Hello everyone. I have just completed my fifth week in Australia and the first week of my second block of classes. My new schedule gives me the entire day on Monday off, allowing me to extend my weekend fun and enjoy Sydney even more. A welcomed gift of this was that the first Monday was the Super Bowl, which started at 10:30 am in Sydney. After a quick workout at the gym, I had an excellent experience watching some morning football. Instead of hotdogs and hamburgers, I enjoyed some Australian eggs and bacon. On that note, there appeared to have been an enormous shortage of eggs, especially in Sydney. My quick shopping trip was met with a shortfall when I noticed all the eggs were missing from the shelves. Fortunately, I could buy some a few days later, even though I paid a relatively higher price. Watching the Superbowl, I was excited to see which team would win, along with the halftime show and the Super Bowl commercials. After turning on the television and watching some pre-game analysis for a few minutes, I quickly realized I would not be able to view the American commercials. It was such a disappointment for my roommates and I. Since we were in Australia, we could only see the Australian advertisements. The tiresome aspect of hearing some of the Australian advertisements replay over half a dozen times over was more than enough to make my head spin. Nonetheless, the game was entertaining, and I am happy I got to see the Eagles win the championship over the Chiefs!

In my new classes, I have picked up many new terms and interesting aspects regarding Australia and the Asia Pacific area. My new classes have almost no numerical component, forcing me to adapt and try to uncover new things about the area. Although my classes can be tedious regarding the material, I have strived to think big and outside the box. In my Contemporary Politics class, we are all actively working on food research projects where we each must research and present a food of our choice. The food I chose is Peking Duck, which I am not familiar with but am super interested in trying. Being able to pick a food you are about to try for the first time makes it even more special since you can offer fresh perspectives on that food. Pictured below, is a local supermarket in Chinatown we visited, where our professor showed us some local products they have for sale. One of the coolest part was that they sell the original red bull drinks there! In my Aussie Life & Culture class, we already watched three different films. I am individually researching Australian Larrkinism and the Aussie Hero to present my knowledge of the topic to my classmates in the second week.

Sydney Opera House

We took a one-hour tour of the Sydney Opera House on Sunday afternoon. Being one of the most well-known Australian buildings, I had been looking forward to this tour and was super excited to see the inside. Our tour guide told us there were over 1000 rooms in the opera house. Even though we only got to see a few of them, there was still plenty to be said about our experience. One of the interesting parts about the tour was that many of the windows overlooking the water were slanted to almost a 45-degree angle. The diagonal windows were designed to mitigate reflections and make the view as clear as possible. On the inside of the Opera House, we went inside two concert halls, one small and the size of a square pictured below, and one much bigger (unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the large concert hall). Inside the large concert hall I learned that there were these vast pink leaf pallets that were halfway up the colossal ceiling and were apparently designed to help echo the sound so the music is aligned with what the audience hears. Considering the speed of sound is not nearly as quick as the speed of light, it would make sense that there has to be attention brought to the journey of the sound. Another interesting thing I learned was that one of the enormous concert halls we visited had a massive organ with over 10,000 pipes inside. Only a few people in the world are skillful enough to play these instruments, and I certainly am not one of them. As a Bucknell musician, I pictured myself many times on stage playing my trombone loud and with force. I can only imagine what it is like to play on stage in front of thousands of people. Also, after the tour, I decided to buy a 3d puzzle of the Opera House. As a fan of jigsaw puzzles, I had never seen anything as cool as a 3d puzzle of an Opera House, so I decided it would make for a fantastic souvenir and model.

New Food Favorites

Although I have been getting good at eating healthy at home and saving money by not always going out, I decided to splurge a little more this week to enjoy some local favorites and delicacies. After my last class on Friday, I joined Estrella, Bianca, and Dylan to go out to a restaurant where we ordered a few food items. I was pleasantly surprised by how big the portion sizes were. We ordered sweet potato fries, Korean chicken, and this pasta dish I forget the name of; it looked a lot like penne vodka, but there was a filling that tasted sort of like potatoes. Afterward, we had some leftover food that I was able to take home to enjoy over the weekend. As influenced by my Contemporary Politics project, on Saturday evening, I researched and found a place in Newtown, Sydney called Dukk Inn, where I got Peking Duck. The price for half a duck was hefty, as expected, coming in at 65 Australian dollars. However, the taste was incredible and something I never would have expected. The duck was served on this elevated wooden tray with the pancake set and fried rice served below it. Although I am still researching the origins of serving pancakes with duck, it was very delicious, and I would definitely leave a 5-star review. The pancakes that came with the dish were not traditional pancakes you get at an American diner. They were more pale and thin and acted like the tortilla for a burrito which I thought was super special!

Bonus: Sunrise at Coogee Beach

Although I typically end each week on Sunday night, I could not resist adding my Coogee sunrise experience here on the blog. On the morning of February 17th, I got up a quarter to six to quickly get changed and grab a quick bite before taking the bus to Coogee Beach. With my roommates fast asleep, I tiptoed to the living space to get my belongings together. I checked my phone and was pleasantly surprised the bus timetables were still fairly frequent at 6 am. Although it was a Monday, I was surprised that there was a fair few people waiting at the bus terminal. It is good to note however that our accommodation is almost directly over this significant indoor bus stop area where only busses can pass. After waiting at the sign marked “F” for a few minutes, the bus arrived, and the ride to Coogee was quicker than I expected! The sky finally began to light up once we arrived at the beach. It was a perfect day to watch the sunrise; all clear skies except for one area. As far as I could see, a thick layer of clouds was spanning my whole viewpoint, reaching a few degrees above the horizon. “Oh no!” I thought to myself. We will not be getting a good sunrise, after all. I considered turning away and simply getting some steps in on the beach before breakfast, but I stayed put for a good 15 minutes. As it turns out, a sunrise above these clouds looks just as good. Watching the beaming rays slowly trickle into view was a fantastic sensation. Afterward, I grabbed a pastry and croissant from the breakfast place before venturing on a morning walk.

Thanks again for tuning into my blog this week. Although my schedule has been shifting around a lot, I have a lot of exciting plans and activities, especially once I complete my two big class presentations. Next weekend, we visit the Hunter Valley Region to learn about the wine industry and do more sightseeing. Cheers!

Colin