The First Weeks

After the first weekend excursion around the Sydney area it was time to start discovering the uni life! Of course by participating the trips they had organized around the city.

On one sunny and hot day we walked from Coogee to Bondi Beach and had a BBQ. The sceneries were nice, but it took one and a half hours to get there by bus (which was packed, so some people had to stand up the whole trip!), it was so hot day, the helpful “I’ve never seen such a big camera”- mates want to help me by taking pictures (the outcome: I’m blurred and the horizon is focused. Even my selfies came out better), it was so hot and I finally found out what the traditional Aussie BBQ means (a slice of white “bread” and a sausage). And it was a hot day.

The Manly Beach

City from the Manly to Circular Quay ferry

Another trip took us to Manly Beach and again the sceneries were magnificent. This time the day was rather painful due to my new fabulous shoes that I decided to wear whatever the cost. After seeing the beach we took the ferry to Circular Quay (pronunciation is not as ‘quay’ but as ‘key’ which I find interesting) and wandered a little bit around the city. And we saw the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge for the first time! The spectacular day ended with the uni-provided Harbour Cruise and very beautiful night-time lights of the city. Funny fact: all the train stations have free public toilets that are in a fairly good condition. Remarkable.

The Sydney Opera House

The Harbour Bridge

 

Eventually the first real day of uni had arrived. In the orientation event we met a representative of the Dahrug-people, the aboriginals of the area, who welcomed us to their land. In here all this kind of official events are started these days with the announcement of acknowledging the aboriginal people as the original and righteous owners of the land.

One highlight of this session was the Mac Warrior who came to see us and advertise the uni’s Sports and Aquatic Centre. He’s really a big man with big muscles and a big hair. Wonder if I’m gonna be like him after these 4 months of yoga, Zumba and swimming...

The other orientation session included the scanning of the student card for the first time. All this is so modern, we don’t have this kind of things in Finland. So, we had to fill up a form on a tablet provided, then they scanned our card with their smartphone, and then we could enter the lecture theatre. And above all, someone had decided that I had just started studying Science, and I was put to listen to their lecture. No way! I kept my head and at the end was allowed to stay and listen the Arts Faculty lecture. (Gosh... science?! Really?)

And so the adventure had started!