One thing I've learned: I'm really dependent on internet access. Like, so dependent that when I was without wifi or a phone for about 6 hours this past Wednesday, I was really nervous. Add that to the fact that I'd just moved in and was on my own to unpack and figure out the student village. I think, sitting in my new room in my 8-person flat (which I also discovered was mixed gender. Not a problem, but I was slightly taken aback at first), that it only just then hit me: I'm going to be here for five months. In Australia, a whole different country, about as far as can be from Wisconsin. After a few minutes of freaking out, I reminded myself that UW-Madison used to be terrifying and lonely and vast too, before I settled and found friends and explored. So that gave me some measure of peace. This peace did not truly comfort me much until I finally paid for the wifi (yes, the dorms make you pay for the wifi and it's expensive!!) and messaged my mom, who reassured me I'd be fine.
The flat I'm in isn't too bad. It's like any old college dorm, except we have a common room and a decently-sized kitchen. There are two bathrooms and the sinks and toilets in there are less than great, but they're tolerable. There are also crows here, which look like American crows but bigger and...more mean-looking. They also sound like tortured goats and are VERY LOUD. How do I know this? There's a murder of them that likes to hang out next to my flat and torment us every day between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 AM. That's right, every single morning my flatmates and are ungraciously greeted by the sound of screaming birds. It's not fun. There hasn't been a morning when I haven't been woken up by them. I'm told I'll get used to it, so here's hoping.
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| The laundry room at the village. Aussies dry their laundry by hanging it to dry in the sun, which makes sense because there's so much sun here. |
That first day when I arrived I met most of my flatmates who had already moved in, and found that they're really cool people. We've got two Aussies, one Singaporean, two Americans, one German, and one English person. I haven't met the final person yet. I'm finding myself humbled all over again when I meet new people here, and I've met a lot!
Thursday was an entire day of orientation for international students, so it was nice to talk to people from all over and see a bit of campus, but the orientation itself didn't do much for me because it was either catered toward people who speak English as a second language, or students who are just starting uni. As a sophomore, I was a little bored by the explanations of what a lecture is like and how important it is to study. One thing I really liked about the orientation was that it allowed us international students to really get to know each other. There are many groups of people I've observed around the student village who met at the orientation and are well on their way to being great lifelong friends. Now I understand why the international students back at UW-Madison tend to keep to themselves sometimes: they've been through many similar things together and may not always share that same bond with locals. I admit I've looked at international students and felt that they didn't want to be involved with us Americans, but now that I'm the foreigner/international student, I'm starting to understand how they must feel in a new and different country with people who live vastly different lives.
Thursday was an entire day of orientation for international students, so it was nice to talk to people from all over and see a bit of campus, but the orientation itself didn't do much for me because it was either catered toward people who speak English as a second language, or students who are just starting uni. As a sophomore, I was a little bored by the explanations of what a lecture is like and how important it is to study. One thing I really liked about the orientation was that it allowed us international students to really get to know each other. There are many groups of people I've observed around the student village who met at the orientation and are well on their way to being great lifelong friends. Now I understand why the international students back at UW-Madison tend to keep to themselves sometimes: they've been through many similar things together and may not always share that same bond with locals. I admit I've looked at international students and felt that they didn't want to be involved with us Americans, but now that I'm the foreigner/international student, I'm starting to understand how they must feel in a new and different country with people who live vastly different lives.
Friday was the much shorter (thank goodness!) orientation for study abroad and exchange students. This was much more interesting and relevant. Plus they gave us juice boxes. Afterward, I hiked through the woods (this is mor or less an exaggeration. There's a stretch of trees and dirt/sand that we use as a shortcut to get from the student village to campus) to meet at the CIEE office with the other students in my study abroad program. CIEE is the company which is in charge of my study abroad group.
We were given lunch and had a brief orientation given to us by our program director Paul. Paul is a very friendly, sarcasm-loving man with a great sense of humor. He got bored of the orientation too and got through about half of it before turning off his PowerPoint presentation and saying "I can't be bothered." Then he drove us to the beach.
We were given lunch and had a brief orientation given to us by our program director Paul. Paul is a very friendly, sarcasm-loving man with a great sense of humor. He got bored of the orientation too and got through about half of it before turning off his PowerPoint presentation and saying "I can't be bothered." Then he drove us to the beach.
The beach was absolutely beautiful, and hot! Fortunately, the heat here is dry, which was a welcome relief for me since the last summer I experienced was in Wisconsin where it is terribly humid. Yuck.
Anyway, I stuck my feet in the water and it was much warmer than the Pacific. Props to you, Indian Ocean. Due to the fact that I can't swim and also because I'm from a family that frequently goes fishing/clamming at lakes and rivers and beaches, I did not find the hot sunny beach very impressive or entertaining after about ten minutes, and Paul had offered beforehand to drive us to Kings Park. I'd already been there, but plants and a view of Perth City were much more appealing so I went with him. I really like how well CIEE takes care of us students. Paul does his best to make us feel welcomed and comfortable, and there are only about 15 of us, so it's very nice.
After the driveby of Kings Park, I went grocery shopping at Kardiniya, which is the nearest shopping centre here, about a five minute bus ride. Kardiniya is a fairly small shopping centre, but it has the essentials: Coles (a supermarket with groceries and household supplies) and K-Mart. Yes, there's K-Mart here! I've also seen a Target at a different shopping centre up north near my cousin Laure's house.
Murdoch is its own little suburb, so there isn't much around unless you use the Transperth. The Transperth is the transportation system here and it's actually really well-organized. You can easily get to where you want to go by taking the bus or train or both. The only thing is, you have to remember to tag on and off. That means scanning your Transperth money card when you get on a bus, and again when you get off the bus. I took the train for the first time yesterday to meet up with a friend at the University of Western Australia. I took a train going in the wrong direction and realized it as soon as the train started moving, then got on the right train, where a woman collapsed and they had to stop for a while at the next station to help her. Then I finally made it to Elizabeth Quay (pronounced "key," not "kway") bus station, which is large and I got a little lost and almost got on the wrong bus. Even with all that, I can still say the system here is very nice.
Murdoch is its own little suburb, so there isn't much around unless you use the Transperth. The Transperth is the transportation system here and it's actually really well-organized. You can easily get to where you want to go by taking the bus or train or both. The only thing is, you have to remember to tag on and off. That means scanning your Transperth money card when you get on a bus, and again when you get off the bus. I took the train for the first time yesterday to meet up with a friend at the University of Western Australia. I took a train going in the wrong direction and realized it as soon as the train started moving, then got on the right train, where a woman collapsed and they had to stop for a while at the next station to help her. Then I finally made it to Elizabeth Quay (pronounced "key," not "kway") bus station, which is large and I got a little lost and almost got on the wrong bus. Even with all that, I can still say the system here is very nice.
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| Elizabeth Quay bus station, ground floor where you wait for the buses to arrive. |
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| A view of Perth city from the bus station |
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| Waiting for the train! |
Another thing I've learned is that Aussies like to shorten pretty much everything. Fremantle, the nearby area for nightlife/restaurants, is called "Freo." Breakfast is brekkie and vegetarian is veggo. Basically you could take any word and shorten it and add -ie or -o and just go with that. I don't know how long it'll take me to fully understand everything Aussies say, but I'll tell you, it's taking me longer than a few days!
Also, I learned that it is compulsory here to install dual flush toilets. Everywhere you go around here, the toilets have a half-flush and full-flush system, so if you don't need that much water, you don't have to waste it. (Admittedly, the dual flush for a toilet in my flat is broken and only does the full flush, so I personally am not helping the cause very much. Sorry.)
So, that's been the first week of my life in the student dorms at Murdoch! Nothing too exciting, as most of it has been adjusting to the area and having to find new people to talk to. Stay tuned for some more fun stuff coming up!
~ JP
Also, I learned that it is compulsory here to install dual flush toilets. Everywhere you go around here, the toilets have a half-flush and full-flush system, so if you don't need that much water, you don't have to waste it. (Admittedly, the dual flush for a toilet in my flat is broken and only does the full flush, so I personally am not helping the cause very much. Sorry.)
So, that's been the first week of my life in the student dorms at Murdoch! Nothing too exciting, as most of it has been adjusting to the area and having to find new people to talk to. Stay tuned for some more fun stuff coming up!
~ JP
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