I started off the day with a trip out to my new job site, ASDM, where I interviewed for my internship position. It was less of an interview and more of a thanks for coming out to meet us, this is what we would like you to do while you’re here; does that sound good to you? Both of the gents I spoke with were very friendly (a recurring theme…) and welcoming. I’ll be assisting them in data collection and analysis for their clinical trials of a new cardiovascular device that they’ve recently developed. More details to come as I’m on the job and get a better feel for the project. I start on Wednesday, 9 o’clock.

After a thirty minute chat with Dr. Jari and the lead mechanical engineer from the cardiovascular project, I headed back to St Leonards station and then hopped a train back to North Sydney to the CAPA office where I had the first day of my Australian Cinema class. We watched an excerpt of The Sundowners, and then a complete showing of Walkabout. I’m still not quite certain whether I’ll be keeping this class or not, as having Mondays off would allow me to take 3-day weekend trips all semester (or just lounge on the beach on Mondays!).

I think I’ll head off to Bondi Beach in the morning, go back to take some pictures and maybe a quick swim if it isn’t too cold (it probably will be). All I’ve got is a Business in the Pacific Rim class at 2pm.
Walking to work today, among the hustle and bustle of the city I began to feel at home in the city. Previous to this I always felt completely foreign, a tourist, but now I begin to feel the assimilation. As I fall into the routine of work and class this will no doubt grow until I feel at home here and have trouble leaving in December.

September 1st, 2008 | Australia, Travels | 1 comment

Saturday night was the final game for the Aussie Rules Football season. It is an interesting sport played with a rugby ball on a cricket field. The game last night was played at the Sydney Cricket Grounds, about a mile away from where we live. The entire group of CAPA students (25!) decided to go to the game, so we wandered our way there about 20 minutes to game time, and managed to actually score seats together! We got seats right near the goal posts, right on the first level. Really great seats for the AU$14 that we paid for student tickets. The Sydney Swans were playing the Brisbane Lions and our team, the Swans, won by a hefty margin. The final score was 17.12 (114) to 6.7 (53). This means that the Swans scored 17 6-point goals and 12 1-point goals for a total of 114 points, where the Lions scored 6 6-point goals and 7 1-point goals.

I rather enjoyed myself at the game. It is an interesting combination of soccer, rugby, and American football. The game in played in four 30-minute quarters, with no breaks during the quarters. This makes for non stop action, unlike American football. If you’re ever in the neighborhood I encourage you to try and catch a game while you’re here.

Today (Sunday) I’ll be making my way out to my internship site, taking the train alone for the first time. The route seems pretty straight forward, I just want to get a feel of the trip and the walk the I have to take on the other side of the train ride. After that I need to do a little bit of grocery shopping to pick up some fresh veggies, rice, etc.

Have my internship interview tomorrow, and first day of class (Australian Cinema). I’ll let you know how they go.

I’ve got some pictures up now from Friday.

August 30th, 2008 | Australia, Travels | No comments