Before I detail yesterday's adventure, I have a (rather short) list of the strangest terms I've heard in while in Australia. I need to have them all down in one place so I can remember them!
Aussie word: Macca's
American Equivilent: McDonald's
[It's even Macca's in commercials!]
Aussie phrase: How you going?
American Equivilent: How are you doing?
Aussie word: Mozzie
American Equivilent: Mosquito
[Words are frequently shortened here, like "criminals" to "crims", etc.]
Aussie word: Pram
American Equivilent: Stroller
[Umm...what?]
Aussie phrase: Happy as a Larry
American Equivilent: [Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure, but my Sociology professor could not believe that this phrase was not used in America!]
I know there's many more, my Sociology professor tells us a ton. There's also several things I've heard that I couldn't even tell you the American equivilant of, because I have no idea what the word means. And the classics that everyone knows: mate, bloke, cheers - words I don't even think twice about.
Also, the words keen and heaps are used aaaall the time. At work, people are always asking "Are you keen to *insert activity here*?" or "I'm keen on that". I might take that back with me...and drive everyone at home crazy.
But anyway, yesterday my roommate Julie and I had a great evening adventure. Both of our Tuesdays are pretty open - I'm done by 12:30 and she's done by 4:15, and Sam and Bekah both have class until 8. We didn't have much homework to get done and around the same time, realized that we had fallen into a routine in Sydney. Not that a routine is bad, just that we had kind of stopped appreciated that we were living in Australia. It took us less than 4 weeks to tire of endless exploring and start spending our evenings watching Friends on the couch inside. Again, not that that's a horrible thing (I mean, I love Friends), but WE'RE IN AUSTRALIA!! So we decided to remember how lucky we were, and took off to do some exploring.
Bekah and Tim had been to the Royal Botanical Gardens for a field trip and told us how great they were, so we decided head that direction. We took the train to St. James, somewhere we'd never gotten off before, and started walking around. We stumbled across a gorgeous church, St. Mary's Cathedral, and were disappointed to find that all the doors were locked, even though there was clearly something happening inside! We decided to wander around the outside and take pictures instead. Across the street was Hyde Park, which was like a little rainforest in the middle of the city. Again, more wandering and pictures happened here! [Have you noticed we have not found the Botanical Gardens yet? And by "yet" I mean that we never found them...we got off at the wrong stop!]
St. Mary's Cathedral
Unfortunately, this is my best picture of Hyde Park!
We came out of Hyde Park with a view of the city in front of us. Right in the middle of that is a giant needle-like tower that I see from the bus and train every day: the Westfield CentrePoint Tower. It is Sydney's tallest structure, and the 2nd tallest in Australia at 1,014 feet tall. Naturally, we had to investigate.
Westfield CentrePoint Tower [or Sydney Tower]
We thought we could see people in the top portion of the tower, so we decided to see if we were right. After following a giant group of tourists through 5 floors of the mall, we ended up at the entrance point of the Sydney Tower Eye. We checked out the price, and decided that we were going to pay to get to the top of the tower. After an ear-popping elevator ride, we came out at the top to 360 degree views of Sydney at night. It was incredible, and crazy to see everything from so high up!
J. Woods embarrassed elevator selfie!
Our progress through the elevator!
Remember the church and Hyde Park? Here they are from 300m up!
Finally, we hopped on a train to Circular Quay to get some pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge at night (after stopping for 30 cent ice cream cones at Macca's). The last time we went to the Opera House, we stopped quite a ways away...but not this time! This time, we walked all the way up to it, touched it, and even snuck inside for a couple minutes! The view of the skyline was breathtaking as well, but I couldn't get any good pictures!
Touching the Opera House!
We even caught the right bus back to our apartment on the way home and decided we can cross "Know our way around Sydney" off our bucket list! The night was a perfect reminder that I was studying abroad and need to take advantage of every moment that I have here. It was crazy to think that I was spending my Tuesday night exploring the city, touching the Opera House, and not being stressed about anything.
Julie and I agreed that it was the perfect spontaneous adventure. Just another night in Sydney.
G'day Mate! Now I am speaking like a "true" Australian. I bet you are "keen " to this Bails. Your list of Aussie words were quite interesting. I love all of the talking terms you are now providing me. I am very "keen" with this. Though I do say my favorite is "Happy as Larry". I will most certainly be throwing this one around here. It sounds like you and Julie had an awesome adventure!! I am so glad that you did this. I can picture myself right up there with you in the tower making sure you weren't too scared of the height. Great pics!! Keep up the exploring. I am sure there is tons more to experience. This will be so "keen". Oh, by the way, Happy Valentines Day! You get to hug and Australian Fur Seal today. Lots of love, Dad
ReplyDeleteHi There!
ReplyDeleteI love this blog! Mainly because it makes me laugh at the way others view Australia and because it makes me feel at home. I feel as if i'm your exact opposite, in a few shorts days i will be taking the plunge and be an Aussie goes American. I go to America for over three months and I could not be more excited. My grandparents live in Sydney and I feel as if I can elaborate of some of the slang words used in Australia. 'Happy as Larry' is quite a popular saying with the baby boomer generation. It pretty much means, I'm so damn happy right now! And Macca's, well I thought the entire world called it that! I've been to McDonald's in at least four-five different countries and I say Maccas, Mickey D's and much more. We really don't say G'Day as much as you think! We do like to shorten everything and as for pram - i have never said stroller in my life though i did know what is was. I believe you guys say pacifier, we say dummy. And what is candy for that matter - it is always lollies or chocolate. I am very worried about things in America though. Number 1: I don't knoww how to tip properly - i've never had to do that before! Number 2: Guns, i've never seen a gun being used and have no idea whats going on there. Number 3: Getting a bill at your table, that really doesn't happen in Queensland anywhere unless your eating at a very fancy restuarant. They say America is so similar to Australia but i'm not so sure... Hope your loving Sydney!
Hi! I'm glad you like the blog! I bet it is funny to read from an Australian point of view, since everything is write about it stuff you've experience forever! Where in the U.S. are you going to be staying? Are you going to blog at all? Thanks for elaborating on the slang - that's been one of the most noticeable differences! Don't be worried about America - you'll have a blast. You will pick up on tipping very fast, just do what everyone else does, usually like 15% of the total! Hopefully you won't encounter any guns during your trip! It will probably be more similar than you think, you'll feel right at home in no time. I'm loving Sydney for sure, hope you have a great time on your adventure too!
ReplyDeleteHey There! I will be travelling all over, mainly staying in the South (Texas), Los Angeles, New York, Florida and a bit of everywhere! I will definetly be blogging my adventures i can't wait! Hope your loving Sydney adn get the chance to visit some others places in Australia - where else would you like to visit? Have you been anywhere else yet? What are you studying over here - my aunty is a professor at the University of Sydney. Talk soon.
ReplyDeleteOh wow - you get to go all over the place! So jealous that you get to spend 3 months exploring, I wish I wasn't taking classes here so I would have more time for that! The only other place I will be going is Cairns, which I'm really excited for. And maybe the Outback in New South Wales if there is time. But I'll have to come back one day to go everywhere else! I'm studying at Australian Catholic University, but I really wish I was at the University of Sydney! Do you have your blog set up yet? I will follow your adventures as well :)
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