April 2012
13 posts
That's All, Folks
Well I just finished my one and only final, meaning I no longer have an academic responsibilities this semester. Junior year is over and for all intents and purposes, so is my time in Sydney. Now all I have left is the farewell dinner tonight and a day of packing tomorrow. I finally fly out Thursday night. These final few days have seemed like forever, mostly because at this point I’m just...
10 Things I'm Going to Miss About Australia
I was going to wait to post this until my last week, but I’m bored and seeing as how I’m only 10 days out I didn’t think it would matter much. So here’s a list of the ten things I’ll miss the most about Australia (in no particular order).
1. Sydney Harbor. Sydney Harbor is easily my favorite place. There’s beautiful views, the Harbor Bridge, and the Opera...
Macbeth at the Opera House
I finally made it to the Opera House last night. I’ve wanted to go since we got here, but just hadn’t really got around to buying tickets until recently. I saw Bell Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It was really good. I’ve never read Macbeth so I really had to pay attention to figure out what was going on. It’s been a few years since I’ve read any Shakespeare, so it...
Australian Winter?
Apparently Australia has winter. I guess they weren’t joking when they said the weather was going to change drastically by the time we left. It’s starting to get colder at night. It hit a frigid 40 degrees the other night. No more beach days for us. It’s also going to start raining more. It already has as a matter of fact. The thing that’s the worst though is how early...
Royal National Park
This past weekend I went to Royal National Park. This park is about an hours train ride south and is a popular site for fishing, hiking, and camping. The trip got off to a rocky start as we went to the southern most point of the park and attempted to hike our way to a waterfall. We ended up on a path that I’m pretty sure was used in the Blair Witch Project. It was really creepy. So we turned...
Hunter Stadium
Yesterday I got to go back to Newcastle for work. My boss wanted to bring me along to Hunter Stadium so I could see firsthand what the venue looked like and better understand what I’m doing. Hunter Stadium is the first stop for the Wallabies this season. They will play Scotland on June 5. The main reason we were there, however, was to do some menu tastings. I was pumped when I heard this....
Peeeeeeeeeeps!
My mom sent me Peeps for Easter. I opened them today and started eating them only to realize how much my taste buds have changed. Like I’ve said before, Australia doesn’t use as much sugar in things, and when they do they use real sugar, not corn syrup. It was so sweet I could barely eat three of them. On Easter I can usually eat a couple of sleeves of them. I don’t know how...
The Last Trip
I spent the past two days in Newcastle. Sadly, this would be the last trip I will take before returning home (not including Hawaii). I’ve had some awesome trips while being here, but all good things must come to an end, and this was a good way to end it. I’ll admit that it wasn’t the most eventful trip, nor was it the nicest place we visited. What it was, though, was very...
What is this Netball Crap?
I turned on the TV the other day to see the women’s netball championship. I’ve seen netball hoops around Sydney, but I’ve never seen it played. I thought it was just like basketball without backboards. Nope. It it probably the dumbest game I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if men’s netball is different or if it even exists, but this was the weirdest thing I’ve...
One Month Left
One month from today, I’ll be getting on a plane and heading back to the states (Hawaii counts right?). Sydney has been great. Coming here is easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. There’s so much to see and do and it sucks to know that there’s a good chance this is the only time I’ll ever be here. Still, there’s a lot of stuff I miss about Boston, so...
March 2012
17 posts
Thank you, Mom and Dad
A lot of times we forget to thank the people that make everything possible, so I wanted to take a moment to thank my parents. Without them, I would not be in Australia. They do so much for me and it’s only because of them that I’m able to do all of the things I do. They give me all of my opportunities. They made it possible for me to go to BU in the first place, and Austin before...
Wanted: Summer job
I know my blog is wicked popular and a lot of people (upwards of fifteen) read it on a religiously casual basis. But who are those people? I know my parents and my brother read it daily, but otherwise I’m not certain who the others are. I also don’t know who those people know. So I thought I’d put my blog to work for me, in the off chance that someonereading this is either a) looking for a summer...
Pancakes on the Rocks
It may sound like a delicious desert flavored drink, but this is a restaurant in Sydney, more specifically the part known as The Rocks. The Rocks is the oldest part of Sydney, and its namesake is due to the fact that convicts used to break rocks over there in the city’s early days. I went there last weekend after getting many recommendations from friends. This place is open 24 hours and I...
My Letter to the Sydney Kings
As part of a BU sponsored event, I had the privilege of attending a Sydney Kings basketball game on Saturday night. The Sydney Kings are the professional team in Sydney, and they play in the marginally competitive NBL. What I witnessed was very upsetting, so I decided to write a letter to the Kings highlighting my abhorrence.
Dear Sydney Kings,
I would like to being by applauding your (blatant...
The Merry Old Land of Oz: Camel Sausage
Over spring break, as you know, I went camping in the Outback. Since we were so far away from everything, if we wanted food we had to make it ourselves. Each night our tour guides set us up with supplies and we had to cook. One night we had a smorgasbord of different meats. There was beef, kangaroo, and camel. Yeah I said camel, or camel sausage actually. If you’ve never had it, it looks...
My (Temporary) Retirement from Basketball
Well it’s official. After suffering through two months of “basketball”, I’m hanging up my shoes until I’m back in Boston. Here’s my official press release.
“I want to start by thanking all of you who came out to support me on this sad day in my basketball career. After much deliberation with my friends and family, I have come to the conclusion that the...
Australian Bartenders are Idiots
Last night I went out to a couple of bars. On both occasions I had to deal with morons of human beings.Here’s what happened:
Bar #1 - I ordered a couple of drinks and my total was like $12.50 or something. So I hand the lady $20.50 because I hate coins and I want back even dollars. So she stares at the money and then at the register like “what the hell do I do now?”. After about...
So My Internship is Cool...
I’m about to finish up my second week as an intern at the ARU. So far it’s been great. I have one of the longer (and more expensive) commutes out of anyone in the program, so that sucks. But other than that everything has gone pretty well. My boss is very nice and I’ve gotten to do a lot already. The atmosphere is very relaxed and I’m hardly ever stressed, even though I...
My First Rugby Game
Saturday night, all of the interns at the ARU (and a few friends) were treated to their first rugby game. We were given tickets to the Waratahs v Force at Allianz Stadium. We had great seats, but we could have sat pretty much anywhere. I guess the Tahs don’t get huge turnouts. The stadium was only about half full. The Tahs are part of Super Rugby, which is the professional league,...
The Merry Old Land of Oz: James Squire
Australia has a lot of different types of beer. I’ve had my fair share of them as well. Some are good, some are all right, some are awful. Then there are the select few that are delicious. James Squire is such a beer. It’s named after one of Australia’s first convicts, a man credited with the cultivation of hops in this country, and it’s brewed right here in Sydney. There...
First Week at My Internship
This past week was my first as an intern at the Australian Rugby Union. The ARU is the governing body over all of rugby union, but most of their business deals with their national team, the Wallabies. There’s five of us from BU interning there, all in different departments. I’m interning in the Hospitality and Events department, meaning I’m doing a lot of stuff I’ve never...
Two Months Removed
Today marks the 2 month anniversary of me leaving home. All I can say is man has time flown. It seems like yesterday I my dad was dropping me off at Logan. I remember everything so vividly. LA, my first weekend, starting classes, Melbourne, all of it. It’s strange thinking about how much has been done. It makes me realize how my truly numbered my days here are. I mean I’ve only just...
Spring Break Recap...part 2
Day 5 - Alice Springs
We left Cairns in the morning for our 3 hour flight to Alice Springs. Once we got there, there wasn’t much to do for the rest of the day. The town is nothing like I was expecting. It’s very small and very poor. There’s a large American presence since there’s a CIA base with over 2000 American citizens in it on the outskirts of town. The hostel we...
Spring Break Recap...part 1
Spring break in Australia was the best 10 days I could have had. I don’t think any other break will be able to compete, seeing as how my usual one consists of me sitting on my ass at home. I traveled thousands of kilometers between Queensland and the Northern Territory from Friday to Sunday. It was amazing, exciting, exhausting, and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
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I'm Back
For those of you who follow, I’m back from spring break and have started my classes already with my internship starting tomorrow. Sorry for the delay but ill be posting about my trip later today and putting up photos and videos.
Spring Break Update
I’m sitting in my hostel right now in Cairns trying to upload all the pictures I’ve taken so far. Tonight is my last night in Cairns, and I’ll be ending it with a toga party pub crawl. The trip has been amazing so far. I honestly didn’t think the rainforest would be so cool, but we’ve found a lot of fun stuff in there. Needless to say, the Great Barrier Reef was...
WatchI’m posting this from AJ Hackett in Cairns, Queensland where I just bnugie jumped 164 feet. Check it out.
February 2012
31 posts
Spring Break!
In less than 24 hours I will be in Cairns for the start of possibly the greatest spring break trip ever assembled. I apologize for my blatant lack of posts for the last few days, but I’ve been so busy trying to finish up my school work. The first session of classes end tomorrow and I’ve been bogged down with papers, projects, and finals. Not to mention packing for a 10 day trip. Sadly,...
Basketball Jones
Basketball in Australia is awful. It just flat out sucks. It’s nearly impossible to find a game, and if you can find one it’s the worst you’ll ever play. I shoot around at Sydney Uni. You think there would be some other kids there every once and a while right? Wrong. Never have I seen another person playing there, at a giant university. I know basketball isn’t high on the...
Port Stephens Recap
Port Stephens was about as much fun as you could have in a weekend. This trip was nonstop. We left the BUSAC at about 7 on Friday and rolled into Nelson Bay at 10. We went out to the bars, met some old racists dudes, and called it a night shortly thereafter. We got an early start the next day and went to feed manta rays and sharks. There were a bunch of tanks that you could go in, each with...
Off to Port Stephens
I’m about to leave for Port Stephens so I’ll be away until Sunday night. I forgot to prepare some posts while I’m away so you’ll just have to bear with me until I get back. If it’s any consolation this trip will be worth waiting to hear about.
Drop Beats Not Bears
As you may recall me mentioning in some of my first posts, on the very first Saturday in Sydney, BU engaged in a city-wide scavenger hunt dubbed “The Drop Bear Cup”. Well after a month we finally got the results, and I am proud to announce that my team, Drop Beats Not Bears, is the 2012 Drop Bear Cup champions. Our prizes include a dinner on BU’s dime at a destination to be...
Melbourne Field Trip
I’m back from my trip down to Melbourne and just woke up from a much needed 11 hours of sleep. This trip wiped me out. Melbourne is now my favorite city in Australia. Nothing against Sydney, but Melbourne has a much more cultured aspect to it. It’s a lot like Boston. It was a trip packed with non-stop events and it made me the most tired I’ve been after four days. Here’s a...
Upcoming Weekend at Port Stephens →
No sooner do I get back from Melbourne (about which I will be posting very soon) and I pretty much have to start getting ready for my trip this weekend. Click the link at the top for the full details on what I’ll be doing.
An Inside Look at My Classes
My classes so far have been very different from anything I’ve experienced in college so far. For those of you who don’t know, my semester is split up into two mini semesters. We take two classes for the first six weeks, then for the final seven weeks we take another class while completing an internship. So I currently only take two courses. One is an anthropology class on Australian...
Cribs: Sydney Edition
My parents keep asking for pictures of my apartment building, so I thought it would be a good idea to make a post about my home away from home.
The Boston University Sydney Academic Center (BUSAC) was built two years ago and is located at 15-25 Regent St., Chippendale, Sydney. It’s a small street tucked away just a block away from Central Station, which makes getting around really...
The Merry Old Land of Oz: Cuban Cigars
Some things here can really make you feel like you’re not in Kansas anymore.
There’s a lot of things United States has that Australia doesn’t. One is a trade embargo with Cuba. That means Cuban cigars are perfectly legal here in Sydney. Now I’m not a smoker by any means, but I’ve been known to puff a stogie on special occasions. The other night the thought of smoking a...
Quick Update
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I’ve had some papers due and I spent all day at the zoo today, which I will post about when I have a free minute. I’m leaving for Melbourne in the morning for four days so I wont have time to be on here much. But don’t worry, I’ve made some posts in advance and they should be queued to go up while I’m away. I get back from...
My 21st Birthday aka The One Month Anniversary of...
Today is my 21st birthday (well, in Australia anyway. I still have 4 hours before it’s official back home). On a day that should be spent out in bars celebrating with my friends, I’m stuck inside doing homework. I have a 2000 word research paper due tomorrow that was assigned a week ago. Normally a 2000 word paper wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but even BU usually gives us at...
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The Merry Old Land of Oz: Kangaroo Meat
Some things here can really make you feel like you’re not in Kansas anymore.
Yes, you read that right. Kangaroo meat. Today was Valentine’s Day down under. Since Maria and I have nonsensical amounts of homework to do, going out wasn’t really an option, so I decided to cook us a dinner. Both of us have really been wanting to try kangaroo, so I went to the store and picked up a couple...
"Field Trip" to Hunter Valley
I spent the past couple of days on a compulsory field trip to the Hunter Valley wine region with my Australian Wine Industry class. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better mandatory field trip. We spent 2 days drinking some of the finest wines in the country. We tasted 54 different types of wine and drank about 20 glasses. It was very academic.
The first day, we visited...
The Merry Old Land of Oz: Tim Tams
Some things here can really make you feel like you’re not in Kansas anymore.
In my very first installment of “The Merry Old Land of Oz”, I introduced you to Vegemite. So after exposing you to possibly the worst tasting thing this country has to offer, I thought I’d treat you all with possibly the best tasting thing this country has to offer: Tim Tams. When I first had a...
Is 360 also Mac Miller?
After watching 360’s videos, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling I’ve seen him before. Then it hit me. He’s Mac Miller. The tattoos, the snapbacks, the wayfarers, the facial hair, the scruffy looking white guy look, all of it. It’s all the same. If you don’t believe me, look at their pics on Google. I had a hard time trying to figure out who was who.
