Aloha! How are you? Me, I am fine. My parents, Vincent and Rianne, have come to visit me. They arrived past Sundaynight from Kuala Lumpur at Sydney International Airport, where I picked them up and brought them to their hotel. I still have uni going on so on Monday and Tuesday we have gone for dinner and today we went to see the Blue Mountains. The trip in the train was alright and the hotel is okay. We are now staying at the Katoomba Mountain Lodge, which is not great, but okay. It looks a lot like a mountain lodge with a lot of wooden panels on the walls. After we arrived we went to see the Three Sisters and then for dinner at Niche Nosh, a great vegetarian restaurant.
Not really sure what we will do tomorrow as the weather predictions are not that good. I will let you know. Besides all that I have gotten my first Australian grades. 2 D's. I was not really sure what a D was but apperently it is good. D stands for distincion. Ratings go from Fail, to Pass, to Credit, to Distincition to Double Distinction. Or something. Hope to write more soon, now I am tired. Bye!
Posts tonen met het label UTS. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label UTS. Alle posts tonen
20.3.08
Easter Update
Hi to all! This week has been ranging from really busy, to really slow. I haven't had the time to do anymore surfing, maybe next week again. I had "heaps" of homework. Heaps is the local word to express "a lot", it can also be used for "very much" by making it "heaps and heaps" and for very very much, the correct sentence would be "heaps and heaps and heaps". Etc. So I spend most of the previous weekend on assignments that were due on Monday and Wednesday.
On Monday I had my architecture course again, it is still a lot of fun. We started out drawing an animals movement on A2 and I am making a frog. Jumping. This week we had to try and capture that movement in 3 dimensions using wires. I think it turned out pretty well, it is only too bad that I do not (yet) have any good pictures of the stuff I am doing here. For next week we will have to get the movement into a 3D solid model. Only after that we might need to turn into anything that anything to do with architecture.
On Tuesday I went to the Maya animation course. This one is going pretty fast, and I am going to have to put in some extra time to get better at Maya. The course is only 3 hrs and not so much homework but it is racing through all Maya's applications, so I will have to do a little extra practice. I am also making a scenario for my short movie. Not yet really sure what it is going to be a about.
On Wednesday my first assignment for the Human Environment was due. It was a small ergonomics project which I did on record store displays. Because I wanted to drop this subject and had not put in much effort before, so that meant heaps of work in the weekend and on Tuesday. But I think it turned out pretty well.
After handing in the project I went to a journalism masterclass by two Dutch reporters: Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong. They did some very impressive photography and interviewing on a few nuclear disaster areas in Russia. The work was very impressive, but the motivation was a bit strange. They presented themselves as objective reporters, but their work carries a huge anti-nuclear bias and was paid for by Greenpeace. For journalists they did not seem very objective, and I found that odd. As artists they were very good.
Next I went to take a look at a exhibition in the library of 10 UTS Architecture students. This was cool, but the exposition a bit short. So I walked along Circular Quay to the Museum of Contemporary Art. The MCA was hosting a very nice exhibition of Fiona Hall 's work. She has been exploring the intersection between nature and culture for the past 4 decades and uses a wide variety of media. Very nice. The top floor of the museum hosted an Aboriginal Bark Painting expostion, showing the Arnott's (see TimTams) Collection. Bark Paintings are drawings made on pieces of bark, depicting all kinds of Aboriginal themes, such as kangaroos. I am not really into this, but if you like kangaroos: check 'm out.
As you might gather from the story above I have been doing a lot of walking, during which I tried to take pictures of the biggest and ugliest buildings I could find. These pictures are now on Flickr and you can check m out by clicking here. To finish this very culturally productive day I went to have s few beers at the Abercrombie Hotel. The bar smelled almost as bad as Wolbodo at home, and they were have a small art exhibition where the hotel used to be. Nice.
As the story I already very long, I will not bother much longer. But, should you be in Holland and if you happen to be going to Motel Mozaique (11 april?), go and see Pivot. I saw them yesterday at the Oxford Art Factory and it was good.
Today I have been relaxing. It is a bit quiet now, as most of my housemates have gone to their parents for easter. So, I am not really sure what I am going to do now. Bye!
On Monday I had my architecture course again, it is still a lot of fun. We started out drawing an animals movement on A2 and I am making a frog. Jumping. This week we had to try and capture that movement in 3 dimensions using wires. I think it turned out pretty well, it is only too bad that I do not (yet) have any good pictures of the stuff I am doing here. For next week we will have to get the movement into a 3D solid model. Only after that we might need to turn into anything that anything to do with architecture.On Tuesday I went to the Maya animation course. This one is going pretty fast, and I am going to have to put in some extra time to get better at Maya. The course is only 3 hrs and not so much homework but it is racing through all Maya's applications, so I will have to do a little extra practice. I am also making a scenario for my short movie. Not yet really sure what it is going to be a about.
On Wednesday my first assignment for the Human Environment was due. It was a small ergonomics project which I did on record store displays. Because I wanted to drop this subject and had not put in much effort before, so that meant heaps of work in the weekend and on Tuesday. But I think it turned out pretty well.
After handing in the project I went to a journalism masterclass by two Dutch reporters: Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong. They did some very impressive photography and interviewing on a few nuclear disaster areas in Russia. The work was very impressive, but the motivation was a bit strange. They presented themselves as objective reporters, but their work carries a huge anti-nuclear bias and was paid for by Greenpeace. For journalists they did not seem very objective, and I found that odd. As artists they were very good.
Next I went to take a look at a exhibition in the library of 10 UTS Architecture students. This was cool, but the exposition a bit short. So I walked along Circular Quay to the Museum of Contemporary Art. The MCA was hosting a very nice exhibition of Fiona Hall 's work. She has been exploring the intersection between nature and culture for the past 4 decades and uses a wide variety of media. Very nice. The top floor of the museum hosted an Aboriginal Bark Painting expostion, showing the Arnott's (see TimTams) Collection. Bark Paintings are drawings made on pieces of bark, depicting all kinds of Aboriginal themes, such as kangaroos. I am not really into this, but if you like kangaroos: check 'm out.
As you might gather from the story above I have been doing a lot of walking, during which I tried to take pictures of the biggest and ugliest buildings I could find. These pictures are now on Flickr and you can check m out by clicking here. To finish this very culturally productive day I went to have s few beers at the Abercrombie Hotel. The bar smelled almost as bad as Wolbodo at home, and they were have a small art exhibition where the hotel used to be. Nice.
As the story I already very long, I will not bother much longer. But, should you be in Holland and if you happen to be going to Motel Mozaique (11 april?), go and see Pivot. I saw them yesterday at the Oxford Art Factory and it was good.
Today I have been relaxing. It is a bit quiet now, as most of my housemates have gone to their parents for easter. So, I am not really sure what I am going to do now. Bye!
9.3.08
Whats going on in Sydney?
Aloha! Sorry about the lack of posts lately. If you were wondering: I am still alive, posting just was not on my mind. Just did not feel like it. The previous weekend it was a bit down, because everything here in Australia just seems too go so slow. Long waits for reply’s, long waits at traffic lights, long waits for trains, long waits in the supermarket, long waits for everything. Aaaargh. Also, UTS rowing club told me after three weeks of trying to reach them that there was no rowing for me, school was still boring and I got an email from university the course I wanted to change could not be changed. Crap.
But I have been feeling a lot better since Monday morning. As the introductions for everything are over University seems to be getting more interesting, I contacted another rowing club and have put in a new e-request to change my course. Things seem to be going somewhere again and I have found some peace with the laid-back Australian attitude. It takes some getting used to. Long waits at traffic lights, long waits for trains, long waits, long waits; No worries mate.
The weather has been great. The Monday (Architecture) and Tuesday (Maya) classes were good, and I tried an extra course, Design for Theatre, which seems nice. And on Wednesday the class I wanted to change got a little better, which was good because on Thursday my e-request got rejected again. We also tried to go surfing on Thursday, but because the surf school was fully booked, we have to wait, yet again, until next Thursday. So we spend the day on the beach and going to a party.
On Saturday I went to take a look at the Australian National Rowing Championships on the Sydney 2000 Olympic race course. The race course is really cool with 9 lines, and lies sheltered against the mountains. Next to the race course is a warm up lake. Nice. The Nationals are a bit different then in the Netherlands, because they’re spread out over the entire week so athletes can compete in all boat types. What was also very cool was that every club had brought their own tent, which gave the spectator area a cheerful look. Today I had an appointment at Leichhardt Rowing Club to see what they are doing. It is a civilian club, it is not so big but it seemed nice. Maybe a bit expdensive. I am going to give it a try next Tuesday. At 5.15 am.
Pictures will follow when internet is a little faster then today. Cheers!11.2.08
Sydney update: UTS and Living
Yesterday was the introduction to the university at UTS. In a series of long talks we were welcomed about 1000 times and explained the does and don't of university life. Most seemed more suitable for first year students but all in all it was okay. I now know where to get a student pass (discount on the publictransport and zoo: nice!), I know where the library and psyciatric help can be found (both seemed equally important at UTS) and that if someone asks you for coffee, they might not mean "just" coffee. Hmm.
I also met some other Dutch people in Sydney as well as some other foreigners, which is nice. Below, a picture of the UTS main tower, voted last year to be Sydneys most ugly building. My faculty is to the right of it and connected by a footbridge. So this is where I will be studying.
Today has been a slow day. I am trying to find a house, which is difficult as there are not many of them. It seems rather expensive and also far away. You pay per week and it starts at 120 to 150 dollar a week. In my hostel I pay 120 a week and that includes breakfast, wifi and free (powdered) coffee all day. But then, I have 9 other people sleeping in the same room.
Living in a hostel is a bit strange. It is always very busy and you seem to have a few distinct groups of people here. I have been thinking on this and now I can divide them in 3 main species. Those with work: they either sleep or work and do nothing else (mostly from France and Germany). Those without work: they complain about not having work, do nothing all day and go drinking heavilly at night (mostly from England or Sweden). The third group are the Surfers. They are either out surfing or in front of the TV. These are most mysterious as I do not hear them talking and they seem to eat very little (only warm up noodles). I have yet to discover how they communicate and where they are from.
This afternoon I wanted to go the Bondi beach which seemed to be going really well, but just as I set foot on the sand the first drops of rain started falling. It seems to rain a lot here in Sydney, which is not common for this time of year. Next time I will have check with the weathergods before going outside. I just managed to take a picture before the weather went really bad. So, here it is.
I also met some other Dutch people in Sydney as well as some other foreigners, which is nice. Below, a picture of the UTS main tower, voted last year to be Sydneys most ugly building. My faculty is to the right of it and connected by a footbridge. So this is where I will be studying.
Today has been a slow day. I am trying to find a house, which is difficult as there are not many of them. It seems rather expensive and also far away. You pay per week and it starts at 120 to 150 dollar a week. In my hostel I pay 120 a week and that includes breakfast, wifi and free (powdered) coffee all day. But then, I have 9 other people sleeping in the same room.
Living in a hostel is a bit strange. It is always very busy and you seem to have a few distinct groups of people here. I have been thinking on this and now I can divide them in 3 main species. Those with work: they either sleep or work and do nothing else (mostly from France and Germany). Those without work: they complain about not having work, do nothing all day and go drinking heavilly at night (mostly from England or Sweden). The third group are the Surfers. They are either out surfing or in front of the TV. These are most mysterious as I do not hear them talking and they seem to eat very little (only warm up noodles). I have yet to discover how they communicate and where they are from.
This afternoon I wanted to go the Bondi beach which seemed to be going really well, but just as I set foot on the sand the first drops of rain started falling. It seems to rain a lot here in Sydney, which is not common for this time of year. Next time I will have check with the weathergods before going outside. I just managed to take a picture before the weather went really bad. So, here it is.
See you next time!
8.2.08
First day in Sydney
Hi, as you might have read in the header, today was my first day in Sydney. The weather was better than yesterday: no rain, but clouds and in the end of the afternoon there was some sun. It is not cold though, about 22 degrees Celsius.
I am staying in a hostel here: the Palms hostel, which is quite okay. It's located in near Kings Cross and has a lot of trees around it. I am sleeping in a room with 9 other people and all of them seem nice. This morning I woke up because the manager came to clean out the bedbugs (did not know we had any, but the girl sleeping below was covered in bites) and now everything smells a bit weird. Good riddance to them.
After that was done went to take a look at the city. I took the train to the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), which is housed in a array of not so nice concrete buildings. It is located next to Central Station, which is very convenient. When I found my faculty it seemed that they were redecorating because there were no students present, just a pile of dust and some construction workers. I had hoped for a little more than that.
Next I took a walk through the city. I started in China town and moved on towards the center of town. Sydney is rather big, with a lot of high-rise buildings. It is also surprisingly steep. While walking around you keep going up and keep going down, and vice versa. I visited an department store that had exits to the street divided over three different floors.
I really did not feel like taking photos today, so I only took 1 and it is not so good. But you will have to do with it for now, so here it is:
Bye!
I am staying in a hostel here: the Palms hostel, which is quite okay. It's located in near Kings Cross and has a lot of trees around it. I am sleeping in a room with 9 other people and all of them seem nice. This morning I woke up because the manager came to clean out the bedbugs (did not know we had any, but the girl sleeping below was covered in bites) and now everything smells a bit weird. Good riddance to them.
After that was done went to take a look at the city. I took the train to the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), which is housed in a array of not so nice concrete buildings. It is located next to Central Station, which is very convenient. When I found my faculty it seemed that they were redecorating because there were no students present, just a pile of dust and some construction workers. I had hoped for a little more than that.
Next I took a walk through the city. I started in China town and moved on towards the center of town. Sydney is rather big, with a lot of high-rise buildings. It is also surprisingly steep. While walking around you keep going up and keep going down, and vice versa. I visited an department store that had exits to the street divided over three different floors.
I really did not feel like taking photos today, so I only took 1 and it is not so good. But you will have to do with it for now, so here it is:
Bye!
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