Augie Globalog

This weekend we went to surf camp and it was pretty amazing! We arrived to the campsite at midnight and weren’t sure if we were going to end up staying in a tent or cabin. But we ended up staying in a cabin which housed about 30 people. That night we went down to beach, and it was first time I had seen a beach at night in person and it was pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The beach itself had a little peninsula of rocks that jutted out into the ocean which separated the beach into north and south beaches. We were anxious to get into the water but were quickly told that sharks feed at night so we stayed away! Surfing itself was pretty difficult, at some people got it right away, and others such as myself had to work at it a little longer! However, by the second day we had some really nasty waves because the storm was coming in and I’m happy to say I got up!

Last night we went to the Edinburg Military Tattoo at Sydney Football Stadium. It was pretty cool, there were many military bands there from all over the world. The highlight of course was the band of bagpipes. Another cool part of that was the fact that they had a castle built on one side of the stadium. But the castle looked very real, like the ones you see in Europe for the medieval era. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed in the American military band, since everyone else came up with funny, creative performances. America was very traditional, with costumes and music from the colonial era. Trinidad had the only steel military band in the country so that music was cool. Also, they did the lowest limboing I’ve ever seen in my entire life AND as if that isn’t amazing enough their stick was on fire. Norway was freakishly in sync with each other. So United States military band could’ve stepped it up a little bit!

Well we only have 4 weeks left down under, so we’re trying to get everything else we can see in, but time and more importantly, MONEY is running out!

Posted on February 8th, 2010 by marissa-banks
Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

G’day from Sydney, I found some time to update.

A few friends and I recently went to the Sydney Aquarium and the Sydney Wildlife World since one of us works for OceanWorld Manly … and had us as guests to explore some of the other places the same company owns.  It was good to see some more kangaroos, exotic fish, koalas, and more animals, but I did not see any platypus!  The exhibit was under maintenance or something.  Some day, platypus, I will see you while in Australia.  It was a good time though, it was also the first time we really explored Darling Harbour.

This last week was Australia Day!  It’s the celebration of being an Australian–so of course some of us got a little decked out wearing Aussie gear.  It’s like the 4th of July .. only about 20 times larger.  My friends and I went to explore The Rocks (historic district, also where my internship is near).  They had a bunch of activities and music and good meal deals and such like that.  It was also located near Circular Quay, which is the transportation hub of Sydney (near the Opera House, in Sydney Harbour).  Then, towards the evening we went on a ferry to Darling Harbour to watch the fireworks.  Now, we had some expectations since it got hyped to be pretty good fireworks, and they were right.  They were great.  I’m used to some good fireworks in good ‘ole Streator, IL .. but this was something different.  In a good way.

During the weekend, it was the first of many “bigger events” for me, as a group of 15 or so went with Mojo’s Surf Camp to learn how to surf!  While the transportation was long (7 hours), the beach was amazing and the waves were good for beginners.  It was definitely an experience, no air conditioning, all of us and other foreigners were in the same room (like 20 beds), limited resources and clothing, etc.  Basically that care-free lifestyle we always hear about.  Anyway, on Saturday we had two sessions of beginning surfing, and I believe everybody got up on the board at least once!  So that’s good.  We had a beach party later in the evening with the campers, all around the world they came, so that was also fun.  Then, in the morning, we surfed once last time–and that was my best shot at surfing.  The waves were messy, but I finally found a rhythm.  Great experience to learn how to surf, I can say now I’ve done it, and can cross it off of my things to do.

Tonight is Trivia Night at the Porter House ( a nearby pub).  While my group does not do THAT well, we are getting better!  Partially because some of the questions are American knowledge.  That’s fine though, we don’t mind.

I always hear about the weather over there, and all of the emails about closings and ACES closing and such like that.  We just smile and think about the weather here.  Currently it’s probably around 75 degrees, partly cloudy.  It did rain here earlier…

Ah my computer is about to lose the battery, this weekend I’m going to Cairns with a group, so look for updates after!

Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by brett-anderson
Filed under: Australia, Brett Anderson | 6 Comments »

Another week gone by in Sydney.  Our internships are well under-way as it is the beginning of our third week with them.  To me it seems like it’s going by fast, we only have about 5 weeks left before the Spring Break.  Speaking of Spring Break, I’ve made up many plans within these next few weekends…my weekends now are all busy.

On Friday, a small group of us went to Palm Beach, which is in the extreme north part of Sydney.  It was literally about a 2.5 hour commute to the beach, but we finally got there.  It was quite different than the ones we normally go to–this one was a residential beach.  Not many tourists know about it, so there were a lot of families around, and a few surfers, too.  It was good seeing other beaches that many people to not go to, and in a residential area with no shops or food or anything like that.  Of course me and Tim were craving Fish and Chips, but we couldn’t find one.  It turns out that we went TOO far up north, our bus passes would not work in this area, luckily the bus driver said it was okay—for most of us.  One lucky person still had to pay.

My cousin Lauren lives in Australia, and this weekend was that weekend that we finally met up!  She lives in Melbourne, which is on the bottom central portion of Australia — but about 1.5 hours on the plane away.  Anyway, after some communication issues, we finally met up at a good pub near her hotel.  She met a few of my friends here on the trip, and called it a night after a few hours while the rest of us continued to stay up a little.  On Saturday morning, we went to Bondi to eat at this little cafe because she heard it was good–unfortunately when we got there it was closed down!  We found a good alternative.  We then went to the Markets in the Rocks and the Power House museum–both were good in their own way.  It was great seeing her since I don’t get the opportunity to see her that much (because she lives here), and we’ll try to make plans for future visits.

Today is a crummy day, but it got up to around 43 degrees Celsius (roughly 109 F) the other day.  Probably a little warmer than Illinois, it was almost too hot–But we were okay with it of course.  The ocean waters are still cold in the morning and afternoon, so that helps.

I register for classes very soon-weird it’s one more trimester until I graduate.  I have to make sure I know the time difference from Illinois to here so I know for sure when I can first register.

My weekends now are becoming limited because I have plans on most of them now.  This next weekend, a group is going to Surf Weekend, a chance to learn to surf for two days in a secluded beach.  It’ll have other people from other areas of the world, and a cool beach party supposedly.  It should be a good experience, nonetheless!  Other weekends include a weekend to Cairns, the Hunter Valley Wine Tasting day, along with an orchestral show in the Sydney Opera House (which our group will enjoy since we’ll be dressing nice and eating nice and such) … then New Zealand for Spring Break!  Lots of things I plan on doing and writing about in the future, whenever I have internet that is.

Posted on January 25th, 2010 by brett-anderson
Filed under: Australia, Brett Anderson | 1 Comment »

Another week down in Sydney and we’re still having so many new experiences! The bus system continues to be difficult to figure out as we explore different beaches, and other areas of Sydney. Yesterday, it took many of us a couple hours to get to Bronte Beach since we could not figure what bus actually went to Bronte Beach, and how to get to that bus from our apartments. Today we planned on going to Tamarama Beach, but had such a difficult time getting there we found ourselves at Bondi Beach again. Due to how tricky the bus system can be, I personally felt that I lucked out with getting an internship that is one 13 minute bus ride away.

My internship at Liquid Ideas has been pretty interesting so far. There is another intern from Sydney (Wollongong specifically) my age who started the day before me, so we’re learning the ropes of working for Liquid Ideas together. Liquid Ideas is a public relations firm, that mostly works with wine companies, but also does work with travel companies, hospitality companies and many more. Our job often consists of packaging wine to send to Food and Wine Journalists for them to try, and then write about. Being here is particularily interesting for me because recently I’ve decided I would like to be a food journalist so I get to see a lot of what goes on from the other side. Also, I’m still considering a career in Public Relations as well so it’s interesting to see an actual PR firm functions. Another job I had which I enjoyed doing was making profiles of golfers which will participate in the Australian Open to help with promotion of that event. We were instructed on finding basic information, but also they’re accomplishments and maybe something quirky about them that sets them apart from the rest. For instance, one golfer did not even enjoy golf when she started and played seven different sports before she went back to golf and decided, “ hey I kinda like this sport after all!” I look forward to doing some events in the future and seeing what goes into that!

Posted on January 17th, 2010 by marissa-banks
Filed under: Marissa Banks | No Comments »

Ah, we are finally here in Sydney.  A week has gone by already, but it seems like we have been here for longer than that.  Not that it is a bad thing, but we had a lot of experiences already fit into that first week.

When we got to the apartments, we quickly roamed around the area (before our guided tour 2 hours after)… and found a sushi place nearby.  Of course I had to try some.  Sydney has a strong Asian influence, which was surprising for some, but it is realistic because of the close location between Asia and Australia.  We even went to China Town in downtown Sydney and had some more Chinese cuisine.  I think they jipped some people on their drinks .. i.e. $AU13 for one glass! Hahaa

One of the many things I personally wanted to do was to see a performance in the Sydney Opera House.  On Tuesday, we went to a guided tour of the Opera House, and that just confirmed my wanting of seeing a performance.  We all learned about the history of the Opera House and the controversies behind it, how long it took to be built, and why that shape of the shells.  It is truly amazing to be inside this monumental structure and then want to see an orchestral performance that is supposed to be “acoustically perfect.”

A group of us went to several beaches already, including Coogee, Manly, and Bondi.  All three were good in their own way, and it sure beats the weather up in Illinois!  Not to rub it in or anything, but there is plenty of sun-block around.  Coogee and Manly had larger waves, but Bondi surprisingly was the most relaxing.  All three were worth going again, but Coogee is the closest.

The Blue Mountains were our next adventure.  The weather was not cooperating too well; it was extremely foggy.  The picture shows how foggy it was, but it was well worth the trip.  We stopped by the village of Leura, where many people go on vacation.  There is a great candy shop there, too.  While it was foggy we still had a great time hiking through the trees.  During that trip we also stopped by The Olympic Park and the Featherdale Wildlife Reserve, which featured a collection of the most Australian animals in the world.  Kangaroos were around, Emus, Koalas, birds and more were represented.

Now that this week is virtually over, all of our internships begin this coming week.  I am interning at Quay West Suites, which is in the historic district of “The Rocks.”  While I am looking forward to it, I am still not completely familiar with the transit system, which is the most challenging for me as of yet.  I have walked plenty around the city and the surrounding areas because of it.  At least I’m getting a good work out in.  Stay tuned for more adventures and good luck everyone as classes begin once more!

Posted on January 9th, 2010 by brett-anderson
Filed under: Australia, Brett Anderson | 1 Comment »