SO. I have decided to blog about my experience at Monash University (or try to at least) because typing is a lot easier than writing. Today was the first day of classes but I have actually been here for two weeks already, though it feels like it has been a lot longer, so time to get caught up on my time here thus far!
General Thoughts:
- For the most part, I feel like Melbourne is very similar to any big city in the United States. It feels as if I'm simply in another state, not on the other side of the world. I think it's because cities like Melbourne and Sydney are definitely more westernized so I'm going to have to get out to some other places for sure.
- There are so many asians.. everywhere! Even in the gym and especially in the free weight area. It makes sense but wasn't really expecting it haha.
- They drive on the other side of the road in Australia. Definitely going to have to get used to this for the time being...especially when I cross the street since I always look the wrong direction. Also, kangaroos are their road kill.
- Since we do everything weird back home the units here are funky. Having to convert from kg to lb, kph to mph, Celsius to Fahrenheit, etc to put everything in perspective is a hassle.
- The word "small" has been redefined. If you ask for a small drink or small fries, it is ACTUALLY small. When it comes to drinks, their large is pretty much our small. As for food, their large at McDonalds is our medium. Despite Australia being a more healthy country in general though, the apple pies at McDonalds are fried- not baked like they are back home. Funny how that works..
- Supposedly Australia has exceptionally good coffee and wine but too bad I wouldn't know the difference because I don't drink either of those.
- They wear real clothes! Unlike in the U.S. where fit may be the new fashion, people don't wear gym clothes out of the gym. Just because your leggings may be ridiculously expensive doesn't make them appropriate for the streets (all the time at least).
- I tried Vegemite and Tim Tams which are all the rage here. Vegemite is some type of yeast extract that they put on their bread like jam. The Vegemite wasn't too terrible, just made my bread taste kind of salty and weird. The Tim Tams were good but there was too much hype for them. Tim Tams are just like cookies with flavored cream in the middle and the whole thing is dipped in chocolate.
- Australians are lazy and abbreviate everything, which leads me to my next topic:
Australian Slang
- They actually do say "G'Day" and "Mate" haha
- They say tomato the weird way, like tomahto
- "Cheers" It's not just for when you're holding a drink here
- Loo= bathroom
- Gag=joke
- Goon=boxed wine
- Maccas=McDonalds
- Brekkie=Breakfast
- Sunnies=Sunglasses
- Arvo=Afternoon
- Barbie=Barbecue
- Roo=Kangaroo
- Chips=Fries
- Thongs=flip flops
- Dodgy=sketchy
Despite the fact that they have some funny words, I feel like they speak more elegantly in general. Maybe it's because they use words in their everyday speech that I would consider more formal or maybe it's the accent. Who knows? But I'm not complaining.
The Places I've Been!
Besides the orientation events, I have been on a few trips. And for anyone who doesnt know, the seasons here are flipped so its towards the end of winter here even though its summer back home.
1- Eureka sky deck & Melbourne Central Business District at night.
On the 88th floor, the Eureka sky deck is the tallest observation deck in the southern hemisphere! They seem to have a lot of things in Melbourne that are "the biggest in the southern hemisphere". For example they have the biggest H&M, and the biggest mall, etc..probably because there's not much else going on on this side of the world though.
Besides the orientation events, I have been on a few trips. And for anyone who doesnt know, the seasons here are flipped so its towards the end of winter here even though its summer back home.
1- Eureka sky deck & Melbourne Central Business District at night.
On the 88th floor, the Eureka sky deck is the tallest observation deck in the southern hemisphere! They seem to have a lot of things in Melbourne that are "the biggest in the southern hemisphere". For example they have the biggest H&M, and the biggest mall, etc..probably because there's not much else going on on this side of the world though.
2-Healesville Sanctuary, Moonlit Sanctuary, and Phillip Island.
Friday the 17th, we took a trip to the Healesville Sanctuary and Friday the 24th we went to Phillip Island and stopped by the Moonlit Sanctuary on the way there. I definitely think the Moonlit Sanctuary was better. Even though we saw a platypus at the Healesville Sanctuary and they had more interesting birds, we could pet the koala and feed the kangaroos and wallabies at the Moonlit Sanctuary. Pictures and videos from both are below! (For anyone who's wondering, I've gotten better about my fear of birds..or at least I can walk closer to them now. The birds here are EVERYWHERE. And they have wild parrots. But in general, the birds look more exotic and are very loud. Especially in the morning.)
On Phillip Island we went to watch the penguin parade where the smallest species of penguins would swim out of the ocean and waddle back to shore to return to their home in the sand dunes just after sunset. Depending on the season, the number of penguins that return home in a given night varies. We saw about 300-500 and they're just barely larger than seagulls. We weren't allowed to take pictures at the penguin parade though :(
Interesting fact: Kangaroos can stop/restart embryo growth based on climate conditions and food availability
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byebyebirdies.mp4 |
wallaby feeding.mp4 |
Wombat.mp4 |
3-Great Ocean Road
My last big trip before school started was to Great Ocean Road. It's a road along the coast, similar to Highway 1 in California (but not as pretty I don't think). We drove to see the 12 Apostles and on the way we stopped by Erskine Falls in the rainforest and saw koalas in their natural habitat. The koalas were mostly sleeping, besides one who was hanging upside down and eating. They curl up in the wedge of two branches to sleep so they just look like tiny balls of fur in the trees. The weather here is similar to that of North Carolina's in the sense that you can get all four seasons in one day. It is not fun. One minute it was sunny by the beach and literally 5 minutes later as we were walking back to the car it started to hail. After the koalas we made our way to the 12 Apostles. On the way we played a road trip game where you yell "Hey cow" out the window whenever you pass a field of cows and you get points based on how many cows look at you. One guy startled three cows so bad and they started running. It was pretty hysterical. Hope we didnt scare the milk out of them though..
Anyway, the 12 Apostles has become the 8 Apostles because erosion is real. After that we went to Loch Ard Gorge where theres a cave you can usually swim to but the water was too cold.
My last big trip before school started was to Great Ocean Road. It's a road along the coast, similar to Highway 1 in California (but not as pretty I don't think). We drove to see the 12 Apostles and on the way we stopped by Erskine Falls in the rainforest and saw koalas in their natural habitat. The koalas were mostly sleeping, besides one who was hanging upside down and eating. They curl up in the wedge of two branches to sleep so they just look like tiny balls of fur in the trees. The weather here is similar to that of North Carolina's in the sense that you can get all four seasons in one day. It is not fun. One minute it was sunny by the beach and literally 5 minutes later as we were walking back to the car it started to hail. After the koalas we made our way to the 12 Apostles. On the way we played a road trip game where you yell "Hey cow" out the window whenever you pass a field of cows and you get points based on how many cows look at you. One guy startled three cows so bad and they started running. It was pretty hysterical. Hope we didnt scare the milk out of them though..
Anyway, the 12 Apostles has become the 8 Apostles because erosion is real. After that we went to Loch Ard Gorge where theres a cave you can usually swim to but the water was too cold.
Loch Ard Gorge.mp4 |