But first, here is a snapshot of a little something I started to write way back when. Try to refrain from laughing at how pathetic it is. Only I am allowed to. Haha. Will pick up later, trying to brainstorm the best way to play catch-up!
Blog 1:
February 27th, 2013
Hello, everyone!
My name is Brittany Bouffard and I am currently a junior at
RWU. I have a major in psychology
and a minor in biology, and will soon have a core concentration in public
health. I chose to study abroad in
the first place in the hopes that I might face real opportunities to stretch my
comfort zone. I could not wait to
dig deep and broaden my horizons on what I want to do and who I wish to be for
the rest of my life, and I knew studying abroad would be the perfect way to do
so. Then, I chose to focus
specifically on Australia because of how similar in culture they seem to the US, and I wanted to explore
that further being a curious psych-minded individual. However, the minute I stepped foot on Australian soil I knew
that theory could not be more wrong.
Allow me to blog about the similarities, differences, and just my
general experience here at the University of Wollongong, Australia. I’ll try to avoid retelling everything
in a play-by-play of events as much as I can help it (Note: Wow, wasn't this a lie!).
Day 1 AKA 16thUSA/18thAUS First off, right from the start I knew the hardest part of my travel was going to be saying goodbye to my mother and my boyfriend and leave them behind to board our first plane. Together, my friend Erin and I took a flight from JFK to LAX in
California, which departed at 6:30pm on the 16th. We were not prepared for being alone at
LAX for the 3 hour layover.
For some reason we were under the impression that someone from Arcadia
would meet with us upon arrival and take the group flight with us. However, we luckily ran into nearly
zero problems, which is surprising because of how delirious the first flight
alone had made us. Little did we
know this feeling would be nothing in comparison to the 16-hour flight that we
had in store!!!
So a week before I left for Australia I decided to become a vegetarian after
watching a few very disturbing movies about the harsh mistreatment of animals during meat production. The images and
ideas just did not sit right with me and I vowed I would never be able to eat
chicken or beef or any other animal products (with the exception of fish)…we
shall see how long that will last but so far so good (Note: And its already June and I'm still going strong!). While sitting on the steps at the airport waiting for the right time to go through security, Erin was talking about how she wanted to
purchase a big juicy hamburger. So
naturally, I responded “Sure – I’ll split it with you!” completely forgetting
a minor factor. Since then
though, it’s been fairly easy to remember and I have not broken a single rule
and do not plan on it. Erin reminds me of this moment every chance she could get! Such a good friend!
Once finally arriving in Australia after a long and exhausting
22 hour journey, the first thing my friends and I do when we step off the plan
is change clothing. Considering
the 95°F
temperature (35°C), we immediately rummage through our carry-on’s to find pairs
of shorts, flip-flops, and tank tops and toss them on. We then all survived through taking the
tedious but necessary steps of getting our photo ID’s taken, picking up our
luggage, and passing through customs.
Unfortunately, a few students had gotten their food products thrown
away, but other than that nothing too serious or unmanageable had taken
place. Walking alone through the
custom exits, the first Arcadia staff member I met is named Kendal, who pointed
me in the right direction toward where the rest of the group was
gathering. All students going
through the Arcadia program introduced one another, swapping conversation and just
getting acquainted.
We were then directed to say adios to our baggage one last time, chucked
it all in a loading van, and then began to embark on our orientation
adventure. We boarded a coach bus
and were off. Our first destination is the city of Melbourne.
Once in Melbourne, we were given 2 hours free before we had to meet back at the
bus, on our own in the land of Australia for the first time. Directly across the street from where
the driver dropped us off was a mini cooper full of Red Bull with barely clothed girls passing
cans out. Of course all of us
stopped to take one each (and the boys led the way haha!) and they insisted on taking a group photo of
everyone, which probably bettered their advertising business or whatever. Right off the bat, I noticed the locals are so much more social. If we’re lost or looking for directions strangers
will stop and help you instantly (universal symbol for seeming lost is standing frozen in one spot staring at a map, by the way). Not only will they point you in the right direction, but
also speak for 5 minutes in order to give a further and more confusing explanation.
So we dipped our feet into the ocean, and as we strolled
along the beach I noticed there were vibrant blue alien-looking jellyfish of
all sizes spread along the shoreline.
I’ll admit I was getting a little nervous, not knowing just how dangerous Australia really
is. Having seen some of the Australian
beach shows that air in the US like Bondi Rescue, the unknown became more of
what I feared. We then sort of got
inevitably split up and formed 3 smaller groups. From there, my group walked down the
pier to a shack at the end, where I bought myself my first Australian
meal; a salmon pita wrap.
Explored around a little bit more, then got back on the bus and
continued on toward Sorrento, Victoria.
A little ways before we got to the hotel, the driver stopped the bus
again and everyone was to get off and go walking through the large open
fields! We were all very
exhausted, some very sun burnt already (including myself), and now we were going to trudge our way
through weeds and wooded areas. It
made it all worth it though when we spotted a family of kangaroos hopping
along! I took so many pictures and
videos, and if you zoom in closely you can just make out a baby joey in one of
the mother’s pouches.
Back on the bus, everyone was in desperate search for some
water. Dehydration was definitely
an issue, and no one thought to refill our water bottles since we had no idea
what was planned for us. Luckily
the hotel was no more than a half an hour away from the big field we walked
through. Personally, I could not wait because I literally felt like a dried up sponge. Once we got to the
Oceanic Whitehall accommodation, we were given some time to ourselves to
freshen up, go to the beach, try out the hotel’s salt water pool, or
shower. I ended up doing all of
the above! From the top of the
hill a ways down the road from our hotel, I fell in love immediately when I saw the beautiful view of green land,
coast, and sand; it took my breath away it was absolutely astounding (see
photos below!).
Blog 2: 8th of April, 2013 (The order of how
Aussie’s write dates!)
Hello again!
I apologise/apologize immensely for the delay in my
blogging, but as you can probably imagine I have been getting a bit carried
away lately with my love for this country and it’s beautiful inhabitants! However, I will attempt to pick back up
where I left off, as difficult as that will undoubtedly prove to be. Now…I need to throw in the brief but
necessary statement that I cannot quite mention everything in here, I need to
censor myself a bit for purposes you definitely can imagine (rock gigs and pub crawls, that sort of thing). Sincerest apologies. You
understand.
I cannot believe I neglected to carry you all through
more than our first accommodation adventures! We also stayed in Melbourne, then Sydney where we caught our
flight over to Wollongong and then the scariest thing happened; we were dropped
at the University and basically on our own forever! Separation anxiety definitely sunk in for me like a rock in my throat, as I realized
I was away from any person who knew what they were doing and why I was here and
what to do next and yada yada. Scary stuff. My entire family can attest because of my cries on the phone to them once I was finally settled in my room and figured out how to use a phone.
Back to where I was: we stayed at Oceanic Whitehall for a few more nights, and no
one in our group really got “pissed” (drunk at night) or anything. We pretty much met for breakfast had a
few activities set up by Katrina and Kendal for us such as quiz questions, and
a few group meetings. One of which
took so long but was so interesting about food and how we were brought up so
differently from one another (whether we were spoiled at our respective
Universities and what have you). The lady that spoke there, I forgot her name but she started Arcadia and
the program used to originate at her home, she would host all the study abroad
students right in her own humble abode!
Okay I’ll be honest it’s 11:30pm here right now; I have an early morning lecture that last 2 hours (I feel bad complaining at all - I'm so lucky). I need some sleep! Tuesdays are my worst lecture days, since I have some back to back to back. I promise I will continue these long stories that are totally worth hearing but also much more worth it to experience! It’s tempting to want to tear myself away from reminiscing and just create more memories! Sorry if my blogs are like this for the remainder of study abroad, but I honestly don’t know any other way to manage it except in brief increments of information.
If a current update is what you seek, tonight I had my floor meeting at 9:30pm with my unit/flat mates. I live with ONE Australian out of the 4 others I share this 2-floor apartment with (which is HUGE)! Two of them are oriental males, one from Asia and one from China, and the other male is from Iran and he continues to tell me he came here after "the revolution"...? But his family went back and he chose to stay. It’s interesting to say the least! We had our first bonding time in over a month on cleaning the fridge, since Wednesday is our cleaning inspection we are going to meet again tomorrow night at 8:30pm to have a cleaning party! How exciting… But it’s good to have a place to come home to sleep, eat, and shower since that is basically all I do here! And it is a completely independent living situation, meaning we all cook our own food, gather our own groceries, and take care of ourselves pretty much. Otherwise, I am always out and about exploring and running errands when I’m not here. Until next time guys!
- B
- B
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