The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Well, Australia is turning out to be quite the interesting spot. I'm beginning to learn that there are things I love love love about Australia and the things that I dislike. I guess this is to be expected with most things in life...persons, places and things. Nouns if you will.

I have previously noted things that I love about Australia. This includes the beautiful weather, the beautiful wildlife,  the care free "work less, live more" attitude of its people. I also love how department stores, for the most part, are extremely neat, almost to a fault. For example, I had a pair of sandals I was trying on in Kmart (my new favourite store). I left the pair I was going to buy on at the little bench seat thingy and went up the isle to grab a second pair that I had my eye on. When I went back to the bench, the first pair were gone.... they had been brought back by an associate who was apparently waiting for me the leave something behind. LOL This may be a bit extreme, but I would much rather a clean store over the ridiculous mess that is Wal-Mart (or Shoppers if they have Pepsi on sale) back home.

I also love kangaroos and koalas. They are super cute! A few of us went to the Koala Sanctuary this weekend and I had a lot of fun!  Roos are much more friendly than I thought they would be, at least the domesticated ones at the zoo! The beaches are beautiful as well! This stuff just can't be done over the weekend back home!

I also love that Brisbane is made up of a bunch of little suburbs continuously strung together to make up a beautiful city. Each suburb is like its own little village, just a little different from the next. I could go on and go on about all the things that I love here!

BUT, there are things that I dislike!  I hate it that the mall only opens during regular business hours so if you need something, you more than likely will have to wait until the weekend to get it.   They are open from 10am to 5pm generally, and this varies at times. It seems like no store really has a set schedule. If a store is supposed to close at 5pm you bet your bottom dollar their doors are closed by 4:30. This probably doesn't seem like too big of a deal but man, when you are used to having the shops open until at least 10pm, trying to be organized gets a little "dodgy"! Its not a big deal, but its just that little annoyance that doesn't go away and keeps dictating your weekly schedule of when you can do certain things. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but wahhh!

Also, I don't like how when I go into a bar with a blood alcohol level of about 0.00001, they deny me alcohol because I have a strange "American sort of accent" that deems me too drunk to drink!  People, I'm from Newfoundland!  Back home if you are capable of standing at the bar and mumbling something that resembles "I'll have another.." you'll get served. So, what happened was I was going out for my birthday and had a few people over beforehand. This being the first real time I've socialized with people from school and having them in my condo, I wasn't drinking as much as I was trying to get to know everyone and monitoring the noise level. The plan was to leave and then start drinking at the bar. Little did I know that I was going to run into the best security guard in the world, who didn't even allow people to stand at or near the bar, let alone get a drink if you have some sort of foreign accent. Anyways, I'm sure I could of went to another bar that night which didn't have neurotic security guards, but the whole thing was sort of a buzz kill and the majority of people I was with had just poured up full pints (these people were the drunk ones, they were allowed to drink, no Newfie accent). Sitting outside the bar by myself looking at the sky I had one of those "God, I miss home" moments. In the back of my head I was feeling like, Erica don't get in trouble here because you could technically get deported or something. You don't belong to Australia, remember. I left and I had a bad taste in my mouth. I could see if I seemed a little drunk and I knowwww sometimes my personality may make me seem like I'm a little more tipsy than I actually am, but this time, seriously, I was a sober judge.  Weird ol times in Brissy. Take the good ones with the bad I spose, they are mostly good anyways. :)

And did I mention that I also have a strong dislike the Australian Government quarantine facilities.  I may be biased with this one because they have kidnapped my dog and have deprived her of my love and affection..and exercise, her 3 favourite things. The poor thing, all alone without her mother. They denied her an exercise appointment (she gets two 30 minute appointments a week) for Friday, her first day allowed to be exercised.  The first week they are not allowed outside their stall at all and after that are only allowed to be walked by owners (I'm 900km away), or by someone hired.  Anyways long story short, I was told that they need 24 hours notice before a scheduled exercise appointment but they were closed on Australia day which was Thursday and because they were closed the day before she couldn't be walked and all this other crap...so now she has been in her kennel stall thing for 9 days and will not be out until Wes gets there, this Tuesday coming. Thats 11 days in one little area. Brutal. Not earth-shattering, I know...just brutal.

The bus system here is just hilarious! I actually don't mind taking the bus and riding public transport. There are a lot of perks associated with it, like not having to pump gas, pay insurance or deal with parking. But, the bus drivers here hate their lives. They will see you, standing in the rain, and stop and shut their doors and lock you out so you can't get on the bus and then drive off. There is no other bus coming. The one scheduled, just left you in the rain... and now you have to wait for the next one. Hope you brought your umbrella, cause all your expensive books are now drenched! Yes!  Hahaha, and once you finally manage to find a bus driver that will let you on the bus, you best find a seat! Cause let me tell you, you won't be standing by the end of it!  Its almost a "you have to be there" sort of ordeal, but they don't know what gradual breaking is! And the round abouts are just a suggestion. Most times they just drive right over the top of them!  NBD, just bring your umbrella and some sort of portable seat belt! No biggies!

Oh the trials and tribulations of being a foreigner and not being accustomed to the different ways of life. Sometimes its just a lot of little things that add up which make you feel very far away from home. Its also  been raining for a week straight, so much so that its too slippery to run. Thats why I'm a cranky pants! It's my blog, I'm allowed.


Anyways, I know that I am beyond blessed to be experiencing all this, cockroaches and spiders included. I wouldn't trade this adventure for the entire world. I knew I was either gonna sink or swim when I landed here. So far I got a solid breast-stroke on the go! Step outside your comfort zone. It makes you appreciate life! :)

Walk to the edge.

Erica

Keep Calm and Carry On

Week 3 has been insane. insane!  Medical school is very intense. They just throw you into it expecting you to remember every detail about action potentials, embryological folding, and anatomy. I never did anatomy people, never did it so I'm sorry if I have no idea what the hell the mid-saggital plane is or where the tibial medial surface is.  I'm venting, because I can't vent to my classmates, they probably know all this. Probably not, but I'm so used to being in this vortex of not talking about school from my undergrad, I just can't express my insecurities out loud. Then you're the stupid one who doesn't know anything! Dahh My science friends understand what Im talking about, you know who you are! Anyways, I've spent most of the weekend studying, because I think I may actually fail out then owe CIBC all this money and have no way to pay them back cause I never actually graduated. LOL Alright...I'm exaggerating, however, I'm still pretty freaked.  Four hour lectures in a room with 400 plus people can be pretty overwhelming, especially when they whip through 5 chapters of embryology in 1 hour. Thats like 3 straight days of reading without sleep. I have 8 hours of lecture a day, do the math. I know I sound ridiculous complaining about being in a program that I've waiting 3 years to start, but its very different on the other side. Its go time now. I still realise how very lucky I am to be here and would not go back to Newfoundland for a million dollars to apply to MUN again, but still, Im adjusting, so there! Anyways, on top of all this crazy school business my poor little tiny fritter face was dealing with being shipped for countless hours in a crate,across the world (THE WORLD PEOPLE), and dealing with stranger after stranger and needle after needle.  I know, she's a dog and she'll survive, but she is my everything. I love that dog beyond a reasonable amount, and other dog lovers will agree with me; they are actually apart of your family and they are better than humans because they love unconditionally and don't expect anything in return. I like her more than I like most people. So I was completely freaking this week, not on the outside, on the inside, I'm good at that.  I had to stay up late to connect with the people responsible for transporting her, then run to school and listen about things I have completely forgotten from undergrad then run back home to try to reconnect and see how she is doing. It was tiring. On top of all this Sally finally lands in Australia and the quarantine station wouldn't give me an update until late in the day. After I called numerous times, then they closed, for the weekend, and I never got to talk to anyone.... I still haven't heard anything about her, no confirmation that she is even there! I was freaking, but I got through it, like I do with most things. That's what I love about me, I freak out all the time about stuff but I always get through it.  I can work very well under pressure, not everyone can. Thats why I'm going to be a good doctor. Because working under pressure is apart of my daily life!  :)

Anyways, still loving Australia and all that it is. Today I was walking down the road and had something hit me on the head. I looked up and saw these two parrots (that were every colour in the rainbow) in a palm tree. It was amazing, I tried to take a picture of them but the sun was too bright. What a shame, the sun, too bright. Certainly didn't have the sun being too much a problem while trying to photograph tropical parrots back home. No sir. No sun. No parrots. LOL What hit me on the head was seeds or something that they were eating at the time.  Love Australia. The lady bugs have lots of spots. Did I mention that already? I'm trying to upload pictures on this thing, but I went a bought a stupid mac (which I happen to love) and I can't upload anything!! Anyways, I'll work on that for ya and post the picture of the crazy lady bug with a cazillion spots!

This week I celebrated my 25th birthday. It was my first birthday away from home. But it was awesome! My roomies made me a cake and bought me a gift certificate to get my nails done!  Love!  Wes got me a new school bag and also bought me an ice-cream cake! I had a facetime birthday party with mom and sister, it was fun!  Laurissa made me a personalized calendar which made my life complete. It has all the important dates in there and also a picture of someone I love for each month! Thank you sister! :) Mom gave me a really touching card and we are going to have a spa day when she gets here at the end of February. Dad gave me some cash to help with tuition, which was amazing! I hope every birthday is as good as that one!

I kinda feel old though, because the average age in my class is 22 years, I'm pretty sure. When I was telling my classmates how old I was they did the whole taken back look and said, "Oh I didn't know you were that old!" Boo!  I'm the youngest in my family and I'm not used to this, I demand a recount! Anyways, despite bing old and grey I had some kids over from school. There was about 40 of us here! It was awesome and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun!  I hope I get to make some really close friends while Im here, ones that I can take back to NL with me! :) LOL The thing about trying to make new friends is how much it makes you appreciate the ones you have back home. It makes you reflect on why you have the friends you do and what makes them so incredibly amazing. I miss my friends and don't think I'll ever find people to replace the friendships I have today. Ever. No matter who I meet, I would never replace them anyways! :)

A friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.

Erica

Settling In!

So!! I'm on my second week of living in the land of oz and things are going relatively well!  I was barely homesick after the night on the bathroom floor and the crying spurt in Ikea.  LOL The jet lag has pretty much subsided too! That helps the homesickness, because when you're tired, everything is off!

This week we finished furnishing the condo, all that is left is adding some nice decorations to make the place cozy! This has been delayed because the decorations here are wayyyy more expensive than back home but its okay, it will get done.

I had one day of orientation so far. It was for the international students. I think there are like 200 of us, it seemed like that many anyways. Loads of Canadians, loads of Americans, some from Asia and other areas as well. The orientation was really cool. They started out with an Australian Aboriginal dance which included making a fire with sticks and a man playing a didgeridoo. That was followed by a really nice welcome from the Dean of Medicine and some others.  Their philosophy at UQ is that we are all in this together and they want to embrace us internationals and our differences as much as they want us to embrace Australia and its people.  It was really nice!  They consider themselves a global medical school and are very motivated to help all of us internationals get back home, if thats what we want. :) I love it! We have the regular orientation tomorrow and Tuesday, and then we start classes on Wednesday, the Eukaryotic Cell. :)

This weekend Wes and I went to the Gold Coast. It was absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I can get on the train for an hour and literally end up in Paradise (and no, not the Paradise you end up in if you truck along on Topsail Road). I can't wait to go with you all when you come to visit me!

So things I've learned since I've been in Australia:
1) Aussies don't wear shoes
2) Aussie babies cry very loud and cry allll the time
3) No one wears clothes; its freaking hot here but the girls wear these things called "stubbies" which are shorts sooo short that the arse literally falls out of er!
4) There are these wedge fries that have sweet chilli and sour cream and are sooo deliciously bad for you
5) The cider here is absolutely amazing (Tiff you're gonna die)!!!

This evening I went for a run in the rain. This, my friends, was the most wonderful experience I've had here yet.  The rain here falls out of the sky and lands on the ground in a vertical fashion, not a horizontal one, who knew? Two things; go to Australia and run when it rains.

Tomorrow is the beginning week of med school. I have a full week of lectures and seminars. It seems like such a ground shattering time for me and its so weird cause all the people I'm closest with are miles away. I know they are rooting for me back home tho! Just wish there were here with me now! Dad is coming down soon, although he hasn't booked yet, God love him. Mom is coming in February. I've got lots to look forward to.  Just kinda missing everyone back home tonight.

Play with abandon.
Erica

Landing in Oz

Well, its day 5 of my Australian adventure and this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and create a blog!

P.S. I'm not even close to Laurissa's writing abilities or her humour so if you're looking for a good read, visit her site! lol

Anyways, I took off for Australia at 7am (NL time) on January 3rd and landed in Brisbane at 720am January 5th (Brissy time)! I was an emotional wreck at St. John's airport (of course) and soon fell asleep on the first flight to Toronto. I flew from Toronto to LAX and went to Manhattan beach, it was cool. We then went to the airport and bought these passes to get in the Qantas lounge and fell asleep on these awesome chairs until our flight took off for Brisbane.

When I landed in Brisbane I had no idea what to expect. When I stepped off the plane the warm humid air hit me and I knew I was very far away from home. I got my bags and went through customs. I knew that I would be stopped for an inspection because I declared my tetley tea bags that I brought along. :) The man asked me what I had, I told him, and then he told me to go on, without checking my bags, and to enjoy my stay (in a very strong Australian accent)! Once I got outside I found a man with a "University of Queensland" sign. I knew he was there to give students free rides to their accommodations because I had gotten an email about this at some point and also remembered that I forgot to register for it!! I strolled up to him and asked if he could give me a ride or tell me the best way to get to the Holiday Inn on Roma Street. He took my student number and called the university and said that they had room for two more (Wes and I). Thats two good Australian experiences within 20 minutes of landing! Not bad!

After we got to the hotel, we got on the train and went to see our new apartment! Sarah my roommate was already there setting things up with her father. Sarah is from Arizona and is an all American girl! We have lots in common -extremely neat and enjoy making lists in our day planners. If you know me, you know how important this is, and how awesome that my random roommate, which I commandeered on Facebook, also enjoys these things.

That night was pretty rough. I was questioning my decision about uprooting my life and coming down here. I missed my family and dog like nothing else. I don't know if I missed them as much as I thought or if it was the jet lag that made me emotional, but I found myself at 3am crying on the bathroom floor of the hotel. Wes came in, picked me up and said, you're so lucky to be here, everything will be fine. I poured a hot bath (bad idea when its 40 degrees outside) and sat there for 5 minutes, got out and started into my journal which was a very therapeutic experience (thanks Riss Riss).

The next day Wes and I went shopping for a bed so we could stay at the condo instead of the hotel. First we stopped by a coffee shop in the city and got a cappuccino and a hot water (for my tetley tea bag), 6.50$AUD! 6.50$AUD. Brutal. Sandwiches are 15$AUD. Get me out of here and back into my moms house where she (slash Derek) paid for everything! Life is free at 2 Rendell (and 12 Caldwell for that matter), get me home to the land of the free living!! lol Seriously though, on day 2 I was so homesick I was physically ill, it hurt so bad. Nevertheless, I got on the train and headed for Super AMart, a furniture store. Wes and I got as close as the public system could take us, and we still had a 30 minute walk. Not knowing the transit system well, we asked the bus driver what route was the best to get us closer. He called a dispatcher lady, who told him that no bus went up to that shopping centre. He paused, looked at his watch and said " I have thirteen minutes" looked back to the empty bus and said " Get in!!". He drove us, in the public bus, off route, to the furniture store! That's two free rides now, including a private off route bus ride! Awesome! Like that is so awesome. Who does that? Australians do.

After 2 days of shopping and 2 maxed out credit cards, the condo started coming together. Louise, the second roommate, showed up and also started to settle in! She is exactly what I pictured, a 100% laid back Australian who is just as sweet as the rest of them that live in this BEAUTIFUL country! Except the spiders, they are not beautiful. Speaking of spiders, one decided to set up shop outside my bedroom window. Louise offered to get rid of him for me and so she did, but he returned and was adamant about living outside my window. After coming back 3 times, Wes went out with the Raid, and now he's dead on the deck, outside my window. He's still there alright, I just don't know what to do with him now. I feel kinda bad about killing a living thing but oh well, he wasn't paying rent so thats life, I guess.

Days 3, 4 and 5 were sooo good! I found out I live about a 2 minute walk from one of the biggest shopping centres in Australia and there are all kinds of little shops on the same block as my apartment building! I love it here soo much, I just wish my family was here too and then life would be perfect!

Today I set up my bank account, the teller was super nice (of course)! He was cute too, would have been a good one for Laurissa. Keeping my eye out for a good looking strapping young man for sister. Always watching. lol! He offered me a black, blue or pink bank card and just guess what colour I chose. Does it get better than living in Australia and having a pink bank card? Does it?

I went to the uni today as well (its uni in Oz not university, makes sense when you think about it! I love half words anyways, so good!). Breakfast is brekkie, mosquitos are mozzies and university is uni! I can handle that! I can handle this whole thing, I never thought I could. I'm stronger than I think I am. There are no words for that. If I only come home stronger, without a stupid medical degree, it will be all worth it.

Choose with no regret.