Life Down Under, Part 2
Mon Jan 8th- Boshra and I went to the mall. In addition to the fun of just being in a mall again (so many options of things to buy!), I bought some things I needed. Most notable of these was a black pair of heels. They weren’t that expensive (which is good cause they’re just going to get destroyed in Samoa) and they are so classy looking. I love wearing them! Hehe!
Tue Jan 9th- I took the bus from the suburbs to do some sightseeing in Sydney. First, I went to the Sydney Opera House. (How could I go to Sydney and not see it?). I took a tour of it, going inside the theaters. The whole structure was actually beautiful. It really is an architectural masterpiece with its use of geometrical shapes and innovative weight distribution concepts. Wow, I am an engineer’s daughter or what? Hehe.
*******Dr Who Shoutout**************************************************
For those of you who watch Doctor Who, (jooj, julesapunk, and Jeff) you’ll be interested to know what I found in the Sydney Opera House gift shop. I was looking through a book about the structural elements of the Opera House, when I found this caption under a picture:
“The spherical solution structural design makes the Opera House much bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Like Dr. Who’s Tardis.”
I almost cracked up in the gift shop. I guess in England and Australia, Dr. Who is a mainstream thing, not just something Sci-Fi junkies like us watch in America. I was so amused to see a shoutout to Dr. Who. It reminded me of watching episodes with Jeff and Juliet and reading Juliana’s livejournal.
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After taking many pictures around the Opera House, I went next door to the Royal Botanical Gardens. I had a nice, relaxing walk through the gardens and saw lots of flowers, trees, and birds in this huge urban park. I love urban parks like this one, Central Park in NYC, Union Square in San Fran, and Le Lez in Montpellier. Urban Parks are perhaps my favorite type of nature, beautiful and relaxing, but organized and maintained and conveniently located in the middle of a city. After the garden, I walked through the historic Rocks District with its cafes and old buildings, to the Harbour Bridge. The Harbour Bridge is one of the main icons of Sydney, connecting Southern Sydney to Northern Sydney over Port Jackson. (It’s like the Brooklyn Bridge in its icon-iness). From the middle of the bridge, I had a great view of Sydney. After a fun day of sightseeing (and a fantastic Brie sandwich) I headed back to the burbs.
Wed Jan 10th- Wednesday I was back in the city, this time I went to the Sydney Aquarium with Boshra and Jian. Jian had really wanted to go because she’s a marine biology major but hadn’t had anyone to go with, so I was happy to go with her. The Sydney Aquarium is one of the best in world, an appellation I would have to agree with. I saw lots of different fish, penguins, seals, sharks, jellyfish, sting rays, and even a duck-billed platypus! It was so much fun! I also had a great time hanging out with Jian, talking about stuff that’s been going on in Hamilton. It was a little like being home, which I don’t always realize I miss so much until something like this reminds me.
Thursday Jan 11th- On Thursday I finally got out of the city and went to the nearby Blue Mountains. Despite a lot of trouble trying to get there, once I finally made it there, it was totally worth it. The place I went, Echo Point in Kootomba was in the middle of this beautiful valley. It reminded me of the Grand Tetons a bit, but slightly less big (less Grand-ier perhaps?). I wish Dad had been there with me to see it. He would have loved it cause it looked like something straight out of one of the National Parks in the West.
Friday Jan 12th- On Friday, I finally did one thing I had really wanted to do in Australia. See Aussie wildlife. Boshra and her little cousins took me to Koala Park, a local wildlife preserve. I saw so many Australian animals including echidnas (like porcupines) wombat (not bats at all very adorable little fluffers), penguins, wallaby, emus, and of course, kangaroos and koalas. I actually got to pet a kangaroos and a koala!!!! They were so cute! TL would have loved the excess of cute fluffy animals all around. After rounding out the day with a Magnum bar, I felt very happy at having had such a nice day.
Sat Jan 13th- On my second to last full day in Australia, Boshra’s family took me to the mall so I could buy some things I needed for Samoa. I again had fabulous Chinese food and ice cream. You don’t really realize how liberating it is to be able to buy almost thing until you can buy almost nothing. I’d like to think I had a fun little vacation in materialism, getting such pleasure out of material goods. Normally, I would balk at such materialism, but I think after 6 months of self-imposed (or environmentally-imposed) material detachment, a healthy dose of shopping was just want the doctor ordered. After the mall, we went to a dinner party at Boshra’s aunt’s house. Boshra and I really got dressed up with full on nice outfits and hair and make-up (I even wore my new heels!!) Boshra straightened my hair which actually made it look slightly different and very nice. The party was very fun and I had a great time hanging out with her entire extended family. Her little cousins were so sweet. They were saying, “You’re our favorite cousin!” and “you can’t go, you have to stay, stay with us at our house!” They were so nice. Kids love me. I have no idea why but they always seem to. Maybe it’s cause I talk to them like I would talk to any of my friends and not like they’re babies. That used to drive me nuts when I was little. Who knows. Anyway, I had a fantastic day and night.
Sunday Jan 14th- On Sunday we again went to the mall. (4 days of shopping and I still love it!) While at the mall, we went to see a movie, the Holiday. While I enjoyed the movie, somehow I found it hard to relate. It was like jumping back into a world where people’s biggest problem is finding a boyfriend. I know that’s not what America or Australia is really like but still the experience was a bit unnerving. Anyway, existentialist thoughts aside, I enjoyed the movie. After the movie, we went to a dinner party at Nima (one of the other volunteers who had come for a month in Samoa)’s house. We presented some of the pictures from Samoa to the local community who had come. I pitched the idea of coming to Samoa as a year of service to the youth. It was my last night in Australia, so it was hard knowing I’d be going back after such a great time.
Monday Jan 15th/Sunday Jan 14th II- I had a crazy early flight, but I made it to the airport after some misadventures on the Sydney subway. The flight was uncomfortable but uneventful. The flight was the emptiest flight I’ve ever been on. There was no one within 10 seats of me in any direction. It was good cause I laid out and slept. I arrived in Samoa into the loving arms of no one. I didn’t plan on anyone picking me up but after such love and care in Australia, the complete lack thereof in Samoa felt especially acute.
*Fun note, I left Australia on the 15th but arrived on the 14th. Oh the International Date Line is fun!
Trip Summary: To finish up this unbelievably long journal entry, I just wanted to say something about the trip in general. It has been such an amazing trip, seeing sights, being in an urban environment again, shopping, eating. But the best part of the trip was staying with Boshra’s family. It was so nice just being part of a loving group that cared and was nice to me. Just being able to relax and not deal with all the Samoa-stuff that I normally have to was the best vacation I could have hoped for. A great time was had and I think it will give me strength to deal with the last six months of being in Samoa.
Love you guys,
Meg
Tue Jan 9th- I took the bus from the suburbs to do some sightseeing in Sydney. First, I went to the Sydney Opera House. (How could I go to Sydney and not see it?). I took a tour of it, going inside the theaters. The whole structure was actually beautiful. It really is an architectural masterpiece with its use of geometrical shapes and innovative weight distribution concepts. Wow, I am an engineer’s daughter or what? Hehe.
*******Dr Who Shoutout**************************************************
For those of you who watch Doctor Who, (jooj, julesapunk, and Jeff) you’ll be interested to know what I found in the Sydney Opera House gift shop. I was looking through a book about the structural elements of the Opera House, when I found this caption under a picture:
“The spherical solution structural design makes the Opera House much bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Like Dr. Who’s Tardis.”
I almost cracked up in the gift shop. I guess in England and Australia, Dr. Who is a mainstream thing, not just something Sci-Fi junkies like us watch in America. I was so amused to see a shoutout to Dr. Who. It reminded me of watching episodes with Jeff and Juliet and reading Juliana’s livejournal.
************************************************************************
After taking many pictures around the Opera House, I went next door to the Royal Botanical Gardens. I had a nice, relaxing walk through the gardens and saw lots of flowers, trees, and birds in this huge urban park. I love urban parks like this one, Central Park in NYC, Union Square in San Fran, and Le Lez in Montpellier. Urban Parks are perhaps my favorite type of nature, beautiful and relaxing, but organized and maintained and conveniently located in the middle of a city. After the garden, I walked through the historic Rocks District with its cafes and old buildings, to the Harbour Bridge. The Harbour Bridge is one of the main icons of Sydney, connecting Southern Sydney to Northern Sydney over Port Jackson. (It’s like the Brooklyn Bridge in its icon-iness). From the middle of the bridge, I had a great view of Sydney. After a fun day of sightseeing (and a fantastic Brie sandwich) I headed back to the burbs.
Wed Jan 10th- Wednesday I was back in the city, this time I went to the Sydney Aquarium with Boshra and Jian. Jian had really wanted to go because she’s a marine biology major but hadn’t had anyone to go with, so I was happy to go with her. The Sydney Aquarium is one of the best in world, an appellation I would have to agree with. I saw lots of different fish, penguins, seals, sharks, jellyfish, sting rays, and even a duck-billed platypus! It was so much fun! I also had a great time hanging out with Jian, talking about stuff that’s been going on in Hamilton. It was a little like being home, which I don’t always realize I miss so much until something like this reminds me.
Thursday Jan 11th- On Thursday I finally got out of the city and went to the nearby Blue Mountains. Despite a lot of trouble trying to get there, once I finally made it there, it was totally worth it. The place I went, Echo Point in Kootomba was in the middle of this beautiful valley. It reminded me of the Grand Tetons a bit, but slightly less big (less Grand-ier perhaps?). I wish Dad had been there with me to see it. He would have loved it cause it looked like something straight out of one of the National Parks in the West.
Friday Jan 12th- On Friday, I finally did one thing I had really wanted to do in Australia. See Aussie wildlife. Boshra and her little cousins took me to Koala Park, a local wildlife preserve. I saw so many Australian animals including echidnas (like porcupines) wombat (not bats at all very adorable little fluffers), penguins, wallaby, emus, and of course, kangaroos and koalas. I actually got to pet a kangaroos and a koala!!!! They were so cute! TL would have loved the excess of cute fluffy animals all around. After rounding out the day with a Magnum bar, I felt very happy at having had such a nice day.
Sat Jan 13th- On my second to last full day in Australia, Boshra’s family took me to the mall so I could buy some things I needed for Samoa. I again had fabulous Chinese food and ice cream. You don’t really realize how liberating it is to be able to buy almost thing until you can buy almost nothing. I’d like to think I had a fun little vacation in materialism, getting such pleasure out of material goods. Normally, I would balk at such materialism, but I think after 6 months of self-imposed (or environmentally-imposed) material detachment, a healthy dose of shopping was just want the doctor ordered. After the mall, we went to a dinner party at Boshra’s aunt’s house. Boshra and I really got dressed up with full on nice outfits and hair and make-up (I even wore my new heels!!) Boshra straightened my hair which actually made it look slightly different and very nice. The party was very fun and I had a great time hanging out with her entire extended family. Her little cousins were so sweet. They were saying, “You’re our favorite cousin!” and “you can’t go, you have to stay, stay with us at our house!” They were so nice. Kids love me. I have no idea why but they always seem to. Maybe it’s cause I talk to them like I would talk to any of my friends and not like they’re babies. That used to drive me nuts when I was little. Who knows. Anyway, I had a fantastic day and night.
Sunday Jan 14th- On Sunday we again went to the mall. (4 days of shopping and I still love it!) While at the mall, we went to see a movie, the Holiday. While I enjoyed the movie, somehow I found it hard to relate. It was like jumping back into a world where people’s biggest problem is finding a boyfriend. I know that’s not what America or Australia is really like but still the experience was a bit unnerving. Anyway, existentialist thoughts aside, I enjoyed the movie. After the movie, we went to a dinner party at Nima (one of the other volunteers who had come for a month in Samoa)’s house. We presented some of the pictures from Samoa to the local community who had come. I pitched the idea of coming to Samoa as a year of service to the youth. It was my last night in Australia, so it was hard knowing I’d be going back after such a great time.
Monday Jan 15th/Sunday Jan 14th II- I had a crazy early flight, but I made it to the airport after some misadventures on the Sydney subway. The flight was uncomfortable but uneventful. The flight was the emptiest flight I’ve ever been on. There was no one within 10 seats of me in any direction. It was good cause I laid out and slept. I arrived in Samoa into the loving arms of no one. I didn’t plan on anyone picking me up but after such love and care in Australia, the complete lack thereof in Samoa felt especially acute.
*Fun note, I left Australia on the 15th but arrived on the 14th. Oh the International Date Line is fun!
Trip Summary: To finish up this unbelievably long journal entry, I just wanted to say something about the trip in general. It has been such an amazing trip, seeing sights, being in an urban environment again, shopping, eating. But the best part of the trip was staying with Boshra’s family. It was so nice just being part of a loving group that cared and was nice to me. Just being able to relax and not deal with all the Samoa-stuff that I normally have to was the best vacation I could have hoped for. A great time was had and I think it will give me strength to deal with the last six months of being in Samoa.
Love you guys,
Meg