Great Barrier Reef

On the trip to a few of the reefs on the Great Barrier Reef (also known as the Coral Sea), it would be a trip that will live forever.  As I was trying to learn scuba diving, I was very frightened by being submersed underwater.  I did calm down though, and was able to breathe normally underwater.  I could not dive due to pressure in my sinuses and could not relieve pressure in my ears (make them pop).  

 

The areas that the group and I went to were excellent for both snorkeling and scuba diving.  In total, we went to two different sections of the Great Barrier Reef.  One was more of a plateau while the other had more of a dividing range with smaller and spotted coral reefs.  The plateau reef was colorful, full of oranges, greens, browns, and many other colors.  The spotted coral reefs had some green, but also some grey.  The coral, anemone, and other plant life jutted out from below.  If someone did a topographical section of a reef, it would have multiple elevations and depressions.  I guess one could call it an underwater metropolis.  The waves were high and choppy, which made the snorkeling and riding between reefs tough.  I saw two giant fish that were probably 3 feet long and over a foot high.  The different types of fish were enjoyable to see as well, since many of them I have never seen before.

All and all, it was an experience that could not be matched.  We were fed both breakfast and lunch with our excursion to the reef.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I have a strong feeling the rest of the group did as well.  It was one thing to see pictures of the Great Barrier Reef; it is another to see it firsthand.

Museums of Sydney

National Maritime Museum: At this museum, one saw plenty of ships that are important to Australian history.  The HMAS Vampire is a Daring class destroyer is last gun ship in Australia.  Being on this destroyer was simply awesome, almost ready to fire the guns.  The HMAS Onslow was the submarine that I saw.  Arguably the most famous ship is the HMB Endeavour, in which Captain James Cook of Great Britain surveyed Australia in 1770.

Hyde Park Barracks (convict museum): For those who do not know, Australia was founded as a penal colony.  Since the Americas were lost to the Colonies, the British needed to find another place to dump their prisoners.  Prisoners were either exiled to Australia or killed.  This museum remembered those of the First Fleet, in which 700 of the 1000 of those who arrived were prisoners. There was plenty of history in this museum; it is a must-see in Australia.

In the end, I did not get to as many museums as I anticipated.  The Australian Museum was the other museum that I considered going to.

Crossfit Sydney

As a part of my Study Abroad, I participated in a sport while down under.  The program did not offer football, basketball, or baseball.  I was a little surprised the program did not offer the latter two sports, since both of the sports are gaining in popularity in Australia.  However, strength and conditioning was offered.  I took that “sport” as an opportunity to stay fit.  Previous Study Abroad students trained at Olympic Park for strength and conditioning.  I was not as lucky.

Instead, I trained at Crossfit Sydney.  Every day after class, from around 1-2PM, I trained in this hole-in-the-wall of a place.  It was a nice place, with a training area smaller than IM West’s workout room.  The training programs were individualized based on one’s ability.  Crossfit was located in a secluded area of town, in which I had to take the subway and walk for 15 minutes to get to the location.  Before going to this place, I did not realize the United States had Crossfit.

The workouts used multiple muscle groups within a set of exercises.  The warm-ups would tend to take around five minutes, with a stretch around five minutes.  The meat of the workout required the participant to go from one exercise to the next (usually three exercises, with a certain number of repetitions for three or four sets per exercise).  The final part of the workout, just before the cool-down, would typically be a timed workout.  These timed workouts either included a set time for as many repetitions as possible or a set number of repetitions as fast as one can.  After the workouts, I did feel the burn of my muscles.  But, I would be more winded from the workout.  As a whole, I enjoyed the more plyometric-based workouts because I tend to do these types of workouts back home.

Field Trips

            Ku-Ring-Gai Chase:  This aboriginal park was incredible.  The Ku-Ring-Gai Chase is the home of the aboriginal tribe the Guringai.  Our guide, Dr. Claire Jackson, pointed out the aboriginal carvings that depicted stories and such.  The depictions included dreamtime, animals, people, and materials.  This was truly unique, since the Australian aboriginals are the oldest living culture.  Today, the descendants of local aboriginal tribes would come every four years to celebrate the ancestors in a festival.  In homage with their ancestors, the descendants would use the carvings to figure out where they would set up camp.  The carvings also depicted games and stories that would be shared during this time of remembrance. 

            Featherdale Wildlife Park and Blue Mountains: At the wildlife park, the group and I saw all types of animals.  The animals included wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, saltwater crocodiles, dingoes, and even a Tasmanian devil.  Even though the wildlife park was great, the Blue Mountains were special.  The views looking into a valley we hiked at was awe-inspiring.  The Blue Mountains gets its blue color by the essential oils of various gum (eucalyptus) trees evaporates and disperses into the air, through which the visible blue spectrum of sunlight is propagated more than other colors, which give the mountains a bluish cast.  Different types of vegetation grew on the sides of the cliffs.  The sandstone formed a plateau similar to the Grand Canyon, only much older.  To top it off, streams flowed from the Blue Mountains, and ran into cliff faces.  The end result is a beautiful waterfall.

            Hunter Valley: During this trip, the group and I went to two wineries (Tyrrell’s Winery and Tempus Two).  The Hunter River is one of the largest river valleys in New South Wales that irrigates the vineyards.  There are three types of wines that are special to the Hunter Valley.  The three types of grapes that are common used in Hunter Valley wines include Chardonnay, Semillon, and Shiraz.  Chardonnay is the common white wine that comes from basalt soil (which was with the first place the group and I visited, Tyrrell’s Winery).  The Semillon is the second-most common grape that comes from rivers in sandy soils that have a little fertility (it was both in first wine tasted at Tyrrell and was used to make the dessert wine at Tempus Two).  Shiraz is the most common red wine in Australia, in which aged is Shiraz is best compared to the vinegary taste.  I tried a little, but I did not care for the wine.  However, there were many that really enjoyed the wine tasting.

            Thank you Dr. Yansa for the handouts to jog my memory.

Food in Sydney

The Star Casino Buffet: The amount of food that was in the buffet was awesome.  What made it better was (with a free membership the The Star Casino) a free all-you-can-eat buffet.  Despite the quantity of food, the quality of the food was top-notch.  The food included: prawns you have to peel, pizza (prawn or meat lovers), pasta (baked macaroni, spaghetti, mostacholli with either Bolognese or carbonara sauce), fish and chips, pork schnitzel, Thai, salad bar, dessert (ice cream, cake, chocolate éclairs, mini dessert shots) and fresh fruit.  I ate my fair share at this buffet, and afterwards went with my group mates to see Batman.

            Pyrmont Bridge Hotel: At this establishment, I attempted the Man or Mouse challenge.  If I finished this challenge, my meal would be paid for.  I felt this $20 challenge would be appropriate.  This challenge had burgers as big as your head with heaps of fries.  The burger buns were of artisan bread, the beef was excellent and juicy, with many other condiments.  The original challenge was supposed to be steak, fries, and salad.  The Pyrmont Bridge Hotel changed the challenge a few weeks ago.  I did really well, but could not pull it out.  With half a bun to go, along with a slice of egg and tomato, I puked.  None of the innocent bystanders gave me a chance, and almost proved them wrong.  My demise was that I went too fast, even though the first 20 minutes is supposed to be when the most amount of food should be consumed.  Despite the loss, I was proud of the try.

            Killa Burger: The Killa Kage challenge included a burger 30 cm in diameter (lettuce, burger, cheese and mayo), large Chinese take-out box of fries, over a liter of water, and a giant ice cream.  In Carramar, I was locked in the never-ending war against food.  With enthusiasm and a hungry stomach, I devoured the first quarter of the burger in two minutes.  I put forth my best effort in the challenge, in which I consumed 3/4 of both my burger and fries and all of my water.  But, just like the Man or Mouse Challenge, food won.  At the 25 minute mark, I puked.  I did not get my name on the Wall of Fame or get a free dinner, but Killa Burger gave me my ice cream to eat on the way home.  My stomach did not feel too well, so I did not finish all of my ice cream.  I made the same mistakes at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel.

Hard Rock Café in Darling Harbour was another place I visited while in Sydney.  The food is good, with an atmosphere like any other Hard Rock Café.  It does have some AC/DC memorabilia (AC/DC is an Australian band). 
Yes, kangaroo meat is delicious.  It is usually made rare or medium rare, which makes it a little gamy. 

STUDY Abroad

With all of the fun, one would wonder if I actually studied.  I most certainly did.  With the sight-seeing, field trips and other activities going on; classwork and studying would replace a good portion of “down-time.”   I was no exception.  KIN 330 had a variety of different activities that went on.  These included labs, a group paper, lecture, quizzes, and exams.  GEO 490 was a lecture for three hours and take notes.  The field trips on Fridays were also a part of the GEO 490 curriculum.  I earned a 4.0 in both classes, along with doing an Honors Option paper for KIN 330. 

General schedule:

Monday: GEO 490 (9AM-12PM, 6PM-9PM)

Tuesday: KIN 330 (9AM-12PM)

Wednesday: KIN 330 (9AM-12PM), GEO 490 (6PM-9PM)

Thursday: KIN 330 (9 AM-12PM)

KIN 330:

Class No.	Topic	Readings
Class 1 Material already covered	Intro/Design Lab Joint Movements/Plane of Movement Lab 2 Muscles Definitions and Types of Muscle Contractions	MAaP groups assigned already Chaps: 6, 7, 8 Tissue Questions: 1-4; 63-89
Class 2	Olson’s Principles Lab 3 Summation of Forces Newton’s Laws Patterns: Upper and Lower Extremity Analysis Trunk and Spine Analysis Quiz 1	Olson’s Lab 3 Pattern Handout:  Web Stability Principles: Web Chaps: 13, 10, 11
Class 3	(Review Quiz 1) Finish Patterns Applications of Principles Video Analyses Center of Gravity Stability Principles Linear Kinematics Cine A Lab:  Lab 4	Chaps: 1,3,4,6 Patterns Questions Web: Lab 4 Class Handouts
28June Thursday	Draft Due:  MAaP Lit review  and reference list	1800
Class 4	Angular Kinematics Cine B Lab:  Lab 5 Discuss Labs Uniformly Accelerated Motion Exam 1	Web word problems:      UAM word problems  Web: Lab 5
Class 5	Review Exam 1 Projectile Motion	Chap:  11 Projectile Motion
Class 6	Newton’s Second Law Applications of Principles Quiz 2	Physics Questions Web word problems:      Acceleration Class Handouts
5 July Thursday	Draft MAaP Skill analysis due + video	1800
Class 7	Review Quiz 2 Newton’s Laws of Motion Linear Momentum Application to movement	Linear Momentum Chaps:  11, 12, 14 Class Handouts
Class 8	Angular Momentum Application to movement Exam 2	Web:  Final Review Word      Problems Chapter 14
Class 9	Review Exam 2 Angular Momentum cont. Angular Kinetics Levers	Chapter 14 Class Handouts
12July Thursday	Mechanical Principles Draft due	1800
Class 10	Angular Kinetics cont. Moments/Moment Arms Quiz 3	Class Handouts
Class 11	Review Quiz 3 Characteristics of Bone, Tendon and Ligament,    and Articular Cartilage Application to movement and current medical    Practices	**MAaP Due** Remaining tissue questions
Class 12	Finish material Exam 3:	Return graded MAaPs

GEO 490:

Dates: Lecture Topics:

M 6/25 Introduction to Course; Development of Society with Australian examples

M 6/25 Globalization; Developed World vs. Developing World

W 6/28 Drivers of Environmental Changes, along with Aborigines and British immigrants

F 6/29 Field trip (Ku-Ring-Gai Chase)

M 7/2 Economics, Politics & Worldviews

M 7/2 Human Population Growth & Distribution; Cities & Suburban Sprawl

W 7/4 Exam 1

F 7/6 Field trip (Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife Park)

M 7/10 Slums; Solid & Hazardous Waste; Air Pollution, Non-Renewable Energy

M 7/10 Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy; Smart Growth

W 7/12 Exam 2; Water Resources & Pollution; Water Protection 2

F 7/13 Field Trip (Hunter Valley)

M 7/16 Soils & Food Resources

M 7/16 Biodiversity Loss

W 7/18 Climate Change

F 7/20 Exam 3

Sat. 7/21 Fly to Cairns (with Dr. Ulibarri)

Sun. 7/22 Field trip: Great Barrier Reef (with Dr. Ulibarri)

7/27 Due:

essay re: Great Barrier Reef (15 pts)

Sydney

Opera House: I did not go inside the Opera House, but this staple of Sydney was seen plenty during my Study Abroad.  It houses mostly musical performances, in which Carrie Underwood performed at the Opera House while the group was in Sydney. 

Harbour Bridge: Another essential of Sydney is the Harbour Bridge.  Being up on the bridge, by day or night, is a spectacle by itself.  Seeing Sydney from this iconic bridge is chilling.  Some of my group mates did a bridge climb, but I decided not to.

IMAX theatre:  The IMAX theatre in Darling Harbour is the largest IMAX theatre in the world.  The group and I saw The Dark Knight Rises.  It was the Friday before the group left to go to Cairns. 

Patty’s Market: Since Australia has a fat tax; the cheap food to feed ourselves was fresh produce.  At Patty’s Market, it had heaps of produce and other fresh food such as fish.  From Wednesdays to Sundays, the market is open.  There are plenty of souvenir shops as well.  The Market was in Sydney’s Chinatown, so the shop owners tended to be Chinese.  A characteristic that is very common among these shop owners was their ability to bargain for selling merchandise and produce.

 

Royal Botanical Gardens: This large and beautiful garden had all kinds of wildlife.  Plants of many species and from all over were seen, but even some spiders made webs within the trees.  One of the iconic trees in Australia is the Wollemi Pine.  This pine tree was found in the wild, in which many thought the tree was extinct.  This tree has existed since the dinosaurs roamed the earth!

 

Bondi Beach: This highly visited beach is absolutely beautiful.  It was here that many members of the Study Abroad group surfed at.  I even took the opportunity to surf here, in which I picked up on it pretty quickly.

 

Manly Beach: The beach that is quieter than Bondi brought an amazing atmosphere.  Manly had plenty of beach volleyball courts (yes, I played), crystal-clear blue water, waves to surf on, and enough tourism to keep one entertained for hours.  I thoroughly enjoyed Manly Beach.    

 

Olympic Park: This part of Sydney was delightful.  The many areas of Olympic Park that I saw included ANZ stadium, the Aquatic Centre, Hockey Centre (yes, Field Hockey), Tennis Centre, Golf Centre, and the Sports Hall.  Unfortunately, I did not get into the Sports Centre.  The layout of Olympic Park was simply awesome with the different sculptures and engravings celebrating the Olympics.  It was at ANZ stadium that the group and I saw a rugby match.  The HSBC Waratahs faced off against the Canberra Brumbies, in which the favored Brumbies defeated the hometown Waratahs.

 

Nightlife: I did not go out as much as other individuals, but I tried it for the experience.  One of the places the group and I went to was the Strike bowling alley.  It was a typical bowling alley, except with an alcoholic purchase meant a free game.  Some of the group members paid for enough alcohol to get a couple of free games for everyone.  Another place that I went to was the Sydney Tower.  Looking out and seeing Sydney at night was a treat in itself.  I also went to a few bars without having alcohol (The Three Monkeys and The Scary Canary), but it just wasn’t it for me.  The night I went to The Scary Canary was when a foam party was taking place along with flickering lights that a sober person could care less about.