Has it really been that long since the South Coast Orientation Trip?

Somehow university seems to bring out the procrastinator in me. My last post was, I notice with shame, over a month ago. It just seems as if there is always something to be done. Of course I have reading and assignments for my classes, and then there are the parties to go to, the trips to town, birthdays to celebrate and fun excursions to experience. But somehow there is never enough time to tell all the fantastic stories. Hopefully I can remember everything that has happened over the past month, and manage to keep up with this blogging in the future.



Well, I'll just start where I left off. On Friday Sonya and I arrived at Macquarie Uni, and with a bit of trouble --- the house numbers aren't exactly in order --- found my new home. It was a very interesting place at first sight: the walls are green and salmon pink! There were four bedrooms, but there was no one else in the unit, so we put my stuff in my room and had a walk around the campus. Afterwards Sonya left me to my unpacking, which was soon interrupted by the welcome BBQ. I met a lot of new people, as well as meeting up with some girls from Utrecht. I don't think I have seen most of the people since the BBQ, but it was a lot of fun. I met one of my unitmates that afternoon, her name is Amalie and she is from Denmark.

The next morning I went on the South Coast Orientation trip. As I had expected there were lots of Americans (or maybe you they are just louder and therefore more prominent), and I ended up sharing a room with three American girls, Stephanie, Lacy and Brittany, and one Canadian girl Cass. That trip was a lot of fun, we did a lot in three days. We went dolphin watching --- we saw a mother and calf of under 6 months, and a few even swam right next to and under the boat, we went to an emu farm --- I fed them and they are quite, how do I put this, enthusiastic about food, we went canoeing, we went on a bush walk with an Aboriginal woman who taught us a bit about "bush tucker", the boys learned how to play the didgeridoo (it's a man's instrument and women aren't allowed to play) and we learned how to throw a boomerang. We saw "the whitest beach in Australia", we had a performance of an Aboriginal dance group, but mainly we just had a lot of fun getting to know each other. I have had dinners with some of the people I met on the trip, and people I met through them such as their unitmates.

The next week was introduction week, which was actually introduction day since the group was so big it was split into a few days. We got all the boring but necessary information - and then it was up to us to make sure our schedules were OK - it took me about a week to fix mine because I decided I didn't want one course I had signed up for over 6 months earlier, and after one lecture decided that another course was too easy. So I spent quite some time messing around with different courses and time slots to make sure I didn't have lectures or practicals at the same time. On Wednesday we went to the local bar/club called the Ranch. It was a lot of fun as we went with a group from the orientation trip, but none of us were too impressed by the Ranch itself. It was very crowded and hot inside, and didn't have much character or a great atmosphere. On Thursday evening there was a welcome party in a club/bar called Cabana, and it wasn't until then that I really realised just how many exchange students there were. After the exchange party we went back to campus to go to the uni bar - we got back just before the doors closed at midnight - unimaginable for Dutch students, most of whom wouldn't even think of going to the bar or a club before midnight. But I quite like that nights out start a little earlier here, because it means that they also end a bit earlier so you can get some sleep.

That Saturday a group of us went to Manly Beach, one of Sydney's famous beaches, since it was really nice weather. Manly is more of a relaxed, family oriented beach than Bondi, which is very trendy and fashionable. I like both beaches, I suppose it just depends on what kind of mood I'm in. I spent the rest of the weekend settling into my room, and on Sunday we had a bit of a reunion dinner with some people from the south coast trip. Everyone cooked something, so we had a really nice and varied dinner.

Well, this is already a very long post and it's getting a bit late, so I will stop here. I will however write another post as soon as possible, because I have had quite a lot of adventures the past few weeks.

Cheers and happy St Patrick's Day!