Champs!

Classes Start, Life Goes on

"I never let my schooling Get in the way of my Education."- Mark Twain

One of the Lovely Lawns on UNSW's Ultra Green Campus

Hello Loyal Readers,
Greetings from Down Under. Sorry for not posting for some time; the past 3 weeks have been a bit more low-key, as classes have begun. I’ve had to scale back my beach schedule from 6 to 4 days a week... Tragic, I know.

Although my stated goal was simply to come here to have a good time, meet some cool people, and live on the beach, I have actually been taking some interesting and challenging classes: Environmental Sustainability and Development, Logic, Aboriginal Australia, and Marine Envrionment.

My favorite class thus far has been Environmental Sustainability and Development. The class, which is counting for a Tufts Poli-Sci credit, touches upon a wide array of subjects including the effect of government debt and international institutions on environmental degradation, population growth, and climate change among other topics. Logic (Tufts Math, hopefully) has been interesting but also way more involved than I would have wanted for a study abroad class. I can see it giving me some pretty big headaches soon enough. Marine Environment (Tufts Science) is extremely easy, with 40% of the grade based on the completion of questionnaires to be completed on the 3 field trips of the Semester. Aboriginal Australia (Tufts World Civilizations) is far and away the most boring and useless class, but it beats taking World Civ classes at Tufts.
A big focus of mine here is to complete Tufts requirements, so I can take exactly what I want at Tufts and make the most of Senior Year (I hate the sound of that).

The following is a link to a video we watched in Marine Environment. The topic is the reproduction of flatworms, known as Penis Fencing... And it is absolutely as funny as it sounds:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/video/tv_high.html?ep_hunt_explo2_mov_hi

As those of you who know me well could guess, I would never let my schooling get in the way of my education (Shout-out to Mark Twain). In this case, my education has consisted of going out most nights and consistently hitting the beach. I have spent the vast majority of my beach time at Coogee Beach; however, this weekend I finally made the iconic walk to Bondi Beach (more info on that in the next post).
Just another day on Coogee Beach.

As for going out, I have been hitting various parts of Sydney and its suburbs including Coogee, Bondi, Darlinghurst, Kings Cross, and the Rocks. My favorite part about going out has been that most places play House music pretty consistently, much to the chagrin of some of the Americans on the program. On Tuesday nights, I typically go to the Gaff or to the legendary Scruffy Murphy’s. Thursdays often start at the Roundhouse, which is UNSW’s campus bar. A great aspect of being here has been the casual approach to alcohol to be expected of study abroad; nothing is quite like unwinding after a long day of classes with an $8 jug (Aussie for pitcher) of Toohey’s New with your classmates.Typical Thursday at the Unibar. Those Jim Beam posters are now up all around my house.

The Weekends usually consist of night excursions in the city at one of the fine establishments in King’s Cross (Trademark Hotel, World Bar, Candy’s) or the Rocks (Argyle, Ivy, Lowenbrau). The night scene in Sydney can be a lot of fun, but expect to pay a $10-$20 cover wherever you go. Also, for a country that is so lax on alcohol consumption, bouncers consistently reject anyone they consider to be intoxicated, which in my experience has included some pretty sober people.Housemate Spencer's 21st at Trademark Hotel... Guess which one he is based on facial expressions.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and expect another update in the next few days, since I got some pretty sweet pictures from the Walk to Bondi.

Much love,
Kid Syd

Playing Slap the Bag at a Pre-Drink

On the Bus to Downtown Sydney

Gettin' Gay in Sydney

Bream Street: The latest boy-band craze!

"What was women's punishment? Painful child birth, menstrual cycles. Man's punishment? We have to deal with women. That's why I get upset when I hear people say 'God hates Gays.' God doesn't hate gay people; he's just mad they found a loophole in the system."-Comedian Daniel Tosh

Saturday March 7th marked the annual Gay Mardi Gras festivities in Sydney, which are characterized by a frenzied street festival during the day and a flamboyant parade at night. My friends and I decided that we would really get into the feel of the festivities and just add some outlandish accessories to our wardrobes for the day. As a side fact, 95% of the people at the festival are straight but based on most people's stereotypical outfits, you wouldn't guess it.

We woke up, got decked out and began our day of drinking and celebrating. The best way to describe the leadup for the day is that it is similar to a Homecoming or Spring Fling event in that copious amounts of alcohol are consumed starting at unreasonably early hours and continuing for an unnecessarily long period of time.

By about 3PM, my friends and I made our way out to Hyde Park in Sydney to meet up with friends and await the parade. It was another beautiful day in this paradise and the area surrounding Hyde Park was jam packed full of revelers. The parade wasn’t starting until 7, so we spent our time walking around and talking to various people.

The city was packed with party goers.

At some point I got separated from my friends and experienced my first truly unpleasant moment of my abroad experience thus far. I found out where my friends were but wasn’t sure how to get to, so I asked a few teenagers how to get to the area. Recognizing my American accent, the locals responded with a barrage of anti-American rhetoric that I never expected to hear here in Sydney. As I began walking away one of the punks pushed me from behind, causing me to drop and break my phone. I picked up the pieces and continued on my way, but it just goes to show you that anywhere you go, the village idiots won’t be too far behind.

The next several hours consisted of me trying to frantically locate my friends without the aid of my phone. Fortunately, like many other countries Australian phones run on Sim-cards, which can be transferred to another phone and have all data, such as phone numbers, stored on them. With the help of some friendly strangers, I was able to locate and rendezvous with my friends. The rest of the night consisted of hopping around bars on Oxford Street, as the youth of the city was out in packs enjoying the live music and plentiful libations.

I ended the day with some relaxing late-night Hookah on the beach with some good people. Sunday was spent lounging around Coogee Beach, taking in some rays, and enjoying the crisp water. With the exception of one minor incident, the weekend had gone off without a hitch. Classes were starting the upcoming week, but life went on in paradise.

Late Night Hookah on Coogee Beach

I went surfing... and I didn't drown!

"All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine." After hearing Sean Penn's greatest character ever, Jeff Spicoli of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" utter this iconic line, I knew I would have to give the waves a shot once I got down to Australia. Still, I had no idea it would happen so soon.

Now those of you who have known me for a long time know I'm not exactly the most aquatic creature- I don't swim, as much as I simply avoid drowning. I don't know if it's because I nearly drowned in the pool at a Puerto Rican resort when I was 8 (fact) or that my sister used to water-board me as a child (mostly fiction), but water has just not been my thing. Nonetheless, standing up on a wave was on my to-do list for going abroad to Sydney and damnit I was going to check it off.

The Surfin' Waves van pulled up to the curb to pick up myself, housemates Zach, Spencer, Kayla, and Jackie, and neighbor Dave. After about an hour of traveling, we arrived at the gateway to the Northern Beaches. Another 10 minutes of roller coaster driving over sand dunes got us to the most pristine, desolate beach I have ever seen -pure white sand and beautiful waves as far as the eye could see.

We opened the day with a 40 minute surfing lesson from our instructor Max, followed immediately by putting on wetsuits, and heading out to the water with our boards. Whereas my friend Spencer got up on his second attempted wave, it took me some time to get the hang of popping up on the board with a wave rushing around me. After spending a good chunk of time learning from my consistent failures, it was time. I selected my wave as it began to build in the distance. As it grew, I raised myself upon my board in a laying position and started to paddle. as the wave came breaking behind me I took four monstrous paddles and pulled my hands into a pushup position on the center of the board. As the wave rushed by me, I bent my upper body upwards, then raised my legs, leaving my palms and toes as my only pivots on the board. I moved my right leg to a stable position and swung my left leg to the front in the classic surfing position. It was the most exhilarating feeling in the world... until I came tumbling down seconds later and swallowed an olympic swimming pool worth of ocean water.
As the day continued I got up a few more times and felt the familiar childlike euophoria, although none rivaled the first. After about 4 solid hours of surfing, we were spent by 3:30 PM and ready to head back to Coogee.

We relaxed at our house for a bit before heading down to the beach for a sunset barbecue, with a bunch of our friends and neighbors joining us for some good ol' burgers and conversation. As evening turned to night, I looked back upon my experiences that day and smiled: I had checked off the first thing on my to-do list.
Stay tuned for a recap of Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney!

The site of my first surfing experience:


Housemate Spencer mans the grill as friends socialize around him:

I'm On a Boat!

Hello everyone,
My apologies for the infrequent updates, but the internet was just installed at my house today. From now on posts will be more regular.

Last Sunday (March 1^st) I went on an evening cruise around Sydney Harbor with a large group of other study abroad kids. The students on the cruise were from both the University of New South Wales (my school in Randwick) and the University of Sydney (located in the actual city). The cruise was comprised primarily of kids here on the IES (International Education for Students) program; two of my housemates are here through IES, which was how the rest of my house ended up on the cruise.

On board the ship we were treated to a mediocre buffet dinner and an open bar comprised of beer and local wines, as well as a live DJ, who spun mostly House (I can get used to this). The cruise started in trendy darling harbor and took us around Sydney Bay. As the sun set and the late evening blended into the early night we passed by perhaps the most famous landmark in all of Australia, the magnificent Sydney Opera House. One of the greatest architectural spectacles in the world today, the Opera House was partially lit up at night casting picturesque shadows on the water around us.

The cruise lasted for about 3 hours and gave us a wonderful sense of how grand and scenic just this one small section of the city was. We disembarked the ship back at Darling Harbor to be greeted by a party at the Cargo Bar. We spent a few more hours dancing to some good tunes before returning to our home in Coogee late in the night.

My next posts, which should go up in the course of the next few days will be recapping my first foray into surfing (yes, I actually tried it) and Gay Mardi Gras, which is characterized by a massive street festival, a parade, and day-long reckless liver punishment (sound familiar?)

Check back in the next few days,

Kid Syd

Sydney Opera House with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the distance

Dave (Neighbor), Me, DJ and Jackie (Housemates)

Live from Sydney!

Hello one and all!
Greetings from the other side of the world, where it is currently tomorrow. I arrived on February 26th after being in transit or 28 hours (Newark-LA-Sydney) but the flights themselves weren't bad at all. I flew Qantas from LA-Sydney and that was actually the best airline I've ever been on. I'm a big fan of On Demand on flights (watched The Wrestler and Vicky Christina Barcelona).
My house in Sydney is pretty sweet. I live with 5 other guys and 4 girls and we are connected to a house with the same dynamic. The people in my house are from Canada, Upstate NY, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. My roommate is from San Fran. They are all really good kids, and we've been going out and partying it up all together. The scene here is pretty chill. Boxed wine is the pregame drink of choice and most of the clubs play house music, which is definitely my scene. They are a little behind on the music but definitely know how to throw a good shindig.

Oh, so the best thing about my house is the location. I live about a 2 minute walk from Coogee Beach, which is absolutely beautiful. The sand is perfect and water is the nicest temperature. Every day is paradise on the beach and the weather is pretty consistent. One drawback is that there is pretty much no O-zone left here so the sun is really strong. I have a pretty nasty burn on my back to prove it.
Other than that, this is definitely the place to be and if you are considering study abroad I would definitely encourage you to think of Sydney. Shoot me a private email if you'd like to come visit while i'm here (til end of June) and I can definitely put you up. Studentuniverse.com is the way to go for flights.
I'm going to sign off now but hope you enjoyed this post and check back often for updates.
Peace out from Paradise,
Iggy aka Kid Syd

Abroad in Sydney

Hey everyone,
for those of you who don't know, I will be spending the Spring 2009 Semester studying abroad in beautiful Sydney, Australia. I'll be living in a house on Coogee Beach between late February and late June. During my time abroad, I'll keep this blog and update it with pictures, stories, and updates on life Down Under.
If you plan to come visit (once you see the pics, i'm sure you will), let me know. Don't forget to comment and keep me updated on your life, as well.
Hope you enjoy!