Still on vacation...

So class has started, but it feels so weird to be here still. I was just in class as a student three weeks ago in UCLA, and yet I seem to have lost all of my student-skills. I'll admit that I didn't do every single reading in my soc classes and got by fine by just being smart about it in other ways. But here when they assign reading, I feel super stressed out about reading everything. Or this could just be me stressing out about everything as usual.

An interesting thing I noted about the people on campus is that everyone is dressed really nicely. You'll never see anyone in their PJs, or sweats, or even gym clothes. I also don't see our athletes prancing around in their spirited clothing and such like they do at UCLA. Then again they really have no school spirit here anyways. People around here don't even know what their mascot is. o_O Also, class seems to never start on time, whether that be lectures or tutorials (sections). I guess that can be a good thing, but it seems like a ridiculous idea sometimes. Then students waltz in at all different times, so it's ultra disturbing. They don't even all come late at like 9:05 or something coordinated. :/ When they said at UCLA orientation that "if class is at 10, it starts at 10", I was like well duh. I guess this is the issue.

In any case, the weather is really showing itself... presenting... WINTER IN AUSTRALIA! It's rainy, brisk, and gloomy. But at least this means the spiders stay inside. :3 At least that's what I've heard... o_o

Today is Foundation Day, which is UNSW's birthday, so there are activities going on all day and all night! Just coming back from class, I saw a ton of booths giving out free things, including free two scoops of ice cream and... (below) two free tickets to Step Up 4, a free polaroid, and free session at the photobooth! :D 

In other news, I finally signed up for the Hip Hop course at the gym. xD It's once a week and I just decided that I'm going to challenge myself with this! :D At least I'm doing it with friends!

 
 But the gym is serious business. They gave everyone 7-day trials for the gym, and lately I've been going every day. One night after dinner (too soon after dinner...) I went to an RPM class with a friend. It's also called spinning? Basically you get on a still bike in a dimly lit room with an instructor. Super hyper music is blasting through the speakers and you basically bike with the music. It's super fun and amazingly hard, apparently a friend lost 2 kg the first time... *__*

I watched Batman yesterday! Finally, I was able to see what all the hype was about. I'd gone to see Batman 2 a couple days before, and after the show, there was this guy passing out business-card-like things. I took one, and turns out it was a free pass to any movie! So I saw Batman for free. :3 Anyway, I thought it was really great, especially the ending.

Let's talk about food! I had this $4.50 pizza before the movie at Lil Darlin'. This is mushroom with balsamic vinaigrette, I think.

But of course, this wasn't enough for the manly Sebastian, so we went back to his place to enjoy his home cooking before the super long movie! First, savory sandwiches of seared steak, ketchup, sour cream, and corn on white bread. Then dessert sandwiches of butter and apricot jam, and butter with ovaltine powder. *___*

Thai fried rice! Looks disgusting, but it was just deep fried basil on the top. It was suuper delicious! :3

YAAAAY Thai tea ice cream from passionflower! :) Apparently it's a great shop, so I might return. It was super expensive though... $5 for one scoop... reminds me, I should pay that person back soon :X LOL

Classes have officially started!

 Oops, sometimes I really forget I'm here as a student. I've been brought back to reality though, and I'm getting hit with issues like book prices, figuring out course outlines, and trying to meet with professors and students to gain that certain edge. I even stayed up late last night to do my readings for the next day's lectures. 


I will now try to attempt explaining what schooling is like here. First of all, course outlines (syllabi) are about 30 pages long. They include EVERYTHING, such as week by week breakdowns of what will go on in sections and lectures, and paragraphs specifying what to prepare for each meeting. They also include official university rules in terms of plagiarizing and such, where as at UCLA that section is usually just a paragraph long. They also give you assignment directions in there, whereas in UCLA you get the essay prompts and project outlines when it is assigned. 


Secondly, there are usually only 1 or at most 2 lectures per week, which are at least 2 hours long. Then you have tutorials, like sections, where you meet with your tutor (TA, or GSI). 


Thirdly, their grading scale is different. While we have the ABCDF and 4.0 system, they go by high distinction, distinction, credit, pass, etc.... And instead of a GPA, you have the WAM (weighted average mark), which is a percentage (out of 100) that ranks you with everyone else. :X Yikes.


Has anyone watched Batman yet? I can't wait! I went to watch the 2nd movie at the local theater for $5, and it was just amazing. I enjoyed a lot more than the first time, and now I'm so ready for the 3rd movie! Although I did hear that the 2nd is better than the 3rd, so you shouldn't see it right before. :X Oh well.


Speaking of batman, the big news recently is the massive shooting in Colorado. What a great time to be out of the country and to have the USA name attached to you. I've been asked about what the US and CA gun laws are, and.... I'll go do my research now. 9__9 I heard in one of the midnight showings in our theater the sound cut off at the height of a scene. How scary would that be, after hearing about the gassing in the middle of the movie. I'd think it was another terror attack.

Thankfully the weather's been not too bad here, but it does rain every so often. Turns out my boots are indeed water-proof! Yay :D 

Besides getting a big can of Raid for all things creepy crawly, look what I found at the supermarket! Rice bubbles... x) COME ON, THEY'RE RICE KRISPIES! 
 

Forgot to add this last time, but here's our set-up for Ice Breakers night at IH!

Also forgot to load this. Took this with my phone, so it's horrible quality. This is me with a group of 10+ friends going clubbing in downtown Sydney, called King's Cross. Some shady stuff goes on around here, lemme tell ya... >>
 

I did a job trial at Noodles and Dumplings Canteen (asian much?) and for the two hours, the nice lady let me take home whatever I wanted. This doesn't look TOO appetizing, but I swear it was good :D This would have cost me... more than $10 AUD. :(

Opening dinner! We had consulates from all over the world come to IH and enjoy a meal with us while we sat around and appreciated each other's diversity... ^^;; Here's the board of students preparing the after party concoction! Goon + sodas, topped with chopped fruits.

And here's a shot of what I wore to the event. It was supposed to be much more formal, but I didn't bring anything I could wear. :( I borrowed the gorgeous black cardigan from a friend, but I think I will hunt for one myself soon. :3
 

For a fundraiser, they were selling coffee! Bring your own container and they'll give you even more! That pink container is my thermos and it was filled to the top with delicious cappuccino! Thanks, IVISION! :D I also picked up a t-shirt for $1 for the gym, and a jacket for $4 in their donation garage sale like type thing. That might be as much clothes shopping as I'll ever do here in Sydney.

Another funny thing to note... I've talked to several people about coming from UCLA, and they'll go "UCLA... Oh, have you heard of that Asians in the library thing?" Good job guys, we're now internationally known for being racist towards Asians. T___T I asked them if they'd seen the remixed dubstep versions, but they haven't, so maybe that's a good sign... I don't know. How embarrassing... -____-

O-Week

Sorry for the long hiatus, I've just been so busy. It's also one of those things where like you can't use your phone for a week or something and it ends up feeling so free and wonderful. That's kind of what happened to me with the Internet and my computer in general. Life is not on the internet! :D In any case, I am going to head every paragraph with headers so it doesn't seem like I'm writing a neverending book.


Internet:
Speaking of the Internet, I've had to adjust to adding ".au" to everything... It's not usually required, but still, when you're copying down email addresses and whatnot, it's an interesting thing to note. Go U.S.A., we're the king of the world!

Money spending:
Great news! I discovered that (upon asking others, not sure if this is COMPLETE fact, but it is objective) I am currently living in the cheapest accommodation in Sydney. It's cheaper than any other dorm, apartment, or house, I believe, partly probably because it also pays for 21 meals a week, while other places cost more in general and you'd be paying more in time for shopping, groceries, time for cooking, and bus fares. (And bus fares here are $1+ one way. If you want to go to the outer city, it's like $2.) 

The dorm, International House:
So I guess that's something I can be proud of! :D Living here has been great so far also. There are so many planned activities, and since the place isn't huge like UCLA's dorms, people can at least be on a first name basis with everyone in the building. In the dining halls, there are identical large round tables around, and people just come in and fill in a seat. There's less grouping of one party and leaving people out, and you never NEED to find someone to eat with. It's seriously been the best!

Finding a job:
I've been trying to find a job recently. It's quite strange for me to do so, I feel, because I didn't feel like I needed to before I went on this trip. I figured my parents and financial aid have got the costs figured out, and I'll just be thrifty. The place is WAY more expensive than I thought it would be, with dishes normally exceeding $10 a plate, and boba for like $4. (I haven't had boba yet, actually.) Plus, everyone I've met has been thinking about or has found a job. It's tough out there, but easier than finding one in the U.S., I think. It's been so strange finding waitressing and retail jobs here. They ask for my resume, and I present it knowing there's diddly-squat there that shows I can make coffee, wait tables, work a cashier, or maintain inventory.

I did a trial for a super Asian restaurant yesterday. It was called... *drumroll*... Noodles and Dumplings Canteen. XD It's at a nearby mall, and it's not a food court type of section, but it's more of a little restaurant. It's owned by this married couple from China, and they speak straight up Chinese-accented Mandarin. I thought I could understand it, having gotten used to Taiwanese Mandarin during this whole year, but NOPE. My to-be coworker is SO CUTE though.. she's just the most gorgeous little thing. <3 ANYWAY. I will probably not stay there, but it wasn't too bad, I even got to take some lunch home. :D Since I slaved away for them for free for two hours.

Speaking of jobs, I went to Coogee to look for jobs, and it's this beach area where there are a bunch of cafes. I went to this one called Tango and there was this Mexican guy there, adult-aged. I said "Hi, my name is Wendy and I am a UNSW student. I'm looking for some work if you're offering anything?" He was like "Wurzz are you studying?" Sociology? "Wurzz are you studying?!" ... UNSW? "Let's just say... come back in a month." o__O? "Because you don't seem to understand English too well yet. You need to live here more, your English is not too good." ..............

SAY WHAT?! You're the one with the crazy Latino accent, aite.  I've never had someone say that to me... Oh well. I swear maybe "wurrzz" was the wrong sound, but he said the EXACT inbetween of the words "where" and "what". >>... I'm not gonna return and try to work for a guy like that. :3

Clubbing:
Clubbing here... is quite interesting. I didn't know clubs could be clear of dirty dancing! Turns out outside of the states, people don't really straight up grind all night. They actually do like little group dances and shake their heads to the beat. There are like fist pumping competitions (jk.) and they only grind after the guy really warms up to her. o_O I'm thinking in America, it's like *taptap* Hi, wanna dance? *grinds*  So it's a good adjustment, but the DJs (that I've heard so far) leave in waaayy too many non-beat/transitional moments in there where no one knows how to dance to it? Sound familiar? Anyway....

One night when I was going out with like a group of 10+ people to Sydney's "downtown" area, King's Cross, I was walking out of there with a friend ahead of the pack, and I see this guy-girl couple coming the opposite way of us. We were on opposite sides of the road so we wouldn't knock into each other, obviously, but suddenly the female person scooped up behind me and SLAPPED MY BUTT. I thought she was going to knife me, but nope... I guess I'm lucky? I was like O__O!!! or DDDD8<<<<< either. Or both.

We're famous!
In any case, it's been great to be from San Francisco and UCLA, because I can say both those locations and everybody will have heard of them! So great. As my friend said, I'm lucky because she has to say Mexico for anyone to know, AND she says she also has to say Mexico the non-Mexican way, aka pronouncing the 'x' as 'ex' instead of 'h' (Me-hee-ko). It's also oddly unsettling saying I'm from UCLA though because you get praise, but also... surprise. LOL Am I putting something out there that makes me seem less than I am? I got asked "How did I get in there?" and I'm trying to take it as a compliment or neutral question...x)

More cultural differences:
What's also been different is that they call McDonald's "Mackers", pronounced "Mackas". x) They're like Ooohhh Mickey D's! I'm like no. We don't even call it that. Oh well :) Our local Mackers is only like 10 minutes walk away. :D Open 24 hours too. And they offer a bit of different things. Plus they have that stand-alone cafe next to it. Dear sweet baby Jesus.

Ice breakers:
My dorm put on an ice breakers night, and the turn-out was great! A lot of people brought drinks with them, which made it funner I guess. :) We played games like untangle the group, I like, find the person who, and others. 

Being Asian American:
This has been the most eye-opening experience for me in terms of realizing that I am Asian American. Sure, I knew it before, but it's not until you're abroad and there are fobs everywhere that you feel the burning desire to separate yourself from them. It's only because people treat fobs like outsiders here, so I've been obviously avoided because of how I look. Then when I approach them and speak my American English, I so often get "Ooohh, I thought you were Asian." I AM Asian... o_O But nope, I pretty much turned American so fast here. I wonder if the people here were talking to others about me, would they say "You know, Wendy, the--"? The Asian but American girl? Or the American but Asian girl? I asked, and a friend said "I'd say American!... Well that depends I guess, I don't know."  It's almost nearly an identity crisis going on now because I don't look like I belong in either the European nor the Asian group. I manage though. :D

GOD WENDY, stop talking, we just want to see pictures! I hate reading! I agree, so here we go~

 I've been playing pool SO MUCH. The rec room is always quite festive and it's a great place to meet people!

This is the law building near my dorm. It's so nice and purple! I go on campus to use my internet because the rate for bandwidth at my dorm is so high! T____T How else am I supposed to watch my shows?
 

We had orientation in this Science theater. 

After orientation, the study abroad office organized a nice BBQ for everyone! :D Delicious!
 

Is that... JENGA?! Why yes it is! Just one of the many activities going on at the O-Week festivities.

Also went to the Coogee beach with friends. Not only wore a two-piece swimsuit for the first time, but I went into THE OCEAN WATERS for the first time! We all know that won't be happening anytime in LA or SF. It was le freezing still...

Have I been super super busy? I guess not quite. Sometimes I'm just chillin' with friends playing guitar and singing in the courtyard! :)

Sorry for the extended novel! I'll try to make more frequent posts, though the posting rate will be super slow now anyway as school has just started today! :D yayz.

Trying to stay out of my room

So this week is all about going out and experiencing things before getting boggled down by schoolwork. That means waking up every day and thinking "what should I do today?" which gets pretty taxing, considering my natural instinct is probably to sit at my computer and browse all day. 

But that's not the spirit of the Aussie adventurer! So I've been exploring the area some, and it's been completely beautiful so far. Here are a few pics!

 I went shopping at Randwick, where they have a few shops, restaurants, Woolworths, and Coles. There, I saw a little shop selling Ugg-like boots. They're really the Aussie style! These are around the same price too. The fashion ones on the back shelf are gorgeous...

 They had a sushi stand next door that sold beautiful sushis! These were already prepared and ready to order.

I bought nothing that day, but was just accompanying my new British friend, James. After he got his essentials, we yelped a good place to eat. Came across Arthur's Pizza, which had 4+ stars and was less than a mile away. Using my expert navigation skills, we made it there and ordered a medium pizza to share. This is the margarita for $9. DELICIOUS...

Afterwards, I went home and brought my laptop and things to campus, where I used the free internet to stream my one of my favorite shows, Pretty Little Liars. Watched two episodes in an empty cafeteria and got totally freaked out. After that, I went home and had dinner with Seb at the highly recommended Thai place, Time for Thai. We had to wait a long while before getting seated, but it was all worth it in the end!

 I had to see how Thai iced teas were here in Sydney, so I ordered one. It burnt a hole in my wallet... and in the end I got quite a small glass of it. But it was really good. I let Sebastian try some, and he said it tasted like chocolate and vanilla. "No, it's Thai tea and milk, silly!" But after trying it myself, I realized how right he was! In a blind test, I'd probably say it was chocolate and vanilla myself. o_O

Seb's order: some Chef's special. When trying to describe the name, he was like "Ez ze... ez ze... uh... what you call.. rice and..." (imagine a French accent) The waiter totally got it though. O_O props.

Mine was panang curry with chicken and roti (the bread thing).

 

Afterwards, we met up with other IH people to go karaoke-ing on the dorm's budget! Our costs were subsidized, and I ended up paying nothing except for the bus. This deal included 3 hours in the private room with two plates of food and three pitchers of alcohol. xDDDD GOOD TIMES.

 

Afterwards, it was like past midnight, so people were hungry again. Caught Hungry Jack's on the way to the bus stop. Does this look familiar to y'all 'mericans?? IT'S BURGER KING!

At the bus stop, we found a possum crawling out, and Phil went and fed it like a whole two servings of french fries. -__- Sigh.

Getting down to business

Today was a bit of a blur.  I woke up early enough for breakfast as usual (jetlag?...) and then watched some American shows in the television room with Phil. We came across shoes like The Simpsons, Ellen Degeneres Show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and Jersey Shore. One pillow fight later, I was left with a hurting head and a fat lip. THANKS PHIL. >>

After, we went to meet Nadine, another exchange student who needed to go to Bondi Junction to get her phone/SIM card set up. We took the bus there and got acquainted, and arrived at a stunningly beautiful junction.

 Me derpin' and herpin'.

 The market.

 Super windy.

 Waiting with the guys at the bus stop to Coogee, where Seb (the French man on the right) has his flat. We went there so he could cook up some lunch.

In case y'all didn't catch that, I said "Ew, look at that douchebag smile. Chills." LOL Sorry... In this next video, Phil does the impossible. After trying to use the can opener for so long, Phil... takes a crack at it himself.

 Time to clean the flat! :D LOOK HOW CUTE. And he wanted me to delete this photo...

 Orange juice, orange slices, two slices of toast, cut up tomatoes, corn with tuna, yogurt... "Yeah, this is a regular meal. Too much?"

 They live near Coogee beach. ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL? Mind you, this is at 4pm already, so the sun is setting.

 This one legged seagull was hopping around on one foot... Sad story, right? He goes hop, hop, hop, hop-*RUNS WITH BOTH LEGS* ... -__- We've all been fooled.

 WELL HELLO THERE, AUSTRALIA!

 OH **** the water totally just soaked my legs...

 One camwhoring picture, for those who came here for these.

 After we picked up some food, it's back to the bus stop to get home.

 After an official dinner back at the International House, we headed out again towards Seb's place. We decided to go out to a bar and chose Beach Palace Hotel. GORGEOUS place that is huge and has FANTASTIC music!(They listen to a load of American music, btw.) Here's a shot of us playing pool! :D

 Seb and I lost because although we were ahead, he got the black ball into a hole he didn't call. D: OH WELL! Then we went to play this arcade game. SO FUNNN, thanks for making me do it!

 After picking up some groceries and being let down that the supermarket didn't sell alcohol so late, we went back and had gourmet and authentically French crepes and salami sandwiches.