I’m not sure whether to call my new home in Wollongong solitary confinement or a scene from a prison cell. Upon entrance into my room, a possible 20 degree drop followed. The walls, desk, and wardrobe were a grey white and the bed was a steel barred white. Talk about a buzz kill. Although UOW raved about their accommodation, I was a bit disappointed at the not so convenient spot and cold environment. To look on the bright side, it is several weeks from orientation so the dorms were sparsely inhabited making smiling new faces somewhat of a rarity. After my perfectionist way of placing pictures, and my new Fiji flag, my room started to take shape. My KAO flag is just too heavy to hang, so for now its my silk bed covering! An Australian flag will soon accompany Fiji.
There is just no place quite like my cozy Theta home. Sleeping alone without my roommates will also provide a battle for me. I hate sleeping in my room at home let alone 10,000 miles away! Oie. At least the one suitemate I met is the sweetest and couldn’t be more helpful. I’ll meet Rory and Jackson when I come back for orientation I suppose. Yes, you read that right, I’m in a co-ed suite. I guess I’ll learn what living with a brother would have been like!
The city of Wollongong is rather nice, I saw my first Ferrari in Australia there and the homes are stunning! The shopping could be my down-fall with great stores in the beach mall. I would love to try my luck at working here just to make minimum wage ($21), but my mom thinks otherwise. At least I could afford these clothes!
On that note, the exchange rate is either killing me or we are running through money…on last check our bank account had sunk $2000 and it’s been a little over a week. WHAT! Even with eating once daily and all hotels prepaid. Uhh borderline makes me sick. Another reason why I need a job.
To put cost into perspective here’s food for thought (all Aussie Dollars):
Bottle of Coke, 3.50
Gas, 1.39/liter
Reg Sunscreen, 20
Mailing 10kg of school books by air, 180
The University (also known by Uni) of Wollongong is very comparable to Indiana University. It is much bigger than I expected with beautiful rolling greens and wooded areas. The Uni is like a tropical, modern representation of IU. A free bus will transport me to and from class, which will take some getting used to considering I never ride them at IU. I wish Campus East was closer, but I’ll have to enjoy the scenery.
We’re in Sydney tonight, and tomorrow we catch an early flight to Cairns, Queensland. Finally some warm weather, my saving grace! On our way to the hotel I was mocked for my accent for the first time by some Aussies. Great! Due to all the aboriginal roots of words, the pronunciations is completely opposite of what my American English mind thinks, Cairns is my downfall. Listening to them attempt to mimic my accent was comical, who knew Indiana was such a difficult word.
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