Dinners, drinks and dog-sitting

G'day folks!

It seems another 2 weeks have gone past already... after a 30°C week, it is cooling down in Sydney now - only 20°C, more rain and the leaves are falling.

In the meantime, Laura has moved from Bondi Junction to Newtown so we're literally just one minute away from each other - lots of opportunities to do stuff together! We made Raspberry Tiramisu together the other day; and I still can't get my head around the fact that everything's so expensive here - Amaretto liqueur for $35 a bottle! The only logical conclusion: make more tiramisu when I'm back in Germany.

I think I've attained some sort of a weekly routine by now - the same classes every week, readings, assignments to hand in etc.! So far, I have written two article reviews on linguistic papers and that one summary - and I'm about to start on the first bigger assignment which is due after Easter break. Fortunately, some of the university staff decided to strike these past weeks which meant no class on Tuesday and Wednesday. And they apologize to the International Students for it - since we're the fee-paying students! Well, I guess they have a point: we pay close to $150 an hour for our classes which is why missed classes need to be re-scheduled.

On Friday, Laura and I went to an Arts Exhibition in Willoughby which was a tribute to the architects of Canberra organised by the ex-husband of Laura's landlady. As you might know, the history of Canberra, Australia's capital city, is similar to that of Washington D.C. in the USA: instead of making up their mind which city they would rather have as a capital, the Australians simply built an entirely new city in the middle of nowhere. The exhibition was very interesting since I'd never been to a suchlike event before - but in the end, the wine&cheese buffet caught Laura's and my interest... Saturday was again all about buffets: a lunch cruise around Sydney Harbour organised for International Students. Besides the breathtaking views of Sydney and surroundings, the lunch buffet left nothing to be desired!

Darling Harbour Views

In front of the Sydney skyline with Laura and Nina

A different perspective of the Sydney icons

The cruise departed from Darling Harbour and since I wanted to pop over to Manly in the afternoon, I caught the ferry to Circular Quay and then on to Manly Wharf with Matthias (a fellow scholarship holder of mine who studies at UNSW). And yet again, I witnessed a sunset without equal:

Manly Wharf

Sunset over Manly

Glowing clouds

Sydney Skyline at dusk

Amazing colours

Last weekend, I was invited to join an international dinner at Emily's. Emily is both in my Media Discourse class and in World Englishes. She made an all-American dinner with Chilli, Macaroni&Cheese and S'mores Brownies which was fabulous! Thanks for the awesome night everyone:

Dinner at Emily's with (f.l.t.r.) Nathan (Thailand), Emily (USA), Ignacio & Mercedes (Argentina), Marine (France), Rika and Mayuko (Japan)

Even though I have class on Thursdays, it seems to become a tradition to go out on Wednesday nights... last week, Matthias offered to cook dinner. So I spent the night in Kingsford with him and his flatmates - two guys from France and a Norwegian student. Besides the food - which was delicious! - it was so good to speak Swedish again! We ended up going to a bar that had a Wednesdays $7 cocktail special - cheap for Australia! The rest is history... 

This Wednesday, PhotoSoc friends of mine and I went out to "The Soda Factory" which is a bar in central Sydney disguised as a hot dog restaurant. There are a lot of these disguised bars that only locals would know about - so thanks for taking me, Caro and Freia! Oh and by the way: the PhotoSoc pub crawl photos have been developed now so take a look:

At Newtown Hotel -  back row f.l.t.r.: Laura, me, Newtown's Olivia Jones :-) , Freia, Kirtan, front row: Fred

Going out this Wednesday, we ended up in Oxford Street which is the centre of Sydney's LGBT community. We met Emily and Matthias there and checked out the pubs and bars together - not forgetting the mysterious "Adult Bookshops" that you see everywhere around Sydney! Mysterious because the entrance is always on street level but all you see are stairs going up... so we decided to check it out :) 

Equipped with some wine, we later headed on to Hyde Park and sat down near a pond. And if you know Sydney, you know you will probably not be sitting there on your own for long... some Italian guys joined us with their wine and we talked all night before meeting Gordon, a local we just ran into in the middle of the night, who showed us around and bought us drinks - gotta love the Australian hospitableness!

At the moment, Roberta and Raphi (my landlady and one of her daughters) are in Fiji - which is why I have the entire house to myself. That includes Stella, the dog, and Bonnie, the cat which I think I haven't introduced so far.

Stella after a walk

Bonnie likes to sit on important documents and laptops

And so, I take Stella for two walks a day, feed the animals twice a day (apparently, the animals need breakfast and dinner!) and take care of the house. And they lived happily ever after - if Stella didn't have a mind of her own! When I took her to Sydney Park the other day, she decided that it was just so much more fun to chase after ducks than to listen - so it took me 15 minutes to get her out of the pond. Luckily, no one saw us - it would have been a sight to see...

Oh yes and last night, I went to a concert with Laura, Franzi and Tanja - the long anticipated "Lumineers" played at Enmore Theatre! To check out their music, simply click on the following link which will take you to one of their songs on youtube: The Lumineers - Ho Hey (Official Video)

I hope you enjoyed reading about Australia again - I will keep posting things, it's just that for the most part, I'm having my own routine here right now - which is why I won't keep you posted on every little detail. I apologise to everyone in advance for not posting regularly! But be sure to check the blog for updates every now and then - if something exciting happens, I will let you know! =)

By the way: if you're not on facebook and still want to be notified whenever there's a new post, you can register your e-mail address to follow this blog in the right-hand sidebar. Just saying...

Till then, stay tuned and I'll catch ya's later!

Yours,

Chris

Good Times

G'day everyone,

I'm back again with more information and more fotos on what I've been doing in Australia for the last weeks!

After Mardi Gras, I had a quiet Sunday before going back to uni on Monday. I skype with my family every Sunday - so this is just a hint for you in case you want to talk to me: I am online every Sunday night (Sydney time). Of course the time difference will vary according to where in the world you are, but Germany is 10 hours ahead of Australia, i.e. 10 am in Germany is 8 pm in Sydney.

However, when Australia is switching back to standard time, Germany will change to daylight savings time, resulting in a mere 8 hours of difference - remember: "Spring forward, fall back!" =) So Sydney's turning their clocks back an hour, Germany's advancing them!

But it gets even crazier: not all Australian territories have daylight saving time. The reason for this: the tropics do not have seasons, i.e. their days do not become longer or shorter. Consequently, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia do not have daylight saving whereas South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) do! That means that Sydney and Darwin, for instance, are either half an hour or one and a half hours apart. Take a look at these maps - maybe that clarifies a lot of what I have just explained:

Time zones as they are now

Time zones as of April 7th

So there you go, now you can work out the exact time difference to Australia from where you are! =)

The past weeks at uni have been rather intense I must say. Seminars here take 2 full hours as opposed to 1.5 hours in Germany. And different from the seminars and lectures at Paderborn University, everyone is quiet and keeps taking notes - which will be essential for passing the courses!

In the meantime, I have completed my first assignment which is a 500 word summary of a book chapter. It does not sound like much, I know, but you go ahead and try to summarize 30 pages in 500 words in academic English! There are two more assignments to finish within March and the first big ones are due at the beginning of April. Seems like I won't be searching for Easter eggs this year... but I will be staying here at the house to study while my landlord and her daughters are off to Fiji for a week.

Last week, I was finally able to pick up my Student ID (that is a credit card at the same time) - which looks like this in Australia:

Christian Koop - officially a USyd student! =)

Talking about uni and the academic context - this is what I found in one of Sydney Uni's toilets and wanted to share with you. Apart from the explicit context, note the difference between a regular and an elite university. They still draw genitalia BUT add a text to it:

Text: "Drawing Genitalia - As writing one on toilet walls is neither done for critical acclaims nor financial rewards, it is the purest form of art. Discuss."

Last Friday was also Pub Crawl day! Since I joined the USyd Photography Society, we could participate in a Pub Crawl all around Newtown - right at my doorstep. The pubs and bars were numerous, the people were all very nice and we finally got to know some locals (as the majority of students in my programme are of Asian origin). However, what would a PhotoSoc Pub Crawl be without cameras? So the idea was to divide us into groups of 4 and each group was given a disposable camera to take pictures. But not just any kind of pictures - we had a list of activities that we were asked to take fotos of including awkward scenes like "noodle-chopstick mess", "ghetto scene", "Titanic" aaaaand "Get a bartender's kiss!". Well and guess who did that one... =D The challenge to get the kiss was at a Thai restaurant - which was even harder! But you don't believe what Australians are ready to do if you just ask them... Oh and caaaalm everyone: I went for a kiss on the cheek. Just for the foto! The fotos are supposed to be uploaded on facebook soon, so I'll see what I can do to share them.

The next day literally asked for a visit to the beach since there was not a cloud in the sky. 28°C / 82°F are also not unusual for what they call "autumn" here. The ferry crossing to Manly was just amazing - so I thought I'd share a few impressions with you:

Sydney Opera House

A different perspective

Path through the dunes towards Curl Curl Beach

Curl Curl Beach

Panoramic View of Curl Curl Beach (click to enlarge)

Franzi and I @ Curl Curl Beach

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sunset in Sydney

Yesterday, Franzi and I actually booked our travels for July: almost two weeks of exploring the Australian Outback! We'll be leaving on July 5th and fly from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport to join a 3-day tour around Ayers Rock/Uluru, Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta National Park and Alice Springs where we'll be dropped off for one night. We will then continue our journey by flying to Darwin and exploring the Northern Territory's capital and its surroundings (Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park, ...) before flying back to Sydney. Here are a few impressions - just a little taste of what is yet to come:

Thanks for reading and look forward to fotos of a short trip around Easter =)
Stay tuned!

Yours
Chris

New places, new faces - my first weeks in Down Under

Hey there, how's it going folks?

I've been in Australia for exactly two weeks now and I just can't believe how time flies!

In the meantime, I have found a new home, made friends with people from all over the world, experienced the Australian university spirit during Orientation Week, had my first lectures and so much more - but one thing at a time...

The spartan hostel life of sharing a room with 5 other people was soon forgotten when I finally moved in with Roberta and her daughter Raphi in Newtown. Having a room of my own, being able to enjoy some privacy away from nonstop conversations and skyping without anyone interrupting seemed like pure luxury... On the other hand, in a family home with pets, there's always someone there waiting for you when you get back from an exhausting day. And that's probably the first thing I will miss when I get back home to Germany. Stella is such an adorable dog - even if she's lazy or naughty sometimes - and honestly, I will miss the cat on my lap at the breakfast table.

Roberta and Raphi also made it very easy for me to settle in. Whether it be conversations about uni, the surroundings or even the neighbours or just having dinner together - my new place to stay started to feel like home within the first couple of days! The bus stop to university and to downtown Sydney is just a 2 minute walk from the front door, there are plenty of parks in the area that just wait to be explored with Stella and the variety of little shops, stores and restaurants on King Street is incredible! Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Turkish and African restaurants, a Chocolate Bar (note the playing with words!), self-made fashion and jewellery, convenience stores, a crêperie - you name it! Newtown really seems like a small universe of its own, overshadowed by cosmopolitan Sydney. It is just a 20-minute bus ride to the city from here and just 10 minutes to "Sydney Uni" (the local abbreviation for "The University of Sydney" as opposed to "UTS" ["University of Technology Sydney"] or "UNSW" ["University of New South Wales"]).

The Quadrangle, View of the University's Main Entrance

The Quad Lawns

Panoramic View of the Main Entrance Gate

Castle, School of Wizardry or University?

Busy day on campus - Sydney Uni has about 50,000 students!

Victoria Park near Sydney Uni

If you take a closer look at this educational institution, you might find that it resembles a certain (fictional) school of wizardry. But besides the fact that you can play Quidditch at Sydney Uni, there's not too much magic about being taught here, of which more later.

The week before lectures start is traditionally called "O-week" - "Orientation week", basically just like in Germany. At a second glance, however, one must conclude that nothing but the term bears a certain coincidental analogy. O-week at Sydney Uni is like a huge fair - dozens of student societies and clubs tout for the first year students' attention. Well supplied with free drinks, giveaways, brochures and a smile on my face, I joined various clubs, societies and groups such as the Linguistics Society, the French Society, the German Club, the Scandinavian Society, the Atheist Society (paying tribute to the many Christian societies that have their prim and proper ways of talking you into something), the Unimates Group (gathering both International and Domestic Students in one club) and the Photography Society that offers free workshops, teaching you how to take the best pictures. Oh and trust me - in Sydney, you want everything that says "free" on the invitation!

"Morning Tea" - French croissants, pastries, juice and sparkling wine for free! =)

Parallely, the Faculties held so-called "Welcome Events" in which they welcomed a particular group to Sydney Uni (International students, Postgraduate students, Arts & Social Sciences students and so forth). They urged us not to forget about our social life, the life outside the classroom even though our primary purpose was certainly to pursue an academic career here. I think many of us - including me - had a different thought in mind: "How am I going to motivate myself to actually study with all this awesome weather, the tempting beaches and the many things that I could do instead of going to class?" But when it came to our first lectures, that thought vanished into thin air in the fraction of a second.

The requirements and standards for passing a course are very high and I have no idea how on earth I am going to get through this. Four classes per week sounds doable. However, different from the classes in Germany, a weekly time of 6-8 hours per unit is expected and considered normal. Each class has at least two assignments whose volume can range from a simple 500 word summary that accounts for 5% of your grade to a 5,000 word analysis that may represent your entire grade! Different from papers in Germany, these assignments are not completed during semester break but have to be handed in at least 4 weeks prior to the end of the semester. I guess that makes 20,000 words worth of writing in 4 months - and we haven't even got around to the content of the lectures! Speaking of content... each seminar or lecture requires at least one book and/or reader that students need to purchase. And since the required material is usually the most recent available, students pay $300 easily. For books, per semester and additionally to the horrendous tuition fees. Luckily, I have already met plenty of classmates - or should I say fellows in misery - that will most probably encounter the same problems as me. Roughly 85% of my classmates are of Asian origin (mostly Chinese) and less than 1% is actually Australian. I guess this will be a very international year then. The people I am sitting next to in class, however, come from Saudi Arabia, France and the USA.

My timetable contains the following lectures: "Register and Genre in English", "Functional Grammar", "Media Discourse" and "World Englishes", the first two being core (i.e. compulsory) units, the others being elective units from a pool of units to choose from. 

My timetable

And if it hadn't been for some serious misplanning in the allocation of lecture times (that caused clashes between lectures for nearly everyone!), I would actually have been able to take subjects that interest me. NB: just because you pay thousands of dollars doesn't mean you actually get to do something you're interested in! And that's where Sydney Uni went from magic to muggle world again.

A glimmer of light (quite literally!) was our visit to the Mardi Gras Parade, an annual parade organised by the LGBT community of Sydney and surrounding areas. The whole city was turned upside down as brightly dressed participants of the parade went past the cheering crowd - I've never seen anything as colourful, glittery, flamboyant and positively odd in my life. As we couldn't see much from our spot in the crowds, we went towards a large screen to at least catch a glimpse of what was happening - but take a look yourself (sorry for the bad quality - as I said, it was on a big screen):

So much for now - the next lecture is waiting for me tomorrow.

I hope all is well - wherever you may be - and stay tuned!

Yours,

Chris