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Published: August 9th 2007
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Hey everyone!! or I should say G'day mate. To begin, the flight and traveling went much faster than I anticipated. I never did get to check out the crossword puzzle book or finish reading mine. On the way to San Francisco, I ended up sitting next to another guy that's also studying abroad closer to Sydney from Kalamazoo. The movies on the plane weren't that bad either, I just had trouble staying awake for most of them. The first night was somewhat boring since it's basically break right now for everyone so only the international students are here. It's quite strange to think that I'm in that category. Beth and I sat through some of the orientation sessions but after some of them, it's mainly commen sense. The only real advantage is getting to meet people keeping track of them is the difficult part. On Wednesday night, our dorm had a international welcome party where we went to Father Flanagan's on the way to the city, an Irish pub, where many jugs (pitchers of beer) were bought. As some of you know, I prefer beer to liquor so it was quite good. I think it was Carlton Draught and Victoria Bitter
were the choices of the evening.
It doesn't really feel like we're away from home because most of the music is American along with movies and TV shows. There was a band at the pub and it was definitely a great night. It also helped because at night, it gets into the 30s here so the bar had 2 fireplaces. On Friday, we went on a city treasure hunt to get to know the city a little bit better. It's the first trip we've taken to the city and it's about a 40 minute tram ride to get there from campus. I think the main reason we were afraid to go before that is we're still trying to figure out the public transportation system. There's buses, tram and train and you have to sometimes you at least 2 to get where you want for a connection. Anyway, it was cold and rainy on the hunt and basically, we just followed our hosts around. I met some more people that were from Denmark and after the entire group ate at a restaurant, we were escorted to a really nice bar.
As a side note, Australia has a concept that
you can BYO or bring your own alcohol to certain restaurants and they'll open your wine bottle and get you glasses at no charge. It's really quite mind boggling compared to the no carry in rule in the U.S.
At the bar though, basically the cheapest way to go was to buy a bottle 375 ml which is a bit smaller than our 40 oz. But these bottles reminded me of Edward 40 hands so I had to tell Alex and Alex from Germany as well as David from Sweden and Lars & Birgitte from Denmark what it was. Then I proceeded to say that we should do it some time. For you that don't know what it is, you get to 40 oz bottles of beer, duct tape them to your hands and try to finish them before A) they're warm or B) you have to pee. And you're not suppose to untape them til both are gone. Right after that, a kid from the Bronx asked me if I knew what Edward 40 hands was which was ironic. And no, I'm not just drinking here but that's where most of the people are met so far and
Beth n I
our first footy game the weirdest things are learned. Beth and I are told it's only going to get more insane because the first week of classes, I guess everyone goes crazy. I'm luckily in a quiet tower which means music can't be blaring past 10 pm.
Beth and I went to the city yesterday since we bought a Metcard (for public transportation) and found out the library was closed. We did a bit of exploring and I had my first crepe since Europe 5 yrs ago. We also got to check out how Australians access the internet. They have them all over in convenience stores and cafes so we were plugged in a little room with about 10 computers paying for the internet $3 for 30 minutes. It was the fastest 30 minutes I've seen. I also got a hold of Mandy yesterday. The beautiful Aussie that came to my high school for a year so I hope to catch up with her at some point.
Overall, the people are so laid back and it's amazing meeting so many people from different backgrounds. My phrases to pick up on are Cheers as well as No worries. Anytime you bump into someone
and apologize, the first thing you hear is ..no worries mate. oh and p.s. Beth and I signed up to go on the surfing trip to 12 apostles next weekend with the club. It's going to be soooooooo cold but I'm so excited.
Until next time
Cheers!
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