Hey yall! I've made it back to Penrith, Australia, and I am loving life at the moment! No hitches with the flights, travel was super smooth this time. Leaving again was sad, of course, I cried a little bit as I said goodbye to my parents again. It was a little bit easier this time though, knowing where I was going and that 5 months really doesn't last that long when you're having a great time.
As soon as the shuttle dropped me back off at campus, I felt at home and stopped worrying about how different things would be this time. I saw old friends right off the bat and settled into my new unit, Apt 12, where I spent many days and evenings hanging out with Stephen and Jimmy (whom I miss like crazy!) I have met all of my housemates by now, everyone seems pretty awesome. Everyone else in my unit is new to campus, and we're a multicultural house! Two Americans, one Dutch, and two Aussies.
Since I've been back, I've mainly just hung out on res to meet new people and catch up with all of the old res kids. Been shopping at the plaza several times, and desperately looking for a job. Tonight is my first res party of the semester, and it's toga! Having a lovely dinner cooked by one of my housemates tonight, then we'll head over and have some toga fun with the rest of res. O week is next week as well, which will be so sweet! The weather here has been quite nice as well. A bit humid, but fairly sunny and not as much rain as I was afraid of before I got here. Got sunburned a bit for being outside for 20 minutes my first day.....but now it's settling in and bringing my tan back.
I've successfully registered for most of my tutorials by now, I'm so relieved that I know the ropes already and don't feel helpless and lost like I did last semester. Knowing where to go and what to do has been pretty awesome so far, I'm much more confident and not stressed at all. However I remember what it felt like the first time, so I've been trying to help out the new internationals whenever I can, since UWS doesn't have any sort of "Welcome to Australia!" program. More like a "Hey cool you're here on res, let's drop off your stuff in your room and give you a welcome bag. You're set now, have fun!" kind of program. So jealous that Seth Purkey gets an awesome orientation in Melbourne at La Trobe! He finally has a phone so now I have contact with another MC student which is great. I also got to skype with my friend Jimmy who was here last semester this morning. First skype session since I've been back! I'm pretty happy that I've seen all my favorite people back on res, or plan to see them in the next week.
Another post will come after O Week, I'm sure it will be long and interesting!
As soon as the shuttle dropped me back off at campus, I felt at home and stopped worrying about how different things would be this time. I saw old friends right off the bat and settled into my new unit, Apt 12, where I spent many days and evenings hanging out with Stephen and Jimmy (whom I miss like crazy!) I have met all of my housemates by now, everyone seems pretty awesome. Everyone else in my unit is new to campus, and we're a multicultural house! Two Americans, one Dutch, and two Aussies.
Since I've been back, I've mainly just hung out on res to meet new people and catch up with all of the old res kids. Been shopping at the plaza several times, and desperately looking for a job. Tonight is my first res party of the semester, and it's toga! Having a lovely dinner cooked by one of my housemates tonight, then we'll head over and have some toga fun with the rest of res. O week is next week as well, which will be so sweet! The weather here has been quite nice as well. A bit humid, but fairly sunny and not as much rain as I was afraid of before I got here. Got sunburned a bit for being outside for 20 minutes my first day.....but now it's settling in and bringing my tan back.
I've successfully registered for most of my tutorials by now, I'm so relieved that I know the ropes already and don't feel helpless and lost like I did last semester. Knowing where to go and what to do has been pretty awesome so far, I'm much more confident and not stressed at all. However I remember what it felt like the first time, so I've been trying to help out the new internationals whenever I can, since UWS doesn't have any sort of "Welcome to Australia!" program. More like a "Hey cool you're here on res, let's drop off your stuff in your room and give you a welcome bag. You're set now, have fun!" kind of program. So jealous that Seth Purkey gets an awesome orientation in Melbourne at La Trobe! He finally has a phone so now I have contact with another MC student which is great. I also got to skype with my friend Jimmy who was here last semester this morning. First skype session since I've been back! I'm pretty happy that I've seen all my favorite people back on res, or plan to see them in the next week.
Another post will come after O Week, I'm sure it will be long and interesting!