Day 2 in Australia!!! (Everything gets Better)

Sorry about the length of that last post. A lot happened that day.

So, Like the other post, I'm not postdating these, just putting the date in the entry. I just got internet today, so I wrote these the day of, and now I can actually put them online. Hooray!

July 13, 2010

Well, another day without internet. At least I have Word to write this stuff down and my itunes to listen to.

My first day of Melbourne Welcome!
I actually really like it. My host person, Jiali, is really nice and helpful. She was born and raised in Melbourne, and she commutes to school everyday from her parent’s house in the suburbs. So, it’s not really like my situation will be with the apartment and stuff, but what she knows about the city is really helpful. We use the tram a lot today, and I realized how easy it was. Luckily the street I am living on, Swanston, is like a main road with the trams, and I can take it into the really center of the city where there are all these alleyways with shops and cafes. There is also Federation Square, where I think there are of a lot of art and music events, and a Big W, which is kind of like Walmart, I think. I couldn’t really tell with the prices whether or not they were pretty cheap compared to the US. But I bought sheets and a blanket and pillow there, which I found out was a really bad idea, because then I had to lug all that around with me throughout the rest of the day. And I didn’t even pay attention when I was in my room, because the room here for my temporary stay comes with a pillow and sheets and a blanket. >__<
I was walking around all day, hitting people with my bag or pillow or purse. I packed too much in my purse because I’m just like that, so that was too heavy, as well as my bag of sheets and blanket.
I did see some really cool things though. There was an alley that was just completely for graffiti art, and there were some artists working on new pieces that I walked past. There were also a ton of cafes. I think Melburnians really like coffee. Jiani was a big coffee fan. Or I should say espresso fan. We went to a café and she ordered a “soy flat white”, which I guess is a soy latte with light foam. I like her style. ; )
We also walked through campus, and it is HUGE. Like, I was huffing and puffing by, like 2 pm today. I mean, I did walk my little heiney off yesterday, trying to find a post office or a bank or someone who could help me with anything at all, with my backpack on my back with my laptop in it, which is super duper heavy after a day of lugging it around. And then I was carrying my unnecessary bags around today. It was just too much for my back. I just need a good night’s sleep to rest my body.

Oh, so last night I slept through most of the night. I woke up at 4:30 am, wide awake, because it would have been about 11 in the morning, I think, on the West coast. So I had some trouble falling asleep right then. I had “She Wolf” by Shakira stuck in my head. A fun song, but not fun when you are trying to sleep. But I went to bed at 9 pm, so I got a big chunk of sleep. And I finally fell asleep at some point, so I later woke up at 8:30, wide awake, which was good. I’m going to go to the pub now for a little Melbourne Welcome party, and probably have a beer. I don’t have any money now, due to buying bedding, so that’s all I’ll have and I will hopefully get more tomorrow. More money, not beer. Haha!! Ta ta for now!



Later July 13, 2010
I ended the day on a high note. The “party” was really pretty fun, even though it wasn’t really a party, it was just a bunch of international students going to the same pub and making a whole lot of noise. But I met a couple more people that were very interesting and I had a good time. I had two short glasses of cider, which is alcoholic and very tasty at the same time. I think it was about as alcoholic as beer. And it was only $4 each. Even better!
So I met a law student from Finland who had almost no accent, her name was Verna. And I met another Dutch (I had already met one in my host group) girl names Kim, and a British guy named Johnny, and an American girl named Eliza. Eliza was really fun, she reminded me of people I knew back home, I think. She was kind of like me, in that she was sort of quieter in the beginning, asking mundane questions about your background, and then later we could open up to each other and act more comfortable, meaning weirder and more like ourselves. She’s from Vermont, but goes to Smith College. I felt like I could just be honest with her. I try to be honest with everyone, it’s just that when I first meet anyone, I feel like I have to be more reserved, in case they are not comfortable around my, um, uniqueness. :)
So I got there at 8 and left around 9:45. That was all I could take. It was a small pub with a ton of loud college students in it, so it was hot and noisy. Not very fun to hang out in while your back is sore and you feel an extreme need to connect with everyone you love that you can’t communicate at all with at the moment. But I got back to my room and put on my pj’s and went to brush my teeth, and this girl Olivia from Oxy came into the bathroom to brush her teeth because she lives on the same floor as me for the welcome. And we chatted, and then I was like, “yeah, this is fun, but I totally had one of those moments where I was like, ‘why am I here and why am I not home?’” and she said “oh, I totally had that moment for like 2 hours yesterday. Aundrea [another girl from Oxy] and I went to lunch yesterday, and I just thought, why the heck am I doing this and why am I here?” And so we both agreed that everyone is probably feeling that way, and she said it was just nice to know that someone else felt that way too. It was very sweet of her. And she said she’s just down the hall if I need to talk, and I said the same, and we said goodnight. It’s just somehow so much easier to talk to someone from your home school, even though I don’t know her at all. It was very nice to hear someone felt the same. I’m glad she’s living on my floor, and I’m glad we’re both in the Melbourne Welcome. She’s at least a familiar face.
I also found out from a couple people tonight how to get internet. HOOOORAAAAY!!!! THANK THE LORDY LORD!!! And it sounds very simple. And it’s only $10 for the week. I really kind of feel like I just need to get internet. As soon as possible and any way necessary. So I’m going to rush out tomorrow morning and get it. Hopefully I will get a chance to check my email and send some and possibly put these posts up on my blog. I also want to see if I can take the tram down to my apartment and pick up my cell phone, which will hopefully be waiting for me there. But now it is late, and I have to wake up at 7:30 to get their dumb breakfast, so I have to get some sleep. I love and miss everyone constantly!