"No I don't want O-Week tickets!"

The Block Arcade

Apparently the blog posts may only be a weekly occurrence…there’s just so many other things going on, especially this week with registration and orientation. I wasn’t able to register for classes on Friday with the other exchange students because apparently my courses were never pre-approved by Melbourne. They run things a little differently here. There are no quotas on classes, so if a ton of students register for them, they have to find space for you. This is good and bad (good for me since I couldn’t register on time). For example, now that I’m finally registered, I am technically in a class, but the lecture and all the tutorials (discussions) are full. Hmmm. Also, they have much fewer class hours per week. I only go to a two hour lecture per week for each of my four classes (one’s actually only an hour and a half) and an hour tutorial for three of them (the other class has a one-hour lab three times during the semester). So in a normal week I will only have 10 and half hours of class, compared to 16 hours at SC. I’ve heard though that they expect way more outside preparation, and each assignment holds a lot more weight, so let’s hope this goes well! It’s been so long since I’ve been in a classroom…

Brighton Beach Houses

Last Friday night was the MUSEX (Melbourne University Student Exchange Society) party at Turf, the bar next to my apartment. I have a feeling we are going to be at Turf a lot, especially since it’s already cold and rains quite a bit (which means we don’t want to travel far to go out). It was really fun and I reunited with a lot of friends from the Welcome Program. On Saturday, Mark and Mike from SC barbequed up chicken skewers by the pool and I made dessert of carmelized bananas, ice cream and tim tams. I really want to bake here, but I do not have access to an oven, so I kind of have to improvise. Sunday, I went to Brighton Beach with Mike, Mark and Chris (why am I always the only girl?). We took the train there from the city and it was a short ride. I love the public transportation here! It’s so easy to walk anywhere, but the trams are also convenient to take inside the center of the city (and great for bringing groceries back to the apartment) and the trains are easy to catch too. And you only have to buy one card that gives you access to the trams, trains and buses! I wish Phoenix and L.A. had better public transportation, but I guess it comes back to the fact that they are both laid out very poorly. It was actually a rainy, cold day, so it wasn’t the best of beach days, but we attempted to stick it out. We got coffee as we waited for the rain to pass, walked down the beach and saw the famous Brighton beach houses, watched a crazy kite surfer, and then attempted to sun bathe. It ended up getting pretty chilly so we just trained back to the city and got lunch on Degraves Street (a popular laneway).

Orientation did not actually start Monday like I thought, but the RMIT Village O-week did. They have been trying to sell tickets for this week for the longest time, but I really did not want to pay $70 for it when the Melbourne Welcome was already so expensive. Plus, I felt like I could do a lot of the things for free anyway. They have really been pushing these tickets though, so it’s become kind of a running joke that we don’t want O-week tickets. Anonymous RA’s or staff here (who knows) have been wandering around with megaphones all week announcing events in the halls and outside, so it’s getting a bit annoying. I ended up sort of crashing the carnival they had on top of the parking lot on Monday and then they had a highlighter party that night at Turf, which I also attended. I felt like a bit of a regular when the main bartender at Turf let me pass the bouncer without checking my ID because he said “Oh we know you.” I had only been twice before that, but apparently I’m already a regular. 

View from the Rooftop Bar

Tuesday, Orientation Week began, but it’s definitely for the freshman. I walked up to a random business host to join her tour and she seemed a little confused.  I have managed during O-Week though to get my registration finally figured out, get my student ID, and find where things are on campus. And meet a bunch of freshies and eat free food. Wednesday night marked the beginning of celebrating Joe’s 21^st birthday. We went to the Prince Alfred Hotel near campus and started the party there, and ended up tramming to the city to the Rooftop Bar. The views were beautiful, but the drink prices reflected the cost of the scenery. The bar is in a building that has floors and floors of bars and boutiques. The elevators stop running at 7 pm, so getting to the very top takes dedication.

Going out for Joe's birthday

Yesterday afternoon I went on a pub crawl with fellow business students (aka the freshmen and a few exchange students). Aussies go out a lot earlier here, but they also stay out really late. They are intense! Then later last night we continued Joe’s birthday festivities by hitting the dance floor at The Toff (in the same building as Rooftop Bar). I just feel that in most everyday settings, especially when it involves going to cool bars or coffee shops, I am not nearly hipster enough for this town. I can’t even explain it, but ALL the locals are indie kids. The girls’ have blunt bangs and unwashed hair (hippie headband or bowler hat to top it off), crop tops, ankle booties with higher socks sticking out, and often asymmetrical clothing. The guys’ jeans are super tight and often cuffed, the shorts short, the hair buzzed slightly on one side and swooshed over to the other, and they wear tank tops that are cut extremely low (cardigan sometimes included). I feel like I get weird looks when trying to explore the sweet laneways and pop into these hidden coffee shops that only the locals are supposed to know about. I need an indie hipster makeover before this is over apparently.

University of Melbourne

To top the night off at The Toff, as I was leaving a rando grabbed my hair and swooped it over my face. I turned around and it was a guy I didn’t know. He grabbed my hand to shake it and at first I thought he said his name was Ben, so my initial reaction was “soulmate Ben?” But it was loud and he had a strange accent. His name was James or John or something along those lines. I wrote a paper in high school (to be exact it was my own obituary for a creative writing class) and I predicted that I would go to SC, study business, and study abroad in Australia my junior year. The final part of this prophecy was that I would meet my future husband here, named Ben. My mom (hi mom) asks me every time she calls if I’ve met Ben yet. There was a close encounter last night, but really he was just another creeper who had a death grip on my hand until a friend yanked me out of the building. I just don’t understand why guys think that a good way to approach a girl he has never met is to stare at her at tell her she’s beautiful. This does not come off as well as it does in the movies. Most girls find this creepy in normal life. Okay maybe not most girls, but I do. Rule #1: know your audience. My creeper magnet status knows no cultural barriers.

Today I am leaving to road trip up the Great Ocean Road for the weekend, wish us Americans luck driving on the wrong side of the road (but really).  We’re going to the Twelve Apostles and Grampians National Park. Then I start class on Monday!