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 :)