the fact that we were actually here on the balcony of the Sydney Opera House, looking out at the beautiful city.  Again, I had one of those “I never want to leave” moments, where my whole happy future living in Sydney with my fancy loft apartment and yacht flashed before my eyes.  Ok, so most of that won’t actually happen, but I do really, really want to live in this city someday.  It’s really so perfect for me.

                Anyway, after the show was over, we stood in awe again in front of the Opera House on a huge grand staircase leading up to it, where everyone was taking pictures and just having a great touristy time.  Of course, we joined in for the picture-taking part.

                As we made our way back to the bus stop to go home, still kind of giddy after that whole adventure, we talked about how great this city was some more, and how much we want to live here someday.  We walked past open-air restaurants right on the harbor, palm trees swaying in the summer night breeze, and the cleanest city streets I’ve ever seen, all flowing with life as the people of Sydney enjoyed this beautiful Friday night.  

                   I’ve said it a million times but I’ll say it again: it’s my dream to be one of those people someday.  Sorry again, mom.

                

Little Friends

                I’m finally getting into the swing of routine, with classes, meals, homework and the like.  Today’s update is pretty short, but I wanted to share something really cute that happened today.

                I’m making it a habit to walk to and from Coogee beach every night after dinner, which is a 3km walk each way up and down a huge hill.  Today I brought some snacks with me because dinner was kind of unsatisfactory, so I ended up hanging out at a relatively empty corner of the beach and feeding the seagulls with some of the corn chips I had.  Yes, I am that crazy bird lady at the beach.  All the time.

                While I was hanging around, two little boys appeared from behind me and started chasing the seagulls around.  They seemed to be having a lot of fun, so I offered them some chips to feed the birds with.  The kids nearly ran me right out of chips by asking for more every 5 seconds—and how could I say no?

                In the meantime, another little girl who was sitting with her family down the beach joined the group and politely informed me that feeding the seagulls is bad because it makes them nasty to other people.  While I agree with that sentiment, I still offered her some chips too, and she gladly threw them to the birds. 

                Once we were out of chips, the three of them showed off their best seagull-chasing techniques to get them all away.  It involved a lot of yelling, jumping, and sand.  Sand everywhere.  In the process of showing off their jumps, they somehow decided to have a jumping contest, which then turned into a race across the beach.  They must have run back and forth over the same 100 yard stretch at least 4 times before they asked me to join in the race.  I thought I would have to let them win, but I was kind of unpleasantly surprised to find that they beat me while I was trying to jog full speed on the sand.  Looks like I need to work on my speed a bit!

                Being kids, these guys somehow never ran out of energy, and I completely lost track of the number of races we had back and forth across the sand.  We spent the better part of 2 hours running and doing jumping jacks and making up songs and chasing seagulls and doing all kinds of little kid things that just cleanse the soul after a long time spent being an adult.  I even talked with the parents of both families—a Latino man with the two boys and a British couple with the girl, both of whom lived nearby. Like probably everyone else in this country, they were all really nice, and very interested in where I was from and what I was doing in Australia.

                I ended up hanging out with the parents of the girl for awhile, talking to them about myths and facts of dingoes (yes, I’m still a nerd,) while listening to their little girl talk my ear off about everything from her acting career to her sleeping positions.  The sun had set by the time we parted ways, and all the lights were lit down the street.  I definitely hadn’t planned on staying for so long, but it was the best little adventure that I never expected.

                In other news, I also videocalled one of my best friends from home today, which helped me feel a lot less homesick and a lot less far away from everyone.  It’s amazing that I’ve been here for 3 weeks already.  With my more local friends, I also finalized a 9-day trip to Tasmania over the upcoming break!  More information will be coming on that as we get closer, but I’m really excited!  I’m going with some of my better friends in the House, so it will be a really cool trip.

                That’s all for now!  Goodnight!

Classes and Beaches

                Since school is really ramping up this week, I’ve had less time to do fun, adventurous stuff.  However, my classes have been really cool so far!  I feel like they’re all going to be very, very interesting.  (You’ll also probably notice my writing style getting a little more formal; probably because I need to be formal more often with my teachers and such.)

                For example, I had my first anatomy lab today!  It’s for my class called “Zoology of Vertebrates” which sounds amazingly sciencey, and is the class I’ve been looking forward to since I started my zoology degree.  It involves learning and experiencing the anatomy of all sorts of creatures through dissection, (my favorite,) and it’s all done with fancy lab coats on.  It’s not quite as exciting as exploring Australia, but to me, this lab was just as much of an adventure.

                I wish I could have taken pictures of the lab it was held in!  Next time I’ll take some time before or after class to document this room.  It’s filled on every side with various animal skeletons.  Some were recognizable, like an upright kangaroo and a turtle with its shell suspended from the ceiling.   Others, however, were really strange, and looked positively prehistoric!  If I have time after class next week, I’ll definitely ask one of my instructors about these weird creatures on the shelves of our lab.

                In the actual class, we got to dissect two chordates today, (chordates being boneless creatures that are usually fish or crustaceans.)  We examined an amphioxus under a microscope (I’ve never heard of it either,) and got to cut open and see the inside of a sea squirt!  I never even knew those things were alive, much less that they were this fascinating.  I’ll save most of the geeking out for the people who are actually interested in this kind of weird stuff, but the sea squirt was basically a bulbous, fleshy sac inside a crusty outer carapace.  It’s such a weird little thing!  Next week we get to dissect sharks, which I am 10000% looking forward to.

                After lab I had a huge chunk of free time today.  The homework load isn’t enough yet to fill up my free time, so it felt kind of weird and empty.  I ended up laying on a bench on one of the lawns chatting with friends on my phone and listening to all the weird Australian birdsongs.  I even spotted a kookaburra in the tree right next to me! 

                In the evening I took the 3km walk down to Coogee, which I think I’m going to make a daily habit.  Some of my more athletic friends left after me and jogged the steep path, (I’m nowhere near fit enough for that yet,) catching up before I reached the beach.  By the time we got there it was almost 7, so the sun was setting behind the town, and the beach was shady and pleasantly cool.  While the others supplemented their run with sprints across the beach, (hell no) I cheered them on while feeding the local seagulls with crumbs I had in my bag.  I’ve kind of earned a reputation at International House as That Girl Obsessed with Animals, and honestly that’s probably the best thing to be known for.  I really am pretty obsessed with the wildlife here, as you probably know after reading my blog posts.  (I’ll stop blithering endlessly about kangaroos someday….maybe.)

                I’m going to bed soon, with a full day of classes in front of me, but I want to share a reading I just did for my technology class tomorrow.  We’re discussing Isaac Asimov’s Robot Dreams, which is a really cool and thought-provoking short story and you should take some time to read it.  All my classes are looking really promising this semester—I can’t wait to get into them further!

                

Blue Mountains

                Today was another very full and very exhausting day.  I’m really not used to having so many full days in a row, so I get tired out pretty fast!  Today was awesome, though.  I went hiking with a group of 8 people (each one from a different country!) to the Blue Mountains, which is a 2 hour train ride outside of Sydney.  Getting there was kind of a struggle, since it involved catching the bus to the train then walking to the trail we would hike on, but it was well worth it.

                We were led by our trusty guide Jacob, who lives in the area.  He led us to a trail that was totally free of tourists, which was really nice, considering it’s a weekend and this area is very popular for hiking.  The trail involved us walking out to a cliff that looked out over the valley, then walking straight down the mountain to a stream at the bottom. 

                We hung out at the stream for awhile, where it was cool and shady.  Some of the guys even went for a swim in their underwear, which they regretted later. 

                The whole hike was beautiful, but definitely exhausting.  All the mental energy it took to navigate the steep slope downwards was then turned into physical energy to get back up. Both ways left me totally exhausted and very thirsty!  I drank three full water bottles during the hike.  However, I never had to pee once.  I think I sweated out about a gallon of water during this trip, and that kind of scares me.  I was really happy to get in the shower when we got home.

                Anyway, once we made it back up the mountain to where we started, Jacob phoned his family nearby to come pick us up so we wouldn’t have to walk anymore.  We piled into 2 cars and were driven back to his house for dinner and some cold drinks.  Of course, our dinner was just Dominoes pizza, but after that long hike, I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the best pizza I’d ever had.  Jacob also had 2 dogs, a cat, and a pet lorikeet, so I finally got my animal fix after 2 long weeks without seeing a furry face other than kangaroos.

                We sat outside on the deck in his backyard for dinner, which was a wild experience in itself.  Cockatoos seem to be the primary bird life around there, which is simultaneously really cool and really annoying.  It was fascinating to see these birds usually kept as pets just flying around in the wild, and so many of them, too!  However, their cries are basically just an obnoxious scream, so they’re awful to listen to.  While the forest (I’m sorry, the bush) itself was actually very quiet aside from cicadas, the areas surrounding it rang with bird screams almost constantly.  It’s kind of a chaotic place to live, it seems.

                After another long train ride and bus ride, we finally got back around 10:30, meaning we were out for a good 12 hours!  I know I’m going to be very sore tomorrow, but that’s the sign of a good day, in my opinion.

                I haven’t posted in a few days, so I’ll also update you guys on the formal dinner!  Two nights ago was our Start of Session Dinner at International House, where everyone dresses up all fancy, we take a group photo, and then eat and listen to performances and speeches.  It was a really nice time, and made me grateful all over again for the fact that I somehow got into this beautiful house.  This experience has been just amazing so far, and I know it would not be nearly as good if it weren’t for the people in International House.

                Like I said earlier, everyone in my hiking group today was from a different country.  Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Netherlands, South Africa, France, and Norway were all represented.  Around here, introducing yourself along with the country you’re from is kind of the norm.  How crazy is that?  It’s so incredible to be here in such an international environment, not to mention the fact that it’s in Australia.  I honestly ask myself every day, “how the hell am I actually here?”    

                Just 6 months ago, if you had asked me what I’d be doing this semester, I’d probably say “living in the dorms, studying and probably dying.”  I had no idea I would end up here.  It took a lot of organization, conferences with advisors, scholarship applications, and paperwork to get here, but somehow it actually worked.  I’ve never done something this big in my life (and definitely not in this short of time!) but I’m so so so happy I did.  I’ve hardly started the semester, but just the process of getting here has given me a confidence in myself I’ve never had before. 

                Special thanks tonight for everyone who helped me get here, most notably my whole family for moral and monetary support, and my MSU academic advisor, Anne, for throwing all this crap together on such short notice.  You guys have made my world.  Goodnight to all!

Taronga Zoo

                SIKE!!  Classes may have started yesterday, but I don’t have any scheduled on Thursday!  And I bet you thought I would be deep in my studies right now.  Ha.  No, I’m doing something much more predictable.  I went to the zoo.

                No, a different zoo this time.

                Really!  I swear, I do things other than go to zoos.  Sometimes.

                This one is the biggest baddest zoo in the area, called Taronga, in the northern part of Sydney.  I once again led this expedition because I’m apparently the biggest animal nerd in the House.  So I got my group of three together and we set off after their morning classes!

                The trip was not as far as to Featherdale a few days ago, and was much prettier.  We took a bus to Circular Quay in Sydney, then took a ferry to the zoo.  Before you look at these photos, just let me remind you that these were taken from what is technically public transportation.  This is cheap and easy for anyone to use.

                The views from this thing are just amazing.  It felt like we were on a paid tourist cruise.  Some people ride this thing to work, which I’m adding to my newly written set of goals, which now consist of:

1.        Live around Sydney
2.       Take the ferry to work
3.        Probably work at Taronga Zoo

                Yeah, Taronga is awesome.  It’s situated basically in the jungle on a huge hill across the harbor from the main hub of Sydney, meaning you get beautiful ocean/skyline views like these all over the park.

                The entire zoo is just beautiful all over.  The exhibits were really well designed—enough so that we could actually locate and see 90% of the animals in action, which is kind of hard in mid-summer heat, when everything wants to hide.  The animals were also amazing, since so many of them were so different than the animals I’m used to at home.  Some of them are only allowed at very select zoos worldwide, like koalas and certain birds!

                Some of the notable exhibits we visited included:

• ·         The “seal walk,” which was a bridge over a huge pool where seals and sea lions did water acrobatics beneath us.
• ·         “Australia nightlife,” which was a dark, quiet building that housed nocturnal Australian animals, and made it easier to see them active by being very dark.
• ·         The chimpanzee exhibit, where I think we witness an ape coup d’état of sorts.  The chimps were all going about their business, when suddenly one started screaming, and the whole population sprang into action.  There was a lot of running and fighting and monkey yelling, but we never figured out what caused it all.  It was kind of scary to see, actually.  We were kind of afraid they would try to break out.
• ·         Several aviaries, which allowed us to walk through an open enclosure where all kinds of colorful birds flew all around us.
• ·         The spider exhibit, which allowed us three American girls to face our fears of enormous Australian arachnids. 
• ·         The midday seal show, which showcased a lot of things I had no idea sea lions could even do, like this:

• ·         And of course, the free-roaming kangaroo/wallaby/emu walk, where the animals could come right up and hang out with us!

                We stayed at the zoo for over 5 hours, which made for a really long day of walking around in the heat.  We left completely exhausted and saturated with sunscreen and sweat, but it was 100% totally worth it.

                Tonight, I’m writing this from the newly installed hammock in our courtyard.  I know, as if life couldn’t get any better, I can hang out on this beautiful night in this beautiful weather on a hammock under the stars and the plants, while still within the safety of my building. 

                I really don’t ever want to leave.