The Classic American Cheesburger!

Riley started class at 10 AM on Wednesdays and goes basically all day with few breaks in between his classes and tutorials. Normally Lauren would have her Creative Arts tutorial for two hours, but because it is the first week of school there were no tutorials scheduled. This left Lauren to catch up on a little of American time (facebook, email) as well as organizing events and classes here at the university. First that required printing out a study abroad agreement to go to Germany in the Fall with UNC Charlotte. With no student ID yet to load with money I was challenged with the task to get a library printing card, learn how to use the printers and then also figure out how to scan it back in to email it to the study abroad office. Yes, I know that all sounds easy to do in the US, especially when I had a printer and scanner in my dorm room, but in a library with hundreds of computers and printers that was a little challenging. I completed the first task by putting four gold dollar coins into a slot machine to get a library printing card. Then I tried to print from a computer that was closest to the printer but nothing happened. So I then went to the computer directly by the printer and still nothing happened; I couldn’t even figure out where to swipe my library printing card. I asked three people who came to also print and no one could help me. Apparently no one in the library knew how to print. Beyond frustrated at this point I went to another computer and just hit print again to see what would happen and lo and behold it printed, but never asked me to swipe my card! Therefore I had just spent four dollars for a card that wasn’t even needed since it probably charged my student account! By then it was time to sign and scan the paper back into the computer and meet Riley for lunch. Mission accomplished I made my way to the International student lounge where Riley and I shared our leftovers from the night before. I shared my experiences from the library and he told me about the Introduction to Asia class he had just got out of. He had met several people from the class, one guy which knew how to speak five languages (Russian, Chinese, English of course, French, and Japanese) which was a little daunting to him. He also met a girl from New Zealand who shared a little about her country, saying it was a good place to visit but not necessarily the most exciting place to live. Riley had a bigger break than expected since he didn’t have to run to a tutorial with it being the first week of school. This gave us a little more time to get things done around campus as well as give Lauren time to skype with Alex for his birthday! It was nice to see and be able to speak to him, especially since he was a free man from being recognized the night before. That was the first time I’ve seen him in civilian clothes in a long time! I was also able to get a few tips from him on how to prepare our group project that he had coming up on ‘how to prepare to bushwalk.’ Needless to say Alex found it quite funny that they call hiking bushwalking over here! Afterwards we left the library in hopes to get a few more things done before Riley had his last class. We succeeded in dropping a little bit of cash on some things that we more expensive than expected but had been meaning to buy for a while. I stayed on campus while Riley headed off to his last class, Anthropology. Then with the school day done we were off to Coles once again to pick up ingredients for dinner. Riley had been wanting to make cheeseburgers for a while so we grabbed the things for that along with a few extras like pineapple slices, green peppers and onions. The burgers turned out to be delicious although they were a little more messy than expected. With not much to do for the night we went to bed early since Thursday is deemed our adventure day of the semester, considering neither of us have classes!

Cocktail Hands

Today we had our first class together, called Outdoor Education, so of course we were able to walk to school together. We thought you guys would enjoy a video that showed out 15 minute walk to the university!

After the video we had to head straight to class, or what we thought was the class. Since we didn’t check our email, us and eight other students were stuck waiting unknowing that he had changed the classroom location. Twenty minutes later we were finally heading in the right direction to meet up with the rest of the eighty people taking the class! The professor had started the class with a ‘get to know your neighbors’ type of activity. We were all supposed to walk around and introduce ourselves to other classmates while holding paper clips. Once you got the other person to say no you got one of their paper clips. The one with the most paper clips at the end was the winner. Since we arrived late we never got paper clips but we still managed to meet a couple of cool people, most of them from California. Then the whole class headed into the class where the professor explained more about what the class had to offer. Our main focus was to figure out what field trips we would be going on and how much they would cost. Turns out we’ll be taking another trip to the Blue Mountains, but for a whole weekend this time, and then another field to the Royal National Park for a day trip. Although this may sound like the easy go lucky there is still work involved. In fact we have a group presentation to prepare for the next class on the topic of ‘how to prepare for bushwalking.’ Bushwalking is what they call hiking over here. After class we figured what better way to spend the rest of the day than eating domino’s pizza in the park since there is a good Cheaper on Tuesdays pizza deal. So after we picked up the pizza we brought it back Victoria Park to sit by the fountain. Soon we had unwanted guests…seagulls! But they kept their distance. With it being such a nice day outside and no more classes to go back to we thought it would be a perfect day for a Bondi Beach escape. However, things that we needed to get done around the university area took up more time than we had expected and it was soon too late to venture out to the beach. Like every other day it was time for a stop at Coles to pick up ingredients for dinner with the vision of chicken parmesan for dinner! Needless to say it was delicious, especially with a side of fresh steamed carrots! We have barely made a bent in the huge tub of ice cream! The night ended early since Riley had class in the morning though.

First day of School!

The long awaited, equally nerve-wracking day had finally arrived – our first day at the University of Sydney. Riley had his first class at 10 AM, while I did not have one until noon. Riley wanted to get to the university earlier in order to make some last minute changes to his timetable, or rather course schedule.

Riley’s first day: Well my first day started off by waking up at 8:30. I was thinking 9 o’ clock would have been a good time, but I wanted to give myself a little extra time… and I’m thanking myself for that one. So heading out the door I started my 15 minute walk to school. The first stop was the add/drop station in the Wentworth building which was ‘kinda’ off campus. I have heard the horror stories about the add/drop station and how the line always wrapped around the building, but apparently it was my lucky day because there were a total of three people in line. By this time it was 9:30 and I had to be in class by 10. After a ten minute wait, I was called up and was able to get my classes approved. I am currently taking two Australian classes, one anthropology class, and unfortunately one Asian culture class that I’ve been putting off for my minor requirements.  But with my first class fast approaching, it was time to head off… only thing was I didn’t know where it was at. After stopping by the Faculty of Art, the white building, the basement of the white building, back to the Faculty of Art I was finally able to talk to someone who knew where my class was. I was only 5 or 10 minutes late to my first class, but like any other class the teacher was just going over the syllabi. Also, my teacher was really funny so that was a plus. The class was over before I knew it and by 10:55 I was out of the door and done with my first and only class of the day. Now it was off to the library to finally adjust my timetable and get the classes during the time slots that I wanted. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to switch times around and I was able to show Lauren how to do the same thing a little later in the day whenever we met up. Since I was out way earlier than Lauren, I was the chosen one to go all the way back to Kings Cross to get the groceries that we forgot there. It wasn’t too bad of a journey since I was able to stop by the apartment to get my skateboard to make the trip go by faster. On the way back into the city I had enough time to grab lunch for Lauren, which I was happy to bring to her since she told me her stomach was growling and we enjoyed our lunch on the grass. During lunch we counted what money we had left over and realized we had exactly the right amount, literally, to get the harbor cruise tickets that the International Exchange Office was throwing for us exchange students. We waited in another 30 minute long line, but it was all worth it to hold those tickets. Other than that there wasn’t much more to my day! So off to Laurens day…

Lauren’s first day: My day started a little later than Riley’s, but regardless we both woke up around the same time to enjoy breakfast together. We had gotten cereal and cold milk, finally, for breakfast this morning along with pine orange drink which isn’t bad at all. The crunchy nut cereal is very similar to Frosted Flakes and very delicious indeed! I was about to take my time getting ready for school and organizing my school supplies for the day. With my backpack packed I was ready for my first day of school and headed out the door. Walking down Broadway Street I wanted to start the day with some friendly small talk with people of the way to school but it seems that everyone wears headphones while walking in the city so that thought was short lived. The short fifteen walk is nothing compared to the long journeys we’ve had to go through lately, so I was at the university before I knew it. I went straight to the computer lab to check my timetable only to find that the website was not letting me log in. Slightly in a panic now I headed to the international office in hopes that they could add me in the Creative Arts that I can actually transfer back to UNC Charlotte and let me know where the class was located. I waited in a 45 minute line to simply sign a piece of paper and be on my way. By then I could access my timetable and find out where the class would be held and headed off to actually find it. Walking through the campus I easily found the building I needed along with the room number. I walked into a lecture hall with about 10 people already seated and took an aisle seat. As more people started to come in I moved towards the inside of the row and instantly three girls came and sat next to me. They introduced themselves (3 Aussie girls) and when I mentioned that I was an exchange student from America the questions just started flowing. They were all interested in the US, to see if it was really like the movies portray it be and I was as equally interested in their Australian ways since they were also elementary education degree seeking students. The class started and instantly we had to join groups of 3 to discuss and come up with some type of way to explain “What good is the Arts?” Many groups shared skits and poems that were hilarious. The class intimidates me a little since I know I’ll have to actively participate in the workshops by doing skits and such, but I know that it will make me come out of my shell and later be a more entertaining teacher because of it. Then it was immediately off to my next class which was International Education. This class was a lot smaller and not as interesting, but I know that I can learn a lot from it in the end. By then, Riley had texted me to let me know that he’d be waiting outside my class for me so we can have some lunch together which I was definitely gracious for. We enjoyed out lunch in the sunshine and then went to buy cruise tickets together. I had another tutorial, or lab, to attend for my International Education class before I was done for the day. I met another guy that went to grade school in America, and had also traveled all over the world which is exciting to me! Overall, I wasn’t too intimidated or overwhelmed which my classes or the assignments that I will have to do.   

Finally done with classes for the day we met up at Broadway Shopping Centre to get a couple of necessary things and also ingredients for delicious bar-be-que sandwiches. Seriously one of the quickest meals to make, but they are beyond delicious. We were sitting down to eat around 7:30, so we’re getting better at eating early but still haven’t fully got it down yet. With no homework or anything to do tonight we simply relaxed and watched a little bit of TV!

Home Sweet Home

We had to check out of the hostel at 10 AM, so we woke up around 9 to ensure we got our last free breakfast in before hitting the road. We can both say that this was more than an exciting day for us. It feels like we had been waiting on this day for over a century; moving into a place that we can officially call home. While it was easy to pack and leave the first hostel, packing to leave the second hostel didn’t go as smoothly. I (Riley) will admit that I did not do the best job at packing…apparently it was not about quality, but rather about time since we only gave ourselves one hour to shower, get ready, pack, eat breakfast, and check out of the hostel. As we set off to our new destination, we received some less than great news; our tenant went out for Mardi Gras the night before and was unable to meet us at 12. This meant that our wait time was extended from two hours to four hours. However, we found this out right before twelve so we were already close to the apartments with no other plans. So what does this mean you ask? McDonalds for two more hours! YAY…NOT! But enough of the complaining, we passed the time by eating lunch, playing monopoly (off the cups and French fries), and people watching. When it was finally time to go, we were beyond excited again. We had to stop by the ATM quickly to get money to pay for our bonds and first weeks rent. Lauren was successful, but my money had not transferred over yet. Luckily, the tenant was gracious enough to let me slide. With empty rooms, it was time to unpack! It took us both about an hour each which was faster than we both thought. We were both just happy to be settled in before the first day of school! We knew we wanted to celebrate being out of Kings Cross and the hostel life, so we decided to go out for the first time since we have been in Sydney (not counting the McDonalds or Subway)! Right when we stepped out of the apartment complex, we saw a noodle place that closely resembled Mongolians in Goldsboro. Knowing that we both love our Mongolian, this was a no-brainer in our book. Not to mention that they had a great grand opening deal! So we enjoyed one another’s company being that this was the first time that we didn’t have to eat with 10-15 other people. Shortly after dinner, it was time for the sweets! I believe I have gotten Lauren in a bad habit of this, but who wouldn’t want a sweet after dinner? So we headed down the street to the shopping center to see what they had to offer. Although there were a variety of choices, it was love at first sight when we saw the four liter tub of Neapolitan ice cream! We headed back to the apartments to enjoy a bowl of ice cream while watching a little TV (also something we have not done since we’ve been here). It seemed like today was a bunch of firsts, which is something I’m not opposed to.

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Cheers from down under!

Mardi Gras, Australian Style!

We’re starting to like the days when we don’t have much planned because then it means that we can sleep in a little, but not too late since we still have to get up for that free ‘breakfast.’ Being Mardi Gras people in the hostel started drinking at 9:30 in the morning which we thought was beyond ridiculous! But all is right in the world whenever it comes back to bite them in the butt and they get sick at noon. But I guess that’s the lifestyle of a backpacker at these types of hostels. We knew we had a full day ahead of us since we were both planning to move some stuff into our newfound permanent spots closer to the university! We started the day by organizing our things at the hostel and planning what to bring on the first trip. We soon realized that we had a lot more than we had originally thought. We were confident that we’d be able to bring everything to the city with two trips, but no one said they would be easy trips! First trip consisted of three suitcases, two backpacks and a full laundry bag that did not want to cooperate on top of one of the suitcases. We expected the trip to take us over an hour since we planned on taking out time but we made it our destination is about thirty minutes. By then we were hungry and ahead of schedule so we stopped for lunch at subway and Riley got his first cold Diet Coke over here, all thanks to Lauren! Needless to say, it was the best Diet Coke he had ever tasted, not to mention three dollars. Once we finally dropped our stuff off we felt a hundred pounds lighter, literally! Before we headed back to the hostel again, we stopped by the shopping centre to figure out if Riley’s phone would work. Turns out AT&T had unlocked the wrong phone for him, and he just decided to get a cheap Australian prepaid phone. We headed back to the hostel to get ready for Mardi Gras as well as cook delicious bar-be-que chicken sandwiches! Once we were ready we made another trip to the university area to meet up with some friends before the parade. The trip took us a little longer than expected since one of the roads that we are used to taking was already blocked off in preparation for the parade. We asked a Mardi Gras volunteer how to get to Broadway street and he quickly rambled off some directions, he also insisted that it would just be easier to grab a taxi. By now we have familiarized ourselves with the streets and actually had no problem following his directions and reaching Broadway Street before we knew it. Fashionably two hours late to meet our friends they were almost ready to go by the time we got there. By almost ready, that means another twenty to actually get everyone out the door and moving down the street. However, when we got to Central Station, a few people decided it would be best for everyone to take the bus even though not everyone carries a bus pass in their back pocket. We had previously looked up the directions to the parade so we were exactly where we were going and headed in that direction. By the time we got to the parade streets we realized that if we wanted to see the parades up close we would have to sneak own way through at least five rows of people. Slowly but surely we made our way and had an awesome view for the event! We did not know what to expect since this was both of ours first time at a true Mardi Gras parade. The parade lasted longer than we both thought – a whopping two hours, and was full of excitement, loud music and crazy costumes! We even have a video to prove it, which we can hopefully get posted sometime soon. Once the parade was over we should have expected that it would be crazy trying to get through all the people to find our way home, and it turned out to be even crazier than we thought. One of the police guards finally opened up the side railings that had blocked the streets during the parade so we thought we could freely walk through the streets, not being pushed by people from all sides. However, when we got to the end of the road the police guards at the other end decided that they weren’t going to open the gates yet and there was just confusion everywhere. Knowing that we just wanted to get home we headed back in the other direction to go down a side road that we had come down earlier. Our trip back to the hostel was a lot easier than we had expected thanks to our keen sense of direction! Of course we could not end the night without getting a McDonalds ice cream cone! And boy, were they delicious. It was also the last night in the hostel which was exciting!

It's Salsa Time!

Once again we found ourselves traveling to the university bright and early to join other international students and get a tour of the campus. However, whenever we arrived at the campus, fifteen minutes late, we stepped into an overly crowded lecture room where they were hosting yet another welcome for international students. While sitting through two hours of presentations of the services offered to international students, which we had already heard on Monday, we were fighting drowsiness. Finally, the campus tours which we had solely come for started at 11:30. The weather was not in our favor once again and we were stuck fighting the wind and rain to get around campus. With a school of 50,000 students you would think that the tour would last more than 45 minutes, but apparently we got the shortened version of this one. With the rain defeating us and since we still have to go to the clubs and societies booths we didn’t mind. Not to mention we had an hour Salsa lesson to attend at 1:00! Once we arrived back at the Quad lawns we broke away from the group and went to explore various clubs like Bushwalking, Photography, Uni Fitness, St. Peters, and grab a ‘couple’ of Coke Zeros. Since it was getting closer to 1:00 we knew it was time to find the other bar on campus called Hermann’s for the Salsa lesson. Turned out to be a real adventure considering we had no idea where it was and it was raining and windy outside. Finally we turned the corner and Hermann’s happened to be right under the student union. We walked in and did not expect to see a bar full of people with nowhere to dance, or even someone to direct us where to go. But in our confusion a lady asked us if we were here for Salsa and we agreed, so she told us it would be a few minutes before they could clear a space for us. A few minutes later there was still no space cleared by the instructor decided to start anyways and we just all fell in place. Within this hour lesson we learned the basic steps and turns of Salsa dancing! We each got to dance with various partners, some good some bad, meeting new people along the way. After the Salsa we went to the computer lab to check our timetables and try and figure out our class schedules for Monday. Finally getting that done was a relief and we then headed to the supermarket to grab stuff for dinner: tuna melt sandwiches! We were also excited to be able to walk back to the hostel in daylight and have dinner at a decent time. In all hustle and bustle of the time Lauren forgot to check her phone which made us miss an opportunity to go to a rugby game for 10 dollars! We’re not going to let that happen again!