So, Why Sydney?

You may be wondering why I chose to focus so much on Sydney, Australia.  The main reason is that I find this city very interesting.  Sydney also plays a huge part in Australian history.  In the book that I read, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, there was a lot of interesting facts and stories about Sydney.  Sydney is filled with so much great history that you could honestly blog about it for a year and still not cover everything.  As I've said, whether you want to go to an aquarium, a museum, or an amazing opera house, Sydney's got it all.  I have yet to go to Australia but I hopefully will get to go there soon.  I most definitely want to go to Sydney.  Out of the many cities in Australia, I think Sydney defines Australia the most today.  Yes, it is a major tourist city and yes, it is unlike the rural plains and deserts of most of Australia, but honestly, what would Australia be without Sydney?  Sydney is considered to be a sister city that connects with many other countries, from China to Great Britain to the United States.  There were many places in Sydney that I could have focused on, but I chose to focus on specific places.  These places I picked because they seemed the most interesting to me, so I thought I would share my findings from the book and from other sources with you.  Yes, I could have talked about places like Melbourne and Adelaide, two great Australian cities, but I chose to talk about the most well known Australian city.  This may seem like I was just taking the easy route, but in reality, I was trying to give my readers a closer look at Australia's biggest and most diverse cities.  I hope that you enjoyed my blog and thank you for taking the time to read it.  I also hoped you learned something about Australia that you didn't know before reading my blog.  Once again, thank you, and I hope you now have a greater understanding of some of the key places in Austalia.

Response Questions

1. How did you experience the book? It's not always helpful to talk about whether or not you liked the book, but rather how you felt as you were reading it? Were you pulled effortlessly into the book...or did you have difficulty getting into it? Why?

I really liked this book. It was pretty easy to read, and it was very understandable.  I really liked the author and the style that he wrote in, so I would definitely read another book written by him.  I was pulled pretty effortlessly into the book because it was well written and very interesting.  I felt like I was actually in Australia with the writer. 

2. Were you happy about your book choice? Why or why not?

Yes I was very happy with my book choice.  It was really interesting and I would probably read it again at some point.

3. Which place discussed in the book did you find the most intriguing? Why do you think that was the case?  

I found Sydney the most intriguing place in the book.  I probably think that happened because Sydney is Australia's main city and is a very large city.  I am very much a city girl so I liked learning about the big cities more than I liked learning about the rural towns in Australia.

4. What central ideas might the author be exploring-the novel's themes? Consider ideas about the nature of love, the requirements of goodness, the meaning of justice, the burden of the past...basic human issues that are at stake in the book.

The author is basically just traveling all around Australia looking at all of the historical and touristy sights to see.  Central idea wise, he is probably looking for adventure.  He is a very adventurous man so I think he is gravitated towards things that are interesting and cool. 

5. What do you feel you learned from this project? Please consider the book, the technology involved with producing the project, or any other aspect regarding the project.

I learned that it is not as easy as I thought to make a blog.  I always thought that making a blog was easy and that this project would only take me like an hour, but I found out quickly how wrong I was.  I had to first read the book and then search back through it to find topics to write about in my blog.  I also used the internet to find additional information for other places to write about.

6. What was the most enjoyable part of the project? Please explain why you felt this way.

The most enjoyable part of this project was probably just learning all of the things that I did.  Going into this project, I knew absolutely NOTHING about Australia, but now I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of this amazing continent/country. 

7. What was the most difficult part of the project? Please explain why you felt this way.

The most difficult part of this project was finding sufficient enough information to use in my blog.  Not all of the information on the internet is correct, so I had to make sure that my sources were reliable.  This can be very difficult sometimes.

The Chinese Garden of Friendship

Our final adventure in Australia takes us too, you guessed it, Sydney.  The Chinese Garden of Friendship is not world-famous, but it is very important to Australia's cultural diversity.  It was initiated by Australia's Chinese community in 1988 in celebration of Australia's Bicentenary.  The Chinese Garden of Friendship is a result of the close bond of friendship between Australia and China's two sister cities, Sydney and Guangzhou.  Like most traditional Chinese gardens, the garden is centered around four main elements, water, plants, stone, and beautiful architecture. The art of Chinese Gardens started in the Shang Dynasty, over 3000 years ago, and is still a beautiful thing in China today.  When you walk into The Chinese Garden of Friendship, it is almost like you are stepping into China.  You forget that you are still in Sydney Australia, and you become engulfed with the beauty of the garden.  It is a very peaceful area to visit, and a fabulous place to go if you are just trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney's inner city.  The Chinese Garden of Friendship is truly a symbol of Australia's close connection and relationship with China, and it symbolizes peace between the two countries. 

Picture and Information Found at:

"Chinese Garden."  Darling Harbour.  Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Websites.  28 November 2010. <http://www.darlingharbour.com/sydney-Things_To_Do-Chinese_Garden.htm>

The Sydney Aquarium

Sydney, Australia is filled with adventure.  Everything you could ever want to do in Australia, for the most part, you can do in Sydney.  Whether it be going to a world famous Opera House, going to Australia's most popular museum, or if you just want to sight-see, Sydney is the place for you.  But I have yet to talk about Australia's number one attraction.  Can you guess where it is? Sydney, of course. Many may think that the Great Barrier Reef or Ayers Rock is the number one tourist attraction, but in fact, it is the Sydney Aquarium.  The Sydney Aquarium holds the largest collection of Australian aquatic lif around, with over 11,500 animals.  It was opened in 1988 and is one of the largest aquariums in the world.  Around 55% of the people who visit the aquarium come from overseas, making this a very big tourist income center.  Some of things you can find in the exhibit are platypusses, a saltwater crocodile, penguins, sharks, and a Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium.  The aquarium was designed to resemble a large wave, and it took nearly two years to build.  The Sydney Aquarium is an amazing place to visit and I highly recommend going there if you ever get a chance to visit Sydney. 

Picture and Information Found at:
Sydney Aquarium. 2010. MyFun. 28 November 2010. <http://sydneyaquarium.myfun.com.au/>

The Australian Museum

The Australian Museum, located in Sydney, Australia, is Australia's first museum.  It was established in 1827.  This is one of Australia's most popular museums, and it is filled with rich history.  In the museum, you can find all sorts of different things, including the story of the Indigenous Australians, fossils, skeletons, minerals, precious gemstones, dinosaurs, and much more. It holds a very extensive wildlife collection and traces an Aboriginal timeline from the Dreamtime to the present.  The museum was originally named the Colonial Museum or the Sydney Museum.  The museum was renamed in June 1936 by a Sub-Committee Meeting, which chose to rename the museum to The Australian Museum.  The first curator of the Australian Museum was George Bennett, appointed in 1835 and served for 6 years until 1941.  The museum is a treasure to Australia and is a very historical sight.

Picture and Information Found at:

"Australian Museum." australianmuseum.net. 24 November 2010. <http://australianmuseum.net.au/About-us-2>

Famous Australian Actors/Actresses

Many great and famous actors/actresses have come from Australia.  Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett are all considered famous Australian actors/actresses.  Although Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe were not born in Australia, they all either have Australian ancestry or moved there at some point in there childhood and grew up there.  Nicole Kidman is famous for her roles in Bewitched and the Golden Compass.  Mel Gibson is most famous for his role in Braveheart, but is famous in many other aspects as well.  Hugh Jackman is most famously known for his role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Heath Ledger is famous for his role as the joker in The Dark Night.  Russell Crowe is famous for his role in Gladiator.  Finally, Cate Blanchett is famous for her roles in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  

Famous Australian Actors.  2004.  24 November 2010.   <http://www.rc-trucks.org/list-famous-australian-actors.htm>

Cricket

Cricket is a very popular sport in Europe, India, and Australia.  It is not a popular game at all in the United States, and many find it a very strange and odd game.  For instance, it is the only sport that allows meal breaks.  It is also the only sport that shares its name with an insect.  Imagine this: a pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly to centerfield.  There, after a minute to collect himself, then runs full speed towards the pitchers mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of the batter.  The batter is wearing a riding hat, very heavy gloves, and very large pads are strapped to his legs.  If the batter fails to hit the ball, he can basically stand at the plate all day, as the rule book allows him to do.  If the batter is somehow convinced to swing at a pitch that leads to him being put out, all of the fielders throw their hands in the air and hug each other.  Then, a tea break is taken.  This could go on for days.  That's cricket for you.  We, as Americans, do not normally understand this sport, but most Europeans find it captivating.  In some ways, it is their version of our baseball, but it other ways it is not.  In any case, it is a very important sport and is very culturally important to Australia.

Bryson, Bill.  In a Sunburned Country.  New York: Broadway Books, 2000