Where water meets more water...

Saturday was the annual Fisher Shield Swimming Carnival, the very first event in a year long sports competition between the college's here at James Cook. As an ex-swimmer I signed up for a number of events and as a fresher, I was expected to. I was signed up for the 100meter backstroke and 100meter freestyle, the 50meter freestyle and butterfly and then the men's Medley and then the men's Freestyle relays. I woke up Saturday to rain. After some stretching I made my way across campus to the pool to begin warming up. The first event I swam was the 100meter backstroke, first heat out of two. The Saint's (what my college is called) were placed in lane 3 for the day and I was really having some fun flashbacks to my swimming days: center lane, backstroke. This happiness had successfully drained out of me, however, by about lap one and a half out of four. I just remember thinking "you are a fatty, you are a fatty, why did you stop swimming you chub." My self-esteem is fine, I promise, it just seems I am not in topnotch swimming shape like I once was. Luck have it, I finished my heat a convincing second to some kid in lane 6 (if you have ever watched me swim, you know how much I hate losing to people I can't keep tabs on, especially those in lanes 1 and 6 - jerks).

Anyways, I was way out of breath and was like "how am I going to possibly swim the 100meter freestyle. So, because of my wheezing, I ended up trading with some kid; he would do the freestyle if I did the breaststroke. Curses. I may have raced the 100meter breaststroke twice in my life...third time is a charm? Figures the event was right after the backstroke so wheezing Shane barely got a chance to catch his "breath" before he was diving right back into lane 3. Freaking Michael Phelps was in Lane 1, but once again, I got second in my heat. I was feeling so sick after all of this swimming I went straight to the showers and just stood under cold water for like 5 minutes. Once I stopped shaking, had drank some water, I went back out to the team. We were doing really well. Us guys had finished in the top three in each of the 100meter events, the girls were holding their own. As for the 50meters, I was feeling up to it, but there were a few other guys who stepped up who hadn't swam in the 100s. I was actually feeling like I could have really done it, but was happy to save myself for the relays. It was still raining.

I started the Saint's men's relay team with the backstroke. We ended up winning the race by over a half a lap. It was a similar story for the freestyle relay. I started us off and we as a team won by half a lap. All-in-all, the guy Saints did pretty freaking awesome. As a college, we are currently in a draw for first between University Hall with 194 points. Regardless, finishing first or second is a huge achievement as St. Paul's last year was last. Yeah Saint's freshers, yeah.

CSI Townsville

I am officially a scholar. Well, not really, but I did complete my first week of classes. I am taking the following. Australian People: an Introduction to the Social Sciences; Coral Reef Geomorphology; Environmental Law and Policy and I will explain my last class in a moment. I actually really think I am going to like all of my classes. All of my lecturers seems rather engaging and I have a nice mix of big lecture classes and other more "Allegheny" sized classes. Not too much work or readings to do, but I will give it time. I have heard that the key to doing well here in Australia is simply to keep up with the work and the readings. They classes are structured a bit different in the states. Here, our final exam and one essay might make up our entire grade for the class; whereas in the states, there are normally a number of tests, quizzes and papers. Nonetheless, bring it James Cook University, bring it.

As for my last class, picture this. Headquarters has just rang; they have found a human bones recently unearthed in a suburban backyard by a Jack Russel Terrier. They send myself, a member of the forensics unit, straight to the scene in order to collect the skeleton to reconstruct and analyze back at the lab. My partner makes small talk as we navigate the highway; I indulge in a second doughnut. If we are lucky, we will be able to use DNA and our knowledge of facial reconstructions and human remains to not only identify the victim and the cause of death, but more importantly the killer. This is what I was imagining when I enrolled in course Forensic Archaeology. Not the case.

I was as giddy as a school girl going to this class on Thursday, picturing myself as a young, more scholarly member of the CSI Las Vegas team. You can imagine how disappointed I was when the lecturer asked us to define the word forensic. Some chick in the back raised her hand and gave this answer about ethics and legality and I was like "child please, this here is CSI we are dealing with." But no, no, she was right! Forensic Archaeology is the study of the ethics and legality of studying, reconstructing and digging for human remains. Say what?! The lecturer specifically said that "this is not going to be like CSI." I was backslash am devastated.

The class does still have a chance to prove me wrong. We have about 4 weeks on biological anthropology, which, if you didn't know, is the "CSI stuff." The rest of the class, we will talk about how methods they use and all that jazz. I am trying to keep an open mind. Well actually, I sort of have to because I can't really drop out of the class or fit any other class I am interested in into my schedule. Fail. Oh well, I got this.

A Day of Firsts

Alas, I had many "firsts" on Tuesday, February 23rd.

1. I had my first day of class since December 9th of 2009. The title of the class is Australian People: An Introduction to the Social Sciences. Meh. It was okay; about 190 students in a crowded lecture hall. The lecturer was very genuine and although the introduction to the introductory course was a tad drawn out, I think I shall enjoy the class. Well, let us just say that I best enjoy the class because I am in it until June. Cheers to that.

2. I went swimming (as in watching the bottom of the pool swimming, not "hey, let's go fun swimming" swimming) for the first time in ___ years. The actual amount of time eludes me. The last time I raced I think I was 15 or 16 so it has been awhile. Nonetheless, the reason for my reentry into the world of chlorine, lane lines, and bathing caps is because this upcoming Saturday is the Swimming Carnival here at James Cook University. Basically it is the first event where the colleges (remember, dorms) compete for points that will count towards the Fisher Shield (the James Cook equivalent to the Hogwart's House Cup). Although anyone can swim, the fossils make the freshers do it. I signed up (mind you, before I swam today), for six events. Without going into great detail about how my lap swimming went at the pool, let's just keep it at I am going to try and pawn some of those events off to, what should I call them, little 17 year old freshers who are intimidated by social interactions. Golden.

3. My first margarita. Toxic in my mouth. We went to some place called "Cactus Jacks." Now, you would think that being from the States I would be accepting of a Tex-Mex restaurant because you can practically find one in every town in America. I am in Australia, many a thousand miles away from the land of the burrito, yet, going to a place that sells them. Sketch. Turns out, the experience was not half bad. I didn't have anything to eat but I ordered what the waitress called a "manly margarita..." I thought she meant like the color of it wasn't neon purple or the glass was not shaped like a beta fish bowl. No, she meant that rather than being fruity and like a child's-smoothie-treat, it tasted as though a horse had drank a gallon of lemonade, downed it with a handle of tequila and then promptly pissed it into my ice cold glass. Apparently this makes a drink manly; that and it was in a regular glass and didn't hurt my retina. I am exaggerating a tad. I was able to finish the drink so it couldn't have been that bad, right?

We will just end with my "Day of Firsts" saying I don't plan on having seconds anytime soon...except for class...maybe.

Magnetic Island

To answer your question, I was good enough after Fresher Keg to wake up at 6:00am Saturday morning and do the bins. It only took me an hour and a half but I was so, so tired. The week was really beginning to catch up with me. We left for Magnetic Island at around 9:30am, taking the bus to the ferry and then a ferry 20 minutes to Magnetic Island. We spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon at this resort-ish/hotel/hostel thing sitting under the shade eating lunch and talking. We caught a bus to Horseshoe Bay which has a beach, some stores and bars, and overall some nice scenery. Swimming was allowed here because the beach had a net to keep the stingers and jellies out. I was quite surprised because the water was warm and their were no waves and it was very murky. I felt very much like I was swimming in a lake. People say the nicer beaches are farther south in Australia or up north around Cairns. I will have to see these beaches for myself. Anyways, we practically just laid under some trees on the beach all day and were very lazy. We caught the ferry back and got back to campus maybe around six.
Earlier in the morning, while I was signing the sheets for doing the bins, I noticed that the "chef" man put me on to work Saturday (same day as Maggie Island), Sunday and Monday. I was not happy with this because I had (1) said I don't want to/will not work weekends because I am an international student and want to see the country on the weekends and (2) had paid for a day at Maggie Island and was not going to miss out on that experience. Long story short, I did not go to work on Saturday (I told somebody of course) and am going to have to get a few things straight with my boss (not the "chef" man but a nicer guy who actually is a chef named Geoff). Whatever, I am over it. Because I was scared to eat dinner in the kitchen on Saturday night, Boyd, Maddie, Kirsty and I got Chinese take out and watched Mean Girls. It was a good night and I finally did laundry. Pluses all around.
Both Sunday and today have been equally lazy. I did work yesterday in the kitchen and did the bins and am working tonight in the kitchen. I am lucky and don't have any class on Monday but will have my first class tomorrow. Wish me luck; I haven't had to do this since December 9th!

"O" Week

I want to apologize for not posting for a few days. It is surprisingly hard to keep up with this thing because I feel like when I am writing about what I am doing here, I am missing doing something else. Anyways, orientation week. Last Sunday was as cheesy as I was expecting it to be. Awkward ice-breakers and get-to-know-you games. All of the fossils (upperclassmen) are basically allowed to do anything they want to the freshers; hazing is not illegal here in Australia like it is in the States. It is tradition to make the freshers wear bibs throughout the entirety of the week and you are not allowed to take it off. So they made us stand up based on what animal we had on our bib (I was "H is for Hippo") and made all of those people do something. Some groups had to dance, some had to clean up the dining hall, the hippos had to sing the Australian National Anthem...which by the way I don't know the words. All of the RA's and fossils I knew had a pretty good laugh about this because I was sort of just standing up laughing while everyone else was singing.
My first days of working in the kitchen were on Monday and Tuesday. Being honest, I am not a fan. Monday was rather excruciating; the "chef" I was working under did not tell me how to do anything and it was just an overall stressful and angering experience. Tuesday was mildly better because the guy actually showed me what I was supposed to do and was patient and understood it was my second day on the job. There was a toga party on Tuesday night that I skipped out on. Not that I planned on getting shwasty-face or anything, but I wanted to get some rest before skyping home Wednesday morning for the ASG Presidential Debate.
Technology amazes me. I was able to skype myself into Allegheny's Campus Center from over 9000 miles away (15 hours) and take part in a debate. We had decided not to set up a video screen or anything, we just used audio. All-in-all the debate was a complete success and a lot of fun. Jamie and I ended up winning the election and I could not be happier.
Wednesday evening was the slab party. The slab is the grassy area in between the two St. Paul buildings. Basically, the event is created to be a mess-fest of alcohol. It was fun. Boyd and Maddie told me not to go bed because the fossils wake all of the freshers up at 4:00am and make them push the Bongo. The Bongo is a minibus and is our mascot; the freshers have to push it to all of the sporting events. So, at 4am, I put on my running shoes and helped push this bus (mind you, all of the fossils sit on and in the bus) around JCU. It was rather tiring, partly because I push myself and partly because most of the other fresher were to drunk to walk let alone push a bus and run.
I slept in until noon on Thursday and then just watched movies most of the day with friends. Both Wednesday and Thursday were rainy days so it was pretty easy to be lazy. Thursday evening was the first Uni Club Night, which is the night club on campus. I went with a group of people from college. I am not a huge fan of dancing/night clubs but it ended up being a really fun night; the music sucked but the company was good.
There was supposed to be a freshers vs. fossils touch football (rugby) game on Friday that I was looking forward to so much. But, the fields were to muddy and wet to play. They still made us push the Bongo around but when we got back, I ended up just catching and throwing the footy (the ball in rugby) with Sean. Good times, and I am not half bad. I can catch but the throwing is going to take some work. Friday night was "fresher keg." In a nutshell they bus everyone from the college to a place called Alligator Creek. This place ended up being a farm, the seat were made out of straw bales, and there was a mechanical bull...I felt very close to home. Without going into details, there were about 150 people there and as a college, 8 kegs and 60 bags of boxed wine were consumed. Both disgusting and impressive. Before you ask me how I was that evening, I am going to end this post, and pick up with a new one dedicated to Saturday.

"Bin Boy"...it's like "Big Boy" but with bins

Imagine the following. I slept in until 9:00am this morning and took my time getting ready for breakfast. Strolling across the slab to the kitchen, I slowly made my way through the warmth of the morning under big fat clouds scattered throughout a baby blue sky. Toast, eggs, and fruit: that was my nutritious breakfast. I was enjoying my conversation with one of my friends, Alex, when all of a sudden the head chef comes barreling towards me. "Shane," he says, stressing the long "a" sound in my name like most Aussies do, brushing past the "sh" and attaching the "n" at the last second. "We need somebody to empty the bins on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday. It's about a two hour job each day, you can do it whenever you want, and you'll get paid thirty dollars a day that will come straight off your weekly rent. You want to be the bin boy." "Hells yes!"...no I actually didn't say that. But for real? I did my first shift today from 10:30am-12:30pm and only took that long because I had to collect a ton of boxes from people that have moved in. And, next weekend I can do it whenever I feel like it, as long as it gets done.

Here is what I have to do. Go around the college and empty the 17 trash bins into the two big dumpsters and then replace the "rubbish" bags. Um, I was doing that at the age of 7, thank you, sign me up for money please. Nonetheless you can see my excitement.

But, the real reason I want to blog now is because it is unofficially the beginning of "O" Week and things are about to get hectic. I was able to chill this afternoon, watching a movie with Boyd, Chris, and Kirsty and then going to the gym with Boyd and a cool fresher named Lachy. We have an all college meeting at 4:30pm and then a pick up game of touch with the boys, dinner, and then "get to know you night." It sounds like a bunch of name games and cheesy ice-breakers to me...what fun. On that note, hopefully I will be able to keep up on this over the next week but if not, I will have lots of fun stories about my first shift in the kitchen, O Week, and me skyping myself into the General Election Debate at Allegheny. Until then, oi!

My New Roommate

Australia is still pretty amazing. Although I have not traveled around yet, the people here at St. Paul's are awesome, welcoming, and fun. Things are still a little bit lazy here; everyone is preparing either themselves or events for "O" Week. I am so stoked for the festivities to begin. Here is a list of my major accomplishments over the past few days:

1. Getting a job in the kitchen washing dishes/cleaning. It looks like I will work between 7-10 hours a week and will get paid...what's that, how much? $18+ an hour! Money in the bank.

2. I have been running, and not in the kind you do to escape a dingo or crocodile, but rather, the exercise form that some people call enjoyable. I have been doing probably like 2 miles, maybe a little bit more but then I have to stop because of the heat and humidity. I have also been hitting the gym on the days in between running days. I am set on not turning into a chub down here.

3. I am officially going to play rugby. More information at a later date.

4. I went out to the Tavern last night. All I have to say is Australians take consuming alcohol to a whole new level. I think I not only surprised everybody here but more importantly I surprised myself...enough said.

5. I have a new roommate...although, he creeps me out a little. I don't know how he got in and he doesn't touch my stuff...he's more like a fly on the wall. My neighbor said his kind are keeping the bugs at bay, so I guess that's a plus. I don't want to be controlling or anything but I would like to know where he is at all times even though I don't. Here is a picture of him...better than a spider, that's what I say.

Thirsty Tuesdays

I am having a really great time at St. Paul. The people are so nice and welcoming. It just so happens that the only people back right now are either RA's, members of the executive committee planning "O" Week, and international students (all four of us). Needless, to say, I have been hanging out with RA's for the past two days; ironic, I know. I can't seem to escape. But they are so awesome. My first night here, I went to the Strand, the equivalent of a boardwalk, in Townsville. It is a really nice area right on the beach with some great nightlife and cool little coffee shops and stores. Anyways, I went with Boyd, Maddie, Sean, and Chris. We met up with this girl Leslie who was with here mom at their favorite cafe called Juliette's. I had some awesome rasberry and vanilla gelato. After, we walked up and down the strand, enjoying the evening and the cool, Pacific breeze. Leslie and her mom were staying in a nice hotel and they invited us up to their room for a glass of Australian wine. I was all over that. It was red, though, I forget the name of it. I liked it, not being such a fan of red wines, I was surprised. I love just sitting back drinking wine with a fun group, just living life.

Yesterday, I had some more banking issues. I won't get into details but lets just say I finally got things worked out (thanks to mom). Boyd, Maddie, Chris and myself went into Stockland to get snacks for them and a phone for me. I was unable to get one though because I needed my passport...something about anti-terrorism. I thought that was just George Bush in America doing that kind of stuff. We were so lazy in the afternoon, watching The Ship that Rocks, Greek, and some comedian in Boyd's air con room. It was fun. Boyd, myself, and Jess went to the gym in Pauls. I think I burned more calories sweating than I did from working out. It was a good time though. Around 8, a small group of us ran out to the Bottle-o to get some alcohol for the evening. Apparently, Tuesdays are crazy here, two dollar drinks, hence the thirsty Tuesday. I bought my first six pack of an Australian beer called Barefoot. There were about thirty people drinking in the common room before caught the bus into Townsville. It was a really fun night. Boyd knows the manager of this one club, so we got this $500 VIP room and a bunch of free drinks for all of the RA's and myself to have. We probably had 20+ people there. We got back around 1:30 (we took a maxi-taxi back) and I was in bed by 2:00am.
I was up bright and early for breakfast which was practically empty. People went crazy last night and some didn't get back until 3, 4, 7am. I will not be doing that; Shane needs his beauty sleep. I was able to get to know this girl, Kirsty, and guy, Chris, a lot better last night. I flew solo for the first on the bus today. I made it to Stockland, got a phone and went shopping at Crazy Clarks. Love that store. It's basically like a Big Lots. I got all of my school supplies and stuff I needed for my room for under $30...MUCH better than what I payed the other day at WoolWorths. Okay, I have to go work on Udall stuff and election stuff. ASG primary elections are Wednesday and Thursday!

Address

Not that I am expecting any mail, but here is my address for this semester.

'My Name Here'
St. Paul's Residency
James Cook University
Townsville, QLD 4811 Australia

St. Paul

I love my college! St. Paul is awesome. I moved my stuff in (two trips...) from Uni Hall. Kerri in the office was extremely helpful and Boyd, the Student Association President showed me to my room and gave me the grand tour. This place is so much better than Uni Hall. I am staying in St. Paul which starting this year is apart of the Catholic College along with St. Rafael. There are all of these beautiful paths and gardens between the buildings and my room is much larger than I was expecting.
Lunch was really unexpected as well. I have been eating cheese sandwiches with fruit for the past week at Uni Hall. You can understand my surprise when I was served prawns (shrimp), chips (french fries), sweet potato/eggplant curry, and fresh fruit. Clutch. I was so content it's unbelievable. I was unable to unpack my stuff which made me feel much more at home. Living out of a suitcase is no fun and as cheesy as it may sound, I love to unpack. Some would say organizing is sort of my thing. After all of the fun of unpacking wore off, I had a bunch of errands to run. Finally armed with a permanent address I was able to order my bank card, health insurance card, transit card and get my student ID. My debit card was not working today and because it was my first try here in Oz I am thinking my bank is thinking FRAUD. We're workin' on it.
Dinner was equally as fulfilling as lunch. If you know me you know how important meals are to me. After breakfast my main concern is what I am having for lunch, after lunch, I am thinking about dinner and after dinner, I am craving breakfast. So that being said, things are starting on the right foot here at St. Paul. I have been able to meet a lot of new, really dynamic people thus far today, especially upon my arrival and at dinner. Boyd and I chatted for a bit after dinner and I am going to join him and some of his friends to watch movies tonight.
Last thing, soccer doesn't start here until next semester. Curses. I was so excited about it here. I met the sports coordinator here and he was really stoked to hear I am interested in swimming and playing water polo for St. Paul. Apparently they are in a crunch for guy athletes. I think I might give rugby a go and depending on how I feel (and how much time I have), I might play basketball as well. Until next time, oi!

First Trip into Townsville

Today was quite the day. I woke up rather early, 7:30am, and ate breakfast with a pretty lively table of Aussies. Still having a hard time remembering names; it is like being a first year at Allegheny all over again except everybody has an accent and I seem to never see them again.... Nonetheless, after breaky I walked around campus and took some photos. It is so easy here to take a good picture. Honestly, I stick the camera out towards something appealing, push the button and VOILA! it's magic.

After lunch, the girls and I decided to ride a bus into Townsville to spend the afternoon at the Strand. The Strand is what I would compare to a boardwalk in the States...except not really. It is a really nice stretch of beaches, walkways, splash zones, restaurants, exercise stations, and palm trees. We laid on the beach for just over an hour. The views were awesome. I officially touched the Pacific ocean from the other side for the first time. Unlike California the water here is very warm. We were restricted to just our feet because it is high time for stingers (its box jellyfish season until May). They do have beaches that are netted so I am for sure going to have to check those out. Best part of our trip to Townsville is that we made it back using the bus much easier than our escapades yesterday. And again, just in time for dinner.

One more day until I move into my permanent room in St. Paul. I cannot wait to finally get to unpack and make a home out of this place. Tomorrow is going to be my "work day" finalizing essays and applications and stuff. Oh well, this place can't be all play and no work, right? Ask me in a month.

Shopping in Australia

There were three main highlights to the day.

The first is fruit. Watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, and pineapple in February!...of course along with apples, oranges and bananas. That along with a glass of cold water tastes 110% better when it is over 90 degrees out.

My academic successes. JCU is no longer offering the archaeology class I was intending to take so I had to do some major searching. The three classes I had remaining left me with no classes on Monday or Tuesday: money in the bank. However, every class I found that I wanted to make my fourth class conflicted with one of those three classes. There are currently two classes I am debating between. Sustainability in Business and Myth and Ritual. Both sound pretty awesome and one meets on Tuesday and one meets on Wednesday; do you know what that means? No class on Monday! Additionally under academic success stories, I am including my pay phone endeavors. I was finally able to connect to home and talk to Mom, Dad, and Chels. It took me trying to first figure it out myself, asking two people, checking the internet, somehow getting a hold of an operator on the pay phone, and then watching the puzzle pieces fall into place. It was awesomeness at work.

Shopping. Jenn, Ashley and myself decided to go to Stockland (or "Stocky"...oi) to get some much needed things. I personally needed to buy my toiletries since I didn't bring them over from the states. The weather was beautiful, the temperature was hot and as always it is in the tropics, it was humid. Why not walk the 5km (3 miles) into town? I was drenched with sweat when we got there. Luckily it was air conditioned (it had "air con"). Everything was way way expensive. I guess that is what I get for studying abroad on the world's largest island. I'm over it. But the highlight was our return...what should I call it, quest? We ironically ran into my Canadian neighbor, Bria, and she was like "take the bus home," so we decided to. But go figure, as soon as we stepped outside of the Stocky mall, it started to rain. Not your average drizzle or mist...no, no, this was welcome to the tropics during the wet season. Intense. We were just chilling under the little bus stop overhang and there was no buses coming. We would see them and then they would turn exactly one block before they got to us. Two even passed us, straight up, didn't even stop. Deciding we had enough of this, and also because it stopped raining, we started walking back to JCU figuring we'd stop at the next bus stop. Lucky for us, the bus driver actually stopped here, we paid the AU$2.60 to the most thick-accented Australian I've met. He was just like "oi this," and "oi that." No idea what he was saying. Take home points: we did make it back safely...and just in time for dinner.

Day One (or two depending on where you are in the world)

Australia is beautiful: the weather, the scenery, the people. After thirty plus hours of traveling I was pretty stoked to land in Towsville. We flew Virgin Australia from LA to Brisbane. The plane was awesome. There were tons of movies and videos and games to play and the time went by really fast (relatively).
We had no issues getting through customs --my peanut butter, candy and cookies made it through without a hitch. I was not at all ready to sit on a plane for another 2 hours to Townsville, but not really having a choice in the matter, did so. I was so stoked to get off of that plane. A woman from JCU (Karen) took Jenn and I to our dorms. I am currently staying University Hall until Monday. My semester residence is hosting some kind of all-girls summer camp and being a catholic college, they don't want a boy imposing. Understandable. My room is pretty quaint: I have the essentials plus a sink.
I was so drained I decided to take a twenty minute nap at 4:00pm. Seven and half hours, and way past dinner mind you, I woke up. I forced myself to stay in bed, floating in and out of sleep, until 6:30am. Breakfast was cereal (which made me really happy). I spent the rest of the day wandering around, exploring campus, and getting used to the time difference. We had this international student orientation that was semi-overwhelming but whatever, I am over it. You have to be flexible on these types of adventures, no?
My by far favorite Australian phrase I picked up so far is "true?". They use it instead of saying "really?" or "no way?" or if you are Canadian "aye?" I will have to start using this on a regular basis. Until next time, oi.

I made it!

I am officially in Townsville, Australia! As soon as I set up my internet I will post more details about my travels. As for now, I am going to explore.