Day Sixteen: Chinese Garden

Today is the first day where we have majority of the house out and about together.

We head down to the Darling Habour and tour the Chinese Garden. It costs $6.00 (which is not bad). BUT then I see the sign that says if you have a student id, you pay $3.00, and it is in Chinese.....HA!

Here is one of the first views (loved the lighting):
It is called the Chinese Garden of Friendship, and it is designed by Guangzhou, China. Interestingly, Guangzhou is known as the sister city of Sydney. The garden was opened in 1988 and it symbolizes China's friendship with Australia. The garden includes Water Pavilion of Lotus Fragrance, the Twin Pavilion and The Tea House (with refreshments!). Of course, there are also lots of waterfalls, bamboo trees, persimmon trees (surprisingly!), and huge lizards (hahahah...).
And then Shamika and I get into this craziness =P...They actually give us an ice pack to wear so we are not sweating like pigs in the costumes. It was a fun time!!! hahahahaha

Shamika, I have to say you make a great Asian!!! :) (this whole costume thing makes me laugh out loud, hahahahahahaha.......)

We end the tour with this group picture. LOVE IT!
We also go to the New South Wales Art Gallery, but I don't have enough pictures. Maybe next time :)

Day Fifteen: Bondi Beach

Let the pictures tell you...
Don't fall into a rip...
The blue sky of Australia...

Two of my housemates...

Day Ten: UNSW

Life from now on won't be as adventurous as my first week in Australia. School starts today.

Schools here have a different structure. There is a lecture each week that is accompanied by a tutorial where intense discussion and interaction will happen each week, something I am not used to. Teachers here emphasize on before class preparation, critical analysis, outside readings..........blah blah blah. Basically, there are a lot of work and research.

Teachers here don't give out grades easily. You really really have to prove your intelligence to earn them. In the States, we start with 100% and points are taken away. Here, you start with 0 and build up. For most classes, 50% is a pass. Most people fall in between 65% to 74% range. It is RARE to get about 85% which they call high distinction...another difference that I can't get my head to wrap around with. The amount of work for a decent 70% here is far more than the amount of 70% work in the US. I am trying to assimilate but I guess it is taking its own sweet time. One of the hardest thing for me is not knowing teacher's expectations, they seem vague to me, an exchange student's point of view. I am doing things that I thought is what they meant, but only found myself on the totally wrong track. Everything takes time =)

UNSW is a big school, it is no Drake. Total student population is about 60,000 (hahaha..more than 10 times of Drake). There is a lower campus, and via about 200 stair steps, you can get to the upper campus. It is a workout to walk across this campus. There isn't a clear layout of the buildings nor the rooms within the buildings. I have to leave my apartment one hour earlier just to get to class on time (30min on the bus, and 30 nin to find my classroom). And til this day, I still don't know my ways around the campus. I don't think I will ever=P. I have never thought how much I loved Drake. Everything is so efficient there, no long lines at the printing machine, the coffee shop, the bookstores, the library computers, even the help desk. The things I take granted at Drake, mmmm not here. And quite frankly, it is driving me kind of nuts. BUT, I understand it is a big school.

Part of the lower campus. I don't have a picture of the campus cuz I feel dorky taking out my camera and snapping photos....there are just way too many people around =P

Day Nine: Chinese Dragon Boat Race

Another great event in Sydney!!! Like I said before I came to Sydney at the right time...during one of its most eventful weekend. It was also Chinese New Year. I was able to catch the last event of its 2-week celebration marathon: Dragon Boat Race.

Some pictures:
Teams resting in their stalls along the Darling Harbour. Most of the teams were made up of employees of local business companies. People signed up to have a workout and as a social event.
My zodiac sign!! There were 12 of these around the harbour. I couldn't get the tiger one as there were a ton of people sitting around to speculate this annual event.

Finishing strong!! They did several rounds of 6-boat racing. Every time there was a guy introducing the teams in English, and then the mike was passed to the president of the local Chinese Association to translate. It worked out very well. Everyone enjoyed it..rather you are there with friends, family, or just by yourself. There is one thing I like about Sydney is that there is always something going on the weekends. There are always some sort of festivities and you can expect a large crowd. It just makes this place very happening and prosperous...it is a good feeling =)

A little history on the tradition of Chinese boat race: The origins of the Dragon Boat festival dated back over 2000 years. Originally it was a religious practice; it is now purely recreational. The Dragon Boat festival commemorates the death of the poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the third century BC as a protest against the corrupted government. The legends are that the local people attempted to rescue him by paddling out with the dragon boats, and beating the drums to scare away the fish so they won't eat his body, and threw rice dumplings into the river to tempt the fish away from their hero. (information taken from http://www.cdba.com.au/dragon/history.php)

Day Eight Part II: Happy Mardi Gras!!!

Mardi Gras is one of Sydney's most spectacular annual events. It is a night of outrageous costumes, great music, and party for everyone!! It is time where people from all over the world gather in one place to celebrate and recognize our diverse gay and lesbian community. It really is an eye-opening event. There were people lining on both sides of the street trying to get a sweet spot to view the parade. At first, my friends and I were about 2-3 people deep, but luckily we managed to be just one person deep. I got a pretty good view. All in all I have a great time, and am really glad that there are a significant amount of people and organizations out there supporting our gay and lesbian community.

These pictures are from my housemate Shamika. Thank you!

"Queens beat a straight"The parade went on for more than 2 hours. I couldn't get any decent picture with my camera (totally need a new one!)
This one is from the website www.mardigras.org.au. We saw a lot these colorful, flamboyant costumes that night.

Yup!! My first Mardi Gras =)

Day Eight: Table!!!!

Since my "dorm" is a hotel, it doesn't provide us a studying table in our rooms. Although we do have a large dinning table but still I need a table in my room so I have some privacy and a workable environment.

If you have noticed, I have jumped from day five to day eight. I was arranging my room for some time, and for the most part, I was looking for a table....a folding, square, working table. I have looked in every store that are within three blocks of my apartment. I looked everywhere and I couldn't find a table. For three days, (THREE DAYS!!!!!), and I am still unable to find one. Sometimes I wonder do Sydney people not use a table???!!!!

Finally I heard people say there is a K-Mart here (I know right, K-Mart), not what I would prefer, but it is better than nothing. So I basically asked people along the way and finally found it in the basement of another mall next to my apartment. THEY GOT TABLE!!!!!!!!! I have never been happier in my life than at that moment!!! I was basically smiling all over and giggling in the aisle. I was THAT excited.

When I go to pay for it, it suddenly occurred to me that I don't have a car and how am I suppose to carry this home?!!! (ahhh how I miss my car!). The table was $20 (super cheap considering a bottle of Pantene shampoo costs $18).

Then I asked the cashier, "do you guys do delivery?"

"yes we do, but it is $30."

"okay, I will get that."

"you want to pay $30 for delivery for a table that costs $20?"

"yeah, because there is no way I can carry this home."

"that is very strange."

..............................what the heck was that??!!! I was quite offended by her statement "that is very strange". I was thinking, of course internally, that why would she think it is strange when I am willing to pay for it, and she can just do her business. And after all, isn't that the reason why they provide delivery service is for customers to utilize it??!!!!

Anyway, she rang up for me and just out of my curiosity, I asked her "can I get the table today?" She said, "no, delivery is only from Monday to Friday". I was like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! So I canceled the delivery and had to carried the table back....3 blocks under extreme sun!

Anyway, here is the table....
phew~~~~~only if I have my car...

Day Five: Moving In

Finally I get to see my "dorm"...

I am living at a service apartment in Bondi Junction. Service apartment is quite popular here. It is an apartment, so you have a kitchen, living room with couches and tv, and washer and dryer, but the difference is that there are hotel services. There will be people here each week to vacuum, and replenish supplies, and wash linens. There are also a mini gym and tennis courts. It really isn't a place for studying :D

Bondi Junction is a suburb of Sydney. The first thing I noticed is there is less of a tourism feel to this area than the downtown. Less people, less cars, less restaurants. BUT! Right across from my apartment is Australia's second largest mall. YES!!!! The clothing stores, oh my! OH MY!!!! THEY ARE SO SO SO ATTRACTIVE. Of course they aren't the typical American stores. I have been holding myself, but pretty sure one of these days I am going to explode. XD

My grocery stores are also in that mall...but stuff here are expensive, especially if you buy in the supermarket. Luckily there are open air markets here just one street down from my place. There are all kinds of vendors...fruit, vegetable, nutty snacks, jewelry, flowers, clothing, and of course food (mamak type ooh~~). I am regular customer to this fruit vendor, always have good prices and fresh fruits. Oh yeah, elders here call you darling rather than honey=).

Another good thing about this place is that there is the transportation station on the base floor of my apartment. You can take buses and trains right there. And and and, it is the final destination meaning if i fell asleep on the bus, there will be for sure people to kick me down when I am home...so no worries, I will never miss my stop =)

Anyway, here is my roommate
She is from Dakota, one of the few that is from the Midwest. I also live with four other girls, but I don't have a group picture yet.

The sun is out, I think I am hitting the beach....another fantastic attraction of Bondi Junction =)

Cheers.

Day Four: The Cruise

We had a bit of a break in the morning. I wondered around Sydney CBD. Here are some random pictures of the CBD over the pass four days.

The World Tower Square Mall
There are a ton of Japanese stores here...especially sushi houses and usually they are like sushi trains that goes around the counter and people just pick what plate they want right off the train. But this store here is amazing..everything in it I WANT! I has origami papers, tea and tea sets, toys, chopsticks, and kimi dolls (google it if you don't know). I LOVE the kimi dolls...I am dying to get them!!!
Me next to a costume display for Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras here is an huge week long event!!
A street band!! They played almost every night at the same spot right outside my hotel. They even played Viva La Vida by Coldplay. Love it love it love it!! You can see lots of musician playing in the streets here...flute, violin, pan flute..anything really.
Had a dinner with my roommate at a Thai restaurant, called Thai Foon, by the Darling Harbour. This picture is taken on the open balcony of the restaurant. And I ordered pineapple fried rice and corn fritter. Both delicious!
Ok!! Now comes the Cruise. Our orientation leaders arranged us a night on the cruise around Darling Harbour. The ship hold 400 people. There were people on there wanting a romantic night but I wonder how that would feel with 80 of us, twenty-year-old and coming to Sydney for the first time, on the ship as well. Heh heh....ooopsy =P

We all dressed up a little and had a little champagne. I didn't like the champagne very much but nonetheless I took a few sips. (Yikes!!! My tan line!!!)
Overlooking the water~~ enjoying the breeze and seagulls =)
The Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The cruise took us over to the Opera House. Overall the cruise is just relaxing. The breeze was very refreshing and just "unfelt" before (if you are from Des Moines, you know why).
We had a 3-course dinner. Dinner rolls with olive oil and vinegar, then a grilled salmon main course, and an assortment of chocolaty dessert.
Salmon....absolutely tender and juice! The best I have ever had.

Day Three: City Tour and the Zoo

Again, I woke up early....2:30 am.

I called home. I signed up with a popular phone service, Vodafone. Most of its plans are prepaid and are pretty much geared toward tourists, study abroad students, and short term residents. You can find a store just about anywhere and everywhere. Oh by the way, my number is 0450-209-984 (feel free to call me *wink wink*). The 04 signifies that it is a mobile number, and no idea on 50, and the rest is the actual phone number. Yeah phone number here has 6 digits only.

So today our group took a tour around downtown Sydney....including parks, historical buildings, retail centers, and the financial districts. People here don't call it downtown, but rather CBD (Central Business District) which stretched from Chinatown (yes there is one!) and Circular Quay. The CBD is connected with underground railways and of course buses, and ferries if you know your ways. The malls (or they call it the Arcades) look very attractive!!!! My shopping nerves are kicking in =P

I am standing on the steps Anzac Memorial building overlooking a part of Hyde Park.
Hyde park is a very greeny place. There are lots of flowers and tree...well trimmed and planted everywhere. Many people take a walk in here as a daily exercise. It is not a bad idea to come here during afternoons with a book and a towel.There are also flying foxes here. If you have no experience of flying foxes, you might mistaken them for bats. They look alike. They just hang from trees and at night they will fly away in large group.

There are about 56 species of parrots in Australia. And you can find some of them right at the park.
He is my orientation leader....super passionate about his own country and his city!! If you bring some muffins to the park, very likely these parrots will hop on your shoulder. Sometimes, you can even see them on your balcony here in the morning.

Then we walked over to an art gallery by the water. I was almost fried in the sun. The sun here is much more intense then the sun rays in the States because there is no ozone layer here. There is no ozone layer here because there are less pollutions here in the southern hemisphere. Most of the industrialized countries are in the northern hemisphere like the US, China, and the European countries. So the sky here is very blue, very clear, thus intense sunlight. You HAVE TO HAVE TO put on sunblock even if you don't in the States.

On a side note, I got tanned already...ergggh!!!!!

Anyway, the art gallery
Interesting...no?? I have more to check out there. We didn't have much time to see everything. One day I will make it over there =)

Then we walked around the harbour (this is how they spell it here) where the Opera House is sitting.
Mimicking the bridge?? hahahahahah
Kangaroos and koalas here I come! We stopped by a petting zoo where some animals are not behind a cage and we are free to pet and feed them.

Wallaby!!
Koala!!! So cute...it takes a baby koala a year to be independent of his mother.
And of course, kangaroos!!! There are some pretty interesting views on kangaroos here, which I will leave for my other post. Their fur is very rug like, I almost think it is too thick for such hot weather. No wonder they all just lay around and not very active.
Lovers =D
Penguins???!!!!! I know right..

Day Two: Rappelling (Already?)

I only got a few hours of sleep on my first night due to jet lag. I woke up around 3:30 am Sydney time (which is about 10 am US central time).

Already I started my day with a headache.

Day two was quite an intense day, on both emotional and physical levels. I actually signed up with a study abroad program to come to Sydney with. They coordinate my classes with the university, guide me through my visa procedures, and plan out my housing for the next four months here. For the first week of my stay here, they took us out and sort of did a city tour. As a lesson for us to know when to take measured risks in a foreign land, they took us up to the Blue Mountains.

Blue Mountains is two hours away from the inner city of Sydney. I did some research on it. It is largely made of sandstone due to an overall dry climate of Australia (you will find that a lot of the houses here are made of sandstone as well). It consists of gorges, pleateau, mini waterfalls, and lots of vegetation. Deepest gorge is about 760 meters, and the highest point is about 1190 meters above sea level. It is an amazing, and breath-taking up there. The sky was so clear that you could see the shadow of clouds overcasting the farmland below (and if you are lucky you might spot a wild kangaroo).


Blue Mountains is a popular place to go rappelling, or as the Australians call it, abseiling. It involves a rope wrapped about a figure eight device (which gives you friction, so you don't plummet to the bottom) which is hooked to your harness. The whole apparatus is not complicated in design but as all physics, its inner working is complicated and takes years of experience. Anyway, basically you are jumping off a cliff, but of course with style.

We started with a short cliff, then an intermediate, and finally challenging. You could also do a hanging cliff where a portion of the cliff hangs out from the rest and you don't have anything for your feet to support on and your feet will just dangle as you come down from the cliff. Or if you even more ambitious, you could do a face down abseiling, where your face is facing the bottom of the cliff and free fall. I didn't do the latter two, and attempted the challenging cliff.


I was nervous on my first cliff. It looks easy but man it requires some strength in your hip and arm. And a lot of trust in that one rope!!! Taking the first step and going over the cliff are the hardest part. My legs were trembling and sometimes I feel I have lost control of them. They don't listen to me any more, and don't move the way I want them to. Once you make it over the cliff, it is pretty smooth, you just have to slowly feed the rope into the figure eight device and down you go.

One of my study abroad program leaders actually offered to go with me on the challenging cliff as a way of encouragement(because I was too scared to do it XD). I went, but that was after a good 3 hours of abseiling already. I was tired from fatigue and the headache. I managed to climbed over the cliff and took a peek of the bottom (150 meters down), then I started to have cramp in my right foot and I couldn't move on. I climbed back up. I did slammed into the side of the cliff and bruised my entire right knee cap. I was limping after that =(

The whole experience was priceless and altogether indescribable. It is probably the last time I would ever do this. The instructors were nice. I see passion in their words and actions. After all, how many of us can jump off cliffs and do that as a living. The trip really demonstrates the value of measured risk. You gotta take some risks in life but also know to take them responsibly.

Some pictures:
Our camp in the mountains
The other side of the camp, where the HUGE hanging cliff is. (See where the rope is hanging?)
That brave soul!
Me.....going down.