Chapter 18 - Pavs!

In which our hero is educated in the ways of the local dessert ... om nom nom ...

Two very important things.  I spent my long break today going over the electromagnetic notes and trying to make some of it stick.  It just made me more tired, and something like dejected or disheartened.  Needless to say I didn't feel like it stuck.  Or even made an impact.  Then later I had an electromagnetics tutorial, with the aforementioned new Australian Andrew, and he very kindly explained things from the beginning, and it might have made a bit of a dent.  I hope.  I feel a lot better about it anyway.  Still lots of practice necessary, though. 

Here's the second exciting thing, to which the title and subheading are referring: I had my first ever pavlova today.  It's something we missed out on the first time 'round, probably because they're not easily transportable finger foods like lammies or finger buns or Tim Tams.  What it is, or at least the way we had it, was a pre-made meringue nest, with thick sweetened cream filling it up, and then bananas sliced on top, and chocolate grated over it.  It was quite tasty.  Apparently it's supposed to have berries, and/or passion fruit, but we didn't have any.  And the chocolate's not normal, but hey-ho, you can't really go wrong with chocolate. 

Chapter 17 - Addicted to The Block(s)

In which our hero spends valuable study time playing with toys ... 

 

I only had one hour again today, because everything else that should be on Wednesdays is a tutorial or lab, which don't start till next week.  More electromagnetics.  I really need to get my vector skills up to scratch.  We didn't do nearly enough.  I met a new person, though.  He's from Trinidad, I think, but went to Centennial College in Scarborough, and is doing the same sort of credit transfer I'm doing.  Except he got less credit than I did, so I'm not sure what's up with that.  Anyway.  We're going to be electromagnetics lab buddies.

I woke up on time today, sort of.  I was woken up early because one munchkin wanted to know how to spell 'treasures'.  Then I fell back asleep.  It was sunshiny when I left, so I rode the bike down.  It goes much smoother with the new inner tube.  Made it to the bus.  Made it to class.  Worried through the whole thing because I feel like I only have a basic grasp of vectors.  Determined to start revising and studying as soon as I got home.

When I got back to the station it was sort of dry-ish (it had been raining off and on since I left) so I rode the bike back up.  I rode up two hills, then it started raining, so I pulled out my umbrella, and started coasting down the little down-hill before the last up-hill.  I made it part way up, then decided it was too awkward with the umbrella, so I walked the last 50m or so.  Maybe 25.  I don't know.  I have no real concept of distance.

I was thoroughly beat, and felt slightly ill from the exertion, and from sitting sideways on the bus.  I decided to chug down some refreshing lemon mineral water, which, I'm happy to say, is pretty much the same as the lemon San Pelligrino that's prohibitively expensive here.  This stuff, though, was Coles brand, and only costs 90 cents for 1.25L.  Sweet deal.  Definitely the discovery of the week.  So far, anyway.  Then I fixed up the Mega Blok tower, because some blocks had been removed.

The repaired Mega Blok tower.

Then I made an omelet for lunch, with toast and a nectarine.  Then I felt better, so I went and sorted all the wooden blocks into like sizes and shapes, and built a wooden castle around the Mega Blok tower.  Now it's 3:50, and I haven't done any schoolwork yet.  I got home at 1:15.  Bah.  Time wasted? I don't know.  It was fun, and I recovered from my ride up the hill.  A little relaxation is good, right?

The completed castle/tower.

I used every wooden block I could find :D

Here's the other thing, though, is there's this show called The Block, which is basically a home renovation competition.  It's very interesting, and I really like it, and it's unfortunately on every night except Saturday.  Makes for enjoyable but unproductive evenings.  Bah again.  Oh well.  It can't last forever, right?  I think they said it's only six weeks, and it's been on since I got here.  So that's like four weeks left.  Some of it's just drama, though, so I could probably skip a few nights.  We'll see.

I'm such a softy too though whenever the kids want to play, because I'd much rather be doing that than school.  

Also, there's chickens in the back yard.  They are locked in their coop at night, and wander around freely during the day.  They frequently sit on the bench just outside my window/door thing.

Also also, there's a sort of marsh thing by the station, and I saw these weird skinny black chicken things there.  There was one that had a kind of dark blue head, and one was really fluffy so it was probably just a baby.  They ran off pretty quick, but if you look closely you can see the fluffy one.  That black thing in the middle over by the fence. 

Chapter 16 - Castles in the Lounge

In which our hero very nearly is late for school ...

Yesterday was my first official ever day of university.  I had one class.  For one hour.  It was slightly anti-climactic.  But it was OK.  Nice quiet start.  We learned a brief history of electromagnetism, and a bit of theory, and that was it.  Then I headed home, did a bit of grocery shopping at the shopping centre, and collected my bike from the bike shop, having decided earlier in the day to go for the heavy duty inner tube.  I made it home for the last 45 minutes of the Oscars, which started here at 11:30 a.m.  I tuned in just as someone was singing a song, and then they announced Skyfall as the winner of Best Song.

Later on munchkin #2 and I got into building towers with blocks.  It started, as I think I mentioned, as building deliberately unstable small towers that would fall over when we launched Hot Wheels at them.  Then, we started doing them bigger, and forgot the Hot Wheels altogether.  We did one using all the wooden blocks, and the ones that wouldn't balance became little houses scattered around the outside. 

Since we were now out of wooden blocks, the Mega Bloks got pulled out -- big ones, not Lego sized ones -- and we did a tower with all of them.  We left it up over night, and it's still up now.

Tonight the wooden block castle was already started when I got home, so I helped finish it.  Here it is:

Tonight's wooden block castle with an army man about to slide down the slide (under the munchkin's hand).

Tonight's wooden castle, with last night's Mega Blok tower in the bottom left corner.

The wooden castle got destroyed to make a new one, which also got destroyed to start another new one, and then it was bedtime.

I should really explain the much more dramatic second day I had.  My phone allows me to set an alarm for specific weekdays, which may not be news to most of you, but my old phone couldn't do that.  So yesterday I set an alarm for 6 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, which are my two 8 a.m. start days.  I woke up at 6:50.  It was wet/rainy.  The bus leaves at 7:20.  It's half an hour walk.  You see the problem?  Luckily, today is the only day in the week when Sarah drives near the uni on her way to work, so she was able to give me a lift.  Disaster averted.  I later examined the alarm settings closer, thinking perhaps I'd set it to silent by accident.  It was set for 6 p.m.  Good grief.  No wonder I didn't awake to the jazzy stylings of the Cantina Band ...

My first class was Maths 2A (It's maths here, not math).  It was interesting.  I'm going to have to do some reviewing to get back up to speed.  I did a couple practice problems, though, and they turned out OK, I think.  First integrals in like three years.  Bit nerve-wracking.

My other class today was the year 1 MATLAB class, which I felt was important to have, as I have no previous experience with it.  I thought it was going to be something like LabVIEW.  It's not.  It's like Octave.  I have a vague memory of someone saying Octave is the Free Ware version of MATLAB, back when we used it.  Most of you have no idea what I'm talking about, and that's OK.  Just ignore it.  You know if you're my previous classmates, but you're probably not, as I'm pretty sure it's mostly family reading this.  That's OK too.

Anyway.  The long and short of it is that I think MATLAB is my new favourite class.  I think I'll enjoy it, and the teacher goes nice and slowly, and explains things, and answers questions.

Tomorrow I have more Electromagnetics.  Now don't be fooled into thinking that my whole schedule is easy peasy one or two hours per day.  It's only because this is the first week, and there's no labs or tutorials this week.  Things pick up rather in week two.

Chapter 15 – Flat Tire, Outlet Mall, Amazing Race Brisbane, Kirra Beach Kite Festival

In which our hero is consistently too tired for several days to write any blog posts, and also makes another perilous journey through time and space ...

So here's what you've missed. I haven't written anything since last Thursday, by my calendar. That's because the exciting thing that was supposed to happen on Friday didn't happen, and after that I was to tired. You'll have to be patient, though, gentle reader. Now that classes have started, the posts probably won't be as frequent. I can almost guarantee that they won't be every day. Partially because I won't have time, and partially because nothing very exciting will happen, because it'll just be all school all the time.

As I said, Friday didn't exactly turn out as planned. I had to get up early for the Engineering Department orientation, which was 9-12. They kindly gave us a free lunch afterword. The thing itself wasn't very exciting, but it was informative. At 1:00 was supposed to be a session of Barefoot Bowls, which I think is similar to lawn bowling, perhaps, or possibly more like bocci or p'tonk, except with rolling instead of throwing. (I know it's not p'tonk. I think it's probably petanque.) Long story short, it got cancelled due to the potential for uncooperative weather. So I decided to got and poke around Harbour Town, which is an outlet mall that the bus stops at on the way home.  Here are some pics I took while having a wander ...

The crows here are massive.  Probably the same ones they have in Japan, or similar.  I'll try to get one with something for scale some time.

Ominousness.

Looking the other direction, not so ominousness.

Bananas in Pajamas!

Tee hee hee ...

OK, wait. I need to back up to the morning. I've been having some success riding my bike down to the station, and even all the way back up the hill. On Thursday I thought the tires felt a little soft, but Shane at the bike shop said if there was any more pressure in them the tires would blow right off the rims. So I left it. Then on Friday morning, the ride felt a bit lumpy and bumpy. I looked down and back, to see the back tire, and it was flat. But I only had about 10 mins till the bus departed, so I didn't have time to get off and walk the rest of the way. I had to ride down on a flat tire. It was awful, and bumpy, and I could only wonder how much damage was being done to the tire and rim. I finally made it down to the station, and locked up, and decided I'd deal with it later.

So, now I'm back at Harbour Town. There was a Converse store. If only I had a disposable income ... Anyway. There was also a Salvos nearby, which is Aussie for the Salvation Army Store. I popped in there for a bit, and got a couple mugs, one of which has Mr. Happy on it, and the other has a sheep going 'baaa'. There was a big camping and fishing store beside it, so I went in there as well. They had roof tents, and bunk cots. Pretty snazzy.

Then back to Helensvale, to deal with the bike. I took it over to the bike shop, but couldn't decide on the regular or heavy duty inner tube, because I was too tired. So I left it with them and said I'd call them later. Fix it man said to call on Saturday, but I naturally forgot, cuz I was otherwise occupied.

A different kind of Easter egg treat -- chocolate with dried bananas and toffee bits, perhaps?  This was later on, at K-Mart near home.  Thought it was interesting.

So on to Saturday. Race Day. Another early morning, but even more early. Had to be on the train at 8:04 to get to Brissie for 9. So up at 6:30. Sunscreen up. Bathing suit up. (The reminder email said we might get wet.) Put my running sandals on. First sunny day for like a week, luckily. Made it down to the station. My friend from Denmark was already there, as were a girl from Germany, and from South Korea. Then a girl from England came, except she'd been living here for five years, so that makes her kind of from here. So we all hung out, and waited for the train, and then rode the train to South Bank station, and made our way to the Amazing Race registration. Just to clarify, this isn't, like, “real” Amazing Race, just a Griffith students version. Myself, Denmark, Germany, and another girl from Germany ended up as a team. Our team captain was a local who'd just finished a semester in England, so we had a wonderfully diverse group.

The first challenge was to find the Amazing Race person near the beach/pool thing in the park, and then do what they said. It involved getting into the pool, and I was the only one who'd worn their swim suit under their clothes, so I went in. It was a game called “Flags”, where I had to lie on my stomach facing away from the pool, and a ring got tossed in, then I had to go and get it really quickly. It was fun. And nice to jump in a pool on the first hot day in a while. After that there were several other challenges to complete, like finding the poem in ANZAC Square, and filling in the blanks on our sheet to complete it, or finding the guy in the purple morph suit anywhere in the Queen Street Mall, and getting a picture with him. We spent a lot of time looking for him because he was worth 15 points. We also went to China Town in search of a specific menu item that was #202, somewhere on a specific street. We were getting late by then, so we caught a bus back to near the school, and ran/walked quickly back. We only had two hours to complete as many challenges as possible, and we lost two points for every five minutes we were late. We ended up being 15 minutes late, so we lost 6 points. I was the one with the shortest legs, and the most out of shape, so I feel like that was partially my fault. But oh well. It was fun. The running I did do nearly killed me, and my knee is still hurting. 

At first we couldn't find the right morph suit guy, so we figured this random cat man was in a morph suit with accessories, so we took a pic with him as a back up.

 

Shortly after we found the real morph suit guy ...

... but first we had to catch him!

One photo challenge was to take a pic of a team member on a City Bike, so naturally we took one with four of us.

Another was one of the team hugging a tree in the Botanical Gardens.  We didn't make it that far, so we just hugged a random tree.

The knee thing didn't get helped at all by the munchkins wanting to play tag as soon as I got home, and then more tag the next day on the beach, and some trampoline. Good grief.

That night I was far too tired to write anything. The next night I pretty much spent watching TV.

Sunday morning I slept till 10. When I got up, the fam said they were just heading out to the Kite festival at Kirra Beach, and I could come if I liked, so I quickly knocked together some brekkie to go, loaded on the sunscreen, and hopped in the car. To get there the highway kind of swooped through NSW for a few minutes, so we briefly travelled into the future. The thing is, see, is that although we're in the same time zone, QLD doesn't play along with the whole daylight savings thing, so right now NSW is an hour ahead. That was fun. I don't think I realized how close we were to the state line. I don't even know if they call them state lines here.  Border, maybe?  Unfortunately I had no cookies to celebrate.  It would have been two in like ten minutes, then two more on the way back...

As soon as we arrived, and miraculously found a good parking spot, it started to rain. It only lasted about five or ten minutes, though, and then it was a great day. Playing tag on the beach, watching the kites, wandering around the market stalls, eating some ice cream, collecting some sea shells and beach stones. We were only there for less than three hours, I think, but we were all exhausted, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon at home.

The tiger, penguin, and dog are all on the same line.  When we first arrived it was windy and it looked like the tiger was walking.  The people operating them just got them going, then tied the ends down with sand bags and left them to fly.  It was pretty cool.  There was a dragon too, and a frog, and some sting rays, and a sort of jelly fish thing.  I forgot my phone at home, so I nicked this one from Sarah's FB :D (I actually took the pic, just with her phone ...)

I am now to the point where I enjoy these kids so much that I'd rather not go to school, but stay home and build towers with Mega Bloks, which we did today. (That would be silly, of course, as the kids are in school all day.)  It started as building deliberately flimsy towers with wooden blocks, so they'd fall down when we launched hot wheels into them. Then we decided to build a tower and use all the wooden blocks, which we then filled with little army men. Then, since we were out of wooden blocks, we pulled out the big Mega Bloks and built a tower with them. Sarah let us leave it up at least until tomorrow :D

Chapter 14 – Footy, Footy, Footy, Footy, Footy, Footy, Footy, Footy

In which our hero gets educated in the ways of the local sport...

Today I learned about Australian Rules Football. There was a little seminar put on by the AFL (the league) and the Gold Coast Suns (the local team). They taught us how to do a hand ball, which they do instead of throwing. You hold the ball in one hand, with one sort of pointy end facing you. Whichever hand that is, the left for me, then that foot is a bit forward too. Then you make a fist with your dominant hand (right for me), with your thumb on the outside, and thwonk the ball out of your other hand using the flat part of the fist created by your thumb and pointer finger. If you use the inside of your hand, or the heel or whatever, then it counts as a throw, and probably you lose points or something. We paired up into partners to practice, and my practice buddy was my new engineering friend from Vietnam. I forgot to mention, as well, that as soon as we got out from under the sheltered stands, and on to the field, it started drizzling. Then it picked up, so we moved back under the stands to practice the our hand ball technique. We were in two rows along the walkway at the top of the stands, so we only had about 5' between us. And if I missed catching the ball, it would go right past me, and bounce down to the ground. Luckily, there was a rail that would stop me from going the same way.

Pretty soon the rain let up, so we moved back on to the track to practice our kicks. We were about the width of the track apart. The way to kick is to hold the ball vertically in both hands, with the laces pointing to where you want it to go. Then, hips straight, legs straight, you basically walk forward, drop the ball when your kicking foot is coming, then give it a boot. You're not supposed to run up or anything, or try to do a fancy curvy kick. Just go straight. Mine mostly worked. Some went slightly wild. As with the hand ball, they had us try first with our dominant leg, then with the other. It was surprisingly not difficult kicking with my left.

Next we moved out into the field, and did a quick round of “Bomb the Teachers”, where the instructors stood out on the field, and we all kicked balls at them, and they didn't move. Needless to say, none of them got hit. Then one of the players from the Suns kicked the ball as far as he could, and we tried to match it. Only about two people managed it.

We then moved on to bouncing, which is necessary every 15m. You basically bounce the ball off the ground as you're running, similar to a single dribble in basketball, except the the ball isn't totally round. It's like a North American football, but the ends are less pointy. But the whole thing is less round than a rugby ball, I think. Anyway. It didn't always go as planned. Sometimes the ball bounced right back to me, and sometimes just ran amok. I couldn't figure out what I was doing differently. It may have had something to do with the soggy ground.

The rain had kind of picked up again by then, and the seminar was over anyway. We went back to the stands to gather our stuff, and they cave us a little Gold Coast Suns prize pack with a lanyard and a key chain and a pen. I was really good fun, and I'm glad I went.

Something else I forgot to mention is that they play on an oval pitch, and the goal posts are four big poles on either end. It looks kind of like quidditch. But without the brooms, because this is real life. Unfortunately. Anyway. The only way to score is to kick the ball through the goal posts. If it goes between the two tallest ones in the middle it's six points, or between a tall one and a shorter one on either side it's one point. There's no touch downs or throwing the ball through. Only kicking.

Then me and my friend from Denmark went for some lunch, and then had another go through the swag stalls. They were mostly packed up. What she really wanted was the headphones from the Windows 8 stall, but they were out. We then ended up in the Uni Bar, where we saw a sign saying you get a free t-shirt if you buy a certain beer or cider. So we each got one, and hung out for a bit, and discussed various things like why the alcohol rules are so different in Denmark than home, and here, probably, and what by our standards would be lax rules seem to work there without any problems. Maybe they just have more common sense. And other things, too, like how she could wrangle herself a position in an arctic mission, because I was telling her about the awesome missions that Annie goes on.

I managed to get home by 4:30, I think. I rode up the hill again, and it pretty much killed me. I seriously hope I can get used to it.

On an unrelated note, I finally managed a picture of a koala crossing sign from inside the bus. There's no pictures of the football seminar because I left my phone in my bag so it didn't get lost in any running and jumping around that might happen, and also it was raining, and also I was occupied because we were always doing stuff.  You can look up high-lights reels on YouTube to see all the things I'm talking about.

Chapter 13 – Up Hill Both Ways

In which our hero has another go at riding to the station, and very nearly thinks she's going to encounter almost certain death ...

There was nothing on the O-Week schedule this morning that really grabbed my attention, so I decided to sleep in a bit. The sun was finally shining again, so I decided it was safe to leave the umbrella at home and ride down to the station. But first, though, I loaded on the sunscreen.

As I went turned from the driveway onto the road, it started to drizzle a bit. Only very lightly. Luckily, it didn't turn into anything. Then I started going down the hill. Good fun, as always. Then up the hill a bit. Ugh. Then down a steeper hill, which ended in a T-junction with another road. I felt like I was going too fast to safely navigate the turn at the bottom, so I squeezed on the breaks. And didn't really slow down. So I squeezed harder, until the break handles were all the way to the handle bars. Rather unnervingly I was still moving. Albeit at a more comfortable speed, but still. That's just not right.

Since I was essentially early for the bus, which would get me to school early, I decided to finally take the chance to take the bike in to the local bike shop. I chatted with the fix-it man, and told him I needed new brake pads, tighten the breaks, and both tighten and loosen the gears, as they kind of slipped when going up hill, and also the front ones didn't move at all. He said likely the cable was seized from disuse. They'd take a look at it, and call me with a quote. Good. Awesome. Excellent. Hopefully shan't have to think I'm gonna die ever again while riding down hill.

So off I go to school. The first thing I did was try to sign up for the trip to Lamington Park on Sunday, but it was full. This was doubly disappointing because I really wanted to go, and because I had a blog entry all prepared in my head about how our hero has her whole worldview shattered because she discovered that Lamington Park is not in fact a magical place where Lamingtons grow on trees. Lamingtons are sort of chocolate covered cakes, with a layer of either jam or cream in the middle, and with coconut on the outside, for those who don't know. How awesome would that be, though? It would be like Willy Wonka Land.

Anyway. I signed up for a beach walk instead, which I'd love to go to, but I'll have to see how I feel after the big day on Saturday. I might be too beat, and prefer to sleep in.

Then I texted my new engineering friends, and asked if they wanted to do the scavenger hunt. Two were busy, but the other one came along. So it was the two of us, another girl, who it turned out was also in engineering, and the tour guide. It was interesting, but most of the stuff and locations we'd already discovered for ourselves. Still, though, it was fun, and there was a chance to win prizes. If you signed up at the beginning, and there was an asterisk by your name, you won a prize. Turns out my new friend had an asterisk by his name, but he didn't want his prize, so he gave it to me. It was a Griffith University backpack! Woohoo!

We then milled around a bit, and had our lunches, and hung out at the library, checking emails and so on. Then we headed to the event called Welcome to Australia, which was basically what it sounds like – an introduction to and tips on living in Australia. It goes like this. Don't go in the water if you can't swim. If you want to be absolutely safe 100% from shark attacks, swim in a pool. Watch out for crocs up north near beaches and rivers, especially during the summer when they're most active. Don't go swimming in the summer because there's stingers, which are wee little jelly fish that you can't see but they can kill you. Even if there's stinger nets on the beaches, apparently the crocs like to climb up on the floaty boom bits and wait for human snacks to approach. The only way to completely avoid getting killed by a stinger is to not go in the water, or wear a full body protective stinger suit. The snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them, but all the same don't go tramping about in the bush. They'll leave you alone if you leave them alone. Don't try to find out what's in a hole by sticking your hand in it. Same goes for spiders. Don't go out at night without a torch. Don't go in the ocean in the dark, or after you've been drinking, or alone. Same rules apply to hitchhiking. Most importantly, swim between the flags, and watch out for rips, as they'll drag you out to sea. And yes, Wolf Creek was based on a true story.

Besides that, though, it's a great place. Hot, dry, full of easy going, friendly, laid back people. Home of the oldest continuous aboriginal culture in the world. Long history of dodgy dealings with the natives, but they're slowly trying to fix it. We should really learn as much as possible about the aboriginal culture because it's really very interesting.

Oh, also, I forgot to mention, Queensland has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, so wear sunscreen EVERYDAY.

Our new Danish friend was there as well, and she was very jealous of my new backpack. Afterword she and I went and sat and talked for a bit, just about high school, or gymnasium for her, and how we picked engineering, and that she did her final project for her bachelor's degree in a chocolate lab (as in the tasty kind, not the dog) messing about with lipids to change the properties of the chocolate. She's in bio technical engineering, which is like building things with cells, instead of with metal or electronic components, like other engineers do. Very interesting stuff.

Then off I went home. It was 5:15 by the time I got on the bus, so I knew I wouldn't make it back before the bike shop closed at 5:30. By the time I got off the bus I went straight there, just in case there was someone still packing up. By then it was 5:45, but the fix-it man was still inside. He opened the door, and brought out my bike. The bill came to $46. That's a total of $101 I've spent on it now. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have just bought a new one, or closer to new than this one. I may yet. Until then, though, this one is no longer a death trap, which is good.

I then proceeded to K Mart to get some notebooks, as I didn't have anything to write my class notes on. I was going to go for binders at first, but they've all got only two rings, which is a bit weird. I'm sure notebooks will be fine. I don't really expect there to be handouts the way there was in college, or other random papers to stick in. I also got some magnets for my magnet board, and some Blu Tack to stick things on the wall.

Then home. Once again, and as usual, I've created a very long-winded set-up for a very short point to the whole story. Here it is. I actually rode up the whole hill to the house. I stopped to take a breath a few times, but never got off the bike, and certainly never walked. Just stayed in the lowest possible gear, and kept at it slowly. It was very satisfying, but I was quite tired by the top.

Then I made my dinner, and ate it while watching The Block (awesome home reno competition show, that seems to be on every night). Then I basically went to bed.

I apologize for not having any appropriately related visual aids this time 'round. I do have a picture of the rocks on the side of Heslop Rd., though, so you can look at that.

Look Annie. Rocks.

Chapter 12 – The Queen of Swag

In which our hero truly comes in to her element ...

Those who know me know that I love free stuff. Pens. Little flashlight dealies. Magnets. Cookies. Whatever. Mostly pens. Today was a good day for free stuff. But first, I'll start at the beginning.

It's been raining off and on – mostly on – for like three days. Yesterday was occasional torrential downpours. Today, more of a constant light rain/drizzle that increased or decreased in intensity periodically. Luckily I have my nifty new Uni Brollie to keep me dry. (Sort of. Basically only head and shoulders stay dry, and the wind blow the rain onto the rest of me.)

So I started the day by getting a ride down to the station to catch the bus in for the second day of orientation. Yesterday there'd been a huge lake filling up the dip in the road because the storm drain was blocked. I didn't much fancy navigating that on foot, so I got a ride. Turns out the drain had been cleared anyway. So, down to the station, and off to school. Got there early. My first event didn't start till 10:00, and so I milled around for a bit. Then went to the session, which was about balancing life and university. We did an interesting ice breaker where you had a bingo card, and had to go around and find people that fit the statements in each square, and then write their names down. I met several people, which was the whole point. Two of the guys at my table were also studying engineering, but different disciplines. The third guy disappeared after the ice breaker. This is where my day of free stuff begins. The presenters asked questions when they were done to make sure we'd been paying attention, and I got a star-shaped stress ball for getting one right.

Then, I went to the Student Guild/Link Building, where they were handing out swag bags if you signed up for the Student Guild Social Club. Then you kept walking and got into a room with a bunch of stalls from different campus services, local nightclubs, travel agents, Subway, a mini-golf place, etc. So I went around getting all the free stuff I could. Again, it was mostly pens. In the original swag bag was cool stuff like a lanyard with a USB in the clippy part, and a daily planner, and a wall calendar. Then there was a little stall from the Gold Coast Titans, the local Rugby League team. I got some magnets, and stickers, and temporary tattoos, and stress squishy things, and balloons. Mostly for the munchkins. Then there was a stall demonstrating Windows 8, and I watched the demo, then played the little game of memory that they had set up, and won some ear buds. Then the next stall was the campus travel agent, which had pens, bottle openers, and little beach balls. I got one of each, then two more beach balls because I told the girl I lived with three kids. Then there was more pens. Then the Subway place had free cookies, and some little coupons, then if you took a picture with the Subway Man mascot, you got a free 6” sub voucher. So naturally I did that. Then there was the Australian Blood Services, where I told the nice lady that I'd given it a go, but unfortunately I was a fainter. She gave me a pen and a lollypop. Then there was also the Australian Electoral Commission, or something, who were getting people registered to vote. The lady asked if I was registered, and I said that no, I wasn't, because I wasn't a citizen, but could I have a pen anyway, and she said sure, why not. During this swag fest I ran into a girl who was wearing an inukshuk necklace. I asked her if she was Canadian, and she said that no, she was Danish, but had a Canadian boyfriend. We chatted briefly, and I ran into her a couple more times during that particular event. She told me where the free cookies were. It was good. I also got several compliments on my Doctor Who shirt, which I wore on purpose in the hopes that that would happen, and maybe some conversation would start. 

Subway Man and Me - the pic that got me a free sub.

So I finally exited the swag fest, and at this point it's like 12:45. I was going to try to find somewhere dry to eat the lunch I'd brought, even though I wasn't super hungry due to the candy and cookies I'd just eaten. I went up to the bookstore to get a Nestea, because if you bought one, you got a free USB. More free stuff. Then I figured I'd head to the next event, which was basically a meet and greet for shy people, and how to make friends and things, and just eat my lunch there. On the way down, I noticed a BBQ type thing going on in the same location as our free lunch yesterday, which we were given after the general International Student Orientation session. I walked up, and it appeared that they were just about to pack up. I asked if I could just grab a burger quickly before things were put away, and they said sure. So I did. Free lunch. It turns out it was the Business Department Orientation, and it was lunch for business students. Kind of a don't ask, don't tell type thing. I never said I was a business student, but they also didn't ask. I'm sure it was probably fine. It probably would have been chucked or something anyway. I was pretty proud of myself for swagging a free lunch.

So on to my afternoon session, where I sat and ate my free burger while they set up. Then in came the girl from Denmark, so she came and sat with me at my table. Then came one of the engineering boys who were at my table at the morning session, so he came and sat with us too. Then the girl from Denmark put on her name tag, and I recognized her name from the morning bingo ice breaker. I hadn't realized she'd been there. I thought I just knew her from the swag fest. Then in came a Vietnamese chap, who said he recognized the three of us from the morning session, so he sat with us too. Then he asked if we were all in the same program, and we all said no, we weren't. Then we went around the table, and it turned out we were all in various forms of engineering. We got a good laugh out of that. We were talking about the Student Guild swag fest, and whether it was worth it to go. I showed them all the stuff I got, and they likely thought I was a bit nuts, although they expressed admiration for my mad swagging skills. I explained that besides the pens, it was mostly for the munchkins.

Then the event got underway. I got another free pen to fill out the little questionnaire that we did. Then we did the same bingo ice breaker. The four of us quickly filled each other in, because we mostly remembered which squares we'd been in earlier. I ended up getting a bingo, and winning a flash drive. Then we discussed things a bit, then had a tea break, during which one of the student helpers for O-Week (Griffith Mates) came and sat with us, and he convinced Denmark and Vietnam to sign up for the Amazing Race event in Brisbane on Saturday, which I was already signed up for.

When this session was done, they went up to the tent by the Student Centre to sign up. I went with, just for something to do. The tent was just about to pack up, and the girl asked us if we wanted a hat. Naturally we said yes. Free awesome bright red Griffith University baseball cap. Perfect end to a day of free stuff.

Then I mosied back to the bus stop, and went home.

SHWAG -- layed out on my bed at home.

On my way home I cut through the mall to avoid the rain. There was a pet store. It had puppies in the window. There was one female puppy all alone in a pen, because she was the only one of a particular mix there. I felt so bad for her, being all alone, when the others had friends, or quite likely siblings, to play with. She was white and scruffy and the sign said she was a Silky Poodle mix. I so desperately wanted to buy her. But that would be nuts. I could feel myself starting to cry, so I decided I should probably leave, for my own sake, and for the sake of the puppy, in case she was getting some false hope from me standing there and watching her for so long. Sigh.

Chapter 11 – Tomato: You're Saying it Wrong!

In which our hero gets soaked before coming in out of the rain ...

Started the day with brekkie, as one should. Then there was a household expedition in search of a new mattress. At the mattress shop we saw a green tree frog on the window. Just hanging out. Observe.

Then we browsed in the pet shop for a bit, where I made a go at taking pics of some fishes. 

"It's a trap!"

Then, we went to the chicken shop, and bought three more chickens for the back yard. First the original two had to be rounded up so they could all have a little “Getting to know you” session in the pen. 

What could possibly be in that box?

The two originals, about to be rounded up.  (In the background, just there.)

Free at last! How funny would it have been if that was an old KFC box?

Then, a grocery shopping expedish, to the local ALDI, where I saw this:

Next time I say "fetch me some snacko," you'll have to drive all the way to Oz ...

Then, back to the house for some lunch. Playing with the remote controlled ATV managed to develop into a pretty epic water fight, which involved a little spray bottle, two sports bottles, and a toddler with a sippy cup. P.S. - most adorable thing ever – a two year old in a hooded towel. Anyway. We were all pretty thoroughly soaked, and then it started raining, so we went inside to watch a movie. Makes perfect sense.

Then, as the movie was a bit dry, I started discussing with munchkin #1 about all the words that I say differently, or “wrong”. We made a list. Here is what I can remember from it:

Tomato

Half

D

Glasses

Grass

Weird

Carrots

Fart

Burp

There was about twice as many as that, but I can't remember them. Also, apparently, I sang “Jingle Bells” wrong, as there's an Australian version involving a rusty old ute with something in the boot, and dashing through the bush. I passed the test of “We Will Rock You”, though, as well as “Hey Soul Sister”. It was necessary to find out if I knew them.

Chapter 10 - I Forgot My Mantra

In which our hero has a go at driving on the wrong side and very nearly makes a mess of it...

This morning I had a bit of a lie in. Till 10 a.m. Yes, I'm one of those people again. 10 o'clock is sleeping in. It's kind of good to be back like that. I'll have a couple of 8 a.m. starts once classes get going, so I might as well get used to it. Yesterday I had a good day wandering around campus. Productive and satisfying. I decided that today I'd finally buy the bike off Wen Ying, and take it down to the shop for a tune up, and possibly some less knobby tires.

I woke up, had my brekkie, and decided that first I should write some postcards, so I could post them in the post box while I was down at the shopping centre, because that's the nearest mail box, as far as I know. This led to copying my whole paper address book onto the computer. Then writing the postcards. Then waiting for Wen Ying to come back, as she was out, then buying the bike from her. The final price was $55, including lock and helmet. I think I'll probably need a new helmet, though, because this one is pretty raggedy. Then we sat and talked for a bit. Then it was 4:30, so I figured I should go down the hill and post my postcards and get to the bike shop. So off I went, all the while reminding myself “Keep left, keep left”. I got down there safely, posted the postcards in the postbox, and went to the bike shop. They closed at 1, because it's Saturday. So off I go back home.

Navigated the roundabout successfully twice (there and back). That's something. Then I was at the corner of Heslop Rd and Philip Something, about to turn left, waiting in the far left position. I was eyeing the far right lane, and had it in mind as my destination, as it would be in a normal place, where people drive on the right side of the road. The light turned green. I started aiming for it. About halfway across the road, I remembered “Keep LEFT!”, and so abruptly changed course. Now I was on the right side of the left two lanes. Quick shoulder check. No one behind me. Moved over to the far left. Phew.

Now there was a right turn approaching, from Heslop Rd onto Entrance Rd. The road I was turning on to was divided down the middle. I successfully turned on to the left section, but again I was on the right of it. I looked back. There was a car just turning on to the road behind me. Eeep! Try not to panic! Swerved over to the left, and kept going. I'm sure they thought I was either intoxicated or some irresponsible teenager who thought the rules didn't apply to them, because they'd most likely been coming down the hill and seen a bit of the first situation on Heslop Rd. Holy good grief. At least it wasn't like mad rush hour traffic.

The next challenge was to get to the top of the hill. This stupid thing causes me grief when I'm walking, let alone riding. I made it to the top of the hill that's the bottom of my road, and walked the rest of the way up to the house. I'm sure I'll be able to make it up eventually. Sigh. It's not my legs that can't do it, it's my lungs.

Anyway. On my way up, I saw this tree full of cockatoos. Apparently there's black cockatoos as well, which might be what those black and red parrot things I saw at the uni were. These ones were white, though. Take a look.  They're incredibly noisy and squawky.

And, I discovered something awesome. My house mates informed me that with a Go Card, if you make more than ten trips in a week, everything after ten is free. Go Cards can apply to anything related to the TransLink system, which is buses, trains, ferries, whatever. So in a normal school week, when I'm going to and from school every day, that's ten trips. Then, on Saturday, I could take the train to Brisbane for FREE!! How much awesome is that?? And home again for free, and all around, and go on the ferries and water taxis and things, and whatever accepts a Go Card! Sweet deals!

Chapter 9 - You Know You're In Australia When The Cross-walks Sound Like Laser Guns

In which our hero gets a kick out of the pedestrian crossing sound effects, and reminisces about how fun they were last time, when she was totally jet lagged...

Remember, WYD friends, how fun this discovery was before?  Well, it's still fun.  It makes me smile every time.  And it's not just in Sydney.  They're everywhere, man!

For everyone else, this is the sound that the walk sign/button makes when it's OK to cross the street.

That is all.

Chapter 8 - A Quick Campus Tour

In which our hero goes for a wander 'round the school, and looks undoubtedly silly taking pictures of signs ...

Went in yesterday for a meeting with my program convener.  We had to go over the required course list, and my Fanshawe transcript, and figure out what I could be given credit for, and what I should take to complete my degree.  Now don't be jealous, Andrew, but you're not my only Australian friend named Andrew anymore.  This particular Andrew was very helpful.  He even called up the prof of a course that's full, and asked her if she'd let me in, and she said yes.  Once we figured out a Semester 1 Schedule, consisting of one Year 1 Sem 1 class, two Year 2 Sem 1 classes, and one Year 3 Sem 1 class, I high-tailed it over to the student centre thingy to enroll in the classes before someone took my spot.

After that, and high on the feeling of accomplishment, and glad to have the load off my mind of enrolling and what not, and finally knowing what my class schedule was, I went for a bit of a wander, and took some pictures.

First I ate lunch, though, which was the aforementioned Ozburger, which is why the pics start at the Koala Cafe.

Outdoor food court area.

Looking out from the Koala Cafe

Student Services

There's some black and red parrot things at the top of this tree.  I don't know if they're really visible.

Great big 'Welcome to Griffith' banner.

Library exterior - under construction.

Library interior.

Also library interior.

Library interior - pile of bean bag chairs.

Library interior - earplug dispenser.

Student Centre, where I used their compy to do my enrolling.

Walk this way ...

Hungry Hungry Hippo

The athletics field - this is where the lovely tree is that I showed you before.  In fact, I believe I'm standing under it.

There was lots of construction going on. Hence lots of foot paths closed.

Oh. Look.  A hill, with a curve and a stop sign at the bottom, and a roundabout at the top.  Does this remind us of anything?

A disused bike lock up, I think.

A car that's the same colour as the parking sign.

Sorry for the blurriness.

A bike lock up near the art school.

I choose to believe this is the Tin Man.  Might not be, I suppose.

Look, Annie. Rocks.

The light rail transport line they're building to service the uni.

Fairly self explanatory, I think.  Lock up your bike and sweaty clothes, use the loo, take a shower, you're good to go.