Brissy culture

The last week and a bit has been a whirlwind of events with saying goodbye to my mom, moving into my place and Orientation Week at the university. Moving couldn’t have gone smoother with Jenny driving everything over for me. After three years of university I have finally realized my dream of living within walking distance to school. I have to admit that I felt a bit homesick on that first night on my own. Luckily O Week was just around the corner and I could finally meet some friends. I have to say I was really glad for the week long orientation period here because it allowed me to have enough time to absorb all the information given before jumping right into classes. On Monday we had an exchange/study abroad welcome and I couldn’t believe how many of us there were. There is even a club (QUEST) just dedicated to us. That night we had our introduction to Australian nightlife with a party organized by QUEST. It really is so much easier to talk to people here. Meeting people all over the world and talking and laughing over our cultural similarities and differences is definitely one of the best parts of traveling. A friend once told me that Canadians are polite while Australians are friendly, and I think I finally sort of understand what that means. People have offered to walk me to my destination the many times that I've asked for directions, and once when it was pouring rain and I forgot my umbrella, two girls came up to me and asked if I wanted to take one of theirs.

Wednesday of O Week was Market Day which is very much like Club’s Day back home, the difference being everything was outside. It was quite the sight with stalls lining up around the entire Great Court and beyond, and very difficult to resist the temptation to sign up for everything.

 

In terms of the amount of free swag given, Market Day definitely trumps UBC. So far, I’ve joined QUEST (a must-do for any exchange student to UQ!), a volunteering organization called The Bridge, and the UQ Triads (Triathlon and Adventure Racing Club), which I dived right into at 5:30am the next morning.  I don’t know how I managed to get up at 4:45 but it was definitely worth the beautiful ride that we did. You won’t believe how many other crazy people get up to ride bikes at the crack of dawn. I think Australians though are generally early birds because most people are out and about by 7. This also means that many shops close fairly early around 5pm. On the same note, I’m still waking up around 6 everyday despite sleeping at 1 or 2am the last few days. The strangest thing is that I don’t really feel tired at any point of the day, which is awesome because I think sleep is kind of like a waste of time anyhow.

The rest of last week was filled with another trip to the Gold Coast (although the weather wasn’t too great this time and the beach was even closed for swimming due to the high tides), visit to the West End markets (farm markets are my favourites!), a pub crawl and more exploration of the Brisbane area. I also tried sushi train for the first time! On Sunday I went with a friend from Sweden on our own little Tour de Brisbane. We went to Eagle Street pier, the Botanic Gardens and Queensland Police museum before finishing the day with some clothes shopping at Queen St. Mall. We have decided that the Citycat, which is a catamaran ferry that goes back and forth along the Brisbane River, is our favourite mode of transportation, so much so that we went past our stop just so we can get more time on the boat (it may or may not have been an accident). It honestly feels more like a cruise than a transportation tool.   

On the Victoria Bridge with Southbank lit up in the background

On the Citycat overlooking New Farm and the Story Bridge, which people climb on

Scrap metal kangaroos

This Monday was the first day of classes and I cut open a read dead human body in my first class! Okay, we only reflected the skin that day, but it wasn't nearly as spooky as I'd imagined it and  I am looking forward to opening up the body in the upcoming weeks!
Classes here are pretty similar to UBC with almost everything conducted electronically. One difference that I've noticed though is that they are usually taught by multiple lecturers throughout the semester, which allows students to truly learn from experts in their respective areas of study. Another wonderful thing is that all the lectures are recorded. Excited for an awesome semester!