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Friday was another really busy day. I woke up at 5.30 (it's painful to even think about it) and checked out of the hotel bu 7. at 7.50 I was on the train to orth Sydney, where Macquarie University is located. Macquarie campus is completely different than Uni of Sydney. It is a 35 minute train ride from Central Station, and the campus is like a park. Green, beautiful and buzzing with students. The school is much younger than Uni of Sydney, and the buildings reflect that. But even though, everything is relatively new already, Macqaurie is still investing in renovating the buildings or building new ones. For example, there's an brand new library, which isn't even open yet. Only about a thrid of the books will be on display, while the rest will be stored underground and picked up robotically on demand. Doesn't that sound amazingly cool?
Later in the day, I had an appointment with University of Technology Sydney - completely different from both Uni of Sydney and Macquarie. It is situated in the centre of Sydney, so there's pretty much no green areas apart from a small patch of grass, which i bet is a popular hangout place for students in the summer. UTS's buildings and fascilities are all brand new, modern and up to date. Each building has a mix of administrative offices, class rooms and lectures halls and common areas, which I thought was strange, but in a good way. The Tower Building has been named the ugliest building in Sydney - it's the tall, brown skyscraper. I think it's quite cool, it's quite a funny anecdote for international students to tell at home. I really like th fascilities at UTS - there's lots of common areas with computers, or loungy chairs, where students can hang out in between classes (and there's a hub for computer gamers, who apparently have been seen to ignore a frie drill, because they didn't want to lose they're scores...) The campus is called 'the sticky campus' - they want student to stick around after classes, and from what I saw, they're succeeding, because there were lots of studetns everywhere, even on a friday afternoon.
I really like that our three universities in Sydney are completely different. UTS is young and modern, in the centre of Sydney. Macquarie is more secluded in green surroundings. University of Sydney is an old university, with lots of tradition and a mix of beautiful sandstone architecture and brand new, modern fascilities.
I went back to Paddy's Market in the afternoon and invested in Sydney's economy. That's the least I can do, since the city has been so good to me, with sunny weather and so many sight to see. Now I am facing the problem of how to pack all the new things I have acquired... I'll cross that bridge on Sunday, when I'm packing for my flight to Brisbane...
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