Vox Pops

Yesterday we started our second week of classes. It was radio day for my half of the group. In the morning, we had to get “vox pops” which stands for vox populi or “voice of the people.” In the U.S., we call it “man on the street,” and basically you interview ordinary people about an issue. My group asked students and adults “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘American.’” I came to the basic conculsion: they like us as a people, but they HATE our government. Most of them mentioned Dubbya in some fashion, and they all disagreed with the war. That was pretty interesting. Then in the afternoon, we made our own 10 minute radio show, which was quite hysterical.

Today was film/documentary day. We learned about film theory in the morning, which reminded me why I’m a TV major and not a film major. We started off talking about documentaries, and how they’re biased. Which is fine. But eventually our discussion turned into “what is reality,” “does reality exist,” “is what we call orange really orange, or have we just agreed what is orange but we all see orange differently?” Yuck. I hate philosophy. TV kids don’t think that much.

Tomorrow our whole group leaves for a field trip to the Southwest. What relation this has to our studies, I’m not really sure, but it should be pretty fun. We leave tomorrow, camp overnight, and come home on Thursday. I’ll be sure to update. :-)

E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES! (sort of)

On Saturday a few of us went into Freo (Fremantle) again. We ate at Cicerello’s, which boasts being the best fish and chips in Western Australia. So I ordered a hamburger…. Just kidding, I got fish and chips. They were quite good. Then we saw St. Matthew the sword swallower (mentioned before) doing a performance on the street. Before he attempted a sword, he swallowed a long balloon (picture what clowns use to make balloon animals) about a yard long. And I mean swallowed, he did not bring it back up. He did a few other things and displayed his rather crude sense of humor. Then, for his final act, I was (involuntarily) picked to be his assistant. Basically he climbed this tall pole that had a platform on the top of it. He stood on that platform, and I had to hand his sword up to him. Clearly I was not the best person for the job, because I almost couldn’t reach. Then I had to throw up a rag to him. I got to display my fine hand-eye coordination, as it took me 3 tries to throw it up to him. The whole time he’s making comments about how he’s enjoying the view (i.e. looking down my shirt, which was not low cut, so this was not possible) and about how I should stand in front of the pole so he would “have something soft and cuddly to land on.” It was pretty ridiculous.

At night a few of us walked to King’s Park, a huge park a few blocks away from our apartment. At night, they light up the trees different colors, and it was so cool. It also offered a great view of Perth at night. As an added bonus, fireworks started going off over the Swan River (for Chinese New Year, I found out later). It was a very lovely night.




Today, I got to see an Eagles game! Sadly, it was the West Coast Eagles instead of the Philly Eagles and the AFL (Australian Football League) instead of the NFL. But, it was pretty awesome. So what is Aussie Rules Football, you may ask? I’ll try to describe it as best I can.

Aussie Rules Football (according to Ashley):
*Logistics: There’s 18 players on a side and the field is about as long as a soccer field, but much wider, and in an ovular shape. The ball is an oblong football.
*How to move the ball: Run, but you have to bounce it on the ground every 5 (I think) yards or so (like dribbling a basketball). Pass, but you can’t just throw it, you have to punch it out of one hand (like serving a volleyball). Kick it. Punt it.
*How to score: There are 4 tall poles at both ends (if the picture is too small, imagine Quidditch goals without the hoop). A score between the outer poles is worth 1 point. Hitting the poles is worth 1 point. A score between the inner poles is worth 6 points and is called a goal. If you score a goal from beyond the 50 (meter? yard?) line, it’s a “super goal” and you get 9 points.

Overall, it’s a fun and fast paced game to watch. Strategically it was most like soccer, but a lot faster and a lot more goals scored. Most of the passes were so quick, it reminded me of an NFL play when the time runs out and the players just lateral it to anyone and everyone around them. Except that was almost all the plays. The final score was 90 something to 50 something (Fremantle totally upset the Eagles). And as a bonus, we got to see this spectacular sunset over the side of the stadium.

I still prefer American football.

First week of school: Check.

Contrary to popular belief, no, I have not been eaten by a shark. My lack of blogs this week stems from the fact that school finally started!

My class that I’m in right now is called “Spinning Yarns: Media and Message in Australia.”

Monday was just the general introduction, and we talked about differences between U.S. and Aussie media. About 80-90% (by my estimation) of T.V. shows shown here are American made. A typical primetime lineup includes things like Greys, Lost, Ugly Betty, 24, etc. However, they are about half a season behind on all those shows. So, I will not be able to have my Grey’s fix until I get home (my internet isn’t fast enough to watch it here). Apparently the reason why there is not a lot of Aussie programming is because the country is relatively small and so the networks would not make back the cost it would take to produce sitcoms and dramas.

On Tuesday, I had a print journalism workshop, which wasn’t really anything new for me. Nikki and I got to interview a professor on Australia’s water shortage and then write and article about it. Water is a huge problem here, since it’s really arid and people aren’t changing their consumption habits. There are a few options (besides using less water), including building a second desalination plant, where they take ocean water and make it suitable for drinking. Crazy stuff.

On Wednesday, we learned about Public Relations, press releases, etc. Again, stuff I already did in Media Writing. Our guest lecturer talked about a PR campaign she did for a street performer’s festival, featuring St. Matthew, a sword swallower. More to come on that in my next entry.

On Thursday we learned about Aboriginal storytelling, which was pretty cool. Our guest lecturer was of Aboriginal and Russian descent, and so his complexion was about as dark as mine. Definitely not what typically comes to mind when you picture an Aboriginal person. We made message sticks, wooden cylinders about 6” long and ¾” in diameter. We painted Aboriginal symbols on it to make a message. We all enjoyed our arts and crafts, it was a good time to be sure.

On Friday we learned about photojournalism and about our main assignment for the class, which is to make a photo narrative. (Basically we have to tell a story through a series of pictures). I think I might do mine on lifeguards. We only had class in the morning, so in the afternoon a bunch of us went to Scarborough Beach, another gorgeous beach (see above).

Also this week, Mary, Brittany, and I worked on our Spring Break and Easter vacation trips. For Spring Break, we’re going to New Zealand (yay!) on a tour through STA Travel. For Easter, we’re going to the Great Barrier Reef, but we’re still working out these plans.

Since this is turning into a novel, I’ll save the weekend’s activities for my next entry.

"Oh sick and wet ocean, we worship you!"

That was the tribute our group offered the ocean today, led by our kayak guides and with adjectives supplied by our group. Half of the Walkabout went sea kayaking to Seal and Penguin Islands, where we saw (you guessed it) seals and penguins!

My fearless kayak partner Aaron and I braved the six-inch waves in the turquoise, 3 feet deep ocean waters that we traveled through during our journey. The first stop was Seal Island, where we were able to see some wild seals really up close. We paddled around that island and then headed to Shag Rock, another small island which was apparently named after a type of bird, a “shag.” (Get your minds out of the gutter! ;-) )We paddled to Penguin Island, where we landed our kayaks and ate a fabulous lunch provided by our tour guides. Then, we saw ten Little Penguins (aka “Fairy Penguins” or “Blue Penguins”) that the nature conserve had rescued. They were so adorable, their full adult height is about a foot tall! Sadly, we did not see any wild penguins since they were not waiting for us on the beach like the seals were. But, we did go snorkeling after lunch, which was pretty sweet.

All in all, it was an amazing day! :-D

PICA-boo

We spent this morning planning a few awesome day trips. We’re going on one tomorrow, I’ll be sure to write all about it. (ooooh, the suspense, it’s killing you, I know…)

Then we headed to the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art because it was downpouring (apparently we brought the rain from Ithaca, they hadn’t seen rain in several months here). One exhibit was basically a 2-D pool drawn on canvas that, from above, was supposed to look 3-D. I guess it kind of does (see above). Another exhibit were these awesome flower things. They were Chinese-fortune-teller-like origami flowers that opened and closed and moved up and down. They reacted to the motion of the people around them, and moved in waves and patterns. Pretty Cool. There was also an experimental film exhibition by the Neistat Brothers that played shorts on a screen. They were pretty random, everything from showing a mouse getting trapped in a mouse trap (gross) to a re-enactment of the Jurassic Park trailer using green army men and other various props (awesome). It was pretty cool and interesting.

Then we walked around the Hay Street Mall (like the Commons, closed off to car traffic) which was cool, but everything closed at 5 pm. On a Saturday. Weird, huh?

So on a random note, I’ve decided that I’ll start writing about things that are different here than at home. First observation: Australia’s traffic signs are nicer (“Give Way” instead of “Yield”).

Bungee and Beach

Today was Festival Day at Murdoch, where basically every club on campus set up a table and tried to recruit new members. This semester is actually the beginning of their school year, since they are just coming off of summer. I didn’t join any clubs (there were no dance or TV related things), but I did get a bunch of flyers for cool travel packages. The highlight though was clearly the free bungy flip thing (see above) which was quite sweet.

Then a few of us headed to Cottesloe, where the waves were MUCH higher than Sunday. I’d estimate that a few of them were six feet. It was pretty crazy, and a few of them definitely knocked the wind out of me. I also took some pictures (above), but they really don’t do it justice.

Then, we went to see “Orpheus and the Underworld,” a free opera in the park put on by the Western Australia Opera and the West Australia Symphony Orchestra as part of the Perth International Arts Festival. It was pretty awesome. There were thousands of people there, so we weren’t very close to the stage, but there were giant screens close to us so we could see what was going on. Basically the opera was a modern adaptation of the Roman mythology story involving Pluto kidnapping a mortal and fighting over her with Jupiter. It was modern because the lyrics were changed to reflect pop culture, and also because they broke into the can-can at the end (= fantastic). The music was very good, so it was a good time. Yay for free, cool arts things!

Valentine's Day

I can’t believe that Ithaca got its first snow day since 1984 and I was not there to see it.

There, my lamentations about how I’m missing cold weather are done. It’s been in the 80s and 90s since I’ve been here. It’s pretty sweet (though my snowboard is probably crying itself to sleep at night since it’s going unused).

So let’s see. I spent my Valentine’s day in Fremantle, or “Freo” as the locals call it. It’s I guess what you’d call a suburb of Perth (though to me Perth itself is mostly suburbs surrounding a small city center). It’s a pretty cool town, with apparently great nightlife and shopping which I didn’t get to see a whole lot of during my day. We definitely have to go back. On the way there, this college student heard our unmistakable American accents and started asking us all about the States. (this occurrence has happened 8 or 9 times since I’ve been here). She was curious to hear about Boston College, where she wants to study abroad. She was really nice and helped us find our way. On a side note, she also looked like the Prime Minister’s assistant in Love Actually.

We went to this Australian Maritime museum and learned about shipwrecks and ocean exploration. Apparently, when all of the explorers were trying to chart the world (Vasco de Gama, Colombus, etc.), they thought that New Zealand and Australia were one big attached continent, and had no idea of the shape of most of the country/continent. They also thought that the inhabitants of the South Land must be upside down like their country, so they thought they had feet on top of their heads. Crazy.

Then, we ate lunch at this brewery called Little Creatures which had great food. We shared a few kangaroo kebobs, which were awesome. They supposedly tasted like venison, but I wouldn’t know since I haven’t had venison. (I realize that this is hypocritical, after I spent my last entry gushing about how cool kangaroos are. In my defense, in Australia, kangaroos are analogous to our deer, and are actually used in cat food. So, I thought I had to try some local cuisine despite its cuddly origins.)

After dinner, our whole group went to a bar in Cottesloe that was on the beach. Supposedly it’s really hopping on Sunday nights, but we were the only ones there and so there was nobody dancing. Except for Andrew, who was dancing enough for all of us. We shared each other’s company, so it was a pretty good night. I finished my day with a Valentine’s date with Dan, via Skype. What a great ending to my day <3

Today we met two of our teachers for our class here, which is a media class. It should be right up my alley, we’re doing TV, photo, and print stuff. Class starts on Monday!

The Zoo!!!

Well today began on a sour note, as I rolled my ankle while stepping off a curb, but the rest of the day more than made up for my minor injury. How, you might ask? I think the picture to the right is worth a thousand words.

11 other Walkabout-ers and I took a ferry across the Swan River to the other side of Perth, where we visited the Perth Zoo. It was tons of fun! We saw lots of monkeys, orangutans, birds, snakes, elephants, zebras, giraffes, penguins (see above) and koalas (see above). However, the highlight of the trip (and possibly my year so far) were the kangaroos.

The roos were in an area of the zoo where they were not fenced in. So, they could come up to you, punch you, eat you, whatever. Despite temptation, we heeded the signs that said to stay on the path. Well at least until we went to another section of the Aussie animal part and there happened to be a random kangaroo that wasn’t supposed to be there. So, we took advantage of this development and posed with all of the kangaroos. Eric even took a picture with his face right next to a roo, and it totally didn’t care at all. It was freaking awesome! My Aussie experience is complete… I think I can go home now ;-)

Orientation

Today we had our orientation at Murdoch University (or “uni” as they say for short). The campus is really nice, but much more compact than I would have thought. Murdoch has about 14,000 students (the same as Cornell), but the buildings are close together and there’s not nearly as many. Also, most Aussie students live at home while at college because something like 75% of the country’s population is in the city. So for them, it’s really close to home.

In the bookstore, I happened to see the same TV textbook that I used in 101. Brittany and I were horrified that the Zettl book really is the bible of television as Gossa said it was.

Joe and I ate lunch with these two exchange students we met; one was from Sweden and one was from Germany. They were really cool, and it’s awesome that I’ll get to meet such cool international students on this trip. It’s nice to expand my horizons from Lansdale and Ithaca.

Everyone from Ithaca that went to the beach yesterday got sunburned. Badly. So much so that during the orientation session for all the study abroad students, the Murdoch guy told everyone that they need to be careful with sunscreen or else they’ll look like us. I forgot to put sunscreen on my arms and shoulders, and I am paying for it dearly today. But now I’ve learned that when you live underneath the ozone hole, haphazardly putting on sunscreen is not going to cut it.

Greetings from the Land Down Under

I’m finally here!

The journey started from my house very early Thursday morning. Before the Philly to L.A. flight, the flight attendant said, “enjoy this long flight.” I was like “long, this is my warm-up act!” Brittany and I got into L.A. at noon, 10.5 hours before our flight. We booked it so early because we thought that Philadelphia in February would mean lots of delays. However, we had no delays, and so we found ourselves with lots of time to kill. We wanted to take a taxi and do something fun, but the Qantas check-in counter was closed when we got there so we couldn’t check our baggage. Since both of us had baggage that totaled close to 100 pounds, we found a table at the international terminal and just sat for about 3 hours. Finally we met up with everyone from IC a couple of hours before our flight left.

The 14 hour flight to Sydney was really not that bad. We flew on Qantas airline, which was awesome. Everyone had their own screen in front of their seats and you could pick from TV shows, movies, concerts, etc. that you could watch. The food was actually very good too. I managed to keep myself up until about 6 am east coast time (making it over 24 hours of being awake) by watching Mythbusters and playing solitaire and then I slept pretty well for 8 hours. I mean, as well as possible sitting up on an airplane. Once I woke up, there was only 3 hours left of the flight, and I entertained myself by watching a documentary on Ugg boots (pretty interesting actually).

Then we got into Sydney and had 2 hours to clear customs and get to our flight to Perth. Easier said then done. The customs guy saw that I was having trouble with my two very large suitcases, so he let me get out of line and get a cart. That separated me from the rest of the group, and when I finally got out, there was no one to be found. I looked around for a little while, and saw no one. By the time I got into the line to have my luggage re-checked, there was 15 minutes before my flight was going to leave. I got through the line and met up with Brittany only to find that we had to take a bus to our terminal. Sweating bullets, we get to the terminal and sprinted down the looooong hallway. Luckily, our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes, so we made it just as it started to board. However, since I cut it so close, my luggage didn’t make it to Perth with everyone else’s. But, I got it by the end of the night, so it was no big deal. This whole thing had me majorly stressing, but it turned out fine, so “no worries, mate.”

When we got to Perth (about 2 am Saturday east coast time), I explored the city a bit with Brittany. The CBD (Central Business District, i.e. downtown) is not that big, so we walked around most of it in an hour or so. It is quite clean and quite nice, though there’s not too many skyscrapers (see above pic). After that I ate dinner, got my luggage, unpacked, showered (finally), and went to bed. I made it until like 11:30, so I’m not feeling jet lagged at all today (yay!).

Today we went to Cottesloe Beach, about a 15 minute walk and then a 20 minute bus ride from our apartment. Holy cow, it was gorgeous. Turquoise water and everything. (There were shark nets, Mom, so don’t worry). I put a google picture of it above, I will have to take some pictures of my own and post them.

So far, I’m having a blast. The weather’s awesome, the IC kids are super cool, and there are palm trees outside my window. As my favorite Aussie, Crush from Finding Nemo says, “sweeeeeet.”

And we're off!

Well, I successfully packed. I was able to pack two suitcases that are both under 50 pounds! For those of you who have ever seen my dorm room, you understand what an accomplishment this really is. I'm a little worried that one of them is oversized (I don't understand why this matters if it's under 50 lbs, but hopefully they won't notice).

And as for my emotions, I'm kind of mixed right now. I always am when I go back for a semester, so nothing new. I'm excited (obviously) but also sad due to what I'll leave behind. But if my experience before is any indication as to how this semester might go, I know that after a week or so I'll be pumped to be back in the swing of things.

I leave tomorrow, as I've detailed below, and I should get there around 6 pm on Friday East Coast time.

And thus begins my Australian adventure!

Wow. Australia. How long is that flight?

That comment is generally the first thing people ask me when they hear about my trip. So, I thought I'd explore this issue in depth since so many people seem to be curious. Here's how I will get to the land down under. (Please enjoy my illustration)

1.) My parents will drive me and Brittany (fellow TV-R Walkabout-er) to the Philadelphia Airport. (45 minutes- 1 hour)

2.) Pink flight (Philly to L.A.): Leave 8:40 a.m. on Thursday, arrive L.A. at 12 noon. (6 hours)

3.) Ridiculous layover (10.5 hours)

4.) Orange flight L.A. to Sydney): Leave 10:30 p.m. Thursday, arrive Sydney 8 a.m. Saturday (we lose a day to the International Date Line).

5.) Short layover (2 hours, 15 minutes)

6.) Red flight (Sydney to Perth): Leave 10:15 a.m. Saturday, arrive Perth 1:15 p.m. (4 hours)

7.) Bus to our apartments in Perth. The end!

For those of you keeping score, that's 25 hours in the air and in the ballpark of 40 hours from the minute I leave to the minute I will finally be there.

In other depressing news, I said good bye to Dan today. I'm not gonna lie, it was really hard. But, I know we'll both be okay, as we're no strangers to being apart for long amounts of time. As the Aussies say, "No worries." <3

It's all about the.... Queen Elizabeths?

Please forgive my hip-hop reference. I got Australian currency today through the AAA, and I scanned it so that you can all see how pretty it is. As you can see, Queen Elizabeth is on the $5 bill (due to the whole British empire relationship). Besides being pretty, the bills are different than ours because 1.) they feel like wax paper 2.) they are different sized depending on the denomination 3.) they have cool little transparent windows in one corner 4.) the lowest denomination is $5 (there are $1 and $2 coins).

So there's your lesson on Aussie dollars (AU$). I'm not sure what the exact exchange rate is, but I gave the AAA $100 US dollars, and they gave me $120 Aussie dollars. Sweet.

Today marks the official holy-crap-I-have-one-week-before-I-leave day. I still think it hasn't sunk in yet. Living in a different country for 5 months is still very much an abstract concept for me. Crazy.

In happy news, I interviewed today for an internship and I actually got it! It's at Center City Film and Video, located in Center City (go figure) Philadelphia. So for the 5 weeks or so that I'll be home this summer, I'll be able to go there and be a TV nerd 5 days a week. Awesome. :-D