[Translate to English:] Boven op de Pylon Lookout Sydney Harbour Bridge. Een wandeling over de constructie van de brug is onbetaalbaar, maar gelukkig kun je wel goedkoop via een van de pylonen omhoog. En wat een uitzicht heb je daar!
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And how are things in Sydney?

At the beginning of February, I changed the winterly Eindhoven for the summer in Sydney. Now after four months it has become winter here, but there are still days with nice weather. I’m doing a five-month internship at an architectural firm specialized in sustainable design. It’s not mandatory to do an internship at my master Architecture, Building and Planning, but it is recommended. And it has been years now that I wanted to live in Australia for half a year. So in August, I started to organise everything and the result: an internship at an architectural firm in my dream city!

by
photo Katja Heidweiller
I live in the second house seen from the left. This type of house is mostly built at the end of the nineteenth century. Most of the houses are being renovated, and also our house can use some maintenance. I share the house with three Aussies, a Japanese, a Scot, and several cockroaches and mice (even though the house is very clean).
I live in the second house seen from the left. This type of house is mostly built at the end of the nineteenth century. Most of the houses are being renovated, and also our house can use some maintenance. I share the house with three Aussies, a Japanese, a Scot, and several cockroaches and mice (even though the house is very clean).
Together with my parents in front of the Sydney Opera House where we went to a concert of a choir in the Utzon Room. An intimate room named after the architect, and with a beautiful view over the harbour. A unique experience!
Together with my parents in front of the Sydney Opera House where we went to a concert of a choir in the Utzon Room. An intimate room named after the architect, and with a beautiful view over the harbour. A unique experience!
With a kangaroo! They are wild animals but see so many tourists every day that you can pet them. This was during the surf camp somewhere north of Sydney.
With a kangaroo! They are wild animals but see so many tourists every day that you can pet them. This was during the surf camp somewhere north of Sydney.

Every day, I walk from my house in Surry Hills (famous for the restaurants, gay fetish shops, and colonial architecture) to the office in the middle of the Central Business District. I spend most of my time here working on making design drawings ready for construction of a project with a million problems. At the moment I’m working on several projects where the focus lays on new houses which I am designing. Besides the designing, I have learned a lot about project management, project development, costs, and contact with clients. Unfortunately, Australia is far behind in sustainability compared to The Netherlands, so there is not much to learn about that.

I always do something new on the weekends. I spend most weekends in Sydney, but I’ve also been on a surf camp, been to Melbourne, and Uluru (the famous mountain) and Canberra will I visit soon. There is a lot to do in Sydney; architecture (okay a bit disappointing compared to Europe), beach, barbecues with other Dutchies, musea, emo/punk-parties, horse racing, markets, concerts, and nature. On Sunday the public transportation is almost for free, so then it’s fun to go with the ferry to one of the peninsulas. I’ve seen a lot of the National Parks when my parents visited me in May.

I still got one month to go at my internship, and then I will go road tripping with my boyfriend along the east coast! After that, it’s time to go back to our beautiful Eindhoven, which I secretly do miss.

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