My adventures to New Zealand began with a mistake. No, don't worry. I just misread my flight departure time ast 5:05 PM instead of 5:50. The consequence was spending an extra hour in the airport. Not so terriblle. Other than that one glitch, though, things have been going really well so far. Highlights included fitting everything into my backpack, catching a train and then a shuttle to the airport, and not getting any of my food taken away from me at customs when I landed.
Last night I arrived at the Christchurch airport quite late and went in a shuttle to Charlie B's Backpackers -- looked like an awesome place to stay, from what I saw of it. I got in at midnight, crashed, and woke up at 6 the next morning to catch another shuttle to the TranzAlpine train that goes through the Southern Alps (mountain range through the center of the South Island) to Greymouth, one of the many small towns that dot the west coast. I was exhausted, and for a short while I was fighting the urge to fall asleep on the train, since it's a scenic train ride with big windows and an outdoor viewing car. My body won, though, and I let myself get some rest so that I could at least enjoy the second half of the train ride. Everything I saw was gorgeous, although I think I missed seeing the location used for Edoras in the Lord of the Rings. I'll post pictures on a facebook album when I get back. There were mountains, lush green fields, tiny train stations, and lots and lots of sheep. Some cows and an occasional horse too, but a lot of sheep. This it the country with 4 million people and 40 million sheep.
After walking around Greymouth for a short time and visiting a one-room exhibit about jade and its value in the Maori (NZ's indigenous nation) culture, I headed back to the station to catch a bus down the coast for four hours until I came to Franz Josef.
Franz has two streets - the main road and the shorter one parallel to it. It's used mostly as a base for people who want to explore the Franz Josef glacier, a 10 minute drive away. Tomorrow I'm going out for a full day glacier hike which should be pretty incredible. Right now I'm sitting inside an old bus from the 70's painted bright red and set up with a rows of computers around the wall. What a great system! My plan is to keep everyone aware of where I am by getting on the internet every couple days - hopefully updating via the blog most of the time.
Have a great week everyone! More to come soon! Don't forget to write!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Melbourne Recap: Month 1
So you haven't heard from me in a month, which is not so great on my part because now I have so many things to catch you up on and I'm sure you don't want to read it all at once. At least I'll take a stab at starting the process tonight.
After the Melbourne Welcome program I moved into my apartment with my roommate Maya who's from Montreal and Israel. Our apartment is super centrally-located in the middle of a great area of the city and right along the tram like that runs to school. The state library across the street has an awesome lawn that is always crowded with people hanging out or reading. I met the five other religious (American) girls who just happen to live down the hall. It's been really nice to have other people on the hall to hang out with, and we've all bonded and spend a lot of time together. I'll post pictures of my room as soon as I take them, which is generally true of whatever else you would want to see pictures of. I'll get around to taking pictures, but probably at the same rate I've gotten around to posting to my blog.
We had a week of relatively lame orientation activities. Lame, because they were geared for first-years so it was all about adjusting to life at "uni" and study skills and things I wasn't interested in. I got a chance to check out the lively swing dancing scene in Melbourne. I've joined the dance club at uni and I've gone out dancing in the city a couple times as well. Really nice people, and some awesome dancers too. I also got to meet some of the Jewish students who are part of AUJS - the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, which is roughly the equivalent of Hillel in the states. It doesn't really have a strong religious component, though, since most students live at home and wouldn't be around on campus for Shabbat or holidays.
It'll take an entire separate post for me to tell you about how wonderful my experience has been with the Jewish community here, with the student organizations but more significantly with the Conservative community: Kehilat Nitzan. They're just great and I love being with them.
Classes started two and a half weeks ago, and the beginning was incredibly busy for me but really fun too. Instead of just picking my 4 classes in advance and sticking to them, I decided I would be better off if I checked out a bunch of different options and saw which ones I enjoyed the most. That meant that for the first week I attended eight classes and spent my time zigzagging all across the campus. I certainly learned my way around quickly. But it was all worth it, because I ended up with a schedule of classes I really enjoy, with none on Fridays and only one final exam (the rest are papers). Those are:
Algorithms and Data Structures - the only required course for me, replacing one offered back at Penn that I'm missing right now. Many of the concepts, at least so far, are review, but they're programming in C which I haven't really used much, so I've got plenty to learn.
Language and Media - fun times with media analysis and a quirky American professor who combines ridiculous linguistics terminology with media stuff I actually understand.
Media, Politics, and Society - more media analysis with a social/political twist. It's filled with first-year students who talk a lot and dress like each day's a fashion show. It's certainly amusing people-watching, and the class is teaching me a lot about Australian media in particular.
God and the Natural Sciences - more accurately the history of the relationship between science and Christianity since the medieval times, but despite the limited scope it's still really interesting. The main professor is an Anglican priest AND has a PhD in Physics. It's the closest to a philosophy course that I'll probably ever take.
Because of Easter, our semester break starts this weekend. I'm spending Purim and Shabbat with Kehilat Nitzan and then on Sunday I'm flying to New Zealand for a week and a half filled with adventures all over the south island. That trip is part of the reason I am actually getting around to writing to you now, since I know when I get back I'll want to tell you all about my trip.
Thanks to everyone who sent me a note wishing me a happy birthday this week. It was very exciting for me to hear from people all over the world who took a minute to say hello and wish me a good day. It did turn out to be an enjoyable one, despite the fact that birthdays away from home have a tendency to end up pretty disappointing. I got a bunch of friends together - new ones and reconnected ones - and we had ice cream and went out bowling. What a great way to spend an evening! My birthday presents consisted almost entirely of candy and stuffed animals. Did I really turn 21 or maybe 12? or 5? I loved it.
Please don't forget to write and update me about your adventures!
After the Melbourne Welcome program I moved into my apartment with my roommate Maya who's from Montreal and Israel. Our apartment is super centrally-located in the middle of a great area of the city and right along the tram like that runs to school. The state library across the street has an awesome lawn that is always crowded with people hanging out or reading. I met the five other religious (American) girls who just happen to live down the hall. It's been really nice to have other people on the hall to hang out with, and we've all bonded and spend a lot of time together. I'll post pictures of my room as soon as I take them, which is generally true of whatever else you would want to see pictures of. I'll get around to taking pictures, but probably at the same rate I've gotten around to posting to my blog.
We had a week of relatively lame orientation activities. Lame, because they were geared for first-years so it was all about adjusting to life at "uni" and study skills and things I wasn't interested in. I got a chance to check out the lively swing dancing scene in Melbourne. I've joined the dance club at uni and I've gone out dancing in the city a couple times as well. Really nice people, and some awesome dancers too. I also got to meet some of the Jewish students who are part of AUJS - the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, which is roughly the equivalent of Hillel in the states. It doesn't really have a strong religious component, though, since most students live at home and wouldn't be around on campus for Shabbat or holidays.
It'll take an entire separate post for me to tell you about how wonderful my experience has been with the Jewish community here, with the student organizations but more significantly with the Conservative community: Kehilat Nitzan. They're just great and I love being with them.
Classes started two and a half weeks ago, and the beginning was incredibly busy for me but really fun too. Instead of just picking my 4 classes in advance and sticking to them, I decided I would be better off if I checked out a bunch of different options and saw which ones I enjoyed the most. That meant that for the first week I attended eight classes and spent my time zigzagging all across the campus. I certainly learned my way around quickly. But it was all worth it, because I ended up with a schedule of classes I really enjoy, with none on Fridays and only one final exam (the rest are papers). Those are:
Algorithms and Data Structures - the only required course for me, replacing one offered back at Penn that I'm missing right now. Many of the concepts, at least so far, are review, but they're programming in C which I haven't really used much, so I've got plenty to learn.
Language and Media - fun times with media analysis and a quirky American professor who combines ridiculous linguistics terminology with media stuff I actually understand.
Media, Politics, and Society - more media analysis with a social/political twist. It's filled with first-year students who talk a lot and dress like each day's a fashion show. It's certainly amusing people-watching, and the class is teaching me a lot about Australian media in particular.
God and the Natural Sciences - more accurately the history of the relationship between science and Christianity since the medieval times, but despite the limited scope it's still really interesting. The main professor is an Anglican priest AND has a PhD in Physics. It's the closest to a philosophy course that I'll probably ever take.
Because of Easter, our semester break starts this weekend. I'm spending Purim and Shabbat with Kehilat Nitzan and then on Sunday I'm flying to New Zealand for a week and a half filled with adventures all over the south island. That trip is part of the reason I am actually getting around to writing to you now, since I know when I get back I'll want to tell you all about my trip.
Thanks to everyone who sent me a note wishing me a happy birthday this week. It was very exciting for me to hear from people all over the world who took a minute to say hello and wish me a good day. It did turn out to be an enjoyable one, despite the fact that birthdays away from home have a tendency to end up pretty disappointing. I got a bunch of friends together - new ones and reconnected ones - and we had ice cream and went out bowling. What a great way to spend an evening! My birthday presents consisted almost entirely of candy and stuffed animals. Did I really turn 21 or maybe 12? or 5? I loved it.
Please don't forget to write and update me about your adventures!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Facebook Photo Albums
Click this link to see the rest of the photos from my adventures in Jerusalem. Anyone can access it, even if you don't have a Facebook account. Enjoy!
January in Jerusalem
January in Jerusalem
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Zoo Pictures
There was an awesome butterfly enclosure with a zillion of them all over the place. This one was willing to stay still long enough to be photographed.
The elephants were surprisingly playful and silly.
It was a super hot day so the kangaroos were just chillin' in the shade and not doing much of anything interesting.
Emu! Emu! The kangaroo and emu are on the Australian emblem because neither of them can walk backwards, and Australia is a "forward-looking country." They also apparently taste quite good on the barbecue. Funny, a country that eats its national animals.
I promise, there really are koalas in those trees. They're just hard to see.
Look! Cute little penguins who like the warm weather!
So those are some highlights from my Melbourne Zoo experience. I think what I'll do is leave these as highlights and then make an album on Facebook and sent you the link. I'll do it so that you don't need a Facebook username to get to the album, too.
Enjoy!
The elephants were surprisingly playful and silly.
It was a super hot day so the kangaroos were just chillin' in the shade and not doing much of anything interesting.
Emu! Emu! The kangaroo and emu are on the Australian emblem because neither of them can walk backwards, and Australia is a "forward-looking country." They also apparently taste quite good on the barbecue. Funny, a country that eats its national animals.
I promise, there really are koalas in those trees. They're just hard to see.
Look! Cute little penguins who like the warm weather!
So those are some highlights from my Melbourne Zoo experience. I think what I'll do is leave these as highlights and then make an album on Facebook and sent you the link. I'll do it so that you don't need a Facebook username to get to the album, too.
Enjoy!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Study Abroad Musings...
...sure to be the first of many posts like this
(this and the two previous posts were written over the course of the past few days but all posted at once due to lack of internet access.)
I’m back from bowling with a still-sore ankle, and I’m about to head off to sleep. I’ve been giving some thought to the way I’ve felt since I arrived, since it’s not the typical “wahoo this is amazing!” nor was I expecting that to be my first reaction. I think the issue right now is that it’s hard upon first arriving to feel like I’ve got any sort of connection to any of the other students around me. I know that in time I’ll come upon some great friends and be involved in activities and classes, and that those things will help me feel like I belong. But for now it’s a lot of new faces in a strange city, and it gets both overwhelming and lonely at the same time. At least having the Jewish community nearby makes a huge difference. As I rode the tram to the suburbs on Friday and saw the signs start saying things like “Sabra Falafel” and “Drs. Roseberg and Stern,” I knew I was in the right place and that there are people like me here, too. It’s comforting to know that no matter how big and scary the world is, I’m able to find a community to connect with and feel at home with as soon as I arrive. That bubble had to burst on Saturday night, though, when I was thrust back into the study-abroad-student world as I arrived back to Newman for the night. It just feels like I keep having to work hard at being friendly and making conversation, kinda like freshman orientation at Penn. Then, I knew that I’d most likely never see any of those people again, and I’d already had a chance to make some of my own friends. I feel the same way about this experience, except without the comfort zone of friends, so I guess the best solution is to be myself and ride it out and just take in what’s around me. It’s pretty neat stuff we’re doing, albeit exhausting, so I just have to take each moment as it comes. I guess what’s also weird about this is not actually having anything else that I need to do. I come back at night and just kinda shrug my shoulders and get ready for bed, since I don’t have a long list of responsibilities, nor do I have an internet connection to open up the boundaries of communication with my world back at home, which I miss terribly. I really have nothing to do other than be part of this program, which really only lasts two more days, but I’ll be happy to move into my own place on Tuesday and start setting that up, because at least it’ll give me something to do. And hopefully that’ll mean I’ll have internet as well.
So here’s to optimism, and here’s to a good night’s sleep!
(this and the two previous posts were written over the course of the past few days but all posted at once due to lack of internet access.)
I’m back from bowling with a still-sore ankle, and I’m about to head off to sleep. I’ve been giving some thought to the way I’ve felt since I arrived, since it’s not the typical “wahoo this is amazing!” nor was I expecting that to be my first reaction. I think the issue right now is that it’s hard upon first arriving to feel like I’ve got any sort of connection to any of the other students around me. I know that in time I’ll come upon some great friends and be involved in activities and classes, and that those things will help me feel like I belong. But for now it’s a lot of new faces in a strange city, and it gets both overwhelming and lonely at the same time. At least having the Jewish community nearby makes a huge difference. As I rode the tram to the suburbs on Friday and saw the signs start saying things like “Sabra Falafel” and “Drs. Roseberg and Stern,” I knew I was in the right place and that there are people like me here, too. It’s comforting to know that no matter how big and scary the world is, I’m able to find a community to connect with and feel at home with as soon as I arrive. That bubble had to burst on Saturday night, though, when I was thrust back into the study-abroad-student world as I arrived back to Newman for the night. It just feels like I keep having to work hard at being friendly and making conversation, kinda like freshman orientation at Penn. Then, I knew that I’d most likely never see any of those people again, and I’d already had a chance to make some of my own friends. I feel the same way about this experience, except without the comfort zone of friends, so I guess the best solution is to be myself and ride it out and just take in what’s around me. It’s pretty neat stuff we’re doing, albeit exhausting, so I just have to take each moment as it comes. I guess what’s also weird about this is not actually having anything else that I need to do. I come back at night and just kinda shrug my shoulders and get ready for bed, since I don’t have a long list of responsibilities, nor do I have an internet connection to open up the boundaries of communication with my world back at home, which I miss terribly. I really have nothing to do other than be part of this program, which really only lasts two more days, but I’ll be happy to move into my own place on Tuesday and start setting that up, because at least it’ll give me something to do. And hopefully that’ll mean I’ll have internet as well.
So here’s to optimism, and here’s to a good night’s sleep!
Off to Melbourne
I left Philly on Jan 13th. After 6 hours on a plane, 4 hours in the Los Angeles airport, which included one hour sleeping on the floor at the gate nearing midnight and one frantic phone call to my parents right before boarding (approx 2AM their time), and 15 more hours on the plane, I arrived at the Melbourne International Airport. At that point it was 9:30AM on Friday the 15th. Boy was I glad to be on the ground.
I guess I should explain what’s actually going on for me this week. I’m part of this program called the Melbourne Welcome, which is for study abroad students before actual orientation (“O Week”) starts. Upperclassmen basically act as our hosts and take us all around the city to all sorts of activities, just to give us a chance to explore and meet each other and get a feel for things. We were brought straight from the airport to the residential college house next to campus where we’re living for the duration of the program.
Almost as soon as I arrived at Newman College house, I packed my things and headed out to the suburbs for Shabbat. I knew it would mean missing group surfing lessons at Ocean Grove on Saturday, but I decided that it was more important for me to make a connection with the local Jewish community, and I am so glad I made that decision. It felt incredible to show up at the front door of Ms. Evelyn Rose’s home and be taken in with open arms and a welcome smile. Being in a real community with families and home-cooked food felt great after so much traveling. The Conservative community is called Kehilat Nitzan, and I really enjoyed their services and the people I met. Everyone was cheerful and welcoming and interested in where I was coming from and why I had chosen to study at Melbourne. It turns out that Rabbi Ehud Bandel is friendly with Rabbi Lindemann and has visited Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill many times, so we instantly had a connection. I really had a good time with their community, and I am excited to go back and spend many more Shabbatot with them. They already have me reading Torah two weeks from now, too.
Today’s main activities were visiting the Queen Victoria Market and the Melbourne Zoo. Queen Vic was pretty neat – the largest part of it was very much like the Israeli shuk markets: lots of vendors selling produce or souvenir items or random junk. There were rows and rows of these vendors in a tent-like covered area. Then there was another section indoors that had small little counters one after another selling candy or meats or cheese or sandwiches. There were so many different things in their displays. I even saw kangaroo meat at one of the deli counters. Next time I get back there I’ll be sure to take a bunch of pictures and share them with you, because it’s a neat place.
The zoo was pretty fun as well, but by then most of us were completely exhausted because of the heat. We really spent the entire day walking around, so being outdoors at a zoo was brutal in that way. But we did get to see some native Australian animals, like kangaroos just chilling in the shade, koalas hiding in trees, and tiny adorable penguins hanging out at their pond.
Right now I’m sitting on a bench in the outdoor quad area where I’m staying for these next few days. There’s finally a cool breeze after an incredibly hot day. You know it’s hot when even the Australians are complaining about the temperature. The sun’s on its way down, seeing as it’s just after 8PM, and soon a group of us is heading out bowling for the evening. My ankle hurts after a very walking-intensive day, and in the back of my mind I still feel that in the end of the day I’m here alone by myself, just trying to learn my way around and get through each day, but I can at least enjoy the clean feeling of a nice shower and be reasonably sure that tomorrow is going to be another beautiful and adventurous day. It’s going to take some time to get used to being here, and I am sure that having an apartment to call home and a finalized course schedule will definitely set me in the right direction.
And now for some random amusing things I’ve picked up since being here:
- When I got onto the plane from LA to Melbourne (nauseous and exhausted), I spoke with a flight attendant about needing to keep some of my medications cold while flying. He suggested that he could bring me a foam esky and some ice. First thought: “what the heck is a foam esky?” He made a box-shape with his hands, and I figured a foam box of any sort wouldn’t be too bad. Turns out that esky is the name used for cooler, which I learned after he showed up at my seat with a Styrofoam cooler box, which did the trick just fine.
- Also on the plane, the captain had to read out the safety information from a sheet over the PA system, since the recording wasn’t working properly. His instructions for using the seatbelt included how to “do it up” and “undo it,” which I thought were much better terms than the standard American “fasten” and “release.”
- Yeild signs say “Give Way”
- Speaking of the roads, I bet you don’t notice it, but when you cross the street your natural reaction is to look left first, then right, then check left again just before crossing. Here, thougt, it’s right, left, right, given that the cars are coming from the opposite direction. I’ve started to get the hang of it, but intersections still confuse me. On top of that, who would have ever thought that escalators would also switch directions? The side going up is on the left instead of the right!
I guess I should explain what’s actually going on for me this week. I’m part of this program called the Melbourne Welcome, which is for study abroad students before actual orientation (“O Week”) starts. Upperclassmen basically act as our hosts and take us all around the city to all sorts of activities, just to give us a chance to explore and meet each other and get a feel for things. We were brought straight from the airport to the residential college house next to campus where we’re living for the duration of the program.
Almost as soon as I arrived at Newman College house, I packed my things and headed out to the suburbs for Shabbat. I knew it would mean missing group surfing lessons at Ocean Grove on Saturday, but I decided that it was more important for me to make a connection with the local Jewish community, and I am so glad I made that decision. It felt incredible to show up at the front door of Ms. Evelyn Rose’s home and be taken in with open arms and a welcome smile. Being in a real community with families and home-cooked food felt great after so much traveling. The Conservative community is called Kehilat Nitzan, and I really enjoyed their services and the people I met. Everyone was cheerful and welcoming and interested in where I was coming from and why I had chosen to study at Melbourne. It turns out that Rabbi Ehud Bandel is friendly with Rabbi Lindemann and has visited Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill many times, so we instantly had a connection. I really had a good time with their community, and I am excited to go back and spend many more Shabbatot with them. They already have me reading Torah two weeks from now, too.
Today’s main activities were visiting the Queen Victoria Market and the Melbourne Zoo. Queen Vic was pretty neat – the largest part of it was very much like the Israeli shuk markets: lots of vendors selling produce or souvenir items or random junk. There were rows and rows of these vendors in a tent-like covered area. Then there was another section indoors that had small little counters one after another selling candy or meats or cheese or sandwiches. There were so many different things in their displays. I even saw kangaroo meat at one of the deli counters. Next time I get back there I’ll be sure to take a bunch of pictures and share them with you, because it’s a neat place.
The zoo was pretty fun as well, but by then most of us were completely exhausted because of the heat. We really spent the entire day walking around, so being outdoors at a zoo was brutal in that way. But we did get to see some native Australian animals, like kangaroos just chilling in the shade, koalas hiding in trees, and tiny adorable penguins hanging out at their pond.
Right now I’m sitting on a bench in the outdoor quad area where I’m staying for these next few days. There’s finally a cool breeze after an incredibly hot day. You know it’s hot when even the Australians are complaining about the temperature. The sun’s on its way down, seeing as it’s just after 8PM, and soon a group of us is heading out bowling for the evening. My ankle hurts after a very walking-intensive day, and in the back of my mind I still feel that in the end of the day I’m here alone by myself, just trying to learn my way around and get through each day, but I can at least enjoy the clean feeling of a nice shower and be reasonably sure that tomorrow is going to be another beautiful and adventurous day. It’s going to take some time to get used to being here, and I am sure that having an apartment to call home and a finalized course schedule will definitely set me in the right direction.
And now for some random amusing things I’ve picked up since being here:
- When I got onto the plane from LA to Melbourne (nauseous and exhausted), I spoke with a flight attendant about needing to keep some of my medications cold while flying. He suggested that he could bring me a foam esky and some ice. First thought: “what the heck is a foam esky?” He made a box-shape with his hands, and I figured a foam box of any sort wouldn’t be too bad. Turns out that esky is the name used for cooler, which I learned after he showed up at my seat with a Styrofoam cooler box, which did the trick just fine.
- Also on the plane, the captain had to read out the safety information from a sheet over the PA system, since the recording wasn’t working properly. His instructions for using the seatbelt included how to “do it up” and “undo it,” which I thought were much better terms than the standard American “fasten” and “release.”
- Yeild signs say “Give Way”
- Speaking of the roads, I bet you don’t notice it, but when you cross the street your natural reaction is to look left first, then right, then check left again just before crossing. Here, thougt, it’s right, left, right, given that the cars are coming from the opposite direction. I’ve started to get the hang of it, but intersections still confuse me. On top of that, who would have ever thought that escalators would also switch directions? The side going up is on the left instead of the right!
Two Weeks in the States
I flew home from Israel just as Jerusalem was recovering from a snowstorm. Luckily I was able to escape the city before the worst of it on Tuesday night, and I sought refuge from the torrential downpours at David Mitchell’s apartment in Kfar Sava. It took a total of 6 busses from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning to get me from my apartment in Jerusalem to Ben Gurion Int’l Airport in Tel Aviv, but it was worth it to avoid getting stuck in snowy Jerusalem.
It was so great to be home for those two short weeks. I think we crammed in a whopping 7 doctors’ appointments, 3 summer job interviews (in one day) and 2 weekend excursions to NYU. It was incredibly hectic, but absolutely wonderful. It was just what I needed to make me feel a little more ready to be heading off for such a long time, and so far away. I also made sure that I got a chance to spend some quality time with my family, visit my Swinger, Hillel, and DMD friends at Penn, and then pack my things and start getting ready to fly again.
It was so great to be home for those two short weeks. I think we crammed in a whopping 7 doctors’ appointments, 3 summer job interviews (in one day) and 2 weekend excursions to NYU. It was incredibly hectic, but absolutely wonderful. It was just what I needed to make me feel a little more ready to be heading off for such a long time, and so far away. I also made sure that I got a chance to spend some quality time with my family, visit my Swinger, Hillel, and DMD friends at Penn, and then pack my things and start getting ready to fly again.
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