Homeground Music, Dance & Culture Festival

Yesterday, we spent the evening just outside the Sydney Opera House at the Homeground Music, Dance & Culture Festival - a festival that celebrated native Australians and Aboriginals. And it was free! The program went back and forth between about an hour of music and a half hour of dance, which was a good amount of time for each. The musicians were unknown local amateurs trying to make it in Australia, while the dancers ranged from high school Aboriginal groups to full-time Aboriginal dance crews. All in all, it was a great time!

Since festivals here are so frequent (and not nearly as big as a festival in the U.S.), there weren't many people there. That gave us the chance to walk around the Opera House and check it out a bit, up close. I learned that the entire structure is made of cement, although it may not appear so. What gives it it's shiny and beautiful appearance is a layer of purely cosmetic tiles! So the Opera House could have been rainbow or all blue or completely black, it was just a matter of choosing different tiles. But I think the white pattern gives it a nice look.

Then, at 20.00, there was a random display of fireworks in the harbour on the other side of the Opera House (not on the side facing the Harbour Bridge). It was a nice unexpected surprise! So not only did we get to see a great free festival, but we also were treated to a free fireworks show on the water, only a couple hundred feet from where we were standing.

Earlier this week, we had our Fig Tree Hall formal dinner. For first year students, it was probably a big deal, but having been to 7 or 8 of these by now, it was very comfortable. They dressed up our dining hall very nicely with table cloths and color-coded napkins and fancy silverware, and catered a meal of salmon or steak. The Malaysian consulate for Australia spoke as our guest speaker (she's the potential new dean of Fig Tree Hall, as the current dean is only the acting dean and is not permanent). There's always a musical selection at these occasions, I learned, which is performed by the students. Of course, I didn't know about this. But another girl who had written a song about Fig Tree asked if I would play guitar with her while she sang (as she didn't play guitar, and she'd heard me play at the rooftop barbecue a week or two ago). So I had the chance to perform at the formal dinner also, which turned out well.

This week also marked the beginning of assignments. Imagine being back in the U.S., and having no graded homework until the FIFTH week of classes - unbelievable!! But it happens here in Sydney, and I really appreciate it. I turned in a fluid mechanics assignment, took a fluid mechanics exam, completed a statistics assignment for tomorrow, and completed the first draft of my essay for philosophy (due in about a week and a half). I've already received my mark for the fluid mechanics assignment - 91%, which is supposedly FANTASTIC in Australia. I found it quite easy, as I did the exam, so either 1) I enjoy fluid mechanics, 2) engineering classes are just easier here, or 3) they teach classes better here if I can do that much better with less effort. So all in all, academics are going very well so far. I do have a circuits exam coming up a couple weeks, which will be my most challenging, so I will need to put in the time to study.

I've finally determined what I will do for part of my mid-semester break. As a note, I've been calling it "spring break" because it falls in April, which is close to March, which is when all the schools in the U.S. have their spring break. But in reality, this doesn't make any sense at all, since it's autumn. So anyone from the northern hemisphere usually knows what I mean when I accidentally say "spring break," but Australians always look at me clueless. Anyhow, I've purchased a flight to Melbourne from April 24th through April 26th, so I will be there for my birthday. In fact, as a birthday present to myself, I bought a one day tour of the Great Ocean Road on April 25th, which is the most iconic sight-seeing path in Melbourne. You get to travel through rainforests, see koalas in the wild, visit various beautiful beaches, and see the 12 Apostles (a rock formation known worldwide). I'm really excited! It's a very "me" way to spend my birthday, I think - quietly, and amongst nature (only because I can't afford for Sandra or anyone from the fam to be here).

I'm also learning Kinyarwanda, the language spoken in Rwanda. It's an oral language, so it wasn't developed with any written component, but scholars have later tried to write it down using our western characters. This means it's very hard to read phonetically for someone who's not used to the sounds of Kinyarwanda (...me). But fortunately, I have the very best teacher in Sandra! I usually do a lesson a day through an mp3 package I bought online, then Sandra gives me extra tips on how I can pronounce words correctly, how to make sounds that I can't make naturally, etc. It's been great so far. The goal is to one day have a conversation with Sandra's grandmother, who speaks only Kinyarwanda. So far I've been able to greet her with "good morning." We're getting there, I'd say.

That's all for now. It's another rainy day in Sydney, which appears to be telling of the coming week. I've learned that Thursdays, from 4-6pm, include live music at the bar on campus, so that's become my new favourite day of the week. So no matter how rainy it might be, I always have that to look forward to.

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