Bringing the learning home (Australian Learning & Teaching Council)

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Snow

So it’s been snowing for a couple of weeks now. This was a photo I took after the first big snow in Krakow. It was 7:30am (I have an 8am Monday class – it kills me every week) so no one had cleared the paths yet. I never realised it could be difficult to walk in. I didn’t realise that some of the cobblestones in Krakow have a funny kind of glaze or something on them which makes them absolute death traps once a little bit of power’s on them.

I seriously found it that difficult to walk without almost slipping all the time that at first, I had to leave five minutes earlier for class to avoid being late It sounds stupid but it’s true – I have almost fallen over so many times. So I took to walking very deliberately and very slowly.

By the time I went on a holiday to Stockholm last week, I thought I had the hang of walking in the snow, but then I was confronted with some we don’t have in Krakow: hills! Or at least very slight inclines – Krakow is pretty much completely flat. I honestly thought I was going to lose my footing and end up sliding down this one.

I feel like a complete idiot because everyone else seems to be able to walk along normally, and this seems like such a simple thing… but snow has given me so much trouble in terms of staying upright, and I completely didn’t realise that would happen!

Posted by  |  December 12, 2010 | Categories: I wish someone had told me, Poland, Sweden | 1 Comment

Education riots in the UK; austerity in Ireland

Hi all you sojourners in the UK and Ireland

We have been hearing a lot here about student protests associated with the massive increase in the cost of university fees in the UK – though I think we are getting it on the news so much because of the incident in London involving Charles and Camilla. How are students on your campuses reacting? Do you find students in the UK are generally more politically engaged than at home, or is the student political context there similar to here?

And for those of you in Ireland – how are students and others reacting to, and affected by, the government’s new austerity measures?

Challenging times! I’m interested to know more.

Jan

Posted by  |  December 12, 2010 | Categories: Ireland, The UK | 1 Comment

Drive Across the USA!

From Boston MA to Golden CO, three days of straight driving to my future home where I have never been before with my girlfriend Kat.
We came across some pretty American things, when driving west they have these water towers which are in the shape of an upside down water droplet with the town name on them written in massive letters. Now these things hold probably enough water so that everyone in the town could flush there toilet once and it would be empty, so its not much of a reserve but every single town had one! They came in many different colors and fonts, but they were all the same shape and size.

We all know that Americans love their big pick ups! The parking spots are bigger here than at home but still some of the trucks don’t fit into them. This guy here is pulled right up to the front of the park but he still has a good chunk of his ride hanging out.

I spent Thanksgiving with Kat’s family which was a lovely time, we really don’t do that enough in Australia. Getting the family together really should happen more than just around Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving they have an event called Black Friday which is like the biggest most epic shopping day of the year. I spent like $400 that day which may not seem much to some people but to me that’s massive. Every shop has massive sales like 40% off the leading brands.

There lack of tax on there alcohol is AWESOME! look at this   first my favorite beer from back home is $10 a six pack. THATS HALF PRICE! So they import it  and sell it for half price and still make money.

This is something my Father would love about this country, he would probably find some other beer he would lie here though.  Can I also point out this 9 liter bottle of bubbly. I should of put up a normal size bottle there to give you prospective but you can get the general idea. It turns out they don’t have RSA here so i guess this is what it leads too.

A good thing to get once you get here is a state I.D they really don’t like my Australian licence and I don’t want to carry my passport around with me. So as soon as i get a permanent home I will get one.

This will conclude my first post, I’m going to enjoy a white Christmas soon and some more crazy american driving.

Posted by  |  December 9, 2010 | Categories: I'm not from here, The US | 1 Comment

Merry Racism

I have been in the Netherlands for over three months now, and I haven’t really been shocked by anything. Sure, their commitment to riding their bicycles in the rain, snow and hail is mystifying. But until the lead up to December, I was pretty cool, calm and collected. But then I began to notice some odd decorations in the windows of shops. Namely, colourfully dressed black dolls similar to ‘Golliwoggs’. I was quite shocked, because the Netherlands has a reputation for being a free-thinking liberal minded country, and these dolls would be completely unacceptable in Australia.

Apparently, the decorations were for the Dutch Christmas, called Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is celebrated on December 5th, and involves a Santa type figure arriving on a ship from Spain to give presents to children. However, he is not aided by elves, but by black slaves called the Zwarte Piet.

So every shop in Utrecht has pictures and dolls of Zwarte Piet. However, the Dutch claim that the tradition is not racist. They argue that Zwarte Piet isn’t an African slave, but is only black because of soot from coming down the chimney. But then how are their clothes perfectly clean?

I couldn’t believe it, so I went shopping and took photos of every example of what I perceived to be blatant racism. But I was absolutely floored when I saw people actually dress up as Zwarte Piet and paint their face black. Seriously. I do not think that you could get away with that in Australia.

Posted by  |  December 8, 2010 | Categories: Festive season, Netherlands | 4 Comments

Unknown waters

I took this picture while I was in Boracay (Phillipines) earlier this year. I think it captures my feelings towards my exchange trip (now exactly 5 weeks away) as I am going to set sail away from the known and into the unknown so to speak. I often look to one of my favourite quotes by Mark Twain, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Posted by  |  December 7, 2010 | Categories: Miami, Predeparture, Time to reflect | 2 Comments

Miami

Hi this is my first post, just wanted to say that the nerves have started to kick in and I am always thinking of my trip now that Uni is finished. Is everyone else the same?

Posted by  |  December 1, 2010 | Categories: Fish out of water, Miami, Predeparture | 3 Comments

A splash of colour

This post is a little late, now that its getting a whole lot colder..
But Autumn over here is amazing! Back in Oz  I enjoyed it when maybe one tree on our street would change colour during Autumn, the whole campus at Bath turned stunning shades of gold and red.
Coming from Sydney, I first though Wollongong campus was quite green, nothing compared with the Bath campus though!
Campus has gone from this…
To this in just a few short weeks….
Of course I just couldn’t resist throwing the leaves about everywhere…
As mentioned in another post, christmas is nearing, and i’m getting pretty excited for my first ‘real’ christmas. So are all my friends from uni who are having me over christmas.
There was a big ceremony to turn on the christmas lights about town. And the christmas markets start up this wk. Photos to follow soon
Of course this also means its starting to get rather cold!

Posted by  |  November 23, 2010 | Categories: Autumn, Festive season, The UK | 1 Comment

Santa Claus (and snow) is coming to town!

This is a photo I took yesterday of the Rynek Główny, Kraków’s Main Square, yesterday.  At the moment, there are lots of workmen around the Sukienniece, which is the awesome 14th century building you can see at the back of the picture, assembling little wooden carts for the famed Christmas Market and putting up decorations befitting the season.

I really don’t think I have EVER been this excited about Christmas before, even when I was young. My friends here, who are all from Europe and America, don’t quite understand why I’m looking forward to it so much. My idea of Christmas is radically different to theirs – it usually involves sitting in shorts and a t-shirt drinking beer in a relative’s backyard, eating salad because it’s too hot for anything else and repeating this the next day while watching the Boxing Day Test. As much as I love Christmas at home with my family and my friends, it feels like this Christmas season is going to be my first real Christmas, the first Christmas where the ideas and traditions match the reality of the event. The food and drinks, the Christmas carols, the typical images of Christmas we’re bombarded with… this year, I’m actually going to see that unfolding in front of me instead of noting the absurdity of my aunty humming ‘Let it Snow’ when it’s 30+ degrees and humid outside.

And, honestly, I can hardly contain my excitement about the prospect of mulled wine, Christmas markets and making snow angels during the silly season. Does anyone else who is on exchange in Europe feel this way too?

Posted by  |  November 23, 2010 | Categories: Festive season, Poland | Tags: | 1 Comment

I love being in South Korea right now.

Well, not much happened so far. My friend called me up telling me that 200 missiles were fired up upon a island in the Yellow sea. At the time I was in a dog cafe (a cafe full of dogs, girls seem to love it even though it stinks like dog) so I asked him if I should be worried and get back to my home. His reply was him laughing and said dont worry about it. He then says to me “I should get back to the army soon, want to join me to fight the north?”. I replied that I “was going to stay behind and protect the cute girls”. Not to many people have taken it too seriously so far. Walking home a hour later I seemed to be the only one worried. Everyone was acting normal.

Posted by  |  November 23, 2010 | Categories: Cultural differences, South Korea | 3 Comments

Final Workshop @ UOW

The 4th and final workshop for our intrepid travelers occurred today. Picture here from L to R: Sophie, York, Renae, Alex and Sam who are heading to Canada, USA, Ireland, USA and Denmark respectively.

Welcome to the BTLH team — and the ozstudentsabroad.com blog.

Posted by  |  November 19, 2010 | Categories: Predeparture | Leave a comment