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!