Hey, everyone. Been a bit since my last post, so there's a lot to catch up on, and I apologize in advance because I know I'll end up leaving out a lot. First of all, O-Week was great! There was a Jumping Castle, Slip n Slide, 70s Party, other parties, barefoot bowls, Amazing Race, and much more. It was a great way to get to meet all the new people living on res and also to catch up with old friends on res. My housemates and I went into the city together, and bonded pretty well. We're all so different with all of our nationalities and personalities, but I'm glad to say I get along with and appreciate each person who lives in my unit. We also have an excellent RA, who has helped us along whenever we get into a rut with each other. We're a pretty cute little family, I must say :)
After O Week classes began, as they must. This semester I am taking Music History 1, Contextualising Indigenous Australia, The Art Museum, and Tourism in Society. I was meant to take Politics of Australia and Asia Relations, but after the first lecture and tutorial I was bored to death and knew that is definitely not how I want to spend my friday mornings/afternoons this semester, so I dropped it and picked up Tourism in Society on Wednesdays, which quickly became my favorite subject. I feel very liberal artsy this semester with my various units, like a true MC student.
One of the best things so far this semester has been Future Music Festival! A few days before it I was invited to go to an MGMT concert, which was pretty amazing in a cool venue in Newtown, my favorite suburb of Sydney. Saturday night I rode down to the Racecourse with some friends from res, and we heard from some fantastic music at Future. MGMT was there, and my personal favorite was Ke$ha (don't laugh!). Other artists were Pendulum, Dizzy Rascal, and some others that I hadn't really heard of before. They had a silent disco tent, where we went in with headphones and could switch between two different dj's. One of my favorite parts by far!
Last week, I got to meet up with a friend I met on my J Term trip to Germany last year. He was on his way to holiday in New Zealand, so stopped by Sydney for a few days. It was great reconnecting and getting to show him all around Sydney (and Max Brenner's, which is this amazing chocolate bar you should go to if you're ever in Australia!). One thing I love about travelling is meeting new people and making friends overseas, and it's even better if you end up meet again someday!
Australia has been different thus far for sure though. While I haven't really encountered the homesickness problem again yet, other problems have arised. I expected people and my relationships with them to change, but I didn't really brace myself for just how much change would occur. This got me really down for a while, and still bothers me, but I'm coping much better now considering I'm in a different country and don't have the same kind of support system that I do when I'm at home. Another issue I'm dealing with is finding a job. I really didn't expect this part to be difficult, but it's been pretty frustrating. I started applying for jobs two weeks before I came back here, and have probably applied for 50 in total. I had a group interview for a clothing store today, and am going to Parramatta tomorrow for some sort of interview session about stuffing mailboxes with brochures. Hoping one of those will work out, but with my luck so far who knows! Frustrations have started to mount, but I'm trying to stay upbeat about it all and remember enjoy the time I have left here. All of my experiences combined, good and bad, have really started to mold me as a person. It's shocking how much I've changed since last July. Even though things can get tough when you're away from home, I'm still glad I chose to spend another semester at UWS. I have a feeling there's a lot more to come that I can look forward to. Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed that I'll get a job so I can earn enough money to travel :)
Next time....you'll be reading about the adventures of Seth Purkey and I in Sydney! Seth is an MC student studying at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and he's coming to visit Sydney this weekend. Should have lots of good stories to tell next week!
After O Week classes began, as they must. This semester I am taking Music History 1, Contextualising Indigenous Australia, The Art Museum, and Tourism in Society. I was meant to take Politics of Australia and Asia Relations, but after the first lecture and tutorial I was bored to death and knew that is definitely not how I want to spend my friday mornings/afternoons this semester, so I dropped it and picked up Tourism in Society on Wednesdays, which quickly became my favorite subject. I feel very liberal artsy this semester with my various units, like a true MC student.
One of the best things so far this semester has been Future Music Festival! A few days before it I was invited to go to an MGMT concert, which was pretty amazing in a cool venue in Newtown, my favorite suburb of Sydney. Saturday night I rode down to the Racecourse with some friends from res, and we heard from some fantastic music at Future. MGMT was there, and my personal favorite was Ke$ha (don't laugh!). Other artists were Pendulum, Dizzy Rascal, and some others that I hadn't really heard of before. They had a silent disco tent, where we went in with headphones and could switch between two different dj's. One of my favorite parts by far!
Last week, I got to meet up with a friend I met on my J Term trip to Germany last year. He was on his way to holiday in New Zealand, so stopped by Sydney for a few days. It was great reconnecting and getting to show him all around Sydney (and Max Brenner's, which is this amazing chocolate bar you should go to if you're ever in Australia!). One thing I love about travelling is meeting new people and making friends overseas, and it's even better if you end up meet again someday!
Australia has been different thus far for sure though. While I haven't really encountered the homesickness problem again yet, other problems have arised. I expected people and my relationships with them to change, but I didn't really brace myself for just how much change would occur. This got me really down for a while, and still bothers me, but I'm coping much better now considering I'm in a different country and don't have the same kind of support system that I do when I'm at home. Another issue I'm dealing with is finding a job. I really didn't expect this part to be difficult, but it's been pretty frustrating. I started applying for jobs two weeks before I came back here, and have probably applied for 50 in total. I had a group interview for a clothing store today, and am going to Parramatta tomorrow for some sort of interview session about stuffing mailboxes with brochures. Hoping one of those will work out, but with my luck so far who knows! Frustrations have started to mount, but I'm trying to stay upbeat about it all and remember enjoy the time I have left here. All of my experiences combined, good and bad, have really started to mold me as a person. It's shocking how much I've changed since last July. Even though things can get tough when you're away from home, I'm still glad I chose to spend another semester at UWS. I have a feeling there's a lot more to come that I can look forward to. Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed that I'll get a job so I can earn enough money to travel :)
Next time....you'll be reading about the adventures of Seth Purkey and I in Sydney! Seth is an MC student studying at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and he's coming to visit Sydney this weekend. Should have lots of good stories to tell next week!