There's always something waiting to kill you in Australia

Great white sharks, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, jellyfish, and kangaroos. All of these things are good at killing other things, and Australia seems to have the most deadly species of each. We've been warned about brown snakes and red-back spiders around Campus. Apparently, a brown snake will chase you down instead of slither away if you come across one, and a red-back spider (a close relative of the Black Widow) will hospitalize you for a while. If you should, god forbid, decide to go for a swim, be wary of crocodiles, jellyfish and octopuses (octopi? octopus'?) which will bite, sting, and squirt you into into the emergency room. Seemingly harmless kangaroos will charge at you if you're unfortunate enough to tick them off, which is a problem because they occasionally hop through the residential part of campus. And not to mention the drop bears.... geez.

No wonder Steve Irwin always had something to do down here.

Gimme a Grogbog

After the RSO Punch Party the other night (drinking, dancing, throwing drinks at each other, etc), a group of us headed out to a locally known late-nite food establishment called Checkers. That sounds too glamorous... it's a trailer they cook food in and serve it to you out the window. The upside of this is that they're open really late and the food they serve is amazing.

I've been told since I got here to get a Grogbog from Checkers, so when I finally had the chance I did. In fact I had two.


A Grogbog is a big hot dog bun with fries, bacon, cheese, and gravy on it. It tastes amazing. It also takes about a week off of your lifespan. Checkers has another meal which they call the "Cardiac Arrest" which costs $15. That's next on the list of things I've gotta eat.

Aussies sell beer at Parliament House

I have no way of knowing whether or not there are cafeterias in the United States Capitol building, but I do know that the Australian Parliament house does, and they sell beer there. I get the feeling that this wouldn't go over well with some members of Congress if this were to happen in the States.

We're in the midst of RSO week down here at the University of Canberra. That means that each night, the Residential Students Organization has an activity for the people living on campus. If this were to happen at UT, it would be met with marginal interest at best and would probably include such activities as "Library Orientation and FREE PIZZA!" or "Campus Cleanup and FREE PIZZA!" Instead, the Aussies decided to arrange events that we'd go to and enjoy, such as "Beer Bingo" and "The Punch Party." I might have mentioned before that alcohol consumption seems to be engrained into the culture down here, although they always emphasize the importance of responsible drinking.

The exchange kids (there are about 30 of us, mostly American and Canadian), were recently introduced to "Goon," which is cheap boxed wine, reminiscent of Franzia, but cheaper. It equals out to be about five bucks per four-liter box, and is plenty worth the money, considering the price of beer is outrageous (25 bucks for a case of cheap beer, and, get this, 17 bucks for a six pack of Corona). Beer at the bar is even worse, so it's pretty common to "Pre-Game" for most things in the dorms.

Speaking of games, a group of us decided that we should go catch a football game. Understand that "football" can pass as any one of five sports down here, I'll try to explain. There is Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL (also known as Aussie Rules), soccer, and "Gridiron" (American Football). We wound up at a Rugby League game, because it's in season, and let me tell you, those guys are tough. No pads, full contact and very few penalties called.

Oh, and classes started this week. The atmosphere places more emphasis on individual responsibility than in the States. I have been given the course outline and assignments to be completed by the end of the semester, and it's my responsibility to get it done. Also, we're graded, or "assessed" only a few times per semester. Here's an example of how my grade will be figured for one of my classes:
Project #1 - 30%
Project #2 - 50%
Participation - 10%
Attendance - 10%
I guess I won't be procrastinating and sluffing off projects that are worth half of my final grade. Although most of my lectures are videotaped and online... I like being a pass/fail student.

One question I get quite a bit is "How did you wind up in Australia?" and it's one that I have not been able to answer very eloquently, as I don't completely know myself. I do know that I wanted to do something fun and exciting before graduating, but I didn't know what. My brother, Adam, took a semester off to hike the Appalachian Trail, which was cool, but not exactly something I was looking to do. Study abroad was something that had been brewing in the back of my head since my friend Jack Jenkins told me about his experience in New Zealand. I knew it was something I wanted to do, but wasn't sure that I would ever follow through with it. Study abroad wasn't something I wanted to let slip through my fingers, so I made a point of getting the paperwork together and applying. I think my parents were as surprised as I was when I told them I'd been accepted into the exchange program.

I would stay and type some more, but I think I've written enough as it is, plus its Beer Bingo and Two-for-One drink night.

Qantas gives you socks. Sydney gives you chills. Canberra gives you pneumonia.

So I didn't end up sitting with either of my predictions. On all my flights (Knoxville-Chicago, Chicago-Los Angeles, LA-Sydney) I sat with guys, none of whom were overweight. Phew. My four-hour Chicago-LA flight was not an enjoyable experience. Every seat was filled, there were babies crying, and we flew through a huge cloud bank almost the entire way. Needless to say I was not looking forward to another 14 hours of that on the way to Sydney. It WAS painfully long, but I learned an important lesson in the LA terminal: Talk to people.

Seriously, do it. I met two other study abroad students that were Australia bound and we wasted away our layover chatting and walking around the disappointingly sparse international terminal. Turns out that one of them, Madeleiline, was also going to be at the University of Canberra, and the other one, Robin, was sitting right in front of me all the way to Australia. New friends, coupled with the fact that there was an empty seat beside me and the hospitality of Qantas Airlines made for a bearable flight. Besides getting two full and surprisingly decent meals, the airline gives you a little pouch with a lanyard, toothbrush, eye mask, and socks. I'm not sure what made them decide on socks, but I've got a pair now.

I mentioned in my first post that I would probably forget something important. Well, I did. I left my glasses on my desk at home, in their case, ready to be packed. I suppose I'll be surviving on contacts for a while. Good thing I've got enough.

My flight schedule worked out so that I ended up having a full day in Sydney, which is nice because I've decided that it is the cleanest and most beautiful city I've ever been to. It is, in all seriousness, breathtaking. I didn't even spend any money on tours or ferries and had a fantastic time walking around downtown, to the harbor bridge, Opera House, and the Royal Botanical Gardens. On top of that, it was 70 degrees and sunny, and it's the middle of winter down here.

It is, in all seriousness, breathtaking.

Arrival in Canberra was not as spectacular as I'd hoped. It was rainy and cold, and reminded me of Knoxville in November. I checked in, moved in and then walked to the mall which is about five minutes away. I needed basic things like bedding and toiletries, but wasn't expecting to pay as much for them as I did. At first I thought it was my math with the exchange rate, but everything here is pretty expensive. I paid 35 Australian Dollars for a set of sheets, and 54 for a quilt. Crap. This is going to be more expensive than I thought.

There was, however, a free barbeque dinner tonight for arriving students, where I met people from Kuala Lumpur, China, England, Mexico, Lithuania, Sweden, Japan, Canada and some other Americans, including Madeleine who I'd met at LAX. Everyone hung out and got to know each other, and then watched the rugby game (Australia vs. South Africa) while the Aussies who were there explained everything about the game to us. Part of our "orientation" the next day was to go bowling with one of the Senior Residents (like an RA), who then took us to the bar, where they gave the new foreigners a couple free jugs (pitchers) of beer. I doubt that would go over well in the States.

It's just been five days since I left, but I've made lots of interesting new friends and been to lots of new places. Although things will only settle down from here, I am excited to see what the rest of the week has in store for me.

I was told the other day that my accent wasn't "that bad," for an American. No worries mate.

Tennestralia - Pre Departure Notes

Passport, check. Visa, check. Plane ticket, check. I think I've got everything taken care of, but I'm probably wrong.

This pre-departure period of my life is driving me nuts. I'm anxious, scared, and excited, and I bet all of those emotions are common.

The worst part?

I really don't have much to do these days, and my boredom allows plenty of time to think about who I'll end up sitting with on the 14-hour flight (hopefully a cute college girl, but probably an overweight software engineer). I also pass time by thinking about what I'm going to do with my 18-hour layover in Sydney, how much stuff I can fit in my bag and what my housing situation is going to look like. At this point I don't know what or where I'll be eating .

None of this bothers me, really, but I would rather relax and not have any expectations at all. I think I'm ready to go. Knoxville is hot these days, and it's going to be mid-winter in the southern hemisphere. I'd really like to check out the ski slopes down there, partially because I want to do it, partially because I want to say I've done it, and partially to make my brother Adam and uncle Jack jealous.

I realize this is a rather short first entry, but I wanted to introduce myself before I left. Feel free to facebook me if you've got any thoughts, questions, or ideas about where I should go and what I should see.