Alex Rosema – GW Blogs from Abroad

The end of another semester

AdminJanuary 31, 2014December 14, 2018

Unfortunately this post is a little late, but it follows some extremely good news, I finished my exams!! We are finished up earlier as we are headed into the Australian summer. Unlike GW, the exam period is quite a bit longer, spanning almost a month and exams can be spread out however throughout the period. Last semester my exams were spread out very evenly with approximately one a week. This semester, however, they all took part in a compact schedule of four exams in five days, much more like what I’m used to at GW. Although, I was still working during the exam period which certainly cut down on studying time. Now, as move out day quickly approaches I have been in a rush to finish up tons of stuff. Selling things, packing, and figuring out things for travel and anything which requires a computer as my internet capabilities over the next few months will likely be sketchy at best. Traveling down to Melbourne at first, I will then head up the coast through Sydney and Brisbane and beyond. I’m extremely excited for my travels and to finally be done with uni. The year went by way too fast and at the same time seems like it lasted forever. I have built a whole life here in Australia and its really weird to picture myself ever going back home. While I didn’t really experience culture shock when I came here, I can totally see how reverse culture shock can be a thing. It will be incredibly weird to return to a life that I haven’t really been a part of for over a year. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep yall updated on my travels as best as possible, but no real promises.

Hiking the Bush

AdminNovember 21, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

In Australia, the middle of nowhere is referred to as ‘the bush’. This is regardless of whether or not there are actually any bushes there. My friends and I often enjoy going ‘bush walking’ which of course is just a long word to refer to hiking. This last weekend we went down towards the coast to a mountain range known as the Budawangs and climbed a mountain named the Castle. It is known as the Castle due to its two layers of sheer cliffs making it look like a fortress. Completing the intense climb in only 7 hours was great, but a mistake to do during the heat of the day when temperatures reached almost 90 degrees. The views from the top were outstanding, but would have been even better if it weren’t for the haze.
Its been warming up in Australia. We are now well into Spring/Summer down here and that means all the sports seasons are over because it is too hot to play, and the start of bushfire season has begun. Because the wild is known as the bush, fires are called bushfires instead of wildfires. If you say wildfires down here people just look at you like you are crazy. Anyways, the reason our view from the top wasn’t better was because of the haze that had been hanging in the air everywhere due to the bushfires. The Blue Mountains up by Sydney have been burning for weeks now nonstop and they don’t look like they plan on stopping anytime soon. Our friend who was local and guiding us on the hike insisted that the haze was from the bushfires by Sydney, but once we got near the top of the mountain we could see that was not the case. From the top we could see two bushfires burning only about 8kms to the East of us, actually not too far from where the car and road were. While our driver began to freak out at first, we eventually realized the wind was blowing the opposite direction and the fire would not spread this way. However, while driving back on the road, at one point we did come close to the fire and appeared to be driving through a cloud, only that it was smoke.
The fires are a very real danger at times in Australia and they take campfires and such very seriously. Sometimes even smokers are looked down on if they throw away their butts during fire season. In America, we have Smoky the Bear to warn us about preventing forest fires. Unfortunately, Australia doesn’t have a Koala Bear version of Smoky, but this is largely due to the fact that being careful is a more ingrained part of their upbringing. However, there have been fires, quite often actually, which were purposefully started by people for the sole intention of having some fun or whatever else they may have been thinking. Everything in Australia tends to burn once every five years or so and with that much flammable stuff around it is easy for things to get out of control. The trees here are all eucalyptus trees which secrete extremely flammable oil. A couple years back, a purposefully started fire got out of control and burned a large area of countryside, burning many homes and killing several people. Already this year, two teens have been arrested for purposefully setting bush fires.
My favourite part about the bushfires however is seeing the signs posted everywhere which advertise the current fire danger in the region each day. We have these in America too out west and I’m pretty sure they go from low to medium to high, because that makes sense. However, the scale in Australia starts at Moderate and from there goes to high, very high, severe, extreme, and then my personal favourite, catastrophic. Considering that the region we were in the day we saw two wildfires had a ranking of high, I am curious what it takes to reach levels such as extreme and catastrophic. Maybe the end of the world? Hopefully we never reach that point.
The bush fires aren’t a huge threat though. While they do burn huge areas of countryside, it is not too hard to stay away and stay safe and typically they aren’t in/near highly populated areas. They can however be damaging to the environment and a few years back did wipe out most of the koala population of New South Wales (maybe they shouldn’t be such lazy animals?).

A Broken Hand and Socialized Health Care

AdminNovember 14, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

Well I’ve had quite an interesting last week, and not in a good way. It involved an aspect of my host country that most exchanges never experience or know much about: healthcare. And no, I’m not talking about politics here. While most exchange students go through their time without any medical glitches, I knew I had one coming eventually. I think the last time I went more than a year between hospital visits was when I was ten, and considering I am here for a year, something was bound to happen. I made it a grand total of 9 months this time. Basically, I fell on my hand and the next day it was super swollen and painful. By the time I decided it was worth getting checked out, it was after 5 on Friday and due to a public holiday on Monday the earliest time I would be able to see a doctor would be Tuesday at least. So it was off to emergency at the hospital we went.
From there I am going to skip over the majority of the story as it is mostly full of frustration and futility as I try to get one of the many worthless doctors to at least act like they know what they are doing. Long story short, I am currently writing this (very slowly with one hand) one week after the injury and I still have no idea if anything is wrong with my hand or not, despite already spending 10 hours in hospitals and doctors’ offices mostly waiting around. Many of the doctors here seem to be incompetent at the least and the system as a whole is full of bureaucracy and impossible to negotiate. Hopefully soon I will figure out what is wrong, but I am starting to lack quite a bit of faith in the Australian health care. Of this is anything like what our system will be under Obamacare then Obama will probably be remembered as the worst president ever. But it’s hard to picture America’s system ever being this bad. The only upside is that it is free* (when you pay $600 a year as an international student to buy into the system). However, although our overseas student health coverage gets us basically everything free, it also means having to initially pay quite a bit upfront and then spend several weeks trying to work through the bureaucracy enough to get a refund through insurance. My lasting piece of advice is this: If you go to another country, just don’t get hurt. Actually though, just don’t do it. It’s a waste of time, money, and frustration, and you never know exactly how the system will end up working out. Upon coming to Australia I was never too scared of the millions upon billions of poisonous snakes and spiders due to the knowledge that there are antidotes for all bites available at every hospital and this is a first world country after all, they should be able to take care of you. Now I am much more confident that I would end up dying during my fifth hour spent in the emergency waiting room.
Don’t take this the wrong way. Don’t think I now hate Australia or anything or that I’m saying don’t go abroad. All I’m saying is stay safe, especially when you don’t know the system. I would write about something else at this point, but that has literally been my life for the last week. Oh, and don’t expect this to change anything…I’ll still do just as much crazy and dangerous stuff as I always have :)

How to celebrate Halloween and other holidays abroad

AdminNovember 12, 2013December 17, 2018

By arosema93

Celebrating the holidays away from home can be tough, especially coming from a tight-knit family. Being in DC for the last few years has helped to prepared me for celebrating on the other side of the world. However, Australia makes it easy on us Americans by not celebrating some of the best holidays and generally ignoring their existence. As everyone already knows, this week was Halloween, but, of course, its not celebrated here. Thankfully I have some American friends here and enough keen exchange students to still throw a party. But all I can help thinking is, “What about the children? Where is the sugar rush that allows every elementary student to make it through the month of November?” Although sad for children everywhere, I’m sure they will survive. Thanksgiving is also a tough one to be away from home for, but many Australians don’t even realize it exists, which makes my job of ignoring it quite a bit easier. Unfortunately, however, without Thanksgiving, Australians have failed to place any restrictions on when it is acceptable to begin stocking stores with Christmas decoration and playing Christmas music on the radios. Christmas will definitely be the hardest to spend away from home though, and will be made even more confusing by the reversed seasons. I wonder if the Salvation Army Santas will still ring bells in full Santa outfit when it is 90 degrees outside. Fortunately, my friends here are like family to me and many have offered to have me come celebrate Christmas with them. And besides, this gives me the perfect opportunity to teach others about American holidays and learn about ones from other cultures. For example, Canberra even has a public holiday that everyone gets off of school for “Family and Community Day”. Sounds ridiculous but I’m not going to complain. While it can be sad to be away from family during the holidays, I think one of my favourite parts of living in a foreign country is the opportunity to celebrate twice as many holidays.

Uncertainties

AdminOctober 22, 2013

Most people usually know where their lives are going, what they are going to do tomorrow, the next day, or the next week. Some people like to plan ahead and know what they will be doing next year or in the next four years. However, for an exchange student, life is often both uncertain and interesting. I have especially been finding the next month to be more uncertain than ever. The reason for this is that I will have finished classes! My exams will be done less than a month from now and trying to decide my plans for when I’m done feels like deciding where to go to college. I have a multitude of choices, all of which would end up to be excellent decisions. Should I work, or travel? Where should I work, or where should I travel? Can I do both? At the same time, or separately? Go home for Christmas, or take advantage of the time I can spend here? Hundreds of different choices and all would be fun. In a month from now, I could be here working a job still or on the other side of the world. Fortunately, I enjoy uncertainties such as this and thrive on being spontaneous. I take each day and week as they come and deal with what I need to deal with. While my family would certainly love to know if I am coming home in November/December or not, they will just need to wait to find out.
Exchange students are usually the type of students who deal well with such uncertainties. Some it turns out only planned their exchanges a month or so before they ended up leaving to go to the other side of the world. However, some are more of the long-term planners. There are several exchange students who started the application process for junior year while they were still freshman, and at some universities that was required. So whether you are an long-term planner or a just day-by-day sort of person study abroad is possible and you will find likeminded people as well. For me, before going abroad, while at GW, I went to meet with my study abroad advisor about the possibility of going abroad two semesters later. By the time our meeting had finished I was pretty well certain I would be abroad in less than three months on a program that no GW student had ever participated in before. It’s a scary thought, but so worth it. Every experience I have had has been wonderful and I would never change my abroad experience. I’m sad to know that it will end in less than a month, but also super excited to be finished with school again and have a nice long break!!

Injuries abroad and universal health care

AdminOctober 17, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

Basically, I fell on my hand and the next day it was super swollen and painful. By the time I decided it was worth getting checked out, it was after 5 on Friday and due to a public holiday on Monday the earliest time I would be able to see a doctor would be Tuesday at least. So it was off to emergency at the hospital we went.

Long story short, I am currently writing this (very slowly with one hand) one week after the injury and I still have no idea if anything is wrong with my hand or not, despite already spending 10 hours in hospitals and doctors’ offices mostly waiting around. The upside of Australian healthcare is that it is free, when you pay $600 a year as an international student to buy into the system. However, although our overseas student health coverage gets us basically everything free, it also means having to initially pay quite a bit upfront and then make a claim through the insurance to get a refund. The downside is lots of bureaucracy and waiting.

My lasting piece of advice is this: If you go to another country, just don’t get hurt. Actually though, just don’t do it. It’s a waste of time, money, and frustration, and you never know exactly how the system will end up working out. Know about the healthcare in the country you are headed to before you get there so you know what it will be like, especially if headed to a non-western country. Getting sick or hurt is usually one of those things that we forget is a possibility and can play an important role in our lives. When we do remember it is a thing, we just hope for the best and pray nothing happens then go on with our lives. In another country, make sure you know what you are getting into at first. With another system, something as simple as hurting my hand could have cost thousands of dollars, or in some countries things could have been worse. Upon coming to Australia I was never too scared of the millions upon billions of poisonous snakes and spiders due to the knowledge that there are antidotes for all bites available at every hospital, but what if their weren't? In Australia I’m fairly safe (assuming I could make it to a hospital before dying), but this injury has, like all the other injuries I sustain, simply reminded me that nothing is guaranteed, especially when it comes to personal health.

All I’m saying is stay safe, especially when you don’t know the system. I would write about something else at this point, but that has literally been my life for the last week. Oh, and don’t expect this to change anything…I’ll still do just as much crazy and dangerous stuff as I always have 

Differences between Exchanges and Domestics

AdminOctober 6, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

One thing that has stood out to me during my exchange experience is the difference between domestic students (Aussies) and international students (like me). While they all seem to like each other and get along there is definitely a divide between the two groups, at least at the college I live in. My college is comprised of 40% international students, so it is already a unique community in that way. However, it means that most of the domestic students here have friends or a best friend who has left after being here only a semester or a year. As a result, many tend to drift towards friendships that will be around for a longer term. While unfortunate, it does make sense. Luckily as an exchange student here for a year I have had much more success in breaking down the barrier and making friends with all groups of people. Another reason behind it is that the exchange students simply live by a bit of a different lifestyle. Because they are not from here, they are much keener to travel and explore around Australia. Also, exchange students classes only count for transfer credit and not for grades, leading them to typically not care as much about schooling or spend as much time on it. Whereas, being the best uni in Australia, all the domestic students take their studies quite seriously as they worked very hard to get here. This means that the exchange students all have much more time to hang out together and form a closer knit group. However, because the Aussies are here for their full degree, while they don’t care as much about seeing everything, they care more about the community and are much more involved. This leads to a difference where domestic students spend their free time helping out around college, playing sports, or working a job, while international students spend their free time traveling and having fun. Also, exchanges tend to be much more friendly and outgoing. For most of them, a major reason to go on exchange is meeting tons of new and different people from different cultures. Not many antisocial people seem to study abroad, and they also have the ability to bond over differences in culture while Australians can bond over mutual friends and their hometowns and stuff. All these reasons amount to a sort of divide between the two groups, but there are definitely many exceptions to this as well. Also, I can only speak for my own college, not others. Despite this, I have managed to meet and make friends with many Australians still, as well as many internationals and I believe it is safe to say that they are all amazing and have made my exchange experience great so far!

Canberra

AdminSeptember 29, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

Canberra has a reputation throughout Australia as being boring, dull, and otherwise not worth visiting let alone living in. Internationally it would have a similar reputation, that is, if anyone knew it even existed. Its small. At only 300,000 residents, it is no large city, but it is very unique in that it is a planned city. Therefore, the city tends to at times be very spread out, but at other times feel almost like a real city. Unlike the grid system of most American cities which is taken to an extreme level in Washington D.C., Canberra is built with triangles and roundabouts and circles and squares and somehow it is all supposed to make sense. Granted though, while D.C. is functional and built to make sense, Canberra’s low population makes the city feel like it was built for a population four times the size. There is almost too much infrastructure in places. It never feels dirty, cramped, or unsafe.
An interesting article I read the other day attempts to explain away part of the negative feelings towards Canberra. The point it made is that the only thing really here that it is known for is the government and the capital. Ninety percent of when Australians hear the word Canberra, it isn’t referring to the city so much as the government. For example, Canberra passed this law today, or Canberra is making us pay more taxes this year. Much the same thing happens with Washington D.C. However, Washington has a lot more going for it outside of politics. As a result, people end up with a more negative view of Canberra; the majority of Australians have never even visited.
Another interesting fact about our small city is that despite the tiny population, it is the 8th largest city in the country. That gives a little bit of perspective to how small of a country this is, yet it still occupies the same land area as the continental United States. The entire population of Australia would be capable of fitting into New York City! Canberra does have its upsides however. There is still quite a bit to do here. It isn’t devoid of life as some make it out to seem. For example, last weekend I was given a fantastic opportunity through one of my courses to have a one-on-one interview with the ambassador from Brazil! He was a great guy and talked to me a lot about the diplomat life and what it is like to be an ambassador in a foreign country. Sounds like lots of positives and negatives. His biggest one is that he has a fear of flying. I don’t know how well that goes with the job haha. We talked for about 20 minutes after which two other men walked in and they conversed momentarily in a Spanish/Portuguese mix before he turned to me to introduce me to his best friend, the ambassador from Argentina! It was a great surprise and turned out to be a well worthwhile experience. Good opportunities are everywhere if you are lucky, know where to look, or are willing to get out there are find them.

Eating and the “Kitchen Trap”

AdminSeptember 24, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

One very distinct part of my experience abroad is food, mostly because I eat a lot of it. Just kidding. But actually, food and eating are a huge part of social life here at my college. Because the kitchens are communal and it is just one massive area, any day between 5 and 9 pm you will see a large majority of the 500 or so residents at some point grabbing a bite to eat or cooking something up. This makes it the major social area of the college. Most people are free to socialize during this time anyways. So everyone congregates in the kitchen. Sometimes we cook in large groups, and every once in a while this includes some sort of new dish contributed by an exchange student. I have tried quite the platter of interesting foods, and at times I was unaware of it. Last week, one of my Chinese friends made a meal. Halfway through I asked him what the meat inside was and he told me it was pork. I responded that it tasted really interesting, at which point I was informed it was pig ear. Actually quite delicious. I have also tried things such as intestines and stomach as well. The intestines were better than stomach, and it was fairly difficult to get over the thought of my stomach digesting another animals’ stomach. It is great to try traditional dishes from other cultures, while also bonding over meals and cooking together.
Australians don’t really have very many distinct foods that they are known for. Their culture is similar enough to America that they eat pretty much the same except for more beef and lamb. There are two foods that I can think of that are different however. When an Australian talks about pie, it is not a pie in the way Americans think of it. I picture pie as a delicious sweet strawberry pie or apple pie. Here, it refers to a meat pie. I very much enjoy them, but I also miss fruit pies from back home which are probably my favourite thing to eat. Another distinct Australian food (although New Zealand claims they were the original inventers) is Pavlova. It’s a delicious dessert that is made with a meringue base and various kinds of fruit on top.
Cooking and eating in the kitchen can also be quite a distraction. A phenomenon that many residents label ‘the kitchen trap’. Because at some point, most people need to come get food to eat, this leads to a constant stream of friends coming and going from the kitchen throughout the night. At times, you talk to the same few people for several hours and completely lose track of time, and other nights you talk to heaps of different people for small amounts of time, but either way, before you know it, it has been four hours and you haven’t left the kitchen. That is the kitchen trap. It is so easy to get sucked in and socialize for a while instead of heading off to do the work that actually needs to be finished. For example, the four hours I spent in the kitchen ‘eating’ before writing this blog post. There is always someone you know in there, and it is quite simple to get caught up in chatting and small talk. This is a great way in which my college is different from the American ‘apartment’ style living and the catered colleges where everyone eats at once and then leaves. It creates a fantastic community area that most other communities tend to lack.

April showers bring May flowers. Wait. But what if spring starts in September…

AdminSeptember 18, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

For many of you the weather is starting to eventually cool down and you are leaving behind the heat of summer, but down under we are just getting started. The flowers are blooming; the leaves are growing back…actually just kidding about that one. All trees in Australia are evergreens and do not lose their leaves in winter because it is still too warm. Therefore, the word ‘evergreen’ here does not refer to pine trees as it does in America. While there are some trees, especially around campus, that lose their leaves, this means that none of them are actually native to the country. It is awfully sad how Australians import trees from other continents when they already live in such a beautiful place. Anyways, spring means….spring break!! Although it isn’t even called that here.. I’m just finishing up the first week of spring break. Instead of going on any big trips for this break I am mostly hanging around Canberra to continue working as much as possible and catch up on some big assignments. However, since the break is two and a half weeks long, there is still plenty of time to have some fun.
One of my favourite things about Australians is how in shape most of them are and ready to participate in physical activities. ‘Bushwalking’ or hiking is a very common hobby among families and friends of all ages. Thankfully, this means there is never a shortage of friends who want to go spend some time bashing around the bush. One day last week we went caving…yes again. At this point we have explored half of the caves in Australia (there aren’t very many). This time we spent 8 hours underground between 3 separate caves and encountered all the dangerous of the subterranean world including, poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, and rabid bats. Any animals that live that deep underground are probably not something you want to be bitten by.
We will also be going on a hiking trip this weekend that I am starting to get really excited about. It is supposed to be a very intense climb up the side of a mountain with some outstanding views and hopefully waterfalls! To give you an idea of how hard it is, it is a 10 km trail. I can run that on flat ground in under an hour. This hike will take us the better part of a day. More to come after the event. Most people head north for the holidays and I might join them up in Brisbane for several days. It can take some used to heading up north for holidays and warmth. Typically I have always associated south with warmth and tropics. For me, North has always meant the cold frigid upper peninsula of Michigan, not exactly someplace you would want to spend a spring break. One other thing that will take getting used to is that the two week break means that we are half way finished with our semester!! Exciting news school wise, but I am certainly nowhere near ready to return to America. For GW, the fall semester started up just two weeks ago or so. I feel like I will be finished by the time most are still getting their routine down for the year.
On a completely unrelated note, swans in Australia are black. Some things down here will never cease to contradict everything I think I know about the world.