aussiejack

Blue Mountains and classes at UTS

2006-02-05T10:58:00.000+11:00

I am sorry I have not posted any message for almost a week. In fact this I have been taking my first classes at UTS. I had my first class in Academic Writing on Monday at 10.00 AM. There are other foreign students attending this course and during the week I could know some of them. They are all very nice people coming from different countries. Most of them come from Asian countries and are studying at UTS after winning a scholarship within an Australian Government Program called AusAID.

During this class we learn and practise in paraphrasing, summarising and synthetising since we will have to be able to write our numerous assignments during the semester. It is very interesting how much the lecturer cares of teaching us these techniques especially regarding how to avoid plagiarism. We spent a lot of time in learning how to properly write our assignments and reference our work in order to support our ideas and give credit to other experts' work.

In the afternoon I have been taking the Academic Speaking class. In this class we have less work to do a focus mostly on techniques for successfully speaking in an academic environment. Furthermore we talk a lot about different approaches to speaking in our own cultures. In fact there are people from many country in this class as well.

Going back to previous I would like to tell about my trip to the Blue Mountains. Cath's good friend invited me to have a one day tour in the mountains and she gave me all directions to get at there. Around 9.00 AM on Friday 27th January I went to Central Station by train and changed to the Blue Mountains. The train left from Central at 10.00 AM and I got off at Blaxland almost a hour later. I really enjoyed wathcing the landscape out the window between Emu Plains and Blaxland. There she picked me up and we went to Wentworth's Falls. Both Wentworth and Blaxland were with another man and are supposed to be the first European men who travelled over the Blue Mountains. After walking down to the waterfalls we had a look at them and the valley from a scenic lookout. It was fairly warm on that day but we enjoy the walk.

Afterwards we went to Katoomba, probably the most famous place on the Blue Mountains, and I saw for the first time the Three Sisters. They are three blocks of rock and an aborigenal legend tells about them as three sisters who were transormed into rocks by their father during warfare in order to make them not face the risks of wartime. Unfortunately he died during the war and untill now nobody has been capable of freeing the Three Sisters from their stony appearance.

Later on we had lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Leura not far from Katoomba and after a walk in Leura Mall I had my first passion fruit ice cream. It is very good and I suggest everyone to try it if possible.

Australia Day

2006-01-29T14:23:00.000+11:00

January 26th is Australia Day. That is a public holiday and Australians celebrate Captain Cook's first landing in Kurnell in 1788. I spent the day in the City with Maris and Mick. There were a lot of events in the City and we had a look at some of them.

First we went to the cinema and watched Munich, by Steven Spielberg. Actually, I did not like very much Spielberg's previous movies but I enjoyed the show and think this is a good one. After the show we had lunch at Subway.

Later we had a trip on Sydney historic bus and had look at the City. A good friend of Maris and Mick was involved in that event and invited us to partecipate. We got off in a street I cannot remember the name and then walked amid a old car exhibition. There were many cars from different NSW Clubs and I could see some Italian cars among them such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat.

Later we got in Hyde Park where many people had crowded for live concerts and picnicking. After having a look at the Park and the fountain we walked to Central Station and got back home.

For those who do not know, NSW is the abbreviation for New South Wales, one of the states who federated in the Commonwealth of Australia. As many car plates state NSW is the premier state in Australia and Sydney is the capital city. Anyway, I will probably tell more about Aussie car plates next.

Horse riding & Wollongong

2006-01-28T08:58:00.000+11:00

Last Sunday Yasemin invited me to go to Darkes Forest. There she has got a horse called Dante. On Wednesday at 10.30 AM we left from Oatley. The riding centre is located in the southern fringe of The Royal National Park. That is a large park of which I could see the northern edge from Shelley Beach on the day I went to Cronulla with Mick.

She first drove to Moore Bank where she had to change a pair of shoes and then we went on the Freeway to Darkes Forest. There is major riding centre with many stables and even more ranches where tens of horses live.

The landscape is completely different from the Outback image which is so popular in Europe. Even if I knew about the forests there I was quite surprised when I was in The Royal National Park.

After taking care of the horse she had a ride for almost a hour and then we ate our sandwiches, which we had bought before our departure. Then we went to Wollongong driving on the Highway close to the South Coast. We had a look at North Wollongong and then went back home on the Freeway.

Kuring-gai & Gnocchi

2006-01-27T07:33:00.000+11:00

On Tuesday I went to UTS Kuring-gai Campus. I will not take any class at that campus, since both Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of IT are based in UTS Broadway Campus in the City. Anyway we went to Kuring-gai to attend a presentation meeting for Cath's practicum. Kuring-gai Campus is a very quiet and nice one. There are a lot of woods, plants and animals outside the building and among which people can have walks, rest and talk.

We got there at 8.40 AM and the presentation meeting was scheduled for 9.00 AM. The prac co-ordinator is a very nice person who can do his job very well and with good sense of humour. The only thing for which I could blame the people running the Kuring-gai Campus was the air conditioning in the hall. They said the air conditioning machine broke and then we had the indicator on maximum cold.

After the presentation we had a drink at the UTS Union Cafeteria and then went back home. That night I cooked gnocchi and I was quite successful. Everybody enjoyed the meal and thereafter I could finally rest.

Watsons Bay & Bondi Beach

2006-01-25T06:44:00.000+11:00

On Monday I went with Maris, Mick and David to Narellan where David had to take a new exhaust. After going back home I had my first meat pie. There to fashions to eat a meat pie. Either you put tomato sauce on the top; or you open it, put some tomato sauce inside and the close it and eat it.

After lunch we went to the place of Maris's sister in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. There we put on our cossies, also called boardpants, and dived into the swimming pool. It was a fairly warm day and pool water was maybe 26-27 C. I really enjoyed my time there.

Later in the afternoon we went to Watson Bay, a Sydney Harbour Bay close to the South Head. The North & South Heads are the two cliffs defining the Sydney Harbour entrance. The settlement in Watson Bay looks like an old English fishermen's village. If you walk the way from the Bay up to the hill there is a good spot from which you can take a look at the Ocean and the North Head. In 1800s a ship became wrecked off the coast.

Then we drove to Bondi Beach. This is the most famous beach in Sydney. It is a long wide white-sanded beach where people even after work on weekdays. I did not bath because water was really cold and it was already 700 PM. In my opinion Bondi Beach kicks Cronulla Beach. There we had lamb kebabs for dinner.

Oatley Point & Surroundings

2006-01-23T10:46:00.000+11:00

On Saturday I took a look at Oatley Point. Behind the corner is Oatley Park where I was on Thursday.

Then I went to the beach at Botany Bay close to the place where I am currently staying and could see some parrots called kokatoos.

Later we went back home.

Sightseeing

2006-01-22T17:28:00.000+11:00

Today I went to Brighton with Mick. This is a quite popular beach in Botany Bay just on the way from Oatley to the City. On Sunday there are many people building up more and more during the day. There are no great waves but it is a very nice place to spend some time at.

Later Mick drove me to Kogarah Railway Station where I boarded the train to Central Station. There I met with Cath's friend and we went to Circular Quay and Opera House. So I saw the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time. Then we walked back to the Rocks. There are many ancient buildings and an open air market. Later we had lunch at one of many cafes in the area.

After lunch we walked through CBD to the Strand and walked by Queen Victoria Building and Town Hall and down the way to Central.

Unfortunately I did not shoot any pictures because I had low camera batteries. Anyway, I will back there soon and will be able to take some pictures.

The City

2006-01-21T08:19:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I decided to go to the City. Mick drove me to Oatley Railway Station and I boarded the train to Central Station. Before Redfern Station train enters a tunnel and the second stop is Central. There I got out and walked through the tunnel to Broadway.

There I had the first look at UTS Building 1. Oh, it's a very high tower, a litle too grey but much better than Engineering Campus at Univ. of Bologna. Then I entered the building and it is simply marvellous: there is so much room there! Big lifts, large halls with a lot of paintings and sculptures. Great!

I asked for the International Exchange Officer and I was said to go to another building in Quay St, which is not far away from the Campus in Broadway. Then I had a walk in Chinatown and ate Szechuan chicken and prawns at the food court. That's chicken meat pieces and prawns with vegetables and rice. Very good! Then I took a look at the indoor market and finally went to the office in Quay St to make them know I had arrived.

After visiting the ELSSA Centre for notifying my arrival and paying the fee for English Course I am attending from Jan 30th, 2006, I went to a small park close to Broadway and spent time resting and reading the newspaper.

Later, after not finding the lecturer I wanted to visit I went back to Central Station and boarded the train to Oatley. At night I had chicken with curry cooked by Mick for Maris's mum birthday.

First Day in Australia

2006-01-21T07:40:00.000+11:00

On Thu 19 Jan 2006 I got up pretty early in the morning and had breakfast with Mick and Maris. I was glad to have a real breakfast with many things to eat/drink!

After Maris left for her job I went to Oatley Park (http://www.georgesriv-e.schools.nsw.edu.au/Oatley.htm) with Mick. There I saw for the first time the sea. Actually I did not see the sea but a bay. There is a plenty of bays in Sydney and in the suburbs - Sydney Harbour is a bay too. The woods are very different from the ones to see in Europe - I hope I will be able to find some mushrooms as well! In Oatley Park there are many gum trees and other varieties I had never seen before. I also saw a kookaburra for the first time and took a few shots of it. Here I have to thank a gentle woman we met at the Park Castle. In fact her grandson's birthday party was on and she used some chicken meat to make the kookaburra fly closer to our place so that I could take some pictures of it.

While driving back home Mick introduced me to some Italians running a fruit shop in Oatley and to another Italian woman who lives here. Then we had lunch at home and went for another trip to Cronulla Beach. That's not far away from Oatley and the trains go to Cronulla from Oatley Railway Station as well. We drove over Tom Ugly's bridge to get there and then I saw the real sea. Actually there are four beaches in Cronulla, from N to S: Wanda, Ealoura, North Cronulla, South Cronulla.We parked the car in N Cronulla and had a walk to S Cronulla. There are a lot of houses right on the beach but they are very nice and elegant to see. Then we walked back and went a little more in direction south to Shelley Beach. Far south there is Oak Park.

Then it started to rain and we went to Hurstville over Captain Cook's Bridge to buy an Australian SIM Card for my mobile. Hurstville is a major suburb of Sydney on the way from Oatley to the City. It' very different from Oatley. In Oatley there are mostly one-story houses with large streets and backyards, while Hurstville looks like a real city suburb with higher buildings and shopping centres. Oatley is named after an Englishman who was senteced to death a couple of centuries ago and whose sentence to death was changed into life enprisonment in Australia. Here he became a clockmaker and was given the land on which now the suburb is.

Later at night I had dinner with Maris, Mick, their son David and a friend of his. Mick cooked a typical Australian meal: roasted leg of lamb with pumpkin, potatoes and peas. Since Maris did not want look uninvolved she prepared a exquisite gravy.

The Journey

2006-01-21T06:58:00.000+11:00

Actually I wanted to post another message just after my arrival in Sydney, but I had a lot of things to do and thus I am posting a few days later. Sorry.

Well, I left from Rome on Tue 17 Jan 2006 at 1200 CET and the plane landed in Singapore hours later on Wed 18 Jan 2006 at 0650 local time in Singapore International Airport. During the flight I sat besides a couple from Livorno who was travelling to Phuket, Thailand. They were pretty nice and I talked a bit with them.

According to many associations, Singapore International Airport is the best one worldwide. I have not seen many major airports, but it looks like a great one from my point of view. I had to wait almost 3 hrs for my next flight and time was not enough to take a look at all the halls. I just walked from the arrival gate to the departure one and it took me some 2 hrs. In the middle of gate lane there is a large hall with almost everything. I cannot imagine how it looks outside this restricted area! After sending couple of emails from a free Internet access point I decided to have breakfast/dinner and had to choose among a plenty of Asian & Western restaurants. Finally I sat in front of an Indian Vegetarian restaurant and had kind of an omelette filled with different vegetables and with a spicy sauce. It was tasty, very good! Later I walked the half way left to my departure gate while taking a look at some of the shops.

My flight was scheduled for Wed 18 Jan 2006 at 0940 local time and before boarding people travelling to Australia had to fill a form with informations about their journey, accomodation, etc. Then we boarded the plane and it took off. During that flight I slept a bit more time. Flight lasted 7.35 hrs and it took almost 4 hrs since we first get over Western Australia to our arrival in Sydney.

We got there on Wed 18 Jan 2006 at 2015 AEST. After exiting the airplane I lined up for passport and visa checking by the Australian customs. Unfortunately people at Questura di Bologna did not paste the label on my passport in the right manner and I had to have my passport scanned and to wait for a while.Anyway, I went through it and had no problems with quarantine officials. They have got dogs specially trained to find prohibited goods on passengers entering Australia. You are not allowed to bring any food into the country and there are slogans everywhere at the airport that warns you about it such for example: Declare it or dump it! After taking my luggage I had to go through another check. Luggage is scanned for prohibited goods which dogs are not able to find. After that and another control of my passport and visa from an Australian custom I finally entered the country.

Mick and Maris were already waiting for me and I recognized them just after entering the arrival hall. There were a lot of people because 4 planes landed just before. Then we got out of the airport and walked to the parking. Obviously I was wrong and tried to sit on the right side instead of the left one. Anyway, we got home in Oatley 20 mins later. Cars are pretty different from those to see in Europe. Right now I can just say they are bigger and have auto instead of manual. When I will know more about this topic I will post a message on it.

That's all, I got my bedroom and went to bed.

Comments & Languages

2006-01-12T05:33:00.000+11:00

Here I am. I have just post a comment to my previous message and everything is ok. Everybody can post a comment on aussiejack. You DO NOT need to be a Blogger registered user. Many friends of mine know I do not like websites where you have to provide a heap of information about you!

The discussion about the language of this blog is next. This is my opinion. There is no default language - actually there is one since Blogger wants one - everyone is free to use his/her own or his/her favourite one. Since there will be people reading this blog from all around the world - at least I hope so! - I will write most of my posts in English but every language is welcome: Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, etc. Should someone not be able to understand other people's opinion, send me an email and I will try to translate that post/comment or force the mate who wrote it to post an English version too. What I say to people is: "Don't worry about mistakes! I make mistakes while using foreign languages too. Just write what you feel". I am waiting for your comments :-)

Intro

2006-01-10T09:31:00.000+11:00

I am glad to post for the first time a short message to my blog. A couple of weeks I decided to start a blog in order to share my experiences with friends and relatives from around the world. In fact I noticed it would have been impossible to keep everyone up to date during the time I will be spending in Sydney, Australia. I hope that I won't fail in this task and that everybody will be able to profit from this meeting point on the web!