Amy Dunham's Blog
Travel to exotic Australia with junior Amy Dunham (Blanchester, Ohio) as she blogs weekly during the next several months from the University of Wollongong. The art history major and CBP scholar will also intern at the Wollongong City Art Gallery, one of the best regional galleries/museums Down Under!
Amy's First Blog Entry
The big day … time to say goodbye to my family and friends. My parents drove me to the airport in Columbus, Ohio where I had to pull various items from my luggage in an attempt to make the desired weight of 50lbs per bag. Sure, 50lbs seems like a lot, but not when you have to pack your life away for six months!
I was so tired from not sleeping the night before that I just stared out the window of the plane blankly. Don't let the blank stare full you though. My mind raced back and forth: "This is going to be such a great experience. Can I go 6 months without seeing my family? Will I make many friends in Australia? How long is this International flight to Sydney going to take?" Agh! Too many things to think of. I finally arrived in Los Angeles where I met up with Libby Wehr '09 (Versailles, Ind.), another Hanover student going to study in Wollongong, and we waited for the flight to Sydney together.
It was warm when we landed. It had snowed back home so I had worn jeans and a sweatshirt. Libby and I gathered our luggage and made our way to the shuttle that took us to Wollongong. My lack of sleep hadn't set in yet … I was too excited to notice. I arrived at my residence, International House, and I met my roommate. Her name is Amandine and she is from France. We struck up a conversation instantly. What a great way to start out my stay here!
International House organized a trip to a beach a few train stops away. I was so excited to see the ocean! When we arrived, the sun wasn't shining, so I didn't bother with sunscreen because I don't wear it at home when the sun isn't out. Stupid move. I learned my lesson! The next day I realized that I did get some sun. My face was sunburned! Agh!
There was a lot of activity during the next couple of days. I walked to campus (about 20 min.) to enroll at the University of Wollongong and to determine my class schedule for the upcoming semester. The campus is much larger than Hanover is and I needed to take a map with me for the first few visits just in case I got lost!
After all the scheduling was out of the way, students and student leaders from International House went on a hike to the top of Mt. Keira. This is a mountain behind the campus. Once at the top you can see far out into the ocean and most of the city of Wollongong. While hiking, I felt as if I were in a Jurassic Park movie! It was also tiring, taking about two hours to reach the top, but the view was totally worth it!
I also visited the Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. It's located right in the city of Wollongong!
I have also wandered around the city to check out the surroundings. My favorite part is the lighthouse. I run here every morning along the coastline. It is a beautiful scene…
I attended a dinner and bush dance for International House. I was a little reluctant to find out what "bush dancing" is, but after a nice dinner, a live band began to play music and dance instructors taught us how to polka and line dance. I have never done anything like this but it was so much fun! I didn't stop dancing, or laughing, for about three hours! It was a great way to get to know everyone living in I-House!
I have been in Australia for an entire week and I have loved every minute of it! Now it's time to relax with my friends at the beach before classes begin on Monday.
My second week here included classes, homework, soccer games against other members of I-House, early morning runs to the beach and nights out with friends. I discovered that the class structure is much different here than it is at Hanover. I only have one class per day and no classes scheduled for Friday. Woo-hoo for a three-day weekend!
This weekend some friends and I visited Sydney, an 1.5 hr train ride from Wollongong. We ate at a restaurant called "Pancakes on the Rocks" where I ordered "Devil's Delight," chocolate pancakes with ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries!
My favorite part of the day was getting to see the Sydney Opera House in person. I studied it last semester in Dr. Martin's Contemporary Art class so seeing it firsthand was such an amazing experience! I even had the opportunity to explain a little bit of the history of the Opera House to my friends! Sydney is a beautiful place and I can't wait to come back to spend a whole weekend!
Amy's Blog - May 6, 2008 Updated
International House has made it possible for its residents to learn Latin Dancing every Wednesday night for a month. I went to my first Latin Dancing lesson this week. I now know that I am a terrible dancer! The lesson lasted for one and a half hours and by the last five minutes of it I finally stopped dancing on my partner's toes! My friends and I spent more time laughing at ourselves than we did actually dancing. I've never taken any form of dance lessons before so this was a completely new experience. I'm looking forward to the next lesson…
The weather here is changing. It is much colder than what it was when I arrived. The temperatures now are comparable to temperatures during late September or early October — kind of chilly and windy. I definitely didn't pack enough warm clothing and I only brought summer shoes with me. I was ignorant in believing that it would be warm all the time in Australia and if it were cold, it wouldn't be cold for me because I live where there is snow! Word of advice: if you are coming here for the autumn session, be sure to pack some warm clothing! I had to call home and beg my parents to send me some warm clothes from home so I don't freeze walking to campus everyday!
Amy's Blog - April 21, 2008
I filled this week with planning for the International Food Festival, featuring seventeen different countries. Each representative group was in charge of serving a food type associated with that country. I ate so many different types of food that I can't even remember all the names.
Instead of representing America, a few friends and I developed our own country and we called it "Obesity Land." Our group had two Australians and two Americans. The other American girl in the group and I made Rice Krispies treats. Keep in mind that we had to make enough food to feed approximately 200 people. We calculated that we used about 1,100 marshmallows, one pound of butter, and three large packets of Rice Krispies cereal. It took the two of us to stir in all the ingredients because there was so much of it!
In addition to our Rice Krispies treats, we also served chocolate milk shakes. The four of us ended up making milk shakes continuously throughout the festival because they were in such high demand. Many of the people who came to our table, aside from the Americans, had no idea what Rice Krispies treats were. Now they know and they kept coming back for more! I even had some people begging me to give them any leftovers! This was a great opportunity to learn about other cultures and the types of food that are common within each area. It was also nice to have everyone from I-House together for a night of great food and conversation.
We are in the middle of the semester and the number of assignments has started to pickup. During these next few weeks I'll be doing research for final essays. Things to look forward to at International House — the Sydney Harbor Cruise, sunrise at Mt. Keira, sunset picnic and Formal. My time here is passing by very quickly but there are still many things to experience.
Amy's Blog - March 17, 2008
I'm starting to get into my classes now. It is much different here compared to Hanover. The lectures are large and it seems as though no one can make it to class on time; students just enter during the middle of the lecture. This makes it difficult to concentrate sometimes because the door opens and closes constantly while you try to listen and take notes.
The students in the lectures are split into multiple groups called tutorials. Tutorials are similar to an actual Hanover class; they are small and centered on discussion of the material. I find it a little difficult to feel prepared for the lectures and tutorials as there are no specific textbooks assigned to my courses. Instead, we are expected to rent books from the library in order to prepare ourselves for the next lecture, but the major problem with this is that there are about 80+ students all wanting to check out the same books. Frustrating…
Even though it is frustrating, these types of situations really make you take responsibility for your studies. At Wollongong, it is highly recommended that you take on additional research of the topics discussed in class. This gives me the opportunity to explore and gain a more in depth knowledge of a topic that I find particularly interesting.
I am very excited to be learning more about Australian visual culture and design. I finally had a chance to make a visit to the Wollongong City Gallery where I will intern this summer. After walking through parts of the gallery, I realized I know NOTHING about Australian art history. I purchased some books and I am in the process of reading them. I have made it through the first few chapters of an Australian Art book and I can already make connections to material I have encountered in my visual arts courses here at the University of Wollongong.
In addition to the normal student activities, I have planned a trip for the upcoming mid-session break at the end of March. I am going on a five-day "Breakaway" 4WD Safari in Alice Springs. I will tour Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), Watarrka (Kings Canyon), Palm Valley and the West MacDonnell Ranges. I will camp outside each night at remote campsites where I will get an amazing view of the stars. I will also visit the Oak Valley Aboriginal Community where I will have the chance to view Aboriginal rock art. I am ecstatic about this upcoming trip! I will meet up with the tour group once I reach Alice Springs, but I will not know anyone in the group. I am content with going alone, as I will have the opportunity to take in the surrounding landscape on my own terms.
I attended a cricket match between International House and other residences in the area. Cricket is similar to baseball, but also very different (if that makes any sense at all). From what I understand, baseball got its start from cricket. I can't really explain what this game entails. It is something that you must see with your own eyes in order for it to make any sense at all. It was interesting to watch a completely different sport, as I have never seen anyone play cricket until I got here.
This past weekend, a friend and I went on a run to the beach where we then decided to go for a swim in the ocean. He challenged me to swim out to the buoy and back, but once I made it into the water I realized I couldn't swim that well through all the waves. I have always thought of myself as decent swimmer but I definitely learned otherwise. There aren't any large waves in swimming pools or small lakes back home so obviously swimming wasn't that strenuous. We didn't swim to the buoy this time, which was certainly a wise decision. My goal for the next few months is to learn how to actually swim through these waves and make it to the buoy…we'll see how that works!
About Amy
Year in school: Junior
Hometown: Blanchester, Ohio
Major: Art History - Center for Business Preparation Scholar
Wants to be: Art Gallery/Museum Manager (anything related to the art industry)
Hobbies: Running, reading, traveling, anything outdoors, I also collect snow globes from every place that I travel... (kind of nerdy but they all represent something special)
Where I hope to travel: New Zealand, Italy, France, all over the U.S., and Japan
Where I've traveled: Canada, most of the U.S., Paris, Australia
Favorite Movie: Pulp Fiction
Scariest Movie Ever: The Grudge (I know it's lame, but I have never been so scared in my life while watching this movie...)
Pet: Molly (golden retriever) and Dakota (Husky) someday I want a German Shepard
Who would play me in the movies: Sandra Bullock
Favorite Hanover memory so far: Anything that includes the Hanover cross country team...we're like one big crazy family.
Facebook or MySpace: Facebook
Biggest hope or dream: Wow...tough one. To leave this world knowing that I did the best I could with the talents that were given to me.
