The Ultimate IMAX Experience

Here is a fun fact: Sydney is home to the largest IMAX screen in the world! On a rainy day, a movie is always a nice way to get out of the house and do something fun, yet stay dry while you are in the theater. In the handy Sydney City Guide I picked up at the airport, there was a voucher for 20% off a showing at the IMAX Theater in Darling Harbour. Because there is only one screen, there are a limited number of showings per day and only a few movies available to watch. When I went, there were two options for the day: Hubble 3-D and Born To Be Wild. I decided on Born To Be Wild, which features elephants and orangutans and is narrated by none other than Morgan Freeman. I went to the IMAX Theater at 10:00 am and the next showing of Born To Be Wild was not until 2:15 pm! However, I was excited about being able to experience the largest IMAX screen in the world and to see the adorable elephants and orangutans in 3-D.

Of course, to see a movie in an Australia theater is quite expensive compared to the movie prices in the US. An IMAX 3-D movie is even more pricey! However, I had the 20% off voucher and they gave me a student discount after showing my ID card! I ended up paying $13.60, but that is much better than the standard price of $19.50. The movie itself was only 50 minutes long. However, full length features are even more expensive: an adult ticket costs $28.50.

One little random fact about me is that I have a little obsession with elephants. They represent wisdom, they bring good luck, and they are so cute! I was actually gifted a sponsorship of an orphaned elephant in Nairobi, Kenya by my boyfriend and his family. The sponsorship is done through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. With a one-time donation of $50 you can foster an orphaned elephant of your choice and receive monthly updates about the elephant’s progress and rehabilitation in order to successfully transition back into the wild. You also receive a wonderful watercolor painted by Angela Sheldrick each month. You can find more information about the program here. It is a very worthy cause!

To my pleasant surprise, the elephants that were featured in the Born To Be Wild movie were from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust! I was so excited, I could barely contain myself. I was able to watch what the program does and see the elephants that I am helping with my sponsorship! It is truly amazing and touching how these majestic creatures form close bonds with the keepers and the other orphaned elephants. The orangutan program was also very heartwarming and fun to watch. However, I favor the elephants…

The movie was fantastic, I did not want it to end! I had a wonderful time and the 3-D experience was better than any 3-D movie I have ever watched! The IMAX Theater in Darling Harbour is worth a visit. Also, if you are an elephant, orangutan or animal lover, go to see Born To Be Wild! Plus, you have to admit that Morgan Freeman has the best narrating voice ever...

Check out the trailer for Born To Be Wild:

Thai! Thai! Thai!

One of the most common foods that you will find around Sydney is Thai noodles and curries. I had never experienced Thai food before I came to Sydney and now I have become addicted! I crave Thai food all the time! It is the perfect blend of noodles, vegetables, and chicken or beef (rice too, if you order curry). There are many different places you can go to get Thai and the prices range from $5-15 AUD. On Glebe Point Road there is a place that is open only for dinner; they have noodles and curry options and everything is $5! The name of it is simple and to the point: “Thai $5.” It is definitely not a fancy place, but sometimes the “whole in the wall” places are the best! Also, in Newtown, many Thai restaurants have $6.50 lunch specials. If you want to sit down and enjoy a nice Thai meal in a fancier restaurant, the prices can range from $10-$15. However, I would rather have the $5 Thai, when it tastes exactly the same for half or a third of the price! Many of Thai places offer eat-in or take away. Overall, I definitely recommend experiencing the Thai noodles and curries that Sydney has to offer. You may discover a new favorite dish!

“Sweet Dreams are Made of Teas” – @ T2

When you are in Sydney you definitely need to take a stroll through the Queen Victoria Building! (It is called QVB for short.) QVB is a huge shopping mall that has a vast variety of shops, boutiques, and restaurants. You could compare it to your favorite shopping mall combined with South Coast Plaza, because it has some of the really expensive shops as well. You can browse the store directory here.

One day as I was walking through, I came across a little shop called T2. It was very busy and it had a wonderful aroma as you walk by which caught my attention. It is a tea shop that features every possible kind of tea that you could imagine! From white, green, and black teas to herbal, organic, and honeybush flavors, you are bound to find a tea just right for you. In the shop, there are little cups spread out on the tables that are full of the herbs labeled with the type of tea they make. When you look into the cups you will find flowers, herbs, dried fruit, and leaves. Trying to smell all of the different teas is like trying to find a perfume you like. T2 also has samples! They have samples of both hot teas and cold teas; I opted to try the Strawberries and Cream iced tea. It was absolutely delightful!

T2 also has a large selection of teapots and cups that you can purchase. Some of them are very intricate and they are totally adorable! Just looking at them makes you want to start a teapot collection (at least it gave me that urge). I have noticed that since I have been in Sydney I have grown quite fond of tea. After all, the International Student Orientation hosted a morning tea!

All in all, I highly recommend a visit to the QVB. If you go, make sure to take some time to smell the teas that are available at T2!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle at a Whole New Level!

Since I have been in Australia, I have noticed that Australians live a much more conservative lifestyle, conservative in respect to energy use and waste management. For example, when you use the toilet, you do not just simply flush, instead you have two options, to half flush or fully flush (you can probably guess which is used for what).

Furthermore, when I was looking for the laundry machine, I only found a washer, no dryer. When I asked my Australian flatmate about drying clothes, he said that you hang them to dry. I asked if there were dryers and he said, “Dryers are such a waste of energy and they ruin your clothes.” He seemed so shocked that I would even ask such a question. Who needs a dryer anyway? Instead, in the backyard is a rotating hanger that looks like a canopy without the fabric for shade. However, I did find out that the Darlington House next to the terraced houses where I live has dryers. Nevertheless, there are only two in the whole building and they are not on every floor. Laundry is expensive, each washing and drying cycle costs $2.00.

When you go to restaurants in Sydney they will ask “Eat in or take away?” If you opt for take away, you won’t be given your food in a Styrofoam box, instead, they give you microwave safe plastic containers that resemble Glad-ware. You can wash them and re-use them if you have leftovers or if you make lunch and take it to school. Very environmentally friendly and convenient!

Also, public transport is common and used regularly by individuals from every walk of life: from students to the elderly, businessmen and women on their way to work, or mom’s and kids on their way home from the grocery store. Public transportation does not have a negative stigma and it is employed by everyone and is very easy to use! You can take a train or a bus to pretty much any destination!

Additionally, plastic bags are almost obsolete. Many people regularly bring their canvas shopping bags and many stores charge 5 to 20 cents per bag to reduce waste! I have also noticed that there is not a recycling place where you can take your cans and bottles to get your CRV back, at least not in Sydney. Instead, people recycle and separate their cans and bottles and put them in the designated bin, just for the sake of recycling. They do not need a motivational mechanism to recycle; instead, it is just an inherent and automatic civic duty. There are bins throughout the city that are designated for trash, bottles, and cans.

Overall, I am impressed by the environmental awareness that I have witnessed while I have been living in Sydney. Maybe the US should consider utilizing some of the environmentally friendly strategies that Australia employs!

UC to University of Sydney

I am so thrilled to receive emails from prospective EAP Australia students! I love to answer all of your questions! Feel free to email me at afoote@uci.edu if you have any questions, comments, or requests about Australia, Sydney, housing, or studying abroad in general!

Some of the most frequently asked questions I have received are about the differences between UC and the University of Sydney. I will try to address some of the most commonly asked questions.

The one main difference I have noticed is that there is not as much instruction time in lectures. For example, a majority of my classes have only one lecture for two hours per week! Then they have tutorials, which are the equivalent of discussions, for an hour or two hours per week. I have also found that every lecture class has a five to ten minute break in the middle (even if it is only two hours long!). In one of my classes, the professor said that the human mind can only focus intently on new material for twelve minutes, then your mind shuts down and you can be listening but not comprehending any of the information. So, in order to prevent mindless listening, he would bring up a discussion topic for everybody to talk about with their neighbor, literally every twelve minutes! I thought this was genius, and I was always attentive and able to comprehend the new information presented in the lecture (I also met people I never would have talked to before).

Also, many of the classes require a lot of dedication outside of class because there is not as much in-class time. Many classes require a lot of outside reading, and papers and assignments are not explained as thoroughly as you may be accustomed to. In the course of my studies, I have found that the University of Sydney often lets you take your own perspective in your essays and they do not necessarily ask for one concrete answer. For example, in my Religious Studies “History of God” class, I was assigned to define the word “God” in 500 words or less using at least four different sources. At first this seemed like a nearly impossible task, as the word “God” is probably one of the topics that has the most extensive amount of literature, research, and debate attributed to it. I have been challenged to ponder the essay questions and come up with my own style and point of view with the only constraint being a word limit. I think this is exhilarating and it allows for me to expand my intellectual horizons and think about concepts in a different way than I am used to.

Also, another question I have been asked is if it is easy to meet Australians. I think it is really easy to meet people, however, I find it easier to meet other international students because you go through orientations with them when you arrive and there are a lot of international student events and clubs. However, you can meet Australians in your classes and on campus! Everybody is welcoming and easy to talk to and willing to help! Once you meet people, you will get invited to more events and outings. Everybody is really friendly! I have met Australians through other people and even though a majority of the Australians live off campus, there are still quite a few Aussies that live in the university housing. For example, I have a friend from Denmark that lives next door and she lives with two Australian girls. They usually have their Aussie friends over and I have met them when I am next door at her place. I have run into them on campus and at the grocery store, etc. and they remember me and always say hello! I have also met Aussies in my tutorials on campus. Everybody is really friendly, you just have to put yourself out there and meet people. It sounds intimidating, but it is really easy!

I hope this post has been helpful in easing your fears about transitioning to a University in a whole new country. However, if you have any other questions, I am more than willing to help! Studying abroad is an exciting adventure and it will definitely be a life-changing experience!

Explore!
Meet new friends!
Try something you never imagined yourself trying!
And most of all...
Take advantage of your time abroad and make every second count!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

When I was packing for my study abroad experience in Australia, I did not know I would need to pack my rain boots! April was filled with some of the craziest rainstorms I have ever experienced! I bought an umbrella and the wind was blowing so hard that it blew it completely inside out.

However, as May has arrived (the time has gone by so quickly!) the weather has become sunnier and more enjoyable again. It is useful to note that Australia refers to temperatures using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. When people say, “It is about 15 degrees outside” it means that it is actually 59 degrees Fahrenheit. I was having a hard time figuring out the Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion, so I found a website to help me convert the degrees so I have a better idea of the temperature. I have included it here for your conversion needs! Now you can watch the Sydney weather on the news and know what they are talking about! :) I hope you find it as helpful as I do.

Where in the World is EAP?

About a month ago, I got an email about an idea to make a video with all of the EAP students around the world. The video would entail EAP students dancing in their study abroad country in front of a monument or landmark. This idea was inspired by the “Where the Hell is Matt?” video on YouTube.
After I watched the YouTube video I was immediately thrilled and motivated to participate! What a wonderful way to promote studying abroad in a fun way! I volunteered to spearhead the video production in Sydney. I decided to do the video at Circular Quay in front of the Opera House. After an interesting (and a tad bit embarrassing) filming experience…people walking by stopped to watch and take pictures…I sent my portion of the video to the project and it is currently being edited together with all of the other EAP students around the world. I am really looking forward to the result!

I personally think the “Where the Hell is Matt?” video is brilliant, and it motivates me to continue traveling the world after my study abroad experience in Australia. I may even try to make my own version of the video...who knows? I have the travel bug now, I don’t want to stop!

Keep a look out for an EAP promotional dancing video coming to a UC campus near you! (I am wearing a UCEAP shirt in front of the Opera House!) I am so excited to see the finished result and look forward to the response from students at their home University campuses. I hope it will inspire other students to study abroad and embark on their own adventure in a whole new country and culture. After all, the world is your oyster!