Orientation and Melbourne

February 26, 2008
Exchange students have a 2-day orientation BEFORE O-Week (big orientation) where we do the usual review of safety instructions, study tips, cultural differences, etc. Really boring, but I met a few people! I spent a lot of time with two students from UNC: Phil and Claire. I like them both a lot, and they remind me of friends I would have at home. Both live really close which is great. Phil lives in the "frat house", a house across the street with 14 exchange guys. They even have an RA and maids that come once a week. Most of the guys I have met are very nice and their house is always busy.

Orientation ended at noon and a large group of us went to the beach to relax some more. It is so wonderful being so close, I am going to miss it so much. My sheets are already full of sand, and it's almost comforting to feel when I go to bed at night! I have heard that winters are warm, but I don't know if they will be warm enough.

I planned on meeting Andy from Hillsong at a church party, but I was feeling a little sick and outside it became very dark. I took some pictures of the storm that I will try to post when I get to Coogee. People just sat out on the beach watching the lightning - it was beautiful. Then I got a meat pie and walked home in the pouring rain. Even when it rains it's wonderful here!

That night, the Germans (Alexandra and Daniel) and I went to the "frat house" to hang out with Claire and the boys. We ended up down the street at Coogee Bay Hotel to meet some of Claire's friends from the hostel. There were two INSANE Irish and four people from the UK. All were backpackers on their gap year. After talking to them I got so jealous that gap years are not culturally accepted in the United States. They are having so much fun and learning a lot. I am glad I get to study abroad, but I would like to backpack for a short period of time later in life.

February 27, 2008
In the afternoon after orientation, the plan was to do the beach walk from Coogee to Bondi, but because of cold weather we changed our minds. The walk is 6 miles along 6 different beaches with cliffs and just beautiful features. I'm sure I'll do it eventually. Instead we went to a career seminar! Sounds much more fun, right? We all need work, so we went to a boring hour long lecture about how to get a job in Sydney. She wasn't very helpful to be honest.

That night I went to Bondi Junction to get groceries and a few things I needed for my trip to MELBOURNE! I am so excited to visit Max and see a new city. I did my laundry across the street at the frat house (they have a free washer and dryer) and ended up hanging out for way too long.

February 28, 2008
My cab was coming at 4:45 a.m. and I don't know how I got up for it! I pretty much took a really short nap and hopped in the cab. When we got off the plane in Melbourne, we landed at the smaller airport in the middle of NOWHERE. It was pretty scenery, but not the city I had expected. Max picked us up in his "Ute" (pick-up) - he's such a character. I'll post pictures, but he's an Australian country boy trapped in the city. He was wearing a cowboy button-up, his black cowboy hat and boots. He is also quite the gentleman and did not let us lift a finger the entire weekend!

It's Max's birthday, so we went for a special breakfast at this place called Hopscotch, his local brekky place. It was AMAZING! I got Eggs Benedict which I had never had before and fell in love with. Max seems to know everyone in town - he got his birthday breakfast for free! While we were eating, we got a call from Max's dad Wayne that he needed to look in the Civic Video store window. Max was a little concerned because that is where he works as manager. We walked down the street to look and his dad made this HUGE poster about Max being 21!! It had all these cute pictures of Max growing up - Max was totally embarrassed. We went back to Max's place and took a big nap to get ready for the night.

Max's parents (Cathy & Wayne, I love them!) made us a DELICIOUS dinner for Max's birthday, and we headed out to Half Moon, Max's "local". Max's friends all met up, and it was nice meeting them all. He has gone to two different schools in the area, so he knows a lot of different people. We went to bed rather early because we needed to be ready for the next day!

February 29, 2008
Woke up early and packed up the ute for CAMPING! Heather and I were both totally excited. We picked up Max's friend Michael and headed outside of Melbourne to Wombat State Forest. On the way, we met up with a few other guys with utes - Lachie, Justin, and Risa. Then we went out mudding. I jumped in Risa's ute, he's hilarious. He's a big country boy and OBSESSED with John Deere!! He had stickers all over his car and said he was dreaming of a John Deere comforter. He's sending me money when I get home so I can ship him one! He was very impressed that my family had an American farm and really wants to see an American farm. All the guys we hung out with loved American country and listened to Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, and Brad Paisley a lot. It was really crazy to be camping in AUSTRALIA listening to American music. We all went mudding and Risa insisted on going through a really large bog. We got stuck, but the guys have a system worked out that can get us out of almost anything. Max's ute got a little banged up and the electrics went out at one point, so we were a bit more careful after that.

Around noon we set up the barbie and set up camp. We were planning on going back out, but the fire was so enjoyable we just sat all day! It was quite chilly for summer - I was wearing three layers at least. We ate a lot of sausage and listened to a lot of American country. They also love the band Cold Chisel, a classic Australian artist I recommend checking out.

Later that night, Jimmy showed up. Jimmy is an Olympic shooter for Australia and good friends with Max. He took me out in his ute around midnight to spotlight in the park. I wasn't nervous at all, until he told me how to put together and take apart the gun just in case someone was chasing us, and that I'd have to drive his car (a manual, which I barely know how to drive) if he yelled at me to. We drove around on a bunch of different tracks - saw a wombat, which Jimmy hesitated to shoot, and then we didn't see much for a while. He kept looking for deer; their deer here look very different from American deer. We didn't see much except a possum in a tree which he shot just because we couldn't find anything else. It was still fun just to drive around for a bit!

March 1, 2008
We woke up decent time and went out mudding again. The most fun part about mudding (besides getting stuck) is gabbing over the radios. These kids have more jokes than anyone I've met.

When we got back to Max's place, we got ready for a little dinner Max's family set up for him. They invited a few work friends over, and it was interesting seeing couples who had moved here from the States and what they thought about the cultures, governments, etc. The food was delicious, as always, and for dessert we had rhubarb.

In the middle of dinner, Max got a text from his best friend Michael that he was going hunting tonight. Of course Heather and I agreed and got ready in about 5 minutes. We headed out in Max's ute towards Michael's ranch - it's a really nice place. Michael's family is getting land ready to ranch cattle, but right now there is not enough grass because of kangaroos. There are so many kangaroos in the area that there is not even enough grass just for their population! So, Michael and Max do some number control whenever they get bored and hunt the kangaroos out on the land. We got a huge spotlight and drove around the ranch looking for whatever we could get. We didn't have ear plugs, so we all had bullets sticking out of our ears (which I found funny). By the end of the night we shot 11 roos and packed as many as we could in the back of the ute. Michael's family normally uses kangaroo meat to feed dogs, but tonight we dumped them in a pit on site. It was SO much fun! Kangaroos range in size from rather small to 7 feet tall. Our largest was probably almost 6 feet and both boys had to pick it up to get it over the fence. For those of you that don't know, humans can eat kangaroo too. They sell it in grocery stores here, but it's very tough and few Aussies eat it on a regular basis. After we got rid of the roos, Max, Heather, and I drove back to Max's place in the city.

March 2, 2008
Today we plan to set out and see the city part of Melbourne. It was a very packed Sunday down by the river and absolutely gorgeous! We wanted to try dim sims, so we ate them at a food court next to the big casino. Dim sims are an Asian food - it's like a meatball surrounded by a noodle and fried, but all dim sims are made differently and include different types of meat, cabbage, or any other vegetables they want to put in. I loved it!!

We went to check out the casino after that. It's the size of the Bellagio and one of Melbourne's big attractions. Max played casino war for about an hour and blew 100 bucks. That was enough for me not to spend anything. We walked around the city a bit more and tried to take as much as we could in.

Our Texan boys came to Melbourne the day before by train, so we called to meet up. There was no time for the Great Ocean Road, but we plan on coming back and doing that. Instead, Max took us to the beach boxes. They are large sheds on the beach that are historical landmarks. A long time ago, people would dress up to go to the beach and change in these boxes. Now they solely exist for decoration, but they are very pretty! We watched the sunset from the beach and headed to Brown Cow to meet up with more people. It was nice to spend our last night in Melbourne with all of Max's friends, and I hope to come back very soon.

March 3, 2008
Heather and I begged Max to take us back to Hopscotch. I got the Eggs Benedict again - it's so wonderful! I gave Max's little sister Rosie a burnt orange Texas t-shirt. She went to our elementary too and still loves Texas! I wish she could come back to the states for school, or at least visit. She has grown up so much and is absolutely gorgeous now. Heather and I really enjoyed the time we spent with her.

We washed Max's bloody ute and he dropped us off at the airport. We were all so sad!!! I have to come back to Melbourne! I am so excited I got to spend time with Max and I met so many amazing people. This weekend was one to remember.

It is the beginning of O-week (orientation week, it's a big deal in Australia) and we tried to get home in time for a movie on campus. They did a sneak preview of Be Kind, Rewind with Jack Black, but we didn't make it! I was upset, but everyone came over after the movie and hung out for a bit. It was a pretty large group and really fun. My roommate moved in as well! She got there just when I did, and I really like her. Her name is Marci and she goes to UConn. Very sweet girl and totally easy to get along with - I'm sure rooming with her will be great.