Hey again, it’s been a while! I’ve been in Sydney for two weeks now, which seems crazy because it’s only felt like a couple days. We’ve been lucky to get beautiful weather even though it is mid-winter here in Australia. Good weather means that hiking and exploring is a must! So far I’ve hiked to see sights in the Blue Mountains (which is the most visited national park here in New South Whales), fed some kangaroos and wallabies at Featherdale Wildlife Park, and swam at Bondi and Manly beach. Here are some pictures:
The main reason I’m here though, has been to study sports and sports culture! In these last two weeks I’ve had several stadium tours including the Sydney Cricket Grounds and the AFL Giants trainings grounds at Olympic Park (the place which once hosted the Sydney Olympics in 2000). Our main event is seeing three Women’s World Cup games, which will be held at these stadiums. We watched the opening match Australia vs. Ireland last night and got the win Australia 1-0 from a penalty kick! It was record attendance for a women’s game here in Sydney with over 75,000 fans showing up. The energy was incredible!
I didn’t expect to rediscover my love for sports in general- not just women’s soccer. I’ve been learning about typically Australian sports we don’t play as much in the states like cricket, rugby, netball, and Australian Rules Football (AFL) which is basically unheard of outside of Australia. Getting to learn about, play, and watch these sports has been my favorite part of the trip. If you have time, look up an AFL game on Youtube- it’s like rugby and soccer on steroids.
I feel so lucky to get to be on this program- attending all of these incredible sports games and seeing beautiful sights in Sydney. Having classes during the week with my professor from Pitt at the University of Technology Sydney campus has really helped me keep a sense of daily routine and familiarity despite being so busy in a new place. Other things too like finding a specific coffee shop nearby I can become a regular at for the month to have some sense of consistency, or working out in the gym daily helps too! Thanks for reading, bye for now!