Fun, Facts and Friends

Busy day today!

My body woke up around 6am, but I wouldn't let myself get out of bed until 8:30am. I'm still trying to train my body to the time change! It doesn't want to change! So I got out of bed around 8:30 and went for a brisk walk around campus. It was a nice start to the day. Cold air on my face and music blasting through my iPod in my ears.

11am I was off to the International Office where I was to meet my Financial Advisor to discuss my Financial Aid. My Advisor, Michael, hasn't made the greatest impression on me in the past while I was applying to Griffith and figuring out how I was to pay for it all. I was hoping that he'd be able to change my point of view that I had for him after I met him. Not the case. His office is based in Gold Coast and he was only at the Nathan campus for today. Well, turns out that he left my financial file in Gold Coast! So he wasn't even able to give me my checks. Wonderful huh? He was, however, able to walk me through the process (FAFSA is crazy when you go overseas... complicated procedures) so I was able to figure out how everything works. Tomorrow the checks are supposed to be couriered over to the Nathan campus and I will have to sign for them. (Sorry if this makes no sense at all...)

12pm I was back in my room to call home to talk to them about everything I learned from my financial aid officer and just say hi.

2:30pm I was back across campus to attend another orientation for new, International students called "Fun, Facts and Friends". It was a well-put-together mixer where International students were able to discuss their homesickness, their concerns, their fears as well as what they've learned and what their hopes and expectations are. The mixer was hosted by our International Advisors (Liz and Jane... for those of you that read the previous post where I got the free hat... Liz was the one that "volunteered" me) and also some Griffith University Mates (helpers). I met Katrin, a girl from Germany here for only this semester for a student exchange, who invited me to dinner with a big group. I said "definitely" and got information about where to meet and so on.

4:30pm I practically run back to my flat to tell Bryan that I'm going out to the City with Germans!! (He's a fan of the Germans because he is one... or so he says).

6:15pm I'm waiting for the 135 bus to show up at the bus circuit with some of the girls that I would meet up with, including Katrin.

6:40pm the bus finally arrives and I meet Katrin, Kathrin and Marion (all from Germany) and Frieda (from Sweeden). We take the bus to Queens Street - a popular in downtown Brisbane, kind of like a Promenade with stores and restaraunts.


We met up with a HUGE group of international students. People from Germany, Sweeden, France, Italy, Norway and even Mexico! It was wonderful!! No one knew everyone and we were all just introducing ourselves to each other and figuring out where everyone was from and what everyone was doing in Australia.

We ended up going to a place called JoJo's. Let me see if I can explain it well... You walk into the restaraunt and request a table. Once you receive your table you can go to any of 4 different stations of food. They had a sandwich/pizza station, an Italian station, a Thai station and a Seafood/Salad station. I chose the Italian food. I wanted to get some Pad Thai, but the Italian food was a little bit cheaper and I thought with the extra money I could buy a glass of wine - which I did. So I ordered some Tortellini and glass of Merlot.


It was so great being able to get out with other people that were in the same type of situation that I was in. One of the girls expressed how homesick she was to which I replied that I too was homesick. Then a few of the other girls chimed in and explained that we need to push those feelings away and have fun!! Pretty much take the time that we've been given and not let it go to waste.

Most of the people in the group are only here for this semester as a student exchange. But it was still really great to hang out with people and talk with people.

I had a lot of fun.

Katrin and Marion from Germany.


Sofia (France), Freida (Sweeden) and me.


The head of the table...


Daniel (Sweeden) gives a toast... to the International students and their stay in Australia.


Javier "Jay" (Mexico) and a girl from Norway (I'm horrible and can't remember her name!).


Matias and Steffie (Sweeden). Matias is studying at Griffith and Steffie is his girlfriend that insisted she come along as well. She is a hairsylist and offered to cut my hair!


Random picture... but they call Burger King > Hungry Jacks.


Bus ride back to school (Katrin and Frida)


(Me, Kathrin and Marion)


Tomorrow the girls (Katrin, Kathrin and Marion) are planning on going to the Koala park and invited me along. I said I would love to but that I should finish up with orientation (and my financial aid checks are coming in). They said they would probably be going again before the semester was finished and that I was welcome to come along.

I made friends!!!
And I even learned some German!!!

gute Nacht

And so it begins with readings...

Today, in addition to two orientation sessions, I purchased my books. Thankfully there weren't many. Being a Film student we tend to watch more movies that actually read. And believe me, I am definitely okay with that. And my wallet loves it too. With that said, I went to the book store to purchase my 2 books and "Dossiers" for each class. Dossiers are compiled readings that the Lecturer has put together so that we don't have to go look for the articles and books each time he/she assigns a reading. After laying down AUD$119 for my selected readings I went back to my room to look them over. After a few minutes I realized that I didn't need one of the books! There was only one reading assigned for that specific book and the reading was copied into the Dossier! So I practically ran to the bookstore in hopes of returning the book (worth AUD$45 - which is a lot to this poor student). The ladies at the book store were nice enough to give me back my money in exchange for the book. I thanked them and went back to my room.

I started my readings tonight. Wasn't too exciting. Read about Australian Film... but I'm sure you really don't care to hear about Adventure as a genre in the Australian Film circuit. So I'll move along...

Another one of my duties today was to clean the kitchen. Every week Accomodation sends out housekeeping to check on the student flats and make sure they're in tip-top shape. So every week each person is given a duty: Kitchen, Bathroom, Vaccuum, Trash (it's a little more well-balanced, but that's the jist of it). This week I had the kitchen. So that kept me occupied for a little while.

I'm trying to keep myself busy.
It's hard.

Just need to constantly remind myself that it's going to get better. And God knows what He's doing.

God knows what He's doing.

18+

This morning's orientation consisted of a Critical Thinking seminar. It was a seminar designed to get the students thinking about their upcoming papers and how to go about approaching each of them with a new perspective and a clear and concise arguement. It was a well done seminar. I even took notes! It did, however, scare me a little bit. It got me thinking about how I haven't written a big paper in over 2 years and I'm going to be writing a few of them again. I'm a little nervous that it's going to be a little hard for me to get back into learning mode. We'll see... hopefully it won't be too hard to pick it up again. I've just got to start thinking about 5000 word papers, research, articles, arguements and analysis. Yay.

Today I'm feeling much better. The morning seminar was good. I came back and talked with my parents and Bryan for a bit and then I was on my way out and about town again. Today's adventure was finding the Queensland Trasport building (or DMV) to get my 18+ Card. I looked up the bus route on transinfo.com and found that I could take the 120 to Garden City (my favorite bus) and then jump on the 599 to McGregor West. I had no idea where McGregor West was, but I figured I could ask the bus driver and he'd let me know. Well... I was wrong. I made the decision to get on the bus during peak hours. Schools just got out, people were going home from work and the bus was FULL. When I got onto the 599 I told the bus driver that I was trying to get to Queensland Transport and asked where McGregor West was. He looked at me like I was stupid and said he didn't know. I said that I had looked on transinfo and it told me to take the 599 to McGregor West. He didn't speak the greatest English, and told me to "open my eyes". I think he was just trying to tell me to keep an eye out for it. I said "Okay" and proceeded to the middle of the bus. It was so full that I couldn't get a seat by the window and I wasn't able to see the signs clearly. The bus started going and I thought, "Oh well, I'm on. I'll just keep going and hope that I see it. I can always go back". THANK THE LORD, as we were driving I just so happened turn my head JUST as we were passing the building and I just caught a glimpse of what I thought said "Queensland Transport". I got off at the next stop and backtracked a little bit to find that it WAS the Queensland Transport. YAY! So I was able to get my 18+ Card - which is basically a Queensland Identification Card so that I don't have to carry around my Passport everywhere I go... and I can buy alcohol - cause I'm such a party girl (.........that would be sarcasm).

On my way back to school - waiting at the bus stop - I snapped a picture of some cars. Bec, my friend from the Gold Coast, pointed them out to me earlier. They are Australian made and I see them EVERYWHERE. Very rarely will you see pickup trucks, and NEVER will you see a huge, raised truck. Instead they have these little guys:

They're kinda weird looking, but I guess it makes sense. Probably gets MUCH better gas mileage. :)

When I got home my stomach was growling so I made some dinner.
Laugh all you want, but I cooked my first real meal in Australia tonight. Breaded chicken and green beans. It was super easy and I didn't burn the chicken!! In fact, it was quite juicy and delicious!

I was proud of myself.

That's all tonight.
Cheers!

Has it been 5 months yet?

I'm feeling a little under the weather today.

Orientation started today. I attended two seminars: One titled 'Getting Started at Griffith University' and the other titled 'Up & Running'. Both were to get you going at Griffith giving you the appropriate contacts and learning devices that will help you out while you're getting ready for school. It was all stuff that I had heard about before, but they were all good reminders.

I'm hoping to get of campus tomorrow. Maybe go to Garden City or see a movie, maybe even go into downtown Brisbane. We'll see how I feel in the morning. Maybe a movie would do me good. Take me away for a few hours, let me stop for a bit.

It was a hard day today for some reason. Homesickness just creeps up on me sometimes. Hopefully I'll get sleep tonight and feel refreshed in the morning.

But... for today... you get to see the rest of my flat!

You walk in the front door and enter into the Kitchen/Living area:



Down the hall are the four rooms. The guys' rooms are located on the right side of the hallway and the girls have taken over the left side of the hall. My room is located at the very end of the hall right before the bathroom:


Don't know if you really care to see the bathroom... I didn't take pictures of it. There's a lot of tile. If you really want to see it, voice your opinions and maybe you'll get your request. :)

Oh yes... and I finally snapped a picture of the Bush Turkey today:


Remember... they're endangered. So no eating of the Bush Turkey.

G'nite!

Sunday was a big day.

Hello! Sorry... it's a long one today!

Today was a good day. I woke up early and got ready to go out to try a church! It took me a while, but I finally figured out what buses to take to Garden City. What made it difficult is the fact that not as many buses run on Sundays and they don't really run before 9am. So I figured it out and ended up taking 3 buses to church. But first...

I walked out of my flat and up to the main road of the campus and I heard music. As I neared the bus circuit the music got louder. I could hear Britney Spears' "Toxic" blaring from the bus circuit and there was this big blow up thing.

I had forgotten that it was Open Day on the Griffith Campus. I don't really know what Open Day fully entails, but I assume that it has something to do with students that are either brand new to the University or students that are looking into going to the University. I just found their marketing strategy somewhat funny. But hey... I got a free bag out of it. :)

So I waited for my bus listening to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilara and met a new friend: Tania, who was waiting for the bus as well. She is a second-semester Freshman going to Griffith for Psychology. She's from northern Australia. We got to talking and she was explaining how she doesn't really get out to explore because she's too afraid. I told her if she ever needs an adventure buddy to give me a ring and we exchanged phone numbers.

Our bus finally came and she let me know what stop I was supposed to get off at and we both went our separate ways. So I took the 135 to the Griffith Busway, jumped off, ran across the walk and jumped onto the 111 to Upper Mount Gravatt (Garden City).

When I got onto the bus I realized that didn't have my bible with me! I remembered having it at the school circuit, but failed to have it with me on the second bus! I called my new friend Tania to see if I had it on the previous bus and she let me know that it wasn't there. As frustrated as I was, I thought that if someone found it and took it then they must need it, right? And I can always get another one.


...waiting for the bus at Garden City...

When the 111 got to Garden City I jumped on the 175 to Rover (same bus I took yesterday) and walked up to Garden City Christian Church.


It's a big church. Empty when I first walked in, but was packed by the time the first worship song ended. The opening song was Chris Tomlin's "Your Grace Is Enough" so right away I felt at home. It was followed by "Blessed Be Your Name" which went into an interlude of "Hallelujah, Our God Reigns" (new one for me) and wrapped up with "How Great Is Our God". Good worship set. It was a little drawn out at the end of every song with personal singing and such, but it's something that I'll get used to. The Senior Pastor Bruce Hills, unfortunately, did not speak today. Instead it was guest pastor: Ong Sek Leang.

He was good. Had a lot of "can I get a big Amen" or "give me a Hallelujah". His sermon was on the "Breaker's Annointing". It was based on Micah 2:12-13 and how God goes before the church to make them not just grow but ADVANCE. He spoke of how we should not tolerate any obstacle and to make such a noise that people will notice. He was basing it on the church, but I took a lot of what he spoke of personally as how I broke out of the restraint that I was in at home (not that I find my family restraining - but that I was getting too comfortable). The four points that he spoke of were 1) Breaking out of your own mindset, 2) Breaking out of natural geographical restrain, 3) Breaking out of the restraint placed upon by the enemy, 4) Breaking out into increase (in spite of the little that you have, God can do anything). It spoke to me. God's speaking to me a lot lately. And I'm really excited to see what He's got in store for me.

After the service I got to go to the Vistor's Lounge where I was met by Nancy and Maija who told me about the youth and young adults programs that they have going on at the church. They have a Friday night young adults gathering that I'm excited about.

Overall, I was very happy with the church. I'm looking forward to hearing Pastor Bruce Hills next week. He spoke a little bit this week, and he reminded me a bit of Doyle (my home pastor) - except with an Australian accent.

So that was my big adventure today.

Tonight my stomach kind of hurts. Don't know why... I haven't been eating too much weird stuff. I thought maybe it was because my flatmate, Tomo from Japan, was sick and that I might be getting what he has. He told me that he just had a cold and nothing to do with his stomach. He then began to tell me that it was probably all of the preservatives that I was eating - to which I kind of cut him off and said that I've been eating what I'm eating since I was little and the reasoning behind my foul stomach was not because of the preservatives that I was consuming. But now I'm thinking that they must think I eat such junk!!! And here I am thinking that I'm eating really well!!! Cereal for breakfast, sandwich and fruit for lunch, granola bars, spaghetti and soup and carrots? I mean, that sounds okay to me! I like my food.

Oh well... I just hope my stomach feels better tomorrow.
Big week of orientations and study seminars. YAY!
Stay tuned.

...from the Logan Rd. bus stop...


OH!!!! And I found my bible. When I got back to campus I went to the Security station and they actually had it on their counter! Someone must've felt guilty about stealing a bible. :) Although I would've been okay if a non-Christian found it and therein found the Lord, I am glad to have it back.

One week...

Can you believe that it has been exactly one week since I've been here? Feels like it's been A LOT longer. Hopefully when classes start up the days will go by faster.

Today was a good day. Had a fairly good night's sleep, cleaned up around the flat and then worked up the courage to go off campus by myself. Once I finally thought I had figured out the bus system, I went to the campus bus circuit and jumped on a bus to Garden City - same bus that I took yesterday, except this time I was by myself. So when I got to the shopping center I had more time to browse around. I went store to store and compared prices of the things that I will be buying most often. Is that weird? :) I also found Gloria Jean's - a cute little coffee shop that I'm interested in working at. I spoke to one of the girls working and asked if they were hiring. She said that all I need to do is bring in a resume. I found it interesting that I have to bring in a resume. They don't have applications like the stores around home.

Once I was done at Garden City I took a bus that I had never taken before up Logan Road - don't worry, I took it on purpose. :) I was trying to find Garden City Church. I had found the route online, and just needed to figure it out for real. So I took the 175 up Logan Rd. to the Rover St. bus stop and got off. The church is located at 16 Rover St., but it took me awhile to actually find Rover St. After a few large circles and finding a Target (!) I found Rover St. right the opposite way of the bus stop. :) Just up the street was Garden City Church. It was quite large - big parking lot. I'm thinking about going there tomorrow (which is Sunday for me), but we will have to see. I heard from Bec today and she's coming up to Brisbane tomorrow afternoon to see a friend and was wondering if she could come over. I told her definitely! But it might conflict with church. Services are at 8am and 10:30am. The problem lies with the bus system. They don't leave campus any earlier than 9:10am on Sunday mornings. So if Bec comes by around 11, then it's no church for me.

I saw my first Americans today!!!! I was on the bus coming back to Griffith and there was this group of about 10 students going back to Griffith with huge bags of pillows, food, blankets and other dorm accessories and speaking with American accents! When we got off at Griffith I asked one of them where they were from. She said that she was from Michigan, but there were other people in the group from different states, but no one from California. Oh well. They were a bunch of students in there Junior and Senior year of college doing a semester abroad. I wished them luck and said it was great to see Americans and went on my way.

So I'm a big girl in Australia, riding buses and "cooking" for myself. :)
But it's only been a week.

I love Skype

Today I talked to my parents for almost 2 hours. I got to sit in the den and watch TV and talk with my brother and sister, engage in conversation and answer questions. All without leaving Australia. I got to talk to Bryan about his day for 2 hours and got to see his face up close - almost like I was there. I don't know how I would be able to survive without today's technology: Email, Blog, Video Chat. It's how I remain sane.

Besides sitting in front of my computer all day...

My flatmate, Eddie and I went on a bus ride to Garden City - a shopping center, or mall, about 10minutes away from school.

He told me what would go to Garden City, what time they would come, and where to stand when you want to go back to school. It was nice to get off campus for a little bit. I'm planning on going back next week and exploring little more. It's hard to walk around a mall with a guy. :)

Later in the afternoon I took a half hour walk around school. Walked places that I hadn't yet been, tried to familiarize myself with the campus. I think I've got it down... it's really not that big. I found a little path that took me through the bush to a parking lot that I didn't know existed. It was nice and quiet. Kept an eye out for Koalas, Kangaroos and Bush Turkeys, but only saw birds.



Oh! Speaking of birds... the birds here are LOUD! And they make such strange noises sometimes. Think of a crow... they're louder here and even more annoying.

No real plans for tomorrow yet. If I stay around here this weekend, maybe I'll try to find a church to go to on Sunday. We'll see.

Until then here are some pictures from around campus. I tried to upload them yesterday, but was having problems for some reason. There is A LOT of bush around us...



...This one was taken from my balcony.