How you going?

After an eventful plane ride filled with layovers and delays I can officially say that I now live in Melbourne. It took over twenty-four hours to get from Vancouver to Monash University. Non-the less I’ve made it here safely on my own and I’m loving so far. I’m living in residents and it’s lively to say the least. My hall is a party hall and my floor specifically has a quite the reputation. Last semester a guy ‘accidentally’ swallowed a fifty-cent piece, the largest Aussie coin, which is bigger than a twoonie and I’m sure he was from my hall. But don’t worry I’m not him. Here’s my mailing address for those of you that care to send mail:

Spencer Dear
124 Farrer Hall
Clayton Residential
Locked Bag 1073
Mount Waverly VIC 3149
Australia

Melbourne is a fantastic city and I can’t even begin to explain how friendly and helpful everyone in Australia is, despite the fact that they all think that I’m American. The last couple days have been packed with non-stop activities put on by Monash Abroad and I’ve met what feels like endless other international students that are here to study and have a good time. I’ve also had to sit through hours of boring orientation lectures, but no one wants to hear about it. So far the adjustment to Aussie life has been going pretty smoothly, due in part to the highly social culture that exists here, but there are definitely some things that are going to take a while to get used to. Here’s a couple of them:

The noises. It’s never quiet. It sounds like your living in a pet store but the volume has been magnified a hundred times. Between the squawking parrots that fight outside my window and the hidden bugs that chirp and buzz in the gardens around campus it’s never quiet.

The sun. I’ve quickly learned never to leave my room with out my sunnies…. my sunglasses. The suns rays are extremely strong, and every time I walk outside of a building and the sun is out I literally go blind. To make things more complicated Melbourne’s weather patterns are on crack, so you never know what you’re going to get.

The roads. Aussies drive on the left side of the road. It’s really confusing and I’m scared to drive. Apparently I walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk and every time I go to shoulder check when crossing I look the wrong way and step out on to incoming cars.

The prices. Just ridiculous. The cost of everything is stupid expensive. A glass of beer in Melbourne CBD is around $12.

The transport system. Kind of expensive, but cheaper than a taxi. The metlink can get you anywhere you want to go and then some. Melbourne has an amazing public transit that includes buses, trams and trains. I’ve taken it twice already to the CBD… downtown. People look at me like I’m crazy when I called it downtown.

Anyways, those are just a few things that I noticed during the first couple of days here. Later next week I’ll have to share more about Australian culture… aka drinking, and some of the sweet activities that I’ve done like Fed Square, Laneways Pub Crawl, Queen Victoria Night Market and the Knott.

Here's an Aussie fact. The Australian emblem has an emu and kangaroo on it because those are the only two animals in Australia that can't walk backwards, and Australia is only moving forward.