The guy I met with wasn’t the dean of students, but the vice-chancellor. In American terms, this is like meeting with the Vice President of the school. The meeting was short, but he knew where I was coming from right away. He said that he’d talk to housing and we’ll see what can be done.
I signed up for Res-wars. Every dorm on campus can sign up to play in weekly sporting events, girls on one team and boys on another, and we play the other dorms. The team with the most points at the end wins a prize, and every week there is free dinner. I decided to sign up since a couple of my NU friends were doing it and it seemed like fun. Tonight’s sport? Basketball. Growing up, believe it or not, I wanted to be a college basketball star. I dreamed of going to Stanford, playing basketball and loving it, because I loved it so much then. I ate, drank, and slept basketball – the camps, the summer teams, the AAU teams… it was endless… until it ended. Well, tonight I didn’t rekindle my love for the sport, but I rekindled my innate athletic ability that I inherited. Our team had gone undefeated for the night and won the championship. It was fun, getting in there, playing hard, with a group of girls all with one common goal. It felt like I was a freshman in high school, not a junior in college. At Northeastern I haven’t had much time for anything other than work, schoolwork and fun work. Being here I’ve added a lot of activities that I haven’t participated in years, for example basketball. After the first game I was sitting on a chair, zoning out, thinking about how out of shape and terrible I have become at basketball. I had been so self-deprecating, and upset…then all of a sudden, this kid walks by me, stops and says, “hey you were one of the really good players out there, nice job.” Something as simple as that brought me some peace. It’s funny; sometimes I wonder if someone can hear what I’m thinking.
I had my iPhone unlocked; now I’m using that with my Global Gossip pay-as-you-go plan.
I started reading Jack Kerouac’s, On the Road, not only because I am on the road, but also because the “classical” books at the bookstores are the only affordable books here. The other reason is because I’ve always heard the famous quote from that book, but never knew its context. Incidentally enough, I didn’t have to read too far to stumble across the quote. I feel the same way that this quote does, and I often wonder why there aren’t more mad people out there… I’m still young though, who knows whom I’ll meet.
Quote:
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn…” -Jack Kerouac’s On the Road
This video is of Surfer’s Paradise. The closest city to Bond Uni, is Surfers. It takes about 15-30 minutes on the bus, and the bus leaves every 30 minutes or so. Surfers is where all of the clubs are located, and the main extracurricular in the evening tends to be frequenting the clubs in the various clubs in the area. Bond University has a binding contract for the year with The Bedroom and Sin City, where all of the students get free admission and the clubs get unlimited advertising on campus. I have to admit; I’ve gone to the clubs every weekend since I’ve been here, something that I normally do not participate in at home.
My classes are great, and I think I’m going to like them more and more as the weeks go by. This is my schedule:
Tuesday:
8AM – 10AM Cinematography & Lighting Lecture
10AM – 12PM Cine & Lighting Practical
(we work with the cameras and lights, etc)
We’ll be using these beautiful Panasonic HPX’s in this class. They are stunning cameras.
2PM – 4PM Directing Actors Lecture
(This so far seems like it’s going to be my favorite class. The professor is very good and she understands students and varies the way she teaches in order to keep the class engaged and interesting. The class is obviously about the relationship between actor and director, but it’s also about reading people and trying to get people to feel what you want them to feel (if only these techniques worked in real life).
6PM – 9PM Directing Actors Practical
(the professor brings in real actors and we do different exercises with them in a studio)
Thursday:
8AM – 10AM Editing Lecture (I’m learning to edit using Avid. Currently, I only know Final Cut Pro; however, in the industry it’s good to know both.)
10AM – 12PM Australian Cinema Screening / Lecture
(Australian Cinema starts at 9, so I’ve worked out an agreement with my professor to miss the lecture and come for the screening. Afterwards, the professor, and two grad students re-teach me the lecture. In the US something like that never would have worked out. I would have had to pick between the Editing class and Australian Cinema. I was glad I didn’t have to pick because I’m interested in both)
2PM – 3PM Australian Cinema Tutorial
(Every student is required to do a presentation on a film… Mine is on the movie “Getting’ Square” Which is a movie made by a lawyer, and is set in the Gold Coast. I’m going to try and watch it soon, so when I do I’ll let you guys know how it is.)
4PM – 6PM Editing Computer Lab
This photo is a an example of the edit suites that are near the iMac computer lab where we have class.
(We sit down behind the iMac computers and follow along with the instructor. Fortunately, the edit suites are open 24/7. )
I was very surprised when I found out that a.) My classes happened to work out to be only twice a week and b.) That they only meet once a week. It’s very different from the Monday, Weds, Thursday or Tuesday/Friday schedules that I am accustom to at Northeastern University. As of right now, I don’t know how it will be possible to learn as much in a given semester, but we will see. Although I am a hard worker, I’m a bit concerned about the grading system here. Apparently the professors do not give out “High Distinctions.” They are pretty strict with what they give out, but NU curves the grades to be in par with the way we do business. Another observation is how strict the administration at Bond University seems to be. Maybe because it is a smaller school, they are able to keep the students more on a tight leash, but it’s very unappealing. I understand that they are nervous about students doing things they shouldn’t be doing, but there needs to be some level of trust and understanding between the school and the students. It seems that the school is running the students whereas at other institutions I’ve been in the students help run the school. I was also surprised that classes were held on Australia Day. From my understanding, Australia day is like July 4th. Having classes on July 4th would be blasphemous in the USA, so like I said, although unaffected, I just was very surprised.
Having class twice a week has a lot of benefits. One of the major ones, of course, is being able to travel Thursday night – Monday night. Already I have booked my flights to Sydney for their big Mardi Gras weekend. Two of my friends and I leave on the 6:30 flight Thursday evening, we are flying Tiger Airways. My roundtrip tickets, and 4 nights in a hostel cost me a total of $205. Now that’s a bargain. The hostel we are staying at is called, Base Backpackers, and we are staying in the sanctuary room, which Base describes as “The Female only SANCTUARY DORM is for ladies who like to be pampered! 4 to 8 bed dorm, clean, modern and comfortable non smoking room comprising a luggage security locker for each person, wireless internet access (surcharge applies), security swipe card access with a 24 hour reception, heating and air-conditioning. The beds have feather pillows and doona and made up with fresh linen. The rooms are featured with full length mirrors. Hairdryers, hair strengtheners and beauty kits are available for your use on request at reception. Rate is for 1 person in a single bunk bed in the dorm. Fantastic price for that extra bit of luxury in a fantastic location, close to all the action in the heart of Sydney.” This cracked me up a bit, because who associates hostel with luxury? Well, I’ll of course, be assessing the situation as to exactly how luxurious this accommodation is.
I haven’t officially made any other travel plans. The great news is that none of my classes have finals, so I am going to have two weeks where I plan on traveling for the entire duration. Places I want to go? Cairns, The Outback, New Zealand and Fiji. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze all of this in, but the main issue is trying to find reasonably priced airfare. If I do, then of course I’ll be going to all of these places.
Other great news is that I, without even looking for one, found a job. My friend and I were leaving the pool, like I do everyday, and stumbled upon a sign asking for volleyball referees. I immediately walk in, speak to the guy and was hired on the spot to reff beach volleyball games. It’s great, happens every Monday night, at the beach volleyball courts, which is perfectly located right next to my dorm. The pay is good, and it’s from 6-9:40, but I get paid per game. And there are 5 games that are held within those hours. I did it for the first time this past Monday, and it was a lot of fun. It was a seriously nice pick-me-up; for I had been feeling the most homesick I had ever felt in my entire life Thursday-Saturday.
I’m on week 3 and my life in Boston has grown slightly more distant to me with each week that passes. The first two weeks it felt like I was only going to be here for a short vacation, but now I’m starting to realize and accept the fact that I am here for three more months. I’m starting to fully give myself to this place, allowing myself to follow the ways of the culture and accept it as my own. The months before I left, my relationships, my living situation, all were contingent on this trip to Australia. Relationships needed to end, I needed someplace temporary to live, and it was all because of where I am right now. I ask myself if it was worth it, but I don’t think that’s a fair way of looking at it. I need to realize that it’s not about it being worth it, but about realizing that life gets in the way of life at times. Sometimes you want to be able to have everything, but you simply can’t. You have to make choices, and those choices are at times very painful and uncomfortable to make at the time. So, I can’t say that this has been worth it or not worth it, but it certainly has been an experience. I never realized how different standing on the other side of the earth would actually feel.
Before we studied abroad, Northeastern held an orientation where they talked about the different phases of culture shock. First there’s the honeymoon phase and then there’s the “Negotiation Phase” which Wikipedia sums up well: “After some time (usually weeks), differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety.” When I heard about these phases, I didn’t think they would apply to me because Australians speak English and I’ve never been one to miss home; I’m the one who moved from Cleveland to Boston not knowing anybody but adjusted well and quickly. With that being said, I guess I’m surprised that I’ve entered into the Negotiation Phase, and so quickly.
Instead of appreciating the small town and small campus, and short hours, I’ve started to become frustrated by it. The main cultural difference that bothers me is the fact that Australia is so Americanized and it is clear that they are in part trying to be American, but they aren’t doing a good job of succeeding. Everything here costs money too, it’s like they are trying to nickel and dime you from every angle. For example, my friends and I were at a restaurant, and one of them got a container to bring the food home, and they charged her 50 cents.
At Bond University everything is so expensive too. The books at the bookstore are double the price of what they should be. In the corner you see the American recommended price and then they just put a sticker on it and it’s literally double the amount it should be. I know shipping books out here can be expensive, but come on. The way they do the meal plans is terrible. A coke zero (a regular bottle that you can buy at the store) is $3.40 (Australian), which is still expensive. The school is obsessed with partying and this afternoon I’ve gotten conned into going on the university pub-crawl, which if I could return my ticket I would.
Oh well, not everything is bad… I love my classes, the weather, and the fact that someone cleans my room/changes my sheets every week. I’ll write about the perks tomorrow. Until then.
Although this video did not take me very long to make (about a half day of work), there has been a serious conflict between my editing software (Final Cut Pro) and my digital camera. I haven’t used my digital camera as a video camera before, but because it records HD I thought I’d give it the old college try.
Technical difficulties aside, this is the video gives the basic rundown of what my campus looks like. Weather aside, Bond is quiet different from Northeastern. With 2,500 undergraduate students, it is significantly smaller than NU, for at Northeastern there are about 2,500-3,000 students in my 2011 class alone. NU’s dining halls are very different, with the serve your own, buffet style to the Bond’s pay as you go, restaurant style. The cities are both very different too…
I never realized how much I took living in a city for granted. Being able to walk out of your apartment and find most places open until around midnight is a real blessing. Now, I’ve started to realize what one of the cab drivers meant when he said Bond is in the sticks; for even though it’s only 20 minutes from the beach, it is a lot like living in the country. If I had a car, this country feeling may not be as accentuated. The closest stores aren’t really that far away, but it’s nowhere near like being in Boston, where, you can find anything you need at anytime. The stores here though, close much earlier than in the US. It’s just a change from what I have been used to. I guess I never realized how much of a city girl I have turned into over these years in college.
Next to living in the “sticks,” I’ve also taken a serious technology downgrade. This can be viewed as a good thing, I suppose. Before I got here, I was the girl attached to my iPhone. Always on it, always checking my e-mail, constantly connected to the virtual world. Well, now, I have a Nokia phone that hasn’t been considered modern for about 6 years, it’s really sad. As silly as it sounds, I miss my iPhone, all of the beautiful things it could do for me: from the 24 hour GPS device to the unlimited texting, being iPhoneless can be somewhat disappointing. Even for the fluffy things. For example… Today I was at dinner with a few of my friends and I asked my friend from Norway, if Norwegians eat perogies. She, nor did my other friends, know what perogies were. If we were in Boston, I’d pull out my iPhone with a smile and graciously google a picture of a perogi to show them what exactly I was talking about. Well, today, even though I went to reach for my phone, I re-remembered that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
