Trips and O-Week

G’day! How ya going? I’m good. I’m learning more phrases everyday so it’s starting to all sink in. I’m getting the hang of this new language! I don’t care what anyone says, they may speak English but it’s a totally different language! We can make fun of them for words that are strange to us and they make fun of us for things we say as well. It’s great fun to just sit and talk about slang and different words or phrases. I especially love it when they say “heaps”, it seems to happen a lot lately. I have learned soooo much already and school doesn’t start til Monday! Chewy = gum; sunnies = sun glasses; lollies = any candy, sweets; stuffed = tired, exhausted; caravan park = trailer park; Eskie = cooler; snags = sausage; skull = chug; avo = afternoon. It’s quite intriguing. Anyway, so what have I been up to!?
Last weekend we took two day trips. Saturday two of the aussies took about 30 of us international students into Melbourne for the day. It was pretty disappointing really. They didn’t know what they were doing and were not organized at all so we did a whole lot of standing, sitting, and waiting. A few people got lost and we had to call them and find each other, everyone wanted to go their own way but we couldn’t, and there was no plan at all. It was frustrating. Sure it was nice to see the city, but it could’ve been so much better. We spent a ton of money as well, and it felt like for nothing. The train ride was $10. Then we went to see Federation Square, cool but not much to do or see. We went inside to ACMI, I can’t remember what it stood for, but they had an exhibition inside that was pretty worthless. I’m sorry to say that for those of my friends who are obsessed, but it was all about video games from the 80s in Australia. You could play some and it showed all the creators and different things they had, not too exciting for me, or most everyone else. Then we walked around in circles for awhile and ended up back at the river to take a river cruise on the Yarra. It was okay, good way to see the city, but we ended up having to pay to ride it, which we weren’t supposed to because if we bought lunch they’d give it to us. Well, on top of that lunch was very expensive! I got the cheapest things, a salad and some “chips”(fries) to split and a “lemonade”(it was just like sprite really) and with the fare it cost me $25. Crazy. Then we went to the Rialto Tower which used to be the tallest building in the southern hemisphere til they built another apt. complex right across the river. So we had to pay $7 to go up there. They showed a really cheesy video about Melbourne beforehand. It was neat to see the city from above, and it was a clear day which helped. However, after being up in the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building, it wasn’t so impressive, those were quite a bit taller I think. Then we spent the entire afternoon walking in circles around the city with a stop to sit in the mall for awhile. They gave us time to shop on one street, but it wasn’t too great and only a few people wanted to go anyway. To add to the frustration of this unimpressive day, it was close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit that day, which in the city was quite sweltering!! I was totally exhausted when we got back around 8pm, with a bit of a sunburned back too. I always feel like I’m frying even if I’m not, so I slather on tons of sunscreen, the sun is incredibly strong here. So anyway, we’ve already said we have to back there soon on our own and have a good day!
Sunday we went on a bus to the Bellarine Peninsula, just to see a bunch of beaches. We stopped in a town called Queenscliff and then in Torquay to eat lunch. We went to Bells Beach then and stayed there for a couple hours just hanging out on the beach and getting in the ocean a bit. The water is chilly I think, but it felt good as it was another very hot day. It was relaxing to just do nothing on the beach for awhile. We had a long hike up a bunch of stairs back to the busses! Then we went back to Torquay to shop at some of the surf shops before heading to a town called Angelsea. There we went to the golf course to see kangaroos, they come out every night around sunset to the golf course to eat the grass. So we saw a whole bunch of them, it was cool to get to see real wild kangaroos! They were pretty far away though so I didn’t get great pictures or anything, but it was cool. So now I’ve seen a koala and kangaroos, and one night we had a “barbie”, what else is there to do?! Then we just rode back to campus. It was a good day.
That night started O-Week as well, orientation week. Everyone in the resis went to some bar downtown, Lamby‘s(it was right next to the National Wool Museum!). It was okay, a little strange, they surprised us some, pretty crazy kids. It’s strange to be surrounded by all 18 year olds, as the first years are the only ones who have moved back yet. And they are legal! It seems so wrong to me though, it’s hard to get used to! I feel old next to them, it’s amazing how much you mature and change in just a few years of college! These kids haven’t even started yet. But it was fun, and another learning experience. Monday morning we had a couple meetings, but us international students didn’t really need to go. We were told to, but they were all aimed at incoming college students you know, stuff we’ve heard before and know by now. It wasn’t anything too specific, it’s the same throughout the world. But that’s okay. We got free lunch, as we do all week. Pretty alright stuff, sausages Monday and a hamburger Tuesday. But let me tell you, that didn’t taste anything like beef to me!! They are surely missing out if that’s what they think beef tastes like. Wednesday was falafel I think, but I’m not really sure what that is, so who knows. Monday night we had a mix and match party. It was actually a lot of fun. I was worried it wouldn’t be since it seemed to be set up for all single people and I’m not one of them. But really nobody seemed to stay with their number. They gave everyone numbers when we walked in, then the girls went upstairs and the guys were downstairs. We just all hung out for awhile talking and such, the girls did some chants that were quite funny. Anyway, after a few hours we went downstairs to find our match. I found mine after awhile and we met and talked for a few minutes before he left to talk to some other girls. Another girl was also the same number since there were a lot more girls than guys, so we just left him as well. So I went to find my international friends and we hung out together all night. Loretta, Nick and Marc never found their matches, sad. We had a good time though. Tuesday Loretta and I went to another pointless meeting meant for first years, we’ve already heard all that stuff. That night we didn’t feel like going to the party they had planned so we went mini-golfing instead. We all went on a bus and didn’t have to pay, which was amazing. It was fun, a very challenging mini-golf course actually!! It took quite awhile too. It was fun to meet some more aussies and figure out the intriguing holes. Wednesday was market day here, where all the clubs come out and have booths. So I signed up with the Commerce Society since that is my “course” here and they give you discounts at all the clubs, bars, shops, and restaurants in town which is great. I also joined DUSA, the student association, so I can get discounts on trips and functions and meet some more people. They also have free food days through the year! Then Loretta and I did another stupid thing, go on a library orientation tour. It was pointless, most of it was talking about how to use the internet for the library, all very simple stuff I could have found myself. But it’s okay. We had time to relax and do nothing for awhile in the afternoon, finally nap time for me! We’ve had free dinners all week as well, they’ve been okay. Monday’s enchilada was tasty. Tuesday’s “parmi” (chicken parmesan) was gross. And last night’s pasta was great. Last night was Uni night at the Pond’s (the Waurn Pond’s Hotel Bar) across the street by campus. It was packed, seriously, absolutely packed. You could barely walk or stand anywhere, and that place was huge. So we didn’t stay too long. It was still fun, interesting, but crowded and loud, all those “jaffys”(they call the first years) were screaming and such, crazy kids. So we went back to campus after an hour or two and hung out there all night. It was quite a fun time. We don’t have anything to do all weekend, so we thought about heading into Melbourne again or something, going down to a few beaches, I’m not sure. We really should have planned a big trip for this whole week, we could’ve left last Friday and stayed til this Sunday. It was a fun week though, just not very useful I suppose.
I got skype working!!! So add me if you haven’t yet and we can start talking for FREE!!!! It would be great seeing as I’ve spent $80 on phone cards thus far, yikes! He couldn’t get AIM to work, so I had to download MSN messenger, so if you have that, I’m alissam21@hotmail.com. Or, you should download it and add me so we can talk that way as well. Although, I just found out that you can chat over skype as well, just as a message thing, so that would work as well. I’m so excited I can finally communicate with everyone!
Well I better get going. I sure wish I could fly all of you over here to visit me and so you could see how wonderful it is for yourselves!! Hope things continue to be great back home, although I’m so sorry you don’t have as wonderful weather as I do! J Keep me updated on you and have a great day!
Love, Alissa