Getting Settled

How are you going? aka how are you doing....no one cares where you are going.

It is weird how I have only been here for 15 days yet I feel like I have been here forever.  I have to say I am quite comfortable in Melbourne.

Classes are going to start Monday, finally, it seems like I haven't been in school for months! Oh wait, I really have not gone to school for months!  It is going to be interesting getting back into the swing of things.  My class schedule is not too bad. I was hoping for a day off either Monday or Friday so I could do some long weekend trips but that did not happen.  Monday I have class from 9-11AM, Tuesday from 4-7PM, Wednesday from 9-12PM, Thursday from 4-5PM, and Friday from 11-1PM.  I am taking Sport and Education in Australian Society, Business Finance, Australia now (which is only open to international students) and Management and Leadership in Organizations.  Business Finance should be the only one that is hard, or so my advisor says.  I have to say I am still not looking forward to the study part of study abroad.

So on Sunday we went to the beach as planned.  St. Kilda is a very busy, but very nice beach.  They had a ton of little tents set up selling all sorts of handcrafted goods.  I gave in and bought a leather bracelet but I love it so much.  We walked around the town a little bit looking for a good spot to eat lunch that my friend Chelsea wanted to take us to called "Lentil as Anything".  It is such a cool little hippie restaurant.  My Ithaca ladies would love it.  All of the food is vegetarian and the coolest part is that you pay what you think your meal was worth.  I only had $5 on me but I wish I could have left more.  Oddly enough going to the restaurant I was all excited because I was going to be able to eat lunch with the only cash I had on me, but when it actually came time to pay I felt bad that I did not have more to leave them.  It was one of the best meals I have had in Australia so far.  I had vegetables with a sweet curry sauce on them.  It came with some rice on the side and some yogurt.  I was skeptical about eating it at first, I like steak and potatoes, but it was delicious.  All of the food there was great and I really hope I get to go back again.  Also I hope I can leave more money.  It is such a cool concept and I really want to support it.

Most of this week has been picking classes and orientation type stuff.  The orientations have, for the most part, been fun and helpful.  I got a ton of free stuff at a "carnival" which was basically a trade-show. Our village also had a few comedians here one night which was so much fun.  It was funny to hear/ watch their sense of humor because it is different from the American population as a whole.  It is hard to get used to but they make fun of people all the time so if you ever come to Australia and someone makes fun of you supposedly it means they like you.  Kind of like when you are 5 and a boy pushes you on the playground but the adults tell you it is because they "have a crush on you".  Never understood that one.  Moving on....I joined the gym here and have been going a lot.  There are so many cool classes to take so that should be fun.  In Ithaca sometimes I hate working out because I work at the gym so it is nice to only be at the fitness center when I want to be!  Oh and a very exciting thing actually happened this week- I went on my first pub crawl!  It was really fun and we had a tight and bright theme so everyone was dressed up in funky outfits.  Today I had the best iced coffee in my life.  Iced coffee in Australia means coffee with ice cream in it!  Who knew?!  It was delicious and I will be going back.  There is a road that has lots of Italians cafes and restaurants.  the one we went to has so many desserts.  After lent I am going to try everything there!  Tomorrow night we have a superhero party, I will be dressing as Catwoman.  I have been getting a lot of opportunities to meet people who live in the village which is great.  It is looking like it is going to be a very fun and exciting semester!  My friend Emily and I have started planning our spring break journey.  We are going to fly to Cairnes (pronounced "cans" by Australians) to see The Great Barrier Reef and go to some beaches.  From Cairnes we are going to fly to Brisbane and meet up with two of our other friends for a few days before coming back to Melbourne.  It will be a 10 days trip and should be a lot of fun!  I am also trying to plan a long weekend in Sydney- maybe mid March?  We shall see and I will keep you all updated.  Whoever you all are reading this...

I think it is my bedtime now.  Have a good night or umm good day?  Love and miss you all!

Bags = our version of shotgun
Time table = Schedule (I made my time table for my classes)
Also they say keen and heaps all of the time here.  Same meaning as in the US but you don't hear that said very often back in the States.