Heaps of Good Times

From Boone to Australia!

It’s amazing to me how well we as humans are able to adapt to new surroundings. I must admit that during my first week here I felt as if it might never happen, but I now have successfully assimilated into the Australian culture. I feel totally at home in this new city and almost so much so that I feel like I’ve been here for ages. I’ve even picked up some new slang like “Heaps” “Mate” and “No Worries.” Ex: “Oh, No worries, mate! I’ve got heaps of room at my apartment. Bring all’ve your mates ovah!”
Most of this sense of home is from the ability to put my things in drawers and have a place that I can finally call my own, instead of a crummy hostel (even though the roach problem seems to be everywhere in Australia). I live about a 20-minute walk from campus, down a main road. Lauren and I had a tireless search for accommodation and once we found a place that we actually felt like we could see ourselves living in, we snatched it. It’s not the nicest place, but wayyyy better than anything else we’ve seen. It’s also a bit cheaper as well as roomier. The house has 10 rooms, all filled but one, but the room across the hall from me has 2 girls in it. It is an international house with 5 girls from Malaysia ( I can’t keep their names straight, so I don’t really try), 1 guy from Saudi Arabia (Moteb, or Nemo as he’s asked us to call him), 1 guy from just outside of Dubai (Arafat), and 1 guy from Egypt (Wallit). It’s so funny to hear the different languages seeping through the walls and even though our cultures are all very different we still work well as roommates. Everyone is very courteous of each other. After being in the house for less than 3 hours last Saturday, Lauren and I were warmly greeted by Nemo with a cup of traditional Saudi Arabian “café” which reminds me more of tea than coffee. Then, the second night we were in our new house Nemo took Lauren and I out to dinner in a Lebanese part of town (about 30 minutes by train), where we had a huge meal accompanied by the traditional hookah. He even gave us nicknames- Lauren= She-nu & Me= Lee-nu. It was a great experience and after returning to the city center he then showed us around Darling Harbor. I haven’t had the opportunity to get to know any of the roommates as well as Nemo, but I hope that as time goes on everyone will open up a bit more. I must make it a point to not clam up and to be more open to new people and new cultures! So far I’ve really enjoyed my living situation despite living on a busy road and in the traffic pattern of incoming airplanes. I don’t plan to spend much time here anyways…I’m in Australia, who cares where I rest my head? All that matters is where I spend my days.
I'll post photos of the apartment soon.

She-nu, Lee-nu, and Nemo at dinner in Bankstown

Darling Harbor

Lauren and I (and my new boots) in Darling Harbor

Sydney Uni O-week= Lot's of free stuff/fun

Lauren entered a "skulling" contest.
Skull is the Aussie word for "chug."

I spent my last week of freedom before Uni with some new friends, both Aussie and International. I’ve been really lucky to find a group of girls from Europe who put together a “Dinner Club” where we all get together every Monday night for dinner and socialization. Our group consists of 11 or so people from Holland, Italy, France, America, and Spain. I’ve only spent a few days with them but I really enjoy their company. We’re also planning a group trip to the coast for a Surf Camp weekend. I’m really excited about that! Lauren and I have also met a few Aussie boys who are very welcoming and have taken us on a few beauty-filled adventures around Sydney including a trip to a “locals-only” beach and to the Botanical Gardens. I feel really blessed to have made a few very key Aussie friends because Sydney is such a diverse town that the Australians are a bit hard to pick out, let alone make friends with. I just hope that I get the chance to meet some more and see what real Australia is all about…not just China Town, oh I mean Sydney.

At a free concert after O-Week day 1 with our new International Friends.

Free Cabaret at an on-campus bar with more International friends.

Welcome to Curl Curl Beach!

A beach with no people on it is a very rare sight in Sydney. This is proof enough that this is a legit "locals-only" beach.

Tourists?

I started Uni on Monday, so I’m still very new to the campus and student lifestyle. Classes so far have been good but I fear that the unfamiliar Australian style of teaching is going to take a bit of getting used to. I introduced myself to my teachers in the 2 classes I’ve already been in and I’m hoping that they remember my name/face for when I come to them in a month with no idea what is going on. Every Uni class has a large lecture class with a smaller tutorial attached to it. I’m used to my small 8-20 person classes in the GAIT department where we get to interact with the instructor on a one-to-one basis the majority of the time. Adjusting to the test/paper-only grading policy is going to be hard. I signed up for a Graphic Design class today and I’m really looking forward to it. The only thing I didn’t like about the Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology dept at ASU is the lack of emphasis on design. I love that I can use the programs efficiently, but I feel handicapped because I don’t even know the principles of graphic design and layout. I think this class will help me a lot in the long run plus add to my portfolio. I’m such a computer nerd, it’s sick.

So my weekly schedule is as follows:
•Monday:
2-4pm Principles of Media Writing lecture
4-5pm Principles of Media Writing tutorial
•Tuesday:
No class! Beach day!
•Wednesday:
12-2pm Advertising: Creative Principles lecture (I’m also super excited about this class!)
•Thursday:
10-12pm Media Globalization lecture
2-3pm Advertising: Creative Principles tutorial
3-4pm Media Globalization tutorial
6-9pm Graphic Design
•Friday:
No class again! 3 day weekend begins…

It’s beginning to sink in a little more that I am not a tourist, but a real resident. Today I got out of class at 1 and was lying on Bondi Beach by 3:30. I really love that I have become so comfortable with the public transport here that I can navigate my way to pretty much anywhere in the city. I could definitely get used to this city lifestyle. Sydney really is the perfect city- It’s on the beach, 1.5 hours to the mountains, awesome public transport, clean, and a “winter” that never gets below 50 or so degrees. Remind me again why I am leaving?

Also, in recent news my best friends in the whole universe may be traveling across the world to see me!!! I don’t think anything else could make this experience more satisfying.