Research Abroad Program (RAP)
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Journal: Sunita Gupta: Australia
June 24, 2007
The best part of Canberra is that my host and neighbors have made it feel like home. This weekend, we danced until 2:30 a.m. and then played frisbee, rugby and tag the next morning. Then the neighbors took us to the Parliament House, around the embassies, and also to Telstra Tower. The winters are pretty mild here. It is in the 40s-50s during the day, although it does get cold at night. So far it hasn't rained during the weekends, so we can always go out and play.
I will be participating in a triathlon when I get back to the States. In order to prepare, I went swimming at a local pool, then I went biking around Lake Burley-Griffin. The bike rental shop gave me a map, which I promptly lost after the first 15 minutes. I really didn't want to go back, so I kept on biking. I reasoned that as long as I could see the lake I would be able to get back. I ended up in Jamboreea Wetlands, which was full of cows. Uncertain of my location, I jogged over to the only person in sight. Luckily, he directed me towards the path, which had now turned into a set of tire treads. It was all right though because I met someone who was taking pictures of the bike path in order to petition for improvements.
The next day, I went for a tandem bike ride with a neighbor. We were both uncertain of what was going to happen, but then we decided to give it a try. It was even better than my previous bike ride in that we stayed on the paved path, and I had someone to talk to the entire time. It only took us a few minutes to get good at starting and stopping. From the laughs we heard from his wife and another friend, it would have seemed like we were the goofiest-looking people out there. The thing about a tandem bike is that the faster you go, the smoother the ride. You just have to gain enough confidence that you won't run over the 8-year-old on a bike in front of you. Along the way, we stopped off at the National Gallery's outdoor art exhibit, which included a fog machine with mannequins submerged in a marsh.
Cheers,
Sunita
