Blogs from Geelong, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 3

So today was my first day of classes, I thought I might be a little lost because the building is so confusing even though I already looked for my classes. I ended up just asking security where my classes were which was much easier than trying to find them myself. I also found out that my friend Mitch who lives across the hall from me was going to be in my classes. My first class was a tutorial which is basically just a class to do worksheets and apply what you learned in the lecture. Since we hadn't had the lecture yet, it was just an introduction into what the class would be. We introduced ourselves and said where we were from and everything which is funny since I'm the only one on exchange. The professor ... read more

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm this bad at this! After Lourne we went back to uni and nothing really changed, there was still practically no one on campus but the internationals. I hung out with Katie a lot along with Jess. We even made tacos for dinner one night and pasta. The RAs joked that we already had community meals all figured out. At night we would just watch a movie or hang out, but it was fun to just be around people finally. In Katie's unit, theres a girl names Monique who is a second year but has moved in because she's head of social council. She is getting us all excited for O-week (orientation) it seems like its going to be a lot of fun with all the activities and everything. JAFFY ... read more

The Pak Festival is advertised as one of the biggest multicultural events in Australia, but we are used to everywhere we go having the 'biggest' of. We left camp and enjoyed the 4km walk to get to Pakington Street, where the festival was held. Nearly the whole length of the street was closed off with food stalls, arts n crafts and 6 stages set up for every ethnic group available to perform and show their wares. Our first stop was the German food stall, for a very tasty sausage, followed a few hours later with a traditional Spanish paella. Between these, Eoin saw his very first Street Parade, an hour long extravaganza, lots of photos taken. The day gave us the opportunity to catch up with an old mate who lives in Geelong and and a ... read more

Winter is over and spring is here, well according to the calendar it is. We spent the last day of winter in Mallacoota in absolutely miserable conditions. Freezing cold temperatures, strong winds and heavy rain marked the day. It was a great day for sitting around so we went for a drive into Merimbula for lunch and then to Eden for a look and bought some oysters along the way. The first day of spring was much the same as the day before, except we did sit around and kept warm and dry. This change of seasons also marks the end of our holiday. We are currently retracing our steps, as such, and spending a couple of days in Buchan before returning home tomorrow. The weather is absolutely beautiful. We have been sitting out in the ... read more

On a mission! A destitute family in the outer suburbs of Nanjng is in desperate need of supplies. Without them, the children will fade away and vanish. My mission is to bring those supplies to this poor and needy family so they can survive in the face of all adversity. This is the fifth time I have been to Nanjing - always for work. Usually I visit for two weeks. This time just a week. I choose to extend my visits here by a week or so each time to havea peek at other places. First a walk on the Lantau Trail on Lantau Island near Hong Kong. This included a visit to the village on stilts and a bouncy small boat trip to see the pink dolphins. After the next visit I went to Anhui ... read more