Daniel!
I have been here in Australia for hmmm, lets see about a month now. So, as you can imagine... a lot can happen in a month. I'll start from the beginning...
The Opera House and the Harbor Bridge... Sunset
View of the Harbor, Sydney.
Beautiful Maike in her humble abode in Sydney
Wonderful Kenny at North Head in Sydney!
Maike and I at South Head in Sydney!
Of course, I was ridiculously jetlagged, but being my stubborn self, I tried to pretend like I wasn't and managed to stay up all day. Then night hit... I wasn't tired at all. So, Maike gave me some of here sleeping drugs... These proved to be very effective. I slept the whole night! Woke up at 9... Got fed an amazing breakfast, but I still felt kinda funky all day. Whilst in Sydney, I got the chance to meet my long lost great aunt! It was Kenny's mother, Joan. Joan is also the sister of my Grandpa on my father's side. She is so sweet. They call her "the Old Girl" :)
The Old Girl!
Kenny and Joan (the old girl) at North Head!
Now, the interesting stuff! I started my orientation in Sydney on the 10th. It all started in this hotel room at the Bayview Boulevard Hotel in downtown Sydney. It consisted of UC students from all over California joining together and pretty much being forced into a tiny room to meet. My roommate in the hotel was named Christina Brown.
Christina and I at a footy game in Melbourne!!
She was also attending the University of Melbourne. At first she seemed very shy. I figured we might become friends someday, but as of now we remained acqaintences. Next door to me was a boy named Jake and his roommate James, both who were attending UM. Jake, I had previously met back at UCSC. We clicked immediately and he became one of my closest friends in Australia. I also met a sweet girl named Laura, who Jake had nicknamed LARVA. Unforunately she was headed to Western OZ, Perth, for school. Regardless, we had lots of fun together.
Jake!!
Jake!!
Me, Larv, Jake and Jules In Sydney
Christina and I opened up the door between Jake and James' rooms so we had one "megaroom" ha ha. So essentially the purpose of this orientation was to get to know people who were going to your university and to show a bit of the Australian culture. We did many things... like a cruise of Sydney harbor. Tour of the opera house. Stuff like that.... SUPER touristy stuff. Jake, who happens to be gay, had other things on his mind: GAY BAR!
James, Me and Jake!
James, Me and Jake!
So that night... he decided to take us to the gay district. It was me, Larv, Jake, James, and our other frend Ashish. We took a taxi there and I immediately felt out of my element. I showed my ID and walked into the gay bar... Loud music boomed throughout the club, men were talking to men everywhere and there was a flamboyantly dressed transvestite in a silvery shiny dress and heels on the stage with a microphone. Larv and I were the only girls. At first I felt out of place... Jake was enjoying himself. James, shy little James, was having a great time. Ashish looked like he wanted to kill himself. Me an Larv receeded into a corner to watch each guy walk by and check him out (for the purposes of finding a boy for Jake).
After checking out countless boys who were either not attractive or already taken, I saw one! "He looks cute!" I said to Larv.
She agreed. We began to approach him to tell him he should talk to our friend. We weaved through the crowd til we got to the bar....where we saw him.... Making out with his boyfriend!!! Oops....
Okay, if I keep explaining everything in such detail, I'll never get through this all. I'll summarize. Jake is a moocher. He goes around looking for gay guys to buy him drinks, and SUCCEEDS. He's good... So he met some guy, who bought him a drink. I'm standing with James and Larv. James keeps trying to pretend he's gay. He stands with his knee bent and lips pursed... so cute!!! All of a sudden, some guy comes up behind him with a beer. James got his first drink bought for him from a gay guy! The guy takes off...
James...Too cute for words. Motivational Speech!!
Christina and I call James our "LOVE CHILD" because he is kinda like our child...and we love him.
"Go talk to him James!" Larv and I tell him, "He bought you a drink now you got to go talk to him," and he does!
James is the coolest, mellowest guy you will ever meet. He is truly down for everything. So he went and talked to that guy who ended up buying our whole group a round of drinks. (SUGAR DADDY!) The whole time Ashish looked like he wanted to throw up. Larv and I had a good time... but we went home early with Ashish. Jake and James stayed out and had a "gay old time" ha.
Camille, Daniel, and Christina!!!
Sydney consisted of a few more nights sort of like this, but with less gay bars. I was there for about a week and then it was time to head to Melbourne! On the 12th, I said farewell to my wonderful Kenny and Maike who took me out for an AMAZING thai dinner with wine and lots of love. In the morning... I hit the airport.
It was a short flight, about an hour and a half. This time, a friend of my neighbor and friend, Gina, picked me up from the airport. His name was Kim. He was super nice and took me to my new home at RMIT village. When I got to RMIT, I saw my love... BROGIE!!!!!!! Brogie had been studying in Melbourne for the past 6 months. I was so so excited to see a familiar face. Brogs showed me all over the city that night...
Random Aussie, Brogie and Me!!!
Just down the street from my little room is a market. The market is AMAZING. They sell all sorts of fresh fruit and veggies there for SO CHEAP. I love the Queen Victoria Market. I could LIVE in the vic market. They also sell clothes and all sorts of fun stuff there.
The city is really cool! It has a small town vibe, the best food in the world, and really easy public transportation. The main public transport is trams... Kinda like trolleys in San Francisco, but a little more high tech. On the tram, you buy a ticket for 3.70 and you can ride it as much as you want for 2 hours. The catch is, you don't actually have to buy a ticket, but you run the risk of encountering an EVIL tram inspector. They have undercover ones and regular ones. The regular ones will come on at random tram stops and YELL "TRAM INSPECTION! SHOW YOUR TICKETS." They wear big blue trench coats and resemble dementors from Harry Potter... or as I picture them, AGENTS from the matrix. So, as you can imagine, you have the fear element going if you don't buy a ticket. BUT, I have yet to see a tram inspector so I have this eminent fear of the "Men in the blue trenchcoats." Paying 3.70 every time you ride the tram can really add up... so as Brogie taught me, you don't buy a ticket unless you see a tram inspector... They are hard to see, but you have to be on top of your game: watching the windows at every stop. I feel like an outlaw every time I ride the tram. Then, you still got the undercover ones to worry about...
Blah, blah about the trams... I started my Melbourne Welcome once I got here. This was another orientation program, but with students from all over the world! The first person I saw when I walked into the first even was Christina Brown, my roommate from Sydney! She left to go find her room, and I was stranded. All alone... This was the first time I had felt so alone in Australia. I walked into a room full of 200 unfamiliar faces all staring at me in the front of the room. AHHH! I found a seat near the back of one of the long tables and sat down. Immediately, hands outstretched....
"I'm Ed," said a cute boy with an english accent.
"Matt,"
"Alex,"
etc...
Wow, that was easy. We began talking about where we were from and our experiences in Melbourne. People were really friendly here. Nobody knew anyone, so it was so easy to make friends.
Fleur, Me, Christina and Camille at a footy game!
Fleur, Me, Christina and Camille at a footy game!
The Melbourne welcome introduced me to some of my best friends I have made here. We all bonded through attending pub crawls, footy games (Australian rules football is so cool... It's kinda like American football with more contact, less stopping and less padding + short shots), formal dinners, etc.... Here I really got to know Christina and she has really become one of my really good friends. I also met....
Camille! A sweet blonde girl from LA.... she lives at RMIT with me and we hang out all the time. She is amazing and one of my best friends here.
Little Camille!
Fleur! A rad, tall girl from Holland. We hang out all the time and she is so fun.
Fleur <3
K'irsty! The cutest girl ever from Scotland.
Daniel! I mentioned him before... He is from LA and he is supa dupa cool too.
Alex and Ed from England.
Manuel from Germany.
Claire and Corbin from Canada.
Jacob also from LA.
Benoit from France.
Mateo from Italy.
AH, there is more... I am just drawing a blank.
English Ed and Alex, Random guy....and Manuel from Germany
So yeah, made lots of friends there. Then, after that orientation I had ANOTHER orientation for RMIT village. By this point, I have been drinking too much. People bond over drinking here and there is always something going on. Each night there are drink specials somewhere... It's crazy. Soooo... RMIT village orienation consisted of first a barbeque. I came alone, but immediately bonded with some boys juggling a soccer ball. There was Chris, a really cool guy from France, two Aussies named Alex and Dan and Manuel (the guy I met at the Melbourne welcome from Germany). They were so amazed when they realized that a girl could ACTUALLY play soccer... ha ha. One of the guys, Dan, was the coach of the womens' futsal team at Melbourne Uni. He asked me to come play for them... Which I have been! I have my first game tonight....
Me, French Chris, and Camille my love!
Fleur and I!
Ah... there is so much more to say about that but my fingers are getting tired and I feel like I should probably do something with my day. Let me just wrap it up....
It is RIDICULOUSLY COLD here. It was fine at first, but now I am craving sunshine and vacation. I think I am going to plan a trip to Bali for my semester break in September. I got offered a job at this rad bar called Escobar... I think I might work there. I have an interview on Friday!
I got really sick this past week from all the cold and Brogie passed on a nice little cough to me. SO pretty much I have been out of commission. Before that, I was going on runs, playing soccer and being productive. I went to the doctor today and they said my lungs are clear of mucus (YAY HOORAY!!!!!!). So, now I can do things with my life. I started school... the classes I am taking are all art history: Renaissance Art, Australian Art: Rock to Pop, Contemporary Australian Art, and last but not least Sports Education in Australian Society. The last one is so cool... we get to take field trips to go surfing and watch footy matches. I have that one tonight.
Tonight is not only my first soccer game, but also the reunion for the Melbourne Welcome program! So, I get to see all of my amazing international friends again.
All in all, I have been having a great time... Really settling in well. I have missed my friends and home and family a bit lately, but that can be expected because I have the most amazing friends, home and family in the world!!! I got sad when I missed Caroline's 21st birthday and Brian's 26th, but thats life.... You can't have it all! I'll keep writing on here so that I can keep everybody posted on my adventures... OH! That reminds me, I did have an adventure the other day.
I took a train and a bus to a little town called Tourquay and went surfing at Bell's beach! So much fun... I went with Chris, the french boy, this boy Zander from the East Coast of the states, and this boy named Stephen from England. It was a successful trip, but I got really cold in my 4'3 wetsuit AND I had to rent a board... Otherwise it was SO FUN to get to the beach. I was having beach and surfing withdrawls, so that kinda quenched my craving for a while. I think I might try to go this weekend again.
Bianca Little.... My amazing roomie!!!!
OH and as for my roommate here at RMIT, she is AMAZING. Her name is Bianca and she is Australian and SO CUTE. We are very very similar... Both very short and small, both like to cook, both love to travel, both love the beach, both surf etc.... we get along really really well! Couldn't have asked for a better one.... K I'm going to go be productive now.... Miss you all back home.... Sending my love!!! I'll write more soon :)
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