July 30

I am getting sick. My throat feels dry and I'm coughing a bit. I took some Emergen-C and some vitamins. Hopefully I can kick this quickly. Lina was a little sick a couple days ago, so I thought I got it from her, but it was just allergies. I probably go it from the pool. Ugh. On Friday, we headed out to Chermside, where they have a big mall. We did a little shopping and then came back in the afternoon. We decided to head out to the West End, and went to a pretty authentic Greek restaurant. Jillian had been craving delicious Greek food, and we finally found it! We went to a bar, Archive, which has pool tables and couches, and books all over. Met some new people and then went upstairs to Uber, a pretty nice nightclub, but was totally empty!! The DJ's here always play the worst mixes. They don't mix the music well, it's like totally different songs from one song to the next. Oh well. We had fun and played Wingman to Jillian, then taxied home.

July 29

Swam for a bit, got lunch and headed to class. Same story as the days before. Same 100+ Asians all from China, still crammed into a room too small for our class, same workload (2 reports, one of which is a group project). This teacher talked about things in very basic terms, which at one point made me feel like "This is grad school?!" We broke out into groups to discuss issues/trends affecting tourism and actions/solutions. Since half the people don't speak English, it was very difficult to even discuss anything with them without something totally inane coming out of their mouth... Maybe I'll be ahead of the curve with this, but then again, I don't want to think this is a cakewalk and be surprised.

Lina asked Michael to use his spare car this weekend, since we weren't going camping with them. Originally, he said yes, then he told us that his friends were gonna meet them, so they would be using it. This and a bunch of other stuff put Lina in a bad mood and so it was difficult to try to plan the weekend with her being so crabby. It's unfortunate that we aren't better friends because I don't know how to deal with that. Press a little, or give her space, etc.. We'll see. We're def. doing something fun for her birthday, and hopefully she'll be in a better mood tomorrow... Meanwhile, we researched new internet plans because we need more/faster internet.

July 28

Jillian and I walked up to Paddington for breakfast at Sassafras Cafe. Unfortunately, we ordered the wrong things. Us, picky eaters, decided to get adventurous and we ordered Savory Mince and Chili Corn Cakes. Jillian didn't know Mince meant a plateful of mincemeat! And mine was OK, but too many different flavors at once. Next time we will go with traditional breakfast. I headed off to campus, where it was Market Day (read: booths from clubs, athletics, programs and local businesses). Picked up some brochures and then found my class. I sat in an empty lecture hall with one other person until 5 after, before we realized that something was wrong and we must be in the wrong room. A couple more came and called a friend to figure out the new location and we hiked over there. Walked into the late class to find the exact same professor as the day before, and a room filled with many of the same students. Jillian and Lina met me on campus and we ate, then I went to Office Works with Lina and her Canadian classmate, Sarah. At home, I organized all of my assignments and due dates and felt more stressed than ever!

Here's a photo from market day of a koala and kangaroo. Is that RooPoo in his marsupial pouch?!

July 27

Today was my first official day of class. I woke up and was surprisingly nervous about it. Actually, I was much more nervous about going to the swim squad because I am out of shape and didn't know how intense the class was and if my level was up to par. I made my way to campus on the bus, transferred downtown. It takes quite a bit of time to get to school everyday, which is annoying. Then I walked to the aquatic centre and told them I was a first timer so I could get in for free. I forgot how long a 50m pool is and how much it seems while you are swimming laps! At first I was the only person in my lane, but then it filled up and there were 3 other people. My out of shape ass was def not ready for lane sharing. Anyway, it was tough, and I don't know whether I will continue to do that, or if it is more economical and better for my schedule to just go and swim on my own. In the past, my problem with going outside of a structured class setting has been self-motivation, but maybe I can do it now. I need to decide in the next day or two on that.

It was raining when I got out of class (and while I was swimming), so I walked up to get some lunch and then head to my Event Sponsorship Class. I walked in right on time to a full room and took the very last seat in the front row. The room was about 95% Asian (Majority Chinese) and I was the only native English speaker. About 10 min into class, a guy walks in and says that our classroom has been moved to a different building, so we all get up and walk over to another building. No one can find the entrance to the building or the classroom and after about 10 min of wandering around, we all start going in separate directions! Finally, someone passes word through the crowd that we are going back to our original room! Ugh! What a headache. 30 min of class wasted. Again, the grading for this class is based on two reports, each worth 50% of my grade!! As a Business Econ undergrad, I am used to exams, so during the class I was taking notes furiously, thinking "Oh, Definition, this could be a test question!" Wrong... It's a lot of pressure for these reports, I'm a little nervous about the amount of research and how they are starting to all be due around the same dates!! At least I don't have finals, yet, which means more summer vacation in November!!! We'll see about the other two classes...

Went to the bookstore for more books, and then took the bus home. Ended up on the same bus as Lina! Came home, then all three of us went to the grocery store and cooked some dinner, then retired early. Michael sent us an email saying that lots of people were bailing on the beach camping trip this weekend, so since he could only take one carload now, he's taking the Irish girls. We felt literally voted off the island since we didn't make the cut. But we understand, because the Irish girls are leaving in a few weeks, and we can go another time... Oh well. Guess we're going to the Gold Coast to party this weekend, instead!

July 26

My phone came in the mail today, finally!! Michael gave Lina and me a lift to QU Books, which sells cheap UQ textbooks and then stumbled our way to campus via asking nice bus drivers for directions. Once on campus, we stopped by the Financial Aid dept to sign our student loan checks and ask other questions.

Then, I headed to my academic advisor to check and see if my academic plan was OK. It wasn't. She wants me to take my core classes this semester because there is no guarantee they would be offered in my last semester, and if they aren't, I can't complete my program on-time which has other major repercussions. Since I was enrolled in a different class, I did not attend the lecture today for the core class, so I asked her what to do since I had clearly missed the first day. She got the professor who happened to be in her office and I apologized for the mix-up and was able to get the class syllabus and a brief summary of what had happened (nothing much on the first day). Whoops!!! Then I asked the adviser why they didn't have an Orientation for the School of Tourism and she said, "We did." I told her that I checked my email everyday and looked several times on the website for such an orientation and never got any information about it. But apparently, they went over all of that stuff and even had a meet and greet with the professors on Tuesday! I felt like the biggest, dumbest blonde in the world. I'm not usually an airhead so for me to think that she is perceiving me that way makes me very embarrassed and angry!! Ugh. At least I didn't miss much in that first class.

Then I headed over to the computer lab to change my enrollment and we walked to the bookstore to try to find some books for our classes. Lina found hers, but mine weren't there. Then we took the City Cat ferry downtown, got some lunch and activated my Blackberry!! So excited. I spent the rest of the evening playing with it and loading my emails, apps onto it. Michael's kitchen is almost done upstairs and I'm very happy because maybe I won't be woken up to drills and hammers above my head every morning. His fridge didn't fit in the space they built for it, though, so he switched fridges with us (we got an upgrade!!) this evening. Ate Top Ramen for dinner - really getting back into the college mode! haha

My first class has two assignments. 1 Report, 1 Essay... each worth 50% of my grade! WTF

I found $40 US in my beach bag. Score! Then I put it back into the small pocket I found it in, and zipped it up. The zipper ripped completely off, sealing the $40 inside! I <3 instant karma.

July 25

We woke up, some of us more hung over than others, and Michael drives us to Pando's for breakfast. It was a gloomy day, so we lounged around the house and figured out our schedule for our first day of classes. Then, we went to Rosalie for some dinner at a mediocre place called Tomatos (yes, it's spelled wrong!). We walked back in the rain, and as we passed the park near our house, we hear some animal calling out in the night. It sounded sort of like a weird bird or cat. Lina and Jillian were convinced it was a lost kitten, so as we got around the park, we decided to go searching for these poor, cold kittens. Just as we trek across the field to find them, the noises stopped. So we stood there in the dark, waiting for it to start up again. It didn't start up again, so we trek back across the field to our house and just as we get to the end of the park, it happens again. Puzzled and unsure what to do, we decided to go back and find the source. Finally, I see a silhouette in the dark of a crane! Jillian said, "We thought it was lost kittens and it ended up being some stupid bird's mating call!" Whomp Whomp

July 24

On Saturday, I slept in and woke up to Lina doing a deep cleanse of the house. Now that construction is finished messing with the stairwell, we mopped and vacuumed up all the dust. Vacuuming turned into a full on attack of spider webs and together, Lina and I went around the baseboards, corners, door frames and ceilings in every room. Then, because we moved the carpet to vacuum, we decided to rearrange the entire living room to make it more open. So, we moved furniture, dusted, wiped surfaces, etc. and now we feel like we have a fresh start on our home! Then, we walked to Rosalie for some lunch and ended up not having time to grocery shop before we had to get ready for the night's festivities.

We headed to Michael's friend's house for a Birthday BBQ for Rowena, one of the Irish girls. From there, we walked to SunCorp Stadium for the Rugby Match and afterward, followed the sports crowd to Caxton Street bars. I very much enjoy Rugby as a sport because the ball is always in play, so it's always exciting, it can get turned over at anytime, and because it's pretty rough - they get tackled with no padding, then get back up and run again! The Wallabies won, so it was a good game to see. We ended up at an Irish Pub, Kitty O'Sheas where the Irish girls sang Irish jigs. Then we went home around 3am by Taxi.



The Story of Roo-Poo:
While getting ready to go out, Michael mentioned he had a blow-up Kangaroo named RooPoo that has been around the world with him, including in France on Bastille Day last year. Jillian agreed to wear RooPoo on her back, if Michael wore the green and yellow Mullet wig! We get to the BBQ and Jillian discovered that RooPoo is wearing a bright yellow Mankini, so she promptly tries to renege on her deal, stating that if she had known about the Mankini prior, she would not have agreed. We insist that she keeps her end of the bargain, and I agree to blow up Senor RooPoo. Lina situates the Mankini properly and Michael tries to stuff the Mankini with actual sausages from the Barbie, but we tell him that has gone too far. She finally agrees to strap on the Marsupial and we head off to the stadium. Once at the stadium, the guards refuse to let us in and say that we have to give up K-Jizzle (Jillian's ghetto nickname for the Roo). We can't even bring him in deflated. So, we put him in their trusty hands and they give us a claim check ticket.
Once the game is over, we headed to the Info desk and tried to collect RooPoo, but they told us that RooPoo is no longer there. And older gentleman explained he had seen RooPoo, but that he was given away to some girl with long blonde hair. Michael was devastated and started calling people, telling them that his baby is gone! (Meanwhile, Lina and I suppressed "A dingo stole my baby" jokes) Jillian caused a scene, gave them the old Jewish guilt for giving RooPoo to the wrong people without a claim ticket. But, there wasn't much that could be done. So we headed to the bars and kept an eye out for RooPoo, vowing to jump the Roo-Nappers if we found them. At one point, in a crowd, I got on Lina's shoulders and scanned the crowd looking for our lost Roo, to no avail.

July 23

We headed down for a day trip to the Gold Coast. Arrived about 10am and shopped in the mall for some green and gold (tomorrow’s Rugby Match), then met up with a couple of Lina’s friends, who are half white, half aboriginal and beautiful! We went to lunch and a tea bar with them, then back to their house in Main Beach. Caught up for coffee and snacks with a friend of Jillian’s in Surfers Paradise. Back home for a very reflective Train trip, after which I decided I needed a drink, so we stopped at Tin Billy, a backpacker’s bar. 1 hour and 1 phone number later, we bussed home. I busted my toe on the sidewalk and was disappointed my cell phone didn’t come today. Hopefully tomorrow so I can get it taken care of this weekend.

July 22

We woke up and discovered that the reason our internet is so slow is because we used our monthly quota in less than 2 weeks! Instead of charging extra, it just slows the bit rate down to a crawl. I guess internet isn’t as unlimited as it is in the states. So, we are going to try to cut down on our usage and skyping and hopefully that will make a difference. We went to town to get a SIM card for Lina’s blackberry, but she forgot all of the important papers for ID check in our living room, so she bought a prepaid plan and we shopped instead. We walked over to the South Bank for dinner at a delicious Turkish restaurant and walked along the river. There, we discovered an impromptu concert of French Horns in the park! Amazing. So we listened to a few songs before catching the bus back home.

July 21

Lina had an Orientation for her program in the morning. I did laundry to try to get all of the smoke out of my clothes from the farm. I also went on a killing rampage against 25 baby spiders in Jillian’s room, only to discover 10 more in my room! I’m not sure where the mom was, but I’m glad she didn’t go all Arachnophobia on me. The spiders might have been harmless, but I am pretty sure they were the giant Hunstman spiders we learned about yesterday, which can grow to the size of a handspan! I’d rather live spider-free and also rather not hear Jillian’s screams on a regular basis, so I smashed and flushed them all down the toilet. Lina called after her class and we met her downtown for some shopping. We stumbled into a Farmer’s Market that happens all day every Wednesday and it had all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, so we bought some corn, avocados and tomatoes. Jillian was in heaven, because she loves farmers markets and had been trying to find one here. We made corn for dinner and a pasta with meat sauce. We invited Michael to join us and we had a lovely first dinner sitting at our dining room table!

July 20

We woke up early and headed to campus for our International Students Orientation. It was in a large exhibition hall and they had an official Welcome from the Chancellors, etc. Then a couple informational talks about student services. There was a funny speaker who tried to introduce us to Aussie culture and he made a few jokes and did a participation game to see how many of us would acclimate well. We were all asked to stand and he narrowed it down by asking us to sit based on responses to various questions. 1. Remain standing if you like beer. The few that did sit got some snickers. 2. Sit down if you are in a serious relationship. We looked around and he confirmed my thoughts, “I’ve just shown all of you standing who the other single people are that like beer! Make a mental note to meet these people later!” It went on for a few more questions and I think we passed swimming in the ocean, but had to sit when we did not play organized sports on a weekly basis. The few that were left got movie passes or something. Then there was a mixer downstairs with refreshments. We did not meet anyone notable. We walked around, ran a couple errands, ate some lunch and then went to a 2 o’clock session called “Safety Down Under” about being careful out on your own, and a quick introduction to all the deadly, poisonous creatures that live in Australia. Most fatal were snakes and spiders. We stayed for a seminar on Working and then went home. We ordered take-away from the Fish and Chips place about a block from our house and it was actually pretty edible considering how cheap it was!

July 19

Jillian and I woke up at the farm to pouring rain! After making a breakfast for ourselves, decided to cook breakfast in bed for the Birthday Boy. We packed up our room, and helped Michael clean up the last of the party stuff, packed the car, and headed home. Because it had rained, we slipped and slid down the dirt road through the farm. I prayed that we wouldn’t spin out or get stuck in the mud and have to push our way out. Once on the road, we ate at McDonalds in Warwick, and then did a little bush-walking (read: hiking through the sub-tropical woods) in Main Range National Park. We got back late afternoon and took much needed very long and very hot showers.

July 18

The three of us tried to sleep in as long as possible. When we finally woke up, everyone was already preparing a mass breakfast for everyone. I’ve never seen so many poached eggs, slices of bacon and toast! I guess the boys had taken care of brekkie. Afterwards, we did a blitz clean-up and then most people started heading out. Lina had to go back to catch an orientation on Monday, so she went back with Simon and the Irish girls. Jillian and I helped Michael clean up the catering rentals and then headed down to the creek with a bottle of wine to shoot some rifles. Jillian, who is scared of roller coasters, loud noises, and most thrill-seeking activities, took a back seat and shied away from the guns. I, of course, was ready to go! The gun was much heavier than I expected, and I braced it with my shoulder and aimed into the water. Not bad! Then he shot the bigger gun and warned Jillian that it might be a bit louder. It was a LOT louder. I aimed against a log, and shot at a piece of wood in the water. I hit it, but barely knew because I felt the shock wave from it and a ringing in my ears that lingered for a while. Wow! What fun!! Jillian did not want to try, so we just finished off the wine and headed back for a dinner cooked by Michael’s father and step-mother. We watched a little TV and then headed to sleep.

July 17

This was the big day. I woke up with a pretty bad hangover, faint memories, and two NASTY large bruises on my butt from falling into wood piles the night before! The girls were put to work almost immediately to cook breakfast for the boys and then start cooking for the party. I colored directional signs for toilets and parking, etc. and taped them up around the property. A test explosive went off, so we had to duck and cover behind a bunker. The boys warned me that it could come flying at us, so we couldn’t look, just hide... Turns out, it just shot up into the air a few feet, not very dramatic, but the suspense was pretty high, waiting for it to go off at any unknown instant. Jillian made her Jalapeño Cheese dip. It usually takes 20 min, but with this quantity, it took probably a couple hours! Somewhere in there, I took a pretty cold shower and dressed for the party. As the party began, everyone was excited to try the dip and luckily it was a huge success. The bread bowls were completely decimated and everyone asked for the recipe! There were bum can fires throughout the area, and a band played some great music, and everyone we mingled with was very friendly. Later a giant bonfire was lit and people danced. Curry beef and chicken was served with rice and potatoes, which was quite yummy. Michael’s dad and uncle gave speeches about Michael and the charity that the night was supporting. Michael didn’t want gifts, he only wanted people to donate to his family’s non-profit: the Helen Bonner Health Centre in Cambodia. They raised quite a bit of money and actually hit their goal for the night because it is a worthy cause and inspiring story.

There is a song here in Australia that when played, men must immediately drop their pants and sing along. We had never seen such a phenomenon, but watched in awe as all of these guys we had just spent the weekend getting to know proceeded to follow tradition! At another point in the evening, we had a streaker, multiple singers took the mic, and there was revelry all around. The cake was a traditional Chocolate Irish Biscuit Cake, which was interesting and delicious. Toward the end of the night, more wood was delivered for the large bonfire and of course Lina and I ran over to lend a hand. She jumped in the truck and handed huge, heavy logs to two guys and me, who then walked it and threw them on the fire. I say “logs”, but I should really call them trees, because they were probably anywhere from 50-150 lb logs, some even 4 feet long! Later we wondered why other men didn’t come help, but oh well. That’s our pro-activeness taking the lead. We probably headed to bed around 2am, crawling over people now sprawled out all over the farmhouse floor.

July 16

Lina took a shower and reported that it was freezing cold, so cold that she turned off the water to soap up! Jillian and I decided to pass on the shower experience and tried to keep warm while we changed clothes. Without breakfast food, we all headed down to the store in Inverell. Jillian and I went with Michael in the truck, with very little shock absorbers. When we got there, somehow the other car got lost and so Jillian and I waited on the corner to flag them down. We waited and waited and waited, but never saw their car. As we got madder and madder (and hungrier and hungrier), we marveled at how things happened before the world of cell phones. Surely there wasn’t this much inefficiency!! We even went to the store and walked around, but couldn’t find anyone! How’d we get so lost, we thought?! But then Lina came out to find us and we finished up the grocery shopping with her. We bought food for the next few days and Michael bought stuff for the party. We purchased about 6 carts (they call them trolleys!) full of food! And some items, we bought the entire inventory of the small town store! We loaded it all into the back of Ed’s 4-runner and filled it to the ceiling. I’ve never seen so many groceries. Then came the beer! A huge flatbed cart with about 24 cases of beer! We jumped into the back of the truck and loaded it up. We went to get breakfast with the Irish girls while the boys loaded more of the heavy rentals into the truck, then headed back to the farm and unloaded all of the groceries and items. It took the rest of the day to unload and sort everything out.



In the evening, we loaded up the cars and headed down to the Creek, which is a nearby place that the boys have a yearly camping trip called Farm Fest. We built a big bonfire and BBQed some sausages and drank and got to know the boys. Jillian had never peed in the wilderness before, so Lina and I taught her how to squat and let it loose, sans toilet paper. After a couple drinks, she was a pro! I however, struggled to make it up the hill in my flat Ugg boots and fell a couple times. I have NO recollection of getting back to the farm, but somehow, we made it back and then tried to teach the aussies how to play beer pong, without ping pong balls. We used a cap and the game went pretty fast. Then Ryan, who was playing with us, taught us some card game, which seemed to be pretty random doling out or taking drinks. At some point, the boys played some Didgeridoo, and Jillian and I tried to play, but didn’t realize how hard it would be. Apparently, you have to relax your lips so much, and play like a giant trumpet, but ours only came out sounding like raspberries! =( We gave up pretty fast and went to bed.

July 15

We packed up at the house, I borrowed Lina’s army bag, because I didn’t have any duffels. Michael made fun of me for packing so much, but I had my sleeping bag in the bag, too, so it seemed like a lot more than it actually was. If he knew me, he’d know I am not usually that type of girl. We headed out of town, and stopped halfway in this place called Stanthorpe. The town is known for its orchards and wine vineyards. We stopped at Rumbalara Winery for some wine tasting and to buy a bunch of cases of wine for the birthday party. Michael poured out most glasses, but the girls drank most of ours. We bought some wine to take home and then drank a glass on the patio while we waited for Simon and the Irish girls to catch up in the 2nd car. Further down the road, we stopped for dinner at some crappy pub in the middle of nowhere. Literally, the whole bar full of local hicks turned around and stared as we walked in, clearly foreign. It was not very good food, but the 3rd carful of boys (Michael’s buddies) caught up to us and we got to meet everyone. We drove down a long dirt road, and watched for kangaroos. They are a lot like deer in California – they jump in front of the cars at night, and if you hit them, it can cause major damage to your car. We saw a bunch and almost hit a couple, pretty scary stuff! Then we turned off the road onto an even bumpier road into Avonlea (the farm). Michael stopped to point out a porcupine, which they call echidnas! We arrived at the farm pretty late, sat around and talked for a while. It came out that there is some supposed ghost that lives on the farm (named the Avonlea Ghost), that a few of Michael’s friends and family have seen firsthand. Apparently she traipses the hallway from the newer house, into the old house (where we have to pass to get to our room, and the bathroom). Great way to scare the newbies right before bed!

July 14

We decided to walk up the hill to Paddington, which was quite a feat because it’s so steep. Lina and I dropped our shoes off at the repair place and we grocery shopped a little. We ate lunch at Sassafras Cafe, which was delicious as usual, and then walked back home with our groceries. Jillian made her Jalapeño Popper dip so Michael could test it out for the party. Obviously he approved. Then he went out with his Irish girl, Lisa, for her last night in town (she was leaving on Thursday to go back home, but her other Irish friends are staying). He introduced us to her and she was very cute! Too bad she is leaving, I’m sure he will be sad.

Here's the beautiful sunset from our patio in Bardon:

July 13

Today, we decided to visit the campuses and familiarize ourselves with the areas we’d be studying at. Once again, I had come to visit in April, but the other two girls hadn’t. We went to Herston, which is Lina’s campus first. It was small and she was able to find all of the buildings right away. Then we bussed into town and decided to take a City Cat Ferry out to St. Lucia (the main UQ campus). We walked around, saw the bookstore and looked for University sweatshirts, but they were all ugly and very expensive! Then we got our ID cards at the library. I asked if I could do a funny photo, to keep in line with my UCSC college ID. He said yes, but then when I went to put my hands on either side of my head, he said I was not allowed to use hands. Out of ideas, I just did a regular smile, and it turned out pretty nice. Excitedly wielding our new Student ID cards, we bussed back to Roma St. and bought discounted bus GoCards to immediately start getting the cheaper rate!

July 12

In the morning, Michael took us to IKEA to help us buy some remaining stuff that we needed (like more hangars, and some kitchen supplies). It was a pretty painless trip to Ikea, since we had a list and could search for the best deals. We ended up being back around noon! Then Michael offered to drive us to the mall at Indoorpilly, which had another Vodafone store and bank. We ate a snack there, the other two girls opened bank accounts (I had already opened mine in April), and we stopped by the Vodafone store, but didn’t buy any phones. The plans were all overwhelming and more expensive than we were hoping for. Plus, I was still undecided about getting an iPhone 4. We shopped a little, and waited for Michael to pick us back up and take us home. At home, we discussed the phone options and decided the most economical would be to buy a blackberry via eBay and go onto the SIM only plan. This was the best option for me, too, because Blackberry is the only phone that would allow for FREE unlimited internet usage. The other phones would be almost double in fees and I’d have to watch my internet quota.

July 11

We wanted to explore the Paddington area today, so Michael dropped us off in Paddington. We browsed a couple of antique/vintage clothing stores that Paddington is known for. Most of the stuff seemed to be a little expensive, so we didn’t buy anything, but ate some lunch and then kept walking to the lower part. We marched right through and past SunCorp Stadium. Before we knew it, we were at Caxton Street (end of Paddington with lots of bars), and at the same grocery store we had been to with Michael a couple days ago.. We were tired from all that walking, so we popped into the movie theatre and watched Twilight Eclipse to give our feet a rest. Then, we ate at a pretty good Pizza and Pasta place there. We discovered that we were very close to the Roma St. Station, so we walked down and waited for a bus to take us home. We took a bus back through Paddington, one that said Bardon (our suburb) and I asked the bus driver how close he got to our street. He didn’t seem to know our street or any nearby, in fact he was not very helpful at all. So we just got off at the top of Paddington, and tried to meander back home in the dark. We walked down the very steep hill, laughing the whole time about what would happen if we were lost or attacked or what not. But we made it to the park by our house and cut through it to get home, safe and sound.

July 10

We decided to head into town, but ended up just missing the bus, while we were trying to cross the street, so we followed our path from last night and walked to Rosalie. We checked out the restaurants and movie theatre there. Then, instead of waiting for the next bus, we decided to walk further and catch the bus at a different stop. It passed us, so we kept walking into Milton. By the time we got there, I showed them where we would transfer on Cribb St. and walk to Coronation Drive, along the river. We walked to the River, which is pretty far from our house, and tried to find the closest bus stop. It happened to be another few blocks. Ugh! We finally boarded a bus and headed into the CBD (Central Business District). We were starving, so we ate at some place along the Queen Street Mall, which was disgusting. Then, we found Kathmandu and bought some sleeping bags and camping gear for our upcoming trip to Michael’s farm for his birthday celebration. We got a pretty good deal – $240 sleeping bags that were on sale for $79, and some cheap thermals. We got a couple house supplies in Target, checked out a Vodafone store to see what kinds of phone plans we would need and then bussed back home.

July 9

We arrived in the early morning, and went through customs. It felt surreal that we had made it to what will be our new home for the next year and a half! We staggered through customs and got luggage carts for our bags. As we exited into the international terminal, I wondered how we would find Michael in the sea of smiling faces and signs. Luckily I had met him before, but just as I suggested that I call him with my phone, I spotted him sitting on a bench! He came over and escorted us to his Hilux (truck thing), where we each loaded our 3 bags into the back. I was excited to have the other girls finally see him, since I had been the only one to meet him when I visited in April . He drove us home, and showed us to the downstairs. The construction is not complete, but good enough for us to live in. The kitchen is done, and the bathroom/shower works. There are beds, but no paint on the walls. It felt a little half done, but I’m sure it’ll get finished in the next few weeks, so we aren’t worried. We chose our rooms and started the gruelling task of unpacking our stuff.

Michael drove us to the grocery store and we spent a good hour orso, inching up and down the aisles, choosing for the first time how we would eat together, and pick out food in an Aussie Supermarket. I’m sure Michael thought we were nuts, but these things take a little time to get used to the layout of a new store, culture shock of different foods, and trying to sort out who likes/eats what. We loaded his trunk full of groceries and then headed back to the airport to pick up his brother, Simon, who was coming in from Tasmania for Michael’s birthday party.

For dinner, we walked down to Rosalie (20 min walk), and ate at a burger place, met up with some of his friends, and then headed out to some bars in the Valley. Maybe it’s because we were so jetlagged, but no matter how much we drank, we stayed sober. We went to a pretty nice bar, but pretty soon his friends that met us wanted to dance, so we walked to a nearby dance club called Kaliber, that played old school stuff. Everything from Backstreet Boys to Michael Jackson to Jay Z to Grease! It was such a mish-mash, but a lot of fun. Jillian, Lina and I hit our limit around 2am and shared a taxi back to our house. Pretty impressive for a first night!