Days 2-6: Dis-Oriented

Before you compliment me on my clever title for this post, let me tell you that I didn't come up with the name. I stole it from DLC's name for Orientation- Dis-O week. The catch phrase of DLC's Orientation: "It's not how deep you fish, it's how you wiggle your worm. Catch a Big O this week." Hehehe.


A lot has happened since the last time I updated this blog, so be prepared for a massive post. If you don't feel like reading all of it, that's fine. Here is the abridged version: It's been amazing and fun, Sydney is amazing, the people are awesome, and I am exhausted.


Now for the rest of you reading the whole thing, let's start off where I left off last time, Day 2. So on the second day we had a scavenger hunt throughout Sydney. But it wasn't just about finding things. Oh no, we had to complete a bunch of insane tasks. This included but was not limited to: Proposing to a stranger, ordering food without a shirt on, eating a 1 pound hamburger, kissing someone in a uniform, having a rap battle with a stranger, reenacting a scene from a famous musical on the steps of the Sydney Opera house, becoming street performers begging for money, offering strangers a piggy-back ride across the street, dancing in public, and some other tasks I'm not gonna publish on this blog. It was gray and rainy the entire time, but that didn't dampen our spirits. It was a great time, and we ended the night with a Gender-Bender Party. Ladies and Gentlemen, I wore a dress for this occasion and I'm hoping there aren't any pictures floating out there to show it. But overall, my first time in drag wasn't so bad. 


Day 3 was the International Student's Orientation. I spent most of the morning and afternoon learning about academic life at Macquarie University, hearing about different opportunities on campus, and started organizing my schedule. I am currently enrolled in 3 100 level classes, which is the minimum needed for an Exchange Student. And I currently have Monday, Thursday, and Friday off from class. Epic. But I need to take at least 4 classes to keep up with ASU's requirements. I'm hoping to get in a 300 level(the highest level undergraduate classes at Macquarie) class, but it isn't guaranteed. They are usually reserved for students in their last years, and I'm starting my third back in the States. But since I took 2 Third-Year history classes last year and got A's in both, an exception will be made for me. If not, it's gonna be tough finding another class that will fit in the narrowish box I have to bring back classes that fit my major. That night I had to go through a DLC Orientation tradition that I won't go into details about since hey, maybe someone reading this will decide to go to Macquarie and stay at DLC and then BAM I've ruined the surprised. After that, we went out to the bar/club up the road. This was my first time being able to go to a club and legally drink at the same time. It was a lot of fun, and before you ask no no trouble came about for me. I'm a responsible young man thank you very much.


Day 4 was a trip to the Taronga Zoo, which lies on the opposite side of the harbor where the Sydney Opera House is. While I nearly crapped my pants when I realized the Ferry and Ticket would cost $50, it was well worth it. Not only is it an amazing zoo, but it offers some epic views of Downtown Sydney. Also, it was an insane amount of walking around. That night was the International Students Party Cruise, put on by Macquarie. The theme was Olympics/Sports, so I went dressed in some running cloths and American flag tights. Women's tights. Yes, I realized that I've worn articles of women's clothing twice this week and frankly I'm alright with that. Basically this trip was ANOTHER party with more dancing. By the end of the night, those of us who had gone to the zoo AND the party cruise were absolutely exhausted and 


Day 5's events was an afternoon picnic right outside DLC, and it was wonderful weather. Sunny and warm, just how I like it. That night we went to a Sydney Rooster's Rugby game. That is seriously the team name. Sydney Roosters. The Rooster's lost, but that wasn't a major disappointment to be seeing how I'm kinda use that kind of thing already. But I really liked the rugby game. It went fast and easy to understand, which are both major positives in my book. Afterward we went to a pub in the city. I didn't stay that long, and decided to head back with some friends, Rob and Daan. Getting back the Macquarie was an adventure that involved trains, taxis, and a decent amount of walking. By this time my entire body was just sore, after an entire week of walking and dancing and being active.


Day 6 was the day of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics. I tried to wake up at 5:30 to catch the entire thing, but it took forever to get back home the night before so I ended up watching from 6:15 our time on. After that I promptly fell back asleep. So I've been relaxing all day. I got some cleaning done, got some laundry done, plan to do some reading. I know a lot of people went out tonight, but I'm pretty exhausted. I'm not the type who can handle a lot of going out all week long. And supposedly this starts all over again next week. And the fact that I am seriously running out of money. But I do like some "me" time, as anyone who knows me knows. I just have to be careful to not take too much of it.


So that's the recap of this week. Now onto the next part, where I'm gonna talk about some general feelings about this whole experience so far. If you read through the first part and have decided you don't want anymore, I understand. The abridged version: Things here are really similar and really different at the same time, I'm kinda obsessed with learning about the way of life here and from the others from different countries and I hope that's not annoying others, and I pretty much have loved every second of it. 


OK. So Sydney as a city is massive. When I mentioned we did a scavenger hunt through Sydney, it was just through a small part of the city. The Downtown area is enormous, and it has got to be like 10 times the size of Downtown Phoenix. Maybe less I'm not sure but it sure feels that way. And not to mention there are so many train lines and taxis all over. That is basically nothing like Arizona at all. I think it would be a lot easier to adjust if I lived in some of the bigger cities on the East Coast. It's just so radically different, but I'm sure I will get use to it in no time. Although getting use to the money here has been pretty easy. Except the smaller the coins are worth more money than the bigger coins, which is kinda cool and kinda confusing. Speaking of money... everything is so expensive here. It's hard to to spend money when that's kind of necessary to really get into O Week. I need to find a temporary job here, and the pay rate is pretty awesome. Sure cost of living is higher, but I've already paid for my housing so more money=more travel and other activities. It's hard to explain how being here mixes familiarity and difference all in one. Sometimes the parallels are super clear, other times it's hard to fathom how different things are. When I found out not even gets a chance to go to University, I was shocked. I mean, back home the opportunities are there in some way or form. Here in high school you already start a track that will lead you on a career path. I'm so glad that's not the case back home, because who knows where I'd be probably not here. But I love learning about the differences. I love to ask questions about even the most minute things. And that doesn't just go for the Australians and the culture here, but from some of the other international students as well. Daan is from the Netherlands, and we've talked a lot about the similarities and differences between there, the US, and here in Australia. And I'm such a nerd when it comes to history and geography and culture. I'm just hoping others are willing to listen and answer my questions, and it doesn't come off as pestering. 


Being here has taken some adjusting, and will continue to take some more. But honestly thats just part of the whole experience, and I feel like I'm doing a good job so far. Classes start next week, and I have a lot of errands to run still and a lot to figure out with my classes. As fun as it's been, I am definitely looking forward when things calm down a bit. But for now, I gotta recharge my batteries and get ready for the next week. 


Oh, yeah. I don't really have a picture to go with this post, sorry. But if you're friends with me on Facebook you can see them all uploaded into albums. Hopefully next time I will have a video or a picture to go with the post. 

Day 1- A Sign of Things Come

OK, just so y’all know this isn’t actually being posted at the end of my first day in Australia. I do not have an Ethernet cable yet and the WiFi doesn’t reach my room. But it IS being written at the end of my first day. I just have no idea when this will actually be published.

With that out of the way, let me start from pre-Day 1. Flying out of LAX was a lot less complicated than I thought it would me. It was a teary goodbye from my family, but not on my side. I guess I was too excited and anxious to feel focus on leaving my family and friends for 5 months, and I kinda felt bad that I wasn’t crying like some of my other family members. But back to my flight. My seat was 81A, but  I accidently took seat 82A. By the time the actual 82A arrived, the people next to me had got settled in. Luckily the man was kind and just took my seat. Whoops. I sat next to Annette and Ann, a mother and daughter from Southern California. We had a few nice conversations. It wasn’t one of those awkward share every life detail type of arrangements, but it wasn’t an awkward silence either. I was luckily able to see The Hunger Games on the flight.  The DVD has not come out yet, so as a rabid THG fan there was no why I was NOT watching it. I was flying on a QANTAS flight, and I was bombarded with food and drinks for the first half of the flight. Not that it was a bad thing really. The dinner was actually pretty good. It was a struggle to stay up, but I managed to try to sync up my sleeping to that of Sydney time while in the air. Even on two melatonin tablets, I still didn’t sleep that well. I woke up numerous times, and I just couldn’t get comfortable. And eventually I was woken up for good when Breakfast was being served, which was around 4 AM Sydney time. Mind you, it’s about 11:30 PM as I write this. It’s been a long day.

Clearing customs was a lot quicker than I expected I had virtually no issues, which was a pleasant surprise. I think arriving at 6:10 AM really helped with the lines not being long. I was shuttled to Dunmore Lang College (PS- I am studying at Macquarie University, but living in Dunmore Lang College. It is a residence hall just like what we have Stateside, so I hope you don’t get confused with the names.) by a Macquarie University, and their were 4 others on the same shuttle. It was actually a van with a little wagon attached at the back for luggage. I had some really nice conversations with the other 4 people. One girl was from Germany, the other from Gerogia(USA Georgia, not the country). One guy was from Canada, the other from Japan/Tennessee. We were greeted to the country by a double rainbow, hence the picture at the start of the post.  Double rainbows aren’t the most common things in the world (I think), so I took it as a good omen of things to come. Driving over the Harbor Bridge was amazing.  I could see the tips of the Sydney Opera House, but didn’t catch a full view. But I will, soon.

I arrived and checked in into DLC at about 9:40ish. Orientation started at 10 AM. So I had very little time to settle in before being thrown right into the mix of things. I was feeling pretty tired, so listening to others present important information about the university was not the most exciting. But I did my best to stay focused and keep concentrating on what was being said. Afterwards I got some unpacking done, and went to the Macquarie Center just up the street to pick up some much needed supplies. I spent $50, and I barely got what I need. I am defiantly gonna need a part time job while here.

There was an activity this night, and Aerobics themed get together in the common room of the college. It was aerobic themed because one of the activates was learning a special dance for the Freshers at DLC. All of the other activities were drinking games.

So this is the point where I talk about a big issue about my time abroad- Alcohol. See, the drinking age here is 18. I’m 20. I’ll let you make the connection. On top of that, neither of DLC or Macquarie University are dry campuses, which means alcohol may be served at some or most of the events on campus and through the college. ASU is a dry campus (I’m talking about labels and names, not reality). So this is a totally different thing for me. So I’m sure some of you may be thinking that this means that all the university students are gonna be drunk 24/7. And I guess that could be the case, seeing as I’ve been here less than 24 hours. But based on the event tonight, I don’t really think that is the case. It seems like the attitude towards alcohol is realistic. They know these young adults are going to drink, so some events provide safe places to drink and enjoy the company of others. As far as I could tell(I left the event sort of early, since I wanted to get this typed up and hopefully not sleep through tomorrows events), no one was getting totally wasted. There were two options of punch, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. You could have either or. I ended up having a blast, just playing games, talking to others, and learning the Fresher Dance. It was exactly how I expected it to be honest. And it was awesome.

There is a lot more I can and wanted to say about my first day here. But I’m already at 1,000 words for this post, so I don’t wanna keep dragging on. I’m sure I will hit on some of these thoughts soon enough. I have a long week of orientation ahead of me, both through DLC and Macquarie. Hopefully I will have a lot more pictures here and on Facebook too. But right now I’m exhausted, and need some sleep. Hopefully not too much because I want to wake up in 8 hours. Retrospectively wish me luck. 

Less than 1 Hour...

I LIED. I GOT THIS UP TONIGHT. I HOPE YOU CAN HEAR ME.

I thought I was crunched for time so I didn't get to thank everyone who sent me well wishes. I appreciate it all!

24 Hours

OK, so technically it's less than 24 hours. But whatever.

I'm in California right now, so I officially won't see Arizona again for another 5 months. Tomorrow is all about seeing some family and family-friends for the last time, and being nervous and anxious of course. Surprisingly, I'm not too nervous or anxious. I feel excited, but I thought I would be a lot more worried about all of this. I guess it doesn't feel much different than moving into the dorms at ASU again. Except this time I am moving much, much farther away. In the last week I said all of my goodbyes to my family and friends out in Arizona. Well, as many goodbyes as I could get with people being gone and all.

But I'm all packed and ready to go, so I think. At this point, there isn't a lot I can do about that. It's hard to think about literally packing my life for 5 months into 2 suitcases and a carry-on bag. But that's part of the reason why this is so exciting. It's an adventure from start to finish.

10 Days

Packing Round 1: 37.5 Pounds, Not folded nicely at all. Still plenty of space. Not all my clothes were in it though. Not a bad start, if I do say so myself.

11 Days

Yeah.... it's been awhile. Sorry, I've definitely been caught up in that lazy summer mood. Which isn't the greatest thing to happen when you're getting ready to leave the country.

But overall, I got just about everything ready. My housing is all taken care of, I figured out what I am going to do banking and money wise, I have all my documents I need to make it through customs without a problem(hopefully). Basically the only thing I need to do is pack and organize all the things I'm not taking so they aren't lying around the house for 5 months.

I've hit the point where I'm nervous for leaving. Beyond excited and ecstatic, but nervous. But it's gonna be awesome. And only 11 days and a couple hours before the plane taking me to Sydney takes off...