Where do I have to go to see one of those signs???

Aawww, cute little Kangaroo 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASH...

For your birthday I have posted a few pictures of your favorite Australia creature. I will not leave until I take pictures of Kangaroos for you. Here's my plan...I'm going to start looking for those Kangaroo signs and see where they take me. Watch I'll probably end up somewhere where Kangaroos out number the population of people. Wouldn't that suck for me...

HAPPY AUSTRALIAN DAY...

I find it funny how everyone's been asking what Australian day is. It's like Canada's day. It's the country's birthday.

So on my first day off I decided to finally check out one of the beaches. I went with one of the guys in my program and he had a car, yah bonus. Although taking the bus today is apparently free.

The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot and of course it was sunny. Basically the weather is exactly the same everyday. It's always sunny. The books weren't kidding when they wrote that Perth was the sunniest city here.

Alright so we went to Cottesloe beach, which runs along the Indian ocean. When we first got there I was a little disappointed with the lack of waves but it got windier and man can you really see the waves. What a novelty, you don't need to go into a wave pool to experience waves. Oh and apparently if you go to the beach, the Australian thing to eat is fish and chips. If you say so but I'm not a big fan of fish and chips. I'm also starting to realize why so many North Americans are so obese. They don't have to pay for a lot of things that people here have to. Like the condiments for one thing. It's like $0.30 for a small pack of "tomato sauce" (ketchup). I can do without the calories anyways.

We saw people wind surfing and kite surfing. It was so cool to watch and no I didn't get a chance to try it out. Someday I will though, I promise. People were flying on those things. It looked like fun but also something that I would probably hurt myself doing. Oh well, it's not like I've never broken anything before right??

i just got back from the beach and wow did I ever get a tan. You can definitely see my tan lines. I realize I tan easily but never anything like this. I put sunblock on and you can tell which parts I missed. It's pretty funny actually. You can see the outline of my fingers where I just stopped putting on sunblock.

I'm going to try to start some anatomy studying now and then go check out the fireworks tonight...

Let the classes begin...

So the first day of classes was exciting and boring at the same time. It was just a day of people introducing themselves and us going through a lot of tours. The worst was the library tour. I'm pretty sure that if we can get into a Master's program, we don't need step-by-step lessons on how to do searches.

We finally got an idea of what our program will be like. I swear, every 1/2 hour someone would remind us how intense this program is going to be. After a while, you begin to worry. Our program is so structured and condensed. We basically have classes from 8am-5pm everyday for the next 2 1/4 years. And when everyone else are on their breaks between terms, we will be in class. For some reason they decided to make us go to class during our little term breaks to combine theml and make up a term. Why don't they just extend the program instead and give us a break?? Man, Australians really do do things backwards.

The first day of lectures was quite overwhelming and amazing. There's a lot of stuff to learn in the next 4 weeks but I love this stuff. For the rest of the week, all we're doing is anatomy. I've done anatomy before but nothing like this. The prof tries to make you understand why things are located where they are instead of telling us to memorize it. I now know how forensics people can gather so much information with just examining bones. I almost forgot how much I love school and especially anatomy...

A day of disappointments...

This is the last day before my program officially begins. This day turned out to be full of disappointments. I decided to call the woman that was suppose hook me up with a team to play Fastball with. Well she told me that they only had 3 games left until playoffs begin and the season would be over. Then I asked about “winter league” and apparently no one plays during the “winter season”. Why not?? I came here to play all year round. It’s sad that people don’t take advantage of this year round warm weather to play all the time. So basically I have to wait until at least August, when they begin their off season training. What a huge disappointment. Instead waiting only another 4-5 months to play in Canada, I know have to wait like 8 months in this warm weather to play. This weather will just be a mockery.
Hhmmm, maybe the university baseball club will play in the “winter”. Yes I refuse to use the term “winter” without quotations. It’s not winter without the cold and snow.

So I decide to finally go check out their gym. As it turns out there’s a fitness centre and an aerobic centre. The fitness centre has weights and a few aerobic machines. That place was a disappointment in itself. It was so small and crummy. I think I can build a basement gym better than that. It looked so nice from the outside too. The aerobic centre consists of squash courts and aerobic classes. On top of that, you have to pay a membership fee for each facility. It’s like charging us twice to use the fitness facilities. If I end up getting both, it will turn out to be quite expensive. I would literally have to use both everyday to make it worth while. I’m a little hesitant to pay $33/month for a fitness centre that sucks. It’s debatable which is worst, this one or the PAC weight room. What should I do?? I can’t just go to the aerobic classes. I’m not even a class person but I’m going to try to like it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s been so difficult to keep motivated since I lost my training partner. Oh, and they don’t have a pool at this university.

With no Fastball for awhile, I’m going to try to have to take up some new sports. I’ve decided to play net ball. I don’t know completely what it is or the rules but it sounds like fun. The court is separated into zones and you must stay in your zone and the object of the game is to score on the opponents net (the net’s high up like a basketball net). You’re only allowed two steps and can only score when you’re in a certain zone. Sounds like fun, we’ll see.

Well I guess when certain doors close, other doors always open…I just hope I don’t get too rusty when I come back.

Off to the mall I go...

My first experience to the mall was good. I took the bus with my only housemate thus far. He’s a yankee from NY and we argue about a lot of things. He keeps saying it's because I'm Canadian...whatever...Anyways, back to my mall experience. The names of the stores were unfamiliar except that they had Kmart and Target. It’s funny that they have those American stores when Canada, thank goodness, doesn’t. I brought my knapsack to the mall thinking that I would put my groceries in it so I could carry more stuff home. But we bumped into the same people that we met the night before and they offered to drive us home. They found it funny and weird that we would bring our knapsack to carry our groceries. I don’t know why, it makes perfect sense to every student in North America. What I found weird was that people are allowed to push the grocery cart all around the mall. All around the mall, people have their groceries in the cart and pushing it doing their shopping.

Final destination: Curtin University

This is the day I check out the place I will be attending for the next 2 ¼ years. I take a taxi to the University and apparently the school is not in Perth, it’s actually 10-15 minutes outside “the city”. We drive onto the campus and it’s huge. First I go to the residence to drop off my luggage and get settled in. The place is alright. It’s not the prettiest place but it’s decent. I didn’t bother trying to unpack.
Since it’s already Friday I have a lot of stuff to do before I begin class on Monday. I feel like I’m in first year again waiting in line after line. Why are there so many people waiting in the same lines as me? They don’t begin classes for another 3 weeks.

I walked all around campus and it’s the most amazing campus I have ever seen. There’s so many open space to just chill’ax, very cool…So it took me a very long time to find the international building because I kept walking the wrong way, even with a map in hand and signs all over the place. One thing that I’ve noticed so far is how laid back people really are here. People take their sweet little time doing everything so the service for everything is quite slow. I went to the bank and you apparently wait for them to call your number. The place was packed with people waiting to be serviced but still there was only one person actually doing anything.

Also, people don’t seem to work after 4:30pm. I went back on campus at 5pm and everything was closed, even food places and the campus was suddenly deserted. I wonder what people do here after 5pm?? Maybe they all head over to the beach??

That evening I went to King’s Park with some people that I met through the RA. King’s park is just a park but it’s got a great view of the entire city. You can see the Swan River, which is literally in the shape of a swan.

Welcome to Australia....Finally...

Well I’m in Sydney airport right now waiting to get to my final destination, Perth. It’s been 2 days full of waiting, lineup, sitting, and horrible breakfast airplane food. I can’t believe that I have been on three planes and they all served breakfast. I hate omelets to begin with so to eat rubbery ones is even worst. I greeted Jaws at the LA airport without any problems to report. The actual flight to Fiji was 10 hours but it totally did not feel that long. It was actually a really great flight maybe because Jaws and I slept through most of it. We fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the plane and barely knew that we were taking off. That’s how tired we were.

Alright so when we got to Fiji we get greeted with people playing music. Getting through customs took awhile but the people there was amazing. I think it’s now one of my favorite airports. Both Jaws and I couldn’t get over how nice people were over there. They would literally run up to you to ensure that you were going the right direction. Incredible service!!! That’s all I saw of Fiji so if it’s any precursor of what Fiji is like, it should be a great place. The weather was so hot and muggy…Once we got everything figured out, it was pretty much time for me to say goodbye to Jaws. Off we went to our own little adventure.

The plane to Sydney was the same as the one we just got off. This time, they gave me a ticket to sit upstairs. I don’t know if it’s a higher class or what but it was pretty nice. I got to sit in the first row with no one else around me. I’m not sure how packed the main floor was but the top floor was pretty bare. No complains here, except for eating the exact same food and watching the same movies. I guess it’s expected. Oh how I hate breakfast food now, especially omelets (which I disliked to begin with).

This brings me to Sydney. I was expecting customs to take a long time but it was pretty much in and out for me, probably because I had a visa. I only had 3 hours before I had to get back to check in at the airport and I wanted to see as much of the sites as possible. Surprisingly everything was within walking distance and the weather was really hot and sunny.

I head back to the airport and find out that I have to take the shuttle bus to another terminal. That’s when I realized that Sydney airport is massive. It took the bus like 5 minutes to get to the domestic terminal. It takes less than a minute in Toronto. I get to the check in counter and that’s when the headache begun. I check in and the woman tells me that the max each luggage can possibly weigh is 40kg. I was apparently about 4kg over. So instead of opting to pay a fee and transfer some of my stuff into another bag, I tried putting stuff in my hiking bag, knapsack, and even in my pillow. Eventually I got the bag down to 39.1kg. YES…That experience was probably a warning of what was the worst plane ride of my life. I never want to fly with an Australian airline again. First, the seats were so uncomfortable and there are no monitors to watch a movie or anything. Secondly, you have to pay for everything. One would expect a complimentary meal for a 5 hour plane ride or even beverages at the least but not without a fee. I was so tired but the seats were so stiff that I couldn’t get any sleep.

Jan. 18th, 2005...My journey half way across the world begins!!!

The way I see it, I better start a journal because these next 2+ years is going to be an experience of a lifetime. I look around and everyone is so excited for me. Why am I not as excited about this? I keep telling people that it hasn't hit me yet but in reality, all I can think about is how difficult my program is going to be and how much I'm going to miss everyone. ..My biggest fear is that when I come back, I will lose the close friendships that have meant so much to me this past year. I guess there's no point worry about something that hasn't happened yet eh?

Well, my journey to Perth began this morning when my plane took off at 9am to LA. There was a 1/2 hour delay due to the cold weather. Haha, I guess it's only fitting that I experience one last bit of cold weather. The actual flight was pretty good except for a small patch of turbulence. I pretty much slept through it because I didn't sleep the night before...WOW, I wish you can all be here to see this amazing view of the Grand Canyon. I took some pictures but I'm sure it won't be it justice. The colour is a really deep clay colour and it's breath taking. I'm sitting next to this nice couple who's going on a cruise and they're making me video tape this view for them. Hhmm, maybe I should do some commentary or something. ..

Alright, I’m in LA airport right now and that couple whom I sat next to made me take a picture in front of a palm tree. Man, I felt I was on a trip with my parents for a second. Whatever, they meant well. ..
So now what should I do?? Jaws doesn’t arrive for another 3 hours and Quantas airlines counter isn’t opening until 4:30 so I can’t even get my ticket. I’ve walked around the terminals already and it’s huge but still your typical airport. I went outside for a bit and it’s 23 degrees and incredibly sunny. Toronto was -23 degrees when I left this morning. If this is any indication of what Australia is like, I definitely brought to many warm clothes. Oh well, it’s better to be prepared than not right?
My shoulders are killing me. I’m not use to carrying such a heavy bag anymore. Oh well, I guess this will help build up my tolerance again for school.

I hate time zones. I’m so confused as to what time it is and it doesn’t help that I always set my watch extremely fast. I must have checked and double checked what time Jaws is arriving like 10 times already. I know what I can do. I will make a sign to hold up when Jaws does finally arrive. Oh, I hope she turns on her video camera.