Environment Club Trip to Wildlife Sanctuary

This past weekend I went on a trip with the Enviro club at Deakin. I had joined the club and when I saw on facebook that they were doing a trip to a wildlife sanctuary, I definitely wanted to join. I had to get up bright and early on Saturday morning because we were meeting on campus at 8:00 a.m. to leave. We were only on the road for 20 minutes before a person's car broke down. We pulled off to a side street and had to rearrange people in cars before we could head off again. The person with the broken down car stayed behind to wait for some help. He met us later in the day. We took a pretty scenic route past an area called Kinglake. It was pretty but there had been bushfires there a year before, which was still evident. Many of the large trees were black and growth was starting to come back. But it did look pretty spooky. It was also foggy too. We made a short stop in Kinglake for groceries for our lunches. Then we headed off to our destination, which was a farm in a very hilly area. It was really pretty. We stayed with a couple named Trent and Vicky. They were nice enough to let us stay in their home. After we had lunch I was in the group that headed off to the wildlife sanctuary for the day. When we showed up we were able to go see the animals first before the hard work began. The sanctuary was called The Haven and it wasn't open to the public. They had all kinds of animals there, and I was able to see native birds, along with wombats and kangaroos. After we went and saw the animals the work began. I was able to help clean out a shed, and then I helped a group carry tree limbs to the avery for the birds. After a few hours of work we went to the back of their property were there was a really pretty river and we hung out there for a bit. That evening the club did a BBQ, which was good. BBQs in Australia tend to have sausage, compared to hotdogs and hamburgers. That night we hung out by a fire. We also went spotlighting for wildlife, but we didn't see anything and Trent said it was probably because of the noise. That night I got to sleep outside on a pull-out mattress on their veranda, while other people slept on the balcony upstairs and some people slept in the loft upstairs. Luckily I was under something because it started raining during the night and people from the balcony had to move.

The next morning I was woken up bright and early at 6 a.m. This was because a group of people were getting up to go take a hike to the top of the mountain to see the sun rise. Since I was woken up I decided to go with them. Man was it a morning workout! The hill was very steep and it was a long walk up to the top. It was pretty exhausting. And it was cloudy so we didn't get to see much of a sunrise, but it was really pretty up at the top of the hill. When we were going back down we also saw some kangaroo going through the property. We then had a big breakfast, which included some homemade jam, which was delicious. We then went and drove to a neighbor's house and saw a house that was completely sustainable through solar power. It was also a really pretty house, even though it wasn't very big. It was also sitting on a pretty piece of property. The house was doughnut shaped so there were windows everywhere looking out onto the gorgeous view, and they also had a pond right in front of the house. It was really cool to see. I was in the group that day that was going to do planting on Trent and Vicky's property. It was a lot of work. We were planting on a really steep hill, which was really hard. It was a few hours but we were able to get a good amount of plants in. It was exhausting but rewarding to see all the work we had done. That afternoon we then headed back to campus. The trip was definitely a fun experience, and I'm really glad I went.

Cheers,

Brittany

Christian Union Retreat

This past weekend I went on a retreat with the Christian Union group from Deakin. We went to Phillip Island and stayed in a vacation home. We had a late dinner and played some "getting to know you" games, including 'never have i ever'. We also went on a late walk on the beach. That was a lot of fun. I was able to talk to people to get to know them better. The stars were very beautiful too. A few of the Australians also pointed out some of their constellations. Then we had the adventure or trying to find our way back. We had taken a small path to get onto the beach and couldn't find it on our way back because it was so dark. We got back eventually though.

We had an early start at 8am on Saturday for breakfast. After breakfast we had a discussion. The theme of the weekend was called 'The Great Exchange'. During the weekend we talked about how we could exchange our bad ways for God's Will. We also had morning tea. We did not drink tea but had something called cordial. They come in different flavors such as fruit cup or banana mango. It is pretty much a concentrated juice that you add to water. It's pretty much flavored sugar water. It was good though. We also had cookies (called biscuits in Australia). We also had some really good BBQ for lunch and then it was beach time! A group of us headed to the beach. I played cricket again on the beach and also played some ultimate frisbee (which an American had taught them the year before). We also played in the ocean a bit. That afternoon we had group discussions. The one I went to was on bible reading, which I found interesting. That night we did some prayer and singing and then hung out and played games. There was also a chocolate fountain for dessert!

Sunday morning was another early morning. We had our last discussion and talked about where we go from here. We were going to have fish and chips on the beach but the weather was looking a little iffy, so we had it in the backyard instead. It was also someone's birthday that day, so there was chocolate cake for dessert. After that was the ride home, which I slept most of the way through. I was so tired after that long weekend, but I did have a lot of fun. I was able to meet new people and focus on God.

Cheers,

Brittany

Birthday in Australia!

Tuesday was the 16th of March, which was my birthday! I don't know if I would have described myself as really excited because it didn't even feel like it was the 16th. I went out to lunch with Becky at a place called Brunetti. I walked in and they had a whole case of chocolates and cheesecakes and so many other desserts! I got a sandwich, fruit tart, and a raspberry granita. It was delicious. After that I went to class. It wasn't very interesting but I wasn't going to skip it. Later that night people from the classical house (the house in front of me) threw me a party! So nice of them. There were balloons, and some streamers, and a delicious cake. We all hung out and had a lot of fun. It was a great birthday.

Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day. I don't think it is as big of a deal in Australia. I didn't really see any Australians wearing green. I went to the Christian Union meeting, which was good. I'm going on a retreat with that group this weekend, which I'm looking forward to. I also went to a BBQ club meeting. Later that day I went to the Enviro club meeting. They had snacks and sandwiches to eat, which were good. They talked about what is going to be going on this year. I signed up to go to the retreat to a wildlife sanctuary, which I'm looking forward to. That night I didn't do anything crazy, just hung out with Ali, from Nevada. I had met her my first day on the trip from the airport to housing and I've seen her again a couple of times, and Josh invited her to Australia's Got Talent, and the two of us decided we should hang out. It was nice just to relax. We were going to watch a movie but the dvd player didn't work, so we just watched what was on tv.

Not a whole lot happened today. I went to my Australia New World Nation class. I'm a little nervous about the paper in there. I feel that the professor hasn't explained the assignments very thoroughly, and the essay questions seem pretty broad and a little hard to understand. But I think I understand the assignment a little bit better now so hopefully it won't be too difficult once I try to start it. I went to lunch with Christina today at a place on campus. That was fun too. I really enjoy hanging out with people, I just now need to find a balance between work and play, and try to get my assignments done in time. I'll figure it out. I'm trying not to worry too much about it. I'll post about the Christian Union retreat when I get back. I'm excited! Hopefully I'll get to meet more Australians to hang out with.

Cheers,

Brittany

St. Kilda Beach

On Sunday I made a trip to St. Kilda beach with Christina and her boyfriend Jamie. The weather was beautiful and so was the beach. The only thing was that when we were on the tram Christina and I realized that we forgot our cameras! I was so sad. When we made it to the beach we walked over to Luna park and walked by booths that were set-up along a walkway. There was jewelry, clothes, paintings, and other cool stuff being sold. After that we went and sat on the beach and ate lunch. We then took a walk along the pier. We also saw some giant jellyfish in the water! That got rid of my desire to go swimming. When we were walking back toward the beach a little kid starting yelling that someone's pole caught a fish. The poles were just leaning on the pier and nobody came to claim them. So Jamie went over and reeled in the fish. A group of people started to collect and someone told Jamie that he should be careful or the fish might bite his finger off (which wasn't true). It was pretty funny. We then walked through the streets and went to the botanical gardens. It was so pretty there! After that we went a store and we all got gelato, which was really good. It was a fun day.

On Monday I decided that I wanted to go back to St. Kilda, since I wanted to take some pictures. I packed a lunch and headed over. I went back to the botanical gardens first so I could get some reading done for school. I met an interesting Australian guy in the park. He was an older man that started to feed the pigeons and he told me that he was originally from Africa. He reminded me of Crocodile Dundee a little bit, minus the hat. After that I went back to the beach to take pictures. I even went back to the pier. They have a wildlife refuge over there for some penguins and water rats ( I can't remember the name, rakali I think). When I was walking around a couple of people saw a penguin hiding the the rocks, and I was able to get a look at it! It was cute. That night I went to a fish and chips event with the Christian Union club. That was a lot of fun. They got fish and chips from a restaurant and we carpooled to the beach. I met a couple of cool girls named Amy and Rachel, who are both Australian. I ended up playing some cricket on the beach too! That was fun. I also saw a opossum at my house that night too! And Australian opossums are cute. They look more like lemurs than American opossums. I had a lot of fun hanging out at the beach. Hopefully I'll be able to go back again.

Cheers,

Brittany

Australia's Got Talent

Friday I only had one class, Wildlife Ecology. It was a two hour lecture, so it felt really long. But I think the professor tried to keep it interesting. He tried to get students to ask questions but nobody asked any. It was a lot of information in two hours. After I got out of class at 2 I met up with Christina to go to the BBQ club. Apparently BBQ is really popular in Australia, and I thought it would be a fun way to get food and meet people. When Christina and I showed up it looked like nobody was there. We saw a couple of the people that were in charge but nobody else was really around. And they had trouble getting the BBQ to turn on. Half an hour later they brought in another BBQ and started grilling. Christina and I started talking to an Australian girl but it wasn't long before she had to go to class so hopefully I will see her again. That night I ended up watching a movie called Water with Kelsey in the house in front of me. Today (Saturday) was a fun day. Josh from my house received some free tickets for Australia's Got Talent. He saw a commercial bout getting free tickets so he went online and was able to get some. I'm assuming they give away free tickets so they can fill up the audience. Either way a free event sounds good to me. It was pretty cool being a part of the audience for a tv show. We stood in line for awhile before they even opened the doors and we were able to get seats pretty close to the front. They had a guy come out that was supposed to keep the audience entertained and he also told us things to do. They took different audience shots before anyone even came out. We had to clap, stand up and clap, look wowed. It was interesting. We sat down around 1 and it wasn't until about 1:45 that the first act came on. There were definitely some interesting acts. There was a father and son duo that we ended up meeting at the end of the show. They were really good and got on to the next round. There were also a couple of other good singers and a cool dancer, and a girl that did a dance/trapeze act. There was also a square dancing act. It was fun to watch. It went until a little after 5 and then we headed to go to the footy game. We stopped to get out tickets and then went to get something to eat. We went to a place called Nando's that served chicken. I got a chicken BBQ sandwich that I thought was good. After that we went to the footy game which was really crowded. This was a championship game. When I've been before I've been able to sit in the first level but because this was such a big game we had to go to the third level! I ended up leaving the game early with a friend because I didn't want to have to compete with the crowd to try to get out. I had a fun day. Sorry but I don't have any pictures to go along with this day because we weren't supposed to bring cameras to the tv show and I wasn't sure how strict they would be about that.

Cheers,

Brittany

First Week of Classes

Well, the hail storm was a pretty bad one. The city had floods and it created a lot of damage. Supposedly one of the worst storms in 100 years. I didn't do too much over the weekend because the weather wasn't that great. Pretty much hanging out with people and watching movies. I ended up going to Chadstone mall on Sunday with Becky. It was a really big mall. I ended up not getting anything. We didn't stay in the mall for too long because the stores closed at 5pm. I'm used to the stores closing at 9pm at the mall at home. On Monday I didn't have any classes so I went to K-mart to get school supplies. Later in the day I went with Stephanie to the grocery store, so I could be set for the week when it came to food. On Tuesday I went to my ecotourism class. I think the subject is going to be interesting but there definitely seems to be work involved. I don't have an exam for that class but we have three assignments that I think are going to be a lot of work. That night people from my house and the house in front of us watched The Notebook on tv. I also got a tv and a minifridge in my room, since my room is a double room. I'm pretty happy about that. On Wednesday I had three classes. The first class was a lecture for wildlife ecology. I think ecology will be interesting but I'm sad that there isn't a lab component to this class. My second class was a tutorial for Australia Today: An introduction to Australia. It is a class just for international students. I think it will be a class in which I will learn a lot about Australia, so I'm really excited about that. My third class of the day was the lecture for the Australia Today class. I also went to a meeting for the club Christian Union. I'm excited to join clubs so I can meet more Australians and become friends with them. I was a little bit nervous but I did say hi to some people. I'm definitely going back to the meeting next week. Later in the day I walked back to campus for an Environmental club to realize when I got there that the meeting is next week. Oh well. Later that night I went to Einstein's, which every Wednesday becomes the bar on campus. I had a good time but it was really packed, probably because it was the first Einstein's bar night of the semester. Today I had a tutorial and a lecture for Australia New World Nation, which is sort of like a history course. I feel a little bit behind because I know nothing about Australian history. I'm taking the class so I'm hoping to learn a lot more. Well that's all for now.

Cheers,

Brittany

Adventure in the City

On Thursday I went into the city with two Beckys that live in the house on the corner (one is from Canada and one from England). We were originally going to go to the Queen Victoria Market but when I checked online it said that the market closed at 2 on Thursdays. So we decided to go into the city instead. We just started walking around. We found an art exhibition that was really cool. It was free and there was some interactive art. There were some hanging plants that if you touched them they started to make noise. Then there was a screen that if you put yourself against it it would take a picture of you, like a scanner would. Then there was a typewriter that when you started typing the words changed into figures and started to eat the other letters. In all of the art galleries that I've been to you're not supposed to touch the artwork, so this was definitely different, but really cool. After that we went walking around by the river. Then Becky (from England) took us into laneways (which are similar to alleys) but there were cute little restaurants and stores in them. We walked into a couple of cute clothing stores but the clothes were a little pricey. For dinner Becky (from England) took us to an authentic little Indian restaurant that was in one of the laneways. I ordered the three curry meal with rice and a tortilla like bread for $10. I got eggplant curry, beef curry, and chicken curry. The food was spicy but I really liked it. I'm going to have to go to that place again. I also got a mango smoothie there too, which was really glad. Melbourne is a very multicultural city, so there are always new things to try. After we got back I ended up watching a Bollywood movie called Bride and Prejudice. In case you don't know, a Bollywood movie is a movie from India, so I felt like it was a good movie to end the day, since I had just tried Indian food. Friday was not very exciting. I went to an orientation thing in the morning but it was meant more for long-term international students. But I did get a free lunch. I went over to Christina's house for spaghetti and hung out with her for awhile. It was nice to have a night in which I didn't spend any money. This morning I went to the store to get some more milk, and it was really bright and sunny. Becky (from England) and I were planning on going to the botanical gardens. When we were ready to go it was looking cloudy so we decided to go to Chadstone mall instead. We didn't make it to the bus stop before hail started to come down. Then the rain came, so we turned around and went back to our houses. That was definitely interesting, since I didn't know that Melbourne had hail storms.

Cheers,

Brittany

O Week continued

Tuesday night was the beach party, which was a lot of fun. There was dancing and drinking. I didn't drink too much though. I just had one cranberry vodka, which was good. There were some people there that were drunk though. I still had a good time. I don't think it was quite worth $25 just to get inside. I did meet an Australian guy that seemed really nice. I'm hoping to meet more Australians once school starts. The next day I went to the Melbourne zoo with some people in the house in front of me and from the house on the corner. It was an adventure because we weren't exactly sure how to get there. One person wrote down directions but we were switching from trams to trains so it was a little confusing. We didn't get there until 3. The zoo closes at 5 so we only had a couple of hours to see everything, and the zoo was really big. I was sad because we weren't able to see the baby elephant that was there. There were also some animals that weren't on display. But we were able to see the lions make some noises, which was cool. I also saw a platypus, and a red panda, but the red panda was up in the tree so he was kind of hard to see. We were able to see everything, even though it ended up being a little past 5 before we actually left. I had a good time though. After the zoo we went to Sophia's (an italian restaurant) for dinner. The food wasn't fantastic but it wasn't that expensive and the portions were very large, so I have leftovers, which is really nice. After that we went to one of the houses and watched a movie. It was called The Big Lebowski. It was funny, but different. But I enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Well that's all for now. I will post more later.

Cheers,

Brittany

After Lorne/Beginning of Orientation Week

Ok, so it has been a few days since my last post. I have been pretty busy and I'm now having some free time to sit down and type. On Thursday after the beach trip was orientation for international students. It was so overwhelming! I felt like a confused freshman all over again. I wasn't sure how their system for signing up for classes worked. I was able to get all of the classes I wanted and I have Mondays off! That will give me a long weekend. But I know a couple of people that only have class twice a week! Friday night I went out to an event coordinated through the ESAs (Exchange and Study Abroad Assistants). We went to Shanghai Dumpling House for dinner and then went to a karaoke bar. The restaurant was an experience. You could get an unlimited amount of food and it kept getting brought to the table, so you just ate as much as you want. But the service was not very good. It took quite a bit of time just to get a soda. It was something different. The karaoke bar was fun too. I didn't get any drinks and I just had water, along with my friend Christina. But as more people started to drink it was funny to watch them sing. Groups started to get up on stage and sing together. Saturday night I went to another footy game. I happened to catch a group of people that I had met. They happened to be on the tram when I got on. I tagged along with them to the game. It was fun again to watch. On Sunday was a BBQ for Burwood Student Living. People from the different houses came to the BBQ. I was able to meet someone who was Australian! Now I can say I have an Australian friend. I'm excited to meet more Australians when my classes start. Sunday night I watched a movie with in the house in front of me with some other people. We watched the Hurt Locker, which was a really good movie. Monday I had more orientation stuff to do. It felt pretty pointless. I felt that I was learning stuff I already learned freshman year of college. But there was free food at lunch and I walked around to the booths for the different clubs. I joined the Environment club and I'm planning on joining the BBQ club and probably a Christian club. Monday night there was an outside movie on campus. I went with some people from my house. The movie that was playing was Almost Famous, which was another good movie. That was a fun event, but it was really cold! It hadn't gotten really warm that day, and once the sun went down it definitely became cold. Well that's all for now. I'm sure as orientation week goes on I'll have more to post.

Cheers,

Brittany