As Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it is not celebrated in Australia. The turkey, potatoes, casseroles, and pies don’t make their way into Aussie homes on that fine day in November. Lucky for us, the caterers for Dunmore Lang College made a special dinner event to ease some of the homesickness felt by the Americans who were unable to celebrate with family. It was certainly missing that warm, family feel, but the food was delicious and for a stand-in Thanksgiving dinner, it was much better than expected. They served hand-carved ham and turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, veggies, salad, dinner rolls, mini pumpkin pies, little pecan pie slices and Hershey’s kisses and marshmallows. The mac and cheese was amazing, the pumpkin pies were made from fresh pumpkins, and neither potatoes nor gravy were too runny (although I do miss that debate at my own family Thanksgiving).

DLC’s Thanksgiving was Thursday night, but Friday ended up being an even better Thanksgiving event. My friend Andy who lives in DLC has a girlfriend, Ashley, who is also studying abroad in Sydney. She goes to the University of Technology, Sydney, and lives near Central Station in the city. Ashley was kind enough to invite some of us over to her apartment for another Thanksgiving dinner. It was potluck style, with Ashley providing turkey, potatoes, and stuffing, and the 15 or so guests bringing everything else.  We had all sorts of drinks, cheese and crackers, chips to hold our appetite until the food was done, corn and green beans, tons of rolls, French quiche, apple pie, and banana cake. It was slightly untraditional, but the company was fantastic. Most of the guests were Americans from DLC, but a few of Ashley’s friends made an appearance as well. It wasn’t strictly an American celebration though, which was nice. Ashley’s friends were from France and Germany, and two Aussies from DLC made the trip to the city with us. It was certainly no replacement for Thanksgiving with my family, but it was nice to be around so many awesome people for the night.

I am very sad to have missed Thanksgiving with my family, but I am so very thankful for the amazing opportunities I have had this year. Coming to Australia was an absolute dream come true. I was in 6^th grade the first time I decided I wanted to visit Australia. The Summer Olympics were being held in Sydney that year and I told myself that I would be there someday. I’ve had an absolute blast meeting new people, experiencing the culture, and traveling around this county. Oh and studying…I guess that’s what I brought me here right? I actually really enjoyed studying here because it gave me the opportunity to take courses I might not have if I were studying back home…chemistry majors don’t typically take history and anthropology courses. Mythology was super interesting, Illness and Healing gave me a new, anthropologic view on sickness, and I learned more than I could have hoped from my Microbiology professor. I have met so many wonderful people from all over the world and have learned so much about myself since going abroad. With only a few days left in Oz, I am going to miss this place. The country is gorgeous and I hope to come back here some day. This was a terribly expensive semester for me but my parents were absolutely amazing for helping as much as they could. Without their encouragement to study abroad, I doubt it would have happened. Same goes for a few of my friends. I’ll be paying off school loans for a while, but this trip was more than worth it. I couldn’t have asked for a better semester. 

On November 20, I went to see Jason Mraz play at the Sydney Opera House. It was probably one of the most amazing concerts I’ve ever been to. Lindsay’s family came to visit her on the 14^th so she had been staying with them in Sydney for a few days. On the 20^th she brought her parents out to DLC, showed them around, and dropped off some of their luggage. Since I was going to the concert with Lindsay and her sister Nikki that night and the trains to and from the city were down until Monday morning, Lindsay’s parents offered to let me sleep on the couch in their hotel suite for the night. I was very gracious because navigating the busses around midnight sounded like a nightmare. It started to storm in the afternoon, so the five of us left DLC and headed for the city, hoping to avoid some of the bad weather. Once we got to their hotel, which took way too long thanks to the Sydney bus system, we watched a little TV before getting ready for the concert.

Lindsay, Nikki, and I took a bus to Wynyard, the next stop, and walked to Circular Quay in the rain. We weren’t sure how long it would take to pick up our tickets, so we decided to go to the Opera House before grabbing some dinner. Grabbing our tickets from will call literally took 30 seconds. Lindsay didn’t even need an ID or anything to pick them up. She just gave her name and they were handed right over. Weird. With plenty of extra time to spare, we walked back out into the rain and back to Circular Quay in search of food. There weren’t too many options within our price range, but we settled on this little shop that sold sandwiches. We found a place to sit and eat that was out of the rain and then headed back to the Opera House.

Unfortunately, our seats for the concert were not together because it was nearly sold out when we bought our tickets. Originally Lindsay and I were sitting in the same seat, just one row apart, and the third ticket was in the same section, but 30ish seats away. When we bought these tickets in August, our friend Ashley was planning on coming but she ended up selling her ticket to Lindsay so Lindsay could surprise her sister. I wasn’t about to split up Lindsay and Nikki so I took the lone seat. We tried to sit together anyway, but the entire concert hall was sold out.

Despite enjoying the concert by myself, I had a fantastic time. Jason Mraz put on an incredible show and performed the entire 3 hour set without an opening act. I’m not familiar with all of his songs, but even the ones I didn’t know were great. His performance coupled with the beauty and grandeur of the Opera House made for a one-of-a-kind experience. I’ve never heard anything like it. The acoustics in the concert hall were unbelievable. He probably could have done the entire show without a microphone if he wanted to. The crowd was so mesmerized by his performance that side conversations were virtually non-existent. I know this because even something as simple as dropping a plastic cup would echo throughout the entire hall (it happened). He interacted so well with the audience and is an all-out amazing performer.

By the time we left the Opera House, the rain had finally ceased. The three of us grabbed some gelato at Circular Quay and walked back to the bus stop, gushing over the concert. Lindsay is extremely musical and a talented singer herself, so I value her opinion when it comes to musical performances. She said this concert was easily the best one she has ever experienced. I have no pictures because my camera was still on its way back from Melbourne at the time, but if Lindsay posts some of hers, I’ll borrow a few and put them up here.

During the first weekend of November, my friend Michelle and I headed to Melbourne to check out the sights and visit a friend of hers. Michelle’s friend Kara is studying abroad at the University of Melbourne and graciously allowed us to crash at her apartment for the weekend. Only a few of my friends had the opportunity to visit Melbourne this semester, but I personally thought the trip was well worth it. Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia, behind Sydney. It’s basically Sydney’s more stylish and cultured little sister. While Sydney has attractions like the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and Bondi Beach, Melbourne has Federation Square, Phillip Island, and the beaches of St. Kilda. There are chic cafés all over the place, plenty of nightlife, and a very cool display of graffiti art in various laneways throughout the city. It is the birthplace of Australian Rules Football, home to the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, and has the largest tram network in the world. I’m almost sad I didn’t choose Melbourne as my study abroad location. Almost.

There are plenty of things to see and do in Melbourne and unfortunately I didn’t get to experience all of them. However, I still had an amazing time with what I did see. When we first got to the city, Michelle and I had to navigate the trams to reach the suburb of Carlton where Kara lives. In Sydney, I don’t mind the trains but I hate taking the busses. The trams are a combination of the two, so it wasn’t too bad, just a little confusing. Once we found Kara’s place (actually Kara had to find us because we were kinda lost), we dropped off our stuff and Kara showed us around the city at night. We did soooo much walking, but it was a good way to see the city. We got there on Saturday night, but I was still extremely surprised by the number of people wandering the streets around midnight and after. Unlike Sydney, the city circle area in Melbourne is extremely well-lit. This helped eliminate any uneasiness I might have felt wandering around so late at night. Judging by the number of people we saw out and about, there must be a pretty awesome nightlife. Kara took us around the city circle, through Federation Square (the civic center and cultural precinct of Melbourne), and through the district of Southbank which lies along the Yarra River. The lights of the city were gorgeous at night. On

Sunday Michelle and I headed to Queen Victoria’s Markets, which is similar to the Paddy’s Markets of Sydney, only bigger. Much bigger. They sell everything from meat and fruit to dog toys. There were stalls with hammocks, various clothes, purses, toys for little kids, Australian gifts, and even a stand selling American candy that can’t be found in Australia. It was overwhelming to say the least, but we both ended up finding a few gifts for home. After a while we met up with our friend Kim for lunch. Kim, who also lives in Dunmore Lang, was visiting her friend that is studying at University of Melbourne. The three of us spent the afternoon exploring the city. We went to the top of the Eureka Skydeck (tallest building in southern hemisphere) and took plenty of pictures of the city. We took a free bus to the Royal Botanic Gardens, saw Federation Square during the day, and eventually headed back to Kara’s to find her off work. She took us back into the city to grab some Pie Face for dinner. Like the name implies, Pie Face sells meat pies, along with sandwiches and a few other items. Apparently the company originated in Sydney, but that was the first time I had eaten there. The pies are fairly cheap and extremely good. Melbourne might be even more expensive than Sydney, so we happy to find a relatively cheap meal. After dinner Kara took us through Chinatown to see some of the graffiti in the alleyways. These people are extremely talented to be able to do that with a can of spray paint.

Monday was our last real day because our flight back to Sydney was scheduled to leave at 6am on Tuesday. We spent the day on a tour of the Great Ocean Road. In total we drove over 300 miles, but the long day was well worth it. The views were absolutely spectacular. This stretch of land is actually a war memorial, built by returned soldiers and dedicated to the casualties of WWI. Along the way, we stopped at Bells Beach, which is a very popular surf destination (home of the Rip Curl Pro), stopped at the Memorial Arch to take pictures, saw wild koalas near Kennett River, had lunch in Apollo Bay, walked through Otway’s Rainforest, saw the 12 Apostles (huge, breathtaking limestone stacks in the ocean), stopped at Loch Ard Gorge (limestone cliffs, home of Australia’s most famous shipwreck – the Loch Ard), and saw London Bridge (which did in fact fall down in 1990). Overall, this tour was incredible and anyone who visits Melbourne should definitely take the time to see the Great Ocean Road. I ended up leaving my camera on the tour bus somehow but they were super nice and sent it to me here in Sydney. It arrived last week, so facebookers have probably seen most of the photos already. For those who haven’t, Ill post some here.

One thing I didn’t get to do while in Melbourne was visit Phillip Island. Phillip Island is home to the Penguin Parade, where every day at sunset, wild fairy penguins emerge from the sea and waddle across the beach to their burrows. These are the smallest penguins in the world, and they’re just so cute! Two of my friends went to the Penguin Parade when they visited Melbourne and said it was really cool to see. Bleachers are set up so people can gather and watch all these lil guys make their way back from fishing in the ocean. I’ve been told that the scene looks almost like a sporting event, which sounds a little silly. Silly or not though, if I would have had another day in the city, I definitely would have gone to check it out. 

At the end of every school year, Dunmore Lang College hosts a special Valedictory dinner for all of the residents earning a degree that year. This year’s dinner was held at the end of October, a few weeks before the beginning of finals. This was a formal event, so everyone in college dressed up to enjoy the party. Pre-drinks of beer and champagne were served in the courtyard starting at 6 with the dinner commencing at 6:30. I had my microbio lab until 6, so I had very little time to shower and get ready. I made it out to join my friends in the courtyard by 6:15 and after a glass or two of champagne, we headed inside to take our seats as the event commenced. DLC board members lined the stage, with the President of the college giving an introductory speech. After introductions, appetizers of bruschetta were brought out, followed by salmon or lamb over mashed potatoes for the entrée, and cheesecake or lava cake for dessert. The meal was fantastic with the exception of the cheesecake. In all honesty, the dessert wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t like the cheesecake back home. It had marshmallows in it and was not at all what I was expecting. I’m told the other dessert was amazing though.

Between each course, we listened to more speeches, three fantastic musical numbers from my friends Lindsay, Ashley and Holly, announcement of the 2012 student body leaders, announcement of the 2012 scholarship and award recipients, and the introduction of each resident who is earning a degree this year. These degrees ranged anywhere from Bachelor’s of Arts to Doctorate of Neuropsychology with everything in between. It was a fun night full of terrible wine and fantastic food. The college really knows how to put on an event when they want to. In true DLC fashion, an afterparty was held upstairs following the closing speeches so everyone could celebrate and congratulate those who were recognized during dinner. DLC also hosts a commencement dinner at the start of every year to welcome the new residents and celebrate a new year. Apparently that one has a tendency towards out of control, so I’m glad I came during their second semester instead of the first.