Have yet to see a 'roo, but when I do I sure hope he's as ridiculously posed as this guy.
Doesn't he look like he's flexing for the camera?
Have a good day!
-Emily
Thursday, July 28, 2011
First Impressions of Australia
Thought I'd share with you some of the first differences I noticed between Australia and Canada.
1. The Birds!
This really was the first difference that kind of hit me over the head when I arrived. In comparison to Canada, Australia seems to have many more birds hanging around. Each type of bird seems to make very loud, very cheery noises, and the birds here are all so different in shape, size, and colour from those in Canada. The birds that I've seen thus far (and been able to identify) include:
...or these, Scaley Breasted Lerikeet.
Silver Gull
Australian White Ibis
And also, the house sparrow, which looks just like our sparrows in Canada.
I love waking up and hearing the birds talking to each other. It makes me feel like I'm in the middle of the rainforest.
2. Aussie Greetings:
Instead of asking "How are you?" or "How's it going?", Aussies ask "How you going?", which made me stutter and mumble a lot at first because I wasn't quite sure how to answer, but at least I've got it better than the Danish friends I've made. Apparenlty in Danish there is no phrase equivalent to "How are you?", and in the English culture we tend to ask "How's it going/How're you going?" A LOT. My poor friends finally asked me what the heck they were supposed to say in response to the random strangers who would ask them how they were.
3. Internet Use:
In Australia, when you get internet connection at your place, you're not just automatically allowed unlimited access to internet but rather you have to pay according to how many gigabytes you use. This is unendingly frustrating for me because I've never had to think about how much bandwidth I'm using, and my habit of watching movies or TV online has come to an abrupt end.
4. The Water:
The ocean waves here are unlike anything I've ever seen. Being a mountain girl, for the most part, oceans are a novelty to me, and the waves here are at least 10 times as big as the ones I ever saw in Nova Scotia or B.C.. Also, there's quite a substantial rip-tide to deal with here, which can be a little scary.
5. Other Animals that Have Been Hit with Some Kind of Augmenting Ray Gun
I'm pretty sure this is the kind of bat that I saw the other night. However, as far as I'm concerned this isn't a bat but rather a F*$%ING DOG WITH WINGS. These guys freak me out a little.
Also had the pleasure of making acquaintances with some kind of large (to me, small to Aussies) spider of which I am not going to try to find a picture because I'm just about to go to bed and would rather not feel like bugs are crawling all over me.
Don't get me wrong, the meetings I've had with weird and ray-gun augmented animals have always been moderately pleasant, never too freaky, and my life has never been in danger, so no stress.
Also, what good is it if you're not pushed a little out of your comfort zone when you're travelling, eh?!
1. The Birds!
This really was the first difference that kind of hit me over the head when I arrived. In comparison to Canada, Australia seems to have many more birds hanging around. Each type of bird seems to make very loud, very cheery noises, and the birds here are all so different in shape, size, and colour from those in Canada. The birds that I've seen thus far (and been able to identify) include:
The Australian Magpie
Some sort of green-coloured bird that could either be these, the 
Rainbow Bee Eaters...
Rainbow Bee Eaters......or these, Scaley Breasted Lerikeet.
Australian Wood Duck
Australian White Ibis
Australia Pelican
And also, the house sparrow, which looks just like our sparrows in Canada.
I love waking up and hearing the birds talking to each other. It makes me feel like I'm in the middle of the rainforest.
2. Aussie Greetings:
Instead of asking "How are you?" or "How's it going?", Aussies ask "How you going?", which made me stutter and mumble a lot at first because I wasn't quite sure how to answer, but at least I've got it better than the Danish friends I've made. Apparenlty in Danish there is no phrase equivalent to "How are you?", and in the English culture we tend to ask "How's it going/How're you going?" A LOT. My poor friends finally asked me what the heck they were supposed to say in response to the random strangers who would ask them how they were.
3. Internet Use:
In Australia, when you get internet connection at your place, you're not just automatically allowed unlimited access to internet but rather you have to pay according to how many gigabytes you use. This is unendingly frustrating for me because I've never had to think about how much bandwidth I'm using, and my habit of watching movies or TV online has come to an abrupt end.
4. The Water:
The ocean waves here are unlike anything I've ever seen. Being a mountain girl, for the most part, oceans are a novelty to me, and the waves here are at least 10 times as big as the ones I ever saw in Nova Scotia or B.C.. Also, there's quite a substantial rip-tide to deal with here, which can be a little scary.
5. Other Animals that Have Been Hit with Some Kind of Augmenting Ray Gun
Also had the pleasure of making acquaintances with some kind of large (to me, small to Aussies) spider of which I am not going to try to find a picture because I'm just about to go to bed and would rather not feel like bugs are crawling all over me.
Don't get me wrong, the meetings I've had with weird and ray-gun augmented animals have always been moderately pleasant, never too freaky, and my life has never been in danger, so no stress.
Also, what good is it if you're not pushed a little out of your comfort zone when you're travelling, eh?!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Finally! An Update!
Hi All,
I'm so sorry, I've totally sucked at keeping my blog up to date. My excuse is that I didn't have reliable access to internet connection while I was in Quebec, and then once back home was preoccupied with seeing family and getting ready to go to Australia. There is, however, an upside to me not having been a reliable blogger (besides the fact that you have had 2 months off from being jealous of my nomadic, sporadic life), and that's that I have lots of exciting stories and pictures to share with you!
I've been in Australia for nearly two weeks now, and just had my first day of classes today. I am attending Griffith University for a semester. Griffith is located on the Gold Coast about 1.5 hours south of Brisbane. Semesters in Australia run differently than those in Canada because our seasons are reversed, so that's why I've started my semester so early.
In my experience, the first month of exchange can be a little trying as you struggle to make good friends and find activities to participate in. I'm quite excited to have started school because a university campus is always choc-full of activities to participate in and people to make friends with. I'm doing well though, as far as making friends go. Luckily, within my first week in Oz I made friends with three girls who all came from the same uni in Denmark. The girls and I hit it off at the orientation session and have been hanging out every day or two since then. I have also been taken under the wing of an Aussie named Meri, who went to Ireland and Germany on exchange last year and is back at university on the Gold Coast this semester. She knows what it's like to be an exchange student, and has taken it upon herself to be my tour guide. So far she's given me a tour of the city, taken me on a wine-tasting tour on Mount Tambourine (not far out of the Gold Coast city), and helped me search for an apartment.
The Gold Coast is divided into a number of different large sections, which are called suburbs. I'm currently staying with a homestay family in the suburb of Benowa. Benowa is right in between the University and the beach, which sounds like it would be a perfect set-up, but it actually means that I have to take a bus no matter where I want to go. Ideally, I'd like to live in the suburb called Surfers Paradise, which is along the beach and has great bus access to the Griffith campus. My homestay placement hasn't been ideal and I'm currently searching for an apartment in Surfers Paradise to move into.
A full course-load in Australia is four courses and I'm quite excited about the courses I've selected. They are: Australian Literature and History, Contemporary Aboriginal Issues, Islam in the Modern World, and Fame and Celebrity (Sociology). All of these courses fit really well into my overall course requirements, and I will be graduating on-time from St. FX this May. My semester will finish mid-November, and after my exams I'll take about a month to backpack either around Australia, New Zealand, or perhaps Asia, before heading home for Christmas and then back to St. FX in January.
I'm off to a birthday party now, but you can expect to see some photos of Australia and many, many posts about my time in Quebec in the near future!
I'm so sorry, I've totally sucked at keeping my blog up to date. My excuse is that I didn't have reliable access to internet connection while I was in Quebec, and then once back home was preoccupied with seeing family and getting ready to go to Australia. There is, however, an upside to me not having been a reliable blogger (besides the fact that you have had 2 months off from being jealous of my nomadic, sporadic life), and that's that I have lots of exciting stories and pictures to share with you!
I've been in Australia for nearly two weeks now, and just had my first day of classes today. I am attending Griffith University for a semester. Griffith is located on the Gold Coast about 1.5 hours south of Brisbane. Semesters in Australia run differently than those in Canada because our seasons are reversed, so that's why I've started my semester so early.
In my experience, the first month of exchange can be a little trying as you struggle to make good friends and find activities to participate in. I'm quite excited to have started school because a university campus is always choc-full of activities to participate in and people to make friends with. I'm doing well though, as far as making friends go. Luckily, within my first week in Oz I made friends with three girls who all came from the same uni in Denmark. The girls and I hit it off at the orientation session and have been hanging out every day or two since then. I have also been taken under the wing of an Aussie named Meri, who went to Ireland and Germany on exchange last year and is back at university on the Gold Coast this semester. She knows what it's like to be an exchange student, and has taken it upon herself to be my tour guide. So far she's given me a tour of the city, taken me on a wine-tasting tour on Mount Tambourine (not far out of the Gold Coast city), and helped me search for an apartment.
The Gold Coast is divided into a number of different large sections, which are called suburbs. I'm currently staying with a homestay family in the suburb of Benowa. Benowa is right in between the University and the beach, which sounds like it would be a perfect set-up, but it actually means that I have to take a bus no matter where I want to go. Ideally, I'd like to live in the suburb called Surfers Paradise, which is along the beach and has great bus access to the Griffith campus. My homestay placement hasn't been ideal and I'm currently searching for an apartment in Surfers Paradise to move into.
A full course-load in Australia is four courses and I'm quite excited about the courses I've selected. They are: Australian Literature and History, Contemporary Aboriginal Issues, Islam in the Modern World, and Fame and Celebrity (Sociology). All of these courses fit really well into my overall course requirements, and I will be graduating on-time from St. FX this May. My semester will finish mid-November, and after my exams I'll take about a month to backpack either around Australia, New Zealand, or perhaps Asia, before heading home for Christmas and then back to St. FX in January.
I'm off to a birthday party now, but you can expect to see some photos of Australia and many, many posts about my time in Quebec in the near future!
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