Melbourne

It doesn't take long in Melbourne to understand why it’s held the position of the world's most liveable city since 2011 (and been among the top 3 since 2002). First of all, the cost of everything is much cheaper than Sydney. Secondly, there is a free tram within the central business district, making transportation around downtown easy and convenient. It didn't come as a surprise when we found out Melbourne has the largest tram network in the world.  It's also home to six of the seven tallest buildings in Australia. Thirdly, the overall vibe of Melbs is quite relaxed and chilled out. On top of its 62,000 live concerts annually, Melbourne is known as the 'garden city' in reference to its abundance of parks and gardens. And last but definitely not least, the food is amazing. I thought Sydney had an awesome food scene, but Melbs takes the cake. We ate at a variety of restaurants, from cheap but incredibly fresh sushi to one-of-a-kind brunch cafes to high-end Italian cuisine. Not one meal let me down! We also enjoyed just wandering around the city, meandering along the Yarra River, and discovering why Melbourne's been recognised as a major centre for street art.

Hosier Lane

Another positive of Melbourne is its location to some popular tourist attractions. The first one we explored was Phillip Island, home to about thirty-two thousand fairy penguins! They are the smallest penguins in the world, standing only one foot tall when they are fully grown. Once the sun has set, groups of them emerge from the ocean to make their way back to their burrows for the night. Some of them were so full of fish that they fell forward from the weight, rested for a minute or so and then got back up and kept going. Seeing them waddle along the beach and up into the hills was one of the cutest things I have ever seen wild animals do. We were only one foot away from groups of them at one point! They are so used to humans watching them that they are completely un-phased by our presence. 

The next attraction we visited were the eighty-two beach boxes on Dendy Beach in Brighton. They provide shelter from the sun and wind, act as lockers for your belongings and can house small appliances such as barbecues. The different colours help the eighty-two wealthy residents of Brighton differentiate their $200,000 beach box from the others. Seems just a touch excessive for a tiny little shack haha...

St. Kilda is another neat area of Melbourne, with eclectic shops, funky cafes and numerous bakeries up and down the strip. It is also home to Melbourne's most famous beach, and has it's own little penguin colony. After lunch we stumbled upon a gold mine - a liquor store selling six hundred different beers! It was nice to enjoy a few of our favourites from back home that we haven’t been able to have in over eight months. 

The next two days were spent on the Great Ocean Road, voted one of the most scenic coastlines in the world. Spanning about 250km, we took a few pit stops along the way to the Twelve Apostles on our first day. The first was a lookout providing spectacular views of the windy road we spent countless hours navigating. 

Teddy's lookout

The next pit stop was a eucalyptus forest, which was the perfect spot to stretch our legs and attempt to spot one of our grey furry friends. We got super lucky seeing a few wild koalas, with one of them actually putting on a show for us. He climbed all the way down the high branch he was perched on, to sit about five feet away from Wes filming all the action, and then he climbed back up another branch where he began to make loud noises we didn’t even know koalas made! It was wild; almost a cross between a pig and a dog. Considering koalas sleep around twenty-two hours each day, we totally hit the jackpot!

Another few hours of driving brought us to the apostles themselves, packing as much punch as we’d expected. There's only eight left due to erosion, and you can see the remains of one in the picture below on the left. It was fifty metres tall and collapsed in 2005.

We also saw a wild echidna beside the walking path! After overnighting at an adorable little farmhouse near the apostles, we hit every scenic pullout on the way to Port Campbell. First there was the Loch Ard Gorge…

View from the top

View from the beach

Then there was The Arch…

And the London Arch (which used to be called the London Bridge since it formed a complete double-span natural bridge before the piece connecting to the mainland crumbled into the ocean in 1990)…

And finally The Grotto (a geological sinkhole)…

All of these sights definitely made the long journey worth it! We then took the direct route back to Melbourne and stopped at the Timboon Cheese Factory for a cheese tasting and lunch. That night we had tickets to the Melbourne Fringe Festival to see a friend of a friend from Sydney Uni perform a comedy skit with his group. Even though there were a few jokes that only Australians would understand, it was still hilarious and well worth it. Our final day consisted of a visit to the Queen Victoria Market; Melbourne's version of Paddy's Market in Sydney. After much shopping around, we finally picked out a didgeridoo that we'd been wanting for months. Didgeridoos were created by Indigenous Australians and are one of the oldest wind instruments ever invented. We're gradually learning how to play it properly, but it's so much harder than it looks! Authentic didges are cut from eucalyptus trees that have been naturally hollowed out by termites, but they can also be made from PVC piping, non-native hard woods, glass, metal, clay or even carbon fibre. Our authentic didge has been decorated in Aboriginal artwork and stands at 3 feet 9 inches tall. We can't wait to add it to our collection of souvenirs from our travels. We have flights booked home for December 14th and we'll be staying for five weeks!
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving this weekend to all of our friends and family back home! Don't worry, we've got a potluck planned with our fellow Canadians so we won't be missing out on turkey dinner! 

Life as we know it..

I want to apologize, first and foremost, for not posting near as much as I used to (especially when I first started this blog almost 3 years ago) but life just gets so busy that I forget to update all of my readers. We are just over halfway through our second semester, and it's two weeks into spring. The weather has warmed up considerably since our so-called "winter", the worst of it being 1 week of scattered showers, and it basically feels like summer. That means that beach days are about to start again soon! We actually could have gone already this past weekend because it was about 25 degrees on Sunday, but we'd already planned to go on a long run as part of our half marathon training so we couldn't bail on our running buddies. Once you get behind on your distance training, it's more difficult to make up the lost kilometres. For example, last weekend we had mapped out a 12.5km route in the charming Canada Bay (ya, we had to check it out),

but we got lost and ended up running only 12km, so this past weekend we had a 1.5km increase instead of the planned 1km. It doesn't seem like half of a kilometre would make that big of a difference, but it does when you're running in 25 degree heat with no breeze to cool those beads of sweat running down your face. The scenery definitely helps distract you though, and we've discovered some absolutely beautiful parts of Sydney in these past five weeks of training.

Badu Mangroves in Bicentennial Park - Sydney Olympic Park

The idyllic Iron Cove

Saturday would've been a better day to run since it was cooler, but it ended up being a write off due to our ridiculous Friday night festivities with our fellow Canadians (the physios). They'd just finished their mid-semester practical exams that they'd been studying for for weeks, and us OTs also proudly passed our first practical exam ever so it was time to celebrate! Let's just say that we wouldn't have survived Saturday without our big brunch at the delicious Pancakes on the Rocks. Oh, and for those of you who aren't sure what practical exams are, they're 1-on-1 ten minute tests that can be on absolutely anything you've learned so far in the semester. A few examples include measuring someone up for a wheelchair, walking frame, crutches or canes, lifting someone from a bed with a hoist, guiding the blind and using a slide sheet to move someone up or down a bed. This semester is definitely a lot more practical than first semester! In Biomechanics we've been applying our more creative sides, making hand, thumb and finger splints as well as casts...

We even do clinical simulations, which are just as effective for learning as real fieldwork. The actors that are brought in to be our patients are ridiculously in character; at one point during our first simulation I was completely convinced that he actually had Multiple Sclerosis. I mean who can keep up a tremor for hours on end, while being interviewed, doing assessments and having to concentrate on a ton of other MS symptoms simultaneously?!  An amazing actor is who. Kudos to Sydney Uni for finding these people! There's always a down side to the up side though, and the down side involves our last month of the semester having extensive assignments due every single week until exams. However, this means that we only have one final exam, so we can't really complain! At this point, everyone is just looking forward to the mid-semester break coming up the weekend after next. We've planned to head down to Melbourne with some friends for the week, but not just for some of the most delectable food in Australia. We're taking two of those days to drive along the gorgeous Great Ocean Road, and we're keeping our fingers crossed for some breathtaking dawn and dusk photo ops of the infamous Twelve Apostles. We'll also be visiting the colourful Brighton Beach Boxes, St. Kilda's seafront stretch, and the adorable penguins on Philip Island. We will try our absolute best to NOT think about all of the work we have to do when we get back to Sydney. The final stretch of the semester will be a long one! But don't fret, I'll pull time out of nowhere to share some Melbourne stories :)

2 Weeks of Fieldwork & 2 Weeks into Semester 2

I can't believe it's already been a month since Wes and I were snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns and visiting some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Atherton Tablelands. Everyone knows what it's like when you get back from vacation; an unwelcome snap back into reality. We had to jump right into our first fieldwork placements, which was exciting but also very nerve-wracking. I was extremely lucky to be placed at Westmead Hospital about a half hour from our apartment, but Wes wasn't so lucky. He had to travel two and a half hours up to Newcastle, and unfortunately the school didn't cover or at least contribute to any of the cost for staying at a hostel for two weeks. He had a really good experience though and learned more during those two weeks than he did during the entire first semester of school. I can also say the same, and neither of us wanted to start second semester at the end of our placements. My supervisor was super nice and ridiculously helpful with teaching me everything she could in the two weeks. I was doing community-based rehab for the elderly as part of a transitional care program and I absolutely loved it. The majority of my experiences were visiting the homes of people who had recently been discharged from the hospital after partially recovering from a stroke, a fall and/or a broken bone. The purpose of the home visits was to make sure the elderly could independently cope with being back in their houses, whether it be alone or with their spouses/family. Many people needed some assistive equipment to be able to shower themselves safely, to regain the ability to cook or just to simply mobilise around their homes. You would not believe the innovation behind some of these inventions, it was actually mind-blowing to see how many cool devices were in the supply stores. Some people also needed minor home modifications to be done, such as adding railings for going up/down stairs or for getting in/out of the shower. I was shocked to see how slight changes can make such drastic improvements in people's functional ability. I also saw major modifications being done, like bathrooms being entirely renovated, staircases being fully rebuilt or ramps being created for walker and/or wheelchair accessibility. This is where the creative side of Occupational Therapy comes into play, and I really enjoyed seeing how much freedom we have for designing the mods. I actually had the opportunity to take all of the measurements and draw up a set of modifications for a client that we'd visited. I was also able to write up numerous reports of various visits with clients, which were all submitted to their files. I felt so accomplished that my work was actually used!

Before and after shots of modifications

Another part of my fieldwork experience was taking people on community visits, simply to see how they would function outside of their homes. Generally, elderly people don't go many places other than the grocery store, the mall, the doctor and maybe a community centre. They tend to stick to the places that are nearby or that they've been going to for many years, so they can navigate around very well unless they've had some brain damage. The main thing that OTs look for when doing a community access is how well the person does what they need to do. I know this seems very broad, but it's really important to see how independent the person is overall. Can they find the train/bus station and get on/off at the right stop? Can they get in/out of the car? Can they find the entrance from the parking lot? Can they mobilise safely to get around? Can they reach things on higher shelves? Can they push a cart or carry a basket as it gets heavier? Can they manage their money? Do they have the stamina to complete the task? Can they find a seat if they need to rest? And so on, and so on. I never realised how many different aspects are involved in the daily activities that we find so routine. I also never realised how MANY things get more difficult as you get older. The most important thing that I learned is that I never want to age!
It was really interesting to hear about all of the other students' experiences when we had a debriefing in the first week back to school. We were all grouped together based on what type of fieldwork we had, and I can't wait to find out what area my next placement will be in. I definitely like the community work, but I also find the TBI (traumatic brain injury) patients really interesting (probably because of my psychology background). It was really eye-opening to see how all of the things we learned during first semester play a part in the OT process. And I'm excited to see how the courses we've started this semester will contribute to our second fieldwork placements in a few months! Compared to how I felt when I first started this masters program, I can now confidently say that I'm loving what I'm doing!
Here's a few links to some great videos about OTs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1cHKY7Fqdw (a good rap for the guys)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgb1TVGpjg8 (a spin to Lorde's 'Royals')

Trip to Cairns

A much needed trip after completing first semester took us up to Cairns, in far northern Queensland. We wanted to get out of the winter weather in Sydney, which hasn't actually been colder than a hot autumn day. But nonetheless, we craved some therapeutic sun. We also craved a little camping trip, since we inevitably missed our annual May long weekend tenting adventure with friends back home. We needed a change of scenery as well, since we barely left our apartment during exam period due to the copious amounts of studying. And our goal was met, covering a ton of Cairns in a quick six days. The first day trip was out to the Great Barrier Reef, a long awaited item on my bucket list. It's composed of 1,500 different fish species and 2,900 individual reefs, making up the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. It's bigger than the Great Wall of China, and is the only living thing on earth visible from space. The reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world, with the age of the present living reef structure being 6,000 to 8,000 years old. However, since 1985 it's lost over half of its coral cover due to climate change, pollution, fishing, shipping accidents, oil spills and tropical cyclones. We're so glad we got to see it when we did, and we highly recommend you do too! It definitely lived up to my expectations, displaying the most colourful coral I've seen and some really cool fish. 

We also saw some absolutely massive clams, which must have each measured up to the size of a medium dog. 

Even though I've snorkelled in Mexico, Hawaii, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia, the Great Barrier Reef surpasses them all. I literally screamed underwater every minute or so, when I saw something cool or got surprised by a fish. If I had unlimited funds, I could've spent DAYS on the reef! We plan on doing a live-aboard tour in the Whitsunday Islands at some point next year. Since the reef is accessible from multiple east coast locations, this will fulfil our desire for more reef exploration.   The following day was spent relaxing around Cairns; rejuvenating from our long day at sea and BBQing some camel burgers that Wes just had to try. It took less than an hour to ferry over to Fitzroy Island the next day for some hiking and beach action. Before it got too hot we hiked up to the lighthouse and then the summit at 882 feet, which offered incredible views of the ocean and surrounding land.  

With 97% of the island being National Rainforest, it felt a little bit like home as we trudged through the forest growth. After getting a good sweat going, we grabbed our snorkels and fins for a refreshing swim off of Nudie Beach. Not actually nude-permitted since the 60s, it felt like a hidden tropical paradise. The reef was nothing like the Great Barrier, but it still offered a wide array of coral and fish as well as turtles if you're lucky.

We sunbathed on the white sandy beach and took a break from the sweltering sun to have a picnic lunch. We then wandered through the 'Secret Garden' to spot a few wild parrots and butterflies, and finished off the day with a few seaside beers. Having another day to chill in Cairns was much needed, exploring the great length of the esplanade and scouring through trinkets in the night market. 

Since there isn't much of a beach in Cairns, the esplanade lagoon is a great alternative for those seeking sand and some relief from the heat. Our last but not least day trip was to the Atherton Tablelands, whose landscape ranges from extinct volcanoes and crater lakes to bird and wildlife rich forests and National Parks. Our first stop was Lake Eacham, formed 12,000 years ago by molten magma. We spotted numerous turtles and a python before devouring a delicious fresh fruit platter for morning tea. 

Hitting up a hilltop lookout along the way provided expansive breathtaking views of the surrounding tablelands. 

Then we headed to four different waterfalls, each of which offered beautiful scenery and refreshing water basins to swim in. The first was Ellinjaa Falls and then Zillie...

Then we ventured to Millaa Millaa Falls, which is an icon of the region and one of the most famous waterfalls in all of Australia. It's featured in XXXX Gold beer and Herbal Essence shampoo commercials, offering an exhilarating experience to those who crawl behind it. I'll have to admit that it was the coldest water I've felt since being Down Under, but totally worth it!

Our last stop was Josephine Falls, which was by far the funnest waterfall we encountered. It spanned over three different levels, with the lowest level bestowing a natural waterslide into its accepting basin. 

This ended our day as well as our trip to Cairns, and provided some unforgettable memories. Our tour guide was absolutely hilarious and we highly recommend going with Captain Matty's Barefoot Tours to the Tablelands. Now we can look forward to completing our two week clinical placement before we start second semester. There'll be updates more often from now on, I promise!

The Truth About Grad School

So since my life has recently consisted of school above all else these past few weeks, I wanted to reflect on my grad school experience thus far. And since semester one is basically completed (minus exams), I thought it was appropriate timing. There have been many things that I expected, but much more that I didn't. To start, the professors have extremely high expectations for masters students. This is something I assumed would be the case, but Occupational Therapy has an overwhelming grey-area. Looking back on my undergrad in Psychology, it was mostly black and white; things were very clear-cut with regards to assignments, papers, tests etc. You always knew what was expected of you and how to go about it, only because profs told you the exact page numbers of textbooks to study and had lectures laid out point-by-point. Masters profs are ridiculously vague, simply because they want students to pull things from all different angles that provide new and diverse perspectives. OT is a pretty new profession compared to most others, and the teachers don't have a ton of info to work with. This makes it extremely difficult for students to see things clearly! I'm sure it's hard to for you to understand what I'm talking about because you're not in my shoes, but just believe me!! We recently had a celebration for the end of first semester classes, and there was complete consensus about what I just mentioned. It did not involve the fact that we'd all had quite a few drinks already, in fact this just exaggerated the actuality that we are still in the dark about numerous things. It actually quite worries us for second semester because we can only expect courses to get harder. There is little direction when it comes to assignments, and our marks reflect this. Not to say we've done horribly, but my grades in my undergrad were much better. I can presume this was because I was spoon-fed by professors, but also a result of my substantial interest in the subject matter. Psychology is still my bread and water, but Occupational Therapy feeds greatly from Psyc so I'm somewhat in my comfort zone. We'll see how I feel once I've completed my first practicum though, which is just over five weeks away! Still haven't received my placement location, but hoping it's not out of the Sydney Metropolitan area. Wouldn't look forward to paying for an apartment out of town for two weeks on top of our current apartment. As much as I'd like to be placed in a vacation destination like some students from Group A, saving rent money is more important. Not sure if I've already mentioned that Australian rent is really expensive, with the only positive aspect being the inclusion of utilities (which you can commonly find in Canada anyway). I think I've done enough venting for one night, but if anybody is considering grad school and has some questions feel free to ask me. I'm more than willing to provide info to those interested in doing post-grad or studying abroad! Cheers Canada :)

A photo of the Bondi seaside salt-water pool just because this post was wordy...

And if you haven't seen my photos of the amazing Vivid Sydney at the Opera House, check out my instagram or facebook page for a preview!

25 is just around the corner...

I find it pretty coincidental that I'm spending my 25th birthday in Australia just like my mom did thirty years ago. It will be the first time I've had a birthday without my great group of friends back at home. And we usually have a combined birthday party since there are so many of us May-babies, but not this year. Well I guess that's not true, I will never have my own birthday celebration thanks to Wes being born on the same day. But I honestly can't complain though because there's nobody else I'd rather share my day with. We're planning an entire weekend full of birthday celebrations, starting with dinner, drinks & dancing, then going up the harbour bridge lookout and ending with a soccer game (Australia vs. South Africa) at the Olympic Stadium. We got really lucky with our school schedule this week, only having to attend for two days. The professors we have for our Thursday classes will be gone on fieldwork so we actually get a five day weekend. We couldn't have asked for more! Twenty-five is a big one!

We've been working pretty hard on group assignments and presentations these last three weeks, so it'll be great to have a longer break over the weekend. There's only two weeks left of class before exams start; it's getting close to crunch time! We have just a few assignments left in the first semester of our Masters and the pressure is on.

University of Sydney main campus courtyard

We recently got our first clinical placement dates, which will be from July 14-25. This only gives us a two-and-a-half week break once we're done exams and have to start our placement, but we're just glad that we didn't get placed in the November block. That would've shortened our Christmas break, and since we're planning on visiting home it would've been pretty disheartening. We're looking forward to getting a short break from the hot summer heat, since the seasons are opposite Down Under. It will be a good contrast to go snowboarding a few times and be able to put up a Christmas tree over the holidays, versus having a BBQ on the beach in thirty-five degree weather. Even though it's supposedly autumn here, the sun is still shining bright and providing us with minimum twenty degree days. We've still been able to enjoy the beach often, despite what the locals think.

Of course the Aussies are dressed in Uggs and jumpers (according to them, but we'd say boots and jackets) but we think it's ridiculous. They have absolutely no idea how mild their seasons are compared to Canada, and not even the West Coast. Us Vancouverites have it so easy compared to the East Coasters, but we're still feeling that it's late spring/summer/early fall weather. Late in the evening when I'm making my way home from Rec. Volleyball (Wednesdays), I don't even need to put pants or a sweatshirt on to make myself comfortable. People at the train station look at me like I'm crazy as I walk around in shorts and a t-shirt. So all in all, Aussies are wimps. And also lazy, as they've even further proven since my previous blog post about it. But I can't bash them so hard anymore because some of them have started to read my posts... and I can't give us Canadians a bad reputation!

Roooaaadddtttrrriiippp

Oh where to start... last week went by ridiculously fast. Eight of us departed at five thirty in the morning on Friday to head up the eastern coast of the Australian mainland. It was one of those mornings where you feel too excited to feel tired from lack of sleep. We began the drive in high spirits and lively chatter, which expectantly ended up dying down after the adrenaline had worn off around ten o'clock. A much needed pit stop at a breathtaking beach woke us up and was the perfect opportunity for the first photos of the trip.

After a quick lunch and cold refreshments we were back on the road to complete the second half of our long drive. When we originally planned this trip, we were going to go to Byron Bay first and then the Gold Coast. However, the Byron Bay Blues Festival fell on the exact weekend we were planning on being there and every single accommodation was fully booked, so we switched our plans but still got stuck in Byron traffic on our way up. This must have cost us at least an hour, but thanks to our awesome crew we made the best of it with multiple car games to pass the time. Arriving in Surfer's Paradise that evening couldn't have felt any better. Hitting the beach the next morning was even more rewarding though; a pay off for our long journey from Sydney.

The main beach in Surfer's is no Bondi, but it's sand is just as soft and it's span is even longer. Reminds me of Cancun actually, big city with a big crowd. We decided to buy some boogie boards to ride the surf and not surprisingly, we were rinsing out loads of sand from our swimsuits at the end of the day. Reminiscing over a few drinks that night, we decided that the nightlife in Surfer's is almost comparable to Sydney. A recovery at Pancakes on the Rocks was much needed the next morning, and gave us a taste of home. But we stormed the beach shortly after and then hit the town later that night. And every night thereafter actually. However, we tried to keep up our fitness by going on a hike in Lemington National Park. I know that I am extremely biased having come from one of the most beautiful provinces in Canada, but Lemington was not near comparable to B.C. Don't get me wrong though, it had expansive views and plentiful wildlife but the scenery just doesn't live up to my standard. Judge for yourself though...

We saw more wallabies than we could count, but the most exciting part was definitely when we saw a wallaby with a joey in it's pouch. We also spotted wild turkeys and multiple bird species on our afternoon hike, most of which moved too fast for photos. The better wildlife was found at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary the day before, where we got pictures with kangaroos and koalas!

Softer than you'd think

But even softer! And cuter! Her name's Peppermint.

There were also snakes, crocodiles, rams, free flying birds and the super cool tree kangaroos. After the wildlife sanctuary we stopped at the Currumbin Rock Pools for some cliff jumping and relaxing under mini waterfalls. If I had a waterproof camera I'd have photos to share with you. Hopefully Lisa (the waterproof camera owner) will post some pics on Facebook. Four fun-filled days on the Gold Coast were followed by three days in Beautiful Byron Bay, less than two hours south. It only took a few hours for us to all agree that Byron was more our style, with it's laid-back village vibe. We relaxed on the beach, tanned, surfed and wandered down a few sandy stretches.

Clarkes Beach

We also made a day trip over to Nimbin, which is hippy central Down Under. It's a sleepy little town with lots of unique shops selling eclectic artifacts. The museum was definitely the most interesting thing to tour through, hosting a wide array of wildly creative pieces of art and numerous poetic blurbs on its walls. There were also a few colourfully decorated hippy vans bursting through the walls (literally) to give some insight into the true vagabond travel style. On our last day we hiked up to the Byron Bay lighthouse for sunset, which also put us at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland... the closest we'll be to home in the next two years.

Cheesy I know, but we had to get proof! There are also some rock formations in the water below which we just had to climb on. It was surprisingly liberating to be balancing on the eastern edge of the continent. Shout out to our awesome travel crew who made the trip an unforgettable journey! There will definitely be more to come!

Halfway Through Semester 1

After a horribly hectic week, which included a fifteen minute presentation, a gruelling anatomy exam and a report-style paper, we have finally finished the first half of our first semester! And one eighth of the way done our Masters! Students get a week off over Easter and ANZAC Day so we're taking full advantage. A well-deserved vacation is taking us to the gorgeous Gold Coast and then beautiful Byron Bay. Eight of us Canadians are piling into a van for an eight-day roadtrip up and down the eastern Australian coast. We're spending five days in and around Surfer's Paradise and three days in Byron. The weather is supposed to be perfect... we couldn't be more excited! So as you already may have presumed, I won't be posting anything for at least ten days. And unfortunately there wasn't much to write about this time because my life has recently consisted of homework and studying and more homework. Oh, and did I mention more studying? I've honestly never had to study for a subject so much in my entire life! I thought Statistics in my undergrad was bad, but it's not even comparable to Anatomy. Not only do you have to be able to identify each muscle, you have to know all of their functions as well as their attachment sites. There are more muscles than I ever could've imagined! Wes isn't having much trouble because he had to take Anatomy in his undergrad, but for someone who has never done it before, it's nuts! The only thing I can be thankful for is the fact that OT students only have to learn upper limbs, leaving all of the lower limb stuff to the Physios. They're lucky that they don't have to stare at cadavers with faces staring back. I mentioned in a previous post that I hadn't had a cadaver with a face on it yet, but I got one the following week and every week thereafter! I have to admit, it can be difficult to eat lunch after lab sometimes. One of the girls has even stopped eating meat! The smell isn't pleasant either, and when you walk in the lab there are big containers labelled Heads, Necks, Shoulders, Arms, Backs, etc. If anyone has ever been to a BodyWorld exhibit, you have an idea of the types of things we're looking at.

Cool but creepy

In clear cases they look more fake than real, but when you're up close and personal you can't help knowing that they're part of a human who donated their body to science. It's really quite honourable, and I've been a donor ever since I could. However, it's still unsettling to think of how people will be peeling your skin off and then poking and prodding at your muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc. without you even knowing. Anyway, I hope I haven't disturbed you all too much! I'm so glad I get to stop thinking about Anatomy for the next ten days, so why can't I? It must be the fact that the specimen's eyelids randomly open sometimes...

2 Months Down Under

Two months in a new city, new country, new life. It all seems kind of surreal. For some people things seem to stand still, but for others things seem to fly by. I'm definitely the latter, it doesn't feel like I've been away from Canada for nine weeks already. It doesn't feel like I've missed anything back home either. And I definitely haven't missed the weather! Even though the forecast is beginning to change in Sydney because winter is coming, it's not very noticeable. Although we're starting to get rain, it's only for a few minutes sporadically throughout the day. It reminds me of Thailand actually, in the so-called "wet season" when it downpours for a short time but it's still hot out. We haven't seen the thermometer drop below 25 degrees yet during the day, and at night it's still almost 20. Sweaters have stayed in their spots and pants have rarely been worn. However, the Aussies are pretty wimpy when it comes to the weather, complaining easily and covering up quickly. I have a feeling us Canadians will rarely feel cold while we're here, but only time will tell. We've heard mixed information on the winter conditions, so all we can accept for certain is that we're better off Down Under!

Bondi in all it's glory

Another thing I wanted to touch on is the fact that Australians don't use near as much lingo as you would think. There have only been a handful of instances when I needed to get a word clarified. What I can tell you though is that they love to say 'heaps' in place of 'lots/tons/much', McDonalds is 'Mackas', they call ketchup 'tomato sauce' and the most annoying of all is how they ask you 'how ya goin'?' instead of 'how are you doing?' It just doesn't make sense! It makes me want to answer them literally, like 'I'm walking' or 'Taking the train'. Also, I still forget to ask for tomato sauce at restaurants because I'm not asking for pasta sauce or pizza sauce with my fries, I want ketchup! But complaining aside, I do like a few things they do differently: tax is included in the final price, EVERYWHERE, the drinking cut-off at bars is 3am, liquor stores are called bottle shops (making you feel like less of an alcoholic) and our campus rents out bean bag chairs for free to students on break between class! The only downside to that is the fact that it's hard to get up when you have to go to lecture, especially after basking in the sun (laziness sets in hardcore). And that's a bad thing for Aussies because it just contributes to their already present laziness. They don't think twice about taking the elevator when you have class on the fourth floor, whereas us Canadians gladly walk up a few flights before sitting for an hour or two. We also don't mind walking for twenty minutes to a half hour to get anywhere, but the locals would never. I know I'm generalising here, but don't we all! We've heard countless stereotypes about Canadians and Americans, most of which are remarkably accurate. Unfortunately the Aussies have difficulty differentiating us from each other; understandable but offensive. But don't worry, we always clear the air, sometimes throwing in a little Kiwi vs. Aussie banter (they hate being mistaken for New Zealanders more than we hate being called Americans!) So there's your lesson for the day!

University of Sydney main campus courtyard

One Month Into School

Sorry for the delayed post, but things have been a little crazy these past 2 weeks. We went on our second pub crawl only days after our first one, but this time with other Sydney Uni Health Science students. It's called the Lab Coat Pub Crawl, so as you can imagine there were upwards of a thousand students in white lab coats. They didn't stay white for long though, as permanent markers acted as paintbrushes to decorate their bare surfaces. Since this is an annual event, some senior students have not an inch of space to spare on their lab coats, proudly. Of course our group stuck out like sore thumbs having these perfectly blank canvases, so a good part of the night was spent getting written on. It even started on the train ride downtown, and then we all excitedly poured out of the station almost trampling anyone not involved. Our lab partners definitely got a good laugh seeing some of the drawings we were sporting the next day. Luckily, the lab instructors expect this so I didn't feel too bad having some artwork on. Next year I'll definitely have even more! But all in all, it was a super fun night seeing some more of Sydney's crazy bars. Now if we could just remember how to get to them... And I wish there were photos to share! I stole this one from the Facebook page...

On-campus pre-drink

Next thing on our list was having our first BBQ, since it feels wrong to cook inside everyday when the weather is so beautiful. So two of our fellow Vancouverites, Physio students, went on a hunt for a grill and ended up buying one for $30 at K-Mart! Needless to say, they had Wes and I over that night for a zealous four-hour cook fest including pork, beef, chicken, lamb and kangaroo. Since our other friends missed out they were jealous, so this past weekend they had a BBQ party with the majority of our Canadian group. It probably involved the same amount of meat for a third of the people, resulting in more drinking than eating. It felt like home! Wes and I just have to get our own grill now, the only problem being getting it back to our apartment.
On another note, we were looking forward to having my Dad Down Under for the weekend. He got a layover for Friday and Saturday so we were able to spend a good amount of time with him. The main thing on his list was completing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, so we did it! And it was amazing! We booked it for twilight and were so happy we did because it'd definitely be too hot during the day. Plus, the view of the harbour all lit up was incredible!

We also got to see fireworks while we were up there! And there was no rain, which was extremely lucky because the forecast had been calling for it all week so we brought rain gear just in case. The clouds didn't even roll in until the last 5 minutes when we got a light drizzle of rain that was actually refreshing. The whole thing was 3 hours and I highly recommend it for anyone who's not afraid of heights. Sunrise or sunset would also be a great time to climb but I still think nighttime is the best! I also think there should be something like this in Vancouver... maybe by the time we get home... who wants to be the advocate?