Sunburn City

When I began my trip to Sydney, Australia I did not expect that getting sunburnt would be the biggest of my problems. I have been to many beaches in the United States and experienced burns, but nothing could prepare me for the main dish of Australian killers. Since Australia is closer to the ozone layer than many other parts of the world, the intensity of the sun is much higher. The first few days included orientation sessions where our ISA guide Nacho, informed us on what to expect in our new home country. He explained that snakes, spiders, nor sharks were the biggest killer in Australia. Instead, he told us that the sun was responsible for Australia being the skin cancer capital of the world. I overlooked his warning and forgot to put sunscreen on my hands and feet the first day we visited Manly Beach. On the way back from the beach I noticed my hands and feet were as red as a tomato. The following days, large blisters formed on my left foot and painful irritation ensued on my other hands and feet. It got so bad, that I had to stay at our apartment one day when we were supposed to visit Watson’s Bay and have a tour of the lighthouse located there. I am not trying to scare any future students who want to study abroad here, however, I do want all of you to realize that it is not a joke. Bring extra strength sunscreen (50 SPF or above) and ample amounts of it because sunscreen is very expensive here. As long as you put sunscreen on every part of your body and reapply it when you start to feel yourself burning, you will be just fine. And again, do not forget your hands and feet.

In contrast, my experience being alone at the apartment that day gave me time to reflect on everything we had done so far. I had not realized how many things we had accomplished. I already had a strong sense of direction since our ISA guides had walked us around the city many times to get us familiar with our surroundings. We also had the opportunity to meet everyone in our group and build friendships together. We had traveled over 20 hours of flight time altogether to get to Australia and realizing you are literally a world away from home was pretty spectacular! Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the city is how diverse the population is. You will see all kinds of different people from all over the world. Even the restaurants reflect the multicultural influence on the city.

The history of Australia was another interesting part of our trip so far. We are taking a history and an intercultural communication course at the University of Sydney. I learned that American history and Australian history have a lot in common with each other. Christopher Columbus and Captain Cook both came from England across a large distance of ocean searching for new land. The Pilgrims encountered native Indians and established peaceful relations at the beginning. Governor Phillips encountered native aborigines and also established peaceful relations. Followed by peaceful relationships, both groups faced severe conflicts due to disputes about territory and individual feuds. The fact that records of our history are similar surprised me and makes me believe that we are not so different after all.