Hello! I’m Nicole Lacasse, an incoming fourth year business student here at Northeastern. I have just completed my second co-op and am more than excited to begin my journey down under in Australia. I studied abroad in London, England with N.U.in fall 2014 and have always yearned to come back abroad. Ever since I stumbled across the University of Sydney’s impressive website while searching for universities to apply to back in high school, I knew that Sydney was a city that I had to experience. After months of research and coordination with my academic and co-op advisors, I am thrilled to finally be moving “The Harbour City!”
After thirty six hours of travel, multiple delays, and a long layover, I finally landed in Sydney last Wednesday morning. Exhausted, but energized by the excitement of finally being in Australia, I managed to lug my two suitcases and unnecessarily heavy carry ons (yes, I’m a severe over-packer) and hail down a taxi to my new apartment.
Even after spending a semester in London, I was still caught off guard when the taxi pulled into the first round-about to the left. Driving on the opposite side of the road and the driver sitting on the right side of the car were only been the beginning of the small little culture changes between here and America. Everyone always assumes that since England, Australia, and America all speak English that our cultures are all similar, but I would definitely have to disagree.
For example, the regional dialects have been a big adjustment. Australians use more slang than anyone else. Some of the most notable ones I have come across already include:
- Arvo – Afternoon
- Deffo – Definitely
- Bodgy – Poor quality
- How are you going? – How are you
- Brekkie – Breakfast
In addition to the Australian dialects, I have also had to get accustomed to British and Norwegian slang, as 5 of my 8 roommates are respectively British and Norwegian. For example, when trying to buy our first bottle of dish detergent, my British roommates insisted it was “washing up liquid” while my fellow Americans backed me up in that it was “dish soap.”. Eventually, we all just agreed to call it the stuff we use to wash the dishes.
This semester I am living in an eight person twin ensuite apartment in Sydney Central. The University of Sydney does not provide any housing for study abroad students, so after you are accepted it is up to you to sort out your living accommodations. Multiple people had suggested looking at Urbanest for housing, so I applied in early May and was placed into an apartment a few weeks ago. I had no information about my roommates before moving in, but have been pleasantly surprised at how well we all get along. With two other Americans, two brits, and three Norwegians, there is a lot of diversity and global experiences to share, which has been really fun to see. It’s been great experiencing some of these different cultural norms from around the world. For example, this past Saturday the Norwegians made us their version of “tacos”, complete with unusual add ins such as cucumbers, spinach, and a vegetable, bean like filling similar to chili. They were great!
After a couple of days of settling in, classes finally start tomorrow. As I am a business major with a concentration in marketing and a minor in media and screen studies, most of my classes here are centered around marketing and media topics. One of the classes I am most excited for is “Australian Theatre, Film, and Learning”. In this class, we will learn about the “engagement and range of learning” surrounding young people’s involvement in the arts and digital content and how the historical Australian context and sociological perspectives play a role. There will be guest speakers and I will get to attend a couple of field trips to plays and live performances, which I am super excited about.
My class timetable is pretty spread out throughout the week, however one thing that is new and exciting to me is that I don’t have any class on Fridays. Usually every semester back at Northeastern I have had my classes spread out with a few each day, so it will be interesting to have a day to myself to catch up on school work, three day weekends every week, and hopefully more time to be able to explore some more of the city and beyond!
On top of preparing for classes and moving into my new place, I have still had plenty of time to explore the city of Sydney. So far, the weather has been incredible. Many locals have said its been “a cold winter” and that they “can’t wait for the sun to come back out like it used to”, but for me its been beautiful. Today was the first day I saw any clouds since landing here last week. Everyday has been sunny and seventy-five degrees with cooler mornings and evenings. Its been the perfect weather to explore and take lots of pictures in, which makes me happy. One of my favorite things about the city is their ease of public transportation. So far, I have already traveled on a train, subway, bus, and ferry, all without any issues. As an additional perk, travel anywhere on Sundays is capped at $2.60 all day, making weekend trips even more conducive. With the help of the TripView app, my new friends and I have been able to navigate to Manly Beach, Circular Quay, Glebe, The Rocks, and Bondi Beach. Its been great to be able to see so much of the city so cheaply and easily.
With the semester starting to come into full swing, I am excited to get started with my classes and routine life. It has been a ton of fun these past few days traveling, sightseeing, and meeting new people, but I am really looking forward to having a schedule and getting to know some more locals in my classes. As this is my second time abroad, I feel more prepared in terms of organization and preparedness for classes and adjusting to life in a new country. The one regret I have from N.U.in was that my friends and I did not plan enough for our trips on the weekends. As such, my friends and I have already started talks of planning some weekend trips, so hopefully we will have plenty of other adventures coming up!
I can’t wait to officially start my semester tomorrow, stay tuned for more updates!
