A Land Called Oz

I think I could get used to this laid back lifestyle. The most common phrase I hear around Australia is “No worries.” It’s a way to say thank you and it’s a way of life. The people here are incredibly laid back and friendly, we’re constantly meeting people and everyone is great about helping one another out. Even the bus drivers, when asked if the bus stops at our road, answer with a smile and “cheers,” even if it’s the wrong bus. It takes about 10 minutes to get a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, but with this environment, there are no worries and it’s perfectly acceptable to slow down and enjoy your drink.

Quick coffee note, I’m going to quickly fall in love with “flat white” coffee. It’s like a latte with less foam and it’s delicious! “Long black” is a standard cup of coffee, “short black” is espresso, and of course you can order lattes and things like that as well. We’ve noticed that it’s a little pricey out here, I guess no more than in the US, but the exchange rate just isn’t good enough to let us pretend that the pretty colored money is much different than the green stuff back home. (Right now it’s about 90 cents to the American dollar.)

Other cool/strange little Australia things: there is no tax or tip added at restaurants. People are paid well enough that it’s not necessary and it’s actually a little taboo. We don’t have a dryer in the apartment, and neither does anyone we know, we think we’re going to rent one.

I have a cell phone! It’s hideous and light pink and is somehow associated with Brittney Spears, but it’s a phone and it works. I know that you miss me a lot, so break out that int’l calling card and give me a ring at +61 401031759 (61 is the country code for Australia, the number is how you dial from the US). Remember, to figure out the time difference from the east coast, subtract 10 and add a day. From the west coast, subtract 7 and add a day. Yeah, I pretty much see the future. Also, if I show up online, say hello, it doesn’t happen often, so take advantage of it! We haven’t yet set up internet here (we found one found one that we can kind of steal from in my apartment-mate’s room)… it’s a little complicated to get started, but we’re thinking the renta center is going to be our best friend.

All of my roommates have officially moved in and they’re really great girls. We have limited food right now until we hit up the fruit/veggie markets tomorrow but we managed to make a cute little dinner and got to know each other a little more tonight. My roommate, Kendra is from the University of Rochester and seems very down to earth; she came through another group program and finished her orientation this morning. Emily has been here a few days with me an goes to school at Colgate, we have been getting our orientation group friends together (she came here through yet another group) and having a ton of fun. Allie goes to Penn and flew in from the US this morning. Overall, everyone is really easygoing about our shared space and what we’re all doing in Australia and I think it’s going to be a great semester.

This afternoon we went on a walk towards Bondi, the huge, touristy, surfing beach to the north. We left a little late so we turned around before we made it the whole way, but it was enough to see that this is going to be a regular way for us to get out and get moving – in addition to the 20 min uphill walk to campus. Going to the gym at school seems like a miserable idea when there’s a solid walking path complete with stairs and intense hills that begins at my doorstep and winds along the coast.

The apartment we’re in is one of the nicest places I’ve ever seen, and will continue to improve when they fix our sliding porch door and the marble floors don’t keep the cold in and make it 20 degrees all the time. I will post pictures soon because this place is indescribable, but imagine a sliding glass door opening to a porch that looks directly over the bay from the 6^th floor. We’ve looked at our friend’s nearby apartments and houses, and we think we’re the luckiest of all.

Oh yeah, and they call this country “Oz.”

Cheers, Rachel

….. I realized I didn’t exactly mention the ‘school’ thing, we have orientation on Thursday, I’ll talk academics then ;)