Sydney Life

It’s been an incredible week as I wrap up “Oliver the Musical!” – (arguably) the most epic musical ever!
With a cast of 138 performers (ranging from age 4 to 60+)
PLUS a full orchestra of 35
PLUS a stage crew of 15
PLUS a front of house team of 10
PLUS a production team of 20
Furthermore, there was a ten metre bridge spanning the stage
Our lead boy, Zac Collin-widders was the first indigenous Australian to play the role of Oliver
and 100% of the proceeds from the show went towards supporting Indigenous education charity “Yalari”.
It was a musical production like no other.

I always thought Halloween was a great idea for a public holiday - I'm now sure of it. As for Obama, let's hope I'm right there too!

While Halloween probably passed unnoticed (again) in Australia, it was celebrated with great enthusiasm in this corner of the world. Pumpkin carving, house decorations, costume parties and more fun-filled events occupied much of last week. Even lecturers got in on the action with at least one of my professors showing us her "favourite biochemical molecule" costume. Ok, a little lame, but the enthusiasm was nice.

In the last few days, I've been almost lynched, I've been in and out of hospital, and the world has nearly ended. Not to, you know, catastrophise or anything. There was a giant arts festival and a student election and not all bad things.

This is my last semester of undergraduate coursework. I thought this wouldn't affect anything but boy was I wrong. I feel like a kid trying to sit through maths class before icecream after school. I haven't been able to get in to the swing of the semester and I can tell you why as an example of obstacles you might encounter.

The beginning of my second semester at the University of Sydney means only one thing. It’s time for Uni Radio.

The Sydney University Radio Group (SURG) is a small but enthusiastic group of people who like the sound of their own voice. A friend and I decided we could not pass up the opportunity to communicate our comediocrity to anyone who will listen, so the two of us joined up during O-week for the small fee of three dollars.

SURG broadcasts on 90.9 FM. After a very brief demonstration of the simple equipment, the executive committee pretty much lets you say what you like. Other kinds of shows include chart countdowns, breakfast shows, heavy metal broadcasts and the odd variety hour.

Ok, as we roll our merry way towards the end of our holidays, you might ask – what exactly do uni students do during our long breaks? No doubt we fill our days with parties and social events, sleeping till noon and drinking till dawn. At this very moment, a great deal of my close friends are travelling to Thredbo for a week of snow-bound revelry. Of course, which brings me to reveal that (quite ironically) for some, the holidays bring no end to the actual work for uni. As a participant – and leader – of a first year Advanced Engineering group, my abilities are increasing greatly as I realise *smacks self repeatedly in the head* Don’t - leave - things - for- the - last - minute.

When seeking sage counsel from elders who are already firmly ensconced in university life you will often encounter such nuggets of wisdom ranging from the indifferent, like ‘at Uni, you can pretty much do whatever…’ to the saccharine, like ‘the world is your oyster’! However you anticipate what the university experience will be like, until you are right in the thick of it everything will seem really vague. To clear things up, I will tell you straight off that the university world is not your oyster. Rather, it is your octopus. I use the word ‘octopus’ metaphorically, to convey to you the idea the experience is multi-tentacled and each aspect of university life will probe slimily into your heart as much as an octopus would, should it ever have the chance. It’s true, in the lead up to university and in your first weeks of it you will absolutely bombarded with information about degree and course structure but this kind of information can never encapsulate the myriad of ways a new student can participate and invest in his or her university experience.

Emerging from the cocoon of my beloved Fisher library yesterday, I took a few moments to get accustomed to the late afternoon sun, whilst attempting to transform into the neglected social butterfly of my former self. This is none to easy a task when carrying twelve books, the physical manifestation of an unhealthy belief that if I can just borrow all the books on my topic I’ll get through my thesis.

My heat for the USU Justice Michael Kirby Plain Speaking Competition was last Friday. And, I got through to the next round! Woohoo! Here's a recount...

How can you make $1000 in 9 minutes? By winning the University of Sydney Union Plain English Speaking Competition, to be judged by High Court star, the Hon Justice Michael Kirby.

Now that I find myself an aging third year student at the University of Sydney (represses panic attack…my god where did the time go?!!??!) my first week of uni seems a bit like ancient history. Though there are a few memories that remain particularly vivid – the masses of people, the mind numbing boredom of sitting through a second year econometrics tutorial because I was too afraid to announce that I was in the wrong place and more than anything, the overwhelming sense of culture shock. While that was a few years ago now, my first week back at uni after 7 months away on exchange and traveling has been culture shock all over again – to the extent that I feel so much empathy with the poor map-carrying first years that I’ve actually been giving the right directions when they ask.

I’ve never been to a Beachball. So I’m sure as hell gonna be there this Thursday!

Okay, bad title. And okay, it’s not from a song.

But I just saw the O-week timetable and I am SOOOO pumped.

Here are my personal picks:

February is a very gay month in Sydney. It is Mardi Gras season again, which features a month-long festival of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer cultures in Sydney. And this year, Mardi Gras Festival sprinkles its rainbow glitter all over Sydney University...

The tale of bravery, heroics and spandex that is about to unfold is the next instalment in the epic story of team Deli-Sandwich. For those of you unfamiliar with Team Deli- Sandwich, the myth-like account of its creation may be found here on this very website. Essentially, it tells of a group of intrepid young exchange students callously denied the glory they so rightfully deserved by that cruel and flighty mistress called fate. However, it was with heads held high and rejuvenated spirits that Team Deli- Sandwich rallied their forces to make an assault on perhaps the most perilous competition ever devised by the masterminds of the UBC REC committee…Gladiators.

I had a blast yesterday performing for a few hundred people at a family show at Marrickville. What did I do? I bellydanced.

“I didn’t know men bellydanced”, is the response I often get. The short answer is they usually don’t, which is why I do it.

One day a year, the shores of Vancouver’s Jericho Beach are swarmed by hoards of college students ready for war. Ridiculous outfits are donned, gauntlets are thrown down and The Day of the Long Boat begins.

Recently I flew to Brisbane along with 13 other Indigenous people from Sydney University to kick some serious butt in the National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games...

About two weeks ago something awful happened. I actually had to go to class.

Somehow over the course of the last month I’d managed to block out the fact that going on exchange to a foreign uni would entail actually having to attend class. My blissful bubble of denial was burst, however, when I found myself seated in the back of a packed-out lecture hall at an hour of the morning that I hadn’t seen since my last Sydney Uni exam in June. The horror of the situation only increased as the lesson went on and dirty words like “essay”, “midterm” and “oral presentation” were used with increasing frequency. As the Prof (note my use of Canadian uni slang) started to describe what was expected from our study groups, rather than giving him my full attention, all I could think about was how having to go to study group on Monday morning would affect my plans to go to mechanical bull night at the Buffalo Club on Sunday.

After three weeks of great events, the Verge Arts Festival comes to a close.

With faculty reviews, concerts, exhibitions, awards, radio broadcasting and a screening of Harry Potter in the main quad, Verge has become an unmissable event in the student calendar.

After a miserable week in Sydney (I'm still unsure of how Wednesday's downpour came about - stop teasing us with this erratic weather: can I wear my spring skirts or should I stick to jeans????), full of studying (for me, at least) and complete media saturation about one person (which in my opinion, disproportionately overshadowed everything else), it was refreshing to witness the 2006 Law Revue. Finally, someone was ready to stop being so serious and take the piss out of...everything.

For those of you who are regular readers, you might remember a blog entitled 'Am I an idiot?’ I now have a definitive answer: YES!!!

Last Friday morning I was amongst 1784 people who undertook the challenge of walking 100km for charity. Sadly, 20% of them did not complete the challenge for various reasons. It was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It is so difficult to describe the physical and mental pain that I was experiencing. Give me 6 exams in 5 days any time!!

More than once I’ve witnessed a lacklustre showing at a uni protest and thought wistfully of the so-called golden years of collective action, when everyone had a social conscience (or perhaps just the looming spectre of mutually assured destruction is just a sexier issue than Voluntary Student Unionism, I don’t know). Yesterday's Pro-Choice protest also made me somewhat reflective, but for a different reason. It’s not that people don’t care about this particular issue. Not at all. It’s just that both sides have such strong beliefs, and such solid reasons (in their own convictions, at least) for these beliefs, that any interaction between the two inevitably reaches stalemate.

National Sorry Day was last Friday - did you remember it? A massive crowd at Manning Bar certainly did!

I’ve just finished helping out with an event I couldn’t be more proud of. A good mate of mine, Jack, decided last year to stop merely talking the talk, and he began the National Sorry Day Indigenous Carnivale. It’s a big party held at Manning Bar on campus, and it was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time. Even better, the money made on the night is going towards an indigenous mentoring program for local high school students.

The verdict is in: sweat is sexy. In fact it is incredibly sexy……

For regular readers of this blog it will be fairly obvious that I seem to be obsessed with two things: sandstone and the dramatic society. Well, this week is no different and as my brain slowly descends into a miasma of all things SUDS I’m taking you all down with me to check out what is happening with your friendly neighbourhood dramatic society.

Why there’s a bit of Broadway diva in us all…

Statistically, there are more people born in the world that are right-handed then left, but what about that minority who are born with two left feet?

I am referring to people who lack sheer co-ordination and those other upper level skills that are required to perform a series of steps in sequence AND in time...let alone in harmony with another individual. I am talking about me.

My absolute favourite thing about Uni is the Dramatic Society. I have been involved in it since halfway through first year, and thanks to it I have made most of my friends and become more active on campus. If you were involved in theatre or drama in high school then you are gonna love it.

I have few regrets in my life. Keeping the tragic but-oh-so-fashionable-in-the 80’s fringe in year 7 is one of them. Not joining up to the capoeira club in O-week in first year is another.

The holidays are always so much more interesting when you’ve got homework or something else unpleasant to do, because you begin to realise the potential fun in almost any situation; you know, like watching midday soaps, dusting the entire house, and my personal favourite, tuning out from the cruel world and finding inner peace by staring at the wall for a couple of hours.

Workin' nine to five, what a way to make a livin', barely gettin' by, it's all takin' and no givin'....want to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let you?

It's probably because you didn't do any work experience at uni, silly!

One of the best things about studying at Sydney University is the feeling that you belong to a community. This is helped in a big way by the activities and presence of the Union. The concept of a campus community is something that really gets me excited and looking forward to coming to uni each day.