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