What a crazy past few weeks! Since my last post I have been through two Uni orientations. The week following my adventure along the Great Ocean Road was filled with seminars and instructions for international students. I heard many of the same things I heard the previous week but it was still worth going. During this orientation I got to meet a few other international students and learn all about the different clubs and organizations on campus. We also got the opportunity to sign up for bus trips to the grocery store. I know it seems like a little and simple thing, but the trams are still very confusing to me so when I get a free and direct path to go shopping, I’m going to take it! On one trip we went to a local place called Preston Market. It was wonderful! We walked in and instantly there was so much to see. It is so interesting to just walk around shopping centers or groceries and just look at all there is and how different it is. Preston Market is definitely the place to go for fruit and vegetables. I got a few peaches and nectarines and then hit the jackpot and found avocados for fifty cents. My friend Hannah then bought some tomatoes and a lime and we set off looking for tortilla chips…but quickly got distracted. We found the deli section where we were sold the most delicious cheese, called Tasty Cheese. I have found that Tasty Cheese makes the best grilled cheese possibly in the world. We also split a loaf of freshly made bread that helps make those grilled cheeses a little better. Finally we made our way to the Aldi’s and found what we thought were tortilla chips. Once we got back to our college we made dinner and guacamole. The guacamole, delicious. The tortilla chips, awful. Since this adventure we have found real tortilla chips so next time we’re missing Mexican food we know where to go.
Saturday local students began moving in. It was very nice to finally have people on the floor and get the chance to meet other students besides just international students. The whole week after they moved in has been orientation (O Week) for the university, which was pretty much a repeat of what I heard the previous week. Monday all the international students got to sign up for classes. I’m taking three: Assessment of Communication and Swallowing, Research Methods for Speech Pathology, and Cognition. On Monday we also got to go to another shopping center. This was more of a mall set up but there was a Kmart, grocery store, and Target attached to it. Hannah and I stumbled across another excellent find during this trip: Pelligra Cakes. We walked passed it at first but had to turn around because of the wonderful smell coming from the doorway. We walked into a beautiful little café and were mesmerized by all the wonderful food that surrounded us. I’m not yet over the bakeries here and all the new things in the shops so sorry if this blog is a little food-oriented so far. We were looking in the displays and I saw a sign that said two for ten. They were these boxes filled with goodies, and each was different. Needless to say we bought two, one for each of us. Mine was filled with a brownie, two cupcakes, a fruit tart, a custard tart, a custard filled pastry/doughnut, a cinnamon roll, a raisin biscuit (an actual biscuit, not a cookie), and a few other things that I can’t remember. I promise I didn’t eat it all in one sitting, or even one day, but it was not around long.
The rest of the week was just more orientation and meeting more students. Friday we were taken into Brunswick and learned how to lawn bowl. Don’t let the name fool you, it is nothing like our indoor lane bowling. The goal is to hit a little yellow ball (called the kitty) with a different ball from across a flat field. The problem is (there always has to be a problem) that the ball you’re rolling to hit the yellow one is weighted weird so when you roll it, it starts curving and rolling to the left or right. Surprisingly, this was not my sport either. My team lost in the first round and we spent the morning watching the other teams compete, followed by a barbeque.
Finally this weekend we had a break from all the orientations and meetings and everything quieted down a bit in the college. Saturday was a fabulous day. I spent the day talking with family and friends on the phone and Skype and then headed into the city for a concert! The concert was a Michael Bublé concert and I couldn’t be more excited! I got the tickets as a Christmas gift from Jase and had been waiting and anticipating this concert for quite some time. The concert was at Rod Laver Arena which is part of the Melbourne Olympic Park and where they play the Australian Open every year. So not only was I getting to see Michael Bublé perform, I also was getting to go to an Olympic park! I will definitely have to go back to the park because I did not get to see as much as I wanted, I was too excited and had to go into the Arena very early. When it was time for the concert to start I was bursting with excitement. A band called Naturally 7 opened for Bublé. They are a fantastic group but the fun thing is that they don’t use instruments. The band does a thing called Vocal Play where each member is an instrument and they imitate the sound of the instrument with their voice. It was amazing to hear all of that together and then here a member singing along with it. After they finished Bublé came on stage and it was wonderful. In such a large audience he made it seem like there were only a few people there. My favorite part was probably during the encore where it started off with him and the full band and at one point the trumpet player was just a few rows away from me, and then all of a sudden the music stops and he just stands on the stage and sings without a microphone or any music. The whole arena could clearly hear everything he sang, it was marvelous. So in case I haven’t told you enough, thank you Jase for that wonderful Christmas gift!
Today I slept for a good part of the day and did a whole lot of nothing. And it was quite nice after such busy weeks! I got back a little bit ago from an evening church service followed by dinner with some other university students. It was very nice to get to sit down, talk, and fellowship with local students.
Classes start tomorrow, except I won’t start until later in the week. I’m sure I’ll have lots to say about my classes once I get into them!
I love you all and miss you!
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