Alcohol?

So I want to take this time to address some things that have been bothering me. The first one being the music from my room tour video. The song is actually called "Melbourne Sound" and is pretty popular here so I thought that it would be cool to use it. I didn't know that it said those words until after the video was finalized and uploaded. I do apologize for that!

Secondly, I would like to talk about the alcohol situation. First things first, I am legal to drink here and this blog is kind of like a journal to me as well as an information platform for you guys so I try to include everything I can. I don't want to lie and say that I didn't drink, because I did. But I would like to stress that I do not condone under age drinking back home. I am not going to lie, I used to drink a lot. I mean that's what you do in college right? No, you don't have to. About six months ago, I decided that drinking wasn't fun anymore. It wasn't fun acting obnoxious and out of control. It wasn't fun waking up and regretting how annoying you were the night before. So, I stopped drinking and I actually had more fun when I didn't drink. I know it's hard to believe, but it's so nice to be in complete control of yourself and know that you decide what you do, not the alcohol. Yes, my friends gave me crap for the first month or so, until they realized that they now have a safe way home and then they were fine with it!

Anyways, here in Australia, I am legal to drink. Most of the people I hang out with here have also been legal to drink for the past two or three years. Now, when I talk about drinking on here, I don't mean that I am getting trashed and stumbling home. I do a couple shots, maybe have one drink, and right now, that's enough for me. I'll reiterate: I don't need to be trashed to have fun. I used to think that alcohol gave me confidence to talk to people, but once you find that within yourself, who needs alcohol? Also, I'll give you a little tip, if everyone else is drunk, they aren't going to notice if you do anything stupid sober. Sometimes I have to convince people that I'm sober haha 

So that got a little off topic, my apologies. But what I'm trying to say is, please don't think anything less of me for drinking a little while over here. It's completely legal and I regulate myself. Also, there are no rules against alcohol on campus and let me tell you Australians can DRINK. 

I hope you all understand where I am coming from. Also, for those of you who know me, I will dance sober or drunk and in that picture at the top, I'm completely sober! Thanks for reading this rant of sorts... :)

Finally Moved In!

After a week and a half of living out of my suitcases and lugging them around, I finally got to move in. From the beach welcome, we took the bus to Geelong and then caught a train to Warrnambool. From the train station we had to walk a couple blocks to then catch the bus. Finally, we arrived on campus! I thought that the end was in sight...until I found out that the registration office was closed and I couldn't get my key. But, a nice guy named Jake, got into the office and gave me my key and I was at last in my room that I'll be in for four months. Here in Australia, they don't make you share your room with anyone, which is actually really nice. I live in a one floor house with about 15-20 other people. We share the bathroom and have a huge kitchen and living room area that we share as well. The kitchen is so large that our building is actually called Kitchens!

Once I moved in and showered, I went back to the main building where most of the Aussie students are staying and hung out in the common room with them. We pretty much partied there all night, dancing and getting to know each other. I am proud to say that I taught a few girls how to twerk. That's good old 'Merica for you... After a few tequila shots, aka face kittens, some of us even ended up tasting Rachel's raspberry soap...it's really better to just not ask... I then went back to my room before going to bed and my brilliant self, locked myself out of my room...oops. So in my sweatpants, glasses, and bare feet, I walked back to the main building and asked the security guard to come open it for me. I meant what else should I expect from my first night?

The next day we had a pancake breakfast which turned into a re-hash of the activities that went on the night before. Also, if you've never eaten Nutella on pancakes, you probably should.

Here's a tour of my room for you so that you can picture my life as I write it in this virtual world. Also, I will try and do a tour of the campus soon as well!!

Is this heaven? No, it's the beach welcome

So, Monday started off with an intense, unintentional workout. I packed up all my suitcases and headed to the train station at 6:00 am. I rode the train into Jolimont where I then caught the tram to the stop closest to Deakin's Burwood campus. I then had to drag my luggage up hill a mile to where the buses were. We then got loaded up and took off for the small beach town of Lorne on the Great Ocean Road.

     

Once there, we all got lunch and were split up into groups. I was in the best group....I mean the blue group. My peer advisors were obviously the best, Rhys, Matt, and Sheldon. We then split off and went to where we were staying for the duration of the trip. We stayed in the Great Ocean Cottages, which weren't the nicest but were very cozy. Although, having a 50 lb suitcase was a little hard to get up the treacherous ladder (also difficult to get up drunk...) Matt, being the strong PA that he is, carried it up the ladder for me.

      

      

Now, Deakin is so organized that they had a very strict itinerary that we were required to follow the two days (not that we did). At 1:30 we had free time so, naturally, we spent that time laying out on the beautiful beach.

      

 At 3:30 the blue group got to go surfing. Once again it was one of my favorite feelings. Standing up on the board is so exhilarating. The water was freezing on my bare skin, but with the wetsuit on it wasn't too bad, and if you get cold you pee in the wetsuit right? Ha, no.

That night we got all dolled up and then picked up in the raddest van you'll every see by two very fun Irish men...who quickly caught every girl's eye. We ate dinner and then played a rousing game of partner's limbo. It was definitely the most intense game of limbo that I have ever participated in. You have a partner and must remain touching until both of you are under the pole. We would have won if Rhys wasn't so terrible at it... ;) The rest of the night was spent dancing and meeting all the other exchange students...also, there may have been some alcoholic beverages involved as well. Oops.

The next morning we at breakfast at 7:30 am and then Lauren, Hailey and I decided to take a walk on the beach for our free time. It was probably the best decision we could have made that day.

      

Then before lunch we played beach volleyball for a while, until we got tired and decided to chill until lunch. For lunch, we all went to a burger joint called "Bottle of Milk." Why they decided to name a burger joint Bottle of Milk, I will never know, but they had some pretty delicious chips.

And because Hailey, Lauren, and I are the awesome human beings that we are, we made friends with the surf instructors who were probably the coolest people on the planet. They let us surf an extra session as well because we're just that likeable.

      

      

That night we had another "party" at the hotel complete with trivia, apple cider ale, dancing, juicy wiggling, star gazing, husband hunting, and friend making. All in all, I would like to say that the past two days have made me fall even more in love with Australia than I ever was before. I have made some great friends that I feel as if I've known way longer than 3 days. Thank you to everyone who made it so special!


Also, here is a fun video that you have to watch because the surf instructor showed it to us, and it's pretty much spectacular. I'm still considering.

Last day in Thornbury

For my last day in Thornbury, Brett sent me on a little bit of a scavenger hunt throughout Melbourne. It began at the Queen Victoria Market, which was the largest farmers market I had ever seen. It had anything from produce to clothes to souvenirs. I spent most of my morning there scouring the tables for the best deals. 

   

After that I continued on to St. Kilda beach where I got to see the ocean for the first time on this trip, needless to say, it was as beautiful as I was hoping. While there I got to FaceTime with my lovely family as well as get my first sunburn. The sun here is crazy hot, no ozone will do that to you. I'm used to not applying sunscreen back home so I didn't here (because I forgot it...) but my shoulders and back we're pretty rosy. While there I took a look at Luna Park which has the most terrifying entrance you'll ever see. Also there were tons of tables set up on the sidewalk, selling trinkets and things. I found one hippie girl who wove her own dream catchers and they were brilliant. I was so tempted to purchase one but they were a smidgen over my budget. 

A trifecta of firsts on this trip:

Don't lay out in Australia for an hour with no sunscreen...they aren't lying about the sun being strong here... Even my skin burned...which it never does back home!

After this, I took the tram back to Brunswick Street where I got the most interestingly made gelato. They froze the cream using liquid nitrogen, it was pretty mind blowing. I got a Nutella and pretzel gelato which felt like heaven on my tongue. I spent the rest of the night scouring Brunswick Street and Leicster Street to see some of the most beautiful street art I have ever seen. I'd say that my day was successful, and Brett, I made it to most of the places. :)

And here we have a surfboard necklace for the most special little girl who recently turned 5 and was requesting one for her birthday: