Welcome to Melbourne!

Saturday, February 14th, 2015

Hey peoples!

I wrote this blog yesterday, the 13^th but then was too lazy to go downstairs to connect to the free wifi in order to post it. I am currently sitting in the Melbourne airport waiting to fly to Brisbane and then Townsville.

P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Friday, February 13th, 2015

Today we finished up our lessons in Queenscliff and then got on the bus and headed back to Melbourne which is where we’re staying tonight. I am currently writing from my 12^th floor hotel room balcony while a lovely thunderstorm is taking place. No worries, I have a roof over my head and I’m sitting close to the doors. We arrived here around 2pm and dropped off the University of Melbourne students.  Then after dropping our bags off in the hotel, the leaders took us on a 45min walking tour of the city. It’s an amazing city, let me tell you. What I really enjoy about it is that you know those creepy alleyways you’re supposed to avoid in other cities? Well here that’s where all the life is. There are cafes and restaurants and shops and so much more. They also embrace graffiti as an art form here (when it’s on abandoned buildings of course). There are entire alleyways filled with graffiti. It’s quite the sight. The city in general is a mix of old buildings with all sorts of different architecture and then there’s a ton of new very modern buildings as well. After the walking tour I went with the group to find some food. After eating, I got tired of their gossip and talk of partying and getting drunk tonight so I decided to take on the city by myself for a while. So far that has been the best experience I've had here. Just feeling comfortable enough with myself to wander the city on my own and to be able to do my own thing was so liberating. I spent most of my time taking pictures in Federation Square and walking along the river. When I decided the storm was getting close I headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately I now have 4 roommates. We have an apartment, two bedrooms with two not even twin sized beds and a pullout in the living room. They all plan to go out and get drunk tonight even when we have a 7am call time (may I just also mention that orientation is supposed to be dry). This is another thing I love about Australian culture. Because they have been exposed to alcohol from a very young age, the trend of going out to get drunk isn't nearly as common here. It’s actually looked down upon. They drink responsibly here and I greatly respect that. On a final thought, the hardest thing culturally for me so far has been walking on the correct side of the sidewalk. Like in the United States, people walk on the same sides of the sidewalk as they drive on the street. In the United States that’s the right side of the street/sidewalk. For Australia, it’s the left side of the street/sidewalk. It’s been a very difficult habit for me to break, though I think I’m getting a bit better. Because of the storm I think I’ll be staying in for the rest of the evening. I need some rest and I saw everything I wanted to see when I was out on my own.

Hope everyone’s doing well stateside! Later peoples!