This is the space for your weekly journals.

As the second week is winding down in Sydney, Australia it is a great time for an update on what I have been up to the past 14 days or so. Below are a few things I have been up to recently.

To start from the beginning, the travel here definitely was taxing and tiring but certainly worth it. I believe we spent about 20 or so hours in an airplane. After arriving and starting classes I focused on getting myself accustomed with the city and trying to get ahead of the jetlag. Being 16 hours ahead of EST definitely took some adjusting. During my first week on the days I did not have classes I went to Bondi Beach one day and Bronte Beach the other day. I went to Bondi Beach last Tuesday and it was absolutely gorgeous. After getting off the bus and walking a half mile or so we arrived at the beach and it was stunning.

As you can see in the above photo the beach is beautiful and also a little crowded. My friends and I relaxed on the beach and made sure to apply sunscreen while attempting to tan. The water is much more clear here compared to the Jersey Shore beaches that I am more accustomed to back home.

Another highlight so far was walking around Sydney. One day my friends and I walked around the Botanical Gardens near the Sydney Opera House as well as seeing the Anzac Memorial which is pictured below which honors the Australian soldiers who lost their lives lost during the first World War.

To cap off my first weekly journal here is a great closeup photo of the Sydney Opera House that I took from a ferry headed to Manly Beach this past Tuesday.

I look forward to the Opera House tour that we will be provided through our program in a few weeks. I also can’t wait to update my journal with photos from Walkabout Wildlife Park this upcoming weekend.

Sydney Week #3

Hello! Since last week I have been up to some pretty cool things, including a trip to Walkabout Wildlife Park. Last Saturday a bunch of students in the program went on a sponsored trip to a wildlife sanctuary north of Sydney. Although the wakeup was rather early, I made sure to get down to the lobby in time to leave with the group for the park via bus. The bus took us over the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge which offered a beautiful view of the city. After driving for about an hour we arrived. At the park we were able to see and do a variety of different things including pet Kangaroos, Emus and Wallabies. All of the animals in the park are unable to live in the wild on their own, some had injuries and were found by humans for example. We split up into groups and spent some time learning about Australia’s nature, more specifically about the Aboriginals and how they would use nature and their environment to survive. Next, we had a lunch provided before learning how to throw a boomerang. One of the rangers who was walking us around was able to throw it back to himself on his first try, following that nobody was able to have the boomerang come back directly to them. We then went and saw other animals including one of my favorite animals, a Koala! I was even able to pet him which was really awesome, their fur is very soft. Here is a photo of myself and the Koala.

Not only was I blessed to see some amazing wildlife this week but we also were able to get a group tour of the Opera House on Tuesday. I really was looking forward to this, and it didn’t disappoint. Our tour guide was very informative and showed us all three levels of the Opera House, including a dance studio/small theater, followed by a normal theater for drama, and then their concert hall. I learned that Arnold Schwarzenegger actually won Mount Olympia on the concert hall stage and Kanye West also performed in the Opera House! The Opera House is quite beautiful on the inside and certainly from the outside, I am considering going back to see a performance or concert before leaving for Cairns.

Speaking of that, I cannot believe how fast these few weeks have gone. It seems like I just got here yesterday but I am almost done week 3 of 8 in Sydney. I am pushing myself to do as much fun activities as possible even though the academic schedule is challenging which includes two classes tomorrow with a 15 minute presentation for one of them. However, it is Australia Day here and I am looking forward to walking around and seeing the celebrations and events that are going on. There are going to be fireworks on the water at night and I’m excited to see those. Until next week!

Week #4

G’Day! I am glad to be back and recap another week of my time in Sydney so far. Last time I wrote a blog post I was getting ready to go out and see the beautiful fireworks for Australia Day. I unfortunately did not get a video to show how pretty they were. This past weekend I did not do anything too eventful, I walked a lot and also did some shopping near the Queen Victoria Building (about 10 minutes away via walking). Afterwards I grabbed some food before walking back to my apartment. It was super sunny and hot and walking by Darling Harbour I happened to stumble up Dragon Boat Racing which was taking place. I ended up standing in the shade and watching a heat of the race occur. There were lots of people out and about on the Harbour, almost all of them were in the shade as the UV was over 10!

This week is the final few classes we have of the first block of courses we take here. Today, I had a final exam for my business analytics course along with a group presentation for my other class on Australian Life & Culture. I am grateful and also appreciative of my professors for aiding me in the continuation of my Bucknell education even 7,000 miles away from school.

Lastly something I would like to write about is my coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee beach. I was meaning to do this coastal walk which takes you along the coast of Sydney’s beaches. The walk itself was absolutely gorgeous and I made sure to take some great photos and videos. I left for Bondi on Tuesday midday taking a train and then a bus to the beach. I made sure to apply some sunscreen and turn on a podcast before starting my walk and off I went. I couldn’t believe the breathtaking views I was able to see, it was a little cloudy at first but during the second half of the walk the sun came out and surprisingly it was not too hot. All in all it took about an hour and a half to get to Coogee with a few stops along the way for some photos. I believe the total amount of miles was about 4 miles I also walked alongside a black lab dog for a bit which was awesome because I have two labs at home. I look forward to giving an update on the next set of classes that I am in next week!

Week #5

Hello once again, I am glad to report that everything has been going nice and smooth here so far in Sydney this week. I have been pretty busy the last week or so with schoolwork and other activities. To start, last Friday after concluding the first block of classes we went out to a hotel near the UTS campus where our classes are being held, some classmates and I went out to grab food with our Professor. The hotels here aren’t actually “hotels” but rather just a restaurant/bar. On Saturday, I had a relaxing morning before joining some friends and heading over to Bondi Beach. We began walking over to the train station, on the way stopping for a sandwich, then making our way down to the platform. Unfortunately we accidently went down on the wrong platform to take us to Bondi Junction and missed the train we were originally supposed to take. The next train came within 5 minutes and we were at the beach in less than 30 minutes. The beach was quite relaxing and arriving in the early afternoon was perfect as the UV index started to decrease. I burn quite easily so this was good for me. I relaxed on the beach for an hour listening to music before heading into the cold water. The waves at the beaches here are much larger and stronger than the beaches in New Jersey that I am used to. After swimming in the ocean and riding some waves I dried off before heading to the shops to grab a few sushi rolls which were delicious. My friends and I relaxed on the beach for another hour or so and called it a day before returning to our accommodation.

This past Monday, I started two new classes which are Global Management and International Finance. I really enjoy my one professor who teaches Global Management, he is extremely passionate about the class and also engaging with the students. I am writing this post on Friday here in Sydney and we wrapped class up early and a few of us went and got coffee with the professor. I really appreciated this and is a good start to the weekend. I am not entirely sure what the full schedule is for this weekend, but I think some friends and myself will attend a cricket match this weekend along with maybe a beach visit. The Super Bowl is also this weekend and my favorite team the Philadelphia Eagles are playing, I look forward to watching the game here in Sydney. I look forward to updating my blog next week with more descriptions of what I have been doing.

Week #6

Greetings again, I cannot believe that I am writing this SIXTH reflection from Sydney. The time has truly flown by since I first arrived and can’t believe there are only two weeks left here. This week I have been quite busy, including attending a cricket match, Superbowl watch party and traveling to a new beach! Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend a cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground with friends. This was an interesting experience, I think we were watching a lower league cricket match. The stadium was pretty much empty but I still enjoyed watching the match even though I did not fully comprehend the rules. After this, we went around to local restaurants and had some amazing food before walking past a farmers market which was beautiful. Moving forward to the Super Bowl, I was able to watch the game in Manly Beach which is about 30 minutes away from Darling Harbor, where I am staying. Being from Philadelphia and a diehard Eagles fan I was so nervous and the week before went by so slowly in anticipation of the game. We were able to sit at an outdoor patio seating area with 50 other people watching the game on a projector. Australians surprisingly really enjoy football and I had a blast watching it with my friends and some locals. There even was a hot dog eating contest at halftime that people could enter into. I thought this was funny and made me think about the hot dog eating contest that happens in the US every 4th of July. The winner of the contest in Sydney was no Joey Chestnut and only finished 5 hot dogs in 3 minutes. Unfortunately the Eagles were not victorious in the Super Bowl and I was quite disappointed but have moved on now. Yesterday, I went to Manly Beach again with a few friends and we ended up relaxing on the beach all afternoon and watching people surf. One of my friends has a surfboard and brought it to the beach. I watched him surf for a few hours before attempting to try and ride a few waves. Let me tell you, surfing is definitely not as easy as it looks! I struggled the whole time but made me appreciate how hard it is to learn. After relaxing at Manly for a few hours, we went to Freshwater Beach which is about a 20 minute hike from Manly. This was a much more secluded beach and I enjoyed swimming in the beautiful clear water with friends. I put on a lot of sunscreen but still got pretty burnt, especially on my lower legs. Below are a few photos from the week.

Week #7

This past week has been absolutely incredible. I was able to do so many fun things starting with going to a museum last Friday. My friend and I were bored on and wanted something to do, and decided to check out the Powerhouse Museum. It is located only a few blocks from the hotel we are staying at, and on the route I walk to class everyday. We arrived and found out the museum was actually free admission which was great (Sydney is incredible, but definitely not cheap). The museum itself had so many cool and unique exhibits that we saw. One was focused on music, more specifically the 80s and 90s, and there were photos of famous musicians such as Kurt Cobain and Mick Jagger along with album covers for the Beastie Boys. I really enjoyed this exhibit as I am a fan of older music. I really wish I was able to attend a concert in Sydney but no artists that I like are touring here. After exiting that exhibit we walked around and found the air and space exhibit. There even was a full scale plane that was in the exhibit at the museum. I thought this was really neat to see a historic plane in person. Afterwards we left the museum, but I would highly recommend the Powerhouse Museum to anyone. On Saturday, I traveled to Maroubra Beach and enjoyed the sunny weather and swimming in the ocean. This beach had a lot of surfers and the waves were quite large. Below are a few photos from the museum.

I did not do much this past week due to classes and having a midterm. I am looking forward to updating you on my long weekend in the Whitsunday Islands at some point next week. I cannot believe that I only have one week left in Sydney but I am going to make the most of it!

Week #8

Hello and g’day from Cairns, Australia. I recently arrived and cannot wait to for the week ahead. However, I am writing about my past week to 10 days. I had the great opportunity to travel to the Whitsundays, in Queensland. Upon meeting my friends at the airport we took a 3-hour flight from Sydney there on Thursday and left on Sunday afternoon. Our trip was incredible, we landed on Hamilton Island and actually had to take a ferry to get to Arlie Beach where our Airbnb was. The ferry ride took about an hour or so and once we got to the wharf our place was only a short walk away (about 10 minutes). The view from our balcony was incredible, and the town reminded me of some smaller island towns I have been to in Florida, mainly on the Gulf of Mexico. I had an early wake up on one of the days for an internship in the summer and actually had to interview at 4 am in the morning. After that we went on a long hike, one that took longer than expected, which involved getting my white sneakers completely muddy from the trail. After about an hour and a half and a few jump scares from feral pigs and huge spiders above us we made it to the lookout. It overlooked the water and was quite gorgeous. We took some great photos and then made our way back into town for some breakfast/lunch. In the afternoon we relaxed by the beach area/lagoon because you cannot swim in the ocean without a Lycrasuit (wetsuit) which protects you from jelly fish stings. It started to downpour when we were at the pool which was upsetting but we waited out the rain and then proceeded back to our accommodation before making food and going out that night. The following day, Saturday we had the opportunity to go out on a boat for a boating cruise including the option to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef. This was by far my favorite part of the trip, we got on a boat pretty early and got fitted into some wetsuits to keep us safe from the jellyfish. After about an hour or so we made it to the spot where we were going to go snorkeling. I have never been snorkeling and after adjusting a little bit, I was a natural. We were able to snorkel next to the Great Barrier Reef and sow some incredible marine life including colorful coral along with varieties of fish. I was grinning from ear to ear when snorkeling and am cracking a smile while writing this. After that we went to another stop and literally swam with the fishes. We stopped the boat and then jumped into a school of fish and they threw fish food into the water so we they were all around us. I couldn’t believe the sheer number of fishes that were around me. After that we went to another place and sat on the whitest beach I have ever seen for lunch. Finally, we returned back to shore and jammed out to some music on the boat. This was one of my highlights so far on this trip. I wrapped up my classes this week and said goodbye to some of the friends I have made since being here before shipping up to Cairns. I am excited for this week and cannot wait to go snorkeling again, scuba diving for the first time and also skydiving.

Week 9/10

Hello from Singapore!! I cannot believe that I am more than halfway done my time abroad in the Asia Pacific region. Last week in Cairns was absolutely spectacular. After an early wake up on Saturday morning, March 4th to leave for Cairns we arrived later that afternoon. Upon arrival we went out to a local restaurant and got some really good food. The next day we went on a rainforest and waterfall tour as a group. Unfortunately the weather was not particularly good and it ended up raining the whole time we were out and about. A few of the waterfalls we saw were absolutely stunning though. Later that week as a group we went on a full day snorkeling and scuba diving adventure. We were on a large boat and after traveling out to the Great Barrier Reef for about an hour we reached our first spot to swim around and snorkel. I felt much more comfortable snorkeling this time compared to in the Whitsundays. The marine life was much more visually appealing as well, there were an abundance of fishes and so many interesting corals. After moving to a second spot, I had the opportunity to scuba dive! I really enjoyed this but for some reason had some trouble getting my ears to equalize due to the pressure. After finally getting my ears to equalize we descended down to the ocean floor and swam around. I liked this because we were much farther down and could see up close the fish and coral around us. The guide who we were with even spotted out an anemone and we saw a fish identical to Nemo which was great. After scuba diving for a little longer we swam back to the boat and had lunch. At the third and final dive spot I went snorkeling a second time and saw more marine life including a reef shark. I absolutely loved this day probably the most out of our time and Cairns and look forward to snorkeling and scuba diving in the future. As if I did not already have my source of adrenaline while in Australia, as a group eight of us decided to go skydiving while in Cairns. Last Thursday, we all went skydiving, we woke up and got food before traveling out to the airfield about an hour and a half away from where we were staying. I was surprisingly not that nervous compared to some of the other students. A few years ago I was able to go paragliding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming which was absolutely incredible so I was comfortable being in the air. Michael and Ryan were the first two to go and they both loved it. There was then a landing issue with one of the skydiving planes so instead of having two planes going together the company was limited to one. Chris and I were the last two to jump from our group so we ended up waiting a few hours. The wait was definitely worth it, when it was finally our turn to fly up I suddenly became a little nervous. Time seemed to be going so slow, and at that point I wanted to just open up the door and jump out already. Finally they propped open the door and out I jumped. I still can’t find a perfect way to describe what the freefall portion of skydiving is like. I think the best way to describe it is like falling off the back of a chair before hitting the floor but having that feeling for a minute or so. After the freefall part was over I relaxed and took in the stunning views. I was glad to get a video and photo package because my face was so funny when we were in free fall. It went by so fast being in the air, but I definitely would skydive again maybe in Hawaii or in California.

Last Saturday we woke up really early at 4:30 am and began traveling to Singapore. We backtracked to Brisbane before flying 7 hours to Singapore, the flights were smooth and I had no complaints. When we got to the airport it took awhile to get the bus to come. On Sunday some of us spent the day exploring and trying to find a SIM card for our phone. We ended up getting lost because none of us had any service, luckily we eventually got SIM cards. I look forward to my time in Singapore and have already enjoyed eating the food here this week.

Week 10

Hello again, this is the 10th week of my study abroad journey and I cannot believe that it has gone by this fast. These past almost two weeks in Singapore have been great and I feel that I am getting adjusted, somewhat, to the culture here. There have been a few speedbumps along the way however. Including this past week when going to a local hawker center to grab some cheap food for dinner. I was patiently waiting in a long line for some delicious food and noticed everyone paying with cash, I did not have any and was prepared to pay with card. When it was my turn to get to order I placed my order and double checked that I could pay with card and they said cash only. I was pretty upset and frustrated, I had just waited in line for food for almost 15 minutes and didn’t even get to place my order. Although I was frustrated and I went to another food stall where card was accepted and got my dinner. Looking at it now, I wasn’t fully prepared for the differences in customs/culture in Singapore. In Sydney it is a cashless city and everyone just taps their cards to make purchases. In Singapore this is not the case, it is definitely a cash society. A few days ago I had to withdraw some Singapore Dollars from an ATM so now I have cash for local food stalls in the future and won’t make the same mistake again.

Last Saturday, we traveled to the amazing hawker center located in Chinatown of Singapore with Dean Kepner. We got a bunch of delicious food including dumplings and chicken with rice. Following this we got a private tour of the Singapore National Museum which I thoroughly enjoyed and learned some new information I previously did not know. After that tour, we went over to the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel and went up to the observation deck to get an amazing view of the city. The view was absolutely breathtaking, you could see a lot of the city/country and even into the Singapore Strait where there were probably 50 or so shipping freighters. I really enjoyed this view and look forward to checking out the rest of the city during my time here. I think next week at some point I am going to check out the Gardens by the Bay and also look at some parks to go to. This week was pretty laid back with my internship and I was able to work from home the whole week due to my supervisor being sick. We have a cooking class this weekend which I look forward to attending!

Week #12

Well, time is definitely going rather fast here in Singapore! As the third week here comes to a close, I am happy to say it is has been another good week. Last weekend I unfortunately did not make it to the cooking class due to sleeping in. Instead I made my way back to the Chinatown Hawker center that we went to with Dean Kepner. My work week went pretty smooth and actually had a pretty interesting assignment on Tuesday. I was tasked with going to Novelship’s warehouse location, right next to the Changi Airport. Although the public transit (MRT) is good here that doesn’t mean it is fast. It took me over an hour to meet one of my coworkers Brian at the warehouse. We were tasked with unboxing shirts and confirming whether the company’s logo was on the shirt and then folding it back up. There were 240 shirts to check and it took us about 3 hours. This was not the most fun I have done recently but it reminded me of the work I did during COVID when I worked at a neighbor’s factory. The weather here compared to Australia is much different, it is not only hotter but also much more humid too. When I left the warehouse it was so hot in fact it felt like over 100 degrees according to my weather app! On Wednesday, I went into the office for the first time in 2 weeks due to my supervisor having COVID. I went over the project I have been working on and got lunch with my coworkers. When I was headed out of the office, my boss was kind enough to hand me a shirt and pair of socks for free. I was thankful and this made my day. This weekend I hope to explore more of the city as I now only have less than 5 weeks remaining in Singapore.

Week #13

This past week was one of my favorite weeks here in Singapore. I was able to do some really cool things, including going to the Botanic Gardens for some runs along with playing golf. My internship has been going well so far, I have been able to work from home most days which has allowed me to explore once my assignments have been completed. I was able to go for a nice run in the Botanic Gardens this week. The historic gardens are only two train stops away via the MRT. When I got there it was absolutely breathtaking seeing all of the nature and beautiful plants and flowers. It is different from every other part of Singapore, except maybe the Gardens by the Bay, in that there is a ton of agriculture for a few square miles. After taking some nice photos I began my run but quickly became lost and confused because this was my first time running here. I eventually found a map and ran another 20 minutes or so, this was a nice workout and was great to see lots of people out and about. I went in the late afternoon simply because the heat and humidity at that point lowered significantly from midday. Moving forward on Thursday, I played 9 holes of golf. I was super eager and excited to play this public course. Chris and I got to the course about 40 minutes prior to the tee time and I had to rent golf clubs. We only played 9 holes but I still had a lot of fun, it was the first time I had played since last September so I was pretty rusty. This did get me excited though to play golf this summer when I am back home. Soon we are traveling to Phuket, Thailand for a long weekend. I cannot wait to visit and go explore!

Week #14

This past week has been very laid back and relaxing. The internship with Novelship has been going pretty well, I am learning about other companies that they compete against. Outside of working, I was able to play golf at a new golf course with Ryan and Chris. I played a lot better this time versus the previous time. It was so hot out on the course, and the humidity made it 10 times worse. While we were playing there were constant military helicopters flying nearby as there is a military base located close to the course (I assume). It was neat to see these helicopters in person. After we finished playing the 9 holes, we sat down in the shade and got some water. Once we were done we attempted to take a grab home (the equivalent of Uber here). We tried calling a ride for upwards of 30 minutes and each time the driver cancelled or couldn’t connect us to a driver. I was so frustrated at this point and eventually we started walking to a more busy road. We finally got a ride but it made me realize how nice it is to have access to a car back home and not fully rely on public transit and ride services. It is crazy how fast time is moving now, with less than a month left I can’t wait to go to Phuket next week.

Week #15

This past week was definitely one that I will remember for a long time! We just got back from our long weekend trip to Phuket, Thailand. I had such an amazing time and it was filled with lots of fun things.

After completing some assignments at Novelship during the week, including downloading and uploading images to my work google drive, we left on Thursday evening to head to the airport. The nine of us all met in the hotel lobby and took the MRT all the way to the airport, which was about 45 minutes to get there. We made sure to leave plenty of time to get through security and check in. After getting past security all of us went together to grab some food and then waited to board the plane. The flight to Phuket was rather short, it was just under 2 hours. We landed at 8:30 pm on Thursday night. We deboarded the plane on the taxiway and had to take a shuttle to customs, the line was extremely long. Something really interesting I noticed was seeing multiple Aeroflot planes at the airport gates. This is one of the only places that allows Russians for tourism. After going through customs we took an hour car ride to our AirBnB for the long weekend. The place was absolutely gorgeous, it overlooked some of the town and was perched on the top of a hill overlooking the water. I even managed to get some pretty photos of the sunset. On Thursday night all of us relaxed in the pool and listened to music. Friday morning we went to a local place to eat brunch and the food was delicious. My favorite thing that I ate were the banana pancakes. The cost of the meal was also very cheap, the baht (Thai currency) is very weak compared to the dollar and pretty much all of my meals were under $9 compared to Singapore where they are double that sometimes. After brunch we taxied to the Big Buddha statue at the top of the mountain, the views were scenic and the buddha statue was huge in person. I was wondering how long it took to build. We stopped at a souvenir place on our way out and headed back to the AirBnB before heading to dinner at a Thai restaurant, Sugar and Spice. I have never had Pad Thai and tried it at Sugar and Spice and was blown away! It was so delicious and is definitely now one of my favorites dishes, I look forward to trying it in the future.

Saturday was our most jam packed day, we started off with an early wakeup at 7:30 am to go on a full boat day exploration. We ended up going to 3 to 4 different island spots and it was an awesome time. I got a little sunburnt but that was ok. We stopped for lunch and relaxed on the beach, before snorkeling and going jet skiing. I liked going jet skiing but towards the end the waves began getting to choppy and kept spraying seawater in my eyes. After returning to the house at 6 pm or so we quickly got changed and ready for the Muay Thai fight later that night. Our seats were in the second row and close to the action. We watched 8 fights in total. All of us even got a free t-shirt! After the fight we went to a local bar to watch some soccer and play pool. It was a very busy day to say the least. On Sunday, we all slept in pretty late because our flight was not until 9 pm that night. Luckily we were able to get late checkout and relaxed by the pool until 4 pm or so before getting an early dinner. We relaxed and ate dinner before heading back to the airport around 7:30. We took off around 9:45 pm and didn’t make it back until well after midnight. Overall, I had a great trip and it was an amazing way to spend a long weekend experiencing a brand new country and culture. I look forward to hopefully traveling back to Thailand one day!

Week 16

This past week was a relaxing one. After arriving very late Sunday night/Monday morning from Thailand I was able to work remotely 4 days and went into the office once. On Wednesday, I went into the office for the final time as I am working from home next week. I really enjoyed interning at this company and wonder where the company will be 5 years from now as it continues to grow. It was bittersweet leaving my colleagues but I will try my best to remain in contact with them and even may send them some Bucknell merch when I am back at school. The building next to us (ION Orchard) has been under construction building an arcade that includes a bowling alley. I look forward to bowling once or twice before I fly home Thursday.

As yet another week closes here it is absolutely crazy to think that this is my last weekend abroad. I can’t believe that in 5 days I will be boarding a plane back home to the United States. These past 15 or so weeks have been nothing short of incredible. At times it has been challenging being homesick and jealous of other people studying abroad in Europe. However I know a week from now, I will wish I stayed longer.