Yesterday was the first day that actually felt like spring break!! My friend and I went decided to have a completely free day (except for the tram) and go walk around Melbourne exploring the docklands and the beautiful gardens that were around. I went back to Carlton Gardens with my camera this time and realized just how freakishly beautiful it was. There were so many big trees surrounding these dirt pathways and big stretches of the greenest grass I've ever seen. It would totally be the best place for a date ever, which is what one of my friends did and I can totally see why now! Now I just need a date. Huh. Bout that.
But afterwards we took the tram down to the casino, which everyone has been too (even the parents that have come here) except for me, but of course it was about noon so we didn't go in. Apparently all of the slot machines are really confusing and not at all like the movies where you just put in a corner and pull down the lever. I'd probably sit there confused for a long time and then give up, so maybe it's good that I'm not a big gambler... But then we went to the royal botanical gardens, which I hadn't been to since we did the aboriginal walk there in the Melbourne Welcome orientation. It was MISERABLE then, since it was raining and cold and I had been walking everywhere so I was tired. This time, it was absolutely gorgeous! We spent a good 2 hours or so walking around all of the gardens and looking at all the plants. About half of them were poisonous, but hey, in Australia, everything will kill you. We also walked through King's Domain and other various parks that had very strange statues with no explanations about them.
We ended up on the other side of Melbourne and the Yarra River from Carlton and got completely lost, which was kind of the point of this little adventure. It was a good thing I had my Melbourne book because I was being a complete tourist that day, so we had a huge map that we eventually found our way back to Federation Square. From there, we headed on the tram down to St. Kilda, a big beachy area about 40 minutes south of Melbourne to have dinner with our other friend and her parents at their rented apartment. We got there a few hours early, so we spent that time walking in the sand and reminiscing about beaches in New England (we both come from New Hampshire and Maine). Once we got to the main shopping area of St. Kilda, there were a MILLION amazing looking pastry shops and gelati places so we had to splurge and buy gelati. Best. Decision. Ever. So. Delicious! Then we walked to the St. Kilda gardens and found a lifesize chess board that we wanted to place so badly, but there were these two old men playing so we just found a swing set that we sat on and glared at the men from a distance.
When we finally ate dinner, it was so amazingly delicious! It was nice to finally not eat cereal and spaghetti all the time, but instead we had salad and cheese and crackers and this pasta with feta cheese and sundried tomatoes. Absolutely delicious! And such a fun day!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Day 75 -- Am I actually on spring break?
Today I'm coming to realize that I cannot relax even a tiny bit if I know I have a paper due that I should be doing. This is ridiculously frustrating when I'm on vacation but all I can think about is writing my papers! However, as a result, I am completely done with my two lab reports, my philosophy essay, and 1/3 of my human-animal interactions paper so all that is left is 2/3 of my paper! Hopefully after I complete that I'll finally get into vacation mode and be able to relax a little! I definitely at least will when I head to Brisbane in EXACTLY ONE WEEK! We actually finalized all of our adventures a couple days ago so it should make for a fabulous trip that I will talk all about when I come back!
Working has also become less of a hassle now that I'm really getting second nature at taking orders and have basically memorized the menu by now. Last night I took a table of at least 15 people, and besides the fact that they were really strange people and wanted their cake before their meal (and even weirder was the fact that everyone in the restaurant watched as they dug their hands, not cutlery, into the beautiful cake and hand fed everyone at the table. I really hope they had washed their hands...), everything else went smoothly! Of course after 2 hours of them sitting at their table and ordering countless plates of food, they could not afford a five dollar tip to the waitress that made it all flawlessly happen, but I guess that's just Australia. But now that everyone in Arcadia seems to be trying to save money and not go out on weekends or anything anymore, I actually might keep my job until the end of the semester. It's a REALLY nice feeling having an extra 200-300 dollars in my pocket every Sunday and I could actually come back to America with some money. Or just use it all on souvenirs and more trips while I'm here. We'll see which actually happens!
Working has also become less of a hassle now that I'm really getting second nature at taking orders and have basically memorized the menu by now. Last night I took a table of at least 15 people, and besides the fact that they were really strange people and wanted their cake before their meal (and even weirder was the fact that everyone in the restaurant watched as they dug their hands, not cutlery, into the beautiful cake and hand fed everyone at the table. I really hope they had washed their hands...), everything else went smoothly! Of course after 2 hours of them sitting at their table and ordering countless plates of food, they could not afford a five dollar tip to the waitress that made it all flawlessly happen, but I guess that's just Australia. But now that everyone in Arcadia seems to be trying to save money and not go out on weekends or anything anymore, I actually might keep my job until the end of the semester. It's a REALLY nice feeling having an extra 200-300 dollars in my pocket every Sunday and I could actually come back to America with some money. Or just use it all on souvenirs and more trips while I'm here. We'll see which actually happens!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Day 73
This is a continuation of my hate of my apartment's internet. It is still not working after about 2 weeks of this nonsense and the effect of "Oh I'm away from the internet, this feels nice" is starting to wear off. All I want to do is be able to look up an article for my lab report and then realize I can't, and have to walk 20 minutes to be able to do so. SO ANNOYING. As a result today, I almost missed submitting my philosophy paper, but luckily remembered an hour before it was due so I was able to run over to uni and get online.
Now I'm at uni and the strangest things are happening. For one, about 5 homeless people have passed me inside the physics building searching through the vending machines for forgotten food or spare change. I have never seen homeless people inside a physics building before. Huh. It's definitely interesting even seeing homeless people in the first place, since Durham and Wooster have none that you see on a regular basis. That definitely is a change from a small town to a city. Just on my walk to work down the street I pass by at least 5 different homeless people asking for spare change. But sometimes it can actually set the atmosphere a little bit, as some of them draw crazy artwork in chalk on the ground, and another guy plays the fiddle really well.
Not speaking of homeless people, I finally found Pavlova today at the supermarket!! I bought just the meringue base and then added fruits and whipped cream on top as instructed by my Australian colleagues and it was SO DELICIOUS. It is for sure something I am going to make when I'm back in America.
Now I'm at uni and the strangest things are happening. For one, about 5 homeless people have passed me inside the physics building searching through the vending machines for forgotten food or spare change. I have never seen homeless people inside a physics building before. Huh. It's definitely interesting even seeing homeless people in the first place, since Durham and Wooster have none that you see on a regular basis. That definitely is a change from a small town to a city. Just on my walk to work down the street I pass by at least 5 different homeless people asking for spare change. But sometimes it can actually set the atmosphere a little bit, as some of them draw crazy artwork in chalk on the ground, and another guy plays the fiddle really well.
Not speaking of homeless people, I finally found Pavlova today at the supermarket!! I bought just the meringue base and then added fruits and whipped cream on top as instructed by my Australian colleagues and it was SO DELICIOUS. It is for sure something I am going to make when I'm back in America.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Day 71
For how much I pay for internet, it would be WONDERFUL if it would actually work. We're in the middle of our millionth consecutive internet outage at college square, which is absolutely ridiculous. I'm especially upset since I had a GB of data to use up by today before it expired, but since the internet wasn't working, I now have lost it. Now I'm back on campus during my spring break to use their internet. I call shenanigans.
But my last couple of days have been so much fun! On Thursday I went out to eat with 8 Arcadia people at this restaurant called Universal.
It was this adorable place on Lygon St that my friend had a coupon for 30% off, so he actually treated us all to dinner there. I got this GIANT plate of ribs and chicken wings and chips (very healthy, I know) for only 14 dollars! It was so nice to eat meat...it's so expensive to eat meat I just have basically become a vegetarian again like I usually do at Wooster (although at Wooster it's more about the meat just not being edible). But it was so good! Afterwards we got dessert at Brunetti's, also one of the absolute best cafe's I've been too. They sell these tiny cakes that are just beautiful, so you don't have to buy an entire cake to get your fix. So delicious. All of the cakes looked like pieces of art.
Yesterday was also a ton of fun, I actually was super productive in the afternoon and got the first and second drafts of an essay due on Monday done in two hours, so I was able to go out to dinner with my friend at the Pancake Parlor. We had a buy one get one free coupon, so we both got a big serving of pancakes for only 5 dollars each! To make it even better, while we were eating, we both got called by our work and was told to not come in that night. I think it was my good karma for getting so much done that day and going to class (which no one else seemed to do!) So to celebrate, we took our other friend out to a place called Perseverance, where it was 90's night and they were playing a bunch of 90s songs. I couldn't even leave to go to the bathroom all night because I wanted to dance to EVERY SINGLE SONG. Which we did, and ended up dancing until 3 in the morning when they closed. So much fun!
Lastly today I switched up the pace by heading out with my roommate and her two friends to go to Carlton Gardens, the gardens in my suburb, since they apparently were having some sort of farmers market. The farmers market ended up not happening, but we had fun just walking around the absolutely beautiful gardens and found this cute diner down where our orientation hotel was. Now I'm just waiting until I work tonight, which hopefully is a while so I can help pay for my trip to Brisbane (which i leave for in a week and a half!!).
But my last couple of days have been so much fun! On Thursday I went out to eat with 8 Arcadia people at this restaurant called Universal.
It was this adorable place on Lygon St that my friend had a coupon for 30% off, so he actually treated us all to dinner there. I got this GIANT plate of ribs and chicken wings and chips (very healthy, I know) for only 14 dollars! It was so nice to eat meat...it's so expensive to eat meat I just have basically become a vegetarian again like I usually do at Wooster (although at Wooster it's more about the meat just not being edible). But it was so good! Afterwards we got dessert at Brunetti's, also one of the absolute best cafe's I've been too. They sell these tiny cakes that are just beautiful, so you don't have to buy an entire cake to get your fix. So delicious. All of the cakes looked like pieces of art.
Yesterday was also a ton of fun, I actually was super productive in the afternoon and got the first and second drafts of an essay due on Monday done in two hours, so I was able to go out to dinner with my friend at the Pancake Parlor. We had a buy one get one free coupon, so we both got a big serving of pancakes for only 5 dollars each! To make it even better, while we were eating, we both got called by our work and was told to not come in that night. I think it was my good karma for getting so much done that day and going to class (which no one else seemed to do!) So to celebrate, we took our other friend out to a place called Perseverance, where it was 90's night and they were playing a bunch of 90s songs. I couldn't even leave to go to the bathroom all night because I wanted to dance to EVERY SINGLE SONG. Which we did, and ended up dancing until 3 in the morning when they closed. So much fun!
Lastly today I switched up the pace by heading out with my roommate and her two friends to go to Carlton Gardens, the gardens in my suburb, since they apparently were having some sort of farmers market. The farmers market ended up not happening, but we had fun just walking around the absolutely beautiful gardens and found this cute diner down where our orientation hotel was. Now I'm just waiting until I work tonight, which hopefully is a while so I can help pay for my trip to Brisbane (which i leave for in a week and a half!!).
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Day 69
I am officially finished with my midsemester genetics test! Two weeks worth of studying came down to today, where I finished the exam in an easy forty minutes. It wasn't exactly centered on what I had expected, but I was right to think that I should memorize basically everything she taught us down to the examples. Now I don't want to think about lac operons or whether GAL4 is a recessive activator or a dominant repressor until finals! Which luckily enough, I don't have to!
This is just a continuation of my good days that I've been having. Last night I was able to go out to dinner with a family friend and it was so much fun! (And i'm not just saying that because she will without a doubt be reading this at some point haha). I'm so glad I discovered the hidden gem of Los Amantes in Fitzroy, especially now that I know it's so close! My friend and I ended up walking right past it because MapQuest lead us astray into a completely different suburb, adding about 40 minutes onto our walk, but the food was worth it! Apparently it's really authentic mexican food, as told by one of the girls there who spent her summer studying in Chile. Delicious!
As much fun as going out last night was, I cannot WAIT to spend a night in for the first time in a week. I just want to wear sweatpants and watch my amazing Australian television shows and do nothing all night. Which I definitely think I deserve.
This is just a continuation of my good days that I've been having. Last night I was able to go out to dinner with a family friend and it was so much fun! (And i'm not just saying that because she will without a doubt be reading this at some point haha). I'm so glad I discovered the hidden gem of Los Amantes in Fitzroy, especially now that I know it's so close! My friend and I ended up walking right past it because MapQuest lead us astray into a completely different suburb, adding about 40 minutes onto our walk, but the food was worth it! Apparently it's really authentic mexican food, as told by one of the girls there who spent her summer studying in Chile. Delicious!
As much fun as going out last night was, I cannot WAIT to spend a night in for the first time in a week. I just want to wear sweatpants and watch my amazing Australian television shows and do nothing all night. Which I definitely think I deserve.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Day 67
So today started off with me being depressed about life and kind of in a slump, and ended with me feeling fabulous. It's wonders what a best friend can do. I also performed my first mammal dissection ever!! Okay, so it was mice, but I still dissected five of them! We had to cut them completely open and remove the heart, lungs, liver, intestine, etc. whilst measuring everything and taking accurate notes and all that boring stuff BUT while many of the other people in the class became grossed out, I was absolutely fine! My lecturer was making fun of me because I, being myself, talked to the mouse throughout the entire procedure, while my Australian lab partner (who actually is a humanities major) was getting squeamish from all the blood that was accumulating on our dissection board. But this gave me huge hope for the future! If I can open up a mouse and remove its organs like it's nothing, maybe I can eventually open up a cat or dog as well! ...but hopefully I won't be removing all their organs on a regular basis...
On a similar note, I started looking up veterinary internships for next summer and have started writing out essays for a few! I plan on applying to as many as I possibly can, wherever I possibly can, and see what happens. I figure if I apply to 50 I might get 1?
I'm also still sick, so I decided to look up every wonderfully healthy food I could and bought pretty much all of them I could afford. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with a sweet potato with no oven, but maybe I'll get creative.
On a similar note, I started looking up veterinary internships for next summer and have started writing out essays for a few! I plan on applying to as many as I possibly can, wherever I possibly can, and see what happens. I figure if I apply to 50 I might get 1?
I'm also still sick, so I decided to look up every wonderfully healthy food I could and bought pretty much all of them I could afford. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with a sweet potato with no oven, but maybe I'll get creative.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Day 65
Today all I did was study genetics and go to work. Is this really what I came to Australia to do? It seems all I do nowadays is study and work until closing. At least today I made 15 dollars in tips and I am going to make a ton of money when I get the paycheck for this week. I suppose this job is allowing me to do all the trips I didn't think I'd be able to do and more, but it really is a pain having to work every night of the weekend and miss out on doing fun things throughout the semester. Ah well, it could be worse. Tomorrow will be the same exact thing, so I won't even bother posting.
On a brighter note, I tried an Aussie pizza for the first time tonight! It's just a pizza with egg fluffed up on top and topped with ham. I gotta say, aussie pizza is good! It sounds weird from my description, but it looks really cool!
On a brighter note, I tried an Aussie pizza for the first time tonight! It's just a pizza with egg fluffed up on top and topped with ham. I gotta say, aussie pizza is good! It sounds weird from my description, but it looks really cool!
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