February Air

So things have calmed down enough to post again. Orientation has slowed down and classes start next Monday, so there’s not much left to do until then… Which is why we’re planning a trip to the beach this weekend! A bunch of the international students that I’ve been hanging out with are planning on taking a trip up the Gold Coast this Thursday for a long weekend on Surfer’s Paradise (Google image it). Needless to say, I’m very excited and can’t wait to learn how to surf :) I’ll be sure and tell you how it goes and how many times I crash into wave.
Other than that, I’m adjusting to life in Toowoomba. I went out job searching over the past couple days and it’s looking pretty good. It’s not too hard for a uni student to get a job working at a café or as a waitress at a bar, like I am trying to do, so hopefully I’ll get something lined up pretty soon. Over the weekend, we hit the town of Toowoomba and last night was our friend Casey’s birthday, so a bunch of us planned a birthday barbeque last night which was super fun (since we’ve all been craving some cheeseburgers).
Toowoomba is a difficult town to describe. It’s roughly the same size as Ann Arbor but it also has this small town feel to it. The houses have a Spanish look with the terra cotta roof and then there are trees that look like they are straight out of the Lion King, so it’s definitely got this eclectic feel. I’m going to start to try to take more pictures of town and the campus so you can understand what I’m talking about. There are certain brands that are different but it’s not too hard to find what you need in a grocery store. I was surprised though at how many brands Australia shares with the States. There’s a Target, a K-Mart, a Baskin Robbins and a Pizza Hut all fairly close to the uni. And Burger King is known as Hungry Jack’s down here. Same food, same logo, just a new name. Also, I’ve gotten pretty good at using Public Transportation since I take the bus anytime I need to go downtown.
Some weird things about Australian life:
1.) The locks turn the other way. Which gets me every time I go into the bathroom.
2.) Actually, everything goes the other way. Including cars and the direction you walk on the sidewalk. Meaning I’m constantly running into other people.
3.) The driver’s seat is obviously flipped to the right side, so I’m always taken aback when I see what looks like a ghost driver driving down the street.
That’s about for now, I’m sure I’ll write back after Surfer’s Paradise.
P.S. Aussie kids are SO cute. They all wear uniforms and little hats to go to school and one little boy offered me his seat on the bus the other day. I might take one home with me... Kidnapping isn’t illegal here right? :)

Capped Internet...

This is a short update for now, but I’m beginning to adjust to life here which means capped internet. So unfortunately, that means way less Facebook and no uploading pictures, Skype, etc. Hopefully I can figure out a loophole, but for now, the best way to get a hold of me is to email me at w0097092@mail.connect.usq.edu.au because that address doesn’t count toward my quota. I’ll write back more later- I think today, we are going to climb Tabletop Mountain which is this flat rock in Toowoomba, so we shall see… Miss you all!

Other Side of the World

So I’ll tell you this, uni is a lot different from my weekend in Sydney. While my weekend was very structured and jam packed, after arriving in the Brisbane airport, I got picked up and dropped off at my (nearly empty) dorm here in USQ at Toowoomba. The dorm is small (like 10x10) but it’s fine for just me. There’s a giant window that takes up a whole wall which lets me hear the bugs/birds that live down here. I swear, I feel like I’m living in a rainforest! I live in the Res Colleges and they try to split up most of the international students between the buildings, so right now it’s pretty empty, but it will fill up as soon as the Australian students move in next week. Orientation is pretty boring: a lot of meetings about Visas and health care but it gives me a lot of time to sort out a lot of the logistical work that I have to do to be enrolled, getting a student ID, etc. There’s not a ton of international students here, but I’ve met a few people. I’m trying to get pictures of my trip to Sydney up so hopefully you can see those as soon as possible! Here’s some Australian lingo that they actually use all the time
a. Brekkie= breakfast
b. Fringe= bangs
c. Heaps= lots
d. Scullying= chugging
e. I’ve heard ‘mate’ a lot but I haven’t heard ‘sheila’ yet
f. Good on ya= good job
g. Jumper= sweater/sweatshirt
h. Lift= elevator

Life in Technicolor

G’day! (It sounds cheesy when I write it, but they actually DO say that).

I don’t even know where to start about my trip so far. This past weekend has been so jam packed and so unreal… I left Detroit on Wednesday morning to arrive in LA early Wednesday afternoon. My flight to Sydney didn’t fly out until 10:30 PM so I spent most of the day walking around Manhattan Beach and going to this resturant that my parents recommended. The weather in CA wasn’t great- kind of drizzly in the high 50s, but it was nicer than the MI snow. The greatest I experienced jet lag was while waiting in LAX for Sydney because it was nearly 2 AM to me by the time I boarded our flight. The flight down under was amazing. I love flying and the Qantas flight was really nice. I watched a few movies (Australia being one of them, which made me very excited to go) and tried to sleep, even though I could only sleep for a few hours. During the plane ride, as we descended, I started to see how beautiful Australia is- the sky was bluer and everything was so green! We landed at around 9 AM Friday morning and after going through customs, I met with all of the other CIS students, our leader Kym and her son Scott. The way the time changes worked out, none of us were too jet lagged, so the 9 of us left for a tour of Sydney.
The first thing I noticed while walking around Sydney was that everything was so clean! It’s a huge city, and I felt like I was walking around NYC but without feeling as cramped or as dirty. It’s so open and not overwhelming in the least. We walked throgh Chinatown and stopped in this place called Patty’s Market where you can pretty much buy anything. I picked up some forgotten towels and we ate lunch (since all of us were ravenous). The currency is different here and I feel like I’m in Canada everytime I pay with a $2 coin. After Patty’s, we went to this tower that is in the middle of Sydney and allows you to see the whole skyline. Unfortunately, the weather was kind of foggy/rainy so we couldn’t see a ton, but it was still so cool. For dinner, we walked to this pub called Alice Thai which served amazing Thai food. It tasted so good after a long day of walking around. We stayed at this hostel just a few blocks away, which to a lot of people sounds really sketchy (Australians say ‘seedy’), but was honestly one of the nicest places I’ve stayed in. We stayed in rooms with bunk beds and were all very excited to hit the showers that night. I was exhausted by the time we got back so a few of us went straight to bed at about 7:30 and slept straight through til 6 AM the next morning.
The next day started bright and early and after brekkie (breakfast) we took the train up to the Blue Mountains. The mountains are about 2 hours outside of Sydney so we relaxed on the train before hiking. Just our luck, the first weekend we are in Australia the weather is a cool 50/60 degrees and foggy/rainy. So we went hiking through the trails in the rain, but it was still so beautiful. Years of camping experience were no match for this- I kept feeling like we were walking through a rainforest, which essentially we were. Our tour guide would point out various plants, ecosystems, etc. and we ate our lunch inside of a cave. We ended the tour a little early so we all walked around the little village where the train station was and warmed up with hot chocolate in this little café. By the time we got back, we were soaked and couldn’t wait to get past the 2 hour train ride to get into a hot shower. We relaxed a bit for heading out to dinner. The night was a free night to do whatever we wanted, so we all went with Scott to this little bar and grill to get dinner and then went to another bar. Underneath the hostel there was a bar called the Scubar where we ended the night dancing and having drinks (and yes Mum, I got my Wallaby Darned). It was an interesting and unique Valentines Day to say the least…
This morning (Sunday) we woke up to get breakfast at the hostel and then head out to take the train to the Circular Quay. From there, we had an AMAZING view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and we took the ferry to the Tarango Zoo, passing by the bridge and the Sydney Opera House. It was so unreal seeing those things in real life rather than on a postcard (or a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie). The zoo was AWESOME, and for not liking our pets, I loved seeing the animals. I felt like I saw every animal that existed (except we missed the platypuses). And I’ll have you know that kangaroos are a lot smaller than you think they would be. Apparently, they only get to be about 5 feet tall. I was picturing this 8 foot mammoth creature that would kill you by waving its tail at you. But still cute, nonetheless. I took a billion and half pictures so I’m sure you will all see them at some point. We left the zoo, took the ferry and the train back to the hostel and packed up our stuff. Most of the CIS students were going to Macquarie, which is a universtiy in Sydney. I was the only one going to University of Southern Queensland so we all parted and said goodbye. Even though we all only knew each other for just over 2 days, they were all so nice and we all got so close so it was hard to say goodbye knowing that the only people I know in Australia are hours away. But hopefully, we will all reunite before June. I caught my flight from Sydney to Brisbane and am writing this while waiting for my shuttle to come pick me to take me to uni (which is what they call college…) There were so many other things that I’m sure happened that I wish I could write but the weekend was so jam packed and so surreal, that unfortunately, even I can’t remember them all. So goodbye for now, hopefully I will write as soon as I start orientation at USQ!