AUS7- Pole dancing at Circular Quay

I moved into my accommodation! This place is pretty great. There are a ton of exchange students and many locals. Since the rooms didn't come with anything. The girls and I walked to the local Kmart (the state's target). It is only a brisk 40 minute walk out for some necessities. It was soooo complicated. I learned many things. Sheets are called linens. Don't say sheets because people get lost. Their King Single is our twin size. There is also a King and a Single but a King Single is entirely different. An insert is called a quilt. A quilt is called a comforter. A comforter is a bedspread. This took MANY HOURS to figure out, hahah. I bought two towels, a pillow, linens, laundry detergent, body wash, and a bag of oranges. You'd be surprised on how little you can get at one time when you realize how far you have to carry it back to your home. WHERE ARE YOU TYF TYF.

I joked that one day I will just put on exercise clothes, walk to shopping center, buy some stuff, carry it back to QMB, walk back to shopping center, etc. Weights and cardio at the same time, holla hey! That plan may have to wait a bit as I have blisters on my feet from all of the walking and have terrible shin pains. It sounds dramatic but my body is really not okay with the aussie tourist life right now. For a break, I am dedicating today to blogging, determining class schedules (an absolute nightmare over here), and taking a nap. My housing (QMB) is having a free mexican fiesta for dinner tonight so I will have to put my shoes on and probably shower for that.

The first night at QMB was Rianne's 21st birthday. We celebrated by doing laundry with M&Ms.

We will make up for that later on this week ;).

Rianne wanted to capture her bday party with this gem

OMG FUNNY STORY ABOUT LAUNDRY. So Rianne, Victoria, and myself went downstairs for laundry (it is free for the 1st month!! woooooo wash everything!!!). Rianne and Vic had never seen these washing machines and were lost as to how to work them. They seemed like run of the mill machines to me. I gave them a quick tutorial on basic washing machine usage. The girls and I decided to stay downstairs and answer emails and figure out uni stuff while our clothes were washing. Some other internationals came in all confused while staring at the washing machine so I asked if they needed help and they were very grateful for my assistance. This made me feel so smart. Later on, I was telling two more guys how to wash clothes and before I knew it I had an audience of 7 listening to my spiel. I couldn't help but laugh. There are just things you don't even consider to be so different around the globe. Simple things to me are unheard of to others and vice versa.

The girls got a good laugh the other day when I tried using army time. I understand army time but it was my obvious "I'm not use to this way of telling time" delivery.

The next day, we went on a free trip to The Rocks. This a historical city area which included the Opera House and the big ole bridge. Right off of the bus, the group was gathering at a street corner to begin the tour. Natascha was asking me for the english word of something and as I answered her, SCHAWACK. I ran into a pole.

I have made it 22 years of life without this happening and here it was, in the middle of a tour group. Imagine a movie scene. That was me. I was not walking fast so I am truly perplexed as to how I ran into this pole with such velocity. My face took the brute of the impact. It ruined my sunglasses but protected my eyeball so what are you going to do?

Brooke survived the pole!

Yes, I was prompted with many "watch out for that pole" warnings for the rest of the trip.

Pinch me!

Y'all, this takes talent.

"Do you think people would be offended if I pretended to sing opera right here?"

Oh yeah, Eva Longoria was there.

Today I was able to Skype Mallory and Kayla! It was so nice seeing their faces. One of the hardest things is the time difference. I get home after a long day and I want to tell everyone about it but it is 4 am over there or something crazy. Another obstacle is getting used to the fees here. They basically charge you to breathe. We have wifi in our rooms but only a limited amount is free and you can only connect one device at a time. I find this ridiculous. We are in student housing. You have to pay to use your laptop? What the heck? Laundry is crazy expensive as well. A bottled drink from a vending machine is $4.50. I think that I will learn how to deal with this better as time goes on. Right now, it is just frustrating.

The up side about everything being expensive is that the minimum wage is about $17. I wasn't planning on getting a job while I am here but you better bet I am now! I've always wanted to work in a cafe/ be a barista. I think that would be a good way to see many different people, meet locals, and make some extra cash. I will look into that and let you guys know if I find anything! If I want to work here, I need to figure out their monies. I almost tried to give some guy a quarter yesterday...

7/21/15

#AustraliaTrip