A Note on Culture

So many things in Sydney are the same as back home, it’s eerie. I was walking around the shopping centre this afternoon trying to find a job and I realized, I would be doing exactly the same thing back home. I found myself scanning the bottom corners of storefronts for help wanted signs, and sure enough, a couple of places had them. Granted, some of these stores are the same as in the United States. They have an Espirt, McDonald’s, Subway, KFC, and Target here. They have a Myer’s (similar to Meijers) too, but it’s a department store similar to Macy’s instead of a grocery store. They also have a Hungry Jacks, which appears to be the mere image of Burger King and Mad Mex, which although expensive, works in the same format as a Qdoba of Chipotle.

 When you really sit down and think about it, Australia is incredibly similar to the United States. Sure they have a different culture, but we share so many things. We even share the same name for our currency – the dollar. I spend a lot of time wondering if we’ve always been this similar though, or if in recent years, the process of Westernization has caused this… Also, is westernization caused by tourism? And does it relate strictly to the United States or all “western” countries? There’s no right or wrong answers to these questions, but that’s why my travel, tourism, and cultural production (which is listed under modern history) course interests me so much. Those are exactly the kind of questions that we discuss.

Right now, I’m essentially sitting in the middle of a huge pool of international relations. Sarah and I went to an apartment building across campus tonight to hang out with some Brits who are sharing their living space with Aussies. We watched them homebrew some beer with a brewing kit and then all sat down to laugh and puzzle over a terrible movie of Tommy Wiseau’s called The Room. Afterwards, I came home to my townhouse that I’m sharing with an Aussie, a guy from Singapore, another American who I haven’t seen since I moved in, and a girl I still haven’t met. There’s also a guy from Mexico staying with us. I guess what I’m trying to say is that when I decided to come to Australia, I thought I would be meeting a lot of Australians and learning about their culture. However, what I’m finding is that I learn more about the other international students who are around me, whether in the village or in classes or in the bars at night than I am about this culture that seems so similar to my own. Sure, I notice the basic differences the spelling of centre and the usage of both the words docket and receipt to mean the same things, but it’s going to be near impossible to get to the root of the Aussie culture when I’m having so much trouble separating the Brits from the natives (their accents begin to sound incredibly similar when all you hear all day is foreign accents). Hopefully, it will get easier with time and once I met more Australians in my classes. I guess I have only been to one so far.

 Also, I had my first Aussie ice cream on Sunday (it's actually flown in from New Zealand :/). It cost me $4.80!

First Day of Classes

My shower won't stop dripping, no matter how hard I try to turn the faucets all the way to the right. It is slowly driving me insane. I really enjoyed my first Aussie class today. I think Travel, Tourism and Cultural Production definitely has the potential to be my favorite. Even the readings fascinate me, which I learned when I bought the course reader (put together by the professor instead of having students buy a textbook). I'm taking four classes but amazingly I only needed books for two of them and together it cost me $78. I've been complaining for almost a week about how expensive things are in Sydney, but books for class definitely do not make the list of expensive things. After class, I was so excited to see the school store had gotten more sweatshirts in stock. Paired with the scarf I bought yesterday while shopping with Sarah, I will no longer be cold in Sydney! And I have an automatic souvenir from Macquarie this way too.

Sightseeing in Sydney

Yesterday, I had to run around campus and get my room and class situations straightened out. The cold water (not that I need it right now) valve in my shower wouldn’t turn on, so I needed to report that to the residential office as well as have my photo taken for my house keycard. Then I went to the main campus building to get my campus ID printed and turn in my add/drop form for classes, which she straightened out right away. I’m in enrolled in all of the classes I wanted now and I don’t have class on Tuesday and Wednesday. After inputting my schedule into my calendar, I even found some other interesting classes that I might want to sit in on the lectures.

I’ll be taking Children’s Literature; Travel, Tourism, and Cultural Production; Identity and Difference: Introduction to Anthropology; and Societies of Europe this semester. I’m also considering sitting in on Introduction to Sociology as well as Human Evolution and Diversity. I’m still amazed by the sheer amount of classes that I find interesting in Macquarie’s course books. I really should have gone to a big school.

The library here is huge. It has 5 floors

I spent the afternoon on campus before meeting up with Sarah to head into the city. Macquarie put together a evening harbor cruise for the international student orientation, but we wanted to wander around a little bit before it started. We ended up not having to pay for our train ticket for the 40-minute journey there because the computer systems weren’t working and they told us to pay on the other end, but we snuck out instead.

The city is so pretty at night. The sun was setting on our way there, but when we got to the city there were so many lights. We looked in a couple wine and souvenir stores before wandering down one of the more expensive streets in the city. It had the Ralph Lauren and Ugg stores on it, among others. It was so pretty to walk down though. All of the men were walking around in suits, fresh from the offices. The storefronts were painted in various old school village colors. But here’s a picture, instead of me describing it.

The Sydney Bridge at sunset

Expensive shopping street downtown

The harbor cruise left from the Man O War steps, which took us forever to find. When we finally did, we realized that they had just told us to get there at 6:30 and the boat didn’t actually leave until 7, so we sat around shivering with probably 200 other international students. Everyone seemed like they were in groups or already knew people, which makes sense because orientation for them has lasted all week instead of just starting on Wednesday. I was relieved to see the boat had an enclosed dance floor on the first floor when it actually pulled up. There is no way to describe it though other than a party boat.

Our view while waiting to get on the boat

We devoured the free pizza the moment we stepped onto the ship and then everyone raided the bar. It was way too expensive for me though. Beers started at $6 for a bottle and that was the cheapest option. Smirnoff Ice went for $10 a bottle. We spent the three-hour cruise alternating between dancing on the first floor and taking pictures from the top deck when we got too warm inside. The views were really pretty. If the point of the cruise was to meet new people, then it wasn’t really successful. We talked to a few girls that live in the village, but nothing really came of it. I figure I’ll meet more people once classes start.

Makenzie, Sarah, and Miranda on the boat

Going under the bridge

A fair we passed

At the end of the cruise, I did start talking to one of the guys who worked on the boat though. He’s apparently a full-time engineer that works in the Papau New Guinea area and works for his friends that own the boat on the side. He seemed really nice. He was telling me about his travels. I think it would have been fun to meet up with him at some point later on so he could show me around Sydney, but that would have been awkward to bring up. I mean, he was at work.

We did have to pay for the trip home on the train, once we finally found the train stop (the boat let out at a different place than it started). It was only $2.40 for the trip though, so that isn’t too bad. I wasn’t exactly excited to walk all the way across campus in the freezing cold when we got back though. I passed out the second I walked in the door.

It’s good that I got some sleep though because I was up bright and early again this morning at 8. Our Sydney city tour, scheduled especially for our group, left at 10:30 and we stopped at a couple of lookout spots around the city and took classic tourist pictures in front of the bridge and the opera house, as well as the edge of the harbor. We also went to Bondi Beach, which was nothing special. There was barely anyone in the water except for surfers because it’s so cold. I took a few pictures and wandered into the beachfront stores, but everything was really expensive. I was glad that I ate before and didn’t have to buy lunch. One of the guys in our group was impressed he was able to get a full meal for $12, but that still sounds expensive to me. I don’t think I’ll be eating out very much here. Things are so much cheaper in Ohio and Michigan, especially my Qdoba burrito for $3.15.

Bondi Beach

At the end of the tour, we stopped at the Cargo Bar on the waterfront and were given a free glass of wine or beer. I got the chardonnay. It was okay, not the best. It was nice to sit on the patio and people watch though. I also found out that they sell pretty good $10 steaks Monday-Wednesday to attract business. I was impressed by that considering their drink specials on Monday-Wednesday are $10 cocktails.

The night was spent with more grocery shopping, but this time at a large market instead of the ones in the mall and it’s a good thing we went because we found out things are a little bit cheaper there. Then Sarah and I hung out with her roommates, who all seem really nice. One of them has a job on campus and he was instructing me on how to apply. I’m trying to convince one of the two who have a car to go on a road trip to Melbourne during exam period.

Macquarie Orientation

I was wide awake at 6:30 this morning and couldn’t fall back to sleep for the life of me, so I got up and watched the Jane by Design episode that I had downloaded in Fiji. My orientation this morning started at 10am, so I decided to walk around campus and get my bearings until then. I found the campus store, which doesn’t actually have that much of a selection. I also walked through the campus hub, which is like a student center, but mainly consists of food places and the campus bar.

Random stream on campus

Orientation was kind of overwhelming. Our morning session had a variety of speakers come in and talk to us about various elements of the university as well as aspects of safety. I was particularly incensed by the Global Leadership Program, which consists of seminars and a meet and greet with “global citizens.” If you complete 5 of the seminars and go to the meet and greet, you receive a certificate. I think I’m going to sign up to participate because it sounds relatively interesting.

I’m also kind of excited about the clubs offered on this campus. Being at a big university (Macquarie has about 30,000 students) is very new to me. They have a chocolate appreciation club, among other things. I’m hoping to join a few at the club fair – MacFest – next week so that I can meet people. I already feel kind of left out from the AIFS group and it doesn’t help that I’m living alone. I always miss out on the information and invites to go out and this is only day two in Sydney.

They gave us lunch before the afternoon session started. Our afternoon was filled with scheduling and registration. Apparently, the university took it upon themselves to enroll us in classes so I was only scheduled for two of the ones that I wanted out of four. I’m going to try and drop the two and add the two I wanted, but it might be difficult because the class I was most excited about is only offered at one time. The timetable (schedule) they drew up for me also sucks. I end up with class every day of the week and most of them are early days. I really have to do something about it tomorrow when they’re in their office.

The rest of the session instructed us on how to set-up our e-mail address with Macquarie and use their online webpages. I can’t figure out how to set-up my e-mail forwarding though, so I guess I’m just going to have to remember to check both accounts every day.

One exciting thing though is that I found out anyone can attend class lectures, so I might pick a few courses that I’m interested in and just sit in on their weekly lectures. I might as well, if I have time, especially with all the gaps in my schedule as of right now.

After the orientation sessions, Sarah, Christine, and I looked around the school store for a little bit before heading back over to the shopping center to pick up groceries and browse some of the stores. I found a really cheap cookie sheet, so I’m going to make some cookies. I also picked up the fixings for tacos and made them for dinner. As I was cooking in my new apartment, one of my housemates walked by and introduced himself before quickly ducking out the door. It happened so fast that I don’t even remember his name. That’s when it really set in though that I’m going to be here for awhile. I was wondering what it would take.

The tacos were rather different because the grocery store didn’t have any of the normal cheeses I would use. In fact, a lot of the packages didn’t specify what kind of cheese they were. I also had to get a different kind of seasoning because they don’t have Mrs. Dash over here. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t what I’m used to. Another item missing from the grocery store was applesauce, so I’ll have to make plain chocolate chip cookies too. I don’t understand how Australia doesn’t have applesauce. When I asked a staff member, she asked me if it was a juice.

After dinner, I figured out the laundry situation. It’s $4 per load of laundry and $1 for the dryer. You have to pay in $1 coins though and there isn’t a change machine in the laundry room. It’s a good idea I had the foresight to stop into the recreation building on my way to class this morning or I wouldn’t have had anywhere near enough change. I luckily live right by the laundry building though, so it wasn’t difficult to drag my suitcase of dirty clothes over there and stuff them in the washers. I wanted to dry all of my clothes in my room, but drying racks were in the $50 range when I looked at them today, so that isn’t really feasible.

I want to get a job while I’m here now that I’m realizing how expensive things really are. I spent $80 on groceries today and that didn’t even cover the other toiletries and cooking supplies that I bought. I don’t know how I’m going to manage to eat much more than pasta for the next couple of months.

I need to buy some sweatshirts too. It’s absolutely freezing here. I don’t think it helps that we went from a tropical environment to the Australian winter. It’s not as bad as the Midwest by far, but our townhouses don’t have heat, so I’m glad I have the extra blankets to curl up under otherwise I might freeze.

Welcome to Sydney

Today has been really overwhelming. We got to the airport in Nadi at 6am to check-in. I went with the first group on the bus to the airport because I was nervous about my bags. It turns out that I had a definite right to be. Air Pacific decided to charge by the kilogram instead of by the amount of bags, so since I could only check 23kg for free, I ended up having to pay for 12 extra at the rate of $15FJD per bag. That’s $180FJD! I was so ready to get out of Fiji though that I just took it in stride and went off to spend the rest of my Fijian money in the airport. I was able to find a magnet, granted it’s a little chintzy, for the rest of my collection and grab a muffin for breakfast.

When I went back to join the group, I found out that two of the girls in our group – Audrey and Nicole – hadn’t made it on the plane. Apparently, the girls in the front of them got the last tickets on our overbooked plane and they were placed on standby. It was decided that flying to New Zealand and then catching a flight to Sydney would be a better option for them. But still, that had to suck. They spent the whole day in airports only to have to wait around to get picked up in Sydney because no one knew when they were getting in.

Anyways, back to my trip, the muffin didn’t do much for filling me up though, so it’s a good thing that they gave us yogurt, fruit, and another tiny muffin on the plane. I took the complimentary drink too. I needed it after the whole check-in ordeal. The flight was supposed to last 4 hours and 20 minutes, but when we got to Sydney we had to fly around in the air for a little bit because there wasn’t a spot for us to land. When we finally got down on the ground, I realized how truly excited I am to finally be in Australia. It’s sort of surreal. I’ve been wanting to step foot on this continent since I was twelve and now I’m finally here, for four whole months no less.

We hit the ground running and pulled a team effort to get through customs, grab our checked bags and make it out to the arrivals terminal. We actually beat the bus driver. Once all of our bags were finally loaded into the bus, we started the 40 minute journey into town. It was nice to drive through Sydney even though it was kind of rainy and dreary. Everyone got really excited when we drove over the actual Sydney bridge and saw the Sydney Opera House.

At Macquarie, we were welcomed into the recreation building of the Village and provided with Pizza Hut pizzas and the Australian version of a hotdog (we’re still not quite sure what was different – someone thought lamb and someone else sausage, regardless, I liked it). We were starving, so it was much appreciating. After all of the food had vanished into our stomachs, the resident advisors handed out packets with our room keys, house keys, and free internet vouchers. I’m living with four other people. None of which I have met. They’re most likely international students, but they seem to no t be home much. They don’t even have anything in our common rooms, just the provided furniture and some food in the kitchen.

Amanda, our AIFS coordinator on campus, also gave us a little speech about drugs and alcohol before handing over our debit cards from AIFS. It turns out that we’ll be getting a $240 monthly stipend for food and transportation, which doesn’t look like much at all in this country.

After signing all of the papers to check-in, we were guided to the very back of the part of the village furthest from campus, where they had found residence for us. Luckily, a van helped with some of our bags because it’s a fairly large hill that we have to walk up to get to our buildings. It’ll be nice training when I go for a run.

My room has some issues with it, like a leaky faucet and a very dirty desk chair, but I’m so glad to be in the same place for a few months that I was relieved when I walked in. It could definitely be worse anyways. I really only had time to set my bags down and put my sheets (also provided by AIFS, even though they said they wouldn’t be) on my bed before rushing off to the shopping mall across campus. It closed at 5:30, so we had to hurry there. I’m glad we did though because I was able to purchase an Australian mobile for $59 with a $30 monthly plan that gives me unlimited texting, 8 hours of talk, and a limited amount of data. It’s nice to have a phone that works again, even if I can’t call home with it.

While everyone else was picking out phones, I ran around the mall picking up the things I deemed most important and weren’t too heavy to carry all of the way back to the village (it’s about a 30 minute walk, or at least it is the way we went). I was able to find a fresh fruit store for apples and bananas as well as a bakery to pick up some bread. Then I stopped in a grocery store for detergent, pasta, olive oil, and toilet paper before running to Target (which carries quite a bit less here) for hangers and toiletries. I had five bags in total when I was done, but I managed to carry all of them back without breaking. I did have a little assistance though. Halfway back, we found an abandoned grocery cart and commandeered it for the remainder of the walk. It was a little too late though because one of the handles on Sarah’s bags ripped and her olive oil bottle broke and leaked all over her groceries.

I was so happy to unpack when I got home though. A few of the girls had talked about going out earlier, but I have no idea where they manage to get the energy from. I’m excited to pick out my classes tomorrow though. I hope I get what I want.

Saying Goodbyes

We left our home stay families this morning. Nina told us our cousin almost cried because he was sad to see us go. I don’t think anyone else did. We headed back to Nadi right after they dropped us off at the school and stopped at Tambua Sands for lunch. Tambua is a nice resort, but since I’m not a huge fan of beaches, it didn’t do me much good.

When we got back to the hotel, everyone hopped in the pool immediately because it was so hot. Dinner was nice because they served French fries and other traditional American affair as a going away feast for us. I was so tired though, I went to bed right after.

Last Day with Our Family

This morning we woke up and had breakfast which included a weird green dish that I have still have no clue what it was. A lot of Ajay and Sangita’s family came over today and visited, so we talked with some of their cousins out on the back patio while they cracked open coconuts for lunch. Rigi and the younger cousin went swimming even though it was pretty chilly out and started to rain.

We came inside instead and had chicken for lunch with custard pie, a traditional desert dish in Fiji known for its simplicity. I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I should have. I just don’t think custard is my thing.

After lunch, we took a taxi into town and looked around at a few of the shops. Not much was open, but I finally was able to see how expensive their books really are. Most of them cost upwards of $40 or $50, which is expensive even if you halve it into what would be about American currency. Magazines were $18 too!

Since it was Sunday and most things were closed, we went to see The Dark Knight Rises at the town theater (tickets were $6). It was alright. It at least moved fast enough to keep my attention but it was a little long. Their popcorn is pretty good here and much cheaper than in the States (only $5 for a small pop and popcorn combo and $7 for the medium), even though some of the other girls said they didn’t like it. They just don’t use as much butter. The only annoying thing was during the entire movie the guy behind us kept putting his feet on our seats. At one point, he toes were literally touching my elbow because he was taking up half of my arm rest. I would have said something if we weren’t there with Raoul, our cousin, and Nina.

We picked up a chicken pizza for dinner and brought it back in the taxi with us. I don’t think they use much sauce on their pizza here, if at all, but it was still good. After dinner, we exchanged gifts with our host family. They bought us bracelets and the older daughter, Shigi, drew us a picture with a little note and necklaces. It was really cute. Sangita also gave us necklaces for our mothers. They liked our gifts too. Deirdre gave them coasters from her school and two Philly baseball caps. I gave them a coffee mug from my school. Then we all sat in the living room and watched a Hindi epic story together that they’ve been watching together. 

A Night Out

We got ready to go out after dinner yesterday because nearly everyone from our group had agreed to meet up at O’Reilly’s, a popular bar downtown. Our family wanted to take us out though, so it was really awkward because we had no idea what to expect. It was warm out, so we were both wearing shorts but then it sounded like our host dad, Ajay, called the pub to check if there was a dress code. It turned out there wasn’t. The place they took us seemed kind of like a country club. They referred to it as a “pub” and said it was only of the oldest clubs in Fiji, around since the colonial days when only the British were allowed inside. Nowadays, it’s a member’s only club. It seemed like a nice place. Our family bought us a couple of Tribes, the local wine cooler, to try. The Tribes are mixed with either vodka or bourbon; we tried the cola, raspberry and watermelon, pineapple, and lime flavors. Everything was good except for the cola, which was way too strong.

The country club was really only for the older men though, so after finishing our drinks, we moved on to O’Reilly’s. It was kind of awkward (which was the theme of the night) going to a nightclub with a couple the age of our parents and a 20ish woman who is their housekeeper and was trying to keep an innocent image in their company. O’Reilly’s was where we tried the pineapple tribe though, and, soon after, we found our group. They were dancing on the tables and counters in the corner of the dancing and smoking section of the bar. It’s so weird that you can still smoke inside in designated smoking areas here.

Inside O'Reilly's

We kind of separated from our family to join the group and I felt bad because they awkwardly stood in the corner for about forty minutes before asking if we wanted to move on to another bar. We wanted to stay though and, thankfully, they agreed to let us take a cab home. I was just glad that they were getting the chance to go somewhere more their style. Apparently, after they left us they took Nina to another club too.

A lot of the people in our group were drinking and dancing, but I preferred to sit down with the artists from the University of the South Pacific who had come out to meet our group. Dancing just isn’t really my style. It was too loud to talk inside though, so I mainly just ended up sitting and watching. Some people were getting a little out of hand. Sure enough, after about an hour, the bar was really crowded and some of the people in our group wanted to move on to a different bar down the street. Of course, we couldn’t find everyone. We spent about twenty minutes looking for three of the girls who had just disappeared together. They finally showed up after we had given up and moved on to Club Islanders down the street. However, that bar was extremely skuzzy and didn’t appear to be the safest, so we were only there for about ten minutes before leaving.

When we all got outside, Lindsay just took off running across the street and into a park. She was literally sprinting away from us for no apparent reason. It was probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen someone do. She even claimed she was sober, but that definitely couldn’t be true. Someone sad she was mad about something but one of the artists found her near the sea and putting two and two together we figured out she was homesick. It was a mess though. We couldn’t really try to bring her back to the group because we were afraid she would take off again, so we had to leave her be, even if it was alone.

A lot of the group moved onto Temptations, a newer club across from O’Reilly’s, but I was ready to call it a night. Deirdre and I didn’t want to call a taxi though, so we asked a couple of the artists how safe it would be to walk home along the seawall where we had taken our walks with Nina. It was really only a ten-minute walk and our host family has told us the area is rather safe, but we wanted to check. The artists didn’t agree that it was okay for us to walk alone, so two of them came with us. I ended up talking and walking with William, who said he had never met a foreigner before. It was bizarre to me. I understand he’s never left Fiji and since he’s from a small village on the North Island, I can see where he would be isolated, but still. I can’t imagine not knowing the diversity that comes along with acquaintances from other countries. I tried to think back to the first time I had met someone born in a foreign place, but I couldn’t. I guess I take the diversity of the United States for granted.

It was about 2:30 by the time we got home last night, so we passed out right away, which is a good thing because we had to get up at nine this morning to run errands with our family. Etnis, the son, needs new glasses, so we went with him to the optometrist and helped him pick out new frames. Unfortunately, he didn’t go with any of our suggestions. It’s creepy how similar the glasses shop seemed to Lenscrafters back home. The paint colors were a little more islandier, but the set-up was ridiculously familiar.

After the glasses hunt, we dropped Etnis off at the bus stop and headed to the market. The markets are huge here. You can buy everything from fresh fish to vegetables. I immediately noticed the absence of apples though. It’s so weird to me that they don’t grow them here. It doesn’t seem like apples would need that unique of a climate. Nothing is packaged in anyway though, so it also seems kind of unsanitary. Even when you buy a whole fish, it’s just shoved in a non-properly sized plastic bag with the tail sticking out. I dubbed this “fish in a bag.” We also went to a supermarket in town, which seemed incredibly busy. I was amazed at the prices on some of the things too. Peanut butter seemed a little bit more expensive here, but nectarines were ridiculous at $17 per kilogram. Apples were almost $4 per kilogram. I guess that is truly the difference of living in a small country though. In the United States, we don’t even notice when things are imported because our economy is strong and the sheer amount of products we import absorbs some of the cost. We were encouraged to pick out ice cream for after lunch from their Tip Top collection. They had some bizarre flavors like boisonberry and hokey pokey, but we stuck with the slightly more normal cookies and cream. The cart was completely full when we were done shopping and I thought it would take forever to bag everything, but the check-out woman and bagger were amazing fast. You can tell they’ve taken it down to a science. It was much more productive than the US, which is good because they were really busy.

The inside of the market was huge

He had so many eggs

Bananas are a huge deal here

I don't even know what these are

The fish head was just chilling on a table

This was still moving while we were there

They have a lot of pink toilet paper

Lunch was Chinese food, which was incredibly weird for me. The cho mein was really good though and I’ve actually started eating rice. My taste buds are definitely becoming less picky. As long as things aren’t too spicy or fishy, I seem to be able to handle them well. I’m still not big on vegetables though. I feel like my food adventures won’t necessarily continue in Australia though because I’ll be buying all of my own food and I’m not going to want to waste money on things I won’t like. The ice cream afterwards was a good choice too :)

We went running after lunch along the sea wall, which is this little paved path that has been put up alongside a wall that keeps the tide from running into the road. I ended up running all the way out of Suva town proper. One thing I noticed is there is an extraordinary large amount of seaside parks here. You would think the land would be devoted to beaches or beachfront property, but it’s not.

Our farewell dinner was tonight. It was held at USP. All of the girls in our family – Sangita, Nina, Shigi, and Rigi – came with us. There was entertainment underneath their performance pavilion, including a rapper as well as the college’s band, dance group, and singing group. Dinner was good too… I had fish again, unbelievably. They made us dance with the performers after the whole group sang the traditional goodbye song, so not cool.

I pretty much passed out after we got back home and had some ice cream.

Test Time

Women can drive here! For a second, we weren’t sure. But they definitely can.

Today was our exam day. We were given the questions ahead of time and instructed to write about 2 pages or 400 words for each of the four questions. It wasn’t actually that bad because they were all sort of opinionated and I read the articles they were on, so I didn’t actually have to study. I was one of the few people who took the exam seriously, which is ironic because I’m one of the few who won’t be getting credit for it. I just figured I had nothing else to do, so I might as well apply myself. I found some of the material interesting anyways.

After the exam, I wandered around campus by myself for a bit. It was nice to be alone and not feel like I needed to be a part of the group – the same feeling I got from running yesterday. Some might think it’s weird that I’m so independent and need so much alone time, but I definitely do. It’s just natural to me. And traveling in groups can overwhelm. That’s why New Zealand will be exciting. I’m going to be completely on my own.

We were picked up shortly after my wandering. In fact, I ran into our host father on my way to the pick-up spot. Biscuits and rolls were waiting for us when we got home. They were so good. I really do love their biscuits here. We filled up on them though so when dinner was ready about ninety minutes later, we barely had room for pasta with lamb sauce and chicken curry.

Fiji Facts

This morning we had peanut butter sandwiches! I was so excited. I’ve been eating so much bread the last few days too because I feel like it’s been lacking since we’ve been here. It doesn’t hurt that Sanjita’s rolls are amazing and she’s been serving them at every meal since she found out we like them so much.

Our bus was over an hour late this morning to take us to a museum in town. I thought it was ridiculous, but everyone said it was running on “Fijian time,” which sounds like the biggest crock ever. When we finally got to the museum, we realized it was ridiculously small. It took us like ten minutes to wander through and the rest of our time was spent in the small gift shop. I bought a souvenir bottle opener, which I realize I probably should have brought with me because even things like wine coolers in other countries aren’t twist-offs.

View outside the history museum

A traditional boat in the history museum

After the history museum, we went to the other side of town to visit the prison. Apparently, Fijian prisoners who have served most of their sentence are encouraged to develop a talent while in jail. They are put in a separate area with house-like structures where they are able to roam free. They said not many try to escape, which sounds bizarre to me. There wasn’t even a barbed-wire fence keeping them in the area, just the open road. But that’s beside the point, these men are encouraged to try artistic pursuits. And they’re amazing! There was a bunch of beautiful paintings and mosaics in the small art gallery attached to the prison. We were encouraged to purchase something (the money goes to the families of the prisoners), but there was no way I would be able to get any of the mosaics I liked home. They were super heavy.

On the way back to campus, we stopped at the town theater so that a couple of our group members could purchase tickets to the late showing (8:30 is their latest!) of the new Batman or Superman, whichever, movie. Someone told me it isn’t even out in the states yet. Tickets were only $5 Fijian though, so that’s a really good deal.

The town cinema

View of Suva

Freighters on the coast

We had lunch on campus, nothing notable, after returning and were left to our own devices for the afternoon to “study” for our exam tomorrow. I wandered around campus with two girls for a little while before we went to McDonald’s to use the internet. Even though we were promised internet access on campus, we haven’t been able to get the wifi to work, so McDonald’s (which has no plugs) was our last resort. Anyways, not much studying got done. I went for a run up a pretty big hill after my laptop died. I only ran for 24 minutes, but I was impressed with myself because it’s much hillier and muggier here than I’m used to.

Litter Please :)

Dinner was more rolls :) and lamb stew with some kind of baked potato concoction. It was alright. We spent the rest of our night trying to figure out who the random people were that kept wandering in and out of our host families house. It’s possibly the equivalent of Thursday poker night, with kava? We’re not quite clear. There was a man from New Zealand here though that tried to bring up some uncomfortable controversial subjects with us though.

I bought a notebook today so I could record some of the random Fijian things that I’ve learned:

·         Fiji is ruled by a strict military regime with limited freedom of speech and jail as a repercussion

·         Only men appear to drive here

·         It’s illegal for women to run away with a man (without permission) before 21

·         Illegal for students and those under 18 to smoke (marijuana is completely illegal)

·         21 is the voting age, but this is switching to 18 in the next election

·         You are to remove your shoes before entering one’s house

·         Clubs are open until 5am and do not admit native students

·         Girls must wear their hair up and cannot wear fingernail polish to school

·         Citizens are not always able to get visas to travel due to some citizens staying past their allotted stay

·         Peanut butter is common :)

·         All apples are imported (and hard to find)

·         Motorcycles are uncommon except amongst Europeans on the North Island (we’re on the South)

·         There is only one national park in the whole country

·         Many stores and products suffer from heavy inflation due to the popularity of imported goods

·         Television subscribers have only about 13 channel options

·         Following primary school (the equivalent of elementary), there is a semester fee of about $50-70 to attend grammar school and an additional fee for year-end exams

·         Kava, the national drink, is made from a natural muscle relaxing root and tastes like dirt-filled water

·         Bugs are out constantly! (which explains my many bug bites)

·         Fiji water is much cheaper in Fiji

·         Animals are rarely kept in homes

The Way The Natives Live

We arrived on campus before everyone else this morning, so we went to the school store and I bought some cheap toothpaste and my first Fiji apple! I haven’t had an apple since the U.S. so even though this 60 cent, imported apple was small, it was amazing. Very sweet and much needed.

We spent today at an authentic Fijian village. I believe it was Waikete, or something like that. They welcomed us to their village with a ceremony that included a lot of chanting and clapping, which I didn’t understand. We were then offered kava, which is a native root drink used in ceremonies. Apparently, the root is a natural muscle relaxant. A mere sip of kava with cause your tongue to tingle and possibly go numb for a few moments. I wasn’t a huge fan of the drink though. It basically just tasted like murky, dirt water (which is also how it looked). I’m proud of myself for trying it though.

Kava ceremony

Walkway in the village

After the welcome ceremony, we were allowed to collect our shoes, which had been left at the door to the community center as a sign of respect, and wander around the village. Our guide showed us how to lay mud traps for the delicacy of crab, follow the call to either the village Catholic or Methodist churches, cook in an underground oven pit, and climb a tree to collect coconuts. The villages in Fiji are mainly self-sufficient, but we were able to see their slight reliance on tourism when they sold us handmade (possibly, we saw some pretty similar items in stores) jewelry and purses.

To me, the village just looked like poverty. There were people living on top of people and the animals appeared malnourished and flea-bitten. However, I can see their appeal. They stray away from commercial goods and allow people to stay close with their families and live off the land. Also, the villages are all most the villagers have ever known. They may be able to go into town now or then and get bused to the surrounding schools, but they still don’t know what it’s like to pay bills and live apart from one’s extended family. So, while I could never live the life of a villager, I understand why they exist.

Following our tour, we were provided with a traditional lunch. I actually ate the crab that they had cooked. It was similar to the crab we caught in the mud traps, but since they had already caught and cooked this, not quite the same. The meal also included taro root (a native vegetable) and possibly a lobster dish. I stuck with the chicken. I also had some shortbread-like cookies that I picked up when we had stopped at a grocery store on our way to the village.

Making our lunch

The villagers danced for us after lunch. The dances were traditional, but appeared quite strange to our American eyes because Fijians do not move their hips much while dancing. It was quite the change. We were invited to join in on some of the dances as well.

Social time took place after the dance and we gathered around the kava bowls with some of the younger villagers. A boy named James tried to befriend me by asking for my telephone number, but since I don’t have one, it didn’t really get him anywhere. We exchanged e-mails instead, but the entire conversation was rather strange because it only lasted about two seconds. I know nothing about him other than his name and the village he lives in. He knows only that I am from America. I’m not really sure where he was going with the exchange of information, but it seems that, as Americans, we attract friends everywhere. Everyone wishes to know more about the American girls (the two guys in our group get to miss out mostly on this wonderment). It’s like they’re attracted to the striking difference between our blonde and red hair compared to theirs.

At the conclusion of the day, we came back to our host family’s home and Nina took us for a walk again around downtown Suva. We were able to see one of the local malls and walk around a few of the stores before it closed. I know we will be returning again on Saturday when we spend our free day shopping. When we came back from the walk, dinner was ready. Our family noticed our appreciation of the bread and made more with dinner tonight as well as roast chicken, mashed potatoes, white rice, and fish curry. All of the carbs and the kava today left us exhausted though, so we called it an early night.

Studying the Fijian Culture

My room is off of the kitchen, so I didn’t get much sleep last night. I went to bed fairly early because we didn’t have anything else to do, but the family was still up, so I didn’t get to actually fall asleep. I kept drifting in and out of sleep in the morning too because I could hear animals making noise and moving around outside. I finally got out of bed around 6:30 to get ready for our first and only day of classes at the University of the South Pacific.

Some of the campus buildings at USP

Traditional house built on campus -- apparently the roof is leaking right now

After a breakfast of egg salad sandwiches and cereal with warmish milk that I couldn’t figure out how to open, we drove to the campus. We had a total of four lectures today focusing on the climate change and globalization practices of Fiji. The lectures were interspersed with morning and afternoon tea breaks so that included some really good food. I finally got my chocolate cake :)

Lunch was basically inedible to me. I subsisted on some spicy chicken, but our afternoon tea had amazing banana bread so I was content. I had thought we might have to pay for lunch today, but that didn’t turn out to be true, so I was happy.

We were given sulus to wear on our village visit tomorrow and also met some of the school’s resident artists. A lot of the girls purchased pieces from them, but I’m just not interested in art to the extent that they seem to be. I mean, they were nice to admire, but I don’t want to spend the equivalent of $40 on something that seems abstract to me.

All in all, the lectures were rather difficult to sit though. The only one that involved a good deal of discussion irritated me because I felt like each comment someone in my group made was offensive to Fijians and their way of living. I also couldn’t get a word in edgewise and, even when I raised my hand, it seemed as if the professor was ignoring me. I’m not sure what was up with that.

After classes, we went back to our host family’s and Nina, who we’re now fairly sure is the housekeeper, took us for a walk along the sea wall. It’s really scenic and only takes about ten minutes to walk along it into town. I think I might go running along it tomorrow. The whole family has said it is very safe, so I guess I have my seal of approval.

Dinner tonight included this amazing, light, almost buttery rolls and breadsticks. I couldn’t stop eating them, which is good because the other food was a little spicy for my tastes. I had some more of the leftover chop sui from last night though; I just might be coming around to it.

Falling Off a Cliff

Today has been host to both a near death experience and a very awkward one.

After checking out of our hotel this morning, we visited the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, which are located in the one and only national park of Fiji. These sand dunes aren’t anything like what I was picturing from what I’ve seen of those in Michigan. In Fiji, the sand dunes are almost completely covered in vegetation from mere grass to full trees. The sand just makes things grow, I guess. The only recognizable sand dunes that I saw were when we got closer to the ocean and those are only clear because the winds keep them shifting enough to prevent growth.

The dunes were extremely hard to climb up though. My tennis shoes were completely filled with sand; it was ridiculous. You had to get a running start to even be able to clear the top. They were very picturesque though.

Sigatoka Sand Dunes

View from the top

"Tree hugger" - based on a story from Nepal where  many women were killed as they tried to protect the trees from being cut down

After the sand dunes hike, we cleaned out our shoes and got back on the bus from a trip to the Tuvuni Hill Fort. The trip was fairly death-defying as our bus driver attempted a u-turn on the side of cliff. Lili, our guide in Fiji, actually had to get off the bus and direct the bus driver, but there were a couple of moments when the stick shift stuck and we weren’t sure we were going to make it. Most of us were begging to get off and walk the rest of the way rather than go off the cliff with the bus. Luckily, he eventually managed.

When we finally arrived, we ate lunch of corned beef, egg, and tuna sandwiches (ew!) with fresh fruit before setting off on another hike on the sites of one of the old villages who practiced cannibalism. Some of the girls were a bit freaked out that people would actually eat people, but our guide explained the villagers only ate those of rival villages who they captured as it would allow them to gain control of other villages. The rest of the time they would eat more normal meats. The actual site of the old village is completely torn down. The only remnants are rocks left to mark the sites of old houses and burial grounds. Again though, since it was on the side of a cliff, very picturesque.

View from Tuvuni Hill Fort

Following the fort was a two-hour bus ride that definitely seemed more like three to the town of Suva where we met our host families. The whole meet-and-greet was very awkward. Deirdre and I are both staying with a family that has three girls and one boy. It also appears that the father of one of the parents lives with them as well as possibly a school friend of the boy who may or may not be related. We got off the bus from the fort, unloaded our luggage, and were basically handed off to a woman standing outside the school (the University of the South Pacific). She seemed nice, but it was still strange.

The family has been incredibly accommodating and seems fairly informal, but we’re both still very unsure of how to act and what’s appropriate. We don’t know where any of the others in our group are staying either because we were the first to leave. We’re figuring it out though. The husband travels quite a bit and the wife is an English schoolteacher at the university we’ll be attending.

They served us tasty biscuits (kind of like a shortbread cookie) and cookies when we arrived along with Cola and water. Dinner was chop sui and rice with a cake-like desert. I ate what I could. I didn’t realize that coming to Fiji would be the thing that made me try chop sui.

The kids have all been very shy with us, although it appears one of the girls is a bit more social and willing to answer our questions. We were also able to talk with the two boys for a bit at dinner and they seem to be warming up to us. I guess it’s just a question of how long it will take before things start to feel more natural and comfortable.

The Beach Side of Fiji

Today was beach day, also known as day I spent squinting and watching and thinking. I’m just not a huge fan of beaches. I don’t like saltwater. Sand makes me itchy. And the sun tends to fry my skin. Fiji only added to my dislike by introducing coral to the beach and invisible bugs that like to bite me. I’m so itchy. I’ve tried everything but the bites keep appearing. They’re in weird places too, like all over my stomach (and those appeared before the beach). I also didn’t have a towel.

Possibly Castaway Island

The tiny boat we took to Beachcomber Island from the ship

So basically, I spent today on a resort island the size of city block (Beachcomber Island). I watched people in my group snorkel. I had an overpriced “sex on the beach illusion” that tasted like an Icee with the smallest splash of alcohol. I sat in the shade on a picnic table in the only part of the island without sand and read my book. I couldn’t even go shopping because the island gift shop was closed.

Chilling on the boat while everyone snorkels

 The sand is really weird here though. It's like clumpy and mixed with the coral, so even when you're just stepping on dry sand, it kind of hurts. I wanted to wear my flip flops to walk around but that was difficult because everything was uneven and I hate the feeling of sand in my flip flops.

The water is so clear and blue

 Our boat was late to pick us up from the island and take us back to Viti Levu (the main island we’re staying on) so I also got to freeze in my tank top as the sun went down while we waited and for the duration of the 45-minute, windy ride back where we passed the island that Castaway was filmed on. At least is wasn’t as sunny as the ride there though.

 But at least, since it’s Fiji (paradise as others call it, for some unknown reason), the view was good.

Sunset on the Pacific