I have arrived in Australia! It’s quite a surreal experience to finally be doing what I’ve anticipated for the past year and a half and I’m not sure I’ve fully grasped that for the next 5 months I’ll be living and studying in the wonderful city of Melbourne, Australia! I’ve decided to keep this blog to update my family and friends on all of my adventures, as well as a good way of not letting whatever happens escape my memory.
So where to begin…I arrived in Melbourne a little over a week ago on the 1oth of February but it feels like I’ve already been here for ages. My flight path took me from Boston to San Francisco to Sydney to Melbourne and it was just as horrendously long and exhausting as it sounds. That’s all you really need to know. Oh, except for the fact that on my flight from San Fran to Sydney I did meet an Australian Miner! Gavin is 27 and lives in what they call the “bush”, or the country..an hour outside Perth to be exact. Apparently mining is one of the most dangerous yet financially rewarding jobs in Australia – they can work for months straight but in 6 months can make a hefty $80,000. Not too shabby!
On my flight from Sydney to Melbourne I met a boy named Marc who’s a student in Melbourne as well, but he goes to La Trobe University. I’ll be studying at the University of Melbourne, which apparently is the “Harvard” of Victoria! Australian students need to have at least a 99% average in grades in order to be accepted. With a population of about 40,000 undergraduates it seems like Australia must breed geniuses! I feel pretty lucky to be able to study here through an exchange program. Anyway, the flight to Melbourne flew by as Marc tried to accustom me to the type of music they listen to, what’s “trendy” in fashion, nightlife, and general culture. I wouldn’t say much of it differs from a city like New York or Boston but Melbourne is definitely a hub for culture and the arts.
Stepping off the plane I was immediately drenched in sweat. Going from the arctic tundra that was Boston to full on hot and humid summer in Melbourne was an extreme shock to my system! I was happy to enter my apartment complex despite the lack of air conditioning (really, Australia?? No AC and it’s 90 degrees out? REALLY?). I’m living at a student “village” which is a beautiful Victorian structure of buildings complete with a courtyard, pool, gym, and we’re even connected to a pretty fun bar that I’ve gotten to know quite well (Sorry mom and dad..drinking age is 18 here). My room has a lovely balcony with a pristine view of a parking lot! It’s a pretty tight living space but it does the job. I have a small kitchen for cooking and a nice big desk for all the studying I’ll be doing (not!). My roommate, Rachel, is an Australian from Sydney starting her first year at photography school! She takes some excellent photos and even asked me to model for her! So flattered.
That night I met up with my friend Eileen who is also studying here from Boston College. Her mom was here helping her set up and was nice enough to treat me to some dinner on Lygon St. (The Italian Precinct). It was quite good! Interesting fact #1: Australians don’t tip! We tried but our waitress refused to accept it. Considering everything is extremely expensive here I’m not complaining too much. Minimum wage is $15/hour…thinking about getting a job and taking advantage of that.
The next day I repacked a smaller suitcase and headed off to my Welcome Program for the next 5 days. The program consisted of about 100 international students staying at one of the Residential Colleges of Uni Melb called Newman College. I guess you could say it’s kind of like a dorm..but I would describe it most similar to houses as in Harry Potter. First of all, every building is beautifully designed but very, very old. Three meals are served each day in the dining room where everyone eats together. Each residential college has its own sports teams and I think it sounds like a great community. If I could do it over again I would have applied to live in them, but at the same time they are extremely expensive and strict. You have to follow a dress code at all times in the dining room and there are many rules that if broken could kick you out on the curb. Anyway, we stayed at Newman College and it was a ton of fun. We broke into groups and each had a host who was a student at Uni Melb. Mine was Cass who was - like all Australians - extremely friendly. My group consisted of about 8 international students from all over. It was a good start!
That day we toured around Melbourne and got a good general feel of the city. We went to the Eureka sky tower which overlooks all of Melbourne, however it was cloudy and rainy that day so we couldn’t even see anything at the top! Oh well, cause for another trip back there. We ate some delicious gelato (they have really good Italian here?) and toured a bit of campus. That night after having a cocktail party at the college we all went out to a bar and socialized the night away! How Aussie of us.
After a very early wakeup the next morning (6 am…jetlag not completely gone), our group went on an Aboriginal Heritage tour in the botanical gardens. I was so shocked at how well kept the gardens were! Our guide, Den, walked us around and showed us different uses for plants and kept reinforcing how important it was to only “take what you need” in nature, and nothing more. I think most of the world could use that piece of advice. After a filling lunch at a buffet restaurant we headed to the beach! St. Kilda, which is about a half hour away on the tram, was having a festival that weekend (lucky us) so we walked around, got some ice cream, and of course stuck our feet in the ocean. That night we had trivia with our host groups went out on the town as per usual.
On Sunday, (only day 3 in Melbourne!) we went to the Queen Victoria Markets. Famous for their well-priced product and huge array of foods, it did not disappoint. I recently went back a few days ago and bought a huge supply of fruits and veggies for less than $15. Extremely good for Aussie prices! We then headed off to the Melbourne zoo!!!!!! As most anyone who knows me, I’m obsessed with animals. Or as my sister Sarah always reminds me “Caroline is a friend to animals”. Of course I made a point to see every animal they had. They have an amazing Orangutan area with about 8 different ones all doing acrobatics for us and being a huge entertainment. But of course the best part was entering the “bush”part of the zoo. You basically get right up to kangaroos!!! Mostly they just sit around, eat, or clean their pouches (such a weird concept that they have those). We also saw some emus and of course KOALAS! They were sleeping (probably too stoned from eucalyptus leaves) but they were sooo cute. A lot smaller than I expected. I hope that when I travel to Queensland I can visit this koala sanctuary where you can actually hold them. After the zoo we headed back to Newman and then discovered one of Melbourne’s best kept secrets. Bear with me…bowling. Not even joking. We weren’t expecting much but once we entered I was pumped! It looks more like a club with bowling lanes, there are huge screens everywhere playing music videos and best of all everything is lit up with black lights and all the balls are neon so it just looks super cool. Also the shoes they give you are sick! Like, I might actually wear them in real life. But what really is the kicker is that you buy a drink and you bowl a game free. Um can you say awesome? So we bowled quite a few games then met up with friends at an Irish pub for the night.
The next day we went SURFING! We drove 2 hours to Ocean Grove, an area near Geelong. It was glorious. All the hosts kept saying there were much better beaches in Australia but I didn’t even care…this beat out any New England beach I had been accustomed to in the past few years. The only downfall is that you’re constantly reapplying sunscreen. Because of the lack of ozone layer, anyone can get burned within 6 minutes of being in the sun. I put on spf 45 every day and I still get a little burned. But no worries (Melbourne’s motto!) because I got to swim and lay on the beach and of course surf! First of all, wearing a wetsuit makes you feel like you can take on the world. Second of all, surfing is so hard! You have to have the right timing and very specific foot positioning to get yourself standing up on your board. I kept catching the waves but once I did my mind would go blank and I would completely forget what to do, stand up the wrong way, and wipe out. I think I drank about half the ocean. By the end my biggest success was standing up for about one second and that was good enough for me!
Since it was our last night at the welcome program (boooo L), we had a formal dinner in the dining room. It was so fancy! Three course meals complete with wine and cheese. I was in heaven and definitely ate the best I have since I had arrived in Melbourne. We went out to a club that night that the program had rented out and danced the night away. It was great! The next day we packed up our bags and I went back to the village where I officially unpacked and moved in. I guess our hosts missed us too much because they invited us all back to the University that night to South Lawn, a big grassy area in the middle of campus. We all drank wine and played Frisbee and dizzy bat (for all who know the game) and then went out on the town. It was great fun and a good way to wrap up such a wonderful orientation to the city.
The past few days I’ve pretty much been getting set up in my apartment, going shopping for food and things I need for my room. We went back to Victoria Market on Wednesday for a night market which was really cool! It was mostly vendors selling their goods and live music and food. Then last night there was a big party at the bar that is next to my village which was a lot of fun as well. Australians really love to party! I’m not complaining.
Next week will be my orientation to University (oh yeah..because I’m studying here too I guess?) and I’m sure I’ll be extremely busy but it will be good to set up classes. I feel like once I start studying I’ll feel more at home and like I’m actually living here. I realize this is a massive entry however I hope whoever is reading out there has enjoyed! I miss and love you all!
