Black People Don't Surf

It’s hard to compare two cities when you’ve been in one for 4 days and another for almost 6 weeks. We took a class trip to Melbourne on Sunday that I had no idea the BU people even planned until I got here. It’s a cool city, but for an older, more grown and sexy kind of crowd; whereas Sydney is a little wild and has a funkier style. Like New York, Melbourne has a grid system which makes it easier to get around, and they have diverse neighborhoods like your little Italy’s and Greek areas. They even have a bigger black population, I saw all but 5 guys and about 4 females during my four days in Melbourne (it took me weeks to get those numbers in Sydney). But who’s counting? (I am I am). Overall the Melbourne trip was a nice change of scenery and I enjoyed myself.

We went to Phillip Island to see penguins, sounds crazy, but there are these miniature penguins that live in burrows in the dirt on the Island. During the day they play around in the ocean and when the sun goes down hundreds of them make their way back to their burrows every day. Depending on the season there can be thousands of penguins on the coast of the island heading home for the night. Think Happy Feet. Whoever the person was that turned nature into an excursion for tourists is a genius. We weren’t supposed to take pictures of them, but seeing as I paid to see them I say why not.

We had to go on academic tours for the Melbourne trip, and eventually write a paper. The graffiti scene in Melbourne is BIG! One of my tours took us to see some of the graffiti lanes around the city so I may write my paper on that. If not I’d write it on the immigration population in Melbourne, especially the Chinese immigrants in comparison to Sydney or New York.

This weekend I’m going to surf camp. Yes….for those that are confused, so am I. I did it on a whim thinking I’d be trying something new and crazy, knowing damn well that I am the last person that would be caught on a surf board or in a body of water from the ankles up. We’ll see how that goes. Back home they say black people don't surf, and I said I'll try anything once when I got here. Apparently, by the end of the camp everyone gets up on the surf board. Then there’s me.

Keep you posted