Week 7: Melbourne

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday here in Sydney, and I'm settled into a corner at one of my favorite study spots in Glebe called Digi Kaf. Even though most shops here have "free wifi", it only lasts for 30 minutes typically, so this is my place. I get five hours of internet for $2 AUD, and always splurge on a nice cup of coffee (or two).

Most of this past week was spent in Melbourne on our BU program trip - Sunday through Wednesday. In Australia, this is the city most often compared to Sydney. In the Sydney v. Melbourne debate, most of my program has decided that they prefer the smaller feel of Melbourne with its quaint laneways, impressive grafitti, passion for sports, and great shopping. I have decided that I'm more pro-Sydney because of its better weather, beaches, and unique neighborhoods, but Melbourne has a few wins over Sydney for sure.

A couple things that Melbourne is doing right:

• Coffee
• Grafitti and street art
• Bike-friendly
• Coffee (repeated for emphasis)
• Chinatown
• Going green

 

My first fantastic Melbourne coffee was found in the dirty underground paths of a subway station at a place called Cup of Honesty. Thank goodness I had looked it up before hand, because this place looks like exactly the kind of hole in the wall business you walk by without a glance... or maybe one you stick your gum under the counter or find infested with cockroaches. I had a great cappucino though, and chatted with the barista a bit about exploring the city since most of my program was gone on a day trip on the Great Ocean Road tour (too pricey for me though).

On Tuesday, my first tour was called "Green is the New Gold" and was led by an ex-BU abroad student named Cal who showed us the many ways that Melbourne was on the cutting edge of green initiatives and energy conservation. He started the tour by treating us all to coffees at a cafe called Silo by Joost, completely waste-free and featuring recylced tables, chairs, cups, etc. We continued through the city to see other eco-friendly city buildings and city structures, ending at a pop up patch where restaurants and individuals can rent out patches to grow fruits and veggies with the advice and care of the patch's staff.

On Wednesday, I elected to take Cal's other tour to St.Kilda - a picturesque Melbourne neighborhood on the water featuring the historic Luna Park and Palias Theater. Fortunately for us Cal was dating the event manager of the Palais Theater, and somehow managed to set up a private tour by the theater's owner (tours do not exist here for the public, so very cool). The owner was extremely passionate about the theater's history, and toured us all through the venue from the catwalk to the old storage areas that still housed the orginal sounds boards used by the theatre in the early 1900s.

Back in Sydney for the rest of the week, I spent Thursday night seeing a fantastic play at the Belvoir Theatre called Miss Julie with my roommate. I had never been in a theater like this before. There were only about 200-250 seats that framed around a small corner stage with perfect white walls and minimal set pieces. Chelsea introduced my to her theatre tradition of writing down three bullet points after both the first and second half of the play describing how we feel about the show. We don't show eachother our words until we get drinks afterwords, and then have two sentences on each point to explain what we meant by our words or phrases. My words after the second half were "intense, tragedy, life". We of course ended up at our favorite bar Baxters Inn for this dicussion, and met up with some friends there too.

Friday night was my roommate Nikita's birthday, so we had Nepalese food and AMAZING gelato (salted caramel and white chocolate flavored for me) before heading out to a night on the town. We went to a speakeasy called Eau De Vie first, then to Lobo Plantation, Baxters, and Side Bar. Apparently we started off classy and ended up at a wild backpackers bar for dancing. Spent too much money of course, but it was well worth it and Nikita had a great time. We lounged around Saturday at Bondi Beach for a little recovery, and nearly got buried alive by the sand since it was so windy. A perfect day all around though ending with a spin class at Sydney Uni and early night in.

Guess I should work on my brand campaign analysis now. Finals are coming up Friday and then Chelsea and I leave for our backpacking trip to New Zealand! WOO!

Week4/5: Surf Camp and Espresso Machines

Last weekend, 87 students embarked on a two-hour ride south of Sydney to the Seven Mile Beach for an epic weekend at Surf Camp. This is their story.... Saturday morning was a rough 7am wake up call as we trudged to the beach in the cold rain, but once we start paddling out and catching our first waves, it was SO WORTH IT! In our morning lesson, most of us managed to get up only once or twince. By the afternoon lesson though, the rain cleared out and I was getting up almost every ride. Even though I was on a humungous foam beginners board, I'd say I was definitely shredding the knar. So ya, I do autographs, thanks for asking...

Being at surf camp really brought me back to childhood days - bunk bed cabins, long picnic tables, no shoes, and Uno. I loved every second of it. There's just something about eating crappy camp food and walking around barefoot all day that feels so right. After our day's lessons too, we all huddled around to watch the videos/slideshow pictures of our surfing "accomplishments" - hysterical. Our awkward stances and goofy smiles were just the right mix of pathetic and entertaining... twas a perfect weekend.

On Monday, I decided to combat exhaustion with caffeine at a 3-hour barista basics class. Since Australians only drink espresso-based drinks, the whole class was seperated into pairs and assigned an espresso machine. My teammate was a Sydney local taking time off from work before trying to get back in the job market (I have to say, Australians have an incredible love for travel and vacations - so admirable). Her best drink was defintely cappucino, YUM! Mine was the babycino... so easy, so simple, so delicious. It's not even coffee actually, just milk foam with chocolate sprinkled on top. It's means for kids who come to the coffee shop with their parents but want a treat too, but clearly sells well to tall American girls who like chocolate and miniature-sized anythings.

 

 The rest of my week was spent mostly at the gym and writing my paper for my Sporting Traditions class. Even though the paper sucked, our field trip to Olympic Park and the Aquatic Centre there were so fun. We toured the Sydney Olympic grounds and spent a few hours in the kiddie area by the historic Olympic pool racing eachother down the water slides. Such an insightful and rewarding field trip, if I do say so myself.

Week 3: Bar Wanderers & Kite Fliers Unite

A beautiful Monday here in Sydney. Enjoying my “flat white” morning coffee outdoors at the café next to my apartment and doing a spectacular job at putting off my paper due Friday, if I may say so myself.

Last week, Chelsea and I made immense progress in the search for our favorite bars in Sydney. On a slow Wednesday night, in search of a quick drink and early night, we ended up staying hours past the 12AM closing time at a place called Lobo Plantation after befriending the bar manager and staff. Amusingly enough, for the first hour there we thought we were in a bar called Shady Pines that we had been looking for. “Isn’t this 156 Clarence Street?” Chelsea asked our new friend Louis having written the address down on her hand, who was also stopping by Lobo for a quick drink on his break. “Uh, no, that would be my bar, Baxter Inn... and this guy here next to us would be one of the bartenders from the actual Shady Pines. HA! Fortunately for us, we now have friends at three of the top bars in Sydney. Couldn't have planned that better if we tried.

The weekend was more wholesome and relaxing. Friday I spent the day exploring Circular Quay and walking through the Museum of Sydney – one of the smaller museums in the city that sits where the Governor’s House once was. There was a cool “Public Spaces Sydney” exhibit on site and a viewing tower (see panorama above) that sits where the  front door of the Governor's House used to be , so you can see the view of the harbor that the governors' woke up to every morning.

A big group of us in our program spent Saturday one-ferry ride away at Manly beach, jumping in the cold water for a bit and soaking up the sun. Surf camp is coming up this next weekend, so next time I visit Manly hopefully I'll have some skills to show off!! (Like you, I am also smirking at the thought... I can dream, can't I?) Sunday was then spent mostly cleaning since all of my roommates were gone on a field trip, but my friend Lea and I also stopped by the Bondi Beach “Festival of the Winds” for a bit. This annual kite festival brings people from all over Sydney to the shores to fly their own kites or see some of the massive one’s brought in for the event, like these huge not-so-beached whales pictured above.

Rounded off the night with a little Bachelor Australia premiere party. It's a horrible show, but I could stare at Tim all day so it's bearable. I mean, come on, look at him...

Week 2: Books, Bondi, and Blue (+ Igor)

BOOKS. My two classes started this week - Brand Promotions and Australian Culture . Even though our classes are taught in 3-4 hour blocks (totally foreign concept to me), it's not too bad. I actually think branding is fascinating, and I'm excited to explore it more on a professional level later... plus, major points to my professor who is taking us on a field trip to North Sydney for a company presentation and drinks afterwards at a local pub tomorrow. My Australian Culture class, on the other hand, has so far only taught me how to sleep with my eyes open (it's a special skill that my koala friends are helping me with... I'll keep you posted on the progress).

BONDI. Saturday we made our way to Bondi Beach for the famous walk to Coogee Beach. If I had one word to describe it, you ask? StunningBeautifulAmazingIncredible . Or for you grammar natzis, I'll just go with perfect. That picture above explains it better I think .

BLUE. #FunFact our awesome guide Jim explained to us today on our Blue Mountain tour that the range's name comes from the blue mist that appears in the valleys on account of the eucalyptus trees. #FunnerFact we rode the steepest railray in the world during our trip! After taking the 1000 steps down the scenic walking route, my legs were especially excited about this world-renowned ride back up the mountain. #NotSoFunFact I could barely move after all of the naan and Indian desserts that we had for dinner after getting back to Sydney... no regrets though. I love vegetable dosas and coconut chutney.

+ IGOR. My roommate Chelsea and I bought memberships to the Sydney University fitness center, and our obession with the group fitness classes introduced us to the highly amusing body combat teacher, Igor. You really have to meet him to understand the fascination, but he is a Ukranian fireball with an excellent cat impersonation - that's all you need to know.

OTHER. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. I love Sydney. Oh, and my October backpacking trip to New Zealand is booked! My itinerary so far says "Wine . Zorbing . Bungee . Tandem Canyon Swing ." More legitimate details will come later.

Lynz