Week 3

Beginning of Week 3 and things were still changing. As if 6 hours of class just wasn't enough for a Monday... let's add another 2. For those of you not keeping track or just poor at math, that equals 8 HOURS of class. If you're thinking that I need to "man up" because that is like a "regular work day", I beg to differ. 8 hours of class is kinda like having 8 hours of meetings in one day. Raise your hand if that sounds like fun... Yea, I didn't think so.  It's painful. But I took this on for 2 reasons: The first, an hour after my last class gets out is my Yoga class. So no matter how hard the day was I can breathe, relax, and get myself ready to take on  more. The second reason, is that it's a Monday. What better day to be strained and dread completely?! It can only get better from there, right?!??  Well, I think so.

This is when I realized that the rest of my trip was going to fly... already on week 3 of classes and a month into the trip. When I think about the things I'm missing at home (friends, boyfriend, food, work, family gatherings, etc) time is standing still. But when I think about the amount of time I've been here, all the friends I've made, and how I'm already knee deep in school - I can't keep up! My mind is still back in Brisbane sometimes.

Knee deep in school, you ask? Why yes, let me explain... Projects and assessments were starting to creep up. I'm not sure what was happening to me. I am the queen of procrastination but with these huge projects, I was preparing them 2 weeks in advance and planning & outlining nearly 4 weeks in advance, I was a new person.

This was the week where patterns started forming. The pattern I'm referring to is an afternoon nap. These mornings are starting quite early and snooze really isn't an option if you want breakfast, so "nap" starting appearing on my To Do list. Might as well check things off!

One of the American girls (Kalyn) became ill and finally went to the hospital... for 3 days. Even though we weren't bff's by any means, hearing the updates gave me a weird feeling. I felt awful for her. Poor thing was 10,000 miles away from home, stuck in the hospital with her "new friends" and enduring awful, immobilizing pain. It was a long week for her. The worst part? They had no idea what happened - educated guesses being a spider bite. (You mean a spider like the huge one I saw just outside of my room??) My heart just hurt for her because family wasn't here and nothing was familiar... thank gosh her mom arrived a few days later. Mom and pain pills was the comfort that she needed, I think. I wasn't there, but from what I understand it was a dreadful experience.

I really started missing Egypt Valley Country Club this week. Ever since I was 16, I've had a job. And ever since I've been a freshman in college I've had 2 jobs working full time. I thought that I was going to enjoy the few months off... but truth be told, I missed working. As much as those crazy golfers make me nuts, I really enjoy my job. And many of the people I work with. I fully planned on taking advantage of the next month off... but was certainly ready to get back to the normal.

Afternoon naps needed to be a priority with the weekend that was coming up. Brace yourself.

Wine Wine Wine... CHURCH 2.26.11

Yet another epic weekend under the Australian sun. Saturday morning came fast enough (even without painting the town the night before). Alarm went off at 7am (giving me plenty of time to make it to the 8:15 meeting at the top of the hill) I did my hair, turned on facebook, finished my makeup, and... got stuck on facebook.

One thing I love about  being so far from home is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to check my facebook every single morning (some days I haven't even rolled outta bed yet and I'm off in cyber world!). Over my years I have learned a few valuable lessons - one of them being, if Inwant to be on time for anything, NEVER get on facebook in the morning (afterall, most likely not much has changed in the 8 hours that all of my facebook acquaintances were sleeping). But here, by the time I wake up, it is early evening at home - gotta see what I missed out on! Well, I've started adjusting to my new habit and setting my alarm 30 minutes earlier to account for my Internet addiction and social media time... So, it makes me right on time. I mean RIGHT on time... if you want me there at 8:14, then say that, otherwise it's 8:15 on the dot. Rant.

Back on topic - we make it to the group meeting spot, walk up the hill, and wait for the bus. It rolls up around 9. Perfect. That is 20 minutes of solid facebooking that I can never get back. Anyways, we're 15 minutes into the trip, Sarah is my bus buddy. and she is siiicckkkk. She pulls out a bag and yep... pukes. NASTY!!! I lean out into the isle way, tune it out, and watch Four Christmases (which goes by the name of 'Four Holidays' here... more politically correct), which ended up being quite perfect because of Vince Vaughn's reaction to the baby puking --> Totes me.

We pull into Drayton's Winery... first stop on our Hunter Valley Wine Excursion. Before we know it, they're pouring wine after wine after wine (yep, first glass before noon)! Whites... reds... pinks... got 'em all. Our "wine guide" for this morning was absolutely fabulous. Such a charmer and makin everybody giggle. He was fantastic at his job.

Being that I'm 22 and many of these kiddies with me are 18-20, my palate is a few years more mature than theirs. I haven't enjoyed the age gap up until this point. Their faces made all sorts of shapes when they tried some of these, so I smiled and gladly drank their portion, too. :o)

We grabbed a big lunch and headed for McGuigan's. This winery stop was much more short and sweet. Tasted nine more wines, thanked them, and headed next door for our cheese tasting appointment. This was interesting to say the least. My palate may be mature for wine... but certainly not mature enough for this cheese. Holy smokerssss!!! I swear I put maneur cheese in my mouth. This is not a joke, people.

Loaded back on the bus and headed for The Village (creative name, I know). SO awesome. This was my favorite stop and we had a quick 20 minutes to check everything out. In that time we sampled chocolate, stopped to hear a local band, and got to see a wedding (okay, just checked out the bride...).

Chocolate golf balls from The Village Chocolate Shop. Made me miss Egypt Valley Country Club!

Next up was the Golden Grape Estate. This was our final stop. Believe it or not, by this time I was more than ready to stop drinking wine.

Our last few tastes at the Golden Grape, consisted of a Strawberry Champagne, Coffee flavored fortified wine, and the kicker - Chili Pepper spicy yuck. [*Not the official name; More of a self-given description.] We had just a few minutes to buy the wine we wanted and load back on to the bus for the 2 hour ride home. What awaited us was well worth the trip in itself...

A big, juicy, Medium Rare steak, with the best mashed potatoes that I can remember putting in my mouth, with a side salad garnished with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. The winner? FOR 10 DOLLARS!!!! My first American-priced, American-tasting, meal since I've been in the country. It was scrumptious. Obviously. If a steak can take up an entire paragraph in my blog on a busy weekend - ya know it was good. I wouldn't lie to you. :o) Full belly and marinated in wine? That spelled out bed time. Saturday night and the lights were out by 10pm.

Sunday mornings, or Sundays in general, are among my favorite at the college. It's usually quiet and peaceful. I wake up, watch Jeff Manion's sermon online, maybe blog, enjoy hot bacon and eggs, and make plans for my day. Except this Sunday was a little different. My body was boycotting that stinking alarm never going off later than 8am. I slept until 2pm (with the exception of waking up for brunch. haha. With the food being next best thing to horrid, a hot brekkie is not to be missed!!!). My body just needed sleep. So I slept my Sunday away.

I woke up mid-afternoon because it was time to get ready for HILLSONG!!! YEAAAAA!!! hillsong. Hillsong. HiLlSoNg!!!!! This "to do" has been on my list ever since this trip was still on the "I think I want to study abroad" chopping block. (Ummm, just to clarify - that was a long time ago). We left for Sydney at 4pm. We walked from Circular Quay to Central Station, which is quite a hefty walk. Grabbed dinner at BK, also known as HJ (they call Burger King's, Hungry Jack's here) and started the quest to try and find the Hillsong bus. Little did we know that we had to walk across the street, down the stairs to the subway, take a left, walk half a mile, veer to the right, go up the stairs, cross the street, take a left, cross the street, and it will be around there where the bus will pick you up. Uhhh... WHAT?!?!? We were so confused. But we made it - 30 minutes late.

The service was good (being that our dear friend Thompson got the time incorrect, we missed the initial worship), enjoyed the message, prayed with some enthusiastic people, then got to worship again. Kris was right... when worshiping, it was definitely a "mountain-top moment". Goosebumps. Every single person has their hands raised, praying, singing, saying prayers of thanks as loud as they could muster.

This photo obviously is not from the service we went to (because that would be very touristy and not to mention awkward if I were to take a picture in church). But, it's still Hillsong, so you get the idea...

Towards the end of the service, I just stopped singing, looked around, and thought, "Wow... I am not in Ada anymore." It was somewhat of a culture shock, but it was amazing. These people were just giving it all up... and not caring what other people thought. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by His goodness and want to throw my hands up and sing as loud as I can. And I finally got to.

The only thing that I wasn't super excited about is, it felt like a business. Or actually... a production. The preacher would start to pray, the people would start to agree and speak out, the music would start playing louder, the preacher would start to yell, hands would go up throughout the church and people would start yelling. I like the enthusiasm but at times it was a little much coming from my little Ada shell.

We had the pleasure of meeting a few people that call Hillsong home. Fantastic, genuine, wonderful people that wanted us to be apart of this church and call it home while we're here. We thanked them, dashed for the last Hillsong bus. And got lost. Yep... those confusing directions on the way there, were apparently just as bad on the way home. But we made it. And at quarter after 11 at night, we all got back to campus and headed for bed.

Splendid day. Splendid weekend. Just 4 more days of "business" (class) then another exciting weekend in the city. And this one oughta be good - It's Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Celebrate? I think so. After such a refreshing weekend, it made Monday just not seem that bad...  

Setting Sail on Week 2!!

There is no such thing as 'slowly easing into the semester' here in Australia. By Monday of Week 2, I needed to print off 200 pages of Rooms Division notes, read 2 chapters in my Tourism book, look up "additional readings" for my Human Resources class, and complete terminology for my Front Office class. Noooo problemmm. The general rule of thumb here is, for every hour you spend in class, it is expected you spend 6 hours outside of class doing homework. Again, no problem... I really didn't want to experience Australia anyways.

Enough on academics. World news was bursting at the seems this week. On Tuesday (the 22nd) a 6.3-magnitude Earthquake rocked Christchurch, New Zealand. I'm sure news spread around the world... but it's a little different when it's your neighbor that is getting rocked. Discussions took place in all classes and donation after donation were being collected in efforts to show support to our southeastern neighbs. It was really amazing all the support that took place, not only around campus, but all over Manly and Sydney.

On a lighter note, another history maker, headline-breaker was that both Queen Mary II and Queen Elizabeth were sailing into Sydney at almost the exact same time (coincidence? I think not). They have both been to Sydney, but never at the same time. Together they carried over 5,000 guests and 2,200 crew members. It was expected that tourists were going to spend upwards of $3 million (US dollars) while in town for those few hours (according to the Wall Street Journal).

We became QMII groupies!

The neat part? They were setting sail 5 hours apart from each other. The first at noon (I had class and missed it) and the second at 5pm (done!!). And into Sydney we went! If this was breaking history... we had to be there. It was actually kind of fun! We sat on the hill and watched this massive boat not move an inch for a very long time. Then once it started moving, we followed it for a while... It was headed straight for the Harbour Bridge and lemme tell you - it was NOT fitting under it. But full speed, it went. Silly girls, we were actually getting nervous as this thing was hauling towards Sydney's most famous bridge. But false alarm - they were just posing for a perfect photo opp.

And then the Queen Mary II was off... not sure who was more excited, us or the people on the "city on the water":

Yes, that is thousands of people standing on the back of the boat!!!

The rest of the week came and went. In a nutshell, the weather was still incredible and school wasn't of utmost priority... yet. So we made daily trips to the Corso and to Manly and to any place we could think of as an excuse to be outside. We were here to soak up the culture; not to stare at the walls in the library.
We went to the Wharf:

We took pictures of ourselves:

And we soaked up their way of life:

Afterall, we were going to remember the laughs, the beaches, the historic moments, and the sunsets... not the inside of our textbooks.

Ice Breaker 2.18.11

What better way to break the ice than to have an on-campus party called "Ice Breaker". I say: There isn't.

Friday after the first week of classes had arrived: Worthy of a celebration, indeed. It was time for the entire campus and all nationalities to put on their party pants and get to know each other a little bit. For us girls, it was a great reason to crack open a bottle of wine, get dressed up, and dance. We really didn't need a whole lot of arm twisting. Then you add showing up fashionably late and... bing, bang, boom - you have yourself a recipe for social success.

There was grilling, outside bartenders and a d.j., and of course the Bassment Bar was open for business and packed as can be with yet another d.j. on deck. For being a small school, they know how to throw a party.

My favorite RAs who are cute as a button (guest bartenders).

And of course, the crew:


Liza, Sarah, me, Molly, Audrey, & Megan!

  There was fist pumping and alot of dancing. There wasn't much more that I could have wanted.

Just kidding. I wanted a legit after-party. Check. Yup, had that too. At 10:30 (quiet hours on campus) there were coach buses waiting out front of campus to drive us down the hill (cuz it's nearly impossible to walk in heels) and take us to Hotel Steyne. ICMS had planned a rooftop after-party for us. Yes, you read that right - coach buses took us down the hill to drop us off at a hotel rooftop VIP party exclusively for us.

Just for fun, this is how amused I was upon riding in a bus down the hill:

That's right, folks. I had been in Australia for 3 weeks and was still THIS amused with driving on the different side of the road. Apparently culture acceptance is a gradual thing.

Back to the party... Legit? Yes. There was shenanigans to be had. After dancing our faces off on the rooftop, we got warm and headed outside back to the corso. It was time for pizza. Flute man played us a tune as we enjoyed our extra large slice of Margherita Pizza. When we were sitting in the middle of the Friday-night chaos, this local couple ended up sitting beside us. We took the opportunity to talk to them for a hot minute and... they were adorable. Hard to put into words... but they reminded me of Dus and  I.

It made me remember how much I was missing my best friend and wished he was VIP-ing with us. That was plenty for one night: 6 hours of dancing followed up by a slice of pizza. Pretty much my norm in a nutshell.

Let the semester begin! Week 1 [of classes]

The familiar feeling of settling into a semester had just begun. You're gonna need to go to Student Services to check on uniforms for this class... and you just realized you're gonna need a whole seperate notebook for that class... and you definitely need to buy the book for that class because you're already behind in readings and it's only day 2...and... and... and...!

Seems like the week fills up more with "housekeeping" items than actual studying!

But the glory of it all, being it is the second day of class - you still have the fire burning. Here's what I mean - You still have full intentions on being weeks ahead of deadlines and completing all the readings before your lecturers even assign it. Now, don't get me wrong... this is a feeling that only lasts for the first week. So it is to be enjoyed and taken advantage of.

That being said, Sarah and I (found and) walked to the library to do some reading for our classes. I had the afternoon open and what better way to spend it than in the library (certainly not the beach that lies just outside my window). To conserve funds, I decided that I wasn't going to purchase any textbooks; especially since they were all on reserve at the library. I just figured Don (the librarian) and I were gonna be bff's for the term; ya know, on a first name basis.  Go figure - the week that I'm all fired up about about reading textbooks (which obviously wasn't going to last long) is the same week that the lecturer's have all the books to display to the class, so they aren't available. Super.

Plan B?  A walk to town to enjoy some Ben and Jerrys!



Creepin out Sarah's window.



The rest of the week really slid by, finding the correct classrooms and getting in a pattern. With having no Friday classes, seems like the week was over just as soon as it had started! The biggest challenge was to make it through 6 hours of classs on Monday, then the following 3 days were cake!

This gave me plenty of time to spend outside of my room (i.e. In Sarah's room soaking up the view) and being a tourist around Manly and Sydney.

It was perfect.

Aspiring Barista 2.17.11

We were smoothly settling into the 3rd week of being in Australia. Culture shock was dissipating, but price tag shock was not. It still pained me every time I looked at the price tag of, well... everything. $4 for a can of soda, $8 for an ice cream cone, $10 for a "value meal" at Burger King... So pretty much, whatever you get in the U.S., DOUBLE the price and that is Australia's price. I wanted real food, Australian style clothes, and to pay for a trip to Melbourne. And, I had alot of time on my hands.

Solution: This girl needed a job!!

Quite a few Americans had applied at every place that would accept their resume. No luck. So, I prayed about it - about where to apply and for the guts to do it! So, as I took a walk down the Corso, I saw this sign:

HERE!!!:

If that wasn't an answer to my prayers - I dunno what is!! So, I talked with the barista on duty who was very encouraging, took a day to update my resume, and turned it in to sweet little (manager) Alix who told me she liked me and to come back on Saturday and have a talk with the owners!!  Not sure what my plans were - but I was free!!!

Saturday morning came and I marched back down the hill to the Wharf to see Alix and the owners of Gloria Jeans. One of the owners was able to slip away and have a chat with me. He said my schedule looked great and I'd make a great addition to the team. Then, he double checked just to make sure that I was studying abroad for a year. I kindly corrected him that my Visa was up in May. At that, he smiled and said "well I'll certainly keep you in mind."  Fail. Had the job and lost it because I told the truth. It was shortly after that, that I was informed by my peers the only way to land a job here is to lie and say you're in Australia to stay.

Mmmm... nope. Can't do it. Pretty sure that if you get a job by lying it's real bad karma.

No dice. But I was oddly okay with that. I've worked 2 jobs my entire college career. I was in Australia - there is no better place to have some extra time on your hands.

The only bummer? I wasn't going to get a discount on coffee. Merrrr.

Unstoppable. 2.14.11

If you figure an hour to shower and straighten my hair, plus another 10 for make-up, then 25 minutes for brekky... Alarm should be set for 6:15am. Normally, I would have freaked out seeing that time on my alarm clock. But the beauty of it was - I still hadn't adjusted 100% to the time difference. Don't get me wrong, it still felt early; stinkin early. But not painful, like 6am normally feels.

Shower.
Make-up.
Breakfast w/ the crew.
Class at 8am.

Human Resource Planning and Performance. This was a class that students took in their last semester before graduation. It was gonna be tough. Certainly one of my most demanding classes of the term. Mr. Jean-Etienne Joullie was the lecturer (they're not referred to as 'professor', here). French, serious, and a radical thinker. I could tell right there I wasn't going to make it out of that class the easy way. But I was ready for the challenge.

Class at 10am. Well, since this was my 2nd class of the term, I had already figured out the secrets - classes start at quarter past the hour, not on the hour as we all originally thought. So I stroll in at 10:10am (5 minutes early) to a class that is already begun and the statement "I'll deal with you later". Ohhhh jeez. Great first impressions. Let me introduce: Paul Collins (from 'Straya). Homeboy is ridiculous. 100% jokester. He is teaching my Beverage and Bar Management class. If class #1 put me to sleep... this class was waking me up whether I was ready for it or not!

Class let out right on time leaving me exactly 30 minutes for lunch. This should seem as if it is more than enough time. Until you factor in waiting in line for food almost 15 minutes then having absolutely nowhere to sit. It makes lunch-hour seem more like a game show; with the prize being able to sit and eat.

Class at 12pm - Introduction to Tourism. Kerrie King walked in and she is just cute as a button. Quiet tone with a perfect Australian accent. But... she doesn't mess around. Her passion is Tourism and she expects you to learn more than what seems like humanly possible. Readings... class notes... slides... lectures. I appreciated the warning though.

After making it through 6 hours of class on Day 1, I was whipped. So whipped, it didn't phase me when I was woken up from a mid-afternoon nap with a call from reception saying that something had arrived for me. I walked downstairs to see the receptionist with an anxious grin on her face. I didn't have to tell her my name... she handed me the bag of goodies. I went to walk away... and she stopped me. She said that I couldn't just walk away without her knowing what my sweet guy had sent me and I had to open it right there. I opened it up to find instant coffee (to feed my addiction), chocolates, 2 bags of French Vanilla creamer (because I prefer a little coffee with my cream), and Australian strawberry licorice (D and I's favorite snack in America. Except he always ate all of mine, so now I had a bag to myself!). Oh, and of course an amazing bouquet of red roses.

I realize this pic is a little awkward - but it's the only one showing all of my goodies!

I couldn't pick up the phone fast enough... I was so in shock I didn't really say anything when he picked up. Just fought tears. Thank gosh he can read my thoughts, even from halfway across the world. He knew what to say. Turns out... that wasn't all. He told me to get online and a link took me here:

With a note, saying:

Happy Valentines Day baby....
Being this is our first Valentines together, I wanted to do something really special... Well, being you're 10,000 miles away at the moment - it makes it a tad bit tough. BUT, I don't want you to ever forget how much I love you, even with all the miles between us. So with some the help from Mark and Jamee, I hope you like....

When I watched this, I was in pure disbelief. This man had gone above and BEYOND my wildest expectations. The song that he sang was "our song" for me being away. We've each listened to it a million times and the lyrics were perfect. There wasn't even a chance of me holding back tears... and I cried like a baby. And watched it over and over and over. Molly looked at me from across the room with her best words of encouragement, "Only 13 more weeks!"  Nope, not what I had in mind for inspiration... I kept crying.

Slowly the word had got out and girls started piling in my room to check out this video. I had had plans to head to Manly for the afternoon... so D and I said good-bye and planned to talk later. The rest of the afternoon was somewhat of a blur...

I had been so excited to give Dustin his gift (via Skype) that I had planned out since December and show him his card. But after getting a video, roses, coffee, and candy - I was no longer excited. In fact, I was beat at my own game. I thought I was good at surprises.

To finish Day 1, I had my first Yoga class. Yoga was supposed to be good for clearing the mind... but even concentration and deep breathing couldn't get my mind off of everything that had just happened. I was an emotional wreck.

But by far, the luckiest girl in the entire world.

A Rainy Day in Sydney 2.13.11

At this point we had been in Manly for almost a week. I was still learning all the differences between cultures. Believe it or not, it is actually hard to pick out things that are different. For example, it took me nearly a week to notice that there are no "junker" cars here. They are all extremely nice, mostly new, and no rust. Top, mint condition. Why?  I really can't tell you... Just kinda interesting!  Cuz in America, it's about 50/50. Here, you stop and stare if it is an "older" car. Random and weird... I know.

Saturday came and Liza and I had every intention to head for Sydney for the day. But somebody *ahem* had a little bit too much fun the night before and slept all day. But it was actually a blessing in disguise. I was able to chill out, catch up on postcards, start my mountain of blogging (yep, still catching up in April...), and catch up on some much needed sleep.

But when Sunday rolled around - I had cabin fever!  It was a little bit rainy and overcast, but that never hurt anybody. Adventure to Sydney was a GO!!!  We were total tourists as we walked up to the "ticket window" for the ferry. We didn't even know what to ask for... so we mumbled some things and the nice man figured out what we needed. And we embarked on our first ferry adventure.



Tourists on the ferry. :o)

I will never forget the feeling that I had riding the ferry, making the turn and seeing the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge with my own 2 eyes. This was it. This was the moment that it hit me - I was living my dream... I was living in Australia. This electrifying jolt of excitement went through me. I was humbled. I was thankful. And I was in disbelief. Wow. What a sight. Even on a gloomy day - it was breath-taking.



This was it... what I had worked so hard for.
[And what I will be paying for til I'm 84.]

 We got off the boat and were rushed along by a mad dash of people that knew where they were going. Since we had a little less than no idea... we followed the crowd. We had no direction for the day; just to get lost in Sydney and see what we could see. One of the first things we did was of course take a ton of pics in front of the Opera House. Then we enjoyed the aboriginal talent:

We walked (what we know now to be) George Street. We ventured The Rocks. We found shops. And checked out restaurants. We admired the architecture. And somehow made it to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  It started raining... but that didn't stop us from making our way across.


The day I discovered that I *LoVe* rainy days on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge does not seem that long, but it's nearly a mile! We took our sweet time; The bridge gave us an ideal spot for taking pictures of the city. On our way back down we saw it all - a bride, an ice cream truck, view point for a cruise ship, side streets filled with Italian people, and a "secret" stairway. The afternoon slid by.

On the ferry ride home, we snuck one more pic of the Opera House and made it back in time for free dinner.

Perfect way to put a close to my "Christmas vacation". Classes, ICMS style, were starting bright and early.

Yeeaaaa Friday!!! ...Oh wait. 2.11.11

It was Friday and what was on my mind: Classes and coffee!

First of all, the reality set in of it being 3 DAYS until the start of classes. YEWWWW!!!! Mind you, I haven't been in classes since mid-December. And here it was, mid-February. It was so nice to have had the entire month of January to prepare for leaving the US and spend time with my American boy, best friends, and family. But gosh, it had been a while since I had had to focus and, well... write a paper!

Second order of business, possibly more important than the first - breaking my dry spell: This girl needed coffee!!!!! Being a coffee addict (2+ cups per day), having not had coffee in nearly 2 weeks, I not only wanted, I needed coffee. Solution: Sarah and I ventured to my new guilty obsession:

The place where they call me by first name... ;o)

I cannot tell you the pure joy that overtook my body after I once again had my "Iced Mocha, no whip,  please!"

Once that caffeine hit my lips - I knew for a FACT that this was not the semester that I was going to give up coffee. So in somewhat of a nervous panic, Sarah and I dissected our class schedules, trying to map out the best times to make a Gloria Jean's run (wayyyy better than Starbucks, by the way!) in between classes. Okay... if we have 30 minutes in between classes, that means we have 10 minutes to physically run down the hill, 10 minutes to order and get our drinks, and 10 minutes to race the clock back up the hill and be sitting in class. Yep, should be plenty of time to make it to the Wharf and back to campus. Fail. We timed it... 40 minute round trip. Back to the drawing board... 

The Mojo Surf trip was that weekend and everybody was going. Seriously... at 6pm when the bus left, there was pretty much just Liza and myself left on campus. $200 for a weekend of surfing?  Just not my thing... Especially if you couldn't even get me to the hour long (free) surf safety course. It was silent on campus. Which was straight-up bizarre because all I had known of this campus was the buzz of students' excitement 24/7. Well now you could hear a pin drop... and the birds.

the devil itself

Ohhhh the birds. Yes, the birds of Australia were... awful. Completely dreadful. When Skyping Dustin, he asked very concerned, "Is that a baby crying?"  Nope - just the birds outside. They give an awful screeching sound. They sound sickly. Like sheep flying by your window. Just dreadful. They wake you up in the morning, they disrupt silence, and they are a complete eyesore.

I'm not a violent person, but I have envisioned taking these awful birds out, one by one.

It was Friday - HECK YES!! Oh wait... 2 more days of freedom and it's "go time". Merrr. At least there was coffee to save the day.

Beach Bums 2.10.11

"Gooood Morningggg, ICMS!"

"Morning, Tony!"

It was almost 9am, which meant that the "mandatory" Surf Safety course was about to get a start. All international students were required to attend. So, once again, I wasn't much for doing the whole 'surf' thing. But when was I ever going to have this opportunity again?!  And to be honest... there really isn't a better place to try. So I threw my suit on because we were going IN the beautiful, blue-bottle infested waters at Manly Beach.



The good little Americans that attended Surf Safety course (not me).

 Just before 9, I receive a call from Sarah... She talked to the instructors and asked if she had to go. They said 'no'. And since she didn't feel like getting wet, she was calling it a beach day instead. Okayyyy, twisted my arm. Yes, I will lay on the beach like a diva. No surf safety course. Just a golden brown tan for this girl!

Although a little part of me was bummed I didn't at least try surfing, I wasn't too terribly bummed because the people that did go, got all kinds of battle scars - The jellyfish were out and fierce.

Nearly all of them got stung at least once; some twice. They leave a "rubber band snap" type of look. Molly described it as an instant sting then a really bad sunburn type feel (she was one of the lucky ones that got it twice). Thank gosh the pain goes away within the day.

Obviously, a stressful morning of napping on the beach earns a solid lunch... so we strolled through a couple shops on the Corso and made our way back to enjoy the gourmet menu from the ICMS Marketplace kitchen.

The afternoon slid by and before we knew it dinner was upon us. So once again, a big group of us gathered and ate in the courtyard.  We all agreed... It was time for an adventure. Sarah, Megan, Audrey, and I all decided we were going to go on an adventure walk. We left campus and had no destination in mind... we wanted to just get lost and find something cool.

Adventure, it was!! A creepy Jurassic Park-type adventure. We walked and winded and kept going towards signs with arrows pointing... well, we weren't sure where.

After following the trail and going through the woods for what I consider to be "too long", we came across a magical, hidden beach. Actually, it is a well known beach - just for being so far back. But we "discovered" Collin's Beach:

When we got there, the sun was starting to set - and the creepiness kicked in. After making it to the beach, about 30 seconds after we got there, these 3 guys randomly appeared from the woods.
We actually got to the beach at perfect timing - just in time for an incredible sunset. So us being the girls that we are took too many pictures.
"Crazy appearing guys" nicely offered to take a picture of all of us in front of the sunset (which was very kind of them...) and we waited and waited and he finally said the picture turned out great! (Later to find out... he never took a picture of us. Word?)  Then we were getting ready to head back to campus and they told us about a "short-cut" that nobody knew about. Ummm... no thanks. We'll take the main way. The kicker? They asked if we minded if they skinny dipped. We barely gave them an answer - we were too busy bolting back towards the woods to get outta there!!!

It was now dark. Walking through the woods. On a little path. With wicked spiders everywhere. We made it back to the street and a random car slowly drove by very obviously staring at us. We just kept walking... a little faster at this point. The trail we were on was a Jurassic Park type of trail. The trees kinda caved in on you.

The trail looked like this: Without the vehicular mobile and it was dark out.

Just to add icing to the cake, the birds here sound like very sick sheep (I'll describe in more detail later).
We started that walk as a slow stroll; and it ended up being a very brisk walk, nearly run. Go figure... our adventure walk turned in to an exercise routine.
We finally made it back to our rustic castle on the hill. And to be honest, I think this was the first time I felt relief seeing this place.

It was all kind of surreal... Just moved into a castle. And just encountered a scene from a horror movie.
Is this real life?

Discovery of American Ice Cream... 2.9.11

Kelly looked at me from across the table, smiled, and said the magic words, "Anybody interested in getting Ben and Jerry's tonight?" Ummmmm, YES!!!!! Why hadn't I thought of this already?!?!??  Of course I want to walk down the hill and get a taste of American goodness! My craving grew throughout the afternoon so by the time evening fell, I was JONESIN!! I needed an ice cream cone as big as my head... and I wasn't settling for anything less:

I love Ben and Jerry's

Kelly's idea then turned into a very bad habit. And a serious addiction. This has now prompted Dustin to use this as a very descriptive phrase, explaining how much he loves me by saying, "I love you more than you love Ben and Jerry's". Which to me, explains alot, and is very full of love.

Go figure, it is the only Ben and Jerry's shop in the ENTIRE country. And it was placed just down the hill from us.

It was now Wednesday and had pretty much given up on going to all of the 'mandatory' events. So, my day was like a canvas; I could fill it with whatever I pleased.

The first thing I pleased was to fill my day with the INTERNET!!! I had yet to connect to the interwebs... So, in a way, I had yet to really connect with home (other than a couple overpriced phone calls). The IT department was of absolutely no assistance so what was the next best option?  Ask the other Americans that had somehow figured it out. I cheated the system and... SUCCESS!!! I had facebook... youtube... skype... email... I was back in business!!!  Well... sorta. I learned real quick just how poor the "high-speed" Internet connection really was in Oz. Skype is kind of like looking at a still photo and hearing an AT&T convo. But it was communication with home, so I wasn't complaining.

It was time to blast through my denial; this really was going to be "home" for me for the next few months. So it was time for me to make it appear as such. Wednesday became decorating day. All it took was a little determination and the room started to become my room. It was starting to feel warm and cozy. Like home should.

Yay for closets!



My room in a nutshell.
















It's finally home. There is something ridiculously comforting about putting pictures up of people that I love and miss!

My clothes finally found a new home, that didn't consist of a suitcase. That was pure joy in itself.

The day came to a close with an Australian Wildlife show. It went something like this: a Crock Hunter look-alike stood up there and kept pulling out lizards and snakes. And they kept increasing in size by the minute. When he had to pull out a plastic storage box, the size of a dog kennel, it was time for me to go. This experience lasted less than 5 minutes. And needless to say, no pictures from this - I was too busy running out the back door.
Tomorrow was Thursday. And I had Corn Flakes waiting for me at 7am. What was there not to be excited for?!?

Famous Chapel & Fist Pumping. 2.8.11

It was officially Day 2 of O-Week. We were slowly coming to love the announcements on the loud speaker from Tony in Student Services. (Just to give you a mental image of Tony, super nice guy, I enjoy him alot. He's about 35-40, but thinks he's still young and hip and cool. And missed his calling as a personal trainer. Seriously... homeboy could be a high school gym teacher. He totally cracks me up!). So Tony comes over the speaker announcing the morning's "happenings": breakfast, Professional Performance Program, lunch, and the study abroad students take off for the mall.

Being that it was Tuesday, it was supposed to be hot breakfast (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. At least I could look forward to this meal!!!). So, I was expecting this:

Yesssss!!!

Apparently, hot breakfast does not start until week two. So, I got this... again:


fail.

At 9am, half of the students filed into the Great Hall and the other half into the College Chapel (according to their surname). We weren't really expecting what was going to come next. And thank goodness for that! Two full hours of a professional performance lecture. We were told things like: We're representing the college so act as such, don't chew gum, wear skirts that are knee-length, what colors are acceptable, where our name badge is to be placed, wear make-up; not too much, not too little, just the right amount. Wear black socks, wear your hair up, shave your beard... okay, you get the idea. But the meeting lasted 2 hours! But again, you have to account for different backgrounds, cultures, and ages. Even though I know how to dress and act appropriately, doesn't mean the girl sitting next to me does. 

We had 30 minutes for lunch and had to catch a bus to head to the mall. I had $500 in my pocket of "free money" that had to be spent and believe it or not, I was stressed out!!!! There was actually alot of pressure on the next few hours. I had a number of stores and a time limit to find everything that I needed for the next 12 weeks. This could have easily been a recipe for disaster. In a nutshell, the outcome was a success. With a dash of unexpected results. ICMS had pre-arranged deals with two stores: CUE and David Jones. These are not Targets, people. This is Lord and Taylor type stuff. EXTREMELY expensive but really good quality. Once I started looking at price tags, I instantly regretted not purchasing more business attire in the US.

Professional (expensive) Attire - 1st day pic!

After an  hour, I purchased 2 dresses and a business jacket, totalling... $506. Yep. I think I cried a little as I watched my gift card dissipate with one swipe. And I still had to purchase shoes. Naturally, you would think Payless... because they would be cheap. But even Payless is enjoying the advantages to Australia's economy - there are no shoes less than $40. And that is considered 'cheap'.

I walked out of the mall spending just over $600 total. The good news: I could take a deep breath. I had everything I needed for class... paper, pens/pencils, business attire, shoes, and even an Aussie straightener and blow dryer (because I accidentally blew up the blow dryer that I brought with me... there was real fire & sparks. very scary).  The bad news?  I had TWO outfits to wear for 10 weeks. And that is straight-up nasty.


We made it back to campus around 3pm and even though there were things on the agenda, we didn't do much that afternoon. There was a big campus-wide welcome ceremony and cocktail reception that evening. We're chicks... so we all hopped in the shower and started getting ready for the evening's affairs. And thank gosh we did because Manly Beach gave us a warm welcome; they may never be the same because of it.

The festivities began at 5pm in the college chapel. Yeaaa Rigghhtttt was I going to be ready at 5pm. So I finished my hair, didn't bother with make-up, threw on my dress and made it there at 4:59. To find out the ceremony didn't start until 5:30. Bummer. Oh well... it's just a welcome ceremony, right? I'll finish my make-up afterwards, but certainly before the cocktail reception. Wouldn't ya know that this was day 1 of filming the campus?!?!??? (Instead of a yearbook here, they do a video of the term. So at all of our events, parties, whatever, we have a camera man that films.) I had a camera in my face and no make-up on... Great first impressions.

Come to find out, the college chapel is kind of a BIG deal. Our chapel on campus is the same place Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman got married last year. Absolutely gorgeous!!!

The actual famous Chapel!

The ceremony began with a procession of flags from the countries around the world. The Dean spoke, the Student Body President spoke, and various other important people took the floor. Many inspirational speeches consisting of phrases like 'great semester', 'your university', and 'visualize graduation'. Before we knew it, we were released and the cocktail party was beginning on the front lawn. There were two orders of business to be taken care of before the drinking began: pictures to be taken in the famous chapel and putting on make-up. Check aaannndddd check. Time for a free glass of wine, courtesy of ICMS.

Some of my favorite ladies at the cocktail reception

Front of ICMS

This was such a classy party! Everybody was there... the Dean, lecturers, other faculty, all the students, and VIP's. There was an open bar with white wine, red wine, and champagne. So we got creative and started enjoying Mimosas. One of my favorite quotes of the night was from Sarah... I explained that the only other time I had ever had a Mimosa was when Dustin and I went to Rose's in East Grand Rapids after church. She looks at me, straight up, and asks, "You pre-gamed for church?!??". I laughed... "No, we post-gamed."

One of the things I actually enjoy about Australia is, believe it or not, the lower drinking age (18). Administration knows that we are in college and that we're going to drink. At Grand Valley, specifically, they fight underage drinking so aggressively, I personally think that they create bigger problems for themselves and serious hazards for students (i.e. Kicking everybody out of a party so very intoxicated people then get in their car and drive away). Here, there is no sneaking of alcohol and a lot less underage stupidity... because they're legal here. I digress...
Back to the cocktail party: I'm not going to lie and say that there wasn't some funny stuff happening after we had had a few glasses of wine. But hey, it was quite entertaining watching drunken students giving a good attempt at having an intelligent conversation with the Dean. bahh ha ha.

This was really the first time I had been drinking since I had been in Australia. And it felt good. Really good. It was really nice to just chill out and get a little goofy with these new people that I was calling "friends". After the welcome party, our group and the entire campus went down to a local bar/club: North Shore Club. And I made a rookie mistake: I totally forgot my ID and they wouldn't let me in. Obviously I don't look 18 and my student ID was not cutting it... so I had to make an hour round-trip walk with Kat from Hong Kong (who also forgot her ID... but she was 18 and it was a little more forgivable).

At first I wanted to give up on the night... no way was I walking an hour back to campus just to get my ID and walk back down. It was 10pm, afterall... past my bedtime!!! But, Kat (being freshly 18) looked at me with puppy dog eyes. She wasn't ready to call it a night. So I put on my party pants and started the trek back to campus for our IDs. I ended up being very glad that I did - By accident, I took advantage of the opportunity to get to know her and her culture. She talked about her country and how she often felt unsafe. How the neighborhood she was from was known for prostitution. And that people generally keep to themselves. She noticed that I was saying "hi" to people that we passed on the street and after a few people, she asked how I felt safe with doing so. After a bit... she wanted to try to say hello to the next passer-by. But just ended up giggling and saying, "you do it" so I smiled and said 'hello' again.

Before we knew it, the walk was coming to a close and we made it back to the bar. I stood tall and proud and handed that stubborn bouncer my ID that said I was far past legal drinking age. (And he didn't even look at it!!!!!) He just laughed and insisted that I enjoy my night. Great, thanks for the exercise, dude!

Sarah greeted me at the door with open arms, took my by the elbow and led me to the bar. I was about to learn 2 things: The first, that Australians are hardcore. No flavored shots... The rest of the night consisted of straight up vodka or Jagermeister (which I even got an "'atta girl" from Dus!!). The second, that this was going to be the first and last night that I went out drinking in Australia. Sarah had shouts then it was my turn. No more American prices - OUCH!!!!



The infamous "American style" pizza place



There was a live band. Pretty freakin sweet. They were playing all kinds of American music and getting the crowed pumped. I had the pleasure of introducing the 'fist pump' to the Australians. And fist pump we did!!!! It's pretty trashy (Jersey shore style)... but it made for good pictures! At first, I think the bartender felt sorry for me... so it was just him and me supporting the fist pump. By midnight, half the crowd was fist pumping and the band gave me a "complimentary drink card". L-E-G-I-T.

We grabbed a piece of American style pizza at a nearby place that happened to still be open. Snapped a couple more pictures. And I still made it to bed by 12:30 (which is why I very much enjoy starting my night at 6pm!!).

The alarm was set for the next morning... But I knew better. I shut it off - and felt liberated. Sleep was good. At 9am I reached over, pulled my laptop on me, and skyped home. My aunt made a face that spoke for itself. It kinda screamed 'Oh my word, you look like death'!! haha. You're only young once, I suppose. I fully intended on going to the Library Orientation and Teambuilding sessions... but missed them both by a long-shot.

I showered and as the noon hour approached, we went down for lunch. At lunch, the genius idea was presented... And was about to make me one happy camper!

Checking into Hogwarts.

This isn't exactly what I had pictured. It was worse. This place was dark, and cold, and smelled awful. There we stood, 33 of us with all of our baggage. Our instructions were to grab a pen, sign the "house rules", receive our keys to our rooms, and go to Classroom 1 where we would be given a brief rundown of what the day's and week's schedule consisted of.

This is Hogwarts. Seriously!!! We were waiting for the staircases to start moving on us!



I obviously did not take this picture - I'm deathly afraid of heights. I live on the 4th floor; 97 steps to make it there. My legs are absolutely ripped. :o)



The view from our window.

 Room 330 - REPRESENT!!! It was me and Molly from Michigan. (Go figure... the girl I am roommates with is the only girl to contact me before the trip and lives 5 minutes from where I work). Okay, well at least I have a familiar face in my room. It's getting better already. Molly and I make it up the FOUR flights to our room. The drag? Four flights up and NO lift. That's right, that means we walk all 97 steps. We call dibs on our beds, check out the view, and just sit there - staring at the wall. We still have a 3rd mystery roommate that isn't there yet... But for now, that is more than okay with the both of us.


All that was on the agenda for the night was dinner. ICMS was doing it's best to make this "fun" and "exciting". After a quick campus tour we landed at the CYC (Courtyard Cafe). They had a little duo playing guitars and singing. They were great! Then we got to see their dining facilities. Ohhh snap. There is one cafeteria with one dinner option. If you don't like it? You get lettuce or go hungry. It was then that I realized my life was going to change. And this little "Diva" picky eating business was coming to an end. Night #1 - fish. I was in trouble - big trouble. Looks like lettuce it is...

A ridiculous case of homesickness kicked in.Who was this girl? Certainly not me. I'm not a home-body. I have no motivation whatsoever to unpack... this isn't home. I don't want to make it feel as such. The bed is uncomfortable, and the walls are yellow, not to mention the smell of an old-folks home lingered everywhere. I want to cry so badly... this is not what I signed up for. But I hold back because Molly is already knee deep in unpacking and is smiling ear-to-ear. The excitement is beaming out of her and I wasn't about to be a steal-joy. A part of me was jealous... I thought I was going to have that reaction. Or anything other than this feeling of paralyzing regret. I fake a smile, decline an offer to paint the town, and call it an early bed. I wanted/needed to talk to home or anybody familiar to reassure me that things will be just as I left them for the next three and a half months, but it is 5am Michigan time - no time to be calling for reassurance. The next best thing to a comforting voice, was a good night's sleep.

Woke up the next morning to a facebook message and a phone call - my sister had been in a bad accident that night. I couldn't even finish my sentences... I just cried. At the time, it was probably the best thing for me. To just let it out instead of holding it in just to appear as if I was "okay". Because to be honest, I wasn't. I knew she was fine. And D was there, with my family... doing exactly what I'd do, if I was home. But I wasn't home. I was 10,000 miles away and completely, utterly helpless. It's not even that I could've done anything if I was there... I think it's a feeling you have to experience to understand. It is difficult to hear about change when you're gone and can't witness it. It's awful to hear about a minor tragedy and not be there.

The next Morning started early. Brekkie began at 7:15. Corn Flakes - I added a check to my tally marks of cereal which was rapidly growing and got ready for the day. From 8:30am until noon, there was 'Official Enrollment' for students with my surname. We gave them our personal information and received our new student ID's. A Computer/Internet Orientation was required and I made sure to get this finished as soon as possible because... it was a holiday. An American holiday - Superbowl Sunday. At 11am, 'Superbowl Monday' was put on the big screen in the Courtyard Cafe. But it just didn't feel right... watching Superbowl on a Monday morning without the commercials that we all wait 364 days to see was just disappointing. Be it as it was, we watched the Packers run to victory and a local newspaper came to interview a couple American boys that were die-hard Packer fans, all decked out in green and yellow. The article was published the following morning.

Yep, that's "our" boys. Zach from Iowa and Derrick from Wisconsin.
American ICMS students makin the front page of The Manly Daily.

That afternoon, we didn't have much down time. From 4-5pm, we had a Study Abroad Attire Briefing. In a nutshell, ICMS used to have uniforms (I've mentioned this before...) and this year they changed their policy. We were now required to wear our own personal business attire, which I own hardly any of. We were all given a $500 gift card to the Warringah Mall and some wicked discounts to some fancy stores. We were then instructed on what is/not allowed and the behavior that is/not considered professional. Some of it, I considered common sense... But given some of the Americans that are also on this trip, I realized it was not common sense for all of us. Notes were taken and questions were asked; This was our one shot to understand it - the next morning, we were taking $500 to purchase our wardrobe for the semester. Not an ideal time to have a misunderstanding!

Just before dinner, we had a Study Abroad Academic Briefing. And holy smokes... about 10 minutes in, I almost ran out the back door. What was I thinking?!? I missed GVSU already!  This school is hard core, for lack of a better term. I was warned by Ross (an AustraLearn leader), back in Brisbane, that this would probably be where I wrote my first 100 page paper. Not sure what I was thinking, but I didn't believe him. The Dean was the sole speaker of this briefing - great guy, good speaker. BUT he laid it out for us... high expectations. This is one of the most prestigious schools in all of Australia. And they didn't accidentally come upon their nickname; they earned it! 100% class attendance is expected. He described the grading scale - (They don't use the 'A-F' letter grade system, but I'll put it in American terms for lack of confusion) it is hard to receive an A or B. You have to legitimately work to earn a C. Oftentimes a low B is the highest grade in the class... and there is no such thing as a curve here. Well... there went my excitement for my classes transferring back as "credit/no credit". The good news? The term is only 10 weeks long. Even if I do have a 3,000 word paper due, I'm going to have less than 10 weeks to stress about it. By the time I really get myself worked up, we're going to be knee-deep in Finals. It's go time...

We "enjoyed" a quick dinner and had to make it to our last meeting for the day: The residential meeting. This one was a little more casual and run by our RA, Henrietta. She's a super sweet, down-to-earth girl from Sweden.
Basically, she had a script that she was required to follow and certain things that she had to tell us. But, she was pretty straight up honest with us. She knows that we're going to bend the rules (because we're in our 20's and are going to do it no matter what) so we discussed what we could get away with and what was going to get us kicked out and deported (handy thing to know!). I'm learning very quickly that living in a dorm is something you kind of take for granted when in America. But when you mix numerous cultures from all over the world, sometimes 3 different cultures per room, and have the entire hall share ONE bathroom, it's not so 'common sense' anymore. Maybe this is well known... but I had no idea that people from Eastern cultures don't use toilets the same way that the 'rest of the world' does. So, we have "using the toilet" instructions posted on the wall. Yea... weird to get used to.

But, I really couldn't complain. In the application process for Study Abroad, I cannot begin to count how many essay questions somehow asked, 'Why do you want to study abroad?'. My answer always consisted of something like... Because I think the best way to learn about a culture is to completely submerge yourself in it. And? I was doing exactly that. In fact, I was getting more than what I paid for - I was experiencing all dimensions to many different cultures, not just Australian.