Fun Facts

Thursday in our Aboriginal class we went to the Art Gallery of New South Whales.  I enjoyed it and will definitely go back since it's free and they have a lot of interesting art, although some weird stuff too.  We are now finished with that section, and will return to our regular culture class with Marc as our teacher again.  It's kind of sad since I really liked our teacher.  We also never really spoke about pre-colonization aborigines and I was a little disappointed about that.  While I don't think I believe in having many lives, and I don't think I'm supposed to, I kinda wish I could have been a pre-colonization aboriginal in another life just because I'm so curious.

Jessica and I at the Museum

Anyway, we had a paper due and a presentation so everyone was incredibly relieved last night when we were all finished.  I am starting to book the end of my trip with my friend Jessica, and we now have flights to Ayer's Rock (Yes Abby, I'm actually going!) and Thailand!

My roommate Hanna loves Doctor Who and Kate has seen most of it too, so we're starting to watch some episodes when we have some down time.

I finally went back to shul again, this time with my roommate Alex.  We went back to the Newtown Synagogue.  We sat upstairs this time and it was nice seeing familiar faces.  Sadly they did not have a minyan, but it was still nice praying with other people.  I found out that Annalise, who we had met last time, is not actually Jewish, and just knows the cantor and is curious so comes.  A new girl, Sara, who also came because of the cantor, invited us to the shul's dinner for Rosh Hashana, which made us feel welcome, even though we won't be here.  I'm curious if it fills up more on Rosh Hashana.



It was this Cathleen's birthday Friday, so we went to Cargo Bar, which is in Darling Harbour.  It was a nice scene and I'd love to go back.  Hanna, Jessica, and Kate walked with me there, and then Lindsay, Brianna, Rachel C., Andres and Brian walked with me back (of course stopping at the playground on the way).  It was really nice and while there were a lot of us at Cargo Bar it wasn't too many of us, and I had a really nice time.

Today Jessica (who I'm traveling with after the program) and I walked to a market in Glebe.  Sadly it's only open on Saturdays, which means I'll never be able to buy anything there.  It's a shame since they have some very nice and inexpensive clothes, and some other cute items.  Regardless, it was nice to get out with great weather, and just looking at everything for sale was fun.

Tonight I went with Brianna, Lindsay, Andres, Hanna, Justina, and Randy back to Darling Harbour, because there are apparently fireworks every Saturday night! You would think, with it being a weekly thing, that there wouldn't be too many people and the fireworks, being so expensive, might not be so great.  But then you'd be wrong.  It was incredibly crowded, there was music playing (though it was pretty random and sounded like someone just threw their Itunes on shuffle), and the fireworks were great! It was a lot of fun.

Brianna, Lindsay, and Andres at fireworks

Tomorrow morning we fly to Melbourne until Wednesday! I'll be spending Rosh Hashanna and I'll write about it all when I'm back!

Here are just some things I've learned lately:

1. A gum tree (as in kookaburra sits in one) is an Aussie way to say eucalyptus

2. There are different uses for boomerangs:
            a. sport (duh!)
            b. hunting, and now I'll tell you how

• to hunt duck: one person hides in the bushes around a pond/lake waiting with spears or slingshots,   then two people go on other sides of the lake.  the first throws a boomerang just about the ducks, boomerangs whistle while they fly, so the ducks freak out and start to fly, the next person throws a boomerang just above them, so they have no idea what to do and stay flapping suspended in the air.  The person with the weapon takes down a few older, plumper ducks.
• to hunt emu: they are too fast, and the killing must be quick 1. so they cant get away 2. to be more humane. So you throw the boomerang at their legs to break their leg and then walk over and club them so they die on impact.
• to hunt kangaroo: one person stands in one place, one in another.  the one throws the boomerang in front of the kangaroo so as to redirect them toward his mate who then spears a few.

3. Kangaroo meat is very gamey (no I didn't try it but someone on my floor cooked it last night, though he said the kangaroo burgers are actually quite tasty)

4. On the bottom floor of the Art Gallery of New South Whales is an all Aboriginal exhibit. In it, there is a hole dug out of the floor, where you can see the earth below, and there is a microphone above it and it plays the sounds of the land (animals and such).

5. The sky is a different color blue here, and the sunsets are red.  Tonight I saw the most beautiful sky but cannot imagine how to describe it.  All I can say is I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

6.  In making a boomerang, using plywood is not good because it will crack when it hits the ground, though if it doesn't hit the ground it is easier to catch.  The wood they sometimes use is great since it doesn't break, but can break your fingers if you are not careful trying to catch it.

7.  There are two types of boomerangs, ones that are symmetrical and come back, and ones that are shorter on one side and don't come back to you (used for different purposes).

I made it into the video!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8orvebhSdY  (It also shows you all some of what I've been doing)