Whirlwind

Wow- what a couple of days it has been. Since my last post in the airport a lot has happened, so I will attempt to retell all here...

Boarding the plan did not take too long. Over 350 passengers traveled on the United flight, and the plane even had an upstairs (for first class passengers only...).  I think there were several other students onboard too, but I did not speak to any of them or anything.  I was seated in an aisle seat in row 20, which was the second row in economy plus class, so I had a great spot.  There was no one in between me and the guy with the window seat, so we had some extra room as well for our belongings.   Several movies played, including Morning Glory and The Social Network, and I watched them in between naps.  Two meals were served on board- one dinner about an hour after getting up in the air, and then breakfast about an hour before descent into Sydney.  Alcoholic beverages were complimentary, too! The flight went pretty well, and was very smooth.  I was much more comfortable than when I flew to China (also a 14 hour flight) and am so glad I opted to get the Economy plus seat!

Once we arrived in Sydney we had to proceed thru Customs and Immigration; the line for people with international passports was very long.  Once we got thru that line then we had to collect our bags and proceed thru quarantine.  I did not declare any items, so none of my bags were x-rayed or anything.  We arrived around 7:30AM Sydney time, Wednesday, February 16.  It was weird to have lost so much time in the air (going from Monday to Wednesday!), and I was really exhausted in the airport.  The Sydney-Kingsford airport was one of the busiest I have ever been to- there are many Asians arriving in Australia, as well as many people from the middle east (like women in scarves and robes).

Students are sent to a meeting place in the airport where they can get shuttles to their destinations.  When I went to the meeting place, I met a girl studying at Wollongong from Norway, some others from Colgate University in the states, and then some others from China and Hong Kong.  We all got on a bus for the 1 hr ride south to Wollongong; the ride was very pretty, and it is unbelievable how scenic the area is.  I will post pictures to facebook soon!

The ride went pretty quick, and eventually I was dropped off to Weerona College, my dormitory for the semester.  I checked in and the Orientation staff helped me haul my bags up the stairs.  When I got to my room it was dirty, but a nice cleaning lady named Winnie came and cleaned it up quickly and welcomed me to the floor.  She was very interested in why I had chosen Australia, what I was studying here, and where I was planning on traveling while I am here.  I figured out quickly that there were a lot of things I needed for a smooth move into my room, like hangers, an Ethernet cord, sticky hooks, and maybe some organizer baskets.  My program rented me linens that Winnie brought to my room, but after feeling the sheets I decided I wanted to buy some of my own, too.

I asked the lady at the front desk how to get to town to shops, and she told me I could walk.  I set off into town all alone, and went searching first for a place to grab a bite to eat and some water. Man was I thirsty after that flight!  I had a delicious turkey sandwich with a bowl of fruit and bottle of water for around $A12, which is a little expensive, but I was so famished and thirsty that it really didn’t matter to me.  The people at the café directed me to a warehouse, kind of like an Australian Big Lots, where I could purchase most of the things I was looking for.   I went to the shop and came out with lots of things, including sheets, a hairdryer, a pillow, hooks, baskets, hangers, and cleaning supplies!  Everything was pretty reasonable, but certainly nothing like in the US. It is crazy how cheap things are at home compared to abroad! 

By the time I was done shopping I was really tired, so I took a taxi home. I had walked so far to this warehouse store that my taxi fare was $A12!  I really got my workout around town!

When I got back to my dorm I really wanted a shower; the showers here seem to be pretty nice, and I really enjoyed relaxing after such a whirlwind couple of days.  Once I was ready I went out into the hall and met some Aussie girls that live on the hall. The only girls that had moved in were freshmen, or first year, students who were participating in Weerona Orientation.

I learned more about O-Week later, at “Tribunal.”  At the same time each day all of the students and the leaders come together for a briefing about what did go on and what is going on later.  One big difference here from home is that first year students are allowed to drink when they go to college at age 18, so orientation for Australians is very wild.  The night before I had arrived, the students had all attended a Pub Crawl event, where all of them proceeded to get hammered.  Needless to say, everyone was still hungover at this Tribunal.  The leaders gave out awards that were kind of shocking to me- an orange vest to the drunkest person from the night, a yellow vest was given to the sloppiest person of the night, and a necklace of glued together condoms was given to the person who kissed the most people.  This was determined with a hookup board that listed each and every kiss by each and every person.  It was truly shocking to me that all of this was so public, as a girl who has made out with 5 guys in one night does not want people to know in the US, but here she is told to wear a condom necklace.  It seems like orientation here is almost like mild pledging- the freshmen do scavenger hunts, and trivia, and receive humiliating awards and attention.  Anyway, when I asked about this later they said that it is really just some innocent fun for O-week, and that because everyone got so hammered on O-week, the leaders decided they would plan some fun for it…

After Tribunal everyone went to dinner. Since it was my first dinner in Australia, and my first experience with ‘normal’ Australian food in general, I was excited.  It was ok (typical cafeteria stuff); there was zucchini, some pasta, ‘squid rings’ (calamari), baked chicken, and oriental rice.  There was also an awesome fruit bar with sliced kiwi and melon and orange and everything.  It will be an okay place to eat for the next couple of months, because there is more than one option served. 

It is around 6pm now, and I am worn out from my days of traveling and today trekking around the city, so I am going to attempt to nap before an evening orientation treasure hunt activity.  Will post later!