Feed Me, Feed Me

I love food, and there have been certain ones that I've had cravings for while in Australia.

1. Pizza. They have Dominoes and Pizza Hut around, but I have a feeling pies are pricy. And there have been no signs of this popular American food in the Aussie dining hall.

2. Hamburgers. The dining hall has served them once and it tastes more like meatloaf on a bun then an actual hamburger? I did get a really good one while at Maggie Island though.

3. Snack foods. For some strange reason. I feel like I could sit down and eat a bag of potato chips, a box of Goldfish, a bag of gummy worms, and a few Snickers bars, and still have room for dinner.

I find that when I do buy a snack or two, it's gone in a matter of 2 days at the most, and it's not a very good way to be spending my money. Plus, like I mentioned in an earlier post, things are expensive ($5 for a tube of pringles).

I've developed a strange love for peanut butter and bread. I never eat it at home, I don't like peanut butter with anything but fruit and celery, but for some reason, I love it here; I'm pretty sure it has to do with the bread, they have whole meal bread here instead of whole wheat, and I love it. It tastes like its been fresh-baked, super soft, and it's got that flavor to it. I also discovered Nutella the other night, so I'm determined on my next visit to the store, I will be buying a jar and a loaf of whole meal bread to go along with it.

Rice snacks are very popular in the grocery stores, the selection of these snack items far outnumbers the types of chips available. They are a bit hard to get used to, but I've developed a like for them.

I'm an ice cream lover, so I've been very pleased to find that the dining hall serves ice cream a couple times a week at dinner. Also, to all you Cold Stone lovers out there, if you make a trip to Australia (at least Townsville) you should be able to find a pretty good substitute: Cold Rock Ice Creamery. Prepared and tastes just like Cold Stone, and probably pretty evenly price matched with a regular cup costing around $5 dollars.

Overall, I'd say my diet is healthier than home, although some days I feel like I eat alot of carbs and meat.

Of course, nothing beats home made cooking, and it's not so easy for mom to send goodies by mail here, due to shipping costs and customs restrictions.

This has been my first week of classes, tomorrow and Friday will wrap things up, and it has also been my first full week of work shifts. So far, things are running smoothly. I'll get into details a bit later in future posts.

O Week is Complete

What a week it has been. It has been orientation week or O Week at it is known where the Freshers are at the bottom of the pack and the Fossils rule. I'm just gonna be honest and say that I strongly dislike (verging on hate) being labeled a Fresher when I've been in uni almost 2 years. I don't like to admit that my pride took a hit.... but I think that's the only reason stuff got to me. Stuff like, having to wear a bib for 7 days at all times unless you wanted to be punished by your RA (I have an amazing RA though, Maddie, I love her), having to get up at 4AM to push the sport mascot, Bongo Bus, around campus while running and being followed by Fossils in cars honking and screaming, while other Fossils outside the dorms yell and throw mud, and having to listen to Fossils yell trash talk on different occasions. The guys, poor fellows, get alot more flak for not following through with Fossil commands, while the girls can usually get away with saying "bug off." No one is FORCED to do anything though, and much of the stuff is all done in good fun and no one ends up getting seriously hurt.

There were also some fun activities during the week that I enjoyed like Uni Club on Fri. night and Maggie Island on Sat. It's nice having a club on campus to go to because then driving is never an issue and you feel safe having a drink or two. I got to meet some new people (I just want to say that Aussie guys are very adorable... just throwing that out there for ya), there was a Reggae band playing, and we got in for free, which was great. I didn't get to spend as much time at Maggie Island (Magnetic Island is an island just offshore from Townsville) because I had to work that night, but it was still fun. It's a bit of a hassle getting there as you have to take a bus from campus to the ferry terminal, a ferry from the departure terminal to another terminal, then you have to take a bus from that terminal to the beach you want to go to. But once you get to the beach, you don't really need to go anywhere till you are ready to go back to Townsville; they have pools, bars, and places to eat in a self-contained area right there on the beach. Me not getting sunburnt was the best part!

Work that night went great, and I love it that the chef calls me mate. My duties are varied and include peeling veggies, scrubbing the floor, cleaning windows, scrubbing the grill, vacuuming, and wiping down tables. It gets really hot in the kitchen, but it's very worth the $17 plus dollars an hour.

I've been collecting more lingo!

- Goon = cheap, nasty tasting, boxed wine.

- Skulling = chugging, used in reference to alcohol

- Fair Dinkum = "for real?"

- With words like consume and resume, Aussies like to add an "sh" sound where the s is so it sounds like conshume and reshume.

- Togs = bathing suit

- Instead of saying "see you later" they say "see yas later"

- Chips = french fries

- Wedges = potatoe wedges that we call fries

- Biscuits = cookies

- Tanning beds are referred to as salons

And that's all I can think of right now, but I know there's more. I want to say that I tried Tim Tams the other day and they are fantastic, google them.

Here are some pics from Maggie Island; the water was not swimmable as there was a storm drain close by and there were no nets, plus the beach looked pretty yucky from recent storms.

(photo courtesy of Rayna Moy :)

Fun in the Sun

Of course one of the perks of being in Australia is the beach is right at my finger tips! Last weekend myself along with 5 other friends made a trip to The Strand, which is a beach in Townsville that gives you a view of both the port of Townsville and Magnetic Island. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as was evident at the end of the day when it was completely silent at the bus stop; the sun sucks it all out of you!

I can say now that I have swum in the very warm and very salty ocean waters off Australia where nets protect swimmers from stinging creatures, the main culprits being box jellies. But the white containers dotting the beach labeled "vinegar" are reminders that one can never be too careful when it comes to these things.

Once we decided we had enough of the ocean, we made our way to something I can really only describe as a rope pyramid that allows people to display some of their climbing skills; it made me feel like a kid crawling all over a jungle gym.

We had a brother-sister gymnast duo in our group, Joe and Alice, who showed us some sweet skills. It made me wish I had been able to keep up with gymnastics and it also made me wish I had better flexibility and upper body strength; not everybody can do a press handstand you know.

Despite the fact that I was diligent in putting on sunscreen, I still emerged with quite a good sunburn on my shoulders, chest, and tops of my feet (feet are the worst fyi). Today is the the first day I've really felt it healing since I'm itching up a storm. I'm not trying to come back from Aussie land with skin cancer (Australia has one of the highest rates in the world).... but a tan would be nice.... or at least a good blending of the freckles.... just no peeling please.

On our way back to the bus stop, we stopped at a kiddie water park that looked too fun to resist. I decided to be the photographer and guarder of stuff since I wasn't keen on getting wet all over again (I got teased for behaving like the mom of the group, lol). Everyone was alot of fun to watch anyway, so I enjoyed myself and didn't even have to get wet :)

I'm looking forward to going back, but next time I will be applying sunscreen well before I leave and then make sure I'm completely dry of sweat and water when I reapply.

I have the most fantastic most awesomeness news of the day: I GOT A JOB! Praise the Lord for real! I will be working as a kitchen hand in the dining hall making $17+ dollars an hour, working 4 hour shifts; employers here also do a superannuation fund which is basically a small retirement fund that my employer will be putting money into, and then I will get to take that money back to the states with me. Also, I should get most taxes back since I have applied for a Tax File Number. I'm really excited at the prospect of being able to pay for the rest of my expenses as well as maybe be able to travel a bit while I'm here. God is good.

I'll talk about intricacies and interesting details surrounding orientation week in my next post. The key word for that blurb: Hazing.

This little girl was too cute and I couldn't resist taking a few shots

All smiles from Rayna and Abby

I love this one cause everyone is doing something different

Smiles from Rayna and Alice

Can't leave Abby out!

Family

This might be a bit of a random post but that's alright. Actually, it's a very random post that has little to nothing to do with my time in Australia, it's a bit of a personal post as well.

If you know me well, you know I adore kids and babies, I love them to pieces. During my flight to Australia, I had a connection in LAX and I was able to sit around for a bit to wait for my flight. I proceeded to start a crossword puzzle before a family with a baby and girl around the age of 2, came over to sit down. This 2 year was absolutely adorable; she turned around to loudly proclaim her name to me, at which point I just laughed. Then, she crawled all over the seats (and me) pointing at things and yelling. I was loving every minute (I even got to read her a book); I found out they were on there way for vacation in Brisbane. 30 minutes later, another family came over to join us, this couple had 5 kids all under the age of 9, including a small baby. Again, it was love at first sight for me-these kids were so precious, and so sleepy, snuggled up next to each other. Through conversation, I discovered that this family was not on vacation, rather they were missionaries from Boston returning to Papua New Guinea. I was encouraged by the strength of this couple, traveling halfway across the world with 5 young children, in order to give others life and hope. Can you imagine doing that? I'd like to say that I would be able to.

Watching all these parents and children only made me want to have kids even more, but I've always frequently mulled over the topic of family size. How many kids is too many? Is there such a thing as too many? What about birth control? Could I handle a large family? I believe that children are gifts from God (Psalm 127:3-5), and so right now, I believe that God should determine how many kids I have; that's not an easy thing to say or do though, because that requires me to put all my faith and trust in God and his ability to take care of me, and do what's best for me. I think that God WILL give us more than WE think we can handle, but there is nothing that GOD can't handle. Look at Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, God has faithfully taken care of that family and they have 19 kids! But I'm almost 100% sure they have days where they get overwhelmed and frustrated and stressed.

I really don't know what my future holds though; I do know that I want to be a wife and mother, and I believe that is a desire God has placed on my heart, but other than that, I'm clueless. Happily and perfectly clueless.

Blog readers, any opinions on the topics and questions I've brought up? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

P.S. Australia is going great! I have had my days though where I've been hot, tired, and frustrated but that comes with the territory of studying abroad :) Anecdotes and pics coming soon.

Slight Sticker Shock

I think I'm finally finished shopping for the essentials. After going to city mall yesterday, and forgetting more than several things, I decided to go back out today with a new New York friend I made. We took the bus to Stockland, a shopping center (essentially a mall) very close to campus, and returned with pretty much everything we needed. Prices are definitely higher than in the states though:

- 2 pk. of small laundry detergent: $10

- sunscreen 8.45 oz: $10

- tube of pringles: $4.50

I bought the cheapest brand of everything possible, since many brand items I could get at home were out of budget:

- $6-7 dollars for a bottle of tresemme or Garnier Fructis shampoo

- $15 dollars and up for regular sized boxes of laundry detergent

- $15 for Banana Boat sunscreen

I was also for some reason dying for a Coke-I don't drink Soda on a regular basis but a Coke just sounded amazing. So after pricing them at $3 dollars a bottle in the BigW, I headed towards the familiar McDonalds for a cheaper one; I was disappointed to discover that I paid $2.50 for a medium and the cup was the size of a small-don't want to know what the small looked like. I guess in the states we are so used to Super-Sizing everything, so I look on the positive side and think, at least I saved calories :)

I've made friends with more Americans, as well as a German exchange student, but while I enjoy spending time with them, I am also hesitant to get too comfortable JUST being with them; we were warned over and over again before we left UNCG, NOT to get into an American bubble, so I'm hoping O Week will lead to me making more Aussie friends. It is very hard though to break out of that American circle once I'm in it though, because I'm comfortable around them, we are all experiencing the same things being in a new country. Definitely a challenge. Another challenge I'm facing is finding a job. I really need one in order to make ends meet, so I would love your prayers in this area!

Lovely Day

Another lovely day here in Townsville :)

The weekend turned out to be a pretty good one; I went swimming with a group of AUS students I've been hanging out with, at Riverway in Thuringowa. Riverway is basically a free outdoor rec. area on a river with a huge outdoor pool and picnic tables where you can barbeque. After not being out in the sun in a bathing suit since August, it felt fantastic.

I've been keeping a record of differences I've noticed between AUS and America:

- We went to the supermarket before going to Riverway, and there is so much fresh food! Also, they refer to ketchup as tomato sauce or just sauce and the favorites for topping hot dogs are ketchup and BBQ sauce.... not mustard which is what I usually eat.... but the BBQ was good.

- Hot dogs are referred to as sausages.

- They have whole-meal bread which I believe is our equivalent of whole wheat?

- Passionfruit juice is very popular

- Soda is referred to as soft drink

- Driving has really thrown me off as they drive on the left side here, therefore, the driver's side is on the right.

- Parking spots are referred to as car parks

- Everything is in Celsius and Kilometers so there is a learning gap when I talk to the AUS students because neither one of us can convert; I was talking to one student and he stated that the coldest it had ever gotten in his hometown of Cairns was 10 degrees.... I thought about it.... then I said "You mean 10 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?" He laughed and said "Celsius" and I told him he was going to have to do the conversion for me so I could know just how cold 10 degrees really was; he did the conversion and replied " 50 degrees Fahrenheit". I just laughed.

- Trash is referred to as rubbish and the trash can is called a bin.

- They love to say "oh, righto"

- Vegemite is a popular food spread

- I spent some time talking to one bloke this morning mainly about college life here: There's no such thing as in-state or out-of-state tuition. Cost differentiates based on what you're studying; med students pay more because their classes require them to use alot of equipment, expensive equipment at that and their professors usually are highly educated so they need to be payed more. It is not at all difficult to get into some majors like nursing or law. They don't have things on campus like sororities and fraternities or students clubs; you do everything with your dorm, and things are just very laid back.

Yea, thats it so far, it's just really interesting to discover that even though we may both be English speaking countries, and very Westernized, there are many differences.

Hello from Down Under

Good morning from Australia everyone!

While many of you are experiencing chilly temps. and even some snow, it is 90 degrees and humid here; doesn't encourage much getting out.

I arrived at JCU around 11:30A on Friday, and have yet to meet any other international students, but have made friends with a group of students from AUS. I haven't done much since it's the weekend, other than unpack and hang out with people.

So far, I'm really enjoying it here. The campus is lovely, and the people are friendly. As far as food is concerned, the way they serve it on campus is different a each dorm has their own caf. and the selection is very limited. For lunch yesterday, it was make your own sandwich day and then dinner was a choice between some sort of pot-pie item, a veggie bake, and battered fish with boiled potatoes, corn, and salad as sides; couldn't quite get used to the salad which had veggies and lots of pineapple in it.....I'd say their diet is alot healthier then how we eat back in the states. Oh, and they have Subway-I had that for lunch on Friday.

Even though they speak English here, the still have plenty of lingo that can take a bit to pick up on. They don't have classifications for students like we do in the states (freshman, sophomores, juniors...) the first years are referred to as "freshies" and then all upperclassmen are "fossils". Their school divisions are different, they thought it was funny that we have elementary, middle, and high school; here, they only have primary and secondary. Flip-flops are not referred to as such, rather they are called thongs. Dorms are referred to as accommodation. When they tell time they don't say 10:15, they say half past 10. College is referred to as "uni". Air conditioning is called "air con" ( not AC ). They do tend to eat with their forks upside down. That's just what I've picked up on so far.

American music is extremely popular. The ipod playlist last night included Lady GaGa, Owl City, and the Black Eyed Peas. I traveled across the ocean and still could not escape hearing "Fireflies"!

Hopefully, I will have pictures to post soon; I have a welcome session on Tues. and then orientation week starts the 15th, so I should have some by that time.