First Week!

Hello everyone!

I figured I would make a blog so that everyone can see what I'm up to in the sunny land of Australia. I've been here a little over a week now and it's been amazing so far! Everyone is so friendly and willing to help. The "no worries" attitude here is a refreshing change.

I'm living in a 5-bedroom apartment near campus with 5 other roommates. I share my bedroom with another American girl, Linsey, from Hawaii. Then I have 1 roommate from Australia and the other 3 are South Korean, with very limited English speaking skills. The apartments here are very nice and new, far better than the other residence halls on campus.

After being here only a few days I started to pick up on the major differences from America:
1) Not only do they drive on the left hand side, they also WALK on the left hand side of sidewalks and such, which is very hard to get used to.
2) You have to pay for grocery bags in Canberra according to a new law
3) Their food does not taste the same as ours, even if it's the same item. ex: kraft singles, 2-minute noodles, mayonnaise, etc
4) Do not use the term "rooting"... it has a very different meaning than we consider it.
5) There is not wifi in the majority of places and you have to pay for your internet
6) They have no idea what sororities are and have nothing comparable to them
7) They do not drink cheap alcohol here, everything is very expensive and better quality.

There are many more things that have been surprising, but the biggest thing to adapt to is the lingo...
Sketchy = dodgy
Fries= chips (unless they are from McDonalds or the same size as them)
McDonalds= Mackers
Sneakers= Runners
Cookies= bisquits
Friend = mate
Sweatshirt = jumper
Swimsuit = Togs/Swimmers
Flip flops = thongs

I'm learning lots of new words, but also teaching them new words.

We just finished our Orientation week which is a big week long party with themed parties and such. Then the exchange students took a trip to Sydney for 2 days and got to experience another part of Australia. We went up in the Sydney tower, saw the Sydney opera house and botanical gardens, the aquarium and several different markets. Sunday we got to go to the beach! Unfortunately we couldn't swim because the waves were too intense so they closed the beach to all swimming.

Today was the first day of classes so it feels weird trying to get back into school mode now. I am taking 4 classes here and only have class Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. They organize their classes differently and it's very common to have at least one day off of school a week.