Full disclosure here: I totally forgot to write a blog post today. It’s currently 1 AM on Monday, which isn’t such a big catastrophe because it’s still Sunday for most of the world. And, as my night-owl friends back home like to say, it’s not Monday until I’ve actually slept.
This past week was my first full week in Sydney. A whole lot happened, but if I listed every important or interesting event, this would be a very boring blog. So instead, I’m going to do something else.
Let’s talk about transitions. A little over a week ago, I moved into a new apartment over 9900 miles (nearly 16,000 km) away from home. In Australia, they drive on the other side of the road, they speak differently, and their lemonade is carbonated. Tomorrow, I start classes at a school that has more undergraduate students than my hometown has people.
Adjustment is hard. And this week, I found myself in a lot of new situations that I didn’t know how to handle. For example, O-Week at the university. At home, orientation is just for the first-year students. They come a few days early so they can move in, meet each other, get a vague idea of how to navigate campus, and form a community with their class year before returning students flood campus.
O-Week was definitely not that. It was a massive 3-day club fair, complete with corporate sponsors, concerts, and school-sponsored parties (at an on-campus bar, another new one for me). There was a day of new-student orientations before that, but I still wasn’t prepared for the tornado that was O-Week. It was totally life-shattering!
Okay, no it wasn't.
Okay, no it wasn't.
But it was difficult to take it all in. I spent a lot of time this week adjusting. For me, that meant taking breaks when the O-Week crowds got to be too much and finding smaller ways to introduce myself to campus. That being said, I did find ways that worked for me. Some clubs had meet-ups where I got to meet Australian students who have the same interests as I do. Some more clubs have meet-ups this week, which I will definitely be attending. But I also went totally out of my comfort zone and went to a few parties, which I actually enjoyed more than I expected.
The week really culminated last night with Mardi Gras. In Sydney, LGBTIA pride season is around Mardi Gras. It’s actually a whole festival with lots of events over a few weeks, but it ends with a parade which everyone calls Mardi Gras. I went with a few friends and we had a great time (and got glitter bombed). It was a pretty amazing cultural introduction to this city where I’ll be living for the next 4 months.
It’s getting really late (and this post is fairly long) and I have my first day school in the morning, so I’m going to sign off here. I hope you enjoyed this little foray into my mind at 1 AM (and if you didn’t, thank you for reading to the end anyway). As a reward, here are some pictures from this week.
See you next Sunday!
Emily
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