MQ GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE

P R E S E N T A T I O N B Y G R O U P 3 6 : I S A B E L L E P A R R Y , B R I T T A N Y S A B A T , D J A L A K A L I N I N , N I G E L S A N T O S A N D I S A B E L L A H A M P T O N

BURWOODBurwood is located in the inner west of Sydney in NSW. Burwood contains both residential, commercial and industrial developments. Burwood is a suburb of cultural diversity ranging from people from Asia, Africa, Middle East and America.

Reflection: On Tuesday the 11th of March, Djala, Isabelle, Nigel, Brittany and I decided to visit the suburb of Burwood. Burwood is a suburb located in the inner west of Sydney. In order to visit this suburb, we had to take two different trains from Macquarie University Station. Catching a train was a new experience for me, as there are no trains where I live. By catching the train with my group, it gave me a chance to socialize with them and it also allowed me to get a brief understanding of what suburbs surround Burwood.

 

When we arrived, it was clear that the predominant culture present in this suburb was Chinese. We all agreed that the most appropriate place to eat in order to get a feel for the culture was at a Chinese restaurant. We all shared a few servings of traditional pork dumplings.

 

Overall, i thoroughly enjoyed our experience during this challenge. It helped me get to know my group a lot better and it expanded my cultural knowledge about the suburb of Burwood.

Full name: Timi Kepesi When and where were you born? In Budapest, Hungary. I was born in 1988 – I’m currently 26.  Was most of your life so far spent in Hungary? Yes, my husband and I made the decision to move to Australia only two years ago.  Why did you move to Australia? We wanted to learn English. It felt like time for a major change. We also have friends from Hungary who have travelled to Australia many times and really loved it here. We decided to visit first, and we fell in love as well.  Have you moved around Australia at all? Or only Sydney? Only Sydney so far. We will travel later.  When did you learn the English language? I began learning English as soon as I arrived. It was difficult not being able to communicate, so it was important to learn. I’m still learning two years on.   

 

 

 

 

 

AN INTERVIEW WITH SOMEONE FROM A DIFFERENT CULTURE: PART ONE

AN INTERVIEW WITH SOMEONE FROM A DIFFERENT CULTURE:PART TWO

Did you have any skills when you arrived here?

I had hairdressing skills. I trained as a hairdresser in Budapest when I was in my early 20’s. I didn’t have to retrain for my job at all.

 

Where there any major challenges that you faced when moving here?

Language was probably the hardest of all. It was hard to live in a place where you couldn’t understand anyone. We only knew the simple words at first – “hello”, “yes” and “no” etc. It made us focus a lot on learning quickly. Finding a good job in hairdressing also was very hard for me. Eventually I found a great job in well-known salon in Avalon.

 

What are some of your best memories about moving to Australia?

Everything. I was so happy moving here with my husband, everything was so perfect. It was fun (and hard) trying to find an apartment on the northern beaches. We finally found a good one and we had a fun time making it into our new home. That’s probably my favorite memory.

 

Do you have any bad memories about moving to Australia?

No, not really. Everyone is so nice here. It was sad to leave my family in Hungary. We will see them soon though!

 

AN INTERVIEW WITH SOMEONE FROM A DIFFERENT CULTURE: PART THREE

 

What are the major differences between Hungary and Australia?

The overall lifestyle is much more relaxed here in Sydney. Budapest was very large and busy all the time. Its much quieter here.

 

Do you think you will continue to live in Australia?

I would like to continue living here for a while longer.

PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTIONOn the 11th of April 1976 Steve Jobs released the first Apple computer in Palo Alto, California. Since then this global commodity has dramatically changed the way in which technology is produced. For example the Ipad two began its production in March 2011 and concluded its production in March 2014. During the production of Apple’s Ipad two there has been an increase in the global commodity chain. For example, overseas companies including Textas, USA, China and Japan manufacture numerous parts within the Ipad (Refer to map 1). Once manufactured the parts within the Ipad two were exported to China where the Ipads are manufactured. The distribution of Apples Ipads is a growing commodity around the world with over 170 million Apples ipads two distributed to mainly developed countries (Refer to map 2), including Australia, United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom since production began in March 2011.

MAP 1:THE PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURING OF APPLES IPADS ACROSS THE WORLD

A5 dual processors are manufactured at Samsung’s, Austin, Texas factory.

Display modules are manufactured at Samsung’s, Austin, Texas factory.

PCB Sim Card connecter manufactured in China’s mainland.

Lithium Polymer battery was manufactured in 2002 in Shenzhen, China.

Rear camera module lens is manufactured in Hong Kong.

Touch screen overlay glass made in Japan made by a company called Asahi Glass Co.

The NAND memory card is from the Toshiba Corporation in Japan.

Japan suppliers produce the Calibrating Compass within an Ipad

Dynamic Random Access Memory produced by Elpida Memory Inc in Japan.

M A P 2 : T H E M A N U FA C T U R I N G A N D D I S T R I B U T I O N O F A P P L E ’ S I PA D S A C R O S S T H E W O R L D .

The manufacturing of Ipads is located in China by Foxconn.

Key:2 million 10 million 4 million 14 million 6 million 85 million 8million

WATER FOOTPRINT

Using the Water footprint calculator available. Calculate the water footprint of two of your group members. Think about and implement strategies to try reduce your footprint for a week and write a short reflection together, comparing your experiences.

After completing the Water footprint calculator, we were able to pinpoint which areas of our weekly lives have the greatest impact on our annual water footprint. After comparing out two water footprint results it was clear that the main components of our annual water consumption was through food.

After completing further research into possible ways to reduce our water footprint both directly and indirectly we created a list focusing on the areas we would try and change for the duration of the week.

WATER FOOTPRINT- BRITTANY

Lower Meat Consumption

Drink Tea instead of Coffee

Drink more Water

Reduce Dairy and Cereal Consumption

Reduce electrical use

During the week, I attempted to shift to an organic vegetarian diet, eliminating all meat. Through our initial research we discovered that around a quarter of humanities water footprint is through the productions of animal products. Changing my diet and reducing the intake of meat was a bit more difficult than expected, due to cultural reasons, and being surrounded by a family who eats a lot of meat. Whilst it was much easier for me to reduce how much coffee I consumed during the week drinking more water instead of tea. Substituting dairy for soy was not very successful as I concluded I do not like soymilk. Instead I attempted to reduce how many meals I had which required a decent amount of milk. The biggest issue and greatest difficulty I had was attempting to reduce my dependency on electrical items. Electrical items and use is in every day life.

WATER FOOTPRINT GRAPH- BRITTANY

WATER FOOTPRINT- DJALAReduce dairy consumption

Substitute dairy for soy products

Reduce the amount of soft drink

Have shorter showers

Reduce electrical use

Throughout the week, I attempted to reduce my consumption of dairy products and substitute with soy products such as soymilk. After our initial research and understanding the effect any animal product does have on mine but our global water footprint, this substitute was made. As the effects of soy or non-animal products is much less in comparison. Reducing the amount of soft drink consumed throughout the week was to reduce the grey water within my water footprint, which focuses on water used to create a product indirectly. This was a bit more of a challenged than I realized but was possible to substitute for water or juice. To try and reduce my direct water footprint I decided I would attempt to have shorter showers.

Agreeing with Brittany I found it hard to reduce my electrical use. Certain items like my laptop, phone and for necessary household goods, I was not able to reduce the dependency as much. So instead cut out the use of items such TV, which is more of a luxury item.

Brittany and I, throughout this week learnt just how easy it is to influence your water footprint. Through small alterations to you diet or everyday actions, whether it is consuming less meat, having shorter showers or consuming less processed foods. Understanding the indirect actions of a water footprint, we have both concluded will unable us to continue to make the small adjustments. Not making the association between non-direct water usage or grey water consumption is where it is easy to not understand the implications, as you do not see the direct repercussions or water usage occur.

WATER FOOTPRINT GRAPH- DJALA

GENRE OF MUSIC- ROOT MUSIC

What genre of music did you listen to?

The genre of music that I listened to was Roots music.

 

The origins of Roots music.

The origins of Roots music can be traced way back to the beginning of the 20th century. Roots music is described as a mixture of the sub genres folk, reggae, blues, funk and soul music respectively. Roots music portrays the lives and experience of everyday men and women who were defined and restricted by cultural constructions of culture, social class and gender. This particular genre of Roots music reflects on how society has always struggled against oppressive social and economic conditions. The celebration of giving pride to one’s personal identity.  

GENRE OF MUSIC- ROOT MUSIC

The artist I listened to.

The particular artist I have chosen to listen to is a band called ‘His Merry Men’. As described in their biography on the Triple J Unearthed website, His Merry Men are a 10-piece band led by front woman Megan Crocombe. With music roots heavily influenced by funk n soul, His Merry Men add touches of surf rock, hip hop and jazz.

 

How Roots music is connected to Global change.

Roots music has continually become popular in the 21st century. In this current era of globalisation, roots music progresses by creating elements from disparate sources. Roots music continues to give a voice to many people around the world, who use music as a means of reflection on and, in many cases still, promoting social change.