Category: Australia

Submitted by Harrison Crum on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Sydney, Australia…

Pollution is a global problem and Australia is no exception. While many of the beaches are clean here, when a storm rolls through, trash floods many of them. Thankfully, as awareness of this problem increases, many volunteer groups in the area have formed that seek to clean up the litter. One such place is the Dive Centre Manly. This past weekend, they held a volunteer beach cleanup with all of their gear up to half priced for the day. Volunteers had the option to pay for scuba or snorkeling gear, or walk along the shoreline and pick up debris. While most of the volunteers were veteran divers with their own gear, there were a handful of us that were not experienced and walked along the beach. The target of this cleanup was mainly plastic. While other materials, such as glass, can be used by aquatic life as homes without much, if any, negative effects, plastic causes numerous issues. Sea life can mistake plastic for food and ingest it, and this can cause the animal to die. So during this dive, glass was left behind for homes, but all plastic was collected because of its adverse effects. From this dive, I learned a great amount about how waste and debris ends up in the ocean.

In the past couple of decades, Australia has realized just how much of their waste ends up in their oceans and the impact it has on both their lives and the lives of the Australian wildlife. They’ve begun creating more policies against dumping in the oceans and placed much emphasis on recycling. Most Australians stray away from single use plastics, and plastics in general. There are many, many things I have come to love about Sydney, but the biggest takeaway so far is the environmental awareness and the willingness of Australians to take time out of their schedules to address a problem that is not going away. I believe this responsibility that the individual takes for ensuring there is a liveable environment for not only their generation, but generations to come, is something that I will incorporate into my attitudes even after my study abroad program.

Submitted by Olivia Szefer on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Sydney, Australia…

Homesickness hit me quite hard this past week. I made a plan to have a phone call with my parents, significant other and my sister about twice a week. This way, both sides would be able to communicate openly and not miss out. However, I still began to miss them and their close presence to me. I am quite the homebody and extremely family-oriented, therefore moving across the world for three months was quite the adventure. Little to say, I was down in the dumps for a few days in this beautiful country. The silver lining in this story is that the wonderful friendships that I have made here helped me with this dilemma. My friends came to my door with coffee, a box of Tim Tams and warm hugs to comfort me. Later, the group of us made a pact to keep each other busy with adventures and day trips to not feel as lonely and stuck with our thoughts. I am lucky to have come out of my comfort zone and make new friends from across the United States who in turn help me with my longing for home.

Submitted by Harrison Crum on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Sydney, Australia…

Australia values their ties with Asia, in particular China, and one way in which this is best exemplified is through their Chinese Lunar New Year celebration held throughout the city of Sydney. Since I arrived, I have seen countless advertisements preparing the Australian citizens for these celebrations. Here in Sydney, there is a huge three-week festival to celebrate the Year of the Rat. All throughout the city there is live entertainment, performers, golden rat robots, games, lion dancers, markets, and food trucks. In particular, in the Circular Quay area there are the Lunar Lanterns. The Lunar Lanterns are a creative, contemporary interpretation of a centuries-old tradition. Twelve pieces of giant artwork are on display, each is a different animal that represents a creature of the zodiac. It was such a great opportunity to experience a part of the culture of China, and at the same time, the relationship between Australia and China. The artwork was absolutely beautiful, the attention to detail was astonishing. And the fact that the city displayed these works of art in one of the most populated parts of the city shows the strong ties between the two countries. While America plays a large role in most countries around the world, it has been very interesting to witness the interactions between cultures that I am not native to, which is obviously something hard to do when living in my home country. Australia has relationships with various countries and I greatly anticipate being able to view them.

Submitted by Olivia Szefer on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Sydney, Australia…

This past weekend, the CAPA program sponsored a trip for the students to the Blue Mountains as well as the Featherdale Wildlife Park. From the time I landed in Sydney, I was excited to travel to these places because I am an avid hiker and large animal lover. Once I got there, it was exhilarating since I have never been this close to such beautiful creatures, and I even had the chance to feed some of them like the kangaroos and wallabies. The picture below shows my friend Amíca on the left and I on the right feeding a kangaroo some regular feed. However, with the Blue Mountains trip I was forced to get out of my comfort zone. I am petrified of heights and during the hike we were passing by cliffs that had high drop offs that would lead straight to the valley below. At one point in our hike, there was a moment where we had to climb down steep stairs to get onto the three sisters – where it was a straight drop. Though I was scared to climb down, I pushed myself through my comfort zone in order to experience new things and to have amazing memories with my newly made friends.

Submitted by Harrison Crum on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Sydney, Australia…

Australia is known for its unique landscapes and wildlife that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. This week, my program had the opportunity to travel to the Blue Mountains National Park here in the state of New South Wales. About an hour drive outside the city of Sydney, we hiked in the Katoomba area, home of the iconic Three Sisters rock formation. We made our way down to one of the sisters as well as down the rest of the mountain. Although the heat was unusually high even for Australian standards, the views were absolutely amazing and we were able to see some of the wildlife. Australia is certainly unique when it comes to its wildlife, as it is home to many unusually large, as well as venomous animals, including the most venomous spider in the world: the funnel-web spider. As we hiked down the mountain, our tour guide pointed out the home of a female funnel-web spider just along the side of the trail. As someone with strong arachnophobia, coming within inches of this nest was both frightening and exhilarating. I’ve been told that studying abroad is a time of trying new things and challenging yourself to step outside your comfort zone. For me, there was no better way to do so than by approaching the home of the creature that strikes the most fear in me. Nowhere else in the world would I be able to do this. These spiders are nocturnal, so I was not able to see her. Yet, I am still incredibly thankful for this experience as even coming close to a sleeping spider is a step outside my comfort zone. Australia holds countless opportunities to explore both geographically and personally, both of which I intend to do over the next ten weeks of my program.