Monday, August 16, 2010
Week 3! :)
English got cancelled today due to illness of the prof, so I got an extra day to be unproductive. Tuesday was a good day even though I was exhausted from no sleep the night before. Fell asleep at the end of religion, oops. Hung out in Teds that evening and ended up being taken home by Colin and Timmy because of a raging fever. Turns out this time around I got the flu! I was in bed until Saturday. I went to part of the uni rugby game with Holly, did some laundry, grocery shopping, and that was all (more than) I could handle. Sleepy weekend, felt way better on Sunday. Enjoyed wearing shorts in the middle of winter!
The second week of school, where school actually happens...
Second Week of Class
Classes are still good. I’m liking all of my subjects. Was sick on Tuesday, so missed those classes. Stupid Teds’ bug! Friday was Autonomy Day! Autonomy Day is the day that the entire university gets up a 3 am (we got up a half hour early for some reason!) to start celebrating the autonomy of the University of Newcastle from the University of New South Whales. We had block parties and a big family breakfast until 7 am where we then headed to Bar on the Hill (Uni pub) and partied there. There was blow up twister, human fooseball, performances and booths. All around campus there was a carnival, an amazing race, murder games (that was a week-long event), billy cart races, and the party at Bar on the Hill until 6pm. Anyone could come to Auto day and it was a blast! I was the official photographer for the uni so I got a cool press pass and exclusive access to some of the stuff that was happening! That was one of the best days ever!
Classes are still good. I’m liking all of my subjects. Was sick on Tuesday, so missed those classes. Stupid Teds’ bug! Friday was Autonomy Day! Autonomy Day is the day that the entire university gets up a 3 am (we got up a half hour early for some reason!) to start celebrating the autonomy of the University of Newcastle from the University of New South Whales. We had block parties and a big family breakfast until 7 am where we then headed to Bar on the Hill (Uni pub) and partied there. There was blow up twister, human fooseball, performances and booths. All around campus there was a carnival, an amazing race, murder games (that was a week-long event), billy cart races, and the party at Bar on the Hill until 6pm. Anyone could come to Auto day and it was a blast! I was the official photographer for the uni so I got a cool press pass and exclusive access to some of the stuff that was happening! That was one of the best days ever!
First week of school!
First Week of Class (26-30 July, 2010)
Monday was my first class. Australian Popular Culture is a 2 hour seminar that happens once a week. In fact all of my classes are once a week. I’m still trying to get used to only having a couple hours of class a day. Tuesday I had piano for 2 hours in the morning and then religion for 2 hours in the afternoon. Hit the gym right after class since religion is in the physical health building right next to the gym and aquatic centre. I don’t have class on Wednesdays, which is just weird! Thursday morning I have Aboriginal Studies. Thursday went to Port Macquarie with Angie and Sarah (housemates). Angie’s mom was so sweet! Had an amazing dinner and then fell asleep to the sound of the waves. Got to see a whale in the morning and then we got back in time to get ready for the IH commencement dinner! We got dressed up again (wore another dress!) and listened to some lovely speeches, watched a funny tutorial video about the rules of IH and ate a delicious salmon dinner. The after party was at Kingstreet. We got the whole third level to ourselves! The first two levels were more of a bar and club scene, the third was a classier bar/conversation area. After a while Holly wanted to go so by Emily’s insistence we took a cab to CBD where Teds was having their retro prom. When we got there they were all getting kicked out so we met our group at the Silk Bar. Hung out there until we could catch a train. Long night but it was way fun. Had a pretty chill weekend, with Beach Sunday and Uni church!
Monday was my first class. Australian Popular Culture is a 2 hour seminar that happens once a week. In fact all of my classes are once a week. I’m still trying to get used to only having a couple hours of class a day. Tuesday I had piano for 2 hours in the morning and then religion for 2 hours in the afternoon. Hit the gym right after class since religion is in the physical health building right next to the gym and aquatic centre. I don’t have class on Wednesdays, which is just weird! Thursday morning I have Aboriginal Studies. Thursday went to Port Macquarie with Angie and Sarah (housemates). Angie’s mom was so sweet! Had an amazing dinner and then fell asleep to the sound of the waves. Got to see a whale in the morning and then we got back in time to get ready for the IH commencement dinner! We got dressed up again (wore another dress!) and listened to some lovely speeches, watched a funny tutorial video about the rules of IH and ate a delicious salmon dinner. The after party was at Kingstreet. We got the whole third level to ourselves! The first two levels were more of a bar and club scene, the third was a classier bar/conversation area. After a while Holly wanted to go so by Emily’s insistence we took a cab to CBD where Teds was having their retro prom. When we got there they were all getting kicked out so we met our group at the Silk Bar. Hung out there until we could catch a train. Long night but it was way fun. Had a pretty chill weekend, with Beach Sunday and Uni church!
O-Week!!!
Monday 19 July, 2010
Monday was the first day of semester 2 orientation! Today was a chilly day. Way colder than in Cairns! We started off with a mass informational meeting that lasted for 4 hours. The lady that was running it was funny; she made us stand up and jump and stretch! Afterwards we headed off into random groups for our pre-amazing orientation race meeting. I was a member of the wolves! A-whoo! After a barbeque we were free to do our own thing. I went to get my student ID card. I tried to get it earlier but I forgot to bring my passport which is a 100 point form of ID. We got some free stuff at the barbeque, none of it was useful, but hey its stuff right? After getting our ID s we tried to settle our health insurance cards, but no one was where they were supposed to be. Lovely. So I just went back to my block in International House (4) and hung out until dinner. Dinner is in Edwards Hall or Teds (Aussies have nicknames for everything!) Now I am self-catered but most of IH gets five dinners per week. Our house (block) is set up with a full kitchen, living/dining area in the middle and 5 rooms on each side in 420. 410 only has five rooms. That night was the international house pyjama party. There was a lot of alcohol and a really loud DJ. My ears were ringing for days afterwards! The party was pretty good until I got goon sprayed all over me and in my eye! Rhiannon (housemate), Holly and I left after that. People were too drunk and it was late and we had an early day!
Tuesday was the day of the Amazing Orientation Race. Our groups (go wolves!) followed clues across campus and across town. We solved puzzles and riddles and had a lot of fun learning about our area. The day was really long and exhausting but after 6 hours and a 2nd place finish, my day was not over yet! I had the IH mystery dinner to go to. We got all dressed up (I wore my new brown and turquoise polka dot dress) and got on a bus with no idea where we were headed. (Well obviously some people knew otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten there!) It was the funniest bus ride of my life! All the Aussies have fantastic songs to sing on rides that make you laugh ‘til your sides hurt! The destination of our mystery turned out to be a lake. The dinner was on a riverboat that took us around the lake. The dinner was actually pretty good and I got watermelon for dessert and lots of good company making it a good night!
Wednesday I blew off the seminars and info tours and just registered for classes and looked at books with Beth and Fion. We checked out the library, hit up the free barbeque, then went to a Uni sports info meeting. Turned out to be a pretty chill day. I wasn’t feeling so hot, so I didn’t go to the rubix cube party with everyone.
Thursday was a free day so I just hung out with Holly and Victoria. Met Colin, Andrew, Tim, Jono (Aussie name thing o), and Emma. We chilled in the hallway and talked for a long time. Of course there were some gymnastics demos outside.
Friday was the dolphin watching and petting zoo adventure! Called Colin to make sure that he was ready and headed over to the CT building to wait for the bus. It was about a 40 min ride tothe marina. Colin and I talked pretty much the whole way there. Our bus was the first to arrive so while we waited we occupied a small playground and ate bikkies. In the water there were two plastic orcas. The joke of the morning was that we paid to see the little orcas. The other bus arrived and we boarded the boat. I preferred the upper deck of the two viewing decks because I could more easily see both sides. It took a lot of patience and dealing with some rain and heavy wind, but eventually we saw some dolphins! They didn’t jump but it was still cool to see them in their natural environment. The view of the bay was incredible. The captain showed us this really cool cave inside the cliffs on the far edge of the bay and ten some islands. It was all so gorgeous I was regretting not having my camera. We were on our own for lunch. My salad was drowned in balsamic vinegar, but it was food! When we got to the farm the people gave us a bag of food to feed any of the animals there. There were lots of goats and sheep (cute babies), ducks, some fugly chickens, calves, bulls, camels, koalas, wombats, a horse, dingos, kangaroos, birds, emus, ostriches, wallabies <3, and my favourite next to wallabies was the reptile house. There were so many boas, lizards, and way cool/creepy reptiles. Colin and I were the last ones to the bus, we almost had our own little adventure! Lol. I slept pretty much the whle way back. It was a really great day. I was happy that I chose to wake up that morning!
Saturday and Sunday were just lazy days. Classes start on Monday!
Monday was the first day of semester 2 orientation! Today was a chilly day. Way colder than in Cairns! We started off with a mass informational meeting that lasted for 4 hours. The lady that was running it was funny; she made us stand up and jump and stretch! Afterwards we headed off into random groups for our pre-amazing orientation race meeting. I was a member of the wolves! A-whoo! After a barbeque we were free to do our own thing. I went to get my student ID card. I tried to get it earlier but I forgot to bring my passport which is a 100 point form of ID. We got some free stuff at the barbeque, none of it was useful, but hey its stuff right? After getting our ID s we tried to settle our health insurance cards, but no one was where they were supposed to be. Lovely. So I just went back to my block in International House (4) and hung out until dinner. Dinner is in Edwards Hall or Teds (Aussies have nicknames for everything!) Now I am self-catered but most of IH gets five dinners per week. Our house (block) is set up with a full kitchen, living/dining area in the middle and 5 rooms on each side in 420. 410 only has five rooms. That night was the international house pyjama party. There was a lot of alcohol and a really loud DJ. My ears were ringing for days afterwards! The party was pretty good until I got goon sprayed all over me and in my eye! Rhiannon (housemate), Holly and I left after that. People were too drunk and it was late and we had an early day!
Tuesday was the day of the Amazing Orientation Race. Our groups (go wolves!) followed clues across campus and across town. We solved puzzles and riddles and had a lot of fun learning about our area. The day was really long and exhausting but after 6 hours and a 2nd place finish, my day was not over yet! I had the IH mystery dinner to go to. We got all dressed up (I wore my new brown and turquoise polka dot dress) and got on a bus with no idea where we were headed. (Well obviously some people knew otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten there!) It was the funniest bus ride of my life! All the Aussies have fantastic songs to sing on rides that make you laugh ‘til your sides hurt! The destination of our mystery turned out to be a lake. The dinner was on a riverboat that took us around the lake. The dinner was actually pretty good and I got watermelon for dessert and lots of good company making it a good night!
Wednesday I blew off the seminars and info tours and just registered for classes and looked at books with Beth and Fion. We checked out the library, hit up the free barbeque, then went to a Uni sports info meeting. Turned out to be a pretty chill day. I wasn’t feeling so hot, so I didn’t go to the rubix cube party with everyone.
Thursday was a free day so I just hung out with Holly and Victoria. Met Colin, Andrew, Tim, Jono (Aussie name thing o), and Emma. We chilled in the hallway and talked for a long time. Of course there were some gymnastics demos outside.
Friday was the dolphin watching and petting zoo adventure! Called Colin to make sure that he was ready and headed over to the CT building to wait for the bus. It was about a 40 min ride tothe marina. Colin and I talked pretty much the whole way there. Our bus was the first to arrive so while we waited we occupied a small playground and ate bikkies. In the water there were two plastic orcas. The joke of the morning was that we paid to see the little orcas. The other bus arrived and we boarded the boat. I preferred the upper deck of the two viewing decks because I could more easily see both sides. It took a lot of patience and dealing with some rain and heavy wind, but eventually we saw some dolphins! They didn’t jump but it was still cool to see them in their natural environment. The view of the bay was incredible. The captain showed us this really cool cave inside the cliffs on the far edge of the bay and ten some islands. It was all so gorgeous I was regretting not having my camera. We were on our own for lunch. My salad was drowned in balsamic vinegar, but it was food! When we got to the farm the people gave us a bag of food to feed any of the animals there. There were lots of goats and sheep (cute babies), ducks, some fugly chickens, calves, bulls, camels, koalas, wombats, a horse, dingos, kangaroos, birds, emus, ostriches, wallabies <3, and my favourite next to wallabies was the reptile house. There were so many boas, lizards, and way cool/creepy reptiles. Colin and I were the last ones to the bus, we almost had our own little adventure! Lol. I slept pretty much the whle way back. It was a really great day. I was happy that I chose to wake up that morning!
Saturday and Sunday were just lazy days. Classes start on Monday!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday!
Sunday 18 July, 2010
Slept in for a while but didn’t feel so well, so I ate some cereal and slept some more. Same and Holly threw woodchips at my window to get my attention. I felt so loved, lol. Got up and dressed, met my RA who just got back from basic training in the Australian Army. Went for a walk around campus with Sam and Holly and toured the gym. Had some dinner and then went to the shops with Sam and Shannon (Sam’s Aussie neighbour). Watched Boondock Saint’s and called mom and dad. O-week begins in the morning! (orientation). J
Slept in for a while but didn’t feel so well, so I ate some cereal and slept some more. Same and Holly threw woodchips at my window to get my attention. I felt so loved, lol. Got up and dressed, met my RA who just got back from basic training in the Australian Army. Went for a walk around campus with Sam and Holly and toured the gym. Had some dinner and then went to the shops with Sam and Shannon (Sam’s Aussie neighbour). Watched Boondock Saint’s and called mom and dad. O-week begins in the morning! (orientation). J
First full day at uni...(:
Saturday 17, July 2010
Woke up late so I missed going shopping with a bunch of AustraLearn students. So Holly and I tried the public bus for the first time. We didn’t realize that we needed to flag down the driver and pay attention to the numbers on the marquee…I guessed I’m too spoiled with my own car. Lol. We ended up taking 3 busses after the advice of a helpful Aussie man to get to a shopping centre. Got some groceries at Woolworth’s and school stuff at Kmart except Kmart couldn’t give me a receipt. My card wouldn’t go through a second time so I had to go back at a later date. Bugger! Took two busses to get back and its then that Holly realises that there was one bus that would have taken us there and back. !!!!
Hung out with Sam, Katie, Jodie, Stacey, Katie, and Nikki (Aus), and Chin (Marchin ENG) and learned the game of King’s Cup. I didn’t drink but still played.
Woke up late so I missed going shopping with a bunch of AustraLearn students. So Holly and I tried the public bus for the first time. We didn’t realize that we needed to flag down the driver and pay attention to the numbers on the marquee…I guessed I’m too spoiled with my own car. Lol. We ended up taking 3 busses after the advice of a helpful Aussie man to get to a shopping centre. Got some groceries at Woolworth’s and school stuff at Kmart except Kmart couldn’t give me a receipt. My card wouldn’t go through a second time so I had to go back at a later date. Bugger! Took two busses to get back and its then that Holly realises that there was one bus that would have taken us there and back. !!!!
Hung out with Sam, Katie, Jodie, Stacey, Katie, and Nikki (Aus), and Chin (Marchin ENG) and learned the game of King’s Cup. I didn’t drink but still played.
Flying out to Uni!
Friday 16 July, 2010
Got up and finished packing, took our bags down before a breakfast of fried eggs and bacon. Then we turned in our sheets and towels and keys. We loaded up the bus and luggage truck and headed off to Cairns airport. Newcastle flights can’t hold all of our luggage so one bag was left on standby and would be sent later. The airport was so clean and colourful. It was refreshing to have a happy atmosphere in an airport! Walked around the shopping mall they had in the terminal with Maggie and Nerissa while we waited for our flight.
We arrived at uni late because of a delay in Brisbane, but Steph and Yedda took care of me. I got my info, keys, and take away dinner. They helped me settle in. Gave me a food cupboard that was supposedly occupied, but the only one available. Turns out the girl whose room I now live in left all her food here when she left. About 15 minutes after leaving me Yedda called and said her brother was taking Beth and Finn to the store and asked if I wanted to come. Sweet! I got some SAFE food and basic stuff to last the week. Eamon was really nice and waited very patiently for Finn…lol When we got back I set up my room and unpacked and ate. Still lacking the personal touch but it’s not too bad for living in. Holly came over and hung out for a while. Went to sleep for the first time in my new flat!
Got up and finished packing, took our bags down before a breakfast of fried eggs and bacon. Then we turned in our sheets and towels and keys. We loaded up the bus and luggage truck and headed off to Cairns airport. Newcastle flights can’t hold all of our luggage so one bag was left on standby and would be sent later. The airport was so clean and colourful. It was refreshing to have a happy atmosphere in an airport! Walked around the shopping mall they had in the terminal with Maggie and Nerissa while we waited for our flight.
We arrived at uni late because of a delay in Brisbane, but Steph and Yedda took care of me. I got my info, keys, and take away dinner. They helped me settle in. Gave me a food cupboard that was supposedly occupied, but the only one available. Turns out the girl whose room I now live in left all her food here when she left. About 15 minutes after leaving me Yedda called and said her brother was taking Beth and Finn to the store and asked if I wanted to come. Sweet! I got some SAFE food and basic stuff to last the week. Eamon was really nice and waited very patiently for Finn…lol When we got back I set up my room and unpacked and ate. Still lacking the personal touch but it’s not too bad for living in. Holly came over and hung out for a while. Went to sleep for the first time in my new flat!
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