Submitted by Jennie Walls on the 2017 winter session program in Australia sponsored by the Department of Behavioral Health & Nutrition…
I anticipated Australia to be slightly different. For some reason, I had this idea that there would be kangaroos hopping around everywhere. I guess I didn’t realize that we would be staying in the city and kangaroos are not going to run the streets. I researched that there are more kangaroos than there are people so maybe that is why I had this irrational perception of Australia. During this first week, we have had many opportunities to explore the city. We visited the Queen Victoria Market, Federation Square, Lygon Street, Brighton Beach, St. Kilda Beach, and Ethiad Stadium. Items at the market varied widely from souvenirs to fruits and vegetables at an affordable and reasonable price. This market place is similar to a farmers market in America, but this market is outdoors with hundreds of tables set up under a huge tent. You could compare it to a flea market, but I believe this place is open 7 days a week whereas in America flea markets are usually open just a few days a week.
While in Federation Square, our group encountered a few individuals that were giving out “Free Hugs.” The idea is to be friendly and show that not everybody is scary. I thought that was interesting. I have seen individuals in NY city with signs that say “Free Hugs” but I always felt like it was a way for them to get money from people for taking pictures. These individuals asked for nothing more than a hug.
Lygon Street is a strip of shops and restaurants. A few students and I had lunch at a restaurant, known as Jimmy Watsons. It was a pretty nice restaurant with an option to sit in a courtyard area full of beautiful plants and flowers. Another student and I ordered a margarita pizza, which is the most similar to cheese pizza from the other options. We went in between classes so we didn’t have much time. I asked the waitress if we could have some boxes to go due to the lack of time. She was quite surprised by my request. The restaurant did not carry boxes for customers to take food home, so she offered aluminum foil to wrap the rest of our pizza. I thought that was interesting because it is so common in America to take leftovers home with us. That was my first encounter, not having to tip the waitress. Dr. Goodwin mentioned that customers do not tip the waitresses here because they are paid well, whereas waitresses in the United States rely on tips for their wages.
I anticipated the beaches to be different, with clear blue water, but that wasn’t the case. I would say the water is not as dark as the Atlantic Ocean, but there were a lot of rocks and seaweed on shore. Brighton Beach was quite basic compared to St. Kilda Beach. St. Kilda has a pier, boardwalk and oceanfront shops and restaurants. This was a beautiful site. While visiting St. Kilda, we waited until after sunset for the penguins to swim up to the breakwater, which is their home. The penguins live in the rocks along the pier. I anticipated a flock of penguins reaching the shore at once, but each of them swam up separately. I was surprised to see one of them jump up the rocks and onto the walking path with us. It is clear that they are use to seeing humans and they do not feel threatened by us.
Lastly, we visited Ethiad Stadium for a 20/20 game of cricket. I was completely unaware of the game of cricket until this experience. It is similar to baseball , but the rules and idea of the game are quite different. Cricket is a very famous sport in Australia. I was informed that American football has become a big deal in Australia as well in the last couple of years. It is interesting to see the differences and comparisons between the two countries. I have learned so much already about Australia and I can’t wait to learn so much more through my future experiences.
