Here At Last!

I am writing this post from the my impossibly small dorm room in Emmanuel College House on the University of Queensland Campus in St. Lucia, a removed part of the city of Brisbane, in the lower half of the state of Queensland, in the northeastern part of....Australia.
At last at last. It doesn't seem so small when I think about it.
I'm on the other end of the world!!! It feels like it too. I am constantly reminding myself of Alice in Through the Looking Glass. Everything is familiar, but in a way and a culture so different from what I know. A good different. And amazing different. I promised myself I wouldn't fall too in love with Australia... but its going to be harder than I thought.

After the longest plane flight of my life (15 hours!!!!), with turbulence so bad there were a few times I almost got out my phone to call my goodbyes, and after reducing my fingernails to shortened bloody stumps with my nervous habit of nail biting, I saw land. Not any kind of land I've ever seen before. Southern Australia is more like African Savanna (or at least what I've seen in pictures) with scrubby bushes, gum and eucalyptus trees smattering the landscape. The air tastes different, and the light is different too. Its difficult to explain, but its brighter here- even when its cloudy. Probably because we're about a mile from the sun. I have subsequently substituted my post- shower lotion for sunscreen. Anyway, we touched down, and I stopped being nervous at once. I'm here.

Orientation passed in a blur- my program spent a few days on the coast by St. Kilda, learning about our new surroundings had how to survive and thrive in Australia. Days were spent on the beach tidepooling, swimming in the bay (too many sharks on the beach side) talking about culture differences, and figuring out how to use Aussie dollars to buy your lunch. The nights were often spent hiking to remote locations to admire a glittering sky of stars I have never seen before. After a few days we left, and stopped at a national park where we met a "mob" of about 100 grey kangaroos, who are surprisingly very large. Six feet high when standing on their hind legs. They're also beautiful. Then on to Melbourne, Australia's art and music capital, to test the city life. Which brings me to drinking: It constitutes a major part of Aussie social life. I still can't quite get over being legally able to drink either. Its also fairly inexpensive for young american women. Thats all I'm going to say about that.

It was sad to part from friends I had made when we separated to our different schools. We'll see eachother again! Arcadia has sponsored several different "Excursions" into Australia to help students experience as much of the country as possible for the smallest amount of money. In march I'm heading to the Great Barrier Reef (look out Todd!) and for "Semester Break" I am venturing on a driving /camping adventure into the Outback. When we were being described the trip, Linden our instructor told us that to understand this country, and especially its people, you have to go into its heart. If I go into Australia's, maybe I can let it in mine.

I have much to say about my adventures in Emmanuel College. Needless to say I am completely convinced that my home school is completely inept in many important aspects of student life. I'll have more to say on the subject when my feet are no longer bruised from running across UQ barefoot in my pajamas and my voice recovers. Lets just say I've never felt more welcome in my entire life. When O- week is over and my "Freshie" days are at an end, I'll write again. For now, I will conclude with a list of my favorite Aussie words and frases. Its a completely new world- the people are different- a more friendly, genuine, and unassuming kind of people I have never known. The culture is different- its proud and open, welcome, complex, simple, joyful, years behind in the unimportant ways (the average AUS television has five stations. The food is nasty. The logos for companies like Target and Safeway are dated about fifteen years, etc.) but vastly advanced in the MOST important ways- its easily ten years ahead in environmental consciousness, the crime rate is extremely low, people have discovered the importance of bare feet and taking long holidays. The people are happy and affectionate, and the language that has sprung out of it reflects them very well. The root is definitely British, but a British that learned to relax a bit. New Zealanders take it a bit further- I have no idea what they're saying. But Aussie english has been easy to learn and is quickly taking over my vocabulary. I will never be the same again. I love it.
Here at last. Its been better than I could have hoped, and my adventure has just begun.

Hello Australia.



List of terms! (to be added on to)

Ankle biter- small child
Arvo- afternoon
Agro- aggravated or angry
Anzac- Australia and New Zealand
Away with the pixies- Dreaming
Aussie- Australian (Australian "s" is usually pronounced as a "z" so its rather pronounces "Auzzie")
Barrack- root for
Bathers- bathing suit. Also, swimmers and boardies.
Bag of fruit- a suit (they love rhyming)
Bikies- Bikers
Billabong- a pool of water, either a tidepool or freshwater
Biscuits- cookies
Brumby- wild horse
Bum- Butt
Bush- ouotdoors outside of a city
Bush telegraph- gossip
Chips- french fries
Chook- chicken
Chrissie- Christmas
Cuppa- tea or coffee
Dag- term of endearment- it means uncoordinated
Daks- underpants. I've also heard "underoos"
Doona- blanket. I've also heard Duvo
Dundar- (pronounced "dunda") nickname for "Down Under Bar"
Esky- ice chest
Fair Dinkum?- means "really?"
Fairy Floss- cotton candy
Frocked up and Fancy Free- dressed up
Freshie- a college "newbie"
Freshy- fresh water crocodile
Footpath- sidewalk (they drive on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road, and therefore walk on the opposite side of the footpath, which means I've run into a lot of people)
Footy- Australian Rules Football- combine quidditch, rugby, basetball, and soccer and you pretty much have the jist
G'day- A very common greeting. Not a stereotype
Gone troppo- gone crazy. flipped out. I've also heard "narky"
Good on ya!- Good for you- the Aussie equivalent of "like." everyone says it all the time.
Goog- Boxed wine. A university regular. An aquired taste...
How are you going?- how are you?
Icy pole- popsicle
Jelly- Jell-o
Jim Blake- a snake. also "snaky"
Jumper- sweater
Larrikin- prankster
Lollies- all candies. Go into a shop (shoppe) and ask for a Lolly pop, and you'll get funny looks
Lift- elevator
Mackers, or Mcafe- Macdonalds
Mate- friend. Used all the time!
Mozzie- mosquito
Nappy- diaper
No worries- not a problem, you're welcome
Petrol- gasoline
Roo- kangaroo
Rubbish- garbage
Runners- tennis shoes
My shout- my turn to pay
Singlet- tank top
Sticky beak- a nosy person
Sang- sausage
Sanga- sandwich
Septic Tank- an american. it rhymes with "yank" and believe it or not, its a term of endearment
Sunnies- Sun glasses
Swag- camping gear
Ta- "thanks" used all the time and took me forever to figure out
Tassie- Tasmania (prounounces Tazzy)
Thongs- flip flops. Say flip flops in Aus and everyone laughs hysterically.
Tucker- food
Ute- a trashy utility vehicle. theyre everywhere!
Vegemite- gross toast spread used to pave roads
Whinge- complain
Woop Woop- far away
Yobbo- redneck
You right?- Can I help you?