Submitted by Mary Mohr on the 2019 spring semester program in Sydney, Australia…
I’ve been in Sydney, Australia for just under two weeks now and it’s everything I could’ve hoped for and more. I was really nervous coming into it, because I’ve never really traveled before and it’s a long way from home, plus I’ve never been a city person. Sydney is like nowhere I’ve ever been before. After spending the first night getting settled in and orientation the second day, we got to spend our third day here going on a harbor cruise where we were able to eat, drink and get to know everyone in our program. We were able to see the opera house, all the beautiful little beach towns and see the city as a whole. Throughout the weekend, we checked out the nightlife and realized how much nicer people dress and just how loud us Americans can be compared to people from different cultures.
Over these two weeks, I made sure to take advantage of the beautiful weather and went on a hike by the Taronga Zoo and check out Manly, Bondi and Coogee Beaches. Manly is in a smaller, less touristy town. Bondi is huge and amazing for swimming, surfing and has a cute little market with tons of local vendors. You can even do a hike from Bondi to Coogee and check out all the beautiful scenery. Being here has given me a chance to meet so many people from different universities in the United States, as well as some locals, and I feel like I’ve already made friends that I’ll still be friends with long after this program is over. My living accommodations are right on Darling Harbour so everything is right at my fingertips and after having two of the best weeks of my life since I got here, I can’t wait to see what the next three months have to offer.
