Bickie - Short for biscuit, which is not our kind of biscuit but a cookie
Brekky - Short for breakfast
Gumboots - Rain boots (this is probably shortened but I saw it on a poster)
Also, lemonade can refer to Sprite-type products! I got so confused because I saw this clear, carbonated beverage labeled "lemonade" and thought it was some sort of lemon-flavored seltzer water. No dear friends, it was basically Sprite (which they have).
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Part 2
Chinese Garden of Friendship
To quote the lovely pamphlet I got: "Initiated by the local Chinese community to celebrate Australia's 1988 Bicentenary, the Chinese Garden is the result of a close friendship and cooperation between the sister cities of Sydney and Guangzhou in Guangdon Province, China."
So there you have it! It was actually a really awesome place to go if you just wanted somewhere to meditate or read (alas, you have to pay for this pleasure). They had various little stops along this path that signified something. I liked this Moongate the best... there's nothing too extraordinary about it except I just liked the shape.
To quote the lovely pamphlet I got: "Initiated by the local Chinese community to celebrate Australia's 1988 Bicentenary, the Chinese Garden is the result of a close friendship and cooperation between the sister cities of Sydney and Guangzhou in Guangdon Province, China."
So there you have it! It was actually a really awesome place to go if you just wanted somewhere to meditate or read (alas, you have to pay for this pleasure). They had various little stops along this path that signified something. I liked this Moongate the best... there's nothing too extraordinary about it except I just liked the shape.
Next I tried to take a picture of myself using my automatic timer... Fun fact, it's kind of embarrassing to be caught taking pictures of yourself! I guess I felt a little self-conscious, because as I was taking the picture someone came strolling up and I felt a little odd just sitting there taking a photo of myself and reacted. I have no idea why. The result was this photo, haha.
There was also a part of the garden called the Rock Forest, which is based on an ancient Chinese poem called The Dancing Maiden Ashima and the Landlord. The actual story wasn't written down anywhere, but I'm sure you can google as well as I can. At any rate, the story is told by these rocks... I guess the end result of the story was the spirit of Ashima was turned into a dancing rock.
After that, I left and explored the Chinatown part of Sydney. It was very intimidating because suddenly everything was written in Chinese and I had no idea what some of the stuff was. I might go back later on and give it a closer look. I went into the local mall there and bought some sort of scarf. The styles here are definitely interesting (sometimes really bad), I must say. Some of the things the kids here (particularly the Asian ones) put together are things I would never have considered. I want to buy a dress or something and bring it back to wear because some of them were pretty cool looking. I also tried my first hot cross bun! It was basically a cinnamon-raisin roll. Not sure what the big deal with them is, haha.
Ghost Tour
I then went to the ghost tour! It was in the Rocks again, and it wasn't so much about ghosts as it was about murders and weird events about living people. Actually, I don't think I heard much of anything about hauntings. Sad! But I did learn a few creepy stories about people getting murdered and a little about the history of the area. The best part was that each person on the tour got a little necklace with some sort of knick-knack that symbolized a character you were going to be. I was some sort of strict boarding house keeper who found her tenant with his penis chopped off (he did it himself because he felt guilty about having an affair while his wife/child were back in Greece!). The other cool part was that we got to go into this really creepy dig-site underneath a building. The city was going to excavate the area and turn it into a carpark (parking lot for us Americans) but they found the remains of an old cottage or something. When we went into it, it was dark and all we had was our flashlights! I took a picture of it.
And that's it, folks! We shall see what the rest of the weekend holds... I'm thinking of going to the Blue Mountains but am not quite sure.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The Zoo
Today was a LONG day... went to the zoo, a Chinese Garden of Friendship and a ghost tour! As such, I'm pretty tired so I'll just write about the zoo for right now and save the rest of it for tomorrow. I also ate kangaroo today. It tasted and looked like steak, so maybe someone did one over on me...
The zoo I'm referring to is the ever famous Taronga Zoo. I was able to snag the student discounted price, thankfully, because it's expensive! Well, it might not be for zoo prices but I haven't been to a zoo in so long I'm not sure what their going rate is. Either way, I was sadly disappointed to find out that I CANNOT HOLD A KOALA BEAR! Apparently it is illegal to do so in New South Wales or outside of a zoo in other parts of Australia. Laaame. I was allowed to take a picture near a koala, but I had to pay $20 for that and I was not about to do so. What's the difference when I can just as easily stand close to one in the actual koala bear exhibit? Also, I wasn't really allowed to go near kangaroos, so no funny pictures of me almost getting punched/kicked by one. :( Really, that was the main reason I went to the zoo in the first place -- should have done my research!
At any rate, I did get some good pictures of some native Australian species...
...the ever present Australian school child! These particular species were pretending that the seal was their girlfriend, or so I gathered by one of them yelling, "This is my girlfriend!"
Enough jokes, friends, on to the pictures! I took a bunch at the zoo but I'll create a photo album for you to look at later because my internet is slow and it's taking too long.
This little wallaby was sitting in this enclosed pathway... I think I was the first person in there because it quickly ran away. I tried to get a picture with it in the background but it was a failure. :(
A Tazmanian Devil! They are actually a little scary looking. And just when my medical school friends thought they would never use histology in real life, they actually had a slide as pictured --
I guess the common Aussie must be smarter than I think if they would include something like this in a zoo display! It's about this type of cancer that Tazmanian Devils get (Devil Facial Tumor Disease) that they can spread to each other just by touching! Luckily it doesn't go to humans.
And I inserted this video because it was like Harry Potter with this snake going right for me!
A later snake was shown with its dinner. So gruesome... I also took a picture of a Komodo Dragon for your visual pleasure:
And last but not least, here is a picture of a Wollemia nobilis, a plant that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. I guess people thought it was extinct until the Australian species was discovered. I included this for my botany-minded friend Alison, haha.
And that's it for post 1 of 2! Tomorrow I'll keep you enthralled with the stories of the rest of my day...
The zoo I'm referring to is the ever famous Taronga Zoo. I was able to snag the student discounted price, thankfully, because it's expensive! Well, it might not be for zoo prices but I haven't been to a zoo in so long I'm not sure what their going rate is. Either way, I was sadly disappointed to find out that I CANNOT HOLD A KOALA BEAR! Apparently it is illegal to do so in New South Wales or outside of a zoo in other parts of Australia. Laaame. I was allowed to take a picture near a koala, but I had to pay $20 for that and I was not about to do so. What's the difference when I can just as easily stand close to one in the actual koala bear exhibit? Also, I wasn't really allowed to go near kangaroos, so no funny pictures of me almost getting punched/kicked by one. :( Really, that was the main reason I went to the zoo in the first place -- should have done my research!
At any rate, I did get some good pictures of some native Australian species...
Enough jokes, friends, on to the pictures! I took a bunch at the zoo but I'll create a photo album for you to look at later because my internet is slow and it's taking too long.
And I inserted this video because it was like Harry Potter with this snake going right for me!
A later snake was shown with its dinner. So gruesome... I also took a picture of a Komodo Dragon for your visual pleasure:
And last but not least, here is a picture of a Wollemia nobilis, a plant that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. I guess people thought it was extinct until the Australian species was discovered. I included this for my botany-minded friend Alison, haha.
And that's it for post 1 of 2! Tomorrow I'll keep you enthralled with the stories of the rest of my day...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Oh yeah...
Australians apparently like to conserve electricity. I can't quite decide if this is just my host family or if this is even including young people, but when I do my laundry I have to hang it out to dry! So weird... I mean, they do have a dryer but their thinking is to only use that if you absolutely have to. It was funny because my host lady was telling me a story of how weird it was that this one American couple automatically put their clothes in the dryer with no attention paid to the fact that it was sunny outside (and could therefore be put on the line!).
Ahh, silly Americans! ;)
Ahh, silly Americans! ;)
Australian Language
Fact: Australians are lazy and abbreviate a lot of words. This makes me laugh, naturally (Obvi! Don't be totes ridic!). Below are a few terms I've picked up:
1. Arvo - afternoon (got this one in a text from the Australian Carpenter, not sure if it's used very often cuz when I mention it other Australians they have to think about it a bit)
2. Aggro - Joel, they actually say this in regular conversation!! All I can think is that WoW quote ("Skinning a bear should aggro every bears in a 40 yard radius. It makes sense you are actually skinning their best friend.") My host guy said something like, "Sometimes the people at the games get so aggro!"
3. Sunnies - Sunglasses
4. Digger - Australian soldier
5. "Candy" is not a word in Australian lingo! They call all candy "lollies" -- but this seems to only refer to candy that is not chocolate.
6. Coffee is not really a specific drink, but rather an overall term for any caffeinated, hot beverage. When I tried to order a coffee, the waitress said, "What kind?" I gave her a blank stare and thought to myself, "What kind?! The regular kind!" I now just order the cappuccino.
7. Hot cross buns are in right now and apparently only sold around Easter time. I think they're basically sweet biscuits with fruit in them. I want to try one to make sure, though.
In stereotypical terms, they do say "mate" and "no worries". They also greet people with "How ya going?". And if you've done something good, they say, "Good on ya." Also they are strangely sensitive to someone with "my" accent possibly being from Canada -- when they meet me they ask, "Are you American or Canadian?"
And that's it for today... going to the zoo tomorrow so get ready for a fun koala/kangaroo picture! Haha! Also I think I'm going to do a ghost tour tomorrow night, because we all know my fascination with ghosts. :)
1. Arvo - afternoon (got this one in a text from the Australian Carpenter, not sure if it's used very often cuz when I mention it other Australians they have to think about it a bit)
2. Aggro - Joel, they actually say this in regular conversation!! All I can think is that WoW quote ("Skinning a bear should aggro every bears in a 40 yard radius. It makes sense you are actually skinning their best friend.") My host guy said something like, "Sometimes the people at the games get so aggro!"
3. Sunnies - Sunglasses
4. Digger - Australian soldier
5. "Candy" is not a word in Australian lingo! They call all candy "lollies" -- but this seems to only refer to candy that is not chocolate.
6. Coffee is not really a specific drink, but rather an overall term for any caffeinated, hot beverage. When I tried to order a coffee, the waitress said, "What kind?" I gave her a blank stare and thought to myself, "What kind?! The regular kind!" I now just order the cappuccino.
7. Hot cross buns are in right now and apparently only sold around Easter time. I think they're basically sweet biscuits with fruit in them. I want to try one to make sure, though.
In stereotypical terms, they do say "mate" and "no worries". They also greet people with "How ya going?". And if you've done something good, they say, "Good on ya." Also they are strangely sensitive to someone with "my" accent possibly being from Canada -- when they meet me they ask, "Are you American or Canadian?"
And that's it for today... going to the zoo tomorrow so get ready for a fun koala/kangaroo picture! Haha! Also I think I'm going to do a ghost tour tomorrow night, because we all know my fascination with ghosts. :)
Monday, April 4, 2011
Really weird quiz
My result seems odd... I don't think it really describes me (I'm not sure I think of myself as "emotionally volatile") but I tried to change some of my answers and got the same thing. Either way, I thought I'd forward this thing along -- only 20 questions!
http://www.hypnoid.com/psytest2.html
You are in a perpetual quest to find the new, the exciting. Emotionally volatile, you are known for sudden changes of opinion, of appreciation, and behavior. Following rules and established methods is difficult for you and the difficulties of higher education are usually quite daunting. Knowledge is best gained through an intimate association with the matter at hand. Usually driven by attitudes and desires of the group, you are talented in an established field of endeavor. Emotions come and go without a strong understanding of their causes. They are unexpected guests in an otherwise placid landscape. You live by your own codes of conduct, which can be noble or terrible depending on the individual. Authority is meaningless to you. You hate to be predictable, at all costs. Rarely verbally effusive, you can at times feel as if your feelings are too deep for words. You are very observant, but rarely express these observations to others.
http://www.hypnoid.com/psytest2.html
You are in a perpetual quest to find the new, the exciting. Emotionally volatile, you are known for sudden changes of opinion, of appreciation, and behavior. Following rules and established methods is difficult for you and the difficulties of higher education are usually quite daunting. Knowledge is best gained through an intimate association with the matter at hand. Usually driven by attitudes and desires of the group, you are talented in an established field of endeavor. Emotions come and go without a strong understanding of their causes. They are unexpected guests in an otherwise placid landscape. You live by your own codes of conduct, which can be noble or terrible depending on the individual. Authority is meaningless to you. You hate to be predictable, at all costs. Rarely verbally effusive, you can at times feel as if your feelings are too deep for words. You are very observant, but rarely express these observations to others.
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