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!