Well, it's official. It is springtime in Australia-in Septmeber!
Today is actually the first day of spring, which to an American, seems
off. Not only is it the wrong time of year for spring, but it seems like
it's the wrong day. I should know, my birthday is on the first day of
spring in the US (March 20th).
When I went to Sydney a couple weeks ago, I sat next to three other
young women on the train home, and they explained this to me. In
Australia, they consider the first day of each season to be the first
day of the month in which that season starts (March 1=autumn, June
1=winter, September 1=spring, December 1=summer). When I told them that
the US goes by the equinoxes and solstices, they found that to be
"rather archaic!"
I'm more than happy to accept that it is spring, though, and today
reflected that, as it was the most gorgeous, warm day. Of course, I had
to go to the beach, Would you honestly expect anything different from me
at this point?
It seems that I wasn't the only one who thought it would be the perfect
day, as there were people paddle boarding, sun bathing, surfing,
sailing, parasailing, swimming, body boarding, kayaking, and playing
beach volleyball. It really was incredible.
After a bit, I joined the sunbathers and read a book on my kindle while
soaking up the warm sun rays. This only lasted about an hour because of
my valiant goal of avoiding a sunburn (so far, so good!). I walked along
the beach a bit more, noticing the beautiful broken shells among the
sand.
Just before I left, I saw two really weird things on the sand, just beyond the surf. I still don't really know what they are, but they sure were cool to look at!
Weird, right?!
I then wandered around downtown for a bit, basically moving from park to
park. It seems that the all of the spring flowers just bloomed within
the past two days, and wow, are they beautiful. Maybe I'm seeing
everything through the exciting lens of Australia, but it seems to me
that the flowers are so much more colorful here! Take a look!
Now the real question: if my birthday is on the first day of spring,
does that make today my Australian birthday? I think I'll eat some ice
cream to celebrate either way. :-)
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Read more from Caroline at http://newiintown.blogspot.com.au/
Find out more about the University of Newcastle exchange at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/newcastle
Find out more about the University of Newcastle exchange at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/newcastle
