First Day of Classes

Yeah, I actually do have to take classes here. It was weird having to sit still in a classroom again. It's been so long - I have to relearn how to focus.

I'm taking four classes:

1. Plants and Environment
2. Human-Computer Interaction
3. Aboriginal Cultural Studies
4. French

Almost 40,000 students on one campus makes it feel like a small town. There are dozens of cafes on campus (we've already discovered the one that makes the best muffins - Lot6) and even more open park/bench areas for hanging out between classes.

It's a bummer that my long vacation has finally come to a close, but with the start of every new semester comes another Clubs Fair, and you all know how much I love to join clubs! More updates on that later :)

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my weekend update. And lastly, I'm self-absorbed, so Happy Half Birthday to me!

Sparknotes: First Week in Melbourne

Things happen faster than I can write them down, so here's the condensed version of the past few days. See facebook for more pictures and see my journal for juicy details :)

1. Queen Vic is fun, I think you've gotten the point by now.

2. The city part of Melbourne is bustling with culture and cool architecture. We went to the top of the Eureka building (floor 88) to check out a 360 degree view of everything, once during the day and once at night. Also, Melbourne is flat, so you can basically see all the way to Sydney.

A building in Federation Square

The parky, athletic side of Melbourne

The city side

3. St. Kilda - Beach town with its own mini theme park (which I haven't visited yet). Tons of kitesurfers, whose mad skills are soon to be challenged by me, extreme beginner.

OMG SHOPPING?!

All you legit kitesurfers better watch out. Literally, I may run you over.

4. Orientation Week. RMIT (my housing) O-Week included a carnival sponsored by Red Bull, a hilighter party, a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Field, plus tons of free food and other goodies. UniMelb O-Week included meeting baby freshmen and abseiling (rappelling) off a building.

That's me, coming down the Redmond Barry building, tallest building on campus. Cheers to Mountaineering Club!

Whew! That takes us to Thursday afternoon. Here's a teaser for what's yet to come:

Hint: GOR

Picture of the Day: Never Have I Ever..

..eaten an avocado this delicious.

Courtesy Stall 43, Queen Vic Market

Queen Victoria Market

A fresh produce/fish market/raw meat/cooked meat delicatessen/bakery/international food stand/cocktail bar/smoothie shop/clothing and artisan dealer under one giant awning, conveniently located less than a 10 minute stroll from my front door. Incredibly fresh, relatively cheap, and stocked with the friendliest farmers (and their sons).

Fresh produce by day...

Including vegetables, fruit, meat, fish...

And all sorts of international material goodies...

Followed by an international food fest at night...

Where I tried my first emu burger.

Out of the 6 days I've been in Melbourne, and I've visited Queen Vic 4 times. It can definitely get overwhelming when there are over forty different stands from which I need to pick three tomatoes and a few peaches, and I always end up buying more than I set out for, but Queen Vic is definitely hitting high on my "favorite things in Melbourne" list.

Picture of the Day

Michaelmas Island by the Great Barrier Reef was unreal.

Quote of the Day: Abbreves

Translate this:
On Chrissie morning, I have brekkie with my rellies before opening my pressies.

The Language Barrier

Let’s get this straight: Australians do not speak English. Nodding my head with a big smile and fluttery eyes while twirling my hair does not mean that I have any idea what that Aussie is saying.

Check out my list to the right to see some of the words I’ve learned this week.

I Like to Eat

Meat: Usually barbequed and often found in sausage form.

An Aussie Sausage Sizzle during our first night in Cairns

We ate at a restaurant called the Cock n’ Bull.

One of my favorites so far has been the traditional Australian Outback Barbeque, not to be confused with Outback Steakhouse, which shouldn't even dream of competing with the real stuff. My plate was a heaping mess.

Move in with me, please!

You probably know I hate when things that don’t belong together mix, so allowing my steak to touch my potatoes took some getting used to.

International food: An infinite number of Chinese / Japanese / Indian / Malaysian / Thai / Vietnamese / Italian restaurants line the streets.

The biggest sushi rolls I've ever seen

Australian food: There's so many foods from different cultures that I’m still not exactly sure what Australian food is. All I know so far is Vegemite, emu, kangaroo, and crocodile. (I've tried the first two.)

I ate Vegemite on toast at my first breakfast. I don't hate it, but it definitely doesn't taste like Nutella.

Queen Victoria Market: My favorite place in the world deserves its own post. You won't be disappointed.

Pop Quiz Answers: Two Truths and a Lie (cont'd)

4. River rafting in the Tully River

a) The river contained crocodiles

b) The rapids were Class 6

c) I dove off a 4 meter high rock

a) The river contained crocodiles

Frankie's cousins - a freshwater turtle and a water dragon

The alpha croc’s name is Frankie and he is at least 4 meters long. Don’t worry, I swam fast (well, faster than that girl who got left behind.. RIP).

Conclusion: TRUE

b) The rapids were Class 6

Only a Class 4. But we still managed to flip the raft a few times.

Conclusion: FALSE

c) I dove off a 4 meter high rock

I guess you could call it “shallow water soloing.”

Conclusion: TRUE

Pop Quiz Answers: Two Truths and a Lie (cont'd)

3. At community service in the mountains

a) I killed a cane toad by stomping on it

b) I played with cow bones

c) I planted over 50 rainforest trees

a) I killed a cane toad by stomping on it

Unrelated picture, but we were looking pretty fly in our neon probation vests.

It made a popping sound. But unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to do the dirty deed, seeing as the Conservation Leader took care of it within a microsecond of spotting the creature. Apparently, the cane toads are an invasive species, and it is illegal in Australia to not kill one that’s been spotted.

Conclusion: FALSE

b) I played with cow bones

There was a cow cemetery in the middle of the field where we were planting the rainforest. It made for good fertilizer, and I learned about cow bone structure.

Conclusion: TRUE

c) I planted over 50 rainforest trees

Before

After

My partner and I rocked kicked some tree-planting butt. Come back in 300 years; you can chop down our perfectly planted trees and maybe make a small outhouse.

Conclusion: TRUE

Pop Quiz Answers: Two Truths and a Lie (cont'd)

2. In the Great Barrier Reef

a) I scuba dove

b) I pet a white-tipped tiger shark

c) I stuck my hand inside a giant clam

Sorry, not a lot of good pictures for this one. Water and cameras don’t mix well.

a) I scuba dove

Sexy stinger suits to protect us from the jelly fish. Don't worry, there's a hood on it too.

Scuba diving definitely sits up there with skydiving. It was like flying over a mosaic of rainbow corals and neon colored fish.

Conclusion: TRUE

b) I pet a white-tipped shark

I was obviously too enchanted with making faces at the fish to notice that big shark swimming next to us, let alone touch it (I’m actually not lying). Maybe next time.

Conclusion: FALSE

c) I stuck my hand in a giant clam

Not your typical New England clam chowder

If these clams are the size of a small bean bag, just imagine how big the pearl inside must be! Unfortunately, its squishy purple flesh closed on me before I could find the hidden treasure.

Conclusion: TRUE

Pop Quiz Answers: Two Truths and a Lie

1. In the Rainforest

a) I mothered a koala

b) I got in a fight with a kangaroo

c) A python tried to strangle me

a) I mothered a koala.

Isn't my baby the best?

Define “mothering” a koala. A mother carries her babies, right? So using my loose definition, I “mothered” the cutest koala ever.

Conclusion: TRUE.

b) I got in a fight with a kangaroo.

5 vs. 1, bring it on Kangaroo

This little sucker is a wallaby, not a kangaroo, but there were tons of roos lounging around just like this guy. All he wants is a little chest scratch.

I’ve seen Kangaroo Jack. I’d rather not punch an animal that can balance on its giant tail in order to get at me with four limbs at once.

Conclusion: FALSE

c) A python tried to strangle me

A little too close for comfort there, buddy.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly planning on swallowing me whole, but I was nervous.

Conclusion: TRUE

Pop Quiz: Two Truths and a Lie

Here's the game - for each category, two of the statements are true and one
is false. Have fun guessing which one is the fake!

1. In the rainforest:

a) A snake tried to strangle me

b) I got in a fight with a kangaroo

c) I mothered a koala bear

2. In the Great Barrier Reef

a) I scuba dove

b) I pet a white-tipped tiger shark

c) I stuck my hand inside a giant clam

3. At community service in the mountains

a) I killed a cane toad by stomping on it

b) I played with cow bones

c) I planted over 50 rainforest trees

4. River rafting on the Tully River

a) The river contained crocodiles

b) The rapids were Class 6

c) I dove off a 4 meter high rock

Answers and pictures coming up soon :)

"They can't leave without all of us, right?"

I made it to Cairns! (Pronounced "canes," like candy canes.) It's amazing how much you can get to know (too much information about) someone during 20 hours of straight travel.

More updates to come soon. Stay tuned for more about the profound Australian man, "Cock and Bull," and pictures!

Goodbye America!

I leave today. You can stare at this picture of a frog and a fly until I arrive in Australia (see countdown on right).

Art cred: yours truly

Quote of the Day (1 day left)

"Airline travel is hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror."

--Al Boliska

Comic of the Day (3 days left)

Goal #4: Capture it on film (5 days left)

What happened at the end of the last Harry Potter?

Dude, all I remember is that Harry didn’t die. (If I die young, it’s very likely that I was killed by a Harry Potter purist. I can almost understand how they believe the world should be clean of ignorant fake fans like me.)

What are the names of the main characters in that book you’re reading?

I think the guy is Duke, or maybe Duncan. The girl was Marge? Or Jenny. Wait, it was definitely Natalie…

What does Boston look like?

There’s a few tall buildings, and that super pointy one. Oh wait, that’s the Transamerica in San Francisco. I’ll stick with tall buildings, final answer.

Random photo-related music video because I don't have any cool photos of Australia yet:

In conclusion, I have the memory of a 90-year-old coke addict. Which is why I am planning on having my camera in hand at all times, as ready for attack as my pepper spray in the ghettos of Detroit, and hopefully a little more useful.

Yup, I'm going to be that crazy chick with the camera, and it'll be worth it because what’s a blog without pictures? Plus, this way, when I’m 90 (and not a coke addict) I will be able to show all my great-grandbabies the totally cool person I was back in the day.

My first mistake (6 days left)

Good thing I read my flight itinerary today. Turns out I'm not going to Brisbane (the flooded zone), but am actually headed for Cairns, almost 2000 kilometres to the north. Don't worry though, they've received quite a few cyclone warnings there too.

Also, if you'll look on the right side of this page, you can check out my super sick countdown until I officially land in Australia!