"It's like we're studying at a Hogwarts, just without the Great Hall, we have the Great Court."

This is my first school post! It's hard to believe but I AM studying here! If you don't already know, I am going to be studying at the University of Queensland at St. Lucia. I could go on about why I chose to go to school here but heres a few of my top reasons why I chose UQ over 25 other schools in Australia.

1. The weather! Sorry Massachusetts, but I hate SNOW. I'm the happiest in the summer or in the sun. In Brisbane, QLD, the coldest it gets is around 70 degrees in their winter. So for all your New Englanders...THIS WEATHER IS AWESOME.

2. University of Queensland is ranked one of the top schools in the world. Its ranked in the top 8 in Australia and as opposed to Bridgewater State College, this school has classes from Undergrad to PhD. They have research stations all over Australia and huge breakthroughs have happened here. Who wouldnt want to go to a school with such an amazing atmosphere.

3. Networking. If I meet the right people here and get my name out, being able to have networking oppourtunities in outher countries is a gift. I've already started that by joining the UQ Management Society, our first big event is "Speed Dating" which companies such as Loreal, Cadbury,  Ernst & Young and other global businesses will be there to talk about their company and just for the Undergrads to be able to learn how to hold professional conversations.

4. The city of Brisbane. This city is an up and coming young city. In the early 80's this place was considered the "country" and it has come far. Theres beaches, great public transportation, shops, open markets, street performers, clubs and anything that could fit a 20 somethings tastes. Each day of the week there is something to do, and if you really get that bored, we have Street Beach. A beach that was man made next to the river, but it has sand and palm trees. I literally have my own beach in my backyard.

Since these all seem like wonderful reasons to come here. I can't summarize how much of an impact my University has. Insted of me going on about it. I have a little Wiki excerpt.

"The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the older university in Queensland and the fifth in the nation. UQ is ranked among the top universities, both in Australia and the world. UQ research led by Professor Ian Frazer pioneered a vaccine for cervical cancer. The vaccine Gardasil protects against an approximate 70 perfect of human papilloma virus related cervical cancers. The 274 acre campus also includes sporting fields, gardens, duck ponds, and cycling tracks. The athletics centre features 21 floodlit tennis courts and Olympic standard swimming pool, a three-level gymnasium and a multi=purpose indoor center. The university is served by a CityCat wharf, two bus stations and is also served by the Eleanor Schonell Bridge providing pedestrian and bus access across the river to Dutton Park. " - Thank you Wikipedia! 

Okay, so now that you know a little bit about my school and how pretty much amazing it is, I’ll tell you my perspective! So yes, this is the most amazing and beautiful campus that I have ever seen but it’s defiantly a difference from the US Public school system. The biggest complaint I have it that at UQ, they want you to learn on your own, which includes how to pick classes. I have been so lost at picking classes and I’m usually really good at it! Let me just tell you how strange it is. Okay, so I can take 4 classes, because that is considered a full class load, as opposed to 5 classes at BSC. Now, we meet for up 1, 2 or 3 days in the week but when we meet, we have different times and different topics to discuss. Each class has a “lecture” or “contact” that is required. The some classes have a “Tutorial” that has numerous different hours/sections to pick from. So you have to pick a lecture and a tutorial and sometimes a practical, which is similar to a tutorial but apparently it’s different? But when you are picking your classes and everything is full, you email the course head and tell them you want to be in this class, and if enough people do that, then they open up a different section. It’s annoying beyond belief and most of you know me, I love picking classes, but not here. There are no advisors to help you, and if you do find a student center staff member, they just tell you to email the course. Everything is self taught. I just want my classes! Meh.

Fact Fact of the Day!
Did you know that I have a Ferris Wheel in my backyard? Well I didn't until we passed it for the first time on the way to my apartment! It was a plesant surprise! This is the Wheel of Brisbane! It stands 60 metres tall ( much smaller than the London Eye's 135m.) but it give tourists a bird eye view of the beautiful city! I love it at night because each capsule is lit up with bright blue LED lights and just adds to the city. Here is it during the day, I hope to get a picture of it at night soon!


Good day! 

"O-WEEEEK.! Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi! "

I’m not going to go into detail about classes, I know, it’s the boring stuff. But! I will go into my orientation week or O-Week as it’s called. All this week is O-Week and there are things to do every day. They do not have Greek life in Australia but wow, hazing is 100% legal here. For example, each college on campus ( dorms) has different things that they have to do throughout the day. Take Emmanuel College, they have to be up at 5am, the hall leaders wake them up and make them run around the campus screaming absurd chants that often include F-bombs and ridiculous singing. They all have to wear sailor hats with nicknames on them, and if a leader sees you around campus without your hat on, then they write your nickname in permanent marker on your forehead. Crazy right? Another college, Women’s college, has weekly dinners that they wear “dress robes” to and they live like Harry Potter ( only thing I’m jealous about!) but during the o-week they are required to wear their houses Polo and navy shorts. I’m not sure if this post is getting the message across, but every day you KNOW who lives on campus, because they are the ones doing ridiculous things. These examples may not sound that bad, but honestly if you saw it, it would be a different story. See, this may seem fun, but at Uni, most people that live on campus are ages 17-19. So if I was a freshman, I may have thought this was awesome, but my friends that are currently living on campus, say it’s more of a chore at 20-21 as a junior or senior in college.


Fast Fact of the Day!(Maybe I’ll do this each blog, what do you think?)

In Australia is someone asked what college you’re in, that actually means what residence hall you are living in. If they ask what you are studying, you tell them University of Queensland. If they ask what area, that is when you say your major. Example time! So I do not live in a college, I live in Southbank. I’m studying at University of Queensland and my area of study is marketing. Doesn't seem to complicate but when you’re in a conversation, Australian’s give you a look like you have five heads if you tell them you go to college at UQ and your major is Marketing. Little culture gap there!

Okay, so besides the whole hazing and living on campus thing, which doesn’t really involve me, I just find it amusing. I have to tell you guys about Market Day! Market Day is the best day ever! Market Day at University of Queensland is amazing, it is when EVERY SINGLE CLUB OR SOCIETY comes out with a table for people to get more information about a certain area, sign up, or just get free things from different vendors! These pictures don’t really do it justice, since they were on my phone but all of these white tents had different clubs. At UQ each club you join has a fee, so if you want to participate you pay the membership fee, and if you have no interest your student fees don’t go to something you don’t have interest about! Over 250 tables were there to look at. There were tables for sports teams, law clubs, translink ( the public transport), the local police, IKEA, cell phone providers, Apple, choirs, student unions, different religious clubs, alumni association…pretty much if you ever thought of joining a club, they have everything possible to offer you. I ended up going on my own, because I love getting free things, it may sound terrible but if you look hard enough, free is right there!

I was in all my glory! I got calendars and post it notes, water bottles, reusable bags, I won a t-shirt ( which I said during my previous post), candy, cokes, pens, pencils, other various food items, stickers, important info , ice cream, ect. These may not sound very exciting but I got as much info out of these people as possible so I knew what was in the area and so I could be knowledgeable and hold a conversation other than “sooo you’re an international student” to another student. I ended up joining 2 clubs which I’m very excited about. Both only cost a $5 membership fee too! The first organization I joined is the QUEST Society, which is a group of multicultural students from around the world but we all share a common interest of learning more about Brisbane and the state of Queensland in general. We have discounted day trips, as well as a student’s perspective on where to go out at night, or to eat a cheap meal to nice areas to just enjoy the scenery.

I am excited about this because we are already finding really local spots that most travel books never even mentioned! Another society that I joined was the UQMA which is University of Queensland Management Association. It is a not-for profit organization for students that are looking to pursue a more professional side and to be able to be connected with quality networking opportunities’ throughout the semester. With my membership card, I also get discounts at different restaurants and free entry to clubs and bars. This is hopefully a society worth joining because even at the table I felt like I fit right in. The UQMA is for any Business, Economics, Commerce or Law majors so I was right at home!

There is a 3rd club that I am hopefully joining. What is this club you ask? Well, it’s the DIVE TEAM! Not as in 1 meter diving, but SCUBA diving! I didn’t have the amount of money to join today but I am going to a BBQ tomorrow night at their dive house that is located right next to UQ’s outdoor swimming pool. Don’t worry family! I have a friend that is doing it with me, his name is Chris and he also is a student from the US and both of us are really excited about this dive team! I’ll have to keep you posted on that but I would love to be able to join a club that I otherwise would never be able to join at Bridgewater State. 

Cheers!

"and he said... "Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? "

While I was at my orientation in Cairns, N. Queensland, they told me that the first few weeks of being in a foreign country are always the “honeymoon stage” which pretty much means that you’re in love and then you start to realize, it’s not what you expected. I’m already heading into week 3 and my “honeymoon stage” has yet to be complete. Honestly, I don’t think I will leave this so called “honeymoon stage”

I believe that I have become quite adjusted to living in Australia. The first night was the hardest because I was in a completely foreign city! Even after reading all of my survival guides to Australia, it didn’t help the fact that I was totally on my own with no direction on which way was up. My apartment is in a very beautiful part of the city and I have come to realize that South Bank (the different areas in Brisbane, such as “the north end” or southie in Boston) is a rich and up and coming area. When I met people and tell them I live in South Bank, their reaction is always the same; it’s the “OHHH wow. That’s wonderful!” or “Really? Goodness you have it made!” I’ve finally gotten a hang of the city and the streets and how to get around with the public transportation.

Since I have been talking about how I’ve gotten to know my city better. Here are some interesting facts about Brisbane that you most likely won’t find in travel books. Some of them are quiet pointless, but I was either very happy/excited/ interested that I found them out!

1.The streets in the city are labeled in either men or women’s names. So if you are looking Adelaide or Alice Street, they will be running parallel to Queen Street, the main street; if you are looking for Albert or William Street, those streets will be running perpendicular from the women’s streets! It makes everything so easy!

2.Never buy fruits or vegetable from supermarkets. Buy them from local markets and to find the local markets…ask the locals! They are so friendly and willing to help whenever I tell them I just moved here. When going to the local markets, wait until the end of the day to purchase your items. I actually did this and I was able to get 12 pieces of fruit for $5! By the end of the day, the locals want to make a profit and still sell their fresh goods!  For an example, I ended up getting 3 peaches, 3 plums, 2 lemons, 1 lime,  and other fruits ( I forget the name because it was Aussie grown!) and I had plenty of fresh fruit! I was BEYOND excited about this. In the stores each of those items would be double or by a certain weight, and they make EVERYTHING expensive in the grocery stores.

3.Plastic Bags cost money, similar to places in the US, but I love the fact that Australia is all about being Eco-Friendly. Let’s just say that within 2 weeks, I have received a total of 7 reusable bags during various orientations…yay for free bags! And yay for the environment!

4.Aussies love competing. I fit right in! They compete for anything! For example, I won a t-shirt from my university because I beat the Apple employees in a game of iPod touch air hockey. ( they were cocky, and I was happy I beat them since I watch the 5 people in front of me lose)

Did I mention I actually have a tan now? I’m getting really dark because every day is sunny. This makes people in such better moods! The down side is that if you forget to put sun block on, you WILL be burnt within the hour. Yes, I wish there were more downsides, but honestly that is the only one.

Posting will continue soon! Cheers Mates!

"Brisbane's unique Queensland architecture, riverfront setting, perfect climate, cultural diversity and unrivalled employment growth make it one of the most attractive cities to live in on almost any angle. "

So many plane rides!

So Thursday afternoon, I finally arrived in Brisbane. From Cairns it was a 2 hour plane ride which was a walk in the park compared to 13 hours! I’m done with planes for a few weeks!!!!

I got back in Brisbane International with all the AustraLearn kids and there were separate busses to take us to our final destinations of where we are living. A total of 15 AustraLearn students were living in Urbanest, where I am so we were the first stop. My apartment complex looks identical to the pictures online!!! I absolutely love it! I walked in with a fully made bed so I didn’t have to buy sheets, and my very own bathroom! And my building is all black, green and white, my windows frame is bright green!

I am living with 3 others girls and they are all the same girls that I roomed with for the past week in Cairns which is awesome because they are the girls who I got along with the best! Two go to American University and one goes to West Chester. Yes, you read right, American University…where Dan goes! How is it, that my world somehow gets smaller even thought I am 10,000 miles away?!

But we each have our own room and bathroom; we are literally in a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom apartment! There is one extra room in here but no one is going to be living in it.

I immediately got settled in to make my room more homey, and for the fact that I was sick of living out of a suitcase! I love love love my room, I printed out pictures and brought my cards from anyone who wished me luck here. In the afternoon, all of the kids that were living in Urbanest decided to go into the city which is a beautiful walk from our Apartment! We walk right around the river, through the gardens and the beach, so its like we have our own city, without the hustle and bustle of the city..get it?

We went to a giant 6 story mall, which was mostly underground to get soap and cleaning supplies and just little odds and ended that everyone needed. It was werid because everything started to close at 6pm, only restaurants and liquor stores stay open later which means we have to plan our whole day around going shopping. MY favorite store so far…The Reject Shop, where it is basically Australia’s dollars store, that is where most of us got our bathroom stuff and hangers from. 

More pictures will be coming soon of the city :-)

I think Australians do well here because we feel a bit naughty, like we're in America and if they only knew how much fun we were having, we'd all get thrown out, you know - Melissa George

Day 5!

Since the past week, I have been mooching off the hostels internet, which is really slow so I haven’t been able to update my blog as much as I wanted. The internet is different here, which I expected but I had to pay 5 dollars for 75 minutes of internet while staying at the Bohemian Resort, so I had to use it sparingly!

Today was a super important day/ dream come true/ straight out of a postcard….it was GREAT BARRIER REEF DAY!!!!! So I had to get up at about 5:45 to catch the bus early to head out on the boat by 8am. The boat ride to get to the reef was actually 2 ½ hours away from land, but my friends and I had the best seats ever on the boat. In the front there were giant hammock like beds that you could just relax on and at the same time, you could see the water underneath you. When we first got on the boat, we had to fill out a sheet to be able to go snorkeling or SCUBA diving. There were a bunch of medical conditions that you had to check off, and I had FULL and I mean FULL intentions of going SCUBA diving, I even packed my own mask, snorkel and fog cleaner all the way down here. So I filled it out, then about an hour into the trip, I was called in….apparently in Australia, you are not allowed to SCUBA dive when you have taken an inhaler/steroids in the past 48 hours. The dive master, Emma, showed me the Australian law because I thought they were joking ( aussies just about everything). Of course I was really upset because this law is only in Australia. So I started crying ( yes, I cried..i was pissed.) so all the dive masters came over and kept saying “no worries mate no worries” which I understood, I knew it wasn’t the end of the world since Dan and I will be coming back here in a few months. It was just in the moment I was so angry that I didn’t lie for once!

I guess the AustraLean people were supposed to tell us that but had failed to mention it, and the dive masters were so mad, that they told me I could have a free stinger suit ( which were 7 dollars, and protected your body from jellies ( jellyfish) or a free drink on the way back.I said it wasn’t a big deal I just wished I knew and I said “ no worries no worries, I’ll be back anyways”. I ended up snorkeling which seemed to be the best option anyways. If I went diving with them, it was only for a half hour and they took anyone who wanted to try it out there, so I wouldn’t have been albe to have the experience I was looking for with newer divers.

So! I got over the fact of the SCUBA situation ( even though I couldn’t bare to look at the divers)  and decided to get a stinger suit and pay 7 dollars, I wasn’t going to ask for a free suit since it wasn’t really expensive.  The girls and I headed jumped right into the clear water! From the pictures it doesn’t seem as clear, but if even if you just looked from the boat, you could see coral everywhere. So I’m swimming, and swimming and staring at the coral and pretty colored fish I all of a sudden feel a REALLY sharp pain in my lip. I jumped out of the water, more then ever before and realize oh sweet I got stung by something. So I had to swim fast back to the boat to make sure I was oaky. It could have been sea lice or a small clear jellie but it hurt so BAD. The dive master put this disguising tasting (since it was on my lip) spray to make the pain go away. It wasn’t poisonous whatever it was and of course…what did they say “you’ll be right mate, no worries” I’m defiantly bringing this line back to the states.

So! I’m finally in the water! With a throbbing lip and ready to see underwater! It was absolutely beautiful! The coral was amazing! Bright blues and greens and the tropical fish were lovely. Being able to see them in their natural habitat was breathtaking! There were schools of squid and GIANT clams! It was amazing; I took a few underwater pictures which came out amazing. We went to two different locations. The first location I completely forget the name of L sorry! But the second location was so amazing! It was called Micahealmas Cave. Right by the reef there was a sand beach formed atop a coral reef cave and it underwater it looked just like Finding Nemo! I know that’s a terrible reference but it seems that all the 20year olds were referencing it to that too! As we were snorkeling we saw a foot long bright blue starfish and a sea turtle! It was beautiful! I cannot wait to go back.

 Overall the reef was absolutely amazing. This is definitely a long post, but it’s the REEF! It had to be! But to end my story from the beginning…the dive master, Emma, came up to be about half an hour before we left the boat and asked if I got my free stinger suit or my free drink. I obviously said no, since I didn’t think they were serious and Emma couldn’t believe it and told me she’d be right back. So I waited and then about 10 minutes later, she came back with $7 dollars and a small 200mL of Pink Champagne! She told be she was so sorry I had such a rough day from not being able to dive to being stung (which was really only the first hour or so of the day, other then that I was in all my glory on the reef!) and she hopes that I return soon. I guess Aussies don’t like when your not right.

“God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia.”- Russell Crowe

Day 3!

Adventure Day!

 So today we had an option to either hang out and explore Cairns by ourselves or to go on different tours throughout the area. A few months back I chose the Tropical Jungle Tour which took you to all areas in Cairns, throughout the Rainforest and to experience Australia’s nature at its finest. It was a very long day, we had to be up and ready by 7:30am and we didn’t arrive back to the Bohemian Resort until 7:15pm!  The first stop we did was the Rainforest Habitat where we were able to see more Koalas, Roos and birds everywhere. Since our guide knew that we did all of the animal stuff yesterday, we made that short and headed to our next destination which was the Daintree River. Our guide took us through this nature walk and we learned about all the different plants that were harmful if touched. I wont get into it here, but let just say that one of the plants it heartshaped, but the stingers will stay in you for up to three years and they are awaken by cold water. Once we traveled through the woods, we ended up at a swimming hole with a decent current and big rocks everywhere. It was so calm and it seemed like a very popular swimming area for more of the locals instead of tourists. After spending about an hour at the hole and cooling off, since it was about 28 degrees centigrade ( 88 F) and the humidity was terrible, we took a boat tour on the same river. We were on the look out for wildlife such as crocodiles, snakes and butterflies.

 On the way back down the windy road we stopped by a look out point where you can see the mouth of the Daintree River and where Steve Eirwin was killed by the stingray.  As we continued down the rainforest, we stopped in Cape Tribulation where it is a World Heritage site and a beautiful beach where the rainforest meets the sand. It was absolutely beautiful! I finally touched the Pacific Ocean!! The water was about 80 degrees, it felt like I was taking a bath. Unfortunately, since its jellyfish season, you cant swim in the waters. On the way back we stopped at a little hidden ice cream place in the Daintree where they make all of their icecream out of their tropical fruits. I was able to eat 4 ice creams; mango, Wattleseed ( which tasted like capachino, but with seeds), soursoap, and black sapote. Since I love ice cream…this was by far the BEST ORGANIC ice cream ever! Since this was one of our last stops, we ened our two hour journey by learning about green ants, which, if you suck them they taste like Limes. It is a very strange thing, but of course, being me…I had to try it. So out of the 24 kids on the tour 23 of us tried them.

 Once we had one green ant, we had a competition called the Ultimate Ant Eating Contest which was a little ridiculous but I can never give up a competition. We had to stick our hands in the tree, grab a handful of ants and eat them to suck the lime juice out, then spit them out before they bit your tounge. Don’t worry they are not poisonous. But you are looking a the 6^th girl to successfully eat green ants with out being bit. J Since this was a full day, we ended up going to dinner at Dunwoodys with the group and made it an early night. They make you exhausted here! 

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”- Charles M. Schulz

So Day 2!

Happy Valentines Day! So today was our day to head up to Rainforesttation. I had the opportunity to do a wide variety of aboriginal activities, as well as see Koalas up close and personal and hang out with some Roos! The best thing was the Koalas and Kangaroos! The Roo’s are just like dogs! They just hang out all day and wait for you to feed them! They just bounce around and are so carefree! Once our group was done with the Kangaroos, we were able to have our picture taken with a Koala! I don’t have any picture of that because we were not allowed to take photos because the Koalas can only be held for a half an hour at a time and it numerous flashes went off, it wouldn’t be good for them. During that same day I was able to learn how to throw a boomerang and I was pretty successful at it! It didn’t come right back to me, but it came within about 50 feet.

That night we had dinner on our own so a few of the girls and I went to a restaurant called The Crown, which was a little sports bar in the centre of Cairns. After that most of the AustraLearn students were offered a deal for VIP passes to 4 bars with 4 free drinks for only $15. Which is a good deal since any drink costs between $7-$12 a piece. The girls and I met up with everyone and we went out to the Blue Sky Brewery, PJ OBriens and Gilligans for our free drinks. Since all of our bodies are still adjusting to the time difference and being busy all day, we caught a taxi and headed home by midnight. 

"I come from the land down under..."

G’Day Mates! Are you right?!

::Stares blankly:::

“Oh your from America aren’t yah!!? Are you right means OK. Get it? So when I say Are you right, you just say yes!”

…This happened as soon as I got through customs…..and the accents start! Yes! Accents, mate!

The flights getting to Australia were not as bad as I thought. The 6 ½ hour flight to LAX was probably the worst because it was in the evening and there was nothing to do! All they offered was the terrible Michael Jackson movie, which I refused to watch and it was too early to sleep. Once we arrived in LAX ( which by the way, it the biggest airport EVER.) It was a 3 hour wait for the big flight! We took a 747 called “The Spirit of Australia” and it flights out once a day every day at 11:50pm. The 14 hour flight was the longest possible flight ever, and it was very tough to sleep since Economy is so squished, I must have only gotten 3-4 hours of sleep because it was so uncomfortable! But on the bright side! I watched three in flight movies, beat the Advanced Mancala on my ipod, and even listened to all of This American Life Podcasts. J Once arriving in Brisbane, we then went through Customs and headed to the next flight to Cairns, which was about 2 ½ hour flight.

After 3 flights I finally arrived to my AustraLearn culture program in Cairns, Queensland (pronounced Cans ) Our flight landed at around 1pm on February 13^th and that final 2 ½ hour trip to Cairns was just like a postcard. The last 40 minutes of the flight we overlooked the Great Barrier Reef with crystal blue green waters, once we passed the reef we began our descent through the mountain area. With everyone around me, we all agreed that it feel like we are in Hawaii more than Australia.

For the next 6 days, I am living in a hostel called the Bohemian Resort. Actually, I’m sitting right next to the salt water pool in a lounge chair with flaming tiki torches  lighting all the pathways! I will end this post here, hopefully I can post throughout my adventures in Cairns, which include holding a Koala, petting Kangaroos, diving the reef, and touring the rainforest!

Hopefully you will be enjoying these posts! ( this is Cairns center!)

"You went half way around the world... you spent a fortune... "- The Prestiege

Long Flights? Ah yes. But heres my flight info!

American Airlines Flight AA145
Departs :
 Boston 5:00pm 11-Feb

Arrives:
 Los Angeles 8:30pm
from LAX

Qantas Airline Flight QF16 (4 hour delay)
Departs :
 Los Angeles 11:50pm


Arrives:
Brisbane 7:45am 13-Feb
from Brisbane

Qantas Airline Flight QF782 (2 hour delay)
Departs :
 Brisbane 9:55am


Arrives:
Cairns 12:15pm 13-Feb


let the adventure begin......

".... the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon..." - Ferdinand Magellan

I was doing some stumbling, and I found this amazing Google Earth feature on Map Tools. If you type in a location, you can see what is on the complete opposite side of the world. Figures; Massachusetts is opposite of Australia :-) 


Feel free to try it! You just have to zoom out a little.
               Tunnel to the Other Side