Melbourne Excursions: Shrine of Remembrance & Little Italy

June 23, 2012:
Still jet lagged, I spent most of the day in bed reading. Britt was studying and I really wasn't up for going out on my own to Melbourne because of the distance by tram, but we went to Nando's for dinner with Corinne, Jay, Shae, Georgia, Whitney and her mom. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the company. This was my first time at a Nando's and it said was a Portuguese-inspired restaurant. Everyone was obsessed with the peri-peri spice. Afterward, Whitney's mom treated us to the film Snow White and the Huntsman. I was shocked that the movie was actually not terrible. I'm not a big fan of Kristen Stewart, but she almost managed to show some emotion in this one. Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth made up for her performance. In total, I was only confused by the final scene and the conclusion of the romance.. which is generally a pretty important part, I would say.

Anyway, when we got back to LaTrobe, we went to the "hot plates" which were literally concrete tiles that were heated by steam from the residence heating system or something. They were located in the common area between residence towers and there were people gathered there to say goodbye to Amy and a Canadian named Brandon from Calgary. There were two American guys who were unbelievably obnoxious. It's like they were cut out of the surfer-boy mold and were forbidden to stray from the stereotype in any way. All of the Americans Brittney was friends with seemed really cool though. It felt strange being introduced to Brandon at his going-away party. Everyone is at the end of their journey and I am at the beginning. It makes for complicated introductions.

Santiago, Brittney's roommate in whose room I'd been staying, came home before we left for the hot plates, but he gave me the use of his room for another night.

June 24, 2012:
Today was a similar story. I had intended to go out and do some exploring, but I woke up really late and decided to finish the book I'd started the day before. I showered, repacked my things, got to know Santiago better, cooked stir fry with Brittney and generally attempted to entertain myself which she studied (which is never difficult). She had an exam the two following days, so I am hoping to brave the city on my own or to meet up with some of my Australian friends from iRYLA.

"Enjoy your youth. You are never younger than you are at this very moment." -- Chad Sugg

June 25, 2012:
I travelled the city solo today! I took advantage of Brittney's copy of the LonelyPlanet guide to Melbourne. I needed change to pay for the tram and since I didn't have any, I went to the only place I could see near the tram stop... McDonald's or "Macka's" as it's lovingly referred to in Australian slang. In France they call it "MacDo". In Canada, it's "Mickey Dees". I feel like the American's have their own name for it, too. I ordered an ice cream cone for $0.30 that I wasn't really hungry for and fortunately, after I'd paid, they realized the machine was broken down so they returned my $0.30. I'm sure I could have just asked them to make change for me, but I hate wasting people's time. This way, I got my change and didn't have to eat it too (or something like that)!

I started at the Botanical Gardens which were spectacular. The first attraction there is the Shrine of Remembrance where some of Brittney's friends claim to have peed once upon a night out... a couple of them even snuffed out the Eternal Flame. Queen Elizabeth II lit it herself in 1954 or '55. I'm so glad I went into the building at the Shrine, though, because I learned that during WWII, the Japanese conquered South East Asia (which I really should have known) and that the stereotypical Australian outfit (the whole outback look) was their uniform for the infantry that fought in Papau New Guinea.

It turned out to be totally useless in the conditions of South East Asia and wherever they fought in attempt to stop the Japanese. Australia got bombed and everything. The Americans also fought there to defend Australia and in retaliation against the Pearl Harbour bombings (it was one of their primary motivations for getting involved in the war). Who knows what the world would look like if Japan hadn't bombed America?

The rest of the gardens were beautiful and it rained on me as I walked through them. All of the plant species look different from Canadian vegetation. Bamboo is apparently a grass that often comes from one core that remains underground. A whole pack of bamboo shoots would be just one plant. Bamboo also flower once every hundred or so years, and then they die. All bamboo plants tend to do this at the same time -- the synchronicity of living things -- just like the school of tuna fish in Finding Nemo! I read about it in the book I'd been reading, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. It just confirms my theories about energy frequencies and how connected the universe really is.

After that walk, I visited the Carlton neighbourhood which is also known as Little Italy in Melbourne. The architecture there was great -- it was clearly Victorian/Edwardian (maybe it wasn't so clear, after all, because I couldn't tell you which or if it was a mix!). I stopped at a restaurant called Bernutt for some pastries that were well-worth the trip. When I go somewhere I haven't been before, I like asking the people that work there what their favourites are because they're more likely to know what's good at that particular place. The ones I chose were recommended by the young woman behind the counter.

When I got back to Brittney's, I made myself dinner and watched the TV in the common room. Santi took me for a walk around campus, pointing out the good places to hang out and what the different buildings for used for. He has some genuinely awesome ideas for community development and agriculture in Mexico. He explain to me that because of the draught, Australian farmers developed farming strategies that work under harsh conditions and conserve water which they continue to use even though the draught is over. Even in places rich with water such as Canada, these sorts of strategies would be excellent for conserving water, where it's been proven unnecessary.

Just being in another country and talking to people from other countries can teach you so much. I don't know why there aren't more partnerships between countries when they clearly have information that would benefit everyone, especially when the environment is such a global issue... but what do I know.

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.