Friday, of course!
45,000,000 views. I love my generation.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Notable Quotables
"Point being – it’s time we all come to terms with the fact that Britney Spears is the real deal regardless of how present or involved she is in deciding her career’s direction (jury is still out there). We’re all guilty of dismissing her talent (yes, talent), chalking her success up to being a great marketing tool (maybe in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s), but the fact is it’s now over a decade since “…Baby One More Time” changed pop music and her latest effort, Femme Fatale, is more progressive than its nearest competitor by a long-shot. Though 2011 is still quite young, we’re going to go out on a limb and say Femme Fatale will be the best pop album of the year."
- Jayvee, reviewing Miz Britney Spear's seventh studio album Femme Fatale for TRT!
SYDNEY: The first six weeks!
Sorry this has been really delayed, guys.
I've officially been in Australia for SIX weeks already, and let me tell you, the time truly does just fly by! As I'm sure you already know, I'm absolutely one of the world's best procrastinators. So, it's taken me a while to get around to starting the whole "travel" part of this blog. But alas, the time has come. I'm going to try and give you a proper overview of the last six weeks, without boring you to death or giving myself carpal tunnel. And from this point on, I have every intention of updating this blog (at least somewhat) regularly.
So without any further ado, I present to you, my four distinguished followers, my "oh-my-gosh, all-the-things-i've-been-doing-in-aussieland-but-haven't-told-you-about-yet-list":
1. Lady Elliot Island: When I first arrived in Sydney, I was immediately whisked away to Lady Elliot Island with 20ish other extremely lucky study abroad students. This four day orientation trip was simply amazing. LEI is an island on the Great Barrier Reef that is a so-called "eco-resort." We lived in little bungalow tent contraptions right by the beach, and spent the entire four days snorkeling, swimming, scuba diving, eating, and hanging out with each other, with a seminar or two sprinkled in here or there. I went scuba diving for the first time ever, and it was one of the COOLEST experiences I have ever had. Hopefully I can get certified while I'm here in Australia. And if you've never snorkeled on the GBR, you've never truly snorkeled. The stuff out in the water was amazing - sharks (yes, I swam with sharks), sea turtles everywhere, tons of fish, manta rays, eels, everything! (See me stalking a sea turtle in the picture above).
It was also sea turtle egg laying/hatching season. My friend Kirsten and I spent an entire night trying to find babies hatching. We didn't find any, but we were lucky enough to see a momma turtle on the beach laying eggs! We stayed and watched her until she returned to the ocean.
Even getting to LEI was an adventure. We had to fly in tiny, 12-person planes, and the "runway" we landed on at LEI was completely grass! Overall, it was an amazing experience, and it was a great way to meet other study abroad kids before starting back in Sydney. Arriving at my house in Coogee Beach, I already had twenty new friends from LEI, and that really was the most valuable aspect of it all.
2. Arrival in Coogee Beach: Coogee is where I'm officially living, not actually Sydney. Coogee is a suburb of Sydney, only about 20 minutes away from downtown by bus. It's almost like what Cambridge is to Boston. It's only a 20-25 minute walk to school, or I can take a 10 minute bus. I'm proud to say, however, that I've walked to and from school every day...except for only one time when I was running late (even then, I took the wrong bus and ended up having to walk most of the way anyway).
I'm living in a house, "Wizard," with about 30 other study abroad students. This is really nice, because again, like with LEI, I was immediately surrounded by new people. It makes meeting new people and making friends a lot easier. Also, it's only a two minute walk down to the beach! I live on the main road in Coogee - Coogee Bay Road. This is the road with all of the cafes, stores, restaurants, everything. So, whenever I want to eat out, or get groceries, or go the gym, it's only a minute or two walk to get there.
3. The Coogee-to-Bondi coastal walk: This is one of the most well-known coastal walks in the world, and it's right in my backyard! It took us about an hour and a half to do the whole thing. On the way, you pass by lots of other beaches, as well as a huge, cliffside cemetery that's just beautiful. When we got to Bondi, there was a skate competition going on that we got to watch for a little bit (and we got free Mountain Dews!). This is a great walk, and I'm definitely planning to do it several more times during my time here. Maybe I'll even get sporty and start running it regularly!
4. Hunter Valley Wine Tour: We heard that this trip was a must-do, so we got right on it early on. Hunter Valley, a region about two hours away from Sydney, is Australia's Napa Valley. We visited three different wineries, and sampled in total over 20 kinds of wine! Highlights included Drayton's Log Press Old Tawny (second from the right in the photo) and the Dragon's Breath chili schnapps from our last stop. The former is a dessert wine that sort of tastes like toffee, and the Dragon's Breath is an interesting mix of butterscotch liqueur and SPICY chilies. It smells like supreme pizza, and tastes...actually pretty good. You can taste both the butterscotch and the chili, and I really liked it. I bought a bottle of each.
5. Mardi Gras: On Mardi Gras, Sydney is the New Orleans of the southern hemisphere! The entire city turned into a huge party for Mardi Gras, which in Sydney is actually more like gay pride than Mardi Gras. There were several hundred thousand people in the city for the parade, and it was definitely a site to see. I found a mask somewhere along the line, and late in the night, some friends and I stumbled upon Lady GaGa! :P
6. Surf Competition at Bondi: There was a big surf competition up at Bondi that my friends and I went and checked out. Jordy Smith, one of the best surfer's in the world, was there in the final heat. He's the guy in the orange above (third picture). They also had a surfing competition a lot like a mechanical bull, where we had to balance on a board being moved around mechanically. My friend Nicole is falling off in the picture above. This was a great day, very beachy and just a lot of fun. I even got to see my high school friend Maddy, who happens to be studying abroad in Sydney this semester too!
7. Saint Patrick's Day cruise: All of my friends and I spent St. Patrick's Day on a three-hour cruise through Sydney Harbour! We went right past the Opera House and underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which you can see in the picture above. It was a bit of a "booze-cruise," with open bar and pizza, and everyone got really dressed up. I had an Irish flag tattoo on my face, but somehow the orange looked a lot more like red and people kept thinking it was the Italian flag. I guess I just wanted to represent a couple of my nationalities that night! In the picture above are some of my friends: Spencer, Nicole, Zach and Kirsten.
8. Police and Justice Museum: This was the first museum I got to go to, and it was so amazing! Such a great collection. It was all about the history of crime, punishment, police and justice in Australia. They had a special exhibit, called "Sin City," that was all about the history of police corruption in Sydney. They also had collections of weapons confiscated from criminals (see the mace above!) and an exhibit about the relationship between Aborigines and police. The actual space the museum is in is the old police house, jail ("gaol"), and courthouse. So, they have old prison cells and a reconstruction of what the courtroom used to look like. Above, you can see me sitting where the accused would sit in the courtroom (behind bars!) and my very own mugshot :)
As you can see, I've been having a wild time and am doing SO much, it's so hard to pack them all into one blog post spanning six weeks. I've left out so much. I've been to a movie at the world's biggest IMAX theater, toured all around Sydney, bought a surfboard and gone surfing, started classes, started learning how to navigate a big university, combated homesickness, learned about making a budget and sticking to it, discovered how to scramble eggs (easiest thing ever, anyone?), come to love meat pies, discovered TimTams, planned a spring break trip to THAILAND, partied too hard and paid the price, and sat on the beach and done nothing - which, for a Harvard kid, is definitely something. In only six weeks, I've seen so many new things and truly can say I've learned a lot about myself and the process of growing up. Already, this experience has been so valuable...and I'm only getting started.
To close this epic inaugural blog post, I'm going to leave you with a photo essay. All in all, the best part of being here so far has been getting to meet so many cool new people. I've made a really solid group of friends here, and without them, I would not be having nearly as good of a time. So, I wanted to throw in some pictures of these people who are really making this trip so much fun.
I've officially been in Australia for SIX weeks already, and let me tell you, the time truly does just fly by! As I'm sure you already know, I'm absolutely one of the world's best procrastinators. So, it's taken me a while to get around to starting the whole "travel" part of this blog. But alas, the time has come. I'm going to try and give you a proper overview of the last six weeks, without boring you to death or giving myself carpal tunnel. And from this point on, I have every intention of updating this blog (at least somewhat) regularly.
So without any further ado, I present to you, my four distinguished followers, my "oh-my-gosh, all-the-things-i've-been-doing-in-aussieland-but-haven't-told-you-about-yet-list":
1. Lady Elliot Island: When I first arrived in Sydney, I was immediately whisked away to Lady Elliot Island with 20ish other extremely lucky study abroad students. This four day orientation trip was simply amazing. LEI is an island on the Great Barrier Reef that is a so-called "eco-resort." We lived in little bungalow tent contraptions right by the beach, and spent the entire four days snorkeling, swimming, scuba diving, eating, and hanging out with each other, with a seminar or two sprinkled in here or there. I went scuba diving for the first time ever, and it was one of the COOLEST experiences I have ever had. Hopefully I can get certified while I'm here in Australia. And if you've never snorkeled on the GBR, you've never truly snorkeled. The stuff out in the water was amazing - sharks (yes, I swam with sharks), sea turtles everywhere, tons of fish, manta rays, eels, everything! (See me stalking a sea turtle in the picture above).
It was also sea turtle egg laying/hatching season. My friend Kirsten and I spent an entire night trying to find babies hatching. We didn't find any, but we were lucky enough to see a momma turtle on the beach laying eggs! We stayed and watched her until she returned to the ocean.
Even getting to LEI was an adventure. We had to fly in tiny, 12-person planes, and the "runway" we landed on at LEI was completely grass! Overall, it was an amazing experience, and it was a great way to meet other study abroad kids before starting back in Sydney. Arriving at my house in Coogee Beach, I already had twenty new friends from LEI, and that really was the most valuable aspect of it all.
2. Arrival in Coogee Beach: Coogee is where I'm officially living, not actually Sydney. Coogee is a suburb of Sydney, only about 20 minutes away from downtown by bus. It's almost like what Cambridge is to Boston. It's only a 20-25 minute walk to school, or I can take a 10 minute bus. I'm proud to say, however, that I've walked to and from school every day...except for only one time when I was running late (even then, I took the wrong bus and ended up having to walk most of the way anyway).
I'm living in a house, "Wizard," with about 30 other study abroad students. This is really nice, because again, like with LEI, I was immediately surrounded by new people. It makes meeting new people and making friends a lot easier. Also, it's only a two minute walk down to the beach! I live on the main road in Coogee - Coogee Bay Road. This is the road with all of the cafes, stores, restaurants, everything. So, whenever I want to eat out, or get groceries, or go the gym, it's only a minute or two walk to get there.
3. The Coogee-to-Bondi coastal walk: This is one of the most well-known coastal walks in the world, and it's right in my backyard! It took us about an hour and a half to do the whole thing. On the way, you pass by lots of other beaches, as well as a huge, cliffside cemetery that's just beautiful. When we got to Bondi, there was a skate competition going on that we got to watch for a little bit (and we got free Mountain Dews!). This is a great walk, and I'm definitely planning to do it several more times during my time here. Maybe I'll even get sporty and start running it regularly!
6. Surf Competition at Bondi: There was a big surf competition up at Bondi that my friends and I went and checked out. Jordy Smith, one of the best surfer's in the world, was there in the final heat. He's the guy in the orange above (third picture). They also had a surfing competition a lot like a mechanical bull, where we had to balance on a board being moved around mechanically. My friend Nicole is falling off in the picture above. This was a great day, very beachy and just a lot of fun. I even got to see my high school friend Maddy, who happens to be studying abroad in Sydney this semester too!
7. Saint Patrick's Day cruise: All of my friends and I spent St. Patrick's Day on a three-hour cruise through Sydney Harbour! We went right past the Opera House and underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which you can see in the picture above. It was a bit of a "booze-cruise," with open bar and pizza, and everyone got really dressed up. I had an Irish flag tattoo on my face, but somehow the orange looked a lot more like red and people kept thinking it was the Italian flag. I guess I just wanted to represent a couple of my nationalities that night! In the picture above are some of my friends: Spencer, Nicole, Zach and Kirsten.
8. Police and Justice Museum: This was the first museum I got to go to, and it was so amazing! Such a great collection. It was all about the history of crime, punishment, police and justice in Australia. They had a special exhibit, called "Sin City," that was all about the history of police corruption in Sydney. They also had collections of weapons confiscated from criminals (see the mace above!) and an exhibit about the relationship between Aborigines and police. The actual space the museum is in is the old police house, jail ("gaol"), and courthouse. So, they have old prison cells and a reconstruction of what the courtroom used to look like. Above, you can see me sitting where the accused would sit in the courtroom (behind bars!) and my very own mugshot :)
As you can see, I've been having a wild time and am doing SO much, it's so hard to pack them all into one blog post spanning six weeks. I've left out so much. I've been to a movie at the world's biggest IMAX theater, toured all around Sydney, bought a surfboard and gone surfing, started classes, started learning how to navigate a big university, combated homesickness, learned about making a budget and sticking to it, discovered how to scramble eggs (easiest thing ever, anyone?), come to love meat pies, discovered TimTams, planned a spring break trip to THAILAND, partied too hard and paid the price, and sat on the beach and done nothing - which, for a Harvard kid, is definitely something. In only six weeks, I've seen so many new things and truly can say I've learned a lot about myself and the process of growing up. Already, this experience has been so valuable...and I'm only getting started.
To close this epic inaugural blog post, I'm going to leave you with a photo essay. All in all, the best part of being here so far has been getting to meet so many cool new people. I've made a really solid group of friends here, and without them, I would not be having nearly as good of a time. So, I wanted to throw in some pictures of these people who are really making this trip so much fun.
I hope you've enjoyed this post, and stay tuned for many, many more!
-Ryan
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