So, remember that time before I left for Australia and I kept saying that I would write a ton for my blog? So far, I'd have to say that I've failed that miserably. So here we are (finally) with installment number two of Sydney's Aussie Adventures! I want to go ahead and apologise for taking so long to write a second entry. I had a lot going on during the first bit being here, and then once I settled down enough to write something, I didn't really know where to begin. But here I am, so we'll see how this goes.

Before I start into a sequence of events that have happened, I want to go ahead and post about how weird everything is here, mostly in regards to measurements. They use celsius instead of fahrenheit, kilometres instead of miles, kilojoules instead of calories for food. Their phone numbers are spaced differently, their classes are scheduled very, very differently, their money looks different ($1 and $2 coins are popular. Still getting used to that), their serving sizes are in grams instead of tablespoons, for example, and the list goes on and on and on. Some of it is fairly easy to get used to, but I still have no idea what 20 celsius would feel like. I'll get there eventually, though. Moving on!

I suppose the last time I wrote I was still staying at the hostel Somewhere to Stay (wow that seems so long ago). Nonetheless, my week at the hostel was very similar for each day. I would usually wake up around 8 or 9 in the morning, go into the heart of the city, walk around, eat lunch, walk around and window shop some more, head over to the state library for their free wifi, and then go back to Somewhere to Stay, where I would usually go to sleep by 10. I was very productive that first week; I set up my bank account, got a cell phone, got a bus card (and learned to use public transport. Wow Alabama did not prepare me for that), and found somewhere to live! I got to the hostel on a Saturday and moved into my new house the following Saturday. That within itself was quite an ordeal. I had to go pick up my key at the rental property office, so I packed up my suitcase and left it in the luggage room at Somewhere to Stay so I could come back and pick it up instead of lugging it to the office and THEN to my new house. So that works out fine. I ride the public busses for the first time, which worked alright, picked up my key and signed some paperwork, and then went back to Somewhere to Stay for my luggage. Now, I will generally simplify most of the things in this blog post since I have so much to write about, but this story is worth telling.

I had already worked out a plan of what I was going to do to get myself and all of my things to the house. I was going to take the free Somewhere to Stay shuttle to the cultural centre, walk the .8 mile to the QUT Garden's Point campus (because they have a free shuttle to the Kelvin Grove campus, which is next to my house), and then walk from the Kelvin Grove to the house. Sounds like a wonderful plan, right? Well it made it a little more difficult carrying a humongous suitcase for almost a mile through a very crowded city to get to the campus. But I sucked it up and walked there anyway. So I'm there waiting at that campus to campus bus stop for probably 15 minutes before I decide to look at the time table to see when it's coming and the first words at the top are "Bus 391 Gardens Point to Kelvin Grove. Monday through Friday." Today is Saturday. The bus doesn't run today. So I'm feeling rather stupid, but I walk over into the campus and pull out my laptop to find the nearest bus stop to take me to my house. This is already difficult since I've only used the busses once and I don't know which bus stop will take me to my house. I utilise multiple tools, such as the bus website, google maps, bus maps, etc, and finally find out which bus stop will get me there. I remember that the city has a free loop serves that goes around the heart of the city, and the stop I need is on that route, so I look up where the closest free loop stop is and carry my suitcase over to it. So I once again, stand there for 10 or 15 minutes; no bus. So I again check the time table and realise that this bus also only runs Monday to Friday. You would think I would have learned from my last experience to check the time table first, but apparently it takes awhile to train me. So instead of taking that bus, I just lug my heavy suitcase back the way I came for another .8 miles to the bus stop. Now mind you, wheeling a suitcase sounds like it would be fairly easy, but this thing was a monstrosity in both size and weight and proved rather difficult. But I finally get there and immediately check the time table, see that it runs on Saturday, and that the next bus comes at 3:40. It's now 2:50. I missed the last bus by about 10 minutes, and I now have to wait for 50 minutes for the next bus. This would be fine if I didn't have a huge suitcase and backpack, because I could have just walked around in some nearby shops, but it would prove difficult with all of my things, and I was so afraid I was going to miss the bus. So I wait. For 50 minutes. And finally catch the bus to my stop, where I then have to awkwardly roll my suitcase down an unnaturally steep hill to the house. After literally about 2 or 3 hours, I'm finally home.

The house is quite nice. The rooms are all fully furnished and very cute. My room has a yellow bedspread (my favourite color!) and the kitchen has a red painted fridge, which is great. There are pictures up on my facebook of the house, so feel free to take a look! The house is wood though, which is I suppose bad in some ways. The house doesn't have heating and air conditioning, but thankfully the temperature here in Brisbane is really good for it being winter (generally around 55 to 60 at night and 75 during the day). But with the house being wood, if it does get cold at night, you really feel it. That's only happened one or two nights so far, so I'm grateful for that. Wood is also bad because you can hear almost everything going on in the house. I'm on the bottom floor of a two story house, so I can hear whenever someone is walking around upstairs, if they're talking, etc. I also have someone's room right next to mine, so I can hear whenever they play music or talk. It honestly doesn't really bother me as much about other people making noise, but I have been much more conscious about what noise I'm producing, such as how loud I can play music before it bothers other people in the house, etc. But I really do like it here. There are four other people living in the house, and they're all lovely and the house is only a 10 or 15 minute walk from the campus. I really am very lucky to be staying here.

Well, I think that's all I'll write about for now. I've already had my orientation week and first week of classes, but I feel like I've written so much in this post already and I know that I have a ton to write about my orientation, classes, and housemates, among other things, so I think I'll save that for now and post again in the next couple of days.

I hope everyone at home is doing well! I miss all of you and love you dearly.
:) Until next time.


Love, Sydney