Sorry that this post is a little late, but our Orientation Week (O-Week) leaders have kept us very busy for the past few days. O-Week started on Sunday when all the new residents arrived. We met everyone in the Dining Hall, and then had dinner together. Afterwards, we had floor meetings to get acquainted with each other and our RA's, then headed up to the common room for some ice breakers. They had us do a number of activities that got us up close and personal with each other, most of which I can't imagine, as a former Orientation Leader, doing in the United States--orientation is very different here than in the U.S.
Monday was pretty boring during the day, because we sat around from 9 to 4 listening to speakers from the college telling us how everything works. It was barely useful; I wish I would've gone on the beach trip instead. I guess hindsight is 20/20 haha. Most of my friends ditched by the end of the day, which probably would've been a good idea, but being my goody-two-shoes self, I couldn't bring myself to do it. So I sat there and endured lol. After orientation, a lot of us walked over to the Macquarie Shopping Center (a big mall conveniently located about 5 minutes from DLC) to buy a flannel shirt for the evening festivities. The theme for the night was Bush Band/Barn Dance evening, so we had to look like "bogans" (their version of rednecks, who look pretty much the same). Then we went down to the dining hall, where they had pushed aside all the tables and hired a bush band to play songs for us while we did line dances and other silly but fun things. At the end of the night we had to learn the Fresher (aka Freshman) dance that we will be performing tonight at the campus bar. It definitely put me out of my comfort zone, but overall it was an enjoyable night!
On Tuesday we got divided into groups for a scavenger hunt around the city. What they didn't tell us was that it would basically be a day full of making us do embarrassing things and harassing the poor people of Sydney. At each station, there were O-Week leaders waiting for us. They would give us a task that we had a certain amount of time to do before we moved on to the next station. In addition, they gave us a list of dares at the beginning of the day that would give us extra points if we completed them. At the first station, the Botanical Gardens, they made us practice our Fresher dance in our underwear. Luckily, not many people were around and we managed to avoid Park Security (like I said, not like Orientation in the US!! I was a bit scandalized).
The next station was a statue of a pig that supposedly gives you good luck if you rub its nose. Our task was to lay on the ground in the same pose as the statue and get 10 random strangers to rub our noses. Most people were amused as they walked by, but we definitely got some crazy looks. After that, we had to stand behind the two hosts of an Australian Morning Show as they shot some footage outside and wave energetically in the background.
From there we moved on to a big park (I forgot the name). We were given a tambourine and a recorder and were told we had to sing/play and try to get people to give us money. We didn't have much luck at first, but ended up making $8.80. I played the recorder, and we sang Mary Had a Little Lamb because that's all I knew how to play lol (thank you 6th grade recorder lessons). When we were done singing, we had to switch pants with another member of the group. Some of the girls switched with the boys, which was pretty funny looking. I switched with another girl in the group, a really nice, cute girl named Pip who lives on my floor.
Next, we went to Sydney Town Hall. Well, more accurately we went to the intersections outside of Town Hall. Our task was to convince random strangers to give us piggyback rides across the intersection or to let us give them a piggyback ride. We definitely got a lot of strange looks during this task haha.
Moving on, we went back to the area where we were in the background of the TV show, but this time we had to make finger paintings and try to sell them to people walking by. This one was pretty hard, because it was lunchtime and there were lots of businessmen in suits on their lunch break who did not want to be harassed into buying a finger painting lol. I ended up selling mine for 50 cents.
Our next task took place at a grassy area near a train station. We had to play duck duck goose, and run around flapping and quacking when we were the goose. Then we had to try to catch a pigeon (we didn't succeed). Even worse, we had to act like pigeons and try to get people sitting on the benches nearby to feed us (incredibly, we got 3 people to feed us). By this time, we were getting pretty tired (the sun is hot and exhausting!) and were ready to be done with all the embarrassing things, but alas, we had 2 more stations to go.
Next, we went to Circular Quay (a big touristy spot) and were instructed to ruin people's photos ("photo bomb") by running in the background, running right in front of them as they snapped a pic, etc. I felt very mean doing this, so I cheated a little and only did it one time instead of five like we were supposed to. After that, we had to take 5 pictures with random strangers and do funny poses.
The last station was the steps outside the Sydney Opera House. Our first task was to approach strangers outside the Opera House and ask for directions to the Sydney Opera House (extra points if they didn't know lol). Some people thought we were hilarious, some thought we were stupid, some didn't speak English, and some got angry. Lastly, we had to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Itsy Bitsy Spider at the top of our lungs right outside the Opera House.
Mercifully, we were done after that and got to go back to DLC, eat dinner, and get ready for our jungle themed party at a nearby bar called The Ranch.
On Wednesday, the other study abroad/exchange students and I had our orientation, where enrolled in our classes and stuff. I got my tentative schedule, but I'm trying to switch a few classes around right now. After orientation, we had an early dinner then left for an evening cruise around Sydney Harbour. The theme was Stoplight, so people dressed in green if they were single, orange/yellow if their situation is complicated or they wanted to be "mysterious", and red if they were taken. We were told to wear shirts that could be drawn on, so people used markers to write all over everyone over the course of the evening (pretty inappropriate things--typical. except me, I put smiley faces and hearts on people--nice things! lol) The cruise was amazing. Sydney is such a beautiful place, and seeing it on the water as the sun went down was absolutely gorgeous. After the cruise, we all went to The Ranch again. Wednesday is the big night to go there, so the place was packed. We had fun dancing with each other for a while, then came back and hung out. My friend Bethany and I ended up talking to these guys Chris and Mitch. Chris told me a little about Aboriginal history, which is interesting and very sad. Eventually we got really tired and went to bed.
This morning Bethany, Trevor and I got up early and went to get our student ID cards and spent some time sorting things out and getting organized. Then we went to the gym and a bunch of DLC people chilled by the outdoor pool for a few hours. The weight room is very nice here (much better than Beloit). I'm going to enjoy working out there:)
The weather here has been amazing. I was under the impression that it was supposed to rain for 20some days straight when I arrived here, but it has been mostly sunny! I'm loving it. Tonight everyone is going to the campus bar, but I think Bethany, Lyndsay, Dan and I are going to just relax and hang around DLC. It will be nice to have a night off, especially since we didn't go to bed until 3 am last night and we are all a little sleep deprived.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
I'm here! Finally:)
Well, it's 4:00 in the morning here and I'm up because I went to bed at 7 p.m., so I might as well start my blog! For those of you that don't know, I'm in Sydney, Australia studying for a semester at Macquarie University. I'm staying in one of the residential colleges on campus (like a dorm in the U.S., but we have a dining hall and they cook for us right in the dorm). It's called Dunmore Lang College (DLC for short). I'm not sure what classes I'll be taking this semester yet, because we don't enrol and get our schedules until Wednesday.
I guess I'll start with the plane ride. I took a bus from Janesville to Chicago, then a plane from Chicago to LA, then another plane from LA to Sydney. The flight from Chicago to LA wan't too bad; it was about 4 hours. I tried striking up a conversation with the man sitting next to me when we first got on the plane, but he was clearly not in a talking mood, so I watched the Three Muskateers and an episode of the Big Bang Theory to entertain myself. However, I quit watching when they put Storage Wars on (I really didn't get the point of that show, so I started reading a little booklet titled A Call to Prayer instead, which was very good). Towards the end of the flight, I attempted to talk to the man to my left again. He told me that LA was his final destination, and then asked where I was going, to which I replied Australia. Then, the girl that had been sitting on the other side of him who had been really quiet the whole time got all excited and said that she was going to Australia too! She was going to Brisbane though, but we had a nice time talking about our impending adventures for the last 10 minutes of the flight.
After that I had a 2 hour layover, where I met a girl named Joy going to study abroad in Australia also. (she was studying in Melbourne) We had a fun time talking about it and chatting with an elderly lady sitting near us. Then I got on the plane for the insanely long 14.5 hour flight. Fortunately, I ended up sitting next to a guy who goes to Maquarie University and he was very funny and friendly, so we had a good time talking about that:) The plane ride was sooooo looooong. I watched 3 inflight movies (Footloose, Real Steel, and One Day) and some TV shows they had playing (Glee, NCIS, etc) because I realized that my Nook was out of battery power and I couldn't read at all:( I didn't sleep very well on the plane--they're really not that comfortable, so I was pretty tired afterwards.
After the plane ride, I made my way through customs and got picked up by a driver from the University. His name was Mark and he was really funny. People kept calling him on his cell phone and he would pick it up, talk for a while, then hang up and grumble under his breath every time lol. I love Australian accents!! He dropped me off at my dorm, so I went and checked in and got settled in my room. I wanted to take a shower sooo badly, but they had shut the water off to do repairs, so I had to wait about a half hour.
When I got cleaned up I went to an early arriver's BBQ at the bar on campus, where I got to meet other study abroad students. There were more Americans than I expected (I met someone else from Wisconsin! lol). I ended up talking with a girl named Bua (from Florida), a guy named Taylor (New York), Tony (Wisconsin), David (Georgia), and Danielle (Washington D.C.). We also chatted with people from Costa Rica, Germany, France, Holland, and Denmark. It's so cool to meet people from so many different countries! The BBQ was delicious, and I even tried Kangaroo! It was pretty tasty. (See Isaac, I'm branching out and trying new things! lol)
After the BBQ, Danielle and I went to the shopping center to buy cell phones. I had to exchange my money first though, so we stopped at a bank. Exchanging money sucks!! I lost $67 in the transaction:( Australian money is pretty though, very colorful. We bought phones from Vodofone, because apparently most students use that service so our calls to other students will be free:)
I went back to my dorm after that and organized my room a bit. I left my door open so that people would feel free to stop and chat, and I ended up meeting the guy who lives across the hall (Artyom, from Russia), a guy named Jack who came in and asked to use my computer to go on Facebook, and a guy named Mitch who lives a couple doors down. They can all tell I'm American right away, but only some of them know where Wisconsin is haha.
Before I got to Australia I signed up to have a "buddy" (named Jeff) to help me through orientation, and he and I have been exchanging emails. We decided to meet up for dinner so we could talk and he could answer any questions I have. He showed me around campus a little bit and then we went to the shopping center for dinner (they have a bunch of restaurants there). It was really fun! He's very friendly and entertaining.
After dinner I went back to my room and tried to stay up a little bit longer, but I caved and went to bed at 7 lol. So that was my first day! It was fun--a little overwhelming--but I know I'm going to have an awesome semester:) P.S. It's warm here!! It was around 80 degrees and sunny when I arrived, but cooled off and rained in the afternoon:(
I guess I'll start with the plane ride. I took a bus from Janesville to Chicago, then a plane from Chicago to LA, then another plane from LA to Sydney. The flight from Chicago to LA wan't too bad; it was about 4 hours. I tried striking up a conversation with the man sitting next to me when we first got on the plane, but he was clearly not in a talking mood, so I watched the Three Muskateers and an episode of the Big Bang Theory to entertain myself. However, I quit watching when they put Storage Wars on (I really didn't get the point of that show, so I started reading a little booklet titled A Call to Prayer instead, which was very good). Towards the end of the flight, I attempted to talk to the man to my left again. He told me that LA was his final destination, and then asked where I was going, to which I replied Australia. Then, the girl that had been sitting on the other side of him who had been really quiet the whole time got all excited and said that she was going to Australia too! She was going to Brisbane though, but we had a nice time talking about our impending adventures for the last 10 minutes of the flight.
After that I had a 2 hour layover, where I met a girl named Joy going to study abroad in Australia also. (she was studying in Melbourne) We had a fun time talking about it and chatting with an elderly lady sitting near us. Then I got on the plane for the insanely long 14.5 hour flight. Fortunately, I ended up sitting next to a guy who goes to Maquarie University and he was very funny and friendly, so we had a good time talking about that:) The plane ride was sooooo looooong. I watched 3 inflight movies (Footloose, Real Steel, and One Day) and some TV shows they had playing (Glee, NCIS, etc) because I realized that my Nook was out of battery power and I couldn't read at all:( I didn't sleep very well on the plane--they're really not that comfortable, so I was pretty tired afterwards.
After the plane ride, I made my way through customs and got picked up by a driver from the University. His name was Mark and he was really funny. People kept calling him on his cell phone and he would pick it up, talk for a while, then hang up and grumble under his breath every time lol. I love Australian accents!! He dropped me off at my dorm, so I went and checked in and got settled in my room. I wanted to take a shower sooo badly, but they had shut the water off to do repairs, so I had to wait about a half hour.
When I got cleaned up I went to an early arriver's BBQ at the bar on campus, where I got to meet other study abroad students. There were more Americans than I expected (I met someone else from Wisconsin! lol). I ended up talking with a girl named Bua (from Florida), a guy named Taylor (New York), Tony (Wisconsin), David (Georgia), and Danielle (Washington D.C.). We also chatted with people from Costa Rica, Germany, France, Holland, and Denmark. It's so cool to meet people from so many different countries! The BBQ was delicious, and I even tried Kangaroo! It was pretty tasty. (See Isaac, I'm branching out and trying new things! lol)
After the BBQ, Danielle and I went to the shopping center to buy cell phones. I had to exchange my money first though, so we stopped at a bank. Exchanging money sucks!! I lost $67 in the transaction:( Australian money is pretty though, very colorful. We bought phones from Vodofone, because apparently most students use that service so our calls to other students will be free:)
I went back to my dorm after that and organized my room a bit. I left my door open so that people would feel free to stop and chat, and I ended up meeting the guy who lives across the hall (Artyom, from Russia), a guy named Jack who came in and asked to use my computer to go on Facebook, and a guy named Mitch who lives a couple doors down. They can all tell I'm American right away, but only some of them know where Wisconsin is haha.
Before I got to Australia I signed up to have a "buddy" (named Jeff) to help me through orientation, and he and I have been exchanging emails. We decided to meet up for dinner so we could talk and he could answer any questions I have. He showed me around campus a little bit and then we went to the shopping center for dinner (they have a bunch of restaurants there). It was really fun! He's very friendly and entertaining.
After dinner I went back to my room and tried to stay up a little bit longer, but I caved and went to bed at 7 lol. So that was my first day! It was fun--a little overwhelming--but I know I'm going to have an awesome semester:) P.S. It's warm here!! It was around 80 degrees and sunny when I arrived, but cooled off and rained in the afternoon:(
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