Saturday, August 15, 2009
its wierd that school is already three weeks in here and at home they haven't even begun. The way in which the classes are set up you have a number of assessments (projects) during the semester and then a final exam on all the lectures and readings. I have my first assessment due next week and I am SO nervous! I have found a couple of my assignments overlap in ways which will cut down on the research that is needed.
MORE STRANGE AUSSIE FACTS:
1. They don't tip here. Not for taxis, meals, or drinks. No tips anywhere. Its included in their pay. With that, minimum wage here is A$20.
2. Cookie dough in the US comes in more varieties and is so different than the cookie dough here.
3. The money comes in 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, dollar and two dollar coins, 5, 10, 50, and 100 dollar bills.
4. Shrimp is called prawns.
5. Shopping carts are called trollies.
6. Gummy candies are called lollies.
7. People here don't drive real trucks like they do at home, instead they drive these wierd things that are smaller than the small American trucks. (I wonder what they would say if they saw a truck like Dwayne's here)
8. They refer to the term SUV as very American.
MORE STRANGE AUSSIE FACTS:
1. They don't tip here. Not for taxis, meals, or drinks. No tips anywhere. Its included in their pay. With that, minimum wage here is A$20.
2. Cookie dough in the US comes in more varieties and is so different than the cookie dough here.
3. The money comes in 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, dollar and two dollar coins, 5, 10, 50, and 100 dollar bills.
4. Shrimp is called prawns.
5. Shopping carts are called trollies.
6. Gummy candies are called lollies.
7. People here don't drive real trucks like they do at home, instead they drive these wierd things that are smaller than the small American trucks. (I wonder what they would say if they saw a truck like Dwayne's here)
8. They refer to the term SUV as very American.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Weekend in Brisbane (or Brissy as the locals call it)
Over the weekend six other girls and I headed for a weekend in Brisbane. We woke up early Saturday morning to catch the bus at 7:00 a.m. This took us to the train which put us in the center of the city by 9:00 a.m. When we arrived, we checked into our hostile which was called the Palace. I had no idea what to expect since I had never stayed in one before. It wasn’t as bad as I had thought and the people at the front desk were extremely helpful with directions and everything.
For a good part of the morning we walked around and did some shopping on Queen Street, which is a really popular area in Brisbane. As we came to the end of the street, shopping bags in hand, we headed for the botanical garden. This was absolutely gorgeous, filled with all these flowers I had never seen before (there will be pictures). By this point we began to get a little hungry so we crossed over the river bridge to the other side to grab lunch. While there we stopped by this little man made beach. Words cannot do it justice. There was sand and clear water added, it was almost like a giant pool right next to the river and behind that there was a market that is setup over the weekends that sold an assortment of items.
Around 4:00pm that evening everyone that was sick (which was 4 out 7) wasn’t feeling so great and wanted to take a short rest before we headed back out for the evening. Along the way back, we did a little more shoppingJ. The hostile (pictures to come) room we stayed in had 10 beds placed in bunk bed style. We had a hotel type card we used to swipe into the bedrooms and the bathrooms. In the bedroom there were three other guys in there. One was from Germany and the other two were from the United States, I think they were a little intimidated by seven girls and didn’t have much to say to us. The bathrooms reminded me of being back in a dorm my freshman year. After a couple of hours of relaxation we ventured out into the city.
Everyone was craving Chinese food so we all agreed china town would be a good destination for dinner. As we walked along the strip every sign said B.Y.O. which I later found out meant that everyone would ate there could bring their own alcohol to dinner (which is SO strange). We all sat down after choosing the last place on the road. I had no idea what to order and asked for the same thing I always order at a Chinese restaurant, Lo Mein. This is another thing which is quite different in Australia, it was like Ramen (and therefore not very good). Luckily, we all decided to put the food in middle of the table and share, which was cool to try new and different things. After dinner we headed out to dance. We went to a place called Family, which was also an experience. We ended up leaving there after about an hour and heading back to the hostile.
The next morning, Sunday, we had to be out of the hostile at 10:00 a.m. so we packed up with our pillowcase in hand (I think this is proof that no one is staying in that bed anymore). Everyone wanted to take a tour of the area and someone suggested a boat tour would be a nice idea. It was really neat getting to travel up and down the river; you were able to see so much more of the city! As we made our way back toward the “beach” Lizzy, Audrey and I decided to hop off and go lay out. I ended up falling asleep on the beach for a good hour and woke up so incredibly hot but I finally got some Australian sun! haha. We all met up about an hour or so later for lunch and ice cream then another beach session before we grabbed our bags from the hostile and got on the train.
The weekend turned out to be such a nice time. It was really wonderful getting out and seeing more of Australia and something beyond the little town of Sippy Downs. I am looking forward to taking more weekend trips in the future!
For a good part of the morning we walked around and did some shopping on Queen Street, which is a really popular area in Brisbane. As we came to the end of the street, shopping bags in hand, we headed for the botanical garden. This was absolutely gorgeous, filled with all these flowers I had never seen before (there will be pictures). By this point we began to get a little hungry so we crossed over the river bridge to the other side to grab lunch. While there we stopped by this little man made beach. Words cannot do it justice. There was sand and clear water added, it was almost like a giant pool right next to the river and behind that there was a market that is setup over the weekends that sold an assortment of items.
Around 4:00pm that evening everyone that was sick (which was 4 out 7) wasn’t feeling so great and wanted to take a short rest before we headed back out for the evening. Along the way back, we did a little more shoppingJ. The hostile (pictures to come) room we stayed in had 10 beds placed in bunk bed style. We had a hotel type card we used to swipe into the bedrooms and the bathrooms. In the bedroom there were three other guys in there. One was from Germany and the other two were from the United States, I think they were a little intimidated by seven girls and didn’t have much to say to us. The bathrooms reminded me of being back in a dorm my freshman year. After a couple of hours of relaxation we ventured out into the city.
Everyone was craving Chinese food so we all agreed china town would be a good destination for dinner. As we walked along the strip every sign said B.Y.O. which I later found out meant that everyone would ate there could bring their own alcohol to dinner (which is SO strange). We all sat down after choosing the last place on the road. I had no idea what to order and asked for the same thing I always order at a Chinese restaurant, Lo Mein. This is another thing which is quite different in Australia, it was like Ramen (and therefore not very good). Luckily, we all decided to put the food in middle of the table and share, which was cool to try new and different things. After dinner we headed out to dance. We went to a place called Family, which was also an experience. We ended up leaving there after about an hour and heading back to the hostile.
The next morning, Sunday, we had to be out of the hostile at 10:00 a.m. so we packed up with our pillowcase in hand (I think this is proof that no one is staying in that bed anymore). Everyone wanted to take a tour of the area and someone suggested a boat tour would be a nice idea. It was really neat getting to travel up and down the river; you were able to see so much more of the city! As we made our way back toward the “beach” Lizzy, Audrey and I decided to hop off and go lay out. I ended up falling asleep on the beach for a good hour and woke up so incredibly hot but I finally got some Australian sun! haha. We all met up about an hour or so later for lunch and ice cream then another beach session before we grabbed our bags from the hostile and got on the train.
The weekend turned out to be such a nice time. It was really wonderful getting out and seeing more of Australia and something beyond the little town of Sippy Downs. I am looking forward to taking more weekend trips in the future!
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