As I came out of arrivals, I saw my taxi man straight away. Yay!
But,
contrary to what I thought was going to happen, I wasn't the only one
being picked up. Surprisingly there were a about ten of us that were
being collected at once to be taken to the university residences. This
was incredibly coincidental as we all booked our flights separately but
hey ho! The only downside is that I had to sit in the airport for
another two hours to wait for everyone to come through... I think a
couple of people actually got stopped and asked questions by immigration
or customs, so that made it all longer as well.
However,
all was not lost because I was able to get talking to a couple of other
people who'd also come from Europe. The three of us have stuck together
ever since, and I've been at Deakin for a couple of days now. It was
really great to get talking straight away, because it takes off a lot of
pressure to make friends. We were all glad to have someone we knew the
face of to kind of stick with as we were introduced to all the new
things.
The bus journey took a while, but it was SO great
to finally get out of the goddamn airports at last. Because I had
adjusted my sleeping pattern on the plane, I was feeling pretty awake.
Weary and aching, yes, but not tired. Our bus driver was unfortunately,
not of Australian origin and it was a slight struggle to convince him to
drop us off in the right place, but apart from that it was relatively
painless. We arrived at our student village (which is incidentally a 2
minute walk from the campus) and went straight to the office as
instructed.
It was fantastic to put faces to names of the
people we'd been corresponding with via email about our rooms, and the
welcome was very warm.
It should be noted that I am not
really very good at being social: I dread big gatherings, /especially/
if I don't know the people involved. But on study abroad, even if you
are shy or worse than me with social disgruntlement, you HAVE to make
friends as soon as you get there, you HAVE to get up and introduce
yourself to someone. Do it straightaway- everyone else is also in the
same boat. You will find that everyone is super friendly and just as
worried about themselves as you are, so if you get it over with,
remember as many names as possible (hard), and be generally open and
friendly, you'll make friends without realising it, and it'll be easier
to slot into your place in the community.
I DO still feel
awkward and worried, but I have to push those feelings down because they
are silly! Aussies are pretty laid back, so I'm going with the general
flow of things.
The student village I'm in is relatively
small, and only international students and australian reps are here at
the moment (others move in on the 26th) so we've all kind of mingled at
one of the units to get to know one another. They seem really good at
that kind of thing here. Deakin actually give residences money to
organise parties!! Drinking is allowed and encouraged on campus in
social situations and weekly and monthly parties are organised by the
reps. Also everyone goes out periodically, or otherwise hangs out
altogether on the green or with each other. :) If you go outside, you're
guaranteed to meet SOMEONE. It's great! You can have your alone time in
your room but you can find people anytime you want/need to.
I've
had a couple of days to settle in and get used to the place now.
Tomorrow I go to Great Ocean Road on a 3 day beach tour as part of my
international orientation- it's totally paid for by the university and I
can do surfing, hiking, beach yoga etc as well as all meals and
accommodation already sorted! Incredible! (It's not like they want to
impress their partner universities at all! ;) Well I'm sold).
So,
considering that, I won't be updated for 3 days, but when I do, I'll
tell you all about the 'aussie' experience they're promising us! Almost
bed time for me- AND SO FREAKING HOT >.< Sweating balls here.
Laters.
Room, colour co-ordinated by moi
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