Monday, February 17, 2014

Day Two

February 16th:

I met a lot of people! I probably cannot even remember all of there names. If I do, I will be impressed with myself. It's a good thing. I am making friends quickly. It's easy at this time of year, because while at home this is considered second semester, this is their first semester, so pretty much everyone is in the same boat as me when it comes to not knowing anyone. Now, I probably know over 40 people.

I wanted to spend my Sunday being productive because I knew on Monday I was going to be out with my Dad all day on the Great Ocean Drive, and Tuesday orientation week began. I got to read through some of the packet I got on move in day. I even caught up on my blog some, but the first thing I had to do was laundry. I forced myself out of bed before everyone else to get my laundry done before our free pancake breakfast at 9. While I was waiting, I couldn't help but go to the music room to try out the piano. I soon found out that the room isn't very sound proof. There's an air duct that connects the music room to one of the other public rooms, and it can sometimes be great background sound, and other times not. Some of the other girls that night during our free Subway dinner (once again vegetarians ate first), was asking about if anyone knew who the talented piano player ways that she heard that morning. I was flattered and a little embarrassed that more people than I thought had heard, but I didn't say a word about it being me.

There was supposed to be a group walk in the park, but the morning was rainy and chilly. We ended up doing a shopping run instead which was a good thing. I needed quite a lot more than I thought or hoped. A group of us took the bus. I sat a little apart from everyone on the way there while listening to some of the guys talk about scholarships and other financial things, but I got to know some of the group better as the spree went along. We went into Kmart for an hour, and stopped for lunch where I sat with two very nice Brazilian girls, Yasmim, and Paula, and we chatted about how the iced tea they bought was much different from what they were used to. I had meet Yasmim the day before. She was in my trivia group. I liked the fact that she is into musicals like me, and is a design student, which means she is my new shopping buddy!

The bus and other public transit in Melbourne is terrible, especially on Sunday because buses only come every hour, and they are often times late. You would thing that if you have to pay to ride the bus they would be better on time. Anyway, I left with one of the RA's, Corinne because she and I wanted to leave soon instead of sticking around for another hour. I discovered she likes dance like my, and she is a vegetarian, and at dinner she talked about how usually everyone forms cooking groups where each person in the group cooks for everyone one else once a week. Of course, anyone with dietary requirements need to stick together, so she was happy to know I could be counted on. She also has the same cell phone as me, and being I know little about how it works, that's a bonus.

That afternoon, I taught a huge group how to play Egyptian War (card game). I doubt any of you are reading this, but I really want to than all of my High School friends back home for teaching me this game and playing it almost every lunch time because it was a really good ice breaker. I also learned a new card game that's helpful for learning people's names. I will definitely keep that one for the books. I also want to note, that Egyptian war came in handy the next day two, when I hung out with all of my new friends from Brazil! It became a huge tournament (one to add to the Winter Olympics!): Brazil vs. US. It's all in good fun! I enjoyed hanging out with them after my long drive down the Great Ocean road.

I meet two more American exchange student. I had met Morgan from Montana the day before, and now I know another student from Montana, and one from New Jersey. I feel like when orientation for abroad students rolls around tomorrow, I will know over half the participants! I am so glad to know I will not be walking or sitting alone tomorrow.



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