May 28, 2006

Hello!

It has almost been another two weeks since I have written an update and again school work is responsible; partly. As I mentioned at the end of my last update, I had two essays due this past week. I was able to take last Wednesday (18^th) off and went out to a local club to celebrate my friend Katie’s birthday. It was a good time and a nice break before I had to do work all weekend. I worked most of Friday, all day Saturday, most of Sunday and a fair share of Monday on my essay for Australian Politics. I spent so much time on it because I wrote a first draft on Saturday, but realized it was no good and had to start all over on Sunday. Eventually I produced a decent paper and hopefully my Professor will agree. The essay covered a range of topics, but basically was about the place of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament and what effect party politics has had in the Australian Parliament. Not that interesting of a subject, but turned out to not be too bad.

I just want to add in that on Sunday I attended a rugby game with Butler, the program I came here with. They got all of us tickets to the Roosters v. Rabbitohs (horrible mascots) game. It was a nice day and it was nice going to see a game. I still don’t think I fully appreciate rugby, but it was nice to go to a game with a lot of my friends and cheer for a team we knew nothing about (the Roosters of course). The game was also a nice break from writing my Australian Politics paper.

Once I was finished with my Australian Politics essay on Monday I started immediately working on my presentation for my Australia and the World seminar class. This class is a two-hour seminar class and every week one student goes beyond the basic readings, prepares a few pages of notes and answers to some questions from the Professor, and is supposed to brief the class on the issue for that week. I spent a lot of time reading and preparing. My notes came out to be six pages, way more than was necessary, and I definitely over prepared. The Professor, who normally talks a lot (not a bad thing, he is very smart and funny), ended up talking for most of the class and I read for about thirty-minutes overall. I only got up to page four out of six though and felt as though this was a bad thing, especially because most of what he said was on issues I did not concentrate on (as the questions I had did not focus on them). However, I spoke with him and a few other students after class and they all said it was good. So I guess the ‘presentation’ went well.

The seminar presentation ended at five o’clock on Wednesday and I decided then that I would take off the rest of my weekend (until Sunday). So on Wednesday night I went out to some bars with a bunch of kids from my program, and some Australians, and had a good time. Thursday I had my two tutorials and then I rested. Eventually, I went to see The Davinci Code at the local movie theatre. I will not say what I thought of it, in case anyone hasn’t seen it.

Then on Thursday I slept in and when I got up I started my weekend of activities. I spent Thursday afternoon at the Sydney Aquarium and the National Maritime Museum. The Aquarium was as great as everyone says it is. I spent about three hours in it and it was great. It is very large and contains a lot of great animals that are easy to see and observe. After leaving the Aquarium, I made a quick stop at the National Maritime Museum. It was not that exciting, though I only was able to spend forty-five minutes in it. I spent most of the time in the United States of American Gallery, which was donated to Australia on its bicentennial (of discovery, 1988). After leaving the Museum, I walked back to St. John’s and had dinner. After dinner I attended Arts Of Gold at St. John’s, which is sort of a talent show. It has only been happening for three years, but this year they decided to charge for entry and use the money raised to help the students who are going to South Africa this year to work at an AIDs orphanage. It was a good cause and I knew the people in it so it was a good time. There were a lot of performers that I did not know had the talent. I will not go through each performance, as I do not have pictures or recordings, but you will have to trust me that it was very good. After Arts of Gold was over, I walked to the apartment building where most of my program friends live, Unilodge. My friends were having a ‘Wine and Cheese’ party, though the cheese was gone by the time I got there. Nonetheless, it was another good time, as a lot of people showed up and it was nice to see them all.

I woke up late again on Saturday, but eventually got my act together and had lunch. After lunch I called my friend Taylor, from my program, and we made our way to the Tarango Zoo (Sydney Zoo). It took about an hour to get there, via bus and my first ferry ride, but it was well worth it. The tour books all joke that the giraffes, and the rest of the animals, have the best views of Sydney Harbor and they are not joking. Besides having a vast array of animals and habitats, the view from the almost anywhere in the Zoo was terrific. We had taken a gondola from the water to the top of the Zoo and made our way through the entire Zoo (except for the seal show) in the three hours we had before it closed. I will not list all the animals and things we saw, as the pictures will cover most of them, but it was the best zoo I had ever been to (especially since I don’t really have any memories of going to any zoos). At five o’clock we finally got kicked out of the Zoo, just as the Koala bears were waking up, and headed back to the ferry via the gondola. The views of Sydney, as the sun was setting, from the ferry were amazing (I wish I could share my panoramic of Sydney, but it can’t be posted). I got back to St. John’s in time for dinner and then relaxed the rest of the night, as I was tired from all the walking over the past two days.

On Sunday I got even a later start than on Friday and Saturday, but again managed to get myself together around lunch time. I decided that since I had not been to Bondi Beach (or any other beach in Sydney) I would go there on Sunday (for the market I never found). It was a beautiful, sunny day too. Though not extremely warm, the sun was out for most of the day and it wasn’t too windy. I had to take a bus, then a train, and then another bus (about an hour) in order to get there, but it was worth it. Bondi is a beautiful beach, with a lot of activity and life. Besides the beach, the rocks and the views there are a large array of stores, shops, parks and other venues. Bondi also is home to a significant Jewish community and therefore has Kosher eateries. I was hoping to get a pastrami on rye, since I haven’t had one in four months, but the sandwich shop was closed by the time I got there. I guess I will have to go back another day. As for the views and the scenery, the pictures below can describe it better than any words I could try to put together.

I came back from Bondi in time for dinner, which was followed by a meeting regarding the semi-formal that St. John’s is having on Wednesday. And that brings you up to speed with my life here. I have finalized my trip to Perth and Ayers Rock, June 8^th to June 13^th, and will be able to visit my neighbor and friend Haley Schaefer in Perth. Other than they trip it appears like I will not be doing any more traveling until my trip to Asia on June 27^th. I still have one more 4,000 word essay due, for my Australia and the World class (though with the extension we just got it is not due until June 9^th). Then I have my three finals and will be done with the semester on June 21^st. I have just found out that Haley, the friend I will be visiting in Perth, will be in Sydney from the 21^st to the 27^th and that will be nice to see her again.

That is it for this update. As always I hope that this finds all of you well and in good health. I apologize again for any delay in my responding to e-mails, as I have been either busy with school work or running around Sydney. But I still do love to get e-mails or anything else, and find out how you all and your families are doing.

Love,

Jon

You will find pictures from the past two weeks below, and then some assorted pictures from other trips/activities that I have just gotten.

Some Jets (female Johnsmen) at the Old Boys Rugby Game

Some Johnsmen and Jets at the Old Boys Rugby Game.

Anne (the head Housekeeper who has been very nice to me ) and Sam celebrating after the rugby game.

Stephen, Michael and Sarah (Aussies) and Emmy (US)

Katie and Vlad on her birthday

Ilana, Brian, Jamie, Arcadia, Josie and Melissa outside the club.

Ilana, Brian, Jamie, Arcadia, Josie, Melissa and Katie outside the club.

The Roosters v. Rabbitohs game.

The game.

Josie, Alex and Brian cheering on the Roosters.

I found Nemo (from the movie)

A Shark.

Some Fairy Penguins (these are the same ones I saw in Melbourne. I took like 200 pictures, so I am holding back by only posting one of them)

The sign on top of the crocodile's pen.

The crocodile.

The view from the gondola at the zoo.

The map of the zoo, to show you how big it is.

A bad picture of me infront of a fish tank, and Dori from Finding Nemo.

Taylor outside the zoo.

A dingo!

More dingos! These are northern dingos. Don't they look like huskies?

A rock wallaby, no I'm not making a joke that is his name.

Some tourists touching a wombat. What makes someone do that?

The sign that was on the other side of the wombat pen.

A Koala!!

A rare snow leopard.

I think its a prairie dog, but it doesn't matter. Its cute.

Notice the giraffe. Then look at the view that they have.

A Kodiac Bear.

A tiger.

A rhino.

A Koala! That is awake.

The view from the zoo.

View from the ferry on the way back.

Bondi Beach.

Bondi Beach.

Me out on the rocks.

Me on a cliff. (the guy who took this was lopsided)

Bondi Beach again.

Me on the rocks (lopsided guy again)

The beach from the rocks.

Random Pictures:

Me rockclimbing from the beginning of the semester.

Me on the rocks.

Me and a bunch of kids from the program on Fraser Island earlier during orientation.