Newcastle itself is a fair-sized city. It's hard to compare it to Seattle or Bellingham because it's so spread out. Australia is the country of suburbs, basically what we call neighborhoods, and there are many of them. The University and surrounding area is located in the Callaghan suburb. The city of Newcastle has a population of about 150,000 (according to the Lonely Planet guidebook; other sources say as high as 300-500,000). Although it's a somewhat small city, it is also the largest coal exporter in the world! I didn't really take any pictures of the campus, city, or waterfront, and now my camera has mysteriously stopped working. I'll try to throw a few in but you can also google image some of the places I mention for better views. As Newcastle is a coastal city (most of Australia's cities are) there are plenty of beaches. The weather right now is something like a Northwest Spring or Fall. Temperatures mostly around 60 degrees and usually sunny or partly cloudy. It rains once a week or so.
This picture is of Nobby's Beach and the lighthouse down at the end. It's not very busy here, but I'm told that once it heats up in a month or so, it will be very crowded.I know about four groups of people who live off-campus, most of them a short walk from "downtown". I say it with quotes because it's not the CBD (central business district) but more the cultural center, with most of the museums, restaurants, bars, beaches, etc. located nearby. The Newcastle Train station is also located in this area, so all of the buses and trains end up there eventually, so getting there is pretty easy.
The University of Newcastle actually has a few different campuses. The largest and most attended campus is Callaghan (where I am). There is also the Ourimbah campus, which is a ways South, and another in Port Macquarie. Again depending on where you look, the total enrolment is about 20-30,000 students though to me it feels about the same as Western because I often see people I know when walking around. Callaghan campus is probably about two to three times bigger than Western's campus, though there are lots of undeveloped areas and lots of natural bushland, which adds a nice secluded feel as you walk through. It's also pretty cool to hear all these "exotic" birds chirping away: magpies, lorikeets and the occasional kookaburra. There is also some bird that sounds like a child screaming or some animal being killed, but I can't figure out what it is.
There are four on-campus colleges (what we call dorms) which house about 1,000 students. The colleges are International House, where I live, Edwards Hall, Evatt House and Barahineban. There are often intercol events arranged among the colleges. Just some of the many events are Autonomoy Day (mentioned in an earlier post), a winery tour in Hunter Valley, Olympic Night (everyone dresses up as some type of Olympian), Gender Bender (dress as the opposite sex), Campus Scamper (a 5k race around the campus) and there is an upcoming trip to the horse-race track. There are also sporting matches between the colleges, including soccer, basketball, volleyball, netball and maybe some others. There is definitely a more communal feel to living on campus here than in the States (at least at Western). You get to know a lot of the people in your college through the events and most of the time the events are free or at a discounted price.
To anyone thinking about studying abroad, I would definitely recommend living on campus over living off campus, for a number of reasons. First there is the social aspect. As I said, you meet tons of great people very quickly. Living off campus, you are usually paired with other Americans and it can take you awhile to meet other people unless you are really outgoing and look for events on your own. There is also the fact that you are already on campus and don't have to commute every day; it costs $6 a day to go from town to Uni and back! Another handy thing is not having to pay for utilities or worry about not having certain amenities. In my unit we have high-speed internet in our rooms, a communal TV and a kitchen with every appliance or piece of cookware you could desire. We also have a swimming pool, ping-pong and billiards table, outdoor BBQs and laundry. I think I've made my point...
I'll talk a little about IH so you get an idea about my living situation. IH has 11 main block units which are separate buildings. Each block is two or three stories. Most blocks have 10 people per floor, though some are five person units. I live on the first floor of block five with nine Australian roommates. Although International House is about 50 per cent overseas students, I ended up with all Aussies. Each unit has a main entrance onto a communal living room with TV and couches and an adjoining kitchen. There are two hallways off each side of the common room with five rooms on each side sharing a bathroom. I spend the majority of my time with my roommates unless I'm off on some weekend trip, which are generally spent with Australearn students. We all get along really well and have lots of fun hanging out in the lounge and causing mayhem. Each college has a different meal plan as well. IH has a dinner for every weekday, five a week, so we have to get all of our other meals on our own. There is a shopping center called Jesmond about five minutes away by car which has a grocery store and a bunch of other shops. It's not very big compared to some of the other shopping centers in Newcastle, but it's close and easy to get there. The shops all close at 5pm except on Thursday when they are open to 9. The Uni provides a free bus to the shops on Thursdays which is nice for people who can't get rides or don't want to pay to ride the bus.
A view of the courtyard outside the IH blocks.The schools system in general also works differently down here. Instead of having each class every day or a few times a week, there is usually just one lecture and one tutorial a week for each class. The lectures are the same as in the states, but a tutorial is a much smaller group that meets and is much more interactive and personal. I really like this system because it makes the subjects more interesting and you get more involved in the discussions. The thing I don't like about the Australian school system is how assessments are handled. In the states we have a lot of small assignments, essays, quizzes or exams. Here you only have a few assessments, either essays or exams, which are worth a large percentage of the grade. In my case, I have only one exam and about 10 essays. If you screw up on an assessment it can really hurt your grade, so you have to be careful. The grading system itself is also different. Instead of letter grades, you get marks. The different marks are high distinction, distinction, credit, pass and fail (anything less than 50). If you get 85 or above then you get a HD which is very good and represents exceptional thought and substantial additional research; basically, hard to get. A 75-84 is a distinction, which is equivalent to an A, and a 65-74 is credit, equivalent to a B. At Western all international grades transfer back as pass or fail, so all I technically need to get are 50s and I would still be fine (don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm still working hard).
Here's a brief rundown of the classes I'm taking.
Australia in the 20th Century - a history class starting with Federation in Australia (becoming an independent country), we are looking at Australia's role in the world and the development of Australian society, culture, politics and economy. Our main assignment is an essay examining a topic of choice. I'm doing my essay on the Great Depression in Australia and looking at how the government responded to the emergency.
Australian Popular Culture - a class that examines popular culture in various media, including movies, books and art. We have been looking a lot at traditional figures of national identity, such as the Anzac or the digger, the bushman, the drover's wife and the lifesaver (lifeguard). I did my first essay in this class on the lifesaver, comparing the traditional views of a lifesaver with a contemporary depiction in some form of media. I chose this video which was used as an advertisement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2DXxXd1Q_M
Myth Making and Mythic Experience - an anthropology class that examines the roles of myth in different societies, specifically how myths and stories contribute to group identity and shape everyday life. We use a number of different perspectives from anthropologists/sociologists like Freud (psychoanalysis), Malinowski (functionalism) and Levi-Strauss (structuralism) to analyse the myths. My final essay is an examination of a Brothers Grimm story using the various methods we have learned. An interesting class because many of these associations and symbols can be so arbitrary and connections can be made very loosely.
Indigenous Peoples of the Contemporary World - an anthropology class that examines the roles and conditions of indigenous peoples all over the world. We have been looking at traditional knowledge, spirituality, treaties and general interactions with Western societies. Often depressing because we learn about all of the horrible things aboriginal people have had to go through. Last week we were looking at "the Stolen Generation", which was when the Australian government deemed Aboriginal parents unable to raise their own children and took them away. Many were put in large boarding schools or group homes where they were often faced with physical and sexual abuse.
Well, hopefully that gives you a good idea of life in Newcastle. Another post soon; now it's time for tea (dinner)!
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