#nyusydney

[astudentinnyu-blog]

During the NYU Sydney farewell dinner :(  I will miss my friends, the faculty, and my Sydney routine in general.  Thank you for an awesome semester!  Now I just have to study for my finals… (@Pier One Sydney Harbour) 

[thisisnyu]

“Yes, I went to Narnia for Spring Break (or at least where they filmed it) and it was beautiful. If ever I marveled at the wonders of nature, this was it.”

471ona747:

NZ has Really Bad Wifi

It seems I’ve let almost an entire month pass since my last blog update. MY BAD. But I’ve finally found a bit of time in between tasks at my internship to catch up with you all. (I’m not slacking, I promise!)

To my defense, they say that one should unplug from technology to better enjoy the experience… Hmm… and New Zealand had really bad wifi.

Yes, I went to Narnia for Spring Break (or at least where they filmed it) and it was beautiful. If ever I marveled at the wonders of nature, this was it. The landscape was breathtaking 100% of the time.

Read more.

[471ona747]

Over the weekend, the NYU Sydney program went on a 2-day trip to visit The Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. Really beautiful and worth going to see.

We visited the two sites in two groups (one site per day switching off). Thankfully, Ben and I were put in the same group and I didn’t have to awkwardly sightsee alone in a big group. I don’t have many great pictures of the caves (it was kinda dark LOL) but the Blue Lake right outside the caves really is blue. And I mean BRIGHT BLUE (as pictured above). We stayed overnight at a hostel in Katoomba (Blue Mountains YHA) which was really pretty great. Lots of open lounge spaces, movie room, nice patio. Next day was our turn to hike the Blue Mountains. Two guides took us on the Charles Darwin trail so named for the time Charles Darwin had hiked the same route and called the view at the end one of the most amazing he’d ever seen.

[thisisnyu]

“In thinking about the edible magic our moms used to bring our families together, I guess we tried to emulate some of that magic too.”

471ona747:

This Is How My Mama Made It

I know I’ve been neglecting the blog recently; I apologize. After classes started, I found it harder to find the time to really just sit down and write a post!! I’ll try to be better about it going forward!!

But yeah, settling into a new country is never easy nor is it seamless and if you let it, time will really get away from you. A LOT has happened since my last post. I’ve strengthened incredible friendships, told secrets, made memories, tried new things, spent more money than I should have, and most importantly, made a lot of food. And that’s what today’s blog post is dedicated to: home-cooking away from home.

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[thisisnyu]

“I’m glad I have a group of friends who want to go out and experience new things.”

Sunday Funday

This past Sunday (Jan. 31, 2016) was a FUNday..!

Amanda, Serena, Ryosuke, Benson, and I took this free day as an opportunity to explore Sydney on our own. We started off with brunch at a cafe called The Social Brew:

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[thisisnyu]

“I guess I figured if there ever was a time for adventure, it would be in my early twenties. Perfect, because today is my 20th birthday!”

Kangaroos and Soulmates

I’m starting this blog to document my semester abroad in Sydney, Australia. Little bit about myself: I am a sophomore Computer Science major at NYU studying at NYU’s Sydney abroad site for the Spring 2016 Semester.

Courses I will be taking this semester include:

Cognition for my psych minor,

Global Media: Sydney for my MCC minor,

Expressive Cultures: Film for my Core,

and a 4-credit Internship at Elcom.

Read more.

[471ona747]

My Flight Got Delayed SO

Things are happening! The world works in ways I’ve yet to understand! 

I was notified earlier today that my flight for tomorrow was delayed by 9 hours. Cue resignation for frustration and fury to come. But nah, things actually got resolved pretty easily. 

The only problem with my delay (besides the fact that I wouldn’t be able to arrive in Sydney at the time NYU Sydney staff had requested) was that I would miss my original connecting flight from HKG and instead, stay there overnight for the next flight to SYD. And unless you enjoy being stuck at airports for extended amounts of time, I found the thought of being stuck at an airport for an extended amount of time undesirable - especially overnight. Called the airline, inputted nonsensical info when prompted by an answering machine, was transferred to a representative, and had my initial flight from JFK changed to a later one to match my layover in HKG. So basically, I shortened my stay in Hong Kong from 9 hours to 3 hours. 

It’s still snowing outside and my township has yet to even clear my street. Praying to WS Jonas that things go smoothly from here. Might offer Jonas a sacrifice later to appease its climate change wrath. I’ll keep you updated if I do.