Awesome Aussies

TORAH BRIGHT WON THE WOMEN'S HALF PIPE! WOOOHOOO =]  She is from Australia for those who do not know.  I barrack for Torah Bright while I am down under.

So I am getting much more settled since the Orientation at Newman College is done.  Dorms are called colleges here so I was living in a dorm for four nights.  It's nice to be back in my room and not living out of a suitcase anymore.  Plus my roommate is here!  I am enjoying her company and am looking forward to getting to know her better.  She lives about 3 and a half hours away down The Great Ocean Road.  She invited me to her farm, she has sheep, and she is going to have me try meat pies which i heard are really good.  It should be fun!

Yesterday we had our first day of the Uni's (not university or college....just uni so I go to Melbourne Uni which is pronounced Mel-bin) orientation yesterday.  It was a little frustrating because it seems like everyone got to pick their classes except for those in the commerce school.  But since this is a very large school I heard there are no caps on the classes so their is no rush to sign up.  It looks like I will be taking Sport and Education in Australian Society, Business Finance, Management and Leadership in Organizations, and hopefully a fun culture class like Australia Now!  I will know my time table (not schedule) for sure Tuesday night.

After the Uni Orientation we wandered around the Victoria Market for a bit but I did not buy anything there, I went shopping a couple of days ago.  I did however find this little Asian supermarket called mingh pouh or something like that which sells packets or spices for $1!  That is amazing because I did not want to buy the spices at the grocery store because they were $3 each.  So after that bit of excitement I made dinner.  Making dinner has been great here because we buy a lot of stuff from the Victoria Market which is the coolest place ever. It is like a normal farmers market but 10 times bigger.   They sell everything too not just food.  I may have mentioned this before but if I did this place is so great I need to mention it twice.  I got so many fresh fruits and vegetables, it's great. So anyways, two nights ago we made a stir fry with pineapple sweet and sour sauce.  Last night I just had pasta and salad with grandma's dressing (my favorite!).

After dinner we went to this bar that is right next to the village called Turf Club or Turfs.  It was a lot of fun and I am glad it was so close!  Drinks are really expensive here though.  We bought a pitcher of cider, which I had never even heard of before but it is sooooo good.  It was $16 for the pitcher but we split it between 5 girls.  If anyone comes and visits we will go to Turf Club and have cider.

Today is going to be a relaxing day.  I do not have any big plans but we will see where the day takes us.  Tomorrow we are going to St. Kilda's beach.  I guess there are supposed to be a market type thing that is there on Sundays and there is also a restaurant we are going to try.  I do not remember the name of the restaurant but it is a vegetarian place that has a buffet and you pay what you think your meal was worth when you finish.  It should be a good time.  Next week will be extremely busy.  We have two orientations going on at the same time.  One for the village we live in and Melbourne Uni's orientation continues all next week.  i will try to write again soon but it may not be until the weekend.

Hope all is well in the states and for those of you who have snow enjoy it!!!