“Australia is an outdoor country. People only go inside to use the toilet. And that's only a recent development.”

It has been raining here non-stop since Saturday and it isn’t suppose to stop until Sunday. Now, as much as I love rain, I do like some sunny breaks in between. And it is definitely not fun having a week of 24/7 downpours when its your first week of class.

Now that we are on that subject let me tell you how my first week of classes has been going thus far. Monday, I had my film movements and genres class, which I then dropped and joined Television and Pop Culture. The film class just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it seemed to be too theoretical for my tastes. I have gone to one TV class and it seems like it will be fun, although I am still hesitant…I will just have to wait and see I guess.

My other three classes are awesome, I love them! I have already signed up for my field trips for the terrestrial environment and the marine environment classes. Some of the places I will be going to include Brisbane Forest Park, Fraser Island (for a 5 day field research excursion), The Australia Zoo (where we get behind the scene tours!) and Morton Island (Where I will be doing more field research.

I really like all my professor…not like I call them Professor…its much more casual here so you call your teachers by their first name. For example, “Steve, I don’t understand, can you explain it again?” OR “Later Angie, what a great lecture!” Here is Australia it is also custom to cuss very frequently. For example, “This shit is really boring so don’t fall asleep.” Yes, one of my professors did say that. All in all it looks like a good semester and I am really excited!

So today I went to a farmers market on Queens St., which is across the river from South bank Parklands, where I live. I got a lot of fruits and veggies...yum. We also went 45 minutes before the markets closed, so we got discounts on everything. I got 4 mangos for $5! I got a cucumber for $1.50 and 10 apples for $5 AND MOOOOORE! Amazeballs!

I haven’t gotten a lot of reading yet, so tonight my roommate Ashley and I are going to start planning our spring break extravaganza!

To cap off this entry here are some fun facts about Brisbane and University of Queensland:

-Due to the laidback atmosphere that exists in Australia, most stores close extremely early around 5 or 6pm. Therefore you need to plan your entire day around what you need. This can get annoying.
-Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday there is a crafts market in South Bank.
-South Bank is also home to the only manmade city beach in all of Australia.
-Here Internet is bought by the mega bite…so you need to monitor your Internet usage very carefully.
-In Australia they drive on the left side of the road…this makes crossing the street super difficult…I’m getting the hang of it though. (and no, I haven’t been able to tell if the toilets flush the other way…screw technology.)
- Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. The UV index can reach to 16…the highest UV index in the US is 8. Don’t worry I use lots of sunscreen mom.
-University of Queensland is one of the top 8 universities in Australia and has been repeatedly listed as one of the top 50 universities in the world.
-University of Queensland is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and has a student population of 40,000!

No Worries,
Melissa

School Dayzzzzzzz

So it is funny to think that all my friends back at American University are now starting their midterms and I have yet to begin classes. This will change Monday though.

I have officially registered for everything and have a pretty good schedule. I have class everyday, which I am used to, but most people I know here only have class 2 or 3 days a week...I guess that's what you get for taking science courses.

So here are my classes:
-Australia's Marine Environment
-Australia's Terrestrial Environment
-Film Movements and Genres
-Ecology

The school system here is very different from back home. Instead of just having a lecture a few times a week and a lab for some classes, here, I will have a lecture, a contact (which in my case would be a moving showing or lab) and a tutorial (which is a small discussion session). It is very confusing now, but hopefully I will get the hang of things pretty quickly.

Tomorrow I am going to campus to buy my books and get a lay of the land, find where all my classes are and hopefully not get lost in the process.

Now for a picture: Here is the Casino that is located downtown. Its really pretty at night and the lights that shine on it change color...its my fav building in the skyline.



Off to the beach :)
-Melissa


ps. Oh and I think I fixed my comments, so try posting one! miss and love everyone!

"Guys, my goons falling out of my bag!"

Like I said in the previous post, I am now in Brisbane. I have been here only for four days, but during that time I have gone through an emotional roller coaster. The second we landed in Brisbane, a strange feeling came over me and I just felt so out of place and uncomfortable. I was nervous about everything...what will my housing be like? Who will I be living with? How long will it take me to get to campus? All these questions just built up so much anxiety that all I wanted to do for the first three days was go home. I kept myself busy though, exploring the city and our neighborhood.

Today, I feel much better, so much more comfortable and all my questions have been answered. My housing is amazing, school is only a 7 to 10 minute bus ride away and I live in the most amazing area. The place I live in is called Southbank. There are so many cool restaurants, shops and even local craft and farmers markets on the weekends. The best part is the manmade beach (which we call the lagoon) that is literally steps from my apartment. It's so nice to just walk to the beach and layout whenever I want. I am also very close to the downtown area, where I frequent Target and Gloria Jeans...the coffee chain here. Tim Tam frap is soooo good!

I am starting to feel much more comfortable here and everyday I find something new that I love. The only downside is this city is SO expensive. I have to start budgeting big time...which is hard, becuase there is so much I want to see and do.


I miss everyone! Leave comments :)
-Melissa

ps OH and there are BATS here! THEY ARE SO BIG AND SO SCARY BUT SO COOL! the weirdest thing I have seen so far haha.

The Last Few Days of Orientation...

As of now I am in Brisbane, the city I will be living in for the next five months. I have moved into my accomidations, which are VERY nice (I have my own room and bathroom!) My roomies and I live in this area called Southbank, which is filled with cool shops and restaurants. They also have farmers and craft markets on the weekends, which I am really excited for.

So anyways, the last day of orientation was spent on the Great Barrier Reef.
We sailed on our catamaran to our first dive spot, which was in the open ocean (a little scary at first). Everyone opted to wear these really awesome stinger suits, that just looked TERRIFIC! haha.
So, my friends and I snorkeled around the coral. It was so amazing to see everything up close, not just reading about it in books or watching documentaries on TV! LOVE LOVE LOOOOVE! I saw huge giant clams, a bunch of different fish, and various types of coral.

After our first dive, we ate lunch on the boat and sailed off to our second location. This time we went to a sand island. The water there was so blue and you could see the patches of coral, unlike the other dive site. There were also these huge fish, oh my god bigger than me that would swim by the boat (don't worry they were friendly). So we all dived in and immediately saw so many fish! There were a lot of parrot fish, zebra looking fish and giant clams. We also saw a big blue star fish laying on a rock and A SEA TURTLE!!!!!!! I swam with it for a while and it was soooo amazing! They are so graceful in the water, unlike me who just flops around :)

The reef was amazing, however there was one down side...it's jelly season. In the second site we didnt have to worry about it becuase the jellies there were not stingers...in fact i held one! But the first site was FILLED with jellies, who stung and it was scary. However, I dont think anyone actually got stung by a jelly becuase apparently you would rather be on fire than be stung by a little jelly fish. There were also these little creatures, sea lice, that would nip and bite you which hurt for like 5 minutes but then subsided.

All in all, the reef was the most amazing thing I have done since I have been here and hope to take a weekend trip back and snorkel or learn to dive!



From the other side of the world,
Melissa


ps. I tried vegimite...it was gross.

"We're in the Jungle Forest!!!"

These past two days have been hot and tiring but very fulfilling. Monday was our day of choice and I ended up going into the rainforest up in the Daintree national park where I was able to go to an animal enclosure (where I pet a crocodile), swim in a gorge in the middle of the rainforest (which felt like Jurassic park...amazing!), go on a daintree river cruise, where we saw a live croc (CRIKE!) and eat ants.

Yes, I ate bugs. They are called green ants and if you suck on their butts (I know...gross) it actually has this very tasty lime flavor...kinda like a pop rock in your mouth. Some joined in on the ultimate ant eating contest...I however opeted out.

On our jungle tour we also stopped by the memorial site of where Steve Irwin was killed. It was very serene and humbling to see the spot where someone so beloved lost their life.

After we had a bit of a pick me up stopping by cape tribulation, which is a beautiful stretch of beach where I put my feet into the ocean in Australia for the first time! (it was so warm it felt like bath water).

We then stopped by the Daintree ice cream factory where we got to sample four flavors: blueberry, mango, cappuccino and soursop fruit. My fav was definitely the mango :)

We finally made out last stop of the day to my dissapointment where we saw the biggest non poisoness spider in australia (any maybe the world...I dunno I stopped listening at the word spider) the golden orb. I only saw its two legs which were alone the size of my face. I refused to look at the rest, although my friends lovingly showed me a detailed picture. Atleast I did not cry.

We finally arrived back at our hostel, ate dinner and went to bed SUPER early.

Sorry this is a long post haha

Today was our day of service where we planted trees for the endangered cassowary (a large brightly colored bird...google it.) I was actually able to see one in the wild on my jungle tour, which is apparently VERY rare...HOW LUCKY! It felt really fulfilling to just do something that seems so small but will make al the difference in rebuilding the population of cassowaries.



The rest of the day was spent in our last seminar reflecting on our experience thus far.

Tomorrow is the REEEEEEEEEF! I AM SO EXCITED!! I HOPE I SEE A SHARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

until tomorrow mates,
Melissa

"If you're gonna throw a boomerang...wear a helmet!"

So today was my first full day in Australia and it was completely amazing! We started out eating breakfast at a hotel in the downtown cairns area and then got to walk around a little. I went to an open air market across from the hotel where I had a mango smoothie and bought a really pretty bracelet :)

So today we went to this park called Rainforestation where we got to interact with kangaroos, take a picture with a Koala and experience the aboriginal culture. Most amazing day of my life. I also got to hold the biggest snake in Australia and throw a boomerang (which was an epic fail).


I am now laying by the pool again, this time its actually light out (I know you are all jealous..haha) and I might go swim for a little bit and then dinner. Tonight I think a group of us are going to go out downtown so that should be fun...hopefully I wont be too tired.

I cant wait until tomorrow!

Love,
Melissa

Australia Day 1

So I am finally here! After an endless number of flights (which makes me never want to even see a plane again) I have landed in the beautiful Australia!

The trip over here wasn't too bad, I slept most of the way and luckily and thankfully my luggage made it here as well!

I first took a flight from Chicago to LA where I met up with the other Australearn students for our group flight to Brisbane. That flight was about 13 hours! At least they had some good movies. I watched Love happens, The Invention of Lying, An Education Julie and Julia, an episode of madmen and 2 episodes of CSI.

When we landed in Brisbane we had to clear customs, which was a little stressful and the fact that I was sweating to death form the heat and humidity didn't make it any more enjoyable. I immediately had to recheck my bags and boarded my next flight to Cains, the final destination for Orientation week. The flight to Cains was amazing...we had views of the great barrier reef for most of the time and I have to say it was so breath taking! I cant wait to go snorkeling there next week!

So now I am just chillin' by the pool of our Hostel listening to some Red Hot Chili Peppers...niiiice :) I think I can get used to it.

I have to admit that I was so nervous and anxious for this trip, but those feelings are completely gone as of now. I have met some great people and everyone is soooo nice! Plus our tour guides are so great and funny..I love Australia so much already!

On the agenda tomorrow: Playing with Kangaroos and Koala's in the rainforest!!! SO EXCITED! I will update as soon as I can and post some pictures!

Until then mates,
Melissa