This weekend Deakin University sponsored a fun trip for us study abroad students. First we got to go take a surfing lesson. Though the weather was gorgeous, the water was unfortunately flat. We did however get to paddle around on our surfboards and play some games, which was fun. And I now know how to surf, at least in theory.

We couldn’t take cameras onto the beach with us (because there was no one to watch then while we were in the water) but here’s a picture of me afterward:

After lunch, we headed to another beach, where we hung out for a few hours. It was gorgeous. Though the day cooled down a bit, I went in the water, and walked up a path that had a nice birds eye view of the beach:

I also discovered this:

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the day got cool and cloudy, and that I put on sunscreen a few times, I managed to get burned basically everywhere, including some lovely 2^nd degree sunburns on my chest and back (and possibly arms?). It’s pretty painful, but I’m trying to suck it up and enjoy my time anyway. I’m guessing I’ll need about a week to heal, but since this coming week is filled with class, academic excursions to museums, and paper writing, staying inside and resting up should be no problem.

As if to boost my mood after I realized how bad my sunburn was, my group and I stumbled across this beautiful rainbow at sunset on Saturday night:

Today we spent most of the day in the bus traveling along the Great Ocean Road. It’s pretty much what it sounds like: a road that runs along the ocean. It was built by WWI vets from 1919 until it was finished about 30 years later. There are many beautiful scenic stops along the road, where we got out to take pictures:

We also got to see some Kangaroos at a distance on a golf course before we hit the Great Ocean Road.

(Yes those small things are Kangaroos).

Even cooler than the Kangaroos however, was the Koala we got to see up close and personal at the Kennett River Koala Walk! (on the Great Ocean Road). It was on one of the lowest branches of the tree, and seemed to put on a show for the group so we could get lots of great pictures. Here’s one:

I’m looking forward to our museum excursion in Melbourne tomorrow. I’m also looking forward to this awful sunburn being healed!

Cheers!

It has finally warmed up here in Geelong, with the temperature going above 80 degrees yesterday and nearing 90 degrees today. To celebrate the warm weather, we hit the beach yesterday. It was wonderful feeling to be lying in the sand in early January.

On the way, we took lots of pictures with some strange artwork that is scattered everywhere along the waterfront here in Geelong. They are called bollards, and they supposedly tell the history of Geelong. (Check out this website and scroll down to “Bollards Trail” for more information).

Then my housemates and I went over to another house with some other students from New York, and we enjoyed some tacos, burritos, and Australian beer (James Boag’s – “Tasmania’s Finest”).

Tonight I’m going to hit the town with the girls, but we’re not going to party too hard since tomorrow we’re leaving on our Learn to Surf/Great Ocean Road weekend! Pictures and stories to come on Monday!

Cheers ☺

The first two days in Geelong were a bit of a culture shock for me, since everything closed at 5 – on the first day because it was a Sunday, and on the second day because it was a public holiday. Coming from the city that never sleeps, this was a bit hard to swallow.

The atmosphere is also very different. This is partly because Geelong consists of only about 300,000 people (though it is the fastest growing area in Australia at the moment). Whereas New York City streets are almost always crowded and bustling, sometimes I don’t see anyone else out. The lack of significant foot traffic (despite the fact that everyone walks everywhere) is evident by the way crosswalks work. Rather than automatically giving pedestrians a walk signal, the lights only allow for pedestrians when you press a button. Being from New York, I’m used to jay walking and crossing against the light, but I’ve been warned that laws against jay walking are actually enforced here (through a AUS$150! fine) and cars are not required to yield to pedestrians (while in the city, pedestrians always have the right of way) so I better wait for the little green man to tell me it’s okay to cross.

However, the lack of the hustle and bustle is also nice. I’ve discovered that Australian’s have a reputation for being laid back for a reason – they are! No one ever seems to be in a rush, and all interactions seem to be very casual. We don’t call our teachers in class professor or doctor, we simply call them by their first name. Though I’m not saying it’s better than the busy and soemtimes cold city (which I love) it certainly is a big cultural difference.

It’s been three days since I landed in Melbourne, Australia, and I apologize that my first post is so late! I’ve had a bit of trouble getting internet up and going, but, I think I can successfully remember and recount all that’s happened…

My flight from JFK left at 6:30 PM on New Years Eve (yes, I missed partying and bringing in 2011 in style, but I also saved a lot of money by flying out a day early). After a 6 hour flight to LAX, I got ready to board my 14 hour flight to Sydney. At 12 AM LA time, while sitting on the plane waiting for takeoff, the captain announced the time and everyone clapped. That and champagne with my dinner a little later on was all the celebrating I got to do. Once I arrived in Sydney I had to collect my bags, rush through customs, recheck my bags and go through security, and then board my 1.5 hour flight to Melbourne. The other students on this flight and I were picked up in Melbourne by the Study Abroad coordinator at Deakin University, where we are studying while we are here. An hours drive, and we were in Geelong. We were dropped off at the house we will be staying at (in the picture below). All in all, it was an exhausting almost 2 day trip.

It’s pretty nice: three single rooms, for Jenny, Shanni (my housemates) and I, a kitchen, bathroom, and living room (all pictured below). It’s only about a 20 minute walk to school, and since the weather is gorgeous, that’s no big deal.

Coming from the blizzard in New York, the minute I stepped outside (first at the Sydney airport) and felt the 70 degrees F + weather I couldn’t help but smile. I have no idea how I’m going to readjust when I go back home, but it’s nice that I’m walking around in shorts and a tank top in January. Since Monday was a public holiday, and therefore, school didn’t start until Tuesday, my house mates and I explored Geelong, found some of our fellow students from New York at their various residences, and just generally did alot of walking. Even though it was relatively cool, only in the 70s, I got a bit sunburnt because the sun is so much stronger here (something to do with the angle…ask a scientist).

Yesterday was the first day of class. We got our Deakin University Ids, toured the campus, sat through orientation (long and boring, the way orientations usually are) and then got a 1 hour overview of Australian history. My housemates and I then bought wifi (still not up and running quite right, though thankfully the University has free wifi) and phones (which are up and running, thankfully, so we can call tech support about the wifi). At 6 Deakin university hosted a nice welcome dinner for us at a restaurant at the water’s edge called Edge (appropriately named) which was nice but lasted until 9! We headed home and went to bed almost straightaway (at least I did, I was exhausted).

This morning was a lesson on Multicultural Australia, introductions and then thankfully we have the afternoon off. I’ll be catching up on my readings, as will many other people I gather. (Since we only got the materials yesterday, we haven’t really had time to do much reading).

And that’s that! I’ll make some shorter posts about more interesting tidbits I’ve discovered, and then try to keep you all updated on my daily activities for the next 18 days or so. Cheers!

Hello readers! I have been remiss in my postings, although since I only have about half an hour of internet access a day, and only on the weekdays, I hope you all understand.

Last weekend Professor K-O took us to a brewery festival at Martini Brewery here in Kassel. There was live music, we got to take a tour of the brewery and see bottles being recycled, and of course, there was good food and beer!

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Sunday I spent at home doing homework and watching the first Germany World Cup game, in which they won 4-0!

Tuesday our class took a trip to Whilemsthal (not to be confused with Whilemshöhe), which constantly reminded me of a Jane Austen novel.

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Wednesday was more Aussprachetraining. This time we had to say things like:

“Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen hinterher.”

to practice our intonation when we speak

and “Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid.”

Which is a tongue twister, even for native German speakers.

Thursday Professor K-O taught me and two other students how to play Skat, a somewhat complicated 4-person German card game that is a lot of fun. We’re hoping to teach some fellow German students when we get back to Hunter so that we can continue playing.

Friday was both the second German game and the second US game, and it was a somewhat frustrating day overall, since Germany lost and the US was denied a win due to a bad call made by the referee. However, it is awesome to be in a country of Football fans for the world cup. Almost any café, restaurant or bar has some kind of screen on which they show the Football games.

Saturday we were in Marburg, home to Rudi and Tanja and Ernst etc. – for those who are fans of the Jägerbuch German textbooks. We saw the beautiful Church of St. Elizabeth.

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Saturday night I hung out at Shamrock, Kassel’s Irish Pub, with a friend and I took most of Sunday to rest and recuperate.

I can’t believe I only have five days left; the time has flown by.  On my first day, when I was worried about having to be in a strange land by myself for a month, I couldn’t have imagined how sad I would be that this is my final week here. I hope to be able to return to Germany and Kassel in the not too distant future.

More to come on my last week in Germany!

Bis später!

PS – “__” means picture to come!

So today I’m going to take a break from writing my posts in German and then translating them into English – I’ll just write in English and maybe later in my trip I’ll try translating the other way around.

I wrote in my first post that I needed to get rain boots before I left because it rained a lot in Kassel. I ended up not being able to find cheap rain boots, and it’s a good thing I didn’t buy an expensive pair, because it has hardly rained at all since I’ve been here. In fact, it’s been very warm and nice outside, and today it was actually uncomfortably hot! It’s a good thing I packed so many pairs of shorts.

Today after class we took a trip to see the waterfall at the Hercules, which I wrote a little about earlier. The statue of Hercules is on top of this huge man-made waterfall, and is the landmark of Kassel. Every Wednesday and Sunday, then turn the waterfall on, and on the first Saturday of every month, they turn the water on at night, and all the buildings surrounding the Hercules, including the palace at the bottom of the hill, are beautifully lit up. I went with a few other students to see this on Saturday night, and though seeing it in the daytime was much different, it was just as beautiful in its own way. Unfortunately, because of the heat, it was less fun climbing down the huge hill.

Yesterday, we had the language training, where we basically work on pronunciation. As I wrote, it’s really hard, yesterday we had to say:

We also had to be able to tell the difference between Maller and Miller and Muller and Müller and Muhler and Mühler and Moller and Mohler and Möhler and Möhler and Mahler and so on and so forth…

But it’s good practice.

Tomorrow after class we’re going to do some grammar practice online and then Friday is a movie. Don’t know what is in the works for the weekend just yet because we have no planned excursion, but I’m sure whatever we do will be awesome. I’ll keep you posted! (pun intended).

Ich war sehr krank gestern! Ich bin nach Hause um halb 7 angekommen, und ich habe gleich geschlafen. Aber früher bin ich wieder eine Spaziergang durch die Stadt mit Kuhn-Osius und zwei neue Studentinnen gemacht, die sehr nett war. Heute fühle ich viel besser, danklich. Wir haben eine Aussprachetraining heute nach Klassen, darauf ich mich freue. Bis morgen!

Ich habe noch nicht über meine Gastfamilie gescrieben. Meine Gastmutter ist die beste Gastmutter, nach wem Mann  fragen könnte. Sie ist freundlich und sympathisch. Ihr Mann ist beruflich sher viel unterwegs, aber er ist auch sehr nett. Sie sprechen kein English, und das ist mir sehr gut, weil dann ich nur Deutsch mit ihr sprechen kann, und ich lerne mehr.  Sie haben zwei Kinder, 16 und fast 18 Jahre alt. Sie sind nicht oft zu Hause,

Und endlich, das Essen! Deutsches Essen gefällt mir sher gut – besonders Brötchen und Schnitzel, aber alles smechkt mir sehr gut. So weit ist Meine Lieblingspeise Schnitzel nach “Jäger Art,” das ist Schnitzel mit pilzer Soße.  Ich habe das in Han: Mundchen gegessen.

Am Samstag sind wir nach Hann: Münden und Göttingen gegange. Hann: Münden ist ein typishe kleine Deutsche Stadt, mit alten Hausen und smallen Straßen, sie ist sher schön. Sie ist auch, wo die Werra und Fulda Flussen küssen. Wir hatten nur eine Stunde in Göttingen, aber wir haben St.Jacobi Kirche aufgesteigen. Als wir in Kassel angekommen haben, haben wir Abendsessen gegessen, und dann wir haben zu Illuminerte Wasserspiele im Bergpark, nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit. Es war sehr schön und romantisch.

Am Dienstag sind wir zum Musuem mit Prof. K-O gegangen. Es ist in ein Schloss – Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, die ist när die statue of herclues that is the lankmark of Kassel. Das war auch sehr interessant, und nach diese Reise sind wir wieder nach Königsplatz geganen.

Am Mittwoch haben wir Aussprachetraining, das sehr schwer war, aber auch sehr interessant. Am Donnerstag sind wir nach Fulda gegangen, weil es war ein Freitag in Deutschland und wir haben keine Klasse. Wir sind nach Fulda gegagen, weil die Freitag für Corpus Christi war, und Fulda ist eine katholisch Stadt. Die Kirche sind sehr shöne, besonders der Dom St. Salvator zu Fulda.