Sydney Life

So the holidays are officially over, which means that I have to get myself organised. I have done a few things to get to this ideal stage of productivity. I have bought a five subject notebook from Kikki K - Swedish paper goods just seem much nicer than any other type. In my uni career I have used many different types of books for writing in - starting with, first year, the free ones from the Co-op bookshop (I'm not sure that this happens anymore), and then graduating to small Moleskine notebooks filled with black felt tip scrawl, which worked well because I could put them in any size bag and they looked so artsy I was delighted to go to class just so I could show them off. Anyway, I then moved on to multiple-subject notebooks with internal dividers - I have never used a ring-bind folder at uni, they are far too bulky and annoying and as an arts student I rarely get sheets anyway. One semester I did get a few sheets so I bought some simple display folders to store them in. And now I have one from Kikki K, and it is green, and its pristine white pages and classy index page make me happy with anticipation.

don’t know if any of you guys have noticed, but it’s bloody freezing.
It’s so cold in Sydney right now that I’m keeping my freezer door open in the hope that it will heat up the house a little. I have to type this entry with my chattering teeth for fear of losing my fingers if I remove them from my pockets. I’ve lost my sense of smell, not because I have a head cold but because my nose has frozen off.

Ok, so maybe I’m catastrophising little, but I’ve just come back from Fiji, where it only gets nippy when there’s a Great White around. Thankfully it seems the sharks were on holidays too for the time I was there, so my two friends and I were able to enjoy our fun in the sun relatively uninterrupted. If you’ve just spent the last two weeks in Sydney, I’m sure you’d like to hear about a warm weather getaway on a student budget, so that maybe you won’t make the same mistake next winter break. So here is what I did.

And as one semester ends, another one rolls along (rather quickly and unexpectedly if you are in mid-year break). A few days ago results were posted online - but not without added suspense. Supposedly they would be snail mailed to us on the 17th, and usuall they are released quite a few days before that online, but there was nothing, and we were very grumbly. Considering that we had all already chosen our subjects for next semester, it would be nice to know how we went in these ones, in case we failed or something. Then suddenly, they were locked, and we were unable to access them at all, which was a good sign, really, because at least something was happening. It's strange how you look forward to something even if there is a chance it could be bad news.

In my favourite episode of Sex and the City Carrie Bradshaw decides that dating MANhattan can be just as enjoyable and romantic as dating an actual man. She spends the day by visiting the Guggenheim, or attempting to at least, and then seeing a movie at the Paris cinema. I have developed a serious crush on New York City of late and it seemed appropriate that on the opening weekend of the Sex and the City Movie I follow in my idol's footsteps. Let me give you the lowdown on my perfect Sunday in the city...

Last week, while shopping on Bleeker Street in New Yorks City's West Village, I saw Natalie Portman. Not on a TV screen or an advertisement, but in real life. As you can imagine this was very exciting for me. I mean I can legitimately tell people that "I have shopped in the same store as Natalie Portman and her dog".

An old Sydney Uni myth suggesting ‘if you haven’t started studying for exams before the quadrangle jacaranda’s first bloom, you’re going to fail,’ is not something I want to think about one week and three assignments from the end of classes.

Take a walk through the quad and you’ll notice the unmistakable spattering of lilac already dusted over the vibrant lawn. There’s no denying it. The flowers have arrived, early, and with them, the end of another year.

Eager to get a break from their rigorous academic schedule, six intrepid twenty-something, sheltered Sydney students set out on a long weekend to discover the bush, themselves, and the local population….

I have grown up with an over-protective ‘I’m-going-to-worry-about-the-fact-that-you-will-get-cold-wearing-that-shirt’ mother. One of the pearls of wisdom my mum would throw out my way was to drive safely. This was usually rebuffed with a sarcastic retort that went something along the lines of - ‘wasn’t planning on it but I’ll reconsider now’. Whilst I am not your mother, recent experience has given me a great urge to remind you all to drive carefully over the Easter holidays.

One of the most important questions any good student must ask themselves once they return from an overseas trip is "how long can i milk the jetlag excuse?" . Personally, i think one and a half weeks is about as long as you will get before people stop giving you sympathy and making you tea.

You may have thought "Summer School" was a term circulating only in bad family movies featuring an angsty and rebellions teen than gets the punishment of a lifetime spending the summer holidays with his head buried in a pile of books.

Well, that was the image it conjured up in my head, anyway. Turns out summer school does exist in the real world, however, and it's happening right here at Sydney Uni.

The first thing that you need to know about being a student is the best part of university life comes but once a year. Summer Holidays. Nearly 3 months to do anything you want, only limited by your imagination and of course how broke you happen to be at the time. Usually during summer I can be found in a kitchen somewhere trying to counteract the aforementioned money problem. This year however (thanks to the usyd exchange program, my previous minimum wage slave labour and a generous scholarship) my summer is the best thing ever, not to exaggerate at all.

There is nothing like backpacking through India to put a bit of perspective on life back in Sydney - especially when offers have just come out. Cold water showers, substituting holes in the ground for toilets and being accosted by beggars highlight the frugalness of the Indian lifestyle. It is even a little refreshing as I am forced to prioritise what are my needs as opposed to wants (not that I won't appreciate a nice hot stream of water on my back when I shower!) But enough of my rambling, I want to share with you an incredible story...

If, by virtue of finance or sheer lack of organisational abilities (as is the case with me, you should see how I handle bank tellers), you have decided not to go away over your holidays, there are a great many movies, sitcoms, and so on that can entertain you at any time of the day. And, while at first I’m sure the holidays seems like a great excuse to go out, party, and do this and that, there is only so long before the days start to merge into one, big, apathetic blob. So, in order to stave off boredom, I have a list of cinematic and television greats (in my opinion).

Sorry guys, this isn’t a blog about how I met a boy, cute as can be, over the summer. The title is just a response to a challenge I have received to making all my blog titles from songs (see if you can catch me out this year)...

This blog is about you!

Live from New York....it's Lauren, the long-lost blogger!

You know it is the festive season when you finally have something to talk about with those acquaintances where the conversation often dithers into a spiral of polite nods and awkward silences. You can pick any topic from the most useless xmas present to the effects of climate change on our Sydney summer.

In high school, the summer break is only around 6 weeks so going overseas can sometimes take up that entire time.

At uni, however, we get a whole three and a half months, so the holiday possibilities are (almost) endless.......

As I write this, I am staring out at the Californian mountains. It's a balmy 81 degrees outside (fahrenheit, kids, fahrenheit) with plenty of that good ol' fashioned West Coast sunshine.

I'm proud to admit - I love L.A.

Its 12pm and fifteen people from three generations are linked in an energetic conga line as it snakes its way around, up and down, the house. Spontaneous laughter and cheers erupt into the air above them, and the joy is catching. Not your typical Thanksgiving, but hey, who wants to be typical!

If you are one of the millions of clever people who worship Madonna as a God (mainly for her music, but also for raping African nations of their first-born sons)* you will know that in the Bible known as the Immaculate Collection, Psalm 1.01 reads:

Holidaaayyyy.....
Celebraaaaate....
If we took a holiday,
Took some time to celebrate
It would be,
It would be so nice!

22 — It's like 21 but OLD.

Myth: Animals are more scared of you than you are of them.

Fact: Our furry little friends the possums may be the exception to this rule.

I am someone who you would probably classify as ‘somewhat’ scared of animals big and small. I am not one of those girly girls who screeches at the sight of a cockroach. In fact, I can handle insects and creepy crawlies rather well. It’s the more unpredictable animals that make me cautious.

I’ve always been astonished by those people who, after 23 hours of flying, seem to emerge cool, calm and collected from the arrivals gate. Needless to say, this has never been the case with me. When I stepped off the plane at Heathrow I was the dishevelled backpacker you see shuffling towards the tube station through groups of waving relatives and friends.

As we enter the main plaza the enormity of the situation hits me. We are ten “gringos” (foreigners) taking part in one of the most important celebrations of the year. Thousands of Bolivians stare and cheer as our overwhelmed selves respond to the cries of “Viva Bolivia!” Their shouts compete with the sound of firecrackers as they ricochet off buildings, and the marching band that marks Independence Day.

I have just returned from an amazing two-week trip overseas. As a stowaway performer on a French/Italian Mediterranean cruise, I visited Nice, St Tropez, Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi, Pompeii and Roma. Before all that I managed to do a stop over in Bangkok and on the way back I had a stop-over in Amman (Jordan) to see family.

This left me thinking about the concept of home. What is home?

My honours thesis for sociology this year is all about the concept of home and feeling at home – the freedom to bring all parts of your identity together in a safe and validated way. Travelling really brings to the fore what it means to be “at home”. Surprisingly, the places where you are most at home are not always where you expected...

Under the shadow of the giant statue of the Virgin mother I sat tranquilly looking out over the city. Suddenly a small card was pressed into my hand – a prayer. That and a swift kiss on the cheek and he was gone…

I have just returned from a wonderful adventurous holiday touring in the Northern Territory where I learnt many new things.

I learnt that the forces of nature can break all the rules in the book……it rained in the desert in the dry season!

I learnt that many Australian young adults don’t like to explore their own country, but rather prefer going overseas. All the European backpackers were amazed that we hadn’t been to NT already. Never mind that it’s a 4 hour flight away!!

I learnt that it is possible to acquire a fantastic tan in winter without leaving the country, making people in Sydney remarkably jealous!

I learnt that I am a terrible didgeridoo player.

I also learnt that despite growing up and being educated in Australia, I am clueless when it comes to Aboriginal culture.

Beer, water, hello, thankyou, I don’t understand, waiter!, the bill.

I've been in Beijing a week and I I think I’ve got all the essentials down....

Life is full of irony! For example, people who wear glasses are considered intelligent although if you think about it, they actually have a disorder with an organ of their body. The great Alanis Morisette ruminated on this topic, and in fact dedicated a whole song to this idea. And there is no better irony while at uni than having time during uni holidays to travel the world, but with hardly more than a pittance to do so. Enough with the kvetching (there’s my favourite Yiddish word popping up again!), I need your advice.