2½ Weeks! (They're flying by)

I can't believe I have been here for just about 2½ weeks now! I've met loads of new people and am slightly more familiar with the city now (meaning I don't get lost quite as much as my first day). I'm gonna do a quick recap of my last entry except this time with some photos

Here is a photo from the plane ride from Sydney to Melbourne



Here is my bedroom


My cute little balcony


The delicious lamb burger that I must again sometime soon


and the view from my balcony at night



Since I haven't updated in a while I will give a quick break down of what I have been up to.

Sunday July 10th: Second day in Melbourne and I went on another adventure into the city. This time I went with two other girls from California which I met here. We walked around a bunch, checked out China Town, and ended up in this awesome alley way with a ton of street art/graffiti.












Tuesday July 12th: The Melbourne Welcome Program started, which is a program I signed up for where a bunch of international students stayed in dorms on campus at University of Melbourne for a week and we had a ton of activities to do together during the week. Through this program I met a lot of people which I am still hanging out with.

Wednesday July 13th: We went on a city tour and then went to the top of the Eureka Sky Deck, which is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.

Here is a picture of the Eureka Sky Deck


Now here are some photos from the top of the building!






After going to the top of the Eureka Sky Deck, we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens to go on an Aboriginal Heritage Walk. This was really awesome, before we went on our walk we all sat in this gazebo and did an aboriginal ceremony where this guy played the didgeridoo.


Then later at night a huge group of us went to see the last Harry Potter film, which was amazing and sad and I can't believe its over. But mainly I'm glad that I have bragging rights that I saw the film two days before everyone in the US. MWHAHAHA.

Thursday July 14th: We went to the ZOO!


Check out this ballin' kangaroo


There were baby elephants!


and a butterfly house!


Later that night we had a formal dinner with the dorm we stayed in. It was cute everyone got all dressed up and looked super snazzy.


and then we went out in our snazzy outfits afterward


Friday July 15th: We learned how to play Australian football from some North Melbourne Kangaroo AFL players. The main player that was instructing us was a total babe and I was pretty sure my future was to become an AFL players wife and help bring AFL to America but then my friend noticed he had a wedding ring... saddest moment ever. At least every other AFL player is pretty much as gorgeous as he is. But in all seriousness this game is crazy, I don't understand it at all but its super fun to watch.

Later that night we had an Australian themed party at this bar next to our apt building called Turf. So I pulled out my handy dandy Australia baseball cap I bought in America for like $3 and the hat became the life of the party.


Saturday July 16th: The Melbourne Welcome Program ended so we all went our separate ways back to our permanent housing for the next 6 months. Luckily, most of the friends I made also live in RMIT Village (the apartment complex thing where I live) so its super easy for us all to hang out.

Sunday July 17th: I went for another adventure down into the city we stopped for a little bit by the gross river which is literally brown


then we went to this awesome/free art exhibit where this artist did drawings for 10 weeks in coffee shops and most of them have to do with coffee, the art was really awesome and we were able to chat with the artist for a bit too.

Here is the flyer for the exhibit


After that we went to this hip pizza place called Bimbo's which is also a bar, and they have a decent personal pizza for $4 and really unique pizza options as well.

Here is a group of us at Bimbo's


then we moved into our own personal room in the restaurant and we decided to rest from all the walking we did that day


Monday July 18th: This marked the beginning of Orientation week, which includes a ton of events held by my apartment/housing RMIT Village. There was another party at Turf (the bar/club next door)


Tuesday July 19th: We all headed over to University to listen to orientation lectures and to learn how to sign up for classes. Later that night there was a MUSEX Party at Turf. (MUSEX is a club for Melbourne University Students on Exchange, so basically study abroad kids).


Wednesday July 20th: We went back to campus and checked out the sports groups, I decided to join Surf Club. So I guess I will try surfing again. This club also seems like a good way to meet Australians. Later at night there was another party at Turf this one was themed "Under the Sea".


Thursday July 21st: We went back to campus again and checked out all the clubs, I was hoping there would be a yoga club but I couldn't find one... I'm thinking about possibly joining the wine tasting club though.

Later at night my roommate Sarah, made a bunch of us a delicious dinner of sweet and sour chicken




then a group of us gathered in the Village Lounge and we all watched the movie The Prestige, which somehow I had never seen before, this movie was awesome. Christopher Nolan is basically god.

Friday July 22nd: I went shopping in the city with a couple friends then later at night we went down to the Docklands for a birthday and watched fireworks. It was pretty cool.


Then the village hosted an animal themed party in the courtyard, where I was of course a cat.




Saturday July 23rd: A group of us went to go see an AFL game. We got free tickets from the Welcome Program. We watched the North Melbourne Kangaroos play the Brisbane Lions. It was an awesome match and I took A TON of photos (which I will post later)

AAAAAAND that is where I am going to stop for now, because this post is WAAAAAY too long. I will update with the rest sometime later this week.

If you'd like to see the rest of my photos check them out HERE

OH ALSO If you'd like to help me decorate my room and make me smile send me a pretty/cool/cute/psychedelic post card or letter!

Paulina Cassimus
RMIT Village
5-17 Flemington Road
North Melbourne, VIC 3051
Australia

First Day in Australia

I’ve made it! I’m officially in the land down under.

(Here is a photo my mom took of me at LAX)

After traveling for about 24 hours straight I feel like I can do pretty much anything now. (After I finally get a full night of sleep)
On the lovely 15 hour flight from LAX to Sydney I was able to watch two movies, complete several levels on Super Mario Bros, listen to a good deal of music, and sufficiently screw up my neck from sleeping awkwardly. Overall the flight went really smoothly, I must’ve slept longer than I thought or maybe I just zoned out hard core for the majority of the flight because it did not feel like it was 15 hours. I watched Somewhere, Due Date, and an episode of The Office. I almost cried during the episode of The Office, it was the one where Michael proposes to Holly, so cute! (that sort of stuff usually doesn’t get me but this episode did). The worst part of the flight was the 10 hour mark, I’m not sure why but 5 more hours seemed like the worst thing ever, so I decided to sleep. After landing in Sydney I had to go through customs and lug around ALL my luggage which I’m pretty sure weighs more than I do. Because the line was so long this nice lady gave me a special priority pass so that I could make my second flight.
The second flight was a breeze after the first one, it was only a little over an hour. I swear I have never felt more comfortable taking off before, I’m not sure if it was because I was so tired and relieved I was almost done traveling or if it was because I put the Animal Planet on on my personal tv screen and it happened to be a special about cats. NO JOKE. It was probably a combination of the both. I watched the cat special the entire flight and now know entirely too much for my own good about cat breeds (because now I want them all).

After I arrived in Melbourne and got dropped off at my apartment I attempted to put stuff away and tidy up. The sheets and comforter the apartment provided are like sand paper, it kind of sucks. I am very very VERY glad I brought my own pillow. Seriously, best decision ever. After attempting to make my bed with sand paper sheets/pillowcases/comforter I decided to go on an adventure... I took the tram (which picks up right in front of my apartment) down into the city (which is really only a couple blocks depending on where you are going. I decided I wanted something to eat so I walked around for what must have been an hour and a half and I swear all I saw were a ton a McDonald’s, Subway, and Sushi places. Eventually I found a café, where I ordered a lamb burger with tzatziki sauce on it. It was sooooo yummy! After eating I decided to head back, got on the wrong tram and ended up on some street I wasn’t too sure about. So I just wandered for a while and miraculously ended up back at my apartment. Woooo! So that is pretty much my first day and first experiences here in Australia! Oh and I took a bunch of photos but I can’t find my card reader at the moment so photos will come later. More to come soon!

(Me sitting in my new room)