The Catch-Up: Part Two

So finally I am getting around to the second instalment of the catch-up. Here's where I tell you about my arrival to Sydney and my first month settling in,  I won't bore you with details of every single day of my being here; I'll just recap the highlights.

Part Two: Moving In

I officially landed in Sydney on February 27th.  It was quite a shock to realize that I missed out on an entire day. I left Honolulu on a Saturday, and though it was only a 10 hour flight, I arrived on a Monday in the evening.  The time difference to back home was 16 hours (with daylight savings changes it is now only 14! Yay!).  I still have to really think about the math to know what time it is back home.  Jet lag wasn't too much of a problem, but I still went to sleep very early that first night because there was a lot to get done the next day.

I woke up early and headed straight for IKEA.  I bought everything I needed to furnish my room.  I live in a studio apartment at the University of Sydney Village. I've got my own bathroom, but share a communal kitchen.  It is a nice room and its only about a 15 minute walk to campus!  I only had a short time to drop off my haul and set up the essentials before I took that short walk to campus.  The student union set up day trips to explore the city.  We had a choice of Manly Beach, Barangaroo, or the Rocks.  I chose the Rocks because that is where the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House are.  We took a coach bus from campus to Circular Quay and walked around the area for a while.  It was awesome to see! I was officially in Sydney.

Me and Sydney Harbour Bridge

If I remember correctly, this is called Sydney Opera House

Although the tour itself was a bit of a let down because there wasn't much of an explanation of the history, interesting facts, etc.  We were just wandered in a herd.  Plus our group was separated by the rain, and then the tour was cut short. But, it was still worth it to see the iconic landmarks.  On a side note, I still haven't been to Manly Beach or Barangaroo, but they are on the to-do list!

This reminds me, I need to talk about the rain.  In my naïve Canadian mind, I pictured Australia to be sunny and hot all of the time.  But, since I arrived over a month ago, there has been rain almost every day.  I started to think I was a jinx.  But, according to locals who I have talked to, the rain we've had recently is not normal and has to do with Cyclone Debbie. It is becoming sunnier this week, but I have no idea what to expect for Sydney's winter season.  I must be honest, I am struggling with figuring out how to dress myself.  I have seen so many people wearing long sleeves and pants, so naturally, I follow suit to blend in.  But, then I am perpetually sweating because despite the rain it is still very warm here.  In the mid 20 degrees.  At the same time I still need a sweater because several buildings have air conditioning blasting.  So I have learned to keep a sweater and umbrella on me at all times.  What I do love about Sydney fashion (and fair warning this is just my observation) is that most people wear practical shoes.  You can wear a fancy outfit and add sneakers to it. Love that!

Ok, I should go back to another highlight of my first week in Sydney, which also happened to be orientation week.  They were putting on so many events the first week, it was a little overwhelming deciding what to do.  Each of the societies and clubs at the university set up a booth for students to sign up.  But, there are over 200 clubs.  It was so challenging to choose which clubs to join.  So I started with two, PhotoSoc and Unimates.  PhotoSoc is the photography society and Unimates is a club to mix with other international students.  I'm sure as the year goes on I will try to join more clubs as events pop up.  The great thing about all of these clubs and the events that they host is that there is usually free food and really nice people to meet.  Everyone is super friendly here, and especially during orientation week, everyone is in the same boat of not knowing many people.

It's official...

I went to a Pub Crawl with PhotoSoc which was a lot of fun.  First we had a few beers at Manning Bar, which is the spot to go for a drink on Campus.  Then we went for Thai food in Newtown, which is actually the neighbourhood that I live in.  I think people were afraid of our group when we walked in because we had to be close to 50 people in this tiny restaurant.  But, we crammed into a room upstairs.  We had a family style meal, which was pretty delicious.  We also all 50 of us did a tequila shot together, complete with salt and lime.  (I guess I have to get used to the student life again...) And then, we went to the Newtown Hotel for more drinks and to start the disposable camera challenge.  We got into groups and had to work through a list of odd poses.  Honestly, I only understood about half of the items on the list because most of them were Australian pop culture references that went completely over my head.  Luckily people on my team helped explain.

Not only were the societies and clubs putting on events, but so was the Village where I live.  They had a bunch of events planned including dinners, cooking classes, and outings.  One of my favourites was a trip to Darling Harbour.  Only a small group of us went, but it is a really pretty area.  There are several restaurants lining the water and street performers.  We got ice cream and had a nice walk.

Darling Harbour at night

In addition to the fun activities, the International Students association put on several practical information sessions.  I attended the arrival to Sydney session and the accessing healthcare in Australia session.  They presented on different services that international students have access to and where to find help if you need it. Very important stuff, but not always the most interesting.  Overall I am very glad I went.  On top of the useful information, I got my first taste of my new favourite snack: Tim Tams.  At these sessions, they always seem to have a bowl of these sandwich cookies and kept saying to take multiple.  Don't mind if I do.  And I'm now hooked.

I will also have you know that I bought some vegemite to try.  I don't think it is something you can judge on your first taste because that was not a great first impression.  I have been told that it is something that you have to use very sparingly with butter.  I will have to work on my correct use of it.  Maybe then it will tastier.

This whole month I have trying to dive back into school work, which has been tough with all of the readings.  Who knew that a Master's program would be challenging...  I've been getting more comfortable with the campus, and discovering shortcuts to classes.  I should also note that I have membership to a very exclusive club... the Quarter! Only kidding, that is the library for postgraduate students only, I have to swipe in to access it and everything, so it does make me feel pretty cool.  

Graffiti Tunnel - One of the shortcuts

Beautiful University of Sydney campus

Before I wrap this post up, there is one other thing that has thrown me for a loop this first month.  Of course I knew that in Australia cars drive on the left side of the road.  But, what I didn't think about was that this also translates to sidewalk etiquette.  My first couple of weeks I was constantly doing that awkward dance when you run directly in the path of someone walking the opposite direction.  I didn't get the correlation to cars driving on the other side of the road.  I have to constantly tell myself to walk on the opposite side, but like everything else, it just takes time to get used to.

Well, so far so good.  Time is absolutely flying by.  Next week will mark the half-way point of first semester, a.k.a. 1/8th of my entire degree.  Crazy!