Cheers Mate!
Been having a fabulous week in Australia. First week of classes was surprisingly interesting for all the course info and introductions. It's wonderful taking classes outside the sciences. I really forgot how much I loved the humanities.
I'm finally settling into life here. As I walk around campus, I am beginning to feel at home. The adjustment from a college of 3,000 to one of 30,000 has been interesting. There are literally a sea of people trying to get to class every day. For me, it's even harder because everyone walks on the other side of the sidewalk. Not something I thought would be a huge deal, but I have bumped into many a confused person as I try to plow through on the wrong side. My classes all have 100 + people in them. Being the super nerd that I am (and having bad eyesight), I always sit toward the front so the classroom is only as big as the number of people in front of you right?
I am becoming more thankful for my apt location as it is within walking distance of campus. Many have to commute on buses and even trains to get to college... SO happy I'm only a short walk away. However, my ablility to attract semi-crazy roommates (think freshman year) still persists even on the other side of the world. Both my roommates are wonderful, lovely people and the three of us get along very well. However, Ari and I are from American, are undergrad students, and spend most of our time socializing and making friends. Our third roommate is from Singapore, getting her Masters, and never leaves the apt. Ari and I like to have people over to hang out or cook, which Mariah is not ok with. She is actually not comfortable with having people over... EVER. We have tried to compromise and even had some friends over in our garage... to no avail. Should be an interesting semester in that regard.
Something I find very interesting in Australia is the lack of college pride. My mom asked me to get her a shirt that says UQ on it, but I seriously don't know if those exist. No one wears anything that symbolizes their university. All students in Australia simply go to "Uni" rather than University of Queensland or QUT etc. Perhaps the consequence of a government funded higher education system?
Thats all for now folks. In short, I am really starting to love it here! Huzzah!
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Friday, 25 February 2011
G'day!
Hello internet!
So this is my attempt to escape from the nerdy world of proteins, sponges, and labs. As a self-proclaimed nerd, I will try to remember how to write something other than experimental methods and data results. Needless to say, bare with me as I try to regain my writing skills.
AUSTRALIA! It's so crazy to think I'm halfway around the world. The flight was easily the most enjoyable I have ever had. I was fortunate enough to get an exit row seat which gave me limitless amounts of leg room; so needed on a 14 hour flight. My seat was also right next to the flight attendant station. I befriended the flight attendants who at the end of the flight gave me a complimentary bottle of champagne and a flag of australia.... wonderful welcome into the country.
Delirious and jet lagged, I finally made it to my little apartment. Never been homesick before but wow does it suck. No one was home when I arrived and well... it wasn't a pretty sight for a few hours. Anyway, my apartment is thankfully livable after all the flooding. It is literally all white... white chairs. white walls, white kitchen.... kind of looks like a prison. Decorations are much needed. My apartment mates are lovely. Mariah is a masters student from Singapore and has lived here for a semester already. Sadly all her belongings were destroyed in the flood. Arielle is an American from UMASS studying for the semester. We all get along very well. It's pretty lonely in the building though. Not many people living here because of the floods, other than our colony of ants. I get to wake up to hundreds of ants crawling from the door into the wall every morning.
It's been an interesting first week here. With no classes and nothing really to do, I've had a lot of down time. Went to some orientation events where I learned that there are 3000 international students, which is the size of Richmond. CRAZY! The campus is beautiful, although rather hard to navigate with all the flooding. I haven't met many australian students yet as most of them simply live in Brisbane and haven't been around campus. The other international students are very nice though. Everyone here is super duper friendly and helpful. I've made some American friends who I've been spending most of my time with. We went to a Toga party! (Pre-game for senior year?) Apparently I like to pick up an accent while drinking? And it was pretty convincing as I had many people asking me what part of Australia (or England....) I was from. We are spending a day at the beach tomorrow which will hopefully help my pasty whiteness.... and not make me turn into a tomato.
In Summary:
Homesickness blows, I'm as pale as my apt walls, I'm liking being here more and more, I can't wait for classes to start! Oh and miss you all immensely!
So this is my attempt to escape from the nerdy world of proteins, sponges, and labs. As a self-proclaimed nerd, I will try to remember how to write something other than experimental methods and data results. Needless to say, bare with me as I try to regain my writing skills.
AUSTRALIA! It's so crazy to think I'm halfway around the world. The flight was easily the most enjoyable I have ever had. I was fortunate enough to get an exit row seat which gave me limitless amounts of leg room; so needed on a 14 hour flight. My seat was also right next to the flight attendant station. I befriended the flight attendants who at the end of the flight gave me a complimentary bottle of champagne and a flag of australia.... wonderful welcome into the country.
Delirious and jet lagged, I finally made it to my little apartment. Never been homesick before but wow does it suck. No one was home when I arrived and well... it wasn't a pretty sight for a few hours. Anyway, my apartment is thankfully livable after all the flooding. It is literally all white... white chairs. white walls, white kitchen.... kind of looks like a prison. Decorations are much needed. My apartment mates are lovely. Mariah is a masters student from Singapore and has lived here for a semester already. Sadly all her belongings were destroyed in the flood. Arielle is an American from UMASS studying for the semester. We all get along very well. It's pretty lonely in the building though. Not many people living here because of the floods, other than our colony of ants. I get to wake up to hundreds of ants crawling from the door into the wall every morning.
It's been an interesting first week here. With no classes and nothing really to do, I've had a lot of down time. Went to some orientation events where I learned that there are 3000 international students, which is the size of Richmond. CRAZY! The campus is beautiful, although rather hard to navigate with all the flooding. I haven't met many australian students yet as most of them simply live in Brisbane and haven't been around campus. The other international students are very nice though. Everyone here is super duper friendly and helpful. I've made some American friends who I've been spending most of my time with. We went to a Toga party! (Pre-game for senior year?) Apparently I like to pick up an accent while drinking? And it was pretty convincing as I had many people asking me what part of Australia (or England....) I was from. We are spending a day at the beach tomorrow which will hopefully help my pasty whiteness.... and not make me turn into a tomato.
In Summary:
Homesickness blows, I'm as pale as my apt walls, I'm liking being here more and more, I can't wait for classes to start! Oh and miss you all immensely!
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