Getting Settled In

Hello Everyone,

It's been a bit since my last post, so I think it's time we catch up.  This week has been pretty standard.  I've just been getting settled in and this place is starting to feel more like a temporary home.  Things have been going really well, I'm having fun, meeting lots of people, and just trying to get the most out of this trip.  Here's a run down of my weekend so far.

Friday

The time flew.  I got out of class at 4 and walked down to Manly to the Optus store to buy a SIM card.  A SIM card is a card that you put in your phone underneath the battery.  It is a pre-paid wireless card that allows any phone with 3G capabilities to have service.  I was given a phone by a girl in my HOTS group, Ash, so I figured while I have this phone in Australia I might as well use it.  My friend Ivan was also at Optus so we walked back to school together and since it was over 30 degrees I bought a slurpee on the way back.  Once we got back, we ate dinner, and then I rushed up to my room to pack my bags.  Most of the Americans made reservations to stay at a hostel near Darling Harbour called Base.  Before all of that happend, my HOTS group (Ash, Krista, Georgie, and Rochelle) decided that we all wanted to go out to eat that night.  Once I had my bag packed, I walked down to Manly Wharf, but I had missed my ferry.  I took the Jet Cat instead, a faster and smaller boat.

Once I got to Circular Quay, I took a cab to where I thought Base was, except I was actually about 5 blocks East of it.  I called Ash and she looked up the address for me.  I checked in, threw my stuff in my room, then walked back to where I had been dropped off to meet the 3 girls (Krista couldn't make it, she got engaged last Saturday.)  We ended up eating at a palce called Gazebo, a really laid back, young restaurant with no walls.  It was basically a kitchen with a roof that overhung out over all the tables.  It was raining this night so it was actually pretty cool.  I had fish and chips, but I tried everything that the girls ordered.  Squid, lamb, sirloin, and sangria.  The food was amazing.

After that, we walked over the The Lincoln (it made me feel right at home.)  It was a cool classy bar in Kings Cross, not far from Gazebo.  The girls knew the bartender so none of us paid for a drink all night.  The Lincoln is having a promotional night this Friday, so I think Scott and I are going to go check it out.  The promoter told me how to get in, and that there will be a couple magazines and a ton of photographers at the event, plus free cocktails.  The most bizarre thing happened while the 4 of us were drinking at The Lincoln.  All of the sudden these guys walk up on the sidewalk with these lit bottles and start blowing fire everywhere.  We were sitting inside next to an open window and whenever they blew fire, the entire inside of the bar felt like a sauna.  Here's a couple pictures.

Those cabs are not parked, they are just waiting in traffic

Saturday

I thought it was funny when I got back to my room Friday night and no one was there.  The reason this happened was because the hostel has screwed our reservation up and put all 6 of us in 6 separate rooms, instead of 6 of us in a 6 man room.  We finally figured it out, and got our rooms situated the way we wanted.  We started with a few cocktails at a place in Darling Harbour called the Platoon.  Then, we had dinner at Nick's, a steak and seafood type of place, pretty nice actually.  Five of the guys ordered full racks of pork ribs.  That's 2.5 pigs we took out at one meal.  The ribs were enormous, I don't think I've ever seen ribs that big back in the states.  After dinner, we went to a club called The Wallaby.  Some guys wanted to fight Frankie so he bounced and it was kind of a huge buzz kill.  Shortly after John, Mike, and I left and went back to the hostel.  Doug and Julianne followed shortly, and Penny, Daniel, and Scott came home at 6:30 am with some funny stories.

Sunday

Today we all accidently woke up at 9:45 instead of 8:45 (there was a time change last night) and we had to be checked out by 10 or else we got $35 fines.  Somehow we all made it, and caught the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly.  We all had brunch here at school (it ended at noon) and now we're all getting ready to go to the NRL finals.  Think of it as the Super Bowl of the National Rugby League.  It's Manly v.s. Melboure, so we all bought Manly Sea Eagles jerseys and shirts, and will be cheering loudly for the home team.  I should have some pictures up from the game in my next post.  Have a good weekend everyone.

Clay

Every Day Is Diversity Day

G'day Mates,

It's Sunday night and I'm just wrapping up a hectic week.  Classes started Monday (Tuesday at 4pm for me) and I was able to get a feel for how the semester is going to go.  I'm taking 4 classes, which can be seen 4 posts down, and I think they should be manageable.  My HOTS class (Hotel Sim) will probably be the hardest, next to finance.  HOTS is a completely group based class where your 4-5 person group manages a hotel and then enters your figures into a computer simulation program.  From there, the simulation program calculates your numbers like how much money you are spending on food, staffing, and facilities.  Once you get your results you can make adjustments as needed.  Theoretically, there is a group in the class that ends up with the "best" run hotel.  If you beat everyone in the class and rank highly overall in the history of the school, the names of your group members get engraved in a huge wooden plaque in the computer lab.  I want that so bad, so my name can be seen in this school forever.  I know these hotels are imaginary, but it's basically the next best thing to, well, the real thing.  I figure if I can manage a decent imaginary hotel, then maybe, just maybe, I'm suited for this profession? I don't know, just a thought.  My HOTS teachers are awesome too, just like Bruce.  There is an older one, Mr. Bonyage, and a younger one, Mr. Taylor.  Mr. Bonyage, or Bony as most people call him, seems to always make a point during class that I am the sole American in the class.  Eighty percent of the class are Australians, and the other twenty are Asians, and then there's me.  Bony called me "Mr. Nebraska" last class, he just really likes the idea of an American in his class for some reason.  He didn't even know what Nebraska was or that it even existed, or if we even had good university sports.  I tried to explain to him that Nebraska football used to be good, but it just seemed to go in one ear and out the other.  For the first time in my life when people ask me "where are you from?" and I tell them, I get a confused look and "I've never heard of that" every time.  He looked at me crazy when I told him I was a study abroad student.  He then went on to explain that we will probably be spending every waking moment with our hots groups, and that the class is a lot of work, and never taken by study abroads due to the amount of time it requires.  I'm paired with 4 Australian girls.  Ash, Georgie, and two others, their names escape me at the time.  We are meeting tomorrow some time, I'm not sure when, but one of them lives on campus so I can ring her room and find out.  Intro to hospitality should be easy, and finance is taught by a nice lady named Mrs. Sullivan.  For those of you who know Nancy Heiser, she reminds me a lot of her.  Just kind of a bouncy personality, always adding funny comments towards things.  Definitely fun to listen and she's not your average boring business teacher.  She often uses real life examples of the things we talk about, so it's nice to be able to read a news article and actually know what they are talking about when it comes to financial terminology.

You're probably wondering why I named the title of this post the way I did.  Well, for those of you who know me, know that The Office is probably my favorite show on television.  Yes, I did get to watch the new episode online (way to go Jim!) but it wasn't through nbc.com, I had to find a different website that was able to play it in Australia.  Diversity Day is the name of an episode in season one that deals with understanding the diversity in the office.  Well, here at ICMS, Americans are definitely just one of the minorities on campus.  There are 1200 students that go here, and only 65 are Americans.  Simple math tells you that we make up around 5 percent of the school.  Talk about being out of your comfort zone, that has basically been the theme of this trip.  Just a reminder that I go to NEBRASKA, a school dominated by whites, I'd say at least 70%.  But remember folks, different is not always bad, it's just different.  So far I have met (and by met I mean shook hands, introduced myself, and had some type of conversation) with kids from

• South Africa
• Norway
• Sweden
• China
• Vietnam
• Indonesia
• Germany
• Russia
• Korea
• Brazil

It's pretty crazy if you think about it, I've been here a week.  I love learning about different cultures, what it is like to live somewhere else, and the customs of other countries.  Not only are these kids interesting to listen to, but I find that often they do MUCH more international traveling than Americans.  I always ask them to list the countries that they have been to, and sometimes the lists get into double digits.  There are 65 nationalities with a total of 1200 kids represented at ICMS.  It's really quite something.

Next week is a big week for me.  I have a quiz in hots on Thursday.  Saturday I will be walking down to Manly (just a short 10 minute walk) for Manly Jazz Festival.  Monday is an Australian holiday so that means schools and most places of work will not be open.  This doesn't really matter to me since I don't have Monday class anyways.  MJF goes from Saturday-Monday and has 6 stages.  I'm really looking forward to this since I love live music, and try to see as much of it as I can.  I'm actually planning on heading into Sydney on Sunday for Parklife.  It says on the site that tickets are sold out, but I'll try and see how easy it is to actually get a ticket.  If I don't find one by Saturday night and Jazz Fest is holding me over music wise, I have no problem staying on this side of the harbour.

If any of you have Skype, I have now set that up to open when I log on to my computer.  If you'd like to chat, feel free to message me on that and we can catch up on things.  It's a free chat/video service that is really handy.  I'm Skyping with my parents at 10am (6pm Indiana time) tomorrow.  I was able to listen to and watch the Nebraska v.s. Virginia Tech game today.  The video feed was pretty choppy, so I relied heavily on the radio broadcast.  I have to hand it to VT, they played well enough to win.  We simply didn't execute offensively like we needed to.  I thought Nate Swift played a great game, but when things were all said and done, VT just made more plays than us.  I think I'll leave it at that.  I know I promised pictures from the Shark Bar, but I'm pretty spent.  Look for a mid-week update here on the blog.  

Cheers,

Clay

Birds Of A Feather

We all know the old saying...

It's Wednesday evening, the Manly police warden (aka chief of police) is coming to meet with all of the campus residents just about some general knowledge about safety in Manly.  Don't get me wrong, Manly is VERY safe, but when you get 200 international students in a place they've never been, it's never a bad idea to share some knowledge about the good/bad places to be when the sun goes down.

Anyways, I'm sitting in my room waiting for that to start at 8:30, but mainly just waiting for the free pizza they promised us afterwards.  My window has been open for about 3 days now, and I've been able to hear quite a few different kinds of birds.  The birds here are nuts, they are loud, have interesting chirps, and fly around very fast by your head.  I almost had a close call when a flock of white cockatoos swooped at John and I when we were walking up the hill from getting dropped off at the bus stop.  Here's a video I just recorded of the birds, I thought I'd share. It's short, and not much happens after about 10 seconds in.  The most interesting one I thought was around 6 seconds in.  You may need to turn your sound up a little bit.  Enjoy.

Bruce the shark

It's Tuesday evening and I just got out of my first ever class in Australia, statistics.  It was absolutely amazing.

I have the best teacher on planet Earth, his name is Doug Taylor, and he's a heavy set late-50'ish marketing firm owner.  He is an absolute joy.  Before class even began, he was singing to himself while on the computer.  Our Tuesday classes are in a computer lab.  His voice reminds me of Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo.  I'm going to call him that in my head and to my friend John, whom is also in my class.  Bruce has a slur and a lisp, so imagine how hard he is to understand!  A thick Australian accent that is slurred while having a lisp, quite the combo.  Anyways, just thought I'd tell everyone how my day went.

I woke up and had a short Skype session with mom, dad, and Jimmy.  After that, John and I walked down to Manly and caught a bus to the Warringah mall.  There was an old man on the bus with a Notre Dame Fighting Irish hat on from AT LEAST 1970.  The hat was so small that he couldn't even snap the snaps on the back that make the hat the biggest.  At the mall I bought 4 pairs of socks for only $10, which is a bargain.  After that, we found a Foot Locker and I bought 2 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts.  A little back story:  I tried to check out a basketball from ICMS yesterday, but the two that they had left were flat.  So while in the mall John and I found a sporting goods store, which I bought some inflation needles at.  That is my donation to this school, free of charge, I'm leaving this place better than I found it.  Warringah actually has 2 grocery stores (Woolworths & Coles) and a fresh fruit market inside!  It's so bizarre, you can go to the mall to get groceries and fresh fruit.  We boarded the bus home and headed back to Manly Wharf.  We made a pit stop at The Corso for some ice cube treys, they don't have ice here at school!

I believe there are loads of us going out to the Shark Bar for $9 jug night, which is a steal for Manly prices.  But before the spirited spirits start flowing, we're all going out back for an hour or two of basketball.  Kids from Sweden, America, South Africa, South Korea, and Germany will be there, so it should be like a mini olympics.  I should have some pictures up of tonight and cheers to not having class on Wednesdays.  

Clay

An afternoon in Sydney

Sunday was spent taking the ferry into Sydney from Manly Wharf. The walk down the hill from ICMS takes around 15 minutes. Manly Wharf is a friendly and quaint place that is tucked into the bay side of Manly. We took the 25 minute ferry ride and I captured a few pictures along the way.

Since I was the only one in our group that was somewhat familiar with Sydney, I was the acting tour guide. We first went to The Rocks Markets, a Friday/Saturday/Sunday market about a 5 minute walk from Circular Quay. They were cool, but nothing really too special.

I bought a bottle of water and split a $5 bag of cashews with John. We picked them up from a street vendor who had put some type of sugar on them, they were well worth it. We asked the snow cone vendor how to get to Darling Harbour, which is another harbour in Sydney. He told us that it would take around 20 minutes to get there, but we really didn't want to pay for a cab so we started walking.

Darling Harbour was packed with tourists, locals, and small children. There are endless options for food and drink, and lot's of other things like a mall, aquarium, IMAX theatre, and more. We split off into two separate groups at this point, people who needed food and people who wanted to walk around. Most of the girls wanted to stop and get food, so 3 others and myself went off in our small group just walking around. We came upon an Asian festival and a Brazilian festival. The Brazilian one was much bigger and way more interesting. It was in a park with tons of food vendors, and a big stage with music and dancers doing their routines.

We then headed back and met up with the rest of the girls who had finished eating. We weighed our options and decided it would be best if we all headed back to Circular Qauy, which is where the Manly ferry comes and goes. Here is a picture of our crew for the afternoon.

Updation

So I don't even think updation is a word, but I needed something to call this mix-matched post.  I got updation from the all-knowing Sweet Corn McNugget, so he's to blame if it's not in Webster's dictionary.  I took these pictures of the school 'front of house' and Manly beach today (Saturday, Friday in the states)

The palms in front of house.  Suits must be worn out here at all times

Moran house.  I took the previous picture next to those Mercedes'

The entire Moran house

Manly beach on a Saturday afternoon.  I thought the flag in the

lower right was a nice touch.

Kari, Sarah, Scott, Kate, and Me at the cocktail party.

Also, I finally have my class schedule

Monday

No Class

Tuesday

Stats 4-6pm

Wenesday

No Class

Thursday

Stats 8-10

Hotel Management Simulations 12-2

Business Finance 2-4

Hospitality 4-6

Friday

Hotel Management Simulations 10-12

Business Finance 12-2

Hospitality 2-4

Overall, pretty good.  The good news is that I don't have class for essentially 96 hours, Friday at 4pm-Tuesday at 4pm.  No Monday or Wednesday class.  The bad news is that I have 8 hours of classes on Thursdays and class until 4 pm on Fridays (YUCK!!).  I can deal.  I might be getting a part time job since minimum wage here is $16 per hour, and well over $20 on the weekends.  I think I could work on Tuesdays and maybe a day on the weekends, like a Sunday.  There is a golf course that is close by that I might call tomorrow, and also there is a hotel in the city that student services can hook me up with.

I'm starting to post often, so check back often!

O week carries on

I've had a number of things on my plate (literally and figuratively, I ate fried octopus this week!) so I think I'll just start at the beginning

We rolled into Manly on Monday, got settled in our rooms with the help of Tony Henry, the director of student services here at ICMS.  He's been a big help and has a great attitude towards making everyone feel welcome here at the school.  Tuesday consisted of sessions almost all day.  We had an 8 am welcome meeting for international students (that's us now since we're over here), a learning strategies meeting, and a computer lab meeting.  After that, we had a college welcome ceremony in the gorgeous chapel, and then a cocktail party on campus.  Things are much different here in the the sense that alcohol is a very acceptable thing here on campus.  For example, the general manager (who would be the equivalent of the chancellor in the states) came to the cocktail party after he had just given us a speech welcoming us to Australia and shared a few drinks.  It was really cool to see him so professional in one instance and then come join us at the party and personally introduce him self to almost all of the Americans.  He's really laid back and took the time to shake all of our hands.  The party commenced and us loud, obnoxious Americans headed down to a local bar called the Shark Bar.  

Wednesday consisted of getting ourselves 'officially' enrolled, that means filling out big packets and countless signatures and dating.  I began to feel exhausted from the hustle and bustle that is Hogwarts *ahem* I mean ICMS.  I took a nap and got ready for the night.  Most of my American friends attended a wine and cheese party on the 2nd floor balcony overlooking Manly.  I'm not a huge fan of wine so I saved my $18 for later.  From what I hear, it was quite the show.  My buddy John simply said "you walk out onto the deck, they hand you some cheese and a bottle of wine and say 'don't break anything'.  It was quite humorous seeing them walk into the meeting that we had following the 'wine tasting' with our RA's in the Great Hall.  After that, I decided to lay low once again and stay in.  I'm currently working on a slide show of pictures that I will post on this site once I finish it, it's coming along nicely.

Thursday was a day of errands for me.  I woke up with a laundry list of things to do.

• Get fitted for suit
• Obtain scheme of works (a.k.a a syllabus) for my business finance class
• E-mail said scheme of works to professor Richard DeFusco at UNL
• Find out if the meeting later in the day were mandatory (they were)

I'm probably forgetting a thing or two.  

After all of that, John, Mike, and I decided to go exploring out east of the school.  By this I mean we wanted to go to the cliffs overlooking the Pacific.  We headed up the hill and came upon this sign.  You don't see this in America ever, so I took a picture of it.  

After that, we found our way through some bush before we came upon a lagoon.

 

The lagoon was sweet.  The stuff that looks like sand is actually sandstone rock.  We moved onward and I began snapping photos of the cliffs and Manly.

This cliff doesn't look tall, but it was at least 75 feet high.

We then headed back towards Manly on a scenic walk.  I found a few good spots to go do homework that have great views of the ocean.  

Last night we went to Warringah Mall, which is the largest mall in the Sydney area.  In typical Clay fashion, I didn't buy anything or see anything I like.  Pair of Dickies khaki shorts were $80!!  So we got back on the city bus and headed back to Manly Wharf bar where we met up with Laura and Yvonne, two German students that I had met on Tuesday.  After that, we headed over to Shark Bar because they had a band and a list of drinks that you could choose from, all being $5.  That is the cheapest I have paid for any drinks here, it's expensive to have fun here!  Anyways, I'll leave you with a photo of me, Frankie, and Will.

Frankie is the most interesting person I have ever met in my life.  He's one of my closest friends so far on the trip.  He's from South Africa and was picked up by the Australian Union Rugby team when they saw him play vs. China.  He's funny and has told me some amazing and shocking things about South Africa.  He said he hates it when stupid Americans come up to him and ask him if he has lions in his back yard.  He said it's hard to deal with such ignorant people.  Rightfully so, I mean, it's not hard to learn a little something about a few different countries.  At any rate, he's a really interesting guy.  He told me a story the first few minutes that we met.  He said that he's almost gotten into a few fights already.  Since I'm not a fighter, this sounded strange to me, and I asked him why?  He said "It's just about where I come from.  In South Africa, if you don't fight, you don't drink.  If you don't fight, you don't eat." And so on.  This was very eye-opening to me.  He basically laid it out, black and white, about what it's like to be where he's from, Cape Town.  

Not to sell Will short, but he's a cool kid from University of San Diego.  He's a Lambda Chi too.  It's just hard to top Frankie, haha.

That's all for now.  I've forgotten to mention this to everyone, but if you'd like to subscribe to my blog and get e-mail alerts every time I write a new story, that option can be found near the top of the page, I believe.  Thanks for all the comments on the blog, keep them coming!

Clay