Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Dear all,
About a month and a half down the road from my last blog update and quite a bit has changed in between. First of all, it’s no longer 37C outside (100F) but about -20C (-4F), I’m no longer in the Southern Hemisphere but in the Red Square, and I’ve accumulated more air miles in the last month than I have in the last few years combined.

Between then and now I’ve:

-->Finished off the semester at Macquarie with good results;

-->Gone to Melbourne and experienced living with a wonderful Australian family who I happened to meet in the Sydney Aquarium;

-->Spent an awesome post-finals week with Alicia in Tasmania oystering, snorkelling, and fishing;

-->Brought my count of airports I’ve spent the night in to three: Melbourne airport, leather couch near the baggage pick-up, pleasant chat with a Canadian backpacker around 3am;

-->Arrived in Sydney with 30 hours to final departure and turned in my internship work, cleaned the apartment, returned Katie’s sneakers, retrieved snorkelling gear, had a lovely goodbye evening at Manly with friends who I am busy missing, proved my hard-earned sea legs by winning a “standing on one leg on a moving boat” contest with Jonas the whale photographer, crammed four and a half months of my life into two 23 kg suitcases, said goodbye to my wonderful Sydney apartment and flatmates, made it to the Sydney Airport thanks to Jai, had my Vegemite stolen by the unfriendly security officials, bought some more Vegemite, boarded the plane… and… said goodbye to Australia. Four and a half months went by in a heartbeat.

26 hours later I was being hugged and lifted off the ground by my now extremely tall and handsome brother at 1am and without further ado, except for a short stop at Taco Bell, I was walking through the door of my 307 Ritchie Pkwy home to the sound of excessive tail-wagging and purring.

The next 6 days were spent catching up with Cody who came to visit for a wonderfully long 5 day weekend, conducting wedding planning research in Barnes and Noble, celebrating our third year anniversary in Tono, decorating the Christmas tree, and visiting all of the studying minds at UMD busy worrying about finals. I also managed to slip in a second attempt at Shrimp Scampi, in continuation of my gradual attempt to learn to cook “real people” food, and am proud to say that attempt #2 was much better than attempt #1. If Zdiska is reading this, I just want you to know that: no, the garlic did not turn bright blue this time☺

And now, now I’m in Moscow. Today I just returned from visiting the Moscow State University (MGU) with Jenya where she studies. Much more than a normal university campus, the main building (glavnoie zdaniya) reminds one of a beautiful fortress complete with statues, a wide circular driveway illuminated in light and suggestive of a history of horse-drawn carriages, and a fortuitous and awe-inspiring silhouette against the grey winter sky. Jenya craftily planned a way to sneak me past all of the security guards by lending me her friend’s student ID card, and so I got to see what being a student at this beautiful university must be like. We walked through marble halls, past small cafes and stands selling pens and notebooks, through dark halls with the outlines of anonymous busts emerging from the shadows, up the marble stairs where we came across a couple waltzing in a long empty hall, and into the student cafeteria which was complete with rose designs on the ceilings. The food was pretty good as well, especially for cafeteria food. Very typical Russian. I had fresh borsht, potatoes and a katleta, a slice of cake with red current berries on top, and compot (a Russian juice like beverage made by letting fruit from the summer sit in 3-L glass jars of water until it turns into a delicious juice). In fact, you are almost guaranteed to find jars of compot sitting in any Russian house you may walk into; we have about 10. Speaking of compot, Jenya and I ended up with five cups between the two of us, due to a miscalculation of “diner points.”

Well, I’m going to finish off here for now to keep this from getting too long. Enjoy this first album of my life in Moskva:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032968&id=1125810475&l=12beb9fe59


Finally, I’d also like to wish everyone a Merry Merry Christmas! Even though no one really celebrates it here, I’m still feeling the Christmas cheer and wishing everyone a wonderful cozy morning of sitting around the tree with the family and opening presents. Hope you all get everything that you wished for!

Much love,
Tashi

Surfing the Highs and the Lows

Dear all,
It's been about a month now since I last updated my blog and I sincerely apologize! Honestly, so much has happened that I'm not even sure where to begin.

I returned from my spring break trip around the beginning of October. The trip was really wonderful and definitely gave me a chance to get a "feel" for Australia. My lasting impression is that Australia is a land of few people and a great deal of space. We spent the majority of our time in small towns where the main strip would only be a few blocks, with the major commercial industry being tourism. I can't even begin to imagine what the rest of Australia must be like if what I saw during my travels was the popular East Coast. I plan to put up a much more complete blog entry for the Spring Break trip as soon as I get my photos and everything else organized again. I took over 1,000 during the trip, so I'm sure there must be some good ones in the mix:p They are coming, I promise:)

However, as soon as I came back from Spring Break the work pace really picked up (the profs are of the opinion here that mid-semester break is our chance to do all the work for the entire semester), so I spent the next week glued to the computer screen working until... having finished a few assignments, I took a 10 minute break to go to the grocery store and came back to find that my hard drive had crashed. Yep, just like that. Nothing was different, except that my computer would only greet me with a gray screen, an unhappy little folder with a question mark on it, and a very subtle clicking noise. That was definitely a low. I spent the next day running around the city to every Mac store and data recovery center I could find. The verdict was that the needle thing that reads the hard drive "got stuck," and it would cost $2400 to recover my data and take about 2-4 weeks. So, basically I lost the 2500 word report that I had just finished, 3 months of internship work and the last 4 months of photos I had taken. And my computer for that week. And I had four more assignments due that week. Basically, it was a horrific week. My life revolved around the biology computer lab at that point. At least, my professors and Megan (my internship boss) were very understanding, and I had just given all the other people on my Spring Break trip all my photos earlier that day, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

But, that low eventually ended because I finally got all my assignments finished and then Cody came to visit on the 23rd. The first thing we did was rent a car and drive down to Jervis Bay (2.5 hours south of Sydney along a beautiful coastal drive) where we had a cute little cabin rented for the weekend. The next morning we got up early and hopped aboard a dive boat for a brilliant dive in the chilly Pacific waters. On the dive we got to swim in a cave, saw a small shark and some awesome rock formations, and reached a max depth of 94 feet (the deepest we've ever gone by far). Apart from the dive, just the journey out to the dive site was worth the trip because we spent about an hour cruising past absolutely beautiful cliffs that cut up into the sky and resembled thrones for some lucky sea gods. The crew aboard the boat was also really nice and served us hot tea, chicken soup, and cheese and crackers to warm us up between dives, and we got to see some Australian fur seals up close (very cool!) Other than that, we just relaxed, caught up on the last few months, and explored the countryside (even meeting a few wallabys along the way).

Then, back to the city we went on Sunday, in the pouring rain, which continued Sunday and Monday. The week was planned to cram about as much of Sydney as would fit in five days time, and, though things didn't always go as planned, we managed to fit in the majority of it while also having time to relax and spend some time hanging out at my apartment. The highlights were definitely: #1 Finally being able to spend time together again, #2 Seeing a spectacular production of Wicked in the Capitol Theater with Katie and Cody, #3 Exploring Darling Harbour from pub to pub as the sun went down, buying Cody a beer, and laughing while watching someone's not so successful attempt to propose in the sky, #4 Cooking up our own kangaroo steak dinner and enjoying it with my roommates Zdiska and Juho, #5 Going to Bondi for the last night and introducing Cody to the Bondi boys, surfing, and moonlit cliff parties #6 Crepe parties in the Parklands, #7 Having Cody be an official volunteer aboard the whale watching boat (though the whales were pretty boring that day), #7 Making Cody a wrap and fresh juice at my sandwich place #8 Introducing Cody to coffee Oz-style #9 Strolling through beautiful sunlit days in Sydney and watching 500 Days of Summer, and #10 Even all the transit time spent in the buses, trains, and walking to and from my apartment weren't so bad because we got to be together. So, that was our action packed week summed up in one happy run-on sentence, and it was extremely difficult letting Cody go back on the plane this morning. It is a little better knowing that I'll be back home in just a few more weeks.

The story continues though, because after we said goodbye and I returned home, I realized that Cody still had my apartment keys and computer charger which had been forgotten about in the early morning rush to make it to the airport. So, now begins the busy week during which I will have to make do without a computer charger and without keys, until I can get them mailed back. And, I can already see just from today that it will be quite stressful (given that I've already been locked out twice). But, then again, here I am, a glass or red wine in hand, finally reupdating my blog after borrowing a friend's charger for the night, an absolutely wonderful week behind me, and about 3,000 whale tail photos to go before me. I'm pretty confident though, that life is meant to have its highs and lows, and, as long as you're tactful and keep things in perspective, even the lows are maneuverable. So, I'm just going to keep surfing and taking things as they come.

I'm also, almost done with the semester. The upcoming week is really my last major week of classes, and this week I'll be going to the zoo and the Sydney Aquarium for class. I'm also 90% done with my Global Leadership Program and just have one more seminar to attend this Wednesday to finish and get the certificate. Also, Megan is back from Tonga, so now I'm going to be out on the whale watching boat every Monday 9-5, conducting trials with the humpbacks. It's beginning to feel like things are wrapping up here. I know I'm really going to miss Sydney and all the wonderful people I've met here when I leave, but, I am really excited to come back home as well.

I'll wrap this up for now, but, the next blog entry should come much much sooner, hopefully by the end of this week.

Much Love,
Tashi

PS. I really appreciated receiving phone calls from my entire family on my birthday! No matter where you are, the best place to spend your birthday is always with your family, and all of the phone calls made me feel like I wasn't that far away. Thank you. It really made my day.

Expert Sandwich Maker On Demand

Dear all,

This will be a short blog entry, but I just wanted to let you all know that... I GOT A JOB!!! My friend Alex was recently hired at a new sandwich shop that just opened up two weeks ago, and when I told him I was looking for a job, he said that he would ask his manager for me. So, on Monday, she told him that she would like to meet me, and so on Tuesday I went to work with him, brought my resume and all expecting an interview, but instead got hired right on the spot:) About five minutes after meeting me, the manager (Marina) handed me a stack of fliers and said, "Okay, great, now go down the street and hand these out until 12:30 and then I'll teach you to make some sandwiches."

I was actually never taught to make a sandwich, just at one splendid moment between cutting bread and slicing tomatoes, Marina looked at the long line of people and looked at me and said "Go" and I made my very first Salmon and Avocado sandwich for a customer. I must say, it looked quite pretty when I was done:)

But, yes, that's my job now. I'm going to be working lunch hours Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays (11:30-3:30) at least until Megan (the grad student I'm working with) gets back from Tonga in the middle of October. After that, I'll have to cut it down to one or two days a week since I'll be working out on the boat with her. But, it feels so good to be employed! Yippee!

It is a bit ironic that my job is fixing other people food, since I have such a hard time just fixing some for myself:p On the other hand, we get to take all of the extra food home at the end of the day, so that means that I don't have to do as much cooking:) Best of both worlds, don't you think?

I am starting to get that whispering feeling that somewhere between the full schedule, the internship, the social life, and now the job, I may have undertaken just a tad too much. But, at the moment, everything is going splendidly, and I'm crossing my fingers that as long as I'm organized, I can keep all the balls flying without dropping anything along the way. Basically, I'm training for the circus:)

Yep, that's all for me. Hip hip hurray for employment!

<3 Tashi

PS. An extraneous bit of information. Today I finally gathered the courage to talk to my Marine Birds and Mammals professor, Dr. Rob Harcourt. Yes, it has been about 6 weeks, AND this is uncharacteristic of me because I strike up conversations left and right, AND I went to every single lecture... And still never gathered the nerve to actually talk to him. I've realized that I get very intimidated striking up a conversation with people who I think are really awesome, as silly as that is, and this guy is really awesome! What made it even more intimidating was that way back in March I sent him a good 3 page letter explaining how great I am and why he should take me on as an intern:p (which is how I ended up getting the position with the humpbacks, so it all worked out for the best), but I was too worried to actually introduce myself until today. However, that fear has now been vanquished. Except, I think I forgot to mention my name somewhere between all the words about seals, whales, and scalpels (we dissected fish today). Oops.

A Most Amazing Day

Dear all,
Today I went on an adventure to the Hunter Valley with a few friends and had one of my best days here so far!

I went with Kamil and Urka (two Czech boys who I will be going on my spring break trip with), Katie (who you've met before from the Bondi tales), and Rachel (a Swiss girl from Bern who I didn't know before the trip but became fast friends with during it).

(Katie and me 9am, still sleepy, in the van)

(Rachel, post wine tasting)

(Kamil end of the day)

(Urka in the back of the van)
The trip was all very spontaneous, mentioned in passing on Friday and agreed upon, however, it seemed to take on a life of its own and blossomed into something greater than we could have planned if we tried.

First, let me tell you a little bit about Hunter Valley. It's located about 2-3 hours to the northwest of Sydney and is famous for its wealth of vineyards (over 100 different private wine cellars in about a 30 mile radius). Apart from the wine, there are also olive groves there and cheese, chocolate, and olive oil factories and stores. Probably the best part of Hunter Valley, is that all sampling (including wine tasting) is absolutely free and encouraged (even for uni students trying to feign knowledge of good wine).

My trip began this morning with an 8am wake up and a short walk over to the boys' place down the road where we all met up and were introduced to Rachel and her car, a 1991 beauty with inspirational quotes in French and English, that I fell in love with.

You might laugh to know that when Rachel bought it, it came loaded with just about everything you might want (a surfboard, fishing pole, kitchen utensils, a full bed, snorkeling gear, the list goes on). So, we clambered in: Rachel driving (seated on the right), Urka as the navigator on the left, and Kamil, Katie, and me sprawled out on the bed in the back. And so started our adventure as we merrily bounced along while listening to old rock tunes on the radio.

Soon we found ourselves driving through an idyllic countryside of mountains in the distance, golden sunlight, and vineyards as far as the eye could see.
Welcome to Hunter Valley, where an extremely nice lady at the welcome center provided us with: a) a map of the whole region, b) a scorecard for how to sample wines and remain under the legal driving limit, and c) directions for how to get off the beaten path. And off we went:)

(After receiving a free wine tour around Tyrrell's Vineyard and drinking some delicious Port)
About five hours, 30 wines, multiple cheese, olive, chocolate samples, and a free wine tour of a vineyard, later we were sitting on the grass watching the sunset over a 360 degree view of the valley. We bought a bottle of wine to share from the nearby vineyard, pulled out a large blanket, and picnicked on our remaining cheese, chocolate, fudge and wine while happily watching the sky get darker around us.

(Picnicking at the day's end)
When it finally got too cold, we packed up, climbed into the van, Rach' driving with Katie as the copilot and me with the boys in the back. We picked a slightly different road going back and spent the next three hours bumping along through the woods on a windy road. Somewhere between gazing out the window, listening to music and voices, I drifted off to sleep with the feel of the road beneath me. The best way to fall asleep in my opinion.

But, the adventure wasn't over yet! Next thing you know, we're passing a pub in the middle of basically nowhere that's bright, loud, and filled with people. Upon seeing that it was called Dr. Jurd's Jungle Juice, we decided to pull over and see just what it was all about. The locals at the bar were great, and I struck up a conversation with them (of which I'm still not sure what was actually true) but they did show me where the Southern Cross was. Finally! I've been trying to find the constellation ever since I came here, and it's even on the Australian flag, but it's quite hard to find in the sky, especially if you don't know where to look. I was also introduced to Jack, a tame dingo who lived at the pub (a dingo is a wild dog native to Australia).
The locals also told me a story about a woman who's baby was stolen by a dingo, and said that Jack was a direct descendant of that dog (at which point I started smiling and nodding and stopped believing:p ) In exchange for all their wisdom, I took a photo of the locals to remember them by (true blue Ozzies), and off we went back to Sydney.
Basically, the day felt like it came straight out of a dream. It was nice to get out of Sydney and see a little more of Australia. I'm really looking forward to Spring Break which is coming up in two weeks and getting to celebrate my birthday during the break! The plan is to travel all the way up the coast, finishing in Cairns (at the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef). I'm going with Zdiska, Urka, Kamil, Ivy, and Elyse (who we're meeting in Brisbane!) We're getting a bus pass so that we can get on and off whenever we want, and in two weeks end up in Cairns (city known for its diving, opals, and diamonds). The journey will be about 2,730 km or 1,695 miles. For the first time in my life, I will truly be a backpacker. I'm excited! :)

Other than that, in the last two weeks I've: seen an Australian Football League game (awesome!), explored a little more of the nightlife around Sydney (Cargo Bar), went back out on the whale watching boat but saw only turbulent seas (need better sea legs!) and a few beautiful dolphins, danced to 90s music at the Ubar, explored more of Sydney (Hyde Park and the New South Wales Art Gallery), saw the downside of field research (doing invertebrate surveys on the beach in the pouring rain), finished all the novels I brought with me and moved onto a book about Marine Mammal identification that I borrowed, turned in a bunch of assignments and received good marks (I am doing uni too!), went on a night photoshoot of Sydney with Jonas, learned about cricket and was introduced to Bollywood over dinner with Hassan and Benjamin, and picked up a few basketball skills (we play every Saturday). That's pretty much all I can think of. I've also spent the last two weeks trying to get rid of this cold once and for all, but I have the feeling that they never go away here. At least I'm not feeling bad anymore, I just have the remnant cough, and a glass of hot milk with honey before bed fixes that up pretty well.

Okay, well, I must be off to do some more work for my internship. I've also got a seminar on "Aboriginal Australians" tonight. I don't think I mentioned this previously (because even Cody didn't know), but I joined the Global Leadership Program here. It's basically a program that you complete outside of your classes, like 30 hours of really interesting seminars. I've already gone to three: one on Terrorism and Counter Terrorism, one on Public Speaking, and one on the International Political Economy (which I knew zero about before going). The seminars are quite interesting and make me feel a little more rounded since most of what I'm learning in classes is all biology based. And, I get to think of myself as a "Global Leader" when I get the certificate at the end. Yay! :p

Yep, well that's all for me. Hope you enjoy the photos. Here's an album from the last two weeks: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024788&id=1125810475&l=074da2aa62

I'll put up a full album from Hunter Valley when I have some more time. But hopefully the photos in the post will give you a good idea of what it was like. The family can also look forward to some delicious wine when I return! :)
Thanks for reading! Till next time!
<3 Tashi

Beware the Gull Factor

Hello all,
I thought I would write a short little update about something quite funny that happened to me the other week.

Last Friday, I was going to Darling Harbour to meet Scott (my friend from the plane) for lunch. Everything was going as planned, except that two minutes into beginning to catch up, I felt something very warm unexpectedly land in my hand. Yep, if you're think "oh s**t..." you're on the right track. 20 years and multiple beach opportunities later, I had finally gotten pooped on by a gull in one of the fanciest areas of Sydney with lunch yet to go. Some people consider getting "targeted" by a bird "lucky." I felt otherwise.

With only one thought in mind, I made a straight beeline for the nearest bathroom, which was in a fancy restaurant facing out to the Harbour. Attempting to look as composed as possible with a handful of poop, I soon found myself standing in a hallway of magic mirrors trying to find the bathroom door. Between the bouncing reflections, I finally spotted an opening with a sink on the other side and headed straight for it. I stepped up to the sink only to be confounded by an impossibly complex faucet. Certainly, it was a day full of challenges.

Then, an amused voice behind me said, "Excuse me Ma'am?." I slowly looked up to the mirror to find many bewildered male faces staring back. In my hurry to get to the sink, I hadn't given any notice to the other people in the bathroom... And, yes, I still hadn't dealt with the "problem" on my hands.

Well, to keep it short, I'll let you know that I finally did manage to find the women's bathroom and wash my hands, but not without further difficulties. By the time I came out from my adventure 10 minutes later, Scott was looking a bit worried. What a great re-introduction, don't you think? Later, I received a text message saying: "Watch out for the gulls."

**Photo credit for the above photo goes to Jonas. He's the photographer on the Whale Watching boat I will be working on. To see some other wonderful images and keep up with whale watching adventures, take a look at his blog: http://www.whalewatchingsydney.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_idoblog&view=idoblog&Itemid=81&lang=en

Days in the Sun

Hello all,
First I'd like to say, thanks for all the comments and compliments! I appreciate them greatly! Secondly, I'm keeping this short today on accounts of possibly having caught swine flu. Or more likely just the common cold, but either way I'm feeling a bit under the weather.

The last week and a half can most accurately be represented by thoughts of sunlight. The spring is finally arriving here, and the weather is turning even more beautiful (if that's possible). I was wondering for a while what spring would be like here, since everything is still green and relatively warm in the winter. Now, I've discovered that it's greeted in by the rustle of a plethora of lizards at every corner and the sweet honey fragrance of flowers on every block. Walking outside feels like a dream.

Everything that I do here seems to be connected to the beach (including classes and studying!) Last weekend we went on a half day cruise to collect sediment samples from Port Hacking for my Marine Geoscience class. My friend and I had the luck of getting to pull up the sample that contained the most "organic matter," meaning we were basically up to our elbows in black smelly mud:p It was also great to see how excited both our professor and our Tutorial leader (Sarge) were about the lab. They were right there with us, hauling samples, sorting mud, and talking excitedly about different sand compositions:) We also caught a large numb ray (a stingray that produces slight electric shock) by absolute chance, and then had the opportunity of watching all the boys touch it and get shocked in turn. Quite comic:)

Furthermore, last Monday, my friend Katie and I were talking about spending a whole day studying and reading for our classes, and came up with the genius idea of going to Manly Beach and studying there. Manly Beach is the competitive contestant to Bondi Beach for best beach in Sydney, and more than lives up to its reputation. You might think that this plan was a ploy to do no work and just watch the surfers, however, we actually got quite a good deal of work done, and I learned all about human evolution and the early primates while also processing all of my Vitamin D:)

Then, on Thursday, for my Temperate Marine Biology class, we went to the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) and conducted a species survey on the benthic communities in areas of sandy sediment VS areas with seagrasses. There was also a minor red tide event, which got me pretty excited (dorky, I know) and made me think about my wonderful Team BREATHE back home. Basically the lab consisted of wading around in the water, taking core samples of the sand, and analyzing them for species richness and diversity. I had a great time out there and managed to catch a fancy nudibranch and see a few cuttlefish skirting around. The Australian classmates are also finally beginning to accept me a little more, so that's been a welcome change:) Especially, since on Wednesday of this week, we will be having a practical in the Macquarie pool in which we will all be swimming like marine mammals. Best to be comfortable with people before attempting such a thing:)

So, that's what's been going on with Uni. My Anthropology class is also going splendidly, even though we don't go out to the beach for that:p And the whale photographs are coming along as well, as I work my way through year by year.

Between classes, I've spent two wonderful weekends hanging out in Bondi Beach, surfing with Jonas, Katie and Tony one weekend, and walking the 5km Bondi-Coogee cliff trail the following weekend. Even though it's only been about 4 weeks since I came here, I realize that a) I've absolutely fallen in love with Australia and b) I've learned a lot, both from classes, but even more from outside of class. More philosophizing coming at a later time, it's all brewing right now:)

Also, two new bits of news. First of all, Tommy is starting high school this fall and is going to play on the football team. I am amazed, every day, by my little brother:) And maybe, this will actually get me to go and cheer for a football team. That would be news! Also, Cody just bought his tickets to Sydney and will be spending the last 10 ten days in October here with me! I am beyond excited! If there's anything that could possibly make Sydney better, this would be it!

Okay, signing off to make myself a cup of tea. Hope you enjoy the photographs!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023993&id=1125810475&l=867bcaee68
Much love,
Tashi

"The" Place to Be

Hello all,
I apologize for the gap between this entry and the last one. Starting is always such a daunting task because I never know where to begin. Here are some of the highlights from the last week and a half.

First of all, I am proud to say that I braved the Pacific winter waters and learned how to surf on one of the most famous beaches in Sydney, Bondi Beach. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take me very long to get it and I was able to ride my first wave on about the third try. Having said that, though, I then spent the next hour and a half flying off the board in just about every direction imaginable. It's a striking moment when you realize that you've retrained yourself not to worry about falling, and then even the falling part becomes a bit fun. The water temperature (18C) also didn't feel too awful thanks to Jonas's flatmate lending me his wetsuit. It actually felt really special to be floating out on the board in the clear Pacific waters, surrounded by other surfers, and waiting for the next wave. I'm a bit hooked, I'll admit, and can't wait to be back out on the water (especially once it warms up a bit)!

I've also gotten a chance to experience Sydney's very unique nightlife since I went out to King's Cross (the red light district, where all of the good clubs and bars of Sydney are) last weekend with a few friends. Conclusion: Australians know how to have a good time, no matter what their age. Blocks and blocks of Sydney were awash in light, noise, and multitudes of very dressed up people ranging from their 20's to their 50's. And the party doesn't stop until morning! Most clubs will close at 3:30am, however, if that's too early for you to call it a night, no worries. You can hang out at any of the fast food restaurants and wait until the second club opening at 4:30am, and continue as before, now with a full stomach. Needless to say, it was quite an interesting scene to observe. I felt a bit like I was walking through a zoo of humans, and would like to hear what an anthropologist would say about it all. Furthermore, I also learned to dance to techno for the first time (due to necessity). Basically, to be a great techno dancer you must mimic any random movement (really, ANY movement) and repeat it at least 20 times to the beat while looking like you're really enjoying it. Soon, the people around you will also begin to repeat it. It's pretty funny to watch.

Lastly, the classes here have been a huge highlight! The teaching philosophy is very different and I find it suits me much better. Professors teach the classes based on a the expectation that students will learn if they're interested. Therefore, it feels much more like a mature learning environment, instead of a more crowded version of high school. Furthermore, the age range of the students is much more diverse. I have adults up to the age of 60 in every one of my classes, some who are just there to take a class, others who have decided to pick up another degree. This also means that there is a greater degree of respect and equality between the professors and the students. Also, the students here are (on average) about two-three years older than the American class equivalent since the normal age to start college is 19-20. And college isn't the only path to success here. Post high school, many students go straight into the job market or attend vocational schools, and this is considered an equally good career option. This means that the people who do decide to go to college, actually go to college knowing exactly what they want to pursue. I feel that this is pretty rare in the US since college has become an across-the-board expectation nowadays instead of, say, the unique opportunity that it once was.

Furthermore, my classes here have been absolutely wonderful! I have arrived at the realization that I will probably learn more in this semester than I have over my last four semesters at UMD, which makes me both a bit regretful, but also very grateful for getting to be here this semester. In my Marine Geoscience class I'm learning about the ocean basins and their sedimentation patterns, and this Saturday we will be taking a boat out to an estuarine river and taking sediment samples to analyze. My Temperate Marine Bio class surprised me by sending us out to do a 4 hour coastal species survey on a beach the first day of class. Basically, we counted different organisms (mainly snails) in tidal pools and learned different sampling techniques = AWESOME! In my Marine Birds and Mammals class today, I dissected birds in order to see the anatomical differences between marine and terrestrial birds that allow them to thrive in their respective environments. And, in my Anthropology class we've already ventured into the realm of the "Alien Placenta" :p (I'm sure Alina will know exactly what I'm talking about, but if anyone else wants to know, let me know and I'll be sure to write a bit more about it next time.)

Basically, I'm loving every moment of being here. I just put up a new photo album with photos from the last week and a half and hope you'll take a look. I think some of them turned out quite nice. (I'm taking as many photo tips from Jonas as I can). The album can be found at this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023172&id=1125810475&l=a15a462eb5

Well, that's all for now. I will try and update this blog on a weekly basis with new updates on Mondays (since I don't have any classes then). Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!
<3 -Tashi

PS. I also received my first postcard in a year from my friend in Budapest!! And am now in a postcard writing mood, so send me your addresses!

Tommy Grows Up!

Today, August 2nd, is Tommy's 14th birthday and I decided to make a slideshow of him growing up! It's playing on the right but is very small so click on it to make it larger. It's amazing to think back on all the years, both the good times and the bad, but mostly the funny. Happy birthday Tommy! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you in the little village in Russia that doesn't even exist on the map!
Much love,
Your sis

A Whale of a Tale

Hello all,
I'm finally easing into the pace of life here and beginning to feel less like a tourist and more like a resident of this wonderful city. Yesterday, I was even mistaken for a local and asked for directions:) Quite an achievement, I think.

The reason I'm feeling much more settled in these days is because now I have my internship figured out, my class schedule created, and have the feeling that I can be dropped into just about any crook of Sydney and find my way out to a destination I know. Of course that may be preemptive, since it hasn't been tested (yet).

A little about my internship. Last Monday, I went out to Sydney Harbour to meet Megan Kessler (the graduate student who I will be working for), and she took me along with her on a 3 hour whale watching tour to fully immerse me in the project. I was wonderfully lucky to get the opportunity because, not only, was I able to see two beautiful humpback whales rolling, breaching, and swimming alongside our boat for two hours, but I also got to meet Jonas: the professional whale photographer whose photos I will be working with for the next two months. Ironically enough, my immediate task for this internship is something that I feel like I've been raised to do, crop and photoshop photographs of whale tails:)

Basically, Jonas takes thousands of photographs of humpbacks that migrate past Sydney each year, and each whale can be identified individually by the "fingerprint" on the underside of its tail. My job is to get the perfect "shot" of the tail to enter into a program that will be able to identify the whale based on previous data. So, that will be my task until the middle of October. Once the system is up and running, we'll be able to know if the same whales (out of a population of about 10,000) migrate past Sydney each year or if it is a random distribution each time. After October, the fun job begins:)

For her PhD, Megan is testing whale watching and boat guidelines that dictate how close boats can approach whales, by looking to see how the presence of boats affects the natural migratory behavior of the humpbacks. Right now there are mainly adult humpbacks migrating past Sydney, but in October, the majority of humpbacks will be mothers and their calves. And, that's when I will get to spend a full day a week out on the boat with Megan setting up field experiments to determine how boat interactions affect the whales' behavior. Basically, I'm pretty ecstatic. Also, this Tuesday, Jonas will be giving me Lightroom, an onslaught of whale photos to crop, and teaching me to surf at Bondi Beach, so, it's a pretty sweet deal:)

And, speaking, of "sweet deals," I just got my class schedule yesterday and it looks like I will only have classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, meaning that every weekend is a four day weekend. Unfortunately, that means that my Wednesdays and Thursdays are "jump off a highrise" days because they begin at 9am and go until 6pm or later with practically no breaks, but, I'll suck it up for a four day weekend:) Also, it shouldn't be too bad because all of the classes I'm taking are amazing classes I'm really interested in. I'm enrolled in two upper level marine bio classes (Marine Birds and Mammals and Temperate Marine Biology) and then a Marine Geoscience class and an anthropology course (although, I haven't decided which one yet). From here, it's looking like my best semester yet:)

So, that's the main update for me. Today's my day to sleep, read, swim and write since yesterday I was stuck in the city until an ungodly hour of the night (but it's very safe, so don't worry!) See, I went into the city last night with some friends, for an orientation cruise around the harbour, after which we walked the town for a good 3-4 hours, until we realized around 2am that neither the train nor the buses were running to the University anymore. Ironically enough, we ended up meeting up with a big group of American students from the cruise who were stranded on the town hall steps around 3am, waiting for a bus that wasn't coming until morning. We decided to find another way out though, and caught a bus to a suburb that is "relatively" close to the University (as in, closer than Sydney Central), and then spent the rest of the night walking through the suburbs. One nice thing about this adventure was that I got the chance to appreciate the stars here. It's very strange to look up at the night sky and find it full of constellations you've never seen before. Well, that's what you get for going to the Southern Hemisphere:) But yeah, that's it for me.

I would like to say one last thing though. Today, Cody is getting promoted to Captain! And, I would really appreciate if everyone could give him a really big congratulations (hug, message, email, facebook, anything), since I can't be there to do it in person. It's a sad day to be away for:( Also, less than one year left in the Army, so, that's also something to be happy about!

Here's a funny link about Australia you might enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_TB6onHVE

And, here's the link to some more photos, these with Humpbacks and Sydney at Night:)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022449&id=1125810475&l=b0d3e188a3

Thanks for reading! I will try and update again soon:)
<3 Tashi

Where the Wild Things Are

Hello, all. I've just returned from two days packed full of adventure. Thanks for all of the wonderful photo and blog comments! I love receiving them and it makes writing this a lot more fun:)

So, Sunday, I signed up for an all-day trip to the Blue Mountains and as I was quickly running out of my apartment to catch the bus, I noticed that this day was not like the others. Instead of a sky full of sunshine and bright white clouds, I was greeted by a cold wet wind and a promise of rain. Winter arrives.

The meeting place wasn't very difficult to find. Upon approaching Circular Quay (one of the main areas in Sydney where all of the ferries dock), I saw 10 international students walking around in groups of two and threes, looking a bit like me: lost and unsure. So we banded together, and sure enough, at 8am Brett (our real Aussie tour guide) arrived with a bus full of other international students. So far, I think I've met about 70 international students VS 8 Australians so far.

Warning, "brief" tangent... The international community in Australia is fairly different from that of the US. In the US, it's pretty much expected that immigrants learn English and interact in communities outside of their Indian/Russian/Chinese community. Therefore, even in places like Chinatown or Brighton Beach, you can expect to easily communicate with the people living there in English. Turns out that this is a pretty unique "Melting Pot" way of living. Sydney has a huge international population, however, it's distributed into clusters that don't necessarily have to interact. I've met many people here who are unable to speak English even though they live in an English-speaking country. This makes certain things quite difficult. For example, the area that I live in has a very large Chinese and Korean population, and therefore, all of the telephone poles are covered in Chinese and Korean ads. Yesterday, I was trying to buy a penguin lamp from one of the ads, and upon calling, found that the girl on the other end knew no English. Luckily, a nice Korean girl standing nearby heard me trying to explain myself and offered to translate for me and only then did I find out that the lamp had already been sold. Therefore, I find, once again, that I gain greater and greater appreciation for America's unique culture by traveling outside of its boundaries.

Meanwhile... back on the bus, Brett had stopped us at Sydney's Olympic Park which was constructed for the 2000 Olympic Games with so much determination to be the best and greatest, that after the Games, the city couldn't figure out what to do with it. Now its main use is to house the "Easter Show," a two week event during which farmers bring their cows and produce to display to the public. It's also used for some Rugby games, but the majority of the seats still can't be filled. It makes you think about what happens after the Olympics, like the trash in the streets after a great New Year's celebration.

Next stop: Featherdale Wildlife Center; A place where I wish I could live! Here, I met my first joey (a baby kangaroo), pet an emu, played paparazzi to a wombat, stared at a sleeping koala, listened to the wonderful song of the kookaburra, befriended a cold little wallaby, and ran around for an hour in absolute happiness stopping to feed kangaroos from an ice cream cone. Unfortunately an hour wasn't nearly enough, so I'll be going back there with Cody when he comes to visit. But, instead of telling you how cute all of the wild Australian animals are, I'll let you judge that for yourself:)

Next stop: The Blue Mountains National Park. A bit of trivia: the mountain range gets its name because it is covered in eucalyptus trees whose leaves emit a blue gas when the sun shines on them. Therefore, from a distance, the mountains take on a beautiful blue color. Quite magical! Unfortunately we weren't there on a sunny day and by the time we got out of the bus it was steadily drizzling.

No matter, we still headed off for our bushwalk through the rainforest and got thoroughly soaked, but saw some absolutely beautiful views. All worthwhile in the end. You can judge yourself by looking at the photos. I plan to come back for a weekend hiking trip, sometime around September when it's a little warmer and drier.

After our return to the city, Brett told us about a great backpacker bar called "The Gaff," where we all headed to to dry off. Once there, our hiking group toasted me to my first legal drink in a bar:) We didn't stay there too long, though, because Sunday isn't a big night for the bars and we were all pretty exhausted.

At about 11pm, I finally made it home cold, exhausted, and happy, and fell asleep dreaming about my forthcoming adventures with the humpback whales. More about that tomorrow:)

Check out the pictures that go along with the entry here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022273&id=1125810475&l=cef4921aea

Flying Foxes, and Buses, and Art, Oh My!

"As you know, Andrew Watson was most famous for his nudes and vegetables"
-Tour guide at the Contemporary Museum of Art

G'day mate. Day 3 and I feel like an accomplished almost-Australian. I have bought my first jar of Vegemite, conversed with the cockatoos, met a few indigenous folk, befriended Sydney, explored the artsy outdoor market at the Rocks, relaxed in the sun at the Botanical Gardens, ate a "Tiger" pie at Harry's Cafe de Wheels, and figured out the bus system (more or less). Next thing you know, I will be referring to breakfast as "brekkie."

Today I had the most wonderful day exploring Sydney! I would write all about it, and even venture into the philosophical question of the necessity and meaning of art after spending a very enlightening two hours in the Contemporary Art Museum, however, I have to be back in the heart of Sydney at 8am tomorrow for my Blue Mountains Trip, and will therefore have to hold off. Please forgive the delay and check out the pictures:)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022079&id=1125810475&l=e93959fdd7

Till tomorrow:)

Rough Beginnings

So, yesterday was a MESS, but today was much much better! Yesterday can pretty much be summed up by me running around in a state of absolute confusion. First of all, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay in the apartment complex I had moved into because the rules said that I wasn’t allowed to ever have anyone over (which would have made Cody visiting much more difficult), and that I wasn’t allowed to decorate the walls with anything (impossible for me!), and the flatmates were nowhere to be found. But, if I wanted to cancel the lease, then I had to decide within 24 hours and find myself a new place to live. And, to do that, I would have to get my mobile phone working over here in order to call all of the people who had housing advertisements hanging on every telephone pole. So, with these thoughts in mind, I boldly set out on my first walk to the Macquarie University campus… in the wrong direction.

About forty minutes later, I made it to the beautiful Macquarie campus. I was lucky enough to arrive on a perfect “winter” day, with bright sunlight streaming past fluffy cumulus clouds, a light breeze, and a temperature of about 18C, reminiscent of fall, and warm enough even for me. Everything here seems saturated with a vibrant green light, even though the trees are bare, proof that the grass really is greener “on the other side.” The campus (and Sydney) also has the most amazing variety of wild birds: parrots, cockatoos, white-spotted crows, and ibises that fly around and squawk down at you from the trees, a true cacophony of sound. It feels like you’re in one of those zoo exhibits where you get to walk amongst the animals, quite neat!

By the end of the day, I had finally signed up for a mobile plan, exchanged some money (difficult process!), bought a long distance calling card, ingredients for sandwiches, toilet paper, got rained on, finally felt a little bit more acquainted with the layout of the campus, and gave up on the idea of finding a new apartment since all of the people I called were only able to speak Chinese. With all this in mind, I returned back to my apartment (which took five minutes when going the correct way) and finally met one of my flatmates wearing, to my surprise, a big white facemask.

Meet Shan, age 27, a Chinese translator, who grew up in the most progressive city in China, went to high school in New Zealand, college in Hong Kong, finished her Masters at Macquarie Uni and is currently thinking about breaking up with her boyfriend and figuring out what’s next for her in the future. Well, she doesn’t actually live here, her boyfriend does but he’s in Finland right now, so she’s staying here until he comes back. Turns out that I’m just about the only person who not only read the “Rules Handbook,” but actually thought about following them. Room decorating, here I come.

So, that was yesterday. Quite a difficult first day given the absolute lack of guidance or information, but successful overall in the end. So, I went to sleep in my little half-full room, only to awake in the middle of the night and find someone sitting up across the room and staring at me from the other bed. First thoughts: mirror illusion, criminal?

Nope. Meet Zdislava, age 22, a Masters student in International Relations from the Czech Republic who was mistakenly given the wrong housing envelope and deposited in front of Balaclava Apartments in the middle of the night, to find that, instead of a single room, there were two beds in her room and someone sleeping in one of them. It’s beginning to sound a little like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, no?

Well, clarity comes with the morning light, and day 2 immediately got off to a much better start because now I actually had people to talk to and explore with. To keep it short, today was a great day, between hanging out with Zdiska, attending my first Australian “barbie” (a BBQ), getting to know a bunch of other international students, and being the “expert” on the campus and mall (which completely overwhelmed me yesterday), I had a lot of fun. I’m beginning to feel that this will be a wonderful home for the next few months☺

Last but not least: You’ve probably never considered this but our whole system of doors and escalators is designed based on the pattern of driving on the right side of the road. When you go to the escalator, you immediately go to the escalator to the right. When you go to enter doors with both an entrance and an exit, you immediately go to the door on the right. Think about it next time. Everything is reversed here since people drive on the left side of the road, and I’ve spent the last two days walking into people on escalators and trying to enter buildings through the automatic exit. Learning curve, I’ll figure it out soon. I’ll leave you with that and go and start decorating my room.

Tomorrow: Sydney, here I come!

Landing in Oz

And so the adventure begins. At 6:10 this morning, my plane finally touched down in Sydney, Australia after a fairly smooth 14-hour flight during which I managed to entirely lose Wednesday. On the flight, I sat next to a nice Australian named Scott, who looked like Zac Efron's brother and was returning home from a 5-week road tripping tour of the United States during which he had managed to see more of America than I ever have. Makes you wonder how well you really know the country you’re living in and inspires the need for a “roadtrip, anyone?”… But anyway, we had a fun time exchanging stories and he gave me a good overview of what I have to experience and see while I’m in Sydney. My conclusion: Australians are wonderful people and I can’t wait to immerse myself in their culture!

Once on the ground, everything went smoothly and I quickly made my way through security and found the reception service, which then deposited me, bags and all, in front of my apartment complex, Balaclava Apartments. On first impression, it looks like a great little apartment complex, lush and green with blooming flowers, three story apartment buildings, and a nice indoor pool-Jacuzzi-sauna complex. Also, to my delight, my “flat” was on the third floor and had a large balcony with a great view of everything. No flatmate sightings yet, but I hope to meet them soon.

So, I now have an official address here, feel free to write me or ask for postcards from Oz!

Natalya Savranskaya

110/188 Balaclava Rd

Marsfield NSW 2122

PS. Pictures will be included shortly.

PPS. Thanks to all the people who were able to make it to my dinner! It was really nice seeing all of you!