One Week Down!

The first morning in Darwin was so exciting! I woke up at 7:30 in the morning, unfortunately, but I was beyond eager to get my room together and head to what Devyn and I thought was orientation. I got most of my stuff unpacked and mostly put away then got ready and headed to the office for orientation.

This is probably a good time to mention that Devyn and I had received emails about this orientation and how it was mandatory. So we made sure to get to the office a bit early so we wouldn't be late to the MANDATORY ORIENTATION. When it was finally time for the orientation, as I'm sure you could gather by now, it wasn't actually an orientation.... We were being given a tour of the shops (the mall). I suppose Devyn and I should have known this because on the list of activities that they gave us, the 'orientation' is listed as 'Casuarina Square Tour'....

That morning Devyn and I had met a girl from Australia, Meg, and she was able to help us find what we needed. She says a lot of things that Devyn and I don't understand so we always have to ask her what she's saying, but she seems to get a pretty good laugh out of it so it's all good I suppose.

While at the shops we got really hungry so instead of trying something new we got McDonald's! It wasn't the greasy, kinda gross, McDonald's that we were expecting though. It was so good and it tasted like actual food! Devyn and I were really shocked. I've honestly been contemplating smuggling a bunch of food into America so I don't have to eat McDonald's there.

That evening, the three of us went to the welcome barbecue where they gave us snags (sausages). The food was really good and I met so many people! The diversity in the people here is crazy. So far I've met people from the Netherlands, Norway, Australia, China, Bangladesh, France, England, Vietnam, Sweden, Chile, India, the Philippines, and Columbia. We haven't seen anybody else from America since we got here and I am actually beginning to miss the accent.

The second day we didn't do much, but we did get smoothies and head to the beach! Some of the Chinese students made Devyn and I dumplings as well which neither of us had had before. They kept saying how bad the dumplings were gonna be but they were incredible, they might even be my new favorite food! Meg, Devyn, and I went to the beach that night to watch the sunset. It ended up being only a five minute walk from our housing and I think that's definitely going to be where I do my homework this semester. It's so peaceful out there and the water and the cliffs are breathtaking. There isn't much sand, but if you go out before the tide starts coming in you can see a bunch of sand and find seashells and coral and things.

Wednesday morning there was a pancake breakfast so we went and met a bunch more people. After that, we went to the shops again so we could get more groceries because Devyn and I had no food. While we were grocery shopping, Meg bought Kangaroo steaks for us to have for dinner and they were actually really good! I was really nervous to try it, but I am SO glad that I did. After shopping, Devyn and I went to Nightcliff beach with some other international students. Devyn and I were actually supposed to ride bikes there, but I literally fell off the bike just sitting on it so we gave our bikes to other people and took the bus. The beach has this really pretty boardwalk and a really long jetty, although we couldn't see the jetty because the tide was so high. That night we ate our roo steaks and Meg made paint for us out of rocks that we found at the beach the night before.

On Thursday, I went on a car cruise through Darwin and Palmerston on my own. I got to hang out with some new people which was really cool. We also got to see the WWII oil tunnels and the other to CDU campuses in this area. They also took us out to see the water but we still weren't allowed to go in. For lunch, we went to the shops in Palmerston and I ate Subway! I was really excited about that because I didn't know that they have Subway in Australia and I had been really wanting it for a while. After I went to the car cruise, Devyn, Meg, and I went back to the beach. Luckily, this time we were able to go onto the sand because the tide was low enough. I brought my camera too so we were able to get a lot of good pictures.

Later that night, we had a game night in Devyn and Meg's building which a bunch of other students here. We played the Australia version of Cards Against Humanity which actually ended up not being very fun, Uno, Spot it, and Spoons. Spot it and Spoons were, in my opinion, the best out of them all. Unfortunately one of the girls started yelling at Devyn and I because we were talking to our families, since that was really the only time that we are able to. She just went on and on about it and even started arguing about it again later. Game night was just very awkward after that and we were all really frustrated.

Friday was Meg's birthday!!! Devyn and I weren't able to get her anything so we made her a super cute card and went with her to the grog shop (liquor store). Since she was turning 18 and that is the drinking age here, she wanted to go out to a bar with Devyn and I and Meg's other friend. We ended up going to Monsoons, but Devyn wasn't able to go because she had such a bad migraine.

Friday afternoon, there was a picnic on the beach so Devyn and I went to that and Meg met us there a little later. All three of us were really tired unfortunately so we left pretty early. But, because we were there so early in the day it was an actual beach!!! There was so much sand and so many seashells and coral pieces. Devyn and I even found sand dollars out there!

Saturday and Sunday were both really slow days. Meg left Saturday to go and paint a mural so Devyn and I are on our own. Saturday, all we really did was go and get snags in the afternoon down at Sitzler court, take a nap, watch Riverdale, and go ice skating. The ice skating was so much fun! Not many people had been ice skating before so it was really fun getting to watch everybody falling around trying to figure it out. When I first started skating I would not let go of the wall at all and when I did I fell so much! Poor Devyn got pulled down by someone else while we were trying to take a group photo. She was really not happy about it, which was understandable. Towards the end though they started shoveling all of the ice shavings into a big pile in the middle for people to make snowballs out of. At the ice rink in Phoenix you would have been kicked off the ice for throwing snowballs so this was definitely something new. Neither Devyn or I like snowballs so we were not exactly happy when a stranger threw a snowball at us. It was fun watching everybody, but I really do not like participating in that sort of thing. All in all that night was really fun, I just honestly wish there had been no snowballs. Especially because I got hit with one while I was taking my skates off!

Sunday was not particularly eventful, but we did get to go to the shops again and we figured out our schedules for next semester at NAU. I was really excited for that because in August I am changing my major to Communication Sciences and Disorders (Speech Pathology) and I was finally to see the classes that I have to take! The closer I get to being able to change my major the more excited I am for it. I've already started telling people that I am studying Speech Pathology in America and I feel butterflies in my stomach every time. I have never been so excited about my future before now!

Anyways, getting back on topic. I really do love it here in Australia, humidity and all. I am so happy in Darwin and I can't wait to see where thee next few months take me. This opportunity has been so amazing and I am beyond grateful that I have the chance to do this!