This week has been "O Week" (orientation). They have a bunch of events where all of the "bondies" are supposed to mingle. I really like this "uni" so far (way more than I like NEU). The campus is absolutely beautiful, the architecture is modern, very renovated, and there is a lake in the middle of the campus with a fountain.
Apparently there are bull sharks in the lake and supposedly there have been several deaths, so swimming is not advised. I would not have swam in this lake regardless of the sharks, but it looks really nice! Bond Uni is supposed to be one of the best schools in Australia, rated top for student experience, campus, and I guess rated really high academically. I've heard it's a location for all of the "snobby rich" aussies. (funny how NEU student's have to pay double the cost of tuition to NEU in order to attend - surprise!). Classes don't start until tomorrow... still have no idea what they will be like. Now for an overview of the week...
Apparently there are bull sharks in the lake and supposedly there have been several deaths, so swimming is not advised. I would not have swam in this lake regardless of the sharks, but it looks really nice! Bond Uni is supposed to be one of the best schools in Australia, rated top for student experience, campus, and I guess rated really high academically. I've heard it's a location for all of the "snobby rich" aussies. (funny how NEU student's have to pay double the cost of tuition to NEU in order to attend - surprise!). Classes don't start until tomorrow... still have no idea what they will be like. Now for an overview of the week...
Sunday
After trying to recover from my 14 hour flight, I joined some of the NEU student's taking a bus to a close-by mall. We got to experience how similar to the states this country really is. Sunday night I took a nap and inevitably overslept, missing the free food at the bbq. Luckily I wasn't the only one. Two off my friends had also overslept, so we went on a hunt to find food. On this mission we found a bar, and found the rest of our group inside. The cheapest thing we could get was a $15 dollar bottle of wine. This was only the beginning of learning that nothing is cheap here, plus the exchange rate is also not in our favor.
Monday
This was the day to start getting everything in order. Student information centers enabled us to sign up for the student activity membership (gym, pool etc.), pay for the orienation week pack, set up our email accounts and get out student ID's. Then we had to go back to the mall to buy our prepaid phones because we didn't have our passports with us yesterday. I am now the proud owner of a purple samsung flip phone. It feels like 2002 but now it takes me forever to type a text message in t9. Monday night there was a "jungle party" in the bar on campus (yes - there is a bar right downstairs from my dorm), where everyone wore animal print, togas, etc. From the bar at 11:45 they shuttle us to a night club downtown in an area called Surfer's Paradise... and we spent the next several hours dancing. After we were tired of the club we walked over to the ocean which was just a block away, and it was unreal. I dipped my feet in and the water was so warm!
Tuesday
After trying to recover from my 14 hour flight, I joined some of the NEU student's taking a bus to a close-by mall. We got to experience how similar to the states this country really is. Sunday night I took a nap and inevitably overslept, missing the free food at the bbq. Luckily I wasn't the only one. Two off my friends had also overslept, so we went on a hunt to find food. On this mission we found a bar, and found the rest of our group inside. The cheapest thing we could get was a $15 dollar bottle of wine. This was only the beginning of learning that nothing is cheap here, plus the exchange rate is also not in our favor.
Monday
This was the day to start getting everything in order. Student information centers enabled us to sign up for the student activity membership (gym, pool etc.), pay for the orienation week pack, set up our email accounts and get out student ID's. Then we had to go back to the mall to buy our prepaid phones because we didn't have our passports with us yesterday. I am now the proud owner of a purple samsung flip phone. It feels like 2002 but now it takes me forever to type a text message in t9. Monday night there was a "jungle party" in the bar on campus (yes - there is a bar right downstairs from my dorm), where everyone wore animal print, togas, etc. From the bar at 11:45 they shuttle us to a night club downtown in an area called Surfer's Paradise... and we spent the next several hours dancing. After we were tired of the club we walked over to the ocean which was just a block away, and it was unreal. I dipped my feet in and the water was so warm!
Tuesday
We spent some time sitting by the lake taking pictures later in the afternoon. After that we went to a hypnotist show that was part of the orientation week events. It was very funny at parts, and somewhat boring at other parts, but the show was like 2 hours long. The funniest/most interesting part of my night was how I became part of an interactive audience in a way that I would have never imagined.... he sent the group of hypnotized students into the audience, and he told them "You are skippy the kangaroo and it's mating season. As soon as I snap my fingers you will be attracted to the first person you see" - unfortunately for me the 6 foot 7 inches tall boy was stanging next to my aisle seat, he ended up sitting on my lap, curled up into a ball, and I could not move. I was laughing so hard that I was crying, and so were my friends. All I could think was, "is this really happening right now?!" Afterwords we decided to check out a bar near campus, only to find out they were closing soon, so we needed to take a cab back to surfers paradise. I am really learning what it's like to go to a small school with a remote campus - being in a city is definitely so much better! There are only a few restaurants within walking distance.
Wednesday
Every wednesday is "wednesday by the water" - a free bbq and music by the pool. Of course my friends and I didn't make it down in time for the free food, but I did get to jump in the huge lap pool and lay in a chair for a while. I can't wait to spend every day between classes, laying poolside. A huge upgrade to being shut inside for the Boston winter. :D Took another nap (I needed lots of these this week) and checked out the campus carnival. Nothing that exciting, hd to pay for everything as usual. This was my first night in (thank god). A bunch of new friends ended up gathering in my room and talking for a few hours.
Thursday
Finally it was beach day! A big group of us from NEU decided to check out the beach at Surfer's paradise during the day. It was amazing. It was slightly more overcast and the weather had finally cooled down from the near 90 degrees it had been, but it was still a beautiful day to be at the beach. Swimming in the ocean was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. I entered the ocean between the flags and it wasn't long before I was pushed 10 to 20 feet along the shore. I walked out with my tail between my legs. I still really enjoyed it though! We got sushi for the second time this day. I'm not sure that I've experienced the real, good stuff yet. Sushi is pretty cheap, and they serve it as one big roll - not cut into 6 small pieces. There has been CHICKEN sushi, everywhere. I don't get it. And the tuna rolls are more like tuna salad.... I plan to try a sushi restaurant (as in not a mall stand) very soon.
Thursday night was another themed party at the campus bar called "tight and bright" - everyone wore really bright colors.
Friday
I finally had a day where I slept until noon. I took a few hours to emerge but I checked out another mall with a group of NEU people. I bought myself a pretty cool tee shirt with an elephant picture. I'll post a picture of that sometime. I know that I can't afford to spend a lot on clothes here, but its really a shame because they have such cute style here! Friday at 5 we had a welcome to res dinner that we payed for out of our meal plan. I held a snake! There were also lizards and a small crocodile. I tried kangaroo sausage, which I did not like at all, and crocodile! The crocodile was good but it was hard to tell which part was the croc because it was served in a spoon with a cucumber and other dressings. Reminded me of like an ahi tuna tar tar appetizer. During the dinner we played a game to see which table could build the tallest structure using only newspaper and tape. Sadly we did not win. For my entree I got to try a new kind of fish - Baramundi. It wasn't bad, maybe not my favorite fish but I did enjoy it. The dessert was some weird marshmallow type thing that I didn't love and I cannot remember what it was called.
After he dinner they played the movie "Super 8" on a large screen outside on the lawn. It was a really good movie, I liked it a lot. So we've learned they watch basically all of or movies here, but they come out like 6 months later in theaters. So I heard that the muppets movie just came out here, which I really want to see! Friday night we checked out another tavern right near campus, it as completely empty basically besides us. I had an australian beer and an australian cider, and I played a game of pool and got 3 balls in! I was very proud of myself.
Saturday
The forecast for Saturday was rain, luckily it didn't because this was the beach day trip part of orientation week.They brought about 2,000 of us to another beach on a few busses. It was overcast basically the whole time we were there, but of course I managed to get a tiny bit burned on the back of my legs. This was nothing compared to a lot of the NEU burns I have seen. I have been very responsible with my spf 30 (which is like the only number you can find in the stores - nothing higher and only a few oils that are lower).
Today I was going to go to the mall, but while waiting at the bus stop it began to down pour. Luckily I was wearing my brand new Eddie Bauer rain jacket that I got for christmas from my Aunt Jill! But my friend and I both had white linen pants that we didn't feel like wearing soaking wet around a mall. So I will spend the rest of the day recovering from a week of messed up sleep schedule, preparing for classes, which start tomorrow. My first class isn't until 2 pm luckily.
I have found a group of girls that I spend all of my time with that I really like, and we end up spending a lot of time with a certain group of guys from NEU. We've also picked up a canadian and an aussie that have become part of our group. I am meeting friendly australians all of the time, it is very incredible how outgoing they are. I live in a building with a lot of other American's, which is disappointing, but it is cool meeting people from near and far. This is a big international school so there have been quite a few people I've met from other countries as well.
Things I have learned that are weird/different
Me: "Can I have a regular coffee"
Dining hall lady: "What kind of coffee"
Me: "Just a regular coffee"
Lady: "Ok but what kind, cappaccino, latte.."
Me: 'No just a regular, like plain coffee"
Lady: "I know you want a regular coffee, but what kind of coffee, *lists off non-regular coffee drinks*"
Me: "Fine I'll have a latte"
Wednesday
Every wednesday is "wednesday by the water" - a free bbq and music by the pool. Of course my friends and I didn't make it down in time for the free food, but I did get to jump in the huge lap pool and lay in a chair for a while. I can't wait to spend every day between classes, laying poolside. A huge upgrade to being shut inside for the Boston winter. :D Took another nap (I needed lots of these this week) and checked out the campus carnival. Nothing that exciting, hd to pay for everything as usual. This was my first night in (thank god). A bunch of new friends ended up gathering in my room and talking for a few hours.
Thursday
Finally it was beach day! A big group of us from NEU decided to check out the beach at Surfer's paradise during the day. It was amazing. It was slightly more overcast and the weather had finally cooled down from the near 90 degrees it had been, but it was still a beautiful day to be at the beach. Swimming in the ocean was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. I entered the ocean between the flags and it wasn't long before I was pushed 10 to 20 feet along the shore. I walked out with my tail between my legs. I still really enjoyed it though! We got sushi for the second time this day. I'm not sure that I've experienced the real, good stuff yet. Sushi is pretty cheap, and they serve it as one big roll - not cut into 6 small pieces. There has been CHICKEN sushi, everywhere. I don't get it. And the tuna rolls are more like tuna salad.... I plan to try a sushi restaurant (as in not a mall stand) very soon.
Thursday night was another themed party at the campus bar called "tight and bright" - everyone wore really bright colors.
Friday
I finally had a day where I slept until noon. I took a few hours to emerge but I checked out another mall with a group of NEU people. I bought myself a pretty cool tee shirt with an elephant picture. I'll post a picture of that sometime. I know that I can't afford to spend a lot on clothes here, but its really a shame because they have such cute style here! Friday at 5 we had a welcome to res dinner that we payed for out of our meal plan. I held a snake! There were also lizards and a small crocodile. I tried kangaroo sausage, which I did not like at all, and crocodile! The crocodile was good but it was hard to tell which part was the croc because it was served in a spoon with a cucumber and other dressings. Reminded me of like an ahi tuna tar tar appetizer. During the dinner we played a game to see which table could build the tallest structure using only newspaper and tape. Sadly we did not win. For my entree I got to try a new kind of fish - Baramundi. It wasn't bad, maybe not my favorite fish but I did enjoy it. The dessert was some weird marshmallow type thing that I didn't love and I cannot remember what it was called.
After he dinner they played the movie "Super 8" on a large screen outside on the lawn. It was a really good movie, I liked it a lot. So we've learned they watch basically all of or movies here, but they come out like 6 months later in theaters. So I heard that the muppets movie just came out here, which I really want to see! Friday night we checked out another tavern right near campus, it as completely empty basically besides us. I had an australian beer and an australian cider, and I played a game of pool and got 3 balls in! I was very proud of myself.
Saturday
The forecast for Saturday was rain, luckily it didn't because this was the beach day trip part of orientation week.They brought about 2,000 of us to another beach on a few busses. It was overcast basically the whole time we were there, but of course I managed to get a tiny bit burned on the back of my legs. This was nothing compared to a lot of the NEU burns I have seen. I have been very responsible with my spf 30 (which is like the only number you can find in the stores - nothing higher and only a few oils that are lower).
Today I was going to go to the mall, but while waiting at the bus stop it began to down pour. Luckily I was wearing my brand new Eddie Bauer rain jacket that I got for christmas from my Aunt Jill! But my friend and I both had white linen pants that we didn't feel like wearing soaking wet around a mall. So I will spend the rest of the day recovering from a week of messed up sleep schedule, preparing for classes, which start tomorrow. My first class isn't until 2 pm luckily.
I have found a group of girls that I spend all of my time with that I really like, and we end up spending a lot of time with a certain group of guys from NEU. We've also picked up a canadian and an aussie that have become part of our group. I am meeting friendly australians all of the time, it is very incredible how outgoing they are. I live in a building with a lot of other American's, which is disappointing, but it is cool meeting people from near and far. This is a big international school so there have been quite a few people I've met from other countries as well.
Things I have learned that are weird/different
- They drive on the wrong side of the road.
- They do not eat ketchup here. They use "Tomato Sauce" = slightly sweeter, thinner version.
- Tomato Sauce costs 30 cents extra in the dining hall.
- The dining hall also calls their salsa tomato sauce.
- They do not drink filtered coffee - only espresso. Which is fine, I will survive. But I found out through a very ridiculous converstation
Me: "Can I have a regular coffee"
Dining hall lady: "What kind of coffee"
Me: "Just a regular coffee"
Lady: "Ok but what kind, cappaccino, latte.."
Me: 'No just a regular, like plain coffee"
Lady: "I know you want a regular coffee, but what kind of coffee, *lists off non-regular coffee drinks*"
Me: "Fine I'll have a latte"
- They often give you lemons with tequila shots
- Tim Tam's are a delicious cookie/wafer that I can't stop eating
I have a cell phone now and I will take turns calling family members distributing my international minutes wisely. And don't forget I'm available on skype! My mornings are your evenings so it's easier than you would think to find a good time. And don't forget you can always know what time it is for me by looking at the world clock I have at the top of my blog!
Until next time.... xoxo
Thank you for your well-written novel, Emily! I can tell you are having an amazing adventure there. I love that you've included pix. I think Granddad will not be thrilled with the snake ones, tho! It's good to have lots of friends. You'll meet lots more in classes. And you'll be the one with the funny foreign accent! Have you picked up any Aussie lingo yet? Love you!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures- well except for the snake!
ReplyDeleteLove and miss you!
Aunt Janet