The Land Down Under: Settling into Melbourne

This post is definitely in a different register and tone than the last one, but I sincerely enjoy writing about my trips, and I thought I would share another one that I was fortunate enough to participate in.

One of my best friends, Brittney, begged our highschool friends and I to come to Australia to visit her while she was on exchange there. She even buddied up to my Mum asking if I could come. After a few months of telling people I was "potentially" going to Australia in the summer, my Mum asked why I kept saying "potentially"... if I wanted to go, I should go. I hadn't wanted to set my heart on it because I knew I had my own exchange coming up in the Fall, but with this, Brittney started planning up a storm with her friend Jay for a two-week road trip of the East Coast. I planned to spend two weeks in Melbourne with her first, exploring in case she needed to finish exams, and then we'd set off with one other friend of hers who would be joining us that she knew from Guelph University.

On June 19, 2012, I boarded a plane. The posts starting here are all to do with this trip.

Day 2: June 20, 2012
After my 32 hour flight/travel time yesterday, I was super exhausted and a little motion sick. On the first flight to Dallas, I sat next to a 3-year old boy named Seamus who was adorable and chatty. After 15 minutes, he tried to tell me discreetly that he loved me. He will be a huge ladies' man one day. All of the flights were fairly uneventful. I had some sinus pain from my sinusitis and the changing air pressure which was particularly uncomfortable. Thank goodness the doctor told me I had sinus cavities in my forehead or I would have been concerned that my head was cracking open.

On the flight to Australia from LAX, I finished reading The Secret Life of the Bees which was excellent, and I watched The Godfather (amazing film) and Albert Nobbs (excellent acting, awful film in general). My luggage didn't make it onto my final flight, so it didn't come in until today, but I always pack the necessities in my carry-on. Britt met me at the airport and took me on a bus and a tram to get to the Bundoora campus of LaTrobe University where she studies. We then did some shopping and bought groceries with her friend, Jay, who is originally from Barrie (attends UOttawa). She's doing the East Coast trip with us. Brittney lives in my dream-student-life scenario: she shares a kitchen with twelve students of various nationalities... practically L'auberge espanole...

Her friend, Santiago, is travelling this week, so I'm using his room until he gets back. We made kangaroo burgers for dinner and I was so exhausted that it was like a mental challenge to eat the burger -- not to mention the jaw pain from my jaw click. I went to bed at about 8pm and slept through a 5.4 Richter-scale earthquake. It was the biggest in Melbourne in 30 years. Thankfully, I slept straight through to 7.30am, but managed to sleep until 9am. Britt's roommates seem nice. There is Ronnie (Aussie), Louis (Mexican), Luke (Aussie), Nina (Russian), Santiago (Mexican) and many more that I have yet to meet!

Day 4: June 22, 2012
Today was a complete waste thanks to the events of yesterday. Brittney and I spent the full day in recovery mode. We started out early yesterday morning by taking the tram to St Kilda beach in the pouring rain. We walked up the pier and along the deserted beach and then gave up on the weather and went for lunch to warm up and dry off. We forgot to bring an umbrella. I love the ocean, though, so I didn't mind too much. It was the wind that got to us.

I feel some sort of connection to water, despite my aversion to swimming pools. I much prefer lakes and oceans.. but I don't particularly love beaches and the sun. Figure that one out. A city with a harbour might be the ideal place for me to live.

We had lunch at a pay-what-you-can restaurant called "Lentils as Anything". It's vegan and everything was delicious. We split a curry platter and a Japanese "pizza" thing we couldn't pronounce. Our server was cute. Despite the general "encouragement" to try to snag an Aussie guy and bring him home and the fangirl-esque adoration by Canadians of any guy with an accent, I hadn't anticipated being attracted to every man in this country (and truthfully, I haven't been). It's not an anomaly here, and I think Canadians are pretty awesome ;)

On our way  back to La Trobe, we stopped quickly to pick up something from the convenience store and I gave the cashier a purple bank note, thinking it was $10 AUD, but it was a $5. We had a good laugh about it. Obviously I was confused because Canadian $10 bank notes are purple and fivers are blue and it's the opposite here. After showers to warm us up and dinner, Brittney and I headed to one of her friend's residence halls to hang out and play games. I had never heard of drinking Jenga before. I met another couple of Canadians and a few Americans who we went out with to a bar called Billboards. Every guy at this bar danced. I must take a moment to lament 90% of North American guys (in my experience anyway)... what is the stigma around dancing?! And I feel that it is necessary to point out that "grinding" does not count as busting a move.

However, the guys all stayed in groups while they danced, kind of like girls tend to do in Canada and only danced with girls they knew. You can't have everything. In general, it was a really great time except for having to cab it back after missing the last tram.. and today my feet and body are so sore from all the dancing.

We went for dumplings today for the going away of Britt's one friend. It my first time having dumplings and they were delicious! Being so close to East Asia, Australians seem to have a lot of Asian-inspired restaurants and they all look delicious. Britt and I walked through downtown Melbourne afterward. The Yarra River is gorgeous and it was not too cold out so it was a nice walk.

It's a bit strange to be introduced to all these people who have been getting to know each other since the beginning of their semester, especially since most of them are saying goodbye to each other.