King's School in Sydney, Australia
Submitted by CJUpton on March 22, 2006 - 3:15pm.
Hey Josh,
My name is Chris Upton, and I was one of the lucky few who wee edcuated by you about what you were doing while visiting the King's School.
Over the last holidays I visited the USA for 5 weeks, and got a really big shock when i saw how different it was. Was this the same for you when you arrived here in Australia?
Via RSS
Helllo!
Hey Chris,
Thanks for logging in. I want to first say thanks for the big welcome yesterday. I had a great time talking with you guys and probably could have for the rest of the afternoon! I hope you didn't get into too much trouble arriving late to English class!
Now onto you question! I didn't really experience the same shock you may have experienced when you visited the USA. I am very curious to know in what ways you were shocked. The people? Food? Way of life? What I found interesting about Australian culture is how relaxed people are relative to New Yorkers. It seems people in New York are always on the go. I feel as though I can have a chat with someone I've never met before here in Sydney and they wouldn't think twice about it. Though New Yorkers can be very friendly, they might not be as receptive to a complete stranger chatting with them in the middle of the day.
I was walking around the other day here in Potts Point just shooting some photos when a carpenter approached me. He wanted to say hello and to give me a brief history of a single building that used to be a movie theatre now turned apartment building. As I would say, it was a really cool experience!
Take care Chris,
Josh
Fish out of water
When I visited Australia, I had a similar experience to Josh's--I was completely overwhelmed by how friendly everyone was. People smiled and chatted with me on the street. I've always found most people in the US to be friendly - but it's a more 'formal' type of politeness rather than the warm, down to earth feeling I got in Sydney - where I felt like everyone I met wanted to invite me to their house for dinner!
I'd love to hear more about what the school day is like at King's -- is school year round, or do students have summer vacation? What is the day like?
Betsy Whalen
Discovery Educator Network
Life in Australia
Hi again,
Life at Kings and in Australia is very different to that of the USA. We start our school year in January, and have school for generally 9 weeks. We then have a 2 week break then start school again. We go to school for another 9-10 weeks, then have a 3 week holiday. This is our Winter Holiday, which is during July. We then go to school for another 10 weeks, have a 2 week break, then go to school for the last time for 8 weeks. This is when all of our exams take place. After our last period of school we have a 9 week break. This is our summer vacation altough it is during December and January.
Now onto Josh's question. When I visited America the first place I went to was LA. What shocked me the most were the freeways. We have barely any freeways that cross over and under each other, but LA is full of them. What I also couldn't get over were the size of the cars. You never see a Hummer in Australia, but in America you even saw Hummer Limos!
When I went to New York, the thing that shocked me the most was the way of life. The street system is so different there and on every second street you find a hot dog stand. There are so many taxis in New York! It seems right that the icon of New York is the extremely famous yellow Taxi.
Overall, the thing that shocked me the most about going to the USA was the way of life and the cultural diversity. People were very friendly and helpful to us. There were so many things to do there, and the place is hectic 24/7.
Hope to chat with you later,
Chris Upton.
The King's School and the USA
Hey Chris,
Thanks so much for all of the information regarding your school year! You're right about New York. It sure is hectic 24/7. The subway system actually never stops running, though it slows down a bit late at night. Adding to the frenzy is the fact that NYC is the financial capital of America and so we have tons of business' there. Even in Sydney I found the pace to be quite slowed down...which was a nice change!
Thanks again!
Josh