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Published: January 12th 2010
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House
Front entrance It's green, sunny and warm everywhere! The flight to Sydney was uneventful. Knowing it was going to be a long flight and not wanting to be stuck clock watching, I deliberately did not calculate ahead of time the number of hours I would have to be confined to a small airplane seat. I split the long hours between naps, eating, playing sudoku, and watching a chick flick (which I'm blanking right now but I do remember tearing up a bit during the movie, so I suppose it did its job). Unlike flights to Asia where inflight foods are somewhat adventurous, the food during this flight were rather lacking in imagination: pasta for dinner and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Oh well, kept me satiated.
The plane pulled into the airport right on time. However, I did not realize the seriousness of Australian customs until I had reach the check point. For those of you who may not know, to protect Australia's unique environment, the Australian government imposes very strict import and export regulations. As a result, all luggage had to be x-rayed and checked individually, especially if individuals have brought in items that may potentially cause environmental concerns. In all,
House
At corner facing National Park St. the process took well over one and one-half hours.
With some "minor" delay, I found myself finally on the Happy Cabby, a shuttle that delivered me right to my host family's house in about two hours of driving.
My host family is lovely. The house is a two-story red brick building situated at the corner of two intersecting neighborhood streets. Kitty corner to the house is the spacious track field of the Newcastle High School. Surrounding the house is a green path of luscious vegetation including olive trees, pumpkin vines, taro, lime trees, green peppers, okra, cactus, and so on. Then, tightly wrapped around the house itself on both levels is this wonderful veranda formed by red brick arches and white metal fences. Shaded by the plants surrounding the house, the veranda will surely make a lovely outdoor study place.
My host dad Dimitri, or Baba, greeted me with an endearing smile and big, firm handshake. His copper-toned skin told me he has clearly been enjoying the Australian sun. He was wearing a brown sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. His hands slightly soiled. Turned out, Baba is a handy man, and he was
House
At corner facing Hebburn St. just about to start his lawn mower and take care of some yard work. Maria, or Mama, joined us immediately after from the kitchen. She bought out a glass of cool water for me (I was parched!), along with a crescent-shaped shortbread cookie, with a generous layer of powdered sugar as thick as the cookie itself.
My host parents are a retired couple who are first generation immigrants from Greece. They both came to Newcastle about 40 years ago in their teens and have found it a wonderful new place to call home. They are now part of the two largest Greek families in Newcastle. Having experienced the hardships of being immigrants, but also having grown up in large, loving, supportive families, Maria and Dimitri decided to become host parents so they can mentor exchange students who may need guidance in a new culture. I could tell they take their role as host parents very sincerely. They made it clear to me right away that I need not hesitate to come to them for anything, even if I think I've made a terrible mistake in something. From talking to them, I also learned that some of the relationships they've
House
Beautiful front yard developed with past students are very strong, indeed. For instance, after hosting a girl from Hong Kong for three years, Baba actually walked the girl down the isle (as the girl's biological father had passed away) for her wedding. They also receive calls frequently from different students in the past. I am delighted and excited to have been matched with such a wonderful family. At this point, I'm confident to say my decision to stay with a host family rather than in a dorm has turned out quite well.
Also staying with the family is a girl (Amy) from Hong Kong completing a master in international business. Later this month we will have another female student from Germany, and a male student from Saudi Arabia.
Undeniably, the Greeks are well know for their food (among a few other things). I'm sure some of you might wonder what delicious foods I have been eating...My original thought was that I will be exposed to the "Mediterranean Diet" with lots of green leafy salads, olives, feta cheese, etc. So far it hasn't been the case, but the food is still quite tasty and definitely filling: Chicken and vegetable curry, strogonoff, lentils
My bedroom
My study desk and makeup counter with vegetable puree, date or boysenberry scones, fried fish fillet, fresh-picked figs (from their backyard!), okra with tomato, are the main things I've had in the past few days. I will continue to provide a brief description of my meals here, as that is often a major way of experiencing a different culture.
How do you work when the weather is so beautiful and there are so many beaches to go to? One of the places I checked out this weekend was Darby Street (aka Eat Street). It is a mini version of State Street in that it has a descent collections of family-owned restaurants and bars, plus some boutique shops (pictures to be posted later when available). I also took a walk in the Civic Park that is located about 15 minutes from my house. It has quite a few giant trees providing nice shades, some wooden benches, and an artistic fountain with a sculpture that I wasn't quite sure what it represented. I definitely will go back to that park on a future date to learn more about that fountain sculpture, enjoy the scenery, and take some pictures. Just up on a hill behind that park
My bedroom
Small but comfortable twin size bed is a small library building with some art galleries, which I'll have to visit some other day as well.
Definitely the best experience around town this weekend was a walk to Bar Beach, which is located on the southeast part of Newcastle just about 30 minutes (walking) from my host family's house. Posted are some pictures for you to enjoy. It appears to be rather family-oriented beach. Amy and I saw quite a few parents eager to dip their toddlers into the waves washing up the shore. Those poor little babies are so clueless, they just hang helplessly in their parents' arms and make funny gaga sounds when the water touches them.
One of the unique features about Bar Beach is that in addition to the smooth beach for people to have a calm swim in or surf on, it also has a rockier side. The various sizes of the rocks, from pebbles to large slabs of rocks big enough to walk on, form together a nice area of shallow waters. Essentially, the rocks formed tens of little kiddy pools that are fun for kids to splash water in and for adults to sit or lie down in.
My bedroom
Roomy closet, I'm only utilizing about 1/3 of it. Wishing I had bought some hangers... A local woman there recommended that we return on a warmer, sunnier day. On those days, the sun will heat up the shallow pools of water and make them into relaxing warm baths. On top of that, the sunlight will cause the pools of sea water to reflect various shades of blue and green. Surely that will be a relaxing and beautiful site to be at then.
More fun and, yes, work to come soon. As I am posting this blog entry, I have already begun my rotation at the Research Centre for Gender, Health and Ageing. Being the last of the three pharmacy students to come into the picture, and having quite a few overlapping collaborative projects to work on, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed as I try to wrap my head around all the research studies that I will be involved with. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that this will be a hugely beneficial and eye-opening rotation for me. Stay tuned!
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anonymous
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Newcastle is so pretty! Better take lots of pictures because I will need to live vicariously to enjoy the gorgeous scenery!