Travelogue#2: Australia

In 2000, during my sophomore year of college, I became intrigued with the notion of studying abroad. Well, I was ALREADY studying abroad, but I began to think of doing it again for another semester. Heck, why not? Of course, I was limited by my language skills...I was barely holding it down in my mandatory Spanish classes that semester, and I didn't have the time or interest to learn a new language. So, if I wanted to study abroad, I was going to have to go somewhere that spoke English. Canada? Not exotic enough. England/Scotland? The UK has never really appealed to me. I should visit at least once to see my family over there, but I don't think I would like an extended stay. Ireland? Hmmmm, that could have worked, but for some reason it didn't cross my mind at the time... What did cross my mind was Australia and New Zealand. Exotic, but not unfamiliar (especially as they are Commonwealth countries like Jamaica), far away that I can really be out of my element, the ability to awe people when I say "yes, I've been to Australia, don't you know" etc. I chose Australia over New Zealand for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Australia admittedly has it going on over New Zealand. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that NZ is a beautiful country and it is definately on my "must see before I die" list...but if you've never been to either place, which place sounds more exciting, or has stuff you've heard about before? I also liked the schools I saw in Australia, but the main reason I chose it was because I had a "foster" mother of sorts down there, named Barb Loman whom I met on an Adventist email forum. She took an interest in me, and was very helpful to me when I was there, I'll never forget it (or her). She's also the reason why I chose Adelaide as my city of interest, as opposed to the expected Sydney or Melbourne.

So, between Jan 2000 and July 2000, I applied for and was accepted to Butler University's Study Abroad program. I chose this program on the advice of Dr. Klingelhoffer (W&L's INTL student advisor at the time) and I have no complaints about their program. I'm sure the others are good in their way, but I highly recommend Butler University's program for anyone who's interested in study abroad. I got my travel grant, started to save up for living expenses, got my student visa, and in January 2001 I went back home to Jamaica to visit for a month before heading out to Adelaide in February 2001. I left from BWI on Feb 6, and flew to Philadelphia, then to Los Angeles to meet with the rest of Butler SA students heading to Australia. We all got on the same 14-hour flight heading to Sydney, then broke up to head to our various cities. Our Adelaide group was split between two universities: the smaller group going to University of Adelaide and the rest (including myself) to Flinders University. We were together for Butler orientation with Cathy Romeo as our co-ordinator. I just have to give props to her, she did an AWESOME job with us! We arrived in Adelaide on Feb 6, and classes didn't start until Feb 21, so we had a lot of time to acclimatize ourselves.

For me to go into detail with what happened for the entire 5 month period would take a book to account, and maybe one day I'll write such a book. I will sum it all up by saying that that semester abroad was the best time I ever spent in college. To me, it was the right mix of people at the right time, and it all just clicked for the most part. It wasn't all perfect all the time, and I had some rough times there too...but the entire experience was one that I wouldn't have changed for the world, and one that changed my whole outlook on life and on myself. If I could go back and change anything, I wouldn't change a thing. Well, I probably would have spent more time hanging out than studying, especially this one time when I had to turn away a welcome guest in order to hit the books. I'm sure that I was under pressure from the books then, but in retrospect...damn, that was a dumb move!!! Still, who knows...

Things I loved about Australia:

1. The people. Before I left, someone was telling me that Australia was a racist society, akin to South Africa in some respects. I've read the history and I agree that all wasn't rosy in their history and there may be some grey spots here and there; but I didn't experience any racism when I was there. Based on the people I met when I was there, I say this without apology: Australians are the coolest people on the planet. Hands down, objectively speaking, they just rock. Friendly, funny, plain-spoken, no frills or airs, what you see is what you get. Aussies of the world, I salute you!
2. Adelaide. It's a big city with a small country town feeling. That's the best description I have of it. It's the third or fouth biggest town in the country, but it feels comfortable and home-like. I could see myself living there.
3. The environment: To have a kangaroo hop out of bushes to within 12 feet of you and watch you watch him is an experience to remember.
4. The people: I have to mention it again :) This time, I would include the schoolmates I met there, but that's for a separate post about my experience. This post is about the country.
5. Low prices. The US dollar was worth about $2 AU, but prices in Australia are numerically comparable (a meal that would cost $5 in the USA would cost about $5 AU in Australia.) So, if you go to australia, don't do what I did and keep some money in the USA. Take it all with you, change it all, and budget.
6. Danish Caramels from Balfour's Bakery. I would import that stuff to Jamaica if I could, in all seriousness. I never had a pastry like that before I went to Adelaide, and I've never had one since I left. I'm here remembering the texture and flavor, and wata come to mi eye. mmmmmmmmmmmm...yeah, I really miss those :(
7. The People (you see a theme coming out here? And remember I'm not really a people person either :D), especially those at Adelaide City church. Will say more about those experiences later.
   

Things I didn't like about Australia:

1. Lack of ice. Call me weird, but don't Australians ever use ice in their drink??? The only time I might have gotten any ice was if I went to a fast food store. Besides that, it seems that the only thing they drink that's non-alcoholic is cordial (aka syrup) and water. Their food is great, and the wine and liquor is very good if you do that sort of thing, but they need to step up for the "dry" people of the world.
2. "Neighbours" and "Home and Away." It takes a lot to beat "Dawson's Creek" for the title of Worst Show Ever, but these two manage to do so.
3. The cafeteria food. The caf workers were nice people, but God only knows what they did to the food, yo. I mean, how can you make RICE unedible? I ate what I could when I could stomach it. All of us on dorm lived for Tuesdays when they had an Asian cook come in for Asian night, because the food was then just a bit above mediocre. Interestingly enough, the Asian students on dorm HATED Tuesdays. Not only was the food borderline for eating, but the caf was closed on weekends, so we had to fend for ourselves those times. There were kitchens on dorm, but funds to buy food to prepare in said kitchens were limited. I had no luck in finding a part time job, and I found myself having to subsist on ramen noodles and cordial on Sundays and some Saturdays, if I was unable to hustle a lunchtime invitation from people at church. To this day, I refuse to eat ramen noodles unless it is the only thing between life and starvation.
4. "Live hard, party harder" seems to be the Aussie motto. I've never seen an official uni orientation where a pub crawl was the focal event, until I went to Flinders. Well, that's a plus for some people, but I'm a square :) besides, it's not healthy.
   
5. Hmmmm...that's pretty much it. Any other negative thing were experience-based. I told you it was a cool country :D

I was hoping to go back to do some further schooling after New Mexico Tech, but it didn't happen...if I ever return to school, I think I'll try to go down there. Highly recommended!