First Day of School!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWXOurnVTYg

It's was my first day of school in ages today and so far I really like my classes. I had marine systems and herpetology lectures this morning and both seem really awesome classes. For Marine Systems we are doing some surveying of Cottesloe Beach for a project and the data actually goes into the data used by Australians on how well the area is being preserved and what is there. Also for Herpetology we are going to the zoo next weekend and our assignment is literally to go around and find as much reptiles and amphibians as we can there. Not kidding.

There was a small issue with my classes yesterday though because they changed the time of one of my lectures so then there was a clash. To fix that I had to go into the student administration this morning and drop Archaeology of Indigenous Australia and switch into Global Indignities. That was a pain. Who the hell switches the times and locations of lectures the day before school starts!?!?!?

oh, another note, there was a cockroach in my room last night. It eventually realized that I was going to keep trying to kill it so it went into the hallway and stayed there but still. Ew. Minnesota is too cold for things like cockroaches and I don't know if I can handle this.

Besides those things we had another week of orientation here at Tommy More last week. This time it was with all the freshers and it was amazing. Oweek is so much more fun when you aren't actually a freshman. There were lots of different activities that varied from a scavenger hunt across campus to a giant game of capture the flag to a sports day (soccer was not my team's strong point, but we did really well in volleyball). We also had a giant paint fight before jumping in the river, which was hysterical and we did a bunch of flash mob activities in the city.

Finally we competed in the dragon boat racing/water balloon fight/dance off at the river with all the other colleges (what they call dorms here). There are only 5 colleges, most people live either at home or get apartments. I am really glad I live in a dorm though. Trying to figure out apartments and feed myself while being in the foreign country would freak me out too much. Anyways, the water balloon fight basically turned into a normal fight because there was a lot of picking people up and throwing them into the river. I got a fair amount of scratches and bruises from trying to steal water balloons from the other colleges. The dragon boat racing was really fun as well. It was hard though because if you got uncoordinated at all you couldn't go very quickly. Tommy dominated the last two boat races though. :)

The dance off was the pride and joy of the day though. We had to rehearse our dance for 3 or 4 days and dominated the rest of the dorms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddD7cbeSkE8

Here is a video of our dance. We're pretty awesome.

Then this past weekend we went to "camp" which is code for we went into the woods and rented out a building full of spiders and bunk beds for 2 nights. It was cool though because I got to explore a low ropes course for a bit and there were really awesome birds and stuff. I walk by cockatoos on the way to class and there are even more in the woods. We also heard a kangaroo in the woods on saturday night while we were walking but it was dark and I didn't have light so I didn't see it. I saw more stars than I ever have before though and can officially find the southern cross. It's beautiful.

Anyways, that's all I really have for now. This afternoon I am going to head to the beach with some other students to hang out. Apparently Taylor Swift and her band are in town this week too and were at the beach earlier. Hopefully we can stalk them. lol.

Claire

My First Week In Australia

So far I have spent nearly 5 days in Perth and I have to say, I wish I would have decided to get to Perth about 20 years earlier. I can see why everyone just raves about the city and the surrounding area. It's beautiful and the weather is great, to say the least.

On Sunday we finally got to Perth after missing our flight in Sydney and having to spend some extra time in the airport. It wasn't a big deal and none of our bags were lost or left without us, however even though we tried to contact our driver from the airport and even left a message on some sort of voicemail, he never got it. Needless to say, he wasn't very pleased with us when we called him in the Perth airport to ask him to come pick us up.

However, we got to Tommy More (the dorm we are staying in) just fine, even if he did give us a lot of crap for being late.

Then on Monday I went on a walking tour around the city and then we had some orientation things in the dorm and went into the city to get phones and some little things at the dollar store. On Monday we also went out to a club with everyone in our dorm. It was really fun to dance around with everyone but also sort of weird because Australian clubs are much different than ones I am used to. No one really dances but really just more hangs out and sways in their little own area on the dance floor. It's sort of obvious when we show up though because we all dance like crazy and get super sweaty because it's so hot.

On Tuesday we had orientation at the University all day long. It was realllllllllly long. However, afterwards we went to the river and were able to swim around and relax. We kept finding dead jellyfish that had washed up on shore and Reid was able to pick one up so I held it (tentacle side up of course). I don't think those ones would have stung me though. Reid really didn't seem worried. We also saw a washed up puffer fish. That we didn't touch though.

Yesterday I went down to Fremantle with some people. It's a really cool little town with a lot of old buildings and everything is sort of in an old fashioned style (even if it is a newer building). I also got my first look at the ocean!!! And not just any ocean, THE INDIAN OCEAN!!!!! It was wonderful. Oh, and one of the largest highlights of my day was playing the didgeridoo. We found a store where we could just sit down and try to play it. I am actually not half bad at it either (and I can check it off my Australia bucket list). And we went out again last night, which was even more fun except for the fact my feet hurt really badly since I wore heels out. Not my best idea ever, even if I did look adorable. :D

Today was registration for classes which took waaaayyyy longer than necessary. However, I was able to get into all the classes I wanted. I do have class every day (a lot of people were able to get Friday's off), but I only have one class on Wednesdays and Thursdays which means that I can spend A LOT of time at the beach on those days. I am currently signed up for Herpetology, Marine Systems, Religion and Globalisation, Archaeology of Indigenous Australia, and Moral Theory. All of which I am super excited for and they all sound really really interesting. Tonight we have a dinner with all the international and study abroad students and then tomorrow I am going surfing. I am going to hard core wipe out, but I am still excited for it.

I am really burnt though, not horribly and not as bad as other people but still, the sun is way intense here. Stupid ozone hole.

I will leave you with a few photos of my days here. They do in no way really encapsulate all that I have and will experience. They give a glimpse though :)

The picture on the left is the city of Perth from King's Park. Below is the "sunken garden" on campus, which is absolutely stunning. Currently my favorite place.

And this is Bob picking up Nora to throw her into the pool by the main building on campus. He didn't actually throw her in but it was still really funny.

Oh and that's a giant lotus. There's an art festival that's going on.

I will update again soon I am sure. I miss all of you!

Claire

Packing Up

4 Days.

4 Short Days.

Terrifying to say the least as well. In 4 days I fly to LA and then sometime on February 12th Australian time, I will get to Perth.

I am really excited to see what Perth will be like, what adventures I have , how much fun I will have and to be in Australia. Now though, I am just sitting in bed, downloading GRE review materials (as if I am going to study while I am abroad) and importing Creole CDs into my computer (as if I am going to study while I am abroad) and watching How I Met Your Mother. Marathoning it actually as I check things off of my To-Do list.

A few things are worrying me though. I need to still get money into my Bank of America account which still hasn't happened. I also need to renew my driver's license and get some Australian money too. That would be really helpful.

I also need to apply to a bunch of internships and jobs this summer. Let's not talk about it. I have a bunch of those as well.

.............

So I took a break fro this blog post a few hours ago because I felt I was just rambling off my to do list and not really paying too much attention (the HIMYM was kinda distracting too). Now though, I am just lying in bed and staring at everything on my walls. Now those of you who have seen my room might understand but for those who haven't, I will explain.

My room isn't really decorated as much as it's exploded upon. Everything from ticket stubs to band posters to a map of Colorado has found a place on the walls of my room. Every few years I edit, take down some things, put up some things, and reorganize the bulletin board that is covered with old comics and photos from high school. There are souvenirs from places I have been, postcards I have received, a pirate flag, literally if I thought it was kinda cool at one point or another it's up there. So my room sort of tells the story of my life. Looking around now I wonder what things from Australia will end up on it. Maybe a map of the outback or photos from when we travel to New Zealand (hopefully!!).

My room is an imprint of me and sitting here a few days before I leave, I am wondering how much of that me is going to change while I am abroad. What things will shift the next time I edit the walls of my room. Will it look completely different? I know I will change abroad, but I am so curious to find out how I will. I wonder if it will be subtle, if I will simply experience more. I wonder if I will completely switch what I want to do with my life. Maybe I will move to Australia because of it. Who will I meet while I am abroad. I know there will be some cool people and I will make friends but how will they change me? Will I change them?

Everything about Australia and the next 6 months of my life are completely unknown (besides the surfing lessons, that is totally happening). I don't even know what classes I am going to take. And I have to admit, unknown sort of freaks me out. There is so much out there and so much to learn and know and I have no clue what I will be facing in 4 days time. I can't wait though. Gosh, 4 days. 4 short days.

Wish me luck!

Claire

p.s. I will try to post every week or so while abroad. I promise nothing but I will try to keep everyone updated on what's going on!