O-Week
Our orientation ("O-week" as they call it) has been insane! But a complete blast.
Monday:
Monday wasn't much to write home about. We had a lot of sessions about getting orientated to the school, the lifestyle, the required business attire and what not. It was very informative, but pretty boring to anyone who isn't directly effected, so I'll save you guys the trouble of reading about it!
Tuesday:
Tuesday was spectacular. Since the uniforms we all paid for are no longer required, we all received a 500$ gift card to a local mall. Unleashing 40ish Americans in a mall with $500 dollars each is not a good idea. We had about 2 hours to buy our business clothes and whatever else we pleased, which didn't quite cut it. It was a hectic scramble to figure out what stores carried what and what size we all were. They're size chart is extremely different, the smallest size is a 6! So we all feel extremely odd, buying size 10's and 12's. Overall, it was pretty good though, I'll never complain about a $500 gift card!
Tuesday night we had our cocktail dinner here at the school. By far the classiest thing I've ever done. We all dressed up, met in the chapel (where Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman got married, for obvious reasons, it was breathtaking), then a few of the deans spoke. We then went out on the front lawn for free wine/champagne and "mingled". Afterwards, the RA's and students who have been here for awhile took us all out downtown, where we danced and mingled some more at the Shore Club. It was right on the beach, which is so unreal, being from Nebraska. I absolutely love this place!
Wednesday:
Today Molly (my new fraaand) and I went back to the mall. After searching for the right bus in Manly for about 45 minutes, we finally got on and found our way to the mall. We shopped for awhile, and walked away feeling accomplished. After dinner (I had steak...and then had to give away to Thompson because I was so full! They gave me a lot) our school invited a wildlife man to come show us some true Australian animals. He first showed an extremely venomous spider, then a lizard, a mini dragon, another larger lizard (who was grumpy because he had just woken up, so he tore up the man's shirt!), a python (I Held it! but I was wiggin out), and an adorable 2 yr old toddler alligator. It was very cool, he was hilarious.
Thursday:
Thursday was probably one of my favorite days so far. We went out to a surf club right on the beach in the morning, where we heard a presentation about surf safety and how waves/tides/rips work. Then, we ran up and down the beach and did some cardio to "warm up". In reality, I think the Australian surf guys just got a kick out of seeing a bunch of Internationals do whatever they said. We then got in the ocean and did some bodysurfing. I don't think I got the concept down but it was tons of fun regardless. They then gave us some surf boards and took us out to catch some waves. The first one Molly and I caught on accident. It was coming in and everyone was told to paddle sideways to just ride over it, but we were already facing the beach so we decided to try and be like Blue Crush (anyone remember that movie?) and catch it. Turns out we did, and we rode it all the way into the shore. We never stood up, but it was by far the coolest thing I've ever done. We then paddled back out and caught about 2 more. Faith, Molly and I stayed out there long enough to get stung by some blue bottle jellyfish (which sting a bit, kind of like burning yourself with a curling iron, but are otherwise harmless). It was totally worth it! One of the instructors had asked me where I was from and when I told him Nebraska he congratulated me on even knowing how to swim haha. They were all so cool and made it very easy to learn and test it out.
Afterwards, we came back up to the school for our free lunch (on a side note: the food here so far hasn't been impressive, but more about that later) and then went back to the beach for awhile. Last night since we were so exhausted, we just stayed in and watched some episodes of Friends (which we brought, they don't have access to American tv here..not even online!).
Despite my minor jellyfish sting, and my awkward body-tight surf t-shirt thing tan line, a flawless day!
Friday. Saturday. Sunday.
This past weekend we went on a surfing trip in Crescent Head. It's about 6 hours north of Manly Beach. They drove the Mojo-Surf bus down to pick us all up, which was super convenient. The first night (Friday) was pretty chill, we arrived around 1 am and all just got into our rooms (more hostel-style bunk beds in large rooms). They woke us up Saturday morning around 7 am, served us some breakfast (cereal, toast) and got us into wetsuits to hit the waves. We walked down to the beach and began our surf lessons. It is so much harder than everyone makes it seem. Once I got the hang of it, I was alright but it's really amazing how the tiniest things can make the biggest difference. After drinking tons of saltwater, I learned to keep both feet flat and to slow down when I was getting up on the board. Overall, I rode a good amount of waves for a girl from Nebraska. After our morning session, they took us back to the camp to serve us lunch, then took us out again. It was an extremely exhausting day but we got through it. Then, at night we all had a bonfire on the beach, which was a blast. After we finally made it back to camp through the dark, we all fell asleep like rocks. Sunday, we were awaken again around 7:30 am to go out and surf. Needless to say I was too tired and feeling pretty sick, so I just laid out on the beach with some of the girls while everyone else caught more waves. We then returned to camp, ate and loaded up the bus. This is when things got really interesting.
I was feeling sick all day, but after the bumpy bus ride I knew I was going to literally be sick. Poor Lauren (who we call Bama) was sitting next to me, when I had to ask her to go up to the front and get me a bag to throw up in. Thankfully, I didn't feel the urge until we stopped at a gas station, where I got sick twice. No idea why but I have a feeling it was from the water we were drinking, even though only one other girl got sick. Who knows the real cause though. So after that fiasco, we find out that our bus had overheated. While we were waiting out the hour and a half for the mechanic/new bus to arrive, we all tossed around a football and rugby ball in the rain for awhile. Then, since the bus was so hot and stuffy, about 10 of us sat underneath with the hatches open, just talking..overall a good bonding experience! So finally we caught another bus and made it home about 4 and a half hours later than expected. Made for an interesting night before first day of classes!
Monday:
Monday wasn't much to write home about. We had a lot of sessions about getting orientated to the school, the lifestyle, the required business attire and what not. It was very informative, but pretty boring to anyone who isn't directly effected, so I'll save you guys the trouble of reading about it!
Tuesday:
Tuesday was spectacular. Since the uniforms we all paid for are no longer required, we all received a 500$ gift card to a local mall. Unleashing 40ish Americans in a mall with $500 dollars each is not a good idea. We had about 2 hours to buy our business clothes and whatever else we pleased, which didn't quite cut it. It was a hectic scramble to figure out what stores carried what and what size we all were. They're size chart is extremely different, the smallest size is a 6! So we all feel extremely odd, buying size 10's and 12's. Overall, it was pretty good though, I'll never complain about a $500 gift card!
Tuesday night we had our cocktail dinner here at the school. By far the classiest thing I've ever done. We all dressed up, met in the chapel (where Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman got married, for obvious reasons, it was breathtaking), then a few of the deans spoke. We then went out on the front lawn for free wine/champagne and "mingled". Afterwards, the RA's and students who have been here for awhile took us all out downtown, where we danced and mingled some more at the Shore Club. It was right on the beach, which is so unreal, being from Nebraska. I absolutely love this place!
Wednesday:
Today Molly (my new fraaand) and I went back to the mall. After searching for the right bus in Manly for about 45 minutes, we finally got on and found our way to the mall. We shopped for awhile, and walked away feeling accomplished. After dinner (I had steak...and then had to give away to Thompson because I was so full! They gave me a lot) our school invited a wildlife man to come show us some true Australian animals. He first showed an extremely venomous spider, then a lizard, a mini dragon, another larger lizard (who was grumpy because he had just woken up, so he tore up the man's shirt!), a python (I Held it! but I was wiggin out), and an adorable 2 yr old toddler alligator. It was very cool, he was hilarious.
Thursday:
Thursday was probably one of my favorite days so far. We went out to a surf club right on the beach in the morning, where we heard a presentation about surf safety and how waves/tides/rips work. Then, we ran up and down the beach and did some cardio to "warm up". In reality, I think the Australian surf guys just got a kick out of seeing a bunch of Internationals do whatever they said. We then got in the ocean and did some bodysurfing. I don't think I got the concept down but it was tons of fun regardless. They then gave us some surf boards and took us out to catch some waves. The first one Molly and I caught on accident. It was coming in and everyone was told to paddle sideways to just ride over it, but we were already facing the beach so we decided to try and be like Blue Crush (anyone remember that movie?) and catch it. Turns out we did, and we rode it all the way into the shore. We never stood up, but it was by far the coolest thing I've ever done. We then paddled back out and caught about 2 more. Faith, Molly and I stayed out there long enough to get stung by some blue bottle jellyfish (which sting a bit, kind of like burning yourself with a curling iron, but are otherwise harmless). It was totally worth it! One of the instructors had asked me where I was from and when I told him Nebraska he congratulated me on even knowing how to swim haha. They were all so cool and made it very easy to learn and test it out.
Afterwards, we came back up to the school for our free lunch (on a side note: the food here so far hasn't been impressive, but more about that later) and then went back to the beach for awhile. Last night since we were so exhausted, we just stayed in and watched some episodes of Friends (which we brought, they don't have access to American tv here..not even online!).
Despite my minor jellyfish sting, and my awkward body-tight surf t-shirt thing tan line, a flawless day!
Friday. Saturday. Sunday.
This past weekend we went on a surfing trip in Crescent Head. It's about 6 hours north of Manly Beach. They drove the Mojo-Surf bus down to pick us all up, which was super convenient. The first night (Friday) was pretty chill, we arrived around 1 am and all just got into our rooms (more hostel-style bunk beds in large rooms). They woke us up Saturday morning around 7 am, served us some breakfast (cereal, toast) and got us into wetsuits to hit the waves. We walked down to the beach and began our surf lessons. It is so much harder than everyone makes it seem. Once I got the hang of it, I was alright but it's really amazing how the tiniest things can make the biggest difference. After drinking tons of saltwater, I learned to keep both feet flat and to slow down when I was getting up on the board. Overall, I rode a good amount of waves for a girl from Nebraska. After our morning session, they took us back to the camp to serve us lunch, then took us out again. It was an extremely exhausting day but we got through it. Then, at night we all had a bonfire on the beach, which was a blast. After we finally made it back to camp through the dark, we all fell asleep like rocks. Sunday, we were awaken again around 7:30 am to go out and surf. Needless to say I was too tired and feeling pretty sick, so I just laid out on the beach with some of the girls while everyone else caught more waves. We then returned to camp, ate and loaded up the bus. This is when things got really interesting.
I was feeling sick all day, but after the bumpy bus ride I knew I was going to literally be sick. Poor Lauren (who we call Bama) was sitting next to me, when I had to ask her to go up to the front and get me a bag to throw up in. Thankfully, I didn't feel the urge until we stopped at a gas station, where I got sick twice. No idea why but I have a feeling it was from the water we were drinking, even though only one other girl got sick. Who knows the real cause though. So after that fiasco, we find out that our bus had overheated. While we were waiting out the hour and a half for the mechanic/new bus to arrive, we all tossed around a football and rugby ball in the rain for awhile. Then, since the bus was so hot and stuffy, about 10 of us sat underneath with the hatches open, just talking..overall a good bonding experience! So finally we caught another bus and made it home about 4 and a half hours later than expected. Made for an interesting night before first day of classes!
