I’m not at St.FX anymore...

Griffith University (or Uni as they say here) has 43,000 studying at five campuses. 10,000 students are on my particular campus. This is more than double what I’m used to. Campus is huge. The buildings are big. The area is big. “On campus housing” is across the highway and then some. It’s massive.

Griffith Uni Gold Coast Campus (minus residences) 

Class started yesterday so I have officially started grad school. I am a grad student. Working on my Master of Business in Event Management. This is something I have been talking about for so long and I have been in Australia for three weeks today and finally I feel like there’s a reason to be here. A grad student. Wow wow wow! Even though I’m studying at such a large University, my classes are decent sizes. The system here is designed so that you have a two hour lecture and one hour tutorial (tute) for each of your course. So far my first tute has 20 students and the lecture has nearly 100. Not bad. Profs are laid back and very funny. I think I will like it. Workload will be intense at some points, but the way my schedule is laid out I have my lecture and tute for each course on the same day so I have a day per course with Wednesdays off. So I can focus the day/night before class on what I have to do for only one specific course. I quite like this system. Did I mention I only have 1 final exam??

Essentially an on campus strip mall. Hair dresser, post office, book store, convenience store.

Just walking between classes. So tropical!

Roundabouts everywhere! They make so much sense though. 

Constant campus upgrades. 

Enough about school though, that’s not the most important aspect of my time here right?? So, since I last posted here are a couple highlights and lowlights.

High: I spent my last few days before class getting to know the area better. Including a shopping trip with my favourite X grad living on the Gold Coast Emma Davis! Of course I didn’t get anything interesting, but it was nice to get out of the house during all the rain.

Low: It has literally rained since last Wednesday. I bought a lawn chair for tanning and it has rained ever since. Brutal, my white skin is not happy.

High: I bought my first guitar. I started playing in May when I was a recent, unemployed graduate. I don’t play anything fancy, but I enjoy picking it up every once and a while. I was feeling like something was missing in my life when I stumbled upon a guitar ad on the “kijiji” equivalent while I was looking for jobs. So I checked it out and bartered $30 off the price.

Low: Hives. The day before my first day of school, I broke out in hives. One $60 trip to the doctor later, I have discovered I had an allergic reaction to…something. I think it was the laundry detergent used on the sheets before I got here. I’ve washed them in my own detergent, taken some steroids and antihistamines and I’m almost good as new.

High: One of my roommates’ friends went wild over my X-ring. Apparently she really likes class rings and thought mine was sweet. : )

Aussie experiences to cross of the “to experience” list:

1) Vegemite. A traditional Australian vegetable spread. They go wild over it. On toast for breakfast, to heal mouth sores, when you’re sick, the list goes on. So the girls made me taste it last night. I had a TINY bit off a spoon at first. It was salty. Not terrible, but I wouldn’t buy it on my own. Then they put some on a buttered cracker. Better, but not peanut butter.

2) Cane Toads. We had two cane toads in the backyard last night. They are big fat toads that spit at you when agitated. The worst part is that if the spit makes contact with your skin it causes a wart to form. Gross! We didn’t get close enough to whack it to see if it would spit, but I’ll update you if I have that opportunity. Fun fact: If you dose them in salt, they puff up and explode. I will keep you updated on this experiment as well!

Seeing as it is sunny today, and the prospects of sun tomorrow are high, I will be spending my day off in the sun and AT THE BEACH!!! Can you believe I’ve been in Australia for 3 weeks and I haven’t seen the beach yet? I can’t.

TTFN

Alex xox

P.S. I’ve remembered a few more signs I am meant to be here; and signs that I’m feeling much more like myself:

Sign number 4: There’s a Dan Murphy’s (my new NSLC) on my walk to and from campus.

Sign number 5: There’s a wine bar ON campus.

Sign number 6: The Uni-Bar is open all day every day. How do you fill awkward breaks between classes? Beers with friends, that’s how.

Outside the Uni Bar (coffee, beer and meals served all day!)

I think I’m gonna like it here!

Annie the musical anyone??  So let’s talk about why I like it here so far/why I’m meant to be here.

Sign number 1: My room. When I moved in the landlord said there was a picture for the wall in the garage I could put up. I went into the garage with her and the first picture I saw was this hideous floral print. But it turns out the picture she meant was hidden in the back. It’s a picture of old Hollywood Glam stars all together. Elvis, Marilyn, Judy Garland. It’s so perfect for me!

Sign number 2: I was putting my school supplies away in my desk and I reached in and pulled out an “x” necklace charm. And it’s blue! Not the right StFX blue, but still!!

Sign number 3: There’s an outdoor, outlet shopping mall 10 minutes from here. Enough said! The outlet mall also has a lovely market. This is really the drawing factor for me. $0 for shopping, $2 for two pints of cherry tomatoes…I’m sold!

So I’ve been in the Land of Oz for just over two weeks now. I’m still mid orientation (which I may add is extremely limited unless I want to indulge in “frosh week” activities….been there, done that) and I’m really beginning to feel settled. I’ve been to campus several times now, but still can’t get over how huge it is. I’ve been job hunting, grocery shopping, set up a bank account, and got a cell phone. What a production that has been. It seems that cell service and plans are the same everywhere….a hassle.  I got my prepaid phone with Virgin Mobile last week and I’m still unable to send text messages internationally i.e. home. I’ve been on the phone with their customer service centre for a combined total of at least 2 hours over the past week and am now in the cue, again. However, they have credited my account $5, which at 15 cents per text is pretty generous. I’m sure it will all be sorted out soon. Mom and Dad, you’ll get an “xoa” text soon!

The jungle of our backyard has grown so long that I had stopped tanning in the grass because I was bitten to pieces from the ants and grass bugs. I decided yesterday to buy myself a lawn chair. So I did just that. I bought a lawn chair, took it for a bus ride home and walked the 25 minutes to my house from the bus stop. It was too hot to tan yesterday so I set my pink lawn chair out in the backyard and said good night until the next day.

After sleeping through my alarm this morning (I also bought myself a face mask to block out the sunlight. Miracle worker!) I woke up to my new favourite sound of the whipper snipper and lawn mower. Our jungle grass is now a normal length and my soon to be brown skin is very thankful to the gardener. Cut grass and a lawn chair. Could today have looked any better to me? I got up, made breakfast and BOOM!!! Thunder and lightning. Of course. It would. So it was an indoor day for me today. Curled up on the couch and enjoyed the cool breeze through the windows and watched movies with my roomies.  But fingers crossed for tomorrow : )

Until next time!

Alex xo

Love notes from Mom

Before I left, it appears Mom made it her mission to hide as many love notes for me as possible. Most of them are the same. A small, pink heart with her famous “xom” note on it. So far, I have found 10. I thought I would take a moment and tell you where I’ve found them. I found the first one in the pocket of a skirt I put on the morning I moved into my house. I had been having a rough morning and pulling out the note helped put a smile on my face. This one was stuck to a $5 bill with the note “have a drink on me! xom”. The next couple fell out of my suitcases when I unpacked my clothes. The next one I found in my floss container – it was a tight squeeze! Now the next I found one I was waiting at the bus stop with three bags of school supplies and orange juice and the bus was 40 minutes late at this point. I had put my iPod in my pocket and I went to take it out to change the song and then the heart came out as well “xom”. And didn’t the bus turn up a few minutes later.

I don’t know how you do it Mom, but you’ve managed to lift my spirits several times now from the other side of the world! So lovely! And totally her way of reminding me that I can never truly leave home. Two weeks ago, this would have annoyed me. Today, I am more than grateful!

Speaking of connections to home, I had a lovely visit with Sean Carson on Sunday. I had dinner with the Carson’s three weeks before I left for Australia. During dinner, I found out that Sean was leaving for Brisbane 3 days after I did!!! Obviously I stuck him with a bag (filled with makeup, nail polish, dresses, shoes – everything an adult male travels with) and made arrangements to meet up when he had a free day. So Sunday afternoon Sean and his friend came and picked me up. They drove me around and showed me some sights near by. We had lunch and a beer by the water and GOT GROCERIES!!! After living of pasta and tomato paste for a few days, this was a welcome adventure.

We spent the afternoon together and went our own ways. Although I had seen Emma already, it was still different. Knowing that Sean left home after I did and I saw him here was such a nice feeling. I’ve always known that people could get to me if I needed them to, but I was feeling REALLY far away from home. I’m smiling more, and getting overwhelmed a lot less now.

International Orientation started Monday, but it’s only a couple hours over the whole week. I’ve met a few people, but no solid relationships yet. That will come with class I’m sure!

Until next time,

Alex

 

Look both ways before crossing the street!

One of the first things I remember my parents telling me. Or at least one of the first things that stuck. It’s intrinsic. An instinct. Look left. Look right. Not anymore Alex. The cars here drive on the other side of the street so I am training myself to look right and then left. They also have a lot of roundabouts and aren’t keen on yielding for pedestrians. It is also custom to walk on the left side of the sidewalk, aisle, hall etc.… I’m currently the awkward girl who bumps into everyone in public places right now. Hopefully I adapt quickly. And quicker than I’ve been adapting to the time change; which hasn’t happened yet. Still running on 4ish hours of sleep per night. 

So enough rambling about driving, let me tell you about some of the more interesting things I’ve been up to since my last entry. So I left Sydney and flew to Brisbane. Hiccup #1 of this trip: sitting in the Qantas lounge at the Sydney airport with an hour or so before my flight, Mom read reviews for the motel I was planning on staying at in Southport for a few nights before settling into an apartment. Well, the reviews weren’t great and her motherly instincts kicked in. Wasn’t it a bit of a ride before we figure out what to do. In the end, I switched reservations to an apartment style hotel (for the same price per night I may add). Well THANK YOU MOM!!! King size bed, full kitchen, Wi-Fi access, balcony, pool, TV. It was really nice. So I settled in, got some groceries and made my first meal as an Australian resident: chicken stir-fry.

The next day I was reunited after nine months with my dear friend and fellow x grad Emma (my first x ring siting in Aus.). Emma is attending Law school in Australia and is conveniently an hour bus ride away. Bless her soul she trekked around Southport with me trying to figure out how to use the bus system (side note: although I know Metro Transit is currently on strike, I already prefer the system at home than here) and made a stop at the first apartment.

Family neighbourhood, lots of dogs being walked, 15 minute walk from campus (as close as you can get without being on campus which is currently under going a lot of construction which = noise) and surrounded by palm trees. The landlady shows up. Emma describes her at the 50-year-old version of me. Bright flowery, pink outfit, over the top personality, friendly, funny and such a gem.  She showed us what would be my room first. It’s huge! Beautiful bay windows, double bed, love seat, desk, dresser, and closet. There’s a bathroom with separate toilet (convenient), kitchen and pantry and two fridges inside and one outside on the patio that can be used for drinks. There’s also a garage for storage and some random stuff to pick through for your room.

House #1

Currently there are two locals living in the house, two girls from Nepal, and one other girl who isn’t here yet whose nationality I can’t remember. Coming from a very “white” high school and a more diverse, but not too diverse St.FX, this is a very new experience for me.  

Emma and I asked all the typical questions: what’s included? How many roommates? Neighbourhood safety? Doors and windows lock? Blah blah blah. Everything is included (water, electricity, internet, cable, and local calling), it’s so close to campus, there’s a house keeper who comes every other week to clean the common areas and it was priced better than I thought I would get. Almost too good to be true. We thanked her for the tour and I told the landlady I would get back to her.

Apartment number two. Well didn’t we walk right past the dingy motel I was supposed to stay in to get to this place? We show up to a house that is poorly kept, grungy, the neighbourhood I would not go near at night, or probably ever again. So we didn’t even go through with the appointment. Apartment number one it was!!! Hiccup #2 I have a huge blister on my left foot from walking in the heat so much.

I called the next morning and was given the room. I still had a whole day and night to kill in the apartment hotel so I decided to live it up. I attempted to sleep in (not so successful), showered, and headed straight for the pool. My first sunning down under. I love the sun. I LOVE the sun. It is so hot here too. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m thawing out since it’s so cold back home now. I think I have fully thawed out now. I can’t even keep chocolate outside of the fridge without it melting.

My poolside set up

Emma came back that night and spent the night with me while we split our first (and certainly not our last) bottle of Shiraz. Bless Emma’s soul again; she came with me to move in this morning. We were greeted by my two Nepalese roommates and three of their friends making traditional dumplings. I got a huge welcome from all of them and an even bigger plate of dumplings. WOW!! SO GOOD!! I am going to like it here. Emma couldn’t stay long because she had to get back to school for a function, but I swear I owe her my first born at this point. She will never know how much I appreciated her time with me over the past three days.

So now, I am sitting in bed after having spent the day organizing my room. I still have to get some sticky tack to put up photos, and I have one more suitcase coming with my friends father on Sunday that will need to be unpacked (it’s currently holding my nail polish), but it’s starting to feel like home. I have such lovely friends and family that I had almost 15 hidden sticky note love notes left for me that I have decorated my shelves with them. I have my goodbye card from work, and a couple congrats cards from when I got accepted in the summer. I got a little homesick at one point, but one of my new roommates came in and gave me a big hug and a pep talk. 

P.S. Don’t worry; I have left adequate space on my shelf for my nail polish collection. And I’ve realized that it won’t be growing while I’m here. My favourite go to Sally Hansen “Hard as Nails” that sells for $2.99 Canadian a bottle at home sells for $7.20 Canadian a bottle here. Don’t even get me started on $20 mascara!!!

XOXO Alex Nicole

More photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexmusial/sets/72157629255968889/ 

Southport harbour

Morning of changes to blessings in disguise

Original Plan: Saturday, February 4. Wake up, pack, see a few family friends for goodbyes, dinner with the family, go to the airport for 9pm. Leave for London at 11:30, then to Bangkok, then to Sydney. Sydney airport for the night, fly to Brisbane the next afternoon.

What actually happened: Saturday, February 4. 10am Dad knocks on my bedroom door “get up, your flight’s been cancelled, we need to make some calls”. By the time I got upstairs I had a new flight. Halifax - Toronto, Toronto – Vancouver, Vancouver – Sydney. Leaving Hlaifax at 5pm…which meant getting to the airport at 3 and cutting 6 hours I would have had with my family. TALK ABOUT OVERWHELMING!!!!

In the end, we got all my things packed and organized on time and all headed to the airport for a drink and some snacks before I headed off on my adventure. Traveling this new route also meant avoiding two large international airports and not leaving Canada until, I got to my final destination. It also meant LESS time on an airplane, and it meant getting in to Sydney 11 hours earlier.

I got cranky, and teary, and very very overwhelmed, but I got everything packed and organized on time. Coming to the realization that I was going to have less time with my family and friends than I had planned for was hard though. When I got to Vancouver I would have just given them their last hugs. Knowing me, I always go back for second and third hugs, so this was hard to swallow. 

But I did it. I made it to Australia. With all my bags. And all my sanity. Flight from Halifax to Toronto was quick and painless. I sat by a nice man who told me he and his wife were on their way to New Zealand for vacation and that she was sitting further up on the plane. I offered to switch seats with her, but she was in first class and wasn’t feeling it…Fair trade I though : )Toronto to Vancouver I had a three seat spread to myself and the Vancouver – Sydney leg, I was joined by another girl, so we sat on the outsides and shared the middle seat. Such a bonus. I didn’t mind the 15 hour flight either. I watched a lot of movies, took a few naps, did some colouring (you know you have a great friend when they give you a package of Kleenex and colouring pictures and crayons for your flight). Arrived in Sydney relatively on time.

Small hiccup #1: Tried to get my phone to connect to a Sydney network. Bell said it would – they lied.

Small hiccup #2: Can’t get connected to the airport wi-fi until I need to run to the shuttle bus.  At this point, I can feel the stress waves coming from home because I haven’t been able to check in yet. Take the shuttle to my hotel in town and decide to suck up the cost to buy internet for the day.

Small hiccup #3: Can’t get connect to the internet. Have to call the IT guy. Nice guy. I think he could hear or sense my frustration and tears through the phone.

I skyped with my family and the lovely Maura Casey and after a few hours decided I needed to shake myself out of my overwhelmed state and get out. So I got out, I got out and explored Sydney. I walked from the hotel to the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge, by way of the Botanic gardens. What an amazing experience! I can’t wait to come spend more time here with Dad, or Colton or Maura, or whoever wants to come visit and see Sydney at the same time. (FYI I’m taking visitor bookings now)

A few pictures from the day:

I walked from the blue highlighted dot at the very bottom all the way up to the Opera House and Bridge. A lovely outing! 

The first Olympics I remember watching were the Summer Games in Sydney.
This was a commemorative plaque given to the Country by the Olympic Committee. 

Spotted: Dino!

A stunning park to walk through

Can you read the writing? What a lovely park sign!

Sydney bridge. I can't wait to share this walking experience with someone : ) 

Sydney Opera House. Just as incredible in person.

I have found my place in the world!!! 

Colton, maybe they'll be hiring when you get here : )

But I’m here safe and sound. Flying to Brisbane tomorrow afternoon and getting my power apartment hunt on! Wish me luck!!! 

xoxo Alex

PS my hair doesn't like the humidity here already. Exhibit A (with a half pony pulled back already...)

As many of you may know (as most of you reading will be my family and friends), I am embarking on my next adventure. A big one. In three days I will be heading Southport, Australia to study my Master of Business in Event Management at Griffith University.

I've always thought I would be half decent at writing a blog as I like to talk a lot. Going to Australia has presented itself as the perfect idea to start. This will be the easiest way for me to keep everyone in my life updated, all at once. I'm far too lazy (and will be busy with school...) to send individual updates to everyone I want - please don't take this as an insult, I'm merely accepting a personal weakness. 

You may be asking "Why the blog name Alex? And who is Dino?" well my friends, Dino is my newest companion. On my last birthday, a dear friend gave me a series of bags and envelopes with strict opening instructions. Inside the first envelop I found a purple, plastic dinosaur. Inside the second, was this:

"Within my family, and a few close friends, when someone embarks on an adventure alone such as you are about to, you give them someone to go with. The point of it all is to give someone you love, someone they can love, and get photos of/with at all sorts of moments places, and it has to be something ridiculous so everyone around you thinks you're nuts!"

So family and friends, here is my very own hilarious, travel companion; Dino: 

So Dino will be my silent companion on my new journey (those of you who know me well, may think that this is the perfect match as I have a tendency to talk a lot). I'll make sure to get lots of photos with my newest friend and keep everyone updated on my life. 

I'm going to keep this post short so I can get back to packing. So far I have cut my nail polish collection from 24 to 12 (50%, I'm impressed even with myself!), I only have two pairs of sparky heels and haven't brought all my sparkly dresses. Progress. 

I leave Nova Scotia February 4 and arrive in Sydney February 6. I'm unsure when I'll be with internet access again, so stay tuned for my further adventures. Good bye for now!

Alex Nicole