Land Down Under

I Finally have Internet!

I know I've been here for over 2 weeks now, but the IT guy has been sick so I only just got internet last night. I'll try to remember everything from the past few weeks, so this may be a long post. Then again, my memory is pretty bad, so it might be pretty short.

First, LAX is the WORST and most confusing airport ever. I was so happy that I had 3 hours in between to find and check in with Qantas and then find the gate. Security wasn't even clearly labeled. Second, 15 hours on a Qantas coach flight is TORTURE. My legs were cramped- that's how little leg room they have. I've never been that squashed in a plane before. I really felt bad for anyone over 5'5, because I can't even imagine how badly their legs must've hurt. I slept most of the flight though. I did start watching Eight Below, that movie about the dogs that had to survive an Antarctic winter all by themselves, and it looked pretty good, but I didn't get to finish it. The plane landed in Brisbane. The entire back half of the flight was full of IFSA-Butler students. We were met in the airport by a lot of staff with a lot of red balloons. I met a girl named Natasha from Seattle who goes to Vassar. We piled into buses once everyone came out of customs and changed money and drove to Noosa, about 3 hours north. We had orientation there for four days. The first day we went to the beach (which was gorgeous, although the water was really cold) and saw kangaroos hopping around the resort area! Luckily, I didn't have a problem with jet lag at all. Unluckily, the next morning I woke up at 2AM and was sick in increasing intervals (no worries- I'll spare gross details) until 6AM, when the other girls in my room woke up and went and got Cara, the lady in charge of the Uni Melbourne kids. Long story short, I went to the hospital, where they gave me a shot in the butt. It was painful. AND I DIDN'T SCREAM OR CRY OR BEG TO HOLD SOMEONE'S HAND. I was proud. I stopped throwing up and managed to drink some water, and they sent me home after stopping at the "chemist" (pharmacy) to get some medicine. I did have a little incident in there, but I didn't feel bad because I asked the lady if she had a bathroom because I was going to be sick, and she looked at another lady behind the counter, hesitated, and then started telling me that the nearest public restroom was down the block and around the corner. I tried to make it out of the store, but that didn't go as planned. Oops. I spent the rest of the day in bed, and ended up missing (very sadly) the surfing lesson and all the lectures about the differences in academics and housing here. The next day I felt much better, but poor Natasha, who accompanied me to the hospital, was sick. Our room was just bad news: Lilian twisted her ankle during surfing and went to the hospital too, and Joyce had really bad allergies. I felt bad for the girls in the other room.

The next day we went to Fraser Island. We piled into little 4 wheel drive buses and drove on the "beach highway"-- right along the water, on the sand! It took about an hour and a half to reach Fraser Island that way (and across a ferry). They told us to keep an eye out for migrating humpback wales, but I only saw dolphins in the water. We left so early in the morning that we got to see the sun rise over the water-- it was really pretty. Once we got to Fraser Island, we got out at Lake Makenzie- a freshwater, rainwater, lake. It was really cold water, but a very pretty place. The Butler staff kept warning us about the hole in the Ozone layer above Australia, so I kept slathering on Arbonne. I still managed to get a little tan, even though it was a cloudy day. Our next stop was the rainforest, where we ate lunch and took a little walk. I didn't see any animals, but there were huge trees, some of which only grow on that tiny island, and lots of ferns and other plants, and a little creek running through with the clearest water ever. After this, we drove back over the beach on our way back to the place we were staying at. One of the buses broke down, so the people on it had to divide themselves up between the other two buses and sit on each other's laps or the floor for a very bumpy ride back.

The next day we went to the airport and flew to Melbourne. I was dropped off in front of International House (another residential college just down the street from Whitley) along with the other two kids in Whitley. We dragged our bags all the way across the street (harder than you think- cars go the opposite direction here, and they don't stop for pedestrians) and then dragged them up several flights of stairs. I'm in room 237. You may think that's the second floor, but it's really like our third floor, since they have a ground floor then first, then second. The first few days Whitley was like a ghost dorm- no one was here. I spent my days going out with Natasha, Lilian, Victoria, Joyce, and Laura (girls from my room at orientation). We went to the mall several times (it's huge-- 8 stories and spans 2 blocks), Big W (AKA Walmart), Target (which is actually a clothing store here, not like our Target), and the Reject Shop (which is like a dollar store but things cost more than a dollar). We also just wandered around the city and figured out the tram (trolley) system. I am an expert on the tram now. I know that number 19 is the only one that will take me back to Whitley. Good info to know.

Once people started getting here, I met Mel (she's in my social work class), Boosh (her boyfriend), Pip (she lives across the hall from me), Sarah (who lives next to Pip), and lots of other people (whose names I'm not so good at remembering). It took me a while to make friends, but people are pretty nice here. Mel made me join the pit orchestra for Guys and Dolls, which is in 3 weeks. Someone's supposed to lend me a violin....hopefully I'll get it sometime soon, since I haven't touched one since high school. I'm thinking it might not sound too great. I'll give it my best shot though.

Monday I started class. I had Human Risk and Vulnerable Populations (my social work class that is really like psychology) at 9AM. It's so far away I have to take the tram to get there, or I'd end up walking really quickly for 45 minutes. The campus is really huge. It was a really good class though, we started out talking about child abuse and then later in the semester we'll go through child and adolescent mental illnesses and how they cope, substance abuse, and adult mental health. The prof is going to have a lot of guest lecturers who are either professionals specializing in those areas or people who have lived through these kinds of experiences. After the lecture we have a tutorial (or "tute" as they're called here), which is more like a Williams seminar class- 15 students and the prof, and we have a discussion about the lecture or readings. The first one wasn't too scary, I'm really not a fan of participating in class discussions, but I did raise my hand and get called on once. I was proud. After the tute, Mel and I took the tram back and we ate lunch (here they serve you your food....and even make your sandwich for you. And there's a serious lack of fruit and salads). After lunch I took a quick nap and then went to Biology of Australian Flora and Fauna at 4. The lecturer is kind of boring, but the class seems interesting, and it's nowhere near the depth of scary Williams bio classes. I'm excited for it. I think we get to take little field trips to the zoo and the Royal Botanical Gardens too. After class I came back and we had Hall. This is straight out of Harry Potter, I swear. We wear the black academic gowns to dinner, and file in silently. We all sit when the Warden sits, and get served our food (steak and fries, yummmm), and at the end of the meal we all stand together and file out silently. It's pretty hilarious looking. Since Monday night was my first Hall, the "seven Americans" were honored and got to sit at High Table. This is the elevated table where the Warden and her family sits, and the senior students too I think. We had to stand up and the Warden introduced us and said a little blurb about where we go to school at home, where we're from, and what we study. We have Hall every Monday and Wednesday night, so Hall's again tonight. One day I'll get pictures of the funny gowns and put them online.

Yesterday I had Dangerous Earth (an Earth Science class looking at natural disasters) and a bio lecture again. I think I'm really going to like Dangerous Earth. The professor is really funny and good, and he gives a lot of American examples, except I don't think he's very clear about them. He kept calling the New Orleans disaster with Katrina the "St. Louis" hurricane, and talking about how St. Louis wasn't prepared for it but they were dumb to build a city with a million people living below sea level. Anyway, today I have no class since it's Wednesday, and I have no classes on Wednesdays or Fridays (although I'm by no means getting off easy because of it-- Mondays and Tuesdays my classes are from 9-5, and Thursday I go from 10-6). I think I should go shower now so I don't miss lunch. I'm getting hungry!

posted by Christina @ 10:35 AM