The Five Senses: Australia (MAS)

The Honeymoon Phase

I have been in Australia for a little over a month now and have attended two weeks of classes at James Cook University.  I would say that I am still in the honeymoon phase but nearing the end.  I am still discovering new things, but also feeling relatively settled in.  I have developed a pretty good routine here on campus which is making my studying abroad experience feel a bit more real.  I honestly forget that I am half way around the world in a foreign country studying at one of the best marine science institutions because I feel so comfortable here.  I have loved every minute of my adventure thus far, aside from the fear of deadly creatures and burning in the sun.  Living abroad has also made me slightly more creative in terms of dorm decorating and meal making.  You certainly cannot be afraid to try different things and go outside of your comfort zone!

Sight

One of my favorite things to do in Australia has been climbing the hills.  I have met several people and sweated more than I ever have in my life doing this, but I have also experienced some of my favorite views in the world.  It feels so good to get to the top and look out over all of Townsville.  Overall, Townsville is more flat than Pennsylvania which means you can see a lot farther away so that has been neat.  In the picture above you can see Magnetic Island in the background which also has some pretty incredible views.  The foliage is much different since the plants here have to survive with very little water.  With the different plants come very different animals that we see on our hikes.  We have seen wallabies, snakes, bush turkeys, and plenty of spiders as opposed to the deer and squirrels that are everywhere at home.  I also cannot get over how blue the sky is every single day.  Northern Queensland, Australia really is a tropical paradise.



Sound

The most obvious sound difference is the Australian accent.  I love hearing it and will never stop trying, and horribly failing, to replicate it.  Not only do they pronounce letters differently (ex. a, r, o), but the words themselves can be quite different!  They abbreviate everything which is handy when you know what people mean.  For example, afternoon is arvo, university is uni, Woolworth's is Wooly's, Stockland's is Stockies.  But they also have some completely different words for things which gets confusing at times.  For example, American football is gridiron, the trunk of a car is boot, trucks are utes, classes are subjects, and the pharmacy is the chemist.
The people aren't the only things that sound different over here.  The birds around campus are quite possibly the loudest thing I have ever heard (at least it feels that way at six in the morning).  Nevertheless, I leave my balcony doors open everyday to hear them sing away.  You can see the view from my balcony and some of the trees the birds like to rest on in the image above.  The animals in the bush also sound different because even the smallest rustle in the bushes gives me instant panic because I am in a country with some of the world's deadliest creatures.

Smell

For the most part, the smells in Australia are quite similar to home.  The only time I notice a significant change is when we go to the beach and become blasted with the smell of the ocean.  I have been to the ocean before, but it has never been a twenty minute drive away.  Since being here I have become more used to the saltwater smell (but that doesn't mean I particularly enjoy it).  Pictured above is Alma Bay, Magnetic Island.  We also get to smell the freshly cut grass more often than at home considering the lawn isn't covered underneath heaps of snow.


Touch

I am pretty much scared out of my mind to touch most things in this country because I have to automatically assume that it is poisonous.  As a geologist, it has been killing me that I can't pick up rocks or even shells on the beach for fear of what is under or inside of the object I desire.  But I have visited two animal sanctuaries thus far and have had the incredible experience of holding a koala bear!  It is quite possibly the most cuddly creature on the planet and if I could bring it back to America, I would in a heartbeat.


Taste

Oh Australian food.  Well, the food in the country is actually quite good.  There are a lot of seafood options but as long as I stay away from those, I have a great time at restaurants.  But the food on campus, well it actually makes me miss Brooks Dining Hall.  Words I never thought I would say.  JCU offers the same food options every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It usually tastes alright but beef tips over rice every night gets a bit tiresome.  Food in general is much healthier over here and you will find far fewer sweets than in America.  As far as classic Australian foods go, I don't care for vegemite but kangaroo tastes pretty good, though the tim tams (like the one sweet thing they do have) are the best chocolate covered biscuit type thing I have ever tried.  Another amazing thing about living in the tropics is the fruit they can grow here.  My friends and I have a tradition of going for a sunrise hike and then to the Sunday Market downtown in Townsville.  We get all kinds of different fruits like mangos, passion fruit, and achacha and make our own breakfast smoothies.  The picture above shows just a few of the many fruit stands at the market.