Page 2 of Bethany S Travel Blog Posts


Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne March 2nd 2009

So today was the first day of class...it started at 9AM, which wasn’t that bad except that I live in a dungeon so my internal clock never sets and it makes getting up impossible. Anyway, I got to campus early because I was trying to find a “Personal Response System” that we have to use in my physiology class. It’s basically like playing Who Wants to be a Millionaire while in class. It records answers to quiz questions throughout lecture. My first class-physiology went well. It’s just a huge lecture, but it seems like the professor is really nice. I also went to a class all about Australia-politics, history, entertainment, people, etc. The professor is funny and a completely entertaining lecturer. Classes aren’t really that different from the States, so nothing really surprising happened. They call ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne March 1st 2009

I've decided that everyone here is super nice! I mean like surprisingly out of the ordinary nice. If you’re looking lost, someone random will just come up and help you. Everyone on campus is also ready to help. People are generally in a great mood and aren’t too concerned about life’s problems. It’s refreshing! Even the professors I’ve emailed/talked to are really approachable and interesting. Yesterday Rosa, Sarah, Jen, and I went back to Phillip Bay Beach. It was really windy, so it was a little cold, but the sun was still nice. We stopped by our favorite ice cream place on the way back to the city, and I got some of the best strawberry ice cream I’ve ever had. At night we venture out to a restaurant called Miner’s Place out in Brunswick that ... read more
I think she was trying to steal mine
Kangaroo 1st timer
Our little restaurant

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne February 27th 2009

Wednesday night was a market night again! I got some really cool earrings from a designer that makes them out of shells. I opted for Spanish food again! I’ve decided I might need to move to Spain simply for the food! I had a humongous chorizo! I also went back for another crepe because it was just too hard to pass up. This time I got a strawberry crepe with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream. Rosa somehow managed to finsh off 2 haha. Yesterday I finally decided to go to the health center for my ridiculous cough, which was apparently a good idea because they said I have pretty bad bronchitis. The health center here is pretty much just like the one at home, and everyone was really nice. They gave me some medicine, which ... read more
Hopefully the closest I'll ever come
cool color though
Chillaxin

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne February 24th 2009

Monday was blazing hot!! I mean wow hot! I mainly stayed in and watched the Oscars, which was funny because it was on around noon here on Monday- clearly not a huge event haha. The commercials here are so funny, I don’t really get most of them. I am getting used to the accent though, because when I hear American English on TV it sounds odd. I also watched So You Think You Can Dance Australia, and let me just say I miss the American version and Mia Michaels! Last night we went to a great little Italian restaurant, and I also noticed how waiter service is different here. There’s no tipping, so I guess not much rush on things. Along with everything else, waiters are very laidback. Also, there’s no ice in anything here, like ... read more
A view from across the river
Reminded me of In & Out
Federation Square

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne February 23rd 2009

Sunday was another exploration day. It started out at the Victoria market, where I bought fresh tomatoes, kiwis, and a pineapple. I also checked out some of the aboriginal art. Sundays at the market a lot of things are half price because it’s not open Mondays, so they want to get the food sold. From there I ventured south, which I’d never been to before. The scene changed as a walked. It got less crowded and the buildings got taller. I walked to the Southern Cross train station, which is huge and quite pretty. The architecture was a little random because there was a mix of really tall business buildings and older European looking ones. I liked the area because it was a little more New York feel. On my way back, I did a little ... read more
The Southern Cross station
I guess they don't go beyond in Australia
yummy rock candy

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne February 21st 2009

Some random things about Australian accent/language…Here instead of saying “how are you doing?” people say “how you going?” Very confusing and I’m never really sure how to answer. I’m going good, sounds horrible wrong, so I’ve resorted to “good, you?” Also, thank you is “ta” here, so I’ve pretty much been walking around confused by what this ta meant for the past couple weeks until just recently. Today, we went to Brunswick street, where there’s a bunch of shopping and cafes. I’m pretty sure I found Laura’s equivalent of heaven on earth- ‘The Coffee Store” a complete store dedicated to the coffee lover. It was definitely cute, with a small café in the back and samples galore, really not my thing though. However, I did find some cool furniture stores and book stores that I spent ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne February 20th 2009

Wednesday evening was fabulous. A group of us went down to the Queen Victoria Night Market for dinner and shopping. It’s a huge outdoor fair-like thing in the middle of the city that is every Wednesday night all summer. We got there when it started, but after about an hour there were thousands of people there. There were tons of vendors ranging from clothes and jewelry to produce and souvenirs. The food is awesome and comes from all over the world. There was Greek, Indian, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and plenty more. I had some great Spanish dish with rice, chicken, carrots and a spicy red sauce. Then I went over to the French section for the most fabulously amazing crepe I’ve ever had! It had raspberries and white chocolate in it, with ice cream on top. ... read more
The state library
yummy dinner
tons of people at the market

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne February 17th 2009

I've been stranded without internet for orientation, so I wrote a book... My first impressions of Sydney were that it’s definitely not what I expected. The majority of the city is not as modern or pretty as I thought. Near around where I was staying and even when riding the train 2 hours out, there wasn’t much nice scenery. I know most cities aren’t generally “nice” to look at, but I have seen many I really thought were cool despite the flaws- NYC, DC, Barcelona, Paris…to name a few. Anyway, Sydney is a bit run down looking. A lot of the stores/buildings are very old and kinda sketch, which is not what I had in mind. I guess I was thinking everything would be more metropolitan. I’ve seen many places with graffiti and the buildings aren’t ... read more
The first view of the Opera House
On the steps
Up close

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Blue Mountains February 11th 2009

So last night wasn’t very eventful, but I did go into town looking for dinner and happened on a grocery store and Kmart. The store Coles was almost just like any grocery store in the US- complete with Easy Mac, Duncan Hines brownies, a produce and meat section, etc. I got 2 liters of water, some juice boxes, 2 cans of Campbell’s soup, and some bagels for about $20. It was cool to see the town. It’s actually very British…like they have afternoon tea. All the kids come home from school in different uniforms, all the little girls are cute in plaid dresses. Ok so now onto today… I was the most PAINFUL yet most AMAZING day ever!! It started out very rainy and gross, so I was really bummed because I really wanted to go ... read more
Touching the 1st sister
Down the crazy steps
oh the steps

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Blue Mountains February 10th 2009

So yesterday ended up very successful! My hair dryer worked wonderfully, I found an alarm clock, and I met a new friend. When I went back to my room in the evening one of my roommates was there. She was a blonde haired, blue eyed girl from Sweden, 20 years old and had just graduated from their high school equivalent. She’s been backpacking Australia for the past 3 months and is leaving for Thailand next week. Anyway, we hit it off and went to dinner last night. It was funny because she was commenting on how I was only the 2nd American she’d met on her trip, and when I started thinking about it I realized that I haven’t met a single one, although there are tons of Europeans. My other 2 roommates were from the ... read more
Everything is so greeen
River
Waterfall




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