Melbourne... where's all the grass?!

I've finally arrived in Melbourne... the city is magnificent but going through a major drought. It shocked me while flying in to see the outskirts of the city were brown with arid patches and dead grass. We could see the smoke from the bush fires that have been affecting Melbourne for weeks (you can actually see the smoke in the left portion of this picture!). Everyone has really come together to support those who have lost their homes and lives because of the fires.


It was a 14 hour plane ride to Sydney and another three hours to Cairns where our program orientation took place. For all those that don't know where Cairns is... its in the northeastern part of Australia, in the state of Queensland.



As soon as I stepped outside into Cairns (which was actually green), my clothes started to stick to my body. The weather was quite a change from the 10 degree weather in Minnesota. It was way too humid and I was stepping out of the plane in a coat and jeans. I immediately felt like I was going to dehydrate.

One of the things I didn't anticipate from Australia was that there would be almost no water fountains to drink from. Water is way too expensive to buy here. It runs from 2.50 to 3.50 AUD which is about 2-2.50 US dollars per bottle... and the weather calls for water 24/7! In Cairns... I saw two people who had to go to the hospital for dehydration in my three day stay.

Sickness seemed to strike us all while in Cairns... but our bodies were just adjusting to the new place. One day out of Cairns... I lost my voice. I spent the first night in Melbourne struggling to talk and meet people because my voice was so shot but regardless of the fact that I had no voice... meeting people was extremely simple.

Social culture feels extremely different at RMIT village where I'm staying and in Melbourne in general. You might meet a random group on the street on your way home that invites you to the pub... or someone who wants to 'shout' you a beer meaning they might buy you a beer as long as you reciprocate by buying them their next drink. People seem a little more willing to interact than Americans with a more laid back attitude towards life which feels very different from the Minnesota nice. Its refreshing to see how many people are willing to go out and meet others.

Its taken me a while to adjust to everything but its been going pretty smooth so far. Coles' grocery is the nearest to our place and its a ten minute walk. Its fine on the way there but tough on the way back with five or six bags of groceries. Lucky for us, Melbourne has one of the most efficient public transporation systems in all Australia. Trams go around the central business district and trains run in and outside the city towards the suburbs outside the business district. I haven't gotten to see the University yet... I've mostly been settling down and going out exploring. I should have more pictures in due time, however. Hope these suffice for now!

lucky number seven

After counting down weeks upon weeks for my departure date, I am finally counting down days vocally. I had to tell myself I wasn't counting down the days for my own sanity, but I now think I'm close enough to regard my departure as just around the corner.

It is not easy reading all of the others on the learning abroad blog. They seem to be enjoying their trips and making the proper adjustments while I've just started packing for my destination.... well, okay, scratch that. I've had my mom yell at me to start packing while I lounge around the house watching the glimmer from the sun peak through my blinds and disappear as time slowly passes by. I could be productive and pack... but really, who am I kidding? It's just not going to happen until this weekend. I think I'm better off just leaving heaps of clothes in the piles where they belong... on my floor, bunched up like tangled bodies after a good game of twister.

I think its the weirdest thing not having class while all your peers are in class, doing homework, and agonizing about their work loads while you're just sitting there without a job, without school, without a gym pass because the university counts the rec center in as an extra fee and now charges you eight dollars for a 'day pass' (Not my favorite thing to find out). All I can really do is lounge about with my buddy Derrida, go to Barnes and Noble and read a random book for five hours, or listen to music while 'googling' dengue fever to see the various and exotic diseases that await me on my arrival. Instead of being extremely enthralled for what's to come, I've been surprisingly stoic. I don't know why I'm going through a drought of emotion... I always thought I'd be worrying about how many bags I was taking, or which adapter would allow my laptop to function in Aussie-land, but no... just unemotional pre-departure bliss. I'm not doubting it will hit me at some point... just not now... and with seven days to go before I lift off, maybe I'm hoping it will hit me soon enough.

Melbourne... its about time.

Qualms and Necessities About Feb. 10th

Unfortunately for me, my old T-mobile phone had no access abroad. Poor thing would die right after I entered international waters. Two options lay ahead of me upon this dismal discovery. Either, I can scrap my beautiful small phone that I've had for two years for a new one, or I could answer Australearn's advertisement to agree to be given a phone upon arrival. I chose the former choice... T-mobile guaranteed me that all I needed to do was buy a pre-paid phone in Australia and I'd have free calling locally in Australia on my new MOTOZINE mobile.

This sleek little baby comes with a 5 megapixel camera on the back and can carry music on it anywhere and everywhere I'd need it two... the only two features I suppose I'd use abroad. There's something about accessing email and something about Bluetooth, but unfortunately for my mobile, I'm too lazy to figure out how to work them. They gave me this beautiful user's guide and everything that I flopped on floor of my room where it will stay and be buried under the other potentially useful things I don't care to use.

In other news, I did have to take out an additional loan to cover housing expenses for Melbourne. Costs are definitely taking a clean bite out of my neck, but they're basically covered once I take out this loan. My advice is make sure your parents are clear exactly what you're asking them for from your trip. My parents are clueless. I've done all the paperwork and given them the receipts/ print out copies. Beyond that, they are lost... and think my expenses will magically go away with financial aid. And while, financial aid does cover a substantial amount, remember, it will NOT be distributed right away. Some expenses like a housing down payment are required upfront within a week of getting a confirmation... far before your financial aid will come to a rescue. It's about 3000-5000 dollars that need to be covered BEFORE you receive that lovely email informing you that you can breathe once again. Most of the expenses will come from the STA travel services.

STA's ticket: $2500 just about from Minneapolis
Friends comparable ticket who will visit me in Australia: $1700 after taxes

Two things will have to be considered. One, you will be responsible for your own flight to ensure it gets you where you need to be. If you miss a flight, you need to fix it my friends. Second, there is a group orientation that takes place in Cairns in the northeastern part of Queensland three days prior to going south to Victoria and Melbourne. Those flights are covered with the STA travel services. Here's a beautiful visual depiction of your flight if you're too lazy to search it up otherwise:
Yes, you'll see sydney for a quick blip of a second in a layover but that's about it.

Travel date is soon approaching... I leave Feb. 10 for Australia... I still have to turn in my Academic Planning for Study Abroad sheet into the learning abroad office (I need to get my adviser to sign it), but that's the only piece of 'paperwork' that I have left. Other things still left to do for personal reminders:

• Talk with my bank about finances and international charges for withdrawing money
• Email my current address in Australia to Australearn
• Apply for CFANS scholarships/ CLA/ CLA Honors/ CFANS Honors
• Convince my parents to sign a Power of Attorney

I don't know why my parents won't sign the Power of Attorney form and send it in. It's extremely frustrating. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, a Power of Attorney form allows your parents to act on your behalf, to sign any paperwork/ documentation while you're gone. They think for some reason that it will be easy for me to get to a fax at the same exact time they're sending it. I think it's ridiculous. I'd rather them sign forms in my name then worry about finding a fax abroad.

To give you a brief and semi-complete look at the amount of paperwork you'll be filling out for your trip... here I list Austrlearn's required documents:

Items Complete or Deadline has Passed:

Select Housing Preferences

Submit additional housing forms

Obtain your passport

Submit your Intended Subject Plan

Read and submit your participation contract

Confirm your contact details

Make your initial payment

Apply for scholarship (optional)

Submit your medical form

Read your participant guide thoroughly

Submit additional required form

Make your second payment

Submit your financial aid disbursement form

Register your trip with the state department

Submit your home university approval form

Provide faculty contact information

You can now apply for your student immigration visa

Accept your housing offer

Much luck current applicants or future applicants.. the process is long and I've reached the point where I just can't care too much more about handing stuff in. Lets keep counting down the days until I leave and pretend we aren't...

Formalities

The blog skin didn't look like it had pink when I chose it...

A couple things about this blog:

• I'm happy to welcome you to my learning abroad blog. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, I did it to give back to the learning abroad office sponsoring my trip. Second, I did it because I knew I would've jumped on any chance to look at someone undergoing the experience of learning abroad in a different culture especially one that I would have been going on in the future to really help me prepare for what I was getting into. That being said, I did not have that. I had some very entertaining and helpful souls that came in from James Cook University to talk to me about Australia, but no University of Melbourne student could make it.... so in other words, I'm going pretty blank slate which is thrilling and nerve racking all at the same time. Third, I'm doing this for me as well... for my experience... to reminisce all the embarrassing and dumb mistakes I make over the course of five months
  
• I will keep this blog updated as possible. I'm pretty good at keeping up with blogs.
• My entries are long, and if you're me... you're most likely searching for pictures! Trust me, I will take pictures. I went to California for a week and took over 400 pictures... I will upload as much as I can when I can.
• This blog will have a laid out pretty selfishly. I'm not use to doing direct entries about living out experiences. Rather, I live in abstraction meaning two things: First, I will modify my usual entry to accompany those who want to read about experience but second, I will be very much entrenched in abstraction. Every third or fourth blog will encompass a concept or experience that's drawn on more generally or without a usual format of "This is what I've done this week in Australia!" You will know these entries when you read them and you're not obligated to read them. They're meant for personal reflection and more of comparable study of cognition in a differing culture. I ask you to please bear with me through these abstract entries as they are my specialty.

A couple things about me:

I think you'll figure out more about me through reading this thing than through this entry. That being said, I've read enough blogs to know how most people fill about an 'About me' section and I think they're quite funny really. So here's one thing you'll learn about me... I like to engage in 'play' with convention which doesn't mean I react against it necessarily but I do like to point it out and offer up something a bit different to engage with. So here is what I think are the most cliche 'About me' sections:

• The "I'm Mike. I'm 5'9'' and 130lbs. I like running and reading... etc etc." I've never met a person who needed an anthropometric measurement of a person to 'know' something about them. Also I think it's funny that they list their interests. I can only imagine someone screaming 'Oh my gawd, he runs! He's so interesting!'
• The "Enthusiastic, friendly, calm, collected, quiet when first meaning but then crazy when known... etc etc." Because pop psychology has encapsulated the masses, I will never subject you to a personality psych.
  
• The "I'm not your typical such and such" or "I'm an average guy." I think its interesting that people will choose some typification to define themselves as or against. Because you can only be something or not be it in this binary culture(/sarcasm).

I hope never to remain within convention... and hopefully am able to provide something new and interesting for all of you to read. I hope you will follow me through my battles against the microwave and my failures to cook. I hope you also follow me to and away from the pubs, the museums, the history, the clubs, the sporting events, or where ever I choose to take you.

..........One month and refraining from counting............