Modern Art

Ryan and I had a very productive day

In Brisbane, the gallery of Modern Art is epic. You get from the third floor to the first floor via slide. There is a movie that was made by tying a camera to a dog. There is a table with thousands of legos, and anyone can make their own creations. There are papers upstairs where you can draw whatever you want. There is a balloon room.
Need I say more?
This building has got to be every big kids dream. I can't see why nerdy people such as myself aren't packed in there like sardines.
And that is besides the actual exhibits, which were really awesome in their own right. There were people who did art with neon lights. There was a giant neon light brain.
In one room people were allowed to walk into this box that had little balls hanging from the ceiling and was totally reflective. It felt like space went on forever. And the black light actually made me look tan. I loved it.
In short, this has got to be the coolest building that I have ever been in. What a good day.

We also went on a CityCat ride, which is basically Brisbane's ferry system. It was fun, but I was actually somewhat cold. But the boat was nice, and Ryan seemed to like it.
And I went to class, but that was almost too boring to mention, as it was a bioinformatics practical.

Sun and Sand, but no Tan

Looks pretty good, huh?

This is where Ryan and I spent our Sunday with my host family and the people who live just next door. We both have the sunburns to prove it. They are bad enough that sleeping on my back is painful. Mind you, I did put on sunscreen. 

Anyway, the sand is wonderful and pure and almost white. The waves are perfect and it's so warm that you can swim in the ocean and it actually feels nice. I was amazed. I loved it. 

However, there was so much salt in the water that I was tasting salt in my hair even after I took a shower. 

The people we went with were all very nice. I swam with the little girl from next door, which probably scared her mom half to death, but we had fun. Overall it was one of the best Sunday adventures that I have had here in Australia. 

Ryan said while we were there "I wish we had beaches like this at home."

That's how good it was. 

I Found the Brother

After a very long plane ride Ryan finally made it to Australia. He was tired and smelled terrible, but after a shower and a rather lazy day he was back in tip top travel shape. The woman who is in the host family that I am staying with took us to the Ipswitch zoo, which is actually a park that they have native animal exhibits in. It was really cool, and ryan got to see his first kangaroo. 

The next day we went to the beach with the neighbors, but the beach really deserves it's own post, so I will fill you in on all of it's charms later. 

This morning we went on a grand search for a Starbucks. My keen sense for finding Starbucks served us well, and we were there at 9 this morning. It was great. Totally a successful morning. Who needs to go to class anyway? 

Not me. 

Anyway, I am enjoying my brother's visit, and for all of you who are worrying, he is safe here with me. 

Snickerdoodles are Foreign!

Two days ago, I receive the best package ever in the mail. And about two thirds of this package was filled with snickerdoodles :) Thank you Cameron. They are wonderful cookies. They have in fact replaces breakfast and lunch meals for me over the last two days. It was put me in a really sunny disposition. The whole world benefits.

Now, I thought that snickerdoodles were a common cookie, but apparently I was wrong. I asked my homestay family if they wanted a snickerdoodle, and they looked at me like I was crazy until they saw cookies in my hand. Evidently snickerdoodles do not exist in Australia. This seemed somewhat tragic, so I was convinced that SOMEONE in Australia would know what they are.

I was wrong. I have yet to find an Australian that doesn't look at me and slowly say "snicker...doodle?" in their Aussie accents. It makes me giggle every time. Truly awesome. Anyway, there is a boy who is in two classes with me, and we were discussing Australia's cookie deficiency when I shared a snickerdoodle with him. He loved it. Maybe Cameron is an especially good cookie cook? I mean, baker. Yes, perhaps. Either way, this boy then said that they don't have cookies here as much because everyone opts for cold desserts.

I then explained the concept of a cookie-ice cream sandwich. Someone needs to come over here and make a store that specializes in this. It would be such a hit in this country. Also, they need to know about the wonders of bubble tea. Someone come fill this void!!!

My Biology Class

As some of you may know, I am taking a class about Australia's environment. The textbook for this class is one of the few texts I have read that actually HELPS you understand the topic. In fact, the book is so good, that I barely see the point of going to class at all. There is literally everything that we learn in lecture all nicely laid out in this book. How fabulous.

This means, that on days when I am feeling less than inclined to go to class, I can take the book out to a bench my the lake on campus and read in the sunshine for an hour. This is what I did yesterday, and I am convinced that I learned about three times as much teaching myself than I would have by going to lecture.

I might mention that the class itself would be much more informative if it weren't full of people who neglect the textbook entirely. You see, this is a biology class, and although it's not a first year biology class, you apparently don't need to have an understanding of basic biology to get in. In fact, judging by my classmates, this is the class to take if you failed highschool biology. The amount of people in this class who don't know how cells work, and don't know what stomata are is simply astounding. Why on Earth would someone sign up for a class that they have no foundation for? I mean, you WILL have an examination on it. That will happen. And if you don't understand the basics, how can you expect yourself to understand the covered topics enough to explain them later?

It is beyond me. This same classmate issue also means that the lecture itself has to be brought down to a painfully simple level. However, now I have had a good review on what kinds of soils there are, how we determine if something is living, what carbon dating is, etc. Not that the review was strictly necessary. But I got it anyway. The big highlight of this class is that near my birthday they are taking us all to the Australia Zoo. I am SO STOKED. 

Australian Coke

For some reason, it seems that America is the only country where Coke doesn't have real cane sugar in it. Mexico does, Australia does... I can't recall if the other places I have been have or not. But really, considering how much Coke the US goes though, you would think we could get the good stuff. But no, we get synthetic nasties in our soft drinks.

I am officially boycotting American soft drinks. Which, you know, will be really easy for the next three months as I will not actually be in America. But, you know, it's about the spirit, right? Or maybe I will just boycott the nasty ones and drink the Hansen brand drinks that have all sorts of real things in them. Better yet, I will make my own soda. Take that commercialized American companies!

Not that Coke is a bad company or anything, they do actually have scholarships and things for students, so they are doing something right, but in terms of sugar content, I am disappointed.  I pointed out to my host family how lucky they are to have real coke, and they just concluded that Americans settle too often for eating nasty things, so the companies just take advantage. Also, it turns out that Australia grows it's own cane sugar in large amounts, so Coke has ready access to a supply.

Cheers!

Bugs! I mean... Insects

One of the classes that I am taking here in Australia is about arthropods. In case you don't know, arthropods is just a fancy way of saying bugs. And let me tell you, they are FASCINATING. The best part is that while learning about them, I am not only learning about the bugs I see at home, but also the ones here.
Every now and then I see a dead bug on the ground, or one bites me and I squish it. Normally this wouldn't interest anyone, but I can look at the bug, count it's wings classify it and then somehow relate it to what I am listening to in lecture. It's so great. It's like a practical application to what I am learning while I sit in that quiet dark room, staring at the screen.
However, this class is also making me paranoid about bug bites, because we aren't just learning about the bugs. We are learning about all the problems that they cause in regards to human health. I will likely come home and go straight to the doctor being convinced that I have some life threatening protozoan floating around my system feeding off my life juices.
Because we all know that I need to be more neurotic. Oh well, it's interesting, and now whenever you show me a bug I will tell you all about it in horrific detail. Aren't you excited?

Train Travel

To get to school everyday I have to take the train for about thirty minutes. Sometimes this trip is totally uneventful, however there are also days where it is the most entertaining thing that I experience for the next eight hours.
For instance, yesterday, there was a rather old man sitting there with hair growing out the tip of his nose. Not the nostril. No, it was the nose surface. Just a little tuft of white hair. He was discussing Harry Potter with the elderly man sitting next to him, and they both had so much of the story wrong that had to suppress laughing. Another day I was sitting there and in the course of thirty minutes I saw three different disney character tattoos, all on men. One of those men had dreadlocks. One night on the way home I got on the train with a whole load full of people dressed in animal costumes. I can only hope that they were going to a themed party.
There is one man who seems to be a regular on the 7 a.m. train. He sits there wearing the same short green shorts everyday, with the same sweatbands, and the same running shoes. He really quite overweight which makes the whole thing rather funny. On top of this seems to always be reading a Star Wars novel... yet he appears to be making no progress with it since he is always in the middle of the same book. It's bizarre.
Overall I am quite enjoying my morning people watching, although my original plans for reading on the train have become more of a funny joke between myself and I.

Attention World: I Have Made Contact with Mustard

It seems that the nerdy little haven that I hang out in is the only place on campus (or anywhere as I have found) where you can get mustard on whatever you like. They just have a bottle of it for you to use at your leisure. Nerds would be the ones to save me.
I am actually starting to appreciate even physics majors just because of this little cafe/study spot that I have found. Currently "Jailhouse rock" is playing and about 16 people are actively discussing their chemistry homework together. I feel like I have found my place. Now if I can just locate the biology table, we will be in good shape.
Also, besides the mustard, they sell potato wedges in huge boxes. The perfect vehicle for the mustard to reach my mouth. Yes, I have in fact found my new cave. You may expect to find me here for the next four months. Send all information via messenger kangaroo.

Toilet Talk

Apparently at this University they have a problem with the improper use of toilets. I am seeing this sign in almost every stall. It makes me laugh almost every time I have to use the restroom. People in the stalls next to me probably think I am a lunatic. 

It's funny though, isn't it? 

On a more serious note, I have discovered the best bathroom/toilet on campus. It is in a building where they are very few classrooms, and mostly labs which I am guessing contain some rather... particular scientists. The toilets are spotless. They always have toilet paper. The stalls are roomy and the sinks always have soap. It is the best place to pee on campus. I have class in the building twice a week and make sure to stop in here before and after class. If it wasn't in a rather remote corner, I would probably make detours to use this toilet. It's that good. 

Or the other ones are that bad... I suppose it depends on which way you look at it. Either way, I am very happy about my latest discovery. 

My New Addiction

It's official. I have a newfound addiction to blogs. Last night while unable to sleep I was just looking though other people's blogs. There are blogs on every topic you would ever want to read about. I found the need to read about knitting, and I was overwhelmed with the amount of people blogging about their projects and their patterns and their everything else.
However, this one I particularly liked: http://crazyknittinglady.wordpress.com/ She's funny, and makes cool things. I was really excited. I thought that I should share.

Also, a warning to everyone at home: with all the blogs spelling out how to do various crafts, it is perfectly likely that I will be spending quite a bit of time at odd hours of the night doing these things. Therefore, my mother especially, should not be surprised to find jars of bacteria, half knit projects, cheese kits, quilting instructions, origami, or any number of other things in my room. I feel like this is adequate warning. That is all. 

Tadpoles and Iron Man

So this weekend I did almost nothing other than homework so that I will hopefully have very little of it to do when my brother comes to visit in a couple weeks. Well, although I mainly sat on my bed a read various articles and textbooks, I did have a constant stream of entertainment coming from a three-year-old.
He spent one afternoon with the neighbor collecting tadpoles from a pond and moving them to the kiddie swimming pool. There they let them go and re-caught them for hours. They came inside drenched in mud multiple times for a video game break.

The next night I was read 4 books by the same child, which was really funny because two of the books were in Dutch. So I didn't know if they stories he was making up were close to right or not. So really, it was fine. Afterwards he build something out of blocks and Red Iron Man spent a good half an hour defending it from "bad guys".

Needless to say, watching this was way more entertaining than actually reading my textbook, so my genetics lecture today is going to be a total surprise. Maybe that will help me stay awake during it... :)

The Common Murse

While sitting under a palm tree in the company of the wild turkey-like birds I found myself watching people walk around the courtyard to their various classes. Which in all honesty turned out detrimental to my article-reading mission. But hey, I can read articles at home. I can only people-watch Australians for the next four months.

Well out of my various observations the one that seemed most interesting was how many men carry purses  (or murses, or whatever you want to call them). Almost every man on campus has some sort of rainbow or natural fiber bag that they carry around. If they aren't carrying one, they are carrying a backpack, but i would venture to say that the backpack is the less common option.

And now that I am looking more closely the examples of murses, I have realized that men don't look half bad with them. In fact, it's really practical because they don't get those funny wallet marks on their butt pockets. My brother knows that I find those marks annoying. I bought him one of those thin mighty wallets just though it wouldn't happen to his jeans. Anyway, the murse solves this all together. AND I saw a guy whip out tissues when someone next to him in class started sneezing. Needless to say, I was impressed by how prepared he was.

So all in all, I think the murse trend is beneficial to the whole butt-pocket-tissue-reading issue that we all face. Anyway, you learn a new thing everyday they say, and today I learned about man-purses.

Important and Life Changing Information: What is the Coffee Like?

Australia coffee is good. They all hate Starbucks. Are those two things related? I'm not sure.
Anyway, if you go to a coffee shop here the coffee is wonderful and smooth and creamy. Like a little coffee waterfall running over your tongue.

Splendid. Absolute caffeinated bliss.

However, if you order coffee somewhere that is not a coffee establishment... it takes like mud in a cup. Or maybe poison. Either way, it should not go down your throat. It is not worthy of being in your body.
At least, that has been my experience so far.

Also, apparently in this part of the country a cappuccino has chocolate sprinkled on top. Everywhere you go, this is how they give them to you. There really isn't a reason for it, but it happens. And who would complain about a little chocolate to sweeten their morning? 

My Play Date with Koalas

While my mother was still here we made the trip to the Koala Sanctuary. It was SO COOL. These still guys are quite lazy and spend nearly all their time asleep or munching on leaves. But boy are they cute. At the sanctuary they are split up by age and you can go around seeing all sorts of them. 

Not only can you look at these little marsupials, but you can hold one if you pay a fee. They are soft. Like really, really soft. Of course I paid the fee to hold one, because really, how could you resist? you couldn't. They are begging to be held. Well, not really, they don't seem to like some people, and one of the koalas refused to let me hold her, but they LOOK like they want to be held. 

Also at the sanctuary is a group of Kangaroos. That you can feed and pet. I know, it's almost the coolest thing you have heard about today. They aren't quite as soft as a koala, but they have really cute little noses. I spent a good bit of time trying to feed them, but they are fed by so many people everyday it's really a wonder that they are ever hungry at all. 

Just look at that nose. 

In addition to these guys the sanctuary also has sheep, birds of prey, and almost every other Australian animal you might wish to see. Including all the reptiles. It is like every biologists personal heaven. I was really excited about everything that I saw for days afterwards. 

Talk about an epic Saturday. 

On the Topic of Scientific Literacy

In class this morning my teacher was talking about Climate Change and how maybe different misinterpretations about it exist. Now one of the main points of his lecture was that few people in the general populous are "scientifically literate". What does this mean? According to his definition it meant that they did not know enough about science to be able to weigh evidence and assess the validity of statements coming from the scientific field.

Now, I don't deny that many people can't read a bit of primary literature and make sense out of it. It's really a difficult thing to do. You need a lot of practice to make head of tails out of some of those papers. However, I don't think that this stems only from a general lack of scientific knowledge.

For instance last year I took a class about teaching biology to highschoolers. It was a really wonderful class, one of my favorites at UW. During one of our group discussions the teacher asked all of us students (mostly people getting a masters in teaching biology) to explain the statistical analysis in the paper we were reading. The surprising thing was that only four of us knew what it was. The other remaining future science teachers had no idea, but just read that they results were "statistically significant". Now, is this the fault of the scientists in the room? Or did this also have something to do with the people writing the papers?

First of all, the general education system doesn't teach people to be able to dissect a scientific paper. There isn't really time to teach something like that when we are worried about doing well on the SAT.
Second of all, scientist are not educated heavily in literature, or english, or communication in general. So what we end up with is a bunch of people who can't read papers that were written my scientist that use very confusing english. Great. So I don't really agree with scientist or professors who are saying that people can't understand scientific literature because they don't understand science. Half of the time I don't understand scientific literature, and I consider myself to be a scientifically literate person. And this issues doesn't just surround the study of climate change. It also effects people's understanding of health, diet, exercise, climate change, and any number of other scientific fields that relate to the welfare of people.

I am a little disappointed with the lack of education on both sides of the issue. On a side note, my teacher has got to be the cutest little nerdy man on the planet. His name is Nigel and he as a squeaky voice. It's fabulous.

Classes are for learning?

Everyone seems to be asking me what classes I am taking while I am here, so I though I would just inform the world all at once, and add in little tidbits about how the classes here actually work. Right, so, the list:

1. Biological adaption to climate change- This class contains more hippies than any other class I have ever taken.  For the record, hippies in Australia don't brush their hair or wear shoes either. It's almost like being in Bellingham. Just kidding Bellingham kids! Only some of you are that way.

2. Australia's Terrestrial Environment- A class full to the brim with international students. Really, the only Australian accent comes from the teacher. It's mildly upsetting. But, he is actually really cool, so I guess it's okay. He was even understanding when the entire class came late the first day because we were all lost. Talk about a nice guy.

3. Arthropods and Human Health- This class will actually be really interesting, but the main teacher seems to make it more boring than it needs to be. When the teacher is more boring than the powerpoint, we have a problem. Seriously.

4. Genomics and Bioinformatics- Please don't ask me what this is about, because it's the second week, and I'm not sure I've figured it out yet...
Promising I know.



Now to the interesting bits. Apparently everyone here is very well accustomed to the public transportation system. It is totally understood when you are late to class because of a bus. It is completely understood if you are just late to class. It doesn't bother anyone. Yesterday, my teacher answered his phone mid-lecture. He then informed us that he would prefer if we didn't do that. But still. The level of relaxation in the classroom is so... welcoming.  I think, and get this, I think it actually HELPS YOU LEARN. You know, not being stressed out all day, might allow things to sink into your head better. What an idea.
On that note, nothing here is graded on a curve. The teachers barely grade you on anything at all. They want you to learn. It's like I stepped into a whole new world here. I am shocked. Pleasantly surprised is more like it. Why have we not adopted this system at home?

Anyway, I have found myself here with a fresh desire to learn things. I feel fantastic.

The Happy Nerd

Mother Daughter Smiles

What is that? Is THAT a TAN?

No, it's an ever-increasing density of freckles. The only thing that my skin is able to accomplish. Freckles. Not only do I look like a fake-n-bake, but I am a spotted one. Tragedy.
It seems that I am doomed to forever be pale, at least between the nice little brown spots that are popping up everywhere. I found one on my knuckle. Does that really happen? Well, it happens to me.

From now on, I will stick to sunscreen and "bronzer".

Much Missing of Mustard

Ladies and Gents,

Could you imagine that I have a craving for mustard? Could you really fathom it? Well I do. And unfortunately Australia seems to only have real mustard. You know the kind. You can tell it comes from mustard seed, because they nasty little seed bits are still in it? Yeah, that kind.

But do they have normal so-called mustard? The mild yellow sauce that usually appears on chicken nuggets? No, not really. There is a severe lack. A lack of fake mustard. How could they?

Well they did. And now I am left with an unquenchable craving.

Irony in the Garden

One day while my mother was here in Australia with me we went to the botanical gardens. Let the first point be that they are stunning. Absolutely beautiful. Both the ones in Brisbane city as well as the one a little outside the city on Mt. Coot-tha. Well first we found ourselves among the vegetation in the city, looking at beautiful warped trees: pines of all shapes and sizes, what I now know to be relatives of monkey puzzle trees, and many many others. I was in love. There were even epiphytes. Could any nerdy biology student ask for more?

Well yes, apparently they can. After exploring the city garden we headed up the hill (mountain according to the people of Brisbane) to the botanical garden and planetarium. These gardens not only had the same diversity of trees, but also a herb garden containing a cinnamon tree! I had never seen one before! Talk about something to set the nerves on fire. There was also a fern house, that had ferns of all shapes and sizes, a few of which I had seen in a previous botany class. Realizing that these plants actually lived somewhere outside of lab was just... mind boggling. We then went through a rainforest or tropical house that had cocoa trees, as well as the arabica coffee plant, and some vanilla for good measure. Basically, the garden was one giant mocha of perfection. 

We then wandered through the other bits of forest looking at spiders and lizards on our way until we reached the Japanese garden. There was a nice little introduction telling us how Japan had donated the garden and how all visitors should take a moment to appreciate the silence, and listen to the trickle of water. Well, we had every intention of following such directions. Until of course we were sitting on the nice little bench and began to hear music. Not trickling water. Music. And not just any music, but the theme song to Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Oh yes, here we are sitting in a lovely peaceful Japanese garden on a mountain in the middle of Australia, and we hear the Pirates theme song over the loud speaker. Quickly followed by the Mission Impossible theme song no less. It was irony at it's finest.

The Brisbane Monk

The Tuesday after arriving in Brisbane, Mom and I found a meditation class that is connected to the system that our temple at home belongs to. It was very exciting. So exciting, that we left the hostel about five hours early to go find it. Well... and to enjoy the surrounding scenery, maybe chance upon some dinner, and quite possibly shop just a little. All these things were accomplished, and more. You see, we realized that our nail polish was chipping. Quite a tragedy. Something just HAD to be done about this. So as we were strolling along towards the meditation class, we ducked inside a nail salon. Now at home, we never go to nail salons, we just pain our own nails like normal people. But we weren't at home, were we? No, certainly not.

Nail salon it was. We went in and waited for about ten minutes while another girl was getting her nails painted and picked out our polish colors. Once the lady working there started painting our nails, Mom took it upon herself to make conversation with the other girl in there. Now, for those of you who don't know, Mom feels the need to make conversation with people everywhere. Something she picked up from her mother. It's a family thing. Anyway, she was talking to this girl when she mentioned that she worked at a cute little Turkish restaurant up the street. Well we both thought that sounded really interesting, so we walked out of the salon, now with orange and red nails, up the street toward the Turkish-y looking place. It wasn't open yet. Sigh.

Well that just forced us to go look in every single one of the cute shops on the street. We simply had no choice, there was nowhere else to go. And they really were cute. All organic a recycled things. Things made by hand, things made in third world countries, or aboriginal people. It was epic. I bought a present for my dear friend Bria in one of the shops. She will love it.

By the time we had gone through every shop that was open the Turkish place was opening up again. Mom and I made our way over there and sat down. We ended up having a very good meal, although for the life of me, I can't remember what it was called that I ate. It had dough... and cheese, so how could it be bad? The meal ended with Turkish coffee, which wasn't horrible, but I think that I MUCH prefer non-turkish coffee.

Finally we made it to the meditation class. Of course we were early, so my mother was making conversation with everyone in the room. We had to wait for the yoga class to end before the meditation class could begin, so there was much chatting happening. When he yoga class ended we helped two very nice people put chairs out and and get the room ready for the class. A good forty people showed up, which is about 32 more people than show up to the class at home. When he monk started teaching the class he branched away from the topic that we thought he was going to be talking about and started talking about how to discipline the mind and be around people that you don't particularly like, or be patient in situations like traffic. Overall a good lesson. In the middle he said "some people just think that everything is hunky-dory tickety-boo". I had to almost bite my own tongue to keep from laughing. Imagine someone saying that in an Australian accent. It was hilarious.
I missed the next five minutes of what he was saying because I was so distracted, and after class I was still thinking about it. We went and introduced ourselves to him, and after helping the same two people that set up put everything away, the monk drove us home. Yes, that's right. We got a ride home with the monk. I was excited. All in all, it was really a very good experience, and along with "kerfuffle" Mom and I added "tickety-boo" to our list of words to use for the rest of the week.

The Great Muffin Kerfuffle

One morning before Mom and I went to go meet our friend Ian, we thought that we might eat breakfast at our hostel. A fine idea, right? Well, yes and no. It was very busy, so we walked up to the flustered cashier and ordered a muffin, a grilled sandwich, and a coke. We paid, took our number, and found a seat. There we sat, just sitting, sitting and chatting...chatting and sitting. And then more sitting. Finally, the sandwich came out, along with the coke, but where was the muffin? Now, let me explain, they keep the muffins in the case, but when you order one they take it out, put it on a plate and heat it for you. Not complex, but it does take time.
Anyway, during this time when we were waiting for the muffin and I was eat my sandwich, I realized that I really wanted a coffee. So, naturally, I went up to order myself one from the increasingly flustered workers. The woman in the line in front of me wasn't there to order anything, but to complain that she hadn't gotten her food yet. The poor man behind the counter explained to her that they really were never this busy, and that they were working as fast as they could, and they were working without a manager. So once he had calmed her he looked at me and immediately started spewing the same story at me until I interrupted him to explain that all I wanted was to order coffee. He was so pleased that I wasn't upset with him over the food that he almost forgot to charge me for the coffee itself.
So I returned to the table to await my coffee and the elusive muffin. About five minutes later another unfortunate worker had to come out and tell us that they had already run out of muffins and asked if we would take banana bread instead. Well, I don't like banana bread, but fortunately my mother does, because she was the one who was going to eat it anyway. So he returned to the kitchen and reappeared with the banana bread, looked at us, and said "sorry about the muffin kerfuffle". Mom and I both thought that it was the funniest word we had heard in a long time, that hearing him say it almost made up for the wait. Thus was our morning. We spent the rest of the trip saying "kerfuffle" at all possible moments. It was great fun.

Landing in Australia

So, once again, I have taken up blogging. Really, it seems to be the best way to tell everyone what I am doing at once, and since I seem to have found myself halfway around the world and away from my family and friends... well naturally it's just the perfect solution to spreading news.
Right, so, I am here in Brisbane studying at the University of Queensland. However, studying is probably a loose term since I am currently sitting in the sun writing a blog post. Oh yes, what marvelous studying this is. I could do this for the rest of my college career, AND be able to kick my coffee habit. That's right, being at this school is actually relaxing. What a contradiction.
My mother accompanied me to Australia for the first two weeks that I was here, since I had no idea where I was going to live, what classes I was going to take, what the transportation was like, or really what I was doing at all. We were both pleasantly surprised to find that everyone here wanted to help us. Brisbane is by far the friendliest city that I have ever been in. The first day when we tried to actually FIND the university campus we ended up going the wrong way on the bus. Well that wasn't really the best way to start the morning. But when we reached the final stop and still weren't at the school *cough yes we went to the final stop cough* the bus driver told us to wait there for him, and came back around in 5 minutes to pick us back up. He then let us take the bus all the way back and further on to the school for free. How nice is that?
Then he GOT OFF THE BUS WITH US and actually SHOWED US WHERE TO GET ON AGAIN. Talk about helpful. I was absolutely stunned. It was just so nice of him to make sure we could get back where we came from, and help us go where we needed. And it wasn't just the bus driver. All day long people were helping us get un-lost, without a single rude word. I was amazed (and so was mom).

So we had finally arrived on campus to go to the housing information session for international students. We were hoping that we would get there and they would say, "oh yes, we have a place to put all international students". No, that's not what happened. We got there and they told us how to deal with real estate agents, and what the tenancy laws are like in this country. Great. We were totally on our own. It was a bit of a shock. Luckily, somehow or another Mom and I ended up googling (is that actually a word these days?) "homestays in Brisbane", and what did we find? We found a forum type website that set students up with homestays for free. Why the school didn't mention this in the information session, I have no idea.

So we browsed the homestay options. It was a little bit like looking through personal adds, except I just wanted to live with someone, not date them. Still, it was funny. Eventually we sent out some emails asking families if they would be interested in having me live with them. Some people responded, and some didn't which was all fine and dandy. One of the families that responded seemed really nice, so we set up a time to go meet them. I am now living with that family. They are really very nice, and there are two kids, one of which is three and very funny. Plus they have a dog, and as of yesterday, a bird. It's awesome.

I am finally in Australia and somewhat settled. :)