February 25 – 27, 2014
By Jess Valeta
Now that we have
all been living in Brisbane for almost 2 weeks with our host families, I am
starting to get the hang of our new location. On Tuesday, the 25th,
we had a political science lecture on the Australian government. It was interesting
to compare the Australian prime minister to the American president. The
Australian prime minister is not directly elected by the Australian people, but
is instead a member of parliament and the leader of the political party with
majority support in the House of Representatives. The PM can be removed from
office at any point; he or she serves only as long as she is recognized as
party leader. There are no fixed terms or term limits, but elections for
government do happen at least once every 3 years, no matter what. If the PM’s
party loses the majority of seats in the House of Representatives, the
opposition leader becomes prime minister. Furthermore, the Australian prime
minister is the head of government, but unlike in the United States, the
executive is not the head of state. That role still belongs to the Queen of
England and the governor-general whom she appoints to serve in her place. Like
the United States, Australia has two main political parties: the Liberal Party
is similar to our Republican Party, and the Labor Party is comparable to the
Democratic Party.
After our
lectures on government in Australia, we took a tour of Queensland’s Parliament
House. Interestingly, it turned out that our tour guide studied abroad in
Portland when he was younger, which was a nice coincidence. Our extremely
friendly and talkative tour guide took us to some of the more important and
historical rooms of the Parliament House. Despite having learned a little about
the Australian government in class, the workings of the Australian government
are still a bit of a confusing subject for me, not having grown up with it, so
I have decided that it might be best to leave the Aussie politics to the
locals.
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| In the Chambers of the Upper House |
Tuesday was
Sierra’s birthday, so we all met up in West End for some much-craved Mexican
food. It was $3 taco night, which resulted in happiness and full bellies all
around. Good Mexican food seems to be the one thing that I am constantly
missing from back home. Unfortunately Australia is not the best destination for
Mexican food, but I guess Australia has plenty of other things to offer that
make up for this one downfall. We then made our way over to the Three Monkeys
café, probably one of my favorite places in Brisbane, due to their amazingly
scrumptious cakes. We then did a little bar hopping, and made our respective
ways back to our homes.
Wednesday, the
26th, was a free/study day. Our project outlines were due, so I
spent most of my day at the library. I’ve grown quite fond of the State Library
of Queensland after the many hours I have been spending there. Our stay in Sydney
seemed to have more time for exploring and going out, but here in Brisbane, the
academics have picked up, and long days in the library have become a necessity.
After I turned in my assignment, I went home for dinner, or “tea,” as my host dad
calls it. My host parents then drove me up to Mt. Coot-tha, the highest point
in Brisbane, with a beautiful view
of the entire city.
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| Brisbane City Lights from Mt. Coot-tha |
Our lectures on
Thursday were super interesting; they focused on the youth of Australia,
especially the homeless youth, and on gender. The gender lecture started with a
video of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s speech on sexism and misogyny she
delivered to the House of Representatives. We discussed Julia Gillard’s
leadership and legacy, and the struggles she faced as the first female Prime Minister
in Australia. I found Gillard to be an extremely eloquent and powerful speaker.
She wasn’t afraid to address issues that weren’t usually brought up in parliament
due to its history as a male dominated institution.
After lectures,
I went over to the Streets Beach at South Bank. The “beach” is really a
swimming pool in the middle of the city, but they import sand from the Gold
Coast, and put it all around and in the pool to make it seem more beachy.
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| Streets Beach at South Bank (Photo Courtesy of Lex Corwin) |
Overall
I am enjoying my time in Brisbane, and can’t wait for even more adventures in
these coming weeks. Cheers!
-Jess
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