I arrived in Canberra on the last day of their massive heatwave. It was 41 * C (112*F) and god damn was it hot. A quick note about the Australian sun too:
Before the party, I had to go shopping first. Me and my IFSA Rep Shawna went to the Westfields in Belconnen (Belconnen is just one of the many neighborhoods that make up Canberra), a massive 3 or 4 story mall. The one thing we couldn’t find was a fan. Apparently because of the heat wave, the whole city experienced a fan shortage.
Canberra was created and chosen to be Australia’s capitol because Sydney and Melbourne couldn’t stop fighting over where the capitol should be. So they decided to put it in the middle of nowhere, between the two cities (3 hour drive from Sydney, 8 hour drive from Melbourne). And so while the city was nicely organized and laid out, there was only one train line that brings goods into the city; thus allowing something like a fan shortage to be possible.
O-week felt like any other orientation: meeting new people, activities like bubble soccer, finding classes, parties, etc. By the end of it, I had two friend groups: my local friends and my exchange friends. My local friends are the ones that live at B & G. The entire hall is extremely communal so making friends was pretty easy and fast. And being the person that I am, I quickly made a reputation for myself and some even called me “John the American.” News and gossip
One of the side effects of living in an all-Australian hall is that I get to try Aussie cuisine, which is interesting to say the least. A common food here is sausages but you’re supposed to put it on one piece of white bread and smother it with barbecue or tomato sauce (ketchup). Why they don’t just put it on a hot dog bun is beyond me. A normal entrée that they also have are meat pies, and they aren’t bad. Kangaroo meat is also really good and is a very lean and healthy meat for you. there is also crocodile and emu meat too, but I haven’t tried it yet. In regards to desserts and sweets, they aren’t bad either. they have Red Frogs, which are basically the same as Swedish Fish. And then there are Tim Tams, which are amazing. You can never go wrong with double coated, I go through a pack of them in like two days. The weirdest dessert is fairy bread: a piece of white bread smothered in butter and then dipped in sprinkles. Apparently, they are hugely popular at kids parties. Interesting enough, with all of the weird stuff that they eat, they think that eating chips with a sandwich is weird.
Because Canberra is a nicely planned city, there are plenty of places to eat. Although, all of the food places (and shops in general) close pretty early, which can be pretty annoying. The restaurants though are pretty good. Due to it’s geographic location, there are really good Asian restaurants in Australia, most notably Thai and Vietnamese. On the downside however, the Mexican food here is pretty sub-par. restaurants like Subway, Dominos, KFC, McDonalds (Maccas), and Burger King (Hungry Jacks) are here too. In regards to alcohol, wine is the only way to go. Beer is way too expensive and liquor is even worse. In contrast, 4 liters of boxed wine (AKA Goon) sells for about $15 here.
The culture here is surprisingly American. In fact, there are a lot of times that it doesn’t even feel like I’m on the other side of the world. Granted, Australia is so white. From the music to the dancing to there being just generally so few people of color around, this country is just white. It definitely goes back to the mass extermination of Australia’s native population. At least before any event in Canberra, people like to acknowledge the indigenous population (Ngunnawal) who held the land before them. There is also a sizeable Asian minority in Australia, just as there is a sizable Hispanic minority in America. In short, Australian culture is just American culture but with nicknames and slang, cool and dangerous animals, and a predominately white population.
The weekend after O-Week, Sarah and I took a trip to Surf Beach. It was only a three hour bus ride from Canberra through bush and mountains. On the way there, we made a quick stop at Bateman’s Bay, which is only 20 minutes from Surf Beach. Bateman’s Bay is a big town on the South Coast with plenty off shops, but few beaches to walk to. Surf Beach, on the other hand, was close by and one of the best beaches that I have ever been to. It is scarcely populated with sandy beaches, cliffs and rocks, blue water, and an island in the distance that looks like King Kong would inhabit it. After enjoying the beach, we tried going to a place to eat, but they were closed. Luckily we found another place nearby with decent food before we headed back.
The next day, I went hiking with the mountaineering club of ANU up Black Mountain, a mountain that was literally right across the street from my dorm hall. The hike up was fairly steep and we saw kangaroos along the way. At the top there is this giant tower, Telstra Tower, where you can get great views of Canberra for $7. Other than the tower there are no viable lookouts because everything is covered by trees. The path can get pretty narrow at some points but it is a nice track, roughly about 5 kilometers.
That weekend, I also went to the National Museum and the Botanical Gardens. The National Museum was nice, but I have been to better. Luckily, it was free. The museum has a ton of cool stuff but no organized plan. Still, it was right on the lake and only a super short bus ride away; if I was only visiting Canberra, I would visit there.. The Botanical Gardens were awesome, and they are right by my dorm. The two main parts of it were the rainforest and the Red Centre. Be careful in the rainforest though, I got lost in there for 45 minutes. The whole track lasts about a half hour, but I took my time and hung out there for about two hours. There is also a nice bookstore there,and though I didn’t go, a café and a spa as well. Expect to see many cool birds and lizards.
Classes began after O-Week. the class system is organized into 2 sections: lectures and tutorials. There are 3 required hours per class per week with either two hour lectures and one hour tutorials or vice versa. Lectures can be easily skipped as they are all recorded and posted online. In the lectures, you can’t ask questions. Tutorials, on the other hand, are essential to your grade. Here there is more interaction with the professor/TA and attendance is generally mandatory. All the work is done out of class and is, at least in my case, mainly writing assignments. My classes here are pretty nice; two of them are first year classes and the other two are second year classes. they are: Ancient Athens, clash of Empires, traditional Australian Culture, and International Relations in the Asia Pacific. I don’t have any Monday-Friday classes, which is great, but that just means my Tuesday-Thursday schedule is packed. IFSA told me that classes were going to be harder here than in the US, but so far they have been relatively easier.
The campus of ANU is what I imagine every big university’s campus is like back in the US. In fact, I don’t even know why I said “I imagine”, I’ve been to some and it’s just like them. Through the center of campus, there is UniAve which is just like any campus main walkway: A walkway full of big shady trees that are perfect to sit under, And that leads to Union Court which is a big center full of shops, cafes, student spaces, and even a bar. Every Thursday, local vendors put up even more boutiques in Union Court as well. And of course, what campus would be complete without having a building that’s impossible to find your way around. Wesleyan is to Hall-Atwater as ANU is to the Combs. ANU is also undergoing a large maintenance project currently, so ther is construction literally everywhere. I even think there will be a makeshit village for the students to use as they renovate Union Court at the end of the semester. ANU also has four different sports fields here (though I have only found 3) and yet, all athletics here are on the club level. However, the biggest difference I have found between Wes and ANU in regards to campus is it’s size. Where it took me 5 minutes to get anywhere at Wes, it takes 10 minutes here and usually closer to 15-20 minutes. And while there isn’t much to see in Middletown, there are plenty of things to do in Canberra that you can walk to (or when it’s too far to walk, you suck it up and call an overpriced Uber or taxi).
During the week I’ve gotten into a routine. In the morning I wake up, go to the gym (which cost an insane amount: $300, to join), have lunch, and go to class. In the afternoons I usually do school work, read, plan future trips here and do cool activities. Thursdays I have class from 9-4 and then get drunk at night. On weekends, I go on trips. From here on out, most of what I am doing and travellin is occurring on the weekends.