The First In The World To Celebrate Pesach 5770 (Week 6)

G'day and Chag Sameach from Down Under!

Tonight I went to a Passover seder at Chabad in Paradise, the local Chabad in Surfers. It was needless to say an epic experience. About a week ago my two friends Marni and Rachel told me about this place and we all agreed we would go together. Completely unsure of how to dress, what to bring, what to wear and what to expect we took the bus to the Chabad and gave it a go. When we were at the bus stop there was another girl, Ashley, with us and this other girl who looked like she was dressed conservatively enough to be going to the same place as us. When we got to the building it turned out she was there too. We were all playing some Jewish geography and the Rabbi came to introduce himself to us. He was wearing a top hat, and sporting a long beard just as I had expected. When we asked where we were from and I replied Boston his response was "I have relatives in (some town) and NATICK"...I nearly fell over. Truly defined for me how small this world actually is! Even better, his relatives live about 3 streets away from me. SO WEIRD! Then there is a group of us sitting playing some more Jewish geography and I met a girl named Dana who is from Ohio and goes to Arizona... well, turns out she is a CHI O! Small world keeps getting smaller, I was SO excited to meet a sorority sister of mine I was almost giddy about it!! She's wicked cool and I am excited we met! There was another girl from UAlbany, and two girls from London and 2 from Illinois and more from Canada. There were Jews from Brazil, and Israel too. Some people were speaking Hebrew to each other and I tried to pick up on what they were saying but I was having a hard time.

Overall there were probably 80-100 people at the seder (largest one I've ever been to!) and the rabbi kept making everyone in the room finish their entire glass of wine each cup. We ended up going through 4 bottles of wine just between us girls! When we stood up, we were like uhh..not supposed to be drunk at a seder! They were giving us wine that was 11.5% alc. very crazy! People were singing and dancing, even the rabbi got up on a chair and danced a bit!

The coolest thing about the seder was that the rabbi goes "just think, you are in australia...you are the first people in the world to celebrate the seder and welcome in Elijah." :) such a wild thing to think about!!


The other thing I thought was weird was that I expected a very long seder lasting into the wee hours of the morning. However I got something completely different, an hour long seder followed by the meal and singing. It was really nice to be able to follow along and hear the Rabbi and sing along as well, but I have to say I was relieved that it didn't last for hours! The meal was decent too, we were quite full after! We had meat pies for the main meal! It was brisket meat in a meat pie! We also had shmurah matzah and Israeli salad and of course they served plates of beets...Aussies love their beets! 

I also found out that the Rabbi comes to my campus every Monday for discussion groups and told us we can give him our numbers and he will meet up with us. It was also cool to meet some other Jewish students studying here at Griffith since I felt I was lacking that. I didn't really know what to expect for the student scene but the Rabbi helped break the ice, made fun of all of us a bit and it was nice. The whole thing was much more laid back than I had expected and no one was as covered (elbows and knees) as I had thought it would be. We sang alot too and instead of parsley we dipped onion into salt water (I don't recommend that)! The big thing I missed though was Daddy's horseradish! The horseradish here was gross and even though the haroset was pretty good, it didn't make up for it! There were eggs and gefilte fish and everything too though.I am thinking I am going to skip my lecture tomorrow night and go to the second seder at the Chabad. 

Whether I get to go tomorrow night or not I had a great time tonight. I really, really, really am glad I went and got to experience this. I think it'll be one of those stories I tell for a long time to come!

Let the crew of usuals know they have competition for who has a better seder though ;)

Chag Sameach to all of my Jews throughout the world, a happy and a healthy!

xoxo hugs and kisses!

SHOW ME YOUR TEETH! Brisbane and Lady Gaga (Week 6)

G'Day from Brizzyvegas!

The week has been busy! We went shopping at a few local shops one day with my neighbor Emma, she is Australian and knew of some places to show us. I also finally found raw tuna sushi which has been a challenge! Sushi here is so cheap! On average, 2 big rolls and a drink for 6 dollars, but all of there tuna sushi is tuna salad which is pretty gross to have in sushi. Yet one little woman working at Happy Roll managed to find me 4 pieces of raw tuna and I was in heaven! Next week we might try a new place that is a little more expensive but of course not too bad (10 dollars kind of thing...) and they are supposed to have great tuna sashimi! Can't wait!

I have done more work these past few days than I have since December! It's kind of unreal. I even spent a few hours on a bright and sunny Friday in the library! Which by the way, I rarely even do at URI anymore! It was clutch though because it paid off, I got my work done and now it's a relaxing Sunday night instead of a stressful one!

So now to the fun stuff, this was an epic weekend! ,My roommate Taylor's best friend from home in NY,Liz, goes to BU and is studying in Sydney right now. Liz is roommates at BU and in Sydney with my old camp friend, Allie. It was a very small world connection we made the first week here and they came to visit Gold Coast for the weekend. Friday night started by 10 of us girls adventuring to a locals bar we'd never been to before called Swingin' Safari. Turned out to be an old house made into a bar with live music and a very chill scene. It was located between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, somewhat convenient and pretty cool but closed early, at midnight. From there we walked 5 blocks to Beergarden where we met up with everyone else. After a half hour we got bored and Taylor, Lucy, Mikey and I went to O'Malleys where we found all of the other URI kids who go to Bond (the other Aussie Uni on the Gold Coast where mostly Americans go..very popular school). It was fun to see everyone but Taylor, Lucy and I left pretty early and headed back to campus.

On Saturday we planned to get up early to catch a train to Brisbane but overslept. We ended up getting to Brisbane around noon after a very long ride, but our first Aussie train experience. Kiki needed to go to a Bridal expo (the biggest Bridal expo in Queensland!) for her marketing class, but Elle and I skipped out on that an explored! We got off the train in Southbank, Brisbane. Unsure of anything we wandered, and found the greatest spot... first: GREY STREET! Now for any true Dave Matthews fans, this was a ridiculously exciting moment in our lives. We found a great little roundabout with signs saying Grey St. all around. I walked the street singing "on the corner of Grey Street and the end of the worlddd!" it was amazing. And of course, being the tourists (and DMB fans) that we are..both Elle and I posed for pictures!

SO after strolling down Grey Street we wandered into a gorgeous garden area and found the city river and a lagoon. Elle and I had a picnic lunch in the garden/park and then walked around taking amazing and artsy pictures of our surroundings. It was gorgeous, and the weather was perfectly sunny and breezy. We eventually met up with Kiki and strolled through this little market. We only bought a couple old fashioned Australia posters but they are cool. (I got one of Fosters beer with a baby joey inside the label! Even though they don't actually even drink Fosters around here...it's an Aussie beer). We were staying with our orientation friends for the night who go to the Griffith Uni in Brisbane (Nathan campus) so we met up with them and walked around the city a bit, we took a bridge over from Southbank.. a very pretty walk!

top: city from view of bridge

bottom: city from across the river in the central park

When we finally got to the Nathan campus we chilled in their flat for a bit, very different than ours here in Goldie! We took forever to get ready, and I put thunderbolts of gemstones on both Kiki and Elle's faces because they dressed up like Gaga. I didn't go all out, I just had a headband with a bow and lace face cover like her. Now for the fun...our adventure getting from campus to the Brisbane Entertainment Center was rather exciting.. only not. We were running late already, had NO CLUE how to get around Brisbane and knew we'd miss our chance to pre-game at the bars. However we were told by the first bus driver that it'd take 2 hours to get there and if that was true we'd miss her show. We RAN from the bus to the train in a panic. Our train was already there, and we only knew that because we ran to it and asked a lady getting on the train. Luckily, we made it and about 35 minutes later got off the train and basically jogged our way through a crowded path of psycho people just like us, dressed up as gaga, to the box office. When we finally got our tickets we ran to the entrance to miss just half of her first song. Sweet life. Soberly, I tripped up the stairs and hurt my knee pretty badly- I guess that's why I shouldn't run in dark places up stairs. Needless to say, Gaga was INCREDIBLE!!! She is such a great performer and we were up out of our seats and dancing and going wild. It was even her birthday so we got to sing to her- very cool. The show was awesome as she loves her fans and kept telling us. Gaga had about 12 different costume changes and worked them into the show alot, she only left stage a few times but she has screens coming down with a twister around her as she changes inside and did a few other fun things. Her dancers were so fun to watch too! The slower songs where she played piano were awesome and she followed them up with huge powerful songs. She ended with 'Bad Romance' as her encore and it was wild. So glad I went!! After the show we met up with our other friends who had different seats than us and began our 2 hour adventure back to the campus. When we got back we all just crashed basically and woke up early today to head home. It was another 3 hours of traveling till we got home today but it was worth it, the show was amazing and Brizzy is a great city. I didn't get to see my friend Shabot from my Israel trip but hopefully next time I am in the city we can meet up.

As for other new things...the first Passover seder is tomorrow night here in Aussie and I am feeling the homesickness of wishing I could be at home for the holiday but my two friends who go to school with me that I know from camp and our Israel trip found a Chabad in Surfers that we are going to attend their seder. It should be an interesting experience to say the least, but I am kind of excited because I have yet to meet any Jewish Aussies just yet. The other thing is, Marni and Rachel found a place to get matzah and picked me up some today so I really am still keeping it on the other side of the world, it's just a bit harder. I wish you all a happy passover. Chag Sameach.

I am still missing my Rhode Island loves. It's hard because Greek Week is coming up and I really miss my Chi O girls. However, if you're reading this- know a postcard is headed your way!! As for home, I miss my house. I miss my family. I miss my big girl comfy bed with lots of pillows. It's okay though, because I Skype the family often. I miss Steve alot, alot. We are looking for a good place to take a long weekend together this summer and I am very excited for it. Don't get me wrong though, just because I miss my Mommy doesn't mean I don't absolutely love it here! Australia is incredible and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. Coming abroad to study for a semester was probably one of the best decisions I could ever have made and I am learning a lot not only about this fabulous country but also about myself and I love every second of it. "Live Out Loud" as Janelle would say. It's exactly what I am trying to do.. just wait till you see me skydive. It's a whole new thing I have going on...called facing fears. I'm enjoying it. :) So I do miss you all, and love you but don't mistake homesickness for wishing I wasn't here...because I find them to be very different.

Also, we are having a room inspection this week so lets hope for the best for our entire block. I'd say we're quite the party block and I can only hope it's clean enough to pass inspection!!

This will probably be the last post before New Zealand (which will be amazing!) because we leave in 1 week. I can't wait!! Kiki, Elle, Colleen and I are traveling around together and it's going to be the best week. We are  horseback riding, going on a wine tour, taking a cruise around the Milford sound, SKYDIVING!, and lots more! I can't wait to tell all of you about it after!

:) hugs and kisses!

xoxo

Much More Settled... (Week 5)

G'Day!

So I am finally caught up on blog posts and can discuss anything and everything in this one! Here goes the ranting, raving, rambling mess of a post...I'll start with the regular stuff though because this week has been a bit more relaxed and settled in it feels. Week 5 just ended for me being in Australia but it was only week 3 of classes. I am loving it more and more each week! I spent most of the week sick, so I slept a lot and only ventured out a bit. However, I managed to get a little sun which was clutch. Last Wednesday I forced myself to go out for St. Patty's Day.. we all went to Surfers to this bar called O'Malleys. It was packed with green clothes, Guinness hats and green beer jugs! A whole lot of drunkenness at it's best. However the rest of the week was just as festive.

This past weekend (Weekend 5) was great too! A bunch of us hung out one night and went to the  rec room in the village, with super comfortable couches and a big flat screen TV. We watched Life As A House and of course I fell asleep mid movie! Saturday night we were supposed to go to a house warming party in Surfers but Colleen and I lost the whole group and ended up at Beergarden (my favorite bar). It was just as fun and there were three different bachelor parties going on throughout the night. Of course they were all old men that Kiki, Colleen and I mingled with. Regardless it was a quality night that ended in happy meals. That seems to be the trend around here. I've only fallen into the trap twice though, and yes- that is something to be proud of!

There is one new thing I wanted to blog about.. it's the question that every post really answers... it's why are we here? Why am I in Australia? The more we all talk about it and think about it, it just seems unreal. It's like one big dream. I am living in a dorm-like apartment with 4 other people who a month ago were complete strangers to me.  I go out every night trusting the same group of girls to safely come back with me... and one month ago we were all strangers boarding a plane to a foreign country together. It's an unbelievable feeling to be here and think about this. It's amazing and incredible at the same time as it is scary and wild. It's been an adventure and to think that we are all changing as individuals in a group of best friends that really we don't know much about. Just a little reflecting.... 

On another note... Internet here is ridiculous! I mean we pay by the month and yet we are all international students who need Skype to communicate back home, and Facebook to share our pictures and that eats up internet very quickly. The connection is also shitty. It's always in and out, often catching every other word on Skype. I guess it's partly because I Skype every day, however you have no idea what it's like to have a boyfriend on the other side of the world until you try it. Thats another rant...

I really, really, really miss Steve. Just as we really fell comfortably into something amazing, I left. It's really weird how that works, but everything happens for a reason- right? I can't believe we have already gone a whole month with just talking over Skype and BBM but at the same time I picture being here without BBM or Skype and it would be absolutely miserable. Though at first it was really hard to keep this across the world relationship strong because we were both adjusting to the time difference and everything, we have both given up a bit of sleep to be able to Skype because all we want to do is see each other, but we are doing such a great job at it. I really think so. We are both dedicated to each other and in this together and the trust is all that matters. Steve is the most understanding guy, and he wants me to enjoy Aussie just like I should be, and therefore being involved isn't holding me back, if anything its making me try even more new things! I love being here knowing that I can BBM him as something happens and tell him all my stories and that when I am out at night, I have him to go home to talk to before bed! I really believe that being in a relationship keeps me focused on the beauty of Australia, rather than the beauty of Australian men (like most of my friends). I have really learned to appreciate time, and I think it all has to do with this relationship. In just a few more months we'll be back together and I know we'll have every minute together so it makes all of this long distance stuff worth it in the end.


Along with that, I am realizing how much I love sitting in Chi O doing absolutely nothing yet laughing hysterically with Shayna, Fitz, Foley, and Christine. I honestly miss them and Chi O so, so much... which truth be told- I didn't think I would. It's a good break from the URI drama of course, but I am really excited to go back to live with Liz and Smalls down the line in our beach house.. I actually can't wait!! I think it's going to be weird though because once I am back, Shay leaves and I just keep telling myself that she is making it through this semester without me, and I will survive next semester without her too. It's okay cause I plan to send the most amazing packages of course! Also, I kind of miss the usual suspects of 10 Frat that run around causing chaos... it's one of those things you don't think about missing till you aren't around it. Of course, at the beginning of Fall I was just as worried about being at school in a new scene of friends in a way, but it all worked out and now I miss my favorite girls!

SO now for the topic everyone seems to ask me about- Aussie food. Yes, it's different. Every sandwich/burger/wrap has beets and bacon in it. Bacon is more like ham here. Ham and cheese is a huge thing.  They also LOVE sweet chili sauce. It is put on every food. It's good, I bought a jar for when I cook chicken and meats. There is this food though, called a Kebab (kah-bahb) and it's delicious! Comparable to a burrito, but healthier and more delicious. It's heavenly and comes with lamb, chicken, falafel or a combo. You can put any additional food on it as well (lettuce, onions, pickles, peppers, etc). As far as the rest of the food goes, things are a bit different although everything 'appears' the same. Yes, they have McDonalds, and Burger King is called Hungry Jacks. However- these are both healthier than the typical American fast food chains. Fast food here is also called take away (rather than take out). They have amazing smoothies and crushes (icey) at a place called  Boost and they have the best gelato (besides Italy I'm sure). They call ketchup tomato sauce and the grill is the barbie. They have Australian patties and sausages- those are roo meat! They sell crocodile and shark meat at the butcher and you can buy milk in a room-temperature carton. Basically, come to Aussie and you will learn to eat healthy because everything unhealthy doesn't look as appealing!

Other than that- there is some amazing Australian retail stores, and I am learning even more about them through my Australian Retail Marketing course. A general few favorite clothes stores are Supre (soup-ray) and Cotton On. They are cheap(ish) and fashionable. Similar to the American Forever 21 and Express stores. Last week Kiki and I explored a new shopping area, more like a mall, called Pacific Fair (PacFair for short). Though it was a 40 minute bus ride away it was well worth it, with Target, Pandora, Cotton On, and many more! We even got Brita waterbottles (best investment since we got here) that filters the tap water! Other than that shopping is typically not a priority, it just happens around here.

So...for the longest post I've written, the rambling is over now. I'm going to actually get some work done before my busy, busy day tomorrow. Wish me luck!

xoxo

Planning Spring Break and Learning to SURF! (Week 4)

G'Day Mates!

So after a lot of debating between Thailand and New Zealand we have finally booked Spring Break 2010 for... drum roll please..... NEW ZEALAND!!!! We will be going to the South Island of New Zealand from April 4-11th for what we are calling Spring Break even though it is Summer into Fall here. Almost everyone who is here on AustraLearn chose to do New Zealand and I think we are going to all rent RVs/Vans and do a lot of sight seeing and camping. Since it's only two weeks away, we should probably plan that out! I am sure we will next week.

As for this week, it was busy with classes and getting work done. Something none of us have done much of since December making it VERY difficult to get focused. Needless to say, we found time to party and get it all done. This past weekend (weekend 4) was even better than the last one in Byron. We went with Mojo Surf Australia to Spot- X to SURF CAMP for the weekend! Best money spent here!!

Friday night we left at 8pm, on a huge coach bus with pink and black Mojo Surf writing outside it. Carly was the driver and she was nuts. Amazing, and so bad ass. The funny thing is, we weren't told until we got to the bus that it was about to be a 5 HOUR bus ride to Spot X. Mind you, it's 8pm on a Friday night. So we all did what we could to enjoy the 5 hours- we slapped bags of goon and chugged from bottles. It worked. We had to pick up more people in Byron Bay and at that time we all needed to use the restroom, but classy as we are, we ended up peeing on the side of the road because the bathrooms were closed. Needless to say it all died down from there, we watched The Hangover for the 4 hours we had left from Byron to Spot X. When we finally got to Spot X we found out it is actually Arrawarra Beach, a place to put it simply in the middle of no where! At 2am when we first arrived, a guy name Wayne took us on a tour, I can barely remember it but I know 10 of us ended up in a bunk-like-shack-like sleeping quarter called Pipeline. We woke up on the first day for a great first surf lesson! Everyone got up and was able to catch waves. We were all so stoked! The surf instructors were cool, and very helpful with great advice. After a few hours in the water, we got out and went to the bottle shop in town. We had a second lesson that afternoon but it was during low tide and the waves were way too much for any beginner to handle. We ended that early and went in to shower and get ready for the night's festivities!

Once we were all showered and dressed with open bottles of passion pop, beer and bags of goon, the girls decided to take a walk on the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous. It's one of those times where we all look around and really need to pinch ourselves asking "do we live here?" and everything around us seems like a sight to see. I took the start of many artsy pictures on that walk. Later that night there were bands playing, a bonfire, and a very chill once-a-year- festival going on. It was pretty cool to see. The chairs around the band were made of surfboards and we all were drinking, laughing and dancing. A great time.

Our second day consisted of hangovers and sunburns, but was very worth it all. On our way home from Spot X that afternoon, we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Wedding Crashers. We also stopped for 2 hours in Byron Bay. Of course, we didn't take the touristy look at it this time, we went straight to what we knew was good and had the time of our lives before the next hour long stretch of a bus ride. We even picked up treats at the 23 hour bakery! Five hours later, our sore surfed out bodies carried all of our bags back to the village and crashed for the night.

Overall, learning to surf, I'd call it an epic weekend. :) Definitely check out the pictures!

xoxo

Byron Bay =our first of many trips (Week-end- 3)

G' Day Mates!

This weekend we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Byron Bay. It is only an hour to an hour and a half drive and is absolutely worth it!! Byron Bay is the most Eastern point of Australia and also the most incredible place in the world. I can honestly say I fell in love with it the moment I walked on the beach with a cold beer in my hand and friends by my side. I have not felt more relaxed than at that first hour in Byron, watching the sun set over the light house.

Byron Bay is about a 4 block town, with boutiques, little shops, and big shops. The best kababs and the prettiest views. Our Aussie friends Thomas and Spillz drove us to Byron where we stayed at their house. Thomas' mom rents their house out for 2 months every year when she travels, so there were the nicest Welshmen staying there. They were kind enough to let us crash on the sofas and floor. However, the next morning it wasn't as nice when we discovered the cockroaches crawling around my friends sleeping on the floor. (Lovely right?)

Anyways... if you watch the sunrise at Byron Bay you are the first person in the world to see the sun rise for that day. Pretty sweet if you ask me. We went to a bar called The Beachie, which is located at the Beach Hotel right by the shore. It was classier and nice, until my friend Elle got kicked by an Australian girl because her dress was too short. That was the only bad encounter any of us have had with Australians since we have been here. We left there because they closed at midnight (earlier than bars in Rhode Island, I thought that was unheard of!!) and tried the popular spot called Cheeky Monkeys. Needless to say Elle and I paid the $5 cover charge only for our friend to get kicked out and in turn, all of us to leave. I have been told however that Cheeky Monkeys has the best cheeseburger in Australia as well as the best dancing on tables you'll find. I'm sure we will make it there on our next trip to Byron.

Byron is the most laid back place, we were walking the street and all of a sudden saw a brigade of naked men riding bikes down the road. Very strange. For sure we took picture though. After that we had hopped to head to Nimbin, a town that you could compare to Amsterdam. You can buy weed brownies on the streets and people come up to you asking to sell things to you. Everyone tells you that you need to go just for the experience, it's unlike any other. We didn't end up going on this trip, but I will be sure to write about it when we do.

This beat out every weekend we have had so far!

:) xoxo

Classes Begin, Reality Hits (Week 3)

G'Day :)

So the fantasy world officially ended in week 3. Now don't get me wrong, this still is paradise but it's very different than before classes began. In Australia the grading system and schooling is much different than in the states. For starters, they begin with 0 points and aim to gain 100 points for grades opposed to start with 100 points and lose them like we do in America. They also have either workshops or 2 meeting times for each course, one is a lecture and one is a tutorial ('tute' as they are called here) but all are once a week. The tutes are the most important to go to because they tend to be smaller (25ish students) and cover all of what was discussed in the lecture that is of any real importance. Basically, I have had friends go to lectures and tutes on the first day and been told by the professor that if they only attend the tute, they will succeed. Funny, American professors have never told me this before! Another big thing about Uni (university is called uni here) is that the majority of first years (freshman) are not straight out of high school. Many if not most, take gap year or years to work or travel. I am therefore in courses with students who are anywhere from 17-25 and I even have a couple classes with older adults. Uni here is very laid back, there is no one chasing you to go to class, and there are very few if any exams or coursework. Most of my course grades are based on a few major assessments throughout the 13 weeks, mainly a couple essays and a presentation kind of thing. The other big difference is that the Australian grading system doesn't give letter grades! They are called HD (High Distinction), D (Distinction), P (Passing), F (Failing) etc. most people get P's as it is VERY hard to get a HD in Uni, but who knows, maybe I can!

I am taking four courses. Luckily for me, I only have class on Mondays and Tuesdays though, which is kind of bittersweet. Monday's are easy. I have one workshop class from 11-2, it's called Pop Fiction and Mass Culture. We watch noir films and analyze crimes. We will have to write a crime story at some point too. It's probably my least favorite class of the ones I have but at the same time, not so miserable. Tuesday however, are the worst. I have classes from 9am-7pm with a 1 hour break in the middle. I start with 2 lectures, then 3 tutes and end with a lecture. My tuesday courses are Youth and Society (my favorite course), Cultural Perspectives 1, and Retail Marketing. I really enjoy the youth and society course. We analyze each others backgrounds and how we all got to be at Uni together, through the creation of digital narratives. These are 2-4 minute films about why we chose Griffith Uni. Included in this analysis are the sociological ideas of mobility, education, family, friends, culture, even chemical use. It's really interesting!! Cultural Perspectives is not what I thought it would be, I am still trying to figure out what it is we are learning but my tute professor is awesome and I am the only American in the tute, so it's cool because all the Aussies want to ask questions!! I also am liking retail marketing. However, I like it for the concepts- hate the lecture. I think the lecturer is so monotone it drives me straight into la la land where all I want to do is nap. It's the last course of my Tuesday and week, obviously not helping the cause!! I am also finding the tute hard because since everything is based on Aussie retail that I still know very little about, I tend to participate less. However, I am adjusting. Overall, classes have been pretty easy and go by quick. I love only having them on Mondays and Tuesdays because they give me a lot more motivation to attend them!!

One last comment, I absolutely hate not having a printer here! It has already cost me $27.70 to print the course outlines (syllabuses) for all 4 courses and assessment guidelines at the library! It is also the biggest pain in the butt. You need to find a computer, click print on that computer, then log off and go log into a printing computer and print from there using a pin # and everything. I think we might look into a group printer...we shall see.

Anyways, have a great week in America :)

xoxo

All the girls beneath the Griffith University sign on our walk to the Tavern!

Turning 21 During O-Week....(Week 2)

G'Day!

Finally here, in Southport, Queensland on the Gold Coast of Australia. It is unlike any place I have ever been before, and it is gorgeous! When we got off the plane in Brisbane we were transported to Griffith University Village by a bus. Now, normally I would say it was an hour bus ride looking at our new home, which it was but the bus driver is worth mentioning. He was an older man who loved to hear himself speak so he tried to tell us he didn't know his way out of the airport, and then continued to guide our drive while rambling the whole hour from Brizzy to Goldie. Ridiculous.

Griffith Uni is pretty cool. The campus is nice, small enough and very modern looking buildings. 'The Village' is where I live. This place is wild. it is a bunch of apartments with a pool, picnic table bbq area, laundry, rec room, and a small store. It is something that you can't understand in an explanation but only through experience. I am going to try my best here, but to put it simply- people who don't live here, come here to party and one night I looked out my window to a mechanical bull outside by the pool. I think that can sum it up pretty well.

The first week was full of getting settled..unpacking and buying apartment things. I realized all too quickly that groceries, and every day necessities are quite pricy and add up quickly. In finding all of this out I bought a lovely purple fan that keeps my non- air-conditioned room cool. I also had a little trouble with my bank cards! I never got a new pin when I got my new card, and therefore every time I tried to use it, it got denied (yes, embarrassing!) Needless to say, Daddy and I both called and took care of things and it is now working fine! The girls and I have even found our new favorite store, comparable to Forever 21, called Supre- it's very popular here! We have also found a love for Kabobs. They are similar to a burrito but ten times better and also healthier for you! They are delicious, cheap and the best take away food!

Anyways as for the apartment...my 'flat mates' as they are called are a lot of fun, we didn't know who we were living with though until we got here. I have a 2 floor, 5 person apartment in block 1 of the village. My apartment, 1111, is pretty sweet. My roommates that I knew from our AustraLearn Orientation are Alyssa and Taylor and they are two of my good friends here. Alyssa is from New Jersey and goes to Ithaca, while Taylor is from New York and goes to Quinnipiac. My other two roommates are Hayley and Caitlin. Hayley is from Alaska and Caitlin is from Pennsylvania. Both go to Acadia. They are sweet, but don't go out with us much.

Other than that brief bit, the first week was unreal. School Orientation at Uni in Australia is one week long and it is called "O-Week" and to put it simply, there are organized events each day that end in either parties here in the village or a free bus to the clubs and bars in Surfers Paradise for drink specials, and particularly Ladies Night Free Drinks. There was only one day during the whole week that we had any formal orientation session and it lasted two hours in a huge lecture hall. We all came straight from the beach, still in wet bathing suits to go listen to it- wasn't worth it!

Perfectly it just so happened to be Tuesday of this week that I was turning 21 here in Australia. To kick off my birthday I made my first big mistake- buying a box of red goon (boxed wine, it's cheap and what everyone here drinks) because no one warned me that all you should ever drink is dry white goon! However, I was a champ and drank a half a bag plus some to my face. There were British guys having me funnel the wine while chanting songs to me, and all my friends were here and very intoxicated in my honor. The night ended with my friends Elle and Alyssa (who I thanked the next day) taking off my shoes for me and tucking me into bed! Needless to say, it was a good night. The next night, which was still my birthday both here and in America fell on, none other than Ladies Night at the Bedroom. It was wild. We went there for free drinks for about an hour. After that we went to two other bars, Avenue and The Beergarden (my favorite place!) At both places my friend Evan made sure they served me free shots in honor of turning 21, because in Australia it is also a big deal! Though I missed the traditional crazy American 21st birthday, overall I would say I had an epic 21st birthday with incredible new friends in an unbelievable country.

O-Week ended with a relaxing weekend, though it rained a lot, and much more going out exploring Surfers Paradise and celebrating being here. Classes then began on Monday March 1st...more on those in the next post no worries!

xoxo

Orientation in Cairns (Week 1)

G'Day!

Well I have been here for two weeks now and have yet to start this blog, so I figure better late than never. This country is unbelievable. From the sights, to the beaches, to the people, everything is amazing! So let's start from the beginning...

When I got to the airport in Boston I met up with Lucy and Taylor, my friends from URI that were going to Australia too, and while we were sitting in the terminal we realized there were a whole lot more of us going from the Boston area to catch the group flight than we thought. It was comforting to immediately meet people! The flight from Boston to LA was delayed an hour, very annoying. Then once we finally took off the flight to LA seemed to last forever. I think it was the longest part of the trip, because the flight to Sydney flew by! When we were in LAX, all of us met up with each other and grabbed food before the next flight. This was the first time all of the AustraLearn kids were together. We then got on a huge plane and settled in for our 13 1/2 hour part of the flight. It was long, but thank god I had an aisle seat and could comfortably fall asleep for most of it! Once we got to Sydney everyone enjoyed their first Australian beers and waiting for yet another plane ride to our final destination. That flight went fast too, and before we knew it we were in the hot and humid Cairns, Australia.

Our week in Cairns was one that I don't think I ever want to re-live, even though it was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. Why was it the worst? Well, for starters as soon as we got there we had to drag all of our bags a solid mile in the most humid weather any of us had ever experienced. From there, we had to stay in Serpents Hostel, where our air conditioning didn't exactly work. Picture six college girls, with 2 huge suitcases each, plus carry ons, in one room with 3 bunk beds and no AC. However, through it all, I still think it was an awesome week. How many people can say they snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef, pet a kangaroo, held a koala and traveled to the rainforest all in one week's time? Only as many students that have ever gone through AustraLearn to study in Australia! Even though I am scared of animals, I thought our day at the rainforestation place was wicked cool. I loved the baby kangaroos, getting to see some aboriginals, and seeing a crocodile get fed! The best part was posing for a picture, holding a koala- that's claws dug into my arms and grabbed my hair! The dingos were funny, and the signs for them were even better. A few days later we returned to the rainforest and we had a community service day, where we were giving back to the Aussie community. We planted trees in the rainforest for the Karamunda birds. This was a nice thought, but it seemed like we weren't doing much, as we didn't get immediate results and many of us were lost in the mix of it all.

Our day on the reef was awesome, even though it rained a bit. We snorkeled and saw cool fish of all colors, and even cooler coral type of things. I loved the rainbow fish personally. It was crystal clear water but choppy, so it was quite a struggle to snorkel. A few people got sick but like my friend Elle said, "I threw up on the 7th wonder of the world! How many people can say that?" On our cruise back to shore it turned into a booze cruise, with about 75 American college kids playing drinking games on a boat... I'll let you picture it for yourself.

Needless to say, that week we spent our nights at the local bars, a favorite of everyones being the Woolshed. The best night of the week though, was our first two-story bus bar crawl that all of us went on together. It was wild. We went to 5 different bars, and got drink specials at each one. Everyone was dancing and going crazy- it was a lot of fun and good bonding for all of us.

After 6 days in Cairns, we all dragged our luggage once more to the airport and boarded the plane to Goldie- The Gold Coast- where Griffith University is located. More to come on this adventure in the next post!

Keep up with your Aussie slang so you'll understand the future posts everyone!

Love Love Love xoxo