I’m sitting at Don’s Tavern. It’s Bond University’s local bar and other dining hall. It is only open Monday- Thursday. Thursday night is its biggest night, and I’ve had a few good times there. Well, one thing it has is a count down timer. It counts, to the second, how many days are left in the semester. Right now, there are 40 more days. Crazy huh? Right now I don’t even live weekend-to-weekend, but day-to-day. I don’t want the time to fly by me, because as the time flies the seasons change and next thing you know I’ll be out of here, through Europe, and finished with my senior year of college. Not that I don’t want to graduate, of course I do… I just want to bide my time until then. Thus, making the most of my day-to-day is essential.
My friends and I have finally solidified our trips for the rest of our tenure here. My, Leigh and I have booked a trip to Melbourne for April 9 – April 14th. In Melbourne we are going to go to Tasmania (hopefully), where the Tasmanian Devil is from. We are also going to try and drive the great ocean road and make our way to see some penguins in Philip’s Island. It’s going to be just Leigh and I in Darwin and we haven’t made out our itinerary just yet. We will be there Easter weekend, and this experience will be quiet a contrast from how I have typically spent my Easters. This weekend I am going to Whitsunday’s to see the Great Barrier Reef and go scuba diving. There are definitely a few great adventures to be had in these next 40 days. I’m happy we have booked these tickets so now I can focus on living as cheaply as possible until I get to Europe.
I still have to finish writing about my experiences at Sydney, I’ve been meaning to but haven’t been as motivated to write.
The weather has been really bad, and I’m worried that I’m going to leave Australia as pale as I got here. Apparently it has been the worst raining season it has been in 50 years. The sun has only come out for an hour each day for the past three weeks. My tan is washing away with the rain, it’s a little sad.
Sitting here waiting for my dinner, looking around the place I’ve called home this “winter”: I’m realizing that I’m going to miss this place. This time.
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.
Going through customs was fun and they were trying to figure out what my iMac was. I told them it was a computer, and then the guy picked it up and said, “Oh it’s a screen!” I didn’t argue, he was partially correct.
Getting off the plane and walking into the airport, was pretty exciting. Mainly because it had been a long time since I had been through customs and going through it makes you realize that you’re entering a foreign country, even if they speak the same language.
On the bus to the next gate, I was alarmed that the driver was driving on the wrong side of the road, and then it dawned on me… the driver is driving on the wrong side of the road, but then I remembered that Australians drive on the opposite sides here, and was happily amused.
At first glance, Australia does not have as many palm trees as I would have imagined, at least I haven’t seen any in Sydney. Instead, the trees look like trees I see in Ohio, or New England. But we’ll see what the trees in Brisbane look like. Some of the girls in my group were loud and obnoxious on the bus; I could see the Australians looking at us: No wonder America has the reputation that it has. If we were in the US, I wouldn’t mind that kind of behavior; it only bothers me when it is fulfilling a stereotype, in another country.
It feels like I’m in a warm climate, everyone has that cheery summer tone and that golden sunny glow. I can’t wait to get my sun on.
Sara gave me a beautiful medium sized journal, to update along my trip. I am using that to write in when I am not connected to the internet, and then I just update my journal accordingly using those entries… I digress:
I’m not really sure why I started this journal using Pacific Time, I know it was because of the trip to LAX, but does that really make sense? Eh, maybe… but to me it still feels like a 9:30 PM on the East Coast, not the 6:30PM of the Pacific. It’s the kind of 9:30 that leaves you falling asleep on the couch, and the sleep that just crept up on you, it had you nodding for a while, but you felt it was just too soon to go to sleep. The reason you are this tired is because the past few days, or even weeks just blew by you. You are in sleep debt. One of the easiest debts in this world to pay off, and because of that, it at times lasts the longest. Needless to say, it doesn’t feel like the 9:30 that is the beginning of an adventure.
I’ve been passing the time watching the final season of Six Feet Under; I’ve watched three so far. I want to watch two more before we land. Then, I’ll have another five shows until the show is over.
enjoying the beach on an overcast day
