Week One and Wonderful Times

Another busy week. I keep thinking that things will settle down, but I have to admit that I’m glad it’s still hectic and non-stop around here. It means there’s always something to write about, at least =) But getting back to last week…

Harry Potter was great, just as expected, and a surprisingly large group from the house went. The next morning, another big group met to catch the train into Sydney for our tour of Chinatown and the China Gardens. It was another miserably rainy day, but I remembered to bring an umbrella and managed to keep fairly dry for the day. Our tour guide spoke mainly about the history of the Chinese in Australia, and he gave us some fun facts, but the weather was so distracting I feel like I didn’t retain a whole lot. The poor guide’s awful tangents about his brother and a Chinese girl he’d had on a tour once were difficult to listen to, and the anecdotes didn’t help the group’s focus, either. Still, the gardens were pretty, and it was my first time really seeing Sydney, so I’d still chalk the morning as a win. The afternoon was an interesting adventure, getting back from the Qantas building and onto the correct train in Sydney – feel free to read about that fiasco here.



After getting back from Sydney, I went straight to dinner where they were beginning to set up for Bush Dance, which I understood to be the equivalent of a square dance in the US. Though I was urged to check it out by some SDO/mentor friends, I ended up hanging out, chatting, and having a drink as I desperately procrastinated and avoiding packing for surf camp. Eventually I did make it to packing and caught the bus with Kathleen, one of my American girlfriends, and we were on our way to camp. Only four people from I-House went to the camp, so we had a room to ourselves. Saturday and Sunday morning both started early, at 7:30, and we were given three two-hour lessons in the water, as well as a lesson on surf etiquette if/when we choose to go surfing in the “real world.” I managed to stand up and the instructors even got some videos while we surfed, so it was an incredible, exhausting, fun weekend.



By the time we rode the bus back on Sunday evening, I was dead tired and ready for bed, but everyone at I-House was ready to go out again. My refusals were refused and in the end, I ended up catching the party bus with what seemed like the rest of the house and went to Abbey’s, another club in Wollongong. Despite soreness from surfing, not wanting to go out in the first place, and the dread of my first Australian class at 9:30 the next morning, it turned out to be a great night. I’m beginning to think that there’s no such thing as a bad time in Australia.

Even my classes were bearable this week, and I think I’ll really enjoy all of them. I’ve signed up for an advanced fiction writing course, a writing seminar-type course with a mini-thesis, an American lit course, and an upper-level French language course. Everyone from my writing courses clearly all know each other, and I felt a bit awkward in my fiction class among a group of old friends. Still, even though fiction isn’t really my forte, I loved my intro to fiction, so I have high hopes for the course! The seminar class is basically a combination of all the upper-level writing courses, so I’m with all the same people and then some from my fiction course, and they all know each other, as well as the teacher. He actually walked into the class and looked around, stopped at me, then pointed and asked plainly, “Who are you?”
Being caught off guard, I answered (dumbly), “Um, I’m new.” I forgot to mention that I came down with a cold this week, so I said this with a thick throat in between sniffles, since I forgot to bring tissues. Great way to make friends.
Since it was obvious that I was new, the instructor rephrased his question so even a simpleton couldn’t answer wrongly. “And your name is..?”
I answered “Kiley” simply enough, and I efficiently responded to his questions about where I’m from and that I’m here for the semester, studying abroad. At this, he had the 30-40 students in the room introduce themselves to me in turn, so I learned everyone’s names quickly along with some varying form of “nice to meet you.” Awkward as I felt, it was nice to be introduced and welcomed into the group, and I spent the rest of that lecture thinking about my project for my mini-thesis final, but really I was just focusing on not coughing all over the poor two people next to me. This was also my primary focus in my American lit class, which I hope will be interesting to hear about the US from another country’s standpoint, as well as French. My ten person class also all knew each other, except for a friendly Aussie guy who took a year off and happens to have a brother living at I-House. All in all, I think my classes will be really great, and I’m so looking forward to them!

Party-wise, this week was much tamer than the last. I made it out on Wednesday again, but caught the first bus back since I was feeling so poorly. Thursday was a calm day off, since I only have class Monday-Wednesday, and I spent most of the morning reading outside in the Australian sun with Kathleen and Elana, both American girls I’ve been spending most of my time with. Friday turned out to be the big party night, known as the plex party, hosted by former I-House residents just a block away. It was another fun but short and uneventful night for me. On Saturday, I got a surprisingly early start and spent the morning watching shows with a friend on my deck, complete with a run to Chicko’s where I got the best chicken burger and fries I think I’ve ever had.


After fully recovering with TV and greasy food, we went to the beach to meet a group from I-House and relax. To be able to call sixty degree weather where you can comfortably sit on a beach in the sun in a swim suit just doesn’t count as winter, but I’m perfectly happy to be here in this weather. Eight of us in the group got to play soccer on the beach. Low tide gave us a great, flat and slightly hard ground to play on and, even though my team lost, it was a good work out and so much fun, as beach soccer always is.

Saturday night was as lazy as ever. We were able to claim the Red Room, a large room with over a dozen couches and a TV, and had a movie marathon where probably over twenty people filtered in and out over the course of the night. After a late night Macca’s (MacDonald’s) run, I passed out on a couch to Finding Nemo, then made it upstairs to bed. Today has been calm as well, aside from my first rugby game ever. Still trying to understand the rules, but St. George Illawarra Dragons (our team in Wollongong) are apparently pretty good, despite their loss today, so I expect I’ll see many more rugby games. Still on the agenda tonight is a shop run for a Nerf gun – necessary for living on C Deck, it seems – then this week we’ll hopefully plan our mid-semester break to Cairns (pronounced like “cans”) and the Great Barrier Reef. Should be another great week! Thanks for keeping in touch and continuing to read to everyone at home =)

Here and there,
Kiley

O what a WEEK

O-Week may have been one of the busiest, most hectic, most fun/best weeks that I've ever had. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but there it is. Someone told me today that if you’re ever bored at I-House, then you’re doing something wrong. He was the second person to tell me this, and after this first week of non-stop action, I’d have to agree. I hear things are going to slow down significantly now that school has started, but I can't imagine there will ever be a dull moment around here. But I’ll pick up where I left off with you last Tuesday night! (At least I think it was Tuesday, and not Monday…)

Tuesday night was the I-House bowling trip, and it turns out Australian bowling is exactly like it is in America. Except I seem to be an even worse bowler over here on the other side of the world. I lost both of our games with stellar scores of 87 and 114. Not consistent or impressive, but still fun. At least they blared Spice Girls and had black lights so we glowed in the dark.

Wednesday proved too rainy for the day trip we were supposed to take, so I ventured around campus to find my classes with a few other new Americans, Emily (one of the Americans), and an Australian from C-Deck, my floor. We looked through the uni shop which only has a small selection of jumpers (hoodies) and tshirts, stuffed animals, and trinkets – sorry to all of you who want your own, different shirt when I come back, you’ll probably all get the same! – then my new Australian friend helped me find all the buildings where my classes are. Turns out there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the order of the numbering, so even though I’m in buildings 19, 20, 24, and 25, they happen to be basically nowhere near each other. Peachy, right? Either way, we finished up in time to go rock climbing, which took the place of the cancelled day trip. Oddly enough, rock climbing is also the exact same as it is in the US; it just turns out that there seem to be more natural places to go climb here than near Cinci, as well as more people willing to climb. Everyone seems to be into extreme sports in some fashion over here.



Everyone was eager to get back to the house to get ready after rock climbing, because not only is Wednesday the biggest party night here (it’s the cheapest night for drinks for college students, so it actually does make some sense!), but O-Week Wednesday is also the night of the Gala where our house raises money for charity. A lot of the people here performed as entertainment, and I was completely impressed by the amount of pure talent. A number of people played multiple instruments, and played them well. One group that didn’t have time to rehearse just got into position, shrugged, and turned out some of the best music of the night, in fact. Completely impressed! After Gala, everyone went back upstairs to trade in the semi-formal Gala attire for club clothes. Emily, Kathleen, Elana, and I got ready in Elana’s room and drudged through the endless rain to get to the party bus where I heard the first of all the I-House drinking songs – I’ll post lyrics once I learn them, because they’re that funny but a bit inappropriate to post here! Once we arrived at the Grand, everyone filed inside and it was crazy crowded! Everyone from I-House mainly stayed together, which seems to happen most of the time, and I felt really safe and very much a part of the group.

A note on Australian dancing/music: the music choice here was pretty similar to what you might hear in a club in the US (bad hip-hop/rap/R&B/I don’t know the difference), but here, everything is set to a bumpin techno-esque beat that just makes you want to dance. It’s less appropriate to dance bump-and-grind style here, so people generally do their own thing. I’m hoping that by the end of this that I’ll have learned some sense of rhythm from going out and dancing, but I don’t have such high hopes for my helpless self. I came back on the party bus with a different group than the one I left with and went to an Aussie friend’s room for posties (an after party beer), then finally went to bed around 3am. I can’t say that this will be a typical Wednesday night for me, but it was definitely a great way to go for the first Wednesday night of the session (semester).



Thursday morning came rather quickly, and I woke up to go on the rescheduled trip from Wednesday, which included a trip to Nan Tien (pronounced n-ah-n TEE-en) Buddhist temple – the largest in the southern hemisphere, then the Nowra Wildlife Park, then the big blow hole in Kiama (kee-AM-uh). Check out the pictures from these trips to get a better idea of everything I saw and did. Because I totally pet a koala, kangaroo, and wombat, and it was AWESOME.



That night, despite being incredibly tired, I went out again with other people from the house to Hostage where they were having their dub-step night, which as far as I can tell is a style of techno. I know that’s not quite it, but the strobe lights, lasers, mirrors, and smoke machines totally scream techno, so I’m going with techno. All in all, another fun night of dancing and hanging out – drink prices (still lower than normal, but still too expensive) and my budget have helped keep me from drinking too much and getting myself into any trouble, so no worries there, you can relax, friends and family ;) Still, I came back and had a postie and turned in to wake up early on Friday for the daytrip to Sydney and the China Gardens. More to follow on those and surf camp, but for now, I’m off to see Harry Potter (again) with I-House!

As far as I can tell, there are as many and as big a Harry Potter fans here as in the states. Looks like I’ve got competition with these fans, and I’m only too eager to test my own knowledge against theirs!

Here and there,
Kiley

It's only the beginning.

Australia is amazing. Normally, I would strive for a more eloquent and aptly descriptive word, but I feel like amazing sums it all up pretty well – aside from the weather that has been overwhelmingly dismal since I got here two days ago. So let me begin there, two days ago, when my ongoing adventure began.

I flew out of Cincinnati’s airport on Friday afternoon after a more than tearful goodbye to my parents, sister Abby, and Uncle Mark. I thank the poor airline security woman who offered a tissue and a kind word after seeing my splotchy, tear-stained face despite my best attempts at maintaining my composure. A small flight delay out of CVG gave me some time to calm down, and I was on my way to Chicago O’Hare, then to LAX. By the time I boarded the double-decker plane (yes, this plane that flew for fifteen hours over the ocean had two levels, and no, I don’t know how that’s aerodynamically possible) it was after midnight Cincinnati-time. I chatted to the two men next to me on the plane, one a traveling businessman who makes the Australia-US trip once a month, the other an almost retired geography teacher, about what to expect once I got off the plane. I was reassured that Australia is much like the US, and even though I’d heard that from a number of Americans, it was nice to hear from the mouth of a few Aussies.

I arrived in Sydney at 6:30am, Australia time, after little plane sleep, but managed my way through customs without much trouble. My bags, unfortunately, did not. Around 8:00, an airport worker saw me still waiting and I was informed that my bags would arrive on the next few flights and be delivered to my housing. I looked on the bright side and was thankful that at least I didn’t have to carry my three heavy bags through the airport!

My housing, International House, or I-House, provided a car from the Sydney airport to Wollongong, which is a little over an hour south. The driver pointed out a number of landmarks, national parks, beaches, and roads that lead all around the country, but despite the breath-taking scenery, I was hard put to stay awake and actually dozed off a few times while he spoke and drove, which probably isn’t all that surprising. We arrived in Wollongong in good time, and I was given a tour of I-House (complete with movie room, dining hall, outdoor grill and eating place, game room, and library) and a goodie bag with a cut koala key chain, was showed to my room, and taken to breakfast.

There, I met a few other American girls that I’ve been mostly hanging out with, one from Massachusetts, Colorado, and California. They invited me to the store with them where I picked up some essentials for my room and had the full effect of the sticker shock; the cost of living in Australia is one of the highest in the world, but on the upside, the money is really cool looking!



When we finished at the store, one of the mentors (like an RA) took us to play lawn bowl, which is like Bache. But I’ve never played Bache either. The game is basically horse shoes, but with balls that are weighted to turn one direction that you try to get closest to another smaller, white ball – called the jack – at the other end of the pitch. Points are given out based on which team has the most balls closest to the jack, but I never really got the handle on scoring.

Two of my three bags and dinner were waiting when we came back from lawn bowl, and we moved on to I-House’s game night afterward, part of the Orientation Week, or O-Week activities. The group I was with, two of the American girls and a Norwegian guy, played Pictionary until we went out to the pub, North Gong, which is just a few blocks from I-House. Most of the group continued to party for the night and took the party bus – a free city bus decked out with lights and painted black that runs through town to all the clubs and pubs – to Abbey’s, a club in North Wollongong. I, however, called it an early night, only to set my alarm for 4:45 in order to watch the US-Japan Women’s World Cup final. No, I don’t want to talk about it.

After the game, I ate an early breakfast and worked on organizing my room until our house meeting where the rules were given and we met the administrators, where I also fell asleep. A barbeque was held outside (hot dogs/sausages on a bun with grilled onions!), and we saw our first bit of real Australian sunshine as well as our first Australian spider. It was the size of my ring-index fingers, measuring knuckles to finger tips. Not cool. Jumping ahead, I also saw a moth on my way to breakfast this morning that could have eaten a small child. Turns out all those scary rumors are true.

The “Amazing Race-Wollongong” took place in the afternoon and my assigned group of some Americans, a Canadian, and a few Aussies spent the next few hours running from I-House to the beach, the lighthouse, the rugby stadium, then Woolworth’s grocery for Vegemite that we had to use and eat in the next challenge. Vegemite is not meant to be spread more than a teaspoon per slice of bread, and even then it’s so salty that I want to gag. An acquired taste, apparently. After the Vegemite gag-fest of my group, we went to the pharmacy and caught the city bus to “uni,” and back to the North Gong train station, just outside I-House where we finished the race, third out of six teams. Since we had time before dinner, I unpacked my last bag that finally arrived and connected my internet (finally!) and pictures onto the computer, but not online just yet, due to the immensely slow loading of pictures to Facebook and from my Picasa program to the online albums. Either way, pre-departure pictures and the start of Australia pictures will be up soon!

Last night’s activity was ten-pin glow in the dark bowling where I met even more new people and bowled my potentially worst ever few games of bowling. Still feeling jet-lagged, I came home and crashed, only for my body’s internal alarm to wake me up at 6:30 this morning. I decided to take advantage of the extra time and showered in the floor’s co-ed bathroom, which I still find interesting, and got ready for the Study Abroad/Exchange Student orientation on campus where we were overloaded with information. I was again put in a new group and seemed to be one of the few people without a partner as we were given the smaller group tours, but I was able to introduce myself to a few new people and faces are becoming familiar, even if I’m not getting really close to people just yet.

What started out as a sunnier, pretty day with blue skies turned very dark and very gloomy by the time we finished the tour, and the tents were actually being broken down and all the groups and clubs that were advertising were on the move. I thought it was a bit soon to be calling it a day until a gust of wind blew over a tent and about clobbered a big group of students and (I think) landed on top of someone. Still, it didn’t stop my group from grabbing the free lunch that was offered before going to get ID pictures taken and I met up with a few of the original American girls and the Norwegian guy.

We decided to check out the uni shop, or bookstore, then head into the city to find an ATM and explore a bit. It was bitingly cold, but the rain managed to hold out until we were back on the bus toward uni and I-House. Unfortunately for us, we got off the bus at uni to transfer buses but weren’t sure which transfer bus we needed. Instead, we got back on the same bus the next time it came around and got off at the closest stop near I-House, still a ten minute walk in the pouring rain. For now, I write as I’m tucked nicely under my blanket in a pair of baggy, comfy sweats. My door is open and anyone walking by that looks in says hello, so it’s nice to be in a friendly, welcoming place.

Coming up the rest of this week are more O-Week activities, including a dolphin watching trip, a few hikes through the nearby mountains, a Sydney and Chinatown day-trip, and for those who signed up, surf camp Friday-Sunday. I’m hoping to be updating more often or at least learning how to eliminate the mundane details and focus on the really cool stuff I’m getting to see and do, so hopefully posts will be a little more colorful and a bit more interesting as I get the hang of this thing. For now, dinner time and deck, or hall/floor meeting, then hopefully a calm night as I get over the last of my jet lag so I can prepare for dolphin watching in the morning! Pictures to come with that, too. For some reason, only this one would load...

Here and there,
Kiley

24-Hour Countdown

With just a little over twenty-four hours left in the States before my four and a half month hiatus, I realize I really haven't been thinking about the "leaving home" part of the experience as much as the "oh my God, I'm going to live in Australia" side of things, and it's only now starting to hit me. But I'll push those thoughts aside for this post to express all the excitement I'm feeling about leaving and the good nerves that are giving me outrageous butterflies. To do that, here are my hopes, wishes, and goals for this next semester. In no particular order.

1) Go places. I love traveling and seeing new places, and Australia will be incredibly new and different from anything else I've ever experienced. I'll be at at the University of Wollongong (UOW), just south of Sydney near the coast. I'll be on the other side of the world, and I don't know when I'll get another chance to be anywhere near this corner of the world, so I want to see as many of the nearby cities and places as possible. Top of my list for places to travel and see while I'm in Australia are: Sydney, Melbourne, the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, and New Zealand. Though there are many other places I'd like to see, I'm hoping that these trips will give me a taste of Australian (and Kiwi) culture, as well as expose me to a variety of terrain, animals, and lifestyles.

2) I want to DO things! I'm already signed up for surf camp as part of UOW's orientation week activities, and learning to surf is at the top of my to-do list. Also on the list is bungee jumping, since Australia is famous for its extreme sports. I'm all about the adrenaline rush, and bungee jumping seems as good a way to achieve that as anything, and Australia seems like the best place to do it. On a slightly different note, I've been told that I must see a platypus. They're not exported anywhere else in the world, so I may as well venture to a zoo. While I'm at it, I would like to hold a koala and pet a kangaroo, because how could you go to Australia and not?

3) Grow on my own and be independent. Though I'm confident and have a strong sense of myself, it's not as strong as I would like it to be. Being forced into a new situation where I'm by myself in a new environment is going to test me in ways I'm sure I can't imagine; I'm hoping this will force me to grow up a bit and become more independent. On the independence thing - thank you to my parents for supporting me in this endeavor (emotionally, financially, mentally, etc., etc., etc.). Hopefully when I come back, I'll be a more mature, more independent person that will no longer suck the life force out of you, as well as give you the peace of mind that I'm capable of really being on my own =)

4)Make friends. Let's suffice it to say that I'm bad at making friends quickly. I'm hoping to develop a new-friend-filter and learn from my past in order to avoid the people I probably should have steered clear of and hone in on people that will continue to have a wonderful, positive influence in my life, like so many friends already have.

5) Stay in touch. Simply stated, I suck at staying in touch with people. I want to change that. Balance has always been an issue for me, so I'm hoping to learn to walk that line between old and new and be a better friend to those that have supported me for so long that I know would do anything for me. I'd do anything for them too, even though I might not be the best at communicating it effectively or more than say once a year. I'm trying, and I hope you'll try and stay in touch with me, too.

6) Get an outside sense of America. Socially, politically, geographically, historically. All of that. I'm from one of the greatest countries in the world (let's go USA women's soccer!!), but we definitely have our faults. I want to get a better measure of those faults, as well as the liberties, we have compared to those of other countries.

7) Relax and have fun. For someone as obsessive compulsive and detail-oriented as I am, it's hard to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the moment. I'm sure Australia is going to fly by, and I want to savor the experiences, sights, people, and lifestyle as best I can. I tense up thinking about letting go and not meticulously planning every detail of every day, but as long as I can keep some order and organization (which will be totally necessary for budgeting at least time and money), I think I'll find it to be a huge stress reliever.

I wasn't expecting to have such a hefty list, but I think that about covers it. I cannot wait to get overseas and start my "spring" semester at UOW. Until tomorrow, I'll be packing and continuing to say what I'm sure will be tearful goodbyes, including a goodbye to the greatest series of all time, Harry Potter, which I will be seeing at midnight with some of the best of friends.

Here and there,
Kiley

PS. A Harry Potter quote seemed appropriate, and though I'm in no way dreading this coming year, it seemed to fit. So here's a tidbit from J.K. Rowling's Goblet of Fire: "It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up." Time is already flying by!

Well, hello there.

I believe an introduction is in order. I'm Kiley, and I'll be spending the next school year abroad. I leave for the University of Wollongong in Australia tomorrow, Friday, until Thanksgiving, returning home, then (pending acceptance) spending the spring semester in Aix-en-Provence, France at the Université de Provence.

I've created this blog in order to keep track of my own thoughts, as well as stay in touch with everyone back home that would like to keep track of me. Though I would really like to be everywhere at once, at home in Cincinnati, at school in Fort Wayne, and traveling all around the world, I'll try to manage being everywhere via the internet. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep me connected!

I'll be updating my traveling triumphs and woes, as well as my progress in school and details about my social life abroad. I'll keep it PG-13 here, but for the more explicit rants and raves, check out my personal blog, "Better Left Unsaid." I'll be updating the format of the blog as I go and become more tech savvy with this whole blogging business (still trying to get the hang of links and whatnot along the side...). Thanks and I hope you'll share in my experiences and travels over the next year!

Here and there,
Kiley